Category Archives: Lesson Plans
A Day In Our Homeschool
People, mostly mildly curious, but sometimes sincerely wanting to know if they could ever manage homeschooling, ask me what do we do when we’re “doing school”? I usually give a short reply like “workbooks and stuff”. How exactly do you … Continue reading
More Organizing Ideas For School Assignments
Weeks and weeks ago my husband acquired some plastic bins with locking lids–six of them, one for each kid. He thought they’d be perfect to keep their school work in. I said, “yeah, yeah” and stuck the bins in the … Continue reading
Organizing Your Kids’ Schoolwork
I was perusing homeschool websites and came across this terrific idea for organizing your kids’ schoolwork on Homeschool Creations. Jolanthe color codes her kids’ things, and also sorts worksheets and assignments into folders before the school year starts so … Continue reading
Mom Advice For Myself
I hate this video, because it made me get all emotional and I HATE that. What would you tell your just-about-to-become-a-mommy self? I think I’d tell me, Enjoy every minute, it’ll be gone so quick. Happy Mother’s Day Bookmark on … Continue reading
Pinkalicious Party
Today my girls had a PINKALICIOUS party at our local public library. It was an all girl party and every girl was dressed all in pink! First we read the story by Victoria Kann. Then everyone danced and twirled to … Continue reading
Should Homeschooling Have State Oversight?
This article was published in my local paper and underlies some of the general issues we’re struggling with in America currently, besides the obvious homeschooling issue. Home-Schooled Needs Oversight The article explains that in Idaho the law says that parents … Continue reading
Monet’s Water Lilies
Of all paintings, ones from the Impressionist movement are my favorite. Their softness and serenity make me feel instantly peaceful. We recently looked at several Impressionist paintings and gave special focus to two of my favorites: Monet and Renoir. My … Continue reading
Simple Light Refraction Experiment
Scared of science? Don’t be. Doing science with your kids can be the best part of their week. And it’s not nearly as complicated as scientists and the writers of textbooks would like you to believe. Take, for example, optics. … Continue reading
ABC Worm
Little ones need lots and lots and lots of practice with the ABC’s so here’s one more way. You can make an ABC worm from the printable below and some cardstock and have your child put the alphabet in order, … Continue reading
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief Book Report
We like to share things that our kids do at our homeschools so that you can see what the real work from real kids looks like and to give our kid’s confidence a boost as their work is published. We’d … Continue reading
Beginning Bee Keeping
We started a new family hobby. We decided to start beekeeping as a way to learn and enjoy our new bee pets and also get fresh honey for our family. They also do wonders for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. I’m … Continue reading
Rebellion in the Netherlands Map
The Dutch colonies had been governed by Spain via the powerful Habsburg family for a generation, but the old king, Charles V, had been born and raised in the low countries, he spoke the language and understood the people. When … Continue reading
Whisper Phones
Have you heard of whisper phones? A friend of mine recently told me about them. They’re made of just a few pieces of pvc pipe. Couldn’t get much easier than that. These simple little “phones” are to help emergent readers become … Continue reading
Cookie Cutter Tracing
When kids are first learning to hold a pencil, write, and draw, the more practice they get, the better. Tracing around cookie cutters is great practice for emergent writers. Kids can pretty easily hold the cookie cutters and outline around … Continue reading
Ethiopia and Prester John
We were studying Ethiopia last week and decided to take a little side trip to Prester John. Prester John was a mythical Christian monarch known to Europeans in the Middle Ages. The legend said that somewhere in the mysterious east … Continue reading
Some Rules Kids Won’t Learn In School
Text By Charles J. Sykes Printed in San Diego Union Tribune September 19, 1996 Unfortunately, there are some things that children should be learning in school, but don’t. Not all of them have to do with academics. As a modest back-to-school offering, … Continue reading
How Does Homeschooling Stack Up?
