How we incorporated Notebooking into our Homeschool Year
I’m plugging away (just like so many of you, I’m sure) at planning for this coming year of homeschooling. *smile* And a BIG part of my planning has been contemplating how we will approach Notebooking this year. Notebooking has always been a part of our homeschool but in the past few years we have been much more intentional about it. Especially this past school year when we starting using Notebooking for a lot more of our ‘work’. To see what got us started last year, check out these – Here are some of my past Notebooking Posts: Simplifying and Enriching our Homeschool with Notebooking -Part 1 Simplifying…
When it becomes all about the checklist
A few weeks ago my son said something that stopped me in my tracks. I was in the middle of introducing a new task he would be working on as part of his Nature Studies and encouraging him to think about what he could write as a narration. He stopped me and asked: “What is this for?” “What do you mean?” I responded, a bit confused. “What is this for?” he repeated. “Like, what do I get to check off my list when I’m done this?” I chuckled and stammered. Truth is, this task wasn’t actually on his list for individual work and it suddenly dawned on me. My heart sank…
Links for getting started with Notebooking
I have been getting so many messages asking me for more information about Notebooking. I do plan to follow up with more posts about how we implement Notebooking into our homeschool, but I also wanted to share some links that I have found very helpful. The majority of these links are from Productive Homeschooling because I honestly find the site to be one of the BEST sites for starting with Notebooking, especially if you don’t know anything about Notebooking and are interested in learning what it is all about and why you should even consider using it as a tool in your homeschool. This is the site that truly…
Snapshots of Nature Study -Jewelweed
Our Jewelweed Nature Study was done a couple weeks ago now, but I really wanted to share it because we had so much fun studying this interesting plant! The best time to study Jewelweed in Southern Ontario and in the Northern States is August and September. We became interested in these plants when good friends of ours came over and showed us how the seed pods POP when you touch them! That was it, the kids were intrigued. And that is exactly how a great Nature Study is started – simply from a natural interest in something found in God’s amazing world. Snapshots of Nature Study (what…
Simplifying (and Enriching) our Homeschool with Notebooking {Part 2}
About a month ago, we purchased brand new Notebooking journals for the purpose of truly infusing more Notebooking into our homeschool. We have been doing Lapbooks and Notebooking pages since I started homeschooling, about 6 years ago… but never in this way. The way we are using Notebooking now could almost be considered a ‘method’ of homeschool. Our Notebooks are a HUGE tool in our day-to-day habits. Since we’ve started using Notebooking more intentionally (about 4 months ago), I’ve been amazed at the difference in our homeschool. More peace, more joy, more creativity, more real learning. And this is coming from a Mom who already did quite a bit…
Five in a Row Volume 3 ~ The Salamander Room
The Salamander Room was a great row. We loved the topics that went along with this whimsical storybook about a boy who imagines his room turns into the perfect Salamander habitat. We really embraced LOTS and LOTS of Nature Study for the two weeks we did this unit. Here are just some of the topics we covered with our row of The Salamander Room: Language Arts – list making, story setting, parallel construction (see the activity at the bottom of the post), Reading for Knowledge (ie: how to research), copywork, narration Art – a review of various concepts (shadows, viewpoint, color palette, personification, etc.), creating Salt-dough Salamanders and decorating/painting our…
Simplifying our Homeschool with Notebooking {Part 1}
I have been thinking quite a bit about the coming year of homeschool, as I’m sure many of us do throughout the Summer. Even though we are year-round homeschoolers, there is still this undeniable feeling of ‘beginning’ in September. A feeling I actually really love! So, with this approaching ‘beginning’ of sorts, I’ve been in planning mode. Sometimes I wonder if I’m ever NOT in planning mode…? But, I have been thinking and researching quite a bit about notebooking these past few days, so I thought I’d share an informal post with you on this subject. What you read here is literally coming straight from my heart and (somewhat…
Five in a Row Volume 4 – The Raft
Rowing The Raft The Raft is up there with some of my favourite Five in a Row studies. It is an absolutely beautiful book with a heart-warming story that we all loved. The themes for this row fit perfectly for Summer nature study and tied in beautifully with our deep appreciation for the river near our home. I was in awe of the captivating art done by author, Jim LaMarche. Absolutely breath-taking! This was a 2-week row (unit study). Photographs from The Raft by Jim LaMarche Some of the topics we covered for our row of The Raft, included: Social Studies – geography and history of the…
Water Birds, Nature Journaling, and some ideas for Picture Study
We have had so much fun learning about birds. We studied all through the Winter with Backyard Birds, then moved into Birds of Prey and now are finishing a small unit study on Water Birds (Water Fowl). There are so many different types of birds to learn about and study, we have just narrowed it down to a few and enjoyed the journey. What a wonderful time of growth in our love of nature and appreciation of God’s amazing creation! Birds are so incredible! Visiting Water Birds at a Beautiful Wetland Sanctuary Nature Journaling ~ Water Birds Alex’s Heron page What happens when you give a…
Winter Nature Study (…and a Review of NaturExplorers – Coping with the Cold)
We have been thoroughly enjoying our study of “Coping with the Cold“, a nature study unit focusing on how animals survive the Winter. I wanted to write a quite detailed review because author Cindy West has truly created something very special in these unit studies. I’m excited to share them in hopes that other Moms and educators will find an incredible (and affordable!) tool for implementing more quality Nature Study into their homeschool. Friends, these Nature Study units are FANTASTIC! The NaturExplorers series is wonderfully in depth and so Charlotte Mason-friendly. Cindy has packed the pages full of incredible ideas and inspirations to jump start all kinds…
