Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}

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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Ocean Unit Study Lapbook Covers

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

Normally, I don’t share the lapbook covers and decorative clip art pieces for the lapbooks so early in our unit study.  But today I am sharing the ocean unit study lapbook cover choices because excitement has set in around here.

FINALLY, after months and months (and did I say months, okay, about 8 months) of decluttering and selling just about all of my stuff like a wild woman on Craigs List (I might have to share my pro tips one day), our house was officially listed this morning.  And tomorrow, we have our first showing!  I am beside myself.  I am trying to be laid back about all of it because I am over the top tickled if we sell it in a few months.

staged house

We were ready to list our house a few weeks ago, but we had to interview realtors.  Then, because some of the last big pieces of furniture sold quickly, it left our house a bit bare.  Along with the realtor, we decided we better bring in a company for “staging”.

Of course there is no way with my family size that I could ever have just that few pieces of things to sit on, but again this is just for “staging”.

So we had more strange people in our house and she brought in totes of accessories, because I sold just about all mine.

 

 

Oh well, I just wanted to show you a few of the final pictures which have made me so completely exhausted but exhilarated feeling over the last few months.

Because I am not sure how fast our house will sell, I want to share my printables with you sooner even if we aren’t ready for them yet in our unit study.

Ocean Lapbook Cover Collage

I went ahead and took a picture to show you what I mean when I call the downloads, decorative pieces.  Though you can use them anywhere, even in notebooking, I normally create them size wise to fit on the outside file folder of the lapbook cover.   I have some new followers here that are new to the method to my madness, so a picture helps.

Too, like I do for most of my lapbooks, I try to give your child a few choices in covers.  The cover above is for the kid that is not interested in coloring right now.

I have a few of them too sometimes. Though this time Tiny decided he wanted to color something.

So with the donations I get for the lapbooks, I buy clip art for the unit study and share the coloring pages with you.

Carp Fish

I purchased this picture of carp for some general coloring when studying about geography and rivers.

When Tiny saw it, that was what he wanted to color and he did.  It sparked a huge debate around here because Tiny had his mind set on coloring it for this unit study.

After I questioned him about whether carp are found in the ocean or not, it ignited a huge flurry of research, which I loved of course.

That is the part of learning that I enjoy about unit studies.  Sometimes the best parts of learning a unit study is the part you stumble upon.

You can download the pages below and yes, including the carp. It is a valuable piece of information he learned about what carp need to survive.

Ocean Lapbook Cover 1 Ocean Lapbook Cover 2

Download Ocean Lapbook Color Cover Here.

Download Ocean Lapbook COLOR IT Cover Here.

Ocean Lapbook Cover Coloring 3

Download carp fish coloring here.

Hopefully things don’t move too fast over here in selling my house, but then again I’m ready!

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature

 

Homeschool Field Trip Journal Pages

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

I have been wanting to create some homeschool field trip journal pages for a while, but have been hesitant to create them.  Writing for most kids is something you have to sneak in.  So I have been mulling over even the smallest detail about the forms.  For the field trip pages I created that even meant  brainstorming the title.

I just couldn’t bring myself to name the pages Field Trip Report because it sounds so — well — like a report.  My sons enjoy writing for the most part and I want to keep it that way.  Finally, I settled on the title Field Trip Journals because I think there is freedom in the word journal for a budding writer.  It almost feels like you are not going to squash their creative ideas before they get started.  I appreciate some breathing room when I write and I extend that same liberty to my kids.

Instead of my sons reporting back to me, I prefer they want to write about our field trips.  Too, I wanted to use a more whimsical form so our kids could feel like they own it.

Homeschool Field Trip Journal
Field Trip Journal 1

I have created some boxes for them to write in and then created a few more smaller blank spaces if they wanted to share one or two more ideas.

Some kids are word whisperers and I was sort of that way growing up.  Jotting down a word or two that I heard lately either gave me a chuckle or invoked a serious side. 

More Homeschool Field Trip Resources

The most recent word my kids are getting a chuckle over is come-uppings.  Is that even a word?  I used it one time in talking to them and they haven’t quit saying it since then.  I don’t care if it’s a word or not because it gives them a cause to pause in the day about their vocabulary and a love of words.

Then we have kids, I have one too, that is a doodler, a scribbler and part designer.  Picture words reminds him of an event.  The blank space is big enough for a scribble or two even by big kids.

So the blank spaces allows your kids and mine to make the page their own.  Too, I didn’t want the pages too babyish so they don’t outgrow them by Kindergarten.

I have 2 pages that have more manly man color.  My boys have low tolerance for anything too colorful and I try to minimize the eye-rolling.  Then of course on the ones for girls, I go girl color crazy.  I have 2 color choices for them also.

I am excited about the forms because you know how much our kids enjoy field trips with other homeschoolers or just with the family.  It has always been the highlight of our month.

I hope this sparks a fun and whimsical side to writing for the kids because I think I give my boys enough reports to write about.

How to Grab the Free Field Trip Journal Pages

This is a subscriber freebie.

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

However, not all 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.

So, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

Sign up again like you’re resubscribing, but you’re not. You get the freebie instantly when you’re a confirmed follower.

It’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below if you’re not a follower.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. 
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

You may also love to download these free printables!

Ocean Unit Study: Vocabulary Words –Wave Pocket

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

Yikes, we did it! Our house is finally listed for sale.   I thought I would share a few pictures of it because I have been talking about it for months as we have been getting it ready to sell.

You know I like things not so cluttered, but I still had to move out a good amount of stuff for pictures.  Plus you know I have been sharing pictures with you as my furniture sells.  So I have to constantly rearrange furniture so we can have a place to sit and do school,etc.

I love our saltwater pool with waterfalls.  It is a tranquil place outside.

This is part of my front living room area.

I cleared off my kitchen stuff  for the picture, but my kitchen is basically open to the rest of the house.  Though I don’t know this picture might make it look small, but it is a bit bigger.

I love my office and this is my “sanctuary” and place where I blog to you from.  I had to close one shutter because the light was too blinding for the picture, but I LOVE light and I normally have both shutters wide open.

Those are just a few pictures.  As soon as I take some more, I will share them with you.

In between getting ready for that and 1001 things you need to do to get ready for a big move, we have been trying to scoot along on our Ocean Unit Study.

I have been determined to school as long as we can because I know we will have one longggggggg interruption and I think I have come to peace with that notion.

Why are we our own worst enemies when it comes to meting out grace for ourselves?

Ocean Vocabulary Words Collage

Today, I have vocabulary words ready for our Ocean Unit Study along with a wave pocket.

Remember I try to aim a lot of my lapbooks for about middle school age if I can.  It’s so easy to find printables and projects on this subject for the younger grades, but tough to find hands-on things as our kids hit the middle grades to high school.  I am determined to keep it both fun and hands-on all the way to high school.

Ocean Unit Study: Vocabulary Words

So I do use cursive font and try to steer away from babyish looking clip art where possible to keep lapbooking likable for the older kids too.

Tiny also decided to do some coloring on this lapbook for a cover page.  I will share that in an upcoming post too.

Download Vocabulary Words and Pocket here.

Hugs and love ya,

If you missed them, grab these other posts in my Ocean Unit Study – Ocean Lapbook

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

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

Today, I want to share some free copywork Cattle a Texas poem about our home. Talking with Tiny about our pending move to South America, I decided to find a poem about Texas so he understands that we are not going to forget it. 

Excited as we are about the move, you can imagine the whole host of emotions the kids go through. Excited one day and then a bit of trepidation the next.  So I turned that into a mini lesson and copywork about our home.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem

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Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

The Texas poem was written in 1932 by Berta Hart Nance called “Cattle”.  Here is the whole thing that has such beautiful imagery and language.

CATTLE

By Berta Hart Nance

Other states were carved or born

Texas grew from hide and horn.

Other states are long and wide,

Texas is a shaggy hide.

Dripping blood and crumpled hair

Some fat giant flung it there,

Laid the head where valleys drain

Stretched its rump along the plain.

Other soil is full of stone

Texans plow up cattle bones.

Herds are buried on the trail

Underneath the powdered shale,

Herds that stiffened like the snow

Where the icy northers go.

Other states have built their halls

Humming tunes along the walls,

Texans watched the mortar stirred

While they kept the lowing herd.

Stamped on Texan wall and roof

Gleams the sharp and crescent hoof,

High above the hum and stir

Jingle bridle-rein and spur.

Other states were made or born

…Texas grew from hide and horn.

To go along with this poem, I thought I would teach Tiny how to make a simple Texas chili and you know spend a bit more time together.

Tx Unit 1Tx Unit 2

Too, we have had some cold weather that is almost unheard of in May so that called for home made Texas chili.  Well, I should say part home made.  Any good Texan would make their beans from scratch, but canned beans are fine after we had a long day selling furniture in our house.

Easy Texas Homemade Chili

Here are some things we put in our chili:

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of sirloin meat.  We are meat eaters.  Love the stuff.  This is a twist on our chili because we don’t use ground beef when we make it.
  • 1 onion, 1 jalapeno if I have it, some bacon for flavoring which makes any chili come alive.
  • About 1 tablespoon of cumino, 2 or 3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.
  • 4 or 5 cans of pinto beans, though we use home made when we have them.
  • 1 can or 2 cans of Rotel Tomatoes, a bit of beef broth or beef bouillon.
Tx Unit 3Tx Unit 4

Tiny and I share a love of cheese and a multiple assortment of delicious toppings over our chili when its cooked.

I like to add sour cream, tortilla strips,  avocado and the best recipe for home made salsa by Pioneer Woman.  I make that stuff by the bucket loads around here.

Tx Unit 5 1

Trying to keep our school work light, this mix of homeschool lessons has been something I have not done before. 

I am finding it very gratifying to plan so spur of the moment and school on the wild and free side.  Sometimes you just a need a break from all the well laid out plans and sharing a bowl of hot Texas chili helps things too.

Download the free copywork here.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

You’ll love these other resources too:

Hugs and love ya,

Cattle by Berta Hart Nance Collage