Homeschooling Archives - Look! We're Learning!

Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner

March 23, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We were homeschoolers for ten years.

During that time, I taught up to four children. In four different grade levels. It was fun.

And at times overwhelming.

But one of the most important things I learned is that the only way to make homeschooling work (for me, at least) was to take a very relaxed approach.

I tried timed schedules and they just didn’t work for us. Especially because some of our children have attention issues.

The relaxed homeschooling approach, though, was perfect.

Which is why I thought it might be helpful to share this printable kids homeschool day planner – which is perfect for relaxed learning at home!

Cute Printable Homeschool Day Planner for Kids

With this handy planning page, you can structure your child’s learning day without going overboard.

Which will only stress you all out. Trust me.

Read on to get your copy – free!

And, for more ways to plan your homeschool without feeling overwhelmed, take a look at how I got by without using a homeschool planner at all!

This free printable homeschool day planner makes it easy to structure a day of learning from home!

What is Relaxed Homeschooling?

I feel like I need to give a quick primer about relaxed homeschooling, just in case you’re new to teaching kids at home.

Relaxed homeschooling takes a gentle approach to schoolwork.

Instead of structuring your day in a school-at-home fashion (with a set time for each subject and a set amount of work to cover), you choose your own way to cover each subject.

In fact, you can even choose which subjects to complete each day.

The overall goal is to learn on a continuous basis – not to cover a certain amount of the curriculum.

My kids loved it.

Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner

So – if you’re using a relaxed homeschool approach, this simple homeschool day planner is perfect for outlining what you want to accomplish each day.

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

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Pencils
Laminator (optional)
Dry erase markers (optional)

This homeschool planner includes two color pages and two line art pages.

One set of color and line art planning pages has labeled sections for the following subjects:

Math
English
Physical Activity
Creative
Free Choice
Science
and Quiet Time

Colorful Homeschool Day Planner Printable for Kids

The other set of color and line art planning pages is unlabeled, so you can decide which subjects or areas you’d like to teach that day.

The very essence of relaxed homeschooling!

You can even make these reusable.

Simply laminate the pages and use dry erase markers to fill in what you’d like to cover each day.

And you can let the kids color in the line art version too!

Scroll down to get your free Printable Kids Homeschool Day Planner!

Need more help structuring your learning days? Try these tips!

To get your copy of our Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner, click the image or the link below to download it to your computer!

>>> Printable Kids Homeschool Day Planner <<<

This relaxed printable homeschool day planner for kids is a perfect way to keep your learning days structured without going overboard!

Simple Science Experiments: Floating Egg Experiment

March 18, 2020 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

It’s time for another one of our simple science experiments!

This time, we’re learning about salinity and floating with a simple floating egg experiment.

My boys are entering first and second grade, respectively.

These are excellent ages to introduce science experiments – especially ones that are low-prep, inexpensive, and simple to do, right?

Check out how we learned about salinity by making an egg float!

This would also be a great science lab for small groups or science centers.

If you enjoy this activity, don’t miss our colorful celery experiment or our superhero states of matter experiment!

Simple Science Experiment: Floating Egg Experiment

Like all of our science experiments, this one is super easy and requires absolutely no scientific expertise.

To complete this easy science activity, you’ll need the following:

Clear glass
Egg
Salt
Spoon

We started by cracking open the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science. (This is an affiliate link.)

It’s an excellent, hands-on introduction to scientific concepts for kids in grades 1-4.

The boys and I read the section about floating together.

We learned that there are places on Earth where water is so salty you can actually read a newspaper while you float along!

In the book, we read the instructions to learn how to recreate the same type of environment that allows human beings to float in salty water.

Then, we were off and running!

We gathered the supplies and got to work.

We poured each glass half full of water.

Then we added 10 teaspoons of salt to one of the glasses.

(Don’t put any salt in the other glass of water.)

Like so.

When we placed an egg into the glass that didn’t have salt in it, the egg sank right to the bottom like normal.

But when we added an egg to the glass filled with salty water, it floated right to the top.

The kids got a kick out of watching me push it down, only to see it pop right back up!

And that’s how salinity works! Salty water is denser (heavier) than plain water.

So heavy, in fact, that it can support the weight of heavier objects like an egg.

Neat!

This entire floating egg experiment took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

So if you’re looking for a super quick science experiment, this one’s perfect!

Stop by to see our other science learning ideas!

$Study the properties of light with this simple light refraction experiment!$

8 Must-Try Winter Homeschool Ideas

November 19, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

I hate winter. Hate it.

I’m from Florida and, whenever the temperature dips below about 60, I’m done for the year.

But when you’re homeschooling, you can’t just opt out of teaching during the cold. I know. I’ve tried it.

So that’s why I wanted to find some ways to make winter homeschooling fun!

These winter homeschool ideas are a great way to get the season off to a great start with your family! These are simple enough to do in one day.

Plus, they’re actually educational.

Read on to see these tips for homeschooling during winter! And if you use a few, I’d love to know which ones were your favorites.

For more ways to teach about winter, don’t miss our All About Snowflakes printable unit or our list of must-read winter books for kids!

8 Must-Try Winter Homeschool Ideas

Images c/o: stockunlimited and Lorraine Cormier from Pixabay

1. Teach about winter weather. Take time to learn about the different types of snow and ice weather, as well as why temperatures turn colder during winter. Here’s a great explanation of why we have seasons, including winter.

2. Teach about emergency preparedness. You don’t have to be a prepper to prepare for winter. In fact, most of us already do it without realizing it. Teach a homeschool lesson on how to make sure your home is ready for colder weather and why it’s important.

3. Learn how and why snow melts. Snow is magic! It’s a cold solid that turns into water! This is the perfect way to teach about solids and liquids! You could even have them bring snow indoors to the sink and watch what happens when it melts.

Our Superhero States of Matter science lesson offers a way to teach this concept, even if you don’t have snow outside!

4. Get creative and build a snow castle or artistic snowman. Need a winter art lesson? Get outside! Not only will your kids get off the couch for a while, but by making a snow castle or artistic snowman, they’ll be learning art!

Don’t have snow in your area? Make our pinecone snowman craft instead!

5. Make winter themed slime. Make a winter themed slime that includes fake snowflakes and teach your kids about the chemical reaction that makes the slime feel slimy.

To make wintery slime, change up our DIY Flubber recipe by skipping the food coloring and adding silver glitter!

6. Have a winter themed scavenger hunt. Bundle the kids up and send them outside with a list of things to find for a winter scavenger hunt. Be sure to include things such as pine cones, a tree branch without leaves, and other things that are common in winter.

Once they have found them all, have a discussion about how each item is different in winter and summer and what causes those changes.

7. Have a science lesson on how cold affects the human body. Most kids know they have to bundle up to go outside, but do they know why? Having a winter homeschool lesson about what cold weather can do to the body is the perfect way to teach them!

Here’s a great informative resource on the topic.

8. Make paper snowflakes. Snowflakes are amazing little things and your kids will love learning about them!

For an easy homeschool activity, pick up our Snowflake Math Factor craft and let kids cut out and decorate each snowflake before solving the math factor problems on each one. Be sure to hang them on the windows afterward!

Did you love these winter homeschool ideas? Try these other winter learning activities!

See more ways to teach about winter on my Winter Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

How Playing Sports Can Help Your Homeschooler

July 11, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

There are lots of studies that support the value of extra-curricular activities for kids. According to some, playing sports (in particular) improves a child’s overall academic performance.

