Reading - Better Late Than Early

picture from Today's Parent

In case you're child isn't reading yet....consider this quote:


It is true that some children can learn to read remarkably early.  But the fact that they can does not mean they should.  Should is another question.  One school district set up an experiment to help decide this question.  Some kindergarteners in the district received extensive instruction in reading.  Others spent the same amount of time learning science.  They melted ice.  They observed thermometers in hot and cold places.  They played with magnets, grew plants, learned about animal life, and so on.  Books and pictures were available for these children if they wanted them, but no formal lessons in reading were held.

And what did the school district learn?  By third grade the "science" children were far ahead of the "reading" children in their reading scores.  The reason?  Their vocabularies and thinking skills were more advanced.  They could read on more topics and understand higher level materials.  The "reading" children, by starting earlier, used up a lot learning time on the skills of reading, while the "science" children spent the time learning real stuff.  And when they did begin reading, they were older and knew more and learned in a fraction of the time that the others took.

Quote by Ruth Beechick- The Three R's pg 6

December Activity Calendar!

The air is chilly and it's HOLIDAY SEASON!.....welcome winter with activities for everyday!

Ever need to come up with something fun to do with the kids but don't have a clue what??  Did you know that Enchanted Learning has a monthly calendar of activities??  You could even use this for a jumping off point to study instead of doing unit studies or workbooks!  FUN!  If you unschool you could strew this site and see what interests the kids and let them have at it.  Or if your more traditional homeschooler, just plan your week based on the activities

Here's the calendar for December 2018 Enjoy!

FREE - 470 Crockpot Recipes - 2018

470 Crockpot Recipes Book <-- click="" font="" link="" this="">


Well I don't know where I got this so I can't credit it but I know I got it for free so I thought I would pass along a great little recipe book I got like...13 years ago.

It has a lot of can of____  and cream of ______  but you can make that stuff homemade and make things even cheaper.  Since we're heading toward the holidays, I thought it would be nice to just stick stuff in the crockpot (slow cooker) in the morning and be done with dinner!

Homemade Cold Syrup!

Okay I'll give ya this...the ingredients sound gross but it works.

1 Raw White Onion
*Raw Honey - Must be RAW! check as most store bought honey is pasteurized.


Take the onion and cut into parts. Now stab it a couple of times with a fork so the quarters have a little bit of holes. It doesn't have to be perfect so don't worry about not stabbing it the right amount of times. Place onion in a quart mason jar and fill with raw honey so that the onion is just covered. Screw lid on and leave on the back part of your stove for at least a day but probably a couple of days. You'll notice that the onion imparts it's juice into the honey. Using a strainer pour liquid into a pint mason jar and store in the fridge. To take you want to take a teaspoon 3 to 4 times a day when you're battling a cold or cough.

*NOTE:

****Please remember not to give honey to children under 1*****

Inquisikids! & Mathtacular

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....I wrote a post about the Inquisikids DVDs, which is now called Discover & Do, and mentioned how much my kids love MathTacular! DVD's.

Well I was just thinking that since the holidays are coming up you might want to get a couple of these to pop in the car's DVD player.. for those long holiday trips.



Homeschool Win!



and you didn't even have to do anything for them to be learning ;)

Cranberry Thanksgiving - 2018 Edition!

***If you can't get the book you can watch it being read here:

Cranberry Thanksgiving

Another copy of Cranberry Thanksgiving

Bible

• Memory Verse  Psalm 100:4

Social Studies  

• Geography - New England

                             Map of New England
                             National Geographics New England
                             What's the Time and Weather in Cape Cod   - put it on the thermometer
                             No More Kings - Schoolhouse Rock
                             13 Colonies
                             Thirteen Colonies  - **in depth for beefing up
                             Thirteen Colonies Documentary  - **very in depth 1 hr video for beefing up 


***Beefing Up

• Research the Thirteen Colonies or Cape Cod or New England and write a report or do an oral presentation.

                          

LA 

• Repetition
• Vocabulary

               Make a Word Search from Vocab words

• Simile

               Simile game    

  
Beefing It UP!

•   Grammar-  Noun - watch Schoolhouse Rock - Noun  Using one of the sentences in the book circle or color the nouns in School Journal (composition book) or Worksheet Works (you can do this with verbs, adjectives or adverbs also)
• Play the Nouns and Verbs  - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!! 
• Write a sentence using a similie
• Write a paragraph (or sentence) using some of the vocabulary words

Art 

• Warm Palette

            Warm Colors

            Warm Colored Pics

***Beefing Up

• Draw a picture using the warm color palette

                

Math 

• Measuring Skills

*****Beefing it Up!

• Math Game - Brainie - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!  **math facts
• Inchy Picnic - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!  ***measuring
• Estimation Game 2 - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!  ***estmating
• Match The Fractions - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!  ***fractions

Science

• Starch

         Testing for Starch

• Leavening Agents

          Leavening

• Cranberries

           How Does It Grow? Cranberries

****Beefing Up

• Research and write an essay (report) on Cranberries or give an oral presentation.

Extras

Extra Activities

Thanksgiving Crossword- Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!

