The Sunny Patch

The post, Educational Virtues: Learning to Love Truth, Goodness & Beauty, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Along with my friends Chelli at The Planted Trees and Sara at Classically Homeschooling, we’ve been discussing the ‘Eight Essential Principles of Classical Pedagogy’ this year – covering one principle each month. We’ve arrived at our final post in the series – Educational Virtues.

It’s been a joy to cover the practical aspects of Classical Education and discuss ways to bring these principles to life. Focusing on Educational Virtues this month feels like the natural point to wrap-up our discussion. Let’s take a look at how we can apply this to our homeschool.

What are Educational Virtues?

According to Dr. Perrin, educational virtues are “the virtues that are necessary for crafting and developing character.” One of our goals as teachers is to help instill a love for these virtues and cultivate the character of our students.

Instead of just teaching skills and facts we need to be concerned with developing the character of our children.

For many homeschool parents, I think this is a natural concern and the reason many people choose to homeschool – more than just providing a good education, we want our children to be well-rounded, educated, thoughtful human beings.

The benefit of instilling educational virtues? They help us appreciate Truth, Goodness, and Beauty and help our children become self-learners interested in the continued journey of education as a natural part of life.

Practical Ways to Cultivate Educational Virtues

Listening to Dr. Perrin’s discussion about educational virtues reminds me of Charlotte Mason’s ideas about acquiring good habits. She was a proponent of habit training and it’s a topic she discussed in her own books.

Forming good educational habits is a natural way to build character. When something that we’ve worked to achieve becomes a habit, it becomes a part of us – something that doesn’t take extra energy or thought to accomplish. Applying the method of habit training to homeschooling can help us instill educational virtues in an intention, thoughtful way.

How can we use habit training to develop these virtues?

Discuss the importance of these educational virtues

First of all, I think it’s important to actually discuss character with our children, especially in the context of everyday life. When a bad attitude rears its ugly head, that’s a good time to discuss emotions and self-control (well, maybe after things have calmed down a little!). When a student isn’t applying himself to his studies, it’s time for a discussion about the benefits of hard work.

Work on creating good habits as a family

Habit training doesn’t just apply to our children. We all need to continue instilling good habits into our lives. When we take the time to show our children that we believe something is important enough to work on as a family, we’re showing them habit training in action. It becomes a natural part of their life as well.

Show our children we are still continuing to learn

It’s so easy as homeschool moms to focus on our to-do list – getting the homeschooling done, cleaning the house, preparing dinner. Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t leave room for much else.

But one of the most important things we can show our children is that we are still continuing to learn. Instead of giving up the things we used to enjoy (like playing an instrument, painting, reading good books, etc), showing children that we still take time for those pursuits demonstrates the importance of continued education.

We can tell them over and over again how important education is, but the lesson means so much more when they see it in action in the lives of their parents. Don’t give up your personal hobbies and pursuits – use them to communicate the importance of continued self-education.

Provide opportunities for interest-led learning

One of the best things we’ve ever done in our homeschool is allowing our daughter choices. She chooses topics for writing assignments, books she’d like to read, how many pages of her vocabulary book to do each day, and which subjects she wants to tackle first thing in the morning. I ask her opinion about various programs we might try or her thoughts about new curricula purchases. One year she even chose all her own science topics and studied them independently.

While I love that letting her take the lead gives her more independence, she’s also more invested in her education. When she’s chosen a topic to study, read about, or write about, she’s much more engaged in learning.

Find opportunities for your children to make some choices – you’ll discover that it’s much easier to homeschool a child who is excited and interested in learning.

Learn more about the educational virtues

If you’d like to dig a little deeper into this topic, watch Dr. Perrin’s presentation about Educational Virtues:

Stop by to visit Sara at Classically Homeschooling and Chelli at The Planted Trees as they share their thoughts and actionable ideas for applying these principles.

  More posts in this series about Classical Pedagogy:

How to Cultivate Wonder & Curiosity in your Homeschool

Everyday Scholé: Embodied Learning

Multum Non Multa: Finding Your Homeschool Focus

The post, Homeschooling 7th Grade: Schedules, Curriculum & Plans, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

I have to admit I was just a little bit (okay, a lotta bit) concerned about having a 7th grader this year. Junior high… almost high school. Yeah, there were a few freak out moments about homeschooling 7th grade.

But I’m learning that there’s no reason to be scared of these years – we still have to work, discuss, and find a routine and schedule (and curriculum!) that works for both us.

First Term Review

We’ve finished our first term. (We homeschool in 6-week terms, taking a week off between each term. It’s a schedule we’ve used for a few years now and it works so well. Having that week to catch up on housework, appointments, and other life tasks creates a nice natural routine.)

Things went well with a few bumps – which is to be expected!

7th Grade Homeschool Scheduling

I have to attribute much of our success to our schedule. It’s taken us awhile but we’ve found a routine that works for us. We aren’t strict about, it’s more like a general daily routine. Here’s what it looks like:

Wake up between 7:30-8:30 – use that time to wake up (we aren’t morning people here – lots of lying around trying to pry our eyes open). When we are sufficiently awake we get ourselves ready for the day, do a chore or two, and read our Bibles.

We’re ready to get breakfast and start our morning meeting around 9 am. I spend about 1-1 ½ hours a day with TJ, going over independent assignments, discussing subjects we work on together, and doing a bit of reading aloud while she works on a project.

After our morning meeting, she grabs her agenda with her assignment list and gets to work, tackling the subjects she does independently. This is my time to do a bit of housework, laundry, or meal prep.

Around 11:30 or 12pm we take a lunch break until 1 or 1:30 when we take a little time to sit and read. TJ chooses literature from a book basket and I read a good book (from The Well-Educated Mind list or something non-fiction). After our reading time, TJ gets back to work on her assignments while I do some online work.

Around 3:30 or 4pm we break for a short ‘tea time’, chat about the day, and TJ finishes up any last minute assignments (depending on how much she dawdled that day).

To finish out the day, we make sure all the homeschool things are put away before moving on to free time and dinner prep.

This fluid schedule works, largely in part because she’s reached a more independent stage. That’s not to say it’s without its bumps. I’ve been letting her tackle science on her own but we’ve discovered she’s just not ready for the textbook and workbook method without a little more preparation.

But we’re working on the issues and finding a good daily rhythm.

Related: Why your homeschool schedule isn’t working {and two simple ways to fix it}

7th Grade Curriculum

Here’s the list of our major curriculum choices:

CTC Math

Art of Argument 

Visual Latin

Rod & Staff English 7

Megawords 5 & 6

Writing & Rhetoric 4 & 5

Story of the World, vol 3

Apologia General Science

We’re also filling in with some other things – Duolingo for French, Typing.com for typing practice, Hoffman Academy for piano, and some other fun extras when we have time.

What’s Working

Our schedule! Giving TJ some independence is working well.

For the most part, our curriculum choices are working well. We’ve used some of them for a few years so have found a good rhythm that works for us.

