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Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive. Day 2 – Look to the Sky.

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5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 2 Look to the Sky. Free Downloads & Activities @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I love this series, winter homeschooling – ideas and free downloads because it gives us a variety of sweet freebies to choose from when the days are long and cold.

The next thing I look to for inspiration when I want a change is the sky.

5 Days of Look Alive day 2

So today, in Day 2. Look to the Sky, I have some great downloads and ideas for some hands-on fun.

Meteor 1

Scholastic has a nice download that explains how some people get comets and meteors mixed up, so it gives some nice easy explanations. It says to use for grades 3-5. Click here to download it.

If you have a highschooler, check out this lesson plan page Meteor Monitor.

Here is what it says: Student’s measure sporadic meteor activity. In this physics and astronomy lesson plan, students construct a dipole antennae, and build, test and wire a full wave diode rectifier between the dipole antenna and the laptop.

Comet Cookies

Comet Cookies

Then of course no unit study is near complete unless some eating or snacking is involved, both of which we enjoy.

So this next download is extremely helpful too because besides having the fun recipe above, it explains the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite. 

meteor math

This lesson plan even has some Meteor Math.

Click here to download the activities above called Meteor, Meteoroid, Meteorite: What’s the Difference?

Star Gazing Guide
telescope
star biscuit

The next resource I have for you is from the BBC Learning Astronomy resources.

It has a star map for the current year, eclipse guide, a Nasa sun poster, make a telescope craft (middle picture above), a star party pack (star biscuits above) or how to host a star party and how to buy a telescope guide to name just a few.

You want to be  sure to download all of the fun and free freebies.

I love these freebies for learning about the sky.

So I read this quote as I ponder the lessons we can learn from the sky.

Maybe it will spark you to keep looking to the sky to keep your day lively.

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me.

The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green.

The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet.

~Thomas Merton~

Grab the rest of the winter homeschooling ideas below!

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 1 Look to the Sea. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured

Hugs and love ya,

 

Winter Homeschooling – Look to the Sea. 17 Hands-on Activities for Two to Teens.

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

Today, I have  some sweet ocean themed hands-on activities to go along with those freebies.

HANDS-ON HOMESCHOOLING

Winter Homeschooling - Look to the Sea. 17 Hands-On Activities for Two to Teens @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

1. Glass Sea Bottle or you could use plastic. Gorgeous, easy and creative. (via Etsy)

ocean bottle

2. Make Ocean Colored Soap Cubes using Ice Trays. (via Martha Stewart)

soap cubes

3. Easy Swimming Sock Fish. (via Parents)

swimming sock

4. Ocean Diorama. (via Martha Stewart)

0206_kids_oceandiorama_l

5. Under the Sea Snow Globe (from baby food jars) (via Chickabug)

under_the_sea_favor_idea1

6. Make an ocean bottle (via Lilla A)

ocean-in-a-bottle

7. Write a message in a bottle.

Ocean Unit Study Message In a Bottle Language Arts @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

8. Easy Diorama with paper plates (via Make and Takes)

paper plate ocean diorama

9. Make a sea glass bracelet (via Martha Stewart)

sea bracelet

10. Shells on a Wooden Letter (via Beach Comber).

seashells on a wooden letter

11. Printable Ocean Diorama (via Holiday Kids Craft) Sometimes you got a kid that doesn’t want to color. I understand. So here is a diorama that has pages already colored. Some blank and some colored for options.

oceandiorama-tall

12. Ocean Playdough (via Kids Activities Blog).

Ocean-Play-Dough

13. Make edible geography sea levels.

Edible Geography Sea Levels @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

14. Make your own Jellyfish Lights (via Kids Activities Blog)

make-your-own-jellyfish-lights

15. Handmade Boat (via Minieco.Co.Uk)

boat-twiggy

15. Edible ocean layers.

Yum. Edible Ocean Layers @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

17. Good Ol’ Southern Louisiana Gumbo. You know, made the right way with a roux (Via Louisiana Cooking)

SeafoodGumbo

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Also see my Winter Season Unit Study for more winter homeschooling ideas and my Oceans Unit Study for more ocean learning fun!

Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive. Day 1- Look to the Sea.

