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Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

October 23, 2017 by Selena Robinson 10 Comments

Over the years, I’ve been rather cheap about homeschooling equipment. I’ll go crazy buying books, pens, and curriculum, but I was really hesitant to buy bulkier items for some reason. Probably because we have a small house and I didn’t want to overwhelm it with large items I wouldn’t use very often.

But, even though it’s wise to stay on a homeschooling budget, especially if you have several children (like we do), there are some homeschool tools that are worth the investment. During the years we’ve been homeschooling, I’ve found that three items in particular make this list.

Make your homeschooling dollar stretch with this list of homeschool tools that are truly worth buying!

Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

When you go into a teacher’s lounge or the school copy room at a public school, you’ll see – among other things – an industrial-sized laminator. Public educators laminate nearly everything, which makes sense because they often have to reuse charts, placemats, and all kinds of other materials over the years.

I’d been hearing about the virtues of laminators for homeschoolers for some time, but I didn’t think I needed one. I was wrong.

Homeschool Tools That are Worth Buying Yourself

Amazon frequently offers laminators on sale, especially during back to school time, so when the price of the Scotch laminator dropped to $20, I picked one up.

I couldn’t have made a better investment for our homeschool. I laminate so many things! Curriculum covers, playdough mats, printable flashcards, and more! And, since we use so many different digital curriculum products, I need to print and laminate fairly often.

Another item that I was told would come in handy was a coil-binding machine. That one, honestly, seemed like an extravagance and I was a little intimidated by it. It just looked so complicated. Would I really use it?

Essential Homeschool Tools to Buy

Yes. Yes, I would.

I have the Fellowes Star Coil Binding Machine, which is super simple to operate and one of my favorite purchases ever. I can turn almost anything into a book now! Lesson planners, teachers’ guides, printed curriculum – the possibilities are endless.

And, while I thought this machine would be enormous and in the way, it actually folds up and fits on the floor of our hallway closet with no trouble at all. I stressed over that for absolutely nothing.

My other homeschool investment has been our classroom chalkboard.

Using a Small Chalkboard for Homeschooling

A whiteboard would work just as well, by the way. But chalk is cheaper to buy, so I went with that for our homeschool needs. The size I purchased is 23 x 35, which is large enough to be seen but not so large that takes up most of our wall.

Also – There’s just something about seeing me work out a math problem on the board that makes the light go off over my kids’ heads.

So, those are my top three homeschool tools that are worth the investment:

  • Scotch Laminator
  • Fellowes Star Coil Binding Machine
  • 23 x 35 chalkboard

I also have two other items that deserve an honorable mention:

  • My electric pencil sharpener (You would not believe how many times I hear the phrase “Can I sharpen my pencil, Mom?” during the day.)
  • My external hard drive (I use this to store all of my digital homeschool curriculum.)

Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

Do you have any homeschool tools that are truly proven their worth over the years? Share your tips in the comments!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling posts!

Think you're too broke to homeschool your kids Believe it or not, homeschooling doesn't have to cost a lot!

Think you're behind on homeschool planning You're not. You don't need a lot to homeschool, even if you're a newbie!

Think that you're too busy to homeschool You might not be! Homeschooling is a lot more flexible than it seems.

And see more ways to create your own homeschool on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

Get exclusive homeschooling tips and tricks in your inbox when you sign up for our email newsletter!

How to Afford Homeschooling eBook Download

Filed Under: Homeschool Planning Tagged With: homeschooling

Montessori Homeschool Kindergarten with ShillerMath

October 19, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Our preschooler is raring to go for kindergarten this year, so when I was considering what we’d use as our primary curriculum, I looked around and tried a few things. We love using apps to reinforce what she’s learning, but I also wanted her to have some hands-on kinesthetic activities to help her really “see” the concepts.

She’s also very enthusiastic about doing “schoolwork” like her siblings, so I knew she would want a program that would challenge her and be able to grow along with her ability.

So when I got the opportunity to review ShillerMath Kit A and ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations, I was thrilled! This was just the kind of program I was looking for!

Shiller Math Language Arts Foundations and Math Kit A Review

If you’re considering a Montessori homeschool kindergarten approach, take a look at how ShillerMath curriculum makes learning math and ELA into an interactive experience for young kids! Plus, see how you can score a discount on a ShillerMath order of your own!

