Learning About Life Skills!

~ Two wonderful mini lapbook units may be found at Lapbook Lessons to introduce young children to the changes and responsibilities of a new sibling! You have to become a member of Lapbook Lessons to access the units, but it is free to join!
Our New Baby: I'm a Big Brother! and Our New Baby: I'm a Big Sister!.

~ **A Guide to the Business of Babysitting**: This website from the University of Illinois is my favorite of all the ones I researched and will be the one I use with my teens! It is easy to understand, but thorough. I will be creating notebook and worksheet pages for them to use during the year and will leave a download link for you to use them when I do.
* Doing Business: Characteristics of a Great Babysitter, Great Business Practices, Communicating with Your Own Parents, Information You Need, Respecting Family Differences
* Ages & Stages: Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, School Age
* Caring for Kids: Safety First, Behavior and Guidance, Feeding, Diapering and Toileting, Dressing, Bathing, Sleeping, Planning Play Activities
* Frequently Asked Questions: Determining What Price to Charge, How to Choose a Sitter, Legal Age for BabySitting, Landing the Job, Does Extension Have a List of Providers
* Create a Business Flyer
* Additional Resources to Learn More

~ *Babysitting Tips: This fantastic little site has some helpful advice for babysitters and parents. Categories: Babysitting Tips ~ Age for Babysitting ~ Babysitting Checklist ~ Babysitting Games ~ Babysitting Ideas ~ Babysitting Laws ~ Babysit For Money ~ Babysitting Toddlers ~ Babysitting a Bedwetter ~ Take a Babysitting Quiz.
~ 6 Tips for your Teen's First Babysitting Job

~ Parenting Tips: "Read about parenting tips, tips for parents and how to care for children." Written for parents obviously, but would be useful for older children when babysitting.
* Motor Development in Babies * Baby's Health Assessment * Childhood Injuries * Child Care Tips * Handling Twin or Multiples * Child Development Milestones * Child Development Tips * Potty Training * Several other topics, also!
~ The Care for Children Index at eHow contains many articles and videos related to child care for parents and others. Some of these topics are definately things I would like my daughter (or sons) to know when they babysit.

Cooking
~ Free Cooking Unit & Lapbook from Homeschool Share!! This wonderful unit includes a list of great cookbooks for children, several free lapbook mini book foldables, lesson plans, and answers to all mini books. The unit is broken up into six mini units. Some of the topics covered are: * Kitchen Rules * Come On In! * Food Poisoning * Minding My Manners * Dressing the Part * Picking Produce * Blender and Mixer * Everything in Its Place * Appliances * Kinds of Cookware * Kitchen Tools * Double Boiler * Measuring Tools * What's the Difference- Shiny / Dull Bake Ware * The Eggs-actly Correct Tool for the Job * Baking Tools * Knives and their Uses * Eating a Variety of Foods * Helping * Grater and Peeler * Nutrients * Evaluation * Kitchen Shears * Careers * Kitchen Thermometer * Vocabulary Crock and Spoons * Shopping List.

Kid's Cooking Activities starts with 10 reasons why kids should be taught to cook. Teachers, homeschoolers, club leaders, and parents will enjoy the list of multi-curricular skills that are acquired while learning to cook, free lesson plans for several age groups, cooking printables such as recipe cards and shopping lists, kid's instructional cooking videos, international recipes for world cultures study, picture recipes, cooking party suggestions, seasonal cooking recipes, recipes for 6 or less ingredients, cooking crafts, fun with food section, food fact sheets, kid's cooking blog, cooking challenge contests, dinner party themes, and food science experiments! Most of their resources are free to use although you may purchase materials in a ebook format if you prefer. The following may be purchased from their site: Just for Fun Cooking Ebook Unit ~ World Studies International Cooking Unit ~ Cooking & Learning Unit. They have amazing related sites, also! Kid's Meal Ideas, Learn Cake Decorating, and Kid's Sewing Projects. All have incredible ideas, activities, and lesson plans for families! I highly recommend checking this family of websites.

Shopping Smart & Economically
~ Grocery Store Lapbook: Worksheets included: Cover Page * I Spy Shapes * Good for Me * Money & Pocket * Color * Bad for Me * Grocery Cards * Favorite Fruits * Food Groups * Favorite Vegetables * My Cooking Project * Shopping Song * Coupons * To Market- Nursery Rhyme * Let's Go- Song * My Coupons Pocket * My Grocery List.

Nutrition
~ My Pyramid for Kids: This free unit from the United States Department of Agriculture: Food & Nutrition Service contains a poster, classroom materials, worksheet, coloring page, tips for families, and an interactive online game! Some things may be ordered, but all materials may be downloaded.
~ A Fish Out of Water: Fun story, but I included it because of the food groups section.

Organization
~ Refrigerator Magnet Menu Planner: This is a neat idea thanks to Robin Sampson at Heart of Wisdom! Print out these free cards and calendar, laminate them, add magnets, and voila! Easier planning for meals! Thanks, Robin!

