Letter of the Week Curriculum Review

 Elementary, Hands On, Phonics, Preschool  4 Responses »
Aug 302010
 

I have to admit that I am not able to be creative every minute of every day.  I just do not have the energy.  When I was preparing for our summer learning adventures I knew I wanted something fun for my younger 4 children, ages 1-5,  to do each day.  The other big requirement was that it was laid out for me.  Enter the Letter of the Week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I am really not sure quite how I found her blog, but boy are my children glad I did!

Let me start out by saying this wonderful homeschool mom offers her entire curriculum for free on her website.  However, with over 1400 printable pages, that is a lot of individual files to download.  I decided it was completely worth $10.00 to receive an instant download that gathered those files into sets for me, and even had a few neat bonuses like weekly lesson plans.  The Letter of the Week curriculum is also available on CD for $15.00 if you prefer that route.

So just what is this curriculum like? Colorful and fun!  Basically, each letter has a theme, such as Dd is for Dinosaur, Kk is for Kite, or Vv is for Valentines.  The activities available for each letter vary, but typically include:

  • Weekly Bible Verse
  • Read aloud books list
  • Phonics practice
  • Capital/lowercase letter recognition
  • 1-10 Numbers recognition
  • Counting practice
  • Colors
  • Shapes
  • Fine Motor skills: Lacing cards, cutting, coloring & pre-writing
  • Logic skills: Puzzles, size sorting, matching games
  • Large Muscle Movement: Large Floor Numbers/Letters Hopscotch
  • Singing: Leapfrog A-Z letter sound songs, Bible Verse Songs
  • Arts & Crafts for each letter
  • Daily Calendar and Weather Activities

Click Here to see a typical week’s materials.  There are also review materials to use at the end of your 26 letter adventure.

How do I use it? I go each month to my local office supply store to print 4 weeks of materials.  There are some pages I simply print at home in black and white, but many are printed in color at the office supply store.  I never print all the activities for a letter, there is simply too much to do in one week for me.  That is a great thing, though, because it gives us variety.  When I get home I begin a laminating and cutting party.  I laminate most of the activities to make them durable.  In three years I can use them again with the newest preschoolers, while right now they are also safe to hand to the 1 year old who likes to taste his letters.  Once all the activities for a letter are laminated and cut out I store them in a file folder labeled with the letter.  Each week I grab out a file and hand out a few activities each day.  It’s that simple.

Here is the way I have found works best for us with 4 children using the materials, we call it stations:

Instead of passing the materials around the table and mixing up pieces in the process (yep, tried it – trust me, not a good idea) the children move from chair to chair.  Of course, with energetic little ones any movement is a great thing to help get those wiggles out.  In the photo above the stations are making a kite out of pattern blocks, sorting kites by size, putting numbered kites in order from 1-10, a kite color matching file folder game, uppercase/lowercase letter k sort, and a dry erase board to practice writing the letter k.  Everything but the dry erase board came from files in the Letter of the Week curriculum, and on subsequent days that week I was able to replace all those stations with the other letter K activities.  You can see the letter Kk printables here to see just how many options we had that week.

So if you are looking for something fun to do with your preschoolers, or maybe you need some independent review materials for a kindergartener’s workboxes, I highly recommend checking out the Letter of the Week curriculum!

Written by Tristan, mom to 5 going on 6 children, homeschooling through unit studies with a side of lapbooks.  You can visit her at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

The Royal Diaries Series

 Charlotte Mason, History, Living books  1 Response »
Aug 272010
 

Since I was a little girl, I’ve been an avid reader.  I remember coming home from the library, barely able to balance on my 10-speed because of my huge load of delightful reading.  Even earlier than that, I remember my mom sighing as I climbed into bed, struggling with the stack of books I expected her to read to me before bedtime.  Memories like these come back to me when I take the kids to the library and I pick myself up another couple of books from The Royal Diaries series.  I had been searching the library shelves for some good summer reading books for my (now) 3-grader when I found The Royal Diaries: Anastasia.  The story of Anastasia has always intrigued me, but as I looked further, I saw there were tons of these books!  I went home with two of them and have been reading them all summer.