And for books your early reader will love, check out our simple homeschool kindergarten reading list!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Thinking of a Montessori approach for language arts? See how Shiller Math Language Arts Foundations works for kindergarten!

Montessori Homeschool Kindergarten: ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations

When I opened my boxes from ShillerMath, I really didn’t know what to expect, so I was amazed by how complete the curriculum is.

Language Arts Foundations is a relatively new program from ShillerMath, which is designed to introduce ELA to children aged 4 to 5 (think: preschool through kindergarten).

Shiller Math Language Arts Foundations Books

The program includes lesson plan books and manipulatives – so, so many manipulatives. There is no way kids will get bored with this curriculum.

Shiller Math Mother Goose Rhymes

I have been aware of the Montessori method for some time. I haven’t used it with my children, but I have always liked the idea of helping children to take ownership of their education through hands-on learning, which is what Montessori teaches.

But – I’m not a Montessori teacher and I was unsure how to go about using this method with my kids. Which is why ShillerMath is so awesome. You don’t have to know the Montessori method to use it. It’s all outlined for you in the lesson plan!

Finding Letter C with Shiller Math

This is one of the lessons in ShillerMath Language Arts Foundations. As you can see, the entire script is laid out for you. You can truly just open the book and read the instructions. Which is exactly what we did!

Shiller Math Language Arts Manipulatives

For this lesson, we used the movable alphabet, some playdough, and the grain. (All of this is included in the box, by the way.)

Using the Shiller Math Work Mat

Once we identified the letter C, we spent a little time working with the wooden letters on the work mat. We turned them backwards and upside down until we recognized how to place them so that we could read them correctly.

Using Shiller Math Grain to Trace Letters

Then it was time to break out the grain. As instructed, I gave my little one a small bowl and let her pour the grain herself. She was so psyched to do that on her own.

Sensory Play with Grain

Of course, she had to have a little sensory play in the grain before continuing with the lesson.

Tracing Letters in Grain

We traced the letter C in the grain for some fine motor skill practice and a sensory experience.

As you can see, she really loved that part of the lesson.

Shaping Letters Out of Playdough

Then it was time to make some playdough letters! We rolled out some dough and made playdough ropes.

Shaping Letters Out of Playdough with Shiller Math

Then we just shaped them into the letter C! We decided to do an uppercase letter C and a lowercase letter C.

That’s an example of the Montessori method in action. Instead of just showing a child the letter, you get to let them explore the letter in as many forms as possible. My kindergartner had a blast with it.

Keep reading to see how ShillerMath approaches Montessori math for early grades!

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: Curriculum Reviews, Homeschooling Tagged With: homeschool kindergarten, homeschooling

20 Beautiful Owl Books for Kids

October 17, 2017 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

We’ve had fun studying about nocturnal animals and one of those animals is…the owl! There are owls here in Georgia, but we hardly ever see them because they’re up when we’re asleep. 🙂

Since we’ve been talking about animals that are night “owls” (get it?), I rounded up some beautiful owl books for kids that we can share together. If you’re studying owls this fall, check out these storybooks and nonfiction books for some awesome owl facts!

Owl Books for Kids to Read

If you love these, don’t miss our list of bear books for kids as well! And for a fun craft project, see how to make a cute coffee filter owl craft with the kids!

These owl books for kids feature gorgeous pictures and illustrations for learning about these nocturnal flyers!

Owl Books for Kids:

This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

1. Owls by Gail Gibbons

2. Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan

3. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

4. National Geographic Readers: Owls by Laura Marsh

5. Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

6. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

7. Exploring the World of Owls by Tracy Read

8. The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston

9. Owl at Home (I Can Read Level 2) by Arnold Lobel

10. Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor

Fall Playdough Mats

See the rest of the list on page 2!

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: animals, books about owls, books for kids, children's books, fall, kids books, kids books about owls, owl books, owl books for kids, owls, reading, reading for kids

Homeschool Unit Studies: Harvest Unit Study

October 16, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Free Harvest Unit Study - Look! We're Learning!

Down here in the South, it’s pretty common to see farms and farming equipment. My youngest boy is smack dab in the middle of the “I love everything mechanical” phase, so he was excited about learning how farm equipment works.

I made this harvest unit study with him in mind. But it would be a great one of our homeschool unit studies for any kid, especially during fall!

Be sure to try some of our other fun fall activities, including our list of fall books for kids and our list of 50 fall crafts to make this year!

