Playing Doctor: Germs and Our Immune System

The kids have had great fun this week studying about germs. I figured, mainly since everyone had a cold, that this was a good place to start. We did a mini overall introduction to the human body last week with a few fun worksheets and watching Osmosis Jones. Of course, as you can see above, [...]

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Free Lessons ~ Health, Nutrition, and the Human Body for Healthy Kids

Discovered a great new site for homeschooling moms… Nutrition for Healthy Kids is a blog dedicated to teaching our children about proper nutrition. This homeschooling momma steps out of the box and teaches young children to think critically about their food. Her lessons go way beyond the public school’s general 4 Food Groups philosophy. What’s the [...]

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Fall Break ~ Caterpillars and Remembering 9/11

We’ve been on fall break around here. For me that entails LOTS of extra cleaning and organizing around the house. (Have you noticed it’s been kind of quiet around here?) For the kids it has entailed caterpillars. You may remember our post about our monarch caterpillars? Well, after several died due to Tachinid fly parasites, [...]

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Charlotte Mason Grammar ~ Free Language Lessons

Looking for a Charlotte Mason Grammar book that’s gentle yet thorough? Something with substance yet delightful to look at? A book that  you can curl on the couch and read conversationally? Well, then do I have some gems for you! Today my oldest daughter (7) came to me requesting the grammar books we used to [...]

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The Elements ~ a Lapbook and Trading Cards

We had a full school week here despite strep visiting our house. There was plenty of sunshine for outside play and bike rides and plenty of rain for inside work. I set up the workboxes for older independent study this week. And the littles got to have fun with a Mario math activity and this [...]

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A Nature Walk with Aunt Bessie

A Nature Walk with Aunt Bessie… No, we don’t have an Aunt Bessie. That is the title of a new book we are using…or rather an old book reprinted and revamped by Queen’s Homeschool Supply. One of those true living books about nature that I longed to read to my children but had no clue [...]

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Book Finds

There is no greater joy on a Saturday afternoon then coming home from the library with a bag stuffed with new books…that is, unless you also hit the bi-annual library sale and happened to walk home with 15 new living books for $13.50!!!!! Especially when 13 of the books were hardback and library bound (i.e. [...]

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The Learning Room ~ of Mice and Men

This week was a productive school week despite our whole crew getting reinfected and having another sick week! Daddy had to go in early all this week and that always allows us to get more schooling done. (Daddy is very distracting for momma in the best sort of ways!) Between bleaching everything, boiling toothbrushes, cleaning [...]

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The Learning Room – School Shenanigans

Spring is upon us and it is bearing green. I will admit it is making me not want to work. I open the windows and smell the breeze, listen to the sound of the birds and it all makes me want to sit outside with a good book and a hot cup of coffee. And [...]

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Living Math for Elementary Students

In the process of ordering upcoming curriculum for the year, Ive been thinking a lot about Luc and how we want to do kindergarten with him this fall.  I knew we were going to be using the free online Progressive Phonics and our Bob books and Leap Frog videos. I just wasn’t sure about math. [...]

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Field Guides as Living Books

A field guide ~ that handy little book (or big book, as the case may be) that tells you factually exactly what you need to know about what you wanted to know about. Not exactly what we think of when we think living books. Living books for me usually encompass thoughts about a really great [...]

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Guided Project Work

January 31 – February 4 At the beginning of the week I mentioned that during my potty training time with Ivy I would have the two older kids working on guided project work. I was very excited about this concept and the kids were too. We’ve done project work in the past with trying to allow [...]

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The Learning Room and an Amazing Book Review!

January  10 – 21, 2011 We have been spelling, spelling, spelling around here. Next Friday is the spelling bee. We got a late start this year because they didn’t have the lists prepared and I admit, I feel a bit nervous this time around. I know Gabe will do great but his competitive edge will [...]

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Living Math

Today started out not quite as serene as yesterday…ironic considering I actually got the most amount of sleep last night then all other nights combined. I still woke up feeling like a train had run over me…head hurting, body aching, hip bones moving back together, sore throat. Maybe last’s night trip to the grocery store [...]

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Saint Nicholas Day

It is back to the grindstone…back to school. And it feels, well, refreshing. The baby sleeps during our two hours of morning work. Spelling lists are downloaded for the HEN spelling bee and the kids are excited to practice spelling. Lily squeals in delight over her phonics II book. We read on the couch while [...]

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Little House on the Prairie Lapbook Unit Study

Now that we are done with the Civil War era (will back post on books and links this winter when I have a bit more downtime at home – but notice how I finally updated the book bar on the side!) we will be moving on to the Pioneer era. And what better way to [...]

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What we are reading…

OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!!

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Slow Reading

Are you a slow reader? I don’t mean slow in that it takes you a week to read a book that might take someone else 3 days. What I mean is do you slow down enough in life to read? Whether for pleasure or information, reading is enjoyable and takes time to digest. The internet [...]

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John James Audubon Study – Part II

Sorry this second part of the post has taken so long to get to. There are a few reasons that is…the first of which is we actually started the study this week so we have been busy with school. The second of which it is nice outside and we have been trying to get the [...]

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The Learning Room

March 1-18th, 2010 It’s been a while since I’ve had a moment to really sit down and list what we’ve been studying. I’ve been trying to jot it – very rough hand – on a piece of recycled paper that generally floats somewhere around my computer. So I’m going to try and make heads and [...]

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