Homeschool Resources: Varun's Quest Review

Great Resource for Homeschoolers

Homeschooling help for parents: Looking for a great resource for homeschoolers? Our website offers many educational resources for homeschoolers. Below is a review of Varun's Quest a wonderful book for homeschoolers of any age. Keep scrolling because we've also added links to our favorite homeschool resources. Enjoy!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I get a small commission.

Jake's Journey in Art includes Language Arts.
Here he reads the beautifully illustrated Varun's Quest by Timothy Goldsmith.

Science Books for Homeschoolers

• We were given the opportunity to review Varun's Quest, which is a wonderful science book for homeschoolers. Varun's Quest is a fictional tale depicting non-fiction science. The story is fun to read aloud as a family or in a group setting with the ideal audience being 2nd - 5th grade. Older children will enjoy reading the story themselves and then sharing the details with "the class."  The author of this creative tale, is Yale Biology Professor, Timothy Goldsmith. Get your copy here: Buy Varun's Quest.

An elf leads children through the story quest while he shares all about the science around us. It starts with an informative science lesson on bees. Jake, enjoys the way the stories unfold and likes that the stories are based on reality. Whenever he isn't sure about something, he Googles to find out more, so these stories have evolved into a full blown science curriculum. He'll write questions in his daily science journal and then look them up later on Google. What a great way to teach science to your homeschooler! For a fun activity, pair this book with Bee Movie.

We used the book as a catalyst for making scientific posters, doing science experiments, and of course, to practice creative writing.

• Our all time FAVORITE Science Books for Homeschoolers are the Life of Fred Science books. These books are great for kids of any age. Parents will enjoy them too. Anyone reading Life of Fred will learn something new!

• Gail Gibbons Encyclopedia Series are a wealth of information for anyone who enjoys reading. All of her books are beautiful illustrated. They cover science, history, and art. While these books may be at a higher reading level for early elementary students, younger children will enjoy looking at the pictures while listening to the stories.

• More Science Stories for Kids.

Homeschool Resources

• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers is a homeschool blog full of homeschool advice and curriculum.

• More Homeschooling Helps and Curriculum from Kids Creative Chaos.

• TeacherSherpa is a website that offers free printable worksheets in every subject.

• Make Corn Muffins as a Science Project with your Homeschooler

• College Level Entrance Exams for Homeschoolers

• Teachers Pay Teachers is full of teacher created materials for teachers and homeschoolers.

• MobyMax is an online educational app for homeschooling with curriculum that adapts to your child's learning to find and fix gaps.

• Acellus Power Homeschool can be used as an app or as full school with access to teachers.  Check out Acellus Curriculum for Homeschool Students. We currently use the middle school courses. There are lots of classes to choose from including music and art!

• Science and Health Curriculum and Resources for Homeschoolers

• Fair Trade Science Lesson for Homeschool

• Dr. Seuss Resources for Homeschoolers

• Open Letter to Future Homeschoolers

• Homeschool Curriculum Resources and Supplies

• Lewis and Clark online Homeschool History Lesson

• For more homeschool resources follow us on Pinterest!

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Recommended Reading:

Cave Science Project Model

The Complete Book of Maps and Geography, Grades 3 - 6

The Everything Homeschooling Book: All you need to create the best curriculum and learning environment for your child

Homeschool Curriculum Resources

Supplemental Resources for Educators

Thanks to Oriental Trading for these curriculum resources.

Whether you're a homeschool parent or a classroom teacher, these curriculum resources from Oriental Trading are a great way to supplement learning. From the hundreds of items in the Oriental Trading catalog, we chose these items to supplement our homeschool curriculum. If you're looking for supplemental homeschool curriculum resources, be sure to check them out.

This post contains affiliate links.

Airbrush Marker Set, Money and Time Flashcards, Fraction Spinners, Ruler Tape, and World Map.

Last year, both kids attended Indiana Connections Academy online. We started our homeschool journey with them and after a few years of homeschooling on our own, decided to enroll again. It allowed both kids to take assessment tests. We discovered they both had jumped another grade level. However, Mayhem had some math learning disabilities and special needs.

