Homeschool & Parenting

As someone that has always been on a budget in regards to our classroom, this list of free homeschool curriculum is definitely an amazing place to begin.  With dozens of options for great things like unit studies, printables, and complete lesson plans, you can’t go wrong with beginning here.

Ultimate List Of Free Homeschool Curriculum

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Free homeschool curriculum isn’t what it used to be.  It isn’t just a handful of suggestions and 2-3 printable items.  You can, very easily, in fact, create an entire education using some amazing online resources.  I admit, I love grabbing anything free to supplement our choice of purchased curriculum, but when money is tight, we have worked with just freebies and our son hasn’t gotten behind yet.  Utilizing free homeschool curriculum is not only budget-friendly, it is a great way to see what is out there that may not be included in your traditional curriculum packets.  We have really loved finding fun new learning concepts, as well as some more in-depth studies on subjects we find of interest.

Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool – This is one of our favorites since it is truly a complete curriculum.  At the time of this post, it includes preschool to 8th grade, but there is also a complete high school option in the works.

Donna Young – If you are a fan of the Charlotte Mason style of education, this is an ideal place to find ideas, lesson plans, tutorials, and many resources.

Starfall and ABCYa:  I love these two sites for the first few years of review.  They both offer basic learning for preschool to 2nd or 3rd grade.  They really helped our son with his early letter and site word recognition as well as basic mathematics concepts.

Scholastic – If you are raising a reader like we are, then this is a great place to go for lesson plans around specific books. I love taking a book he is already enjoying and making it into something that can be used as an educational tool.

Discovery Education and PBS Kids – These are both associated with their related television channels and networks.  They offer tons of great lesson plans, videos, and additional resources to go alongside popular shows. If you are using television in your homeschool classroom, these are great resources.

Homeschool.com – In the past I have written a few articles for this site and their monthly online magazine.  There are tons of great resources and tips on other types of the curriculum here.  Definitely a site to bookmark for thousands of free resources and ideas in one location.

The Notebooking Fairy – I have never done notebooking with the Wee Child, but many love the concept.  This site is a great place, to begin with, I believe, over 100 options and ideas to begin.

Ambleside Online – While I have never used this site, I have heard and read great reviews on the Charlotte Mason style lesson plans and ideas available. Definitely worth checking out and adding to your routine.

Teachers Pay Teachers – If you are looking for printables and lesson plans, this site offers both freebies and paid products.  Watch for regular sales and promotions to grab the freebies when available.  Since most of these come from teachers in traditional schools, they often have concepts and ideas that fit seamlessly into your regular curriculum.

If you are looking for some religious based curriculum ideas, The Puritans Network ,ABC Jesus Loves Me, Mater Amabilis are all pretty cool sites with unique takes on education from a Biblical or religious standpoint.

Dad’s Worksheets has tons of great Math worksheets that are free to use.  They offer amazing options for multiple ages and needs, and are really easy to follow.

Khan Academy – I think this free homeschool curriculum is probably on the top list for most parents.  Khan Academy covers mathematics in detail but is also branching out into other subjects.  Tons of great online review options, printables, and tips.

If you are looking for great math drill, reviews, or lesson plan ideas, take a look at Math Aids, Understanding Algebra, and Math A Tube.  All offer various levels of mathematics curriculum to browse and use in your homeschool classroom.

For science related lessons, we use the free homeschool curriculum offered by MIT, Think Earth, and NASA for Kids.  I have also seen stellar reviews for Science 4 Us, Supercharged Science, and Jason.  If programming or coding are of interest, Code Academy is a great choice.

Since we do a lot of traveling that also brings us near the National Park Systems, we use their site for fun facts about the different national and even state parks we encounter.  You’d be surprised at how much free curriculum is offered at visitors centers across the nation.

History is one of our favorite subjects, and we often find that it coincides with science since many scientific discoveries are a part of our world history. We like to combine the two by taking the time to use things like History Channel documentaries and breaking them down into smaller shows so we can pick apart the technology and such mentioned to study them closer.  This was especially helpful when we studied about World War II last Spring.  Other great history resources include the following sites: Civil War.org, iCivics, and Mission US.

One of my least favorite things to teach is actually Language and Grammar.  While I do okay on my own, teaching someone else the concepts just isn’t simple for me.  I definitely prefer to use a traditional curriculum, but for free homeschool curriculum supplements, these sites are ideal.

• The Easy Essay
• Teacher Vision
• Guide To Grammar And Writing
• Daily Grammar
• Spelling City
• AAA Spelling

I have been using Handwriting Worksheets since the Wee Child was only 3-4 years old.  It is literally one of my favorite free homeschool curriculum resources since I can create so many different types of pages for him to practice spelling, handwriting, and vocabulary.  Another resource we often encourage him to use is the Typing Tutor.  We realize how important that will be for him as he gets older, so we have started early.

