Tag: homeschooling

The Perfect Curriculum

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You are about to start a new school year and the planning of a new school adventure has already begun. One of biggest questions on your mind might be, “What would be the perfect curriculum?”. The truth is, there is no such thing as a perfect curriculum. In fact, I have found in my 12 years of homeschooling that I can use almost any type of curriculum and give my kids an amazing education. Perhaps this thought brings you relief or perhaps this thought brings on more fear because now what in the world do you choose to use?

The most important thing to remember is that you want your curriculum to serve you. You do not want be a slave to your curriculum. It is a tool that it to benefit your teaching not dictate it. I learned this lesson the hard way in my earlier years of homeschooling. I am a lover of the check list. I want to make sure that I check off all the boxes on my list, so that I can feel accomplished at the end of the day. In fact, if I have done a task that is not on my check list, I will put it on my check list just so that I can check it off.

Although I can appreciate my gift of being administrative, this love of check lists can have some negative effects. This became evident in my homeschooling when I was more interested in checking off the boxes instead of taking the time to cultivate a love of learning in my kids. I ended up being a slave to my curriculum because I had a desire to see all those boxes checked. Surprisingly, this did not end up being beneficial to the homeschooling of my children. I realized I needed to think about what my actual goals were and which curriculum would best serve the purpose of reaching those goals.

One of my biggest goals is to develop a love of learning so that when they have graduated from my homeschool they will still desire to pursue learning in whatever God had for them. I came to the realization that I didn’t need a certain curriculum to accomplish this feat. I needed to quit worrying about whether the boxes were checked or whether the curriculum was perfect and just work on cultivating a delight for learning. How does our family do this?

We read great books, we study the arts and music, we talk about how math isn’t just about formulas but is evident in the very universe we live in, we explore the kids interest and see where it takes them. Throughout my years of homeschooling, the search for the perfect curriculum became obsolete and my pursuit of creating life long learners was a more prominent goal in my mind.

Now you might be thinking these are all great ideas, but I have no idea what curriculum to choose! I am going to list a few of my favorites to give you place to start. Another thing to keep in mind is the lifestyle that your family is living and the environment that your homeschool will be in. If both parents are working and homeschooling, then you want to look for a curriculum that lays each day out for you because you don’t have necessarily the time to create your own. Even with the laid out curriculums, feel free to cut out things that your kids don’t need or you don’t want. Remember that it is a tool for you to use. If you want more of a literature based curriculum, then you want to look for curriculums that are heavy with good books. Our family uses “The Charlotte Mason” Method and the curriculum is free online at amblesideonline.com. If you are interested in “The Charlotte Mason” Method, I would encourage you to research it before you start. It’s a wonderful way to homeschool children, but if you don’t understand the method then the curriculum won’t make sense. I will list some of my favorite curriculum by subject.

Ready Made Curriculums:

(These are also very literature based. In other words, lots of books)

Sonlight

Amblesideonline.com

My Father’s World

Science:

Apologia.com

Spangler Science (Science kits with ready made experiments)

English/Reading:

Houseofhumaneletters.com (Excellent Reading and Lit classes for Junior High and High School)

Veritas Press (This website has excellent options for littles that need hands on learning for learning to read)

All About Reading

All About Spelling

Math:

BJU Math

Saxon Math

Teaching Textbooks ( This was more visual for my child with dyslexia)

Music/Art/Shakespeare:

SimpleCharlotteMason.com (They have excellent resources for the arts/music and Shakespeare)

If you are looking for more wisdom and insight into the world of homeschooling, I highly recommend the online 2020 Back to School Conference found at cindyrollins.net

Books that Every Homeschooler Should Read:

Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie

The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie

Morning Time by Cindy Rollins

Picking curriculum and planning a school year can feel quite daunting, so feel free to message me any questions that you might have. Every homeschool family is different and each of our journey’s are unique, so I am in no way saying that all the favorites that I have listed are the only options. It is not an exhaustive list and it might not be what you need but its a place to start. There are many options out there, ready to serve your unique homeschool needs. Homeschooling is an adventure and one of the best decisions I made for my kids education. Enjoy the journey!

Creating space for growth

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Planting a beautiful garden to enjoy throughout the various seasons is a view I hope to gaze upon in my daily life. I decided this last summer to take a small step toward that dream and plant some flowers in my backyard. I had aspirations of sitting with my tea and favorite book out on my patio in the midst of my lovely flowers. Sadly, dreams are not always a reflection of reality or my abilities as a gardener. I was determined from the beginning to be faithful on taking care of my small garden. I watered my beautiful roses daily with anticipation of seeing them grow in beauty. What I didn’t realize at the time is that I was over watering my roses and I was slowly drowning them. As the rose bush slowly began to wither and die, it became apparent that I was definitely doing something wrong. We ended up going on vacation shortly after I realized my roses were dying. I hadn’t quite figured out what I had done wrong. We were gone for almost 2 weeks and when we came back my rose bush was beautiful again and had new buds growing everywhere. Without my daily over watering, my roses began to flourish. The rose bush needed space from my watering to grow.

