Posted by admin on Jan 6, 2009 in
Homeschooling Today I wanted to share a WONDERFUL unit study we did last winter. The Iditarod is a yearly sled dog race across Alaska. We learned about dog sled racing, math, geography and more– all in a 2 month unit.
Here is a list of what our unit study consisted of:
** We joined the Iditarod Project. The eIditarod Project is sponsored by Walter McKenzie, and is open to students in grades K-8. Using the Official Iditarod Website, classes (And homeschool families!) will study the trail and the mushers and select one team to follow online for the 2009 race. You will be asked to create a wall-sized map of the trail and track the progress of your team using race updates on the official site.The EIditarod Project has its open registration period through January 9, 2009!
** For the unit we read 2 books. There are more out there, but based on the ages of the students we picked “The Mystery on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail”, by Carole Marsh and “Akiak,” by Robert J. Blake.
** I created several notebooking pages to go along with the unit study. You can snag them HERE. We also collected pictures off the internet of packed sleds, race dogs, booties etc. and made notebook pages for them also.
** Hands of a Child has a Iditarod lapbook we used for information and some elements to place in our notebooks. They also sell a Sled Dogs lapbook that we used. (If you download the freebies from Currclick and Hands of a Child you might have it! I got it free at some point.)
** The Official Iditarod website has a teacher’s section with a lot of great activities. I did this lesson plan with a group of students. It was time consuming to make all the “mushers” but the graphing lesson was worth it. I didn’t have the blocks the lesson suggests, so, I made my own. You can snag them HERE. (Note: I had mostly younger students and we did bar graphs – here is the worksheet I made to use with them)
** Another thing we did was to subscribe to the “Insider.” We were able to stream short movies daily about the mushers, the dogs, the checkpoints etc. More information can be found at the Official Iditarod Website. It’s a well spent $20 is you are doing the unit and can afford it. I also purchased a dog bootie, a large map, and the official program last year for the store on the Iditarod site. (They have a CD of lesson plans for a reasonable price, but I never could determine if they were the same ones on the site for free)
** Plus, you can add science in and talk about SNOW! I have a lot of resources for this and will upload my links etc. at some point!
** One thing I got recently for free (and you might have it as well! 2 sites have offered it for free in the past few months- I just can’t remember who! Sorry…) is “Aunt Sarah’s Alaskan Cookbook.” If not, it’s only a few dollars at Currclick. It would make a great addition! One chapter is a children’s dog sled party complete with a menu and recipes!
** Currently, Currclick has a free download for “Free Alaskan Extension From January Book Bag, 2009″ It looks great for a variety of ages. There are some great resources on the Iditarod included. There are also some Montessori type 3 part cards and book suggestions for all ages. It also includes some activities for the preschool set.
Have fun! We did 
Tags: American History, geography, History, lapbooking, notebooking, unit studies
Posted by admin on Jan 5, 2009 in
Homeschooling Well, we are back to doing homeschool work again much to the dismay of my kids! They were happy to have some friends over today – so, that made the day more bearable….
Today I want to share a great resource I just got in my email. Micki over at Senari has a new section (New to me anyway!) that she offers monthly freebies on. It’s in the “Teaching Tips” section. For January she has freebie bingo games for Rhode Island, Maryland, Louisiana, California and Nevada. There is also a state outline bingo. The games are detailed and great for older elementary /middle school.
There are language arts resources and Catholic education resources as well. From her email “January features the Sentence Board, a reference tool, practice lessons and manipulatives for the Noun-Verb Pattern. The lessons and manipulative integrate Catholic/Christian sentences, and they are in Word format so you can enter your own sentences if you wish.”
These are all great resources for those of us that take a Montessori approach! (Other eclectic homeschool families may find them equally useful. Montessori uses a sentence diagramming type approach – jut colored coded and easy for the student to comprehend!)
Tags: Montessori
Posted by admin on Dec 3, 2008 in
Homeschooling,
crafts Over Thanksgiving I had my son set me up a second blog just for my scrapbooking stuff. I originally started GoAlongs for homeschool blogging and really needed to divide the scrapbooking stuff out. Visit my new scrapbooking site Tootlebugz. Hopefully, in the next few days I will post some new homeschool related posts! My goal is to start posing here each day.
