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 ;)

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....

                            

July Activity Calendar!

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 June 2018 Enjoy!

June Activity Calendar!

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 June 2018 Enjoy!

May Activity Calendar!

May basket Flikr

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 May 2018 Enjoy!

If you need some added fun don't forget Maypoles and May Baskets!

April Activity Calendar!

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 April 2018 Enjoy!

FREE!! Five In A Row (FIAR) CM Planner - Again!

Whadya Think?  click on the photo if you'd like to download

***This is a re-post from March 30, 2011...wow has time flown!!  If you aren't using phonics I would switch that to spelling or something like that.  The space to the left of numbers is so you can write the workbook or text or assignment.  N= Narration and RA = Read Aloud.   

See this post to see it filled out.

Popsicle Planning - Again!!!

They begin in Mama Bears big, white container...

Here's a great post from the past that gets A LOT of requests:

This is an AWESOME idea from mommyx12

And they end up in all the Baby Bears' itty bitty containers!! Then back to the white container.

All of the school age children have their own jar and set of sticks with their color. (Of course Mary isn't 'school age' yet but she's still old enough to know if she's being left out!) At the beginning of the day all the sticks are in my container. In the morning I place each child's sticks in their jar. Written on each stick are their various school subjects and chores that I would have them do that day. When they have completed what is on a stick they simply place it back into my container. In this way, I can see at a glance who has finished and who hasn't. Plus, another bonus about the sticks that paper check lists don't have is the convenience of putting into the jars only subjects and chores I wish for them to accomplish for the day. For example, if I have plans of an outing later in the afternoon I may only put half of their sticks in their jars. If we plan on a long day at home it may get more!! This works especially well for our weekly subjects. Science, geography, poetry, biography, and history are not done every day of the week and are normally taught by me with all the children together. It also helps keep me to be accountable to see to the weekly core subjects because if it's in the jar then they will expect me to get the class taught so they can "check" it off!!

Am I Doing Enough??

In case your worried about how you're doing homeschooling...consider this quote:


"Studies have shown that all of typical grade K to 8 academic content can be mastered in eighteen to twenty-four months, as can all subjects taught in grades 9 to 12. Every year American School, an Illinois independent-study High School, has several students that complete four years of high school academics in less than eighteen months." - Cafi Cohen, Homeschooling the Teen Years, page 60. 

Quicky Sticky Note KONOS Planning For The Year

1/30/15   ****I've since this post discovered a great workshop by OIKOS (South Africa) that explains how to use KONOS without a "planner" and is much more relaxed.  OIKOS also has a great website that explains EVERYTHING you could need for KONOS and is super simple to navigate.  Go to the OIKOS "How To" tab and learn how to make homeschooling super easy.

1. First I have the binder removed and three holed punched.  I put the pages in a store bought big 'ol binder or BOB :^)
2. I take a copy of the Table of Contents and check mark the units I'd like to do. Next decide if you want to hit all the character traits in that volume or mix it up with other volumes.  Remember you can come back to the unit when you're kids are older so don't try to do everything. I place the Marked Table of Contents in the front pocket of BOB.  
   
3. I sit down with my KONOS BOB  a few months ahead of time (like summer) and just read through it, all of the activities (I don't use the lesson plans).
4. For each sub-unit (aka Obedience - general, Kings & Queens etc) I write a sticky note with the letter of the activity and page #s of all the activities that look like something my kids would want to do or looks interesting.  This will be my first run through the book.  I place that sticky on the heading page for the sub-unit.
5. A month ahead I run through the KONOS BOB and decide how much time I can spend on KONOS.  Some months you can do a lot and some not.  Keep in mind if you're having a new baby, job change, house change because that's not the time to do a heavy unit...if at all.  I take the month of December off...as in totally off.  You don't have to do KONOS everyday if that doesn't fit your schedule. For some people KONOS every day is too much so maybe just 2 or 3 days works better. 
6. Take the sub-unit (aka general, horses etc) out of BOB and put it into a smaller working binder.
7. Now knowing how many days you've decided to do KONOs (mine is 5) pull off that many days of sticky notes and put onto a sheet of paper.  Label each sticky Day 1, Day 2 etc.   Put another 2 stickies on the sheet and label one Books/Videos and another that says To Buy.
   
   In this pic you can see on the left my page (planner) with "stickies" and on the right you can see my original "sticky" with all the activities I thought might be fun.
   
