Tag Archives: school

Homeschooling

How I teach History and Science without a curriculum.

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I am going to attempt to explain how I choose what subjects we learn each month.

I try to link together History, Science, Reading, Literature, and Geography.

I used to do this by figuring out what we were wanting or needing to learn about for a month and then doing searches online of timelines of big events in history and science.

My mother in-law found a really good book of timelines that put them all in one place!

I just look up the year I want and it tells me what was going on in science, literature, and so on.

I have also used History for the ages for help in finding out things that have happened in the past.

This timeline includes events in the bible and I really like that!

If you do not want to spend money, you can use wikipedia.

That is what I did before.

The reason I try to tie my subjects together is because history and science are tied!

What would WW2 be without Albert Einstein?

Scientific discoveries changed history.

Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” means so much more if you realize it was written during the war of 1812.

Here are a couple examples of how I link my subjects.

Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin, Electricity, Pennsylvania.

War of 1812, Grimm Fairy Tales, Electricity, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, United States Geography, The Star Spangled Banner.

This month is:

The Underground Railroad, The Civil War, Germs, Louis Pasture, The Red Badge of Courage, Harriet Tubman, The United States Geography.

It does not always work out perfectly but I do enjoy it!

It is almost like digging for treasure when I am looking for things that go together!

DIY/Crafts, Homeschooling

How to encourage little Scientist.

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My boys LOVE science experiments.

It is their favorite part of any school day.

They could do it all day!

I decided I needed to make a kid friendly science kit where they could mix crazy things up to their hearts content.

It would be their supplies just like they had their toys.

Here are some basics that I got to start them out.

Distilled White Vinegar

Baking Soda

Baking Oil

Antacid Tablets

Food Coloring (I decided to be brave)

Clear Plastic cups (to mix things in, clear so they can see the whole reaction)

Stir Sticks (I just used coffee sticks, they work great)

Disposable baking tray (to catch the overflow)

Sandwich bags (I thought these would be good for mixing powders but the boys have not used them so I am not sure you need these)

I put all of these things in nice plastic (washable) baskets in a washable (indestructible) space.

I like to throw in some fun stuff every once in a while.

Instant Snow

Magnets

Growing Pills (those little sponges that grow in water)

I bought them some little vials of instant snow and they LOVED them so their Grandma bought them more for Christmas!

Smashing the Antacids with Thor’s hammer…

Food coloring!!!

Beautiful!

They loved thinking up things on their own with no directions!

This one turned out really well!

My boys no heat Lava Lamp:

Fill a clear glass 3/4 full of oil 1/4 with vinegar.

Add Antacid Tablets and Food coloring.

Then lastly add baking soda and watch your ingredients react!

Although my boys do love making up their own special recipes we have done a lot of experiments together with directions so they have a ideal of what to do.

The best thing I did was by little bottles of oil and vinegar!

They use a whole bottle in one day!

I refill with bigger bottles.

They really need a smaller box or a new small container for the baking soda because they tend to use a lot of it and get the box all wet.

I think I will be putting their baking soda in a glass or plastic container soon.

The other night they spent over an hour in their “lab” (the laundry room, I had it in the kitchen before that) creating.

They really thrive with all of the control they have over their experiments!

If you have a curious little one get them supplies, put them in a easily cleaned up space, and let them go!

Homeschooling

Revolutionary War books for kids

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Let it begin here was amazing and powerful.

Paul Revere’s Ride has beautiful illustrations to go along with the poem.

The Scarlet Stocking Spy makes me cry.

For God and Country is an amazing audio series that makes you feel like you were there. It made me cry also…

It covers more then just the Revolutionary War, we will be using it throughout the rest of the school year.

Revolutionary War on Wednesday is another well done piece of historical fiction by Mary Pope Osborne.

She really makes history come alive for kids!

There are resources to go along with her books to supplement your lessons.

On the Magic Tree House site.

At mthclassroomadventures.org.

I did not use these lesson plans to go along with the book this time because I had enough for my boys to do but I am definitely keeping these in mind for later!

There are so many more great pieces of historical fiction for the revolutionary war, I am just sharing some of my favorites.

Do you have a favorite historical fiction for kids?

Great books were meant to be shared!