When the newness of the school year wears off, you’re going to want some tricks up your sleeve to keep it interesting. This issue of What’s Hot in Homeschooling is here to help.
If you’ve been homeschooling longer than a year, you may be exhausted at the thought of doing lots of science. Let’s face it. Science can take a lot of time. That’s why I appreciated this advice from Raising Lifelong Learners. I bet you will too!
My family loves movies, but finding family-friendly movies that reflect our values has become a real challenge. That’s why I’m so excited about this movie that we were able to see for free at our local theater this summer. It’s a great way to fit in science and an even better way to talk about your faith. While you’re reading at The Inspired Day, I’d love to have you subscribe to these short shots of inspiration. Looking for more family-friendly movies? Plugged In Online has yearly nominations for the best movies for kids and teens.
Cornerstone Confessions shares pictures of her homeschooling space that looks like a kids’ library and preschool classroom rolled into one. If you have younger kids and need to rethink your space, don’t miss this post.
When I started homeschooling, I thought review was the boring stuff of traditional school. So I didn’t do it. I wanted to get on to more new material like what I’ve shared above. Now I see that review is what makes it possible to move on to new, fresh material! If you’re not convinced, read this great article from The Homeschool Classroom.
If you’d like to get some of these great ideas early or you want to see the pins of top homeschool bloggers, be sure to follow the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board.
We are back to school and so far, so good! This week I’m excited to share some hot math, history, language arts, character, and organizational resources with you. Be sure to follow me on Pinterest and you won’t miss a single hot resource. I scan Pinterest so you don’t have to!
JK Mergens has shared her wisdom on teaching math fast with my readers before. Now she is sharing a free bookmark that has the basics of math condensed on one form. It makes a great cheat sheet for moms, too. Be sure to take a look at her no-nonsense curriculum. We use it and love it.
I love Mystery of History and have no affiliation with it. Wish I did! This year we are using Volume I for the second time. We don’t take time to do the activities because we do hands-on activities during our homeschool co-op. But I would like to make the material come alive in a less time-consuming way.
I have always thought we would watch the recommended videos as a family in the evenings, but it just never seems to happen with sports and other activities. I decided to look for short videos on YouTube that could accompany our lessons. I have created a playlist of them for you, but a few warnings. First, I haven’t watched every video in its entirety. I cannot promise you that they will be appropriate for your family. They may not even be appropriate for my family, but I will be watching with my children and can stop the video and offer explanations if needed. Some videos mention millions of years which we don’t agree with, for example. In no way is this playlist endorsed by Mystery of History. Second, the videos are frequently deleted. Because that is the case, I have only added videos through the first semester of Volume I. I will complete the playlist as that time gets nearer so I don’t have to redo the work. Finally, the videos may not be appropriate for your children’s ages. I included a number of Bible cartoons which may be too young for some kids and documentary material which may be boring for younger kids. The basics are there, however, saving you time if you’d like to look for a few alternate videos or just not watch any videos at all. I pray these videos will be a blessing to your family.
This project is absolutely on my to-do list as it’s perfect for a homeschooler, scrapbooker, and organization junkie like me. It’s pretty and practical.
One of the questions I am most frequently asked is how I teach many grade levels at once. Jill of Blessed Beyond a Doubt has six children like I do, but apparently has more time to answer the question properly on her blog. Now I don’t have to!
If you’d like to get some of these great ideas early or you want to see the pins of top homeschool bloggers, be sure to follow the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board.
This week’s post serves as a to-do list for me. In fact, after I hit publish, I am going to make good use of these links. I hope you’re as excited about them as I am.
Every year I give the kids new binders. Some years I have had them decorate their own and others I have designed my own covers. I love that Thirty Handmade Days has made covers for me and more. There is also an About Me page for your kids to record a snapshot of their lives that just screams to be scrapbooked. Update: here’s my daughter’s photo using one of the printables.
When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I was so excited. I absolutely love surprises and so do my kids. Teach Mama provides ideas for leaving materials on the table with instructions for creativity. I would love to use supplies I already have to get the kids’ creative juices flowing about once a week.
Speaking of clever ideas…how about turning acts of service into a secret service agent role play? The kids won’t groan when you tell them it’s time to think of others using the free printables from the Melissa and Doug blog.
If you’re like me, you’re loaded down with creative learning ideas, but when it comes to family time, you aren’t sure what to do. Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling comes to the rescue. Print out the ideas, cut them up, put them in a jar and voila! You can surprise your family with some fun.
