I made our first set of calendar wheels by hand for my oldest daughter, way back when she was preschool aged, as a simple hands-on way to learn about the passage of time and how we measure it. We ended up loving them so much that I recently made printable versions for my younger two daughters and added them as a freebie in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. The set includes a days of the week wheel, a months of the years wheel, a seasons wheel, and a weather wheel. Assembling and Using Your Calendar and Weather Wheels Grab a printable set here:  Calendar and Weather Wheel Set Cut out each wheel and each arrow. Laminate each piece and cut out again.  Poke a hole in the center of each wheel and the end of each arrow with a thumb tack. Attach one arrow to the center of each wheel with a paper fastener.  Hang on your wall or bulletin board and have your child turn the calendar wheels as the days, months, and seasons change. Turn the weather wheel daily to reflect the weath...

 Elementary age students really don't need fancy science curriculum or thick science textbooks. If that's what your child likes, then go for it, but it's not necessary. There is so much science going on around us all the time that you can easily use your everyday experiences and your child's interests to learn about all sorts of amazing scientific topics. In this post I share some of the easiest ways I've found to add a little science to our homeschool days. Nature Study There is so much to be learned by just observing and interacting with the natural world around us. Simple things like backyard bird watching, star gazing, watching the moon moving through its phases, observing insects, watching the seasons change, and researching about animal and plant life around your home are all great ways to incorporate science into your homeschool days. Check out this post for lots of simple nature study ideas:  42 Nature Study Ideas . Kitchen Science Most people probably don...

  My girls are 11 (12 in November), 6, and 3 this year so I have a middle schooler, an early elementary student, and a preschooler to plan for. My plan is to incorporate a lot of unit studies and journaling this year since they can easily accommodate a wide age range and a wide range of topics.  Since we tend to do a lot of student-led learning in our household, I don't like to over plan in case my kids' interests end up shifting mid-year. This is another reason we tend to incorporate a lot of journaling- it works well with just about any topic and doesn't require a lot of planning ahead of time. We do sit down and do some basic planning and shopping for the new school year each summer though.  Here is our tentative plan for this year: Science For the last several years we've picked one broad science topic as a yearlong theme. Spending time on a single topic on and off all year long allows us to dive in really deep. Topics we've done in previous years are birds, geo...

Recently there's been a lot of talk and even some legislation passed regarding what politicians like to call "school choice" and "funding following the student". At first glance these sound like great things. Parents being able to choose a school based on its merits, rather than children just attending whatever public school they live closest to, would create competition, hopefully leading to better public schools. The thing is, you can already do this. We already have school choice in this country. There are many valid education options outside of the public school system, and there are no laws preventing anyone from using them . If you are dissatisfied with your local public school, you are allowed to pull your children and home educate them or enroll them in a private school of your choosing. We don't need new legislation granting us school choice, we already have it. There are a lot of people in the homeschool and private school communities who think tha...

Grab a printable Water Cycle Learning Pack  here and then check out some of the water cycle activities and resources below! What is the Water Cycle? Earth's water is always in movement through a cycle known as the water cycle or the hydrologic cycle. This cycle includes water moving on the Earth's surface, below the Earth's surface, and in the atmosphere above the Earth. Water in Earth's oceans and other bodies of water is warmed by the sun, which causes some of the water molecules to vaporize into the air. Water molecules also vaporize from soil and plants- a process called transpiration. The water vapor rises into the air. As it gets higher, the air becomes cooler and causes the water molecules to condense into clouds. When clouds become saturated or filled with water droplets, the droplets fall from the sky as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc...). Eventually the water from snow and rain makes its way back to the ocean or other bodies of water via runoff, creeks...

Learn all about what makes an insect an insect, insect anatomy, insect classification, metamorphosis, insect lifecycles, pollinators, and more with this 21-page printable learning pack.  Includes 6 informational reading sheets, butterfly fact cards, insect order fact cards, an insect family tree sorting chart, vocabulary words, nature study journaling sheets, a crossword puzzle, a wordsearch, a coloring page, and more! Grab it here:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Insects-Learning-Pack-8137332 For more information, resources, and activity ideas for learning about insects with your kids, check out: - All About Butterflies - Ladybug Lifecycle Craft - Our Adventure Raising Caterpillars And you can check out my other printable resources  here . Follow me on: Facebook Instagram Pinterest

  The final country we studied this year was Mexico. We had a blast making pinatas and learning about Mexican folk art. We made a delicious Mexican meal and learned about some interesting places like Chichen Itza. Below are links to the resources we used for our Mexico study and instructions for some fun hands on activities. Basic Information Mexico is a country in the southern part of North America. It shares a boarder with the United States (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas), Beliez, and Guatemala.  The terrain varies from deserts and high plateaus to coastal plains and mountainous regions. The climate varies from hot and dry in the desert regions to tropical in other parts of the country. Capital: Mexico City Population: About 129 million  Size: 761,600 square miles Language: Spanish Currency: Mexican peso National Animal: the golden eagle Flag: Famous Places and Landmarks Chichen Itza-  Chichen Itza is a Mayan city built between 400 and 500 AD. It featu...