Homeschool Curriculum Archives

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!

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!

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!

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. 🙂

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!

Images c/o: StockUnlimited

Kindergarten Homeschool Reading List

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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

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

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

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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!

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)

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

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

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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Sharks! – A Shark Food Chain Game

September 28, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

My kids, like most kids, just love sharks.

They are totally fascinated with how powerful they are, how quickly they swim, and how they eat pretty much everything.

In fact, I think that last one might be the thing they like most about them.

So I was ecstatic to get a copy of the gorgeous picture book “How to Survive As a Shark” from Innovation Press! As we read the book, we learned so many things about sharks that we didn’t know before, including how they sleep and what they eat!

And that gave me the idea to turn the shark’s diet into a fun file folder game!

Read on to see how to get a copy of this shark food chain game for your students!

Learn even more about marine animals with our list of beautiful books about dolphins for kids to read!

They’ll love studying how these animals survive in such a harsh environment, even when sharks are swimming around!

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

How to Survive As a Shark: Shark Food Chain Game

Most people (me included) think that sharks are at the top of the ocean food chain.

But they’re not! There’s an animal that eats sharks!

That was just one of the cool facts we learned from the gorgeous picture book “How to Survive As a Shark” by Kristen Foote and Erica Salcedo.

By the way, if you want to get the book for your kids, you can check it out through this affiliate link: How to Survive As a Shark.

In this story, a young shark gets taken under the “fin” of an older shark who’s survived some tough ocean battles over the years. He lost his eye in one and wears a wicked cool eye patch as a result.

Through the book, kids learn how sharks are born, what they eat as they grow, and what eats them! (I won’t tell! You have to read the book!)

After sharing the story together, we decided to make a simple shark food chain game to help my kids remember what sharks eat.

To use this shark file folder game at home, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Full assembly instructions are included in the product.

Basically, you print the game and glue it inside the file folder. Page one should appear on the left side and page two should appear on the right.

Cut out the game spinner (with arrow) and the two game pieces.

If you want the spinner to really work well, print it on cardstock or you can glue it onto cardstock after printing.

Use the brass fastener to attach the arrow to the spinner and you’re ready to roll!

With this game, players take the journey of a young shark from infancy to adulthood. Seaweed is one of the shark’s first foods.

As they grow, they consume larger and larger prey. As adults, sharks may eat squid and even dolphins!

This game is designed for two players. Kids can use the included game pieces to travel the board.

The game spinner lets them move from one to four spaces.

As they land on spaces with directions, they get to move forward or back.

The first one to the end wins!

This is such a neat way to learn what sharks eat and it helps to reinforce what they learn in the book in a fun, hands-on way!

Scroll down to get your copy of our Shark Food Chain Board Game!

Try some of these other ways to learn about the ocean!

To get your copy of this Sharks Food Chain File Folder Game, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check it out below!

15 Beautiful Children’s Books about Harvest

September 25, 2017 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

We’re getting well into the harvest season and it’s a perfect time to read about this time of year with the kids!

We’ve already featured a harvest unit study, but I wanted to share a few more children’s books about harvest that feature picking apples, pumpkins, corn, and all kinds of fall produce.

There are even books that talk about the harvest moon, which is a great way to talk about lunar cycles.

Once you read a couple of these books, be sure to take the kids pumpkin picking, apple picking, or running through a corn maze. You might even want to make an apple pie with your kids!

By the way, if you can make an apple pie successfully, please explain it to me. I’m terrified of attempting to make a pie from scratch.

If you love these books, don’t miss our roundup of 50 Fall Books for Kids or our list of Children’s Books about Farms!

15 Beautiful Children’s Books about Harvest

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1. Possum’s Harvest Moon – Anne Hunter

2. Strega Nona’s Harvest – Tomie dePaola

3. We Gather Together: Celebrating the Harvest Season – Wendy Pfeffer

4. Pick a Circle, Gather Squares: A Fall Harvest of Shapes – Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

5. Hello, Harvest Moon – Ralph Fletcher

6. Fall Harvests: Bringing In Food – Martha E. H. Rustad

7. It’s Harvest Time! – Jean McElroy

8. Curious George: Apple Harvest – H.A. Rey

9. Apples, Apples Everywhere!: Learning about Apple Harvests – Robin Koontz

10. By the Light of the Harvest Moon – Harriet Ziefert

11. Tractor Mac: Harvest Time by Billy Steers

12. Harvest Time: Celebrate Fall! by Erika L. Shores

13. Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

14. Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie (Picture the Seasons) by Jill Esbaum

15. Bitsy’s Harvest Party by Melody Carlson

Don’t miss these other book lists for kids!

For more tips to make your kids into readers, check out my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

This post is part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Alphabet and Number Fall Playdough Mats

September 19, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

We’ve been enjoying releasing all of our newest fall-themed products lately! Today we’re wrapping things up with a set of Alphabet & Number Fall Playdough Mats!

If you’re teaching toddlers or preschoolers this year, you’ll love using these mats to help them work on fine motor skills and letter/number recognition!

Plus, it’s always fun to play with playdough, even for adults!

By the way, don’t miss our other preschool playdough mats, including our apple tree counting mat – another easy fall project for PreK!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Alphabet & Number Fall Playdough Mats

To use these preschool fall playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This pack includes:

26 letter mats showing both uppercase and lowercase letters
10 number mats showing the numbers 0-9

To use these mats, show the kids how to roll their playdough into rope-like shapes.

Once they form the playdough ropes, they can connect them together to trace the shapes of the letters and numbers on the mats.

We decided to use fall-themed colored playdough as well.

There are mats for each letter – from A all the way to Z! So if you’re using letter of the week with your preschoolers, you can choose one letter per week and work on practicing forming the letters as you go.

Plus, there are printable fall playdough mats for the numbers 0-9 as well!

Be sure to laminate them before you use them with any playdough, especially if you want to reuse them at another time.

Scroll down to get your Alphabet and Number Fall Playdough Mats!

Toddler Books about Fall:

Make this activity into an easy fall pre-k unit with these fun toddler books about fall!

1. Fall Is Here by Frankie Jones

2. Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka

3. I Love Fall! by Allison Inches

4. Fall by Roger Priddy

Homemade Playdough Recipes:

Need some ideas for making your own playdough for use with these mats? Check out these simple recipes!

