Archives for 2015

Digital Books Free Form – Free 7 Step Homeschool Planner. Over 475 Free Pages & Growing!!

October 2, 2015 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I love it when I get your comments about a new form the 7 Step Homeschool Planner and am able to deliver one.

Look at this email from Jackie:

I am trying to organize my Kindle books on my I Pad. I have been looking for a form that I can use to list the books and copyright date of each book and then a form that I can put the name of the book, Then the page/recipe number and the name of the recipes I want to use. I know you are busy but when I make the forms the look blah.

I am tickled today to share the latest form, which is a Digital Books list.

I am especially excited about sharing it because I did a round up post, Digital Homeschool Curriculum – Big Ol’ List because we are using more digital curriculum.

This mean that planning takes a bit more time and having a page like this to list my books and page numbers when needed as reference is a great list to add to my planner.

I made two forms. One is color and the other is gray-ish.

I figured I would start off with the color copy and then use the gray-ish copy as I added more of my digital content.

Each form allows you to add 20 books to each page.

I also made the list into boxes so that you could further organize by genre or topic if you wanted to.

The top box in each set allows you to put history, geography, writing helps or even an author’s name and keep your digital content organized that way.

The large box at the very top is enough room to write notes that you want to remember about this group of boxes on the page.

The first column is to write the name of the book, the second column is for you to write down what you want to remember, like a recipe, or teaching page or even illustration. And the last column gives you enough room to jot down the page number.

Digital Books List Color @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Digital Books List Gray @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Kudos to Jackie for her email and I hope you love the new form when organizing your digital books.

Hugs and love ya,

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Shocking Things that Homeschooled Boys Want to Write About. Should We Let Them?

September 30, 2015 | 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It was a sweet little dream.

All my boys enthusiastically sitting around our red writing desks ready to brainstorm writing genre that was moral, upright and worthy.

Shocking Things that Homeschooled Boys Want to Write About.

Flashing back to my childhood of reading The Secret Garden, Heidi and then on to my favorite, mysteries like Nancy Drew, I just knew their choice of writing topics would mesh with my ideas.

Reality set in soon when my boys mentioned gore, violence and video games.

Wait! We aren’t those types of parents.

We were raising our boys to be peace loving Christian men. Screen time was censored and movies always had to be approved and besides we never allowed things like that in our home.

Writing about blood and guts aren’t topics that I thought were appropriate to write about. And no matter what we did by not allowing them to play with guns, they would still find some way to form a gun out of a peanut butter sandwich or in one case a picture stand.

As I have learned through the years, writing topics boys want to write about are immensely different than what interest girls, including me.

Understanding that boys are naturally curious about topics that are opposite my feminine personality took me a while to scrutinize.

Knowing too that what fills their minds when they take pen to paper is just as important as giving them free choice, I had to devise a plan or standard.

Six Useful Tips Teaching Homeschooled Boys to Write

I learned . .

That because of the fact they are boys, their minds go to different places. It means that I need to embrace the differences instead of being miffed over them;
I had to let go of the thinking that my feminine writing topics were superior,they are not;
That I can’t give them freedom of choice and then take it back the minute they exercise it;
That boys, like girls, do need a standard of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable;
That instead of writing about gore, I had to let go and let them write about games; and
That instead of writing about violence, write about the valor or find virtue in it.

Boys tend to hyper focus on details that are not important to me when I put on my teacher writing hat.

Instead of criticizing their details, I try to find the good in it because I know as boys they do think differently than I do.

Many times in my journey I have come across passages that my boys are suppose to focus on and model in their narratives.

For many years, I wondered why my boys just didn’t get it. I even switched writing curriculum before I could put my finger on what was the difficulty.

It wasn’t the genre they did not get, it was the undertone in the message that bored them, which was a lesson created by a woman teacher for girls.

No, not all of them were that way, but I knew my boys were just not engaged and that is a must.

To be fair, I had to think about this way.

Give a girl an assignment to write about football stats.

Do I hear shrieks of agony and moans of boring? But, that is just what I was doing with my boys. I can put myself in their boots.

Learning to take whatever elements a writing curriculum wanted my sons to write about and then giving them freedom to write what inspired them, I had more success.

