Reading Is Brain Food!

Here are 7 important benefits of reading, followed by 12 websites that provide free books for your children to read online.

1. Reading a book or story for 20 to 30 minutes per day is considered “brain food” for your children!

2. Reading stimulates and exercises various areas of the brain, and it enhances language skills and vocabulary skills every day.

3. Reading makes connections in the brain, building upon current knowledge and leading to additional knowledge and comprehension each time a new book is read.

4. Reading fires up the imagination and creativity, opening your child’s mind to greater possibilities, ideas, and inspiration.

5. Reading increases attention spans and concentration, helping children to focus better, stay in the moment, and stay on-task.

6. Reading improves test scores and skills in all subjects areas, including math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, as well as reading, writing, and language arts.

7. Reading is pure joy, taking us anywhere we want to go! Read together as a family, and encourage children to read on their own, to help establish a wonderful reading habit that will provide entertainment and education for a lifetime.

Free Books to Read!

Here’s a variety of Children’s Books for free. Read, discuss, dramatize, draw, explore, experiment - you’ll be learning every day! And you can start right now!

1. Storyline Online: Stories Read to Children

2. Free Children’s Stories: Free Children’s Stories

3. Magic Keys Books: Magic Keys Books

4. Story Jumper: Story Jumper

5. Story Berries: Story Berries

6. Free Kid’s Books: Free Kid’s Books

7. Shakespeare's Plays: Shakespeare Plays

8. Project Gutenberg Children’s Books: Project Gutenberg Books

9. Open Library: Open Library

10. Funbrain Reading: Funbrain Books

11. Epic Books: Epic Books

12. Reading Resources: Reading Resources

Local Libraries: Of course, your local library is one of the greatest free resources for reading! Besides stories and reading for pleasure, here's a few ideas for books on specific topics:

Book Suggestions on Specific Topics:

1. Spectacular Stories for Curious Kids (history)

2. World's Wildest Places and the People Protecting Them (social studies)

3. Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids (science)

4. Math Riddles for Smart Kids (math)

5. Ultimate Book of the Future (technology)

6. Organic Artist for Kids (art and nature)

7. Make Music: Creating, Playing, Composing (music)

Note: Keep a Reading Log, tracking the books and stories children have read. Include the title of the book, the author, and the date read. Have children describe why they liked the story, and have them sketch the cover or illustrations from the book. Tally up the number of books read daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. You'll be amazed at the results!

Happy homeschooling!

Weekly Learning Ideas That Kids Love

What Do I Do Monday? is one of my favorite books by John Holt. I’ve mentioned him often, because his ideas on children learning are so perceptive and insightful.

As John said: “I believe that we learn best when WE – not others – are deciding what we are going to try to learn....”

This time of year – when holidays and festivities abound – it can be challenging to stay focused on homeschool lessons and a specific curriculum.

Simplify your homeschool by asking your children: What would YOU like to do on Monday? And on Tuesday? And Wednesday? And each day of the week!

Their ideas could include:

* Make 3-D Art, Architecture, or Animation
* Create Wire Sculptures or Clay Sculptures
* Build a Hologram Projector or Screen
* Design a Game Similar to Roblox or Minecraft
* Learn Different Coding Languages
* Learn Foreign Languages
* Create Robots or Robotic Devices
* Build a Pinball Game, Marble Run, or Maze Game
* Learn Embroidery, Crocheting, Weaving, Quilting
* Design and Sew Totes, Bags, Purses, Wallets
* Sew a Family of Stuffed Critters or Dolls
* Make a Self-Contained Ecosystem or Biosphere
* Build a Solar Whirlygig or Wind Spinner
* Make a Sundial and Track the Sun Each Day
* Devise an Ice-Free Birdbath (non-electric) for Winter
* Build a Feeding Station for Squirrels
* Make an Anemometer and Rain Gauge
* Create New Outdoor Relay Games or Unique Races
* Take Nature Walks and Start a New Collection
* Build and Launch Bottle Rockets or Helicopters
* Create New Story-Writing Software
* Write a New Poem or Haiku Each Day
* Create Music or Songs for YouTube Videos
* Learn to Play an Instrument or Learn How to Dance
* Create Math Tricks or Math Stumper Games
* Design and Build Mini Dollhouse, Barn, or Manger
* Construct Bookshelves and Shadow Boxes
* Redesign a Playroom, Reading Nook, or Bedroom
* Bake New Desserts or Make Special Meals
* Build a Transistor Radio or Ham Radio
* Design a New Board Game or Card Game
* Put Together Model Cars, Planes, Human Bodies
* Create Own Crosswords and Word Searches
* Explore New or Different Science Experiments
* Take Field Trips to Places Never Visited Before
* Re-Enact Historic Events, Plays, or Stories
* Play “What If” or “Would You Rather” Games
* Strive for a Goal of Reading 50+ Books per Year
* Strive for a Goal of Creating 50+ Craft Items per Year
* Strive for a Goal of Creating 50+ Drawings or Art per Year
* Strive for a Goal of Creating 50+ New Learning Ideas per Year

That’s more than a month’s worth of ideas! And many could fill an entire year!

Be sure to record each one in your learning logs. Most cover all the basic skills and more!

Continue adding to these ideas by always asking your children what they would like to do or learn more about. You’ll never run out of learning ideas!

Happy homeschooling!

Year’s Worth of Free Learning Ideas + Weekly Lessons and Fun Activities

August is often the beginning of the homeschool year for many families.

If you’re not quite ready or you’re struggling for ideas, this “Free Curriculum Guideline” can provide a year’s worth of educational ideas for the coming weeks and months.

Subjects Areas, Topics, and Sub-Topics are all outlined in an easy-to-view format for each grade level from Kindergarten through Elementary, Middle School, and High School.

For weekly lessons based on the subjects and topics outlined, you and your children can select books from your local public library. The more interesting the books are to your children, the better they’ll learn, too!

Online resources, activities, and experiments are also plentiful for complementing the subjects and topics outlined. The more “hands-on” the activities are, the more your children will enjoy learning. We have hundreds of activities listed here on our blog for weekly learning, too.