History is going very well. We’re following The Well-Trained Mind history plans for the Logic stage, using The Story of the World as our ‘spine’ and adding in outlining, a timeline, mapping, extra reading, writing, primary sources, and the occasional history project. I created a weekly history schedule and TJ follows that, doing the work almost completely independently.

I’m so glad we came back to Writing & Rhetoric. I wanted to try something different last year and it really didn’t work for us so we are back to this series – and TJ is as happy as a clam. She loves the discussion, interaction, and creative lesson format.

What’s Not Working

Independent science isn’t working so well. TJ’s not used to a textbook-based science program and I made the mistake of just handing the book and workbook to her and told her to follow the schedule.

Well, that didn’t work so great! So we’ve backtracked and she sits beside me while she does the work semi-independently. We’ll work up to full independence at a slower rate when she’s ready for it.

Related: Homeschooling in the Middle Years: 5 Tips for Teaching Independence

Finding the right balance

The middle school years are all about building independence. I’ve made some mistakes along the way – letting TJ have too much independence when she wasn’t ready for it (I’m still learning that lesson!).

But these years are also about focusing on your relationship. Pretty soon, those little birds will be flying the coop and one of the many benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to forge strong family relationships. Middle schoolers are going through big changes and it can affect the family. Sometimes homeschooling takes a bit of a back burner as you focus on forming those strong bonds.

Related: To the Homeschool Mom with the Middle Schooler

Homeschooling Middle School

Are you homeschooling a middle school child? I’d love to hear how it’s going for you!

The post, Why your homeschool schedule isn’t working {and two simple ways to fix it), is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Homeschooling is hard work. Juggling the daily homeschool schedule with managing the kids, the daily chores, the meal planning, and a few minutes for yourself (most likely hiding in the bathroom with a piece of chocolate) doesn’t leave much time for other pursuits.

Part of the problem?

Your homeschool schedule.

There are a few reasons that homeschool schedule isn’t working for you. Thankfully, there are a few simple solutions for fixing that broken homeschool schedule.

Reason #1 – Overscheduling

I know there are so many great resources to choose from – so many that it’s so easy to go just a little bit overboard (I tried to juggle two completely different history programs for one child… it didn’t end well… so I understand the struggle).

Or perhaps you feel overscheduled because you’re homeschooling a houseful of kids. Or you’re a social butterfly with homeschool co-ops and activities crowding out the actual homeschooling.

Whatever the reason, overscheduling just isn’t working for you.

Thankfully, there’s a pretty simple solution.

Cut back.

Yup, I said it was easy. And I hear you scoffing, “Ha… easier said than done!”

But there is an easy way to decide what’s most important.

The solution to overscheduling: yearly goals

Go back to your goals for the year.

And what if you didn’t set goals for the year?

Well, there’s no time like the present, dearie!

Take a few minutes while you’re folding laundry (or hiding in the bathroom with chocolate) and think about each child. What one (or two) things would make you feel like you had a successful year homeschooling that child?

What if they conquered their multiplication facts, read a chapter book by themselves, or learned to write a narration?

Those are goals! It’s almost too simple – but that’s what you need to focus on (especially when you are feeling overwhelmed by your broken schedule).

Think about those goals and use those to plan what’s most important during your homeschool day.

Maybe you need to cut that fun co-op or re-prioritize the curriculum you’ve chosen. You may even have to shelve some of it for later (or even ditch it altogether). Whatever you decide to do, focus on the goals you set for each child and you will have your most successful homeschool year yet.

Reason #2 – Unrealistic Expectations

Okay, you’ve started to tackle that schedule, making some tough choices – all aligned with the goals you’ve set for your children.

Now it’s time to think about your expectations.

First, I want you to think about how much time you’ve scheduled for each subject. Is it more than adequate? Does it provide a little bit of a buffer? Inevitably your child is going to dawdle, need to spend five minutes finding his pencil and then another five sharpening it, proceed to fall off his chair, and probably hide in the bathroom for a few minutes too.

All in the hopes of avoiding that page of math.

It happens to the best of us.

The ace up your sleeve is that you’ve created a bit of a cushion in your schedule because you just KNOW that kid is going to find some excuse to avoid working.

The solution to unrealistic expectations: adding a cushion

Did you allow time for the extra dawdling and bathroom breaks in your homeschool schedule?

If not, it’s time to become a little more realistic with the time each subject is going to take. Because there will be interruptions and dawdling and numerous bathroom breaks. Make some allowance for that in your schedule.

And for especially wiggly kids that fall off their chairs – give them a minute or two between subjects to run around the house and burn off a little bit of that extra energy (wouldn’t it be nice to bottle that up?!).

Another natural way to add some extra time to your day is by fitting the bulk of your homeschool subjects into four days a week, giving you a fifth day to catch up on extra work, fun projects and read alouds.

We’ve used a 4-day work week for a few years now and it’s so nice having that extra day to catch up on things and add in a few fun extras that we can’t seem to squeeze in during the week.

If you’re doing so much that you couldn’t possibly schedule it over 4 days, go back to problem #1 and consider all of those things on your schedule. Go ahead – I’ll wait.

Looked at that schedule again? Good, let’s move on.

Reason #3 – You’re Lazy and Undisciplined

Okay, don’t freak out. I’m NOT calling you lazy and undisciplined.

That’s what I hear homeschool moms say when they can’t keep up with their packed homeschool schedule – they feel like they lack discipline and self-motivation.

But you want to know something?

You are NOT lazy and undisciplined. You DO NOT suffer from a lack of motivation.

If you were unmotivated and lazy you would never have made the choice to homeschool in the first place!

It takes so much hard work and discipline to stick with this homeschool thing.

Is it overwhelming? At times.

Is it worth it? Yes!

Do you need to cut yourself some slack once in awhile?

YES!!!

You are not lazy and undisciplined. You are tired, stressed, and probably overwhelmed trying to manage it all.

And that is a normal feeling. Thankfully, it’s also something you can address.

The first step? Realizing that it’s your schedule that’s screwed up – NOT YOU.

It’s time to break up with your overwhelming homeschool schedule

The hard part is figuring out why your schedule is broken and taking intentional time and effort to fix it.

Whatever the reason – whether you just need a break, you’ve put too much on your daily to-do list, or if you haven’t been realistic about what you and your kids can accomplish in a day – there is a solution for it.

It’s time to figure out why your schedule is broken.

Why is your current schedule so hard to manage?

Do you need to revamp things to make your day a little bit easier?

Do you need to let some things go?

Do you need to be a little more realistic in your expectations?

Take some time to think about why your homeschool schedule is broken and what you can do to fix it.

It won’t be an overnight solution. It takes time and real effort to find a schedule that works. But you can do it. If you’re really struggling and need a listening ear, I can help you.

I want to hear from you

I want to know how you feel about your homeschooling schedule. Have you perfected it? Still working on it? Ready to chuck it and start all over?