No, I didn’t get why some of what they wrote and read to each other they found drop dead funny. I was the one then that felt out of place.

From that lesson, it helped me to change the way I approached writing.

I adjusted, but setting limits on some subjects. Look at some of these topics my boys find appealing and that I let them write about.

Video games;
Sports. All kinds of sports with football being my boys favorite;
Funny things that I don’t find particularly funny, but it’s also the topic they spend the most time on to get the details just right;
Describing weapons;
Science fiction; and yes
Graphic Novels too.

I have read many boy compositions and now find the humor in them because they are expressions of their inner voice.

Are you struggling with a boy writer who just does make a connection to what you want him to write about?

I hope some of these tips will help you to ditch the curriculum and teach the boy.

Boys will lead you to what topics captivate them. Will you embrace the differences?

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Unit Study Human Body. Hands-On Activity. DIY Heart Pump

September 29, 2015 | 36 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We are really embracing all the fun and easy hands-on ideas we are finding to do with our homeschool unit study on the human body.Also I have this Human Body Crafts page for more fun ideas.

This second project which is a model heart pump or a model of one of the heart’s chambers was a bit time consuming, but well worth it and I’ll share a few of our mistakes too.

Unit Study Human Body

This is a great project for middle school kids.

Human body unit study DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(Note: I filled the bottle back up on the right side so you could see it in the picture, but the bottle on the right side will empty into the other bottle.)

All of these items we had on hand, though we had to change it around some.

DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

More Human Body Crafts

Look at this list:

One empty plastic bottle about 16 oz.
Two plastic bottles the same size. (We could have used glass glasses too and it’s easier if they are shorter than the 16 oz. bottle.)
3 bendy straws.
scissors.
3 medium size balloons.
glue gun.
water.
red food coloring.
tape.
small dish.
ear syringe (too, don’t do like us and use a small one. It was hard for us to get our heart pumping. Use one of those ear syringes with the long neck. But, then we had to use what we could find here in Ecuador.)

Kids DIY Heart Pump Activity

2. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(Picture 2.)

First, make two valves. Cut a small slit on one balloon, just big enough for the straw to fit through and for it to be tight.

We made the mistake of cutting the hole too big.

The balloon needs to be snug around the straw. Pull the straw through the mouth of the balloon.

One valve (top shown above) keep the bottom of the straw in the balloon.

For the second valve (second one shown above), keep the bendy part in the straw. Also cut some of the top part off the balloon to make a wider mouth.

3. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Next you will need to cut two holes in the plastic bottle. One hole will be half way down on one side and the other hole will be about a third of the way up on the opposite side.

Homeschool Unit Study Human Body

Cut them large enough for straws to fit through, but not too big.

If you make the holes too big, you can seal it with the hot glue gun.

4. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

This next part is a bit hard and our balloon came off the straw inside the bottle. So we had to use another balloon.

But first put the “bottom valve” (Picture 2 above), which has part of the balloon mouth cut off, stick it through the top hole you made on the plastic bottle.

We had to gently twist the balloon and take our time.

The other valve goes in the bottom hole on the other side of the plastic bottle.

Stick the straw end into the hole.

5. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Use the third straw to bend the valve (straw) inside the bottle to point down so the water will flow correctly.

6. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Here you can see where we made a mistake because we intended on using the measuring cup turned over to elevate the plastic bottle, but our other two bottles were too tall.

Heart Activity for Kids

We solved the problem by finding a pitcher. It worked great.

So that is what I mean when I said earlier that you could use glasses shorter than your plastic bottle.

We elevated the right side with a dish and made sure our straw was pretty good ways in.

The other bottle we stuck the balloon end from the straw in it.

Too, you will notice on this part, that we taped everything down as good as we could get it.

That also helped for the bottles to not move.

I even taped the bottle on the right side to the dish.

7. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then a hot glue gun solves everything. I glued this part for Tiny.

I just glued around the straw and hole to seal any holes we had made too big.

This also helped the straws to stay in place after we bent them.

8. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then fill the container up on the right side with water. Add some red food coloring.

I think Tiny added like 8 drops (5 would of done, but whatever) or so and make sure the water is well above the straw’s end.

