Homeschool Resources - 2016 Not Back To School Blog Hop

Can you believe it's that time of year again already. We were away for a good part of the holidays this time again and the beginning of a new school year always takes me by surprise when that happens.

Although I wouldn't swap road tripping, connecting and spending quality time with my family for anything.

But yes here we are the first week of  school for 2016 is upon us and you know what the means for us homeschoolers.

It's Not Back To School Celebrations!

Once again, the parks, playgrounds, museums, theatres and most other community resources are quiet and that's when the homeschoolers come out to play.

It's also time for our annual All Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop. If you are new this be sure to register up over there on the right to receive email updates so you don't miss any of the posts in this series.

A bunch of your favourite Australian Home Schooling Bloggers will all be posting as part of the Not Back To School (NBTS) celebration.

NBTS runs for four weeks with a different topic each week.

WK 1 - Thurs Jan 28th - Homeschool Resorces
WK 2 - Thurs Feb 4th - Why I Am Grateful For Homeschooling
WK 3 - Thurs Feb 11th - Homeschool Spaces
WK 4 - Thurs Feb 18th - A Day In Our Life

If you have a blog and would like to join in simply write a post on the current theme and link it up below.

Grab The Button To Share

Please also grab our button and share on your blog posts and sidebars.

<a href=" http://www.ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com.au/ " target="_blank"><img src=" http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/realworldlearners/NBTS%20125px%20Button.jpg " alt="Our Worldwide Classroom" /></a>

This week we are looking at Homeschool Resources. No matter your homeschool philosophy we all utilise various resources when educating our children at home.I always love seeing what everyone else plans on using during the year ahead.

Curriculum Picks

I've been sharing our curriculum picks slowly over the past few weeks so you can check out those posts below.

Read about the resources our 9th Grader will be using by clicking here.

Read about the resources our 6th grader will be using by clicking here.

Read about the resources our 2nd grader will be using by clicking here.

Check Pinterest

Our pinterest boards are brimming with ideas for your year ahead. Everything is broken into categories, subject areas or themes.


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.

Share Your Resource Choices 

Now it's your turn. Link up your resource sharing posts below.

         

Happy Homeschooling,

Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.  

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Previously I shared the resources we will be utilising for our son's 9th Grade and our daughters 6th Grade home schooling year. Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 7 year old who is entering his 2nd grade year.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our home school. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing. We are also a better late then early family when it comes to academics so please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 2nd grader according to standard levels, they are simply programs/books that we have chosen to use this year.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Daily Notebooks: Quick practice work to reinforce learning
Family Read Alouds
Art Appreciation
Nature Study

Math:
Math U See Alpha > Beta
Math Games (online and board style)
Visual Perceptual Skill Builder

Phonics:
Fitzroy Reading Program
Explode The Code
Sight Word Work from TPT
Plus lots of reading aloud


Grammar:
Fitzroy Reading Program

Spelling:
Spelling You See Level A

Literature:
COAH Literature Units
Aussie Book Adventures
Schoolhouse Teachers

Writing: Daily Journals

Science: Units via co-op (see below)

History: Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods

Geography: Map Reading & Units via co-op (see below)

Art: Art Teacher and via many of our other units 

Health & PE:

Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Surfing
Bowling
Sailing
Just generally being active
Horse Riding during the winter months

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Robotics with a tutor
Lego Construction

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far he will be completing a unit using the book If The World Were A Village, exploring Australian Flora, traveling the globe with some cultural round the world units and spending some time learning about Famous People of the world.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, Robotics and some Engineering workshops.

Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year he will participate Surfing (during summer), Horse Riding lessons (during winter) and we are looking at the possibility of Karate or Little Athletics but need to take a visit to each before making any decisions. He decided earlier this year that at the moment drama classes weren't for him. I'm not sure if he will want to give them a go next year, but I will leave that up to him. He is trying out drumming with a 6 week block of lessons so will see what he thinks of that and what my ears think of it!!

I believe he will make leaps and bounds this year also, his reading is really starting to come together so looking forward to a great year 2!

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Recently I shared the resources we will be utilising for our son's 9th Grade home schooling year. Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 11 year old who is entering her 6th grade year.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our home school. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing.

This is very apparent with my beautiful girl whom has greatly struggled with her reading over the years. We know and understand that these issues are in the family and have deliberately chosen to move slowly, at her pace with this.

During the past year we have seen much progression YAY! I believe mostly due to maturity on her behalf and a real desire to be reading. So please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 6th grader according to standard levels, they are simply programs/books that we have chosen to use this year.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Daily Notebooks: Quick practice work to reinforce learning
Family Read Alouds
Art Appreciation
Nature Study

Math:
Math U See Gamma
Timez Attack
Multiplication Games & Manipulatives

Phonics:
Fitzroy Reading Program
Explode The Code
Easyread Learning System

Plus lots of reading aloud


Grammar:
Fitzroy Reading Program


Spelling:
Easyread Learning System
Spelling You See


Literature:
COAH Literature Units
Aussie Book Adventures
Schoolhouse Teachers

Writing: Daily Journals

Science: Units via co-op

History: Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods

Geography: Units via co-op

Art: Art Teacher and via many of our other units 

Health & PE:

Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Surfing
Bowling
Sailing
Just generally being active
Horse Riding during the winter months

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor
Robotics with a tutor

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far she will be completing a unit using the book If The World Were A Village, exploring Australian Flora, traveling the globe with some cultural round the world units and spending some time learning about Famous People of the world.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, Robotics and some Intro To Engineering workshops.

Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year she will immerse herself in Drama, Surfing (during summer), Horse Riding lessons (during winter) and we are looking at a series of Self Defense Lessons also.

I have a wonderful feeling that this is going to be a big year academically for this young lady. Can't wait to see it all unfold.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

A Few Favourite Apps

I thought I'd share just a handful of our favourite apps today. These are mostly educational but I have thrown one in just for fun!

Educational Apps For Learning

Fitzroy Sounding Readers

We have used the in real life readers from Fitzroy Reading with all three of our kiddos, but we only recently grabbed our very first version of the Sounding Readers.

The app includes all stories from that particular level. In this case it is 1x - 10x. To put it quite simply they are just the actual readers in app form, with the added bonus that they have a speaker function. This is perfect for children that want to read independently or if you find yourself in an environment where headphones are needed.

Find the sounding readers in the app store.

Toy Physics App

This is a simple game of directing falling toys into the moving crates below.

However as you progress through the levels things become much more complicated and the player really needs a careful eye, a thinking brain and a steady hand to manoeuvre everything into place.

Find Toy Physics in the app store.

Gears App

Gears is a very simple game at first glance, but it really requires a tremendous amount of concentration and hand eye coordination. Which is why I have placed it in the educational apps section.

You simply move a ball along a series of planks and across various interconnecting rotating gears, but keep everything steady or your ball will be over the edge in an instant!

Beware you can become really quite frustrated with this game.

Find Gears in the app store.

Casey's Contraptions App

This is another app that is light on in Physics concepts. It is actually very similar to Toy Physics but the kids enjoy this also.

Apps For Fun

Fruit Ninja App

I really didn't get why the kids enjoyed this so much. After all it's kind of a do nothing type of game. The aim is to slice as quickly as you can through all the fruits that pop up on the screen.

If you slice groups of them together you get extra points.....but don't be slicing those bombs, ain't nobody want to slice a bomb!

Whilst waiting for a flight recently the kids were madly playing, battling each other for the top score, all engrossed in the game and laughing out loud.

I decided to join in on the fun and I suppose for the few minutes that I played I could see why they enjoy it, except I think I'd up with RSI if I played for too long.

Regardless this is a harmful game that the kids quite enjoy playing.

Find Fruit Ninja in the app store.

Looking for more apps, click on the image below to see what apps are loved and used by other Schoolhouse Crew Members.



Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.  

A Word For My Home Educating Year

I'm a planner by nature. I don't do well flying by the seat of my pants. I'm also a list writer, mountains and mountains of lists.

----- > Shopping lists
----- > Book lists
----- > Lesson plan idea lists
----- > Curriculum lists
----- > Resource lists
----- > Gift idea lists
----- > Travel plan lists
----- > Household lists

I can even make a list out of my lists. You name it, there's a list for that!

So whilst planning and the lists absolutely help, they can also suck the JOY out of my day, if I allow myself to get too wrapped up in them.

And there is my word of focus for our home educating year ahead ------> JOY

Now don't misunderstand, I don't expect every lesson, every activity or even every day to be all roses and buttercups but I do need to be actively aware of finding the joy in our days. I can easily slip into the ticking box mode syndrome, becoming more focused on my lists than on the moment at hand.

So in finding JOY I need to be more aware about where my mind runeths throughout the day. To be more at peace and joyful in the activity at hand.

To live in the moment.

To be more mindful.

To see and feel the JOY that surrounds me every where, every day, if only I allow myself to see it.

Do you choose a word as your focus for the year rather than writing lists of resolutions? I'd love to hear what yours is and why you chose it.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.   This post is linked to   Schoolhouse Review Crew Word Of The Year Our 4 Kiddos One Word Link Up Pea Of Sweetness Word For 2016    

Top Posts of 2015

I really enjoyed reading some of the top posts of 2015 that have been floating around the homeschool blogging world this past week or so.

I figured it would be fun to take a look back over my year here on the blog and see what you all were most interested.

I'm sharing my top 10 posts of 2015 and further below I will share the top 5 sponsored posts I shared in 2015.

Top Ten Posts From 

Our Worldwide Classroom In 2015

By far the most read post on the blog this year was the Big List Of ANZAC Day Ideas.

You all were obviously on the hunt for ANZAC Day helpers as the 2nd top post was my round up of picture books.

Every year the Letter To Santa paper is popular and this year was no exception.

This was a small series of two posts and something that had been on my heart for some time. Given the private messages and emails I received I'd say it has been on many of your hearts. If you missed it you can check out part 1 and part 2.

