If there is one thing I wish we’d done more of in our early homeschooling years, it would be International Day. In our children’s young lives, it was a way to travel on a tight budget and expose them to other parts of the world. We ‘visited’ Australia, Germany, South...
Tag: start somewhere
Growing Things Part III – Processing
Now that you've planted and picked fruit and veggies, aside from eating them raw, what else can you do? My personal favorite is jam. Making jam is a simple and uncomplicated means of preserving fruit, and can be used as a spread on toast, in tarts or pies, and even...
Growing Things Part II – Picking
You don't have to have a farm to be able to enjoy the fresh and in-season fruits of the ground. Even with a small space, you will be surprised at what you can grow, and with a little exploration, you will probably find places that let you pick some of...
Growing Things Part I – Planting
Learning where food comes from is an important part of educating children. I remember when I lived in London, a prominent political person in South Africa was asked where she would get her groceries if the farmers gave up their farms. Her response was the name of the local grocery...
Wonderful West Trip
We recently had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of the wonderful west of our country. We took an eleven-week trip, spending about half of the nights on a bed (in hotels or with friends and family), and the other half on the floor in our tent. It was the...
Fishing in Ocean City
Homeschooling. What does that mean to you? Perhaps you know someone who homeschools. Or perhaps you have simply heard the term. Or perhaps you are interested in homeschooling or are already doing so. What does it look like? How do you “do” homeschooling? The fundamental basis for science is observation....
Home School Computing – Picking the perfect Chromebook
In my last article wrapping up computing options for homeschoolers, I mentioned that my platform of choice, at least as a starting point, would be Chromebooks and Chrome OS. I’d like to add a little meat to those bones and help you pick something that’s going to get them going...
Socialization and Homeschooling
One of the most common questions people against homeschooling might ask you is, “What about socialization?” Well, what about it? Firstly, what is socialization? My go-to quick-reference online dictionary is https://www.dictionary.com/. Their definition of socialization is “a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms,...
Computer Class 1 with Rick Eutsler Jr
For our first semester of the Computer Class we will be covering the basics, as we have students ranging in age from seven years old to forty six years old. We're going to do 8 lessons to cover 8 to 10 weeks. These classes will begin to cover the basics...
Photography Class 1 with Rick Eutsler, Jr
For our first semester of the Photography Class, we went through the following topics. Photography Basics: Shutter Speed Aperture ISO Composition: Rule of Thirds Depth of Field Practical Application: Sports Photography Still Photography Portraits Landscape Macro Additionally, while focusing on Mac (Apple) based skill sets here, we will also be...
My Five Most Invaluable Items to use in homeschooling: #5 Notebooking Pages
Notebooking Pages... one of the top 5 invaluable things I use in homeschooling! Notebooking Pages is a treasure absolutely worth having, whether you get the free version or the Lifetime Membership. The free version offers over 600 pages of notebooking pages to download. We started with this before jumping...
My Five Most Invaluable Items to use in homeschooling: #3 My Planner
My Planner - What I planned for the year, the week, what we actually did this week, and who has a birthday today! My planner. It certainly is one of my 5 most invaluable items for homeschooling! My sister gave me a brief tutorial on using Microsoft’s Publisher, and it...
My Five Most Invaluable Items to use in homeschooling: #2 Books & Audio Books
My Five Most Invaluable Items to use in homeschooling: #2 Books & Audio Books I’m sure I’ve mentioned that we’re book people. The only thing to equal books in our household are the kind that someone else, with a good narration style, reads to you in the form of an...
Phonics Pathways
Phonics Pathways - a great phonics resource to teach reading and spelling. When my husband told me to start somewhere with phonics, Phonics Pathways by Dolores G. Hiskes was the book I pulled off the shelf first, and last. This simple two hundred thirty-seven page book got me quite excited....
Rainbow Cakes
Rainbow Cakes If you know children, or if you remember your own childhood, you are probably aware that children love to eat baked goods. Well, duh! ;) Because of this they love to be in the kitchen during the baking prep work and this is a great opportunity for teaching. I...
Audio Books. An Invaluable Item…
Audio Books. An Invaluable Item... Audio Books… I can’t emphasize enough the great wonder and value of audio books. If you’re in the car for more than 15 minutes on a regular basis with your children, audio books are your friend. They’re an extension of your reading to them at bedtime,...
Why we chose to homeschool
Everyone has their own reasons. Here's why we made the decision to homeschool. People often want to know why we chose to homeschool, especially those who aren’t homeschooling themselves. I was born and raised in South Africa in a time that homeschooling hadn’t yet taken off and I didn’t know...
Sponges
If you've spent time with young children, you've spent time with sponges! Children are like sponges. Not in the commonly-thought-of meanings of being a mooch, parasite or freeloader, but in the sense of drinking in, soaking up, and saturating themselves with information regarding the world they live in. Children are...
Popular vs Right for your family
Homeschool peer pressure: What's popular isn't necessarily what's right for your family. The choice of going with what is popular vs right for your family may be something you have already run into. If you’re homeschooling, you’re, in most circles, already choosing what you think is right for your family...
Unit Studies
Unit Studies are a wonderful way to cover multiple subjects in one topic and make them relevant. The combining of a variety of subjects into one is called a unit study. This can be anything you like. Pumpkins, Queen Elizabeth I, Australia, bubblegum, horses, mountains. The possibilities are so endless...