Homeschool Art Lessons: Portrait Drawings
Art is one of the subjects my youngest loves most. Unfortunately for her I am not an artist. Not only am I not good at it, but I also do not enjoy it. This often means she doesn’t get art instruction as she would like. Lucky for her I am found some great resources for […]
Games as Gifts: 25 Games for Kids Under 8 (No Screen Required!)
Whether as a birthday present, Easter Basket item or Christmas gift, games make awesome gifts for kids. This lists includes games for kids under 8. From preschool color and letter games, to more involved card and board games that you and your children are sure to have hours of fun playing together! What’s even better […]
Learning to Let Go of Your Homeschool Plan
I began this year anew. I spent the summer embarking on a new planning method for our year. One where everything was planned out ahead of time over 36 weeks and placed into file folders. As I read about doing this from others who had pioneered it before me, there was one piece of […]
Mother of Pearl ~ Mother’s Day Series ~ Day 3
Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother’s Day blog series – a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today’s best writer’s (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you’ll join us each day for another unique […]
Our Top Ten Sites in NYC
Chloe and I had the chance to spend 4 days with our dear friends Michalene and Sasha trooping around NYC. Chloe has never been and I have only been once, for one day! We couldn’t see everything (not even close), so this is just a list of 10 memories/places from our trip this past weekend. […]
Mother of Pearl ~ Mother’s Day Series ~ Day 1
Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother’s Day blog series – a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today’s best writer’s (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you’ll join us each day for another unique […]
Playing with Cameras & Settings ~ Canon EOS Rebel T1i & Canon 7D
I am currently taking a photography workshop. My goal is to be able to comfortably shoot in manual (or Av/Tv) all the time. The workshop has also renewed my sense of want for a new camera and lens. I currently have a Canon Rebel T1i and two lenses: a Canon EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS, and […]
Robins – Outdoor Hour Nature Challenge #2
The Handbook of Nature Study blog is the home of the weekly Outdoor Hour Challenge which encourages families to enjoy the nature in their own backyards through simple activities and nature journals. A global community of families link up with the Outdoor Hour Challenge community in a monthly newsletter and blog carnival. Outdoor Hour […]
Nature Study: Daffodils – Dissection, Poetry & Drawings
We read from the Big Handbook of Nature Study about daffodils and learned some flower vocabulary. To go along with our theme of daffodils we read the poem Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud) by William Wordsworth, and included a copy of it in our nature journals. We also watched this great animated version of […]
Homeschool Village Garden Challenge ~ April 2012
[image width=”250″ height=”250″ frame=”simple” align=”right”]http://www.startsateight.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/HSV-Garden-Challenge-250-copy.jpg[/image] This is month number two of the Homeschool Village Garden Challenge. We participated last year, and it was so much fun not only gardening, but chronicling our progress too! Here are their Participation Rules: since we are a homeschool community here to encourage homeschoolers we are asking that only […]
Starting & Continuing a Book Club
Throughout recent years I have had the pleasure of participating in multiple book clubs. Varying greatly from each other in size, style, organization and location. Book clubs can offer so many enriching benefits, not only from the literature discussion, but through the bonds built among participating members. (Check out my series, 10 Days on The […]
Outdoor Hour Challenge #1 & Nature Study Journals
After a much needed vacation, we are home and getting prepared to dig in again. But things are changing around here! We are throwing out some things and trying some new ones! For the past 3 years we have taken to planting seeds and gardening at this time of year. From April to September/October we […]
Free Nature Study Resources
The BIG Handbook of Nature Study THE BIG HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY is a HUGE (940 pages) wonderful teaching guide full of hundreds of nature study lessons, activities and discussion questions. It is a complete multi-year nature study curriculum that you can use for years to come. It is over 100 megs in size! The […]
I Have a Tween Girl
I have a tween girl. Who often makes my lips curl; From the rolling of her eyes, To the irritated sighs. I have a tween girl. I have a tween girl. Whose texting numbers would make your head swirl; She rarely thinks her parents are great, That is unless we agree to let her […]