88th Carnival Of Homeschooling

Welcome to the "We Are What We Eat" edition of the Carnival Of Homeschooling.
I guess I figured that 88 sounded a lot like "Ate? He Ate!"
Anyway, If you are feeling a bit hungry, perhaps these offerings will satisfy that craving for some good eats, homeschool style. We'll be "grazing" all day (and maybe even all week) with all of these carnival submissions, so we'd better get started.

What is the best way to start the homeschool day?
(or even the homeschool year)
For me it's with a yummy bowl of cereal. So dig in!



Kelly, over at Pass the Torch, is setting school year's resolutions this week, and inviting everyone to join her! It's all explained at School Year's Resolutions - a call for bloggers.

What does a homeschooler call "back to school" anyway? With the post "Back To School?" from Question the Culture we might be able to jettison some of the terms that have been ingrained in some of our own notions of education.

Here is another question. What kind of energy do you absorb during this "back to school" time? The annual return of the school buses can have a definite effect on homeschoolers. Barbara Frank explores this with her post entitled: The School Buses Are Out Again....

The Daily Planet gives us It's That Time Of Year Again... with a glimpse into her senior year and how every day is a learning experience.

And here is a thoughtful look at the "official" end of summer and the feelings it stirs within this blogger and how they compare with the feelings her homeschooled children will have about the holiday. Read Labor Day Weekend Blues over at Home Spun Juggling.

"This is an old post, but a good one", says it's author. It's about the ceremony their family used for first graders. The youngest at Today in Faerie School is starting first grade, so they are practicing their ceremony -- for the last time, and they are sharing the idea with the rest of us in this post Only three short years ago...

Saille presents And Another Thing posted at Survive The Experience. She has some definite opinions on education and what school really means to some children.

Afterschoolers homeschool too, and this blogger says "Beginning to afterschool, I wonder how to what to tell my friends about why I choose to do this as well as send him to a traditional school". The Not Quite Crunchy Parent has an interesting view on What to say about Afterschooling.

And here is reason #786 why we homeschool presented at No fighting, no biting! Katherine says: If Miss Teen South Carolina was a honor student, then I don't want the public schools teaching my children geography.

If education has a purpose who can best fulfill it? Renae posts Why I Home School, Reason 3 of 5 over at Life Nurturing Education.

Brendan Cooper also shares reasons Why We Homeschool and you can read that at Second Front.

Henry Cate from Why Homeschool shares some thoughts about the value of homeschooling in his post entitled, Thoughts about the Value of Education.

Finishing up this bowl of alpha bits is HappyCampers sharing with us a wonderful video presentation in this post A Good Answer To "Why" found at Reese's View Of The World.


One can't pass up this cup of cappuccino! (no worries, it's decaf)



Barb treats us to Drawing with Children:Real Artists-The Myth created for us at The Heart of Harmony.

Stephanie shares with us the joys of band with Enjoy it While You Can posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

To dance (paint, sing, write, design...) or not - that is the question for the creative types... with a hope to inspire! Dianne M. Buxton presents To Dance or Not to Dance In Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes which she shares with us at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes.

The traditions this blogger's parents established for her home are a source of nostalgia for her. Her husband and she wanted celebration in their home to reflect the joys of their childhood but also be unique. The most unusual part of their kids’ birthdays is a Birthday Tablecloth. Guests write messages and sign their names on it, year after year. At three, their oldest jumped out of bed and ran to the dining room. With an excited voice and they heard, “Mommy, it’s my birthday! I see my birthday cloth!” At HowToMe they show you How to Make a Birthday Tablecloth.

Music and arts and crafts (and maybe some silliness mixed in) are used to teach about cell parts. Lydia presents That's What Makes A Cell: A Song About the Parts of Plant and Animal Cells posted at Little Blue School.

Jimmie shows us the benefits of using hands-on activities; and it includes a link to a follow up article of tips for dealing with hands-on activities in this post: Top 6 Reasons to use Hands-on Activities in Homeschool over at One Child Policy Homeschool.



I can't resist this little snack:



Alvaro Fernandez submitted this wonderful piece detailing Brain Fitness Program 2.0, MindFit, and much more on Brain Training posted at Brain Fitness Blog.

And here is a no-brainer: Lynn presents Experts Say There’s a Relationship Between Studying and Academic Success which is blogged over at Homeschool2.0 Blog.

The post Explaining learning says there is a difference between learning and teaching. Most people understand teaching, but have trouble with learning as a separate concept. Learn more at IndianaJane's Homeschool Notebook.

"They're chubby. They're adorable. They're also easy to teach if you do it gently. Two year olds can get a deeper understanding of the world around them with plenty of great experiences, great books, and just a little "teaching" boost here and there." says Jacci M in her post named What Two Year Olds Can Learn. It's over at The Educational Life.

Along the same lines, Dana from Principled Discovery gives us this post called Educating Preschoolers, which looks to me to be a no-brainer too, if you know what I mean.


We'll have a spot of lunch with this hot bowl of soup - the main event for this meal is curriculum (of course).