Tags: scrapbooking
Posted by admin on Nov 10, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
Mikah finished her Election 2008 lapbook just in time for election day last week. I wanted to share it with everyone so that you can see how you can use a binder to make a lapbook a very flexible educational tool. We started off with 2 folders – one blue and one red. Each folder was folded in toward the center like the start of many traditional lapbooks. These folders were then folded in half. (hotdog fold) At this point there are now 2 skinny folders accordian folded. Using a strip of tape connect the red folder to the blue folder to form the back of the lapbook. (This can be tricky – I folded the extra to the side leaving the 2 flaps on the table – one red, and one blue) To make the lapbook sturdy or to add more surface you could add a folder to the back. Read more…
Tags: lapbooking, notebooking
Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
Mikah is so proud of her new mini office. Using it, she has even been writing on her own some this week! (She loves to write songs. Guess Camp Rock and High School Musical have made an impact on her!) It was really easy to make and there are some great resources online. A good place to start is Mini-Office – A Tool For Any Homeschool. This article does a great job explaining how to use a mini office. At the end of the article there are some great links. Other links: Mini Offices Page at Teaching Heart, Mrs. Meacham’s Classroom Snapshots, Busy Teacher’s Cafe, Lapbook Lessons.
Tags: Language Arts
Posted by admin on Oct 25, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
In 2004 FAO Schwarz started selling this fabulous world map that I drooled over for months. I kept thinking it would be perfect for homeschooling, plus, it was in all the right Montessori colors! But, I didn’t have an extra $300 and decided if I wanted one I’d just have to make it. So, I did. Since then versions have shown up at other stores such as Pottery Barn Kids, Montessori-n-Such, etc. The price has stayed at around $200, but I was able to make mine for under $15 (Plus several hours work!) Mine is a bit smaller, doesn’t hang on the wall and has flat labels – but, it is a great version for a much lower price! Read more…
Tags: geography, Homeschooling, Montessori
Posted by admin on Oct 24, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
In last night’s post I mentioned The Game of the Changing Paper that Albanesi Montessori sells. Today, I came up with my own version. (Probably similar to Albanesi’s, but different since I have never seen anything but the one page of the activity Albanesi has on the website.)
In my version there are 12 sheets of square 5.5 paper. You print & cut these out. (or use scrapbook paper in the place of the printed paper.) There are also 3 files that include article – adjective strips and noun lables that all say “paper” and a template that the strips fit onto. This provides somewhat an error of control since the lables are different sizes. You can download my version here. FILE 1 ——–FILE 2——–FILE 3——–FIle 4
Tags: Homeschooling, Language Arts, Montessori
Posted by admin on Oct 23, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
For grammar this year we are using the Montessori manuals from Montessori Research and Development. It’s an amazing way to teach grammar – very hands on – but, requires some work from the parent to make the cards. (Find a friend who is interested in using the manuals and share the work!) The teacher presents the lessons in the Montessori fashion and then the students use the materials (cards, solid and wooden grammar symbols, small objects) to make sentences etc. and then records them in a language notebook. (No fill in the blank activities, no worksheets) I was browsing though some Montessori websites and saw a really neat idea at Albanesi Montessori - Montessori Adjective Strip of Paper. They only show 1example – so, I took the idea and made my own. I only had room for 8 adjectives as opposed to the 10 spaces they have. Other than that I pretty much copied their format. So, it’s not an original idea, but since I haven’t seen their other 9 pages mine are probably somewhat different. I also like their Adjective Game of the Changing Paper and will probably try to recreate a version of that as well. Click here to download the zip file with all 11 Adjective Papers.
Tags: Homeschooling, Language Arts, Montessori
Posted by admin on Oct 17, 2008 in
Homeschooling Tonight, as I was writing an email to someone who is considerieng homeschooling their child, I started thinking about how homeschooling approaches, methods and curriculum choices don’t have to be so overwhelming.
So what is a homeschool approach? (Could be called style as well) It can be how you structure your day. Do you get up at 7a.m. each day? or sleep in late? It’s how much input your children have in making choices about what they are studying and how the day is structured. Do you sit at a desk, have a special homeschool room, or throw the dog off the sofa? Do you read a lot of books, go on a lot of field trips or fill in a lot of worksheets? Is schooling done in your P.J.’s on the bed in your room? Do you change your approach daily, weekly, yearly or never? It’s how you teach your children. Do you use a computer, manipulatives or hands-on activities? It’s the way something is taught and learning enviorment. Is the structure of the enviorment relaxed or tightly scheduled? Read more…
Tags: Homeschooling
Posted by admin on Oct 16, 2008 in
Homeschooling 
(Mikah preparing to grow Archaea.) This week we started a new unit study for science – Bacteria. We started by learning about the 3 domains of living organisms. (Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaraotes) This was all new information for me – so, I am learning right along with my 3rd grader! (I knew about the outdated system with 5 kingdoms. If you do any research you will find a maze of confusion in the way to classify living things. I talked to a graduate student in microbology and *think* I have a basic understanding.) Read more…
Tags: bacteria, biology, lapbooking, notebooking
