Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to spread God’s love to others and work on service and outreach projects. With just a little advance preparation, your homeschoolers will be ready to brighten the day of nursing home residents, neighbors, friends and others they may encounter . Here are a few links for inspiration.
Service/Outreach Ideas
Watch Me Homeschool has 10 days of outreach ideas complete with accompanying scriptures.
Thirty Handmade Days features 30 ideas for Random Acts of Kindness that can be adapted for any time of the year.
Scripture Valentine Printables
Not Consumed has 7 themed Scripture Valentine printables.
Priority Ministries has a nice Scripture printable page along with a link to more ideas.
Our family recently drove from Texas to Florida to help Grandma celebrate her 80th birthday. As we crossed into each new state, we stopped at the state welcome center. Welcome centers are always fun for us, we like inspect the displays of state attractions and colorful brochures and flyers. Since I am helping my 2nd grader to understand the concepts of state vs. country vs. continent this school year, I wanted to collect something to show that each state is unique and different from his home state of Texas. I mentioned this fact to the hostess at one Louisiana Welcome Center and she was enthusiastically supportive! She showered us with lots of lovely Louisiana specific items: beautiful calendars, interesting postcards, neon-colored pencils and more. She was even kind enough to go to the “back room” to search out the best brochures listing the important facts of Louisiana. It was her idea to give us two copies of several items- one to save whole and one to cut up for scrapbooks. My 2nd grader was thrilled to have bag full of treasures. As a home educator, I was thrilled that my son was learning about social studies without even knowing it. Our scrapbook will have many lovely pages featuring Louisiana!Not only did I leave that particular welcome center with a new appreciation of Louisiana hospitality, I realized anew that state welcome centers are a treasure trove of information for learning about US history and geography. Next time you take a road trip, don’t look at the welcome center as just a spot to stop stretch your legs. Take time to let the hosts/hostesses know that you are ready to learn about their state. Ask what interesting materials are available. Be sure to look for historical markers that might be near or around the welcome center. Remember to snap a few photos! All of these things will combine to become a living textbook for your children.
This is a wonderful opportunity for homeschool families around the WORLD to spend time in God’s great outdoors learning more about birds. Anyone in the world can submit a bird count report!
A snowflake unit study is a fun way to add interest to cold, dark winter days. Here are some ideas/links to get you started.
Start your snowflake learning with Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, a self-educated farmer who became a pioneer in the field of photomicrography, photographing more than 5000 snow crystals.
“Day by day we are sowing seeds for the future harvest. We cannot be too careful of the seed we sow by our words. Often words are carelessly spoken and forgotten, but these words, for good or ill, will bring forth a harvest. Sow one unkind, harsh word, and this seed, finding soil in the minds of the hearers, will spring up to bear fruit after its kind. Sow one seed in loving, gentle, Christlike words, and it will bring you rich returns. Let us guard ourselves, lest we speak words that are not a blessing, but a curse. If we sow wheat we shall reap wheat; if we sow tares we shall reap tares; and the harvest, whether of wheat or of tares, will be sure and abundant.”
I’ve always believed that early math learning does not require a formal math curriculum. When my children were young, we had lots of fun exploring math concepts through manipulative play. Let me share a few of my favorite math manipulatives.
1. Every homeschool math explorer needs a balance. With simple play, understanding of the concepts of balance, heavier, lighter, more, less and even will easily become clear. Most of my other favorite manipulatives have been weighed in this balance.
2 & 3. Colorful counters. The foam cubes(2) were purchased in a large pack for a dollar a great value! I’ve also seen wooden ones that are very nice. The rubber animal counters (3) are just plain fun. A set of counters is great for weighing, patterning, matching, one-to-one correspondence, sorting/classification and beginning addition/subtraction.
4. Geoboard. Creating designs on a geoboard requires more critical thinking than one may realize. I’ve noticed that even my middle & high school aged children have not outgrown enjoying our set of geoboards.
Math manipulatives don’t have to be expensive – start with the dollar bin at your favorite store.
5. Pattern blocks. I inherited these transparent pattern blocks from a teacher friend many years ago. These are invaluable! You can find lots of great pattern block printables that your children will enjoy for many years.
6. Dominoes. You can make up matching games using dominoes, work on one-to-one correspondence and practice beginning addition. Don’t forget to line them up and knock them over!
7. Connecting cubes. These are my favorites for patterning, non-standard measurement and learning to count by fives and tens.
Looking to add to your collection of math manipulatives? Try checking the dollar store and used homeschool materials websites. Also, try searching for “printable math manipulatives” – there are lots available. If you have a handy/crafty friend or relative, they can make you a set of wooden counters, as well as a geoboard.
Do you have some math manipulatives that are your favorites? Leave a comment and tell me about how you use them in your homeschool.
Mr Printables is such a neat site! I came across this great printable today and I just had to share it with you. Printable World Flags – how fun! Click on the image to go directly to the page, but be sure to browse around the site as well.
Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to spread God’s love to others and work on service and outreach projects. With just a little advance preparation, your homeschoolers will be ready to brighten the day of nursing home residents, neighbors, friends and others they may encounter . Here are a few links for inspiration.
The Adventist Home Educator 