This harvest unit study is a fun way to learn about harvesting during autumn!

Homeschool Unit Studies: Harvest Unit Study

Harvest Notebooking Pages

Pick up these free harvest notebooking pages to use with this unit! Kids can use these printables to organize the facts they learn about harvest time from the video below or from the books you share together.

Harvest Notebooking Pages

>>> Free Printable Harvest Notebooking Pages <<<

What Happens At Harvest Time?

Watch the wheat harvesting video and let the kids try to the answer the questions that follow.

  1. What does the rotating wheel on the front of the combine do? (Answer: It pulls the wheat toward the sharp blades. The blades cut the wheat.)
  2. What happens inside the combine? (Answer: The wheat heads are cut from the stalks. Then the heads are sifted to remove the chaff, leaving grains of wheat.)
  3. How is the wheat chaff reused? (Answer: The chaff is tossed out of the combine back onto the ground. It will be reused to make straw bales.)
  4. What happens once the combine’s storage tank is full of wheat? (Answer: The driver turns on a flashing light to call a tractor. The driver dumps the wheat out of the storage tank into the tractor’s trailer.)
  5. What happens to the wheat inside the storehouse? (Answer: Drivers use trucks to collect all of the wheat into a neat pile.)
  6. How much wheat can the combine harvest in one hour? (Answer: Enough to make over 70,000 loaves of bread)
  7. What does the baler do? (Answer: Collects the wheat straw from the ground and forms it into blocks. This straw will be used for animal bedding during winter.)

What is a Harvest Moon?

Ever heard of the “harvest moon”? What is one and how did it get its name? This video is a neat (and brief!) explanation!

Harvest Activities for Kids:

These fun harvest activities for kids are a wonderful way to add some hands-on learning to this unit study!

1. Apple Harvest Scissor Skills Printables – Toddler to K

2. Harvest Play Fall Sensory Bin – Toddler to K

3. Alphabet Letter Harvest Game – Toddler to K

4. Apple Harvest Pom-Pom Tree Craft – Toddler to K

5. Coffee Filter Pumpkin Craft – Toddler to K

6. Paper Plate Corn Craft – Toddler to K

7. Apple Tree Playdough Counting Mat – Toddler to K

8. The Little Red Hen Retelling Sensory Activity – Toddler to K

9. DIY Pumpkin Slime – Toddler to K

10. Coffee Filter Apple Craft – Toddler to K

Harvest Unit Study for Kids

11. Apple Tree Circle Game – Toddler to K

12. Cardboard Apple Tree Craft – Toddler to K

13. Apple Counting Puzzles – Preschool

14. Pumpkin Measuring Math Activity – Preschool

15. Pumpkin Ordinal Number Worksheets – Preschool to Grade 1

16. Printable Corn Counting Book – Preschool to Grade 1

17. Apple Array Math Practice Worksheets – Grade 2

18. Pinecone Apple Necklace – Elementary

19. Colored Corn Mosaic Art – ALL AGES

20. Corncob Harvest Craft – ALL AGES

21. Harvest Pumpkin Watercolor Art Project – ALL AGES

And don’t miss our list of harvest books for kids to read!

Learn about how food is grown with these great children's books about harvest!

Share this fun harvest unit study to help kids learn about what happens during the harvest season!

Check out these other resources for fall learning!

This list of over 50 free fall printables for kids is perfect for educational fall fun!

50 Fall Books for Kids

Looking for easy fall crafts for kids? There are plenty of fall art projects to choose from here!

Get exclusive learning tips and printables when you sign up for our email newsletter! Just use the widget below to get started.

And see more fun fall ideas on my Fall Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Filed Under: Unit Studies Tagged With: harvest, unit studies

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

October 10, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

I had my very first encounter with a wild turkey not too long ago. I knew that they lived down here in the South, but I had yet to lay eyes on one.

Turns out – they’re huge! In fact, I initially thought that the one I saw was a vulture until we got right up on it. It was not a vulture. It was an enormous turkey and I was terrified. (Okay, I was in my car, but terrified nonetheless.)

So it’s clear that I have a lot more to learn about turkeys. And that’s why I thought the next one of our coffee filter crafts for kids should be a coffee filter turkey craft!

Coffee Filter Turkey Craft for Kids to Make

This was such a fun project to make. It’ll be perfect for kids to create this fall! And it’d go well with some of our other farm-themed crafts, including our farm paper bag puppets and our coffee filter pig craft!

