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Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts

Friday, August 7, 2015

Exploring the 50 States - Homeschool Style

This year we are studying the 50 states. We have several books and activity pages ready to explore. At the end of each section, we will fill out our fact sheet (get your copy here) and see what we've learned. Each state has many tourism videos that we can watch to see the state come alive. We are going to move pretty fast through them, studying 5 a month, to get through them in one school year. 

Here are some books we are using:

The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/0439827655/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_MsUWvbQPB9T39

United States Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486401685/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_ytUWvbEWS5BKM

The 50 States: Facts & Fun (Dover Little Activity Books) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486475247/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_UtUWvb6CPP9T3

The 50 States Book and Magnetic Puzzle Map https://www.amazon.com/dp/0794412882/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_3uUWvbNYTWSYN

Here are some Apps we are using:

Geography Drive
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geography-drive-usa/id579100969?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Learn The States With Flat Stanley by Flatter World, Inc.

Stack the States™ by Freecloud Design, Inc.


Here is our video and cooking list list (Find Recipes Here):





Monday, August 3, 2015

Virtual Field Trips - 2015/2016

This year we are starting 2 new studies (in addition to everything else we study) in our home-school year. We are going to be learning about each of our 50 states (which I'll get to later) and we are going to be taking virtual field trips. If you haven't ever heard of a virtual field trip you can Wikipedia it here. There are plenty out there already put together for you, or you can design them yourself. I asked my 3rd grader to comprise a list of places he'd like to explore and here is what he came up with for this year:






  1. Paris - August
    1. Paris, France Virtual Field Trip with 4 places of interest
    2. Virtual Field Trip on YouTube
  2. Germany - September
    1. Germany's Black Forest Tour
    2. Berlin Tour Video
    3. Top 25 Things to do in Berlin
    4. Munich and the foothills of the Alps
  3. Hawaii - October
    1. Virtual Hawaii
    2. Walking Travel Tour
    3. Honolulu, What to do Tour
    4. Top 10 things to do in Hawaii
  4. Africa - November
    1. Tour of Africa(Classroom Type Video)
    2. Safari Bookings Video
    3. Africa Virtual Tour
  5. China - December
    1. China virtual field trip 
    2. Virtual field trip to China
    3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIpm2PWBzowLet's travel China
  6. The White House - January 
    1. Interactive White House Tour
    2. Washington DC Virtual Field Trip
    3. Washington DC Tourism Video
  7. Italy - February
    1. Photos of Pompeii 
    2. Vatican
    3. Pisa
    4. Rome 
    5. Rome Vatican City Tour Video
  8. Japan - March
    1. Virtual Field trip to Japan
    2. NatGeo Destination Japan
    3. Japanese Tourism Video
  9. Spain - April
    1. Virtual Field Trip to Spain Video
    2. Spain Tourism Video
    3. Barcelona Tour
  10. Kenya - May
    1. Mombasa Tourist Video
    2. Kenya Vacation Video
    3. Virtual Field Trip to Kenya
It just so happened that we are planning out 10 months so we will be doing one per month, which hopefully will be super easy to keep up with. We are doing this with my prek student as well in group time. This should be fun! 


Monday, April 20, 2015

Sea Turtle - Animal of the Week

This week is all about Sea Turtles! Get the facts and activities here. These creatures are so fascinating, I think. I hope the kids enjoy them! We might catch some Finding Nemo and other flicks with Sea Turtle stars. They seem to be very popular!

Enjoy!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Mountain Lion - Animal of the Week

This week we are studying Mountain Lions. These creatures fascinate me because I feel like it's the closest thing to feeling like you are on safari. These guys pack a real punch and their numbers and growing back into the midwest and east. Find the facts and activities here. I included some bigger words that I will have the kids look up. Also a map of recent cougar sightings in the last 20 years in our state. You can probably find one for your state just as easily. 

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Rabbit - Animal of the Week

I am super excited about this week's animal, the Rabbit! The craft (found through Pinterest) is an adorable sock bunny. The kids are gonna love it! 
Download the fact sheet here.
Enjoy!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Orangutan - Animal of the Week

This week we are studying Orangutans! These little guys even might get a visit from us at our local zoo. 
These guys are endangered and apparently don't live in too many places in the world. I wasn't aware because they seem to be pretty common in zoos. 
Here is the fact sheet and some fun activities and coloring pages I found to go along with them. 