But does that apply to homeschoolers? After all, homeschooling is a very different type of education than public schooling.

Homeschoolers usually have more time to spend pursuing their own interests. And they have less time that they are required to sit still than public schoolers.

It’s been our experience, though, that playing sports can help homeschoolers. Over the years, our kids have played several sports and we’ve seen the benefits personally.

If you’re planning your upcoming homeschool year and you’re considering a sport or two, here’s how playing sports can help your homeschooler.

Need more support to outline your school year? Don’t miss our collection of tips for planning your homeschool year too!

How Playing Sports Can Help Your Homeschooler

Playing sports can improve focus.

Participating in sports helps homeschoolers use up extra energy, which helps them focus better. This is particularly useful for children that struggle with excess energy and attention issues.

Since we have children who are living with ADHD and ADD in our family, this has been a huge benefit of having them play sports. Even my most active child is calmer and more focused after playing a game or two.

View this post on Instagram

Dad and son working on squats at track practice today. ❤️❤️ #ihsnet #trackandfield #running #fitness

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on Nov 4, 2018 at 12:58pm PST

Playing sports can help kids develop discipline.

Sports help homeschoolers develop discipline. In our family, this was sorely needed.

Since the kids didn’t have to be up and at school at a particular time each day, they struggled with following a routine. When they had a practice to attend, though, it was much easier to get them up and moving.

In addition, playing team sports, especially track and field, helped them see how their actions affected others and taught them the importance of cheering for their teammates.

View this post on Instagram

We’ve worked our way all the way down to the smallest member of the family. It’s Little Bit’s turn to learn how to swim! True story: Before we left home, she asked me: “Do they let you swim laps during the first lesson?” To which I responded: “You don’t know how to swim yet!” 🏊🏽‍♀️🏊🏽‍♀️🏊🏽‍♀️

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on Dec 10, 2018 at 3:30pm PST

Playing sports helps kids use practical math skills.

Do you have a child who’s always asking “But when will I ever use this?” during math class?

They’ll be surprised to learn how much they need math once they start playing sports. You can’t keep score, time your performance, or monitor your progress without it.

And if they really love their sport, they’ll pick these skills up quickly. Much quicker than mine ever did during a math lesson.

Playing sports gives homeschoolers time to work with others.

If you have an only child, you might want to give him or her time to spend with other kids. Playing sports is a fantastic setting for this.

Many people express concerns about homeschoolers and “socialization”. While I don’t think this is a major issue for homeschoolers, extra-curricular sports do give homeschooled kids more opportunities to meet and cooperate with people who are different from them. Which is always a good thing.

View this post on Instagram

Tired little ones after a session of homeschool soccer. And did I mention it’s drop off? We’ll definitely be back. ⚽️⚽️⚽️ #365homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #ihsnet #soccer

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on Sep 17, 2018 at 9:40am PDT

Playing sports contributes to good physical and mental health.

Sports are great for your child’s mental health. Getting a little physical activity releases endorphins that contribute to a feeling of happiness. Even my moodiest tween felt better after running, playing tennis, or swimming.

And, since so many kids spend time on screens during the day, sports can help kids get more physical exercise and avoid being sedentary all day.

View this post on Instagram

It’s a wonderful day for tennis! 🎾🎾🎾 #ihsnet #365homeschool #homeschoollife #homeschooling #tennis #tenniskids

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on May 1, 2018 at 3:32pm PDT

Playing sports can open up new interests for kids.

If you have a child who never knows what they want to do (I have two like that), then playing sports is also great for helping them to develop new interests.

As kids learn more about their sport, they will start to determine what they like and what they don’t like. This is a great starting point for exploring new hobbies and even career ideas. And it helps them start learning new things too!

View this post on Instagram

What a difference a season of swim lessons makes! Two kids swimming, two more to go. 🏊🏾‍♂️🏊🏾‍♂️🏊🏾‍♂️ #ihsnet #homeschoollife #swimkids #365homeschool #homeschooling

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on Apr 11, 2018 at 3:24pm PDT

Have you found that playing sports helps your homeschooler? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments!

Check out these other tips for happy homeschooling!

And see more ways to homeschool successfully on my Help for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

Free Printable Flashcards: Solar System Flashcards

May 22, 2019 by Selena Robinson 8 Comments

When was the last time you recited the order of the planets of the solar system?

It’s been a while, right? So when we started working on learning the solar system with Pooh recently, I had to do a little…ahem…refreshing myself on the topic.

In the last few years, scientists have decided that Pluto no longer qualifies as a planet. I take great umbrage at this opinion.

Pluto has been a loyal planet to us for the past 80 years. Breaking up with it now just seems….wrong. Still, we must march along with the progress of science.

So, for those of you who could also use a refresher on the solar system, I decided to add a new entry to our free printable flashcards series: printable solar system flashcards!

Read on to see how to get your set for free!

And, for more about the solar system, don’t miss our All About the Solar System Printable Science Lesson and our roundup of beautiful Solar System Books for Kids!

Free Printable Flashcards: Solar System Flashcards

To use these free printable solar system flashcards, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Laminator (optional)
Scissors

This set of solar system flashcards includes ten cards:

Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Moon
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Neptune
and Uranus

The goal is for kids to learn, not only the planets, but the other important members of the solar system and where they are located.

Plus, there are ten picture cards that help kids practice recognizing each planet – even without the name!

Simple Hands-On Solar System Learning Activity

Instead of just making the printable solar system flashcards, I wanted to show you a simple, hands-on activity you can use them to do.

If you have active (read: ADHD) kids or if you just want to add a little spice to your lesson, try this to help kids learn the order of the planets!

You’ll need the printed flashcard set, some masking tape, nine strands of yarn, and a flat surface. As you can see, the flashcards include cards with each planet name and cards without.

Use masking tape to secure each end of each strand to the surface. Try to get the yarn into a rough arc shape. We’re going for planetary orbit lines.

Then, have the kids lay out the planet cards in the right order, starting with the sun and progressing outward.

Pooh was having some trouble recalling the planet order, so we used the mnemonic device: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos.

My – Mercury

Very – Venus

Eager – Earth

Mother – Mars

Just – Jupiter

Served – Saturn

Us – Uranus

Nachos – Neptune

It’s weird, but it works! Especially since I always seem to get Jupiter and Saturn backwards.

Printable Solar System Planet Flashcards - Look! We're Learning!

Naturally, we had to add the moon in there too. Be sure to remind kids that the sun and moon are NOT planets. I may have forgotten to make this distinction…lol.

All done! And in order, at that!

That’s the face of a kid who really thinks he’s accomplished something.

Once we finished labeling them all in order, we switched out the labeled cards for the blank ones and had Pooh recite them in order on his own. Once he remembered My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos, he was good.

This was definitely a fun way to learn about the planets of the solar system!

Scroll down to get your copy of our free printable flashcards: Solar System Flashcards!Don’t miss these other science learning ideas!

$These easy STEM activities for kids are great for building enthusiasm to learn science, technology, engineering, and math!$

And, for more science fun, follow our It’s Science board on Pinterest!

To get our free printable flashcards: Solar System Flashcards, just sign up for our weekly email newsletter! You’ll receive these flashcards, plus lots of other learning printables, in our exclusive Subscriber Library!

Just use the widget below to get started!