1. DIY Edible Playdough – Look! We’re Learning!

2. No Cook Playdough – The Imagination Tree

3. Kool-Aid Playdough – Look! We’re Learning!

4. Cotton Candy Playdough – Mama Miss

Don’t miss these other fall activity posts!

To get your copy of our Fall Fun Literacy Mats, check out the details below!

Our Minimalist Homeschool Schedule

September 18, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

We’ve been homeschooling for nine years now. And, since I’m a planning junkie, I have tried literally scores of different homeschool schedules. In a way that’s been a good thing. Since we’re teaching kids with ADHD at home, being flexible has been one of the keys to our homeschool success.

But all kids, and kids with ADHD especially, need consistency. And one thing I have not been consistent in is our daily homeschool schedule. Know why? I was trying to cram way too much in every day. No human on Earth can possibly maintain the type-A kind of schedule I was attempting to follow every day.

Now that we’re practicing a minimalist style of homeschooling, I’m using a far more streamlined schedule and it is working wonders. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by lesson planning, get a look at our minimalist homeschool schedule! It’s a really simple way to get started.

Image c/o: massonforstock / depositphotos

A Minimalist Homeschool Schedule

Note: Our two oldest kids are using K12 at home this year, so this homeschool schedule is largely based on their live class times. Because they have live classes each day, those windows are excellent for working with my two younger children.

My third-grade son is working at a fourth-grade level in most subjects and at a third-grade level in others and he has ADHD, so I tend to use short lesson times to keep his interest. My kindergartner has her lessons as the same times, though with different materials.

As you’ll see, we cover math and ELA every day. The rest of the subjects are done weekly. I schedule time in the afternoon for independent work so that they can practice what they learned in the morning. Friday is largely a review day, with time for elective subjects based on what they’re interested in that week.

Without further ado – here’s our minimalist homeschool schedule:

Monday:

9:00 – Math

9:30 – ELA

10:00 – Health

1:30 – Independent work

Tuesday:

9:00 – Math

9:30 – ELA

10:00 – Geography

1:30 – Independent work

Wednesday:

9:00 – Math

9:30 – ELA

10:00 – Science

1:30 – Independent work

Thursday:

9:00 – Math

9:30 – ELA

10:00 – Art

1:30 – Independent work

Friday:

9:00 – Math review

9:30 – ELA review

10:00 – Elective (Foreign language, music, coding)

And that’s it! It truly is a minimalist homeschool schedule, because we’re focusing on the most essential subjects right now. My number one goal is to help my hyper son get into the routine of having his school lessons daily. Then we can branch out into longer sessions or even more advanced subjects.

What homeschool schedule are you using this year? What have you learned from prior years that’s helped you develop a consistent routine? Share your experiences in the comments!

Want to simplify your homeschool? Try these tips!

Get more ideas for planning your school year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

And you can receive regular teaching tips and ideas in our email newsletter! Just use the widget below to sign up. 😉

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more homeschool schedule ideas from our fellow bloggers!

Our K12 Daily Schedule for Two Grades

September 14, 2017 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Our two oldest children are trying a brand new method of home education this year: K12. And adjusting to it has been…an interesting experience.

After years of relaxed homeschooling, shifting into a full school day based around live classes, offline assignments, and readings was a complete course change. We’ve have seriously bumpy days, days that were awesome, and plenty in between.

Now, though, we’ve developed a K12 daily schedule for two grades that has simplified our daily routine quite a bit – something we really needed since we’re still homeschooling our two youngest kids. If you’re considering K12 for your kids, take a look at our daily schedule to see what it could look like in your family!

Image c/o: seregam / depositphotos

Our K12 Daily Schedule for Two Grades

As you look at this schedule, keep in mind that this is the routine for our kids, who are in seventh and fourth grade. Younger children who use K12 tend to spend very little time in online classes and the vast majority doing offline work with their learning coaches (usually parents).

In upper elementary grades, though, kids start to spend more time with their online teachers. In fourth grade, the ratio is about 2 hours of online education to 3.5 hours of offline education per day.

My seventh-grader, though, spends about 3.5 hours of class time online and about 2 hours in offline assignments. These totals vary by day, but it averages out to about this much.

Now – for a look at each child’s daily schedule.

Our K12 Seventh Grade Schedule

Each K12 student has live classes called “Class Connects”. These daily sessions feature live instruction from a professional teacher and interaction with other students. My seventh-grader has Class Connects in four subjects: Math, ELA, Social Studies, and Science.

Here’s her weekly Class Connect schedule:

Monday: 8:30 a.m. – Social Studies; 10:00 a.m. – ELA; 11:30 – Science

Tuesday: 8:30 a.m. – Math; 10:00 a.m. – ELA; 11:30 – Social Studies

Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. – Math; 10:00 a.m. – Social Studies; 11:30 a.m. – Science

Thursday: 8:30 a.m. – Math; 10:00 a.m. – ELA; 11:30 a.m. – Science

Friday: 8:30 a.m. – Math

Since she finishes her classes at the same time Monday through Thursday, she stops at 12:30 to have lunch and then gets started on homework. We encourage her to take a look at her assignments for the week on Sunday evening, so she can plan out how much work to do each day. Getting behind is NOT fun.

The remaining subjects (Art, Health, and Phys. Ed.) are self-paced, so we work on those day by day. By the time she completes all of her assignments, homework, and studying for the next day, she’s usually done at 3:00 p.m.

There’s only one live class on Friday, so we spend most of the day catching up on anything that’s unfinished or studying for quizzes. We generally wrap up by noon on that day and have a long weekend.

Our K12 Fourth Grade Schedule

My fourth-grader is a completely different story. Since so much of his work is completed offline, I am still the primary educator, which takes a significant amount of time each day.

Here is his Class Connect weekly schedule:

Monday: 9:00 a.m. – Science

Tuesday: 9:00 a.m. – ELA; 10:15 a.m. – Math; 12:45 – Social Studies

Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. – ELA; 10:15 a.m. – Math

Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – ELA; 10:15 a.m. – Math

I spend about an hour on Sunday evenings looking at his schedule and his upcoming assignments. The lesson plans are already written for the subjects I need to teach, but I still have to read over them and make sure we have the necessary supplies in advance.