Next, take the third balloon and cut off some of the mouth and a very small hole at the closed end, just big enough for the neck of the ear syringe to fit in.

You are making a band that will fit tight and snug over the ear syringe when it is pulled up over it when the ear syringe is in the neck of the bottle. Lay it aside for just one minute.

9. DIY Heart Pump @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Next, add water to your middle bottle and enough to cover the bottom straw about two inches over.

Hands-on Science

Next, the third balloon that you cut the mouth off and that has a small opening on the other side, place over the middle plastic bottle mouth.

Stick the syringe through the bottle and pull the balloon up over the up to make a seal between the bottle and the syringe.

(Note: Tiny already took off the seal for our syringe because we had a pretty tight seal without the balloon seal.)

The pump is ready. Squeeze and release the “heart”. The heart squeezes to pump blood.

The water should be going from one side or from the filled bottle to the empty bottle. When you squeeze the ear syringe, air pushes on the water and on the balloon inside the middle bottle.

The water exited through the straw on the left side and air pressure closed the balloon (valve) inside the middle bottle.

When you let go of the syringe, air pushed water on the two outside bottles.

The difference in pressure, pulled water into the balloon inside the middle bottom and closed the balloon (valve) on the right bottle.

Heart Minibook

The human body lapbook was free for a limited time.

Human Body Lapbook

Dynamic and Fun Human Body Lapbook for Multiple Ages
$5.00 Add to cart

More Human Body Unit Study Resources

What is blood hands on activity and free blood components minibook for a human body homeschool unit study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured — https://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/homeschool-unit-study-human-body-4/

Homeschool Unit Study Human Body. Hands-on Activity 5. Edible Skin + Skin and Major Body Systems Minibook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus Featured — https://www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/homeschool-unit-study-human-body-4/

Hugs and love ya,

Human Body Books for Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids

September 28, 2015 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It is easier to find books for the younger grades than it is to find human body books for middle and high school homeschooled kids. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school and how to homeschool high school page for more fun tips

Too, I am determined to avoid textbooks for our human body unit study if I can.

So today, I have rounded up some great books that will help spark an interest for middle and high school students in a human body unit study.

Reference books along with great visuals make a human body unit study more interactive.

Human Body Books for Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids

Check out my round up:

Human Body: An Illustrated Guide to Every Part of the Human Body and How It Works
The Complete Human Body (Book & DVD-ROM) for Grade 9
The Human Body Book (Second Edition) suitable for middle school
Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries: the Visual Dictionary of the Human Body (DK Visual Dictionaries) middle school
Human Body: A Book with Guts! (Basher Science) a young middle schooler

The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body
Exploring the History of Medicine
Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology (Young Explorer Series)
Human Anatomy in Full Color (Dover Children’s Science Books)
Human Body: Human Anatomy for Kids an Inside Look at Body Organs

Your Body and How it Works, Grades 5 – 8
Human Body (Insiders)middle school
The Human Body (Random House Lib Knowledge(TM)) middle school

Books for Hands-On Activities – Human Body

Janice VanCleave’s The Human Body for Every Kid: Easy Activities that Make Learning Science Fun
Human Body, Grades 5-8: 100+ Reproducible Activities
Science Projects about the Human Body (Science Projects (Enslow)) grade 7 and up
The Anatomy Student’s Self-Test Coloring Book
Systems of the Human Body: 12 Color Transparencies 20 Duplicating Pages and Guide (Experiences in Science, Grades 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

THE HUMAN BODY: 25 FANTASTIC PROJECTS Illuminate How the Body Works (Build It Yourself)
The Anatomy Coloring Book

Grab all of the lapbook printables and hands-on activities below.

Hugs and love ya,

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App

September 27, 2015 | 85 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I am so thankful to Hero Factor Games so that my boys don’t have to depend on their mom’s science prowess or should I say lack of it when it comes to learning science and especially chemistry.

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App

Wildly, I was waving my hands asking Hero Factor Games pick me, pick me to review their Atomidoodle app and I am so glad they did. We love this game app and Tiny just can’t put it down!

