All About Horses Homeschooling Journal

My girls absolutely adore horses and so this book is right up their alley. So you can imagine their excitement when this book arrived in our mailbox. This is the perfect journal for any and all horse lovers, your children will absolutely adore this journal/workbook. It is full of the most beautiful horse illustrations and images I have ever seen. Images that will take you on a horse driven learning adventure both near and far. But first you will want to go to the library or bookstore (or Amazon if you choose to own your books ) and collect 6 interesting books about Horses. Choose books that have diagrams, instructions and illustrations and you are ready for an adventure. Next, have your child(ren) read their books and complete 10 pages each day in their journal/workbook. This journal features the following type pages:

• Spelling
• Drawing
• Creative Writing Skills 
• Coloring Pages
• Reading
• Journaling
• Film Study
• Nature Study
• Menu Planning
• Copy-work
• Listening Time
• Beautiful Illustrations and awesome Fun-Schooling adventures ready for your child to discover.

After your children have chosen their 6 books and have begun to read them, they fill out the pages in the journal daily.  We are choosing to supplement our normal curriculum with All About Horses Homeschooling and have the girls utilize their horse journals 2x a week at least, unless the girls choose to do more, they can. I leave that up to them. :)  As long as they are learning and having fun, then that is what it is all about, Fun Schooling Homeschooling.

Take a peek inside the journal 

 

Read the description here, taken from Amazon

All About Horses Homeschooling is:

" The Perfect Method for Homeschooling Horse Lovers! 

Read, write, spell, draw, color, doodle and study horses!
(We use color pencils, crayons and gel pens in our journals so that the colors do not bleed through the pages when coloring).

Your child can color the cover! (I would have them use colorful permanent markers on the cover).

A Delight Directed Learning Guide to inspire your child to take learning seriously, and develop reading, writing, spelling, and drawing skills. A SIX Week Unit Study on Horses! For Age 8 to 14

Study anything and everything that relates to horses! Your child will pick out 6 library books to use along with this Journal. If ten pages are used each day the book will last 6 weeks. Expect your child to spend 2 to 3 hours daily with this Journal. You will need to add math in order to create a well rounded learning experience, everything else your child need to study for the next 6 weeks is included in this book, and the library books and documentaries he or she chooses!"

You can pick up your All About Horses Homeschooling Journal here

To view more books by the talented Sarah Janisse Brown or to link up with the Learning Tree blog roll, visit my friend Linda's blog here

February 6 is Take Your Child to the Library Day

Did you know February 6th is Take Your Child to the Library Day? I had no idea that there was a designated day for this. What an awesome surprise. I had planned to take my girls to the library this week so that they could change out their books for their Fun Schooling Journals but I suppose we will wait until Saturday morning. And if we wait until Saturday morning, the girls can attend Sew & Tell class and sew a Puffy Heart pillow just in time for Valentine's day. Yay ! They haven't been to sewing class in a while, so what an opportune time to go, than on Take Your Child to the Library Day ? 

There is even an official Facebook page for this event, so check your local library for special events scheduled for this upcoming Saturday in your area. You never know what exciting adventures may await you. And don't forget to share , share, share on your own blogs and Facebook pages with your Family and Friends. Literacy is the Best, Free Gift you can give and Share with anyone.

Physics Kit Freebie for Homeschoolers

I found a really awesome Physics FREEBIE geared towards Middle School aged grades today. It's from Physical Central and every year they offer kits to schools and homeschoolers it looks like. All you have to do is go to their website and fill out the form. Be sure to put the grade level you need and check homeschool and you are done ! I do not know how long it takes to receive the kit as this is our first experience with the kit but I hear they are awesome. They also offer lots of great information on their website along the lines of Physics experiments you can do at home. I see the girls and I doing many of these together in the near future. I also found a link to their comic and coloring/activity books too and these are offered as free downloads in the form of PDFs. You can find those here. 

Physics Quest uses a comic book style story to teach, with an ongoing story line. This year's story focuses on :

" With Miss Alignment in jail, Lucy’s friends assume things have gone back to normal, but they would be wrong. Taking advantage of the now-abandoned Con Cave and a trusting town are twins Andy and Cat Terminal. They aren’t your ordinary shysters, though — they have sub-atomic superpowers! Your students can help Spectra and her crew stop to the Terminal Twins from negatively affecting the town. As students help Spectra defeat the Twins, they will learn about current, circuits, motors, and colors."

So go sign up and order your FREE kit.  Let me know when you get your kit and how it turns out. When we get ours we will post here, of course. :) 

Happy Learning !!

I Love Homeschooling !

I love homeschooling my girls. Why?