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

I actually like winter homeschooling, but I also like change. So when I need inspiration I look to the ocean or sea to inspire me. Did I tell you that I grew up close to the ocean?

Winter Homeschooling – From Humdrum to Humdinger. (well, okay, okay)

I have fond memories of walking on the beach even when the weather was cold, collecting shells and afterwards grabbing a hot cup of southern gumbo. It brings calm to my day when I ponder about it.

Creating this series will allow me to share ideas I rounded up to give us a boost when we sag, while at the same time saving these links and ideas here on the blog for later.

I tend to get a lot of attitude pep in my step this time of the year.

One tip that has saved me several bucks over the years is to determine first if it’s the curriculum, winter homeschooling doldrums, my attitude or all of it when we feel like blah.

Before I make a change, I try new activities, preferably free and see if I can find my rhythm again. I find many times, it is wanting a change during winter homeschooling.

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 1 Look to the Sea. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

But, if you get the blahs during winter homeschooling, maybe you can use some of these links and get wild and savage.

Too, be sure to download everything you like from these sites because links can change and even if you don’t use them until several years down the road, you will have them. The sites I wanted to focus on today are Independence Seaport Museum. and Project Oceanography  and The Mariners’ Museum. All of these sites have multiple packets, free lesson plans or guides to download.

Hands-On Homeschooling

A lot of them with tons of wonderful pictures and printables. I took just a snippet of some of the printables from each site to share with you. Mark these, download and peruse them.

Independence Seaport Museum has teacher packets available for free from grades K – 12.

Download here K to 3 Teacher Packet.
Download here Grades 4 to 6 Teacher Packet.
Download here Grades 6 to 8 Teacher Packet.
Download here Grades 9 to 12 Teacher Packet.

Free Downloads from Independence Seaport Museum @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Free Downloads from Project Oceanography @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Also check out the free online resource How to Identify Sailing Ships on the site. Awesome. You better take your time on this site too. Project Oceanography has about 14 Program Packets on the right side of the page.

Snippets of Free Downloads from the Mariners Museum @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Click on each packet and you will be kept happy sorting through links, lesson plans and downloads. A snippet from The Mariners’ Museum has quite a few projects that are hands-on and in pdf form. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the printable activities.

This is probably my favorite of the three sites because it has such a treasure trove of things that are easy and hands-on.

Ready for winter now.

Oh, wait, four more days of goodies to go. Here they are below!

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 1 Look to the Sea. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured

Hugs and love ya,

Also, look at 50 Keep Me Homeschooling Activities During the Long Cold Winter Days and Winter Season Unit Study.

How to Turn Boring Worksheets into Fun Minibooks – From Boring to Interactive

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

How to turn boring worksheets into fun minibooks is a great way to make worksheets go from boring to interactive.

I have been hankering to share a few more of my lapbooking how-tos because lapbooking is something I totally believe in up to and including the high school years.

Oh sure, it can be crafty, but if you have been following me for any length of time you know it’s the appeal of wild, unrestrained learning that appeals to us and not so much the crafty part.

How To Turn Ordinary Worksheets into Fun Minibooks. A great way to include your middle and high school students in lapbooking @ Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Read my article here, Beware of the 3Cs of Lapbooking.

What does this have to do with today’s post, how to turn boring worksheets into fun minibooks?

Well today, I have a quick and easy, but very useful tutorial of how you can turn any page into a minibook.

Hands-on Homeschooling – Lapbooking

I will share a few reasons why this tutorial has been so handy for me through the years, but first look at this easy tutorial.

Grab any sheet you want to include in your lapbook.

1. Grab your worksheet to go in your lapbook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Fold it in half long ways.

At this point too, me or the boys eyeball about dividing it into fourths.

2. Fold the worksheet in half longways @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I usually do like an accordion fold back and forth.

3. Accordion fold and put outside cover on minibook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Only the part of the worksheet that is the back of the accordion fold is glued to your lapbook, not the whole length of the page.

Your child can create his own cover, like Mr. Senior 2013 did above or you can create a cover for the minibook.

Including Middle and High School Students When Lapbooking

There are several reasons why I love this easy tutorial.