Note: If you don’t see your welcome email, stop by your spam folder and have a quick look. It might be in there. 🙂

For more posts featuring activities for learning about the solar system, check out the other posts from this week’s edition of the 2nd Grade Blogging Team!

Hands On Astronomy: Solar System in Playdough from Planet Smarty Pants

Blast-Off Number Line Math Practice from School Time Snippets

Solar System Matching Game from Life Over C’s

Outer Space Math Maze with ReGrouping from Sugar Aunts

Engineering Challenge: A Candy Solar System from Preschool Powol Packets

Should You Assign Homeschool Homework to Your Child?

February 21, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

The very thought of homeschool homework might seem like a contradiction.

One of the biggest pros to homeschooling (at least for my kids) is that they thought they were getting out of having homework every day. And it’s easy to see why.

One of the biggest cons to public school is the sheer amount of homework that many kids have to complete before they return to class. I personally know families whose children spend hours on homework each night.

When my children went to public school a few years ago, I was shocked at the amount of homework assigned to them in elementary school. It’s changed quite a lot since my years in those grades.

Did you know, though, that some seasoned homeschool parents often decide it’s appropriate (and smart) to assign homeschool homework? It’s true!

In fact, I’ve been known to assign homework to my kids too.

The good news is that, as a homeschool parent, you get to make your choice based on what you know about your child and what you feel is best for them.

And, of course, you can always adjust as you go along when something’s not working. This is something I’ve also been known to do.

Want to read more about what it’s like to send your homeschooled child to public school? Take a look at our Great Homeschool Public School Experiment series!

Why Some Parents Assign Homeschool Homework

Images c/o: belchonock & TarasMalyarevich / depositphotos

When kids are in public school and have homework assignments to complete, they are responsible for finding out what is required, checking the due date, requesting help when needed, and turning it in on time.

Depending on the homeschooling approach you use, you might find that your kids struggle with these kinds of skills when they’re taught at home. Mine certainly did.

I’d assign something for them to do on their own, especially as they got older, and I was immediately inundated with complaints.

“Wait, what am I supposed to be doing?”

“I don’t understand the instructions!”

And, my personal favorite, “I thought I did it already!” (Really, kid?)

So I started using homeschool homework as a way to teach my children to work independently. I’d assign it and walk away. It was up to the kids to navigate any problems that came up, just as they would in a mainstream school setting.

I was always available when they needed guidance, not reteaching. And I’d provide them with reference materials and safe websites to use for research or review.

Initially, I felt guilty. Maybe I wasn’t being “there” enough for my kids or I was just “dropping” them after holding their hands for so long. But I was being unfairly harsh on myself.

If they were in a “regular” school and they had homework to do, there would be no teacher hiding away in their backpack to remind them to do it, or how to do it, or when to do it.

Whether they make the right choice by completing the work would be up to them. Whether they paid attention in class in order to know how to do the work would also be on their shoulders.

We all have to learn that, in life, each day is filled with choices, one after the other. And our decisions always have an effect, whether good or bad. This was just one way of helping my kids learn that lesson.

Should You Give Your Child Homeschool Homework?

Is it possible your homeschool kids may need a little homeschool homework to help them learn responsibility? Only you know the answer to that question. And, if you decide to implement it, the way you use it is up to you.

Some moms give the assignment, the due date and make it clear that the child is on their own. Others ask kids to choose a subject to study on their own and write discussion points and questions for the next school day.

Homework is up to the teacher!

If you’re feeling unsure about what to do, remember:

Homeschooling is a difficult endeavor, and the balance you strike each day as both a parent and an educator can be tricky. Still, whatever choice you make will be the right one for your children.

What about you? Do you assign homework? Why or why not? If you do, what’s your method? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling articles!

And get more help for your homeschooling journey on my Help for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

How to Afford Homeschooling eBook Download

25 Veteran Tips for Happy Homeschooling

October 22, 2018 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

How many of you out there are either homeschooling or thinking of homeschooling? How many of you are homeschooling happily?

Making the decision to homeschool is a tough one, but one that usually brings a lot of excitement. As your homeschooling journey continues, though, you’ll start to face some challenges that can make learning at home feel…not awesome. In fact, it can get downright miserable if you’re not careful.

Which is why I wanted to share some veteran tips for happy homeschooling. After all, we’re teaching our kids at home because we want them to have the best education possible. If they’re unhappy while they learn, that’s not the best education, is it?

These suggestions cover some of the common challenges you’ll face as a homeschooler, but there are also tips and tricks for keeping your homeschool organized, feeding your hungry learners during the day, and teaching multiple kids at once (like we do).

Need some more homeschooling how-tos? Check out our list of homeschool planning tips to get your school year started right!

25 Veteran Tips for Happy Homeschooling

Image c/o: habovka / depositphotos

1. 10 of the Best Tips for Homeschooling Kids with ADHD – Look! We’re Learning!

2. How to Start Strong Each Homeschool Week – Table Life Blog

3. How to Stop and Smell the Roses – Rock Your Homeschool

4. When You Fear Your Homeschooled Teen is Behind – Annie and Everything

5. 9 Ways to Help Boys With Too Much Energy – Homeschool Your Boys

6. How to Start a Homeschool Routine with Young Children – Hodgepodge

7. Fun Math Books for Middle Schoolers – Look! We’re Learning!

8. 10 Tips for Starting to Homeschool – Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

9. Our Top Ten Lunches for Homeschool – iHomeschool Network

10. Tips for Changing Your Homeschool Curriculum – Triumphant Learning

11. 100 Ways to Have a Fun Homeschool Day – Rock Your Homeschool

12. How to Get Homeschooled Kids to Want to Learn – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

13. 3 Essential Keys to Homeschooling Multiple Ages – Preschoolers and Peace

14. Practical Ways to Deal with Homeschool Burnout – iHomeschool Network

15. How to Keep Your Happy Through Winter – Nourishing My Scholar

16. Homeschooling Gifts You Don’t Want to Take for Granted – Look! We’re Learning!

17. The Best Way to End a Homeschool Day – Table Life Blog

18. The Power of Play: Using Game in Your Homeschool – My Little Poppies

19. 36 Ways to Organize Your Homeschool – Annie and Everything

20. How to Use Morning Time for a Happier Homeschool – Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

21. Easy Ways to Homeschool On the Go – Rock Your Homeschool

22. 100 Educational Shows to Stream on Netflix – Homeschool Hideout

23. What to Do When Gifted Kids Struggle – Raising Lifelong Learners

24. 3 Ways to Instantly Gain More Time in Your Homeschool Day – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

25. 5 Ways to Make Geography Fun – Look! We’re Learning!

Want even more tips for happy homeschooling? Liven up your learning with these ideas!

And follow my Help for Homeschoolers board on Pinterest for even more helpful suggestions!

Over 50 Free Fall Printables for Kids

September 17, 2018 by Selena Robinson 21 Comments

It’s the middle of September and we’re nearing my favorite time of the year: fall! Which gave me a perfect excuse to share some of my favorite free fall printables for kids!

We’ll be using several fall themes for unit studies with our kids in the upcoming weeks, including leaves, farms, harvest, and apples.

If you’d like to learn about autumn with your children, you might like to look through the list of over 50 free fall learning printables for kids below!

By the way, if you’re ready to stock up on printables for other seasons of the year, don’t miss our roundups of free spring printables for kids, free summer printables for kids, and free winter printables for kids!

