Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

I am so excited about next year's U.S. geography curriculum with Notgrass History, called "Our 50 States."  I just pre-ordered it for next year, and I can't wait to get it into our hands!  We were able to do some geography with the US history study ( Our Star Spangled Story ), but it will be great to slow down and study landforms, state flags, and do some map work.  Look for printables and idea posts in the near future. We chose Notgrass History because they are a reputable Christian curriculum company for social studies.  They not only have US history and geography, but also civics, world history/geography, and economics covering all 12 grades.  I love that their "textbooks" are actually narrative stories (what Charlotte Mason called "living") and include primary texts, songs, poems, hands-on projects, and Bible verses.  There are novels and biographies to go along with each curriculum set, allowing you to combine social studies and li...

The kids and I started reading "Little House in the Big Woods" last week for the first time.  They're really enjoying hearing about life in the "old days" and all the ways that things were done differently 150 years ago.  It's been a very special time, too, because we all pile on the parents' bed for reading time and have some quiet time as part of our day.  It's been a great way to reconnect with them. Many of these ideas came from my own reading of the series; however, where possible, I've added links to give you more information about them.  Many of them can be done without extra supplies and don't involve other people, so their perfect for living "self isolated" like a pioneer. 1- Preserve Meat In my search, I found a blog and podcast called "Pioneering Today."  She has a post about salting, fermenting, and other ways to preserve meat.  The very first chapter of "The Little House in the Big Woods"...

My 7 year old son has recently stated that he wants to be a WW2 pilot when he grows up.  He loves studying the differences between all the planes and flying them with his Dad on the flight simulator.   He's constantly talking about them, asking me questions, and correcting my answers (haha).  We recently took the family to the Seattle area (read all about it on my travel blog- Party Through the USA ) and spent the weekend at two airplane museums.  One of them was exclusively about WW2 airplanes and tanks! World War Two Encyclopedia   <>   Small Die Cast Airplanes Airplanes of the Second World War Coloring Book Aircraft: A Definitive Visual History   <>   Mini Die Cast Planes Airplanes of WW2 Puzzle   <>   P-38 Die Cast Model and Runway WW2 Plane Spotter Playing Cards   <>   Pull-Back WW2 Airplanes I thought since my son is so interested in planes that now w...

The music of the Nutcracker seems to dominate the Christmas season.  Even for those of us without ballet performances this month, the music still plays in our favorite Christmas movies and from store speakers.  My kids love the Nutcracker and get so excited every time they hear the music.  They nag me all year long for "Nutcracker season" and the ability once again to do all their favorite themed activities again. All school year, I've been focusing on fine motor skill building activities, both in the general sense and with specific themes.  Since my kids love the Nutcracker so much, I knew this would be a great opportunity to assemble some fine motor tasks with a special theme. For families new to the story, I highly recommend "The Nutcracker" book by Susan Jeffers.  Each beautifully illustrated page contains a few sentences describing the story of the ballet.  I read the book with the kids and understood the flow of the dances for the first time ...

We have had the strangest few weeks.  I had intended to make a blog post for each unit in our history book, but that's just not happening (best laid plans, right?).  Between company, sickness, and general upheaval, we're barely managing to keep moving forward in our book. The last few units have been focused on the lead up to the American Revolution, the war, and the building of a new government.  It's my least favorite US history time period.  I'm not sure why.  I've gathered up a few awesome books, though, by people who do love early American history and want kids to love it too.  Check them out by clicking the colored text below. If You were a Kid in the American Revolution American Revolution Card Game Letters for Freedom: Revolutionary War Eyewitness American Revolution Guts and Glory: American Revolution If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution George Washington doll Rush Revere book Safari Ltd R...