Homeschool Curriculum Resources 

Connections Academy was great about testing her and getting her the help she needed, but this year we decided it would be better to once again go it on our own. This way, we can better address her mathematics learning gaps.

So, Jake will attend INCA as a 9th grader... Did you get that? He's officially in high school this year. Yikes! Mayhem is officially a 7th grader. By age, they should be in 5th and 7th. Which makes me skeptical about that assessed math disability.

There's certainly an issue, but she works very well at 4th & 5th grade level math. Her language arts assessment was college level and science and social studies were all above grade level, which is why they placed her in the 6th grade last year.

Homeschooling on our own allows us to tailor the curriculum to her specific grade level needs. We are using MobyMax to help with that. MobyMax finds and corrects learning gaps.

Tri-Facta math game for multiplication and division memory.

We ordered this educational math game, Tri-Facta, from OT. It's sort of like Scrabble for numbers. Even though Jake is a math whiz, he enjoyed the game.

It's a nice alternative to flashcards. We also got Time and Money flashcards, cool ruler tape, and fraction spinners. Everything You Need to Ace Math in one Big Fat Notebook is an awesome math book for reluctant mathematicians. It's written in note taking form and explains math concepts in a fun, easy to understand manner. Click here to find the resources at Oriental Trading.

If your kids like to color, this World Chart map (pictured below) is a great supplemental activity for geography and social studies. It comes with a booklet of facts. The idea is to find the fact's map location and then color it. We also got an airbrush set for future art lessons.

Social Studies Lesson: Color Chart the World Map.

Social Studies Resource from MindWare, Color Chart Map.

Just for fun, Teacher a.k.a. Mom, drug the kiddos out of bed for a 'I just woke up' shot to share on social media. Everyone always shares their back to school first day of school pictures and we didn't want to be left out.

For us, the first day of school means getting up a little earlier- okay, a lot earlier, but not as early as a traditional school day. No new haircuts, no new backpacks, no new shoes, no new school clothes. Just old pajamas. Well, really, old comfy clothes for sleeping. No matching necessary. We'll get dressed if we run out of food and need to make a trip to the grocery store. A trip to a fast food restaurant doesn't require getting dressed...

Recommended:

Homeschool Lessons from Kids Creative Chaos

Indiana Field Trip Ideas

Homeschool Curriculum Resources on Amazon

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Homeschooling During the Coronavirus?

School Closure Home Learning

Have you unexpectedly been tossed into the throes of homeschooling since the Corona virus pandemic? If you've suddenly had to to become the school teacher, cafeteria lady, and janitor during these school closures, you're well aware that home learning is more difficult than it looks. So, how do you do homeschooling during the coronavirus pandemic? As seasoned homeschoolers, we're here to help. Below is a list of our favorite homeschool resources and some articles specifically addressing these troubled times and how to help your kids cope. What a life lesson this is, right?

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

For more on our personal journey scroll to the end.

Worried how school closure and remote learning will affect your child? Love them, support them, build them up, and they'll be fine. Think homeschoolers are weird? Maybe, depends on your perspective, but we're more normal than you think. We only had 7 months of brick and mortar school, but our previously homeschooled kids made the best of their first year of brick and mortar school. They miss school so much. When this is all over your kids will look forward to going to school too! I've added a photo album for our long time readers and fans. Enjoy!

I love this post! We have a similar experience.
Keep scrolling to see our homeschoolers' success in public school!

Tips for Home Learning and Coping during School Closures and Covid19 

• How to Homeschool Your Kids After a School Closure

• Help Children Cope with Changes due to Covid19

• Learning at Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic

• How to Make your Home into a Workable School

• Independent Learning Strategies During the Coronavirus Outbreak

• How to Talk to your Kids about Covid19

• More resources for parents, students, and teachers

These are scary times, so here's a Coronavirus meme to lighten the mood.

Educational Resources for Homeschooling during the Coronavirus

• Many of our older homeschool resources that target elementary students are listed in the homeschool tab on this site: Homeschool Learning Lessons for Elementary Age You can also do a search on our site for specific types of lessons like, grammar, math, and science.

