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

September 12, 2015 | 7 Comments
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.

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.

2.This guide has already been archived so you want to be sure to download it.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

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.

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. 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,

Homeschool High School Chemistry & Free Reference Sheet and Resources

September 9, 2015 | 11 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Tiny is finishing up middle school courses and scooting now into homeschool high school chemistry. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

(Yikes, with my third one going into high school, maybe I will learn something. tee hee hee.)

For his first course, we chose Paradigm Integrated Physics and Chemistry.

One of my reasons for Pace Integrated Physics and Chemistry for high school chemistry this year is that its available online for .pdf download.

Homeschool High School Chemistry

When you are living overseas or are short on space, these .pdf downloads are a great option. Don’t forget to check out my post Digital Homeschool Curriculum – Big Ol’ List.

One tip that may help you when organizing digital content is that I use Google Drive for using and storing the curriculum on multiple devices.

By putting it on my google drive, Tiny can access it from his iPad and I can access it too from my laptop or any other computer that I am on.

Also, the beauty of digital downloads is that you print off what you want or don’t print at all and the curriculum is always with me.

Instead of lugging books back and forth with me from and to the states, I just get the .pdfs printed when I get back here to Ecuador.

Like I said too, we always have our “school on the go” to.

The Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum we are using this year is more of a textbook approach and I prefer a much more hands-on approach to all subjects.

However, I know that I can “liven” up any curriculum with free resources or ones I create.

Free Chemistry Reference Sheet and Resources

Look at these four free resources that I have found and created that I will be using with our high school chemistry to bring it alive and make it fit our preferred approach.

Golden Book of Chemistry 1.Homeschool High School Chemistry & Free Reference Sheet and Resources

The Golden Book of Chemistry is apparently a beginners bible in chemistry though it can be a bit controversial.

It was written in the 1960’s (a long time ago when concerns were different then). It shows you how to set up your own home laboratory and conduct over 200 experiments.

Note: I have read that it is banned now because many of the experiments are considered too dangerous to do at home, but it is still considered one of the best diy chemistry books.

Too, we are looking at it for other value, like the word lists and understanding the changes involved in chemistry.

So NO, we will not be using it for hands-on activities, but as a reference to compare to modern day chemistry.

My research shows that it is also free to share because the copyright was not renewed. (If that changes, I will take this down and let you know because I respect copyright laws.)

Here is the free download of this book or this nifty little tool. It already has sparked Tiny’s interest in chemistry, which is what I wanted.

Too, because one of the reasons we are focusing on it is to build a beginner’s foundation in chemistry and to understand the history of chemistry, I created this Chemist Reference Sheet from the book as a quick way of glancing at terms.

Chemist Reference Sheet 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I added a portion at the bottom so that when we come across an updated view about the word definitions, Tiny can add them.

Download the free Chemist Reference Sheet below

Chemist-Reference-Sheet-@-Tinas-Dynamic-Homeschool-Plus.pdf (2399 downloads )

Moving on to what I will use as a guide to hands-on activities, I have a free Middle School Chemistry curriculum and High School Chemistry curriculum, both of which have hands-on activities.

The high school free chemistry has links to multimedia in it, which I think will be helpful to mix in with his textbook.

Download the free High School Chemistry Curriculum here.

The middle school curriculum is excellent because it has more actual hands-on activities ideas to include as we plod along in our study this year. So it will help to round out our study.

Download Middle School Chemistry Curriculum here.

See what I mean, you actually can use just about anything when it comes to curriculum as long as you are willing to spice it up.

More Homeschool High School Chemistry

Curriculum is just like cooking, add a little a bit of this and that that your family likes and you have something new.

Hope you enjoy the free downloads and find them helpful with your middleschooler or highschooler.

I know we will enjoy our study of chemistry this year and doing this the third time around makes it more enjoyable.

Also, you may want to look at these other helpful posts.

Hugs and love ya,

Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, The Cowboys Minibooks American History

September 6, 2015 | 5 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and The Cowboys minibooks to put on the lapbook that we are doing for the American history unit study through the life of Wyatt Earp. Also, look at Free American History Lapbook The Old West Through the Life of Wyatt Earp.

Since we are learning about the events surrounding the life of Wyatt Earp and Tiny wrote about the events at the O.K. Corral in another minibook, we chose to do a minibook to write about Wyatt Earp specifically.

Too, we added Doc Holliday.

Because of their friendship and also the gunfight was the result of cattle rustling by The Cowboys we added it too.

Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and The Cowboys free minibooks for an American History Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

There is enough free information on the internet and the books that we have that this is an easy independent research project for Tiny.

So your child can write a few facts about the life of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday.

And then ask your child,”What was Wyatt Earp’s beef with The Cowboys?” (pun intended, corny I know but Tiny liked it)

American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp Free Lapbook

I am just about ready to start showing you too where we put the minibooks, but have a few more minibooks coming as we finish this unit study.

