Carnival of Homeschooling: There’s More to School Than Textbooks!

Welcome to the 138th Carnival of Homeschooling! If you’re not a year-round schooler, you’re probably thinking of starting soon. Many of our bloggers are too, but a few are thinking differently. I hope you enjoy traveling through the landscape of ideas and inspiration you’ll find here!

Enjoy!

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Homeschooling is about so much more than textbooks and lesson plans. Here are a few other things you may want to think about including in your learning days:

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In Homeschool Games on Successful Homeschooling, Carletta Sanders writes that “playing games is a great way to help your children develop math and language skills, and bond with family members.

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Piseco writes about how fun and funky sand molds – in the shape of ancient monuments – open the door to conversation at the playground. Marvelous Molds is posted at Mind Games.

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In her ever inspirational blog, Pink Paper Peppermints, Melissa shares how to make A Floating Inspiration Board. This is an idea that could be adapted for all sorts of study aids– just imagine how much fun the kiddies would have creating a mobile of botanical specimens or verb conjugations, to say nothing of doing it just for a fun, creative project!

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Why read? In The Common Room, the Headmistress and Zookeeper explains how Books Build Character. There is a point to reading– it’s not just fun and games! But yes, it is fun.

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Silvia presents Slingshots, sharing that this was “her daughter’s latest project. Lots to learn from this, from construction to use.” It’s posted at Po Moyemu–In My Opinion.

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In “God, Emily, and You!,” Kimmie, who writes at Over the Moon with Joy, shares their progress in the adoption of an Ethiopian orphan, and invites us all to share the journey with their family as they seek to minister to others, one sweet child at a time. Now there’s a homeschool project for you!

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At The Jacobite Rose, we are invited to Remember author and artist Tasha Tudor, who lived an extraordinary life. She died in June, and there will be a remembrance and celebration on her birthday, August 28. She was an artist whose whimsical illustrations connected well with children, so your students may enjoy learning more about her.

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Sagar Satapathy presents 100 Essential Web Tools for Homeschoolers posted at Smart Teaching. I found a lot of interesting and useful things in this post.

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As you budget for the coming year, Like Merchant Ships offers a roundup her series on How to Live Well on Less. I think you’ll enjoy this a lot!

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Jessie Meacham declares, “I Quit Budgeting!” in his tongue-in-cheek post at You Need a Budget (also known as the only budget software that makes sense, even to non-math people!). Why? He says, “No, it’s not because I struck it rich (most millionaires budget, even though they’re millionaires). I’m just sick of budgeting.” Yeah, right… If you want your children to see the value of budgeting, share this post!

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Christine Moers presents I have no GPS, but I’m addicted to Geocaching posted at welcome to my brain . net. She reveals that ” Our family has discovered geocaching, and all of its benefits to our brains and family dynamics!”

Janice comments: I just recently heard of this when a reader submitted “staycation ideas” for my e-zine, and it sounds like fun. I think we’re going to try it (though we don’t have a GPS either). I’ll be sending out the e-zine later today, with a lot more staycation ideas and other good information. If you’re not on my list but would like to receive it, be sure to sign up in the box in the column to your right.

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Dana writes another thought-provoking post– A homeschooled child’s view of school — and it’s posted at one of my favorite blogs, Principled Discovery.

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NerdMom has an epiphany about homeschooling, detailed in Nerd Family: I know you are a good homeschooler but… posted at Nerd Family. (Don’t you just love those “but’s”!

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Natalie Criss offers a new and delightful homeschool interpretation of Gloria Gaynor’s classic, “I Will Survive,” at her Ramblings, Rants, and Remedies blog. It’s a classic! (For those who stopped by before, the original link was to another site that had posted the lyrics without attribution. We’re grateful that Alasandra provided the correct link. Thanks too, to Natalie, who was happy to share.)

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Of course, there’s always potential violence in the schools. Amanda at Wittingshire, writes about how one school district in Texas is dealing with the problem. What do you want to bet that there won’t be even a hint of violence here?

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Thomas J. West presents Who’s Running This Show? The Body/Mind Ego and How It Affects Your Results posted at Music Education Practice Tips (Thomas J. West Music). Although this is written with music practice in mind, it’s applicable in many areas. A very helpful post.
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“In response to several e-mails we have recently received from home school moms who are overwhelmed and fearful about their ability to choose the right curriculum, plan the correct outside activities, have everything organized in time for the new school year, etc., Epi Kardia Home Education presents Do Not Fear! posted at Epi Kardia Home Education.”

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Are you getting ready for the new school year? The Cates are thinking about it too, in Ramping up for the new school year at “Why Homeschool.” Henry writes about how he and his wife homeschool through the year.

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At Melissa’s Idea Garden we read about A New 4-H Year…and Two Officers Reside With Me in which Melissa “shares a bit about 4-H and how my kids are enjoying it and learning from it.”

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In the amusingly named post, Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat – Does this planet make me look fat? posted at Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat, Cherish presents an interesting physics lesson

In Creative writing, The Reluctant Homeschooler writes, “Yes, we’ve already started school, but only a couple of subjects. Among them is English. I’m stressing writing this year, so I’ve come up with a series of topics that I want the kids to write about. But first, I created a sample piece, an essay about a sound and the memories that it triggers…”

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In Homeschooled Twins: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world, Mycologist Paul Stamets studies the mycelium — and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world. You can read it at Homeschooled Twins.

Elisheva Levin presents Now That School is a Choice: A Homeschooling Legacy posted at Ragamuffin Studies. “As the years of homeschooling end, I thought it good to reflect on the legacy of homeschooling for ourselves and our children. This is the end of our homeschooling years, but not of our unschooled lives. This will of necessity be my last submission to this carnival, and I wanted a chance to say Shalom! Until we meet again!”

Janice says: Thank you, Elisheva, for your thoughtful contributions to the Carnival of Homeschooling. Always know that we welcome homeschool-related submissions from “retired” home educators. There is a lot of wisdom among the pioneers, and I believe that new homeschoolers enjoy hearing from those who have gone before.

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Stephanie presents My Little Teacher posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood. You may also want to read the piglet post, unless you’re squeamish. Your children will probably find it interesting (“Mommy, can we have piggies?”).

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