Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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Oceans Lapbook Starter

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Sharing the oceans lapbook starter today for my Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook,

So we were able to get a bit of school done this week and I was also able to create minibook four today, which is How Low Can You Go. 

Tiny was reading to me the other day about how deep the ocean is and we were trying to picture how far a diver could go.  This next easy minibook gives a visual example of the depth of a diver and also of submarines.

With a little bit of supervised research on google, your child should be able to arrange the pictures or clip art in order from the top of the page or sea level to the bottom of the page or the deepest. 

Then glue the pictures on the page.

Too,  we have started to arrange minibooks 1 – 4 on the file folder.  Above is the beginning layout or lapbook starter of where we have decided to place the minibooks so far. 

Too, when we place them, we try to arrange them so that we have as much room as possible for the rest of the minibooks.

I have some notebooking pages coming up too because this a big unit and I think it needs a bit more research by Tiny.

Are you following along or are you breaking right now for summer? If you are, then you can save this unit for when you start back to school.

Other Ocean Unit Study Resources:

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE OCEAN LAPBOOK

It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access my subscribers library.

However, not all of my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

It’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

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► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you.
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Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have part 2 teaching handwriting when homeschooling the early years. Also, look at my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum and The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more tips.

When I shared Teaching Handwriting The Early Years Part 1, it was important that you understand that handwriting is a natural step.

It’s a step to what your child wants to do next, which is communicate.

Even before a child can speak, they are starting to understand written language.

Those scribbles and shapes (i.e.letters) on the page communicate some kind of message.

The next natural progression then for a preschooler which a lot of parents unintentionally skip is to work on developing fine motor skills. 

Guess what? 

Developing fine motor skills at the preschool age and earlier is not done by teaching letter formation.  Not at this age.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2

Too, I did the first thing most new parents do.

And that is stick a crayon and some coloring books in their kids’ hands. 

Strengthen Fine Motor Skills During Preschool and Kindergarten

I soon found out that I had a couple of boys that hated coloring. 

Problems loomed on the horizon.

Sure all of my boys knew their alphabet by 3 years old but that has nothing to do with being able to pen the letters.

Understanding that developing fine motor skills is absolutely necessary to beautiful penmanship is the first step to teaching handwriting.

I cannot stress that enough in this blog post today. 

NOT writing on the lines, not forming their letters correctly, not writing their letters or even understanding that we write from left to right are more significant at this age than being able to strengthen their fine motor skills and core of their body.

It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be doing fun activities for letter recognition and teaching them how to read.

But formal handwriting does not need to be pushed.

It takes time to awaken those fine motor skill muscles through use each day.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2

(Mr. Awesome and Tiny working on fine motor skills by using edible peanut butter dough.)

This time period in your child’s life is called pre-writing. 

It is called pre for a reason and that is because it is the time they need to work everyday on fine motor activities that come BEFORE formal handwriting.

Little did I understand that asking Mr. Senior 2013 at 3 years old to write a letter and on the line (horrible, horrible) was like asking him to run a marathon before he could walk. 

Like running, muscles have to be strengthened first by stretching, walking and just general use each day before anybody could expect to run a marathon.

Solving Letter Reversals


On top of that I learned right away that boys lagged behind girls in fine motor development. 

Pre Means Before Writing NOT Same Time

There is nothing wrong with most boys, mine included as I found out years later. 

There are just differences between the way boys and girls learn and early on I noticed it too at this tender age.

Having to think outside of the crayon box (corny I know) I had to come up with activities that strengthened my boys’ fine motor skills as well as capture the fun element to learning.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2

(Mr. Awesome “sewing” with yarn and making a puppet.)

Because of the explosion of pre-writing activities on the world wide web now, it is easier to find them.

Choosing things that kids like to do naturally like build and play is the secret to finding activities that your children can do each day without the boredom factor.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2

(Working with their hands and fingers each day is key.)

Your imagination is the only limitation to finding and using things around your house too.

Here are a couple of places that will get you started on fine motor skills.

You must scoot by Heather’s blog as she is a wealth of information for learning about developmental milestones for motor skills. 

She offers a free printable for developmental milestones because sometimes you just need to know whether or not your child is progressing normal and if you need to intervene to seek professional help. 

Also, check out the post I put below because it has cool DIY toys for fine motor skills.

Fine-Motor-Skills-with-DIY-Toys-from-Lalymom

(Picture Attribution: Lalymom)

50 Cool DIY Toys for Fine Motor Skills

Don’t repeat my same mistake by pushing ahead and skipping over this very important and significant level in the handwriting process. 

When penmanship is sloppy in the later years, many times it can be traced back to this very fundamental step that was overlooked. 

This is not just play, it is schooling at this age.

More Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum Tips!

I am not quite ready to talk about about formal handwriting yet because I want you to be able to recognize the signs of writing readiness. 

I will share about that next and then after that I will be sharing some work of my boys’ penmanship at different ages.

Sometimes you just need to see that your child is on target. 

And yes, yes I will be sharing some resources that I like too.

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party {Homeschooling Middle & High School Years} #19.

