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Homeschooling

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids

July 28, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Choosing kindergarten science homeschool curriculum for energetic kids is challenging. Too, check out my other tips and activities on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curiculum should be fun.

Today, I’m sharing solid tips in how to choose science curriculum for your homeschooled kindergartner.

Some take a spiral approach and are very workbook driven while others include many hands-on lessons.

However, before I jump into sharing so many wonderful choices, you need to know the importance of balancing subjects.

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids

For example, as a seasoned homeschool mom with three grads I know the importance of focusing on the skill subjects first.

The skill subjects are also known as the three Rs – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.

How to Balance Kindergarten Homeschool Science with Skills Subjects

And here are three reasons why the skill subjects should stay in the forefront.

  • First, if a child can’t read well, he’ll struggle his whole life
  • Second, when a child does read well, he can study any subject or topic which delights him and
  • Third, math is needed lifelong and without a solid start in math, a child will struggle in science.

However, what some educators tout in the homeschool world is that it must be an either or choice.

Choose skill subjects or content subjects like science to focus on primarily in the younger grades.

Don’t get me wrong. There is some merit to that way of thinking.

Look at Slow and Steady Get Me Ready For Kindergarten: 260 Activities To Do With Your Child From Age 0 to 5 to show how playing and learning are essentially linked.

For instance, some moms of kindergartners can have an unrealistic view of what a learning day looks like for a kindergartner.

In addition, they also have an unrealistic view of how much time their children should spend homeschooling.

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids

Although children are on different learning scales, here are some ways that kindergarten moms may not understand the learning process.

  • They want their kindergartener to write or worst yet write with a pencil.
  • Too, they think that a child should be reading at this age. It’s very normal for children to still be learning letter and blend sounds. Even children reading beginning chapter books is normal.
  • In addition, instead of embracing their energetic child, they think children should sit down for long periods of time to learn.

As you can see, there are a variety of skill levels.

Nevertheless, there are qualities which make homeschooling easier which a lot of young children share.

So, tap into those natural strengths to capitalize on for learning.

How to Match Science Curriculum with Learner

Look below at the strengths you want to tap into.

  • Most are very energetic and eager to learn.
  • Being wiggly and inquisitive, they can tolerate a variety of learning material that meets their needs for hands-on activities,
  • They move and wiggle but they’re paying attention.
  • Playing IS how children this age best learn. It should be hard to separate science fun from playing during the day.
  • And they’re learning with every breath they take.

Now that you have a glimpse of the big learning picture with kindergartners, I want you to choose kindergarten science curriculum meticulously.

Choose one which aligns with your child’s nature desire to learn.

Next, I don’t believe you have to make a choice between teaching science which is a content subject versus a skill subject. You can do both.
But you do need to know what is important to teach when your child is feeling overwhelmed or when life hands you a less than a desirable schedule to homeschool.
Sometimes, you can only teach the skill subjects.

But if you can teach science right along at the beginning it will make your child’s learning experience more enriching.

However, there is one more significant foundational point I want you to know.

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids

Besides, I can’t help sharing with you points that have helped me succeed in homeschooling for 20+ years.

Two Approaches to Teach Homeschool Kindergarten Science

Thus, there are two ways to teach science at this age

  • One is where you take a beautiful science topic book or story and teach facts through finding easy hands-on activities to go along with the topic; and
  • the second way is using a laid-out curriculum which covers a multiple of topics like earth and science, animal science, plant science or human body.

The important point to remember is that science is not a subject a child can be behind in at this age.

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids

Besides kindergarten science homeschool curriculum comes in a variety of options.

You want to create a love for science.

So hands-on activities should be abundant and writing about it should not be.

18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum

Finally, look below at solid science curriculum for kindergarten.

1. Nick and Tesla Series

This first one is Nick and Tesla series. This is a reference story like series more than curriculum.

And this is a perfect example of a fun series for a bit older child, but one that will feed the curiosity of a budding scientist.

If you have an eager science minded child, you can tweak an older resource to meet his needs.

