Our Homeschool Station

We have learned a lot throughout this homeschooling journey and one thing I most definitely am confident about is that a designated school room is just not for us. We had a beautiful room designated for schooling and I quickly realized that being in one spot wasn't working with two elementary kids.  They wanted to move around and sit in different areas and I started to get tired of shleping it all around the house.  Things quickly became scattered and disorganized and had me feeling pretty discouraged.  I tried a few other ideas that werent ideal but recently stumbled across this cart at our Sams Club.  I paid under 40.00 for it and it truly has been the solution to our needs.  I can roll it from room to room, even up to my desk so I can flip through my instructors guides and do my planning on the computer, and it holds everything we need for the day!

Ant Farm in a Mason Jar

What you will need:

• Two mason jars, one small enough to fit inside the other. 
• About 2 cups of sand or soil 
• Ants 

Directions:

Place the small mason jar inside of the large mason jar upside down or with the lid on.  This will force the ants to tunnel along the outside of the jar and allow you to see their paths! 

Once you have placed the smaller jar inside the larger jar, fill around it with sand just until the top of the smaller jar is covered.  

Search for ants!  From what I've read online it is important to collect ants from the same area because ants from different colonies will fight with each other.  I am defiantly not an ant expert and do not know if this is true, but we did our best to collect ants that were in the same area.  

Hard to see, but we did manage to collect a few! 

Once you have collected your ants, carefully place them in your farm.  This was a little tricky and we did end up losing a few so you should probably do this step outside.  Cover the jar with a piece of fabric and screw on the lid or use the lid of the mason jar, just make sure you poke some holes so the ants can get air!  Once your ants are in their farm, feed them once a week by dropping a few drops of sugar water on the top of the sand/soil!  If you aren't able to make an ant farm, there are plenty online that you can order, although I found them to be a little expensive.  

Have fun!  

Travel Tangram in a Tin

This week in our Oak Meadow second grade curriculum, we learned about Tangrams, a seven piece square that can be rearranged into thousands of shapes!  We had so much fun with the Tangram that was provided to us in our Oak Meadow curriculum that we decided to make our very own teeny tiny Tangram to take with us in the car! Here's how you can make yours at home.

What you will need:

• The following printables.  Please note that I resized these before printing and they may need to be resized on your end as well in order to fit the box that you are using.  

1. "Tangram Puzzle" Printable 
2. Tangram Printable
3. Tangram Diagram Printable

• An empty Altoids tin 
• A sheet of magnetic contact paper (can be found at Walmart, made by Avery)
• Mod Podge 
• Hobby knife

Directions:

Peel the backing off of the magnetic paper 

Stick the Tangram printable to the back of the magnetic sheet and trim the sides.  

Carefully cut along the edges of the shapes within the Tangram. 

I found that you don't have to cut all of the way through the magnet.  Just a light knick and the magnet will bend and snap.  

Brush the inside bottom of the tin with Mod Podge and stick the diagram printable to the bottom.  Apply another coat of Mod Podge over the top of the diagram printable to.

Brush the top of the tin with Mod Podge and lay the "Tangram Puzzle" printable on top.  Apply another coat of Mod Podge over the top to seal. 

When the Mod Podge has dried, your Travel Tangram is ready to use!  

Word Families / Onset and Rime Paint Chip Sliders

Now that we are homeschooling, I try to do everything possible to find exciting ways to teach the kids things that might normally be kind of a bore.  This week AG is reviewing her Oak Meadow word families from the first grade curriculum, so I decided to make some fun (and colorful) sliders for her to review with.  

What you will need:

• Paint chips found at any store that sells paint.  You will need large chips displaying only one color and the long strips that display multiple colors.  The large chips will be for the "onsets" and the long strip will be for the "rimes."
• A large square paper puncher or you can do what I did and make a template and cut the squares using a hobby knife.  
• A black permanent marker. 

Directions:

There really isn't a whole lot to this DIY project.  All you really need to do is make sure that you have a square cut large enough on your "onset" paint chip to display your "rime" paint chip.   Decide how big your hole needs to be, cut or punch (again, I cut by making a template from one of the "rime" chips), and write your onset and rimes accordingly!

For the Oak Meadow first grade curriculum, you will need the following twenty-one word families:

• ad
• ag
• an
• ap
• ar
• at
• aw
• ay
• ed
• et
• id
• ig
• ill
• in 
• ip
• it 
• go
• ot
• ow
• ug
• ut

I copied the pages out of the Oak Meadow "Word Families" book so that AG could use the sliders side by side with the story.

