Homeschooling in Washington -

This post has moved.  To reach all of my tips and resources on homeschooling in Washington state, please just click the link below:

Homeschooling in Washington State

More high school posts are on Pinterest here: Homeschooling High School Pinterest Board.  This post is linked to Homeschooling State by State.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool, and I wish you well on your homeschooling journey,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled from day one.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote the book - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

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Copyright @ BJ's Homeschool 2018

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Homeschool Middle School English -- Oak Meadow Review

Are you looking for a quality English program for your middle schooler?

We discovered Oak Meadow Homeschool Curriculum when my daughter was in the elementary years.  We loved using Oak Meadow for social studies and English starting in 4th grade and all the way up through the high school years. 

AND Their middle school English courses were some of our favorites!

Oak Meadow English 8 is all about introducing the components of good literature to your middle schooler, while providing a number of ways to encourage them to write.  

Oak Meadow Publications was first started by a teacher who was trained in the Waldorf method.  However they are very relaxed in their approach to Waldorf, and are also aligned to state standards.  They grew to a large educational publishing company and now offer homeschool curricula for all subjects, from K - 12.

All of their courses follow standards, yet they have kept their creative hands-on approach to learning all the way, in my opinion.  As a family, we had been using Oak Meadow curriculum for English and history for many years.

We love how Oak Meadow's focus is on hands on learning and it works to meet the child when she is:  head, hands and heart.  It's high school courses are college prep level.

And their approach worked great for my daughter.

It challenged her, held her interest, and also really motivated her to become a good writer.  It also provided a structure that helped her to focus and organize her studies.

Through this course, literature became something that my daughter looked forward to each day.

She enjoyed learning about plot, setting, point of view, and characterization. But she when she got to  symbols, and foreshadowing, she was enthralled.

Oak Meadow 8 includes eight novels, grammar study, a number of writing assignments to choose from and more.   The novels in this course include......

(Please click here to read the rest of my review of this excellent literature and writing curriculum.)

Betsy is mom to her now college senior, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college, gifted/2e and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

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Copyright, 2018
 All Rights Reserved

Summary:  Homeschooling gifted or 2e children and how we avoided that high achievers label, through homeschooling.  And making efforts to follow our 2e daughter's lead. 

We found out our daughter was 2e when on a bus ride in China.  We began homeschooling early on.

I had a background in preschool teaching so we just went ahead and started doing preschool and activities at home.  By the time she was of kindergarten age, she was far beyond kindergarten work.........

This article has moved.  

Avoiding the High Achievers Label Through Homeschooling 

please click here.

Thanks for stopping by, and please click this month's Gifted Homeschool Forum Blog Hop.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition.

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Just encouragement for your homeschool in your inbox. 



Copyright 2020 @ BJ's Homeschool
All Rights Reserved

Puerto Rico Kits for Kids Project - And the Value of Volunteering as a Family

One of the things that we especially liked about homeschooling was that it gave us a chance to volunteer as a family and give back to our community.

One year, my daughter's teen group volunteered at a food bank then wrapped presents at the mall to support another nonprofit.  Another time we collected stuffed animals and gave them to the fire department, to give out to kids in crisis. 

During senior year, my teen did a senior project that she designed, collecting canned food for cats, then giving them to a local senior center.  Through these experiences my daughter developed an understanding of the importance of giving back.  Plus a confidence that she could make a difference in the world.

Not often do we get an opportunity to help other homeschoolers!

But one has come up recently.....

We have been organizing to help a large homeschooling group in Puerto Rico., who have been hard hit by the recent hurricane.

We call our project Kits for Kids - Puerto Rico.

WHAT IS OUR PUERTO RICO KITS FOR KIDS PROJECT?

There is a large homeschool group in Puerto Rico connected to Happy Teens Homeschool at the Galactic Academy that has been struggling since the aftermath of the hurricane.

I met this group through my blog, BJ's Homeschool. They have been regular readers of my blog for years. Their group leader is John Maxson, from the Puerto Rico Homeschool Group at Galactic Academy.

That's 140 kids who are not able to meet to do schooling, who are also spread out around the island, with no electricity or running water in their homes.

Yes, Puerto Rico is still mostly in the dark.

Only those families who are lucky to have generators, and gasoline available, have power. And running water is still not in their homes! Stores are closed because of the lack of power, so basic supplies are hard to come by.

The news has quit reporting on the Puerto Rico situation.

But they are still in need, and here's a way that we can help at least some of the Puerto Rico families.