One of the best parts is that you can do this with all your children.

Follow your child’s interests and include hands-on ideas as you child wants to do them.

  • Nick and Tesla’s Robot Army Rampage
  • Nick and Tesla’s Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove

2.Summer Beach from Sassafras Science Adventures.

Next, Summer Beach is a kindergarten full year program from the same company that makes the The Sassafras Science Adventures.

It includes a Summer’s Lab Teacher Guide, Summer’s Lab Student Lab Manual and a Summer’s Lab Reference Notes. You decide if you want to use the Student Lab Manual or the Reference notes.

Each unit has 4 lessons and is presented in a short story form along with questions for you to ask.

They use the idea of making a sandwich like learning science. You add different parts to build your science topic or sandwich for the week.

And you have two scheduling options.

  • Summer’s Lab Lab Manual

3.The Sassafras Science Adventures.

Then, this curriculum can be used for multiple ages too. However, it is a curriculum if you want more laid out.

Next, is The Sassafras Science Adventures which is written for grades K to 5. And there are several books each based on a different topic.

There are components for creating a lapbook and it too is written in a story form.

  • The Sassafras Science Adventures: Volume One: Zoology
  • The Sassafras Science Adventures 3: Volume 3: Botany

As I mentioned each book is on a different topic.

There is Anatomy, Botany, Zoology, and Earth Science; there are other books in the series but they begin with first grade.

4.The Cat In the Hat’s Learning Library.

Also another fun one which has been around for a while is the Cat In the Hat’s Learning Library. Kids love this series anyway.

Use the science focused books for a fun science program and add in coloring, crafts, and drawing as you child wants to. It’s such a fun introduction to science.

5.The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books 

In addition, another fun keeper and great choice is the The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books.

I loved these too like the other books especially if you have younger children, it’s worth buying to use over and over again as each child comes along.

6. Preschool Science: Exploring Creation Together

And although this next one says preschool, it’s for ages 3 to 5.

One of the best parts of Preschool Science: Exploring Creation Together is not only presenting science in a story form, but it includes hands-on ideas with items you can find at home.

Another part is the parent’s section where they speak to you in how to use the curriculum as a guide.

7. Funschooling Level A for K- 2

Additionally, the funschooling books for Level A are K – 2. You can use them to cover a couple of years. depending on how much science you want to cover.

Funschooling is such a fun series of books. And they are quite a few choices for science. Remember too although they say K to 2, some books may be a bit more mature in terms of activities.

However, the content is solid and fun. Until your child can do some of the activities, you can try easier ones.

They have space, oceans and a nature study journal to name a few.

  • Fun-Schooling Science Handbook – All About SPACE: Explore the Universe! Research, Create, Play, Experiment & Learn
  • All About Ocean Creatures: Fun-Schooling –

8. Be Naturally Curious

Also, Be Naturally Curious is another choice.

I’ve not used them but I have been eyeballing them. They have minicourses as they call them which are downloadable pdfs.

They take a story approach along with games, activities, nature and being outside.

If you lack the room for a ton of books this pdf guide would make a great resource and I love the topics hey have for grades K to 5. So you could use this with your older children too.

9. Christian Liberty Nature Readers

The Christian Liberty Nature Readers I’ve used and are beautiful and packed full of information for your eager learner.

I love the fact that I could just sit and read about spiders to my kids or whatever topic they were interested in and just ponder the beautiful creatures.

As mentioned, they’re readers. So if you want to add in some hands-on activities there is plenty of information to pull from.

I loved reading ahead and finding science activities like insect lore to go with our reading.

10. Science Unlocked

Another one we’re going to do soon is Science Unlocked.

Science Unlocked is everything that you need to teach your child an entire month’s worth of science in one box – complete with detailed teacher guide and student workbook.

The series Wonder is for K to 2. And they have topics like

  • Squishy Science,
  • Penguin Parenting
  • From Brrr to Burrow and
  • Blast off to name a few topics.

11. Master Books

Too, Master Books is a curriculum which has a series named Let’s Talk Science.

