Blogging through the Alphabet from A to Z - 2021

That's a wrap folks. I have so enjoyed ticking this off my bucket list. Blogging Through the Alphabet is one of those things I've always wanted to do since I started this blog. Now I have and it's all with grateful appreciation to my co-host Desiree at Our Homeschool Notebook who has been sharing her
families Lego Adventure Through the Alphabet!

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 
22. Value Added Learning
23. Writing Cursive
24. X-Factor in Your Homeschool
25. YouTube Homeschooling 
26. Zoos for Science in Your Homeschool

I hope you've enjoyed this series as much as I have enjoyed participating in it. 

Blessings

Chareen

Featured from last week the letter Y...

• Z is for Zone over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• Homeschooling Tips from A to Z: The Letter Z on Homeschooling Highway
• Composer ABCs - Yoshimatsu over at At Home: Where Life Happens.

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is And That's A Wrap!

 

Please link up your posts starting with the series for this weeks ABC Blogging

Zoo Visits for Science

 Better late than never!  I'm so sorry this post is late.  Today we are on the final letter for this years Blogging Through The Alphabet!  Wow the letter Z.  My co-host Desiree is sharing the Z is for Zone!  

The topic today is Zoo Visits for Science!  A visit to the zoo is so good no matter what age you are.  I'm so grateful for zoo's around the world.  They contribute to so much of the knowledge that we have and allow us to experience different biomes and animals from across the globe.  They are places that protect and preserve life and contribute to the wellness of so many people through having access to being able to see and experience the beauty that is out there in our world. 

One of the mistakes we make is thinking we need to spend ALL day at the zoo.  Our local government zoo has a membership program making it much cheaper to be able to go to the zoo multiple times throughout the year.   By planning our day and choosing which animals we wanted to see that day made a HUGE difference to us enjoying the zoo together.  We would pack morning tea.  Take ourselves to the zoo and look at those sections we had chosen and come home.  Everyone enjoyed this approach so much more than long protracted days at the zoo.  

Wild Nights Zoo After Dark 2015

Keep an eye on your local zoo what's on page.  We discovered that our Zoo ran a week long night program in winter allowing us to see the zoo after dark.  We have such wonderful memories of toasting marshmallows, seeing possums up trees and meeting the serval. 

We attended this event for a few years,  you can see some of our adventures along with video's in these posts:

• Werribee Zoo Wild Nights - we saw fire dancing, laser shows and animals after dark 
• Night Zoo Delight - Take a photo journey with us through Werribee Open Range zoo after dark and meet the serval in a YouTube clip.

Taking our children both young and old to the zoo is a great way to incorporate hands on science with your children.  The interpretive signs at the zoo are full of scientific and geographic information.  You will cover subjects like history, geography, science, biology, maths and literacy. 

Members of the MSO tuning up and preparing for the conductor and performance.

We also covered music at Melbourne Zoo!  A few years ago they ran a program with white Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - Carnival of the Animals.  It was so much fun to see the animals, meet members of the orchestra and enjoy this particular event and meet Noni Hazelhurst.  It was a day full of culture at the Zoo!

Over the years as a family we have some of the most amazing adventures and builds some wonderful memories at the zoo. 

• A Tall Order Encounter - a photo journal of meeting the giraffe at Werribee Open Range Zoo. 
• A Day at Healsville Sanctuary - This is the sister zoo to Werribee.  It specialises in Australian Wildlife.  They have a wonderful wildlife hospital there that the public can go into and see what the vets are doing. 
• An Afternoon at Werribee Open Range Zoo - going on a bus trip at Werribee Zoo made for an interesting time.
• A day trip to the zoo - some behind the scenes photo's of the serval and cheetah.

Different States in Australia have different rules about meeting Australian animals.  When we went to Queensland in 2012 we were blessed with being able to hold and meet koala.  It was a super special time for us all. 

Paul and Sir N released number four of the Bandicoots.

This is one of the most special memories I have of Paul and Nathaniel!  They released bandicoots into the new breeding area at Werribee Open Range Zoo.  This breeding program has become one of the success stories for Zoo's Victoria as Bandicoots are no longer endangered.

This post has come at the perfect time because this week Zoo's around the world celebrated International Zoo Keeper Day!  I'm so proud of all the wonderful work that Paul does at Werribee Open Range Zoo alongside his colleagues.  You can follow some of his adventures on Instagram @servalpaul or on Facebook at Serval Paul Photography. 

What is your favourite thing to do at the zoo?

Blessings

Chareen

Featured from last week the letter Y...