Creating space in my homeschool leads to growth in my kids learning. Sometimes I will over plan my kids education. Okay, if we are being honest, I almost always over plan my kids education. This can yield the same results as my rose bush. What I intend to be helpful is actually hindering their growth. I am probably what you would a call a ‘Type A” personality. I love to be organized and researching homeschool curriculum is my happy place. I could literally plan each of my kids education to the last minute of the day. I feel compelled to give my kids the best education, so in my mind, that means the best program that I can put together for them. The truth is that this probably is not the best idea for my kids. In fact, I know its not the best plan of action because I tried it and it totally failed. Each of our kids are individuals with their own set of talents and skills that make them unique. I have learned through trial and error that I need to give them space to explore their own interests on this journey to creating life long learners.

What does this look like to create space for growth? Do you give up all thoughts of a schedule or take away the basics such as math and reading? No, creating space in our daily homeschool is not about giving up the basics, but it is about giving time for our kids to discover their own love of learning. My kids still get a list daily of what they need to get done, but I have also built in time for their own explorations.

Judah, who is my second born son, is brilliant young man who lives life to the beat of his own drum. When I started to homeschool him, I didn’t know quite what to do. I was this eager homeschool mom with my beautiful planners and I was looking into the eyes of a child that didn’t even like the word “school”. Judah would rather play then open up a book. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that Judah was meant for greatness and it was okay that he wanted to take his time to learn in his own way. I just needed to create space for what he wanted to learn.

Judah has a knack for solving problems and fixing things. He loves to fix anything that is broken. It was a normal occurrence to give Judah the broken vacuum or any other household items to fix. Judah’s room over the years as resembled a graveyard of broken computers and other broken technology that various people have given Judah to fix. Did I mention that I like my house to be orderly? Against my own personality, I would turn a blind eye to the chaos. This was my attempt at creating space for Judah.

When Judah was 14 years old, he came to his dad and I and announced that he wanted to start his own business.  My first reaction was to turn him down.  Start a business at 14?  This is not part of my plan.  He doesn’t know what he is doing and more importantly, he needs to get done with the school stuff that I give him each day.  My personality of being a control freak was freaking out at this moment.  But of course I answered calmly, “Well, as long as you get your school done first.” I didn’t understand during that time, that God was shaping Judah into who he was meant to be.  

Today, as I write these words, Judah is 17 years old and ready to take on life. There have been definite ups and downs in his business that he has created, but he is determined to master what he wants to learn and succeed at it. He creates his own schedule each day, so that he can attain his goals. He has a desire to create a successful business, master the cello and become a fireman. Even though he has a couple years left of homeschool, he has developed a love of learning that I know will always be part of his life. My agenda of what education looked like for Judah had to change. I had to create space for Judah to pursue what he loved.

I have learned that homeschooling is not so much about getting a list of school subjects accomplished or making sure my checklists are all checked, its about becoming a student of my children. Watching and listening to see what they need to learn to become what they were born to be. I desire to create life long learners because then I know even beyond their brief education in our home, they will continue to learn and pursue what God has meant them to be. So, even though checking off all my boxes each day is my happy place, I will choose daily to create space and maybe it will help them to grow.

Rule of Six

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You have this amazing plan in your mind on how each day is going to go for your homeschool.  Kids are eager to learn, the housework is getting done and dinner will, indeed, be served on time.  I probably do not have to tell you that things don’t always look like what we imagine in our minds. My ideals of a perfect homeschool day rarely become a reality.  I sometimes struggle with the question on whether I am doing enough or are we really covering the things that we need to do?  Every summer, I am in this reflective mode of evaluating how our homeschool year went.  Would I change anything?  What do I want to do different this year? Is it time to look at hiring someone that could do a better job than me? Okay, maybe I don’t want to someone else teaching my kids but in the moments of failure, it is a fleeting thought.

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of taking a class online that was about bringing focus and alignment to your year. I actually try to take this class every summer before my homeschool year starts.  I have always known that I wanted to homeschool my kids and that we would homeschool them all the way through highschool.  I felt like God has called me to homeschool and that it was the best education I could give to my children. This helped greatly when I wanted to quit. When I had those random thought of how my kiddos might have a better education without me.  

I knew that I was supposed to continue on my journey of homeschooling despite trials that we might have walked through in our lives.  But what I loved about this class was that it brought words to the calling that I felt about homeschooling.  It also brought clarity to what I knew was the most important things to focus on.  I was able to put into words what I wanted my kiddos to leave with when they graduated from our homeschool.

