A Great History Resource...

I am so excited because today I received my "New World Explorers" CD from Homeschool in the Woods! I'll be using this for the first couple months of our new school year. School starts here for public schools on August 9th. I decided this year that I sort of like that schedule, so we'll start and end when public school does, even though it never really 'ends' for us.

Just in case anyone out there has wondered about it in the past as I have, I wanted to say that this history resource appears to be excellent! "New World Explorers" is the first in a series called Time Travelers. I decided to start with the first, and if all goes well then I will purchase the rest of the series (I am generally cautious about where and what I spend my money on.)

I was surprised to find out that the CD came in a nice illustrated hard case, along with a bookmark, and a small catalog describing other resources from Homechool in the Woods. The CD loaded right up on my pc, and all the needed resources are available in pdf format. I did find it a little annoying that each lesson and project are in their own pdf, but now that I think about it, this will likely be to my advantage as we finish each lesson and move on to the next. I am planning to print out the whole thing to put into our binders, so I guess it really doesn't matter. The illustrations and maps throughout are gorgeous! All of the answer keys are included for me. I absolutely LOVE the pre-made lesson plan that is included. This will save me a whole lot of time!

I am sorry for all the rambling, but I just wanted to brag on this because I feel like it's one of the most worthwhile purchases I've made this year!

You can visit the website links above if you're interested. They have lots of great pics showing the projects, activities, lessons, and what these studies look like when placed in a binder.

If you are interested is seeing a pdf sample of this one, I grabbed the link: http://homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/HTTA-NWE-Sampler.pdf

And finally, I'll stop writing this post and end with a couple pics of what I received in the mail today. :o)

Leafy & Weedy Sea Dragons

Leafy Sea Dragon - Two Day Study Series

Weedy Sea Dragon - Two Day Study Series

Don't forget to check out our special BUNDLE if you plan on buying both units!

Vikings & August Freebie

Timeline Add-Ons: Vikings

by homeschool bits

Click HERE to view this on Currclick.

I hope you enjoy Timeline Add-Ons: Vikings. It can be used by itself, or along with our My History Timeline Journal - Volume 1. If you haven't had a chance to purchase this timeline yet, you can find it HERE on Currclick. This add-on includes some of the major events in Viking history from the years 700 AD - 1100 AD.... and also a freebie!

August Daily Assignments - Mini Helper

Click HERE to get it on Currclick!

A Big Teaching Bundle!

If you are teaching about animals this year, or just want some interesting units to fill in the gaps, I wanted to send out a reminder about "A Fun Study! Nine Creatures Bundle" by homeschool bits. Over 400 pages!

Nine units total!

These units contain lots of interesting facts and information, and could be used with your Science & even Language Arts subjects! (reading and writing)

Over 400 pages that cover some basics of the following creatures:

FROGS

ELEPHANTS

WHALES

OWLS

WOLVES

SNAKES

TURKEYS

LOBSTERS

DEER

Freebie! Weekly Schedule - Mini Helper

Click HERE to get this mini helper free on Currclick.

I hope you enjoy this Weekly Schedule Mini Helper. It contains three different variations...

A blank schedule, another with some main subjects filled in, and one with some suggestions for Friday.

Included on the schedule is a grading and points chart for easy access.

What Did You Say? #5 Now Available!

Click HERE to view this lesson on Currclick.

This is a fun mini lesson teaching five different sayings and phrases and their meanings, along with some simple writing prompts, copywork, and handwriting sections.

This mini lesson is suggested for grades K-5 but is very flexible for higher grades. What Did You Say? A Fun Mini Lesson! #5 is intended to be read by the parent/teacher. It is a lesson that speaks directly to the child. It was created to be fun and not overwhelming. The child will feel involved in the lesson, while learning about five different sayings and phrases including:

Practice makes perfect.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Practice what you preach.

We will be creating more sayings and phrases mini lessons in the future. These make a great quick lesson to start off the school day!

... AND A BOOKMARKS FREEBIE!

Click HERE to get this freebie on Currclick.

Motorcycles Now Available!

Come Check out... Motorcycles! A Fun Study!

This unit is suggested for grades K-5 but is very flexible higher grades. Younger children can do coloring pages, mazes, lapbook, and some copywork while learning about the topic. Motorcycles! A Fun Study! is a lesson that speaks directly to the child. It was created to be fun and not overwhelming. The child will feel involved in the lesson, while learning about motorcycles. Some of the topics covered include a little of each:

motorcycle history, people in motorcycle history, different types of motorcycles, safety, accessories & gear, mortorcycle parts, and much more

Also included are fact and information pages, diagrams, copywork, videos, coloring pages, two quizzes, motorcycle cards, suggested websites, motorcycle lapbook folds & flaps, lapbook cover pages, and clipart for creating a simple lapbook. Included with the lapbook are the answers to each flap, and optional answer tags that can be used instead of writing the information into each flap. 60 pages.