The “Curriculum Guideline” is provided by World Book and is titled "Typical Course of Study."

You’ll see all the core subjects areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Science) plus Arts, Technology, and Health and Safety, with topics and sub-topics listed for each subject area on the guidelines. It's a great resource and is available free at this link:

https://www.worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study.aspx

We’ll be providing learning ideas and educational activities once again in the coming weeks. Be sure to check the labels below for Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Weekly Homeschool Lessons, and more!

If interested in seeing my Nature-Inspired Paintings, please visit:

My Website: MistyGlowStudio.com

My Etsy shop: Etsy.com/Shop/MistyGlowStudio

My YouTube channel: YouTube.com/MistyGlowStudio

Happy Homeschooling!

Homeschooling When Working Full Time

Many families tell us that they would love to homeschool their children. But they work full-time jobs and assume it’s impossible. Fear not! You can homeschool your children, even when working full time. I’ll explain how.

Homeschooling is easier for remote workers or work-from-home parents. But if you work away from the home, it can seem more challenging. However, “Weekend Homeschool” and/or “Evening Homeschool” is the answer.

Average daily “time requirements” for “teaching” your child range from 1 hour per day (younger children) to 3 or 4 hours per day (older children or teens). Yet, the older your children are, the more capable they are of directing their own learning, with guidance and input from parents. So it’s not necessary to sit with older kids for 3 or 4 solid hours each day – unless you want to, of course.

One of the simplest ways to homeschool, when working full time, is to discuss lessons or activities with your children in the mornings or evenings. Include an easy-to-follow guideline of what your children are to focus on that day. They can refer to the guideline throughout the day.

On weekends, you can become involved in more hands-on learning activities, science experiments, family field trips, and reviewing any lessons that were challenging or needing extra attention. Allow plenty of freedom and flexibility for engaging in the lessons, topics, and activities during the week.

Other options include the possibility of working 1 or 2 days at home and doing more homeschool projects on those days. Or perhaps you can take your child to work with you a couple days a week. Or have your child’s caretaker oversee the homeschool lessons during the week, then make the most of fun learning activities on weekends.

Always discuss the learning activities or lessons at the end of each day. One of the best times for this is during your evening meal or as you take walks together at the end of the day. Discuss the favorite parts of the day’s activities and what your children learned that day. Ask them what they might have had difficulties with. And ask them what they’d like to learn about tomorrow.

Jot down the activities and lessons in your logbook or on our log sheets (download here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

To start homeschooling this week, take a field trip to your library. Let your children pick out any books that interest them. They’ll be transported to new worlds and learn something new from each book.

Here’s recent books that parents and kids have found interesting and educational:

Younger kids:

1. Backyard Build by Jonathan Litton
2. Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda
3. Copycat by Christy Hale
4. Emile and the Field by Kevin Young
5. Frances in the Country by Liz Garton Scanlon

Older kids:

1. Artificial Intelligence by Dinah Williams
2. Northwind by Gary Paulsen
3. Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
4. Unstoppable Us by Yuval Noah Harari
5. Wisdom of Trees by Lita Judge

To start homeschooling today, see our previous blog posts, such as:

* Hands-On Math Activities blog post
* 500+ Science Activities post
* Social Studies, History, and Geography
* Weekly Homeschool Activities posts
* Click the Labels, below, or the Labels on previous posts.

Visit us weekly for new learning activities and ideas!

Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter, too! See the Subscribe space at right.

Happy Homeschooling!

Hands-On Math Activities for Everyday Learning

Math opportunities surround your child every day. From telling time to food preparations, measurements, temperature variations, counting, adding, money matters, time requirements, sports scores, game strategies, construction toys, craft creations, algebra and building projects, distances and speeds, fractions and percents, fascinating Fibonacci numbers— your child can practice math in real life every day!

When children are engaged in real-life activities, they learn quicker and retain what they learned longer.

As Maria Montessori said, “What the hand does, the mind remembers.” This is especially true for comprehending math concepts.

Daily Math Fun and Learning

From shape-sorting games to determining the perimeter and area of each of the shapes, you can apply that exercise to nearly any object. Take that idea further by determining the perimeter and area of the room you’re in, as well as each room in your home. Go outside and determine the overall perimeter of your entire house or complex, then calculate total square footage. Which room is the largest in your home? Which room is the smallest? Why are the rooms and homes designed in the size and shape that they are?

In this way, a simple shape-sorting game has grown into real-life learning, making connections between basic shapes, living spaces, and home design. This is an important lesson: Take fun, simple games or daily lessons and make connections to the things that are real in life, the things that are a part of everyday life. This is when education and knowledge clicks, and learning makes sense and solidifies in a child’s mind.

With math opportunities all around us, it’s easy to practice mathematical skills each day. Simply discuss math concepts as you play together, do household chores together, cook and bake together. When you run errands or take daily walks together, determine distances traveled, the speed you’re traveling, and the time it takes to travel those distances. The more your children practice real-life math exercises, the better they’ll become.

Math Games

Board games and card games are great ways to develop and sharpen math skills, as well as reasoning and strategy skills. Bring out the board games each evening, on weekends, or anytime during the homeschool day! Play old favorites, such as Risk, Monopoly or Monopoly Junior, PayDay, or Chess. Try games such as Math Bingo, Math Lotto, Sum Swamp, Cloud Hoppers, Mountain Raiders, 24 Math Game, Pizza Fraction Fun, Adsumudi, Smath, Equate Math, and similar math games.

Play “store” and see what it’s like to open and run your own shop. Use play money or real money, “sell” retail items or consignment items, and keep a running inventory in your pretend store. Record expenses and sales in homemade ledger books, and determine the daily and weekly income—or income potential—of your shop.

Another fun business is the online game of Lemonade Stand. Kids will gain experience in nearly every aspect of a business: pricing, sales, inventory control, and handling the ups and downs of the economy over a period of several days. Make a pitcher of lemonade and head over to the computer and open your lemonade stand!

For math and reasoning games, visit the website FunBrain.com. There's Math Baseball, Cake Monster, MathCar Racing, Math Soccer, Measure It, Shape Surveyor, Guess the Number, Fresh Baked Fractions, and many more. Most of the games are available in Easy, Medium, Hard, and Super Hard levels for all age groups and skill levels.