Master Books has a beautiful Charlotte Mason approach to teaching science. We have not used it, but it has experiments, memory verses and activity pages.

12. The Good and The Beautiful

Furthermore, we’ve been using the other components of The Good and The Beautiful but not the science yet.

They have a science series they want to expand on it and named it Science for Little Hearts and Hands. The first course is for Preschool to 2nd and is Course Set—Fields and Flowers .

13. BookShark

Yet another wonderful science curriculum for kindergarten age is BookShark.

PreK is geared toward ages 4 – 5 and Level A is for ages 5 – 7.

BookShark uses beautiful literature with hands-on projects lined out in a full year program.

14. Christian Liberty

This next one is Christian Liberty which has a sweet 92 page book called The World God Made and is straight up and simple if you’re looking for a faith-based curriculum.

15. Nancy Larson Science

Another solid choice is the Nancy Larson Science programs which are for K to 5. As stated on her site, she believes a hands-on, cross-curricular approach wrapped in a scientific conversation is the best way to teach children.

16. Pandia Press

REAL Science Odyssey – Life Level One is geared toward K/1 as it states up to 2nd grade. And it is a secular program which many homeschoolers like as well.

You can find REAL Science Odyssey – Life Level One on Home Science Tools where they pair the program with a science kit.

Next, these two choices are some of my favorites we used.

17. Use Subscription Boxes

Something about getting a fun box of surprises every month just adds the excitement to learn science. We really love getting our science boxes.

Look at this Little Passports Science Jr. – Subscription Box for Kids | Ages 5-8.

And here is another one STEM Discovery Boxes – Monthly STEM Science Subscription Box for ages 7 to teen.

18. Use Topical Science Books.

This last choice is to use a topic-based reference science book and explore on your own. Because science should be fun, follow your child’s lead and choose beautifully illustrated books on one topic.

Add in hands-on projects and you have a very unique science curriculum. Add in a few science workbooks but sparingly. This will allow you to not have to create assignments.

Look at some of the choices for topical books.

  • The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature
  • Human Body Activity Book for Kids: Hands-On Fun for Grades K-3
  • National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Science
  • Abeka 5 Year Old Kindergarten Science
  • Nature Smarts Workbook, Ages 4–6: Learn about Animals, Soil, Insects, Birds, Plants & More with Nature-Themed Puzzles, Games, Quizzes & Outdoor Science Experiments
  • Cut and Paste: Science
  • Real Chemistry Experiments: 40 Exciting STEAM Activities for Kids
  • My First Book of Planets: All About the Solar System for Kids

Other Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum Tips

  • Homeschool Science Ideas for K – 2
  • BEST Free Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum With A Gentle Approach (List)
  • 10 Affordable and Complete Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum
  • Homeschool Kindergarten Life Science – Hands-on Fun Nature Tree Study
  • 21 Fun All-In-One Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum
  • 18 Kindergarten Science Homeschool Curriculum For Active Kids
  • 10 Favorite Science Movies and Documentaries for Homeschooled Kids
  • Kinder Gardening to Celebrate Nature and Science
  • 3 Less-Known and Irresistible Homeschool Hands-on Science Books

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Homeschooling, Science, Teach Kindergarten Tagged With: curriculum, earthscience, elementary science, homeschoolscience, kindergarten, life science, physical science, science, sciencecurriculum

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

July 27, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Squeeze in more fun summer activities for middle schoolers by making this fun pineapple candle. Plus, there is more to homeschool middle school than just academic subjects.

Middle school kids love to do crafts year-round or do we call them activities.

Besides, this fun pineapple candle can be used in several ways.

Add it to a homeschool area, to your tween or teen’s room, or do it along with my huge Amazon Rain Forest Unit Study.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Too, pineapples are bromeliads and bromeliads grow in tropical areas. So, add this summer craft as another easy activity to your unit studies.

