Category: High School(9-12)

Seeds + Dirt =

Ann1 Comment

Seeds + Dirt = the beginnings of a great nature study!

 You will find that even  very young children love the idea of helping to grow a plant.   There are lots of options for learning how a seed becomes a plant.   A wet paper towel inside of a sealed sandwich bag is a fun way to watch a seed sprout.   A small pot with soil will create great interest as your child waits for the seed to pop through the soil.  Quick germinating seeds like radishes, melons, or lettuce will be exciting to wait for.   If  you have the space outdoors, a  manageable-sized vegetable or flower garden for the entire family to enjoy is a worthwhile project.

Dropping a seed into soil is more than just a fun school project.  There are valuable character lessons for your children to to learn: responsibility, diligence, perseverance, and more.

“The parable of the sower and the seed conveys a deep spiritual lesson. The seed represents the principles sown in the heart, and its growth the development of character. Make the teaching on this point practical. The children can prepare the soiland sow the seed; and as they work, the parent or teacher can explain to them the garden of the heart, with the good or bad seed sown there; and that as the garden must be prepared for the natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth. As the plant grows, the correspondence between the natural and the spiritual sowing can be continued.”

Child Guidance, 56

Here are a few links to give you inspiration:

My First Garden

Nature Garden Activities

Children in the Garden

Planting a Garden with your Child

Curriculum Reviews

~MelissaLeave a comment

With the abundance of curriculum available to us, it is often hard to know with reading the little snippets from catalogs or websites… if a particular curriculum will work for you and your child. Also, you may wonder what the materials present from a religious standpoint. Sometimes products sound good, but are a lot more work than you realized. Purchasing items that won’t work for you can be costly.

In the curriculum reviews, we share items that have worked well with following True Education principles. We share details, when we can, that will help you see if this curriculum is going to be a good fit for you and your child. Click the AHE logo below and you will be taken directly to the Curriculum Reviews page on the Adventist Home Educator website.


 

Nature Study from Your Window

Ann1 Comment
Nuthatch and Chickadee at our simple feeder setup, just 6 feet from our bedroom window.
Woodpecker at the suet feeder
We get a few visits from a Painted Bunting every year.

Setting up a bird feeder is a fun way to add a nature study element to your homeschool curriculum.  It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated .  Our main feeder station is made from a landscape timber set on end with a scrap board nailed on top.  Just 6 feet from one of our windows, we have an excellent vantage point from which to enjoy watching birds year-round.   Add a few different types of feeders and  types of feed, and watch an amazing array of birds visit your feeders!  Don’t know anything about birds?  Do what we did when we first started:   We taped photo sheets like these of common feeder birds to the window for easy and quick identification. These coloring sheets of common feeder birds were helpful as well.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Coming Soon!

AnnLeave a comment

For our US and Canadian homeschool families that may not be familiar with this event, this is a fun way to incorporate nature study into your program and make a contribution to science at the same time!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event.

Click on the image to head over to the GBBC website where you can learn more about the count, download activity pages and tally sheets and learn more about birds in preparation for the count.

We will be posting more ideas in the coming days on how to get started birdwatching and turn this event into a fun bird unit study and family nature study activity

Show What You Know: Printable Idea List

AnnLeave a comment

Show what you know is a printable list of ideas that go beyond the usual report or test.   Creative ideas to help your student express what they have learned in a manner that fits his or her learning style.    Adapt the ideas to fit your student’s ability level and create a unique end product.

Fun Links for January

Ann1 Comment

Happy New Year! 2011 is before us, full of possibility.  Here are some links to start off the new year.

**Looking for a Bible Reading Plan for younger children? Here’s the Adventist Junior Youth Bible Year Plan.   It is a four -year plan that divides the Bible readings into themes by chapters, such as Prophecy, Praises and Peace.

** If this is your year to get organized as a homeschooling mom, here are some great ideas for creating a home management binder. Pick and choose ideas that fit your needs.

**Here are some Pathfinder Honors that would make great unit studies for the new year.   These are most appropriate for upper elementary age students and above.

Personal Evangelism

Temperance

Stewardship

**If you are studying Adventist Pioneers in the coming year, AdventSource has a set of posters that may be helpful to your study.

Fun Links for January

~MelissaLeave a comment

Happy New Year! 2011 is before us, full of possibility.  Here are some links to start off the new year.

**Looking for a Bible Reading Plan for younger children? Here’s the Adventist Junior Youth Bible Year Plan.   It is a four -year plan that divides the Bible readings into themes by chapters, such as Prophecy, Praises and Peace.

** If this is your year to get organized as a homeschooling mom, here are some great ideas for creating a home management binder. Pick and choose ideas that fit your needs.

**Here are some Pathfinder Honors that would make great unit studies for the new year.   These are most appropriate for upper elementary age students and above.

Personal Evangelism

Temperance

Stewardship

**If you are studying Adventist Pioneers in the coming year, AdventSource has a set of posters that may be helpful to your study.