Homeschooling In the High School Years

I am entering the realm of high school grades, report cards, transcripts, entrance exams, and grade point averages. Daunting.

Typically, I would look to other homeschoolers to guide me or head to the convention and sit in on a quickie class about all this nonsense, but that's not really where I'm at right now. Money is tight and most of the homeschool friends I currently associate with aren't there yet.

So, I would like to pass on some valuable information and helpful links/downloads I have found to perhaps aid in your endeavors...whoever you are...just in case you're in the same boat I am.

First, is a helpful link to the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association), which gives some good guidelines on how to work through choosing appropriate credits for your course work. You will also find some helpful navigation tabs that will show some other helpful topics to research, including transcripts, diplomas, etc.

EVALUATION OF HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS

Second, I wanted to pass on an AMAZING gradebook that is FREE! (Yes...free...for real...) It is so well put together, I kind of want to cry, because it's saving me so much time and effort that I get to type this long overdue update to my blog. Seriously, go download it, and grab your glass of wine and join me in my relaxing as I revel in my victory. They come so seldom, you know.

FREE GRADEBOOK by FiveJ's Homeschooling Resources YOU ROCK!

If you're just getting into the High School years, like I am, all of this can seem overwhelming. Especially if your curriculum doesn't provide grading scales or doesn't fit into the square box that public school curriculum does. Here is one more link to HSLDA's page "Homeschooling Thru High School." Cruise the selections and find some good stuff to keep you going. My favorite: Encouragement!

Also, from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine: Creating an Academic Transcript

Alright, if you have any other nuggets or treasures that would be helpful for current and future readers to snatch up, please share. I do love comments. They make me feel like I'm doing this for something more than just myself. Although, if it is just for me, that's fine. It's fun.

Hoping your home is blessed...

~Erin

Ancient Egypt for Children

I've unearthed some great resources for teaching Ancient Egyptian history to children. Below are some fantastic links that you're going to want to spend some time playing with. I hope you enjoy these as much as we have been!

King Tut's Virtual Tomb

                 but first read...

Howard Carter Finds King Tut's Tomb

Egyptian Tomb Adventure

Practice your hand at making your own mummy here and here!

Pyramid Builder

Ancient Egypt for Kids - TONS of links!

Tapestry of Grace Arts and Activities

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G and Language Arts

The hardest curricula I have tried to piece together in our home school experience have been Language Arts and Spelling. I have looked and looked for something that is complete and interesting. I have searched for something that is relevant. I finally found some things worth dealing with.

TOTAL LANGUAGE PLUS is a reading linked approach to language arts. Because I am such a HUGE advocate of reading (I often feel that if I can just get my kids to love books, I'll have done my job.), I love this approach. I believe that the most logical place to learn language is through reading good books. So, naturally, this approach made total sense to me. The cool thing is that it's a complete program, encompassing everything from vocabulary, spelling, and usage to comprehension, Bible application, and writing. It's a winner in my book. It eliminates the need for several separate workbooks or programs for each thing. Here is a link to some of the their freebies including 26 common spelling rules for download. The books are listed by grade level to help you choose ones that fit your child's learning level.

Also on my list of "good ones" to look at was ALL ABOUT SPELLING. I have a friend that uses this program, and it seems incredibly thorough and includes techniques for all learning styles (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic). Here is a link to some of their spelling rules.

I love that this program has scripted lesson plans. Some home school teachers struggle with how much to do with their students or how to instruct the lessons. This does it all for you and it's so simple. I think I might take the class just for myself!

Do you have others that should be on this list? Post links and a description in your comments. Or share with us how you feel about the ones I've already mentioned. Are there downsides? Share that too!

FREE RESOURCES: MODEL CUT-OUTS

I love free stuff. I love finding treasures online that mean all I have to do is turn on my printer and press a button. Here are couple that I think you might like:


CANON CREATIVE PARK ~ Tons of paper craft model printables, some complex, some simple

PAPER TOYS ~ paper models for kids and grown-ups alike

Wellness Wednesday ~ WORLD'S HEALTHIEST FOODS

Got this website from a friend the other day and thought I would share it as a way to jump-start Wellness Wednesdays again!

WORLD'S HEALTHIEST FOODS

http://whfoods.org/recipestoc.php

Happy healthful eating!

Summer Lovin'

Alright folks! Summer is officially here, with the beautiful sun finally gracing us. I've been out to my garden plots several times already, and I'm gearing up to plant outside after Memorial Day weekend.