We get a monthly instructional calendar from his school, which outlines how much to do for each subject per day. All of the assignments are related to the live classes, so I tend to wait until after he’s had a live class on the topic before I start an assignment.

So, I often hold off on teaching Social Studies for the week until after he’s had his Social Studies class on Tuesday. That way, he’s already been introduced to the topic. Fridays are his days “off” from Class Connects, so I save most of our science experiments for that day when we’ll have plenty of time to complete them.

As with my seventh-grader, my fourth-grader’s art, health, and phys. ed. classes are also self-paced, so we do some of those day by day to keep up with the hour requirement.

I’ll be sharing my homeschool schedule for my younger kids next week, but here’s a hint: It’s largely situated around our K12 daily schedule.

Are any of you using K12 with your kids this year? How do you schedule your routine? Share your ideas and experiences in the comments!

Need more school scheduling tips?

And see plenty of tips and ideas for structuring your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more homeschool schedules you can use from our fellow bloggers!

P.S. Get regular tips, support, and ideas for teaching kids at home in my email newsletter! You can sign up using the widget below. 😉

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Elephant Craft

September 12, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Whenever I take my kids to the zoo, one of the first animal exhibits they want to see is the elephant pit. At our local zoo, there are three elephants and, over the years, we’ve spent hours standing there watching them as they eat, walk, bathe, and perform…uh…other bodily functions. (It’s nature!)

As we were thinking about some new coffee filter crafts for kids we could make, we hit upon a coffee filter elephant craft! So that’s what we made. And it was such a fun project I wanted to share it!

This would be a perfect craft to make when you’re learning about zoo animals, the African savannah, or even Asia! Plus, kids can make their own wild animal collection by adding our coffee filter moose craft or our coffee filter owl craft! Read on to see how we made this cute elephant craft.

If you want to teach the kids about zoo animals, be sure to check our our printable zoo animal flashcards too!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Elephant Craft

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

As you can see, this craft only takes a few supplies, so you won’t need to make a store run. Unless, of course, you’re actually out of coffee. 😉

Color one of the filters gray and then glue it to the center of a piece of construction paper. We used yellow, but any light color will work. (You want the details you add with the gray crayon later to show up well.)

Use a black crayon to draw two eyes at the top center of the filter.

Now we’re going to pause to make the trunk. Use the gray crayon to color in half of the other coffee filter.

Cut the gray half off of the filter and discard the uncolored part. Now use the scissors to cut the center half-circle out of the gray filter. Keep the outer crimped ring.

Glue one end of the crimped ring to the center of the filter you glued down. Now your elephant has a trunk!

Lift up the trunk to draw a smile on the elephant’s face. Ours is a happy elephant, of course. You can draw the smile on first and then glue on the trunk, but I prefer to glue the trunk on first because it helps me center the smile. Either way. 🙂

Now use the gray crayon to outline a large ear on either side of the elephant’s face.

Use a pink crayon to color in a smaller half-circle on the ears, then color the rest in with the gray crayon. At this point, I felt we were done. But then I remembered that the elephants we always see at the zoo have very, very long eyelashes.

So we added some of our own!

And now we’re done with our coffee filter elephant craft!

This was a blast to make! And the kids will love picking up the picture and making the trunk “wiggle”.

Let your children try some of these other coffee filter animal crafts!

Plus, see more fun craft projects on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Homeschooling In a Small Space

September 11, 2017 by Selena Robinson 10 Comments

We’re a family of six. We live in a 1600-square foot house (and that’s including the garage).

One of the major issues that homeschooling families face is finding the space to store their school supplies and we’re no strangers to that problem. As much as I would like to have a dedicated school room, we just don’t have the space or the money to have one. So, like many of you, we just have to make do with what we have.

If you’re strapped for storage room, take a look at how we practice homeschooling in a small space!

Homeschooling In a Small Space

Since our home is packed to capacity (two of us to each bedroom), we don’t have a spare room that we can convert into a “homeschool room”. I’d love to have one, but it’s probably not in the cards any time soon. So, we tend to keep our homeschooling supplies in a few strategic places around the home.

But – a note of caution: It’s really easy to just stash homeschool stuff all over the place. Seeing all that clutter around makes it hard for me to concentrate, though, so I tend to just avoid using the materials at all.

And that’s how I ended up with homeschool “storage zones”.

Our dining room does double duty and serves as our school room most of the time. We have a bookcase on one short wall where we keep the items we use the most. Our anchor charts and educational posters get stored behind the bookcase.

At the top, I keep our school printer, the kids’ microscope, a pencil sharpener, and a three-hole punch. Anything more and it turns into a drop zone for everything we have.

On the shelves below, we keep our homeschool materials according to grade level. Our two oldest children are using K12 this year, so we keep their computers and science supplies on the top shelf.

My two youngest children are still being taught exclusively by Mom, so their books and materials are on the shelves below. My third/fourth-grader’s books are on the left and the basket on the right holds the workbooks and printables for my kindergartner.

The bottom shelf is used for the textbooks that were sent to us for use with our K12 students. As you can see, they sent us quite a bit. I try to keep it separated by grade level, but it’s a constant work in progress.

On the full wall of our dining room, we keep a small chalkboard and a space for our educational charts and posters. I rotate that out, depending on what we’re studying at the moment. Right now, my youngest son is working on identifying the states, so that’s the chart we’re displaying.

This is our curriculum closet, which originally served as our hall closet. It already had shelving, thankfully, so it was a perfect place to put many of our materials.

As you can see, this space has to serve as a hall closet AND a homeschool storage space. I corral the household things in baskets and the homeschool things in separate stacks. The row at the top is textbooks for upper elementary grades. The lower shelves hold blank notebooks, lapbooks we intend to reuse, and storybooks we’ll be discussing with the kids this year.

I go through our books and materials every year and declutter the resources we won’t be using anymore. That keeps me from overfilling the closet. (Which is so very easy to do.)

And finally, I use a clear hanging shoe holder on the backside of the closet door to hold writing instruments, flash cards, and small office supplies. As you can see, I have a tiny overbuying problem when it comes to markers.

I will not buy any more markers. I will not buy any more markers. I will not buy any more markers.

I should probably make myself write that 100 times today.

How do you keep your homeschooling supplies from overtaking your home? Do you have any tips for schooling in a small space?

