I started this blog a year and a half ago with the hopes of sharing real world learning activities and experiences with other families.
Creating Relevant, Engaging, and Authentic learning experiences and instilling in children a Lifelong love of learning
Based on my Masters in Teaching degree, 20 years experience tutoring Math, 6 years teaching Math, and 5 years homeschooling (lifeschooling) my own kids, I’ve been creating and sharing resources to help students of all ages enjoy learning in a meaningful and authentic way.
As 2018 draws to a close, I wanted pull together a round-up of some of my best posts from the year. I’ve experimented with writing in a lot more “genres” than I expected, so I’m putting in a sampling here from each content area.
I did a similar round-up of posts from 2017. Most of these posts (from 2017 and 2018) include free printables and/or resources to help you help your children or students love learning.
Math
I shared about my passion for making Math approachable and fun in these two guest posts:
- Homeschooling Tips: 10 ways to make Math an enjoyable and meaningful subject, and
- Ideas for teaching Math in Real Life
I’ve also been very impressed this year with research on the world of Gameschooling and facilitating “stealth learning opportunities” through games. After digging and sifting through the multitude of Math games available, I compiled a list of the ones I thought would be best for helping kids learn solid Math skills in a fun way.
Coding for kids
Following my post from last year about Coding for Kids, I wrote a post on the best books to help kids learn about coding and a review of Scratch Jr. I also created two offline coding activities (pictured below):
Lapbooks
As a teacher, I enjoyed building lesson plans around graphic organizers; as a homeschool parent I’m having even more fun designing complex lapbooks that serve as complete portfolios of an active, engaging learning process. I’ve shared the following three on the blog this past year:
- Geoboard Geometry (K-9)
- Parts of Speech Grammar Lapbook (K-2)
- Numbers Lapbook (PreK)
Homeschooling
Our homeschooling journey is taking shape as we grow :). I’ve listed some incredibly inspiring books that I’ve read that have influenced my vision of learning through play and child-led interests, learning in unconventional, real-world ways. I don’t know exactly what homeschooling style we’ll ultimately fit into, but for now I call it “lifeschooling,” and love it 🙂.
I also created a homeschool planner to help other “not-quite-type-A” homeschooling parents stay on top of the academic side of a lifeschooling lifestyle.
Have you heard of TPT? It’s an online, global marketplace where educators sell resources for other teachers, tutors, and homeschoolers – this article explains how to find something to help you teach pretty much anything – and find plenty of free stuff!
Activities for kids
Here are 4 posts with free (and cheap!) learning resources and ideas:
- A “Guess Who” style game for kids
- Printable activities and crafts to help kids learn the days of the week
- 10 fun outdoor games (no prep and no props!)
- 10 learning activities you can do in your own backyard: Math and Art
Parenting
With the addition of a 3rd child (Princess Peanut), I couldn’t help but stretch the limits of this blog to include some parenting posts. 🙂
- Tell it like it is: True Stories of Motherhood
- The Ultimate Baby Registry checklist for the Minimalist Mother
- A paper-based baby tracker (with a FREE sample!)
Math Curriculum Recommendation
Are you looking for a Math curriculum that is built around hands-on activities designed to make Math fun for kids and help your children or students discover the Why behind Math?
We use, love, and highly recommend RightStart Mathematics! You can read more about our experience with the RightStart Math curriculum (affiliate link) here:
… or check out their site directly here (by clicking on the image below):
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