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What is the Ocean Minibook

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I keep on pushing through with our home school schedule and created the minibook: What is the Ocean next.  What is the Ocean Hoping to squeeze in the Ocean Unit Study that we prepared together in our 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together before I have to completely stop homeschooling and prepare for the move might be too big of a goal, but nothing ever came from not planning.

I have learned through many years of homeschooling that with big changes you need to mete out some grace to yourself too.

Talking about moving, which you may get so tired of me talking about, but look what sold and was gone today.

piano - Copypiano gone

This sale pulled at my heart strings a wee bit because all of my boys learned how to play on this piano.   Focusing on the fun and wonderful opportunity we will have of living overseas though, I think I might be able to get over this quickly.

My plan for now is to not slow down with any school since I know we will have a long stop when we move.

We will go ahead and start our Ocean Unit Study.  I have already started creating printables.  As usual I have tried to create some of this minibook with cursive writing so it is not babyish and because if your kids are like mine they can always use the practice reading all kinds of cursive fonts.

Also, this minibook is easy enough to find the answers to because it is just a matter of locating Oceans and Seas in their Atlas on online, whichever you prefer them to do.  I will eventually be creating a page with links too, but I have already collected several links when we prepared this unit study together and will be sharing them again together as I round them up.

So the title of this minibook comes right off one of the chapters from the book I told you we would use as a simple spine when we did our 10 day unit study series together, which is Discover the Oceans: The World’s Largest Ecosystem.

Download here What is the Ocean free minibook

Hugs and love ya,

2014Tinasignature

Fun Ocean Unit Study Resources

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

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

I have a fun metamorphic edible rocks activity. Also, look at my Free Earth Science Lapbook & Unit Study Ideas.

I have been trying to do easy and fun homeschooling projects. 

Well that sounds better than saying I’m a bad homeschooling momma because I have done the fun metamorphic edible rocks with my older boys, but not Tiny. 

Actually both of those statements are true.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

You know what I am talking about if you have done a lot of fun hands-on things with your older children and feel that tinge of guilt inspiration to keep it fun for your younger children too. 

I will be falling back on some of those ideas as we continue to sell our furniture and downsize.

Metamporphic Rock and Notebooking Pages

Talking about downsizing, look what went this week.

The table we used in our formal dining area for our homeschool is now gone.  

empty school room

We will move to our breakfast table for school now.

Actually, doing our hodgepodge school has been a welcomed change since we have to do a lot of start/stops in the day to show people our furniture as they call us.

Keeping it fun and easy is key for right now and making edible metamorphic rocks works today. 

Too, this fun and easy recipe is great to do with all your kids even though the older ones may know the basic differences in rocks.

First, look at some of these fun books about rocks.

Books about Rocks for Kids Who Love Rocks

I love living books when I can find them, then add other reference books to our reading diet.

6 Rock Unit Study Books & Fun Resources

Whatever grade you're teaching, you'll love adding one of these books or resources to your day.

1. A Rock Is Lively (Family Treasure Nature Encylopedias)

From dazzling blue lapis lazuli to volcanic snowflake obsidian, an incredible variety of rocks are showcased in all their splendor. Poetic in voice and elegant in design, this book introduces an array of facts, making it equally perfect for classroom sharing and family reading.

2. LED Lighted Pocket Microscope

 A pocket microscope is a great addition to a science shelf or to add to your bag for nature walks.

3. Rock Cycle Kit, 12 Pieces - Includes Metamorphic, Igneous & Sedimentary Rocks

You can grab a set like this one to start your collection, it contains rocks from each of the 3 types- Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous.

4. My Book of Rocks and Minerals: Things to Find, Collect, and Treasure

Identify colorful gemstones, sparkly crystals, the toughest rocks, and ancient fossils. Packed with fun facts, information, and extensive photos all about the rocks and minerals that make up the world around us.

Basher: Rocks & Minerals: A Gem of a Book

Simon Basher is back with another zany primer to science! Following his 3 successful titles on the basics of chemistry, physics, and biology, BASHER SCIENCE: ROCKS AND MINERALS is an in-depth look at the ground beneath our feet. Like his other titles, Basher presents these topics through charming and adorable illustrations and pairs them with basic information told from a first person perspective. He develops a community of characters based on the things that form the foundations
of our planet: rocks, gems, crystals, fossils and more. And what's more, he makes it understandable, interesting, and cute. It's not what you expect out of a science primer.

Everybody Needs a Rock (An Aladdin Book)

Everybody needs a rock -- at least that's the way this particular rock hound feels about it in presenting her own highly individualistic rules for finding just the right rock for you.