Fun Facts About Pineapples

  • Pineapple is neither a pine or an apple but are made up of lots of berries that have grown together.
  • Pineapples take 18-20 months to be ready for harvest.
  • Pineapple plants produce only one pineapple at a time.
  • Hawaii produces ⅓ of the pineapples in the world.
  • Pineapples actually originated in South America not in Hawaii like many think.
  • The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality.
  • The largest pineapple on record weighed a whopping 17.76 pounds.
  • The top of a pineapple can be replanted to grow a new pineapple plant.
  • Pineapple juice makes a great meat tenderizer.
  • Pineapple is a member of the Bromelioideae family and Ananas genus.
  • Pineapple plants grown between 3.3 feet and 4.9 feet in height.

Because summer isn’t over yet and there is still plenty of time for fun as well as learning before the temps start to cool a bit, let’s make this cute pineapple craft.

Summer Craft for Homeschool Middle School

This project is fairly easy and kid friendly with a few safety warnings and maybe a hand pouring of the hot wax for young children.

Too, if you love crafts, you may have several of these things on hand.

If not, add to your growing list of supplies by using the list below.

List of pineapple craft supplies.

  • Small Glass jar
  • Fake Succulent (Dollar Tree)
  • Soy Wax Beads
  • Yellow Candle Wax Colorant
  • Candle Wicks 
  • Pineapple Fragrance Oil
  • Sharpie or Paint Pen
  • Glass microwavable container
  • Green paint

I like to use wax beads for a few reasons rather than cutting up a big slab of wax.

First, they melt faster and more evenly and second, they make it easy to measure the amount needed for irregular shaped containers like this one!

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Also, you can buy an individual scent for your candle.

But when you purchase the variety pack it was a better deal than just getting one.

Plus, you will have plenty of wax beads left over from your bag to make other candles throughout the seasons.

How to Make a DIY Summer Pineapple Candle

Begin by taking a sharpie or paint pen and draw upside down V’s to create the spikes of a pineapple. Then let it dry.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Next, use green craft paint or spray paint to make the screw on the lid green, set aside to dry.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Fill your glass jar with beads where you want the top to be.

And add a few more tablespoons worth because as your beads melt they will fill in the spaces in between and you will have less than you did while they are whole.

Afterwards, place the wick down inside the jar and curl the excess around a pencil to keep it straight in the jar.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Then, pour your measured amount of wax beads and a small piece of yellow colorant into a microwave safe glass container.

Heat in 30 second increments until completely melted.

Shave off just a bit of your candle colorant and mix it. Continue to do this until your desired yellow shade is reached.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Stir in fragrance oil, again just keep adding and stirring until the scent strength you like is reached.

Carefully pour melted wax into your jar and let it cool completely.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Trim the wick with scissors to slightly shorter than the jar.

Finally, grab your jar lid and hot glue the plastic succulent to the top to create the crown.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Other Pineapple Themed Summer Fun Ideas

  • Pineapple Infused Water
  • Pineapple Casserole Recipe (with Ritz Crackers)
  • Tropical Pineapple Lemonade
  • Fingerprint Pineapple Craft for Kids

We really enjoyed this pineapple summer craft to help us finish up our summer and now we have a lovely home decor item that the kids have pride in creating and they beg for us to light.

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Pineapples are delicious and they smell amazing, making them a great subject for this summer craft don’t you think?

Fun Pineapple Candle For Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

More Fun Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

  • Fun Making Ocean Layers Soap | Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers
  • 20 Fun Summer Ideas for a Teen
  • Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, Homeschooling Tagged With: crafts, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, middle school, middleschool, summer, summer activities, summer crafts

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

July 25, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid is another fun book in the series of Geronimo Stilton books. It is the second book in the series.

Elementary students will love taking their favorite Geronimo Stilton book and turning it into a mini unit study with a few hands-on activities.

The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid is another adventure for Geronimo Stilton. He is off to Egypt to the Great Cheese Pyramid.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

So, this hands-on activity I am sharing with you today, mummifying a Barbie gives kids a little bit more understanding of the mummification process.

And you can easily tie in science and history perfectly with the fun book The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid. Matter of fact most of the books highlight some kind of geography or history.

Even if your kids are older like middle or high school the same activity can be altered to make it a bit more challenging so that the whole family can join in.