50+ Free Fall Printables for Kids

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

In the following list, you’ll find all kinds of fall printables for kids, including autumn printables, math worksheets, apple activities, scarecrow printables, lapbooks, and more!

If you get a chance to try some of them this year, I’d love to know which ones your children loved the most!

Farm Do-A-Dot Shape Mats – Look! We’re Learning!

Scarecrow Kindergarten Worksheets – Kindergarten Worksheets and Games

Fall Coloring Pages – Kids Activities Blog

Football Printable Pack – 3 Dinosaurs

Fall Color Sorting Printable – The Outlaw Mom

The Apple Pie Tree Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Fall Word Problems Printable – Royal Baloo

Fall Math for Preschoolers Packet – Teaching Mama

PreK/K Fall Pack – This Reading Mama

Apple Harvest Scissor Skills Printables – Look! We’re Learning!

Printable Autumn Leaf Puppets – Picklebums

Apple Activities Pack – 3 Dinosaurs

Apple Counting Preschool Pack – The Measured Mom

Fall Scavenger Hunt Printable – Hands On as We Grow

Apple Math Printables – Embark On the Journey

Fall Leaves Matching Game – Mama Miss

Harvest I-Spy Beginning Sounds Activity – Pre-K Pages

Fall Fun Nature Hunt Printable – The Chirping Moms

Apple Pattern Printables – Life Over C’s

Fall Lapbook – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Fall Reading Pack – Kids Activities Blog

Apple Counting Cards – Every Star is Different

Harvest Letter Printables – The Preschool Toolbox

Fall Bingo Game – Wise Owl Factory

Fall Pack – 3 Dinosaurs

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How to Start the Homeschool Day Right

September 6, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

It’s the start of a new homeschooling year and, for many of us, that brings a ton of excitement about our new books, our new curriculum, and the kids’ new grade levels.

But we’ve been at this homeschooling thing for nearly ten years now and I’m here to tell you that the excitement… is going to fade. In fact, it seems like the longer you homeschool, the quicker it fades. And a lot of that comes down to having a rough homeschool day – or two or ten.

It’s so easy to think that you’re going to start the homeschool day right, only to have it dissolve into two shouting matches, a sibling fight, and a crying fit over a math problem by 11:00.

For years, I fell into the trap of planning weeks of lessons and then falling off the homeschool wagon just a few days in. I thought I needed to change my curriculum, revamp my schedule, or even try public school for a while.

I didn’t realize that I was planning my homeschool years right, but starting my homeschool days completely wrong. Here’s what I’ve learned about how to start the homeschool day right.

Take a look to see what didn’t work for me and what finally is working – after all this time.

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

How to Start the Homeschool Day Right

Images c/o: lanakhvorostova and SIphotography / depositphotos

Plan your day’s lessons and activities in advance.

Please, please, please do not set yourself up for failure by thinking you can do this on the morning you plan to teach a lesson. You won’t get up early and plan for it. Trust me. You just won’t. (I cannot tell you how many school days I’ve given up on because I fell for this idea.)

Take some time to set up a flexible plan for your school week. Shoot for having the lessons for the week done by the previous Friday. Then try to schedule only a few full days and leave yourself some space for lessons that take a little…longer than expected.

Have a family meeting first thing in the morning.

This one took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out. And, really, this tip came from my husband. Whenever he’s home during the day, he gets up and goes into the kids’ rooms to talk with them about how they’re feeling that morning.

As he told me, “That’s the best way to find out what’s on their minds before we get started. Otherwise, they won’t be able to focus on what we’re teaching, because their minds are somewhere else.”

So I started doing this on our homeschooling days too. When everyone gets up, I talk to them all individually to see how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, and what they want to do that day.

I tell them we’ll try to get at least some of what they’d like done – after we finish our school lessons. It really does help them put those thoughts aside (at least for a while) to begin the school day.

Eat a really good breakfast.

Remember those old cereal commercials we used to see on Saturday morning? The ones that show the bowl of cereal, along with toast, eggs, and a glass of orange juice as part of a “balanced breakfast”?

They weren’t kidding. Kids really need to eat a filling breakfast to start the day, especially once they hit puberty.

I was allowing my kids to make their own breakfast for a while. That led to eating less than they needed, because they often didn’t “feel” like cooking as much as they should have.

Now that I’m back to making breakfast (and they make their own lunches and snacks), they actually get full and their moods are ten times better, which makes our entire homeschool day run smoother.

How BookShark Helps Me Start the Homeschool Day Right

One of the biggest changes that’s helping me start our homeschool days off right is using BookShark with my youngest.

BookShark is a year-long, book-based curriculum that includes ELA, history, and science for grades K-8. I’m using it for our first grader this year and it has done wonders for my homeschooling routine.

Because BookShark plans the weekly lessons for you, I have her daily plans done in no time. I just look over the prepared plan, review the books we’ll need, and we’re off and running the next week.

Take a peek at my BookShark homeschool binder to see how it works!

Start the homeschool day (and year) right with these tips!

See more ways to plan your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

How We Structure Our Three Day Homeschool Week

August 16, 2018 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

We’ve always been rather creative in the ways we homeschool. While the idea of schooling at home might conjure up images of hitting the books from 8 to 2 Monday through Friday, we’ve never done it that way. Frankly, that doesn’t work for most homeschoolers.

Instead, we structure our lessons to get done in a three day homeschool week, even though the program we use is designed to be covered in four days a week.

Shocker, right?

But it actually works for us and has worked well for a few years now.

Read on to see how we use a three day homeschool week in our family!

Note: We’re adapting BookShark with our youngest child to be a three-day-a-week program, but you could really make this work with any curriculum – as long as you’re willing to adjust a few things along the way.

Need to get more ideas for organizing your lesson plans? See how we use a homeschool binder to keep our objectives front and center during the year!

Disclosure: I am a brand ambassador for BookShark and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role. For details, see my Disclosure Policy.

Why You Might Need A Three Day Homeschool Week

Images c/o: Wavebreakmedia / depositphotos

How can using a three day homeschool week help you? If you think that you can’t homeschool because you’re too busy, compressing your school week can give you some much needed time in your schedule.

Personally, I’m a homeschooling parent who also works secularly. So I need to get our school lessons done for the week in about half of a normal workweek.

Generally, we complete our school lessons during those three days and then I use a couple of evenings and the other two full days of the week to work. That way, I can relax with the family on the weekends, instead of being chained to my computer trying to catch up.

Even if you don’t work, though, using a three day homeschool week can be a good thing. It will leave you with two extra days a week for chores, errands, appointments, or field trips.

How We Structure Our Three Day Homeschool Week with BookShark

If you take a look at our BookShark homeschool binder, you can see that each day’s lesson is completely planned in advance. This is a HUGE timesaver when it’s time to cover the material. Since we do a three day homeschool week, though, I have to make a few tweaks.

First, I put all of the week’s activities for ELA, history, and science together to see exactly what we should be covering. Then I count how many pages we need to read, experiments we need to complete, and worksheets we are expected to finish.

Finally, I just divide all of those activities by three to see how much we should do each day. Pretty simple!

BookShark is designed as a 36-week curriculum, so if you complete four days a week of the program, you should finish your child’s coursework within 36 weeks.

In our family, though, we homeschool year round. So I have a lot of wiggle room on the schedule. This means I can take out a day and make it up during our longer year without falling behind.

It’s working like a dream so far!

Need more homeschool planning ideas? Don’t miss these posts!

