V is for Van Allsburg; Chris Van Allsburg

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My boys and I just love the imagination and intrigue of Chris Van Allsburg's books.  He has written many picture books, a few of which have even been made into movies.

We find his stories and ideas captivating and hope you will too.


Jumanji:


Two Bad Ants





Others in this series:


Linking Up With:






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Unschooling Ideas for all subjects

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The boys all piled into my bed for some snuggling and cuddling.  We talked and just enjoyed hanging out with one another for quite a bit.  Once they all started tickling one another, feet were flying and wrestling ensued I decided to sneak out and spend some time on the computer coming up with a plan of activities.



It seems our weeks go best when I have activity ideas already in my mind when the week begins. 

 If we don't get around to them it's not a big deal, but it seems to work best if I have suggestions for some fun learning games and projects.

Typically I only plan enough activities to last us until lunch and then they're on their own for actual unschooling.

I don't force anyone to participate in any lesson or activity;  I suggest things to do that I hope they'll be interested in.

Lately, I've made the mistake of not having ideas at the ready and it seems like we're all floundering for things to do.  I started out trying to make a list of 5 activitie…
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Harry Potter Unit-- Aragog's Web and Bubble Tea

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We're looking at finishing up our Harry Potter unit over the next few days.

It's been a lot of fun and I'm so thankful for Pinterest and all the ideas I found!  We've had a great time combining our traditional schoolwork with some fun Harry Potter themed activities, crafts, and treats.  
Today we're playing a fun sight word game, mixing up some bubble tea to drink,


Evan played a sight word game using Aragog's Web: He had to escape from Aragog's web by feeding him sight words instead.  I had set up a masking tape web in one of our doorways and put a few sticky note sight word cards nearby.  He had to read the word and then the plan was to ball them up and throw them into the web.  Only balling up the paper made the words so small that they sailed right through the gaps in the tape! Oops!

Throwing the paper while it was flat or folded in half made it float softly down to the ground.... so Evan decided to just put the words in the web.

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45 Hands on Projects & Ideas for High School Students

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I am always looking for ways to engage my boys in learning.  My oldest son doesn't really like to read so I have been looking for way to incorporate hands- on projects that might interest him instead of just reading books about various subjects.

Here are some of the ideas (broken into core subjects) that I've come up with so far for some hands on learning that I think would be great for him.  We've even tried a few of them with pretty great results!




Science:

1. Make a model of the solar system or the layers of the earth.



2. Put together an electronic kit

3. Extract a strand of DNA from a strawberry or an onion

4. Dissect a fish, frog, worm, clam, cat, etc.

5. Build a vegetable garden or plant a few vegetables to take care of in pots

6. Build a model plant or animal cell using household items or food



7. Put together microscope slides and draw what you see

8. Grab a camera and go on a photographic nature or architecture hunt

9. Use gumdrops or marshmallows and toothpicks to…
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100 Things to Look at Under a Microscope

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We bought our microscope for the boys a year or so ago and while I can't say we use it all the time I have found it's the perfect way to get them interested in some science when I'm having a day where I just don't have the time or the inclination to do an actual experiment with the boys.

There's something about looking at things through the lens of the microscope that make it seem magical.


When we purchased our microscope we bought a kit of prepared slides and have had fun looking at everything included in our kit.

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99 Unschooling ideas and projects

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We've been leaning more and more towards unschooling.  I love the idea of letting the children lead.

I have been thinking of all the ways my children learn naturally through life and play.  I was getting excited and didn't want to forget any of them so I thought if I was going to be writing it down I might was well jot the list down on the blog and that way you can all share in my ideas.

Suggestions are always appreciated!


I have my ideas organized by subject since that makes it easier for me (even though many of these subjects/ project/ game ideas would touch upon more than one subject).  I don't plan to make them cover all the subjects all the time but I want to encourage them to bring as many subjects into their everyday lives as they can.

I thought we'd start with this questionnaire called When I Learn... that asks kids to think about how they learn best.  Not all questions will pertain to us since we're homeschoolers and unschooling at that but I figured it w…
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