Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
I want to say in the simplest way possible the lesson that God has been teaching me lately. I'll start at the beginning. I'm a talker…as in, I talk a lot. When I'm happy, sad, excited, nervous, angry, joyful, unsure, thinking…..I talk. You'll usually only find me quiet when I'm tired or overwhelmed or really into what I'm reading. My children, who … [Read more...]
If you're looking to mix up your school time or perhaps shop for birthday presents, there are some seriously fun and effective teaching toys out there. I've made a list of my favorites to match up specifically with CC Cycle 3 areas of study, but could really be used anytime. Here are the ones on my radar right now: 1. Periodic Table Blocks - … [Read more...]
History - September 11, 2001 I found these lesson plans from The Cork Board and read this fact sheet to my children. It was hard for me to read all the way through without tearing up at the memories. Wow - I hope my children can understand that history doesn't just teach us so much, but was also lived by real people. Have you found a great way … [Read more...]
Each week, I'll post a fun idea or two related to the CC Cycle 3 memory work. In the past, I posted an idea for each subject, each week. But, it was a bit of overkill - at least for us and the time we have. I'm keeping it simpler this year. If you're keeping it classical, remember, the first goal is to memorize the memory work for each subject. … [Read more...]
Did you know September 13, 2014, marks the 200 year anniversary of the writing of The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key? I didn't! Until the mother/son team over at Classical Composers Monthly sent me the link to the free resource they're offering all about our national anthem. Follow the link to find a curated collection of short videos, … [Read more...]
On our path to the Grand Canyon, we came across an overlook of Lake Powell. It was just beautiful. The littles and I played with the rocks up top, while my husband climbed a little lower and left our mark. The littles all wanted to climb down, but it looked a little steep to me, so Daddy had all the fun. After that brief pit stop, we headed on … [Read more...]
As quickly as I can, I'll be sharing pictures of the Flat Littles' travels. I'm excited to follow them as they zigzag around these great United States of ours. First up, the Flat Littles traveled with the Hogan family through Virginia. The Hogans are Seth, Becki, Elijah, Ruthie, Isaiah and Gideon. They're part of our local … [Read more...]
[UPDATE: This article is originally from Aug 2013. I'm republishing it for this year. Last year arriving early was a total flop! Being very sick from pregnancy put the kibosh on that plan. I was just very grateful for getting out the door at all and a Dunkin Donuts on our route to CC. :) I have high hopes for this year, but also an infant. … [Read more...]
And this picture pretty much perfectly describes homeschooling with a preschooler in the house. This was us last year. My daughter would climb onto the schoolroom table and try to gather up as many pencils, erasers, etc as she could. I snapped this picture, because in this moment it was so, so funny to me. Despite the ridiculous distraction … [Read more...]
Growing up, I just loved shopping for back-to-school supplies…perfectly sharpened yellow pencils, clean lined paper, cute three-ring binders, a fun new lunchbox and sturdy backpack. Does it get any better? Okay, perhaps it does. ;) But, this is fun for me. Want to see our back-to-homeschool supply list favorites? Here they … [Read more...]