Welcome to the Party Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling

With all the tools, materials, LEGOS, and especially ideas around our house, something is being built every day.  Here are some ideas for having a homeschool . . .

Building Party

Barbara Frank presents Tinkering School posted at Barbara Frank. What a great idea – invite kids, bring tools and supplies, add a couple dads and a garage, and make your own tinkering school.

Christine at Our Curious Home gives a run down on a fun science project involving spinning tops while coping with the winter illnesses many of us are enduring now.

Jenny at Home is Where You Start From presents Growing borax crystals, a homeschool Science project.  She says, “We successfully grew borax crystals on pipe-cleaner “stars” in a jar.  They were beautiful and educational.  I walk you through the simple steps of completing this project.  Home school = fun school.”

Kaye Swain presents Cheap Scrapbook Supplies + Great Scrapbook Inspirational Sayings = Happy Grandkids posted at SandwichINK.  She says, “My grandkids and I have had fun combining cheap scrapbook supplies and sweet scrapbook inspirational sayings to make all sorts of fun projects.  I love it when we can combine fun, giving, and learning – making it perfect for their homeschooling programs.”

Young kids learn while they’re laughing, giggling, running, and having a homeschool . . .

Play Party

Lara DeHaven presents Having a Purim Party posted at Texas Homesteader.  She gives some great ideas for celebrating various holidays throughout the year.

Sarah presents Preschool Play posted at The Forest Room.  She explains “Various preschool work from this week with some comments on development and quotes.”  I really enjoyed her art, muffin tin, and preschool letter ideas.

DeputyHeadmistress presents I had a different schedule planned for today… posted at The Common Room, saying, “The DHM had a schedule all planned and organized, and then the boys got busy with something else.”  I loved the map ‘fun’ – kids learn so well when they’re playing.

Tom DeRosa presents See the Ultimate Number Line Game in Action [Video] posted at I Want to Teach Forever, saying, “Here’s a math idea that will get your kids up and moving!”

We all have our own beliefs and many of us are happy share to them with others.  Browse these interesting opinions, and I couldn’t resist calling it a homeschool . . .

Political Party (and Opinions on Homeschooling)

Katherine presents budget cut suggestion posted at No fighting, no biting! She says, “As states and counties cut workers, perhaps they could slash some positions that seem to exist primarily to harass homeschoolers.”

Cristina presents The Department Store World posted at Home Spun Juggling. She shares, “My thoughts on how our society separates issues and subjects into different categories and my own ideas about taking a more holistic approach. ”

Janine writes about how “homeschooling allows us to have our children work on hard things that really matter,” in her article called Life stress and homeschooling posted at Why Homeschool.

Dana presents In defense of the Pearls…some thoughts posted at Roscommon Acres.  She gives her take on the debate involving the Pearls who lean heavily towards not ’sparing the rod’ and the controversy involving the death of a young girl in a family following that philosophy.

Rodney C. Nanney presents Homeschooling Dad Running for State Representative posted at Put Michigan Back to Work.  Both he and his wife share their thoughts and motivations for his first foray into politics.

Alasandra presents Political Asylum for Homeschooling? posted at Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards, saying, “I am really tired of bigots like Libby who know nothing about homeschooling harassing, bashing and insulting homeschoolers.”

Crazy Stats People presents Press Release: Chocolate Versus Vanilla posted at Count By Homeschoolers, saying, “Are homeschoolers particular about their ice cream? Help us find out by participating in our latest survey!”

ChristineMM presents Thoughts on Homeschooled Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts posted at The Thinking Mother.  She shares her thoughts after reading an article on the topic in Scouting magazine.”

Susan Ryan presents Useful Homeschoolers posted at Corn and Oil.  She offers her own review of articles in Scouting and Yes Magazines.

We’re often stumped and looking for something new.  What you need to do is attend a homeschool . . .

Party of Ideas

Rachel Lynette presents 8 Fun things to do with Idioms posted at Minds in Bloom. She says, “I know I am preaching to the choir when I say that idioms are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Check out these out of this world ideas – they’re the cat’s pajamas! ”

Christina S. presents Project: Popcorn! posted at Lesson Pathways Blog.  She says, “A fun post from a homeschool mom about her ‘Popcorn’ theme unit. Great ideas!”