See even more ways to organize your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

Should You Homeschool Year Round or Not?

August 13, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around the homeschooling world for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve heard of families who homeschool year round. In fact, we’re one of those families, so if you haven’t met someone before, you have now!

Choosing whether to homeschool year round can be a tough decision to make. Which is why it’s normal to seek the guidance of experienced homeschooling parents when you’re considering this topic.

But the beauty of homeschooling is that you can do works best for you and your child. So whether you homeschool year round or not is totally up to you and yours.

If you’re considering homeschooling, then it’s clear that you want to understand your children and provide them with a good education. Homeschooling not only allows more family and bonding time, but it also creates an environment that supports the learning habits and needs of your child.

If you find that you are racking your brain with trying to decide if you should homeschool year round or not, here are a few things to consider before choosing one way or another.

Are you thinking of homeschooling but unsure you can do it? See how you can homeschool your own children, even if you’re not a teacher!

Image c/o: belchonock / depositphotos

Should You Homeschool Year Round or Not?

Homeschooling Year Round Does NOT Mean Schooling All the Time

While learning and education are important, it is also just as important to make certain that your little one doesn’t get burnt out from not being able to take a break.

If you choose to homeschool year round, a good alternative to a full summer break could be to take a couple of weeks off intermittently throughout the school year. This way, your child gets a little rest time (as do you!) and time for them to recoup and have a little fun in the sun as well.

Homeschooling Year Round Can Help You Avoid the Summer Slide

One of the biggest concerns that many public school teachers have is that it takes kids a few weeks after returning from summer break to get back into the swing of things at school. If you choose to homeschool year round, you’ll never have to worry about getting out of sync and schedule.

Being able to teach your child in an atmosphere and classroom setting that works perfectly for them and their learning needs is what homeschooling is all about. When you’re able to provide that education year round, you’re setting your child up for a great learning environment!

Homeschooling Year Round Doesn’t Have to Interrupt Family Vacations

Do you and your family have any traveling plans during the summer months or do people come to visit you and your family during the year? If so, consider that before deciding to keep up with the curriculum full-time.

While it doesn’t mean that you still can’t homeschool year round, it’s just important to understand that there may be times when you’ll be traveling or have guests over and you and your child will still need to get through your lessons and your work planned.

Talk It Over With the Kids

Instead of making this decision entirely on your own, talk to your child about their thoughts. You may be surprised by their answer in regards to what they prefer!

Some children like the scheduling and every day being the same, while others prefer a bit of time to recharge. Whatever the choice, rest assured that it will be the best one for you and your child.

How We Homeschool Year Round

We’ve been homeschooling year round for several years and here’s what we do:

We follow a typical school year for our start. We generally get started with our next grade in August, but we only school for three days per week. Every few months, we take a break for a week or two.

Over the summer, we take a very relaxed approach. We’re still homeschooling, but the majority of our learning comes from summer camps, field trips, and online courses. So far, this approach has worked well for our kids.

What about you? Do any of you homeschool year round? I’d love to hear how you make it work in the comments!

Still planning your homeschool year? Take a look at these posts!

Get more ideas for structuring your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

25 Fun Ways to Celebrate the First Day of Homeschool

July 23, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Back-to-school is an exciting time of year, especially when you homeschool! With new ideas and a fresh start, there is a lot to celebrate. Homeschool parents usually ooze excitement and you want your kids to get excited about the beginning of the homeschool year also.

Here are 25 fun first day of homeschool ideas to celebrate NOT back-to-school with your kids this homeschool year!

If you decide to try one of these first day of homeschool ideas, let me know which one your kids loved the most! I think we’re going to try numbers 2, 3, 11, and 19. 🙂

Need some ideas for planning your new homeschool year? Don’t miss our list of 10 new school year resolutions for homeschoolers!

Image c/o: andrekaphoto / depositphotos

25 Fun First Day of Homeschool of Ideas

1. Decorate your homeschool room with your kids.

This is a great activity for right before your homeschool starts or for the very first day. Grab some fun decorations and get started! Not only will decorating be exciting, but it is also a great way for your kids to have a vested interest in their homeschool.

2. Create a vision board for the year.

Setting goals for your homeschool is so important! Start your homeschool year off right by creating a large vision board with your kids. Discuss everyone’s goals for the homeschool year and write them on the vision board. Decorate it and hang it somewhere you can look at it throughout year. It will be fun to see all of the progress that your kids have made.

3. Go out to eat a special breakfast on the first day of homeschool.

This is such a fabulous way to celebrate back-to-school! Skip the formal school morning and head to a cafe or restaurant to ring in the new school year.

4. Eat dinner at a fancy restaurant on the first day of homeschool.

Shake things up a little bit and take your kids to a fancy dinner. You can talk about your day and what they look forward to for the rest of the year.

5. Have a dress-up dinner at home for your kids.

Have your kids wear their fanciest clothes and treat them to a fancy dinner at home. Use a table cloth, fancy dishes, candles and music to imitate a nice restaurant. You play the part of the chef and waiter and go all out!

6. Have a picnic lunch at a local park.

Pack your food and drinks and head out! If you don’t have a park nearby, the backyard can be just as fun. Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy your time together discussing the new year!

7. Have a family movie night to celebrate the first week.

After a great week of homeschooling, why not sit back and relax with your family? You’ve earned it! Let the kids pick the movie and spend some time together on the couch. Watch one of our favorites “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and then try this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory unit study!

8. Gameschool for the first day (or week!).

Who says games don’t count for schooling? They absolutely do! Get back into the swing of things with a game schooling day or week. From board games to card games, your kids will build bonds and have fun!

9. Take funny first day pictures.

You can set up a “photo booth” with an awesome backdrop, or just make silly faces! The key is to get some great pictures that capture your child’s personality! Hang them up in your homeschool room to set the vibe for your homeschool year.

10. Surprise your kids with a photo book with pictures from the past year.

Kids love to see how much they’ve grown! This one takes some advance planning, but your kids will love this sentimental celebration! There are several online options for printable photo books.

11. Enjoy a day (or several!) at a local attraction (children’s museum, water park, etc.) when public school has started back.

Beat the crowds at your local hotspots by spending a day playing when public schools are back in session. After the summer rush, this is a nice way to take advantage of a huge homeschool perk!

12. Create a time capsule.

Use a shoebox (or a similar sized container) and create a time capsule that you won’t look at until the end of the school year. Items could include: first day of school picture, an interview with your child and goals he or she has. Put the box away (in a place you’ll remember!) and make a note of where it is and when to open it.

13. Start a scrapbook and add to it weekly.

What a great way to capture memories! If you can’t keep up with a scrapbook page per week, consider doing it monthly. At the end of the year, you will have captured so many precious moments!

See more fun first day of homeschool ideas on page 2!

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25 Helpful Homeschool Planning Tips for the New School Year

July 16, 2018 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

I just love homeschool planning season. Many homeschoolers start planning for the new school year during late spring and early summer.

In our family, though, homeschool planning season is practically a year-round event. Even after almost ten years of homeschooling, I’m always looking for new homeschool planning tips that will help us along our journey. After all, each child is different and each grade level is different, so what worked in the past may not work as you go along.

Get your new homeschool year started on the right foot with these tried-and-tested homeschool planning tips that work! There are 25 here – all from veteran homeschooling moms (including me!) – and they’re great for any age and stage you’re teaching.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by your homeschooling journey? Take a breather with this article about the things you don’t need to homeschool!

