Homeschool & Parenting

I am a part of many homeschool groups and boards through social media.  I enjoy reading others tips, ideas and questions, because it helps me to know I’m not alone in my struggles, but also makes me aware of things I might be missing in my sons curriculum.  One thing we have found since he has really started reading steadily is that he has a desire to learn how to spell more words.  While I had not planned a specific Spelling class this year for him, I have decided to introduce more spelling words and tests for him as part of his general curriculum.

Instead of giving him a random list of words to work on each week, I am creating lists of words around our unit studies, science projects, history chapters or even math problems of the week.  I can include general sight words and terms, along with other more difficult words that are linked to his curriculum and unit studies.  Since we are about to work through some great Fall themed books about leaves changing, Thanksgiving and being thankful, I was excited one of my friends had offered to make me these FREE Fall Spelling Worksheets For Early Readers.  Not only are they a fun coloring project for kids, they include some simple words about the season that they can practice and write themselves.  This is perfect for review, spelling lists and general vocabulary lessons.

While these were made for our 2nd grade student, they could be used for younger students depending on their reading skills at this level.  Our son is a rather advanced reader, and has conquered a lot of the other sight words for his grade level, so we think this has a good mix of items he can easily spell or be challenged by.

FREE FALL SPELLING WORKSHEETS FOR EARLY READERS

Check out our Homeschooling for Lazy Parents Facebook Support Group for more tips and ways to make your homeschooling experience easy to manage!

Just click on the images above to load the Fall Spelling Worksheets For Early Readers!  These list will be great for you to print and work them into your Fall curriculum.  Not only are they great for a fun art craft project, they are a great way to increase your kids sight word abilities, spelling abilities and writing skills!

Pumpkin Printable

Tree Printable

Turkey Printable

Do you want more free printable worksheets, spelling lists and homeschool materials?  If so, please leave a comment letting us know so we can include one each week for your classroom convenience!

Looking for more Free or Cheap Homeschool Resources?  Check out some of our other great tips!

Kids Fall Thumbprint Leaves Craft (includes suggested Fall themed books for unit study)

7 Tips For Cheap Homeschool Curriculum

10 FREE Homeschool Resources

One of the hardest things for us in homeschooling is getting back on track after a break.  The struggle is real.  Here are some Ways To Kick Start Your Homeschool that have really helped us to get back on track after a break.  Since we school year round, these are really important for our family.  There are often times when we get tired and simply need a few days or weeks off.  Down time and breaks are essential to homeschooling success.  After your next much needed break, put these simple tips into practice to help keep your classroom going strong and your kids learning.

WAYS TO KICK START YOUR HOMESCHOOL

Do a unit study.  Rather than going through your same old subjects each day, this is a great time to do a fun and simple unit study.  You can take a week to use a different way of learning like utilizing our tips for using Legos in your homeschool, or you can do a subject unit study like our favorite Farmer Boy unit study.  Unit studies are great for specific topics, words or even ideas.  Things like historical era’s, individual people, holiday’s or even things like insects, space exploration or rocketry are all favorites in our house.  A unit study will focus on one subject, but incorporates he history of the subject, science behind it, vocabulary and spelling and how it applies to daily life.

Set a new schedule or routine.  Change things up a bit.  Instead of starting in first thing in the morning, try a new morning routine.  Work together on chores, or even exercise together in the mornings and do school time in the afternoons.  Sometimes mixing up your schedule is al you need to get back on track.  You could even switch from a little of each subject per day, to focusing a few hours on only one subject each day, but still getting all subjects covered each week.

Make a gradual transition.  Sometimes you need to kick start your homeschool simply by taking it gradually.  That means taking your schedule lightly for a few days and gradually get back into the full swing of things.  Focus on doing just a few worksheets the first day.  Then transition to more reading, projects or class time the next day.  Gradually increase each day for a week until you are back in your old routine again.

Sometimes after a break, you simply need to kick start your homeschool with a bit of oomph.  Other times you need to take things slowly or mix things up a bit.  Homeschooling can be a wonderful way to be flexible in your schedule while connecting to your children, but you still need to figure out methods to make things run more smoothly.  Hopefully these tips will help you like they have helped us.