Need more tips for getting your homeschool ready for the new year?

And see plenty of suggestions for organizing your homeschool supplies on my Homeschool Organization Pinterest board!

P.S. You can get homeschooling and parenting tips in your inbox each week when you sign up for our email newsletter!

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool blog hop from iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more tips for making the most of your homeschool space!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Owl Craft

September 5, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

A few years ago, we took our kids to a live birds of prey show. During the performance, we got to see several kinds of owls swoop right over our heads! It was my first time being up close to these animals and it was incredible. I had no idea that owls could be that big! Or that beautiful!

Since then, we’ve been learning more about these amazing animals. So I thought that it would be fun to add a new project to our collection of coffee filter crafts for kids: a coffee filter owl craft!

This craft is really easy and simple to customize. Kids can use any color they want and add the details they like: feathers, beak, wings – even horned tufts!

If the kids enjoy this project, learn more about these animals with our list of beautiful owl books for kids!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Owl Craft

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

Start by outlining two eyes toward the top of the coffee filter. Be sure to leave the whites uncolored.

Use a tan crayon to outline two half-circles on either side of the coffee filter. These will be the folded “wings”.

Draw a triangle in the center below the yes using the bright yellow crayon. Then color in the rest of the filter with a brown crayon.

When you’re finished coloring, the wings are all you’ll have left to do.

Now use the tan crayon to color in the wings.

Let’s add a few details: We used a black crayon to draw plumage on the belly. Then I used the same brown crayon that I used to color in the body to add talons and horned tufts.

Add a few other birds flying in the distance and you’re done!

You can practically hear him saying “Hoot!”

Oh, that’s just me? Okay.

Don’t miss these other learning ideas and activities for kids!

Share more fall fun with the ideas on my Fall Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Simple Minimalist Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

September 4, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

My last little one is learning at kindergarten level this year. She’s working at first grade in some concepts, but there are a few important kindergarten objectives that I want her to grasp before we move on.

So we’ll be focusing there and then moving forward as she becomes comfortable.

In keeping with my desire to make homeschooling a lot less stressful than it has been previously, I’m practicing minimalist homeschooling this year.

Basically, that means using as few resources as possible to make lesson planning, teaching, and guiding as easy as possible.

And so…here’s a look at my minimalist kindergarten homeschool curriculum!

This is a great list if you’re trying to keep your homeschool plans simple this year.

By the way, if you’re teaching older kids, take a look at our minimalist fourth grade curriculum plans too!

A Simple Minimalist Homeschool Curriculum for Kindergarten

Image c/o: eskaylim / depositphotos

Note: This is a very minimalist homeschool curriculum for kindergarten. So this truly focuses on the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

I also include science, because I believe it is essential to introduce science to kids as early as possible. Thinking scientifically comes so naturally to young ones and it’s wonderful to encourage that way of exploration from the start.

All-in-One Program: ABC Mouse will be our primary homeschool program for kindergarten. We got to try it earlier this year and my little one has absolutely loved it. After working with it over the summer, her reading ability has skyrocketed. So, we’re sticking with it for this entire school year.

Reading: While ABC Mouse is a great core program, I want our kindergartner to get some structured practice in reading and responding, so we’re using 180 Days of Reading for Kindergarten to give her some regular reading practice daily. It’s also a good way to make sure we hit all the sight words for this grade level.

Handwriting: Since she already knows the alphabet and how to write each letter, we’ll be focusing on improving her overall handwriting. To do this, we’ll be using a standard Roselle Paper Primary Pad to do some basic copywork each day. We’ll try to complete one sentence each morning to warm up and see how her handwriting progresses through the year.

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks eBook

Math: Our supplemental math practice will be the Early Math section from Khan Academy. When this grade level was first introduced, I leapt for joy. We love Khan Academy, but I was looking for something to help my younger kids with basic math skills and this is it. Our kindergartner loves it.

Science: Finally, for science, we’ll be working through the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science together. I used this book with my boys when they were younger and it was a big hit. In fact, our Floating Egg Experiment came out of this book!

In addition to these core subjects, we’ll be sharing plenty of crafts and stories together this year. Look out for list of reading choices for kindergarten – coming soon!

What are you using to homeschool your kindergartners this year? Share your curriculum picks in the comments!

Want to see more of our minimalist homeschool curriculum choices? Check out these posts for suggestions!

See more tips for getting your homeschool year started on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more curriculum choices from our fellow bloggers!

Minimalist Fourth Grade Homeschool Curriculum

September 1, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

When I first started homeschooling, I thought that I needed every single resource for every single grade level I’d ever conceivably teach. Nine years and four children later, I know better.

I was so intent on being “prepared” to give my kids the best education I could that I overwhelmed myself by buying ALL the curriculum I could. Most of it ended up in the hallway closet, buried for years. Just opening the closet door sent me into panic mode.

Now I’m homeschooling as a minimalist, which means using the least amount of resources possible to give my kids a good education. And thanks to the Internet, it really is possible to teach your children at home *well* without turning your house into Harvard.

Here’s a look at the minimalist fourth grade homeschool curriculum we’re using this year to teach my rising fourth-grader!

Image c/o: seregam / depositphotos

Our Minimalist Fourth Grade Homeschool Curriculum

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

Before you look at the resources below, keep in mind that this is a truly minimalist homeschool curriculum plan. So there are a grand total of eight, count ’em, EIGHT items listed.

Of course, we’ll be watching educational videos and reading tons of books together this year, but the items listed below make up our core curriculum. And, since my son has ADHD, these are good resources that allow us to take frequent brain breaks and time off as needed.

All-in-One Program: Our comprehensive homeschool program this year is IXL. It’s an online program that includes practice exercises in ELA, Math, Social Studies, and Science for kids K-12. I love it because I can see all the skills for his grade level at a glance and then proceed in the order that works best for us.

To supplement his IXL lessons, we’ll be using the following individual subject resources:

ELA: For more specialized lessons in English Language Arts, we’ll be adding selected videos from Khan Academy Grammar. We’ll be using the workbook 180 Days of Language for Fourth Grade, which includes practice in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, and the writing process, as the supplement to our grammar videos.

Science: Mystery Science will be our supplemental science program. You can sign up for a free account and get access to some of the units to see how they work. This is an extremely well-crafted science program for elementary students. There are hands-on experiments, lesson plans, and activities that correspond to earth science, biology, space, and more.