Each book is based on the life of a young, royal girl.  The books are written like a diary would be.  They are fictional books, but each one is written based on facts.  These stories are all exciting, factual, and chalk-full of learning potential!  I’m pretty sure Charlotte Mason would agree :)

Besides the fact that there are 20 princesses in this series, such as…

…each book offers tons of information at the end of each exciting story.  The diaries are written when the girls are around the ages of 12-14, before they are famous.  Then the story ends right as something big in their life begins to happen, such as a royal marriage.  After the diary, each book includes:

  • an Epilogue explaining how the story continues or ends
  • Historical Notes, giving  more information about the royal families and the effect they had on that period in time
  • A Family Tree with continuing pages explaining each person on the family tree and their role in history
  • Drawings, paintings, photos, or statues of the royalty depending on the point in history
  • Maps showing the area that the princess was talking about in the story
  • About the author section where it explains their research for the book (there are several authors in this series)
  • Pronunciation of difficult words found in the book
  • Glossary of characters, which is very helpful since many of the books have lots of characters

You can purchase the entire series from Amazon.com here. There are also several VHS tapes based on the books that can be purchased here and here.

Overall, these are absolutely fabulous books to include in your homeschool curriculum.  At our house, we are studying the Middle Ages this year so I think I could use several Royal Diaries in our studies.  I think these would be great read-alouds for middle-elementary kids and then even better books to assign to upper elementary and middle-school kids to read on their own.  Of the several diaries I have read there has been some violence, but very minimal and I tend to over look some of that for the sake of history and learning.  I would highly recommend these lovely, historically-rich books!

-Alicia can be found either reading classic literature to her three busy kids or blogging over at La Famille.

Red Chair Press Tickles your Funny Bone

 Elementary, Hands On, Language Arts, Phonics  5 Responses »
Aug 252010
 

Red Chair Press graciously allowed me to review their Funny Bone Readers: Developing  Character series of books along with the lesson plan and activity book.  Having one child just entering the world of reading, I was excited to get started on this series, especially since it focused on character development.  These colorful and delightful books help a child learn to read while nurturing a quality character.

Funny Bone Readers uses fun and silly characters to make connections to several important character traits.

  • Fairness
  • Trustworthiness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Caring
  • Citizenship

I found these books to be truly enjoyable.  My daughter and I had a wonderful time reading all the stories.  Even my older children loved reading these books to my younger children.  This is a wonderful way to reinforce reaching skills and character development in one sitting.

The lesson plan and activity book enhanced the books by giving you plenty of ideas to reinforce the lessons.  Along with the lesson plan book, you can divide up these books by traits, phonics, or into weeks to gain the full  benefit.  You could plan a six week study using two books a week that focus on each character trait.  You could plan a 12 week study using one book a week to focus on phonics and one character trait every two weeks.  The books are short and flexible enough to add into your current reading or character development  program.

Red Chair Press offers a few ways to purchase the sets.  You can purchase 12 books and ebooks (on CD) for $48.00 until August 31st.  You can purchase the Lesson Plan and Activity book for $29.95.  If you are in a co-op you can purchase Complete Classroom Set 72 books (6 each of all 12 titles) plus a Lesson Planner and interactive eBooks CD-ROM for $295.00.  You may also purchase additional sets if your co-op has more than six children.

Saxon Math (K-2)

 Elementary, Mathematics  4 Responses »
Aug 232010
 

When I began homeschooling, I chose to use Saxon Math curriculum. We’ve gone through Saxon K, 1, and halfway through 2.   It has proven to be a great fit for my family.

At first, I thought Saxon Math K started out a little slow.  It feels like there’s more playing with the manipulatives than actual work.  But I came to realize that for a kindergartener, that is the work.  As they’re doing this, they’re becoming familiar with numbers, shapes, and patterns and how they work.  This provides a really critical foundation of understanding a lot of basic concepts the students will need for more advanced skills.

There’s a lot of thought put into the scope and sequence of the lessons. Playing with pennies and dimes leads to counting by tens, which leads to understanding place value, which leads to addition with regrouping.  (That’s carrying if you’re old school.)  Even the order in which addition facts are learned have been thought out carefully.  Students don’t just blindly memorize the addition facts.  They are taught to learn them by the relationships between the numbers.  First you learn doubles, such as 3+3.  Later it’s doubles plus 1, such as 3+4.  It’s easier to learn 3+4=7 once you know 3+3=6.  I didn’t see it when we first started, but now after a few years, I can see that there is a very well thought out plan behind all these lessons.

