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Free Carnivorous Plants Notebooking Pages & Easy Hands-on Science Activity

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

Today, I have some free carnivorous plants notebooking pages. Also, look at my Carnivorous Plants unit stuy and grab the free lapbook.

Even though we school year round, as the formal school year ends, we tend to be more relaxed and skip about covering different topics.

Tiny was so young the first time I covered my Carnivorous Plants unit study.

Can you believe it was 2009 when I first did this lapbook with the older boys? Yikes.

Too, I chuckle at myself when I see some of my earlier printables in that unit study. That baby needed a facelift.

So today, I am sharing some free carnivorous plants notebooking pages so that Tiny can do these on his own while reading at the helpful websites I have listed below.

Carnivorous Plants Notebooking Pages @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Too, I found an easy hands-on activity on one of the websites listed below that helps Tiny to understand the slow digestive process by bacteria and digestive enzymes.

It required two easy ingredients we always have on hand:

  • a boiled egg
  • vinegar

It said to place a boiled egg in vinegar overnight to show how a pitcher plant digests its prey.

We took a picture after four hours and then we took a picture of the “digested” egg the next morning.

How Do Carnivorous Plants Digest their Prey @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Pretty easy, fun and gross way to see what happens to the prey of carnivorous plants.

Do this easy activity and grab my notebooking pages for a fun day of science.

Books about Carnivorous Plants

11 Carnivorous Plants Resources

Add some of these books and resources for a carnivorous plants unit study for multiple ages.


More Carnivorous Plants Activities

Look at this website that will help your little researcher fill out the notebooking pages:

How to Get the Free Notebooking Pages

This freebie is a subscriber only freebie!

1) Sign up on my email list.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

30+ Summer Activities for Middle School Kids

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

Summertime is not just for young children. These 30 summer activities for middle school kids will not only keep them engaged, but it allows them to burn some of the energy they have in reserve during the long year of schooling. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

I have gathered up 30 ideas and I’m hoping one of them will inspire you and your kids to savor the moments of homeschooling middle school. They go by fast.

30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids
  • Play games. My bunch still loves games like Checkers and Life and any type of card game.
  • Try a new sport. Though my boys love traditional sports, they have been trying ping pong lately.
  • Take a craft class together. My friend Cynthia and her son did a pottery class together.

Summer Activities for Middle School

  • Take up singing. Don’t worry if you can’t carry a note. I bought a karaoke machine before we left the states and we loved practicing our singing at the house.
  • Check out some summer classes at the museum or zoo.
  • Create a summer reading list together. Give your children more latitude in deciding what they want to read. Everyone needs to read books that are just for sheer joy.
  • Volunteer at a pet shelter. If you have an animal lover and they are a bit mature, pet shelters are always looking for responsible volunteers.
  • Take up baking. Most kids this age either love to cook or bake.  Chocolate chip cookies are a great motivator with my boys in learning how to bake.

Homeschooling Middle School Kids

  • Ice skating. My boys love to iceskate in the summer when the days are hot. It also burns off excess energy. I love the quiet and calm at home when we come back because they are too tired to start any sibling rivalry.
  • Take them to a homeschool convention.  You know they don’t just sell curriculum there. My boys picked out hands-on science projects and crafts they liked to do. It can also be an opportunity for them to look at curriculum they will be using in the upper grades.
Middle School Kids can create a terrarium @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
  • Swimming. No need to say more.
  • Take up dance classes. Normally in summer the classes are smaller and I find that students get more attention. If you live in place where it’s so hot that you can’t get outdoors for part of the day, an inside activity is a cool relief. We loved the classes offered by Arthur Murray studios.

Summer Learning Ideas for Teens

  • Learn programming. Tiny actually has an interest in this and we might give this a try this summer.
  • Mentoring. Is your child a care giver? Then he or she might enjoy looking at summer programs where they can mentor.
  • Gardening or even container gardening. How long has it been since you made a terrarium?
The Basement Workshop Store

Don’t forget summer is a great time to do a living book and hands-on science exploring about plants, fruits and nuts!

Our Journey Westward

I love these series of books because you can use them for grades K – 8.

“The NaturExplorers series was written with 1st-8th graders in mind.

 All of the activities in the studies are very adaptable for all ages, though, and specific ideas are included for incorporating your older and younger students.”