*Don’t miss the fabulous Rainbow Resource curriculum giveaway at the bottom of the post!*

Image c/o: habovka / depositphotos

25 Helpful Homeschool Planning Tips for the New School Year

1. Simple Lesson Planning for Minimalist Homeschoolers – Look! We’re Learning!

2. My Super Simple Homeschool Planning Method – Homeschool Your Boys

3. Make a Homeschool Schedule – Homeschooling Ideas

4. Printable 2018-19 Homeschool Planning Form – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

5. How to Use Mind Maps for Homeschool Planning – Triumphant Learning

6. Free Printable Homeschool Planner Pages for Relaxed Homeschoolers – This Simple Balance

7. Printable Homeschool Quarterly Planning Form – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

8. Step-by-Step Instructions to Plan A Homeschool Year – Preschoolers and Peace

9. Planning for the Non-Planning Homeschool Mom – Homeschooling Without Training Wheels

10. How to Hold a Weekly Homeschool Planning Meeting – Hodgepodge

11. Five Simple Tips to Help You Schedule Your Homeschool Day – Finding Joy In the Journey

12. How to Plan Homeschool One Quarter At A Time – Lara Molettiere

13. 15 Homeschool Schedule Ideas for Kids with ADHD – Look! We’re Learning!

14. How to Pre-Plan A Homeschool Year – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

15. How to Frugally Plan Your Homeschool with Folders – Rock Your Homeschool

16. 2018 Weekly Homeschool Planning Worksheets – Table Life Blog

17. How to Plan A Homeschool Week – Blossom and Root

18. 7 Steps to Simplify Homeschool Planning – Triumphant Learning

19. The Ultimate Guide to Low-Stress Homeschool Planning and Scheduling – Hide the Chocolate

20. 7 Step Homeschool Curriculum Planner – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

21. How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule – Look! We’re Learning!

22. The Tools You Need to Plan Your Homeschool Year – Finding Joy In the Journey

23. How to Make Your Homeschool Planner Work for You – Rock Your Homeschool

24. Homeschool Planning with a Spiral Notebook – Blog, She Wrote

25. Free Printable Homeschool Planning Pages – Classically Homeschooling

These homeschool planning tips are awesome for jump starting your new school year! But if you need a little more help to plan your homeschooling lessons, check out these other suggestions!

Follow my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board for even more suggestions!

And now for the Rainbow Resource Back to Homeschool Giveaway!

Whether you’re an early bird who already started your new school year or you homeschool year-round (like we do), I’m pretty sure you could use a little extra money for homeschool curriculum. Right???

I’m thrilled to share an awesome giveaway that I’m offering with a group of education bloggers. We’re giving away $250 to help parents buy curriculum, educational supplies, and more to stock up their learning library!

Well, actually, we’re giving away $250 twice. Two people will win a $250 gift card to Rainbow Resource Center!!

To enter for your chance to win, simply use the Rafflecopter form below. The more entries you do, the better your odds are of winning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends July 27th, 2018 at 11:59pm ET. Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a resident of U.S. or Canada to enter. Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Terms & Conditions upon entering the giveaway.

4 Easy Ways to Encourage Free Reading with Active Kids

July 9, 2018 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

We all know that reading is (probably) the most important skill a child should learn. Without reading, you can’t really do, well, anything.

But we don’t just want our kids to read because they have to. We want them to read because they want to. And that means making free reading an important part of every day.

The issue, though, is that kids who are on the active side might not be that interested in reading, especially for pleasure. And that’s why I’m sharing four easy ways to encourage free reading with active kids!

Try these simple tips to get your active learners reading! They’ve genuinely worked for our active kids, even our children who have ADHD!

Need more great kid lit suggestions? Check out our list of 100 memorable picture books for preschoolers too!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

4 Ways to Encourage Free Reading for Active Kids

Images c/o: get4net & FarmVeldman / depositphotos

1. Make reading time extra special.

If your active kids are resistant to reading on their own, turn reading time into an extra special occasion. Get out sleeping bags, build an indoor fort (using a table and a bedsheet), and let the kids read by flashlight while they’re “camping out”.

Or make reading into a high tea occasion. Have the kids dress up in their fanciest clothes, make tea and scones, and let them take turns reading a few lines in their most elegant speaking voices.

The key is to turn reading into entertainment, instead of just sitting down and looking at words. After a couple of occasions, they’ll want to know what happens next in one of the stories and ask to read more before your next special reading time.

2. Start a family reading challenge.

Get the whole family involved in reading by creating a short family reading challenge. Draw a bar graph on a piece of posterboard and hang it in the family room. Tell the kids that once the family finishes reading a certain number of books that month you’ll throw an ice cream party.

Be sure to fill the graph up as each book is completed. Before you know it, the kids will be begging to go to the library to get books of their own.

3. Choose stories with lots of pictures.

A book with lots of text can be intimidating to anyone, even grown-ups. So active kids who have little interest in reading need plenty of visual input to keep their interest. Picture books are a great way to get kids interested in stories and how they develop.

Once your active children are interested in following stories in general, they’ll be more open to chapter books and larger works. You might even try an illustrated version of a complex book, such as a graphic novel adaptation of a classic, and then let them read the original work to compare the two.

4. Use a book-based homeschool curriculum.

A simple way to encourage free reading with active kids is to use a homeschool curriculum that is centered on books. We’re using BookShark with our youngest child this year and the entire program is based around classic children’s books.

Our first book for our history lesson this year is Charlotte’s Web, which my first-grader is thoroughly enjoying. She never wants to stop reading when we reach the end of our assigned portion for the day. That’s always a good sign. 🙂

We’re also reading The Usborne Book of Peoples of the World, as well as Mother Goose Rhymes and Favorite Poems of Childhood. And that’s just for history!

How do you encourage free reading with your active kids? Have you been able to turn your wiggly little ones into readers? Share your tips!

See more resources for reading with homeschoolers below!

$Fun Math Books for Middle School$

Follow my Reading for Kids Pinterest board for even more literacy tips and resources!

40 Fun Learning Activities for Summer

June 21, 2018 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

I just love summer. It’s basically what makes life worth living. To me, anyway.

The sun is out, you can walk around in flip-flops all day, no one cares if you eat ice cream for breakfast – it’s a good time of year.

The kids and I tend to take a more relaxed approach to learning over the summer, but I still like to keep them learning as much as possible. So we found a bunch of learning activities for summer that are super fun and great for helping them explore science, math, STEM, literacy, and more!

There are 40 different summer learning ideas below, so you can try as many as you like during summer break! If you decide to do some of these, be sure to come back and tell us how you liked them!

Want to spend summer boosting your children’s literacy skills? Take a look at this list of 50 summer books you can share with them!