• BrainPop has the most fun videos; I love them as much as my kids do. BrainPopJr. is great for the younger set. They are a paid service, but offer a free movie of the week and other free lessons.

• Life of Fred is our favorite home learning curriculum. We checked the books out at the library, that's probably not an option during these coronavirus times. You can get the Life of Fred books online at Amazon and on the Life of Fred website (Get the dolls!)

• Mobymax has free options for remote learning and homeschoolers. The great thing about this website is they find and fix learning gaps. Kids can take assessments to see where they fall and then do educational activities based on their grade level in different subjects. It's a great way to see if your child has been falling through the cracks in public school.

• TeachersPayTeachers and TeacherSherpa both offer great resources free and paid. The lesson plans are created by teachers for teachers, but homeschoolers and remote learners are welcome to download them too! Check out our store on TPT, it has some fun educational skits to do with the kids, we even have a play about the Easter Bunny!

Here's a FREE SCIENCE LESSON RESOURCE on COVID19

• Khan Academy is not for the faint of heart. If you're all in to the homeschooling thing, give it a try. We used it for several years. It's a free learning resource originally targeted toward middle schoolers and high schoolers, but now offers lessons for elementary too. It feels a lot more like "real school" than some of the other online options and keeps track of your progress and grade level.

• Why not give this difficult time a fun spin? Our Summer Camp Handbook is edutainment at its best! Enjoy science experiments, PE Activities, and more disguised as fun! 

• We also love CrashCourse with John and Hank Green. (Yes, that John Green!) You'll even find some of their lessons on Khan Academy. These are super fun, especially for older students.

Best Homeschool Blogs

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Hip Homeschool Moms

The Relaxed Homeschooler

Life of a Homeschool Mom

I Can Teach My Child

The Educator's Spin on it

Raising Lifelong Learners

First day of public school 2019.

We hope these resources help ease your mind and put you on the right track for remote home learning during the Coronavirus pandemic situation. Remember, homeschooling isn't easy and not all parents nor all kids are cut out for it. 

Bowling allows for socialization and physical activity. During the quarantine,
bowl with your game console or set up milk jugs to knock down with a basketball.

Do the best you can. Don't overdo it! If you take it too seriously, your kids won't enjoy it and neither will you. Make learning fun, make it light, and focus on those skills that are best learned at home: writing letters, sending emails, tying shoes, telling time, how to follow a recipe, chores (consider doing laundry a PE activity,) working on cars, putting together puzzles, dice games, Minecraft Uno or any Uno game, and anything that brings your family closer together.

Dress up day.

Note: This past year, my kids decided to go back to public school. My 15 year-old was placed as a high learning junior taking all senior and college level courses, my 13 year-old is a well-rounded, straight A, school loving eighth grader. 

In previous years, we spent a maximum of 2 hours a day on book learning. The rest  of our day was focused on healthy outdoor activities, field trips to museums, special events at the library, and a local homeschool group for "socialization." Turns out, it was more than enough. 

Take it easy, don't stress out, and remember that YOU CAN DO IT!

Made the grade, first semester honor roll.

Never played football in his life. Made the team!

Loving the school band.

My son was looking forward to performing in the high school play, finishing building a home for Habitat for Humanity, trying out different sports and clubs, and now, that will have to wait until next year. My daughter was on an academic team, loving art club, playing in the school band, and appreciating school for its many wonderful opportunities. I took great pride and joy watching them try new things. My heart aches for their loss and for the loss of those long time public school seniors who are missing out on their last school dance, possibly graduation, and all the joys of being a high school senior. If nothing else, this experience will teach us not to take life for granted. 

Never forget, no matter how stressful it gets, getting to stay home with your kids is a gift.

Good Luck, go hug your kids!

15 Resources for Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans Elementary School and Homeschool

Lesson Plans for Elementary and Homeschool Dr. Seuss Curriculum

Celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday with Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans for Elementary and Homeschool. We've scoured the web, especially our favorite blogs and websites, for companion activities for. Dr. Seuss books. When is Dr. Seuss birthday? March 2. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links. Click and make a purchase and we get a commission.

