Weekly Homeschool Roundup - 4/24/20

Happy Friday, everyone!

We’ve been hard at work this week - finishing Grant’s 9th-grade year (Classical Conversations Challenge I) and marveling as Anna completes the last 2 weeks of her freshman year of college (while she is also working part-time at a local strawberry farm).

We continue to pray for our world during this critical time.

I’ve said all along I am thankful for homeschooling, now more than ever! I think we may see an uptick in homeschooling after this is all over, despite articles like this one that talk about the “risks” of homeschooling. (No the article isn’t a joke, but it is so ridiculous it seems like it could be!)

I look back at an article I wrote a long time ago, “Stop Telling Me Why You Can’t Homeschool”, and think about where we are at now. So much has changed.

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In between sneaking moments to finish the latest book for our local book club (oh, this one was SO good), I try to seek out and curate good homeschool things for you.

On to the list!

5 Good Homeschool Things

• 1, 2, 3 Animals!

  My friend Bethany Lake (Math Geek Mama) has written a wonderful counting book for your youngest children. Having good math books on hand from a young age makes a big difference in how your children view math, and also their enjoyment of math.

  I’m super excited because I love to see homeschool moms accomplish big goals like this! Congrats, Bethany! Check out the book here - I think you’ll want a copy for your library!

• Tour The States

  My kids LOVED this video - and I remember being so thankful to the creator for putting such an engaging thing out into the world when we were learning how to draw the United States. Who has used this?

  Well, now you can get a Tour the States poster. Super cool. (I’ve ordered one for our basement library/school room!)

• Learn About The Music of John Williams

  The latest blog post on SQUILT Music includes a Spotify playlist and free printable to help you learn about the music of John Williams. (Think Star Wars, ET, Superman, Jurrasic Park, etc…)

  We will be learning about him in SQUILT LIVE! in May, and this post is a fun introduction to this film score composer.

• Grow a Rainbow

  This is a fun, simple science experiment for your kids. I’m sure you have everything you need on hand in your house already.

  When my kids were little these types of science experiments were always good to keep in my back pocket for when moods were dreary or the day was a little rough!

• $775 Value Giveaway!

  Friends, this is an amazing giveaway!

  Note: You must enter via Instagram! You can win a laptop as well as a year-long membership to SQUILT LIVE!, You Are An Artist Clubhouse and No Sweat Nature Study.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SQUILT Music Appreciation (@squiltmusic) on Apr 23, 2020 at 1:01pm PDT

If you’ve spotted a super good thing, please tell me about it in the comments below, or submit it via the contact form at the bottom of this page. I love to know what fun things kids in the Homegrown Learners community are doing!

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Weekly Homeschool Roundup - 4/17/20

We are entering the home stretch for the formal end of my son’s 9th-grade year.

Despite quarantine, everything has proceeded quite smoothly. Thank goodness for homeschooling - I feel like it has been a huge blessing for us!

The weather here was glorious this week and I spent a lot of time sitting on the front porch working and reading. One day a friend came over and sat with me (6 ft. apart) in the front yard and we chatted. Isn’t it a sweet benefit of this time that we are appreciating the little things again?

My daughter is in her last week of freshman college classes before exam week.

Life is proceeding - just with a new normal.

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I read an article today about how this crisis will most likely impact Gen Z’s worldview.

It’s a lot to think about. Right now we are all in survival and adjustment mode, and I imagine next year at this time we will begin to see how this has truly changed our world - and the world our children will be living and working in one day.

For now, homeschool is that wonderful anchor that has remained largely unchanged!

I hope you find the five things in this week’s roundup of use to you!

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit & Other Stories (Audio)

  This lovely audio of the stories of Beatrix Potter and Thornton Burgess is narrated by Jim Weiss! If you’ve never listened to Jim Weiss you are in for a treat! I recall listening to him read stories to a group of children at a homeschool convention and it was MAGICAL.

  I have been using Chirp discounted audiobook for over a year and find the best deals through this platform. Purchase the book and then use the Chirp app to listen. Use this link and receive 20% off your first purchase!

• Memorization for Moms (and other Busy Ladies)

  The author of this article encourages us to memorize for life - and what a beautiful thought this is. “It really is possible for memorization to be soothing, not stressful.  Let your memory work be a comfortable companion, whose presence you will enjoy for the rest of life.”

  This is one of my favorite blogs, and this post truly spoke to my heart this week.

• Have you heard of Bookshop?

  Amazon has some new (and exciting) competition. If you want to purchase books and support your local Indie bookseller, you should investigate Bookshop. I have recently created a Bookshop page and will be working to list our favorite books! I’m excited to support this website.

• Speaking of Books… The Latest Read-Aloud We Just Finished

  I’m not giving up on reading aloud to my high schooler! Our time we spend reading aloud is so valuable - and even when he might resist, I find that after a few minutes he settles into reading aloud and enjoys it.

  We just finished Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam. I recommend this for high schoolers. Friday night movie and pizza night this week will feature “October Sky”, the film based on the book.

  It was fun to go down a space rabbit hole for a while, and of course, we incorporated some LEGO bricks into the mix. Check out this amazing Apollo Saturn V rocket Grant built to go with our book.

  (If I am being totally honest sometimes I mourn all of the interest-led learning we had when the kids were little - but even in high school we can do some bigger things that the family takes part in.)

• Homeschool to College (a blog series)

  I have pointed several people in the past week to my high school posts - specifically how to prepare a homeschool high schooler for college. The series I wrote last year is very popular, so if you haven’t read it I hope you can gain valuable insight and information.

Did you have a good thing in your homeschool week?

Tell me about it in the comments below!