Leave me a comment and tell me if you’re ready to break up with your broken homeschool schedule.

And if you have a simple solution for making a homeschool schedule that works, tell us about it!

More encouragement for homeschool moms:

How to Set Homeschooling Goals

Homeschooling when you want to quit

Homeschool Consulting

The post, One Easy Device for Online Safety: Gryphon Internet Router, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Parenting in the digital age brings a whole host of issues our parents never had to deal with. Each new device we buy for our children requires us to educate ourselves and research parental controls and the best ways to manage technology – all with the goal of protecting our children. Sometimes it’s just plain overwhelming (especially as my daughter masters new technology much more quickly than I do)!

Thankfully, there are new forms of technology available that actually help parents create and maintain regular internet safety rules for their kids. Best of all, they are simple to use – even for this technology challenged mom. One tool that I’m especially excited about? The Gryphon Internet Router.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my time sharing about this product. All opinions are my own.

Simple ways to manage online safety

Trying to manage all the devices and screens (especially if you have more than one or two children) can quickly become overwhelming for many parents. That’s why I’m so impressed with this new device. With one router and an app on your phone, you can control the websites your kid’s visit and even the times they are able to surf the ‘net (no more kids sneaking devices at bedtime).

But, even with such a valuable resource, there are a few simple ways you can manage online safety in your home:

always check new devices for parental controls and set them accordingly

keep devices in open family spaces – no closed bedroom doors

create a family charging station – where all the devices are deposited at the end of the day

Most importantly, take the time to discuss the importance of internet safety with your children. Even with these simple tips, the Gryphon Internet Router is a great addition to taking online safety to the next level.

Gryphon Internet Router

The digital age brings a wealth of information and conveniences, but we cannot ignore the risks it poses for the family. Most children are exposed to the Internet at the age of 6, and 70% of children see inappropriate content by accident. The average family has 10 Internet-connected devices and counting, creating new security threats and vulnerabilities. However, the existing parental control tools are too complicated to use and expensive with annual subscriptions.

Gryphon is a powerful yet convenient approach to online safety. Gryphon combines a high-performance WiFi router and a simple-to-use smartphone app, making it easy for parents to manage the connected home from anywhere. All security features are built directly within the router itself, eliminating the need to install additional apps on your connected devices. Setting up the Gryphon router takes just three steps and a simple tap with the Gryphon app. Grant access to specific websites, restrict internet access during various times of the day (such as during sleep and homework), and monitor your connected home devices like thermostats or cameras to prevent hacking. This can be done on your smartphone from anywhere. The app even features a social collaboration tool, so you can work together with fellow homeschooling parents to create a safer Internet for everyone, by recommending and rating specific websites.

The people behind Gryphon have worked hard over the last year on the design and the software platform and they have launched a Kickstarter campaign today for the final production of Gryphon. You can go to http://ift.tt/2e37iSb to find out more about the product and the campaign.

More resources for homeschool moms

Homeschool Latin Resources Kids will Love

Homeschooling with Technology: 4 Reasons to Use Tech in Middle School

To the Homeschool Mom with the Middle Schooler

The post, How to Cultivate Wonder & Curiosity in your Homeschool, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

It’s the end of the month and time for another look at the principles of Classical Education with my friends Sara at Classically Homeschooling and Chelli at The Planted Trees. Today we’re taking a look at Wonder & Curiosity – what it is, why it matters, and how to bring it to life in our homeschools. Let’s take a look at how to cultivate wonder & curiosity in your homeschool.

Curiosity & Wonder

Children are born with a natural wonder and awe. If you’ve ever been on a nature walk with a young child, you’ve probably experienced this for yourself, as you watched them explore the world around them. As they get older that natural wonder and curiosity seems to fade as life becomes work – homework, chores, and adulthood where work continues in an endless loop.

But isn’t there a better way? Can we hold on to that sense of wonder and curiosity – for our children and even for ourselves? Is there a way to use these tools in our homeschools? How can we cultivate wonder & curiosity in our homeschools? And why would we want to?

Why should we embrace Wonder & Curiosity?

That natural wonder and curiosity that children have should be something that we continue to cultivate because it leads to an affection for Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

In more practical terms, life shouldn’t all be spent on work and drudgery or even play. There needs to be time for thought and contemplation – time to be by yourself, read a classic book, enjoy a beautiful poem, sunset, or painting.

Instead, we look at those natural tendencies of wonder and curiosity as a phase that children outgrow. Let’s learn to embrace those tendencies!

It’s so easy to turn homeschooling into ‘work’.

Yes, assignments must be finished and books must be read, but it’s important to continue building a love for things that are filled with Truth, Goodness, and Beauty (even in math!).

How can we take these principles and apply them to our homeschool?

It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re doing

If you’re anything like me, you face a constant struggle for trying to fit in all the good things you’d like to do in your homeschool. How are you supposed to make time for art study, listening to classical music, reading poetry or Shakespeare?

Even if you had the time, maybe you feel unsure in your abilities to cover these types of subjects well. After all, a math text comes with an answer key and that grammar program includes a teacher’s edition so, even if you’re not confident in your mastery of the subject, you have your teacher’s books to guide you.

But you want to know something?

I think that a lack of confidence in teaching art, music, and poetry isn’t a bad thing. It is the perfect time to show our children our own natural wonder and curiosity as we puzzle through a passage from Shakespeare or the beautiful language of a poem. We have an opportunity to show our children that we are still learning and appreciating true, good, and beautiful things.

How to Cultivate Wonder & Curiosity in your Homeschool

Now that I’ve convinced you (I hope!) to find some time to pursue natural wonder and curiosity, how are you going to fit it in?

There are a few different ways you can make time for Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.

Morning Meetings are a great way to start the day – especially if you have a large family and children in different stages of learning. Taking the time to gather all the children and learn together is the perfect time to read Shakespeare or poetry, listen to good music, read aloud from the Bible – so many topics could be covered together as a family. It doesn’t even need to be a morning meeting – schedule your meeting during lunch or after, whatever time works best for your family.

Tea Time is one of my daughter’s favorite times of the day – when the school day is finished, we get our favorite drinks, a little treat, and talk about our day. Sometimes I read aloud a chapter or two from a good book or we read some poetry. There’s no specific schedule or agenda – it’s just a time to relax and enjoy something good and beautiful.

Fun Fridays are another family favorite for us – I try to schedule the bulk of our homeschool assignments over four days a week, giving us a day to explore interest-led pursuits, work on art, history, or science projects, or watch a documentary. Every week is different, but taking a whole day to explore is such a great way to find time for all those extras we love to include.

Intentional effort to cultivate wonder & curiosity

Embracing natural wonder and curiosity is an ongoing struggle for me. It’s easier to grab my lesson plans and check off assignments instead of taking the time to slow down and embrace the process and these fleeting moments I have to spend with my daughter as she learns and grows.

It’s not easy to slow down and ‘smell the roses’ but it’s something that needs to be done with intention – it’s definitely worth the effort.