Math: I am a huge supporter of online math programs. They’re typically short, interactive, and clear. But I also value traditional math education, so we’re using EnVision Math Grade 4 as our math textbook. Rather than focusing on covering the entire book this year, however, I’ll be assigning exercises that correspond to the lessons he covers in IXL. For math warm-up activities each day, we’re using Smartick Math to get some quick practice in the morning.

Social Studies: I really want him to learn more about the countries of the world this year. IXL covers the geographic aspect of these places, but to get a look at the culture and people of other countries, we’ll be using the beautiful book Children Just Like Me to see how children all over the world live.

Health: For health, we’ll be reading the book Eye Wonder: Human Body by DK Publishing and discussing the importance of nutrition for our body systems.

Art: We got to review the program Sparketh earlier this year and we’ll be using that for our year-long art program. The videos are easy to follow and the projects are actually interesting, even to a very active eight-year-old boy!

And that’s what we’re using for our minimalist fourth grade homeschool curriculum this year! What are you using for fourth grade? Share your picks in the comments!

For more homeschool planning ideas, check out these posts!

And get a look at lots of curriculum resources on my Homeschool Curriculum Choices board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool linkup from iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more curriculum choices from our fellow bloggers!

How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

August 29, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

I’ve been known to overschedule my homeschool lesson plans just a tad.

Okay, maybe more than a tad. More like a WHOLE LOT.

Like so many homeschooling parents, I start the planning season with a huge amount of enthusiasm and excitement. We’ll study all the great civilizations of history! We’ll read every classic children’s book ever written! We’ll visit every museum in the United States!

Naturally, I’m running on fumes by October. By January, our homeschool year is practically dead in the water.

I was diligent about homeschool scheduling, but I was totally unreasonable in my method. When a child would need extra time to master a concept or to finish an assignment, everything I’d planned for that week or month would get pushed back. Eventually, we’d be so far behind we’d never catch up.

Last year, though, I learned a new way of lesson planning that was far more suited to our busy family life. Here are the three tips I’ve used to learn how to create a flexible homeschool schedule!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my time to write this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positively-slanted article.

Image c/o: Dragonimages / depositphotos

How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

Plan according to resources, not weeks of the year.

How many times have you scheduled a week’s worth of lessons for a specific week of the year? For example, you might choose the third week of September to learn about fall or the second week of April to study the Titanic. These themed schedule ideas are great for getting kids excited about events.

But if you overdo the exact scheduling, you can wear yourself out. You’ll find yourself saying things like:

“We NEED to finish this entire math unit by Friday!”

Or “If we don’t get this read-aloud done today, we’ll have to double up on Monday!”

There’s nothing like a time crunch to get kids to hate school.

Instead of obsessing over finishing lessons by a certain date, plan your lessons around your resources. If your Language Arts textbook has 20 units, then you can aim to complete half a unit a week if you want to finish the whole thing.

That’s a much more flexible way of structuring your lessons. You’ll have room to pause and stay on a topic a little longer or even suspend lessons for a week so you can go on vacation!

Set individual objectives for each child.

Another tip that helped me be more flexible in my lesson planning was to evaluate each child’s progress from the previous year and set individualized goals accordingly. My third-grader, for instance, is not a fan of reading for fun. He has ADHD, so his attention span is so short that it’s hard for him to exercise the patience it takes to read aloud.

This year, his reading objectives are totally different from those of his fourth-grade brother. He’ll be working with short story collections on topics that interest him. That way, we can work through stories that he’s interested in reading and practice lengthening out his attention span as we go.

And it doesn’t matter if it takes us all year to complete one book. As long as he says he enjoys reading, I’m calling it a success.

Shift difficult concepts into future terms or even future school years.

My seventh-grader really has a hard time enjoying her math lessons, so when she and I looked at the list of objectives for the upcoming year, we both nearly had a panic attack.

Instead, we’ve decided to focus on strengthening the skills she struggled with last year. She’s already familiar with them, so it won’t take as long. Plus, she can focus on other math concepts as she builds. Since math is a comprehensive subject, kids will eventually learn it all. It’s perfectly alright to hold off for a while until our kids are ready to tackle new topics. That’s one of the beauties of homeschooling!

The Flexible School Schedule Digital App

So if you like to use homeschool planners, how can you find one that accommodates your flexible homeschool schedule? That’s what Flexible School Schedule is for!

This digital app is designed to be completely customizable to your family’s homeschool plans, no matter when your year begins, when it ends, or how long it takes!

With Flexible School Schedule, you can collect and organize all of your homeschool resources – digital, print, and even video – right in the app! No more sorting through your homeschool closet and coming across a resource you meant to use this year and forgot about. (I have totally done that, by the way.)

Keep an eye on how your individual students are doing this year with the student progress tracker. You can view their progress according to subject, topic, or a specific objective you’d like him or her to master.

Need a quick check on how your school year is progressing? View each child’s progress at a glance by the term and the year!

This app is truly designed for families that need a flexible homeschool schedule (like mine). It’s in development now, so be sure to visit the Flexible School Schedule Kickstarter campaign and make a donation to help make this project a reality!

For more ideas to plan your homeschool year, try these tips!

And don’t forget to follow my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board for more suggestions!

Super Cute Printable Farm Paper Bag Puppets

August 28, 2017 by Selena Robinson 17 Comments

When my kids were small, they all loved the petting zoo.

Between watching the chickens run around, petting the goats and baby lambs, and seeing the pigs root in the mud, there was so much for the kids to see!

Our youngest child still loves the petting zoo and she’s not alone!

Kids just love farm animals, which is why farms are such a popular topic for early childhood education units.

This year, our youngest child is working on reading more picture books and we started with the book Big Red Barn.

To help her with learning to recite stories, I made up some printable farm paper bag puppets so she could reenact parts of the story.

And I’m sharing them with all of you today!

Read on to see how you can get these cute puppet printables free!

And if you want to share more farm activities with the kids, try our farm animal flashcards or our easy farm shoebox diorama craft!

How to Assemble the Printable Farm Paper Bag Puppets

To make these farm paper bag puppets, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Brown paper lunch bags (One per puppet)
Crayons
Child-safe scissors
Liquid glue
A copy of our free Farm Paper Bag Puppet printables (Details below)
Pick up a copy of Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown to make this a storytime activity!