To add to the fun, we've got some great field trips planned. We'll be taking a camping trip soon, and with that comes a visit to a nearby organic dairy farm. We're also hoping to get out and do some fishing while we're there. Along with a couple of other families, we're planning some studies about Lewis and Clark through the summer months. Since we live so close to their trail, we're going to head down to see one of the forts they visited and do some camping down there as well.

For our many car trips this summer, I bought a couple of "busy" books for the kids:

National Geographic Field Guide

to the Birds of North America

and

Hammond Children's World Atlas

We threw in a pair of binoculars for the bird watching. The kids have already located a couple of species and tried to name a few more based on some feathers they've found at the park.

The atlas has been instrumental for my oldest in his schoolwork lately. It has maps for each country and information on population and demographics for each country as well. It's a beautiful atlas. Get one.

My son also bought a wonderful bug book:

A Pocket Guide to Insects

And my daughter got herself a bug holder!

Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Mombo Snake Bug House

This may come in handy for our gardening! One kid can catch the bugs, another can identify them.

 I also got the Freebie Friday Newsletter this morning and in it was a link for

10 Backyard Science Activities 

from Family Education.

Enjoy! I hope your summer is a blessed one.

For a bonus, check out Dr. Mercola's video and article about summer sun protection:

Summer Survival Kit

Wellness Wednesday~WARNING: GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD

WHAT IS GMO?

SAY NO TO GMO

Why?

• Warning: This Common Food Causes Devastating Offspring Defects in New Research Study  (article on Dr. Mercola's site)

  
  

• Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality   (article from Institute for Responsible Technology)

• NON-GMO Shopping Guide (How to avoid this dangerous health hazard from Institute for Responsible Technology)

• GMO COMPASS (Information on genetically modified organisms around the world)

• READY TO GROW YOUR OWN FOOD? BUY NON-GMO SEEDS FROM A COMPANY LIKE THIS. (make sure they test)

The Crafty Crow: Crafts Around the World

Let me introduce you to the inspiring  

Crafty Crow 

a blog filled with wonders and insights, creativity and delight!

And if you are like me, you'll enjoy 

this fantastic new string of posts 

inspiring us history lovers with crafts and recipes that are sure to make your fingers tingle. Follow the link and dive in! (The Turkey post was a hit with me since we lived in Turkey for two years.)

And as an added bonus, here's another great idea linked from the Crafty Crow (and relinked by me...just keep passing it around)─Slotted Building Discs from Made by Joel! Methinks my kiddos will enjoy this one!

MORE FREE STUFF

I can't beat the freebies from TOS, but I've got a few up my sleeve. Here are some new ones I found recently. Three cheers for home schooling on a shoe-string!

Homeschool Helper "Homeschoolers helping each other."
Preschool Printables (just in case I haven't linked it yet)

Tapestry of Grace Arts and Craft Ideas  (some way cool stuff in here, these go really well as supplemental ideas for the curriculum we use, Christian Cottage Unit Studies)

Year 1~Ancient History and Early Christianity
Year 2~Middle Ages, Renaissance, Early America
Year 3~Early America and the world at that time
Year 4~The 20th Century to Current

Just had to share these marvelous paper crafts. I am in total AWE!
Stock up on some paper and ink, and go to town!

Canon Paper Crafts

Make sure to check out the left side menu for Science, History, and Architecture crafts!

Learning About Electricity

I have searched for some time to find a website that would provide some basic information about how to teach circuitry to children. We have had a Snap Circuit Kit for some time now, but I was pretty disappointed in the lack of information in the book that came with it. It really just has maps of how to set up the circuits with no real teaching of how circuits work to begin with.

I hope the following info is helpful for someone besides me.

Learning Circuits (a fun interactive lesson with a printable worksheet, very informative, and highly recommended)

Teachers' Domain: Electric Circuits (lesson plan with videos)

How to Make a Circuit Quiz Board (3 different sites)

#1

#2

#3

Five Star Blogger

I have officially found my new favorite blogger─Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman. I am stunned by the fun, inspiring, whimsical, and true-to-self posts on this blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Gotta love those Freebies! (Human Body)

If you're not signed up for the Freebie Friday Newsletters from The Old Schoolhouse, I suggest you do that─like, right now!! 

They have some great stuff each week, and it's fun to bookmark them or save them to a hard drive for later use. This week, the Freebie list includes links to resources about the Human Body. Feel free to follow the link here and get yourself signed up for these newsletters each week. I promise you'll benefit from them.

I also found these web sites about the Human Body...

Kid Info  

KidsKonnect.com

How to Make a DNA Model (pdf)

I'm sure there are bazillions more.

What have you found? Share your favorite bookmark in your comment! After all, that's what this is about─sharing what we find with others so they can benefit from it!