For a deeper look at these principles, take some time to watch Dr. Christopher Perrin’s presentation (you’ll find all his talks in this series here) – it’s filled with lots of encouragement for creating a homeschool that moves beyond just getting the work done and shares valuable information about how to cultivate wonder & curiosity in your homeschool.

And, of course, take some time to read Sara’s post – How to Keep a Sense of Wonder & Curiosity and Chelli’s post – Why the Rabbit Trail is the Right Trail. They both have more good ideas that you can use in your homeschool.

  More Everyday Scholé:

Classical Education

Using Songs, Chants & Jingles as Memory Tools

Everyday Scholé: Embodied Learning

The post, Using Songs, Chants & Jingles as Memory Tools, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

It’s time for another post in the Everyday Scholé series, along with my friends Chelli at The Planted Trees and Sara at Classically Homeschooling. We’ve been discussing the ‘Essential Principles of Classical Pedagogy’ as presented by Dr. Christopher Perrin in his 9-video lecture series. We have discussed:

Festina Lente (Make Haste Slowly)

Multum Non Multa (Much Not Many)

Repetitio Mater Memoriae (Repetition is the Mother of Memory)

Embodied Learning: The Rhythms, Practices, Traditions, and Routines of Learning

This month we are focusing on the fifth principle – Songs, Chants & Jingles and how we’re using songs for memory work.

Using Songs for Memory Work

I am almost 40-years old and still remember the song I was taught in grade school to memorize the 50 states (you can find it on YouTube). I think that’s reason enough to prove that using a silly song can help you memorize anything!

Songs, chants, and jingles are perfect tools to help young kids memorize facts and information easily (and it’s fun!).

Why use songs & chants or even memorize anything?

What’s the point of all those songs and chants?

Kids love them! It’s a lot more fun to sing a grammar chant than it is to just recite a list.

It doesn’t take any more time to sing or chant than it does to recite and, very often, it will cement that information in their brain more than a daily recitation will. (I’m proof of that with the 50 States that Rhyme – I can still sing most of the song without prompting, even 30 years later.)

Related: Memorization & Recitation

Why memorize lists & facts?

What’s the point of memorizing random lists of facts or people?

According to Susan Wise Bauer in The Well-Trained Mind, it creates pegs for learning. If you memorize a list of pharaohs while studying ancient Egypt, your kids will have plenty of ‘aha’ moments, as they relate specific events to certain people.

One caveat – I believe that memorized facts and information should be tied to what kids are currently learning. I don’t think memorizing a list of random facts just for the sake of memorization is very beneficial. It’s all about making connections between what they’ve memorized and what they are learning.

When children make that connection on their own, between something they’ve memorized and what they are currently learning, they really own that learning and internalize it. When we, as teachers, connect the dots FOR them, they may still learn but it isn’t quite the same.

Can you remember any point in your education where you made some deep connection between two pieces of information without having someone spell it out for you? It becomes a part of you in a way that learning by lecture just can’t do.

As homeschool parents, we can use these tools to encourage our children to make those connections on their own. We provide the tools and resources (and often the voice via reading aloud or hands as they dictate to us) but we need to give them time to make those connections themselves.

Songs and chants are one simple tool in our toolbox that can aid our children in beginning to make those connections.

Resources for Songs, Chants & Jingles

If you are not musical yourself, there are some great resources available to homeschoolers today. Here are a few suggestions:

Classical Academic Press (their foreign language programs use lots of great songs and chants)

Ditty Bugs from Carol Barnier

Shirley Grammar

Geography Songs

Lyrical Life Science

Grammar Songs

Multiplication Songs

Veritas Press History

It’s really very easy to come up with your own (or get your children to help). Choose a children’s song you like, for example, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star‘ and add your own words or facts to the tune. Get your kids to help – they’ll have fun and learn even more if they help create the songs and chants.

More about songs, chants, and jingles

I encourage you to watch Dr. Perrin’s presentation as he delves deeply into the topic (and he has some good tips about using songs, chants, and jingles with older students as well). You can find the complete series of videos at Classical Academic Press.

  Don’t forget to visit Sara at Classically Homeschooling and Chelli at The Planted Trees to read their thoughts and helpful advice for using songs, chants, and jingles in your homeschool.

More Everyday Scholé:

Holding on to Restful Learning Despite Bad Attitudes

What Restful Learning has done for Our Homeschool

Morning Meeting with an Only Child

The post, Giveaway! Win a level of your choice from Harmony Fine Arts, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

It’s back-to-homeschool time!

To kick off a new homeschool year, I want to have a little celebration with a fabulously fun giveaway!

Barb from Harmony Fine Arts is helping me celebrate by offering a free level to one of my readers – and the winner gets to choose the level they want!

A little more about Harmony Fine Arts

Harmony Fine Arts plans organize great art and music appreciation resources into the classical four-year cycle of history and seasons each week with a Charlotte Mason flavor.

These plans are available for Grades 1-12 and will offer families three different options for art study and a detailed plan for music appreciation.

Each flexible and easy to use 32-36 week plan includes notebooking pages, coloring pages and YouTube links for art tutorials and listening to classical music.

If you don’t want to wait for the giveaway to end, you can get 25% off right now with code SUNNY25 at checkout. It’s good for any single year plans for grades 1-8 (not applicable to high school, bundles, or mini units). The code expires next Monday so don’t wait too long!

Enter the Giveaway!

Entry-Form

The post, How to Avoid the Homeschool Summer Slide with CTC Math, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

We are not year-round homeschoolers. I tried it once and realized that I like my summer vacation too much!

But, I also know that it’s so easy for that ‘summer slide’ to occur – when it seems like all the stuff you’ve been teaching (and learning!) with your kids throughout the homeschool year seems to slide right back out of their brains once summer vacation begins.

To avoid that summer slide, I like to make sure we’re still doing a little bit of work so daily math and reading are the norm for us during the summer. And to make my job just a little bit easier, I like to make sure we use different things to make it fun – after all, it’s still summer vacation!

This post is sponsored by CTC Math. I received a free membership & was compensated for my time spent using the program and writing this article. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

4 Easy Ways to Avoid the Summer Slide

If your children are anything like mine, then you know that it’s normal for them to forget math facts – especially during a long summer vacation. We like to do a few different things to avoid that summer slide:

play math and logic games

read math books

work on logic puzzles

use fun math Apps

All of these things work well for continued math learning but the best thing we’ve ever done (and continue to do) is to just keep working on math during the summer. We’ve always used two math programs – one as our main curriculum and a second that teaches things differently – either a different format or method. It’s a great way to reinforce learning and look at math in a different way. Since we’ve been using a workbook-based program all year, an online program was the perfect solution for summertime and CTC Math fit the bill.

Avoid the Summer Slide with CTC Math

CTC Math is an interactive online math program that really takes the teaching pressure off mom and dad (something this homeschool mom is really thankful for!). The full program covers math from kindergarten-high school (best of all, they offer a homeschool family membership deal).

