Homeschool Showcase #27

Welcome to the July 13, 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. I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful summer together. I'm getting in the school-planning mindset, so I'm very excited about some of this week's posts that give me some ideas I want to use next year. However, we've still got a few weeks of summer left, so I'm equally appreciative of the posts that give me ideas on things to enjoy during our last few weeks of extra free time.


If I'm not mistaken, this is RaisingOlives' first time to submit a post to the Homeschool Showcase, and I certainly hope it's not the last! I was so excited to read Teaching with Nature Journals posted at Raising Olives!


I just purchased Handbook of Nature Study, which she recommends. I had planned to follow the Handbook of Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenges, but now I'm definitely going to be incorporating Kimberly's suggestions, too. I really appreciate the input about investing in good art supplies.

Keith Tusing offers some fantastic suggestions for Top Ten Fun & Free (or almost free) Things to Do This Weekend posted at CM Buzz. In addition to being free, or almost free, many of the ideas are indoor suggestions, perfect for beating the heat this time of year. The indoor mini-golf suggestion really sounds fun. That might be the perfect thing for this mom, who confessed to being b-o-r-e-d last week.

Of course, boredom means it's time to get busy. If you're like me and it's the time of year when your thoughts turn to planning and getting ready to resume school, getting busy means making plans. Be sure to check out my planning tips.


PJ Kaiser shares some fabulous ideas of her own in her post, Organizing Tip: Daily “To Do’s” posted at Double Latte Mama's Blog.


While you're planning, Anne Simone shares a great list of 100 Terrific Cheat Sheets for K-12 Teachers posted at Teaching Degree.org. Many of these handy reference sheets would be perfect for printing and adding to your mom binder or having your kids add to their own notebooks.


ESN offers 10 Great Sites for Watching Educational Video Online, posted at Online Doctoral Programs, that may be a nice addition to an upcoming topic of study in your homeschool.

In addition to planning, getting creative is a sure-fire way to combat boredom. I love this list of Twenty Ways to Encourage Creativity in Children, offered by Terry Holliday What a fantastic list! Visit My Creativity Blog and be inspired! We were so inspired, we spent some time on Saturday making our own creations. I made a collage:

Josh and Megan decided that they wanted to make books:

We had a great time. Josh actually thanked me for letting them do this. We'll definitely be borrowing a few more ideas from Terry's wonderful suggestions.

Do you have a creative child or a budding artist in your home? Check out Nancy Miller's list of 100 Best Scholarly Art Blogs posted at Online University Reviews.

If you've got a child approaching graduation and considering colleges, you may want to check out this list, presented by Elisha Knackwood: Top 25 Off-Color College Rankings: Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll posted at The .Edu Toolbox.

Scott Palat suggests 5 Reasons You Should Find a Tutor for Your Child posted at Colleen Palat.

Anne Simone presents Comics in the Classroom: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Teachers posted at Teaching Degree.org, suggesting that, "The comics of today not only have plenty to offer, they are gaining well-deserved recognition and awards."

Amida and her family had the unique opportunity to see the rare blooming of The Giant Corpse Flower. This beautiful plant takes about 3 years to produce a blossom -- and, from all reports, its unusual scent -- and the blossom only stays open for 24-48 hours. Be sure to visit Journey Into Unschooling to see all the beautiful pictures and read about this once-in-a-lifetime field trip.

photo by amida
While Amida was having a totally unique experience, Tracy Dear, of higher education, was having the kind of day that is probably all too familiar to many of us. It was one of those Worst Mom EVER days -- you know the ones, don't you? Be sure to visit Tracy's blog and commiserate with her a bit.


If you're having one of those days that makes you question your intelligence, Patricia Turner tells us Why it’s Ok to Be Less Smart than a Fifth Grader posted at Online Bible Colleges. I have to disagree on one point, though: I think those useless bits of trivial information are fun to know and, if taught in a fun, hands-on way, are likely to be retained beyond a given school year. I know I've retained more, as a homeschooling mom learning things in fun, relevant ways, than I ever did from a school textbook.

Here's one for all you homeschooling blog fans: Alvina Lopez presents 100 Best Blogs for Christian Homeschoolers posted at Online Bible College Degrees - Online Bible Colleges. I saw some of my favorites on the list and I'm looking forward to finding some new favorites.

Jennifer presents a nice alternative to the chicken mummification suggested in the Story of the World activity book, saying, "It was probably the part where we pulled the fake brain through the walrus nose, but my kids have been talking about this all week!" All her Mummy needed was one of those hearts that you put in Build-A-Bear dolls and they'd have been set with their canopic jars. Read and enjoy the photo journal of her family's Egyptian activity on Jennifer's blog, schooling memoirs.

photo by jennifer
Erin offers some great suggestions for Capitalizing on summer on her blog, Delighting in His Richness. While our summer hasn't been as productive as I'd envisioned, it's still been enjoyable. I do, however, fear that I've wasted too much time online. I need to take Erin's closing words of wisdom and run with them during these last, fleeting weeks of summer, "Whether your ideal is busy, productive hours, or losing track of time by the pool, I pray you are making the most of these days with your kids."

Thanks to everyone who submitted posts for this week's edition. Mark your calendars and be sure to submit your blog article to the next edition of Homeschool Showcase, scheduled for July 27. You can submit your posts using our carnival submission form. If you've never participated before, please read the submission guidelines. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.