Showing posts sorted by relevance for query companion book. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query companion book. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query companion book. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query companion book. Sort by date Show all posts

Edible Paint Craft: Kissing Hand Preschooler Sensory Art

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is the perfect Story for the First Day of School

This story is so sweet, a little tale about Mama and Baby Raccoon. Mama kisses her baby's hand before he heads for his first day of school. We've made a companion craft for preschoolers with a Sensory Play appeal that uses our special recipe for edible paint.

The Kissing Hand with Craft for Preschool & Kindergarten with edible paint.
The Kissing Hand with Craft for Preschool and Kindergarten.
Chester Raccoon's Mom reassures him he will enjoy school. She takes his hand, gives it a kiss and tells him to touch his cheek when he needs a kiss. He gives his Mommy a kissing hand too. And, we've made one for you to share with your little ones.

How to Make an Edible Handprint for The Kissing Hand Book

Vanilla Jell-O Pudding Cups
Gel Food Coloring
Strawberry Gel Pie Filling
Sugar Sprinkles
And lotsa love...




The Kissing Hand book.

Look, it's a craft. It's a dessert!  It's crafty, edible art!

This hand-print is 100% Edible and Yummy too.  Jell-O Pudding Cups make the perfect finger paint, just add a little gel food coloring. We let the kiddos mix in red and blue for a fun color mixing experiment, then we got some gooey, strawberry pie gel, plopped it in the middle to show where to kiss, and then added purple sugar sprinkles on top.  

It smells and tastes great and after six weeks this one still looks the same (no nasty rotting) so pin it on your fridge or better yet, frame it!


Recommended Reading:

The Kissing Hand

One Tricky Monkey

How to Make a Homemade Pretzel Thanksgiving Cornucopia

Make an Edible Cornucopia for Thanksgiving

We had a fun with a pretzel recipe.You can make a pretzel at home and turn it into a Thanksgiving cornucopia. Enjoy!

Edible Cornucopia recipe for Thanksgiving for kids to make
Edible Thanksgiving Cornucopia Recipe.





Pounding the dough was a big hit. (Pun intended.)
A little more labor intensive than I thought, but so worth it.
In the past, we made easy pretzels with canned dough- Fun to make and tasted o.k. but this recipe tastes like we bought them at the store.

We made the cornucopia by wrapping strips of the processed dough around a greased cake funnel.




We tried sugar and salt variations for the coating.


knotted pretzel recipe for cooking with kids
You can make pretzels with the same recipe.


Amazyum!

A great companion children's book for this activity is:

"One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims"
Thanksgiving book for kids.

This is a fun twist on "Ten Little Indians".  
Kids love to sing "One Big Turkey".



Recommended Reading:



Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss - Daisy-Head Mayzie Activities and Craft

Daisy Head Mayzie Crafts and Activities

Today's Companion Craft and Story is themed on Dr. Seuss' book, Daisy-Head Mayzie not Maisy. We have lots of Dr. Seuss activities. You might Also like Dr. Seuss's Sue Snue and a fake cake messy play craft to celebrate his birthday! This is a fun project to do with Daisy Girl Scouts. Enjoy!



Elementary Homeschooling Science and Health Resources Online: From Netflix to Khan Academy

Online Elementary Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers

I scour the Netflix episodes to find a title that coordinates with our daily Science or Health lesson. Below, I've highlighted some Health Resources for Homeschoolers with episodes we used to study the Human Body and Human Growth and Development which can be a touchy teaching subject. Enjoy!


Elementary Homeschooling Science and Health Resources Online: From Netflix to Khan Academy
Online Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers.

Those old Saturday edutainment programs are an excellent resource for companion videos. Reward children who don't like to read with a video upon completion of their reading assignment. The video will reinforce what they've read. 

Don't do the video first, or they will say things like, "I know this already."  "I don't need to read it; I just watched it!"  "This is boring me!" The video can help them remember key points of information. They may even have to refer back to what they've read to make sure the two media forms agree. My kids are always looking for mistakes in school books!

Beakman touches on many things to do with the body like flatulence (super fun for kids), lungs, allergies, the skeletal system, and much more. When studying about health, especially for fourth-grade, with those all important hygiene lessons (remember those cheesy movies about getting your period and raging hormones?) and the birds and the bees, Beakman's world is a good place to start.