Teacher Resources: Lesson Plans for Elementary and Homeschool Dr. Seuss Curriculum.

Dr Seuss Day Activities Teacher Resources

• Make a fake cake to celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday.
• In depth exploration of Dr. Seuss books for homeschool.
• Companion activities for Dr. Seuss books.
• Free printables for Dr. Seuss birthday.
• Daisy Head Mayzie Activities.
• Sue Snue Activities.
• Sneetches racism activity.
• Oh the Places You'll Go lesson plans.
• And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street lesson plans.
• Mulberry Street Coloring Page.
• Horton Hears a Who lessons.
• Free Weather Worksheets and Oobleck Printable Activities for Bartholomew and the Oobleck.
• Scientific exploration with Oobleck recipe with cornstarch.
• The Political Dr. Seuss from Independent Lens.
• Wondering when Read Across America is? Dr. Seuss' birthday, of course! March 2. Read Across America activities.

Recommended Reading:

Bartholomew and the Oobleck: (Caldecott Honor Book) (Classic Seuss)


And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street


Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Science Online Activities: Lessons and Games

Homeschool Science Ideas for Projects, Experiments, and Lessons

Whether you are looking for Homeschool Science Fair Projects or Ideas for Experiments these online science lessons and curriculum are perfect for classroom or homeschoolers. We gather the best games, videos, printables, and science curriculum so you don't have to. Enjoy! 

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Homeschool Science Online Activities: Lessons and Games.

Homeschool Science Projects, Experiments, and Lesson Ideas:

• Science of Bread: Changes in Matter
• Corn Muffin Baking Lesson
• Printable Companion Bread Coloring Page
• Make Bread in a Crockpot
• Albert Einstein: Physics for Kids
• Build-a-tech Kits for Kids 12+
• Celery Science Experiment: How do Plants Drink Water?
• Fun Genetics Lesson with Punnet Squares
• Science Cave Shoebox Diorama
• Cave Study Online Lesson
• Simple Machines Lesson and Experiments
• Science Classifying Plants and Animals 
• Gemstone Identification and Mining
• Ornithology Lesson: Bird Study
• Science Field Trip Idea: Visit a Bird Sanctuary
• Preschool Fish Lesson: Microbiology
• Make a Terrarium in a Jar
• Earth Science: Water Supply and Cycle 
• GMO vs. Non-GMO Lesson
• Science Lesson: Varun's Quest: Homeschool Resources Discount
• Universe Planets Lesson with Games
• Futuristic Printables and Activities
• Take a Field Trip to Outer Space
• Electric Circuit Lesson
• Egg Science Experiments: Make a Rubber Egg
• Ameila Earhart: Airplanes
• Preschool and Early Elementary: Microbiology Fish Study
• Preschool and Early Elementary: Plant Investigating Study
• Online Homeschool Science Resources
• Recycle a Bottle into Something Beautiful
• Experiment: Make your own Play-dough 
• Balloon Science Experiments
• Study Fall Leaves by Collecting to Make a Wreath

Recommended:

Science Books for Kids

Homeschool Lessons

Open Letter to Future Homeschoolers: Free Homeschool Lesson Plans Curriculum

Free Homeschool Lesson Plans and Curriculum Resources We've Tried

Disclaimer: This is my homeschooling journey story. To avoid my open letter to future homeschoolers and the homeschool haters, just scroll down to the bottom for the free homeschool lesson plans and curriculum resources. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Enjoy!

Simple Machines Homeschool Lesson Plan: Grades 3-5

Homeschooling Online Lesson Plan and Activities for Simple Machines

Homeschool Science Resources: Want to learn more about simple machines? This homeschool lesson plan shares online videos, games, activities, and questions will help homeschoolers learn and experiment with the science of simple machines.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, we get a commission.

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Simple Machines Homeschool Lesson Plans

Target elementary grades 3-5.

Free Printable Google doc for Simple Machines

If you have a Brain Pop Subscription go here: Simple Machines

(Tip: If you sign up as family vs. homeschool, you can pay monthly $10.95. They also offer a free educational video each day.)