First, you’ll need to print the paper bag puppet faces out.

Give the kids some crayons and let them color them in!

We did traditional farm animal colors, but let the kids use whatever colors they want! If they want to make a purple cow, so be it.

After you color in the puppet faces, use a pair of child-safe scissors to cut them out as one piece each.

Flip a paper bag upside down so that the bottom is at the top. Leave it folded.

Then spread liquid glue over the folded bottom. That’s where you’ll paste the puppet face.

Stick the puppet face on the bag bottom and hold it down to glue it securely.

Cut another piece of printer paper in half and color it to match the puppet face.

Then glue it onto the paper bag body directly under the puppet face. Be sure to flip the bottom up so that you can fit the paper onto the bag.

When you’re done, the puppet should look like this.

Keep reading to pick up the printable template for these farm animal puppets!

How to Use the Farm Paper Bag Puppets for Storytelling

Repeat the process with the other puppet printables to make a cow puppet, a chicken puppet, and a pig puppet.

Since we were reading Big Red Barn, we wanted to make one of each.

But you could also print three pig puppets to go along with The Three Little Pigs or print several cow puppets to go with Click, Clack, Moo.

There are plenty of great children’s books about farms to use these with!

To make your puppets “talk”, just have the kids put their hands inside the bags and place their fingers into the folded bag bottom (the same place where the face is).

They can move their fingers up and down to make each puppet speak!

Using lunch bags is the easiest way to make sure that the bags will fit your little ones’ hands.

But if you want to make adult puppets, you might want to get bags that are a little bit bigger.

“Oh, Mr. Pig, you’re so funny!”

These were so much fun for storytelling! And they’re great for pretend play too!

Scroll down to get your copy of our Printable Farm Paper Bag Puppets free!

Have even more farm fun with the kids!

To get your copy of these printable Farm Paper Bag Puppets, just click the image or the link below to download them to your computer!

>>> Farm Paper Bag Puppets <<<

This post is part of the 31 Days of ABC linkup!

All Done Monkey: Early Literacy – Getting Started Teaching the Alphabet

Creative World of Varya: A Is for Aromatherapy for Kids

Hispanic Mama: B Is For Bilingual Baby Books

Witty Hoots: C Is for Cool Fingerprint Castle Keyrings Tutorial

Teach Me Mommy: D Is for Dinosaurs DIY Sensory Bin

E Is for Environmental Print

Look! We’re Learning! F Is for Farm

All Done Monkey: G Is for Go

All Done Monkey: H Is for Hello/Hola

Jeddah Mom: I Is for Ice Cream

Pennies of Time: K Is for Kindness

Schooling Active Monkeys: L Is for Lion

Sugar, Spice & Glitter

Kitchen Counter Chronicles: O Is for Owls

Creative World of Varya

JDaniel4’sMom: R Is for Robot

Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes: S Is for Spanish

Sand In My Toes: T Is for Truck

The Educators’ Spin On it: U Is for Unicorn

CrArty: V Is for Van Gogh

My Story Time Corner: W Is for Wheels on the Bus

The Mommies Reviews: X

Bambini Travel: Z Is for Zoo Animals

These farm animal paper bag puppets are a perfect craft for spring! Use them as an extension for books about farms!

50 Fall Crafts for Kids

August 22, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

There’s just something about autumn that makes me feel like crafting. (And I’m not the craftiest mom on Earth. Not by a long shot.)

Still, the cool air and the crisp mornings inspire me to share more art projects with the kids. Since I’m a little on the craft-challenged side, I prefer to try simple craft ideas whenever I can. And that’s why I love this list of easy fall crafts for kids! There are 50 here to choose from and they’re all really, really simple.

You won’t need to buy any special equipment or crafting supplies you’ll never use again. Even better, they only take a few minutes to make!

If you make some of these this autumn, I’d love to hear how the kids liked them! And don’t forget to check out our list of cozy fall stories to share during storytime this autumn!

50 Fall Crafts for Kids

1. Coffee Filter Pumpkin Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Pumpkin Handprint Photo Keepsake – Teach Me Mommy