After signing up (you can even give the program a free trial first) you can login to your parent account and quickly set up student accounts for each child (they’ll each have their own username & password). After your children begin working through the program, you’ll be able to easily see how many lessons they’ve completed, their overall grade, and even check when they’ve logged in and viewed lessons. You also have the option to set specific tasks for your kids to complete.

When students are logged in, they begin on the Lessons screen and will need to choose the appropriate grade-level before jumping into the lessons. Each grade-level has divided lessons by topic and it’s quick and easy to move between sections. Each sub-topic also includes diagnostic tests which are a nice tool to make sure students really understand the information.

Each lesson begins with a video for students to watch. (One very nice feature is the ability to rewind or fast-forward the videos as needed.) The instructor is clear and explains each step in good detail. After viewing the video students can move on to the questions, typing their answers right into the boxes on the screen. When the ten questions are completed, the final section of the lesson shows their score and gives the option to print the results or work on more questions (which is a very nice option).

CTC Math is simple and straightforward to use – there isn’t anything complicated about setting it up or using the program. Kids will be working independently in no time! A few other benefits:

Easy for mom – let someone else take care of teaching math (even the grading!)

Lessons and topics are divided into small, manageable chunks (perfect for easily distracted kids)

Kids can learn at their own pace (and fast-forward or rewind if they need to)

Checking on kids is a breeze with the weekly email progress reports

How we’ve been using CTC Math

We began using CTC Math towards the end of TJ’s 6th grade school year, to transition to our summer schedule. I had planned to alternate the program with our usual math books but she’s been enjoying the lessons so much that the workbook sits on the shelf covered in a layer of dust.

I love that she’s working independently and doesn’t need to check in with me because of the built-in tools that CTC Math offers – it’s a great learning experience for both of us.

A few tips:

Set up your parent account to receive weekly progress reports so you can easily keep track of how your children are doing on their assignments

Discuss a passing score with your kids – use that as a baseline for each lesson (if they get a score that is below that level, make it a requirement that they complete more questions before moving to the next lesson)

Use the Diagnostic Tests to assess your child’s understanding of the topic

I can’t begin to tell you how much of a relief it is to have my daughter doing math independently! Math is not my strong suit (especially as she gets older) and I’m so glad to find a strong, reliable online math program that we both like. CTC Math makes my homeschool day so much easier.

We’ve loved CTC Math so much that my daughter wants to use it as her primary math program for 7th grade – which sounds great to me! Now I can spend more time focusing on the subjects I know I can teach well and let CTC Math take math off my busy homeschooling plate.

More About CTC Math

CTC Math is available as a single membership or a family membership with monthly, 6-month, and 12-month payment options. Best of all, they are offering a generous discount right now!

Use this link to receive a 60% discount: CTC Homeschool Discount

They also offer a free trial if you want to give the program a test run with your kids first.

You can also find CTC Math on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Periscope.

Win a CTC Math 12-month membership!

5 winners will receive a 12-month family membership to CTC math – fill out the form below!

Entry-Form

More Tips for Homeschool Moms:

Mental Math Practice with a Hundreds Chart

18 Things to do with a Hundreds Chart

3 Tools to Help Middle School Kids Manage Their Day

The post, Everyday Scholé: Embodied Learning, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

It’s the end of another month and time for another post about Everyday Scholé – simple and practical ways to apply Classical Education principles to our homeschool. I’m joined by my two friends, Chelli from The Planted Trees and Sara from Classically Homeschooling.

This month our topic is ‘Embodied Learning’ – in other words, learning with all five senses.

Embodied Learning

Dr. Perrin begins his lecture about embodied learning with a simple example – we don’t often remember five lectures or sermons that impacted us, but we can quickly recall a handful of people who have made the biggest impact on our lives.

The example can easily be applied to education – we don’t often remember lectures from school days, but we do remember our favorite teachers. What was it they did that made them so memorable?

From my own school days, the teachers that I found the most memorable were excited about education and went beyond just lecturing each day. They wanted us to experience whatever it was they were teaching.

That is the foundation of embodied education – moving beyond lectures to find ways to make learning a full experience – education that shapes the heart and mind.

We don’t need to just hear about things in a lecture, we need to experience it. 

How can we apply this principle to our homeschools?

Dr. Perrin looks at the church as our example for embodied learning. The church has patterns of worship and routines and rituals that can be examples for us as homeschoolers. All of these traditions engage all the senses – the goal of embodied learning.

A Practical Look at Embodied Learning

So how can we take the church traditions and apply those patterns of worship and rituals to our homeschool? Let’s take a practical look at how to apply this to homeschooling in three different ways.

Beauty

It may seem like an odd thing to focus on beauty before discussing curriculum and schedules, but stick with me for a moment. The environment we homeschool in creates our experience for education – for us and for our children. What kind of experience do we want them to have?

Ideally, I’d like to have a peaceful day filled with good discussions, books, and a focus on family relationships and cultivating a love of learning. Finding ways to intentionally create a beautiful atmosphere provides a solid foundation for that experience.

Do we reach this ideal every day? No. But it’s a process. Some days are better than others.

How can we add beauty to our homeschool day? Here are a few ideas: read poetry together, hang art prints wherever schooling takes place, a calm environment with quiet music playing in the background, or afternoon tea with poetry reading.

Habits

Another way to create an atmosphere for embodied learning is through the development of good habits. If you’ve ever read anything by or about Charlotte Mason you’ll know she was an advocate for instilling good habits in children. I absolutely agree with her.

Developing simple daily habits creates an atmosphere for learning. A few habits to consider: reading good books together, older kids helping with younger children, walks or bike rides together (great time for discussions, nature study, and observation). These three things build strong family relationships while creating a beautiful homeschool.

Routines

It’s easy to get wrapped up in checking off a list of assignments, but it’s also a stressful way to homeschool. Instead of focusing on learning and taking time for discussion, I often fall into the habit of just getting it done and moving on to something more interesting. We may get the work finished but it’s not the vision I had for our homeschool.

Creating a relaxed learning environment and strengthening our family relationship are two of my biggest homeschooling goals. Moving through a checklist is the exact opposite of the environment I want to create.

While we still have daily assignments, our school day flows so much more smoothly when we focus on simple daily routines. Things like Bible reading during breakfast, quiet family reading time every afternoon, tea and poetry at the end of the day. Creating a daily routine that includes those quiet, thoughtful moments changes our homeschooling experience – even when we’re working through our daily assignments.

Hands-on Learning

At its core, embodied learning involves all five senses. Finding ways to incorporate the senses in homeschooling lessons will help kids remember what they are learning. A few ideas:

reading aloud

songs and chants for recitation

hands-on projects

jumping jacks while reciting Latin declensions or math facts

Adding a few simple techniques for auditory and kinesthetic learning creates even more ways for kids to remember what they are learning.