I love the use of manipulatives. This was what drew me to Saxon in the first place.  Math is one of those subjects that students usually either love or hate.  It’s a lot harder to hate a subject when it feels like you’re playing with toys during the lessons.  Manipulatives can give students a deeper and truer understanding of a concept since they can see it and touch it.  The manipulatives make the lessons much more accessible to visual and kinesthetic learners.  It has also been a diversion for my preschoolers more than once when I’m trying to work with my older daughter!

There’s a lot to Saxon Math.  Maybe too much. If you did everything  provided for each lesson, it would probably take a good hour.  But we don’t have to do everything, and we’re still doing just fine. Saxon uses the spiral review method, so students can keep their skills fresh.  Even though we skip some of this, I’d much rather have a curriculum that gives too much to do than one that leaves me feeling like we’re missing something.

One thing I would change about Saxon is that the skill taught in the lesson is not always immediately reinforced in that day’s worksheet.  I don’t think 25 or 30 questions is appropriate, but three to five questions or problems on that lessons skill would be a very good tool to check for the student’s understanding.  Most lessons do contain this built-in check, but there are definitely some inconsistencies in this area.

Saxon Math is a bit on the pricey side, but I think it is worth it. The Saxon Math Homeschool kits cost $96.50 ($63.50 for K).  Additional workbooks can be purchased for additional students for $27.50 without having to buy the whole kit again.  The manipulatives set costs $77.50 which is used for the K-3 curriculum (and occassionally preschool).

 Posted by at 6:00 am

The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History

 Elementary, History, Middle School  1 Response »
Aug 202010
 

When we used Winter Promise last year for studying Early American History, we were introduced to the book The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History by Jennifer Armstrong.  Although I had been advised against using it in our homeschool (which I’ll touch on later), I found myself delighted by the stories that make up this fun and informative history book.

Things That We’ve Enjoyed About This Book:

  • Engaging Stories – My kids are all interested each time we read a new story from The American Story. Some of the stories are funny and some are very serious, but we have found each one that we’ve read to be very interesting.
  • Stories You Don’t Find in History Books – Perhaps it’s because I’m generally a fan of what others might consider superfluous information, but I really like that The American Story has stories about things that you wouldn’t find in your typical history book.  There is a story how the city of Washington D.C. was laid out, a story behind the famous unfinished portrait of George Washington we all know so well, how bananas came in to popularity in the United States, the 1835 discovery of life on the Moon (which was actually when tabloid newspapers really caught on), the cookie cutter houses of post World War II, tales of the Pac-Man craze, and so many others.
  • Great Illustrations – The illustrations were all done by Roger Roth.  He did a great job of making illustrations appropriate to the situation, as some stories are funny and others are quite serious.
  • Large Time Span – Stories in the book range from 1565 through 2000.

What Doesn’t Work as Well for Our Family:

  • All Stories Have to be Previewed by Me – This is, of course, a good practice for any homeschooling material.  However, it is definitely a must with this book.  There are several stories that people might object to for a variety of reasons.  I have still found, however, that because I like this book so much, I don’t mind having to preview stories before sharing them with the children.  We have only had to skip a couple of stories thus far.  One was just because I didn’t like the tone of the story, and another because I didn’t like the way that missionaries from our religious denomination were depicted.  (That being said, there are other mentions of that nature in the book that we read anyway and it was an interesting opportunity for dialogue with my kids.)
  • It is Not a History Textbook – It’s not fair to hold that against this book, as that is not its purpose.  However, I just say it to point out that it might not be a good choice for your history spine, unless you will be doing a lot of supplementing. For instance, Henry David Thoreau made the book, but the Gettysburg Address did not.

Details About the Book

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, as long as you are willing to always be reading a little ahead of your children. However, even if something was read that you don’t agree with, I think it offers up a great opportunity for dialogue about why your family might not agree with a story (or just an aspect of a story).

Angie can be found writing at Many Little Blessings about faith, family, and household management topics.  Angie is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online.

History Comes Alive

 Charlotte Mason, Literature, Living books, Unit study resources  4 Responses »
Aug 182010
 

As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, teaching with living literature is imperative to me. And considering that I like to package much of our history and science learning into unit studies, incorporating living literature into our current unit makes awesome connections for my children.

The History Comes Alive books written by Barbara Greenwood fit both the CM and unit study aspects of our homeschool perfectly! Written about four major eras of North American history, the books are a wonderful mix between historical fiction, factual snippets and simple hands-on activity ideas.

I’ve used these books with my children from 2nd grade on up. They’re each well over 200 pages, but are illustrated in black and white pencil drawings to keep children intrigued. It’s very easy to skip around and only read certain parts, too, if you’d rather not go through the entire book.