This class was given by Sarah Mackenzie from ReadAloudRevival.com.  The class is called “Focus and Align”. It is part of her membership classes.  Sarah Mackenzie is a homeschool mom of six who is a great encouragement to homeschool community.  She has “Master Classes” that help equip homeschoolers with more tools for their journey.  If you get a chance to take one of her classes, I would encourage you to do it.  I have homeschooled for over 11 years and her class blessed my homeschool world.  She also wrote a book called “Teaching from a State of Rest”.  I think every parent should read this book.  She gave words to what I had been feeling for the last couple of years.  God desires to have us teach from rest and to not leave the unshakeable peace that he has for us.  Definitely worth your time to read this book.

In the “Focus and Align” Class, Sarah talks about having a “Rule of Six”. This is simply a list of six top things that you want your kids to come away with once they leave the nest. When I listed my six things, I was surprised to find that none of them had much to do with being at the top, academically. Although, I do believe, the by-product of following my “Rule of Six” will result in higher academics. Each family is different, so what is important to my family and our homeschool might not be what another family values. The point of focusing on what my goals in homeschooling are wasn’t to align with everybody else, but it was to bring focus to what I really wanted to teach my children and what I wanted them to walk away with.

Here is My “Rule of Six”:

My Rule of Six

Now, does this mean that I don’t value higher academics? Of course not! I have a daughter on the journey of pursuing medical school and in that process, she has to learn high levels of math and science. I have another child that at 16 years of age has started his own marketing company and is working on being successful in his own business. My kiddos are in love with speech and debate and compete at national levels.

My “Rule of Six” is the focus I want to have and out of those pursuits, I will see my children explore higher academics. For example, my daughter is in love with science. She is chasing wonder as she explores the microscopic world. My son is seeking deeper understanding as he learns to run his own business. I will admit I am a little bit of a control freak so the realization of what I truly wanted my focus to be in my homeschool spoke freedom. I didn’t need to stress about whether I was teaching my children enough or whether I was checking off all my boxes. I just needed to guide my children in their pursuit of their own love of learning.

So, when my house is in disarray or my kids only know the language of being obstinate, I think of my “Rule of Six”. Honestly, some days in our homeschool are more character building days then getting academics done. Other days, the only thing I did was read a story to my kids among the chaos, but I learning to recognize that this is okay! Those are the days that stretch me and I learn to let go. This journey of homeschooling is not a sprint but a marathon. This is a brief season in my life where I have been given the opportunity to live life, love and teach my 5 children. I am learning to enjoy and embrace the process. It’s a gift and its so worth it!

Resources:

Master Class: ReadAloudRevival.com- Sarah Mackenzie-Focus and Align and Focus and Align 2.0

Poetry Tea Time

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A recent tradition that I have started in our family over the last couple of years is Poetry Tea Time. I did not grow up loving poetry but I do love beautiful language and after I researched the benefits of educating my children in the language of Poetry, I was sold and Poetry Tea Time began. I first heard about having a Poetry Tea Time from Julie Bogart who had a youtube video on her method of what it looked like. Julie Bogart actually sells a “How-to” book about Poetry Tea Time on her website bravewriter.com if you are interested in learning more about her method.

Poetry Tea Time for our family, is an opportunity to give my kids a dose of beautiful language and have them enter a world that they might not embark in, on their own. Once a week or in reality sometimes once a month, I gather all my poetry books from around my house and spread them on the dining room table. Each of my 5 kids from teens to my little ones have to pick one poetry book. Then they have 5 minutes to pick 1 poem to share aloud for us all to hear. I entice my children with snacks, tea or perhaps hot cocoa to help bring even more enjoyment to Poetry Tea Time. After they have all picked which poem to share, we each go around the room and simply share a poem. We might just enjoy listening to the poetry or if it is a poem with some interesting words or cadence, a discussion may ensue.

But you may ask, why Poetry? How do my kids benefit from reading aloud Poetry? Here are a few reasons that I have found that persuade me to make a regualr diet of Poetry as part of my kids education.

Beautiful Language

Poetry is a form of art. The composer of each poetic piece has to carefully choose their words. Sometimes a poem has very little words available to convey the author’s message. This forces the author to choose their words carefully so that the reader can still gain understanding of what their message of the poem is saying. Sometimes with limited words comes a more rich vocabulary which can result in more beautiful language.

Increased Vocabulary

You will not have to worry about SAT prep in vocabulary if you are giving your kids a regular diet of poetry. The difficulty of vocabualry in poetry can be quite advanced. I usually pick one poem that we can pick a few words to define and then analyze why the author might have chosen to use that particular word. My older teens history curriculum includes regular reading of poetry.