Free Online Homeschooling Options
We signed up for Time4Learning and love it!

Previously, I had searched for a companion video to teach about the senses. There were plenty of videos out there, but all of them targeted preschoolers. Beakman's World had many great videos on Science and Health. (We started with Season 4 to learn about Human Growth).

Is an awesome resource that public school teachers often use as their go to video to fill in some curriculum time. In the past, it was available only on DVD through Netflix, but now it comes in the streaming version too.  Inside Ralphie and Goes Cellular are two episodes that focus on the body. We paired Flexes its Muscles (Season 2 Episode 2) with Beakman's World on Human Growth.

Khan Academy is an online school of sorts. It is every bit as good as some of the popular academies for online learning (We previously attended Connections Academy), but it isn't an official school.  Kids can learn at their own pace. It is TOTALLY FREE! Lessons are set up for grade levels. Children can watch videos, do practice problems, and take quizzes until they've mastered the subject.

Exploring, can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is an AMAZING educational resource. Kids earn badges in each subject matter. Lessons are targeted on core learning principles. Some of the video are a snore, but they are consistently getting better. They even offer an online scratch pad, hints, and more to insure your child doesn't get frustrated by taking the tests. A lot of it is for older children, but they have been adding new material for early elementary age students. Our favorite lessons are Computer Coding, but there are some videos on health and the senses too.

Speaking of Coding, you might also enjoy Minecraft Summer School Camps. These is an online learning experience, you  won't learn about the human body, but you will learn about Wonder of the Natural World!

Recommended Reading:










ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)


YA Fiction Online: Moon Magic Chapter Six

Moon Magic Chapter Six: Online Fiction for Teens


Teen Fiction Online: Moon Magic Chapter Six. Haven't been following along? Start here: Moon Magic starts here. In Chapter Five, Aurora got some bad news. What happens next? Enjoy!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Get the Published YA Novel, Allegedly Mystic.


YA Fiction Online: Moon Magic Chapter Six


This post contains affiliate links.




Moon Magic: Unfulfilled Wishes


By Lora Langston

_____________________________________________________

The material is not in the public domain. It is copyrighted. Do not share it on other sites or reproduce in any way. 
           __________________________________________________


Copyright 2017

Moon Magic: Chapter Six



Pain meds have a way of making the mundane insane. Aurora’s days in the hospital had melded together into one blurred, boring vision. She had been confined to a bed for four weeks, but time stood still.

Television was constantly blaring in the background, but she didn’t pay it any attention. The t.v. was just another fixture in the room- a companion of sorts. The only thing Aurora was able to accomplish was sleep. Even food wasn’t important. The meds gave it all a metallic taste.

When she was finally able to get out of bed, Aurora stayed at her mother’s bed-side flipping through Herbal Remedy Magazine. All the while, she was really trying to make telepathic contact. She didn’t want any of the doctors or nurses to catch on to her psychic experiment. If only some inherent natural instinct would surface. She tried everything that she’d seen in the movies.

Nothing worked.

During these visits, Aurora kept her constant companion tuned to Entertainment Today. Serenity liked to refer to it as, ‘watching the news,’ which had always made Aurora laugh. Serenity knew who was dating who in Hollywood, as well as, what herbs would enrich their lives. It seemed out of character, but, watching and learning about the rich and famous had always given Serenity a sense of hope.

Everyday, after-school, Todd popped in to the hospital for a quick visit. Todd. Aurora wasn’t a fan. He wasn’t just her mother’s current significant other. Nope. Nothing is ever as simple as that. Todd was also Aurora's teacher. Sophomore History. He had tried to comfort Aurora, but she refused to befriend him... again.

*    *     *

Thanksgiving was a bust. Lucas’s Mother had saved the holiday by bringing in homemade, Caramel Apple Crisp. The aroma had reminded Aurora of helping her Grandmother in the kitchen. Happy times. Wondering if her father had similar experiences, Aurora tried to re-imagine the memory with her father in the picture, but she always drew a blank. No amount of cinnamon and caramel could make him magically reappear.