PDF: Simple Machines Science Experiments from the Museum of Science and Technology

Twitch: Simple Machines Game from the Museum of Science and Technology

__________________________________________________

Name this simple machine.

Simple Machine Questions:

Which simple machine is used to split things apart or hold a door open?

_____________________________________________________

Survey the room, list the simple machines you see:

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

How does an inclined plane make work easier?

_____________________________________________________

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Is a door knob a simple machine? Is so, which one?

_____________________________________________________

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Science Fair Experiment: Build a Robotic Arm from PBS Design Squad (includes Rubric).

Preschool/Early Elementary Connection:

Sid the Science Kids Simple Machines

Recommended Reading:

How Do You Lift a Lion? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series)

Online Homeschool Activities

Pull, Lift, and Lower: A Book About Pulleys (Amazing Science: Simple Machine

Free Online Homeschool Science Lesson: Classifying Plants and Animals Activities

Classifying Plants and Animals Activities and Videos for Homeschool Science

In this free online homeschool science lesson, we are classifying plants and animals. These science activities and videos are a fun way for homeschoolers to learn online. Lessons have material suitable for preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school. We round up the information and links each week as we teach homeschool to our own children. Every link has been child tested. Scroll down for the interactive student lesson. Lesson for Preschoolers is at the bottom of the post.

Free Online Homeschool Science Lesson: Classifying Plants and Animals Activities.

Classifying Plants and Animals Online Homeschool Lesson

Elementary and Middle School Science: Target Grades 3-8
with components for preschool, early elementary, and high school.



Teacher Resources:

Classifying Plants and Animals Lesson Ideas

Make your own Worksheets and Printables

Early Elementary Lessons on Classifications



Student Lesson:

Do this: Keep these questions in mind as you the watch the videos.

Questions on Plant Growth click on the questions to find the answers, make sure you click through all 4 pages of questions!

PBS Video: What Plants Talk About 

Learn more about Carnivorous Plants.

Play this Cool Science Game on How Plants Grow (8-11 yrs.).

Read about Plant Growth. What are the Kingdoms? If you want to watch these videos, you'll have to log into Brainpop. I'm told you can do a search and find Brainpop freebies, coupon codes, and passwords. Here is a free Biology lesson on the Six Kingdoms.

More about Plant Adaptations from Brainpop free for everyone.


Math Component

This Cool Companion Math Game is for Middle School and up. 

This Middle School to High School Plant Lesson Game teaches Math and Economics. You'll start your own business and work to keep the plants alive and well using your math skills. 

We found another cool math game for kids, but... there's an app for that! Ask your parent or teacher if you can install, Ruby Realms.


Art Component

Make Pressed Flowers

Make Thanksgiving Leaf Garland

Science Fair Project or Science Experiment from Science Buddies Experiment on Plant Growth for Middle Schoolers.


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Show what you've learned so far:

Grab your Science Journal: Name 3 types of Plant Classifications. Then, draw a plant and then list out the main parts of it.

1.___________________________________________________

2.___________________________________________________

3.___________________________________________________

Classifying Animals Lessons

Classifying Animals - Free Brainpop Jr. Video. Make sure you take the quiz. Try the easy quiz and the hard quiz. You can do it! 

More on Animal Classification from Sheppard's Kids Corner.


Show what you've learned so far:

Grab your Science Journal: What are the Six Kingdoms? Need to research? Do a safe search here KidRex.org

1.___________________________________________________

2.___________________________________________________

3.___________________________________________________

4.___________________________________________________

5.___________________________________________________

6.___________________________________________________

Science Just for Fun Online Games

Are you smarter than a plant? Find out on Kongregate.com

Are you Smarter than a Plant? Maybe not! 

Food Chain Game

Early Elementary Component 
Pre-K - 3, but suitable for older kids too!

Plant Song

Dora's Plant Growth Game for Preschoolers

Farming Lesson for Kindergarten



Fun Activities

Make these Free Printable Animal Trading Cards

Test your knowledge: Play Matching Classification Game


Recommended Reading:

From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons

Time For Kids: Plants!

United States Capitals and Symbols Lesson for Children

          
Copyright 2014 by Lora Langston, Kids Creative Chaos.