Created by: College At Home It makes no difference the amount of money spent or the income of the family or the education level of the teacher. What matters is a caring mentor who gives one-on-one customized tutoring. It’s always … Continue reading
Christianity and the Modern World
I went to public school, which wasn’t all bad. I learned a ton of great information, probably most importantly I read, wrote about, and discussed the classics in an advanced English class under an incredible teacher, which gave me the … Continue reading
Geography On A Trading Card
You can use these printable trading cars as a tool to teaching kids where countries are in the world and a few facts about them. It will give athletic or sports-crazy kids a peg on which to hang their knowledge … Continue reading
Wheels! Book Project
Garrett, five, did this book project last week. He read Wheels! by Annie Cobb. For his project he thought of other places we use wheels, places not mentioned in the book, and he made his own book. First he drew … Continue reading
Comparing The Rights and Responsibilities of Three Countries
We did a government activity for Family Night this week. Every week we have one evening set aside that we spend as a family. We do it because we know life is busy and time gets away. Soon our kids … Continue reading
Toddler Artists Make Better Writers
Harrison is in his colorful house period. Last week it was suns and the week before that he was doing people. He’s actually the only one of my six boys who has been very interested in drawing and coloring before. … Continue reading
Writin’ With the Irish
Here are a few fun writing ideas for some St. Patrick’s Day fun: Imagine you found a lucky four-leaf clover that will bring you great luck for only one day. Write about your perfect lucky day. At Christmas time, Valentine’s … Continue reading
Green Pepper Shamrock Stamping
Getting excited for St. Patrick’s day around here! The kids and I {yeah, me too – I couldn’t stay away from the paints for this cool project} made these very cool shamrocks using green peppers as our stamps. I made … Continue reading
Pi Day
Happy Pi Day! It’s 3.14, so today, you’ve got to teach your kids about Pi! For every circle, no matter it’s size, the distance around the edge (the circumference) is about 3.14 times longer than the distance across the circle … Continue reading
Great Persistence Made Washington Great
Think of some of the people from history who you admire most. Joan of Arc, George Washington, Mozart, Harriet Tubman, Mother Teresa, William Wilberforce. What do these people have in common? Really. Miserable. Lives. People who have serious challenges, learn … Continue reading
Balkan Peninsula Map
The Balkans are a geographic area of southeast Europe lying between Italy and Turkey. The area is named for the Balkan mountain range in Bulgaria and Serbia. The entire region is very hilly and mountainous and is a peninsula, surrounded … Continue reading
Optical Illusions
The eye is made up of two different types of light receptors called cones and rods. Cones are necessary for color vision and to see well in bright light. Rods are necessary for seeing in low light. The two experiments … Continue reading
Palindromes
As part of our writer’s workshop I often (almost daily) give little mini-lessons. I love doing ones that involve wordplay. Palindromes are words (or phrases) that are the same right to left as from left to right. Here are a … Continue reading
Milk Jug Knights
We made these sets of knights armor out of milk jugs to go along with our medieval history studies. I needed three milk jugs for each child . . . at our house that’s a lot of milk jugs. {6 … Continue reading
Niagara’s Trickle
When I think of Niagara Falls the first thing that comes to mind is HUGE. It connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and drops 326 feet in 35 miles. Daytime flow over the falls in the summer is 748,100 gallons … Continue reading
Leap Day
Leap Day is coming up! Legend has it that St. Bridget struck a deal with St. Patrick to allow for a little role reversal on leap day. She bargained that women be allowed to propose to men instead of the … Continue reading
Big City Library
I live in a small town outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. We have our own small-town library, with far too few books and not nearly enough scope for the imagination, as Anne of Green Gables would put it. Most … Continue reading
Courage, War, and Freedom
I read this quote the other day and it made me think that maybe all of us take our freedoms for granted a bit too much: Read and discuss the quote with your older children. Here are a few essay … Continue reading
Presidential Fact Finders
To celebrate President’s Day this year, we’re playing Presidential Fact Finders. You start with a simple craft, then turn it into a game! You’ll need 2 contrasting colors of construction paper, pencils, scissors, glue, and this printable template from our … Continue reading
Mini Castle Craft
You can easily make these mini castles with your kids while studying the middle ages. Printable Castle Craft Just print the castles out onto card stock, color, cut along the dotted line over the castle and around the heavy line … Continue reading
What’s Special About February 2nd?