Simple Repairs, Painting, Wallpaper

Vacuuming, Picking up Toys, Dusting, Making the Bed, Trash, Dishes

First Aid
~ Petunia: This literature lesson has many things, but I am including it here because of the section on first aid basics and tooth care.

~ Character Lapbook Units: This large series from Homeschool Share includes general character / Bible lapbook templates, character resources, and individual lapbooks for Cheerfulness, Diligence, Compassion / Mercy, Helpfulness, Kindness, Attentiveness, Thankfulness, Stewardship, Dependability / Faithfulness, Forgiveness, and Obedience.

~ Fruit of the Spirit Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons.
~ Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Literature Lapbook Unit: Topics include: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Character Traits, About the Author, Book Review Form, Similes, Diseases / Symptoms / Cures, Imagination, Upside Down House Shape Book, Make a Bed, Pick Up Toys Problem, The Answer-Backer Cure, Rude Words, Eph 4:29, Selfishness Kit, Radish Cure & Bath, Why not go to bed?, Staying Healthy, The Fighter-Quarrelers Cure, Prov 20:3.

~ ***The Book of Virtues Project!: The lessons and activities for this FREE mega curriculum are worked around William J. Bennett's Book of Virtues.This is one of these things where I just stare at and say "WOW!" over and over again! This unit about virtues is incredibly done by a homeschool mom at Shiver Academy! It contains almost 1000 pages of free downloads - lesson plans, worksheets, projects, hands-on activities, notebook pages, penmanship / copywork pages, lapbook components, Bible study, vocabulary, flash cards, puzzles, games, and many more items. It appears to have been originally written for upper elementary grades, but she gives suggestions to adapt the units for any grade K - 12. There are 10 units with a suggested 2 week time span for each unit, although there are so many activities and long term projects that you could certainly make this a year-long study if you wish. ~ I prefer huge units like this because it gives me tons of options to pick and choose for the different ages, abilities, and learning styles of my children, but I know that some of you may feel overwhelmed by its immensity. Please don't let that stop you from checking this out though. Just because there are numerous activities in each unit doesn't mean you have to use them all. (I know this may seem obvious, but it took me 10 years to figure that out with our homeschooling journey since I wanted to do everything that was suggested!) Just pick what you feel is best for your children and leave the rest - or do some of it when they are younger, and review it a few years later with the more advanced work. ~ You might also choose to do only certain units that may fit with your other studies or that fit with your schedule. This truly is a wonderful resource!! ~ She organized it so that you may download the entire curriculum at once, or by unit. You will find many wonderful tips for using the materials on this page, also.

* Unit 1: Self Discipline * Unit 2: Compassion * Unit 3: Compassion * Unit 4: Friendship * Unit 5: Work * Unit 6: Courage * Unit 7: Preserverence * Unit 8: Honesty * Unit 9: Loyalty * Unit 10: Faith * Character Sheets (one for each unit if you would prefer to summarize the traits.)

Healthy Lifestyle
~ Kids Health: Kids and parents may read numerous articles, watch mini movies, complete puzzles, and do activities about keeping healthy. Categories include: * Feelings * Staying Healthy * Illnesses & Injuries * How the Body Works * Growing Body & Mind * Kids Talk * Cooking & Recipes * People, Places & Things That Help * Staying Safe * Movies & Games * Health Problems * Kids' Dictionary of Medical Words * and Health Problems of Grown-Ups.
~ My Body Lapbook includes templates for: Taking Care of Me * Fearfully and Wonderfully Made * Eye Color * Counting Game * Exercise ABCs* Body Part Riddles * Food Groups * Brushing My Teeth * Body Part Shapes * Reach for the Stars (My Arms) * Skeleton Label * Words that Rhyme with Nose * My Hands * How Legs Move * Parts of the Brain * Germs * Body Systems * Sick/Healthy * Measure Me! * Healthy Heart * How Many Bones? * Differences * Important Body Parts * Digesting Food * Body Parts Coloring * and My Body Word Find.
~ Daily Routine Chart: a blank and filled in chart for your children to use.
~ Download a free Printable Health Theme Unit for Preschool ages.

Dental Health
~ Teeth Unit Study & Lapbook: Children will enjoy this free multi-book study about how to care for their teeth! Worksheets and mini books included: Whole Mouth Diagram * George Washington's Teeth * Animal Teeth * Tooth Fairy * Why Should We Brush? Experiment Chart * Floss Me * Brushing and Flossing Chart * Anatomy of a Tooth & What Am I? Worksheet * Tooth Chart * How Many Teeth? * "Every Tooth Has a Job" * Bible * Going to the Dentist.
~ Oral Care for Children from Colgate has articles, videos, and cool interactive guides for children birth - age 12 and their parents to discuss.
~ I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed!: This fun unit contains a section about Dental Hygiene.