3. Fall Leaf Mosaics – A Crafty Arab

4. Fall Leaf Crayon Pre-Writing Art – Books and Giggles

5. Autumn Leaf Hats – Mosswood Connections

6. Apple Stamp Art – The Chirping Moms

7. Fall Suncatcher Preschool Craft – Mama Smiles

8. Fall Watercolor Leaf Art – Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

9. Fall Muffin Tin Syllable Counting Game – The Educators’ Spin On It

10. Autumn Construction Paper Trees – The Preschool Toolbox Blog

11. Fall Leaf People Craft – Fantastic Fun and Learning

12. Autumn Puzzle Piece Tree Craft – I Heart Crafty Things

13. Fall Leaf Snow Globe – Look! We’re Learning!

14. Autumn Color Process Art – Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

15. Paper Harvest Buddies – Fireflies and Mudpies

16. K-Cup Crrow Craft – Kori At Home

17. Fall Leaf Sunflower Craft – Easy Peasy and Fun

18. Autumn Leaf Coffee Filter Suncatchers – Tinkerlab

19. Fall Leaf Creatures – Powerful Mothering

20. Leaf Painting Activity – Look! We’re Learning!

21. Color Mixing Autumn Lanterns – Kids Craft Room

22. Pressed Leaves Fall Craft – The Chaos and the Clutter

23. Apple-Printed Pinwheels – The Preschool Toolbox

24. Black Glue Fall Leaves – Mess for Less

25. Coffee Filter Apple Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

26. Apple Handprint Photo Keepsake – Teach Me Mommy

27. Chalk Number Game with Leaves – The Educators’ Spin On It

28. Fall Leaf Potato Stamping Art – The Best Ideas for Kids

29. Bubble Blowing Painting Apples – Teach Me Mommy

30. Apple Tree Playdough Counting Activity – Look! We’re Learning!

31. Popcorn Fall Trees – Happy Hooligans

32. Autumn Leaf Suncatchers – Fantastic Fun and Learning

33. Yarn-Wrapped Apple Craft – Red Ted Art

34. Book Pumpkin Craft – Kids Activities Blog

35. Leaf Critters – Tinkerlab

36. Fall Tree Luminaries – Where Imagination Grows

37. Fall Leaf Garland – Look! We’re Learning!

38. Pinecone Painting Activity – The Best Ideas for Kids

39. Paper Plate Apple Craft – Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

40. Paper Pumpkins – Meaningful Mama

41.Pinecone Apples – Fireflies and Mudpies

42. Dish Brush Fall Tree Craft – Crafty Morning

43. Watercolor Fall Leaf Wreath – Happiness is Homemade

44. Tissue Paper Fall Tree Craft – I Heart Crafty Things

45. Apple Stamping Craft – Natural Beach Living

46. Tissue Paper Fall Wreath – Happy Hooligans

47. Fall Leaf Hedgehog Craft – Easy Peasy and Fun

48. Sensory Autumn Art Project – Mosswood Connections

49. Coffee Filter Pig Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

50. Toilet Roll Fall Tree Craft – Kids Craft Room

Get ready for autumn with the kids with these fun learning activities!

Plus, see even more ways to make fall fun and educational with the family on my Fall Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Be sure to sign up for my email newsletter to get special subscriber freebies and tips in your inbox!

I’m Too Broke to Homeschool!

August 21, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Now that we’ve been homeschooling for nine years, I think I’ve heard just about every objection to homeschooling possible. But it always interests me to hear from people who would like to homeschool, but feel that they can’t.

I’ve heard all of these:

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

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

“I want to homeschool, but I can’t stand being around my kids all day!”

And – “I want to homeschool, but I’m too broke!”

Do you think that you’re too broke to homeschool? If so, you’re not alone. Many people think that they can’t afford to homeschool.

But that’s probably not true! Most of us who are homeschooling are not financially comfortable by any stretch of the imagination and yet we make it work! Read on to see how.

Image c/o: Maridav / depositphotos

I’m Too Broke to Homeschool!

Why do some parents think they can’t afford to homeschool? Because of some very common misconceptions about what it takes to actually teach your children at home. Take a look at some of these mistaken ideas to see if you’ve been assuming you can’t afford to homeschool.

Misconception #1: Homeschool Curriculum Costs a Lot of Money

Let me be clear here: You CAN spend a lot of money for homeschool curriculum. But you absolutely do not HAVE to, even if you’re laser focused on high-quality materials. There are plenty of ways to find good homeschooling resources without spending much (or sometimes without spending anything at all).

Many boxed curriculum programs are rather pricey, but you can buy them used and save a bundle. Or you can use a virtual online school option that may be provided for free, depending on the state you live in. Or you can put together your own program using online resources that provide your state’s educational objectives for each grade.

There are plenty of ways to get your homeschool curriculum without spending much money at all. Trust me. We’ve been doing it for years.

Misconception #2: Homeschooling Requires A Parent to Stop Working

Another common idea is that you have to stop working in order to homeschool your children. You don’t. In fact, you may not have to give up your career at all. Depending on your profession, you may be able to work from home a large amount of time and only stop in at the office as needed.

Or, if you want to work from home, there are plenty of ways to do so. I actually work full-time hours and I’ve been homeschooling for years. It can be done. And here’s another tip: homeschooling doesn’t take nearly as much time as public school, so you may not need as much extra time in your schedule as you imagine.

Misconception #3: Homeschoolers Need a Lot of Extracurricular Activities

If your kids attend public school, then you already know about the amount of extracurricular activities involved: field trips, sports, dances, fundraisers. So you might think that you need to duplicate all of these events if you switch to homeschooling.

You don’t. You can, but (again) you don’t HAVE to. You can choose a couple of sports for your kids to play at a local rec center, which will be much less expensive than playing for a school team.

Or pick up a couple of classes online in foreign language, cooking, coding, and just about anything else your kids might want to learn. Since they’re available all the time, how many you try and how much you spend is up to you. Your kids will be just fine if they do less. In fact, they may even enjoy learning more.

How do you make sure your family can afford to homeschool? Are you someone who wants to try teaching your kids but think you’re too broke to homeschool? Share your feelings in the comments!

Want more ideas for homeschooling on the cheap? Pick up my book “How to Afford Homeschooling” for more simple tricks to stretch your homeschool dollar!

How to Afford Homeschooling eBook - Look! We're Learning!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling tips!

And get even more ideas for your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

10 Minute Math Practice with the Smartick Math App

August 18, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

My boys aren’t that interested in long math lessons. Actually, they’re not that interested in long lessons in any subject. (Pretty typical for 8 and 7 year olds, right?) And since my youngest son is living with ADHD, it’s a real challenge to get him to sit still for much of anything, especially math practice.

Over the years, they’ve gotten to try lots of math programs and we’ve enjoyed most of them. But the real issue has been getting them to do a program regularly. If each lesson takes a while, they tend to lose interest rather quickly and then they start viewing lessons as chores, instead of something they actually want to do.

So I was excited to learn about the Smartick method – a math practice app that helps kids get math enrichment in just 10 minutes a day! And it’s been helping my boys do their math lessons without fussing and fighting – always a win in my book. 🙂

Read on to see how the Smartick method works and how you can score a free trial and a 25 percent discount on your subscription!

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

The Smartick Method for Math Practice

Let me be clear: Smartick is NOT a math curriculum. So it’s not a primary math teaching program. Rather, the Smartick method is used for enrichment and regular practice of what kids are already learning.

Many parents use it as an alternative to Kumon or similar after-school programs, so instead of having to take your child to a math lesson after school, you could try Smartick for a quick math boost!

It’s easy to set up Smartick for your kids. Once you create a tutor account, you can add your children as students. Each of them will complete an initial assessment to see what math skills they already know and then the lessons can begin!

Smartick is not text-heavy. Each of the math problems does have written instructions (with optional audio), but there’s not a lot of reading involved.

This was great for my youngest son, who really isn’t much on reading. His patience is low because of his attention issues, so he loved how visual the program is.

Since he can do the lesson completely on the tablet, he can just pick it up, log in, and get started!

What I also love about Smartick is that he can keep up with his progress through the daily lesson and get an idea of how many more problems he has to do. That stops him from constantly asking “How much longer, Mooooom???”

At the end of each lesson, the boys could see their results: how many questions they got right and how many they missed. They’re also given the opportunity to fix their errors and, if they do, they get an extra point. It’s a nice way to encourage them to review their mistakes and try again.