Oratory Presentation Skills

Having your kids read these poems aloud is a wonderful way to practice presentation skills. My children had to learn how to present a funny poem versus a more serious poem. How to pronounce made up words like in the the poem “The Jabberwocky” and still help the audience to understand the cadence of the poem. Simple presentation skills like articulation or slowing down so that your audience can follow along. All of these skills are immensely beneficial to any kids in their education.

Improves your Brain

Taking Poetry Tea Time a step further, you can have your kids start memorizing poetry. When you memorize poetry, it increases the capacity of your brain to memorize more. It can also help increase your children’s focus. There were studies done starting around 2013 that did brain research and the affects of poetry on the brain. Using MRI to study their subject’s brain activity as they listened or spoke poetry, they found that certain parts of the brain would light up just for poetry. The article about this research project is interesting. Here is the link to the article if you want to read it- Poetry on the Brain.

Improves Critical Thinking Skills

Poetry encourages abstract thinking which helps kids to critically think. When you read a poem, you can enjoy your tea and snack and emerse yourself in the beauty of the language. This is probably the way poetry tea time happens in my family most of the time, but sometimes we take it a bit further. What did the author mean when they said that phrase? Do we know what the setting of this poem is? Why do you think the author wrote this poem? How does this poem make you feel? What words did the author use to make you feel that way?

These discussions can sometimes make me feel like Alice in Wonderland falling down into a rabbit hole and not knowing where we are going but that’s okay. My kids and I are on a journey of exploring the world of poetry. We might find deeper meaning but most of the time we don’t.

Just to let you know, Poetry Tea Time does not always happen on a consistent basis. Sometimes, we might be able to do it once a month. Another thing worth mentioning is that Poetry Tea Time can be disastrous. I have had kids not in the mood for poetry and be more mocking then enjoyable. I have had other times when one of my kids read a serious poem in a funny voice and that was the end of Poetry Tea Time. I couldn’t get the kids to focus after that. Still other times, the littles start throwing fits and poetry must wait for another day.

Even though it can be quite imperfect, I still value poetry enough to keep presenting it. Maybe someday, when my kids have left this nest, they will pick up a poetry book and read or maybe recongnize a poem that they memorized. At the very least, I am helping them grow more brain cells even if they are unaware. The study of poetry is still worth it to me.

Reflection-homeschool life

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I am sitting here at the end of my day and looking at my house.  All is quiet and peaceful.  I look around me and see birthday balloons still floating above the dining room table, a kitchen that is not quite as clean as I would like it and toys scattered throughout my downstairs living area.  This is usually a point of frustration in my day where I reflect on how I didn’t get enough done in my day.  A clean house is a peaceful house in my book.  There is some truth to that, but I also was sitting here and reflecting on how this mess that I am staring at is also a representation of blessings.  The imperfect kitchen, the toys that don’t seem to ever be put away, even the balloons that are still floating above the kitchen represent life.  I am blessed with a 5 year old that just celebrated his birthday.  I am blessed by a house full of children that are learning and experiencing their own journey of growing up.  I get a front row seat to see what God plans to do with their lives.  The Speech and Debate world captured our attention tonight and led me to having an imperfect kitchen. It’s a delight to see our kiddos work on their communication and critical thinking skills and enjoy doing it!

Now don’t get me wrong, the kitchen and the toys will get picked up and my downstairs will eventually be clean but I am realizing that I need to quit dwelling on the things I didn’t get done and embrace the blessings and things that did get done.  I am in a unique season in my life where my kids are young and my main investment of time is with them.  I need to stop stressing about the little things that don’t always get done and embrace the moments that God is giving me everyday.  I am blessed!

Word of Encouragement to Parents-

Embrace the journey you are on with your kiddos.  Enjoy your front row seat in watching them grow into the young men and women that God has called them to be.  You are amazing and need to realize that everyday.  God has given you the children you have for a specific purpose and reason.  He has mighty plans for them and is choosing to use you to help them grow.

 

“Do Hard Things” -Book Review

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One of the things that I like to do in my homeschooling is give my kids “growth” books that challenge them to grow spiritually or in character.  The most recent book that I have given my 14 year old to read is the book “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris.  These brothers wrote a book that challenges teens to live according to God’s way of thinking instead of the world’s way of thinking.  They call it the “rebelution” which consists of teenagers having a rebellion against low expectations.  To realize that even as a teen you don’t have to live with low expectations but can rise to change the world in amazing ways.

They give many examples within their book of teens that are currently changing the world by following in the adventure that God has for each of them.  For example, there is teenage boy named Zach Hunter who has a heart to stop human trafficking.  At the age of 12 he started with the simple idea of using loose change that you might find in between your couch cushions to loosen chains of the people who are victims of human trafficking.  He presented the idea to different peers and schools and ended up founding an organization that he still runs today as an adult which is called LC2LC (Loose Change to Loosen Chains).  He was a 12 year old that wanted to make a difference and stepped out in the adventure that God was giving him.  This is just one of the stories that can inspire young people to realize their potential now as a young person pursuing the things of God.