Number 5 on the list is my most recent post about our First Australians. This includes a free printable download also.

Everyone in the house thoroughly enjoyed working through the Knights lapbook. This was very well put together and easy to facilitate.

This was a labour of love and I am so happy that so many of you are enjoying it. Reflection, planning and setting attainable goals will hopefully help us all have a more radiant home educating year. The download link for this won't be up for much longer so if you'd like to take a look at it be sure to do so soon.

Right back at the beginning of the year we did a small stint on the brain and what actually goes on in there during the learning process.

Our Art Supply Caddy is still very much in use. It does need an empty and a clean out to start the new school year with. Having it here in the top ten has reminded me of that so I think I might get one of the kids to do that today sometime. The only small downside to this caddy is that because of the larger size I am yet to find a home for it when it isn't in use. It doesn't just slide into a bookshelf easily.

Wrapping up our top ten posts for 2015 and the always delightful Madeline. We took a closer look during our time spent on France and I still have a few posts that I am yet to finish off and get up on the blog.

Top Five Sponsored Posts From 

Our Worldwide Classroom In 2015

My detailed post showing you behind the scenes of SKWIRK and their Australian History areas of the website was our top sponsored post this year.

The very cool Clever diy craft boxes made it to the list and I can so see why. These really impressed me, with both the quality of the content and how it is all put together.

This was another fabulous product that we had the privilege of reviewing and sharing with you. If you haven't sorted something for your Geography studies for the year I highly recommend you take a look at The Adventurous Mailbox.

The range from RIC Publications made it to the list. They have such an extensive product line covering all subjects.

And finally in fifth position is the post sharing a Half Price SKWIRK subscription. Keep an eye out over there as they may offer something similar again at the start of the school year.

So that was fun. Did you miss anything throughout the year? Be sure to follow us with your favourite social media hang out so you don't miss a thing during 2016. Links can be found below.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.

Schoolhouse Teachers Review

Over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of using the comprehensive Schoolhouse Teachers.com website with my children for the purpose of reviewing what's on offer within the site. We have been provided with a Yearly Membership. This is my first review as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew.

First Impressions

If you are looking for a one stop shop for your home school then Schoolhouse Teachers surely has to come to very close to that. This site offers Yearly Memberships where you can access all manner of subject materials covering all grade levels. The site offers online classes, printable units, worksheets, lessons and video components. It even offers homeschool parent support and homeschool planners!

My first impressions of the site were that of WOW! How did I not know that this existed up until now. I knew very early on in my exploration of the site that I would find plenty of variety for all 3 of my children.

Exploring The Site

The first tab I chose to explore was none other than the Courses area. This is broken into courses by subject and courses by year level so no matter how you prefer to search for things it is all laid out in an easy to use fashion.

Once you find yourself inside a grade level area, which are broken into kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school. You can then filter down into each subject area. There are several options in the subject areas also.

Just to give you a quick glimpse the image below shows the Language Arts courses on offer in the Elementary area of the site. 

How We Have Used The Site

I have on  my list of must find items for the kids - Quick Daily Practice Work - and there you have it right within the Schoolhouse Teachers site. There are literally hundreds of options across the subject areas and this is one section of the site that we have been using this past few weeks.

Each morning as part of our Morning Basket routine the kids have one daily math sheet and one daily language arts sheet to complete. We do these for extra practice, to build speed and automaticity. All I need to do is work my way through the lists and print the next sheet available in the grade area required. No searching the internet or having to come up with my own they are all provided for me.

A little peek at just a few of the Daily Math sheets we've worked on.

I love how much Language Arts we've covered, journal prompts, grammar and fun puzzler activities.

Looking Ahead

My eldest and I have sat down together on a few occasions now to look over the course offerings in the High School Homeschool Courses area. He is already looking at undertaking the Drawing With Realism course and the Entrepreneurship For Teens course. I love that we have access to this for him to be able to choose his own electives.

For my younger two we really enjoy working through Literature Units with great books and so we were pleasantly surprised to see an extensive list of literature units available to us.

Parent Resources

Whilst Schoolhouse Teachers contains an extensive offering of curriculum products it also offers parent members an array of items, such as various educational components, encouraging articles, back issues of the fabulous Old Schoolhouse Magazine, monthly bonus e-books, record keeping options, meal planning and homemaking assistance.

Although the most exciting part of the Parent Resources Area would have to be the full access to all six digital Schoolhouse Planners. This alone is a value of $125 and they are great planners too.

Details & Pricing

Visit the Schoolhouse Teachers website for more details.

You can choose between a monthly subscription of $12.95 or $139 for the full year, for your entire family.

There is extensive information about the site on the Welcome area which you can find here.


I hope you have found this review helpful. If you would like to see further reviews of Schoolhouse Teachers by members from the Crew, please click on the this link.

Discount Code

Schoolhouse Teachers is currently offering 50% off an annual subscription.

Please use the code - CREWFOLLOWER

Discount Code is valid to 31/01/2016



Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie  

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.