Homeschooling Archives - Growing Up Gabel

Pony Beads Suncatcher Craft

September 5, 2012 by Camille 14 Comments

Keep the kids busy melting pony beads to create colorful and fun suncatchers! This is an inexpensive and fun craft that kids of all ages will enjoy creating. Last week we were studying the letter "S" and "s is for sun" as part of our homeschool lessons. We were getting a little bored with just worksheets so I went on a search for a sun themed craft. I thought about making a sun with hand prints - you know I love Christmas tree or reindeer handprints, but I wanted a non-messy craft. I found a cute idea to melt pony beads in to suncatchers on Pinterest. I adapted the craft to make smaller, star shaped sun catchers so that we could make them in the toaster oven. First, you have to use a metal baking dish. Glass will not work. I have these small foil star shaped baking cups that I bought at a dollar store years ago. They worked great! These are our pony beads that we already had on hand. They are the three pointed ones and they worked just ... [read more]

Filed Under: Crafts, Homeschooling, Kid Crafts, Uncategorized Tagged With: easy crafts, Homeschooling, kid crafts, pony beads, sun catcher, Suncatcher

Summer Crafting with Kids – The Green Way

June 18, 2012 by Camille 14 Comments

Last week it was unseasonably hot. In Las Vegas when the weather man tells you in June that it's going to unseasonably hot, you cringe. Sure enough, we had temps ranging from 104-107 degrees for a few days in early June. For those days we hunker in, get some DVDs and call it a movie day (or weekend). But there is only so much TV watching you can do before the kids get tired of it. I was really happy one balmy 107 degree day to find my Green Kid Craft monthly kit sitting in my mail box. I barely got in the door before the kids were tearing in to see what they could create! Founded in 2010, Green Kid Crafts is a monthly craft subscription company that offers planet-friendly, monthly projects that spark creativity and cultivate respect for the environment. Suitable for kids ages 3-8, each kit contains three projects. All materials (except for stuff like glue and scissors) are included in the package. Our box contained three crafts: wind chimes, a scrapbook, and a ... [read more]

Filed Under: Crafts, Giveaways Tagged With: Homeschooling, Kids crafts, Summer activities, things to do with kids in the summer

Butterfly Garden

March 23, 2012 by Camille 2 Comments

I thought I'd give you a little update on the butterflies. It has been absolutely fascinating watching these itty bitty larvae grow into fuzzy caterpillars. Then the caterpillars changed in to their cocoons (or chrysalids) in less than a few hours. There is part of this whole process that is just really gross, but mostly it's truly amazing. These are the caterpillars spun up in their cocoons. I can't move them in to better light for a good picture because apparently they are very delicate right now. The next step is to put them in to their netted garden and wait for the butterflies to appear. Aside from watching caterpillars all week, I've also been scouring the internet trying to solidify our homeschool curriculum for next year. I love the fact their are so many wonderful choices, but it's also so overwhelming. Every time I decide on something, I find another fabulous possibility. At this point I've made a list of possibilities and I'm planning to check ... [read more]

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: butterflies, Butterfly Garden, homeschool curriculum, Homeschooling

Babysteps to Homeschool: Teach Your Child To Read

February 9, 2012 by Camille 1 Comment

When we started our pseudo-homeschool year back in the Fall I had exactly one goal: the alphabet. I still wasn't certain that Ella knew all her letters mostly because my strong-willed little girl has decided that she doesn't want me to know if she knows them. In fact, I still am not sure that she knows all the letters! But, I do know that Ella is reading. I started the year off just introducing letters. When Ella didn't really take to that I tried using Alpha-Phonics. I loved that book, but Ella not so much. I just threw my hands up in the air and called it quits... for 3 months. Then, at a Christmas party, a friend of mine was raving about a phonics book that she just loves and uses with her kids. I was shocked when she showed me the book -- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons because I own that book! I had tossed it in a pile to re-sell because it just looked too confusing and overwhelming. But after her recommendation, I decided to give it a ... [read more]

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: Homeschooling, Reading

Babysteps to Homeschooling: Truth and Grace Memory Book

February 3, 2012 by Camille 1 Comment

We are currently working on exactly two "subjects" right now in homeschool: Bible and reading. After a failed attempt with one Bible curriculum (which I loved, but Ella just wasn't ready for it), I read on a blog about the Truth & Grace Memory Book Series. The books start at age 2 and run all the way through 12th grade. Truth and Grace is very, very simple -- there is a section for each age (2-3; 4-5; Kindergarten; etc) and each section contains Bible verses, hymns, and catechism questions for the child to learn during that age. As the child progresses with age, the length and number of the scripture passages also progresses. For instance, ages 2-3 has 8 verses, 2 hymns and 5 catechism questions. Ages 4-5 has 10 verses (several of them long like the 23rd Psalm), 2 hymns and 5 catechism questions. My kids and I are absolutely LOVING this book! I love that the verses are all laid out there for me. No guessing or searching or trying to figure out ... [read more]

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: Homes, Homeschooling