KITS FOR KIDS - PUERTO RICO - is sending hope and basic supplies to kids!

The first shipments have gone out to this group so far. Each kit has been safely delivered to the first recipients. And they have been thrilled!

Kids still waiting in the following area of Puerto Rico:

Bayamon, Arecibo, San Juan, Corozal, Toa Alta, Aquadilla, Trujillo Alto, Vega Baja, Hatillo, Guaynabo, and also in the Metro area.

$8.00 would buy a basic supply kit for one of these waiting children.

Each kit includes:

-antibacterial soap
-small towel
-hat for warmth at night
-flashlight and batteries
-small game from dollar store
-art tablet from dollar store
-crayons or pencils
-protein bars

PLEASE ENJOY THESE PICTURES OF THE FIRST KIDS GETTING THEIR KITS:

Now they have essentials and also supplies to do school with draw, play games, etc.  Getting basic supplies is a problem with the power being out, and stores not open.

AND THEY SEND THEIR PERSONAL THANKS:

Some of the donations go directly to Florida, where your kits were assembled, then sent on to Puerto Rico, to save shipping costs. 

Our church, Saltwater Church from Des Moines, WA, just donated, but there are 55 kids who are still waiting.....

Won't you help us reach the last waiting kids?   

55 children are still waiting.

Donations can be sent to our Florida contact at:

Wanda Andino

980 E Church St E-305
Bartow, Fl.  33830

OR PAYPAL - Betsy Sproger
                   sprogerville@earthlink.net

Sincerely,

Betsy Sproger and friends

Writer/Owner - BJ's Homeschool

www.betsyhomeschoolconsulting.blogspot.com

AND Especially from:

Puerto Rico Homeschool Group Leader

Galactic Academy

John Maxson under Eric Santos

Here is the background information on the situation for this homeschool group in Puerto Rico:

>>>"Thank you for asking . It's pretty bad here 😞  Not everything is being reported here . At least personally I have no water , electric. Some might have after a month some water . Deaths aren't being reported in our experience like they should be . For example , in our group one of the grandparents already passed away and it's not counted as because of hurricane Maria but we think it should because he was a dialysis patient. Hospitals are working as hard as they could . They now have electricity by generator but sometimes they go down . Diabetics have it hard too because the insulin has to be kept cold .
>>>
>>>Can't imagine other conditions. The help is real slow here . Fema didn't bring enough tarps so they were buying at the beginning what they could at Home Depot etc . At one place the line just for ice was about 500 people . Thank you again for asking about us . It really means a lot to us Betsy . You have warmed my heart which has been hurting with how some of our family's in the group have been.
>>>
>>>One mayor had palettes of food get ruined and dumped them in trash bins while people needed . Another mom in the group her family sent I guess special milk for her newborn and when she got the box by mail it had been opened and they had taken the milk .
>>>
>>>They personally know the address of about 140 of the kids in the group, and some of them in the photo attached. 
The group leader says "Hope you love the idea . It's a box of hope ❤"

Thank you again,

At the service of the Galactic Academy (Group Leader, Puerto Rico)
John Maxson under Eric Santos

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,






Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college senior, whom she homeschooled from day one. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote the book - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 














Want to stay in touch?  






,Pinterest,Twitter, Facebook 












This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.




Copyright, 2017, All Rights Reserved

Christmas Gifts for Young Artists full of learning Fun

It's December and of course I am still working on my holiday shopping list, or you, too?  

This year has been hard for all kind of families.  Covid 19 has affected all of us in some way.  

As homeschoolers, we could still carry on in our normal fashion, except of course for the effects of covid19 in our area.  Did your co-ops close?  How about your children's other activities?

I know my daughter always missed her activities and co-op during the breaks.  I can only imagine what it has been like homeschooling during this covid time.

Whenever we had difficult times in our homeschool, I looked for ways to find the fun, and share that with our daughter.  As one way to help nurture her.  Hands-on learning activities sure helped us get through the long winter days.

So today, I am putting together a list of hands-on fun holiday gifts that may help you when you start back to homeschooling in January. These are all art oriented and hands-on, including easy to use:

• arts and crafts kits
• knitting and weaving 
• Christmas themed art
• nature themed art
• construction kits with wood

Let's start with arts and crafts, which are so great for developing small muscle skills.

1.  ARTS AND CRAFTS KITS

Arts and Crafts were always big in our homeschool.  

My daughter learned to hand sew early on, and loved making small sewing projects.  We also enjoyed spinning art, origami, and crafting with clay.  And anything project oriented from American Girl.  Here's some creative kits for each of these activities that I just mentioned.