1.  I have the freedom to educate my girls.
2.  I save money on their education and on daily round trips back and forth to the school. Plus all of those fees and not to mention uniforms. (yes, Public school here requires uniforms.)
3.  Sleep schedules. Yuck. Although I like for my girls to go to bed at a descent time and get up a a descent time, I do like that we do not have to get up at the crack of dawn and that we can sleep in every morning. I like that the girls get a full 8 hours of sleep each night and sometimes even more than that. Kids need their sleep. It helps their bodies and minds to grow.
4. I love the relaxed based learning. I love that the girls can take their times and not rush through any given lesson. If needed, we can take our time on something until we get it.
5. Growth. I love watching my girls grow. I love being home with them through these young years. I have been blessed to be able to be home with them under the circumstances of being injured, and watch them grow and learn. It's amazing to see your kids grow up.
6. My kids are creative beings and I encourage that. 
7. One-on-One education: Homeschooling allows that one-on-one feel as opposed to a large classroom filled with 20+ kids. You do not get that personal attention.
8. No bullying. Pretty much self explanatory.
9. TIME ! I mentioned this previously and I will mention this again, TIME, time for learning, growing and sleeping. TIME is the biggest factor of all. 
10. I get to teach my kids subjects that they want to learn and are interested in and you can't get that in a school setting. 

Recipes Page ....

If you look over to the left margin, I have added links to a few NEW and upcoming pages. I have added links for Reviews, Recipes and Kids in the Kitchen. Up until now, I have just been mixing these posts in with everything else and so I hope to have separate pages for important posts in the very near future. Now, only one of my pages has anything on them and that is the RECIPES page. There you will find some really super yummy suggestions for slow cooker breakfast ideas. I saw another homeschool blog and she had similar posts for breakfast slow cooker recipes so I searched for a few that I thought looked yummy and that were sizable to my family and their tastes and posted them there. I am hoping these recipes will fill the crock pot with yumminess and leftovers too. That way the kiddos will have snack choices or lunch already prepared. Or maybe even dessert for later to heat up. Yumm-O ! So pop on over to the RECIPES page. Tomorrow the girls and I are going grocery shopping and will grab a few ingredients and decide which of those crock pot yummies we want to make for Wednesday's and Thursday's breakfast. If I know my girls, they are going to choose the Tater Tot Casserole. LOL. Anything to stray away from Oatmeal. ha ha.  And being that it's easy to throw ingredients in the crock pot, the girls should have no trouble helping to follow the recipe and assisting in the kitchen tomorrow evening. :) (Score for Mom and homeschool home ec :)  and Kids in the Kitchen post). So stay tuned for our Kids in the Kitchen posts and Reviews of the Recipes.

2016 Amelia Bloomer List

The 2016 Amelia Bloomer List of Books is out and it is incredible. If you are not aware of what this list is all about, it is , according to their blog, an annual booklist of the best feminist books for young readers, ages birth through 18.

As a woman, I want to teach my girls to read about other women and books by strong female authors and role models. And this list is exactly what this entails. The list has both Fiction and Non-Fiction sections. 

"The Amelia Bloomer Project members hope this list inspires you to wear your feminism like a merit badge. As the Lumberjanes say,

“. . . (Do) my best
Every day, and in all that I do,
to be brave and strong,
to be truthful and compassionate,
to be interesting and interested,
to pay attention and question
the world around me” "

Here is the list of books available for readers for the Middle Grade years as my girls are both in the Middle Grade year crowd. (Grades 4-6) They are listed by Author, Title and with their Grade level and book descriptions.  For a more in depth list and the list to the other grade levels, please visit the official 2016 Amelia Bloomer List website.

Middle Grade Non-Fiction

Fertig, Dennis. Sylvia Earle: Ocean Explorer. 2015. 48p. Gr.3-6.
As a pioneer marine botanist and fearless adventurer, Sylvia Earle explored depths others had never reached and saw things never seen before by woman or man.

Hile, Lori. Rachel Carson: Environmental Pioneer. 2015. 48p. Gr.3-6.

Rachel Carson was determined to do what she loved and not what was expected of her. Her research and poetic writing on the dangers of pesticides changed the way Americans thought about conserving nature’s resources.

Krieg, Katherine. Marie Curie: Physics and Chemistry Pioneer. 2015. 48p. Gr.4-6.
With the support of her family and other female scientists, Marie Curie discovered new elements and revolutionized science.

Lowery, Lynda Blackmon, as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March. Illus. by PJ Loughran. 2015. 127p.  Gr.5-up.
Lynda Blackmon Lowery was the youngest person on the Selma Voting Rights March. Having already been to jail nine times and beaten on Bloody Sunday, Lynda stood up for her rights and her freedom.

*O’Shaughnessy, Tam. Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space. 2015. 153p. Gr.4-8.
After spending years as an academic underachiever with a passion for tennis, Sally Ride discovered her love of physics and became the first American woman to travel to space.