40 Learning Activities for Summer

1. Beach Number Playdough Mats – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Exploring Solar Heat – STEAM Powered Family

3. Summer Reading Challenge Log – KC Edventures

4. Exploring Ramps and Friction on a Slide – Buggy and Buddy

5. Human Sundial Shadow Science Experiment – Rhythms of Play

6. Paint Gun Parts of Speech Game – 123 Homeschool 4 Me

7. Ice-Pop Match Game – Dabbling Momma

8. Ocean Letter Tracing Sheets – Red Ted Art

9. Graphing Ocean Animals With LEGO – J Daniel 4’s Mom

10. Build a Nerf War Battlefield – STEAM Powered Family

11. Summer Number Names Match Printable – Wise Owl Factory

12. Tide Pool Science Experiment for Kids – Buggy and Buddy

13. Watermelon Seed Matching Game – The Mama Workshop

14. Build a Solar Oven – Mosswood Connections

15. DIY Heat Wave Crayons – Mama Smiles

16. Ice Cream Shape Sorting Activity – Look! We’re Learning!

17. How to Compost Kitchen Scraps – Kid World Citizen

18. Learn About Forces at the Water Park – From Engineer to SAHM

19. Pedal to the Numbers – Dabbling Momma

20. How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag With Recording Sheet – Buggy and Buddy

See more fun learning activities for summer on page 2!

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How to Prevent the Summer Slide

June 11, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

When I started to write this post about how to prevent the summer slide, I realized that this may not be an issue that affects homeschoolers as much as public schoolers. If you’ve ever had a child in public school, you might have heard of the “summer slide”. Basically, it’s the brain drain that occurs when kids follow a traditional school year and take summers off from structured learning.

I don’t necessarily follow a traditional school year, because we have school lessons during the summer, but we do take breaks from our homeschool during the year. And, trust me, that’s enough time for my kids to start forgetting things.

If you’re nervous about how to prevent the summer slide, don’t worry! There are plenty of things that your kids can be doing to continue their education while also having fun.

If you take an actual summer break, you don’t want to make these activities too “schooly”. You can keep them fun and engaging, while using them to help kids remember some of their skills. If you homeschool year-round, these are nice, low-pressure ways to keep them learning.

Need more ways to make summer educational? Don’t miss our list of 50 summer books you can share with the kids!

10 Ways to Keep Kids Learning During Summer Break

Images c/o: StockUnlimited & konradbak / depositphotos

Garden.

Gardening is a great way to teach your kids responsibility. Not only will they learn about how to grow foods and plants, but you may also get some free fruits, vegetables, and flowers in the process!

Go theatrical.

Have your kids write a short play to put on for the neighborhood. Or, if they are shy, they can just perform it for the family. Tell them to get their friends involved. The other parents will love that you’re providing something fun for their children to take part in.

Birdwatch.

Put a bird feeder, bird bath, and a lot of strings and nest building products in your yard by a window. Hopefully, you will attract some different birds that your kids can study. You may even see the entire process from nesting to baby birds flying for the first time!

Create a summer reading list.

Take your kids to the local library and have them pick a book that interests them. After each book, have them give you a little presentation or just talk to you about the story. You can even let them dress up as one of the characters from the book.

Learn another language.

Summer is a wonderful time to explore a new language! Choose a few simple illustrated books from the local library that are written in Spanish, French, or another language and see how many vocabulary words you and the kids can learn together. Find some videos for learning American Sign Language and try to practice a full signed conversation with our ASL2U curriculum!

Try some educational apps.

Take a virtual spin through an app store and let the kids pick out an educational app they’d like to try. If you limit screen time (like we do), give them a set amount of time to play it each day. Try to choose one that works on a skill your child needs help with, such as reading fluency, multiplication tables, or history facts.

Create musical instruments.

Find items from around the house and see who can make the best musical instrument! Good materials include toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, oatmeal containers, cereal boxes, plastic spoons, and jars filled with water. This is especially fun for little ones!

Write and illustrate a book.

Your kids need an outlet for creativity. Have them work on a story all summer and let them draw all of the pictures. Older kids can try a photo editing program to design cover art on their own!

Start a rock collection.

There’s no better way to learn about Geology than to start a rock collection. Challenge your kids to see who can find the most unusual rock in the neighborhood, then do some research to find out what kind of rock it is and how it is formed.

Study the stars.

If you have a telescope, put it to good use! Learn about a few constellations, such as the Big Dipper or Orion the Hunter, and take the kids outside to see if they can spot them!

Wondering how to prevent the summer slide? There are plenty of things you can do for and with your kids this summer to help them continue learning. Which one of these seems like the most fun and helpful to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Need more fun summer ideas? Don’t miss these posts!

$Learn about the science of beaches, plus get fun math, language, and geography practice, in this printable beach unit study!$

And for more summer activities, follow my Summer Activities for Kids board on Pinterest!

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What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

April 10, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

The question of what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum might seem like a strange one to ask. The more curriculum, the better, right? Well…

Remember when you first started homeschooling? Did you look at your bookshelves and imagine them filled one day with gorgeous picture books, beautifully-illustrated encyclopedias, and resources your kids would love?

I did. I wanted to make sure that my kids had the opportunity to learn from any book they wanted and that I had any resource I needed to create an engaging and happy homeschooling experience in our home.

Fast forward nine years later. Instead of staring lovingly at our academically-equipped bookshelves, I was fighting to keep the door of our homeschool closet closed. Actually, I was in the habit of hurriedly slamming it shut before an anchor chart fell on me. Something…went wrong somewhere.

What went wrong is that I went on a curriculum hoarding spree over the years. In my desire to make sure that my kids had every homeschooling resource they’d ever need, I’d managed to store materials for literally every grade level and their first two years of college. And, no, I’m not exaggerating.

Rather than feeling comfortable and secure in my homeschooling arsenal, I felt overwhelmed at the very thought of trying to plan the new year. So, I had to take some drastic steps to minimize our homeschool. And if you’re overloaded with homeschool curriculum, these steps might help you too.

What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

Images c/o: belchonock & ArturVerkhovetskiy / depositphotos

Revisit Your Educational Goals.

Before you dive head first into your curriculum hoard, take some time to revisit your homeschooling goals. After years of homeschooling, we can get so used to following a “routine” that we lose sight of exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with our kids. It’s understandable, but it’s also counterproductive.

Grab a notebook and write down a homeschooling mission statement. Imagine what you want your children to be able to do by the time they finish homeschooling and then write it down. Or imagine what you want to have accomplished for them by the time they graduate and then write it down. Be very, very specific with this.

Keep the Resources That Align with Your Goals.

Read what you just wrote. Then read it again. Think about what you’ll actually need to make your goals a reality.

Now, open the door of your homeschooling closet (watch our for falling charts!) or venture over to your overloaded bookshelves and start pulling everything down. And I mean everything. If it’s a LOT (like ours was), do one bookshelf at a time to avoid collapsing into a puddle of overspending regret.

As you sort through each resource, reread your homeschooling mission statement and ask yourself: Will this help me accomplish my goals? Trust me, you’ll know when it will. If it will, put it off to the side.

Get Rid of Everything Else. Really.

Okay. We’re at the hard part. You have to get rid of every other thing that will not help you accomplish your homeschooling mission statement.

Complete curriculum you personally love? Get rid of it.

Expensive reference book you saved up to buy? Get rid of it.

Program you’ve kept for years just waiting for the right time? Get rid of it.

Just so you know: If you’ve been homeschooling a long time, this might be excruciating. So, to ease the pain, do NOT flip through any of the materials you plan to discard. It will not help.

Now when I say “get rid of it”, I don’t necessarily mean throw it in the garbage. Find another family to donate or sell the program to. Donate it to your local library. Feel free to pass it on, but just get it out of your house. Once you do, your homeschooling space will look better and you will feel wonderful!

One last thing: Now that you know what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum, resolve never to get into this predicament again.