For more great homeschool tips check out some of our favorite posts!

Using Television In Your Homeschool Curriculum

10 Free Homeschool Resources

7 Steps To An Organized Homeschool Classroom

Deciding If Homeschoolng Year Round Is Beneficial

Check out our Homeschooling for Lazy Parents Facebook Support Group for more tips and ways to make your homeschooling experience easy to manage!

Looking for ideas to incorporate Farmer Boy into your homeshool? We grew up reading the Little House On The Prairie series of books, and Farmer Boy was always a favorite.  Check out this Farmer Boy Unit Study that is perfect for introducing this book to your children.

FARMER BOY UNIT STUDY

Check out our Homeschooling for Lazy Parents Facebook Support Group for more tips and ways to make your homeschooling experience easy to manage!

I couldn’t wait until I had little girl and  was she big enough to read my favorite childhood  books with me- The Little House on the Prairie series. I had pinned all my hopes on sharing Laura, Mary, Ma, Pa, and baby Carries adventures with her, but she is only 3, and while I have read some of the chapters aloud we are not there yet. But then I realized- “Wait! I have a boy of 6 now, he is big enough, why am I saving it for a girl?” However my boy runs from anything with any girly theme whatsoever so it was a no go until I pulled out Farmer Boy and promised him it was full of boy adventures, even a fight, and well farming. ( I am telling ya’ll I barely snuck this gingham cover past him!) Once we made it through the first chapter he was hooked on learning about life on the farm and Almanzo a boy of not quite nine years old. It certainly made him appreciate his little chore list more!

First we read through the book over the course of a couple weeks ( we read two chapters a day on average) which led to many discussions about the differences in the way things were then as opposed to now.  We talked about how modern conveniences had changed the world so much- grocery stores meant that most people no longer HAVE to grow their own food.  Electricity and large appliances like freezers keep food preserved until you are ready too cook it.  Nowadays Families are often  busy watching TV, playing video games, and checking their Facebook status -no longer are our only amuse ments -sledding, sitting around a fire with our family enjoying popcorn and milk, making homemade candy, and the simpleness of county fairs. Sad right?

At the end of our reading we decided to spend a day living like Almanzo and his family.  Sometimes the best way to learn about a subject is to immerse yourself in it, and live it out!  We picked a day to commit to no technology such as tv, tablets, or cell phones ( we did use our electricity for cooking and lighting but you could grill and use flashlights and lanterns if you really want to get even more in character. Here are a few of the activities we included in our Farmer Boy mini unit study.

Write on “slates”– We used our  chalkboard slates to write new words we encountered during our reading as well as for writing out  simple math problems. Then I let the kids just free draw and write on their chalkboards for awhile, they became a favorite activity throughout the day since we had no T.V. We made our slates by taping off the edges of a Dollar Tree cookie sheet with painters tape and spraying on several coats of chalkboard paint-these will serve us throughout many studies!

Apple Cider and Popcorn Snack/Activity-Early in the book the family is enjoying popcorn , apples and apple cider around the  fire (sounds dreamy right?)  So for a snack we had the same- Apple Cider, apples, and salty, buttered popcorn. They were delicious but we also had to try Almanzo’s trick of putting a full cup of popcorn into a full cup of milk to see if it worked- It did! That was a fun experiment and also tasty!

Farm Life- We actually have chickens next door on my mother in laws property, this is a great simple taste of farm life for the kids. We gathered eggs and threw cracked corn to the chickens and talked about how this was a daily chore for the family along with milking cows, and feeding the rest of the livestock. Ask your child if they think they would enjoy that kind of life. Why or why not?  If you don’t have or don’t want to have any kind of farm animals consider a visit to a petting zoo or working farm for a field trip.

Here are some other activities that would be great to go along with Farmer Boy:

Make Butter- This is one of our favorite activities and we have done it several times for various studies, and it couldn’t be easier! Just place some heavy cream in a jar-a mason, or baby food jar work great. Add in a marble and a pinch of salt, then shake…for a long time.. Like 20 minutes , this is a  great activity to take turns with. Your butter is ready when it is pretty solid, and separated from the liquid- pour this liquid off ( this is buttermilk). Store in fridge to firm up and voila!