Books Of Geronimo Stilton

If you don’t know about Geronimo Stilton books let me give you a quick little overview. The fun series is aimed at early readers or ages 7 to 10 years old

And they follow the many and varied adventures of Geronimo Stilton editor and publisher at The Rodent’s Gazette.

Too, they read similar to a graphic novel.

  • Geronimo Stilton Four Cheese Box Set (Books 1-4)

For instance, the words are highlighted in different fonts, sizes, and colors. The series make it an engaging read for kids.

They are silly and outlandish which makes it especially great for reluctant readers.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

Another point about the different fonts and colors of words are that some are for emphasis.

However, quite a few make great lessons for vocabulary, spelling words, and introduction to the eight parts of speech.

So be sure to make note of the words for several chapters.

And have your child look up the words and make flashcards to round out this mini lesson.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

You certainly can use this fun book as a spine for language arts. Too, you can use this spine as independent reading or for a read aloud.

Ancient Egypt Mummifying a Barbie Craft

However, one of the best parts of each book is that you can add hands-on activity as Stilton is always on a globe-trotting adventure.

Today, since Stilton is off to Egypt, we learned about mummies in Ancient Egypt

Look at this short list of supplies to make a Barbie mummy.

  • A Barbie or similar doll (we grabbed a cheap one from Dollar Tree)
  • Gauze
  • Cooking oil
  • Salt (we used Epsom since we had that)
  • large dish big enough for the body to lay in
  • Essential oils
  • Scissors and construction paper

First, we made a death mask from construction paper and laid it aside.

Your kids can get elaborate with this part or keep it simple.

Then we made simple canopic jars by drawing them on paper.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

After drawing the jars, we cut them out and taped them into a tube shape. 

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

A quick google search will show you what each of the four gods, Hapy, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebhsenef looked like and which housed which organs.

We also used our TOOB Organs to examine the organs closely,

Then, we laid them out and talked about each function as the kids pretended to extract the organ and place it in the canopic jars.

Barbie Mummy

Next, this portion of the activity can be done or finished while you read aloud.

Have your child finish the death mask. And let your child draw them with whatever art medium they choose. We used markers.

First, the brain was pulled out through the nose, but considered unimportant in ancient Egyptian times, it was just tossed out. 

Then, the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver were extracted and placed in the correct jar.

The heart stayed in place in the body. Use tweezers for this part and let them pretend they are extracting each part.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

Next, Egyptians would cover the body in salt to remove all moisture, this would take weeks but for the sake of time we waited just a few minutes.

We used Epsom salt as we had a ton on hand already.

And then we placed our prepared body in a large tupperware container and covered it in salt as well as we could.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

Finally, the body would be anointed with oils and wrapped,.

If you have some on hand add essential oils to a little bit of cooking oil to add to the sensory experience, pour over the entire body. 

We tightly wrapped our Barbie head to toe and then affixed her death mask with a bit of tape.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

Obviously, you know your child best and can include the parts that you would choose and gloss over those that might be too much for a younger child.

For example, for older children you can add ideas like labeling the organs, give them spelling and vocabulary words like sarcophagus, hieroglyphic, and etc.

Too, you can extend the lesson by having them give a presentation in front of the whole family on the mummification process.

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid covers everything from mummies to pyramids as well as mentions of camels, pharaohs, and the eye of RA, giving you a large base for a unit study.

I can’t wait to dig in a little deeper and share more hands on activities with you! What do you think? Are you going to add this to your list of hands-on activities?