Our Homeschool Week In Review: Week Two

If I could sum up our week in one word it would be COLD! Between trying to fight off a nasty cold bug that eventually ended up getting me and being trapped in the house due to sub zero temperatures and even colder wind chills, this week wasn't as productive and exciting as I wish it could have been.  But as I am often reminded, one of the beauties of homeschooling is that we are able to take the time when we need it to heal ourselves and that as unproductive as our days may have seemed, our children were still learning.  A few homeschool veterans have taught me that after having a week like we just had and when you feel as if you just didn't do enough, take a minute to write down all of the things that you did do.  Chances are, you have done plenty.  :)

Remember, we are starting the Oak Meadow First Grade Curriculum midyear.  This week we covered Lesson 2 for everything except science, which was Lesson 14. Here is our week in review!

This week I traced AG on a sheet of butcher block paper and finished it by drawing her face and clothing.  Judging by the flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt I think someone is read for summer. (Oak Meadow Curriculum)

AG and I made these Paper Roll Poinsettias to hang on her Nature Corner Tree (Oak Meadow Curriculum).  For DIY instructions CLICK HERE. 

We also made these beautiful Origami Window Stars.  For DIY Instructions CLICK HERE.

We tried our best to blow bubbles outside and watch them freeze.  All we ended up with were two giant mason jars full of bubbles.  For bubble recipe CLICK HERE. 

Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders were a big hit and so easy to make.  CLICK HERE for the DIY instructions. 

This week AG decided to take the pictures of her letters in a different direction (Oak Meadow Curriculum). 

This week in science we studied the difference between evergreen and deciduous trees.  Unfortunately all of the deciduous trees in our area are naked.  We were able to pull up some pictures online though and talk about the difference between the two (Oak Meadow Curriculum).

This weeks updated nature table, complete with Paper Roll Poinsettias and Origami Window Stars (Oak Meadow Curriculum). 

Another drawing of a person dressed for warmer weather (Oak Meadow Curriculum).

This week we worked on AG's calendar and added some special events, like mommy's birthday :) (Oak Meadow Curriculum)

Bringing the outside inside by making this adorable "I'm Inside a Snow Globe" project.  CLICK HERE for the DIY instructions. 

This week we introduced the four math symbols  (Oak Meadow Curriculum). 

Winter Sun Catcher.  CLICK HERE for DIY instructions. 

Working with word families (Oak Meadow Curriculum). For DIY instructions CLICK HERE.  

Tangibles (Oak Meadow Curriculum)

I'm Inside a Snow Globe!

Forty-five degree wind chills and a sick momma meant a long week spent inside.  A little disappointing since the majority of our science lesson this week was to go on a nature walk and explore the different kinds of trees in our area.  Since spending time outdoors this week was scratched, I thought what better way to connect the kids with the different trees outside than to bring them in? Why not create a snow globe using tree clippings found in our backyard....starring them!  I quickly ran outside and snipped a few small branches off of the different evergreens that we had in our back yard, threw a hat on AG, took a quick picture and we put together this awesome "I'm Inside a Snow Globe!" project and were able to explore the different kinds of trees without having to brave the frigid temperatures outdoors.

What you will need:

• A mason jar, preferably with a wide mouth 
• A picture of your child, cut out 
• Tree clippings from outside 
• Glitter! 
• Hot glue gun 

Directions: 

1. Glue your child's picture to the lid of the mason jar. 
2. Fill the mason jar to the top with water.
3. Add glitter, tree clippings and anything else you would like. 
4. Slip the picture through the opening and screw closed. 
5. Shake! and enjoy.

Winter Sun Catchers

What you'll need:

• Leaves, tree clippings, berries, acorns, etc. 
• A pie tin
• Water 
• A piece of twine
• Freezing temps!

How to make them:

Fill a pie tin with water and have your children add whatever they would like to decorate their sun catchers with. Lay a piece of twine in the water and leave enough to hang over the edge.  Stick your sun catcher somewhere where it's cold and allow to freeze. 

Hang your sun catcher in a sunny, cold place and enjoy :)

Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders

Photo Credit: South Dakota Wedding Style 

What you will need :

• 2 cups of birdseed
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
• Wax paper
• Cookie sheet
• Straws
• Twine

How to make them:

Add both packages of gelatin to a small pot and boil until the gelatin is dissolved. Allow to cool and pour into a large bowl. 

Add your birdseed into the bowl and using your hands, mix the birdseed and gelatin together.

Place your cookie cutters on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, scoop your birdseed mixture into your cookie cutters.   Push your straw through the mixture to create a hole for your twine. 

Allow your bird feeders to dry overnight. 

Once the bird feeders are dry, string twine through the hole and hang outside !
(Photo Credit South Dakota Wedding Style )