As I grab and use the various free homeschool curriculum, I have begun taking notes in my lesson plan journal of where they came from so I can easily access them again later.  There are tons of great ideas for homeschooling and finding free curriculum.  This is just my favorite list to begin.

Are you looking for more homeschool support?  Come join our Homeschooling Lazy Parent Style group today!

More Homeschooling Tips:

• Life-Changing Homeschool Organization Ideas
• STEM Activities Every Kid Will Enjoy
• Ways To Kick Start Your Homeschool
• 7 Tips For Cheap Homeschool Curriculum

I’ve always loved the idea of Spring Cleaning and my spring cleaning tips are much needed for busy moms like you and me.  It’s a way to get rid of all of the junk in the house and it means sunshine is on its way. However, cleaning with kids at home can be a true nightmare. Not to mention, I’m super busy, so it’s not always easy to get things situated and ready for cleaning. Over the years, I have found some tricks though and I hope they make spring cleaning easier for you like they have for me!

5 Spring Cleaning Tips For Busy Moms

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1. Have your spouse take the kids somewhere: If I’m smack dab in the middle of Spring cleaning, I really like it when my husband takes the kids somewhere.  This is one of my favorite Spring cleaning tips because sometimes it is the only way I can get the house cleaned. It’s not always for a super long period of time, but if the kids aren’t in the house, I can get so much more cleaned than ever before.
2. Don’t expect too much: I’ve also learned that when spring cleaning with kids around, don’t expect too much. You can’t possibly get as much cleaning done as you want when your kids are all there. I always start doing one task and finish it before moving onto the next. If my kids have had enough with me trying to clean, then I just stop. No sense in fighting with my kids, all while trying to have a clean house.
3. Clean as you go: One tip I’ve found very helpful while having little ones is to clean as I go. It’s much easier to spring clean while I do my regular cleaning. If I’m putting away laundry, I pull out the clothes that are too small. I even invested in a sorting hamper to help make that easier.  If I’m doing dishes, I try and scrub the cupboards as I go using an all purpose cleaner and microfiber cloth.  These little cleaning tips make it much easier to do a good deep clean later.
4. Schedule in spring cleaning time: One tip you’ll want to take note of is to actually schedule in spring cleaning time. You know, put it on your calendar and in your phone. You certainly don’t want to forget to spring clean your home, especially since it makes your house look and feel so much better.  It’s also the time of year you want to remember to check batteries in smoke detectors and do basic household updates like checking windows and doors for seals and scheduling a check-upfor your air conditioner.
5. Ask for help: Yes, the dreaded “ask for help” is one of the best Spring cleaning tips. You’re only one person with multiple little ones running around, take the time to ask for help. And if all else fails, just hire someone else to do it. I’ve been known to hire help if I can’t get to the task. Why not?

What tips do you have for spring cleaning as a busy mom? I’d love to hear your tips!

Check out some of our other great cleaning and organization tips!

12 Easy Tips To Spring Cleaning

15 Homemade Household Cleaning Agents

Ultimate List of Cleaning Hacks & Tricks

Tips For Organizing Small Bathrooms

Ways To Build Toddler Gross Motor Skills

Toddlers are naturally inclined to run, jump, play and kick. These Ways To Build Toddler Gross Motor Skills can easily work with the natural part of who they are (endless bundles of energy). But guiding their natural bend to achieve some desired skills is easy and still fun for them!  Here are 7 basic motions toddlers should be doing and ideas on how to incorporate them into your day to get you started, keep them busy, and build those gross motor muscles!

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

1. Throwing/Tossing– Be sure to have a variety of balls on hand to peak your child’s interest and keep them busy- a simple playground ball, foam football, etc.. Besides just tossing them back and forth give them some other games to play-toss a ball through a hula hoop hung from the tree, into a basket, encourage them to throw a certain distance and then practice until they beat that distance.

2. Kicking-   Add soccer balls to the balls in their play yard, include cones and some sort of goal for them to aim for. Bring back kick the can!

3. Riding– Even while children are not yet walking riding toys can provide wonderful gross motor development, when the push/walk along while sitting on it. Later as their skills develop incorporate tricycles and other riding and pedaling toys.

4. Jumping-Have your child hop over small objects in the yard like sticks, lay a yardstick long ways in front of them and have them see how far they can jump, mark it and have them keep trying to jump further and further. Have them hop on one foot only, then switch to the other.