The minibooks today are for the right or left flap of your lapbook. Research, cut out, fold in half and glue to the right or left flap.

Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, The Cowboys Minibooks American History

Check out these resources for the American West and Wyatt Earp

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

Update: The lapbook is now complete. Download all the freebies below.

Art cards by Frederic Remington about Wyatt Earp
Cover pages for the outside of notebooking pages 1800s and 1900s. Look here how to fold ordinary worksheets to interactive minibooks.
8 Features of the SW United States
The 4 Southwestern states
American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1800s notebooking page
American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1900s notebooking pages
Who was Wyatt Earp
Who were the Cowboys
Who Was Doc Holliday
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Tombstone, Arizona – About Tombstone – Ed Schieffelin
Printable Game with Game Pieces – The Most Famous Shoot Out – Gunfight at O.K. Corral

1) Sign up on my list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp – Free Notebooking Pages

August 15, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, our American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp that we started more than a month ago I continue with some free notebooking pages. Also, look at Free American History Lapbook The Old West Through the Life of Wyatt Earp.

I had my first son move back to the states, a graduation party for Mr. Awesome 2015 and a trip back to the states. And I still thought I was going to keep on homeschooling Tiny? Insane!

American History Notebooking pages - Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I tout all the time about not being super mom and to slow down for life changing moments in homeschooling, but I still tried to go on as normal. What is normal anyway?

I’m back to reality and am ready to kick off our school year soon.

Because our unit study is a focus on key events from modern American history, I prepared two notebooking pages that Tiny will be using this next week to go along with the minibooks he has already done.

ABOUT WYATT EARP

Though we had read about the life of Wyatt Earp in our history magazine, I guess it really wasn’t until we honed in on the year he was born, which was 1829 and when he died, which was 1929 that I realized what amazing events he must have witnessed.

The frontier was still wild and untamed while he was a boy.

Conflicts between the US Army and Native Americans were going on until the end of the 1800s.

He was a teenager when the American Civil War started and probably knew first hand the tragedy of all the lives lost.

Notebooking Pages - American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 1

Then the beginning of the 1900s ushered in the opening of the Panama Canal and the US going to war again, but now, it was a much more global war – World War I.

Wonder what he thought as the US forged ahead into the modern world?

Notebooking Pages - American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 2

Tiny will be doing some research on his own since the events I have on the notebooking pages are significant key events and there is plenty of information both in our encyclopedia and online for him to read.

I am not looking for him to write a research paper with the pages, but I am looking for him to imagine, wonder and step back into time to see events possibly through the eyes of Wyatt Earp.

Both notebooking pages have 4 key historical events on them.

Have your child research the event, write in the date and then add a few facts about that key event.

On the right margin of each page is a box where they can write about life during the 1800s and life during the 1900s, which will help them to focus about something that draws them in about this time in history.

I am finding this unit study to be quite helpful to help Tiny learn about sweeping events in modern American history and still learn about a person in history that captures his attention. Win-win.

MORE ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING ABOUT WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOYS

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

Update: The lapbook is now complete. Download all the freebies below.

Art cards by Frederic Remington about Wyatt Earp
Cover pages for the outside of notebooking pages 1800s and 1900s. Look here how to fold ordinary worksheets to interactive minibooks.
8 Features of the SW United States
The 4 Southwestern states
American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1800s notebooking page
American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1900s notebooking pages
Who was Wyatt Earp
Who were the Cowboys
Who Was Doc Holliday
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Tombstone, Arizona – About Tombstone – Ed Schieffelin
Printable Game with Game Pieces – The Most Famous Shoot Out – Gunfight at O.K. Corral

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

1) Sign up on my list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

10 Ways to Hook Homeschooled Kids On History

August 13, 2015 |
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 10 ways to hook homeschooled kids on history.

Though I don’t consider myself a classical homeschooler now, the lure for me to the homeschool classical approach was my never ending thirst for learning history.

Knowing not everybody feels the same way and because I wanted my sons infected with the same passion, I am sharing 10 ways to hook homeschooled kids on history.

Maybe one of these “secrets” will work for you.

Besides you can never have enough ideas of out of the box ideas for kids who want to learn out of the box.

10 Ways to Hook Homeschooled Kids On History

1. Hone In on the Conflict

Having boys, I know that it’s important to not just teach about moments but boys want to know about conflicts.

Embrace the Imperfect in History

Conflicts lead to war.

Boys and most kids are interested in war, but this doesn’t mean your focus is about teaching violence or war.

It is about seizing teachable moments to instill essential moral values.

Use events that stir the sense of right and wrong in your child’s heart to develop their love for history.

Check out my World War II Free Resources for a Middle School Unit Study and free lapbooks on the American Civil War.

You can’t find anymore injustices than these two hotly debated topics.

2. Make Art, Drawing and Coloring THE Lesson.
(the activities are not just for little kids.)

Avoid moans and groans that can accompany writing and instead have your child draw or color what he knows about history.