Mastering Math Skills

Basic math, or arithmetic, includes counting, adding, subtracting, estimating, measuring, and calculating. As your children progress through the elementary years, additional mathematical skills will be introduced. When your child has grasped the basics, you’ll be able to help him build upon a solid mathematical foundation.

Math skills introduced in traditional schools move along so quickly, though, that if a child doesn’t catch them the first time around, they’ve often lost that window of opportunity. In your homeschool, however, if you see that your child is still struggling with basic subtraction, for instance, you won’t want to move ahead to more complex problems until he has mastered the basics. Fortunately, you have plenty of time for practicing basic concepts in your home. There’s no specific timeframe your child must stay within.

When your child has achieved true comprehension of subtraction, along with the ability to perform the calculations flawlessly, then he can move on to the next lessons. You will know without a doubt that he has truly mastered the skills he needs before moving ahead. With this solid foundation, he is ready for multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, estimation and measurement, problem solving, and more challenging mathematical equations.

Math Manipulatives

Using hands-on examples of math problems will help children better understand the abstract concepts that are introduced. You can use any objects for counting, adding, and subtracting, from buttons to beans to plastic animal counters. You can also use an abacus or counting frame with plastic beads.

Math manipulatives are available online or at retail or educational supply stores. However, you can often make your own. From poster board or construction paper, you can create coin-sized counters, pattern blocks, fraction circles, fraction slices, fraction bars, cardboard clocks, and mathematical charts. You can also make rulers, number lines, geometric boards, play money, and flashcards. And your children will enjoy the cutting and creative activities, too.

Everyday Math

Daily situations present excellent ways to put math skills to regular, logical use. In a normal day, your family can practice telling time as the minutes and hours go by. You and your children can estimate, then measure ingredients when cooking on a daily basis.

Practice money skills by regularly setting up "stores" in your home. Have children put prices on items gathered from the pantry or on toys or books gathered from their room. Make purchases, have children add up the total costs, pay with play or real money, and have children count out your correct change.

When grocery shopping, children can keep running tabs of the items you’re purchasing and see how close they come to the actual total. At the gasoline station, they can calculate the cost of your tank of gas. Then, based upon how many gallons of gasoline are in the tank and how many miles your car gets to a gallon, they can determine how far this tank of gas will go.

Every day offers mathematical problems that can be fun to solve, clearly showing children the importance of learning and applying math skills in real life.

Books and Activity Books such as Real World Math, Math Connections, Math Art, Math Wise, Real-Life Math Problem Solving, Real-World Math for Hands-On Fun, Hands-On Math Projects with Real-Life Applications provide interesting activities that help your child understand and relate key math skills to everyday life.

Remember to jot down activities and lessons in your lesson logbook or on our log sheets (available here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

Note: Some material published here include excerpts from my book, The Everything Guide to Homeschooling, by Sherri Linsenbach, available online or in libraries and bookstores.

Happy Homeschooling!

500+ Science Experiments and Activities

Hundreds of Science Experiments and Activities will keep learning fun and educational this year!

With 500+ Activities, you’ll never be without a topic to teach over the coming year! And, of course, your children will be sharpening ALL their skills – reading, writing, reasoning, math, technology – while having fun with the experiments!

From Easy to More Challenging, the experiments noted here have clear, easy-to-follow instructions, illustrations, photos, and explanations.

Get Started Now!

400+ Experiments and Activities are illustrated at Scientific American, on topics such as Curling Metals, Airplane Launchers, Marble Roller Coasters, Wind-Powered Cars, Earthquake Structures, Blood Flow Models, Double Helix, Archimedes Screw, Building Bridges, Designing Cell Phone Stands, Art Science, Smartphone Science, Making Batteries, Making Rainbows, Making Robots, Making Rockets, and much more! There’s 20+ pages, each with 20 Science Experiments or Activities, for a total of 400+ Learning Activities! Click here:

Scientific American Experiments

100+ Experiments and Activities from Easy Science Experiments to STEM Activities and Rocket Science are offered at Science Fun. The experiments focus on popular topics often taught in school, such as Color, Light, Sound, Water, Electricity, Magnetism, Force and Motion, Weather and Air, Gravity, Density, Balloon Science, Chemical Reactions, Marine Life, Animals, Human Body, Dinosaurs, Fossils, Rocks, Geology, Crystals, Biology, Botany, Ecology, STEM and Engineering Activities, Rocket Science and Space Experiments. Click here:

Science Fun Experiments

40+ Science Experiments are shown here, with colorful instructions and explanations on the “why” behind the science concepts. See how to Create Clouds, Friction Racers, Anti-Gravity Chambers, Windmill Cams, Rainbow-Colored Xylophones, Popsicle Stick Harmonicas, Geysers, Rockets, and more! Click here:

Home Science Experiments

40+ More Science Experiments focusing on Life Science, Physical Science, and Planetary Science are available at Bill Nye the Science Guy’s site. Experiments include Temperature Time Warp, Bending Light, Marble Madness, Inertia, Barometer in a Bottle, Erosion Explosion, Twistin’ Tornado, and more. Click here:

Bill Nye Experiments

Log the Learning!

Note the Science Experiments, the Subject Areas, and the Concepts Learned through the experiments. Lessons learned and skills sharpened include Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Math Skills, Calculation Skills, Measurement Skills, Reasoning Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Spatial Skills, Creative Thinking Skills, Reading, Writing, Journaling, Arts and Crafts, Geology, Geography, Social Science, and more. Jot down the lessons and activities in your lesson logbook or on our log sheets (available here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

Happy Homeschooling!

Weekly Homeschool Activities & Lessons: The World Around Me

Recent learning activities focused on your child asking: “Where in the World Am I?” and “Who in the World Am I?” (See previous posts from August 1 and August 4.)

This week, have your child think about: “The World Around Me.”

Learning opportunities abound when thinking about the many things that are around us: Air, Water, Grass, Trees, Flowers, Plants, Animals, Birds, Insects, Sky, Clouds, Rivers, Oceans, Mountains, People, and much, much more! Just one of these topics could result in learning and lessons for days, weeks, months, or years! And they're interesting to kids of all ages!