Our Journey Westward
  • Learn to make jewelry. I did this when I was in middle school. Nowadays, any Hobby Lobby or craft store carries beginner supplies.
  • Learn to work with leather. Leather can be expensive, so start with those cheaper chamois wash cloths they sell at Walmart to dry your car with and make a pouch, shirt or choker from it. These fun leather crafts are a fun way to begin learning about working with leather.
  • Go to free concerts. We use to live close to a major college and they had free concerts outside with a variety of musicals from classical to modern that my boys enjoyed going to.

  • Try a new water sports like whitewater rafting. Certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you have a water lover he or she may enjoy taking lessons.
  • Check out you library summer reading program.

Summer Fun for Teens

  • Take up a summer job. Some jobs like a babysitter, dog walker and pet setting services just require a mature young person.
  • Make a lava lamp. Beckons me to my childhood.
  • Learn to sew. I sewed my first pillow in middle school. It’s a shame that skill didn’t stick with me until today.
  • Learn to Cook.
  • Take an online class. You’ll love this fun Poetry and a Movie. Click here for Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved).
  • Interview a grandparent. This year we have had both sets of grandparents real ill. We are making a chart of questions that Tiny has been wondering about their life and when we return to the states, he will be interviewing them.
Middle School Kids Can Learn Photography @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
  • Take an elective class for high school now. There is no need to wait until high school to take an elective they might be interested in. Too, by taking a class during the summer, they can take their time and it still goes on their high school transcript when they enter the high school years. Look at A to Z List: Middle and High School Homeschool Electives.
  • Learn photography. My niece took up some basic photography during her summer years. Most classes for beginners don’t require any fancy equipment in the beginning. It is a great way to see if a passion turns into a profession as they grow older.

Fun Learning Ideas for Summer

  • Art lessons for the art lover. Sometimes we just don’t have time to get it all in during the school year and taking up art during the summer keeps it fun instead of “school”.
  • Take up reenacting. My sister and her daughters would do history like this during the summer. Living history, hands down beats a dry textbook.
  • Head to the beach. I remember my summer times at the beach roasting corn and marshmallows. Nothing means summer more than spending a day and evening at the beach.

More Summer Homeschool Ideas

    Those ideas are just some of the things we have done and pop into my head.

    30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids

    What about you? What are your favorite activities to do during summer time for middle school kids?

    You’ll love these other ideas:

    30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study – Hands-on and FUN!

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

    Studying Ancient Egypt history has been anything but boring for us because I have been determined to keep it hands-on. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more unit studies.

    I have to admit though it is not always easy.

    When I find homeschool history programs like Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods that fits what I think history should look like, I am always delighted to share about it.

    Your kids will love this Hands-on Ancient Egypt Unit Study at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    I was given a free copy of Project Passport: Ancient Egypt and I was paid for my time. Compensated for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

    Hands-on Homeschool Ancient Egypt History

    Though we are history lovers in our home, I know that teaching Ancient Egypt history can be quite boring if you don’t find the right resource.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Using Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods over the past few weeks has been by far the best curriculum we have used for studying about Ancient Egypt.

    Look at some of these things that makes us swoon over this curriculum.

    • Hands-on activities like mapping Upper and Lower Egypt, creating post cards and preparing a newspaper and recipes.
    • It means a lot to me to have high quality clip art and not babyish looking quality printables for middle school kids.  The printables are high quality and are all labeled so that you can match them to the correct projects.
    • There are a variety of activities to choose from to suit any learning style.  Tiny is my strongest auditory learner of all of my boys and he really was engaged by the beautiful sounding Mp3s like Touring Down the Nile, Interview with an Embalmer and Building a Pyramid.  I haven’t really used the curriculum the way they suggested by picking and choosing.  We tried to cram it all in because each project sounded as fun as the next one. We just had to taste a bit of everything. Along with creating minibooks, we created a passport, created a luggage folder (so cute), a travel itinerary, prepared the scrapbook of sights and snapshots of moments in history (timeline).
    • It’s all laid out Stop by Stop. Even the text you need to read for each lesson is included. This makes it easy to pick up and go when you are short on time.
    • The teacher’s keys are very helpful and Tiny was able to check his work on his own. I love that part.
    • I REALLY appreciate a scope and sequence being provided so that I can plan or see what will be covered. I have to create objectives and lesson plan and the teacher in me finds this part extremely helpful.
    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Look at some of these things that you will want to know before you use Project Passport: Ancient Egypt.

    Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study - Hands-on and FUN!

    • Details are important to history when you want to analyze them.  Topics are covered with an eye for details and not broad strokes.  If you want details, then it’s a great fit.
    • It requires a good amount of time for start up because you will want to take time reading through all the directions for both laying out the projects and how to print them.  The payoff is rewarding but don’t look at speeding through the set up process.  This is a savor the time curriculum.
    • Like high quality printables should be, you will want to use high quality materials like cardstock and color printables.  You can print gray scale too and have the option to color. I think it’s always an advantage to have both options of coloring or gray scale printing though.  Because this curriculum is sold by CD or downloads, your printer will be busy.
    • Though I thrive in organization, having four sub-folders to navigate between might seem overwhelming.  It took me a few minutes to figure out that the Itineraries folder in the PDFs sub-folder was the place that I needed to visit at each Stop.  It has the instructions for the activities for each stop.  There are a total 25 Stops.
    • It is important to remember that the printables cannot be shrunk, which a lot of printers do. If you do this, like the instructions specifically mentions, it throws off all the printables. An important detail that is easy to forget when you start printing at each Stop. Avoid precious ink and high quality paper by minding the details on each page.

    Like a comprehensive unit study should be, you will want to let go of whatever else you are studying about so that your children can enjoy the creative writing, arts and geography weaved throughout each Stop.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Tiny is just about out of the dress up stage but he fondly remembers our hands-on activities with Ancient Egypt  (fun with cartouche and Lego pyramid) as we have used Home School in the Woods products through the years.

    With this unit study, my focus was on reading the content and listening to the MP3s to prepare him for high school.

    Of course, doing as many of the other hands-on activities that we could cram in is also my objective.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Because I couldn’t wait to share with you about how this unit study sparks a love for learning about Ancient Egypt and because of my love for pictures too, look at my first post Ancient Egypt and look at my second one Ancient Egypt Unit Study Part 2.

    I have used many laid out unit studies. 

    Too, you know I have created my own lapbook printables because it has been hard to find history curriculum that has all the things I demand, which are detailed content, pristine clip art, high quality printables, an overflowing amount of hands-on activities and that can be used with multiple ages.

    Project Passport: Ancient Egypt receives my highest praise and I can’t wait to grab the other projects in this series.

    Thank You Home School in the Woods for the obvious time, care and detail that went into this curriculum. I am proud to be a reviewer of such an amazing product.

     Ancient History Series

    Company Name: Home School in the Woods Publishing
    Website: Home School in the Woods
    Product Name: Project Passport: Ancient Egypt
    Grades: 3rd to 8th, but I found that it could be tweaked up or down because of the numerous activities. Check out their scope and sequence to see the events
    Type of Format: Download
    Religious perspective but can be tweaked for a more secular version if you choose.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    You’ll love these other hands-on history for studying about Ancient Egypt:

    Hugs and love ya,

     

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study – Trip through Ancient History

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

    I have a fun ancient Egypt unit study that I did in three posts. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more unit studies.

    I am so tickled and excited about starting our Ancient Egypt Passport Project from Home School in the Woods that I can’t wait until the review to share all what we are doing.

    We will be using this curriculum over the next month or so and you know I am so visual that I have to share a ton of pictures with you before I do a final review.  I know you like pictures too.

    Take a trip through history and discover cultures at another era of time with hands-on projects and activities that drive the lessons home in a fun way! You’ll love this Ancient Egypt Hands-on Homeschool Unit Study. CLICK HERE to get it!

    One of the reasons I was so giddy to get my hands on this was because of all the activities and projects.  We couldn’t wait to get started.

    My initial thought on this is that it does require a good amount of time for set up.  I have never been afraid of a bit of hard work in the beginning for a nice payoff in the long run.

    Too, once we made the passport and luggage (so stinkin’ fun) we can use it for all the other project passport studies.

    ANCIENT EGYPT ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

    One thing I want to be sure you know when you start using this is to read carefully all the notes provided.

    They are worth the time reading so that you don’t make mistakes in printing. 

    For example, I appreciated the very fine point of printing “actual size” and not shrinking the pages because the measurements will be off on all projects.