Especially if you have a creative child who may loathe history, having an outlet to showcase their natural talent will help them to give history at least a glance.

And no, drawing is not just for young children.

I am eager for Tiny to try Drawing on History , Pre Civil War- Vietnam 1830s-1970s when he hits the high school years.

This is a high school level art appreciation course with short lessons and another outlet for creativity.

If you do have younger kids, look at Draw and Write Through History. It is a whole series with different periods.

My boys liked this series and opening the history day with a drawing always won them over.

Check out Dover History Coloring Book and Coloring the Story of the World: 60 Coloring Pages inspired by Susan Wise Bauer’s The Story of the World.

And I have 20 Ancient Civilization Coloring Pages to add to your mix.

00. Ancient Civilization History 20 Coloring Pages
$3.50 Add to cart

Then never underestimate the power of childhood games like Gold Fish.

3. Play Board Games for History.

Whether you create them yourself, check out my post 13 Free Printable History Board Games.

Also, look at my page Kids History Games Boosts Learning & Promotes Critical Thinking for more game ideas and free games.

Games are one of the best ways to bring history to life.

We loved the fun and easy distraction to learn history by Go Fish Cards and Book Ancient Egypt by Bird Cage press

Birdcage Press History Game @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

. Look at some of Bird Cage press games. Some are available at different times.

Birdcage Press History Game 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Though I don’t have any kids as dramatic as myself (okay, okay) drama and dressing up are equally fun ways to stroke a budding history buff.

4. Mix Drama with History.

Besides, the perfect mix is drama and history.

Learning about Shakespeare was so much more engaging when the kids could do a short drama in a co-op setting.

That is the kind of history that is worth taking time to do because it’s memorable.

Learning history through Drama @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Too, when I first mentioned the idea of learning about period dress or dressing up, my boys were not so interested.

You know, I got the I-really-want-to-roll-my-eyes-but-know-I-better-not look.

By not letting my boys always have the final say on things we did to learn history, dressing up and even drama became some of our fondest memories about learning history.

Check out my article Bring History to Life With Historical Costumes: Fun, Fashion and Unforgettable.

5. Use Living Books.

Living books can seem to make dead people live.

Okay, maybe not so dramatic that living books bring dead people back to life, but they sure make you feel like you have stepped back in time to see events unfold through their eyes.

Living books are one of the best ways to revive a spark for history and the ones I love using are inspired by Beautiful Feet.

We love the series by Genevieve Foster as we learned about George Washington’s World or The World of Columbus and Sons.

Check out my article, When We Used Beautiful Feet as Our History Spine as I share about the value of history living books.

6. Watch a Movie for History.

Pop the popcorn, butter please.

Living in a digital age has advantages and that means movie watching can be instant and it can be cheap.

When I start our unit studies on history, I do look for ways to kick it off by watching an epic movie.

I have a great list if you are studying the ancients. Check out my article Homeschool History – Teaching Ancient History Using Netflix.

Try coaxing your little and maybe not so little homeschooler with a few of these unconventional ideas.

7. Cover History in 14 Lessons.

Next, turning history into an overflowing amount of minute details can turn off even the most intriguing.

So, cover history in broad strokes and be done.

How? Look at my post How to Teach History in 14 Lessons (From Daunting to Doable).

8. Choose a Character to Study History Through.

Also, learning history through the eyes of a famous character brings history to life.

Study the events in the character’s life and things he or she liked or didn’t like.

What food they ate, the homes they made and their surroundings makes for a fascinating study.

For example, look at my study of history through Free American History Lapbook The Old West Through the Life of Wyatt Earp.

9. Study Music for the Music Lover

Additionally, another out of the box way to draw in a child is to study what they love.

I love Music in Our Homeschool to add different periods of music to history periods.

Finally, look at this last way which is lapbooks.

10. History Lapbooks

Lapbooks are products of a child’s work. However, do not make it busy work.

Lapbooks can be as complicated or as easy as your child wants it.

For instance, look at my page Homeschool Lapbooks – Powerful Tools For Mastery Learning.

Who knows maybe you have a hidden history buff in bloom?

Have you been able to hook your homeschooled kids on history?

What other ways do you teach history that are sure to bait a history hater?

handson

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

MORE FOURTH GRADE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Homeschool High School Chemistry & Free Reference Sheet and Resources

Homeschool High School Chemistry

Free Chemistry Reference Sheet and Resources

Download the free Chemist Reference Sheet below

Download the free High School Chemistry Curriculum here.

Download Middle School Chemistry Curriculum here.

More Homeschool High School Chemistry

Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, The Cowboys Minibooks American History

American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp Free Lapbook

Check out these resources for the American West and Wyatt Earp

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp – Free Notebooking Pages

ABOUT WYATT EARP

MORE ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING ABOUT WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOYS

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

10 Ways to Hook Homeschooled Kids On History