Barbra Sundquist presents Time Management: Procrastination posted at HomeBusinessWiz.  She says, “New research shows that contrary to common belief, procrastination has very little to do with our skills to plan or manage time. The root of the avoidance is our reaction to work, sense of purpose, or self-esteem.”

Sebastion, who presents Questions about Homeschooling posted at Percival Blakeney Academy needs some help with questions for a homeschool Q&A panel.

Mrs. White presents The Cleanest House Ever posted at The Legacy of Home.  She’s got some great ideas for your next big cleaning day . . . and how to get the kids to do it all.

Shannon Entin presents Learning Through Living posted at Mom Improvement. Check out the great living history restaurant they found.

GrrlScientist presents BirdNote Radio Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, “BirdNote is a radio series about the intriguing ways of birds. BirdNote programs are two-minute vignettes that incorporate the rich sounds of birds with stories that illustrate the interesting — and in some cases, truly amazing — abilities of birds.”

NerdMom presents Book It Time!!! posted at Making Money, Keeping Money.

Kristie presents How to Save On Your Grocery Bill posted at Saving Dollars and Sense, saying, “This post offers practical tips for bring down your grocery bill.”

If you want to see some variety, compare the bookshelves and teaching methods of a few homeschoolers.  And we’re always looking for more ideas.  Make sure to check out this homeschool . . .

Curriculum Party

Tiana Krenz presents What Does “Enough” Look Like? posted at God Made, Home Grown.  She gives some advice to help box-checking parents who are trying to evaluate if they are doing enough schooling.

Kerry Jones presents Make Way for Change! posted at Parent Community and Forum.  Some great thoughts on the evolution of homeschooling in their home.

Katie presents Uses and Benefits of Audio Books posted at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage.  She says, “So many uses for audio books and so many free places to get them!”

Amy Bowen presents It’s too much!!! posted at Eclectic Homeschooling.  She shares how many things she’s able to do and enjoy with her children because she homeschools.

Catherine presents Applying Montessori principles in our home, part 1 posted at Petticoat Government.  She gives some great insights into “applying Maria Montessori’s principles to be a better teacher and mother.”

Dave Roller presents Structured and Unstructured posted at Home School Dad, saying, “I have been struggling lately with my home schooling style lately should I be structured or unstructured. Here is what I’m thinking.”

Nak presents “Ulysses S. Grant as Desdemona” or “Adventures in Speech Class” posted at Sage Parnassus.

And some days it all just doesn’t work out so well.  Here’s some advice that might help the next time you feel like having a homeschool . . .

Pity Party

Amy presents The Homeschool Schedule Blues posted at Raising Arrows.  She gives some great ideas when you feel like your curriculum just isn’t working for you.

Amy @ Hope Is the Word presents Sick Day posted at Hope Is the Word.  She says, “Observations and questions from a “sick day” in our homeschool.”

Linda Dobson presents Homeschooling: The Gift That Keeps Giving posted at PARENT AT THE HELM.  She gives us hope and a fun look into the future as she enjoys her homeschooled daughter now continuing the tradition with her own daughter.

You’re also welcome to submit an article to the next addition using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Enjoy!

This Saturday at 10 am, the kids can go to your local Lowes and make a free wooden table top basketball game.  They also give the kids a free Lowe’s apron and patch for each project.  My kids really love the Lowe’s Build and Grow clinics.

Enjoy!

With Easter coming, and March being ‘craft month’, Michaels has a whole bunch of craft projects available on upcoming weekends.  Some free, some you need to pay for some of the supplies. 

Today from 10 am to 1 pm, you can make little yarn people for free.

A great little outing if you’re having a slow Saturday.

Enjoy!

I’m hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week, so if you blog about homeschooling, or even have a post that you think homeschoolers would find useful, please submit your article through the link below, and I will include your post:

Submit your blog post to the Carnival of Homeschooling

A blog carnival is a collection of links and descriptions to a bunch of good articles on a certain topic – in this case, homeschooling.  It’s a nice way to browse through a bunch of articles at the same time, while also getting a chance to find new blogs and meet new people.  For the blogger, its a great way to exposure and more readers for your blog.

I hope to see your articles!

Misty

Getting excitied about the Winter Olympics?  We love to curl up on the couch with a stack of books together.