The lapbook section of this unit does NOT have to be created to benefit from this study! This unit has plenty of other information, facts, and activities.

  

Looking Back... Our First Lapbook

Over the years, I have included tons of lapbooks and other activities into our homeschool. My kids always find them to be so exciting, and I think they will continue to enjoy them in the upcoming years. I am using my "Looking Back" posts to share on this blog some of these older activities that we completed.

In March of 2008, my kids created their first lapbook. This was new to me so I decided to start with a basic one. I gathered up some resources online and added them to some I already had. We had been studying all of the states, one at a time, so I decided our first Lapbook would be about the United States in general. We included a labeled U.S. map, a population map, a size map, national motto, along with national bird, flower, presidents, White House, national seal, U.S. holidays, and some native animals. Also a few mini books with the pledge of allegiance, and one about the history of United States coins. There were some other things that I can't remember right now. Also, some of the other children added some different things to theirs. Everyone made one of these. (even my 4 year old, but she made hers very basic... map, flag, animals, Statue of Liberty, and Pledge of Allegiance :) One of my girls worked the hardest at this and I have to say it came out pretty good, especially for a first. She also included a stock card stamp display. She took a few U.S. stamps from her collection and added those. Here are a few pics of her work on that lapbook.
 
I am sorry that I am not able to give credit as to where or which publisher we got the resources from. At the time, I was new to using the internet for homeschool, and I didn't really pay attention, I grabbed whatever I could find all over the internet.
 

The Guitar - Instrument Study Series

The Guitar - Instrument Study Series

Now available HERE on Currclick!

twitter and facebook

Just a quick not to say...

If you are on facebook or twitter, you can follow me at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/homeschool-bits/126476610697582

http://twitter.com/homeschoolbits

I'll be posting about upcoming units and freebies too ;-)

THANKS!

Kids and Cell Phones...

The subject of kids with cell phones came up in a forum that I visit on a regular basis. I thought I would put a copy of my post here too. I often see this topic come up with homeschooling families. I've heard a lot of criticisms like "Young children have no business having a cell phone" and so on...

This is my reason of why I think all kids should have a cell phone, of course IF the parents can afford it. Some families just can't afford it, and there is nothing wrong with that either, or if you just feel that your child isn't responsible enough for a cell phone yet. Here's a copy of my post...

We are very 'techie' too. I have 6 children, ages 7-13 and all of them have a cell phone! The phones are all prepaid phones that end up costing me about $20 a month for all 6 phones combined, occasionally it goes about $40. One day, about 3 years ago, we were at a county fair and my youngest son wandered away from us. I know, it sounds horrible, but I would have NEVER thought I could let such a thing happen, Of course, my immediate reaction was panic. My heart dropped and I felt one of those feelings of a mistake made that you can never take back. We did find him about 5 minutes later but it felt like hours. Anyway, shortly after that I made a decision that all of my kids would have a cell phone on them when we leave the house. My now-7 year old (youngest daughter) knows how to use her phone, she takes care of it, totally enjoys being able to take 'pictures' with the camera part where I then transfer them to my pcfor keeps. The minutes last her several months. The only people I have programed in her phone are me, dad, and all her brothers and sisters. She uses it to call dad occasionally at work to ask a question, and sometimes plays around and sends us text messages. But, the minutes still seem to last a long time. We use Tracfone, which at one time had a pretty bad reputation, but they are really good now. I pay $20 for 120 minutes and 3 text messages counts as a minute. The homescreen of the phone shows how many minutes are left at all times, (which I think actually helped my daughter tremendously with her adding and subtracting!) We purchased the "double minutes for life" phones that only cost about $5 more when you initially buy the phone. All of my kids keep track of their minutes. My oldest daughter uses the most, but she is still careful because she knows when her minutes run out, she might have to wait a couple days (until Friday, payday) for the refill. Also, if she wants to call a friend and chat, she will sometimes use my cell because it is unlimited talk and text. Anyway with that said, in my opinion, I think kids are actually the ones that need a cell phone more than adults. If an adult gets lost or stranded, we can find a way... with a young child that could be a really bad situation. Just my 2 cents.

What's your opinion on the topic? Do you have a different view on why a child should or shouldn't have a cell phone? I'd love to here some output on this. :-)