More about Embodied Learning

I’ve barely scratched the surface on the topic of embodied education. For a more in-depth look, watch Dr. Perrin’s lecture on the topic:

Visit Sara at Classically Homeschooling and Chelli at The Planted Trees to read their thoughts and practical ways to apply the principle of embodied learning.

More Classical Education articles:

Repetito Mater Memoriae: Recitation & Commonplace Books

Multum Non Multa: Finding Your Homeschool Focus

Festina Lente: Mastery Based Learning

The post, Everyday Scholé: Education & Memory, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

In the monthly Everyday Scholé series my friends, Sara & Chelli, and I have been discussing the eight essential principles of Classical pedagogy. We’ve talked about two of the maxims so far (Festina Lente and Multum Non Multa). This month we’ll be tackling the next principle – Repetito Mater Memoriae.

Repetito Mater Memoriae

You’re probably familiar with the phrase ‘repetition is the mother of memory’ (Repetito Mater Memoriae). There’s a reason that phrase is known – because it’s true. We learn best through repetition – repeating the same content in different ways solidifies it in our memory.

Our usual teaching methods include plenty of time for teacher’s lecturing students, which creates a very low rate of retention. Even worse, is the tendency to cram for tests, take the test, and forget everything you learned. There’s no point to an education like that – where nothing is retained or considered important enough to remember.

More creative and useful techniques are available to us – something that we, as homeschoolers, can take full advantage of.

One method that works well in our home is a daily recitation time. Ten minutes each morning and an organized binder are all it takes to recite and memorize poetry, history facts, grammar lists, Bible verses, and Latin declensions.

Memorization & Recitation

Memorization and recitation is a major part of our homeschool day, but only within the context of what we are learning. I disagree with the general philosophy of memorizing lists just for the sake of memorizing.

If you are learning about ancient Rome, then memorizing a list of the first 20 emperors of Rome is fitting. But just to memorize a list of emperors without context is meaningless.

When you include recitation and memory work as a natural part of other subjects, it creates meaningful connections – which produces a higher level of understanding.

Using daily recitation time effectively

Our a daily recitation time gives us the perfect opportunity to review learned material or expand on what we’ve been learning about. It’s very quick – only 10 minutes – but it makes such a difference in learning. Best of all, once the system is created children can work almost independently – freeing you up to work with other children, correct work, or tackle some much-needed housework.

We keep a simple binder that’s organized by things to recite every day (new material) and, as the material is memorized, it makes its way through the different sections of the binder (odd/even days, once a week, once a month, etc.) You can read more about our system in the post linked below.

During this daily recitation time, you can practice anything that’s related to what you’re learning. We’ve tackled various history-related content (Presidents, rulers of England, Prime Ministers of Canada), Latin conjugations & declensions, Bible verses, poetry, grammar facts (parts of speech and definitions; prepositions; state of being and helping verbs), and even scientific facts (types of stars, systems of the body, and the planets, to name a few).

This is just one example of putting the ‘Repetito Mater Memoriae’ principle into action.

Related: Essentials of a Classical Education: Recitation & Memorization

Keeping a commonplace book

Another way to create connected learning is with the maintaining of a commonplace book. A commonplace book is a journal (a hard-covered exercise book works very well) simple tool to collect important information, thoughts, or facts. It can be filled with passages from books, poetry, prayers – really whatever you want. They were a very common tool for many historical figures (Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, and Thomas Hardy).

To use this simple tool in a homeschool setting each child needs a personal journal or notebook and time to write down passages, Bible verses, and poetry that are important to them. We’ve found this most useful during the middle school years when writing is easier (and I imagine we’ll continue using commonplace books in high school too). I even keep one for my own reading.

There are no hard-and-fast rules about keeping a commonplace book. Let your child personalize it and include the things that are most important and meaningful to them. It’s simply another tool to create connections and context for learning.

More about Repetito Mater Memoriae

These two simple techniques – daily recitation and commonplace books – are not hard to implement. They are just simple tools that will help you create opportunities for deeper learning with your children. It’s all about putting these classical education principles into action!

If you want to learn more about this principle and how to apply it to your own homeschool experience, visit Sara at Classically Homeschooling and Chelli at The Planted Trees to see how they are applying the principle of Repetito Mater Memoriae with their children.

More Everyday Scholé:

Everyday Scholé: Festina Lente

Everyday Scholé: Multum Non Multa

What is Scholé?

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The post, Weekend Roundup #22, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

We’re enjoying our summer break here – and so this will be the last Weekend Roundup post. Summer is time for family and fun – not for work!

Time for The Weekend Roundup!

Welcome to another Weekend Roundup here at The Sunny Patch! It’s time for you to share your best family-friendly posts – family fun, education & homeschooling, books & activities for kids, parenting tips, simple meal ideas – if it’s family-related (and family friendly!) you’re welcome to share.

My favorite posts will be featured on The Weekend Roundup Pinterest Board and wherever else I feel like sharing! And, of course, it may even be featured in The Weekly Roundup!

Link-Party Guidelines:

Share up to 3 links of family-related content (that you haven’t linked here before)

Please don’t link giveaways, shops, or other link parties

Visit a few other links – it’s not a party without some interaction!

I’d love it if you’d share about the Weekend Roundup or link back in some way (but it’s not mandatory)

By linking up at The Weekend Roundup, your posts and images may be shared in future content, so please only use images to which you have legal rights

Link up your posts:

An InLinkz Link-up

The post, 6 Tips for Teaching Auditory Learners, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

I’m always amazed when I read aloud to my daughter – she’s so busy with other tasks that I don’t think she could possibly be listening.

But when I ask, she can tell me exactly what’s happening!

It’s always surprising to me that she can listen despite her wiggly nature.

Do you have a child like that?

They can be wiggly and talkative but, surprisingly, they can tell us exactly what we just read – that is auditory learning at it’s finest!

Teaching a child like this doesn’t have to be hard – not with these simple tips for teaching auditory learners.

  This post is sponsored by Heirloom Audio Productions. I was compensated for my time spent using the product and writing this article. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

What is an Auditory Learner?

Basically, auditory learners learn best through listening.

They are the kids that need to ‘talk it out’ or whisper instructions to themselves.

The acts of hearing and speaking are an integral part of understanding information.

How can you tell if your child is an auditory learner?

Do they prefer listening to books instead of reading them silently?

Do they read instructions and directions aloud to themselves?

Can they tell you all about your latest read aloud even when they seem preoccupied while listening?

Chances are, your child is an auditory learner.

How to teach an auditory learner

Teaching auditory learners is not a difficult thing – it’s actually pretty easy!

Like all children, you just need to present material in a way that helps them learn.

For kids that learn best by listening, use techniques that allow lots of time to listen and talk (and often time to let them wiggle and move) and you’re well on your way to creating a program that works.

Read-alouds are your best friend

Reading aloud is a huge deal for auditory kids. They can be making a huge mess and intent on their play but believe me, they are listening!

During a daily read aloud time you can fit in so many good things – great literature, beautiful poetry, perhaps even some Shakespeare. And don’t forget about content subjects like history and science – there are plenty of books that are perfect for reading aloud.

