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Middle School Hands-on Science : Extreme Winds + Free Minibook

February 27, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, in sharing middle school hands-on science: extreme winds, I wanted to kick off our unit study with an easy hands-on activity and to use materials I already had in the house. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

You know I told you we were using a free middle school earth science book.

Too, since I like to always flesh out what Tiny is studying about, I add in enrichment, which of course are our lapbooks or notebooking pages and add in some of my own hands-on activities too.

Wanting to expand more on Tiny’s study of the earth’s structures, we honed in on studying about extreme winds.

Middle School Hands-on Science : Extreme Winds + Free Minibook

Look at this short list of supplies that you probably have around the house too that gives an easy visual about weird weather or extreme winds.

shoe box
plastic wrap
scissors
tape
2 short candles if you have a regular shoebox or 2 taller candles if you have a taller shoe box like I had.
matches
sharp knife (to be used by mom or dad only)

Extreme Winds: Hands-on Activity

Start by gathering the supplies above.

I had a bigger shoe box, but a smaller shoe box works just as good. Depending on what kid of shoe box you have, either cut off the front or take off the lid.

If you have a normal size shoe box, turn it long way with the opening facing toward you.

Then cut 3 holes in it.

One hole is on the top (No. 1 on the right picture above) and one hole is on the inside bottom (No. 2 on the right picture above) and you cut them about 1/4 of the way over from the right edge and cut them about 2 inches wide.

You want them big enough for your candle to fit through.

Then cut a hole on the left side (No. 3 on the right picture above) about halfway about and about 2 inches wide as well.

Next, cover and seal the opening with plastic wrap.

Be sure to tape it real well so no air can escape, but be sure to not cover any of the holes.

Then light one candle and place the box hole on the bottom gently over the top of the lit candle.

*Be sure the flame does not touch anything.

Light the other candle and move it slowly over to the left side where the hole is.

Get the candle as close as you can to the hole without the flame touching the box.

Middle School Homeschool Science

Look at the picture above right where the flame on the left is already being pulled toward the right or toward the heat that was building up inside the box.

What causes the air to move and the wind to blow? The point is to notice the second candle. When it’s lit, the flame is straight up. But as you place it near the hole, it will move toward the hole.

When the first candle was lit, it heated up the inside. As the air was heated, it rose and of course became light.

When you blow out the second candle, the smoke moves in toward the hole, across the box and out the top. I didn’t put a picture of it because it was harder to capture the smoke, but be sure you watch which way the smoke goes after the candle is out on the left side.

So cooler air is also pulled in. Just like the sun’s rays heats the earth and water.

Warmer air starts to rise. Because some of the earth’s surface is more heated than others, like over a desert, then some of the air rises faster.

The Santa Ana, shamal and sirocca winds all form over deserts.

Also, look at this mini weather station.

Middle School Science Activities

Look at these various winds and their easy definitions:

The Santa Ana winds in southern California are strong, hot winds that blow from the desert to Santa Ana Pass and out into San Pedro Channel beyond Los Angeles.
The Shamal winds are summer winds that blow over Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
The Sirocco winds are warm winds that blow over the Mediterranean Sea from the Sahara Desert.
The Gregale wind is a strong and cold wind that blows from the northeast in the western and central Mediterranean area mostly in winter.
Haboob is a strong wind that occurs primarily along the southern edges of the Sahara in Sudan and is associated with large sandstorms and dust storms.
Matanuska is a strong, gusty, northeast wind which occasionally occurs during the winter in the vicinity of Palmer, Alaska.

Grab my free minibook on our newest unit study on the earth’s structure.

You’ll love these other posts

Minibooks/Topics in the Earth Science Lapbook

Why Are Beaches Sandy
Summer Beaches Versus Winter Beaches
What is a Natural Hazard
Energy Sources for Natural Hazards
Features of Rivers & Streams
Plate Tectonics trifold book
Earth Structure Lapbook Cover
What is a Volcano
Earth Layers Book
Extreme Winds

How to Get the Free Earth Structures Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free printable. It’s a subscriber freebie.

When you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.

► 1) Sign up on my email list to follow me and get this freebie and many others.
► 2) Grab the printable.
►3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox as a follower. Glad to have you.

Middle School Science Hands-on Science Extreme Winds @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus-1

Teaching Homeschooled Boys How to Read – When to Panic!

