My Nature Study Posts Round Up

This month for Homeschool Blogging Network we are posting Nature Study related posts!  I wanted to take this time to remind my readers, and inform my new readers about the many unit study related ideas I have on the blog!

You can find an entire workboxing series in Life Science for Preschool/Kindergarten ages

I also have a FREE Bird Watching Journal

I also have several workboxing series on SEASONS

There are several Animal Trackers posts with free printables to learn about African Animals!

Here are some Montessori based lessons plans that are mostly Nature based

Don’t miss this great list of Nature Study resources

and Nature Study books

Check out what other members of the Homeschool Blogging Network are sharing:

Nature Study Printables - Living Life and Learning

Nature Study for Beginners -- Embracing Destiny

Fun Lessons From Nature - Jenn Gerlach Simple At Home

Nature Study Scavenger Hunt- Schooling a Monkey

The Benefits of Studying Nature through Nature Walks -Classes By Beth Plus

More of Our Favorite Games for Learning

My kids LOVE games, and though I’m not honestly a huge fan of playing games, my husband plays games with them A LOT!!  It’s a great way of ‘unschooling’.  We aren’t 100% unschoolers, but I love to work learning in whenever I can, and most of the time  they don’t even know they are learning! 

Funny Bunny – This is a favorite for my 2.5 year old and my older children loved it once too (and still play)

Simply Fun has some GREAT educational games.  I loved them so much, I joined on to sell (though I am no longer a consultant).  These are some of our favorite games from Simply Fun. 

Big -n- Little – Teaching upper and lower case letters

Dreaming Dragons – Fine motor skills

Bee Alert – colors, memory

The Climbing Knight – fine motor and spatial reasoning

Walk the Dogs – counting, multiplication

Bank It – money math

Let’s Drive – US Geography

Ocean Limbo – physics, spatial reasoning

Find more of our favorite games here

Printable Spring Play Dough Mats - Living Life and Learning

Free Printable Spelling Games - Jenn Gerlach Simple At Home

Multiplication Dice Game- Schooling a Monkey

Creative Ways to Play Scrabble -Classes By Beth Plus

Great Board Games for Homeschool | Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

Free File Folder Games  - Amy’s Wandering

Learning with Math Games - The Homeschool Post

Making Learning Fun-7 Great Games- A Sip of Southern Sunshine

Books, Books and More Books–Keeping Them Organized!

We have a HUGE collection of books, and by HUGE I mean HUGE!  We have 2 bookshelves upstairs, 5 downstairs (not counting the school room) and the kids keep a small shelf in their bedroom.  I wish I could say I have found a fool proof way to get them all organized, but I do have 4 kids and a husband, who NEVER seem to put things back from where they got them!  But, here are a few methods I have used over the years, and I still implement them today! 

Click on the images to go to the posts.

The one problem I have though is forgetting I have a book, duplicating it or not being able to find it (and therefore not knowing if I have it or not!).  There are some great apps available for helping keep track of your library!  (I just need to do a better job of scanning books as I get them!)

There are also lots of great apps for keeping track of your books!

I have the Libib app on my iPad (now if I only remembered to scan the books!).  I like it because I can make folders for each subject to put the books in, this helps with curriculum planning.  So I have a folder for US History, Ancient history, Middle Ages, Life Science… etc… 

There are lots of other library type apps available.  Here is a list of the TOP 25 library apps available for iOS. 

Weekly Meal Planning Printables - Living Life and Learning

One Simple Tip for Organizing Homeschool Supplies- Schooling a Monkey

5 Tips for DIY Homeschool Organization - Jenn Gerlach Simple At Home

Organizing Small Items in Your Homeschool- A Sip of Southern Sunshine

How to Be an Organized Homeschooling Parent -- The Homeschool Post

Books, Books and More Books - Keeping Them Organized - Chestnut Grove Academy

My Favorite Resources for Unit Studies/Lap Books

I posted earlier this week about Homeschooling when you are BORED with the curriculum….

Unit Studies are not something we do a lot of, I typically use them as a way to mix it up and put some excitmenet back into our homeschooling.  While I LOVE planning my own unit studies, it’s sometimes too time consuming and defeats the purpose.  Plus, why reinvent the wheel?  So here are a few of my GO-TO easy to follow, little prep required unit studies.  They have a wide arange of topics, some are longer than others, just depends what you are looking for!

Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett – These unit studies are called Download N Go and they aren’t kidding!  It is super simple, and many can be done from your tablet, though some printing is required for the lapbooking portion, you don’t have to type.  There are several links with youtube videos to go with the lessons (my kids like these a lot).  Here are two reviews we have done on her unit:  United Kingdom and Hoppin’ Popcorn

Homeschool Legacy – This is a great Unit Study that is based on doing one day a week.  You can make it less streched out, but that makes the reading materials difficult to cover.  I love this because it gives you one really FUN day a week, and helps with burn out too.  We did this awesome unit on Lewis and Clark, and the kids LOVED it!  We are hoping to do another unit this year!

Moving Beyond the Page – These units are project based, and are a little more pricey than the others listed here.  However, they are lots of fun!  They are literature based, and a great way to break up the monotony of the ‘regular’ studies.  We have used a few of their units, but you can read about HOLES/Rocks and Minerals and Tornado/Amazing Weather

Hands of a Child – These are great lapbooks!  They are are easy to navigate!  It has the reading material and the items to print organized very easily!  They have a wide range of topics, they have ones for a wide variety of ages.  Their prices are VERY affordable and they constantly have sales! $5 units anyone?  Check out our review of the Ships and Submarines Unit

Of course there are lots of great resources out there, but these are a few of the ones we have triend and LOVED!  Hope you find something that can work for you as well!

See Other Posts:

OnlineFree  Math Games - Living Life and Learning

10 Free Online Homeschool Resources - Simple At Home

Resources for Homeschooling With Google Play Book - Maria Magdalena Living Ideas

Kid-Friendly Resources for Learning to Code - Schooling a Monkey

Online Reading Tutoring Resources- Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

11 Awesome Homeschool Sites That Are Free - Embark on the Journey

Home Occupational Therapy Program -Our Crazy Adventures In Autismland

Resources We Recommend for Middle and High School -Classes By Beth

100 Free Homeschool Resources - Stephanie Rose Knows

Websites That Encourage Creativity in Kids - Amy’s Wandering

My Favorite Online  Homeschool Resources- A Sip of Southern Sunshine

8 Fun and Educational Websites for Preschoolers - Homeschool Preschool

Elections 2016 Homeschool Resources - Ben and Me

A Few of My Favorite {Homeschool} Things - Embracing Destiny

Posting the FIRST FRIDAY of each month

January Posts

Winter Themed Units and #FREE Printables

Here is a FUN winter themed penguin workboxing unit for lower elementary.  Lots of fun hand on learning activities.  Also included is a FUN hands on activity with the book THE MITTEN.  My 4 year old son LOVED this activity!! 


Winter Science anyone?  Watch how salt melt ice and have a blast doing it!  A great hands on science project for lower elementary and preschool! 


Here is a SNOWY DAY Unit study based on the Usborne book by Anna Milbourne.  Lots of fun hands on project ideas for little hands!  All Montessori Inspired! 


FREE PRINTABLES

Get these FREE Printables by subscribing to my newsletter.  You will receive a link and passcode via email after you subscribe.  If you are already a subscriber, the link and passcode goes out with each weekly newsletter (on Friday)

Penguin Toob 3 part cards


You can use buttons, mini marshmallows, cotton balls or white pom poms as counters for the snowman coutning cards.  Play a game of memory match with the snowflake cards (print on card stock so you can’t see through them!).  I recommend laminating for extended use.
Visit other Homeschool Blogging Network Blogs for More Winter Ideas

Winter Notebooking Pages by Living Life and Learning

Ice Skating Notebooking Pages by In All You Do

Arctic Unit Study and Sensory Bin by A Sip of Southern Sunshine

Build a Snowman Sensory Play by Stephanie Rose Knows

Writing Frosty Winter Poetry by Classes By Beth

Winter Nature Study - Embracing Destiny

Winter Fun With FREE Print Packs - Simple At Home

Winter Books and Activities - Amy’s Wandering

Snow Books and Activities - Proverbial Homemaker

Preschool Polar Bear Activities - Sight and Sound Reading

Short story about rainy season - by Maria Magdalena Husain

Ice Skating Coloring & Notebooking Pages by Year Round Homeschooling

Winter Counting with Snowflakes and Ice Skates by Homeschool Preschool