The Tail of Two Otters

Our 9 and 7 year old boys have written a wonderful little puppet show for two sea otter sock puppets that we made back in our first year of home school. I'd like to share it with you. You may use it and the sock puppet idea if you like. Feel free to print and perform the play for friends and family as much as you like.

Here are the materials we used for the sock puppets:

• tall brown socks
• buttons for eyes
• tan or cream colored felt for mouth (sewed on)
• tan or cream colored felt for ears (also sewed on)
• black felt for nose (sewed on top of mouth piece)
• cotton balls for stuffing nose and mouth area to give it shape
• fishing line for whiskers
• black felt tipped marker for shading felt in ears and around mouth (optional)
• needle and thread to sew on felt pieces (use a whip stitch as shown in video below)

How to Sew a Whip Stitch -- powered by eHow.com


I have attached patterns for the mouth, nose, and ear pieces here. Forgive my lack of artistry on the drawings. They are rough, but they work.

Here is the play!

From our house to yours, enjoy!

*Please do not copy this to any other sites without permission. You may link directly to my site or directly to this post if you wish.

Music and the Home School ~ Part III ~ Incorporating Music into Unit Studies

In the first part in this series, Music and the Home School, I laid out some basic ideas on how to incorporate music into unit studies and history. Music and the Home School Part II focused on how to use a live concert as a learning experience.

This, Part III, will focus specifically on using music in Science Unit Studies. For a better understanding, please refer back to Part I.

I like to use the "Five in a Row" type plan for unit studies because it pulls together all elements of learning to focus on one specific topic, thereby driving it home. Quite simply, things stick better that way. Our minds learn by using all parts of our sensory system. Music definitely helps to learn by hearing. Somehow, science and history really comes alive when we hear it through song.

Think about movies, for example. When we can see the picture of what happened, it's great! But, when music is added, it really pulls us in and makes us a part of the story. Then we remember it! Acting out stories in a play format is fun, but how much more fun is it to add a musical element? It really brings it to life!

Music has been a part of human life since God created us. It moves us. It helps us to express ourselves. It entertains. So, how can we pull this rich history into our unit studies? 

Here are a few tips:

Tip #1 - Do a Google search for videos, mp3 files, and lesson plans online.
When I searched "music, ocean" I found very little that was helpful. But, when I searched "music about water" quite a few things popped up. Sometimes changing the wording can help produce more hits.
Here are some fun things I found...

The Mystery, Art, and Science of Water
The History of Handel's Water Music
Video ~ Handel: Water Music, Allegro
How to Make Water Chimes

Tip # 2 - Do a search for (or think up on your own) some science project ideas about music.
I have found several science experiments online about plant growth being affected by music, music's ability to "heal" or help animals, and music's ability to help students at math. Music is very mathematical and scientific. Use that to aid in studies about sound waves, energy, the ears, the brain, etc. Here's a website link to get you started:
Music Science Fair Projects

Tip # 3 - Use music as a background for your learning time. Throw on some appropriate tunes to help concentration and quiet learning time! Use music from the time period you're studying. Create a playlist of music that goes with your unit!

Tip # 4 - Allow experimentation and exploration. Kids love to record things and hear them back. When talking about things like weather, bugs, or water, allow them to try to create sound effects for things like tornadoes, wind, waves, and insects. Let them use different instruments or things from the house or nature to create. Come up with a musical composition that uses these sounds or add them to a spoke poem and record them together. Try using rocks to make a "stomp" style rhythm song. Add a poem about rocks to it.

Listing of music compositions for some unit studies:

Insects

Franz Schubert's Der Einsame D 800 (The Hermit) translation 
Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos, Book VI, BB 105, No. 142, From the Diary of a Fly 
Ralph Vaughan Williams' Overture to the Wasp 
Modest Mussorgsky's Mephistopheles’s Song Of The Flea 
Chet Atkins' Centipede Boogie 
Thomas Arne's Where The Bee Sucks There Lurk I 
Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee  
Kalevi Aho's Insect Symphony (7th Symph)
Bela Bartok's Night Music 
Roussel's The Spider's Feast 
Ralph Vaughn Williams' The Wasps Suite  
Tchaikovsky's Chorus of Insects  
Grieg's La Papillon (The Butterfly)

Water, Seas, and Oceans

Debussy's La Mer (The Sea)

Douglas Lilburn's Sea Preludes 
Felix Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Opus 27
and the more familiar Hebrides or Fingals Cave Op.26 
Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony

Astronomy, Stars, Planets 
Gustav Holst's  The Planets

Mathews' Pluto: The Renewer

(Holst completed "The Planets" in 1917, before the discovery of Pluto. Though he lived until 1934, a few years after Pluto's discovery, he never added a final movement. Colin Mathews rectified that omission with this new piece.)