Lecture-based programs work well

Instead of using a textbook-based program, auditory learners will retain information much more quickly with curricula focused on interaction, discussion and reading aloud.

If you’re a busy mom, look for DVD or computer-based programs (not necessarily for everything, but one or two subjects can be helpful) that have discussions and teacher lectures – you don’t have to teach the lessons but your child still benefits from the audible lessons.

Use narrations & oral reports for writing

Letting kids narrate to you – telling you all about the current read aloud or what they learned in their DVD based math lesson – is a great way for them to share their thoughts. Speaking also helps them cement the information in their memory and it’s also an important first step in writing.

If you’re very busy, teach them to record their own narrations and use them to ‘dictate’ to themselves as they write. Auditory learners learn by speaking too – after all, they are listening to themselves talk!

The same can work for essays and reports as well. Make time for your auditory learners to present oral reports – something they will likely excel at.

Play quiet background music

Some people believe that kids who are audible learners will work better with some background noise or music. Of course, this will vary with each child but I know it’s true for my own daughter.

Allowing her to play some music while she does her written work helps her stay on task.

Don’t ask me why it works, but it does!

Add some memorization & recitation

I know recitation and memory work may seem dull (it can be!) but it’s actually the perfect tool for auditory learners. As they recite, they easily memorize the information.

Use a daily recitation time for all your subjects – history lists, science facts, poetry, Bible verses, math facts, Latin conjugations & declensions (we’ve even memorized a long list of prepositions just by reciting them daily).

If you’re not quite sure how to schedule a daily recitation time, here’s how we plan our recitation and memorization.

Bonus tip: To make recitation even more memorable, set the information to a tune or jingle and sing it. You’ll learn your facts in no time at all!

Use audio books and dramatized history stories

I can only read aloud so much before my voice wears out so I’m so glad we have such great resources for audible listening! Between books on CD, iPods, and downloadable audio books, I can save my vocal cords and still enjoy some great entertainment.

We LOVE using audio books and dramatized history stories – they are the perfect thing for auditory learners (and for my vocal cords!).

One of our new favorites are the history dramatizations from Heirloom Audio Productions featuring the adventure stories of G. A. Henty. These fabulous CDs make it so easy to add in more fun learning. You can use them in many different ways:

Add them to your history program

Listen at home – great for a bedtime read-aloud for the whole family

Listen in the car – perfect for driving kids to appointments & errands

Create a complete history unit around one of these fabulous stories

Using Heirloom Audio Productions for history lessons

The audio dramatizations from Heirloom Audio Productions are the perfect starting place for creating your own unit study. They’ve even included a study guide for each set!

You’ll find comprehension questions, discussion ideas, and vocabulary words for each track. There are Bible study ideas and, if you download a copy of the complete study guides, you’ll find even more historical information, book ideas, and lots of teaching ideas.

Add some great books about the historical time period, use the included study guide, add a writing assignment or two (the discussion questions would be perfect for that!) and ideas for oral presentations and reports – you’ll have the perfect history program.

More about Heirloom Audio Productions

Heirloom Audio Productions is THE place to get quality entertainment the whole family will enjoy. Their passion for bringing G.A. Henty’s historical novels to life is evident in every detail – right down to the CD cases! They provide rich, full-cast dramatizations of these beloved stories that will have your kids (and you!) learning all about significant people and events in history.

Be sure to follow Heirloom Audio Productions on Facebook (The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty has its own Facebook page too!), Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Teaching auditory learners

While it’s certainly nice to know how your child learns best, a variety of teaching techniques should be used when homeschooling. Present materials in different ways and use a variety of resources but, most of all, just have fun!

Do you have an auditory learner? Leave me a comment and share your tips for teaching auditory learners!

More teaching tips for homeschool moms:

Why You Need a Homeschool Philosophy

Tips for Balancing Homeschooling & Housekeeping

To the Homeschool Mom with the Middle Schooler

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The post, Refreshing Summer Drink Recipes {Weekend Roundup #21}, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Welcome to The Weekend Roundup! Come find lots of great content from around the internet – all right here each Friday! Great recipes, tips for moms, homeschool advice – you’ll find it all at The Weekend Roundup!

This week I’m featuring some refreshing summer drink recipes – perfect for sipping in the summertime heat. Enjoy a refreshing strawberry lemonade, a cool iced tea, or a refreshing infused water.

Refreshing Summer Drink Recipes

There’s nothing better than a nice refreshing summer drink when it’s hot outside. Make a pitcher full of any of these beverages and take a break on your deck or patio. Try an infused water, iced tea, or lemonade – all perfect for summer!

Strawberry, Lemon & Basil Infused Water ~ Pink Heels Pink Truck

Ginger Peach Iced Tea ~ Delightful E Made

Strawberry Lemonade ~ The Perfect Storm

Time for The Weekend Roundup!

Welcome to another Weekend Roundup here at The Sunny Patch! It’s time for you to share your best family-friendly posts – family fun, education & homeschooling, books & activities for kids, parenting tips, simple meal ideas – if it’s family-related (and family friendly!) you’re welcome to share.

My favorite posts will be featured on The Weekend Roundup Pinterest Board and wherever else I feel like sharing! And, of course, it may even be featured in The Weekly Roundup!

Link-Party Guidelines:

Share up to 3 links of family-related content (that you haven’t linked here before)

Please don’t link giveaways, shops, or other link parties

Visit a few other links – it’s not a party without some interaction!

I’d love it if you’d share about the Weekend Roundup or link back in some way (but it’s not mandatory)

By linking up at The Weekend Roundup, your posts and images may be shared in future content, so please only use images to which you have legal rights

Link up your posts:

An InLinkz Link-up

The post, DIY Seasonal Wreaths {Weekend Roundup #20}, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Do you like to decorate your front door? A little DIY fun is in order if you do! Take a peek at these cute DIY seasonal wreaths that would be perfect for your home.

DIY Seasonal Wreaths for your front door

It’s the perfect time of year to spruce up the outside of your home, and one quick and easy way to dress up the exterior is a DIY seasonal wreath – try one of these tutorials to pretty up your home!

You could make this adorable watermelon wreath, a festive 4th of July wreath, a dried orange wreath – so beautiful & unique, or a simple wreath that holds a container for fresh flowers. Any of these would be an excellent, welcoming addition to your front door.

Watermelon Wreath ~ The Scrap Shoppe

Easy DIY Wreath ~ Craft Create Calm

Dried Orange Wreath ~ Sparkle Living Blog

Living Flower Wreath ~ Oh My! Creative

Time for The Weekend Roundup!

Welcome to another Weekend Roundup here at The Sunny Patch! It’s time for you to share your best family-friendly posts – family fun, education & homeschooling, books & activities for kids, parenting tips, simple meal ideas – if it’s family-related (and family friendly!) you’re welcome to share.