OOh Laa Laa! Mon amie Mama Squirrel donne a nous Grade One French. Je voudrais vous visiter a Dewey's Treehouse.

My Quivers Full sent along this recommendation for an interesting game in this post entitled The Human Body and a Five Year Old.

Denise at Let's play math! compares two methods for solving story problems in second grade math, and that can be explored at Pre-algebra problem solving: 2nd grade.

Char Polanosky shares a wonderful resource with us with More Alphabet Coloring Pages posted at Printables for Kids - free word search puzzles, coloring pages, and other activities.

Did I say free?? Here's more free stuff that NerdMom found - Nerd Family: Free Education Fun! to be found over at Nerd Family.

Considering Homeschooling Curriculum is the blogpost that just might show you thatlearning organically can involved curriculum and workbooks. The world is one big set of tools. We have the freedom to choose any of them. Read all about it at Just Enough, and Nothing More.

SmallWorld does a brief review of Jessie Wise's gentle introduction to grammar--and gives reasons why this grammar buff chooses it for her family with Curriculum Review: First Language Lessons.

Jocelyn of Lothlorien is introducing an online States Exploration for homeschool kids. She says this: "Each Thursday check out my blog for your “assignment” (ie: State flower, State bird, famous person from your state), and you can put a little blurb with the assignment answer on your blog. This is designed to help you, personally, learn about your state and others will also glean from it." Find out the details at the blogpost named States Exploration.

This blogger has been interested in creating reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci's machines and automata using 3D software for some time. He documents the process in this post as a sort of loose tutorial in rigging mechanical devices entitled Rigid body dynamics simulation posted at da Vinci's Kinematic Mechanisms.

Timothy Power's family visited their local aerospace museum, which is hosting an exhibit of models made from Leonardo Da Vinci's sketches on mechanical and military subjects. This post describes the trip and provides a brief review of the exhibit. A Somewhat Unplanned Field Trip is for all to read at Sometimes I'm Actually Coherent.

Silvia is currently raising some monarchs in her home and will release them when they emerge as butterflies. Read more about it: Monarchs posted at Po Moyemu--In My Opinion.

Why Study War? is the title of this post submitted by Percival Blakeney Academy and they explore why their (or your) study of history should include war.

Nissa wrote about how she is Keeping Charlotte Mason Simple for Our Family - Part 4: The Technique posted at Renaissance Academy.


And here's a sweet treat! Don't you agree?



Summer collected this list of Top Ten Homeschooling Books which she mentions on her blog named Mom Is Teaching.

If you haven’t yet picked up curriculum for September, here are a couple of very cheap resources for books, videos and other materials which Annette Berlin shares with us all as she names 10 Places To Buy Used Curriculum posted at Homeschooling Journey.

Ted Reimers also has his ideas of Where to Buy, Sell and Exchange Textbooks listed at College News.

If you like Charlotte Mason, then this post is for you. Deputyheadmistress put together this presentation about Charlotte Mason Books. Check it out over in The Common Room.

And while we are on the topic of books, Elisheva Levin asks, "Did you ever find a book serendipitously? A book that happened to be the right book at the right time? She had such an experience at her house, last week--twice! And they have gone on a reading blitz! Read more about it at Ragamuffin Studies with the blogpost entitled The 'Right Book at the Right Time' Reading Blitz.

Christine shares her thoughts about trying to prevent over-scheduling and the Fall schedule. She gives us Finishing Reading “The Over-Scheduled Child” This Week posted at The Thinking Mother.

Susan's post God's Harvard is about a book called God’s Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America which was written about Patrick Henry College. Her thoughts are provided about some excerpts from the book over at Corn and Oil.


If you get tired of cooking you can always check out these specials in the local eatery.



You can WIN Science Toys for Christmas says Megan Bayliss from Imaginif....

Dianne M. Buxton says that this info would help families create additional income, kids creating income, planning, and buying. Its a great community support system. She shows us Work From Home Shopping over at manifestingsuccess.

We go from what can be in your wallet to Summer's post about Hey Mom, What’s In Your Purse? at her blog Mom Is Teaching.

Mixed Messages, by Missy is where you'll find Missy discussing affiliations and homeschoolers. She asks: What does your bumper sticker say and what does it tell people about you? over at her blog, Life Without School.

Matthew K. Tabor says that this submission is the first in a series that looks at how homeschoolers can approach the college application process. This post entitled College Application Overview for Homeschoolers: The Official Transcript outlines the five basic elements of the college application, then looks how homeschoolers can prepare the official transcript.

California Homeschooling & Santa Monica College, Part 1:
Enrolling Your Child as a Concurrently Enrolled High School Student gives us a real "on the ground" experience of how this blogger got Santa Monica College to acknowledge their school and enroll their son as a concurrently enrolled high school student. Read more at Eat Your History.



Speaking of eating...Now have your last bit of cake and make sure you go to the gym sometime this week to burn all of these calories off! I enjoyed hosting and hope you had fun too. My hope is that no one got left out of this feast, and if they did - well, I'll just go to bed without my supper.