Dec. 2
Thanksgiving came and went. I described the hospital’s savory turkey and gravy tray to my mother- she’s a captive audience. More like, a captured prisoner. Thankfully, Lucas’s mom, brought dessert.

*        *        *

At sixteen, it’s got to be a parental crime to make your kid ride the bus. Isn’t their some kind of law against cruelty to teenagers? But, Aurora had to grin and bear it, otherwise the truancy officer would be up her butt. The whirr of the fat rumbling tires and the rhythmic bumping of the green pleather seat against the window, lulled Aurora to sleep. ‘Joe,’ the bus-driver, liked to make chit-chat. Sleeping all the way home was a convenient way to get out of conversing.

“Blarp!” The bus horn sounded like a cow in labor. No chance of sleeping through that.

“Hey Lightning, wake up, it’ your stop.” shouted Joe.

Grumbling, Aurora tossed her book bag over her right shoulder. Her left arm wore a navy-blue sling to remind her not to use it. It also served as a reminder to everyone else of what had happened on Halloween.

“It’s true, eh, you really the kid that got struck by lightning?” asked Joe. You’d think he was talking to a celebrity.

Aurora wiggled her sling around to show him. “Yep, that’s me; the walking miracle.”

“Well, good luck at school today, I sure hope your mother gets well soon.” chimed Joe.

Nothing better than free advertising. Aurora was a walking pity party. Maybe Scary Girl would be touched too. With that thought, Aurora skipped off the bus anxious to walk the halls and try out her new social status. From invisible to enigma- this might get interesting. Hopefully, Todd would honor her wishes and pretend like he didn’t know her outside of class.

Dec. 5
School... I couldn’t have been more wrong. Well, I sure wasn’t invisible. People saw me. They pointed, whispered, and stared. Some of them even trashed me to my face, “Look at the freak!” or “That’s what you get for playing witch in the woods on Halloween.” and  “Hope you got the hint, skank.”

Oddly, Scary Girl never came near me. I overheard some kids on the bus saying she wasn’t going to mess with that voodoo witch. Whatever. I hate school!

And.. Somehow, everyone knows Mr. Lowder is dating my mother! I’ll be sleeping in the bathtub tonight.

*     *     *

After a week of battling the bus and the halls at school, Joanie a.k.a. Ruby Red, helped Aurora withdraw from school. Lucas’s mother had offered up homeschooling. At sixteen, Aurora could legally quit anyway, but Red had encouraged her to continue.


It wasn’t new. Aurora had been homeschooled until the third grade. She and Serenity were always running from one thing or another. To be fair, Serenity would say they were chasing dreams. They never stayed in one place long enough to settle down and register for public school. Aurora never caught sight of any dreams.

Red had become an excellent surrogate Mother. Aurora had confessed her troubles at school and Red decided they could kill two birds with one stone. This way, she could remain at her mother’s bedside during the day and avoid the ripping from relentless teenagers.

“I think this will be easier on you,” encouraged Joanie.

“Are you kidding? I was hoping Ralinda would take my tray up for me.” Aurora winced, “You just want me to become a full-blown recluse! Don’t you think I’m eccentric enough already? I was struck by lightning and survived; do you know  how cool that is?” she shouted.

Joanie grabbed her clipboard and stuck a pencil behind her ear. “I do, Shoog. I’m just not certain that you do.”



You might like, Young Adult Fiction.










Online Scavenger Hunt: Pin it! Preschool Scavenger Hunt Art Projects for Kids

Art Projects for Preschool Kids from Pinterest Scavenger Hunt

The relaunch of Pin it! Preschool Scavenger Hunt is a huge success! We have accumulated over 5,000 followers and 136 pinners. If you'd like to play the game, request to become a pinner to the collaborative board. Comment on this post or leave a comment on the purple pin on our Pinterest board.

Art Projects for Preschool Kids from Pinterest Scavenger Hunt.

Congrats to Jo @Le Baby Bakery for this month's winning pin from +Allison McDonald @ No Time for Flashcards. See the pin Kandinsky Fine Art.

Recycle Lids: Art Projects for Preschool Kids from Pinterest Scavenger Hunt
Recycle bottle lids for this Fine Art inspired project based on Kandinsky.