The Troposphere -- or world around us -- is the layer of the Atmosphere that includes these many things that surround us. Find our Troposphere in this colorful chart of our Atmosphere: Atmosphere to View. Read more about the Troposphere and other layers of the Atmosphere at that website, too.

Art Project: Draw and color your own chart of the atmosphere, similar to the one you saw above. Or use different colors of construction paper to create the different levels of the atmosphere. Determine where the Earth and the troposphere is. Then cut out and color shapes to indicate the Earth, mountains, trees, sky, sun, clouds, birds, airplanes, meteors, stars, spaceships, etc. Then glue them in their proper layers of the atmosphere. Discuss the ones that you see most often and the ones you see only occasionally. Why is that?

Fun Science Project: Create your own 3-Dimensional World. Use cardboard and boxes, construction paper, tissue paper, etc., to replicate the views you see around you. Glue “grass” onto the cardboard. Create houses, trees, and animals (from boxes and construction paper), flowers and plants (from colorful tissue paper), sidewalks and creek banks (from small rocks and twigs). Use your imagination to create your own 3-dimensional world!

Math Skills: Determine distances and heights: How tall are the trees around you? How tall is your house? How long is your sidewalk and how long is your street? How long is the river that flows through your town? How high are the clouds? How high do the airplanes fly? How far away is the sun and the moon? How far away are the stars? Write these down in a Science Journal. Make a Chart, showing the “shortest/closest” items, all the way up to the “tallest/farthest away” places.

More Math Skills: More on distances and heights: How far does our troposphere extend (about 10 miles)? How far is 10 miles? How far is 1 mile? How far is 5,280 feet (1 mile)? How far is 10 miles (52,800 feet)? How far is 1 foot or 3 feet? How long is the room you are in? How long is your sidewalk or driveway? Measure these with rulers, yardsticks, tape measures. Walk or bike 1 mile with your parents (5,280 feet). Ride 10 miles in a car with your parents (52,800 feet). Think of how all these distances relate in the world around you and above you. Write about these distances in your Science Journal or Make Charts illustrating these distances.

Field Trips and Photographs: Take field trips through your neighborhood, towns, and cities. Take photos of scenes in your world, such as fields, woods, rivers, mountains, parks, birds, squirrels, deer, horses, buildings, barns, bridges, benches, people walking, people biking, kites flying, planes flying, clouds drifting. Take field trips often, and take photos often, too. Put the photos in a scrapbook or journal. Describe this world around you, and how it changes from time to time, or from season to season.

Draw or Paint Pictures inspired by your field trips and photos. Display your artwork or keep your drawings and paintings in an Art box, folder, or portfolio. Draw or paint your world often. Always keep your art projects to look back on.

Read Books on Troposphere and Atmosphere, such as Stickmen's Guide to Earth's Atmosphere in Layers; Our Amazing Sky; Atmosphere: Earth Science; and The Layers of Earth’s Atmosphere. What more did you learn in these books?

Read Books on the World Around Us, such as Explore My World series; Exploring Nature Activity Book; Secret World of Plants; One Million Insects; Fascinating Animal Book; The Skies Above My Eyes; Sky Gazing: Guide to the Moon, Sun, Planet, Stars; and books on Around Town; Country Life; Farm Life; City Life. Discuss how these books relate to your world around you.

Music on Troposphere and Atmosphere: The Atmosphere Song by Math Dad. Have fun with this one!

Lessons learned and skills sharpened: Earth science, Life science, the World, Math Skills, Measurements, Calculating Distances, Social Studies, Communities, Reading, Writing, Journaling, Science Projects, Research Skills, Critical Thinking, Spatial Thinking, Creative Thinking, Arts and Crafts, Music, Field Trips, Photography, Scrapbooking, Painting, Drawing, and more. Jot down these lessons and activities in your lesson logbook or on our log sheets (available here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

Happy Homeschooling!

Homeschool Lessons, Learning Activities, Who I Am

An earlier, fun lesson focused on having your child ask: “Where in the world am I?” (See the previous post from August 1.)

Those Educational Activities covered Social Studies, Geography, Community, Map-Making, Math Skills, Reading, Writing, Researching, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Spatial Thinking, Reasoning Skills, Computer Skills, Arts and Crafts, Music, and more.

Now have your children ask: “Who in the world am I?” Remembering who we are and our place in the world is important for each of us, at any age!

Discuss Children's Sense of Self and who they are. Maybe they’re an only child, or one of many. What’s their place in the family: oldest child, youngest child, middle child, and how do they feel about that?

Family Tree activity: Create or draw a unique Family Tree or print one from a source such as: Family Trees to Print. Have kids list their brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, and even aunts, uncles, and cousins if they’d like.

Genealogy activity: To learn more about Family History, try creating a Family Record and Migration Maps, showing where one’s ancestors originated from or traveled from. Record details about ancestors in the Family Record or Create a Scrapbook showing your family’s history. For Family Records or Migration Maps, see these Genealogy Printables: Family Records to Print.

Family Interviews: Encourage your children to contact relatives and ask them questions about their experiences as kids, where they lived, how they lived, what they did as kids in the summer and winter, and how life has changed for them over the years. As parents, share details about your own youth, too.

Write this information in a Family History Notebook, or add the details in a Scrapbook or Family Record.

Do the Math: Use Math Skills to calculate each family member’s current age, based on their birth dates or birth year. Determine the year that a grandparent was 8 years old and riding a bike to the store. Or the year a great-grandparent moved across the country when he or she was 12 years old. Have your own children determine how old they were when they learned to ride a bike, or moved to a new location, or learned to play an instrument, or started a new hobby. Put this information in the Family History Records, too!

Hobbies: Children can think about their hobbies or special interests, and write about them in their notebook or journal. Which hobbies or activities have they enjoyed the most? Why? What new hobbies or activities would your children like to try next? Help them take the next steps to pursue their current interests.

Personality and Character: Why are hobbies and special interests important to us? It’s part of Who We Are. It’s part of our Character, our Personality, our Human Nature. Who Am I? I am someone who likes to ________ (fill in the blank!). Then go for it! Be true to your nature and follow your dreams!