Geronimo Stilton The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy

Other Resources You’ll Love

  • Easy and Fun Who Is Geronimo Stilton Rodent Notebooking Page
  • Fun and Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Craft: Create Canopic Jars
  • Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study – Hands-on and FUN!
  • Hands-on Ancient Egypt: Israelite Mud Bricks for Kids
  • Fun Hands-On History: Ancient Egyptian Collar Craft
  • Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History)
  • Ancient Egypt Civilization (Hands-on History): King Narmer Crown

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Ancient Civilizations, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources, Homeschooling, Literature Based, My Unit Studies {Free Printables & Hands-on Ideas}, Science Based, Teach Homeschool Science Tagged With: ancient civilizations, ancient egypt, ancientegypt, egypt, Geronimo Stilton, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolscience, language arts, languagearts, science

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

July 24, 2022 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Your kids will love this fun aquarium jar craft for summer activities for middle schoolers. Whether you’re diving into a study about the oceans or doing a shark unit study, hands-on activities are the way to go. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

Either use an upcycled jar or a mason jar from Dollar Tree. This easy aquarium craft for summer activities for middle schoolers is a multisensory approach to learning.

Not all middle schoolers are at the same level of maturity, so a hands-on approach is effective at getting information in.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

In addition, no matter how easy of a project, it can help the information stay in little growing brains.

When we study a particular topic I like to include as many hands-on activities as possible and they range from super simple to more involved.

In addition, with shark week looming I started brainstorming fun and easy ways to learn about sharks and other ocean creatures in a unique way. 

Besides, this is easy enough to make for a fun summer activity or to use for a homeschool summer co-op.

Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

First, I gathered up some of our favorite books to fit the theme.

  • Ocean Anatomy,
  • Basher Ocean, and 
  • The Big Book of Blue for reference.

We really enjoy the illustrations and the way the information is provided in simple little nuggets.

Next, before introducing the mini aquarium jar craft learn a few facts about the ocean.

For example, start with the fact that the ocean is a vast and mostly unexplored part of our Earth.

And it is filled with many beautiful and at the same time frightening creatures.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Encourage your child to be a marine biologist if just for the day.

Learn about a couple of creatures, their habits, feeding, characteristics, and what part they play in the oceans ecosystem.

Ocean Craft for Tweens

Have your middle schooler go through your ocean themed books. And the pile of plastic ocean animals. Choose just two to learn about. Here are the easy stipulations.

First, the animal had to fit in the small plastic mason jar from the Dollar Tree.

Second, the animal has to be one that your child is interested in learning about . This way he can research and learn about the animal for the rest of the assignment.

Although you may school year round, you can use assignments like this in summer to keep writing to a a minimal while sneaking in some learning through summer crafts.

Next, look at this easy list of supplies.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers
  • A smooth upcycled jar or plastic mason jar from Dollar Tree
  • Gravel or sand
  • Plastic ocean animals
  • A Hot glue gun
  • Distilled water
  • Essential oil or hand sanitizer   

How to Make a Simple Jar Aquarium Ocean Craft

Begin by using a smooth upcycled jar or mason jar from Dollar Tree.

Sometimes the empty name brand jars have a good amount of writing and raised designs.

However, jars like spaghetti and pickle jars are good choices. Once you soak the label off they are usually smooth.

I pick up a couple of these plastic mason jars from Dollar Tree every so often because they are great for not only storage but also crafts.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Start by putting hot glue on the bottom of a piece of coral or plastic aquarium plant.

Press into the bottom of the jar. 

And if you don’t have one in your plastic animals you can easily make some with craft foam.

They will stand upright and hold up to being soaked in water.

Next, add a layer of gravel or sand, just a bit to cover the bottom.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Next hot glue some of the animals in place.

We didn’t want our animals floating upside down or all piled up on the bottom.

And the glue shows very little through the jar.

We chose a giant squid and whale shark

Add just a tiny bit of hot glue and press them into place.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Once glue is cooled and hardened slowly add distilled water to ⅛” from the top of the jar.

You can add a bit of blue food coloring if you like too.

But previously we found that it made it too cloudy to see well.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Additionally to keep the water from going bad you can add a couple drops of antibacterial essential oil . Hand sanitizer works as well.

Super Easy and Fun Aquarium Jar Craft For Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers

Add a bit of hot glue to the threads on the lid, Then, screw into place to keep it from leaking.

Finally, you can add quite a bit to this activity by watching a documentary.

Watch a document while your child puts the jar aquarium together

Too, create the mini aquarium during read aloud time with an ocean themed book keeps wiggly learners interest.