With 3 ingredients, a spoon, a bowl and some waxed paper you probably already have these ingredients on hand.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

We absolutely love peanut butter in our house too, but giving you a heads up now that it uses peanut butter in case you have an allergy. 

Our Journey Westward

By the way if you try this recipe with a peanut substitute and it comes out good, let me know so I can let my other readers know.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

Like the recipe above says, just mix the mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips and enough peanut butter so that it sticks or clumps together. 

Metamorphic Rocks Edible Recipe for Kids

We added a tad more because having made these before and because Tiny is a peanut butter addict, we wanted that creamy taste in our “metamorphic rocks”.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

Then form the clumps.  Oh yes that is right, this is earth science. 

So then at this point, just point out that these are “sedimentary rocks” and the sediments of chocolate and mini-marshmallows are cemented together with the mineral peanut butter.

Of course the next point to illustrate is how the rocks change through heat.

So put half of them back into your bowl, zap in the microwave for about 20 seconds to 1 minute depending on the heat level of your microwave.  We gave ours a gentle stir.

The Basement Workshop Store

Then turn the mixture back out onto the waxed paper or drop by globs.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

Besides this activity having a great easy wow factor for very little time and effort which is always the best kind of activities for us, they are absolutely delicious too after they cool. 

We love to stick our metamorphic rocks in the refrigerator and have them get a bit harder too.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

I made a couple of easy rock notebooking pages with answers and a bit of background information to help you or your kids. Download them under the picture below.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages
Metamorphic Rocks Notebooking Pages 1Metamorphic Rocks Notebooking Pages 2

  Note if you want the recipe: Just right click the recipe picture at the top and “save as” a picture.

Moving on to some more bigger pieces of furniture, we are trying to move faster toward listing our house.  I hope I can keep up with it all, but probably not.

So I will just enjoy our different homeschooling things we will be doing until we have our final date for our move.

Fun Metamorphic Edible Rocks & Notebooking Pages

More Hands-on Rock Activities

Free 2 Notebooking Pages

Next, use my pages below to add your child’s thoughts about rocks.

  1. Metamorphic Rocks – Rocks that Change
  2. How Are Metamorphic Rocks Formed

How to Get the Free Notebooking Pages

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Metamorphic Edible Rock Recipe and Free Notebooking Pages @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

French Revolution Minibooks

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

I wanted to give you my next minibooks on our French Revolution Unit Study. 

We have been milking this unit study out a bit because of the reading involved and I have been doing some more packing for our move too.

French Revolution King and Queen 2 - CopyFrench Revolution King and Queen 2

So today, I have  minibooks 6 and 7 ready which are minibooks on Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. 

Because there is an abundance of information about these famous historical characters, I didn’t add any information about them. 

This is a pretty easy research project for even your middleschooler.

So now, at this point, we have 7 mini books and I think I can squeeze into a few more.   We need something about Napoleon Bonaparte too. So download the minibooks below.

French Revolution Lapbook Updated 3.10.

And now, on to the party!

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party

What a great launch week!

A big thank you to all of the bloggers who linked up their fabulous posts, full of ideas and inspiration for homeschooling the older years.

And thank you to all of you who stopped by one of our co-hosts’ blogs to read all of the posts that were shared, as well as for liking, commenting, and sharing.

Your favorite post from last week:

Everyone loved Homeschooling Big Kids from Mary at Homegrown Learners. It is a round up of her four most popular posts focusing on teaching your middle grades student.

Our favorites from last week:

Weren’t last week’s posts great? Make sure you take the time to read them.

Eva from Eva Varga liked Coaching Writing with a Writers Workshop by fellow co-host Heather at Blog She Wrote.

She said, “Heather’s post really resonated with me because as a science teacher, I struggle with teaching writing. I have been looking for something fun and creative to put a spark into our writing curriculum and I know this is it!”

Blog, She Wrote: Coaching Writing with a Writer's Workshop

Another favorite of Eva’s was Biology Comedy Hour by Susan at Susan’s Homeschooling Blog.

Susan’s comedy hour was a very creative way to culminate a project. Eva said, “I love the homemade green screen and have added this to my ‘honey-do’ list. I can see so many applications of this in all subject areas.”

Megan from Education Possible was immediately drawn to Cherry Blossoms in Porcelain Vase Art Project by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.

Megan loved how Jolanthe found inspiration on Pinterest, but took it a step further by taking parts of multiple pins to create her own Asian-themed watercolor project. “I can’t wait to use this project to teach my girls some water color techniques,” Megan said.