My favorite posts will be featured on The Weekend Roundup Pinterest Board and wherever else I feel like sharing! And, of course, it may even be featured in The Weekly Roundup!

Link-Party Guidelines:

Share up to 3 links of family-related content (that you haven’t linked here before)

Please don’t link giveaways, shops, or other link parties

Visit a few other links – it’s not a party without some interaction!

I’d love it if you’d share about the Weekend Roundup or link back in some way (but it’s not mandatory)

By linking up at The Weekend Roundup, your posts and images may be shared in future content, so please only use images to which you have legal rights

Link up your posts:

An InLinkz Link-up

The post, Homeschool Latin Resources Kids will Love, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Learning Latin is hard work!

And I certainly don’t want my daughter to forget all she’s learned this year so finding ways to keep practicing her newly acquired skills is high on my list of priorities this summer.

But I know she won’t be very happy about doing daily Latin drill worksheets.

My goal is to find fun ways to practice Latin without it feeling like a chore and, after doing some searching, I’ve discovered some fabulous homeschool Latin resources kids will love!

Homeschool Latin Resources

If you and your kids have been learning Latin you know there is a lot to learn! Thankfully, there are also plenty of homeschool Latin resources kids will love (who wouldn’t want to read Harry Potter in Latin!?). These resources will keep those Latin lessons fresh in your kid’s memory all summer long.

Latin Videos

Classical Academic Press has wonderful Latin programs for all ages and they also provide some great extras. Their newest resource for learning Latin is ‘Latin Loaded‘, a YouTube channel with short videos perfect for a quick Latin lesson during the summer.

If you want to continue Latin instruction through the summer, consider a monthly subscription to Visual Latin (my daughter thinks the teacher, Dwane Thomas is very funny).

Latin Games

If games are more your style (they are a great way to drill memorized information – and they’re fun!) then these will be perfect for summer learning:

Play Race to the Colosseum with this fun game board – and practice Latin vocabulary while you play (also includes some other fun printables).

If you use Visual Latin from Compass Classroom, this Latin vocabulary review game is what you need to review your vocabulary.

You can even play online at Headventure Land from Classical Academic Press.

And, if those games aren’t enough to keep you occupied, this list of free games and activities will keep you busy!

Latin Printables

Besides their YouTube channel and Headventure Land, Classical Academic Press also has a large selection of resources on their FAQs page (coloring pages, Latin charts, and flash cards). If you use any of their programs, their resources are perfect for summer review.

Learning all those Declensions and Conjugations takes time – and I don’t want my daughter to forget all she’s learned so these Latin master charts from Family Style Schooling are perfect for reviewing vocabulary (and something we’ll be using to keep all the information fresh in her mind).

Latin Readers

Summer review doesn’t have to be a tedious task. A quick and easy recitation, filling in Latin charts (which are great for muscle memory), or a fun reader (you can even find Harry Potter in Latin!) are great ways to inspire Latin learning during summer vacation.

Practice reading Latin with this Latin reader from Visual Latin or have fun reading Winnie-the-Pooh, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, or even Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Keep learning all summer long with these homeschool Latin resources kids will love!

How do you review Latin during the summer?

Leave me a comment and tell me how you review Latin with your kids during the summer!

More homeschooling resources:

Simple Ways to Include Art in Your Homeschool

Why You Need a Homeschool Philosophy

4 Reasons to Use Tech in Middle School

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The post, 4th of July Patriotic Family Fun {Weekend Roundup #19}, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

Are you making plans for summer activities for your family? Don’t forget to add some 4th of July Patriotic Family Fun to your list!

4th of July Patriotic Family Fun

Summertime means time for fun family activities – and nothing is more fun than the 4th of July. Fireworks, picnics, family cookouts – there are so many reasons to celebrate!

Add one of these 4th of July patriotic family fun ideas to your party plans this year – make a pom-pom wreath for your front door, a patriotic poke cake or sugar cookie pie (yummy!) for your family picnic, or make a 4th of July DIY decor item for your mantle.

Patriotic Pom Pom Wreath ~ Flamingo Toes

Berry Patriotic Poke Cake ~ Frugal Foodie Mama

All-American Sugar Cookie Pie ~ Delightful E Made

Patriotic Craft for the 4th of July ~ Worthing Court

Time for The Weekend Roundup!

Welcome to another Weekend Roundup here at The Sunny Patch! It’s time for you to share your best family-friendly posts – family fun, education & homeschooling, books & activities for kids, parenting tips, simple meal ideas – if it’s family-related (and family friendly!) you’re welcome to share.

My favorite posts will be featured on The Weekend Roundup Pinterest Board and wherever else I feel like sharing! And, of course, it may even be featured in The Weekly Roundup!

Link-Party Guidelines:

Share up to 3 links of family-related content (that you haven’t linked here before)

Please don’t link giveaways, shops, or other link parties

Visit a few other links – it’s not a party without some interaction!

I’d love it if you’d share about the Weekend Roundup or link back in some way (but it’s not mandatory)

By linking up at The Weekend Roundup, your posts and images may be shared in future content, so please only use images to which you have legal rights

Link up your posts:

An InLinkz Link-up

The post, 6th Grade Homeschool Highlights: Summer Wrap-up, is from The Sunny Patch. *Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links.

It’s the end of the school year… and time to start planning 7th grade.

We’re not quite finished with school (we need to do 180 days and still have 15 to go) but have finished all of our planned assignments and textbooks – so we’re doing a little extra history, reading, and math to finish out the official year. Then, during the summer, TJ will continue to work on math and have a daily reading time.

Homeschooling at the Sunny Patch…

Finishing the last section in Rod & Staff English – the only grammar course I’ve ever seen that has a lesson about using your Bible concordance and dictionary.

Science in our last term – we used a TOPS science book to learn all about plants – TJ tracked radish growth for a month. Fun stuff!

Nice weather means reading time is spent outdoors. 

We visited family in Maine (over a month ago now) and had fun visiting my sister’s new baby goats.

Helpful Homeschool Tips – Nature Fun for Summer

How to make a plant journal from Blog, She Wrote

Montessori Nature Tray from Living Montessori Now

Backyard Birds Lapbook from Homeschool Share

Piles of books…

I’m reading Mein Kampf (Well-Educated Mind reading) and Under the Greenwood Tree (Classics Club Challenge). For my free time reading, I just finished The Martian (really good!).

TJ is reading through piles of Monster High books right now. We’ve been listening to The Lord of the Rings books but decided to take a break for a bit. I picked up Anne of Green Gables to listen to next.

What’s happening at The Sunny Patch…

Multum Non Multa: Finding Your Homeschool Focus (a monthly Classical education series)

Road Trips with Kids (with some free printable travel pages)

Simple Ways to Include Art in Your Homeschool

5 Simple Tips for Leading a More Active Lifestyle

Mary Cassatt Art Projects for Kids

Mental Math Practice with a Hundreds Chart

Tell me what’ been happening in your homeschool!

I’m linking up at: Weekly Wrap-Up and Collage Friday