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“Do Hard Things” is a book that I would encourage to be on your homeschool list of “must read”.   They have also wrote other books to follow up the “Do Hard Things”.  The next book that they wrote is called “Start Here” which gives the next step for teenagers in their journey of discovering the adventure God has for them.  It gives more direction on how you might start walking out your individual adventure that God has designed specifically for you.  They are also in the process of releasing a parent book that talks about parenting world changers.  Their website is therebelution.com.  You will find current inspiring stories of teenagers changing the world and other helpful resources for your teen.

I believe that God has amazing and unique plans for each of our children.  We have the awesome privilege of helping them discover the gifts and talents that God has given them and leading them to discover their own intimate relationship with Jesus.  One of the things I try to do as often as I can with these books I give my kids, is to read them myself and cultivate an atmosphere of discussion with them to help them start thinking.  I am excited to see how each of my children walk out their own adventures with God.

Homeschooling and the Holidays

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We are in the middle of the holidays approaching Christmas much too fast.  Christmas is a time that you ask any homeschool family how they handle homeschooling and the holidays in December and you will get a different answer.  I know some homeschool families that take the entire month of December off and others that change their curriculum to more of a Christ centered theme to emphasize the meaning of Christmas.  Our family has different traditions that we like to do every year and some traditions that change every year because of my love of having variety in our lives.

This year for the Wright Family household it looks a little different because I had to have foot surgery.  We have had to scale back a lot of things that we normally do but the family is enjoying relaxing at home and finding fun things to do that don’t require leaving the home as much. We have many traditions that the kids have enjoyed over the years and I thought I would share some of them and give you a little picture of what Christmas is like in our home.  We take the month of November off so we still homeschool in December but on a more flexible schedule to allow for holiday fun.

Advent Calendar

We have always done some type of advent calendar.  If you google types of advent calendars, there are a million ideas on how to implement them in your home.  This is a tradition that gets changed every year because its fun to do it different.  One of my favorite advents is a book that my mother-in-law got us one Christmas when the kids were younger.  Its called the “Advent Book” by Jack Stockman.  It has beautiful illustrations that look like works of art and it tells the Christmas story straight from scripture.  Each day you read a new page and there is door on the page for the kids to open.  Behind the door is another part of the Christmas story.  The way the book works is that you are reading from the beginning of the book each day up to the new day that you open another part of the Christmas story, so that by the time it gets to Christmas day, your kids have memorized the entire Christmas story.  I find its a wonderful way to help the kids be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. This is an advent that we end up doing every year but add another type of advent calendar for fun.  We usually do this book as a bedtime devotional in the month of December.

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Another fun advent countdown that we do is to put little burlap bags hung on a ribbon with numbers that the kids get to open one of the bags each day.  You can make the little bags and there are a ton of creative ways to do it that you can find easily on pinterest.  I am missing that creative gene and to me it seemed like a lot of work to try and do it myself, so I bought them on etsy.  I don’t have a picture of mine but I wanted to post a picture so you can get an idea of what I am talking about.

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Each bag is filled with a piece of candy and a fun thing that we get to do that day for the holidays.  It might seem overwhelming to think of 25 different fun things to do with your kids but its not when you think of all the holiday stuff you might already do or how it can be as simple as read a Christmas story or watch a Christmas movie.  The kids have helped me sometimes put a list of fun things that they want in the advent calendar.  You can be as creative as you want to be.  I know of a family that put acts of kindness in each of the bags, so that each day the kids did random acts of kindness.  I thought that was an awesome idea.

Snowman Soup

Snowman Soup is a fun tradition that is a simple activity that the kids love.  Its usually put as an activity in the advent calendar.  Snowman Soup is just hot cocoa with marshmallow and a candy cane.  There is a poem that goes along with it that you can find online.  We usually play family games or watch a Christmas movie as we enjoy snowman soup.  I have even seen it given as a gift.  Its a fun possibility for a party favors or neighbors.

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Christmas Lights

I love Christmas lights and doing fun activities that involve looking at Christmas lights.  This may sound silly, but one of the most fun Christmas lights traditions that our family does is we all get in the car and try to find the best neighborhoods with Christmas lights.  Its also tradition to bring a package of candy canes to enjoy while we look.  We have found that the best neighborhoods are the ones that have contests for Christmas with the lights.

Another favorite Christmas lights place is Warm Beach “Lights of Christmas” if you live in western Washington.  They do a great job of displaying millions of Christmas lights.  Besides the beauty of the lights, my favorite spot to stop is the homemade donuts that they make every year.  They are amazing and worth the long line you have to wait in.