Cherry Blossom in Porcelain Vase art project from Homeschool Creations

She also liked Homeschool ‘Mommy Marks’ and Universities by Annie Kate at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Megan appreciated the advice Annie Kate’s gave to homeschooling families looking to have their “mommy marks” supported by a college or university. She said, “I’m going to have to keep very good records!”

 

French Revolution Lapbook Minibooks

Next, look at the minibooks which come in this free download.

  • Beethoven and the Revolution
  • The Guillotine – The French Terror
  • Timeline of Events Leading up the French Revolution
  • 3 Estates – French Society
  • Causes of the French Revolution layered book
  • Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI
  • What is the Directory, What is the Reign of Terror and What is the Sans Culottes

How to Get the Free French Revolution Lapbook

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French Revolution Lapbook–Minibooks

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

Start out a unit study or lapbook with something hands-on instead of something that could be boring.  Necessary background information on your topic or even studying dates can come after you introduce something engaging.

I want my kids to learn those necessary facts of a topic like the French Revolution, but starting them out on things like the causes of the French Revolution or talking about the 3 Estates of French society may put them to sleep.  It may put me to sleep too.

Hands-on Learning First

Make learning palatable by deciding the order you want to present printables and for most kids its normally after you have presented something that hooks them on the topic.  It doesn’t have to be a hands-on project.  When we started our FBI unit study we popped popcorn and watched a documentary on netflix to kick off our unit study.

That is why I delay some of the printables for the lapbook.  So now my kids have had time to play a game about the French Revolution and make something sweet tasting like chocolate sandwiches.  It just makes the formal part of learning a little more pleasant.

French Revolution Lapbook

Today, I have minibooks 4 and 5 for you.  The above picture shows you where we are starting to place our minibooks.  Of course you can place them the same way or use part of our minibooks and others you find.  But my books are pretty easy and I like it that way since we do lapbooks for enrichment.

French Revolution Lapbook

Also, sometimes we add recipes that we did to our lapbook, but Tiny hasn’t decided yet if he wants to add them.  Even if you do add it later, you simply rearrange the minibooks.

French Revolution Lapbook. Label the three estates

Book 4 is an open face book to label the 3 Estates.  Class distinctions was one of the problems of the French Revolution.  The largest class was the common folks and most of them didn’t have the necessities of life, like bread.  So we looked up some scriptures about partiality in the Bible and discussed some about equality for all man.

Download Label the Three Estates minibook here.

Book 5 is a small layered book about the causes of the French Revolution.  You could add several more causes for the French Revolution than the 3 easy ones I included in this minibook.  The French Revolution is certainly a high school topic but chisel it down to make it an elementary or middle school topic like I have done here.  It certainly is easier to tweak it down for an age, than it is at times to flesh it out for a highschooler.

Causes of the French Revolution Causes of the French Revolution Minibook

Download layered book Causes of the French Revolution here.

We have at least one more hands-on project we did while on this topic and then the next minibooks to complete this topic will come.

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Robertson Blog

If you missed it:

Grab Book 1 Beethoven & The French Revolution? Minibook

Grab Book 2 French Revolution Unit Study + Beheaded. The Guillotine Mini Book

Grab Book 3 Free Printable Minibook–Timeline of Events Leading Up to the French Revolution

 

Free Art Notebooking Pack – Grade 4 (Other Grades too)

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

I have been trying to focus this month on finishing up some of those partly done units that I used one year.  My art notebooking pages are part of those items on my to-do list.  My goal is to have all 7 grades done.

Art is one of those subjective subjects meaning sometimes grades don’t matter.  So having all of them done, I hope to use the rest of them as I go along.

Free Art Notebooking Pack {Set 4}

I have completed grades 5, 6, and 7.  You can find them on my art unit page.

Today, I have completed grade 4 or Packet 4.

How to Use Art Notebooking Pages

Just to remind you of how to use them, I added the picture above to show you.

Both notebooking sets are almost the same except for one minor detail or one box.

One set has a sketch box at the bottom right and the other set has a text box at the bottom right. 

You decide how much writing/research or sketching your child needs to do.  Too, you can mix and match the sets.  Download both and decide what you need that year.

For example, you can print one page for one piece of art work to sketch and print another page from the other set to write more facts on another art piece.

For each page, have your child record

  • the artist’s name
  • a few facts about the artist which you can find in the download on my site
  • the title of the art where the parenthesis are and
  • a few facts about the art

Then depending on which set you chose, your child will either sketch a small picture or write more interesting facts.

HOW TO GET THE FREE HOMESCHOOL ART CURRICULUM FOR GRADES 1 TO 8 AND NOTEBOOKING PAGES

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