Prévot, Franck. Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees. Illus. by Aurélia Fronty. 2015. 45p. Gr.3-5.
Wangari Maathai dedicated her life to restoring Kenya’s land by planting millions of  trees throughout the country. Although Maathai was met with political and sexist retaliation, she helped save her environment and empowered women through a common cause. 

Rosa, Sonia. When the Slave Esperança Garcia Wrote a Letter. Illus. by Luciana Justiniani Hees. 2015. Gr.3-6.
Esperança Garcia was a slave living in Brazil who, after learning to read and write, bravely decided to write a letter to the governor detailing her mistreatment and her desire to be returned to her family.

Senker, Cath. Stories of Women in the 1960s: Fighting for Freedom. 2015. 112p. Gr.4-8.
Through their accomplishments in political and social arenas, Betty Friedan, Ella Baker, Barbara Castle, and Mary Quant blazed paths and demonstrated new possibilities for American and British women.

Silvey, Anita. Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall. 2015. 96p. Gr. 5-9.
Jane Goodall’s passion and perseverance led her to become the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees.  Having spent decades in field observation, Dr. Goodall now teaches new generations to care for and ensure the safety of large primates.

Waxman, Laura Hamilton. Aerospace Engineer Aprille Ericsson. 2015. 32p.  Gr.3-5.
Despite being the only girl or African American in most of her science classes, Aprille Ericsson persevered to become an engineer at NASA. Ericsson uses her achievements to inspire other young women to pursue their STEM dreams.

*Weatherford, Carole Boston. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Illus. by Ekua Holmes. 2015. 45p. Gr.4-7.
Fannie Lou Hamer played an integral part in the Civil Rights Movement by raising her voice and fighting for freedom. 

Middle Grade Fiction

Al Mansour, Haifaa. The Green Bicycle. 2015. 346p. Gr.4-8.
Wadjda challenges the idea of ‘acceptable’ behavior for girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by selling mix tapes and snacks to fund her dream of a bicycle. Despite the repercussions of her rebellious actions, she refuses to have her feminist spirit silenced.

Cornwell, Betsy. Mechanica. 2015. 307p. Gr.5-8.
Nicolette Lampton endures typical Cinderella trials: a dead mother, a dead father, a shrewish stepmother, two condescending stepsisters, and competition for the charming prince. Yet as Mechanica, Nicolette follows in her mother’s footsteps creating wondrous automata. 

Ellis, Grace, and Noelle Stevenson. Beware the Kitten Holy (Lumberjanes, vol. 1). Illus. by Brooke Allen. 2015. 127p. Gr.6-9.
The Lumberjanes – Jo, Molly, Mal, April, and Ripley- are a group of young women spending the summer at a camp for “hard-core lady-types.” They work together to defeat monsters, and use their unique skills to solve the mystery of what’s really going on at the camp.

Ellis, Grace, and Noelle Stevenson. Friendship to the Max (Lumberjanes, vol. 2). Illus. by Brooke Allen. 2015. 111p Gr.6-9.
Once again, the Lumberjanes must depend on each other and combine their diverse talents to save their beloved camp–and possibly the universe.  

Hannigan, Kate. The Detective’s Assistant. 2015. 361p. Gr.4-6.
Eleven-year-old Nell Warne arrives orphaned and unwelcomed at her Aunt Kitty’s doorstep. To prove her value in her independent aunt’s life, Nell helps Aunt Kitty solve cases with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. 

Hilton, Marilyn. Full Cicada Moon. 2015. 389p. Gr.4-7.
Mimi is a half-Japanese, half-black young scientist who dreams of becoming an astronaut. As she adjusts to a new home in Vermont, she and many of her classmates fight for the right to take wood shop and the agency to dismantle racist and sexist stereotypes.

Shang, Wendy Wan-Long. The Way Home Looks Now. 2015. 261p. Gr.3-7.
Through the story of Peter Lee and his family’s grief, this novel explores gender norms in the context of 1970s Little League baseball. 

Stead, Rebecca.  Goodbye Stranger. 2015. 289p.  Grade 5-8.
This novel broadly examines the meaning of life, love, friendship, and identity in the lives of middle school girls on the cusp of adolescence.

Jiffy Baking Mixes and Home Economics

We recently contacted the Jiffy Company inquiring about their company and leaving a comment about how much we love their products. My girls are just now learning to bake and cook and Jiffy mixes are perfect for teaching them how to follow directions of a recipe and they are quick and easy to make. Plus they taste great too. So a week or so later we received a nice letter in the mail detailing how the mixes are made and how the company got it's name followed by a package of not 1 but a variety of 6 Jiffy mixes !

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The girls were super excited and ready to bake them all up in one day, LOL. So tonight we are going to bake up a tasty Jiffy treat for dessert. (photos to follow in a separate post perhaps?) The girls are reading up on the history of Jiffy mixes and plan to take the virtual tour of the company this weekend. 

How is that for a super fun homeschool lesson?