    Just be sure you read all the details and take your time.

    Hands-On History Ancient Egypt

    So the first couple of lessons, which are called Stops (there are 25 Stops total), is where a lot of the prep work is done. We have done 3 STOPS and stopped so that we could catch up on some of the fun projects.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 3 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    We started by making the fun passport first.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 5 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    All the templates you need to make each printable is with this download. It is the total package. 

    Tiny wanted to use a photo for his passport where he was wearing his Ecuadorean hat. He is proud of that native hat.

    He actually thought this was cool to make because when we got our passports for coming here to Ecuador, he learned a lot about visas and passports.Ancient Egypt Unit Study 6 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Then next we worked on making the timeline called “Snapshots Moments in History”. This baby has 8 pages plus 4 pages of timeline figures and extra pages for decorating. 

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study - Trip through Ancient History

    You can choose to do the pages notebook style or accordion style.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Since we love lapbooks, we decided to go ahead and do the timeline accordion style.

    It took a bit of time to cut each page and tape it, but now we have the timeline for the whole project and will be gluing our timeline figures as we go along at each Stop.

    Homeschool History Based Activity Study

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 4 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Then this luggage idea, complete with luggage tag is so creative.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 7 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Just a heads up, my luggage looks a bit different than what the instructions said.  You will be able to create yours like the model one shown in the download because you probably live near a Wal-mart.

    Since everything is not easy to find here in Ecuador, I had to help Tiny create something just a bit different.

    First, I couldn’t find a file folder with pockets and brads. I went to 7 stores and they just don’t have that here in Ecuador.

    So we made our own pockets and instead of using the brads like the instructions said, we used a file fastener.

    If you make it and you live near civilization, it won’t take you near as long as it did for us to make our luggage.

    We loved making it though and Tiny even wanted to glue some luggage stickers that we found on the internet onto the outside. It came out so cute.

    Inside we store the travel log pages, which Tiny will write on at the end of our journey.

    History Based Activity Study Ancient Egypt

    We can store other items in the pockets too.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Then lastly we made our beginning scrap book called Scrapbook of Sights.

    The instructions called for a clear outside pocket and a 3 ring binder.  Guess what?

    They don’t have clear outside pocket binders here and there are only 2 ring binders used here in Ecuador like the picture shown above.  Again, your final product will look a bit different than mine does here.

    This wasn’t such a big deal though because we just glued the cover page onto the outside and can use a 2 ring binder.

    This binder is for storing the map we did about Upper and Lower Egypt and it will store our timeline as we add “snapshots” of our trip.

    Too, we listened to our first audio as we headed down the Nile River.

    I really like this part to this curriculum because out of all of my boys, Tiny is the strongest audio learner and he just curled up beside as we listened to this audio tour complete with sound effects. So much fun.

    You see, there is no way I will be able to get this all in one blog post because there is way too many wonderful things to tell you about this project.

    I will update you as we move along through a few more Stops and do more of the projects.

    Do you have plans for an upcoming unit study on Ancient Egypt?

     

    Take a trip through history and discover cultures at another era of time with hands-on projects and activities that drive the lessons home in a fun way! You’ll love this Ancient Egypt Hands-on Homeschool Unit Study. CLICK HERE to get it!

    You’ll love the other parts to this unit study:

    Hugs and love ya,

    Hands-On Simple And Best Homeschool Geography Ideas & Tips

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

    Homeschool geography is so much more than coloring a boring map. You’re sure to find a homeschool geography idea or curriculum activity here at Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

    Geography is a branch of science which includes all parts of the earth’s physical features and the inhabitants.

    And that means it is the study of almost anything about the earth.

    Look at this list of things:

    • people
    • plants
    • animals
    • land
    • sea
    • and air features.
    Hands-On Simple And Best Homeschool Geography Ideas & Tips

    One huge difference about geography as a science versus other sciences is that subjects are investigated in the place they are and not as a subject.

    Homeschool Geography

    It really opens up the way for many investigate slants and hands-on geography ideas.

    First, look at these posts about how to teach geography.

    Next, look at some hands-on ideas for learning about geography.

    Hands-on Geography Ideas

    Additionally, look at some of these tips for curriculum.

    Geography Curriculum and Printables

    WATER GEOGRAPHY

    GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES

    WORLD GEOGRAPHY