The next time someone offers to “give” you a program, reread your homeschooling mission statement. If it won’t help you accomplish it, it’s okay to say no! When you find out about a curriculum that’s on sale, read the details and reviews carefully to see if it will harmonize with your learning goals. If not, don’t buy it! It’s that simple.

Don’t miss these other homeschooling tips!

Get more tips for managing your homeschool on my Help for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Weather Flashcards

March 22, 2018 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Learning about how to talk about the weather is a great way to build a foreign language vocabulary. Just think about it: How many times a week do you mention the weather in English? A lot, right? I think I must tell my kids “It’s windy!” a dozen times a day. Especially when I need them to remember their hats.

So for our newest set of printable Spanish flashcards, we’re sharing a Spanish Weather Flashcards pack! These cards are great for learning how to use common Spanish weather expressions! Read on to get yours!

Ready to try more Spanish vocabulary practice for kids? Be sure to check out our Spanish Clothing Flashcards and our Spanish Parts of the Body flashcards while you’re here!

Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Weather Flashcards

To use these flashcards, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (good for reusing the cards)

In this flashcard pack, you’ll find Spanish expressions for the following phrases:

It’s sunny
It’s cloudy
It’s hot
It’s cold
It’s windy
It’s snowing
It’s raining
It’s hailing

In addition, the pack contains a set of flashcards featuring the English expressions and a set with just the pictures for easy quizzing!

You’ll also find a Spanish pronunciation guide to help you learn how to say each phrase correctly. That way, you won’t have to guess at how to say each phrase. 🙂

Scroll down to grab your Printable Spanish Weather Flashcards!

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>>> Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Weather Flashcards <<<

I Want to Homeschool But I Can’t Be With My Kids All Day!

January 4, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We have been homeschooling for nine years now and, over the years, I’ve heard many parents express reasons why they feel they can’t homeschool (even though they’d like to).

The reasons I’ve heard range from “I’m too broke to homeschool” to “I’m not a teacher” to “I’m too busy to homeschool my kids”.

But my favorite reason ever is “I could never homeschool, because I can’t be with my kids all day!”

Do you feel that way? It’s understandable. The idea of spending all day homeschooling your own children can be overwhelming, especially if you have more than one child. But it’s likely that the idea of homeschooling you have is quite different from what homeschooling can be.

See how you can homeschool your kids, even if you’re not the most patient person on Earth.

I Want to Homeschool, But…I Can’t Be With My Kids All Day!

Images c/o: Lenanichizhenova & aletia / depositphotos

This is a perfectly natural feeling.

First, I just want to reassure you of something: It’s fine that you feel this way. I’ve heard a few homeschoolers shame other parents for expressing this sentiment. But we shouldn’t.

Parenting is HARD. And sending the kids off to public school everyday is the only break that many parents get. So the idea of not even getting that break everyday can be overwhelming. I also thought I was going to get that shot of daily “me” time when we sent our kids to public school for a few months. And I was sorely in need of a break myself.

So if you’ve said this or felt this way, you are not alone. I get it.

You do NOT have to be the sole educator.

When you picture homeschooling, are you imagining yourself at the chalkboard teaching classes from 9 to 3? If so, stop. You don’t ever have to put that kind of responsibility on yourself. Homeschooling can be flexible and versatile and, thanks to technology, you can use tons of teaching resources that will make your job easier.

In our family, we use several educational websites (including BrainPop, Khan Academy, and my new favorite Flocabulary) to put together our lesson plans. I only spend about five hours a week actually teaching.

The rest is watching educational videos, completing activities, and letting the kids show what they’ve learned. I’m just one of many teachers on the faculty at our school. 🙂

It’s okay to take a break from your kids.

Does that mean you won’t ever want or need a break from being with your kids? Of course not! It’s exhausting parenting and teaching little people all day.

If you had a full-time job outside the home, wouldn’t you get a lunch break each day? You should get one when your full-time job is educating your children too.

So I’m telling you: Get your break every. single. day. I’m serious. Do not go a day without carving out time for yourself to just breathe and think.

I’m not ashamed to say that I totally use the television for this. I put on an educational television show that the kids like (Curious George, WordGirl, Wild Kratts, etc) and let them watch for half an hour and I go straight to my room where I either read, take a nap, or shower. Sometimes I even use that time to go for a run in our neighborhood. It does wonders for my mood.

Feeling like you can’t homeschool? Get help and support from these posts!

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21 Fun Winter Activities for Kids

January 1, 2018 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Brrrrr!!! Winter is definitely here! It got down to the teens here today, which is exceptionally rare here in Georgia. So I thought it would be fun to feature some great winter activities for kids!

Winter is not my favorite season, not by far. There’s something about cold weather that just makes me want to curl up into a ball and refuse to leave my bed. But the kids love it and I want them to have a fun winter, even if I’d rather be hiding under the covers. 🙂

And that’s why I’m sharing the fun winter activities below! There are cute wintry crafts for little ones, winter-themed early literacy activities, and winter games that are perfect for throwing a snow day party with the kids!

If you enjoy these, take a look at our list of 50 cozy winter books to share with the kids! Or get a look at even more art projects in our list of 50 winter crafts!

21 Fun Winter Activities for Kids

1. Use these Winter Sight Words Flashcards to practice early reading skills!

2. This Printable Winter Bingo Game is such a cute winter game for kids!

3. Let the kids get some sensory play with this Winter Sensory Bin!

4. Have some Winter Playdough Fun with the little ones!

5. Read some of these beautiful Books about the Winter Solstice!

6. This snowy Winter Slime is a great play activity for little hands!

7. Your little superhero fans will love making paper snowflakes with these Batman Snowflake Templates!

8. These Salt-Painted Snowflakes are beautiful!

9. Make these simple Winter Candle Luminaries for some soft winter light!

10. Kids will love trying this Snow Crystal Science Experiment!

11. Get to know animals that live in the Arctic Circle with these Arctic Animal Flashcards!

12. Introduce the kids to abstract art with this Abstract Winter Art activity!

13. This easy Simple Snowman Sensory Bin is so simple to set up!

14. Kids will love making this Sticky Yarn Snowflake Craft!

15. The Yeti might be a legend, but this Cardboard Tube Yeti Craft is so adorable!

16. Preschoolers will love making mixed media art with this Winter Bubble Wrap Tree Craft!

17. Make some feathered friends with these Craft Stick Macaroni Penguins!

18. Let the kids use these Preschool Snowman Printables for early learning!

19. These Watercolor and Oil Pastel Resist Snowflakes are so pretty! Let the kids hang them in the window!

20. Get some fine motor skill practice with these Yarn-Wrapped Snowflakes!

21. Practice simple counting with these printable Snowflake Counting Flashcards!

Like these fun kids’ activities? Take a look at these other learning ideas and crafts!

See even more fun ways to spend winter with the family on my Winter Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

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100 Fun Learning Activities for Preschoolers

November 6, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

When you take on the responsibility of teaching toddlers and preschoolers at home, it can be a challenge to come up with new activities that will hold their attention. We’ve gotten to homeschool four little ones in our homeschooling journey and each one of them has been different. They’ve had different interests, different learning styles, and very different personalities.

So the activities that worked for one preschooler didn’t necessarily work for the next or the next or the one after that! And that’s why it’s good to have a huge variety of preschool activities that you can go to at anytime.

Read below to get some inspiration from this list of 100(!) fun learning activities for preschoolers! And be sure to check out our list of fun preschool worksheets and activities for more hands-on learning!