February 26, 2015 | 25 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When I began to teach Mr. Senior 2013 how to read, I had read that teaching homeschooled boys how to read was a lot more challenging than teaching girls. Guess what? It was true in my case but certainly way easier after I learned a few secrets, which I want to share with you today.
Too, sharing my experiences now after my second son is about to graduate, I feel my experiences that I may have shared early on in my homeschooling journey may have been a bit shallow.

When beginning to teach boys how to read, I needed more specifics and to not be told, “Oh well, they will just learn at their pace.”
While that statement is true, there are other specific things I did and did not do to nurture my boys’ love of reading.

Boy-Friendly Environment

Reading a lot about why boys lag behind girls, I understood early on that the learning environment I created could possibly be part of the problem.
In other words, the environment we create may cater to girls that love to sit still, color for hours and otherwise listen.

Of course girls can be wiggly too, but I am speaking generally there are differences in the genders that can be spotted early on.
I had to balance my need for an environment or school room that was organized with my boys’ need to learn out of the box.

The most important thing I had to let go of was thinking that because my boys had the need to move, learn hands-on and have a lot more physical activity that something was wrong with them.

Embrace a boy’s natural desire to get rough, move and be rowdy when teaching them to read.
I see that I had to let go of reading activities that required very little movement and include more creative tips for learning their letters and sounds.

Some boys learn well on a iPad, Kindle and leap pad, but again because of their need to move, physical activities have spanned the years as far as the best tips.

Look at some of these tips I did when letter burnout loomed overhead.

Use balloons. Can’t say enough good things about them.

What is there about punching anything that makes a boy get interested?

Yes, it took some time to blow up the balloons, but I got a lot of mileage out of them.

I would write letters on them with a marker and they would have to hit them up in the air while saying the letter.

Then I used them for vowel sounds, or diphthongs and later on for recognizing numbers.

Boys like hopscotch too. Either use chalk if you do this outside or use tape if you have to do this inside.

Tape off a section and use tape for the letters to go inside the hop scotch squares.

Too, I went and got discontinued carpet square samples and wrote on them with a permanent marker for sight words, letters or sounds.

Giant Puzzles.

Just to sprawl out on the floor and move around to put together a giant puzzle that is related to what you are learning was something that two of my sons looked forward to.

Empty plastic bottles equals endless games.

Again, anything that requires a crash and burn like throwing a ball or rolling a ball into empty plastic bottles marked with what I wanted my boys to learn was an all time favorite.

Never, never forget the ball in a hole activity also.

I remember one cold winter in teaching Mr. Awesome to read that the kid just loved shooting hoops anytime.

I bought a new clean plastic trash can and lots of small balls that I labeled with sight words. As he shot the ball in the basket, the word “bam” always followed the sight word on the ball.

Jumping off the couch, clapping their hands in the air and yelling the word.

Letting go of the no jumping off the couch rule when we schooled, Mr. Awesome thought this one of the most awesome things we ever did for the day.
It was like he was getting away with something when I let him jump off the couch, clap his hands in the air while saying the sight word I flashed at him.

Not every activity we did had to be so action packed but it always helped to sprinkle moving activities in with quiet time after sitting still.

No amount of worrying on my part could hurry the process of being ready for reading. Unless your son has a learning disability, it is normal for boys to read anywhere from between 5 to up to 9 years of age.
One of the biggest mistakes I made was focusing so much on how to read and not setting enough of an example of how to enjoy reading.
What you do not say is just as important. Quickly, I figured out that I wanted my boys to view reading as pleasurable and not a chore.

Do not fill your reading time with always laboring over letter recognition, sounds and sight words. Make that a part of your day, but also make part of your day reading something that your sons want read to them.
Boys do have a timetable to learn to read on and it normally is not in sync with girls.

Teaching reading is very similar to their developing into young man.

I have no control over the timetable of when my sons would have a deep voice, shave every day now and have broader shoulders but can only savor the moments of being a partner with my sons as they have grown to just not being avid readers but to young men who truly love reading for the sheer enjoyment of it.

What about you? What boy friendly activities work for you?

Also, look at these other tips. What Makes Reading Painful for Homeschooled Kids. Let Go of Busywork to Raise Lifelong Readers, Help! I Can’t Teach My Homeschooled Child How to Read – 5 Step Checklist and Teach Your Homeschooled Child How to Read in 20 Easy Lessons.

Hugs and love ya,

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects: What’s the Difference?

February 24, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I can’t help it, but my heart sinks each time I read or hear about a family sending their kids back to public school.

t’s true that we don’t really know another family’s problems or struggles and that may be their only choice, but a lot of times it’s because we all struggle with how to simplify our homeschool day.