Have you ever thought about teaching your kids how to knit or weave, using very simple projects? 

Oak Meadow Homeschool curriculum got us started with some knitting and weaving.  These projects were so fun to do together and also helped my daughter with her attention issues and concentration skills.

2.  HAND ARTS  - KNITTING & WEAVING

Each year, in the elementary years, we spent Thursday mornings working on a hand arts projects, using VERY small, VERY easy projects.

Now that we have touched on Arts and Crafts and Fiber Arts, let's turn to hands-on science FUN with science kits...

And finally, I'd like to share some wonderful wooden construction kits that I found.   At our house, my daughter started out making things out of cardboard and tape, and here's one that she made of the rides that she took at our state fair.  Then she got into making things with wood.....

3.  CHRISTMAS THEMED ART

Now that we have touched on Arts and Crafts and Fiber Arts, let's talk about the video based art lessons from You Are An Artist.

Have you seen these video art lessons yet from You Are An Artist?  This is a little family company, started by Hodgepodge Mom, Tricia Hodges, a homeschooler of 5 kids and her husband, who serves as their principal.

Another one of our favorites from "You Are An Artist" is just perfect for holiday giving!

Christmas Video Art Lessons

Invite a Master Artist to teach the joy of the Christmas Season to all grades and ages using this one video course.

Enjoy it as the spine of your holiday homeschool, or after the holiday to help fill the time between Christmas and New Years with heartwarming and educational art activities

For the whole family.

Enjoy it from the comfort of your home at your convenience and on your schedule.

Click here for more information.  These are only 3 of the many art lessons that Tricia offers, either as video lessons or in a book.

Sharing our favorites for your artists, of all ages, starting with FUN lessons related to birds. 

4.  NATURE ORIENTED ART

And nature study can still be done.  Indoors!

Bird Chalk Pastels Video Art Course

Bird Chalk Pastels Video Art Course

Your kids can learn more about bird identification by learning how to draw them.  

These lessons are taught by a master artist using chalk pastels, an easy medium for young artists.  

The only supplies needed are a set of pastels and some construction paper.

The lessons are easy to follow!  Just put the video in the computer, get the chalk pastels out and you are ready to go!

Click here for more information and a free sample lesson.  

Your kids can learn more about bird identification by learning how to draw them.  Winter is a perfect time for Bird Chalk Art, while gathering around and watching the winter birds go to and from your bird feeder. 

Another one of our favorites is full of art and God's creation, too.

Pond Nature Video Art Lessons

All it takes is a small set of chalk pastels, construction paper or your nature journal.  And these video art lessons to capture the beauty of pond nature.  

What a wonderful winter activity!  Enjoy the pond scenes while snug and warm inside.

No expensive intimidating list of art supplies.

Pond Nature is a wonderful stand alone art curriculum or a  perfect complement to your nature study learning.

Gather your kids around the table and give them the gift of art activities for inside fun winter afternoons!

Click here to get yours or for more information.


More ART Lessons for your artists by You Are An Artist include:

- Gifts to Make and Give
- Sharks
- Winter Games
- the Nutcracker
- Knights and Crusaders
- Old Testament Bible Stories
- History and Geography
- American Landmarks
- Medieval Art Video Course
- Seashore Art Course
- Art in Space
and many more!

By clicking here, you can browse through all of the art lessons offered by Tricia and taught by a master artist.

Finally, I'd like to share some wonderful wooden construction kits that I found.   At our house, my daughter started out making things out of cardboard and tape, and here's one that she made of the rides that she took at our state fair.  

Then she got into making things with wood.....

5.  WOOD CONSTRUCTION KITS  

Building with wood, what a great way to play and learn on a winter's day!  Making things with kits like these below, improved my child's direction following skills, attention to task, organizational skills and more.  And then, there was the pride of creating something by hand, and a job well done!

I hope that this gives you some helpful ideas for your own holiday gift shopping list.  Here are reviews for 5 more of my favorite hands-on gift ideas for your kids.  

What would you add to this list?  If you share your ideas below, I am sure that other families would be interested in them.  

I wish you a cozy and warm winter, with lots of hands-on learning fun with your kiddos!

      

     

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool, and may you have a blessed Season with your family,

Betsy

Betsy is a Christian and mom to her college grad whom she and her husband homeschooled through high school. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, and wrote 

Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd edition.  

All Rights Reserved
Copyright @ BJ's Homeschool, Updated 2023