Let me back up first because you remember I shared with you my post about starting Chemistry this year with Tiny. And you know how important it is to me that subjects, even at the middle and high school level stay fun.

That is just what Atomidoodle does. What a treasure find for us.

Who knows maybe I won’t have to teach chemistry at all this year with this awesome app? (okay, okay). Let me tell you how it works though.

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I was given a free download of Atomidoodle and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

How to Bring the Periodic Table of Elements to Life

Atomidoodle is a virtual chemistry notebook that brings the period table of elements to life. By the way, this great learning tool is available for ~~iPad and~~ on Google Play for Android devices.

The key to bringing the periodic table of elements to life is in how the game is played. More on that in a minute.

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I want you to know first that this action packed game weaves logic, math and science skills together in a fast paced moving game.

Kids use fusion (addition of atoms) and fission (division) to understand how atoms work.
A player has to open and close widgets. For example, Helium is HE 2 and an atom is let out of the portal to move along the path. In this case the atom’s number was 4.
The player has to get the atom to the fission (division) widget to divide 4 and get 2 for proper atomic number.
Your child needs to keep the atoms moving along on the path because if they don’t atoms will explode.

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus-1

The object of the game is to unlock all the elements on the notebook above. So cool!

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App 3 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus-1

For Tiny, it’s like unlocking little chests of information since our study of chemistry until now has been very basic.As a player unlocks the elements, he gets a Did You Know fact full of things that inquisitive minds want to know.

Did I mention the art work is truly beautiful? You notice the notebook looking paper type background along with all the doodles.

Tiny got frustrated with me because I deleted and reinstalled the app because the high stepping music wasn’t playing on our app. (Of course not having the volume turned up solved this problem.)

But Tiny said the levels get challenging as you go up.

So that is why it is hard to put a grade level on this because a child in elementary grade go start off on this and it increasingly gets challenging up to a high school level.

It really is an app that you can use with all of your children and for multiple ages. It is such a value for the price.

One important thing to me that is worth mentioning is that the owners are a husband and wife team that believe in using your powers for good.

In reading their vision, I was thrilled to know that they support, “Creative video games that support positive, moral, and biblical decision-making.”

Science is a logical study and the universe is full of the work of an orderly Designer. And I very much appreciate that a non creation view is not subtly sprinkled throughout the game.

Too, Tiny decided that you really needed to see how this fun app works, so he created a video.

Watch and enjoy!

Benefits of Learning Interactively

Children who run from boring worksheets will love the interactive way to learn the periodic table of elements.
A child who is gifted or wants a challenge will love Atomidoodle.
Elementary grade children who have a science bent will love being able to play.
High school kids (like me who ran from science in high school) will love the fact that with logic and some math, they too can learn chemistry the easy and fun way. They can learn to love the fascinating world of science through Atomidoodle.

I JUST love doing these reviews because I love it when my sponsors LOVE YOU and do giveaways.

Before we get this party started though, I just wanted to say a public Thank You to the awesome folks of Hero Factor Games for making such an awesome app to bless both science(y) and non-science(y) homeschooled kids. Thank You Tim and Sara!

Company Name: Hero Factor Games
Grades: From beginners to High School
Format: Available for iPad at iTunes for $2.99. Available for Android at Google Play for $2.99

Update 2022. I can’t find this app in the Apple store. I will keep trying, but it is available in the Google store.

Finally, look at these other chemistry homeschool ideas:

Hugs and love ya,

Archives for 2015

Digital Books List Color @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Digital Books List Gray @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Shocking Things that Homeschooled Boys Want to Write About.

Six Useful Tips Teaching Homeschooled Boys to Write

Unit Study Human Body

More Human Body Crafts

Kids DIY Heart Pump Activity

Homeschool Unit Study Human Body

Heart Activity for Kids

Hands-on Science

Heart Minibook

Human Body Lapbook

Dynamic and Fun Human Body Lapbook for Multiple Ages

More Human Body Unit Study Resources

Human Body Books for Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids

Books for Hands-On Activities – Human Body

Grab all of the lapbook printables and hands-on activities below.

Atomidoodle Chemistry Game App

How to Bring the Periodic Table of Elements to Life

Benefits of Learning Interactively

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