Sharing about skill subjects vs. content subjects: what’s the difference, I don’t want to weigh you down with one more must do in your day, but I want to show you how to lighten up without compromising on your standard.

I don’t say this thoughtlessly either, but homeschooling does not have to be stressful, time sensitive, and always overwhelming.

Uncovering the secret to a simple and relaxing day with your younger kids and teens is to understand the difference between skill subjects and content subjects.

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects What's the Difference

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of teaching is what lightens your load because then you will be able to prioritize subjects.

For example, when a struggling homeschooler shared with me her list of school subjects for the year, it looked like this: (a real case example)

Composition, singing class, gymnastics, penmanship, science, Bible study, math, violin practice, learning Spanish, phonics, history, co-op class and Spelling Power.
She asked me if she had missed anything.

I wanted to reply, “Uhmm, you may be missing out on a good night’s sleep from now on with that list.”
I don’t say things like that though because I can sympathize with the tug on us as home educators to fall into the trap that more means more meaningful. It does not.

Too, children are just like us in a lot of ways when it comes to mounting pressure. They long for a simplified day or list.

Homeschool Zen – Skill-Based Subjects Versus Content Subjects

The secret to covering more in the day is to organize or separate the skills-based subjects from content subjects.

They simply do not have the same importance or can be covered differently.

Just what exactly is the difference between skill-based subjects and content-based subjects?

Skill-based subjects are those subjects that without them they could possibly handicap your child from learning anything at all or impair your child from learning about other subjects.

They are the very essentials, backbone and framework of any education.

For example, it’s hard to learn about history or the Bible when you can’t read.

Too, our children will have very little appreciation for the wonder of science if they can’t write anything in a science journal.

How will a child learn to budget or secure a well paying job if he doesn’t understand the basic 4 operations of arithmetic?

Can you take a guess at which subjects should rule your day?

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are considered your skills-based subjects.

Too, another identifying mark of the skills-based subjects is that they need to be presented in a sequential order. Introducing a letter of the alphabet, with the sound it makes to stringing the letters together to form a word are the foundational skills to learning to read.

Math is similar. We teach from basic operations to meaningful formulas.

Can you see that every other subject, other than the three Rs, is a content subject?

That slices your schedule to just about half the subjects that you may think your child needs to cover.

Now that I explained the difference, I don’t want you to think that the other subjects are not important or that you shouldn’t cover them at all.

However, I am here to tell you from experience now that Mr. Senior 2013 is pursuing courses on his own that covering less history, less science, and less art with him have not been hindrances at all.

Because of his love for reading and learning, he has continued to learn about subjects that he is interested in or that we may not have had as much time to cover.

It’s his job now to continue to self-educate, I just gave him the foundational tools and did not get sidetracked.

Understanding the difference between the two types of subjects does not mean that I would encourage you to spend the whole day on just those subjects.

The point of explaining this though is for you to try this before you give up or feel like a failure because you may not be the bomb mom.

Looking back at my example of the struggling homeschooler, look at how I sliced and diced her day:

Cover Each Day	Cover When Your Routine Returns Back to Normal from Insane
composition	singing class
penmanship	gymnastics
phonics	science
Bible	violin practice
spelling	learning Spanish
	history
	co-op class

Sure, kids may be a bit disappointed if we have to cut back some of their activities. However, helping them to learn the value of priorities and modesty, which means understanding limits, will be a valuable life skilled learned better earlier than as an adult.

When Homeschooling is Challenging

Too, help your kids to appreciate that circumstances are mostly temporarily and that you will try to return to the normal schedule soon.

After all, missing a dance class or piano lesson or two is a small price to pay when our homeschool foundation is threatened.

If you are thinking about returning your children to public school, please shoot me an email or post your concerns here if the reasons are not private. I am here to help you stay the course because homeschooling is a superior education in every way if you have the circumstances to do it.

In an upcoming blog post I want to expand more about when and how to fold in content subjects because the knowledge gained from those subjects make up the very necessary skills that our children need as adults.

Can you see where you may need to lighten your load for a while at least?

Grab some more tips here:

Hugs and love ya,

Is Homeschooling Expensive?

February 23, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Sooner normally than later most homeschool dads get around to asking is homeschooling expensive when you begin to homeschool.

Even the most seasoned homeschooler has to step back and get real about homeschooling when it comes to spending money.