Disease & Illness
~ The Plague: Although this lesson refers to the black plague during medieval times, it could be a starter lesson on germs, disease, and illness.

~ The Care and Keeping of You!: A study for pre-teen girls in hygiene, exercise, nutrition, and female care.

~ *Pet Care Lesson Plan Ideas: Discussions, activities, worksheets, games, and puzzles for elementary students to learn more about how to care for their pets! Several related lesson plan units are found at the top right of the page.
~ *Pet Care from Healthy Pets: Tons of articles about not only cats and dog, but birds, rodents, and more. A kid's klub section and a just for fun section make the site something from which children will enjoy reading and learning.
~ *Pet Care Online: There are many kid friendly sites listed here which contain articles, lessons, and worksheets!

~ Pet Care A - Z from Pet Finder has numerous resources about pet care!
~ Responsible Pet Care Lesson Plans for Grades PK - 6. Includes: What Does It Take to Care for a Pet? (language arts) * A Visit to the Vet (social studies) * Pets and Their Homes: A Perfect Fit (math) * Pets and People: Needs We Share (science/health) * Good Training=Good Pets (language arts) * Pets as Good Neighbors (social studies) * Pet Care Pluses (math) * Safe Pets, Safe Kids (science/health) * Responsible Pet Ownership, Step by Step (language arts) * Pet Care Professions (social studies) * Pet Care Adds Up (math) * Wild or Tame? (science/health) * Who's Responsible (language arts) * Good Answers for Pet Problems (social studies) * Pets Are for Life (math) * First Aid Gives Pets a Second Chance (science/health).
~ Pet Care from Petfundango: Find out how to care for small animals with articles, worksheets, and free lesson plans for many subjects in K-5.
~ Cats Lapbook Unit: Comes with a book list, lapbook pages, and tons of info on cats!
~ Harry the Dirty Dog: Free lapbook unit study on pet care and staying safe with activities for language arts, math, and art.
~ Mission: Humane Action Guide - Everything Kids (Teens) Need to Speak Up for Animals - 2 versions: 1 for K-6, 1 for middle-high school students. - 35 free downloadable pages each.

~ Fire Safety & Prevention Week: List of units that are helpful for teaching about fire safety.
~ Fireboat: Understanding 911 - from the lesson page: " It is not easy to tell our children about tragic events, but we don't want to downplay them, either. This book does an excellent job of telling the story of 911 in a way that children can understand ("many people were hurt--many lives were lost") without the blood and gore."
~ Officer Buckle & Gloria: "Summary:Officer Buckle, a mustachioed policeman who wears a crossed-out-banana-peel patch on his sleeve, has a passion for teaching students about safety, but his audiences tend to doze off during his lectures. They awaken, however, when police dog Gloria joins Buckle onstage. As Buckle speaks, Gloria-behind Buckle's back-mimes each safety lesson (e.g., leaping sky-high for "Never leave a thumbtack where you might sit on it!" and making her fur stand on end to illustrate "Do not go swimming during electrical storms!"). School safety increases tenfold and Buckle and Gloria find themselves in great demand. But when he finally learns of his sidekick's secret sideshow, Buckle's feelings are terribly hurt. Rathmann's high-voltage cartoons, outlined in black ink for punchy contrast, capture her characters' every feeling, from Gloria's hammy glee and Buckle's surprised satisfaction to Gloria's shame at having tricked her partner. In a sound and sensitive conclusion, Gloria's disastrous attempt to go solo inspires Buckle's "best safety tip yet": "Always stick with your buddy!" " - Mini books include: My Safety Tips * Names to Know * My Phone Number * When to Call 9-1-1 * My House Address * Humpty Dumpty's Accident Folder * Vocabulary Flap Book * and others.

~ Camping Adventure Lapbook: This free unit study includes a book list, lesson plans, and lapbook components! Mini books and topics included are: Cover Page * Recipe * Directions * First Aid Kit * Campfire * Nature Hunt * Be Prepared! * Bird Watching * Trash Hunt * Leaves of Three * Starry Nights * Making Memories * Tent Peek-a-boo * Psalm 19:1 * Five Senses * Tree I.D. *Hiking Supplies.

~ Gardening Lapbook: A literature based lesson for young children.
~ Holly Bloom's Garden: A small literature lapbook lesson based around gardening - contains sections on gardening tools and plants.
~ Meeting Trees: This unit includes information for kids about tree identification, woodland animals, safety around poisonous plants.

THE HOMESCHOOL CLUB is real parents and kids sharing their best resources for great homeschooling. Each day we celebrate learning by opening doors to a world of creativity, knowledge and discovery. In the car, at the kitchen sink, and down by the frog pond - the whole world is our classroom and we explore it with creative projects, games, and activities. This club is a place to share, organize, and discuss how and what we learn in the world. Make a free page to tell your own homeschooling story and share your favorite resources. We can't wait to hear from you!