 

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Gingerbread House Contest

Now we don’t always make it a contest.  In fact when the kids were younger we just usually bought a big gingerbread house that we could make as a family.  As the kids have gotten older, we have made it into a contest where they each have their own gingerbread house that they are making.  One year, I was feeling adventurous and I made a train cake, not gingerbread, that we decorated and then we watched Polar Express.  That was a lot of work and I probably will never do it again but it was a fun family memory for the kids.  It looks a little different every year but the kids have fun and we usually end the event with watching a favorite Christmas movie.  If you live in the Seattle area, there is an amazing gingerbread contest that is free to tour at the Marriott hotel.  The gingerbread housed that they create a amazing and elaborate.  Its a fun tradition for some families to go to Seattle and tour the gingerbread displays.  I believe you even get to vote on which is your favorite.

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(By the way, this is not a picture of our gingerbread house we made, this gingerbread house looks amazing but in our house they looked a little more shall we say “kid friendly”.  In fact some of them you might have to label as gingerbread house to know what it is. Haha!)

These are just a few of our family traditions.  I love the freedom of homeschooling because it allows families to take off all of December if they want to or focus their curriculum on the birth of Christ and the meaning of Christmas.  Celebrating the birth of Jesus is an amazing and wonderful thing to do as a family.  Jesus was born so that He could die for you and me.  He loves us so much that he was willing to give his life so that we might be saved.  A friend of mine wrote a song about the meaning of Christmas called the “Reason for the Season”.  The lyrics talk about how we are in need of a Savior and we are in need of the Lamb.  How Jesus was the perfect gift for us and how we are the reason for the season.  I loved that line in the song that said “we are the reason for the season”.  I hadn’t thought of how the entire reason Jesus was born on earth was for us. Remember God loves you and that you are the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

3 Experiments That Will Get Kids Excited About Science!

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I am a science geek at heart.  I love how many different things fall under the subject of science.  There are so many different things you can study and learn about when it comes to science. Even when I was young, I wanted to find out how things worked or the science behind different things in the world. One of the best parts about science are the experiments!

Kids can learn a scientific concept but when they see that concept in action, they will have more understanding of how it works.  I also have had fun using science experiments in my object lessons when I teach children’s church.  I have a favorite site called madaboutJesus.net .  They have excellent science experiments for many different lessons in the Bible.  I have found out that its important especially if you are demonstrating the experiment, to try it out first on your own.  There are usually tweaks that need to happen to get the desired result.  All my kids love to do science experiments, but sometimes there are certain experiments that have a “wow” factor for the kids.  I like to randomly do some of these experiments just to get the kids excited about science or to start a discussion on why the experiment did what it did.  Here are 3 experiments that have been exciting to my kids….

  1. Elephant Toothpaste

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Elephant Toothpaste is an all time favorite with my kids.  It has quite a chemical reaction that is fun to watch.

Materials:  –16oz or 24oz empty plastic bottle, hydrogen peroxide 6% (you can find this at your local beauty supply store), dish soap, yeast, warm water, food coloring (optional)

Elephant Toothpaste is a common scientific experiment where oxygen gas produces the release of oxygen in a form that we can visualize. The final product (visualization after mixing the ingredients together) appears as a thick foam that looks like a toothpaste. This is a messy experiment that you would want to do outside or we bought one of those tin foil baking dishes that caught all the foam.

How to make Elephant Toothpaste:

Take the package of yeast and mix it with half a cup of warm water.  Let this sit for 10 minutes.  If you don’t let the yeast sit, the experiment will have less of a reaction.  Meanwhile set the empty plastic bottle in a wide short glass to stabilize it.  I have found this to be helpful in not having the bottle tip over when you get the chemical reaction.  Put on a pair of plastic gloves and fill the bottle up with 8oz of hydrogen peroxide.  If you are using 6% or more for the hydrogen peroxide, you will want to wear gloves because the peroxide can burn your skin and turn it black.  I don’t let kids do this part, I do the pouring and wear the gloves just to be safe.  Next put a couple of tablespoons of dish soap in to the bottle and carefully mix the two ingeridents.  Now pour the yeast in and watch the elephant toothpaste emerge from the bottle.  Its quite a reaction.  You can add the food coloring right before the yeast if you want your toothpaste to be a different color.

Tips/Tricks:

If you want a bigger chemical reaction you can buy a stronger hydrogen peroxide at most beauty supply stores.  We did 9% and 12% strength.  The 9% was about perfect for indoors but any higher percent and you would want to be outdoors.  If you do use the stronger hydrogen peroxide don’t forget the gloves!  You do not want your fingers turning black.  Another helpful hint is to use a funnel when pouring ingredients into the bottle.  If you use just 3% hydrogen peroxide, you will still get a reaction just not as impressive.  Check out Elephant Toothpaste experiment demonstrated on youtube to give you a better visual of what its supposed to look like.