If you like this craft, check out our list of farm books to share with the kids too!

This easy coffee filter turkey craft is a neat farm project to make with kids!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

To make this coffee filter turkey craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • White basket coffee filter
  • Construction paper
  • Glue stick
  • Child-safe scissors
  • Crayons

Coffee Filter Turkey Craft Supplies

To start, flatten out the coffee filter as best you can.

Making a Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

Fold the bottom fourth edge of the filter under to make a sharp crease.

Coffee Filter Turkey Craft Project

Cut the bottom fold off so that the coffee filter has a flat bottom edge. This will be the turkey’s “feathers”.

Use a brown crayon to color a kind of sunburst design. The goal is to have alternating brown and red feathers. So leave enough space between the brown lines to add red next.

Coffee Filter Turkey Craft for Kids

Like so. When you’re finished, you can color in the rest of the bottom with a solid red. You could also use yellow or orange colors if you wanted.

How to Make a Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

Fold the brown piece of construction paper in half, then fold it in half again to make fourths. Cut out one of the fourths. You’ll cut the turkey “body” from this piece of paper.

Easy Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

Place the colored coffee filter in the center of the large piece of construction paper and glue it down. Cut a rounded cylinder shape (like a silo) out of the small brown piece of construction paper. Glue it on the center of the coffee filter, lining up the flat edges of both the filter and the paper.

Making a Coffee Filter Turkey

Time to give our turkey a face! Cut two small circles out of white paper. Use a black crayon to draw eyes on them. Glue them to the top of the turkey’s “body”.

Cut out a small triangle-shaped piece of paper and color it orange. Glue it onto the turkey’s face to form the beak. Then use a black crayon to add a smile.

Fun Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

Something seemed to be missing, so we added the turkey’s “waddle” by cutting out a teardrop-shaped piece of paper and coloring it red. Then we just glued it next to the beak.

Simple Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

All our turkey needs is some feet and he’s good to go!

Fun Coffee Filter Turkey Craft for Kids

And we’re done! He’s definitely a lot nicer than the wild turkey I met that day.

Do you think your kids would like this coffee filter turkey craft? If so, don’t miss these other crafts for fall!

Make this easy and lovely fall snow globe craft to celebrate autumn with the kids!

This cute coffee filter owl craft is a fun way to add art to a lesson about woodland animals!

These adorable farm animal paper bag puppets are such a fun way to learn about barnyard animals with the kids!

See more easy crafts the kids can make on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Get more ideas for hands-on learning and crafts in our weekly email newsletter! Just use the widget below to subscribe.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: coffee filter crafts, crafts

I Want to Homeschool, But I’m Not a Teacher!

October 9, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

In talking to some of my mom friends, I’ve heard so many reasons why people think they can’t homeschool. Some of the ones I’ve heard the most include:

I want to homeschool, but I’m too busy!

I want to homeschool, but I’m too scared!

I want to homeschool, but I’m too broke!

I want to homeschool, but I have to work!

And I want to homeschool, but I’m not a teacher!

It’s that last one I want to talk about in this post.

Since I was homeschooled as a child, I already knew that parents didn’t need to be professional teachers in order to homeschool their kids. So it was surprising to me to find out how many parents felt unqualified to homeschool, due to not having a background in the education field.

The short answer to this question is: No, you do not have to be a professional teacher in order to homeschool. Here’s why.

Do you want to homeschool but think you can't because you're not a teacher? See why you can still homeschool your kids!

Images c/o: TarasMalyarevich / depositphotos; belchonock / depositphotos; and Stock Unlimited

I Want to Homeschool, But I’m Not a Teacher!

Why would a parent think that they have to be a teacher in order to homeschool their kids? Simple. They’re basing their idea of homeschooling on their experience in public school.

Public school educators do need an extensive amount of training before they can teach a class. They need to learn various teaching strategies for large groups of kids. They need to have an understanding of state objectives and how to meet those standards on each lesson plan. They need to know how to administer classroom discipline for children with varying behavioral issues.

And they need to receive continuing education regularly so that they can keep up with changing state testing requirements and curriculum changes.

As a homeschooler, you truly have to think about two of those things: how to teach according to your child’s learning style and how to meet your state education requirements. That’s it.

You already know how to administer appropriate discipline to your children. You do it everyday.

And you don’t have to keep up with educational curriculum changes. You get to make that decision all on your own.

