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Family Activities at Home: Boredom Busters, Educational Projects, and Fun for All Ages
Are you unexpectedly stuck indoors with all the kids? Here are some fun, practical, and educational activities the whole family can enjoy at home! Sometimes our best-laid plans go awry. Weather, sickness, or other challenging circumstances can isolate us in our homes. But in the midst of the unexpected, our children still need to learn, to eat, to get the wiggles out, and to keep boredom away…without resorting to unlimited screentime! I’m a mom of five from ages 4 to 14, and I know how challenging it can be to remain cooped up in tight quarters with many different ages and personalities. The extroverts (ME!!!) get stir-crazy and bored while…
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Olympics Books for Kids: learn the history and explore the sports of the Olympic Games
It’s not too soon to begin rounding up books about the Olympics for your kids. Learn all about the history of the Olympic games and what the Olympics are like today from this Gold Medal Book List! I have loved watching the Olympics ever since I was a little girl. I love how once every four years I become highly (and potentially irrationally) invested in water polo, beach volleyball, and other slightly-random athletic events. I especially love the stories behind the competitors. It is always meaningful to see men and women from all over the world come together and share in this tradition together. Is it any wonder, then, that…
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Poetry: Emotions, Thoughts, and the Best-Ordered Words
National Poetry Month resources for you and your family as you relish poetry in your daily life. Don't know where to start? Whether you have long loved poetry or are a skeptic in need of convincing, you may find something new here to spark your interest!
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There’s a Podcast for That: the best podcasts for homeschool moms
Are you looking for some great new podcasts for homeschool moms? Maybe you’re looking for parenting tips, homeschool encouragement, educational philosophy, or just something fun that has nothing to do with mom life at all. I’ve got good news for you: there’s a podcast for that! If I’m not reading a book, I’m probably listening to a podcast. It thus should not surprise you if you hear the words “I heard on a podcast recently” come out of my mouth within the first few minutes of any conversation. While in the past many folks followed their favorite blogs, there is now a sweeping move towards keeping up with content through…
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Fun {sneaky} Educational Gifts for Kids
Looking for fun educational gifts for kids that your children will actually love? Maybe you relate to this common gift-giving dilemma. You really want your children’s presents to be a good use of time and money, but you also want them to, you know, actually like them. Whether you’re a homeschool family or not, you likely need those educational and gift-giving budgetary funds to stretch across several categories. Here are a few of our family’s favorite (kinda sneaky) educational gift ideas for the kids…that are also super fun! Sneaky, Fun, Educational Gift Ideas for Kids: Great Shakespearean Deaths card game This is a favorite here at my house! Warning: not…
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My Favorite, Unique Gift Ideas for Mom
Moms can be difficult to shop for. I mean, it’s often easy to buy them something they need (just last year on Black Friday I bought myself an Instant Pot and genuinely thanked my husband for getting me such an awesome Christmas gift.) But what about a special gift for mom that’s just fun? Something that doesn’t have anything to do with her work or the house or home education? Check out these awesome, unique gift ideas for the moms in your life! These gift ideas will work for Christmas, birthday, Mother’s Day, or a We’re-Happy-You’re-You day! {Or, you know, just send this list to your family so they know…
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Hands-On Math: Binary Finger Counting
My son has always loved math. Even when he was very little, he enjoyed reciting math facts aloud. He’s always been fascinated by random tidbits and interesting facts related to mathematics. He was pretty young when he first learned a method for counting to 1,023 on his fingers using the binary number system. Now, I don’t quite understand it all. (That’s why I had Joshua record the video below) I’m quite comfortable with our Base-Ten system, thank you very much. But if you can stretch your mind for a minute, imagine that the place values you know as “ones,” “tens,” and “hundreds” (multiples of tens) are actually multiples of 2!…
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Can You Haiku? Learn and explore the poetry of haiku with children of all ages!
Haiku, a traditional Japanese poetry form, makes a worthwhile addition to your homeschool plans with children of all ages. It flows seamlessly into your literature, writing, history, or nature study plans. It’s also a delightful activity to add to your studies of Japanese history and culture. Have a reluctant writer? Haiku’s inherent brevity is one of the least intimidating forms of poetry to attempt! Want to develop observation skills or the ability to communicate emotions? Try haiku! Enjoy playing with words and looking for new ideas? Haiku is a fun option! Want to explore the famous writers of Asian culture over the past few hundred years? Haiku is a great…
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My Favorite, Must-Have, Outside-the-Box Homeschool Supplies
Homeschooling can be hard. The education thing? Sure. We’ve got that (Kinda. Sorta. Ahem). But people still need to eat. And those practical day-to-day realities? They can drive us bananas! Don’t worry: these outside-the-box (and outside-the-books) homeschool supplies can help. Of course, it’s completely true that the only homeschool tool you absolutely need is a library card (or your own overstocked bookshelves), but most of us have lives that are a bit more complicated. These are a few of my favorite things… tools that have made my homeschool life so much simpler: Printer Ink Delivered to My Door Has this ever happened to you? You try to print out a…
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Self-Care for Your Future Self
“Hello, Future-Self, this is your Past-Self sending you a fantastic self-care gift and a virtual high five! You are doing a great job, Future-Self, and I hope this makes your life a little easier and a little happier.” Do you ever send helpful gifts or encouraging messages to your future self? Ok, so we all know the basics like, “don’t wait until you run out of toilet paper to restock the pantry, because paper towels are really scratchy.” Maybe you are even on top of your birthday or hostess gift emergency stash. But here are four self-care gifts you can give your future self that might just make your life…