Try heading over to your local library or Amazon and pick up some good books on the subject.

The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team - $10.04

This is a book about the 1980 U.S. Hockey team and their incredible story.  A bunch of unknown college kids taking on the great Russian team in a time when American spirits were pretty low.  They pulled off an amazing victory with the famous quote by Al Michaels who cried, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” as the Americans won. 

The Winter Olympics: An Insider’s Guide to the Legends, Lore and Events of the Games Vancouver Edition - $12.89

This is a fun guide specific to the Winter Olympics, written by Ron Judd, a popular columnist at The Seattle Times.  The book has profiles of the individual sports along with the history, athletes, how each sport is played and judged.

Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics - $12.89

Like pictures?  This history of the Winter Olympics takes you through how it all began, the different sports, and highlights of all the games – all in beautiful pictures.

Check out this Winter Olympic Sport Series with books highlighting individual sports, thier histories, greatest moments, famous athletes, and more.  (P.S.  These are part of Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, so you get one free if you buy 3)

I had a fun idea to get really excited and involved in the upcoming Olympics:  what if someone set up a Fantasy Olympic League, like the fantasy football my brother and his buds get all crazy into?

Well, these guys have done it:  Fantasy Olympians - with all the rules and scoring information along with a blog about past events.

If you’re curious about how it works, and how fun it is, check out this article on how the Olympic Fantasy League gave the writer a reason to really get into the Olympics.

It sounds pretty entertaining.  I’d love to hear back from anyone who decides to try it.

Enjoy!

Here’s a quick deal for you:

Zoobooks, who puts out a fun animal magazine for kids (awesome pictures!) also sells board books, soft cover books, and lots of other great animal stuff.  Anyway, there is a 10% off code “ZOOBOOKS” you can use on any of the products in their store.

If you’ve seen any of their stuff, you’ll know that they have incredible pictures of animals and then add in the science facts disguised as fun activities and information.  I know my little 1-year-old is totally fascinated by animal pictures lately, and he’s really been enjoying animal picture books from the library.

Or, if you’re interested in the actual magazine, here’s their current special: ”Get a FREE poster and FREE animal stickers with your Zoobooks magazine!”

Enjoy!

Do you have preschoolers who might enjoy the Olympics?  Try some of these for the littles:

• Print, color, and fold Olympic mascots
• A few simple Olympic online games
• Olympic dot-to-dot, patterns, coloring, and other printables.
• Make an Olympic flag or your own gold medals with these fun Olympic crafts.
• Have them choose a stuffed animal to watch the Olympics with and the ‘friend’ can dictate a story for you to type up about the Olympics.
• ABC Teach Olympic directory of printables and projects.

Enjoy!

Have you done an Olympic craft or activity with your preschooler?  Please share.  Thanks!

The Homeschool Carnival this week is titled “What Matters Most” posted over at “As For My House” – I’ve been having fun browsing all the great articles this morning.

photo by woodleywonderworks

The idea that you simply add a zero to a number when you multiply it by 10 is probably one you already know, but it’s a fun one to teach beginners.

After that, however, did you stop to think that just as 5 is half of 10, when you multiply a number by 5, it is half of what it is when it’s multiplied by 10?

Here’s what I mean – something like this:

• 5 x 5 . . . I know 5 x 10 is just 5 plus a zero on the end = 50, so 5 x 5 is half of 50 = 25.
• 7 x 5 = half of 70 = 35.
• 16 x 5 = half of 160 = 80

Or you can think of it this way – divide the multiplicand in half and then times 10:

• 5 x 5 = half of 5 is 2.5 . . .2.5 x 10 = 25
• 7 x 5 = half of 7 is 3.5 . . . 3.5 x 10 = 35
• 16 x 5 = half of 16 is 8 . . . 8 x 10 = 80

It is an extra step, but it’s definitely faster than counting by 5s on your fingers to get to the answer.  Plus, it’s a big help once you move up into the bigger numbers you don’t have memorized.  It also help teach relationships between numbers, another fun trick.

Enjoy!

P.S.  Here are some previous tips and math reviews:

• Tips and Tricks for 9’s
• Tips and Tricks for 6’s
• Timez Attack
• Dojo Math
• Favorite Math Curriculum
• Memorize in Minutes: the Times Tables