It’s likely that you already know how your children learn as well. You know which ones of your kids need to learn by seeing, which ones need to learn by listening, and which ones need to learn by doing. All you have to do is adapt your teaching style to fit them – something you already do everyday.

Do you read to your kids? Congratulations! You’re a reading teacher!

Have you taught your children to clean? Then you’re already a home ec teacher!

Have you taught your child to ride a bike? You are totally a P.E. teacher.

How many times have you helped your kids learn to count? Yep, that makes you a math teacher too.

Do you need to be a teacher to homeschool?

If you’ve ever thought “I want to homeschool, but I’m not a teacher”, take heart. You absolutely do not need to be a professional educator to teach your own children.

You simply need to care about their education and be willing to do what it takes to help them learn. As a loving parent, I suspect that you might even be overqualified.

Have you felt that you were unqualified to homeschool because you’re not a teacher? What helped you to start your homeschooling journey anyway? Share your experiences in the comments!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling posts!

Think you're too broke to homeschool your kids Believe it or not, homeschooling doesn't have to cost a lot!

Think that you're too busy to homeschool You might not be! Homeschooling is a lot more flexible than it seems.

Think you're behind on homeschool planning You're not. You don't need a lot to homeschool, even if you're a newbie!

Ready to start homeschooling? Follow my Homeschool Planning board on Pinterest for plenty of ideas!

And get more homeschooling support when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! To subscribe, just use the widget below.

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: homeschool

Preschool Worksheets: Fall Preschool Worksheets

October 5, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Fall is such a wonderful time to be a preschooler. I vividly remember my “nursery school” (we didn’t have preschool back then) and going there in the fall was so fun. We read fun books, we ate fall snacks (apples, of course), and the air was crisp and I just loved it.

These days, kids receive a structured education earlier than they used to, but we can certainly make it fun! And that’s why I’ve rounded up some new preschool worksheets: fall preschool worksheets! These are perfect for simple, age-appropriate autumn learning that kids will love!

Printable Fall Preschool Worksheets

If you like this list, be sure to check out our collection of fun preschool worksheets and activities you can use with your kids! We’re adding more all the time!

Make the most of autumn learning for your little one with these fall preschool worksheets!

Preschool Worksheets: Fall Preschool Worksheets

A quick note here: There’s a lot of backlash against using worksheets in preschool these days. And I can understand why that’s the case. Giving four-year-olds paperwork to fill out all day doesn’t sound like much of a childhood.

In our family, we don’t use worksheets to that extent. We use them as a minimal part of our learning day. And my four-year-old loves them! She also loves to play fun learning games, read great preschool stories, and make fun preschool crafts. We try to keep it diverse. 🙂

And now – for the fall preschool worksheets you can add to your learning day too!

1. Farm-Themed Fall Counting Worksheets

2. Fall Color and Trace Worksheets

3. Apple Preschool Scissor Skills Worksheets

4. Pumpkin Sight Word Worksheets

5. Apple Preschool Matching Worksheets

6. Pumpkins Mini Activity Book

7. Pumpkin Preschool Ordinal Number Worksheets

8. Fall Do A Dot Printables

9. Cookie Counting Worksheets for Preschool

10. Fall Sight Word Worksheet

11. Pumpkin Counting and Tracing Worksheets

12. Fall Color by Sight Word Worksheets

13. Fall Tracing Worksheets

14. Fall I Spy Graphing Worksheet

15. Animal Homes Preschool Worksheets

16. Fall Color by Letter Worksheets

17. Fall Maze Worksheets

18. Pumpkin Spin and Trace Worksheets

Ready to share more fun preschool worksheets with your kids? Don’t miss these!

Pick up these cute cupcake big and small worksheets for preschool to make learning about size differentiation fun!

Teach children how to identify community workers in both Spanish and English with these Spanish community helper worksheets!

Ready to get your little ones learning? These printable preschool worksheets and activities feature fun themes and hands-on learning for little ones!

And see more ideas for teaching young learners on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

You can get exclusive learning worksheets, activities, and resources when you sign up for our email newsletter! Get started with the widget below. 🙂

Use these fall preschool worksheets to help your little ones learn all autumn long!

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables, PreK Homeschooling Tagged With: fall, preschool, worksheets

Simple Kindergarten Homeschool Reading List

October 3, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Our kindergartner is off to the reading races! She’s really progressed in her ability to read over the summer and now there’s no stopping her. She reads street signs and menu items and instructions on gas pumps and – basically, any word, anywhere.

