New Year's Eve Fun!!

With New Year's Eve right around the corner, plan a celebration that your family will remember for years to come! Family Fun has lots of ideas about throwing the best New Year's Eve slumber party! Start with Sleeping Bag Invitations to let your family members know there's a party coming! Have fun and make some Homemade Noise Makers, Party Hats, and a Clock Face Pinata. Serve up some Caramel Apple Cider, Maple Hot Chocolate, Confetti Cake, Pigs In a Blanket, or some Edible Party Hats. Make sure that you include some fun games and how about a balloon drop?

Thanks to The Old School House Magazine for perusing Family Fun Magazine!

A mini-study of Christmas

Are you desiring to do something a little different with your home schooling this December? Then enjoy this wonderful unit study on one of the most wonderful times of the year.
To view the entire unit study, click on the icon below.

From your friends at
Home School in the Woods!

What time of year brings more joy to a family than Christmas?
And while we are preparing our homes for the holiday, what an awesome opportunity is provided to turn it into a learning experience! Christmas is full of "teachable moments," bringing the history of the holiday and the possibilities it holds to life!

Black Friday at the Old School House Magazine

To my friends that home school, are thinking of home schooling, or are just plain curious...
this is for you!
The first and only home schooling magazine that I have ever subscribed to is slashing their prices...BIG TIME during their Black Friday Sale, Nov. 26-30.
For those 5 days only, they are drastically reducing their one-year subscription price to
$7.95! That's the price you would usually pay for just one issue at a
bookstore! You know how thrifty I am, and I paid $30 some dollars a few years back for my annual subscription. It was WORTH EVERY PENNY!
SO PICK ME UP OFF THE FLOOR when they said $7.95!

And not only that, but one fortunate commenter on my blog will be winning their brand new e-book called,""What About Socialization? Dispelling the Myths."
You know the socialization issue is not true, your kids know it's not true, but those poor people who know nothing about home schooling don't realize that most of us have home schooled kids that are WAY OVER SOCIALIZED! :)
So dispel that myth!
Leave me a comment at my Balancing Beauty and Bedlam blog to enter, and/or mention this post on your blog and you'll be entered twice.
My Classical Conversations mom....to leave a comment for the free give away, just click on "post a comment" at the end of the post (over at Beauty and Bedlam), then just click anonymous. You can then leave a comment in the box...just sign your name so I know who to enter.
Below are the sale details.
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Don't follow in my "Queen of Procrastination" footsteps by forgetting about this offer. For less than the cost of two Venti Lattes, you will be blessed in your parenting all year long.
You will receive practical tips and Biblical encouragement to
keep going strong in your commitment to homeschooling and to the Lord.

Since it's a quarterly magazine, they even have a monthly subscriber's
only E-Newsletter called Teacher's Toolbox that will give you seasonal
teaching ideas and a free E-Book download! It's like joining a unit study
of the month club! The free E-Books alone are valued at almost $250/year.
It's really perfect for people who are homeschooling on a shoestring or
just wanting to add in some little extras to your teaching.

Mark your calendars for November 26 - 30th and do a little shopping from
your seat, not your feet at the Schoolhouse Store's Black Friday Sale!

www.TheOldSchoolhouseStore.com

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott

In this delightful short story, the author of “Little Women” tells this classic tale that re-captures the celebration of Thanksgiving as it was
observed in the early 1820s in rural New England. It is a tale full of family, fun, humor, long-lost traditions, and the smells and tastes of a Thanksgiving day “way back when”.

Enjoy reading this sweet story....just click this link for the PDF file.

E

Thanksgiving Art project for the week

Thanksgiving Turkey Free Paper Model/ Paper Craft

Build a Turkey for Thanksgiving! Only one page to print! This is perfect for the days off if school next week, when you need something to keep the kiddos busy, or in my case, when I need to count "art or history" as a subject for the day. :) Use as home/table decor or write your name on the tail feathers for a place card! Easy to cut out and glue together. There is a full color version and a color me version. Have a fun and happy Thanksgiving!!