2.  Crushed Can Experiment

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This experiment has an immediate reaction of letting the pressure of air crush a can.  Air pressure is all around us but we don’t really notice it most of the time.  This experiment demonstrates how powerful air pressure can be.

Materials:

Empty soda can, stove top or hot plate, Cooking tongs, gloves, Bowl, cold water

Directions:

Put some really cold water in a medium or large bowl (I used a mixing bowl).  Then put about a tablespoon of water in the bottom of the empty soda can just to cover the bottom of the can.  Put the can on the stove (you can use a frying pan underneath if you don’t have a hot plate) and then turn on the stove.  Wait until the water is boiling in the can.  You will hear it boiling and see the water vapor rising.  Wait about 1 more minute, then grab the tongs.  Use the tongs to pick up the can and plunge it upside down in the cold water.  The can will immediately implode. Steve Spangler Science does a great job of explaining the science behind the crushed can on their website.

3. Walking on Eggs

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You can walk on eggs without them breaking.  This has a “wow” factor because the kids don’t think that you can.  The first thing you do is try to walk on one egg and it will crush right away, but you can walk on eggs if they are all together in a dozen in the carton.  I ripped off the lid of the egg carton and staggered 6 dozen eggs.  A key to getting it to work the best is to go bare foot and to make sure your weight is even.  You can also show your kids when you squeeze an egg sideways as hard as you want, it will not break.  The egg is unique in how God made it because its one of most delicate foods, but also one of the strongest. The egg will break by itself but when you put it with the dozen, you can walk on them and not have any break.  This is also a great Sunday School lesson on unity and working together. You can find many examples and tips on how to walk on eggs on youtube.

Hope you have fun trying these experiments.  There are many more science experiments that are fun for kids to do that have become favorites in my family.  I hope to share more science experiments in the future that you might have fun trying.

What are some favorite science experiments in your homeschool?

A Clean House and Homeschooling? Does that idea exist?

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For my type A personality my home probably will never be as clean and organized as I want it to be until the kids are grown.  But the Lord is showing me all the time in different ways to enjoy the season I am in while my kids are young.  I am enjoying the journey of homeschooling but I also want to have a balance with the cleaning of my home.  I do think you can have a clean home and homeschool.  I don’t think your home will always be perfect if you are homeschooling because your kids are always there.  I loved this sign I saw recently in a store that said “Sorry for the mess, we live here.”.  This sign made me laugh because it’s so true when it comes to homeschooling. When I do decide to make an extra effort to have my house be immaculate, you would probably hear one of my kids saying “Mom, is someone coming over tonight?”.  In our home the kids are usually doing various science projects, putting together puzzles or creating new worlds with the cushions off my couch.  I have to resist wanting to pick up that lovely puzzle that my 7 year old has been working on for a week in the middle of my living room.  I have learned in my various years of homeschooling that its okay if there are puzzles on the floor or science experiments in my kitchen, its all part of homeschooling.  All that to say I still think its important to work as a family to maintain somewhat of a clean house even with the challenge of homeschooling. It also teaches the kids life skills, so that they can learn what it takes to maintain a home when they have their own family.

One of the ways we implement having a clean house in our homeschooling is assigning the kids chores.  This year I wanted to keep it as simple as possible with chores for my kids.  I took some colorful 3×5 cards and wrote down all the main chores that it would take to keep the house looking decent.  I also wrote down “Lunch Duty” and “Dinner Duty” on one card each to give out to one of my children each day.  We have 5 children and 4 of them are old enough to do chores.  Each day I give 3 cards with one chore on each card to each child.  They are supposed to complete the cards then hand them into their school box by the end of the day.  This has worked really well and I have been able to maintain the system because its simple.  We told the kids that chores were 5 days a week and then on the weekends we just help each other out as a family if something needed to be done.  Each day they get their chores done, they earn part of their allowance.  If they choose not to do their chores that day, they don’t get that money for the day.  We like to do allowance because we want our kids to learn about managing money.

Another way that has helped keep our home clean is teaching the kids to have a  “Morning Routine”.  My kids “Morning Routine” has to be done before 9am because we try to start school around that time.  The “Morning Routine” is to get up, get dressed, clean their room, eat breakfast and we encourage them to spend time with Jesus during this time.  We start when they are little, so eventually I can say to them, “Did you do your Morning Routine?” and they know what I am asking.  This has helped them get ready for their day and maintain cleaning their rooms.  It doesn’t always work perfectly especially with my teenagers, so sometimes we have surprise inspections of rooms.  I have had kids try and stuff everything under their beds or in their closets and call their rooms clean.  Sometimes it hard to keep a straight face in the creative way they have tried to hide dirty clothes or other junk in  their room.  I figure its all part of the process of training my kids.