Which thrills me. There is no more important skill in life than the ability to read. I firmly believe that a love for reading is the most important part of a good education.

But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be fun, right? So, for this year, I wanted to create a simple kindergarten homeschool reading list that my little one could complete without pressure and have fun while doing it! Take a look at our reading selections for this year and see if you can’t find some new stories for your family!

For more on our kindergarten plans for this year, take a look at how we’re planning a minimalist homeschool kindergarten curriculum!

Ready to get your little one reading? This simple kindergarten homeschool reading list features early readers kids will love!

Images c/o: StockUnlimited

Kindergarten Homeschool Reading List

Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

1. My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook

2. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

3. Pete the Cat: Pete At the Beach by James Dean

4. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

5. Curious George: The Donut Delivery by H.A. Rey

6. The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak

7. There Is a Bird On Your Head! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems

8. What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

9. Enemy Pie (Reading Rainbow Book) by Derek Munson

Kindergarten Reading List for Kids

10. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

11. Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

12. They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

13. The Day The Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

14. What’s The Difference? Being Different is Amazing! by Doyin Richards

15. The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

16. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

17. This Is How We Do It: One Day In the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe

18. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

Simple Kindergarten Homeschool Reading List

What books are you reading with your kindergartner this year? Share your kindergarten homeschool reading list in the comments!

Try these other tips for planning your kindergarten homeschool year!

Get your little one off to a gentle start with this minimalist homeschool curriculum for kindergarten!

Liven up your lesson plans with these free printable flashcards for kids!

Overwhelmed by planning your kindergartner's homeschool lessons Try this simple homeschool kindergarten program instead!

Get more tips for teaching early grades on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

Did you know that our email subscribers get exclusive learning printables? Sign up to get yours using the widget below. 🙂

Share easy readers and fun stories with this simple kindergarten homeschool reading list!

Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: homeschool kindergarten, homeschool reading list, reading

All About Leaves Printable Pack

October 2, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Happy fall, ya’ll!

The air is cooler and the leaves in our neighborhood are just starting to turn colors.

Down here in the South, the warm weather keeps the leaves from changing colors completely until about November, but we’ll take what we can get for now.

We’re welcoming the autumn season with our All About Leaves Printable Pack for fall!

If you love this set (and I hope you do!), be sure to check out our list of 50 Fall Printables for Kids!

Fall Leaves Printable Unit Study

By the way, if you’ve been following our site for some time, you may already know that we have a printable pack for each season.

For winter, we have All About Snowflakes. For spring, we have All About Flowers. For summer, we have All About Beaches.

Stop by to see them all!

This All About Leaves Printable Unit Study is a perfect way to study the science of fall foliage with kids!

All About Leaves Printable Pack

To use this leaves printable unit study, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • Printer (with ink)
  • Printer paper
  • Scissors
  • Colored pencils or crayons
  • Pencils
  • Laminator (helpful if you want to reuse the leaf identification flashcards)
All About Leaves Printable Unit Study

In “All About Leaves”, you’ll find 30 pages of activities for grades K-2!

Learning About How Leaves Change Color

There’s a printable activity explaining why leaves change color in the fall.

Fall Leaves Printable Pack

Plus a quiz to test kids’ knowledge afterward!

How to Identify Leaves Printable Activity

Learn about types of trees and which ones lose leaves in the autumn.

Leaf Symmetry Printable Activity

Kids can practice art and math with this fun leaf symmetry activity!

Fall Leaves Coloring Pages

There are several fall leaf coloring pages inside.

Using Leaf Identification Flashcards with Kids

Plus, our Leaf Identification Flashcards, as well as a full answer key.

If you love fall and you’re studying it with your kids this year, All About Leaves is a fun way to discuss autumn leaves with elementary-aged students!

Scroll down to get your copy of All About Leaves Printable Pack!

Kids’ Books about Leaves:

Planning to read about fall leaves with your kids? Try these super cute kids’ books about leaves!

  1. Leaves Fall Down: Learning about Autumn Leaves by Lisa Bullard
  2. Leaves by David Ezra Stein
  3. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves! by Lucille Colandro
  4. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson

Want even more leaf learning fun? Check out my other fall leaf-themed posts!