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Finishing Strong- Homeschool Link Up Party

Thank you for joining us this week at Finishing Strong–the link-up that focuses on middle & high school students.


We are so glad you are here at Finishing Strong, THE place to get ideas and encouragement for homeschooling your middle & high school kids.

We are continuing our in-depth look at the eight bloggers who host this awesome link-up each and every week. Today Tina of Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus is sharing a bit about herself and her site(s).

Don’t forget to add your middle & high school focused posts after you read all about Tina!

Finishing Strong ~ Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years #19 Education Possible

Hi y’all. I am Tina Robertson and I’m just a wee bit obsessed focused on organization. So I have created the 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner with over 200 beautiful forms in color.

7 Steps to Planning a DIY Homeschool Curriculum Planner @ Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus - Copy

I don’t throw one huge .pdf planner at you organized in the way my weird brain thinks, but I gently guide you step by step to pick and choose forms on my blog that work best for you.

Also, I am the co-author of New Bee Homeschooler, a program for new homeschoolers.

New Bee Homeschooler Program @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I have been helping new homeschoolers for many years both in person through workshops and through my web workshops.

New Logo Merged Site

I blog over at Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus and New Bee Homeschooler. I know, Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus is such a long blog name, but I couldn’t shorten it any because each word is full of meaning for me and it keeps me stoked about homeschooling. Dynamic is a word that I value because it describes how I feel about my friendships that I have made while homeschooling. Lively, energetic and moving are words I like to keep in mind too when humdrum homeschooling hits my homeschool day.

The word homeschool means so much more now than it did when I started homeschooling my oldest son, Mr. Senior 2013. I am blessed to have recently survived celebrated the graduation of Mr. Senior 2013.

The Anatomy of a Well Laid Out Homeschool High School Geography Curriculum.Too, I am still in the trenches with you homeschooling while sharing tips on my love of unit studies, history and geography for all homeschoolers.

31 Days of Boot Camp For New Homeschoolers @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus half sidebar

Also, helping new bee homeschoolers is part of who I am and I have a whopping 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers on my blog to show them some homeschooling love.

Lapbook resources to build your own lapbook

Last, but by no means least is our love of hands-on learning, which includes numerous free lapbooks that I share. One of my fixations is turning any worksheet into a minibook and having a worksheet free homeschool day.

The lapbooks add the plus to our day. And no, I don’t view myself as the crafty loving mom which is why I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone and into creating lapbooks for my sons. Lapbooks are a creative hands-on tool and they are not just for younger learners. A lot of my free lapbooks can be used for middle to high school students.

Scoot by because I would love to connect with you!
New Logo Tina Connect

New Logo Tina GooglePlus PageP New Logo Tina GooglePlus ProfilepNew Logo Tina PinterestPNew Logo Tina TwitterPNew Logo Tina YouTubePNew Logo Tina inlinkedpNew Logo Tina rss feedp

Don’t forget to check out all of the co-hosts – Aspired Living, Blog She Wrote,Education Possible, EvaVarga, Milk and Cookies, Starts at Eight, and Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

Follow Me Linky Party Finishing Strong

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Follow Group Boards Linky Party Finishing Strong

Pinterest Button Link Up-1 Google Plus Group Link Up

Easy Details to Remember & Even Easier Guidelines.

      • The link up party goes live at 5:00 a.m. CST each Wednesday and stays open until the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m.
      • Each week we will pick our favorite links as features and share them.
      • You can link up to 3 posts. Please do not link up advertising posts, or other link ups, or parties. I will remove them. Homeschool related reviews are permitted and of course all topics related to homeschooling middle to high school students.
      • Grab a button to add to your post after you link up and if you were featured, grab an “I was featured” button.
      • By linking up with us, you agree for us to share your images and give you credit of course.
      • That’s it! Glad to have you here and let’s party!
Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Back To Homeschool Student Notebook Covers

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have some free back to homeschool student notebook covers today. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more fun ideas and tips.

Don’t panic, it’s not quite back to school yet. 

However, I was panicked excited when I created my back to homeschool student notebook covers last year.

Last year was the first inkling I had that we might move overseas. And knowing my fixation with having an organized space, which includes student binder covers, I created a set of science notebook covers back then.

Who knows what options I will find overseas for student notebook covers, right?

Back To Homeschool Student Notebook Covers

Then, I created history notebook covers too. 

Though I had shared my science notebook covers with a few of you back then when my blog was new, I didn’t share my history covers.

Homeschool Student  Notebook Covers

Too because I like all forms of back up plans for my learning area, I have slowly been creating printables for my school area when I have one again.

Also you know my aversion to matchy matchy sets of things and my need for a variety of color choices in any printable I do. 

So I have created covers for two subjects (history and science) but they are in a variety of colors. 

Five color choices with six spine inserts too for both subjects. 

Mix and match the covers for each of your kids with the spine inserts.

History Binder InsertsScience Binder Inserts

Plus, I already have an idea for a style of cover for the other school subjects, which is completely different than the style I am sharing today.

This is a jump start to having covers for our school subject binders and I thought you might like them too.

