A fun, simple, board game for young kids that builds STEM skills? Sign me up! If you’re also a homeschooling parent who loves to incorporate hands-on learning in your school time, I bet this sounds pretty intriguing to you, too. The following is my review of Team Digger, a cooperative game for 2-4 players, ages 6 and up, that promotes strategic thinking and early coding skills. Team Digger is a new game by SimplyFun, an award-winning company that specializes in games that promote academic and social skills. This review will “dig in” to Team Digger, exploring: what it’s like to play, practica ..read more

The word hurricane is from the Spanish word Huracan’ which means “great wind”.  You may have heard the words typhoon and cyclone used to describe big storms. Each of these words (hurricane, cyclone, and typhoon) is used to describe a powerful, tropical storm.  If you live in a hurricane-prone area or have lived through a hurricane, like we have located in NC, you already know how powerful hurricanes are and the extent of damage and destruction they cause. I compiled this hurricane information and hurricane lesson as a way to help our kids understand what they were, especially since w ..read more

Use this life cycle of a frog lesson and printable pack to learn more about frogs and nature. Then, head outside to find a few frogs or raise tadpoles on your own! As I’m writing this, I can hear frogs singing in a small pool of water created each year by spring rains. The warm weather has awakened the frogs from their dormancy, and they are out looking for food and mates. It’s an ideal time to do a hands-on study of the life cycle of a frog and learn how they breathe, protect themselves, and much more. Pools of water are perfect for frogs, or toads, to lay their eggs. The water is still so t ..read more

In our Homeschool Planet review, you will find out why we categorize it as more than a tool for planning out homeschool lessons, it’s a life organizing tool! If you haven’t checked out this online tool or aren’t sure about an online planner, I recommend that you do. Paper planners were always my go to, but I just can’t keep up with them, and writing assignments in a paper planner is something I do well for about a week, and then it literally falls apart as our schedule goes in an unexpected direction.  Homeschool Planet Review – Highlighted Features There are multiple features in this on ..read more

If you’re just curious or doing research for an assignment, this article lists facts about Arctic foxes. The scientific name for the arctic fox is Vulpes Lagopus. The term “lagopus” means “hare footed.” The arctic fox got this name for the appearance of their feet being very similar to that of arctic hares. According to Finnish folklore, the Northern lights are created by the tails of arctic foxes sweeping snow into the night sky! Let’s look at 10 interesting facts about arctic foxes. If you are interested in other wild animals, check out these posts: Red Pandas River Ottes vs. Sea Otters Ar ..read more

Rocks are everywhere! We use them to construct highways, homes, churches, statues, and more. Before rocks end up as part of concrete or before rocks find their way into the pocket of a curious child, those rocks have undergone many natural processes as part of the rock cycle. Below the rock cycle is explained. The Rock Cycle Explained Rock is the most abundant thing on Earth. Rock is right under our feet! Let’s look at what rock is, how it’s different from a mineral, the 3 types of rock, and the rock cycle. Understanding the 3 types of rock helps us understand the natural process as the ro ..read more

  This hands-on lesson helps students understand how the sun creates energy. 30 pages of information, hands-on activities, printables, & mini-posters that helps students understand how the Sun produces energy. Step outside into the sunshine. Feel the warmth that comes from its rays. That’s energy. Notice how the sunlight illuminates everything in the daytime. That’s energy. How does the sun create energy? Energy can be defined as the capacity to do work. This may be in the form of kinetic, nuclear, potential, chemical, or other forms of energy. The energy that comes from the sun is in ..read more

Our 50+ page packet of solar system printables covers the planets, Sun, and asteroid belt. The informational write-ups can be used for independent reading or to enjoy as a family or class. There were many nights growing up when I would sit in the cool, quiet dark of night and stare at the stars mesmerized. Being a field guide junkie from way back, I would check out constellation guides and planet books from the library and try to identify what I was seeing. Related link: DIY Constellation Viewer To me, outer space held such mystery. What was out there? How far does it go? Does the night sky ho ..read more

Today I am sharing my Science Shepherd review and their Introductory Science course for grades 1st-5th. Science Shepherd has science courses for elementary, middle school, and high school levels. As a Christian parent with a 7-year-old daughter who loves science, choosing the right science curriculum to use in our homeschool presents a unique challenge. I want a curriculum that is Biblically based, as well as academically sound and complete. Especially if my daughter continues to love STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) subjects the way she already does, I want her to ..read more

We originally did this project as a PI Day activity. But you can do this activity anytime of the year, with multiple ages. What makes this a Pi Day jump rope? Each number from zero to nine are assigned a straw color. Then, 1.5″ straw pieces are threaded onto a rope in order of Pi out 52 digits. (If you do this project, you might go out somewhere around 52 digits, depending on the length of the rope used. It would make a fun day-camp project (with some modifications to make the handles of the jump rope easier to do in a big group), a rainy-day project, a what-can-we-do-with-all-of-these-st ..read more