A few more ideas to make this fun are to use chalk pastels. Sketch your chosen animals for a fresh art piece.

Chalk pastels are more intriguing than everyday crayons. Also, have your child create a large model of their animal with paper mache.

What ocean crafts do you like doing during summer with your middle schoolers?

Other Ocean Crafts for Middle Schoolers

  • A to Z List: 100 Fun Summer Homeschool Unit Study Ideas
  • 30+ Summer Activities for Middle School Kids
  • 20 Fun Summer Ideas for a Teen

1 CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, Homeschooling Tagged With: earthscience, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolscience, life science, middle school, middleschool, ocean, science, summer activities

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences

July 23, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When I first heard about homeschool learning styles was when my first child was 5 years old. I wanted all the Homeschool Learning Styles tips I could get.

And 20+ years later there is still mixed science about how much difference learning styles really makes.

Today, I’m sharing how understanding homeschool learning styles of not only my children, but myself was a positive experience.

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

Besides, the brain is such a fascinating machine and there is much to know about we learn.

Nobody can really be labeled with one hundred percent accuracy. We’re always learning and changing.

So, I will share how learning styles helped me to accept differences in my children.

And now that my children are young adults, I’m glad I trusted what I know about my children and educated myself about learning styles.

Further, I will help you to sort out terms because it’s not necessary to speak educationalese to have a starting place.

MORE HOMESCHOOL LEARNING STYLES TIPS

  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles
  • What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles
  • How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences
  • How to Fuse Personality and Learning Styles to Choose the BEST Homeschool Curriculum
  • How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

Homeschool Style

First, this is the biggest point that helped me to understand learning styles.

And that is to move away from what a lot of educational institutions as well as universities identify as learning styles.

Without making this overly technical, a lot of professionals will write and speak about modalities.

It simply means how children or adults prefer to take in information.

Then, scientist and researchers have classified learners into kinesthetic (hands-on learner), auditory or visual.

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

Also, some of that long standing research has changed to include one more group which is reading/writing. It is called the VARK model.

It stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading/ Writing, and Kinesthetic modalities for learning by (Fleming and Mills, 1992). 

However, the three major ones focused on for years are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. As you can see right away this may or may not be helpful.

Because I was not a public-school educator prior to homeschooling, it was not helpful.

Beginning Point for Types of Homeschool Styles

Hence expanding on how these learning modalities help us teach at home is more important than understanding all the scientific in/outs.

So, instead of focusing on just the components of modalities, focus on your child’s learning personality. What is his learning personality?
This expanded view opened a whole another view of how to teach.
Switch from just learning style to learning personality. Again, this encompasses all the things that make your child unique.

In other words, look below on how I expanded the profile of each of my children to go beyond modality.

  • What is his interest?
  • Is he an introvert or extrovert?
  • Does he naturally flock toward others or prefer long periods alone?
  • Are interests nature based (not because you expose them to him), technologically oriented, or just prefers to read a book about all of it?
  • Does he prefer to just build instead of talk about it?
  • Is he competitive almost defiant?
  • How about inventing? Is that all that matters? His inventions?

These are a few of the questions I started asking myself about each of my children. I added these to their preferred way of taking in information or learning style.

In addition, I examined how I learned and taught my children. With my first child, I had no problem teaching him.

However, my second son came along and all that changed.

I wasn’t sure I was cut out to teach him because none of my tips with my first child seemed to work with him.

Then started my research to learn how to expand learning styles to learning personalities.

One of the best books to this day although it’s older is Discover Your Child’s Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways – Here’s the Key to Every Child’s Learning Success.

Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality

Finally, after years of putting the pieces together, I have created an online self-paced course on how to identify your homeschool child’s learning personality.

This course will give you solid beginning points and look what you will learn.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.
How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

And look at these other resources about learning styles

  • Homeschooling: Learning Styles – What’s the Difference anyway?
  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles, Homeschooling Tagged With: classical approach, homeschool, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolapproach, learningstyles, unit study approach, workbook approach

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