These are just a couple of ways that have helped us stay more organized as a homeschool family.  A couple of resources that I that I have found to be helpful in organizing my home are….

Help for the Harried Homeschooler by Christine M. Field

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The author has some great hints and tips on chores and just keeping an overall organized home.  The book isn’t just about keeping a clean and organized home but also covers about every area in homeschooling.  Its helpful for new or veteran homeschoolers.

Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman

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I think this is one of my favorite books on home management.  It has a ton of helpful ideas on organization and keeping the house clean in the midst of craziness of life.  Even if you don’t have a big family, the ideas are still helpful and I would encourage you to read this book.

Enjoy the moments and season that you are in, especially if you still have little ones.  I am still in the process of learning its okay if my kids want to leave out different projects and build different kingdoms in my home.  This is a short season that I intend to enjoy every moment that I have with them.

Helpful Household Tips:

Do you want to get rid of those pesky fruit flies?  I have found a solution that works quite well.  Fill a glass with apple cider vinegar and put in about 1 tbs of dawn soap.  Put it wherever you are having fruit fly problems and its a trap for those fruit flies.  They are attracted to the apple cider vinegar and will fall into the glass and not get out.  I have captured a ton of fruit flies by doing this.  It needs to be change every couple of days.  

Drink Bands

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My kids would constantly get a new glass every time they wanted a drink of water. One of the reasons that they would do this is because with 5 kids, they would forget which one was their glass.  I have a friend with 7 kids and she has this genius idea that has been around for awhile, but I didn’t know about it.  She uses drink bands.  They were these colorful bands that go around a drinking glass so that each kid would have their color and know what glass was theirs.  You can buy a set of 10 or them on Amazon for around $10.  This has helped in the amount of dished we wash and we don’t have kids fighting over whose glass they thought they might have.  I assigned a different color band to each kid.

5 Favorite Homeschool Books for Newbies or Book Addicts Like Me

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I confess that I am a little bit dangerous when it comes to bookstores.  I am probably not to be trusted around curriculum fairs either.  I love books and I especially like books about teaching or homeschooling.  Even though I have been homeschooling for almost 10 years, I will still read “how-to” homeschool books because I feel you can always learn something new that you may not have thought of for homeschooling.  Here are a few of my favorites that I have already read or have been reading…

  1. Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson

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This is an excellent book that teaches training your children in discipleship and academics.  It has recommendations of curriculum to use but its not the main purpose of the book.  The authors want to encourage you as the parent in training and discipling your child using the curriculum that best fits your family.  Its an excellent foundational book to read for people who are new to homeschooling or for veteran homeschoolers who want a different perspective.  I read it only a couple of years ago and I was encouraged and wanted to adapt many of their ideas.  I wish I had found it sooner.  A bonus part of the book are the different forms that you can copy at the back of the book that help with the organization of your homeschool.

2. Help for the Harried Homeschooler by Christine Field

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The practical advice in this book makes a great resource for new homeschoolers and veterans that want new ideas.  The author goes over everything from discipleship to life skills to academics.  I appreciate her sense of humor and her style of writing.  Some of my favorite sections have been when she addressed life skills with kids and  structure vs. freedom style of homeschooling.  She also had a section for homeschoolers that feel “burned out”.

3. The Three R’s and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully by Ruth Beechick

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For new homeschoolers, this a must have book.  It teaches how to incorporate reading, writing and math into your everyday life.  It is very helpful in helping homeschoolers that are teaching the K-3rd grades.  The creative ideas that she suggests are easily done in every day life.  She also wrote a book for the 4th-8th grades as well.  Ruth Beechick is probably one of my favorite author’s on homeschooling.  Sonlight curriculum tends to follow some of her style.

4. The Well Trained Mind by Susan Bauer

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For anyone who is interested in the classical educational model, this is the book for you.  My love of research and books compelled me to read this book and I found it an enjoyable resource.  Our homeschool does not follow the classical method of education but we do incorporate parts of it.  This book is well done and easily understood.  The author also has curriculum that we have used that goes along with her classical educational method.  There are other excellent books on classical education but I felt like this one was the most understandable and detailed for me.  Some of her recommendations for curriculum will be outdated unless there is a new updated version but the information is still valid and good.

5. Beyond Survival:  A Guide to the Abundant Life of Homeschooling by Diana Waring

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I appreciate this book and how the author points out the importance of what education really is and what it can look like in a home with multiple ages.  I have gotten the privilege of hearing Diana Waring in her own home with my homeschool group at that time and the wisdom she can give homeschoolers who are still on the journey is invaluable.  She has authored other books and has her own biblical history curriculum. We enjoy listening to her amazing history audio cd’s that I will put in a review soon on this blog.

Hope enjoy these books as much as I have!  They have a permanent spot on my bookshelf!