5.Pulling and Pushing– Pushing their baby doll (or mommy) on the swing, pulling a wagon,  -all these activities build important arm muscles and upper body strength in your little ones that will help them grow and develop. Their are also many pushing and pulling toys you can purchase to att

6. Walking and Running– Have races with your child,  take walks at the park, and walk instead of driving when you can and it is safe to do so, give them a balance beam to also build their coordination- you needn’t go buy one a 4×4 or landscape timber secured  in the ground will suffice.

7. Climbing– Take every opportunity to use the stairs, assist your child in climbing ladders and little rock walls  at the playground.  Climbing on and off toys, chairs, etc. will also work for these exercises.

Incorporate all these activities into a simple obstacle course occasionally to mix it up and create a fun outdoor experience.

7 WAYS TO BUILD TODDLERS FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Building up little hand muscles lays the foundation for so many other skills your little one will need like writing some day.   Here are Ways To Build Toddlers Fine Motor Skills that we have used with our own children with great success.  Include intentional activities everyday to make it fun and give them what they need for future success.

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

Play is a natural part of every toddlers day and all activities can be introduced as part of of it. Here are some activities that not only build up fine motor skills but things like hand eye coordination and are just fun for them!

Play dough– Squeezing, pulling, rolling, pinching, shaping- while it is fun that is not all this activity does for your child.  Playing with play dough builds and strengthens small muscles in the hand.  Whether you purchase it at the store or make your own at home this definitely deserves a place in your teaching materials.

Simple Puzzles– The skills it takes to grasp puzzle pieces and twist, turn, and fit them into place give your child’s hands a workout. 4,6, and 8 piece puzzles are a great starting point.

Beading– Lacing beads  are not only fun for toddlers but provide them with an opportunity to practice grasping and  threading which works on building small muscles, as well as hand eye coordination, and gives them a sense of accomplishment when they are able to do it.

Sorting–  As much as children love to mix things up they also love to sort it out. Objects like pompoms can be moved from the table to a cup using pinchers or a spoon. Grasping, pinching, holding can all be done with hands to strengthen.

Building- Simple wooden blocks or more complex blocks like Duplo build not only fine motor but also creative play, hand eye coordination, and they can also be used for counting, color identification, and more. These can be left out during the day and children are naturally drawn to them.

Dressing- Buttons and zippers are fantastic practice and also teach a real world skill. Encourage your tot to attempt dressing or undressing themselves, give help before they become too frustrated. A learn to dress toy is also a great way to practice these skills.

Cutting– Purchase a pair or two of safety scissors  provide your toddler with paper like construction paper, strips of newspaper, or old magazines, then teach them how to hold scissors properly and make cuts.  Even at this age you can and should begin teaching them to safely hold and carry a pair of scissors.

Check out our other great tips for teaching your toddler!

7 Ways To Teach Toddlers Colors

10 Free Homeschool Resources

Using Legos In Your Homeschool

You are naturally teaching your toddler throughout the day at home or while you are out and about but there are lots of ways to intentionally teach them what you want them to know. In our first in this series for teaching toddlers, I am sharing 7 Ways To Teach Toddlers Colors.  Colors are one of first things you might purposefully start practicings. I have gathered 7 specific ways to introduce and reinforce colors for you and your toddler.

7 Ways to Teach Toddlers Colors

1. Color  hunt- When my kids were toddling about and I wanted to teach them colors one of the most fun activities we would do was a color hunt. I would hand them a basket with a handle and a piece of colored paper attached as a tag. We would then hunt indoors or out  for everything we could find of that color until our basket was full. For instance for yellow we ended up with- a banana, a yellow sock, a toy rubber duck, a foam sun, etc…I would reinforce the color often by saying “This is a yellow umbrella”. or asking my child “What color is this duck?”

2. Matching-  Toss a bunch of random items into a large basket- two of each color. Demonstrate how to match two items of the same color, say the name as you pull one out, ask your child to repeat the name. You can use manipulatives like blocks, foam balls, or even squares of construction paper.

3. Color Sorting– Pop circles of various construction paper colors in the bottom of a muffin tin then provide your child with small objects of the same colors- buttons, pompoms, counting bears, beads, LEGOS, etc. Point to a color, identify the name and ask them to put all the objects of that color in the correct “bowl”.

4. Colored Food-Make it a color themed day to make the learning fun! Serve food of all one color for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, or all of them! Learning about orange? Serve orange juice, orange slices, carrot sticks, diced mango, Doritos, orange sweet peppers, apricots, cantaloupe, squash, etc.

5. Sensory Play- Nothing is as fun to a toddler as making a mess so embrace it in your teaching and besides it is just plain old good fun! Dye water, shaving cream, pasta or rice and fill a big container with it.(the bathtub is wonderful for this and makes for easy clean up).  Again reiterate colors, ask questions like “What else is blue besides this water?”  Let them finger paint with the color of the day using paint , jello, or pudding.

