A Homeschool Gallery

Homeschool Room

Here is a glimpse of our homeschool area -- a table and chairs, bookcases, and maps.

Nature Study -- Nature Walks

Charlotte Mason Style

Although we live in a city of several million people, we try hard to make nature study a priority. Once a week, we spend the afternoon outside -- in our own apartment complex's common garden areas, at the zoo, at a park, or at the river. The purpose is to enjoy and study nature first hand. When we travel, we take advantage of nature study at the beach Read more blog posts about nature study.

Nature Study -- Nature Journal

Charlotte Mason Style

Sometimes we take paper and pencil with us outside and draw what we observe. Other times we bring specimens back home for further examination. Regardless, our normal schedule is to work on the nature journal the day after the nature walk. A minimum of one page is expected from Sprite. I even participate and keep nature journal pages. I find that this activity is so relaxing!

Artist Study

Charlotte Mason Style

Each term we study a different artist by looking at one painting each day.


So far we've studied VanGogh, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec, George Catlin, Freida Kahlo, John James Audubon, Vermeer, and Matisse. Find more about art studies at Teaching Art Headquarters.

Notebooking

I use and recommend Notebooking Pages.

What is Notebooking?

We use notebooking for many subjects:

history,
science,
art,
bible,
math,
and poetry.

Most anything can go into a notebook -- postcards, summaries, graphic organizers, photographs, brochures, articles, maps, drawings, poems, diagrams, etc.

Here are some examples of Sprite's notebooking pages.

Lapbooking

Lapbooking has become a major part of our homeschooling! If you're not sure what it is, just click on the photos and browse around my Flickr sets. It's really easier to show you than tell you.

Science Experiments

We use a living science curriculum called Noeo Science. It used living books and real experiments to teach! I highly recommend it! Doing science experiments is fun for my daughter. She has even asked to do baking soda and vinegar experiments during her free time.

Timeline

I think timelines are an essential part of a homeschool.

By looking at a timeline, you have a visual picture of the sequence of historical events. They can also be used for narration.

As you can see from the photos collected here, we've used all kinds:

• notebook timelines


• wall charts


• index card timelines


• small minibook timelines

Spelling

We use a variety of creative ways to make spelling fun.

• stamps


• stencils


• dotters


• salt dough


• cut out letters


• jump spelling


• drawings

For more about spelling, visit the lens Homeschool Spelling.