This month's runner up is +Dawn Marelli with an Easy preschool project tissue paper chick from Blissfully Domestic.

Easy Tissue Paper Craft for Preschool and Kindergarten for Easter
Easy Tissue Paper Craft for Kids. Fun for Easter.

+Nicole Kiska is donating Usborne books to the winners.
See the
prize pack here.
APRIL Topics 4/1 - 4/30 

Find and pin these ideas: 


Book & Companion Projects (Children's Book Day 4/2), 
Science for Earth Day U.S. (4/22), 
Arbor Day Ideas(4/26), 
Re-use Projects for "Keep America Beautiful" Month, Things to do w/ Jelly Beans (Jelly Bean Day 4/22), 
Ideas for Nat'l. Pretzel Day(4/26) 
Penguin Day Ideas (4/26) 

LIMIT 35 pins total per person. You can pin 5 per topic or mix it up- 10 of your favorite topic, etc. It's your choice! Pins must lead to PAGE of source (website). Don't REPIN your own pins. Please pin to your board first, then pin to the Pin it! group baord. 

For a complete list of GAME RULES visit our Facebook Pin it! page.  Good Luck!

Recommended Reading:

Art Projects for Kids

Plant and Animal Cell Lesson with Pizza Project


Pizza Plant and Animal Cell Lesson Plan


Plant and Animal Cell Lesson: Got a homeschooler Studying Biology? Hungry? Here's a fun way to learn the parts of a cell and prep lunch at the same time. Make a PLANT CELL PIZZA project. This can also be used as classroom or science fair or 4H project. We've included links to companion worksheets and learning packs. Enjoy!

 Post contains affiliate links.

Plant and Animal Cell Lesson with Pizza Project
Animal and Plant Cell Lesson Plan and Pizza Project.

We saw this plant cell pizza project at the world's best Children's Museum in Indianapolis. 

Companion Lesson Activity: Label Plant Cell Worksheet

Encouraging Moms at Home offers a great FREE Plant and Animal Cell Printable learning pack with great worksheets that include a Venn diagram and awesome charts. After clicking the link above, scroll to the bottom of their page for your free plant and animal pack download. (Recommended for 4-6 grade, but we think older kids can benefit from it too.)

Learn about Animal Cells vs. Plant Cells





How to Make a PLANT and ANIMAL CELL Pizza


The museum's program made a pizza and used different ingredients to represent the parts of the cell. We decided to make one pizza to represent an animal cell and another pizza to represent a plant cell. You can use any ingredients you choose as long as you decide ahead of time what ingredient is what cell part. 

Don't like those options for your pizza toppings? That's okay, just remove the yucky ones before eating!

Don't know what the parts of a cell represent? Get details here: What are the parts of a cell? You can also scroll down and learn about them in our ingredient list.

You can use the following items to represent the parts of a cell.


Cytoplasm: Use sauce for your cytoplasm.
Nucleus: Large and round, use a slice of tomato, avocado, or salami.
Ribosomes: Small and colorful, use riced broccoli, diced green onions, bacon bits, or shredded carrots. Sprinkle around the cell.
Mitochondria: Black, italian sausage ground beef, olive slices, black beans 
Golgi Bodies: Use red or green peppers, pineapple, or carrot swirls.
Endoplasmic Reticulum: Use sliced of mushrooms or peppers.
Vacuole: Can be anything or nothing! Push a whole in your dough.
Chloroplasts: Only for plant cells. Use anything green: green peppers, green olives, or green onions.
Membrane and Cell Wall: Form a wall with sea salt, herbs, (basil or oregano) or cheese.
We used the following:


