Homeschool Showcase #21

Welcome to the April 6, 2009 edition of Homeschool Showcase, where we spotlight all the the encouraging, inspiring, hands-on, and just plain fun ways that homeschooling families live, learn and enjoy life together.





Our featured post this week is presented by Shannon of Song of My Heart. Shannon's family did an awesome-looking unit on weather and she presents the first of a series of posts on what they did with Making a Backyard Weather Station. They created a wind vane, a rain gauge, a barometer and more! Don't miss this one! Shannon and her kids make it look so fun and easy and the timing was perfect for me. We're starting a unit on the atmosphere this week and I've aleady got making a barometer on our schedule for next week.

Renae shares her reflections on her family's recent trip to the science museum in her post, Space Frontier Day Inspires Forgetful Me presented at Life Nurturing Education.

Nate Desmond of Debt-free Scholar shares strategies to avoid wasting study time in his post, 5 Ways to Waste Study Time. Although the post addresses college students, these are good habits for high schoolers to begin forming before leaving home. In my recent interview with a homeschool grad, Ruth cited inexperience taking notes as one of the ways she was unprepared, academically, for life after home school.

Dana offers some good food for thought on the subject of Homeschooling and learning things more deeply, which can be found at Principled Discovery. You'll find links included that will encourage you to "learn things more deeply," rather than simply learning more things.

Don't you love the creations of young, budding artists? Stephanie's son, Nolan, takes a personal look at what the future may hold for him. Stephanie shares, Nolan age 4 - Self Portrait, at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Getting antsy for spring and a change of pace? Wendy Piersall presents Spring Math Worksheets: Counting Money posted at Animal Jr..

Also, in time for spring, Samantha shares her family's Monthly Wood Block Craft Projects featuring children's April bunnies, along with an awesome photo gallery from projects past. Visit Samantha at To Be Busy at Home.

We've just begun trying to use blogging as part of my older daughter's schooling. I think that blogging can be a fantastic, interactive way to practice writing skills...and it's much more fun than just writing a paragraph or so on notebook paper. This week, Educatorblog gives us tips on marrying blogging and activism in Educating the Blogger-Activist, saying, "Use blogs to unite activism and content." You can find the post at An (aspiring) Educator's Blog.

If you're like us and love to learn with literature, you'll love Sarah Scrafford's list of 100 Free Online Books Everyone Should Read posted at Best Colleges Online. The list contains an extensive list of online working including everything from classics to philosophy, religion to politics. You're sure to be able to locate many hard-to-find works that will enhance your home school, as well as your own personal learning.

Amy Smith shares a great find for encouraging movement and kinesthetic learning. Check out Thumballs: Interactive Fun & Learning posted at Kids Love Learning!

I confess, since the last edition of Homeschool Showcase, I gave in and joined Twitter, thinking I'd see what all the fuss was about and then cancel my account. I am hooked! I love Twitter! I like it so much better than I liked Facebook because I can stay connected without all the junk. So, I was very excited to see Erika Collin's submission for this week's Showcase, Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher posted at Best Colleges Online. The post is geared toward public school teachers, but it's a wealth of information for a Twitter novice like me. (Be sure to see the link in my right sidebar if you'd like to follow me on Twitter!)

Brenda Sain is a woman after my own heart. There are those who are fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of folks and then there our those who need...My Planner - the key to my sanity. Visit Brenda at The Tie That Binds Us and pick up some tips for organizing your planner. You can also take a look at mine and see why I think Brenda and I would get along famously. ;-)

Julie Moses presents a step by step art lesson on how to draw a tiger with links to a unit study about Japan and artist Ito Jakuchu. She also shows us a couple of masterpieces by her students. Be sure to visit Kids Art Projects and Lessons at Ms. Julie's Place: The Tiger Lesson posted at Ms. Julie's Place.

Cindy, of Our Journey Westward, shares her family's Slavery and Civil War Projects. You'll be as impressed as I was as you read about all her kids have learned and enjoy Cindy's pictures of their presentation day. She also shares the how-to's of her family's history studies. I know you'll pick up some tips you'll want to incorporate in your family's homeschool. You'll have to get behind me on the waiting list to send your kids to boarding school at Cindy's house. ;-)

Neighbor Nancy presents Essential Gardening Books for Kids posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, "Dig in and join the learning adventure. If you liked the cookbook list, I think you'll find the gardening book list even more comprehensive." I think she's right! Great list! I like the way Nancy weaves in "garden" books that aren't about gardening. I could see this growing into a great unit study.

I love the next submission. I am seriously considering the idea of setting up a Mr. Linky, so we could do a nation-wide virtual field. What do you think? To give you an idea of what it would entail, check out A Virtual Field Trip to The Last Best Place.... Montana, presented by Marie Watson at Teaching Charlotte Mason One Day At A Time.

Rani presents Online Dictionaries posted at Rayray's writing. Check out the list and bookmark your favorite. I know that I use my favorite online dictionary on a regular basis. It's so handy to have it right on the computer, where I do the majority of my writing.

That concludes this edition of Homeschool Showcase. Thanks to everyone who shared your ideas with us this week. I hope lots of you will consider submitting your blog article for the next edition, scheduled for April 20, by using our carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on our blog carnival index page. To find out more about Homeschool Showcase, please read the guidelines. You can also feel free to grab the button from the left sidebar and add it to your blog.