A Pioneer Story introduces you to Sarah and Willy Robertson, Canadian pioneer children of the 1840′s who must be hard-working members of their family in order to survive. Breaks in the story-line turn to more factual information about such things as what a typical log house would’ve looked like, how a farm might be situated, the maple sugaring process, the process of weaving and much more. Activity breaks are also included in the story which will give step-by-step instructions for making cheese, making a homemade balance scale, stenciling and many others.

There are two smaller books available by the same author on the subject of pioneers, too – A Pioneer Thanksgiving and A Pioneer Christmas. Both are written in the same style as the above book, but only have about 48 pages each.

The Last Safe House (our very favorite) is a story of the Underground Railroad. Two preteen girls, Eliza (an escaped slave) and Johanna (a daughter in the home of a safe house) become wonderful friends. Johanna is introduced to the world of slavery, escape, fear and freedom in this wonderful tale. On the factual side of the story, you learn about famous slaves, slave labor, the Underground Railroad and even a few slave songs. The activities teach how to make corn-husk dolls, tin lanterns, gingerbread cookies, and how to spin a good story.

Gold Rush Fever is set in the Klondike in 1898. Thirteen year old Tim sets off with his older brother on the dangerous journey through the Yukon territory in an attempt to get rich during the gold rush. This book not only takes you on the hunt for gold, but starts at the beginning in Seattle where you start the trip through treacherous conditions. It’s a good view of the entire sacrifice and determination on the part of those who left home in search of gold. The factual snippets teach you about gold mining equipment, boat building, mining towns, what happened when gold was found and more. The activities introduce you to a sour-dough biscuit recipe, knot tying, playing solitaire and other ideas that are particularly boy-friendly.

Factory Girl brings you face to face with the reality of children working in factories in the early 1900′s. Meet 12 year old Emily as she works long hours in a unsafe, dark, overcrowded sewing factory where she is treated poorly by her demanding and unfriendly boss. Don’t be fooled, this story isn’t just for girls. The informational sections take you on a photographic journey through all sorts of child labor conditions of the times including coal mines, housemaids, and other factories. You will learn about immigration, living in large cities in the early 1900′s, schooling, women at work, and laws that changed child labor and working safety.

Although this books is unlike the others in that it doesn’t include activity ideas, it’s still our second favorite in the series. This is an issue that’s harder to find literature about for children, so we were very excited to dive in!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and you can find her nature studies at Shining Dawn Books.

First Day of School Ideas

 Elementary, Hands On, Uncategorized  5 Responses »
Aug 162010
 

It’s that time of year again! Many homeschoolers are finishing up their summer breaks, the smell of new school supplies is in the air, and co-ops and support groups are gearing up again. For many folks it’s Back-to-School time.

There is something exciting about the fresh start of a new school year! Even though we school year round, we take a short break at the end of summer and officially kick off our new school year in the fall. I think it’s important to start the year off with a special “first day”, and it can be a great way to get your children excited about school.

Regardless of your homeschool style, having some fun first-day-of-school traditions can breathe new life into your schooling and set the tone for the new year.

Here are a few things we’ve done over the years that have created some excitement and made for some sweet memories:

  • Take a picture of your child holding a sign that says “_____’s First Day of ______Grade”. You might also take this picture with your child standing in the same place each year (on the front porch or in front of a special tree, etc.), so that you and your child can look back and see how much they grew and changed each year.

    First Day Photo

  • Go out for breakfast, or cook a special breakfast. One year I let the kids help me whip up a batch of dino-shaped pancakes for our back-to-school breakfast because we were going to be studying dinosaurs. (You can use cookie cutters or shaped-pancake molds to design different themed pancakes.)
  • Send your children on a scavenger hunt around the house for their new school supplies. I do up a new package of crayons, markers, colored pencils, and a pair of scissors in a plastic pencil box for each child to find. You could even wrap it up in pretty paper or let them decorate the plastic boxes with Sharpie markers and stickers. If you’re a notebooking family, you could let them find and decorate their new binder. You get the idea!

    Display Table for Our Bird Study

  • Set up a table or other area with books and props relating to something you’ll be studying. The year we were studying dinosaurs our table included: a toy dinosaur, books about dinosaurs, a couple of fossils, some small dinosaur posters printed from the internet, and a clear container filled with small plastic dinosaurs with slips of paper for the children to write a guess of how many they thought were in the jar. The possibilities for display tables are endless, and they are a great way to pique your child’s curiosity about a certain topic anytime of the year.