Plant Potatoes- Here is a  great tutorial on growing potatoes in a container to conserve space from simply frugal .  This will take awhile to see results

Plant a milk pumpkin- Try planting pumpkins and trying Almanzo’s prize winning trick of cutting a slit in the vine and placing a wick from the slit into a bowl of milk. This obviously is a much longer project again, but how rewarding at the end!

Make Ice Cream- How fun for the kids and how tasty to make homemade ice cream like the Wilder  children did when tending house.  Making it in a baggie is the simplest way and is really a ton of fun for the kids. If found a simple tutorial here at Tasty Kitchen.

Sledding- If you live somewhere with snow you can spend the day sledding and throwing snowballs like Almanzo enjoyed during the winter months.

Bake Potatoes- If you are going to cook outside on the grill or have a fire pit going, make potatoes like in the book. Wrap them in foil (not in the book but I just cant toss potatoes directly into the fire and eat them) and let them roast away for a while.   Try it directly from the fire plain and then fill them up with butter, sour cream and whatever toppings you and your child will enjoy. This makes a great lunch or dinner!

Whatever items you choose to do with your Farmer Boy Unit Study, you are sure to have fun reading these books with your kids again.  Sometimes it is great to simply step back in time and enjoy things like they were “back in the day”.

Looking for other great Homeschool studies and tips?  Check out some of our favorites below!

Using Legos In Your Homeschool

Using Television In Your Homeschool Curriculum

7 Tips For Cheap Homeschool Curriculum

Free Transportation Worksheets For Early Readers

As a mom who has been breastfeeding her children for years, these tips for breastfeeding in public modestly come from my own personal experiences.  Breastfeeding is no easy task and it takes a lot of time and effort. Whenever it comes time to breastfeed in public, it’s easy to get a little nervous. I prefer to cover up when I nurse in public, but not all moms do. If you’re still trying to perfect your breastfeeding style in public, check out these tips.

Tips For Breastfeeding In Public Modestly

Sit in the corner of the establishment

Whenever I walk into a restaurant, I always ask for a corner booth or a table away from everyone else. I’m not afraid of people seeing me nurse, but it’s nice to not have the stares from everyone else.  Sitting in the corner of an establishment allows you to enjoy a meal with your family without feeling pressure from everyone else.  I am proud of my choice to breastfeed, but prefer to remain modest and private.

Wear a tank and an over shirt.

I have found that wearing a tank top and an over shirt has helped me be more modest with nursing. I am big chested and I have a tummy from having four children. I feel less self-conscious if I am covered from all angles. Even if you choose to not cover, which is completely your choice, the baby will be covering your nipple and your shirts will be covering your breast and tummy. Who can really complain about that?  There are some excellent nursing tanks to choose from, or a simple classic tank can work depending on your body type and chest size.

Surround yourself with things and people.

Whenever I need to nurse in public and want a bit of privacy, I will surround myself with items and people. I’ll put the infant car seat on the table so it’s blocking me or I’ll have my husband sit in front of me. Sometimes I’ll even lower myself into my chair so the table is blocking me.  There are even many nursing cover options you can keep in your diaper bag to help keep you an your baby covered and modest if you prefer.  Breastfeeding in public modestly often means using what is most available to help provide cover while my baby is enjoying their meal.

Let me get this straight. I’m not telling any woman to cover up or hide. I’m simply giving advice to those who feel more comfortable being covered up. I am big breasted and like my privacy!  Breastfeeding in public modestly can be achieved, and will allow you to continue this wonderful method of feeding your baby and bonding with them. What are some ways you keep things modest while nursing?

Courtesy of Meg Esau Photograpy – featuring Jess W.

Check out our other parenting tips! 

How To Create A Bedtime Routine For School Aged Kids

5 Ways To Teach Your Kids About Recycling

Reasons To Give Your Child A Cellphone

Cheap Activities To Do With Kids

Are You Feeding Your Kids Enough Or Too Much?