We’re all watching for that cute little groundhog to come out and tell us what kind of weather to expect, but why is Groundhog’s Day on February 2nd anyway? Well, the 2nd of February is a cross-quarter day celestially speaking, … Continue reading
Cityscape Art
As part of our art studies I like to teach the kids about the different kinds of pieces that artists make – still life, portraits, landscapes – you get the idea. One that seems to be often overlooked is the … Continue reading
DNA Extractions
Nathan extracted DNA from peas this past week. The stringy, white, snot-like stuff is the DNA. The DNA looks remarkably like . . . snot. That would be because both DNA and snot are made of similar proteins. It’s a … Continue reading
A Trip To The Ocean
This week we’re heading out on a family camping trip to the Pacific Ocean. We’ve been doing all sorts of things to get ready. We’ve mapped out a plan of our trip and where we want to go, made lists … Continue reading
Thumbprint Autobiography
Pinterest is a new love of mine. Check out this cool art project I just pinned: Source: google.com via Karen on Pinterest It’s a thumprint self-portraint! Brilliant, eh? If you like this project, come check out my homeschooling board on … Continue reading
The Story of Stilts
A stilt walker fixing wires Stilts were invented centuries ago, not for play, but for work and for transportation. In Belgium they were a necessity for the citizens of Namur, a city situated by 2 rivers that frequently flooded. The … Continue reading
Germany
Color a map of Germany. Trace the rivers, label the cities, write in the seas, and don’t forget the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps. The Saar River of Germany Also remember to find Germany on a world map or … Continue reading
The Lion-Makers, a Story From the Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is a collection of ancient stories from India that were written down more than two thousand years ago, though the stories themselves are much older than that. They are the first fables ever told in the world. They’re … Continue reading
A Grammar Sequence Checklist
Karen gives her kids mini-grammar/language/literature lessons nearly every day as a routine part of school. She does this just out of the blue and out of her head as she notices problems with her kids writing or feels they’re ready … Continue reading
Nesting Cans
Teaching the concept of your city is in your state…is in your country…is in your continent…is in the world can be such a tough topic for youngsters. My kids still get mixed up on cities, states, and countries sometimes. Mandy … Continue reading
Edward III’s Coat of Arms
Edward III was monarch of England during the early years of the Hundred Years War. He changed his coat of arms from the three lions of King Richard I to the lions quartered with the fleurs-de-lis of France. He did … Continue reading
Muslim Mosaics or Cool Random Art Project…You Pick
We originally did this art project to go along with a study of the way Muslims traditionally made mosaics. Unlike the Christian mosaics which included people and landscapes, Muslim artwork focused on geometry of shapes and patterns. People were not … Continue reading
Canterbury Tales for Kids
The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer in England toward the end of the 1300′s. Less than fifty years earlier the Black Death had swept through Europe, killing perhaps a third of the population, the peasants of England had … Continue reading
Dichotomous Key
To help in identifying objects like rocks, plants, animals, sea shells or other stuff, knowledgeable people create dichotomous keys. When using these keys you answer questions about the object always beginning with number one and following the directions as you … Continue reading
Worldview
If you were an ancient Greek you thought the world looked like this: This is a view of the world first drawn by Ptolemy in about 150 AD. Europeans were using this map of the world with few variations until … Continue reading
The North Pole May Not Be As Far Away As You Thought
For a fun twist on geography, instead of learning all about one place in the world, pick a theme and see how many places in the world have names around your theme. Since it’s Christmas time, right now you could search for places named, North … Continue reading
The History of Christmas
I love learning about the history behind the things we take for granted. It gives an insight into aspects of our daily lives that we wouldn’t even consider without the background information behind it. It’s like stepping back and seeing … Continue reading
Reindeer and Caribou…What’s the Difference?
There are MILLIONS of species of animals on our planet. So many in fact, that no one knows exactly how many there are. Many of the species are very similar to each other, with only slight differences. Caribou and reindeer … Continue reading
The Night Before Christmas
Every year we read several versions of “The Night Before Christmas,” the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore. It’s really interesting to read the same poem over and over, but with different interpretations by various illustrators. Today we read a … Continue reading
Planet Ornaments
Every year my kids and I make ornaments. They love making the glass ball ornaments that you swish paint and rubbing alcohol into for a marbled look. This year they got the brilliant plan in their noggins to create the … Continue reading
NORAD Tracks Santa
Every Christmas we check out the NORAD site. They’ve got stuff about Santa up there already. They keep track of how he’s coming with toy production, how the reindeer and the elves are doing and so on. They have a … Continue reading
