In my first post on summer homeschool projects I posted a video on how to start crocheting. Have you started a crochet chain with your children yet? Do you want to know how to crochet more than just a chain? This video shows you the next step. You and your kids will be crocheting like a professional in no time at all!

I also have to mention the possibility of using your new skill to serve others. My church has a group that knits together and donates finished baby blankets to hospitals for premature babies or scarves, hats, and mittens to seafarers. It is great opportunity to minister to someone in a very tangible and practical way. Plus your children will learn a little something about service.

I have been learning to knit recently, and my kids are fascinated by it. They want me to teach them how to do it, but I know that knitting is too difficult for very young children. Grammy suggested that she teach C5 how to crochet instead. I am trilled that she is going to teach her this great craft. Not only will she learn how to crochet, but she will also gain precious memories from the times she shares with her grandmother. If you and your children want to enbark on the adventure of learning to crochet this summer, I have included a video that demonstrates how to start a crochet chain.

Summer is approaching and lots of families are planning vacations, and it is truly a wonderful idea to travel with your children. Go to Playground for Parents to read an excellent guest post by Renee from Mothers Raising Boys on why it is such a great idea to take your kids on trips. Even though travel with your kids can be difficult, you can be successful.  Here are some tips to improve your chances of having fun together while you travel.

Photo courtesy of twodolla

~Pack carefully for the traveling part of your vacation. Kids get bored easily in the car or on a plane. Here are a few things to take with you:

-A DVD player with a few movies your kids never get to see is a great thing to pack with you. It can provide much needed peace and quiet.

-Audio books and headphones can keep kids of all ages entertained for a while. You can also pick an audio book that the whole family will like.

-Lacing cards are a fun way to keep little ones’ hands busy. They don’t require a lot of supplies . Plus lacing cards help your children improve fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.

-Take a trip to the local Dollar Store and fill a bag with cheap toys. The kids will like the fact that they are new. You won’t care if they get lost.

-A fun retro idea is to give your kids a Rubix cube. It’s compact and won’t make a mess. It will keep your kids’ attention and will keep those hands busy.

-Mad Libs are a fun and educational activity for the whole family. Everyone will have a few laughs!

-I give the kids gum. It keeps them happy!

-Little kids love lift-the-flap books. They keep small hands busy and little minds engaged.

-Create a scavenger hunt for your kids. You can use the printable lists found on MomsMinivan, too.

Photo courtesy of Andy and Tracy Sidesinger

~Be realistic about what you can do on your trip. PLAN!

-Young children get tired and cranky, so plan the things that you absolutely don’t want to miss for early in the day.

-Discuss lunch and dinner options before you head out for the day. You don’t want to have that discussion while the kids are melting down and you are famished.

*Remember to bring healthy snacks with you. You’ll save money, and the kids will have good food to fuel them throughout the day. Avoid the sugar crash!

*Don’t forget to bring water for the whole family – including you. Staying hydrated will make everyone happier and healthier.

-Bring a change of clothes for the little ones in case of an accident.

-Bring sunblock, hats, and sunglasses.

-Pack a map. It can save you!

-Let the kids help you decide on activities for the day.

-Plan for a place to meet up at a certain time if someone gets lost.

~Remember that your vacation is supposed to be FUN for everyone. If you aren’t having fun, then you need to change something!

Make some memories this summer!

Spring is a great time to homeschool at the beach. It isn’t too hot and there aren’t many folks around. The sound of the ocean and the texture of the sand are soothing. Recently I took C5, A2, and P4 (my nephew) to the beach, and we had a great experience. Here are a few things that we did that you might want to try out.

~Go for a walk along the beach. It is really great exercise. Read more about the benefits of walking on the beach at Discover Walking.

~Skip rocks on the water. You can find out how to skip rocks at wikiHow. If you want to know why stones skip on the water, you’ll find information about the physics behind it at The Library of Congress.

~Collect rocks and shells. In addition to what I have included here, you can find more information about geology and art with rocks at Suite 101.

-Categorize the rocks and shells by size, by color, by shape, etc.

-Examine the rocks to find different geometric shapes. We found rectangles and trapezoids.

-Use the rocks that you collected to build with. The kids built a really great tower together.

-We used those shells and rocks to “write” the kids’ initials.

~Build sand castles. You can research the physics behind why sand castles sand at BNET. This post also includes an experiment for you to try.

Have fun and make memories at the beach with your kids!

Photo courtesy of MyAngelG

Montessori school is out for the summer, and we are homeschooling both kids full time this fall. I planned on taking some time this summer to really get my head wrapped around our schedule, goals, and the like while having a few minor summer projects for the kids. As I started organizing my things for school, I decided to show the kids our school supplies in order to build excitement for school at home. (There have been some negative comments about the idea of home education directed at the kids recently.) They thoroughly enjoyed the sneak peek! We have talked about school at home a bit recently, too.

Despite the fact that the kids have been sick with fevers and coughs this week, there has been much enthusiasm about starting school at home. Apparently the kids want to start the school year now. They demanded school work today. A2 kept asking for a project. I think she wanted to do one of the mosaics from a kit that we have been working on. (They each take about an hour to complete with a lot of assistance from me. I just didn’t have it in me today to do it.) They wouldn’t back down until I found something for them to do. We did puzzles together for a long while. C5 also read a book to me, and we reviewed some sight words. We even talked a bit about place value today. All of that work was on top of cleaning our home. It was definitely a productive day for us!

It looks like I was successful in making the idea of homeschooling positive.