    Making A Special First Day Snack

  • Incorporate some sort of fun activity into your day.  Play a game, do a fun art project or science experiment, go on a nature walk, or take a trip to the library.

    Going on A Leaf Walk

Please realize that we don’t do all of these things each year – just one or two. After all, it’s important to keep things simple so Mom doesn’t stress out!

I hope that you’ve found something fun to try from this list, or perhaps it has sparked some ideas of your own. If so, please leave a comment and share your suggestions.

May you have a wonderful first day and a blessed year of learning and making memories with your children!

Written by Shannon, who blogs about her family’s homeschool adventures at Song of My Heart.

Hands-On Foreign Language for Kids

 Elementary, Foreign Language, Hands On, Middle School, Preschool  1 Response »
Aug 132010
 

While there are many ‘foreign’ languages a homeschool family can study, the one I recommend for those with young children is American Sign Language.  Our journey to ASL began out of necessity with a child who was non-verbal.  However, as our family has grown and our need disappeared we discovered that sign language was a wonderful tool in our parenting arsenal.  ASL is uniquely hands-on, giving children an active way to use their body while communicating from very early ages.

There are quite a few options available in the sign language arena and the one our family uses consistently is Signing Time.  Today I will give you an overview of the DVD products we love from Signing Time, as well as some neat features on their website.  Video previews from each title are on their website.

Baby Signing Time Series – This is for the youngest learners and signing is led by Rachel Coleman, with animated and real babies all age 2 and younger.  The songs that fill these DVDs make it easy to practice the signs you are learning.  There are 4 DVDs in this series, and we own the first two.  My babies and toddlers enjoy this, and one neat thing is the option to watch one song at a time, keeping viewing time short for the littlest learners.  By the end of this set your family will learn over 100 signs.

Signing Time Series One – The original series of 13 DVDs is recommended for ages 1-8, though I can say even adults will learn and enjoy this series.  Each DVD has a theme for the signs and is a mix of live people, songs, and animation.  We own all of these and love them!  This set alone directly teaches more than 250 signs.  There is some overlap in the signs between each series, but the presentations are aimed at different ages.  Our favorite in this series is hard to choose.  My animal lovers would say #7 Leah’s Farm or #9 The Zoo Train, but another child would choose #3 Everyday Signs and #12 Time to Eat for the fun food songs and signs.

Signing Time Series Two – This series includes several new learning modules that put children’s ASL vocabulary to work teaching some new signs and practicing many signs from Series One at a more challenging level.  We own 10 of the 13 DVDs in this series, and they are some of my favorites.  This series offers titles such as:

Believe it or not, there are some more Signing Time DVDs outside those three series, including Practice Time for numbers or ABC’s, Sing and Sign, and Story Time.  We own several of these as well and enjoy them.  Signing Time even offers music cds, flash cards, books, and a classroom edition of DVDs with lesson plans, so explore their store.  Also be sure to sign up for their newsletter for a discount coupon, and keep an eye on those newsletters for more sales and special discounts.  I’ll share a secret – we’ve acquired 95% of our Signing Time collection through those sales.  Last year they even had a sale around Black Friday.

The Signing Time website offers free resources your family may enjoy:

One last thing I wanted to mention is just a few of the benefits we’ve seen in our family as we have used ASL.  First, we have been able to communicate with our children, and have them communicate back, from a very early age.  This has cut down dramatically on frustrated tantrums when a 1 year old is trying to tell you something but does not have the words.  We have found sign language to be a wonderful silent option in the middle of church services for correcting, warning, or simply reminding our children of what they need to be doing.  The last reason we love signing as a family is that it helps build our family identity.  It is just ‘something we do’ that makes us family.  The kids can use it as a secret language, strengthening their bonds as brothers and sisters.  Sometimes it is just the little things that bring the most memories.

-Written by Tristan, mom to 5 going on 6 children, homeschooling through unit studies with a side of lapbooks.  You can visit her at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

Memorable Faith, Courage and Virtue Stories

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Aug 112010
 

I like to begin our homeschool day with a faith reading, it sets a good tone for the day.

A few years ago I came across a little gem of a  book titled Rare Catholic Stories and Poems with Reading Comprehension, second edition, published by Catholic Heritage Curricula. This book is now newly revised to include over thirty stories and two hundred and eighteen pages. My review here is based on the second edition, which is the copy we own and used.