  • If lapbook topic printables are too babyish for your middle and high school students, you can still include your older kids by having your kids write a page or by you creating a worksheet for them.
  • Also, there are a wealth of freebies that my boys may want to include in the lapbook and we can still add them as minibooks. No sense reinventing the wheel.
  • There is no need to choose between notebooking and lapbooking, you can just simply add your notebooking pages to the lapbook.

The worksheets turned minibooks suddenly elevated a boring worksheet into an interactive tool.

I have always touted the benefit of hands-on learning even up to high school.

Also check out Free Lapbooking Resources.

And lapbooks are a way to present informational not only visually, but in a way that appeals to a child of any age.

Do you want some other creative ways to homeschool?

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial, which is useful for many lapbooking topics.

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

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

I have 5 free and fun hands on science activities for homeschooled kids.

About this time of the year when fall and winter start setting in, I always like to share some freebies that give me a quick and free (always nice) way to change my pace.

Okay, okay, you know I love freebies and I always store them and organize them so I can share with you too.

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

With all the wonderful free educational things online sometimes it can take long to sift through the ones not worth messing with and the ones that can add enrichment to your day.

So I have done that for you today.

Since they are free too, they are great options to even just drop what you’re doing and switch gears.

Change is good and when change in curriculum is free, it’s pretty sweet.

Remember, download each guide and keep it because all the downloads are just full of fun things and ideas to do.

Besides, some of the freebies go away after a time.

So today, I have 5 free and fun science activities for homeschooled kids.

Okay, maybe I have a bit more as I started collecting.

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids
5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

1.Alaska Songbird Institute has a Creamer’s Field Student Activity Book. Free 28 page download.

This is a fun way to learn about birds with the little guys and for the kids that like to color.

Though it’s a guide for that area, it has several different birds in it like geese, ducks, birds of prey, cranes, chickadees and sparrows.

Each page has a color number code so you know what color to color the bird.

Just print off the guide, do with your children and enjoy.

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids
5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

2.This guide has already been archived so you want to be sure  to download it.

This next free 23 page .pdf download is intended to be used in a nature reserve, but it has so many excellent pages.

From habitats, to bird beak matching to dormouse and bird identification sheets, it is full of activities.

You can even scoot out doors to see if you can find some of these shrubs and trees in your area.

MORE FOURTH GRADE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

It has a sheet for a newt lifecycle, hummingbird moth lifecycle and a bramble lifecycle.

From beginning to end, it’s a cool  download full of helpful and interesting tidbits.

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids
5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

3. Another favorite of mine is the New England Aquarium site.

Winter would not be complete without talking about penguins.

I have used the Penguin Teacher Guide and love it.

Why create any extra printables when they are all there for free and nice?

It includes information on the various penguin species, penguin anatomy, behavior, habitats and conservation.

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids
5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

4. The next freebies come from the Boston Harbor area.

Activities are for upper elementary to middle school age.

It has a lot of background information and a couple of ideas for hands on activities if you are studying about tides and plankton.

It has information about the rocky and sandy shores, tidal mudflats, salt marshes — and the creatures such as harbor porpoises and seals, fish and waterfowl, mussels and kelp that inhabit them — that are accessible from Boston Harbor, or any New England coastal area. 

5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids
5 FREE and FUN Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids

5. Next are SEVERAL pdfs on this page from the Florida Sea Grant program.

There are about three .pdf downloads of plant name cards for studying about beach plant life and one about Coastal Plants.

They would go well in a pocket on a lapbook or a notebooking page.

5 FUN and FREE Hands-on Science Activities for Homeschooled Kids @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

There is third grade curriculum about manatees and fourth grade curriculum about whales and dolphin.

I also love the 21 free food web cards on the Estuary Food Web Activity .

We haven’t done the edible estuary that is for grades K to Gray, (love) but we are eyeballing that one.

Grab the beach coloring book and the beach scavenger too off that page.

Also, there is a free curriculum about sea turtles for middle and high school.

Grab ’em and enjoy.

Also check out 50 Keep Me Homeschooling During the Long Cold Winter Days.
Middle School Homeschool Science 50 Free Spring Activities.
Easy Hands-On Science: Label the Atom Playdough Activity.

Hugs and love ya,