Homeschool Collection - May 2019 Edition

Good Morning! It is a beautiful day here in Southeast Texas. This month, sixteen crew members share some words of encouragement for you and your homeschool. I invite you to grab a cup of coffee and join us as we share with you this month.

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares

• House Cleaning and Homeschool?” Is it even possible? No new magic formula’s, however I will share some gems I’ve learned along my 21 year homechool journey.
• Nature Journaling Resources – With summer around the corner it’s a wonderful time to begin Nature Journals with your family.
• P is for Pterodactyl – I love interesting books and thought this new alphabet book a pretty interesting addition to any library.
• FREE Fine Arts Resources for Your Homeschool – With tight budgets due to single incomes here is a list of FREE Resources to help you address the fine arts in your Homeschool.

Abby @ Making Room 4 One More shares

• Mini Geography Lesson: Imports Scavenger Hunt (with FREEBIE) – Here’s a quick, open and go mini geography lesson to use today in your homeschool. Kids will learn about the geographical theme of movement with an Imports Scavenger Hunt!
• 5 Secrets for Homemaking Sanity While Homeschooling – “Have you ever met a busy homeschool mom? Funny question, right? We’re all busy! We’re juggling homeschooling, volunteering, parenting, hobbies, side gigs or full-time jobs, laundry, cleaning, and meal prep. Whew. We know that the homemaking stuff can’t be ignored. It has to get done. We also know that the homeschooling stuff can’t be ignored. It has to get done. Here are five tips for your sanity!”
• I Don’t Lesson Plan (and you shouldn’t either) – “Do you feel overwhelmed and stressed out when you see pictures on Pinterest of big organization files or planner books for homeschool moms? I do too! Because the fact is (even though I’m a former classroom teacher), I don’t lesson plan, and you shouldn’t either. There, I said it.”
• 88 Things First Time Homeschool Moms Need to Know – Are you a first-time homeschool mom? You might think you need to know all about lesson planning, or Charlotte Mason, or unit studies. The things you really need to know about homeschooling are these simple, beautiful, and direct truths.

Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range shares

• 10 Best Vintage Series for Boys – Classic novels for boys!
• 10 Best Vintage Series for Girls – Classics for girls’ summer reading!
• Subscription Boxes for Teens – Make summer learning fun with these hands on activities!
• Best Planners for Teens – Teaching responsibility in high school is a little bit easier with these planners…

Susan @ My Happy Homeschool shares

• Writing for the Future – “Teaching writing can be intimidating, especially if you don’t feel like a good writer. Here are some tips you can use to encourage your students to write. ”

Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny shares

• Public School to Homeschooling: Making a Smooth Transition – 5 things to do to make the transition to homeschooling go smoother
• Reading Comprehension Strategies – 5 practical suggestions to increase reading comprehension

Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break shares

• How Do You Make a Four-Year Plan for High School? – Some advice about planning ahead to cover everything during the high school years
• From the High School Lesson Book – Graduation – A look at how our homeschool group plans the graduation ceremony, along with some background on many graduation traditions.
• Homeschool Essentials for Graduating – Faith and Worldview – Before they are ready to graduate and head out into the world, we want to make sure our students learn Biblical worldview and make their faith their own.
• A Cup of Coffee and a Word of Advice – Keep Your Perspective – I wrote this article when I was preparing to graduate my third student, and needed to remind myself of these things as I graduate my youngest child this year. I’m considering how successful we’ve been in meeting our vision for our homeschool, and thinking about how my perspective will be changing now.

Monique @ Early Learning Mom shares

• Raising Bookworms: What We Read in April 2019 – “Another month gone by… Does anyone else feel like 2019 is just flying by? So once again this month I got laryngitis yet again. I’m really not to sure why I keep getting it. Usually I get it once every year to year and a half. But so far I have gotten it twice in 4 months. So as you can image, losing my voice put a damper on our homeschool and read aloud time. However we still managed to read 16 chapter books and 70 picture books.”
• Homeschooling on a Budget: Children’s Hospital Book Market Haul – “Homeschooling on a budget. As most parents who have even looked into homeschooling, it can be EXPENSIVE! But I have discovered over the years that if you shop smart, you can get everything you need for much cheaper, some times even free.”
• Early Learning Revolution – “Early Learning Revolution Did you know there are programs on the market that help parents of babies, toddlers and preschoolers learn to read, do math? You know what else? If you do the programs right they work too! Some programs worth mentioning are How to Teach Your Baby to Read, BrillKids Little Reader, Your Baby Can Learn(formally known as Your Baby Can Read, MonkiSee, Tweedlewinks, etc. ”
• Summer Life With Autism & Year Round Homeschooling – “Summer is officially over. My big kids are back at their respected schools, and Little Z is back to the homeschool grind. Well not that we really stopped learning since we are year round homeschoolers. But we did pull out the new curriculum a few weeks ago. Life has been very hectic the last few months and I had taken a long unplanned hiatus from blogging and YouTube. I just felt that I was being pulled away from this platform. Instead I needed to put all my energy into my family. Last September my body was getting so run down. I got sick 2 times that month. It made me see I had to slow down.”