Label parts of cell with pizza toppings



  • 2 premade pizza crusts - Boboli works great!
  • Pizza sauce - cytoplasm. The jelly-like substance that suspends the cell organelles
  • Mozzarella cheese - cell membrane. The membrane that surrounds the cell and controls what substances enter and leave the cell.
  • Cheddar cheese - cell wall. A rigid structure on the outside of plant cells.
  • Tomato slice - nucleus.  The part of the cell containing the DNA.
  • Italian Seasoning - ribosomes. Organelles responsible for protein manufacture.
  • Mushrooms - mitochondria. Organelles responsible for converting nutrients to energy (respiration).
  • Sliced red pepper - golgi body. Organelle which stores, modifies, and transports proteins and lipids.
  • Pepperoni - endoplasmic reticuli. Organelles which perform several tasks within the cell. Rough ER and dotted with ribosomes, while smooth ER are not.  
  • Ham - vacuoles. Fluid-filled cavity within the cell serving a variety of purposes. The central vacuole of a plant cell maintains its pressure and keeps it rigid.
  • Sausage - lysosomes. Organelles found in animal cells that break down nutrients into smaller pieces (digestion).
  • Black olives - leucoplasts. Plant cell organelles that store starches and oils.
  • Green olives - chloroplasts. Plant cell organelles that contain pigments for photosynthesis. 
  • Celery - centriole. Animal cell organelles that aid in cell mitosis.

Bake on pizza pan according to package directions or 400 degrees until cheese melts. About 12 minutes.


Pizza Plant and Animal Cell Lesson Plan


Vegetarian? Make your plant cell vegetarian. 
Squash slices could replace pepperoni. 
Onion slices could replace sausage.

Want to get Creative?
Use kitchen shears to cut your ingredients into shapes to match those in your biology book or the lesson links mentioned above.


fun way to learn the parts of a cell


Have younger family members? Grab some white paper and make placemats showing the parts of the cell based on the page from your biology text or the videos and worksheets above.

Watch the process of making animal and plant cell pizzas on YouTube.





Recommended:

More online Science Lesson Plans 

Learn about Stalactites and Stalagmites


Pin it!

homeschool Plant and Animal Cell Lesson with Pizza Project





Edible Art and Crafts Groundhog Day Recipes honoring Punxsutawney Phil

Recipes for Groundhog Day? That doesn't sound appetizing, but these are fun kid-friendly food crafts.

Groundhog Day, such a cute creature, but so few cute edible art and crafts out there. You've heard of Punxsutawney Phil? He's like a little teddy bear crossed with a beaver. He's so popular he has his own website with lesson plans for his special day. This is just one of our many marshmallow activities for kids. Enjoy!

Edible Art and Crafts Groundhog Cookie and Lesson Marshmallow crafts for preschool
Groundhog Craft for Companion Snack.

I noticed most of the Groundhog Activities and Crafts out there look like tiny, adorable teddy bears. Groundhogs aren't so cute in real life. So, we focused on his true features. Note the tiny ears and big nose. I forgot to add his big teeth!

We used an upside down Snyder's Pretzel Chip, an old-fashioned oatmeal cookie, a small chocolate marshmallow, and holiday icing to glue it together. I stuck some green chips from the icing into the pretzel for eyes. IDK. Scroll down for the traditional teddy bear variety.

Real Groundhog Picture
From National Geographic ~A face only a mother can love?

teddy bear or groundhog edible craft for preschool - Punxsutawney Phil
This one uses Vanilla Wafers glued in back
 for the teddy bear look.

Recommended Reading:

February Calendar of Special Days and Holidays

Groundhog Day Book by Gail Gibbons*

Groundhog Day Fun Facts*

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ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)


15 Obscure, Unusual, Unique Holidays January Calendar

January Calendar of Special Days and Holidays

We're always looking for obscure holidays to plan our blog ideas. Here is a list of January holidays to theme your classroom boards or craft activities. Scroll down for a free printable January calendar of holidays for the classroom. Enjoy!


Pin it! Preschool Scavenger Hunt is full of great theme ideas for special holidays and seasonal activities for preschoolers. Hop over, and check it out. Our Pinterest profile also has ideas for classroom bulletin boards and elementary room doors plus great ideas for homeschooling. No matter the special day, I hope you'll look around my site for more ideas for kids' activities.

15 Obscure, unusual, or unique holidays in January, plus a few of the usual ones too for Kids
January Holidays and Special Days Calendar 
to plan activities to do with kids.