6. I Spy Colors– Besides teaching them, this game can keep them occupied while you are at the grocery store, the doctors office, the post office, or  in the car. Let them point out the color you choose, or point at an object and ask them what color they spy.  “I spy something the color of the sky” Have them find something the same color and so on.

7. Bean Bag Toss– This one gets some gross motor skills a work out too. Make a bean bag by filling a sock with beans or rice, tie it off securely. Tape colored sheets of construction paper to the floor, have your toddler toss the “beanbag” and identify the color it lands on.

Lots of fun, play, encouragement, and positive reinforcement will have your toddler mastering all the colors of the rainbow in no time!

Check out some of our favorite tips for homeschooling!

Ways To Kick Start Your Homeschool

Using Legos In Your Homeschool

Using Television In Your Homeschool Curriculum

7 Tips For Cheap Homeschool Curriculum

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

The beach is a very popular summer destination no matter where you live. Family beach trips are by far some of my favorite times with my family. That’s why I am sharing these Things to do at the Beach with Kids!  Even though they are some of my favorite times, sometimes beach trips are less than relaxing. Even though the kids enjoy playing in the water but sometimes, they need other things to occupy their time between swimming sessions. That’s where my tips below will help!

Things to do at the Beach with Kids

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We love hitting the beaches with the kids.  These tips are ideal for you whether you are at a lake, the ocean, or even just the local pool.  Have fun swimming and enjoying the beach with your children this summer in safety!

Kites

Most beaches are nice and wide open, especially if you pick the least favorite ones in your area. If the beach itself isn’t wide open there is most likely an open space near you where you can fly a kite.  You can pick up cheap kites at local dollar stores, but we love the affordable but better quality kites on Amazon.  This Octopus Beginner Kite is always a hit, and if you are looking for something a bit more fun grab the dragon kite!

Sports

This can be anything from kicking a ball with the little kids to a game of Football, Volleyball or even kick around a soccer ball with the older kids.  Many beaches even have areas designated for volleyball or throwing around a Frisbee. 

Clean Up the Beach

Bring a garbage bag with you. Walk the beach and pick up all the trash you find. Picking things up can make your own beach time easier and more fun, but can also help others who visit after you. 

Gather Rocks

Take some time to gather some rocks to take home to color or paint. You can then hide them around town for other people to find.  You can even check out tips from our friend Katie on Where to Find Beach Glass that will make it even more fun to clean up! 

Play Games

If the beach isn’t too crowded you can play games like Simon Says, Red Rover, Pictionary (in the sand), Red Light/Green Light, tic-tac-toe (in the sand), and hopscotch (in the sand). Many of the ‘backyard’ games you played as a kid can be played at the beach.  

Sandcastles

Of course, you can’t visit the beach and not make sandcastles. It doesn’t matter if you make a big elaborate castle or a huge mound of sand. Either way, your kids will have a great time and love that you are spending time with them. Take a walk around the beach and find things to decorate your castle with to make it even more fun. Pick up a bag of beach toys with molds and shovels to make this even more fun!

Beach Ball Toss

Bring a beach ball with you and a couple extra beach towels. It takes two kids to hold the towel (one on each of the shorter ends) and they can bounce it back and forth. The point is to not drop the ball on the ground. You can even have them try to go back and forth over a volleyball net.

Put Up a Tent

If you plan to be at the beach all day, you can put a beach tent up. This will provide a cool place for everyone to relax during the day and a spot for the little ones to nap out of the sun. Some beaches allow overnight camping so check the beaches around you to see if that is an option.

Read

Bring a few of your kid’s favorite books and spend some time reading to them while sitting on the beach.  We have some great lists of kids book club books as well as some books for bookworm tweens to read that will fit into your day easily!

Water Fight

Bring some super soakers or water guns and have the kids have a water fight on the beach. You could even join them.  Water balloons are a great option too, but just make sure you are willing and able to clean up any leftover balloon remnants on the beach afterward! 

There are so many things to do at the beach in and out of the water. The beach is a perfect destination to spend a few hours or a whole day. Just because you are on the beach doesn’t mean you are only limited to the water. Use your imagination and have a great time!

More Summer Tips for Kids:

• Summer Fun in the Petoskey Area of Northern Michigan
• 50+ Summer Fun Ideas for Kids
• Summer Activities to Get Kids Away from the TV
• Fun Things to do in the Summer with Kids
• 18 Ways to Include Education into Summer Vacation
• What to Pack for a Beach Vacation
• Best Family Friendly Resorts in Wisconsin
• Tips for Camping with Toddlers