Photo courtesy of tiffanywashko

~Create a scavenger hunt. On each sticky note write a clue about where the next sticky note is. Or you could include math problems, trivia questions, or riddles on the sticky notes. Place the notes all over the house. This is a great activity for rainy or snowy days or times when it feel like you need to change things up a bit.

~Practice descriptive writing with famous paintings. Have your children write descriptive sentences about the artwork on individual sticky notes. Post the notes around the painting. Then the notes can be moved around in order to plan a paragraph or a story about the painting. (Photo courtesy of tomsaint11)

~Practice rhythm. Write sixteenth notes, eighth notes, quarter notes, and rests on individual sticky notes, and place them in any order on a wall. Use percussion instruments such as drums, claves, or a xylophone and play the rhythm posted. Mix the notes up and play the new rhythm. (Photo courtesy of calm a llama down)

~Have your child label scientific drawings using flag post-it notes. For example, create a poster with a drawing of a flower on it. Have your children use the flags to label the parts of a flower. The same poster can be used later as a test of that knowledge.

Have fun!

My kids love sticky notes. Do yours? This is the first post in a series on how to motivate children to learn using sticky notes.

Encourage Literacy Skills

~Emergent readers can use sticky notes to label items in a room. For example, you would write “table” on a sticky and your child would place it on a table. Then your child can “read the room” using a pointer and reading each of the words. You have the freedom to take the stickies off the items in the room and play games with them. Put them in alphabetical order. Find words that rhyme. Find words that fit into particular categories such as furniture or toys.

~Help your beginning reader to practice reading words and constructing sentences. Either have your child dictate a sentence to you or choose a sentence out of a book you have read together. Write one word on each sticky note and scramble the sentence. Post the notes on a wall. Have your child reconstruct the sentence.

~Practice spelling with sticky notes. Choose a “secret” word. Write each of the letters on individual sticky notes. Have your child make as many words as possible with those letters. Record each of the words spelled on new sticky notes. At the end have your child try to find the “secret” word. Use the words made to highlight spelling patterns such as “ae”, “ing”, or “ch”.

~Sticky notes can help you add a kinesthetic component to brainstorming before writing by creating a web on a wall. Have your child write one idea on each sticky note and post it on the web. Or practice writing paragraphs by having your child write one sentence on a sticky note at a time. S/he can move the sticky notes around in order to create a cohesive paragraph.

~Teach vocabulary with sticky notes. Write synonyms on separate sticky notes and post the vocabulary words around the house. Have your child collect the words and match the synonyms on a wall in your school room. Or create a vocabulary obstical course by posting words around the house. Have your child read the word and act out the meaning of the word.

Have fun using sticky notes to encourage literacy skills!

Photo courtesy of Viernest

~Camping: We love nature around here, so this is a great opportunity for our family to really enjoy hiking, fishing, swimming, and just being outside. Camping also forces us to slow down and talk to each other since we don’t have TV and computers to distract us.

~Swimming Lessons and Beach Trips: This year we are planning on taking swimming lessons all through the spring and summer to keep us fit and to learn a valuable life skill. The YMCA has lots of Open Swim time that we will also take advantage of. With great beaches near my dad, sister, and nephew, we will have many beach days, too. It is so much fun to dig and build in the sand.

~Vacation Bible School: The first time I volunteered for this I really enjoyed the kids. I am excited that my kids will have the chance to learn about God and connect with other kids. Our church has a great group of Children’s Ministries volunteers who organize a fun VBS program.

~Day Trips: We are going to visit a local farm regularly and several Audubon Society locations this summer. Hiking is a great family activity, and we spend lots of time looking at the wildlife along the way. We love adventures in our family! There are other historical locations that I am interested in visiting, too. There is truly a lot to see around here.

~Day Camp: We are considering sending our kids to camp for a week for the first time this summer. There are a couple of options for them, and one camp even has a program for A2 to attend.

~Museums: We love going to the Children’s Museum, and this summer will include a trip or two there. We will also take advantage of a local art museum that has an exhibit area for kids. I would also love to bring the kids to the Museum of Science. We might even make it to the Seuss Sculpture Garden this summer!

It will be a great summer, no doubt!

~While reciting the facts, do a hand clapping game. Girls especially love these kinds of games.

~Play card games:

• Cribbage is a great one to play with children who are slightly older. You have to make sums of 21 & 15. You also have to multiply when you get the same score multiple times. You can find the rules of the game here.
• Black Jack is another game helpful in teaching addition facts. (I had a teacher who called it “21″ instead.). While playing the game, you have to find sums up to 21 quickly.

~Make flashcards, one set with the product/sum and one with the equation.

• Play “Go Fish” by matching the equation to the product/sum.
• Play “Concentration” by matching the equation to the product/sum.

~Play Soduku. You can play online here.

~Learn the doubles - 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, etc. Also focus on the the trickier facts – 5+6, 5+7, 5+8, 5+9, 6+7, 7+8, 7+9, & 8+9. You can make up songs to help remember them.

Photo courtesy of peiqianlong

~You can find copies of American Tall Tales here. There are also comprehension quizzes on this site.

~You can find a unit study on Tall Tales at German Town Academy.

~Tall Tales fit into a unit of study on the westward expansion. You can find general information about America in the 1800’s at this website. You will also find a host of educational resources at this website.

~Some Tall Tales are based on actual people. You can have your children research the lives of the Johnny Appleseed and Davey Crockett and compare the facts they find to the exaggerations in Tall Tales.

~You can make a lapbook on Johnny Appleseed. Homeschool Share has a free one.

~Have your children write their own Tall Tales. Remember to include exaggeration in the tales. Illustrations would complete the stories.

Photo courtesy of cliff1066