Self-Description: Describe yourself, through writing, video, or audio recordings. Describe your Personality: your daily disposition, your happiness, your eagerness, your struggles or challenges, and how you feel about that. Describe your Character: your unique traits, your thoughts, your behaviors, your actions, and why you feel the way you do.

Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence: Think about what makes you feel good about yourself. Maybe it’s being good in math, reading, writing, art, or music. Maybe it’s being good at basketball or swimming. Maybe it’s organizing your collections, or building things, or science projects, or creating new ideas. Maybe it’s helping your sister or brother, or helping your parents. Every day, there’s things you can do that make you proud of yourself. These things increase your self-confidence, your self-esteem, your self-worth, your self-joy! Do these things as often as possible!

Self-Improvement: We all have room for self-improvement! If there’s things your child wants to get better at, remind them that they can “Try, Try Again!” Some say that if you really want to get better at something, do it every day – maybe 15 minutes a day, maybe an hour a day, maybe 2 hours a day, or even more. Depending on how badly your child wants to improve, help them set a daily practice schedule that works for them.

Self-Responsibility: What’s your child’s sense of responsibility to his or her self? Taking care of toys, books, collectibles, and art supplies might top the list for many kids. Brushing teeth, bathing, grooming, etc., are also at the top of the list. Keeping their room neat and organized can be a responsibility. They can also help with their laundry, sorting and putting away clothes. Having age-appropriate chores and accomplishing them can be part of their responsibilities. Having age-appropriate rules and following the rules is a responsibility. Being a responsible and helpful person is always part of Who We Are.

Art Projects: Create a diorama of your home, as simple or complex as your child would like. Have your child create paper figures of each member of your family, as basic or detailed as they like. Then place the figures in various rooms of the house, where the family can interact with each other. Place the family members’ names on the figures, label the rooms of the house, describe the events occurring in the diorama, and display it on a shelf. Have the diorama “tell a story” of your child’s life today. In a few weeks or months, make another diorama, depicting your child’s story at that point in their life. Have your child think about “Who I Am Today” compared with “Who I Was Yesterday.”

Games to Play: Family History Bingo, Family Tree Connection, The Genealogy Game, Ancestree Game, Pando Family History, The Family History Ball, Family Trivia, and even The Oregon Trail.

Books to Read: Who I Am; I Like Myself; Self-Confidence Building Book; I Am, I Can Affirmations; Unplug: 365 Fun Family-Friendly Activities for Kids; I Can Do It; Steam Kids Projects; Hobby Time Adventure Journal; Family Tree Activity Book; and more.

Lessons learned and skills sharpened: History, Social Studies, Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Arts and Crafts, Research Skills, Scrapbooking, Journaling, Hobbies, and more. Jot down these lessons and activities in your lesson logbook or on our log sheets (available here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

Happy Homeschooling!

Weekly Homeschool Lessons, Learning Activities, Where I Am

Some “school years” begin in August (which seems too early!), but we at Everything Homeschooling will begin providing homeschool activities and homeschool lessons this month, too.

To ease into your homeschool year, here are some learning ideas and activities, which will be fun and educational for your children this week. See the end of this post for ways to document homeschool activities each week.

Week 1:

Have your children ask: “Where in the world am I?”

Then think about that. Maybe their answers will include: Home. With my family. In a town or city. In the country. On a farm.

Then ask your children: What’s the name of your town, city, or neighborhood? What’s your address? Write this down.

How far do you live from the grocery store, the dollar store or convenience store, library, park, zoo, gym, museum, recreation center, and other special places?

Draw a map of your area and label these places on your map. Mark the location of your home on the map, too, along with your address.

Do the math: Determine how far each of these places are from your home. Use Google Maps to measure the distance and calculate the time it takes to travel there by car or by walking or biking. Or, track the distance and time it takes the next time you visit those places.

Write these details on your map or keep them in a notebook.

Print maps of the world, the United States, regional maps, state maps, and more here: Maps to Print link.

Label the maps, noting your location in the world, in the United States, and in your state.

Learn more about map making and reading maps, research different types of maps, view aerial or satellite maps, street maps, terrain or topography maps, and more.

Arts and Crafts Activities: Make your own map by cutting out colorful shapes to match states or provinces. Cut out an outline of your country from cardboard, then glue your states in place. Be creative, and use whatever colorful materials or supplies you have to make your map unique and decorative!

Music and Songs: On the Map Song; Geography Songs; 50 States Songs; 7 Continents Songs; and more.

Books to Read: Me on the Map; Where on Earth?; Beginner’s World Atlas; Fun with 50 States; Maps & Geography; Geography: A Visual Encyclopedia; Draw the USA; Draw the World; Geography Activity Books; and many more at your library or online.

Games to Play: World Game Board Game; Race Across the USA; Great States; Ticket to Ride; Map of the World Puzzles; United States Puzzles; and more.

Lessons learned and skills honed: Reading, Writing, Social Studies, Community, Geography, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math Skills, Map Drawing, Spatial Thinking, Computer Skills, Technology, Reasoning Skills, Arts and Crafts, Music, and more. Jot down these lessons and activities in your lesson logbook or on our log sheets (available here: Weekly Planner Log link.)

Happy Homeschooling!

Lesson Plans, Curriculum, Educational Goals Explained

You might find yourself confused by terms such as Lesson Plans or Curriculum. Sometimes educational terms can be as confusing as legal terms. However, your Lesson Plan can be as simple as jotting down ideas and activities for learning this coming week. And your Curriculum can include the Educational Goals and Objectives for your children.

Here’s a few examples of a Curriculum and Lesson Plans: Your Science Curriculum for this coming year could include goals for your child to learn about Earth Science (earth’s composition, volcanoes, earthquakes, planets); Life Science (plants, animals, insects, humans); or Physical Science (magnetism, energy, motion, matter).

Educational Goals and Objectives for Earth Science could be: Learning the different layers of the earth; collecting and identifying rocks; learning the different types of clouds and their impact on earth's atmosphere; creating a miniature water cycle in your backyard; experimenting with erosion in your backyard; constructing an erupting volcano; plus reading and discussing books, articles, and photos on each of these topics/experiments.