Made In . . . Trade Around the World
Once you get all those Christmas gifts try this geography lesson. Print out a map, use a globe, or use a wall map of the world. See where each thing you and your family members received for Christmas was made. … Continue reading
Snowmen At Night–The Rest Of The Story
One of our favorite wintertime books is Snowmen At Night by Caralyn and Mark Buehner. We love the roly poly pictures including snowmen with their parts knocked off, snowmen tumbling down hills, and snowmen being dragged home after a rough … Continue reading
Expedition: Aquarium
We live near Salt Lake City and just took advantage of a free admission day at Salt Lake’s Living Planet Aquarium. There’s just nothing like taking a day off of school for a learning expedition. {Sometimes Mom needs the break … Continue reading
Book Project: The Gingerbread Man
We continue to have school time and do lots of learning activities throughout December, but we also spend a good deal of time focusing on the holidays and just enjoying the time we have as a family. We lighten our … Continue reading
How To Teach the Days of the Week
Whenever possible I like to teach by putting things to music, a simple rhythm, or a rhyme. Here’s a simple, traditional poem that will teach the days of the week: Solomon Grundy,Born on a Monday,Christened on Tuesday,Married on Wednesday,Took ill … Continue reading
Ancient Sahara Trade Routes
Most of Africa south of the Sahara desert is cut off from Northern Africa and Europe by the Sahara desert. The biggest desert in the world, it covers 3.3 million square miles! It is desolate, with very little plant and … Continue reading
President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
In 1863, in the midst of a terrible civil war and when all seemed darkest, Abraham Lincoln made this proclamation for a national day of Thanksgiving to God. Read this before your Thanksgiving Feast: By the President of the United … Continue reading
The First Thanksgiving Activities
It is generally the people who have the most trials that feel the most gratitude toward God. This was certainly the case of the Pilgrims. It was because of their heavy suffering of that first year that they felt such … Continue reading
Teaching Gratitude
Of all the things you can teach your kids the most important may be gratitude. Human nature has a tendency to expect much and give little. It takes effort to turn that around and instead be humble and grateful for … Continue reading
Rain on the Plain
Grasslands can have extreme weather from icy, windy, cold, winters to blazing hot, dusty, summers. They can have torrential downpours of rain and they can have droughts that last for months or even decades, threatening all life. Make a weather … Continue reading
Mad Scientists: Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber was mean to his wife. That probably gets me more riled than all the rest of it, since really it led to all of it. Fritz and his wife, Clara Immerwahr, were both brilliant chemists. Unfortunately, unlike contemporaries, … Continue reading
Exploration Stations
Around the house I’ve set up various areas which I call Exploration Stations. We have a cupboard with science stuff, a drawer with creative writing stuff, an art cupboard, a nature backpack, an astronomy backpack, then there’s cooking, water play, … Continue reading
Veterans Day Learning
Four US soldiers watching the allied bombing at Normandy. Veterans Day was first known as Armistice Day and celebrated the day the treaty was signed ending WWI, November 11, 1918. In 1954 the congress declared the day be renamed Veterans Day and that it … Continue reading
Book Project: Harry Potter, and a Wizard Wand Tutorial too!
Keep reading for a tutorial on how to make these amazing wizard wands! Any of our long time readers know what huge Harry Potter fans we are. Michelle lovingly calls her homeschool Copher’s School of Mishaps and Mayhem (a wee … Continue reading
Viking People
We made toilet paper roll Viking guys from DLTK as an activity to go along with our Viking studies. We also colored maps of the raiding routes and areas of trade and settlement of the Vikings. You can print out … Continue reading
The Value of Sport
Kids sports . . . ah, the proverbial soccer mom role. We’re almost done with our sports season for this spring. We’ve had four kids in sports and that has meant at least two practices or games every day for … Continue reading
Art Exploration: Texture
Today we did an exploration on texture, and it all started with a brainstorm. We brainstormed every texture word we could think of: rough, smooth, slimy, scaly, sharp, bumpy, sticky, and on and on and on. We wrote each of … Continue reading
Homeschooling For The Fun of It
At least weekly I get asked why I homeschool. Why? Hmmm, there are so many reasons it’s hard to count. When it comes down to it though, I guess I do it because I like it. I like learning with … Continue reading
Dinner Science Theater
Dinner Science Theater is becoming a favorite event at our place. Dad, our resident science-enthusiast is our regular presenter. We sit at the family dinner table while Dad entertains us with cool science facts, discussions, and demonstrations. Oh look, Dad … Continue reading
The Discovery of Machu Pichu
We’ve been studying the ancient people of the Americas including the Inca. Nathan, 13, wrote this report on the discovery of Machu Picchu. Hiram Bingham was a professor at Yale University who tried to find the mysterious city of Vilcapampa. … Continue reading
Origami Bats