If you missed my post about our student from Spain, I think you’ll enjoy it. We’re all more motivated to learn Spanish now and I love the idea of improving our skills with podcasts. I need to subscribe and have my high school sophomore subscribe, too.
I can still remember my first day of homeschooling when my plans went awry within the first 15 minutes. As we embark on this new school year, the 2:1 Conference blog writer has some good advice. Sometimes we just need to quit.
What’s Hot in Homeschooling is back! We haven’t started back to school yet, but it’s definitely time to share the best articles so we can all have the best school year ever.
Homeschool blogs are abuzz with talk of goals for the school year. I’m exhausted just trying to come up with multiple goals for the five kids I’m still homeschooling. That’s why I really liked the approach described in this article which isn’t a homeschool blog. See if you do, too.
Homeschoolers love printables and Jill of Blessed Beyond a Doubt delivers with this free set that will help you write out your goals (if you prefer), make it fun with a back-to-school scavenger hunt, and more.
I always like to give the kids something new for school, but I don’t want to spend a lot. Free Homeschool Deals shares the impressive back-to-school booty she got at Dollar Tree for just $15. You’ll want to subscribe to her site for even more money-saving ideas.
I was inspired by this post from Bible Based Homeschooling. I have found the most overwhelming part of homeschooling is making choices. Decluttering what you have to choose from is a great tip you’ll get here.
I think Jill’s been peeking in my windows to see us sleeping in on school days! Few things impact your schooling more than starting on time. You’ll love these tips.
You won’t need encouragement to keep homeschooling until after you’ve taught for fifteen minutes. When one of my friends had just started homeschooling, she bemoaned that her son just wasn’t a fan of her plan. We’ve all been there. Renee Gotcher of Next Gen Homeschool has some ideas for places to go when the going gets tough.
Be sure to follow the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board. If you’re a blogger, please comment with your Pinterest account link below to contribute to the board.
Summer is finally here, even though it hasn’t been really hot yet. But never fear! I have some really hot ideas for summer learning for you and the kids. Because it’s summer and this is the time I use to get a lot of big projects done, What’s Hot in Homeschooling will be taking a break.
However, I have a fun summer activity for you Pinterest lovers! Each Saturday beginning this week, I will host a Sanity Savers Pinterest Party here on the blog! You’ll find new friends to follow and great pins to pin. If you have no idea how to participate, don’t worry! I’ll share a step-by-step process so you don’t go nuts trying to figure it out. If you subscribe to Homeschool Only on the Psychowith6 newsletter, you’ll want to either change your subscription (see the preferences link at the bottom of your email) or put a reminder on your calendar to check the website on Saturdays so you don’t miss the fun.
Homeschoolers know how important reading is, but sometimes we get so busy with summer fun that reading time disappears. I think you’ll appreciate this article by Teach Mama, especially if you have reluctant readers. When you’ve finished the article, check out Free Summer Reading Programs and this Summer Reading Bingo Printable, too.
I have to thank my teen for this one. He is crazy about Duolingo and even has me using it. This online teaching program that gives awards for progress is supposed to be the equivalent of college coursework. What a great way to keep the language skills sharp in the summer and into the school year, too.
My oldest found this website, too. If you’re thinking about Wordly Wise or another vocabulary program, check out Vocabulary.com first. Your child can work on improving their vocabulary by grade level. Did I mention it’s free?
Speaking of free, The Chaos and the Clutter gives a review of free piano lessons for kids. There are 55 free video lessons with the option of purchasing printed materials. Summer is a perfect time to perfect the piano.
At the beginning of the summer, we feel like we have endless time. But all too soon, we can run out of ideas. Bow of Bronze offers up some reminders of inexpensive, but memorable things we can do with the kids.
One of the very important things I do in the summer is plan curriculum for next year. Avoid spending money needlessly with this fantastic list of free resources for teaching on FreeHomeschoolDeals.com.
This week puts many of us so much closer to the end of the school year. It can be hard to keep going when nice weather beckons. I have some encouragement and problem solvers for you!
There are few things I love more from homeschool writers than reality. This post from Joyful Mothering describes homeschooling the way so many of us experience it, with the result that we feel we can keep going.
Talk about amusing, this preschool blogger lists the many reasons her preschoolers have thrown a fit. I so wish I had made a list like this! She gives great ideas for avoiding fits in the first place.
Here’s another great family project for kids of any age. Create a museum for your own family members. I think it would be really funny if you charged your family to see it.
If you’re a Christian homeschooler, you’ve heard about courtship vs. dating, even if you only have preschoolers. Susan Evans sparked a good discussion on her blog about the issue. Be sure to read the comments!
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