Lesson Plans for these Earth Science topics could be: Creating an actual model showing earth’s layers; reading Rocks and Minerals and labeling various rocks collected; making a colorful display showing cloud types and tracking a week’s worth of cloud types and precipitation in your area; photographing the mini water cycle experiment and recording descriptions of how and why it works; recording the erosion experiment, then researching and describing the impact of larger-scale erosion on earth, river banks, seashores; reading Volcanoes and Earthquakes and discussing why, how, and where volcanoes erupt, plus constructing a volcano and recording its eruption.

In Conjunction with these Lesson Plans and Activities, children can describe each of the lessons and experiments in their own words, explaining what they learned, or describe the activities in writing or by drawing illustrations of the experiments. They could display their illustrations or photos of this week’s lessons and activities on a bulletin board, or do a few worksheets on these topics to add to their portfolio. And, always, they can be encouraged to pursue topics branching off from the lessons and activities they’ve done.

This Easy-to-Follow Format will help you create Educational Goals for your children, plus Lessons Plans on topics and subjects to support your goals, as you follow your Curriculum, which simply describes your Educational Goals, Objectives, Lesson Plans, and Learning Activities.

Many more examples are on our website at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Happy Homeschooling!

Homeschool Help for All Families

As families struggle with decisions regarding the new school year – whether to keep kids at home, send them to school, or use virtual school programs – remind friends and neighbors that homeschooling is always an option. If school choices don’t work out, homeschooling can usually be implemented at any time during the year.

Even if parents are working full-time, homeschooling can occur in the evenings or on weekends. That’s because just 1 to 2 hours is required per day, on average. Often, the time parents spend helping schooled children with homework in the evenings can consume 1 to 2 hours per night. That time could, instead, be used for homeschooling.

New ideas and fun learning activities will be provided at EverythingHomeschooling.com, as we approach “back-to-school” days.

Our site will be even easier to use as we go forward. Parents deserve simplicity in their lives, especially now. Families need dependable, reliable resources for keeping their kids learning, motivated, and happy in a safe and healthy environment.

EverythingHomeschooling.com will be here to help families, every day, all year long!

Visit us often in the coming days and weeks!

Happy homeschooling!

Re-Energize Your Homeschool

Re-Energize Your Homeschool: Coping with “Burnout” and Sparking New Ideas

Burnout is usually a result of trying to do too much or trying to stick to an old format. It can be a sure sign that it’s time to try something different, to broaden your horizons, to make changes not only in your homeschool, but in your lifestyle. Change can help us keep growing and lead to many happy years of exciting, rewarding homeschool experiences.

Encouragement for Your Homeschool Journey

Burnout can occur after ten years of homeschooling or after two years. Parents may feel that they have exhausted all the ideas that once seemed so fabulous and endless. After a few years of homeschooling, the kids might not be as excited about the homeschool experience as they were in the beginning. Getting them to open a book or finish an assignment seems like a losing battle. But it needn’t be a battle with the kids nor yourself.

Eliminating Stress

Stress is one of the main causes of burnout. Parents may find themselves trying to fill two full-time roles in the home: as a parent and as a “schoolteacher”. This adds unnecessary stress to your life. As we've noted in previous articles, learning is a natural part of living, and homeschooling should be a natural part of your family’s lifestyle. Homeschooling is not “school at home”. Teaching your children is simply a part of parenting your children.

Burnout also comes from setting expectations too high, then trying to reach them, day after day, and finding yourself falling short. If you feel you’d be a “better teacher” if your children were ready for learning every morning at 8:00 A.M., dove into their lessons with glee each day, stayed on task throughout the morning and afternoon, achieved 100% on all their assignments, and were able to deliver the Gettysburg Address over dinner, then you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment. Occasionally, a day may work out this way, but it’d be a miracle for nearly any teacher to experience such success.

If you, on the other hand, feel you’re accomplishing your goals when your children enjoy most of their lessons, like to explore things that interest them, are learning new information and skills, and can deliver the Gettysburg Address by the end of a school year, then you and your kids are probably enjoying the homeschool process, and you won’t be as likely to burn out.

Preventing Burnout

As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Lower your expectations for yourself and for your children, and you will lower your feelings of stress and chances of burnout. It’s true that you’ll want your children to attain certain goals, so you naturally have some expectations of them. Just remember that you have an entire year to reach those goals. And then there’s next year, too, and the year after that.

When you begin to get that nagging feeling that maybe you’re not doing enough in your homeschool, or read or hear about the fantastic adventures of other homeschool families, take some moments to step back and look at your own family. Consider the happiness and well-being of your own children. Consider how much they’ve grown, how much they’ve learned since you began homeschooling.

Overcoming Boredom

If your children are exhibiting signs of boredom, then they may not be challenged enough. Set the learning rail a little higher for them—just enough to entice them to try a little harder. But not so high that they become frustrated, which will lead to feelings of frustration and burnout for everyone.

Revisit areas of interest or new ideas for learning. Explore new hobbies. Learn new art techniques, try a different musical instrument, or try a new sport or recreational activity. Create something, invent something, no matter how simple. The fun and learning occur as a result of "doing" and "exploring".

Less Structure and More Flexibility

Remember that childhood is a time for being a child, not for squeezing hundreds of lessons or extracurricular activities into their lives. Remind yourself that childhood is a time for being curious and explorative, for daydreaming and thinking, playing and learning, having fun and being happy. The child who has plenty of time for these simple activities will grow into a curious, creative, thinking, happy adult who enjoys the freedom and fun of learning.

More Helpful Tips

For more Helpful Homeschool Help, visit us often at EverythingHomeschooling.com site. (Portions of this article are excerpts from our Everything Homeschooling Book by Sherri Linsenbach.)

Happy homeschooling!

Library Week Ideas for Creating, Making, Building, Inventing

For National Library Week, April 10 to 16 (or any week!), print this list and take to your local library.

Use these book ideas for building, creating, making, and inventing. Try some of these and have a blast!