1. Fold an 8 by 8 inch square of black paper in half on the diagonal.2. Fold down the top 2 inches of the triangle.3. Fold each side flap in along the inside lines you see here, and then back … Continue reading
Bird Call Craft
CJ made this awesome bird call for cub scouts and we wanted to share it here. You just need a 2x1x1inch piece of hardwood and a round screw eye. Drill a hole in the end of the hardwood slightly smaller … Continue reading
Book Projects: Ali Baba
We’re learning about the start of Islam in history and in geography we’ve been learning about the Arabian Peninsula. We read several books on these topics and then the boys chose The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves … Continue reading
Reviewing by Fishing
We’re big fans of alternatives to boring test taking for the younger set, especially the under ten crowd. Here’s an easy and fun idea to review the facts you’ve learned in history, geography, science, art, religion or many other subjects. … Continue reading
Tracking the Weather
Keeping an eye on the weather on a daily basis helps your kids learn and remember better than learning it once. Besides, kids LOVE setting up their own weather station and playing weather man. Here is a chart to keep … Continue reading
Illuminations
We’ve spent a good deal of time studying the monks who kept literacy and learning alive during the Middle Ages lately. Looking at some of their original manuscripts is amazing. They aren’t just writing; they are works of art — … Continue reading
Super Simple Wind Vane
We made these easy wind vanes for school this week. You need: straw straight pin pencil with an eraser index card celophane tape First cut a triangle to serve as the arrow head and a tail. The tail is just … Continue reading
An Assisted Acrostic
Garrett did his book project on Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur. Garrett wrote and illustrated his own acrostic poem. He chose the “I, for Igloo” page as his beginning point, but wrote his own poem to go with it. That … Continue reading
Growing Crystals
We’ve been growing crystals. The kids couldn’t believe how fast their dissolved Borax particulates reformed as crystals. They were done overnight. We examined the crystals with magnifying glasses so they could see the specific shapes formed. The crazy kids in … Continue reading
Why?
Harrison and I share a favorite question. Why? Harrison is three and whether you ask him to use the potty or tell him to come get a cookie the question is the same. Why? It’s almost the only thing he … Continue reading
Rubik’s Cube As A Math "Toy"
I’m a big fan of math manipulatives, tools kids can use to really visualize the abstract mathematical concepts they’re learning. It used to be that math “toys”, as we call them at our house, were just for kids who struggled … Continue reading
The Water Cycle
The water cycle is a great jumping off point for a unit study on weather, oceans, cycles, water, conservation, or pollution. We’ve been studying the weather lately, and this week we took a look at the water cycle. I … Continue reading
Recycled Regatta Boat
CJ built a “recycled” boat for his cub scout Rain Gutter Regatta last week. In case you’re not familiar with the famed Rain Gutter Regatta, the kids build boats, usually from cub scout supplied kits, and race them down water-filled … Continue reading
Fingerprint Season Trees
I’ve got a lil’ pre-schooler this year who’s always aching to get in on the school action with us. She’ll sit there for hours listening in on what we’re learning about and doing little workbooks, but she REALLY loves it … Continue reading
Using Food To Teach Geography
When we learn about a country as a family, we almost always cook food from that country. The food a people eats tells you a lot about them and is central to culture. Think about it, how important is food … Continue reading
Chinese Paper Cutting
Almost since they invented paper the Chinese have been making beautiful designs by intricately cutting paper. It takes years and years of practice to make something as beautiful as these, but you can make a simple paper cutting craft. Follow … Continue reading
King Arthur’s Crown
Kids like King Arthur and kids like wearing things on their heads. So here’s a crown to make when reading about King Arthur. Some people say Arthur was nothing but a story, a mythical make-believe person. Others think he was … Continue reading
Sunshine City
Normally we don’t share super formal lesson plans on Layers of Learning, but when the Lego Company asked for lesson plans about renewable energy for their LegoSmart contest last year, we were happy to submit ours! Here’s the complete lesson … Continue reading
Scary Endings
My kids have always “scared easy.” I remember having to sit outside in the movie theater lobby with their trembling lower lips during the scary parts of Cars. What scary parts you ask? EXACTLY. I’ve discovered something though. They are … Continue reading
Making A Case For Fairy Tales
All people should spend time engaged in classic literature. It stretches our minds and causes us to analyze issues, think about themes, and see the world a little bit differently. I generally base my book judgments on whether or not … Continue reading
Easy Math Dice Games
A super simple way to make math facts practice fun is to do it with dice. The kids are really just doing math problem after math problem, but since there’s a winner and a loser it’s fun. Adding game: You … Continue reading
Assyrians!
We learned about the Assyrians recently. Our friend, Katie helped the kids make these projects. For the older kids: shaduf models. A shaduf was an ancient water irrigation tool. A long weighted pole with a bucket on the end was used to … Continue reading
