tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-309733942024-11-05T21:05:47.483-06:00Advice and resources found on our home school journey.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-69530381364222482712012-05-26T11:56:00.000-05:002012-05-26T15:28:32.999-05:00

I started this blog with the intention of sharing everything I learned about home schooling when I started educating my daughter at home when she was in eighth grade.  I've not done well at keeping up with the blog, so here's a rundown of some things I've learned: The only regret that I have is that I didn't start home schooling sooner. I wanted to when my daughter was in second grade, but

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-78265597193203967472012-05-26T10:00:00.000-05:002012-05-26T12:37:38.154-05:00

In my post, Home Schooling Observations, I refer to my daughter's online high school. Here's the scoop: There are many styles of home schooling and what works for one family won't for another. In many cases, what works for one child won't work for another! Sometimes the answer is not to provide the education from the parent, and parents who make this choice should not be rejected by or cause

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-21765329895619945922011-09-01T09:18:00.000-05:002011-09-01T09:20:36.146-05:00

Whether you have a computer geek in-the-making or you need to add some technology coursework to your homeschool curriculum, Codeacademy is a great option for teaching kids how to code.  Codeacademy is free, interactive and it's a web app, so it runs entirely through a web browser and there is nothing to install. Codeacademy starts off with a really, really basic lesson, so total newbies

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-37810511279796526162010-11-03T10:18:00.000-05:002010-11-03T10:18:20.222-05:00

The Wall Street Journal All Things Digital has a great review of Grockit, an online resource for studying for college entrance exams. Grockit makes studying for the SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE or LSAT less expensive with lessons, group study and solo practice while being fun and educational, according to reviewer/reporter Katie Boehret. Grockit also has practice for English Language Arts and Math for

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-9257778207282827522010-10-11T10:48:00.001-05:002011-09-01T11:18:52.309-05:00

Recently, my homeschool student wrote a short compare and contrast report of the book, Nim's Island and the Nim's Island movie. What was handed in consisted of two long paragraphs when it should have been broken down into several paragraphs, although I reviewed that a new idea or subject requires a new paragraph before the writing began.  My student thought that anything written about the

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-23610064268397166452010-09-10T16:43:00.000-05:002010-09-10T16:43:13.793-05:00

Check out these ten online games and game websites that teach kids in a fun way about the environment and the world around them. These interactive educational websites teach that each action has an effect on the Earth. When kids learn about animals and conservation in an interactive way, the lessons learned are sure to be remembered. 10 Environmental Games That Teach Kids About Earth, Ecology

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-64213733763228095872010-09-09T09:54:00.003-05:002010-09-09T10:36:16.453-05:00

Homeschooling takes a lot of lesson planning, with reading, workbooks, online activities, field trips and other academic planning. I started planning on paper, and then created a spreadsheet to track hours, but still needed a flexible tool for daily lesson planning. Homeschool Skedtrack Today Screen IRT Web Solutuions I tried three different online applications for homeschool lesson planning,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-39539629858030274352010-08-26T17:34:00.000-05:002010-08-26T17:34:12.865-05:00

A unit study is study of one topic (mammals, ocean, Civil War) that incorporates many cross-curriculum subjects, like history, science spelling and writing. Unit study author Amanda Bennett defines a unit study as "a complete immersion into the topic so that the student will see things as a "whole" instead of bits and pieces learned throughout their education." Some reasons that unit studies

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-33992567548765056052010-08-21T17:05:00.002-05:002010-08-21T18:42:28.579-05:00

I've been learning more about C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia after my middle school daughter was looking to do some end-of-summer summer reading. I didn't realize that The Chronicles of Narnia actually consisted of seven books, and neither did my daughter.  Although the books weren't written in chronological order, they can be read in this order.I found a Narnia boxed set of the

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-72194372979831932372010-07-15T10:35:00.001-05:002010-07-15T10:46:17.688-05:00

Here's a great resource for renting books for home schooling students from preschool through high school, without leaving the house. Bookswim is an online book rental service that lets you put together a queue of books to be delivered to your door. Among the classifications for children's book rentals are sections by age, literature, science and nature, animals, people and places. Adults

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-47503839277777799772010-06-11T15:32:00.000-05:002010-06-11T15:32:25.671-05:00

As I read through The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas, I found myself wishing I had known about this resource years ago.  Even though I was not home schooling at that time, my daughter and I would have had tons of fun with the activities presented in this book.  I am starting to home school my daughter in middle school, so the activities are too simplistic for her.  However,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-29005243001331695112010-06-09T11:09:00.001-05:002011-09-01T09:37:16.549-05:00

As the financial software guide at About.com, I take personal finance education seriously, but I had fun researching online and desktop software that can be used to teach kids of all ages about money.    Each of these free or low-cost educational software choices has a unique feature that may be especially appealing to your child. Learn about software to teach kids about money at

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-53302306252787155362010-06-09T08:54:00.000-05:002010-06-09T08:54:02.237-05:00

We often hear that kids are too busy these days, yet most families continue to participate in multiple activities with little or no downtime. Home school families can be just as susceptible as other families to the lure of getting kids involved in too much, whether it's out of pressure from comparing to other home school households, insecurity about developing curriculum, or other reasons. Keep

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14252064522229112132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30973394.post-41146962148594345492010-06-08T16:21:00.006-05:002010-06-09T09:36:09.131-05:00

Home Schooling in Wisconsin:  At Home with Learning has been written by experienced home schoolers and is published by the Wisconsin Parents Association.  This book is updated regularly, with my copy being the sixth edition, published in 2006. I first considered home schooling my child in first grade, but felt intimidated at the prospect of doing so.  Still, I remained interested

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