1. Make rockets! Check out Make Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science by Mike Westerfield.

2. Make toys! Check out Make Fun: Create Your Own Toys, Games, and Amusements by Bob Knetzger.

3. Make robots! Check out Making Simple Robots: Exploring Cutting-Edge Robotics with Everyday Stuff by Kathy Ceceri.

4. Make machinery! Check out Make Paper Inventions: Machines that Move, Drawings that Light Up, and Wearables and Structures You Can Cut, Fold, and Roll by Kathy Ceceri.

5. Make inventions! Check out Making Makers: Kids, Tools, and the Future of Innovation by AnnMarie Thomas.

6. Make fun projects! Check out The Invent to Learn Guide to Fun by Josh Barker.

7. Make awesome projects! Check out Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Project Book by Sylvia Todd.

8. Make books! Check out Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist & Turn by Gwen Diehn.

9. Make animated cartoons! Check out Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair.

10. Make movies! Check out How to Make a Movie in 10 Easy Lessons by Robert Blofield.

11. Make video games! Check out Video Game Programming for Kids by Jonathan S. Harbour.

12. Make manga characters! Check out Mastering Manga by Mark Crilley.

13. Make nature scrapbooks! Check out The Nature Explorer’s Scrapbook by Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington.

14. Make crocheted items! Check out Learn to Crochet by Alison McNikol.

15. Make watercolor paintings! Check out Watercolour for the Absolute Beginner by Matthew Palmer.

16. Make LEGO architecture! Check out The LEGO Architect by Tom Alphin.

17. Make a new room! Check out DIY Bedroom Decor: 50 Awesome Ideas for Your Room by Tana Smith.

18. Make science experiments! Check out Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments by Mike Adamick.

19. Make meals! Check out Kid Chef: The Foodie Kids Cookbook by Melina Hammer.

20. Make money! Check out How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000 by James McKenna.

Note: When looking for these books at your library, be sure to peruse other nearby books, too. You never know what wonderful gems you’ll discover in your library during National Library Week or any week of the year!

For Weekly Homeschool Lessons and daily learning fun, contact us at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Happy Homeschooling!

Your Child's Best Learning Style

Observe and Highlight Your Child’s Learning Style -- Plus Enter to Win a Book on Learning Styles

As you prepare for your homeschool year, remember to observe your child’s best learning style. The style that works for one child won’t necessarily work for another. When children process information in the way that works best for them, they’ll soar! And your homeschool adventures will be more successful and more enjoyable! For 9 months of Weekly Lessons for Grades K-12 in all subject areas, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Three Common Learning Styles

1. Visual learners. These children prefer to spend time poring over pictures and graphics, and respond to bright colors and visual stimulation. They tend to learn best through visual presentations.

2. Auditory learners. These children enjoy listening to music, CDs, or audio tapes, and to people reading aloud or talking. They can learn best through discussions and verbal information.

3. Tactile-kinesthetic learners. These children like to move around, touch things, and talk, plus they have a difficult time sitting still. They learn best through an active, hands-on approach.

Although a child may appear to be a visual learner or kinesthetic learner, it doesn’t exclude him from trying other learning styles, too, or a combination of styles. The important part is to help your child learn in the way that makes the most sense to him, while still providing a well-balanced learning environment.

* * *

Activities for Different Learning Styles

Visual learners need to see visual images, in order to fully absorb information. When thinking and processing information, they often see pictures in their minds.

Visual tips for visual learning environments:

• Create posters, artwork, or colorful pictorials to accompany lessons.
• Hang educational charts, displays, illustrations, maps, and mobiles.
• Make flow charts, pie charts, and diagrams to illustrate math and science concepts.
• Design colorful flashcards for spelling, vocabulary, English, and math skills.
• Use computer applications, software, or games for learning topics.
• Watch educational videos or DVDs.
• Read illustrated reference books or picture books.

* * *

Auditory learners learn through hearing. They grasp information better by listening to someone reading aloud or to CDs or audio books, hearing descriptions or experiences, or by participating in discussions.

Auditory tips for auditory learning environments:

• Read material aloud to auditory learners.
• Use rhythm and voice inflection when reading and talking.
• Present material in an interesting storytelling format.
• Create musical or dramatic presentations of topics studied.
• Record lessons for children to play and replay.
• Engage in lively discussions and debates on various subjects.
• Use CDs, audiotapes, or recorded books relating to topics studied.

* * *

Tactile and kinesthetic learners absorb information through touching and moving. This learning group is sometimes broken into two separate categories: tactile and tactile-kinesthetic. Both groups are similar, with the tactile-kinesthetics enjoying hands-on experiences as well as lots of movement in their learning styles.

Tactile-kinesthetic tips for tactile-kinesthetic learning environments:

• Understand that movement and touch is imperative for learning.
• Provide a variety of manipulatives for hands-on learning.
• Incorporate games, construction sets, Geoboards, and Cuisenaire rods into lessons.
• Use lab equipment for experimenting with science and math concepts.
• Perform dramatic plays that bring social studies and literature to life.
• Read or study while swaying to music or tapping feet.
• Create lessons choreographed to dance music.
• Take frequent field trips related to topics studied.

* * *

Most children will benefit from a combination of these activities. And children who lean toward a specific style will benefit greatly when more focus is placed upon their particular learning style.

*** Material above is an excerpt from my book, The Everything Guide to Homeschooling, Copyright © 2015, available through our website at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Have a Happy Homeschool Year!

Science: Atoms, Molecules, and the Five States of Matter

Five States of Matter

Matter is all around you and is made up of atoms and molecules. What's an atom? What's a molecule? Keep reading!

Atoms are the building blocks of matter. You have billions and billions of atoms in your body.

Molecules are atoms connected by chemical bonds.

Matter has mass, takes up space, and is all around you. There are 5 states of matter: solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs).

Describe your experiments and observations on our Science Experiment Log Sheets.

Use our Homeschool Forms to record your daily lessons and learning activities.

For Homeschool Forms and Homeschool Activities see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com and have fun learning!

Happy homeschooling!

Make a Globe, Learn about Olympics and Learn about Your World

Become more familiar with your world by making a globe and locating Sochi, the setting for the Winter Olympics, on your globe. Make a balloon globe and label Sochi on the globe. Then label your state and town on the balloon globe, and determine the distance between your hometown and Sochi.