Download science set here.

Download history set here.

It just feels good knowing that I am doing something to be somewhat prepared for the new school year even if I won’t have a learning space just yet.

More Back to School Craft Ideas

Look at these other helpful tips:

Hugs and love ya,

When We Used Beautiful Feet Books as our History Spine

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When we used Beautiful Feet Books as our history spine, it came closest to what I feel teaching history should embrace.

Learning about history is not about dead people, but about bringing the past to life through events and the lives of people.  Beautiful Feet Books uses that method and more particularly through their choice of living books.

Today, if I had to choose just one program, Beautiful Feet Books would be my top choice at any grade level.  I used Beautiful Feet Books for a few years of high school with Mr. Senior 2013 and it refueled our love for history after having chosen a not so good program the prior year.

Mr. Awesome still uses their books for his required high school reading.  We have used the Early American and World History and the Medieval History Sr. High levels.

The things I am fond about the most about Beautiful Feet Books are that:

  • Living Books are used.

The series of books that made us lap up our history time I have mentioned before are by Genevieve Foster.

Focusing on a famous character of the time period, in each of her books she weaves other events going on and other important characters living at the same same time of the famous character.  One of the most beautiful features of the books is that line drawings of characters and events are in each section.  Mr. Senior 2013 was so inspired by them that he started keeping a notebook and drew some of his events from history.

History Guides As Springboards

Events are folded in naturally and told like a story. No one at any age ever tires of an action packed story.  Too, Genevieve Foster wrote the books in the forties and fifties, pre-politically correct times.  Those kinds of books I hunt high and low to stock in our home.

  • Their philosophy in teaching history, which is that you don’t have to use a chronological method for kids to make important connections was another draw for me.  I was able to relax and realize that though the chronological method to teaching history benefited me at times, it was not the only way to teach history.
  • Their no fluff style of their manuals I also enjoy at this season of homeschooling.  A few ideas on how to engage your child through notebooking, extra reading or a few extra assignments are assigned in the guide and that’s it.
  • I like the fact they help you with planning middle school and high school by assigning credits. This was much help when planning high school credits.
  • I also liked seeing the overview of all the programs or scope and sequence.

However, some of the same things I am fond about the most may be the very things that might not work for you depending on what you are wanting to achieve this year.

Look at some of these things to consider.

  • The manuals are nothing more than a question/answer format.  I prefer this style now in my homeschooling because I prefer always to add in my own content and to use the guide just as a guide.  If you are looking for extensive help on fleshing out background information or hand holding, it is not found here.  For us that year, it served us well because I expected Mr. Senior 2013 to do his own research if he didn’t understand some background information.  Too, Mr. Senior 2013 or Mr. Awesome really didn’t follow the guide for reading assignments. They just read each day within out time schedule and at their pace and use the guide as self-checking.
  • It uses a more Charlotte Mason approach which is a more gentle approach to high school.  At the high school level, some parents want more reading assignments.  This gentle approach suited us because I wanted my sons to have reading assignments in our Bible material and language arts.
  • Some of the books that are used move fast and events change quickly.  I feel a good reader would be able to keep up with the quick stepping pace of the books.  However, a slower reader may get lost in how fast the books can change topics.  It may require some research for background events.  However, if your child keeps on reading past parts that don’t make a complete picture at the moment, all of the main points soon are tied together.  My sons used the guide to help them see the main points or events from the reading.

Middle school and high school though wasn’t my first introduction to Beautiful Feet Books.

When I first started homeschooling, I did one elementary level, the Early American History, with Mr. Senior 2013 when he was in Kindergarten. Or I should say, I used the D’Aulaire books for our read aloud time.  I absolutely savored our time together reading those books, but soon left Beautiful Feet Books because I was afraid of repeating a mistake.

At that time, I was attempting to move away from boxed curriculum after having failed miserably the first time in putting my curriculum together.  So I was real cautious about laid out curriculum and didn’t have enough experience to know that it had the gentle nature that I was fond of.

Little did I know then that I would be returning to Beautiful Feet years later, seasoned and with a lot more clarity about the way I wanted my sons to learn history.  Too, I realized that Beautiful Feet Books had just the right amount of guidance that we wanted.

BFB Notebooking 1BFB Notebooking 2

Fast forward to the high school years, Mr. Senior 2013 soaked up his high school years because he went down trails of history that he blazed as I once again used Beautiful Feet Books. One day he would focus on art and another day he wrote about mythical gods.  None of this was assigned in Beautiful Feet Books, but it just served as a springboard to studying what he was interested in at the time.

I think your reader of history would love the books even if you didn’t follow the guide and reading assignments like we did.   Making it our course, we thoroughly enjoy this style of learning history and using Beautiful Feet Books as guides when we need them.

Hugs and love ya,

Want to read more?

Review of What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization by BrimWood Press.

How to Use a History Spine to Build Your Study of History

When we used Notgrass World History as our History Spine

8 Ways to Teach Homeschool History Other Than Chronologically

Should Homeschool History Be Covered in Chronological Order?

When We Used Story of the World as our History Spine