How to homeschool well on a budget is not only an art but is in the reach of the most inexperienced budding budget shopper.

Though I would not encourage anybody to start homeschooling because it is cheaper, it certainly is a perk.

It doesn’t seem easy at first to be budget conscious because there are so many things that you need.

For example, after I spent a few months printing off tons of unit studies for free and failing at my first attempt in unit studies, I swung the other way and went overboard as I spent about $300.00 to $600.00 per child and that is in pre k, k and first grade. (ouch)

Learn from my mistake as I share where your hard earned dollars will be well spent and glean some tips as I share when your budget just does not exist because there is very little to budget.

Just remember, homeschooling costs something whether you pay by your time researching for free resources or whether you pay by with your dollars.

Some years I had more time than money and other years I had more money in my budget.

Key to homeschooling well on a budget is to determine first the true cost of a curriculum.

Homeschooling Costs – Compare Apples to Apples

Many times I hear homeschoolers shriek in terror when a curriculum may cost more than they may think it should.For example, a history program may cost $30.00.

However, the terms and conditions may allow the history program to be used for multiple children.

If you have 3 children like me, that is a well spent $10.00 per child per year.

If you have more children divide the number of your children by the cost of the curriculum to find the true cost per child per year.
Too, if a curriculum is to be used for multiple years even with one child, then dividing the cost by the number of years you will be using the curriculum is the true cost of the curriculum.
Begin budgeting well by accurately jotting down the price. It is hard to price shop when comparing two unlike curriculum or when you do not start with accurate pricing.

Another tip in making your dollars stretch is to understand that not all curriculum has the same priority level.

Start by spending money in your budget on the 3 R’s and working your way from there to subjects like history, geography, art, science, crafts and foreign languages.
The 3R’s are foundational and it’s important to take your time in finding curriculum in reading, writing and arithmetic that is a good fit for your child.
Spend your dollars on those vital subjects first. The highest priority is finding a curriculum for the subject that your child struggles with the most.

Most other subjects like history, science, geography, foreign language,art and etc. can be covered with a little creativity by you and using free online resources, the library and swapping resources with others in a homeschool group.

Thrifty Tips & Places to Find Homeschool Curriculum on a Budget

Free Textbooks

When I left public school, the principal told me about textbooks they throw away each year that have been discontinued.

I took the textbooks, flipped through them and tore out pages that related to the unit studies I planned and added those pages to my unit study binders.

Free Clip Art Without Printing a Thing

To find things for the kids to cut out and to decorate lapbooks or notebooks with make a stop by your local wall paper store.
My friend Cynthia put me on those wall paper sample books years ago and it’s such a thrifty find.

Wall paper stores will be throwing out samples of discontinued wall paper books and some of them have the best photos of history, science, landscape scenes and all other kinds of pictures to use for free clip art.

When you run short on dollars for printing color clip art, wall paper sample books are a genius find.
They are also a thrifty find when needing to keep young ones occupied as they spend hours flipping through the books and honing their fine motor skills.

Attend Homeschool Conventions for Free

Don’t fret if you don’t have the money to go to a local homeschool convention.

Most conventions, will in exchange for you working at the convention, give you free entrance into the convention.

Too, this applies to your teens. It is a great way to get into a homeschool convention without paying for anything other than your time and a few cents for gas if you live close by.

Attend Museums for Free

Museums and libraries both look for volunteers.

Attending a museum for free in exchange for volunteer hours is a creative way to attend a field trip for free. Some museums even have volunteer programs for teens.
In my area back home in Texas, our local library would get rid of books by doing dollar day bags. I made sure we showed up on those days to fill our library with some great buys in books

Other School Supplies

Did I tell you that when I worked in high school at a law office that I was real close to a coworker whose husband was an auctioneer? Judy, my coworker was fond of auctions, yard sales and thrift shops.

Every Friday, during lunch time she had a line up of some really neat places for us to visit and I did not realize the valuable tips I was learning then as she shared about how she purchased her items.

I attended my first auction in high school as Judy’s husband shared all the dos and don’ts of buying at an auction.

Their auctions were held outside on the grounds of the house that they were selling and I was able to learn how to bid. To this day, those thrifty tips remain with me and thrifty buying is still in my blood.

As I had my own children, those fond memories and useful tips came back to me. I purchased many school items at auctions and yard sales when I started to homeschool.

There are not many people looking for globes, educational board games for kids or small bags of various assortment of cool items that make great manipulatives. I purchased desks, whole set of readers, atlases and plenty of crafty materials for very few dollars.