To make a balloon globe -- or a papier mache globe -- follow the easy instructions on our "Today's Lesson" at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

For daily lessons all year, see the "Weekly Lessons" on our site at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

For hands-on activities, see the "Hands-On Experiments" on our site at EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Remember: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius

Happy homeschooling!

Creative Learning and the Importance of Creativity

The Importance of Creativity

For children, the creative process is always more important than the end result or product. The benefits lie within the creative activity itself: the enjoyment, the freedom, the exploration, the hands-on learning.

Much has been said about problem-solving skills, which are certainly important. But expecting children to solve a problem, or to come up with solutions, without having ample opportunities to be creative and inventive, can limit their abilities to solve problems.

Therefore, creative-thinking skills are as important as critical-thinking skills. To help foster creativity in children, we can avoid focusing on perfectionism, or on making comparisons or judgments, which only add pressure, stress, and anxiety.

Respect and support for creative endeavors, experiments, and projects is much more helpful. If a project doesn't turn out the way a child anticipated, we can encourage him to try again or to consider a different approach the next time. We want to refrain from taking over the project and telling him how we would do it.

Here are a few ideas on encouraging creativity in your children:

1. Allow plenty of free time for working on creative projects.

2. Create space for projects, so children can easily revisit them and work on projects between other activities.

3. Provide plenty of craft and creative materials: papers, card stock, colored pencils, markers, crayons, paints, paste, glue, tape, safety scissors, clay, craft sticks, chenille stems, beads, sequins, glitter, felt, yarn, buttons, gears, dials, nuts, bolts, spindles, construction pieces, small motor parts or solar parts, etc.

4. Encourage discussions about projects and activities, including "what-if" questions, alternative ideas, and unique visions.

5. Allow quiet time and solitude for contemplation and creation.

6. Be a creative role model, participate in creative projects, and encourage brainstorming sessions and collaboration on projects.

For Free Homeschool Activities, plus Weekly Homeschool Lessons for Grades K-12, see our Home page at:

EverythingHomeschooling.com

Happy homeschooling!

Free Homeschool Activities This Week

Check out the Free Activities for Monday through Friday, this week.

Learn about -- and do -- the activities on:

* Kites, Kite Making, and Kite Flying
* Colors and Light
* Water and Water Cycle
* Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas
* Paper Structures
* Geography Fun
* Origami
* The Human Skeleton
* Sleep & Dreams
* Tornadoes & Weather
* And much more!

To get started now, click:

EverythingHomeschooling.com

Remember to visit our Weekly Homeschool Lessons, too, for Grades K-12, at:

EverythingHomeschooling.com.

Happy homeschooling!

Free Homeschool Activities and Weekly Homeschool Lessons

Free Learning Activities This Week

- Valentine’s Day Crafts: Hearts Quilt, Be-Mine Jewelry, Bumpy Love Bug Sculpture
- Valentine’s Day Coloring Pages
- Valentine’s Day History and Origins
- Plus: Build Paper Skyscrapers
- Learn about Skyscrapers and Tall Structures
- Static Electricity Activities
- Library Activities and the Dewey Decimal System
- Learn about Charles Dickens and his books
- Learn about Submarine Technology, and more free activities!

For Free Activities, click:

EverythingHomeschooling.com

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Black History Month Activity

Read and Research these African-American Women Inventors:

Write brief descriptions about these women. What did they invent or accomplish? Which is most amazing to you? How have they inspired you?

1. Miriam Benjamin
2. Sarah Boone
3. Sarah Goode
4. Lyda D. Newman
5. Judy W. Reed

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This Week's Lessons: Week 20

Language Arts:
- Take the Book Adventure;
- Write and Illustrate a Book, with Activity Lab;
- Play the Educational Language Arts Games on Nouns, Verbs, Grammar, and more;
- Practice the Vocabulary, Spelling, and Reading Skills;
- Read the Featured Book Online, Starting Today!

Social Studies:
- Learn about Black History Month;
- Explore Culture, History, Geography, Government, and Economics;
- Learn about Natural Wonders, World Geography, and more;
- Play the History and Geography Games;
- Choose a Variety of Social Studies Games to Test Your Knowledge Base.

Math:
- Practice Math Skills with Math Magician, Multiplication Bridge, Olympic Challenge, and more;
- Learn from Probability Activities, such as Fish Tank, Coin Toss, Train Race, and more;
- Refresh Fraction Skills with Flowering Fractions, Wise Up, and Who Wants Pizza;
- Enhance Algebra, Geometry, Graphing Skills, and Overall Math Skills;
- Play the Money Games, Fraction Games, and Improve Everyday Math Skills.

Science:
- “Visit” SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Discovery Cove online, to Observe and Learn about Animals;
- Try the Activity on Food Chains and Draw Examples of an Ecosystem;
- Learn about the Animal Kingdom, Vertebrates, Invertebrates, and more;
- Explore the “Cells” page to Learn More about Plant Cells, Animal Cells, Mitosis, Meiosis, Cell Biology, and more.
- Learn about Energy, Matter, Light, the Solar System, and more, with This Week’s Science Lessons!

Life Skills, Health, and Safety:
- Get Kids and Teens Cooking with the Featured Kid-Friendly Recipes;
- See Healthy Recipes for Kids and Help Them Understand Nutritional Information;
- Learn about Being a Hero in the Community;
- See How to Develop Good Character;
- Learn about Compassion and How to be More Compassionate.

Art and Music:
- Create Art Online with the Interactive Art Applications and Ideas;
- Use the Interactive Ideas to Replicate Art on Drawing Paper or Canvas;
- Learn How to Read Music through the Basic Instructions;
- Create Music Online and Play the Music Online;
- Duplicate Your Online Musical Compositions on Your Piano, Recorder, Guitar, or Other Musical Instrument.

LEARN All of the Above and MORE! Just click the Grades K-2 Lessons, Grades 3-6 Lessons, Grades 6-9 Lessons, or Grades 9-12 Lessons on our Everything Homeschooling site at:

.EverythingHomeschooling.com

Happy Homeschooling!