Haydn's Symphony No. 43 in E flat major ("Mercury"), H. 1/43

Mozart's Symphony No. 41 In C Major K. 551 ("Jupiter")

Berners' Triumph of Neptune

Hovhaness' Saturn, Op.243

Lully's Le Grand Divertissement Royal de Versailles, devertissement / comedie, LWV 38 Les suivants de Neptune

Dvorak's Rusalka (One song in this opera is about the Moon)

 

Animals

Camille Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals
J. S. Bach's Where My Sheep Safely Graze
Rossini's La Boutique fantasque: Galop (horses)
Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
Respighi's Prelude from The Birds
Anderson's The Waltzing Cat 

Can you think of any to add? Comments are ALWAYS welcome! Post your unit study and some works that you're using or add to the lists above! 

Today is...

While I know very little about the organization promoted on this banner, I hope and pray that all of us (especially those in the Church Body) will be educating ourselves about this very real problem and begin getting involved. There are tons of amazing organizations around the world dedicated to eradicating this problem.

Check out Samaritan's Purse. They've got a program designated to help rescue children from bondage and abuse. Make a Chain to Break a Chain is building safe houses to give victims a fighting chance.

There are zillions more out there like these. Find one you trust and start helping out! Amnesty International has a listing of organizations to help you out. There may be organizations in your area that need volunteers.

How does this have anything to do with home school?
50% of transnational victims are children. 80% are female.[1]
We need to educate our kids about this danger. We also need to raise our children with self-control and respect for God's creation and His people.

Get talking with your kids about how to be safe. What are the rules for your house?

Check out these kids videos, books, and resources*:
The Safe Side

• a company founded by John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted and Julie Clark,  creator of Baby Einstein
• free resources available for download

The Safe Side: Stranger Safety  
The Safe Side: Internet Safety
The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers

Get talking with your girl(s) about what is appropriate behavior with their bodies, clothing, and looking for a mate.
Get talking with your boy(s) about self-control and what the Lord desires for his body, his thoughts, and his urges as he grows into a man.

_________________________________
[1] Human Trafficking Statistics, Polaris Project

* There are many more out there, but these are ones that I can personally vouch for in content. There is such a fine line between frightening children and showing them an awareness of the world around us. Only you know what your child is capable of handling at his or her age. Use caution when talking about such matters.

Music Lapbooks (and more music education stuff)

Music Lapbook from jimmiehomeschoolmom
Music Lapbook from WisdomsWayofLearning
more Music Lapbook ideas

Music Library webpage

• Composers by Era
• Meet the Orchestra by instrument family
• music lesson plans 
• intro to jazz music
• printables 
• Meet the Composers Scavenger Hunt 

Listen to the orchestra instruments online here.
Listen by composer here.
Find more free lesson plans here.
Make your own instrument guides here.

We're in the process of making our own music lapbook based on the ideas and links above. I'll add photos to this post when they're finished.

Thanksgiving Family Activity {and then some}

The Homeschool Magazine has shared yet another treasure─a wonderful free Holiday Supplement Issue just for you here.

Check out pages 15 - 16 for a wonderful Thanksgiving week activity centered around Psalm 136. Don't miss the freezer meals they've shared, the printables, and the fun, simple craft ideas. It's about 180 pages of pure fun!

Plus, it'll help get you focused for another busy (and let's face it, mostly distracting) holiday season.

More Free Resources

SEN TEACHER

free special needs teaching resources

There is a load of great free stuff on this site.

Don't miss out!

Learn with life

Our oldest son has a yucky infection on his cheek. It started out as a scratch on his skin and some bacteria decided to move in. After a couple of trips to the doctor, he was feeling curious about what these germs were, so we did some research. I love Google images. (It can be dangerous if you're not careful about what you're searching for, so beware.)

We looked up three types of germs and what the names mean. Here's what we found:

Staphylococcus comes from the Greek word staphyle meaning "bunch of grapes", and indeed that is what it looks like! There are only 33 species of staphylococcus.
Streptococcus comes from the Greek word streptos meaning "easily bent or twisted". They grow in chains.
Viruses grow inside cells and are not considered cells on their own. The word virus comes from the Latin word virus meaning "toxic" or "poison". They look like hitchhikers, which is basically what they are.

I've attached a simple worksheet for anyone who would like to do a similar lesson. It's pretty basic, but kind of a neat way to make an "owie" into a school lesson.There's space for them to draw a picture of what each type looks like and add any written information they desire below each drawing.

Have fun!