  • January 1 - while this day is known to everyone around the world as New Year's Day, it is also the birthday of America's beloved Betsy Ross maker of our U.S. flag. (1752) Click for Free American Flag Coloring Page Printables.
  • January 7 - Harlem Globetrotters started as the Savoy Big Five. (1926)
  • January 8 - National Clean Off Your Desk Day. Maybe if you tell the kids that, they will find it motivating?
  • January 9 - National Apricot Day. So find some dried apricots or dry your own and make an apricot doll. Wait. They do that with dried apples. Well, do it anyway - invent that!
  • January 10 - Volunteer Firefighter's Day, now that's a good day. It honors some brave folks. How about a little fireman appreciation. Do some crafting with Dalmatians or maybe make some hats or play fireman with an old cut up hose.
  • January 11 - Got Milk? Well, you better get some because today is Milk Day. If you want a really obscure special occasion it is also my parent's anniversary!
  • January 13 - The Frisbee was invented in Connecticut, because what would we do without the Frisbee really? I mean it was the original boredom buster, right. Dogs love it. I had a boyfriend once who loved it. And then, he got a dog so...
  • January 14 - Speaking of dogs, the 15th is Dress up your Pet Day. You could dress your pet up as a Volunteer Firefighter or a Dalmatian; that'd be a hoot.
  • January 14 - Speaking of hoots or birds anyway, It is Bald Eagle Day. Do not dress up your bald eagle today. I repeat, do not dress up your bald eagle today. Have you seen their talons. Yep, this is a bad idea.
  • January 15 - National Hat Day. Hello, I've got some hat crafts. I can help you with that day! Peruse these walls or these frames, you will find many more hats for holidays.
  • January 17 - Ben Franklin's Birthday. How about a fun science project for preschoolers to celebrate.
  • January 19 - It is Archery day. No, kids it didn't start with the Hunger Games, it has been around a long, long, time. Why not paint a bull's eye in color wheel colors so you can learn two things at once. You know, kill two birds with one stone. Ahem. One arrow, I mean.
  • January 20 - Penguin Awareness Day, although Penguins are birds please don't go throwing rocks or shooting arrows at them. You could color a coloring page for the letter P though.
  • January 24 - Global Belly Laugh Day. Celebrate the gift of laughter! 1:24 p.m. (your time) Smile! Throw your hands in the air and LOL for real!
  • January 28 - Daisy Day. I have a Daisy Hat Craft, so you can choose do you use it for Hat Day or Daisy Day? Maybe plant a flower seed instead.
  • January 29 - National Puzzle Day. Put together a puzzle, glue it onto cardboard, and frame it. That sounds fun. Not. I dislike puzzles. #dislikepuzzles Have the kids draw a picture, glue it to a cereal box panel, let it dry, and let them cut it up. That sounds better; yeah go do that. Give them a baggie so they can take it home and show their Mom. I sure hope she doesn't feel the same way about puzzles that I do.  ;)
Free Printable January Calendar of Holidays

Add some cool kids' books about snow to your winter activities curriculum. Well, that's all I've got. Want some February Special Days ideas? Oh. Try this page for companion coloring pages and free printables - that will help for now.  See you back in month!

Recommended Reading:

February Calendar of Special Days and Holidays

Children's Book-a-Day Almanac*

January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco*

Buy a Puzzle for National Puzzle Day:
Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards Puzzle*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)


Why I Choose to Homeschool: Homeschooling with Online Classes through Connections Academy (INCA)

Why Homeschool? Should You Homeschool? 

Have you been considering homeschooling? Should you homeschool? Is homeschooling bad or good? Why homeschool? Have you considered free online public school? It's completely free and totally easy! We struggled with the decision whether or not to homeschool. Then, I saw a commercial on television for Connections Academy, so we did that for awhile and then we used what we learned to do homeschool on our own. Enjoy!


Why homeschool How to free homeschooling online
With Online Homeschool, there is plenty of time for field trips and extracurricular learning.
We visited an orchard and picked beautiful blue plums off the tree.

Why did I choose to homeschool?  

Why homeschool? There are so many things about public brick and mortar school I detest and dread. I hated the mean-spirited shaming I witnessed from one avid church-goer when my son mentioned he didn't really go/like to go church. It's true, he went sometimes, but I left him home with Daddy a lot (Daddy retired from church). This strikes me as ironic, because stereotypically many people believe "church people" or "religious extremists" homeschool. 