Lori @ At Home: where life happens shares

• Riding The Wave of Unexpected Interest – Lots of rain can lead to an interest in waves and flash flood. So we followed that wave of interest and came up with a mini-unit study of flash floods, sink holes, and the power of water.
• Cultivating an Attitude – I am sharing ways to be intentional about having an attitude of gratitude.
• 5 Ways to Include Music in Your Education – Five simple ways to add music into your home education routine.
• Winnie’s Great War – This is a fun read-aloud option that will capture the attention of all ages. Relating the story of the bear that came to be Winnie the Pooh, Winnie’s Great War is a touching WWII story about a real bear cub and how he served during the war.

Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane shares

• E is for Eagles {Blogging Through the Alphabet} – Sharing information and resources of information about Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles.
• F is for Flamingos {Blogging Through the Alphabet} – Sharing information about, and lovely photos of, flamingos.
• H is for Hummingbirds {Blogging Through the Alphabet} – Anyone who knows me, even a little, should also know that among my favorite birds, hummingbirds are among my most favorite. Here I share photos, videos, and a few links to more information.
• Dear Future Wife of My Son – A mom sharing advice to the future wife of her son, as well as a reminder for us as parents to remember to pray for the future wives of our sons.

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag shares

• Our Summer Plans: 2019 Edition – Some fun ideas for adding a little structure to your summer days.
• How to Get More Out of Your Nature Walks – Simple and easy ways to make nature walks more educational
• Pre-K Farm Study Ideas – Ideas and resources for creating your own farm unit study for preschool or kindergarten aged children.
• Summer Plans: Rhythms and Routines – Join us in focusing on rhythms and routines this summer to get a good start next fall.

Crystal @ Our Little Bunch shares

• Our Curriculum Choices for 2019/2020 (grades 4 and 7) – Have a peek at our curriculum choices for the coming school year!
• 14 Fun And Practical Gifts For The Homeschool Mom – Looking for a fun and practical gift for the homeschool mom in your life? Look no further!
• The Complete Beginners Guide To Homeschooling With Ease – Whatever your reason, if you are wanting to start homeschooling, you likely have many questions on where and how to get started and what your responsibilities are.
• Letter Of The Week – All About “B” – The 2nd installment in our Letter Of The Week Theme, let’s learn about the letter B!

Annette @ A Net in Time shares

• Four Considerations when combining work and homeschool – As moms (and dads) we have to make choices in our daily activities. What will we do on a given is influenced by a variety of factors in our lives. What our families are engaged in, the weather, commitments we have made, and more. When we work as well as homeschool, sometimes making it all fit together relatively smoothly can be a challenge.
• Leaping Lagomorphs – I first learned of rabbit hopping as a sport about five years ago now? i was preparing a rabbit class for some homeschoolers and was looking for activities one could do with their pet rabbit. Rabbit hopping came up as one of the options. Later at one of the rabbit club shows, the 4-H kids put on an agility rabbit demonstration. I learned how to start training a rabbit to do rabbit hopping.
• Poison Gas in World War 1 – Did you know that France was actually the first company to use poison gas in World War 1? I didn’t either. Learn more about the use of poison gas in WW1 in this blog post.
• Choosing Rabbits to Keep – One of the challenges in having a rabbitry is deciding who you will keep and who will not keep. Sometimes it’s very easy, but other times it is very challenging. How one makes a decision depends on several factors and is affected by your over arching goal for your rabbits. This post is all about choosing rabbits to keep in your herd.

Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together shares

• Littles Learning Link Up: Symmetrical Butterfly Crafts – As a part of our caterpillar/butterfly unit, we made two symmetrical butterfly crafts. One of the crafts also incorporated patterns. This was my way of including math in our lesson.
• Littles Learning Link Up: Butterfly Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Fun Round Up – A round up of 30 creative ideas to help teach children about the life cycle of the butterfly. You will find a variety of activities, crafts, snacks, and printables.
• Littles Learning Link Up: Butterfly Lapbook – This butterfly lapbook incorporates math and science with mini books and activities. There is a life cycle book. addition butterfly game, “Let’s Compare” butterfly/caterpillar book, symmetrical butterfly matching game, and parts of a butterfly activity.
• Littles Learning Link Up: Pattern Caterpillar Crafts – As a part of our caterpillar/butterfly unit, we made two pattern caterpillar crafts.

Amy @ the WRITE Balance shares

• 3 Things I’m Learning About Learning – Since the beginning of our homeschooling journey, we have gained some great wisdom from the communities we have been a part of. Here are a few things we have learned about learning.
• The Value of Gardening in Education – “Whether it is a few pots on back porch or an acre of land carefully planned out in February, having a garden is an incredible asset to your family’s education. Planting and harvesting (and everything in between) is something that we have in common with every generation before us. While your family may not rely on your garden the way my grandparents did theirs, the process is still this incredible hands-on tool for enhancing education.and keeping our hearts grounded – pun fully intended! ”

Kristen H @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach shares

• Crafts: Lions – Study about the fierce lion and create your own simple lion craft.
• Crafts: Ladybugs – Create one of two ladybug crafts using simple materials.
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Koala Capers – Read about a fun card game for preschoolers as well as learn a few other ways to use the cards in your homeschool.
• E is for Elizabeth’s Speeches and Letters – If you have older children studying the Tudors, this post will provide a few ideas for incorporating primary documents into your homeschooling lessons.

Michelle @ THe Brave Homeschooling Mama shares

• Top 5 Tips for a Successful Homeschool Convention – I give my viewers 5 tips so they can enjoy and have a good convention.

Happy Homeschooling!