Summer art and science fun

by on July 6, 2012
in family time · 12 Comments

Written by contributor Kris Bales of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Once a year, our local museums – children’s, history, art, and one aquarium – have a night in which, if you’re a member of one, you can rotate through all the museums. They have a shuttle that takes members from one museum to another and you can spend as much time as you like at each.

We did the tour several years ago when my kids were younger and we had a membership to the children’s museum.

We were having a blast…until we got to the art museum.
[Read more...]

Exploring Online Learning in our Homeschool

by on April 4, 2012
in curriculum · 26 Comments

Written by Heather Bruggeman of beauty that moves

I’m not sure I would have been a very good homeschooler fifteen years ago. You see, the internet is such a valuable, expansive place for us. I’m amazed nearly every day by the endless variety of resources available, both free and paid.

We love our home-based and in town libraries, but there came a point in my daughter’s development where she craved something more formal. She wanted accountability beyond mom and dad. Lacking the right fit (so far) with a good homeschool co-op, we started looking around online for classes.

At fourteen years old, she is naturally ready for more.

This year we’ve had the opportunity to explore three different online learning tools/courses, each with varying degrees of formality and expense – I’d love to tell you about them today.
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4 Simple Methods for Teaching Elementary Science

by on July 27, 2011
in methods & philosophies · 25 Comments

Written by contributor Renee Tougas of FIMBY.

This past spring all of us here at Simple Homeschool shared our curriculum choices. In my contribution to that series I talked about the curriculum we’ve used so far for elementary reading, writing, and math.

But of course there is a lot more to our homeschool routine than just those subjects.

Today I want to share how we teach science to our elementary aged children in the context of every day life, without a set curriculum.

I have found science to be one of the easiest “subjects” to teach our children.

I know it will get trickier as they get into the higher grades and so we plan to start using curriculum sometime during the junior high years.

But so far interest-led science has worked well for us.

Here are the four methods we’ve used.

[Read more...]

5 Tips for Nature Study

by on July 22, 2011
in methods & philosophies · 24 Comments

Written by contributor Kris of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Though we’re not always consistent with including it, nature study is one of our favorite ways to spend some of our homeschool day.

It’s fun, relaxing, interest-led learning in a real-world, hands-on environment.

Following are five tips for making nature study an anticipated part of your family’s education (because you’ll be learning, too, Mom):
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Following Your Child’s Lead: Learning About Edible Wild Foliage

by on July 15, 2011
in field trips · 10 Comments

Written by contributor Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

It all started with a little red berry. A little red berry and a toddler. I had taken my children to the park to play. My daughter, a toddler at the time, was roaming about the playground, just a few feet away, and then disappeared from my view around a corner.

I was after her immediately, only to find her in a clump of red berry bushes, saying “Eat. Eat.” Not knowing what they were or if she had managed to eat one or not, we grabbed a few twigs off the bush and loaded up in the car.

We stopped at my husband’s work, a mere 1/2 mile away where he went to the landscaping department with a twig to identify. I headed to the nearby City Hall and Library.
[Read more...]

5 Outdoor Summer Science Projects

by on July 4, 2011
in family time · 18 Comments

Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

This post originally published on July 12, 2010. Perhaps today would be good for a little outdoor science? Happy 4th to our American readers!

Chances are that if you dared to sit your children down at the dining table with a worksheet this month, they’d look at you like you had antlers coming out of your head.

And for good reason.

Everything in nature is crying out for growth and movement during these warm days, and that includes your little people. As homeschoolers who recognize that we never take a complete break from learning, summer presents us with multiple opportunities for casual science study.

On a lazy, hot day when your tribe is restless, pull out one of these five projects and get ready for some learning–and a little laughter as well. [Read more...]

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