It is easier than ever to budget well for homeschool because of the abundance of free online material made available by bloggers and other homeschoolers who are willing to share for free.

Take a look at the round up of free homeschool resources I have gathered below.

Free Homeschool Curriculum Guides

Ambleside OnlineAmbleside Online is a curriculum guide and booklist designed to follow the Charlotte Mason’s method of homeschooling. Grade K to 12.

Old Fashioned EducationGrades K-12. With links to older books.

Easy Peasy All In One HomeschoolNote: This is not an online free school but a free online resource with curriculum from preschool to high school. It is a great resource.

Ron Paul CurriculumFree for grades K-5.

Guest HollowFree resource for all subjects.

3 R’s Free Homeschool Guides

The Ultimate Guide to Spelling Practice

The Ultimate Guide to Free Kindle Classic Books

The Ultimate Guide to Mathematics Lessons for Homeschooling

The Ultimate Guide to Free Graded Reader eBooks

The Ultimate Guide to Free Copywork

Free Math Resources For All AgesPreschool to College.

Free Literature Resources for Great Classics!

Homeschool Science Free Guides

The Ultimate Guide to Studying Plants and Flowers

The Ultimate Guide to Studying Space

One Humongous List of Online Education Games

The Ultimate Guide to Studying Insects

The Ultimate Guide to Science for the Frightened Mom

Homeschooling with Netflix {Health Class}

Homeschool History Free Guides

America’s Heritage – An Adventure in Liberty. Three free levels to download; Elementary, Middle School and High School.

Free Unit Studies

Free Online History Resources For Homeschoolers!

Bringing Up Learners. A treasure trove of free history in a laid out and organized way.

Free 27 Week American History Study through Lapbooking In Chronological Order

50 Free History Unit Studies–History Lover’s Round Up

MIT OpenCourseware Free online library of course materials used to teach MIT undergraduate and graduate courses.

Expensive and a superior education are not necessarily synonymous. Costly does not always mean better and in the same vein sometimes you need to let loose of dollars to get something of better quality.

How to homeschool well on a budget just means sticking to the amount of money or to the expenses that have been allowed in your budget.

Making up a budget is the easy part. Living within a budget is the hard part.

Nowadays, it is easier than ever to make a budget work when homeschooling.

Cutting out non-essentials, being creative and resourceful are key to homeschooling well on a budget.

What about you? What are some of your best tips for keeping homeschooling affordable?

Hugs and love ya,

This is also a blog hop. I am a proud member of iHomeschool Network and this blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects. Visit us on Pinterest, Twitter and Google Plus. And of course, click the image below to visit all the other blog articles from the homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Free Academic School Calendar 2015-2016

February 22, 2015 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have ready the second color choice for the free academic school calendar 2015-2016.

I went with a more simple color choice on this second choice and named it Petals.

Download here 2015 – 2016 Petals School Year Calendar @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

My goal each year is to give you three color options but it’s hard each year to narrow down my color luv to just three choices.

Free Academic School Calendar 2015-2016

In addition to preparing several color choices for the academic calendars each year, I prepare another set of pages that look like a free academic calendar but there is a very fine and important difference.

Curriculum Pages for Planner

The calendar today is not for planning or noting school weeks but it is just a reference.

One of the color choices for this calendar will go in the front of my planner and sometimes I put one in the back or closer to my planning pages also.

These general academic school calendars are kept on STEP 2 Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers because they are just that, a helpful calendar.

The general academic school calendars, which I call Year Around Planning Schedule, have a planning section and place for noting school weeks and are kept on STEP 5A. Unique Forms Just For You because they are used for planning and tracking school weeks.

Hugs and you know I love ya,

If you are ready to get started building your free curriculum planner, check out my over 200 free downloads and growing! Let me help you STEP by STEP.

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You!

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Welcome

Middle School Hands-on Science : Extreme Winds + Free Minibook

Extreme Winds: Hands-on Activity

Middle School Homeschool Science

Middle School Science Activities

Minibooks/Topics in the Earth Science Lapbook

How to Get the Free Earth Structures Lapbook

Teaching Homeschooled Boys How to Read – When to Panic!

Boy-Friendly Environment

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects: What’s the Difference?

Homeschool Zen – Skill-Based Subjects Versus Content Subjects

When Homeschooling is Challenging

Is Homeschooling Expensive?

Homeschooling Costs – Compare Apples to Apples