Homeschool Showcase #32

It's time for another great edition of the Homeschool Showcase!  I hope you'll enjoy this week's selection of posts, offering inspiration, encouragement, tips and ideas as we showcase some of the fun, exciting, hands-on ways that homeschooling families live, learn, and enjoy life together...and I hope you won't be too disappointed about the several dozen spam posts that I didn't include.  If you'd like some idea of what you're missing there, be sure to read Jimmie's post about them.  I love her idea of a spam carnival! ;-)


First up, I always enjoy Amida's family's idea-inspiring, creative art projects.  Now, she's set some of her family's more creative, artistic moments to music.  You can view Amida's incredibly fun and creative YouTube video, Journey Into Art at Journey Into Unschooling.


Ticia Messing shares her kids' adorable self-portraits (and her own!) in her post, stART: Me on the Map, posted at Adventures in Mommydom.  Ticia says, "This is the first in a series we'll be doing, as we slowly expand outwards from me to the world."  I've heard a lot about Me on the Map, but this post really makes me want to look into it more closely.  It sounds like a lot of fun.


I wish I'd had Julie Moses' tutorial for these awesome Greek Vases when we studied Ancient Greece a while back.  They turned out great and it looks like such a fun project.  You can see the full tutorial at Ms. Julie's Place.  Also, Julie reminds us not to "forget to send in your submissions for the Gallery Blog Carnival of kids art projects at my blog coming up on October 1st. The deadline for submissions is September 27th."

photo by ms. julie


Faith,  The Reluctant Homeschooler, shares her plans for her son's senior year, saying, "For his senior year, I've come up with a list of books that are interesting and impactful, and will take my son into worlds of poverty, slavery, and social injustice that most of us are blissfully unaware of. I'm calling the course 'Exploring Social Injustice through Literature.'"


Another of my favorite creative homeschool mommas, Jolanthe, shares her lesson plans for Learning About Spain posted at Homeschool Creations.  As usual, she has some great ideas for one of my favorite topics -- world geography.  So, grab your passports and have fun visiting Spain!


Rachel Miller, of quirkymomma.com shares a fun Dirt Experiment that can be adapted for a wide variety of ages.  If you're doing a unit on geology or the Earth, be sure to include this simple, but fun and educational experiment. 

photo by rachel miller


I'm making notes on Kristen H.'s Homeschool Student Book Club Plans.  What a great idea for adding some purpose and fun to your reading!  You can read the details at A Day in the Life and get some ideas for your own homeschool group.


I had to chuckle a bit when I read Tina's post, Planing to unschool was just another "plan", posted at Homeschool Road Trip.  How many times have your great plans been foiled by your kids ideas -- you know, those ideas that work out even better than your plans?  I love that Tina was able to see that her unschooling plans really haven't been thwarted after all.  I bet she and her kids have a wonderful time learning together.


My nature study inspiration, Barb, is quickly becoming my art inspiration, as well.  I really enjoyed her post, Pen and Ink Drawing, posted at Harmony Art Mom.  Barb offers tips and resources for building on a love of sketching by introducing another medium and learning a new set of techniques, starting with cross-hatching.

photo by barb

Kakie presents September is National Literacy Month - Free Resources! posted at Bur Bur & Friends: Community Park, saying, "Numerous studies have confirmed that a leading factor for academic achievement is parent involvement. (Regardless of socio-economic background). Your kids are more motivated and successful so we put together some ideas and tools to help in the literacy process. Enjoy!"



Dan offers his tips for Indulging Your Kids’ Love of Insects, Dinosaurs or Whatever posted at My Dad Blog, saying, "With a child obsessed with insects, we figured we'd indulge his love of critters this summer with various activities and trips - he may not be this enthusiastic about nature forever, so we're living in the moment!"



Elisabeth shares her homeschool co-op's incredibly creative Middle Ages Co-op Day: Part I, complete with a way-cool time machine to transport participants back to the Middle Ages.  Visit Treasuring the Moments to enjoy the day through words and pictures.  And, although she only submitted Part I, you've got to be sure and check out Part II, as well.  I wish I was in Elisabeth's co-op!

photo by elisabeth


Alvina Lopez presents 100 Excellent Advice Site for Homeschoolers posted at Teaching Tips.  It includes some of my personal favorites, including Donna Young's fabulous site.



Paige, at Elemental Science, highlights her family's recent Impromptu Nature Study.  Aren't those unexpected learning moments often the best ones?

photo by paige


Jennifer shares her ideas for capitalizing on her kids' excitement over the upcoming book-turned-movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in her post, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Unit.  If your kids are looking forward to the movie, too, be sure to visit schooling memoirs for ideas on enjoying a unit study with them.


I can appreciate Jennifer's plan to capitalize on her kids' interests, since that's exactly what I'm planning on doing with our Twilight unit study.  I'm not sure exactly when we'll get to our unit, since it's time to start planning for our homeschool group's Around the World Day, but I'm looking forward to it.



That concludes this edition of Homeschool Showcase. Submit your blog article to the next edition, scheduled for October 5, using our carnival submission form. Submission deadline is Sunday, Oct. 4, by 4:00 PM (EST). Past posts can be found on our blog carnival index page.