Enjoy!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Hermit Crab - Animal of the Week

This week we are studying Hermit Crabs. When my son was 2, Grandma and Grandpa went to Florida and brought back two Hermit Crabs. Flash forward 5 years later and we still have 1. One of them died about a year ago. He survived being thrown away the summer before. We thought he was dead but it was actually his molted skin sticking out of his shell (he was hiding inside). I had a bad feeling and went back to the trash can to find him trying to crawl out. Sorry there little guy! He got started acting super funny and wouldn't stay in a shell and I think he got too cold outside of a shell and died without a shell. He was our favorite. He was Bash. The other one, Dash, we hardly ever saw but after Bash died he came out a lot more. He likes to bury himself in the substrate and stay there. Bash lived for high spaces.  They talked to each other loudly a lot of nights, which would completely freak me out and then I'd realize that it was the crabs. It's certainly been an adventure. Dash is monstrous in size now and when he croaks we will not be replacing them. But it has been kind of fun learning about them and how to take care of them. 

SOOOO for this week, I thought the kids would like to focus on them too. 
Get the facts and activities here

Enjoy!



Monday, March 16, 2015

Rhinoceros - Animal of the Week

This week we are studying Rhinoceros and why they are so hard to pronounce. :-)  Get the fact sheet and activities here
These vegetarians look deadly but they just like to munch of grasses or bushes. Their horns are desired for medicinal value as well as a prized possession so they are endangered. Apparently they aren't  too fond of mating which I think is probably the main problem. They can conflict battle wounds from fighting when they come together to mate. This makes me giggle. Not sure I'll bring up that part to the kiddos. Enjoy!



Monday, March 9, 2015

Horse - Animal of the Week

This week we will be studying Horses! I tried to include facts about the animal and about their care. In the activities this week, I thought we would pick a breed and learn more about the traits and characteristics of that specific breed in addition to learning about the species. 
I
'm sure there are a lot of movies to go along with this too. The 1946 version of Black Beauty is available on Netflix streaming. 

Download the facts and activities here and get started. 

Enjoy!



Monday, March 2, 2015

Toad - Animal of the Week

I didn't realize these toads were so interesting until I was preparing the fact sheet. Hope the kids think they are super cool too, but not enough to bring them in the house. Here's the facts and activities

Enjoy!

Monday, February 23, 2015

Snake - Animal of the Week


I must say, I'm not that excited about our animal of the week. Last fall one of these was seen actually knocking at my back glass door taunting my westie. They give me the creeps but I'll give it a go on studying them and maybe seeing things from their point of view. Here is their fact sheet and activities. 

Enjoy!

Monday, February 16, 2015

West Highland Terrier - Animal of the Week

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we are studying Westies! Because we love ours so much! If you'd rather not study Westies, choose your family's pet and get to know them a little better. Here is the fact sheet and activites for Westies. 

Enjoy!


Monday, February 9, 2015

Leopard - Animal of the Week

Onto Leopards! Here is the fact sheet and activities. You can also include Black Panthers in this because did you know, they are actually leopards but you can't see their spots because they are so dark?


Enjoy!


Monday, February 2, 2015

Groundhog - Animal of the Week

Groundhogs this week, of course! It's their day to shine so of course we'll be studying them this week. One thing we really want to know if what is with this whole shadow business? Here is the link to the facts and activities. 

Enjoy!


Monday, January 26, 2015

Meerkat - Animal of the Week

Meerkats! I loved watching Meerkat Manor.  Unfortunately, it is not available streaming on Netflix but I think I might rent an episode off of Amazon for the kids to watch. These creatures are so interesting, I think. 

Here is the fact sheet and activities

Enjoy!


Monday, January 19, 2015

Panda Bears - Animal of the Week

Pandas! I know more bears! But they are so adorable and interesting in their own special way. It should be noted, you cannot watch Kung Fu Panda all week and consider it studying Pandas. Try out the fact sheet and activities too.

Enjoy!







Monday, January 12, 2015

Monday, January 5, 2015

Polar Bears - Animal of the Week

We are back from Christmas break! To celebrate the arrival of winter, we are starting with the Polar Bear. I found a ton of books at our local library on Polar Bears and a few DVDs as well. They are a pretty popular animal. 
Here is our fact sheet and activities for this week

At the library we found:
  
  • Polar bears by Laura Marsh
  • The practically perfect pajamas written and illustrated by Erik Brooks
  • Polar bear math : learning about fractions from Klondike and Snow by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel
  • Little polar bear by Hans De Beer.
  • The great polar bear adventure [videorecording (DVD)] 
  • Arctic tale [videorecording (DVD)] 
There were also a few National Geographic Polar Bear shows on Netflix Streaming. 

Enjoy!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Caribou - Animal of the Week

The Animal of the Week is the Caribou...or Reindeer as they are otherwise known as. Get the printable info, coloring sheets, reading log, and craft here

These pretty animals do not commonly have red noses but they are pretty common in the northern region of North America. We hope to catch a few good Reindeer reads and make a nifty ornament all before we start CHRISTMAS BREAK!

Enjoy,