Elementary Archives - Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

5 Ways to Make Learning About Money Fun

February 14, 2020 By Sara

Learning about money is an essential life skill, but it can be confusing and boring. Try Sara’s tips to make learning about money FUN!

Written by Sara Jordan Panning of Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Learning about money is an essential life skill to teach your children. But our monetary system can be a little boring – and confusing. Help your kids grasp the concept of money during your homeschool lessons by making the process engaging.

As you plan out your homeschool curriculum, consider these five ways to make learning about money fun.

Play Store

One fun way to teach your kids about money is to make the lesson a practical one. Set up a toy store with your kid’s favorite toys or create a play grocery store using food from your pantry. Place price tags on each item, give your kids a handful of change, and send them shopping. Help them add up their selections and ask them to pay the total using the money you gave them.

You can pick up some play money at your local dollar store or purchase realistic play money if you don’t want to use real money. [Read more…]

5 Practical Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Write Better

January 6, 2020 By Bethany Ishee

Are you a homeschool mom struggling to help your child become a better writer? It’s not as hard as you think. Try Bethany’s tips to help your homeschooler write better.

Written by Bethany Ishee of BethanyIshee.com.

Want to know a secret? Writing is a subject that many homeschool parents dread as much as their children do. While kids are groaning, “Why do I have to write?” their parents are lamenting, “How do I teach writing?”

So many questions and arguments arise as we struggle to help our homeschooler write better.

What’s a homeschool parent to do?

5 Practical Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Write Better

It’s not as mysterious as it seems. Just a few recommendations will help you lead your student to improved writing without tears and a red pen. As a bonus, these ideas work with any curriculum. So don’t think you need to buy something new. You can implement these tips today with what you have. [Read more…]

3 Inexpensive Screen-Free Games That Make Math Fun

December 5, 2019 By Kris Bales

If you’re looking for inexpensive, screen-free games that make math fun, check out the games from Absolute Zero. From practicing sums of ten to adding positive and negative integers, kids can practice vital math skills, all while having a blast!

I have a confession. When I’m playing games with friends and family, I make every effort not to be the scorekeeper. It stresses me to have people watching and waiting for me to tally their score.

What if I make an addition error? What if I draw a complete blank trying to add two numbers? Yes, I’m a grown adult, and I do possess basic math skills, but that math phobia from my school days is deeply embedded in my brain.

I know others share those math-phobic feelings. That’s why I love products like the games from Absolute Zero! They help kids overcome math anxiety by developing number sense in a fun, stress-free way.

Three Games that Make Math Fun from Absolute Zero

When I was actively homeschooling young learners, I relied heavily on games as a teaching tool. If we could make it a game, we did. And, I strongly preferred board and card games over online or computer-based games because once we turned that screen on, it was always hard to turn it off and get back on track.

That’s why I was so excited to discover the games from Absolute Zero. Created by a mom and math teacher, these games meet four of my main criteria:

They are educational card games that are fun to play
There are games for both older and younger students
There are tips for adapting each game for a broader range of skill level
Each game focuses on skills that kids need to improve number sense

[Read more…]

A Simple Way To Make Introducing Plant Classification Fun

October 11, 2019 By Heather Pleier

Make introducing plant classification fun and interest-led with a simple smartphone app. Learn how the Seek app makes it fun and easy to explore plant life.

Written by Heather Pleier of Wonderschooling.

In education, we tend to do things backward. We want to start with the book – with the head knowledge – and then, once they’re ready, give our kids a chance to try it out, to experience whatever they’ve learned.

We save the fun for last.

That’s a terrible idea. To learn something, we need two things: context and interest.

A Simple Way To Make Introducing Plant Classification Fun

While it’s great to provide background knowledge (and structure and rules as needed for safety), most people learn most effectively through experience. Then we can apply that learning to the larger picture of the textbook or unit study.

This summer, my kids and I worked on plant classification in a rather unorthodox way. We used an app on my smartphone. [Read more…]

Explore the World (and Learn Coding!)

August 16, 2019 By Kris Bales

Kids can explore world cultures, hone their writing skills, and learn to code with The Adventurous Mailbox! Learn more with this Adventurous Mailbox review.

Thanks to the Internet and the fact that it’s available 24/7 on devices small enough to fit in our pockets, our big wide world has evolved into a pretty small space. That fact has its pros and cons. One of the cons is that thanks to an emerging world culture, we’re at risk of losing touch with the rich diversity of individual cultures.

The Adventurous Mailbox hopes to change that by exploring the beauty of a variety of countries’ cultures through exciting books and activities. Along the way, kids ages 8-12 will learn the basics of coding, hone their writing skills, and learn about the history, geography, and folklore of the countries they visit.

What Is The Adventurous Mailbox?

The Adventurous Mailbox is an exciting book series and accompanying website that explores world cultures through the eyes of Crameye. Crameye is a young kid from Taiwan who goes on some pretty crazy adventures with his best friend, Neva. Oh, and there’s also Crameye’s kid sister, Buster, and Neva’s little sister, Thor. [Read more…]