   
   
   Sticky planner up close
   
   
8. Now go back to the sticky that's stuck on your sub-unit with activities you thought might be good (aka. general, Kings & Queens etc) and decide which day you want to do each of the activities (or not at all) and list them on your sticky for that day.  As you're doing that write down books you might like or videos that might work off the top of your head and put that on the book/videos sticky.  I use the Book of Knowledge encyclopedias, Childcraft encyclopedias and Golden Book encyclopedias ALOT as well as youtube videos rather than relying on our little library.   I want to emphasize that you DON'T have to have tons of books to do KONOS.  They are nice if you have the time but not necessary if you have encyclopedias and/or the internet.  
9. As you're going over your activities place items you need to buy on your "to buy" sticky.  You'll take this with you when you're shopping. I don't always have this sticky as you can see from the pic above.
10. Decide what read aloud/individual reading you want to do from either the book list or your home library.  We use Sonlight, Robinson Curriculum and my personal vintage books for most of this as well as missionary stories that we own (or I make).  So if you are going to use the library you'll need to search your library online for books you might like under that topic if they don't have the books on the KONOS booklist.  Put down books that you have on hand and the books that you'll get from the library from your search on your books/video sticky.  This will be helpful for when you come back to this unit another year.  If you have several children reading at different levels you may need a couple of book stickies.  
11. Now order your books  if you need to (and download if they are EBooks), pick up your supplies on the " to buy" list and you're ready to go.  If you don't get to one of the days either switch the sticky with another one or remove it and put it back onto the header to the unit it matches and MOVE ON!  Don't get bogged down if days don't work out...that's a piece of advice from Mrs. BTDT. ;^)
12. At this point you can transer all this to a  KONOS planner.  I have one here and here
13. Repeat the "sticky" steps for all the units you want to do ahead...I do about 1 month to 2 months ahead. Takes about 1 hour to do a month worth.
    
    This is the "next" unit we'll be doing ready to go in the working binder.  When I'm ready to teach it I'll transfer the "stickies" to a piece of paper to be put in the front of the working binder.  The old "stickes" go back onto the unit it was for....ready for next time.
    
    
    
    Here you can see my original list of activities sticky, "to do" note and videos that I came up with off the top of my head that we own.
    
    
    
    The "Sticky Planner" all filled out and waiting for when we do that unit. 
    It's stuck to the page that starts that unit.
    
    
    
    

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - FIAR

Read Aloud :  The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit by Arthur Scott Bailey - FREE! or any other Beatrix Potter

Social Studies - Day 1

• Read Eph. 6:1 Children obey your parents, what does that mean?  Copywork
• Setting Rules
• Obedience - Obedience by Jane Buerger (book...we have this)  & KONOS Obedience Vol 1 pgs 136-139
• Encouragement
• Setting - England
• Every day this week make a recipe from Peter Rabbit's Cookery Book (we have this)
• Watch Rick Steves' Travels  -England

Famous Sites of London

English Countryside

LA - Day 2

• Read 2 Kings 5 - Naaman
• Onomatopoeia
• vocab - word search or act out
• Descriptive Language
• Watch "The Tales of Peter Rabbit"

Art - Day 3

• Read the 10 Commandments.  Make  a 10 commandment stomes (rolls with scroll poking with each commandment) or make a poster of 10 Commandments
• Act out the scenes
• Draw a picture based on a page from the book
• Watch "The Country  Diary of A Edwardian Lady" - we have this

Math - Day 4

• Read Math 7:12 & 22:23-39
• Figuring and grouping - seed catalogs, calendars
• Fortnight - What is it?

Science - Day 5

• Read Titus 3:1 Submit to Authority...who is our authority?  Copywork
• Plan a garden - we've already done this with ours but go over again.  We use square foot gardening.
• Introducing new species
• Gathering food
• Catching a cold

Species Introduction

Invasive Plants



Foraging



Square Foot Gardening

Jumping Ship on Curriculum and Planning!

These are GREAT tips on when you're starting to feel like "jumping ship" with a curriculum from Angela O'Dell who wrote Math Lessons for a Living Education (GREAT BOOK!) which you can buy at Queen Homeschool Supply.  I can't make a direct link to the book so you'll have to look at categories and then math lessons

I am one of the most distractible people alive. I have to pray for contentment and focus in everyday routine. I am, by nature, a "wing-it" kind of person. I have learned that I cannot do this in homeschooling. To combat this urge to throw everything out the window every six weeks and start something new, I have come up with a workable plan that keeps me reasonably on track. 

1) I recognize this tendency in myself, and I pray for wisdom and direction.

2) Before I make any curriculum decisions, I talk to my hubby, my children and mostly, to God. 

3) I set a flexible plan in place for the year.

4) I plan in a "diversion week" every 6 weeks or so. This might mean a week-

    long unit that has absolutely NOTHING to do with what we have been doing.

    Or it could be just a break where we read some cool books, bake a lot, 

     play games, focus on only the 3 Rs, or go visit friends more often. When 

     our week is over, I am ready to go back to the routine that we had going

     before. This helps my ADD issue, and it gives the kids something new, too.

5)When I am planning for the year, I very carefully weigh the cost of outside

    activities. Not just the money that it will take, but the time, energy and

    how much stress it will add, are all weighed carefully. 

6)When planning curriculum, I ask myself the question, "Am I going to be 

able to get at least 75% of this done in an average week? If not, some-thing has to go.

7)Leave time to relax! Take that time and RELAX! 

8)Give a resource at least 6 weeks before changing it. Talk to your child and

 husband and decide why it is not working. It could be something simple that can be easily remedied.