I go to church when the whim strikes me. I'm a bleeding heart, stuck somewhere between hippies and devout Christians. I guess, the remark hurt my feelings too.


I hated the complaints from my daughter of how much she hated recess. "There is nothing to do, no one to play with, and the teachers won't let me sit on the blacktop" Ah... memories. In early elementary, I walked around the edge of the blacktop waiting for the teacher to blow the whistle.


I hated picking my son up nearly every other day after lunch, because he had something with milk or dairy in it. I even had a note from the doctor, apparently, state law requires milk must be placed on EVERY child's tray! I sent in alternative beverages, but "Mommy, I just took a little sip of chocolate milk!" 


He'd have an asthmatic reaction, go to the nurse for his inhaler, and then... And then... poor nurse. Let's just say, it came out both ends.


Number one, the school bus! I hated leaving the safety of my kids to another person- someone I didn't know, no seatbelts on the bus, bullies on the bus, other dangerous drivers, etc. Just pulling into our neighborhood was a deathtrap. Waiting for the bus with the middle schoolers outside was too traumatic for Mommy. Well, it didn't seem right to me; my kids were just newly 5 when they started school.


They begged to ride the bus. I let my son ride a few times. The neighbor child had some problems. He was sort of a bully, but he was also bullied by the older kids. The nice, old man bus driver had him sit up front with my little one. My son came home with lots of amazing new life lessons. 


Then, the kid started causing trouble. The bus driver would pull over and wait it out. So, the bus was often late. No, thank you, we started driving the kids to school permanently once my daughter hit all-day kindergarten. She's a handful. I can't imagine she'd stay in her seat without a seatbelt. I didn't think the sweet, old man needed the added stress. 


I'd pick the kids up from school, have an after-school snack, try to squeeze in a little outdoor playtime, then it was time to make supper, get baths, do homework, and go to bed. 


Impossible.

I hated the homework! We'd be up late finishing projects for first and second grade! 

My son is gifted. We looked forward to a special program at the school, but it didn't start until third grade. In the meantime, he was placed in a class with high ability learners. Even so, the teacher felt there were problems. He understood concepts in ways other second graders couldn't- which led to arguments and frustrations. Since, we were planning to move, the teacher wondered if online school might work for him. This way, he could work at his own pace. I wasn't sold on the idea until...


The second lockdown at school. That's right, second. I shrugged off the first one. The second one was for the same reason, a bank robber near the school grounds and shots fired. I tried to get in the car line to pick up the kids, but the road was blocked by police cars. I called  a friend, Angie, she arrived a few minutes prior to me. She was told to get out of her car and head to them gym for safety. 


Yep, I was a mess.  


BUT... I can't homeschool. I don't have the patience. I'm not disciplined enough. My kids need socialization. I don't want other people to think we're freaks. 


WHATEVER.


It's just not like that anymore. I CAN (of course I can). We actually had LESS busy bookwork than regular school. The kids had online live lessons with their teachers and classmates. The teachers checked in regularly with emails and phone calls. As a learning coach, I was a big part of my kids academic experience, but not the teacher. So, I didn't have to worry about making major mistakes.



Free School Online Public Elementary Homeschooling
Indiana Connections Academy, Free School Online!

We homeschooled through INCA or Indiana Connections Academy. The supplies are completely free! This includes all textbooks, science supplies, art supplies, and companion DVD's and CDRom's for the online classes.

They took required state standardized tests in an university classroom. There are school sponsored field trips and local group gatherings. We met up with a local group of homeschoolers outside of INCA for recreation or SOCIALIZATION.


Yep, next to giving birth... homeschooling is the best idea I've ever had. I have more time to spend with my kids, hone my novel writing skills, and work as a freelancer.  


In case you're wondering, my kids were offered the opportunity to attend regular school year. They both declined with a resounding, "No way!"


Now, that we are experienced homeschoolers, we go it alone! I create online lessons and share them here on the blog. The kids do math with Kahn Academy, and we supplement with Brainpop. We love homeschooling. 

We get up when we want, go to bed when we want, study what we want, and have the freedom to supplement with field trips whenever we want. We are members of several clubs for homeschoolers and meet up with our friends at least once per week.


Recommended Reading:


Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started.*

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas*

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