Touring America in a School Year, we are making our way through the United States visiting each state by region. This week we find ourselves in Massachusetts. (I tend to only give updates when I feel inspired to write. Lucky for all of you… my AWESOME Pinterest fail has inspired me to write.) Life is …
Memorization is almost a lost art. I would love to get back to the way they used to memorize back in our grandparent’s day. At our house we try to memorize scriptures, poetry, music, geography… the list goes on. As I look back over life I realize that when a song is used to memorize …
Summer is my time for dreaming and preparation. As soon as we wrap up the school year in April/May I begin to plan the next school year. This is one of my favorite things to do! In the last few years, we have been to Hogwarts & experienced the Jedi Academy… For this school year’s …
Teaching sequential grade levels has been a great eye opener for me. With this I am able to see growth and understand things I would never have learned by teaching the same grade level year after year. This is a great benefit to being a homeschool mom! One phenomenon I find interesting is the reading …
Another school year has come to an end. Our kids have worked hard and made great progress in all areas of life! I am humbled and grateful to be their mother. I have a unique front row seat view of their education and childhood. I have never appreciated my children more than I do now. …
When my kids wake up to a lock box their excitement is tangible! I love to sit back to watch them use logic and team work to solve each puzzle. I love creating lock box experiences for my kids! Weekly or even monthly would be ideal! In reality I create a lock box only a …
Our family loves to read books individually and together. Every night Tony or I read to our children. I personally LOVE when Tony reads to us. He reads books he enjoyed as a child, and excels at bringing these stories to life! We read the entire Hatchet series by Gary Paulsen. This series, different than anything …
Star Wars Shining Moments from the Barnes Family Homeschool: Since these are NOT the droids they were looking for… we can proceed with the purpose of this post. Math! One of my favorite subjects! Multiplication facts are foundational to math education. Consistent practice is the key! Over the years we have used a variety of …
This week’s Star Wars Scene… The Trooper on the Pooper! Now with that smidgen of Star Wars joy, we can move forward to the real reason for this post… Board and card games can be a powerful educational tool. Playing a game helps to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making skills. In addition, …