Rare Catholic Stories and Poems are selected from out of print readers from before 1892, but don’t let that make you think these stories are antiquated, they are not.  The character building stories model polite Godly behavior, inspire, encourage and make a memorable impression on all ages.

Read about how a soldier helps a little boy see the Corpus Christi Procession and how the boy, now a grown man, returns the favor. In another story a teenage girl shares her lunch with two poor children.  Or read about how a boy called stupid became well liked by his classmates for being a peacemaker.

In all, Rare Catholic Stories and Poems (Second Edition) has twenty-two stories and eight poems.  Each of the twenty-two stories has:

  • Vocabulary
  • Reading Comprehension Questions
  • Simple Projects

The new expanded edition has the above features, and available free is the study guide for the new expanded edition of Rare Catholic Stories which includes reading comprehension, vocabulary and simple projects to extend the reading. View the free pdf of the study guide for the new edition of Rare Catholic Stories.

Some of the Simple Projects include:

  • Write a letter of thanks for a kindness done to you.
  • Give to those in need.
  • Make a flower card to give your mom a spiritual bouquet.
  • Research vocations God may call you to do.
  • Make a list of things you are tempted to do to please yourself.
  • Draw a picture of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
  • Make a list or using sacrifice beads to count the things you do for God each day.
  • Make a Jesus approved list of attributes to include in a letter of recommendation.

Catholic Heritage Curricula is now offering a new expanded version of Rare Catholic Stories, which now includes thirty stories.  Click on the link below to purchase your copy of Rare Catholic Stories and Poems.  View a sample of the book for free.

-Susan, who lives in the heart of Dixie with her husband and three preteen children, has been homeschooling all along, doesn’t have a particular style of homeschool and says, I just do what works best for each child, we all like a good story and a messy art project. You can read about her homeschool and quilting at Stitching Life.

NaturExplorers

 Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, Hands On, Middle School, Nature Study, Science, Unit study resources  3 Responses »
Aug 092010
 

Nature study can be so rewarding and memorable for our kids, but sometimes getting the motivation to go outside and go on nature walks can be tough.  Especially when the weather is cold and there’s lots to do inside the house.  For me, I felt like I wanted to do fun nature walks, but had no direction.  And for this list-making, plan-it-out kind of mama, I needed more direction.  So, when I found NaturExplorers over at Shining Dawn Books, I was very pleased.

The books are written by two nature-loving homeschool moms, Cindy West and Melissa Leach. Their love of nature drips from the pages of these wonderful nature guides.  Each book focuses on a different area of nature, such as:

~Fruits and Nuts
~Spiders
~Birds
~Rain
~Snow and Ice
~Butterflies
~Fungus
~Rocks
~More! (there are 19 books in the series)

What I love about these books is the flexibility and the many, many options and ideas they provide.  They are absolutely full to the brim with information and ideas.  Not only does each book include tons of information on the subject it’s based on, but it includes ideas of how to incorporate many different areas of your homeschool right into nature study.
Areas like:

  • Artist Study
  • Composer Study
  • Art
  • Bible
  • Poetry

For example, when my kids and I were studying from the Fruits and Nutsbook, one suggested activity was to study the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians and gave great ideas of how to do so.  What a fabulous way to bring nature study inside and keep right on learning!

In our homeschool, we study one area of nature for about a month or two.  So, when we go on a nature walk we know what to look out for.  We read some background info that each book provides along with some of the additional reading they suggest, and away we go.   You can use these as the spine to an in-depth unit study or you can definitely pull them right off the shelf and use these books as guides as you go on your walks.  Their notebooking pages and many suggestions make it possible for any homeschool mom to use them, no matter what your teaching style.

We have enjoyed making Nut Dye, coloring in the snow, inspecting snowflakes, and gathering samples of coniferous trees.  NaturExplorers have been so helpful in our nature study.   I now feel like I can look through these, get ideas and have a plan before we go on a nature walk.  You can visit the website at Shining Dawn Books where you can read their nature blog or ask them questions.  They are great about giving advice and answering questions.

If you don’t want to just take my word that these are wonderful books, you can read Shannon’s review by clicking here. I have to say that my very favorite part about NaturExplorers is they inspire me to explore God’s awesome creation!  I hope you are encouraged to go out and do some exploring yourself!

Alicia is a homeschool mom of 3 nature-loving kids and can be found blogging at La Famille.

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