This fall leaves unit study for kids is a great way to study autumn together this year!
Fun Fall Leaf Activities for Kids @ Look! We're Learning!
50 Fall Books for Kids
All About Leaves Printable Pack - Look! We're Learning!

To get your copy of our All About Leaves Printable Pack, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check it out below!

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables, Unit Studies Tagged With: all about leaves, all about leaves printable pack, all about leaves unit study, fall, fall leaves, fall printables, homeschooling printable pack, leaves, printable packs

Fun and Educational Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

September 29, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

As a kid, I took a ton of road trips with my family. And, while I enjoyed them, I typically spent most of the travel time huddled in the backseat with my Walkman (remember those?) and a stack of books.

That’s not necessarily bad. But it’s much better to spend that time making learning fun for kids, especially if you have more than one child. Educational printable road trip games for kids are a wonderful way to pass the time on a vacation and reinforce some important learning concepts.

Take a look at the list we’ve rounded up below. There are over 25 to choose from! Print a few before you leave and let the kids have fun (and learn) as you ride! Plus, see how you can check your vehicle to make sure your car seats are safe before you hit the road!

And, if you want some games you can pick up from the store, don’t miss our list of road trip games for kids you can buy!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

Make your next vacation into a fun learning adventure with these educational printable road trip games for kids!

Planning for a Safe Road Trip with Kids

Since we have four kids, we’ve had a car seat in our vehicle for the last 12 years. We’ve gone through our share in that time (at least four) and we’ve had to choose vehicles based on whether they were suitable for traveling as a family.

What I didn’t know was that I could have been using Cars.com to find the perfect family-friendly vehicle for us! Before making a recommendation, Cars.com does its own car seat checks. (This is a great step-by-step tutorial in how to conduct a car seat safety check, by the way.)

You can even find out which vehicles made the “Car Seat Honor Roll”! Something we’ll definitely keep in mind when we’re shopping for a new minivan in a couple of years.

25+ Fun and Educational Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

As you head out, bring along some of these printable road trip games for kids! There are printable math games, printable reading games, printable spelling games, and more for the little ones to play!

1. Sharks! Printable Shark Food Chain Game – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Galaxy Game – Kids Activities Blog

3. Roll A Shape Preschool Game – No Time for Flashcards

4. Printable What’s the Weather Board Game – Playdough to Plato

5. Roll and Cover Snowman Game – Fun-A-Day

6. Spell It! Printable Game – The Measured Mom

7. Printable Ice Cream Shape Sorting Game – Look! We’re Learning!

8. Printable Recycling Game – Adventure In a Box

9. Star-Themed Math Facts Game – The Kindergarten Connection

10. Spring Bugs Tic Tac Toe Game – Views From a Stepstool

11. Roll and Race Addition and Subtraction Game – This Reading Mama

12. Aquarium Arithmetic Seek & Find Game – Look! We’re Learning!

Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

13. Fall Leaves Preschool Concentration Game – Look! We’re Learning!

14. Printable Expanded Form Math Game – Kids Activities Blog

15. Roll and Say ABC Game – Fantastic Fun and Learning

16. Tide Pool Skip Counting Game – Buggy and Buddy

17. Spell for Your Life! Game – Teach Beside Me

18. Printable Robot Memory Game – Brain Power Boy

19. Apple Preschool Counting Puzzles – Look! We’re Learning!

20. Ladybug Roll and Cover Game – The Measured Mom

21. Multiplication Tic Tac Toe Game – School Time Snippets

22. Make Ten Card Game – Mama Papa Bubba

23. Ocean Old Maid Game – School Time Snippets

24. Printable Time Telling Game – Easy Peasy and Fun

25. Cupcake Letter Matching Game – Look! We’re Learning!

26. Letter Sounds Alphabet Game – Mom Inspired Life

Educational Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

Did you like this list of fun resources? Try some of these other learning ideas!

Use these printable fall playdough mats to teach your little ones to form letters and numbers!

These adorable farm animal paper bag puppets are such a fun way to learn about barnyard animals with the kids!

Pick up these elementary homeschool printables to use with your students from grades K4 through 5!

Pack up the car and bring along these printable road trip games for kids to keep learning while you ride!

See even more fun ways to make math fun on my Math Mania Pinterest board!

P.S. You can get learning resources and tips in your email inbox when you sign up for our newsletter! Use the widget below to get started. 🙂

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables Tagged With: games, homeschool printables

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