Go Along:

The Very First Thanksgiving

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving  ** Excellent but long...shows the providence of GOD


Thanksgiving:

William Bradford Biography Nest Entertainment

Plymouth Plantation Virtual Tour

Virtual Tour of the Mayflower II

The Real Thanksgiving Story - (The Story of Liberty)


Charlie Brown Thanksgiving 

Charlie Brown Mayflower Voyage

The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't

The Mouse On The Mayflower





Read Alouds:

The Story Of The Pilgrims For Children

Your Story Hour - Persecuted and Betrayed & The First Thanksgiving




Link to a playlist on youtube:

Thanksgiving - haven't viewed all these but on first glance they look okay..probably more for older kids

Thanksgiving Hymns:

We Gather Together (Perry Como) - my son picked this...who knew??  This is the hymn they sing in the book.

Thanksgiving Hymns  Playlist - just like being in a cathedral!

Thanksgiving  Playlist - this has some classic moderns in it

Thanksgiving Relaxing Dinner Music -  8 hrs of BEAUTIFUL relaxing music...Fall Foliage, etc.    It's nice even to watch through out the week leading up to Thanksgiving!


And For Mom:

The Thanksgiving Promise

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving pt. 1
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving pt. 2

November Activity Calendar!

The air is chilly now and Thanksgiving is coming!.....welcome autumn with activities for everyday!

Ever need to come up with something fun to do with the kids but don't have a clue what??  Did you know that Enchanted Learning has a monthly calendar of activities??  You could even use this for a jumping off point to study instead of doing unit studies or workbooks!  FUN!  If you unschool you could strew this site and see what interests the kids and let them have at it.  Or if your more traditional homeschooler, just plan your week based on the activities

Here's the calendar for November 2018 Enjoy!

Emergency Homeschool Plan!!

Emergency Homeschool Plan or How To Homeschool Through A Mess or Chronic Illness

dis·as·ter

diˈzastər/

noun

1. a sudden event, such as an accident or a natural catastrophe, that causes great damage or loss of life.

   "159 people died in the disaster"

   synonyms:

   catastrophe, calamity, cataclysm, tragedy, act of God, holocaust; accident "a subway disaster"

   • denoting a genre of films that use natural or accidental catastrophe as the mainspring of plot and setting.

     modifier noun: disaster

     "a disaster movie"
   • an event or fact that has unfortunate consequences.

     "a string of personal disasters"

     
     

     
     

     synonyms:

     misfortune, mishap, misadventure, mischance, setback, reversal, stroke of bad luck, blow "a string of personal disasters" Ever had one of these???

What happens when disaster strikes??  Back when Hurricane Katrina went through, Ambleside Online made an emergency plan with FREE resources and some really great advice for ANYONE who is homeschooling through a rough patch.  It has curriculum suggestions and ideas to keep life moving forward.... even when you've lost everything.  The kids can read on their own and make it real simple for you.

Ambleside Online HELP

Here's a great article from Renee over at Homeschool How To's that worth a read:

Tips for Homeschooling with FEW or NO RESOURCES

Here's some of my suggestions based on stuff that's happened to us:

First let me say that there's an old saying among pioneer homeschoolers - all you need is a math book and a library card...I agree.  You can get the math book from my FREE Vintage Education tab above.  Don't let the old texts scare ya..Math hasn't changed...as a matter of fact the last update was Calculus and that was almost 500 years ago so....    1+1=2 has been around for well, forever! Or if you have the money Charlotte Mason Math Level A (or whatever level you're at)

1.  Only do the 3 R's -  Reading, Writing, Arithmetic     You can pull this from ANY book you have.  For ideas see Renee's tips above

        

          

2.  Use internet linked websites and FREE curriculum - I don't think you need curriculum but..

        Ambleside Online HELP - This is the emergency homeschooling page

        Easy Peasy Homeschool

        Everything Homeschooling

        Kahn Academy - CAUTION.. common core!

       Old Fashioned Education

        Use my FREE - Vintage Education

3.  Use Internet linked Unit Studies

        Amanda Bennett Unit Studies - Load these up on the Ipad

        The Simple Homeschool

4.  Stream or Get Educational Videos

        Netflix

        Hulu

        Youtube Education

        Use Your Local Library

5.  Play Games and Online Math Games

        ABCya

        Sheppard Software

          Math Playground

         Mr. Nussbaum

        Apps on your phone or Ipad

        Really most kids board & card games involved math of some sort

6.  Let them do Retail Learning

         Use grocery shopping to learn:

                         -money

                         -fractions

                         -weight  -  oz's, LB  (there is a scale in the veggie department)

                         -value  - price per oz

                         -find colors, numbers etc

                         -percentage - 20% off coupons and such

                         -budget shopping- give them the money and the list and see if they can get                              all that's on the list

                          

            you get the idea....

6.  Read...just Read

        

        Use Your Local Library

        

         Find books:

                              Internet Archive

                              Google Books

7.  Books on Tape

               Use Your Local Library

           Find Books:

                          

                              Librivox

                              Sparkle Stories -not free but super sweet stories for the younger crowd.  You can get it for $1 the first month by using the code SPARKLEFRIENDS

8.  Strew Ideas by website

             Strewing means to leave stuff laying around so the kids discover it but in this case  

              you can leave it up on your computer so they can see it 

        

            The Kids Should See This

9.  Emergency Food Plan

             

               My Blog Post On Emergency Food Plan

Sometimes whatever is going on in your life IS the curriculum...and the lesson... so don't be hard on yourself.  Kids will learn in spite of what's going on...that's just the way God made them!  So let them see you filled with God's presence and peace so they can learn to have  "the peace that passes all understanding"  Phil. 4:7

A great book to have during hard times is  God's Promises For Your Every Need

Remember that this too shall pass....