	Free Thanksgiving Turkey Paper Model in Color
	Free Thanksgiving Turkey BW Color Me Paper Model Coloring Version
	Instructions for Paper Model Thanksgiving Turkey

Presidents notebook/lapbook

As our holiday break is drawing near, I thought you all may like some fun "hands on," yet incredibly educational, ideas to implement during our break from Foundations. When we return in January, our time line memory work should be completed (right? ;), and we will be on to memorizing the Presidents. Enjoy a few presents about the Presidents...don't you all just appreciate my presence? hee hee xoxox

Notebook pages:
Here are some free samples of the Presidents notebooking pages (pre-made forms for your student to use in creating their notebook pages) located here: http://www.notebook ingpages. com/gallery/ american_ presidents. html
This is the George Washington page.
These are very easy to use because they choose the style page they want to use and fill in the information. It appears this set is designed so that you can make it as a complete book of Presidents. If you are going to study every president then that will be extremely helpful. If you are only going to choose a few presidents to study, then you could use only the pages you need.

Presidents ~ Lapbook and Notebook Resources

This is a wonderful site where you will find thousands of free downloadable PDF's, click here

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Suggestion for President Notebook:
Buy a three ring binder and cardstock paper. Hole punch the cardstock (3 holes per page). Use one piece of cardstock for each president. Use the layer book for each president and then choose some of the general minit books to complete your page. You could also cut out pictures of historical events related to the president and paste on the page.

I am overwhelmed thinking of doing all the presidents, so I will only be choosing the presidents that line up with our CC curriculum/history sentences and/or time period.

Example:

For George Washington’s page – complete the layer book and first lady book. You could fill the rest of the page with pictures of Mount Vernon, a dollar bill, and Washington state.

On the back of each page, you could have your child complete copywork pertaining to the president (famous quotes, pieces of famous speeches, quotes about that president, etc.). Instead of copywork, a student could draw a presidential portrait. You can even mix the two ideas (or add your own) to add variety to your notebook.

Note: Some of the general mini books are similar in nature in order to provide you with more options as you notebook your way through the presidents.

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Here is a sample of a President Lapbook (photos contributed by Heather L.)

Mr. Skeleton

This information was taken from a new blog that I just came across called Homemade Homeschoolers. How perfect that they are sharing a free 5 foot long skeleton "unit" study, to accompany our human body weeks.
They mentioned that I should go tell my friends, so I am...you!
Thank you so much, Homemade Homeschoolers, for sharing your hard work.
Go on over to their blog and give them some comment love. :)

(taken from their blog)

Mr. Skeleton and Osteology

We have a fun craft project that we are giving away FREE this week! Mr. Skeleton is about 5 feet tall and very easy (and cheap) to make! We have had one in my parent’s home that I can remember hanging every Halloween as a child. My mother informed me yesterday that that particular skeleton has hung around for 36 years! Even your youngest can easily participate in this craft and it can be a keepsake tradition for your family. For the older kids, I thought that it would be an opportune time for learning the real names of all those bones. So, I have gathered some links to learn the names and test them as well.

Vocabulary

Defining terms you will be using throughout a study is a great way to introduce vocabulary words and an important part in understanding new concepts. Besides the names of the bones, there are some other terms you may encounter. Have your kids take turns looking these up in a dictionary as a good way to develop dictionary skills as well as finding the answers. You can look in an online dictionary, but I prefer the paper version to teach the kids research skills. My kids write vocabulary words on index cards (word on one side, definition on the other), to use as flashcards throughout the study.

• osteology, joint, tendon, ligament, axial, appendicular, irregular, sesamoid

Naming the Bones

Next, I would learn the names of the bones. My favorite is a cute, but very informative movie at Science With Me. You must register on their site, but it is completely free and well worth it. To see the skeleton movie, go to animations and click on Stanley the Skeleton. Turn up the volume and enjoy. I think this works well even for older kids, but, if yours want something more “grown-up”, there is a labelled diagram of the skeleton you can use. I would label index cards with the names of the bones, mix them up, and have the kids lay them out as though they were building a skeleton. Breaking them up into groups can also help. The two groups of bones, based upon where they are located, are Axial and Appendicular. The five types of bones, based upon their shape, are Long, Short, Flat, Irregular, and Sesamoid.

Once they have the names down pretty well, there are some good links to interactive skeletons to test themselves and solidify their learning.

• BBC Interactive Body has a Skeleton Game.
• Get Body Smart has an Interactive Skeletal System.
• Label the bones on this animation.

There are also free printable worksheets available at Science With Me and Lesson Tutor.

Here is your FREE skeleton craft:

Mr. Skeleton Pdf Just right-click and save to your computer! Tell your friends!!