Guest post by Dana Hanley I never thought much about handwriting when I started homeschooling. I never thought about its principles or developed any particular philosophy of what handwriting was or how good handwriting should be developed. I taught it exactly as I had been taught: through repetition and drill, expecting perfect conformity of letters. I must confess that I…
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Apples of Gold
Apples of Gold, written by Lisa Samson is a true treasure for teaching purity to your children ten and older. I’m always on the lookout for really good literature that brings home the point of purity with a serious message, yet without a heavy hand. This book meets both of those criteria! Not only that, but both my daughter and…
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Blooming into Wordsmiths with Institute for Excellence in Writing’s “Student Writing Intensive”
Writing is something that I have always liked to do. However, not everyone does, especially many children. Sometimes children (and even writers) struggle to think of ideas and things to write about. So, what can a parent do to help their children with this? Last school year, I volunteered to teach a writing class at my homeschool co-op. I had…
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Integritas Academy File Folder Games
As we continue our homeschooling I look for many ways to keep our schooling hands on and fun. I came across Integritas Academy which is owned by a homeschooling family. They offer affordable file folder games in many subjects. I absolutely love to use file folder games and the kids love playing them. When I saw how wonderfully these were made…
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Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a publication of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Are you wondering how in the world a boring statistical book made it onto a homeschool review site? Keep reading. The OOH is not boring, and it’s very helpful for middle school and high school homeschool students and their parents. My daughter is only ten…
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Life of Fred – Fractions
Life of Fred: The story of fractions has never been told like this. At a glance: Grade level: elementary Use as: supplement or stand alone Instruction time: dependent on student understanding Prep time: low Cost: $19.00 per book I have so many wonderful things to say about Life of Fred that I hardly know where to begin. So, let’s start…
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Art in the Style of Eric Carle
There are many ways to incorporate art into a unit study, but one of our favorites has been to learn about and imitate the art of a particular illustrator. Last year during our study of the ocean we read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle. We enjoyed the illustrations so much that we decided to try making our…
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Inspiration from Pilgrim’s Progress
If lessons are meant to be creative, mine fail. This year, lessons are pretty much straight from the book. Commendable plans smolder in my thoughts. Our idea books are perused often, but not by me. My son has taken to finding his own creativity. I applaud his efforts. Pilgrim’s Progress When I asked him to record the characters in Pilgrim’s…
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Welcome video!
We’ve just added a welcome video to our “About” page. It’s a brief, 2 minute video explaining what we are all about and a few tips for brand new homeschoolers! Angela is a homeschool mother of 5, and has been homeschooling from the beginning.
The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease
This year we are using Susan Wise Bauer’s wonderful new program, The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease. This curriculum teaches the elementary-aged writer (or struggling older child) how to express themselves on paper. I find this program simple to implement and enjoyable to teach. My children look forward to their daily copywork lesson, and they are thriving on the step…
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