Plus, there are games they can play after they’ve completed their daily lesson. And when they miss a lesson, which mine frequently do, I get an email letting me know that they didn’t do their practice for that day.

Smartick is a really good, simple to use math program that’s working well for my boys. It’s available in both the Google Play Store and the App Store.

And it’s worth the time to try it out with your kids too! If you decide to subscribe, you can score a 25 percent discount when you sign up with this referral link!

Need more math ideas for your students? Try these posts!

And see more ideas for teaching math on my Math Mania Pinterest board!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Pumpkin Craft

August 17, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

This year is just moving right along, isn’t it? August is halfway gone and we’re looking at September. Wow. Now is the right time to start planning our fall crafts and activities for the kids, and that’s why I’m sharing a brand new one of our coffee filter crafts for kids – a cute coffee filter pumpkin craft!

Kids can make this craft with very little help, if any at all! While we made ours with traditional colors, if the kids want to make a purple pumpkin or a gold pumpkin, who’s to stop them?

This would be a great addition to a fall unit, a farm unit, or a harvest unit! Be sure to share some great fall books for kids along with this activity too!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Pumpkin Craft

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

Start by flattening out the coffee filter and coloring the entire thing orange.

Now use the scissors to cut the filter into a pumpkin shape. To do this, cut the bottom into a flat shape and then cut a slight heart shape into the very top. Leave the sides as is.

Now glue the filter onto the construction paper.

Use a brown crayon to draw a thick stem at the center of the top of the filter.

Now add a few lines on the pumpkin using the brown crayon. These are the “curves” that make the pumpkin appear ridged.

Add a little decoration, if you want, and you’re done!

Ta-da!

Need more easy fall craft projects? Try some of these other coffee filter crafts that work well with fall themes!

Find more awesome fall crafts, activities, and lessons on my Fall Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Save Money on Ink with a Homeschool Printing Service!

August 15, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

How many printers have you gone through during your homeschooling journey? We’re on number three.

There’s no doubt that homeschoolers use a lot of printer ink. And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT. I finally just set up a subscription ink service because I got tired of always running out…lol.

And, since I both use and make printables for homeschoolers, I go through even more printer ink and paper than normal. Which is why I was so excited to try the homeschool printing service from The Homeschool Printing Company!

If you use a lot of printer ink (and I’m sure you do), you’ll want to read on to learn more about how you can save money on ink this year and save yourself a lot of preparation time in the process!

By the way, to give you an idea of just how affordable this service really is, I’m sharing my actual estimates for each product I had printed. You won’t believe how inexpensive they are!

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

Why Homeschool Printing Can Be So Expensive

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of homeschoolers use a ton of printer ink. If you haven’t noticed, printer ink is among the most expensive liquids on earth.

Think about it: We pay about $2 to $3 for a gallon of gas and when it gets much higher than that, we all start shouting about how gas is too expensive. But we’ll pay $30 or more for three ounces of printer ink without batting an eye. That says something about how much we actually spend in printer ink.

Public school educators go through a lot of printed materials each year and, increasingly, they have to cover some of those costs themselves. And for homeschoolers, it’s no different. Except we have to pay for everything out of pocket.

If you’ve got several children in different grade levels (like we do), then your printed homeschool curriculum can cost you a pretty penny each year.

How to Save Money on Ink With The Homeschool Printing Company

So what makes the service from The Homeschool Printing Company so incredible? They do all the printing for you! They provide the paper, the color and black ink, and the work that goes into printing them. All you have to do is send in the PDF files you want printed and they’ll do the rest.

Want your documents printed double-sided? They’ll do that.

Want your documents spiral-bound? They’ll do that.

Need some pages laminated? They can do that too!

They don’t provide more complicated services, such as cutting documents or folding them, so if you use a lot of lapbooks, you can request that The Homeschool Printing Company print the pages. But you’ll need to assemble them yourself. (Which is half the fun, anyway.)

I chose to have several of my store products printed, since we’ll be using some of them with the kids this year.

As you can see, you receive all of your documents from The Homeschool Printing Company in one shipment. My entire order was for 500 sheets – one whole ream of paper.

This is a look at my African Kingdoms Unit Study, which is designed for elementary grades. This unit study is 61 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $4.88.

I chose to have my pages printed one-sided, because some of them include cut and paste activities. But if you decide to have your products printed double-sided, then you can really maximize your order and get twice as much printed. I also chose not to have anything laminated or spiral-bound. I wanted to do that myself (which I’ll talk more about in a bit).

As I mentioned, all of the products come in one stack, but this handy-dandy separator sheet is in between each individual item.

I used the to-do list on the back to keep up with what I needed to do with each product.

This is my All About Leaves printable unit study – 30 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $2.40.

This is my ebook “Homeschooling with ADHD” – 67 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $5.36.

Here are my Fall Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats – 41 pages.

My color-printed estimate: $3.28.

Our Construction Contractions Language Arts Unit – 68 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $5.44.

Our ebook “How to Afford Homeschooling” – 24 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $1.92.

Our Amusement Park Addition Flashcards – 42 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $3.36.

Our Spanish Community Helpers Printable Pack – 33 pages.

My color-printed estimate: $2.64.

And our We Got Jazz Unit Study – 139 pages long.

My color-printed estimate: $11.12.

The grand total to have all of the resources printed in color: $40.40 plus $10.75 shipping. That’s it!

When I got the estimate, I was honestly shocked. I was expecting it to be way, way, way higher.

Now for the details:

When you place a request with The Homeschool Printing Company, the normal turnaround time after you get your estimate is two to three days. During peak homeschool planning season (July through September), it could take up to a week, but they’ll get back to you!

Since I opted not to have my pages bound, I had to do it myself for select products. But that’s okay, because it gives me a chance to use this beauty.

And then we could get to work with our African Kingdoms unit!

As you can see, the pages are printed clearly and cleanly, so there are no readability issues.

Looks like this service is going to be a big hit!

Interested in learning more? Visit The Homeschool Printing Company today and request a free estimate! If you decide to place an order, tell them Selena from Look! We’re Learning! referred you and get a 10 percent discount on your first order!

Get more tips for organizing your homeschool on my Homeschool Organization Pinterest board!