• Y is for Yellow and Y is for Yahtzee over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• Homeschooling Tips from A to Z: The Letter Y on Homeschooling Highway
• Composer ABCs - Yoshimatsu over at At Home: Where Life Happens.
• 
  

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is Z is for Zone!

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter Z for this weeks ABC Blogging

YouTube Homeschooling

Wow we're on the second last week of of Blogging Through the Alphabet 2021. This week we are talking all things Y. Today I want to share a few thoughts on teaching our children using YouTube. My co-host Deidre is sharing Y is for Yellow in her her Lego Alphabet Series.

When Nathaniel was younger we really loved learning online via YouTube.  There are some really AMAZING channels on there.  Today I want to share a few we've enjoyed.

The Engineer Guy is one of my favourite channels.  Bill Hammack explores the world of engineering.  You can find his website here: The Engineer Guy.

Here are a few of his YouTube video's that are my favourites:

• The Ingenious Design of the Aluminium Beverage Can
• Plastic Injection Moulding
• RMS Titanic: Fascinating Engineering Facts
• How a Lead-Acid Battery Works
• How a Film Projector Works
• How a Wind Up Music Box Works
• How a Retractable Ballpoint Pen Works
• How a Smartphone Knows Up from Down (accelerometer)
• The Engineering of the Drinking Bird
• Ferris wheel: How the Eiffel Tower wasn't good enough 

Reel Truth History Documentaries is a fabulous font of historical data.

Explore hundreds of teaching video's exploring scientific discoveries on CMI Video.

I've enjoyed these:

• Can all blood types come from Adam and Eve?
• Racism and skin shade - a biblical and scientific perspective 

If you're looking for a channel to challenge your thinking and expand your horizons I highly recommend Martyn Iles The Truth of It on YouTube.

Mark Rober is a former NASA and Apple Engineer and creates interesting things on YouTube.

• For Fun: Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 - The Walnut Heist
• Glitter Bomb 1.0 vs Porch Pirates

We're fans of Myth Busters around here so this new channel was very welcome indeed.  Adam Savage hosts the Tested content platform.

Brave Wilderness is by Coyote Person, Mark Vins and Mario Aldecoa. they lead you on a variety of expeditions featuring everything from Grizzly Bears and Crocodiles to Rattlesnakes and Tiger Sharks! Every single episode offers an opportunity to learn something new. 

Want to learn to paint with acrylics?  Follow the Art Sherapa where you can take online beginners tutorials.

If you are interested in renewable energy then this documentary is thought provoking: Planet of the Humans directed by Jeff Gibbs.

Our introduction to science in motion was by this fun channel: The SlowMo Guys.  

• Planet Slow Mo: Season 1
• The Super Slow Show

What are some of your favourite channels on YouTube to compliment your homeschooling?

Blessings 

Chareen

---oOo---

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 
22. Value Added Learning
23. Writing Cursive
24. X-Factor in Your Homeschool
25. YouTube Homeschooling
26. 
    

Featured from last week the letter W...

• X is for Xylophone over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• Homeschooling Tips from A to Z: The Letter X on Homeschooling Highway

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is Y is for Yellow

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter Y for this weeks ABC Blogging

X-Factor in Your Homeschool

You are the most important X-Factor in Your Homeschool! You are the Key Ingredient to Homeschool Success. Dear Homeschool Parent stop selling yourself short.  You are valuable and you are the reason your homeschool exists and YOU are the central ingredient!

Define X factor

• a noteworthy special talent or quality
• a variable in a given situation that could have the most significant impact on the outcome.
• an unknown or unexplained element that makes something more interesting or valuable (Collins)
  
• a quality that you cannot describe that makes someone very special (Cambridge)
  
• a circumstance, quality, or person that has a strong but unpredictable influence (Merriam-Webster)
  
• When people describe someone they like, they often mention their qualities. One of these qualities is something elusive they can't explain. (Thrive Global)
  

Looking back over the years that I have been homeschooling I've come to realise that playing the comparison game is one of the biggest detailers of my journey. Remain committed to being true to yourself. - Stop comparing what you are doing to what other homeschooling families are doing.  As the mom you are UNIQUELY qualified to homeschool YOUR family Well.

Remember social media and blogs are not a true reflection of what others are doing nor are they a a list of "I need to do this in order to succeed..." It is better to do a little with excellence than a multitude of things incompletely.

Knowledge is Power. That power is either in your hand or in someone elses. If you don't know what you think or what your goals are then there will be someone out there who is only too happy to lead you a merry dance and convince you to spend your money with them.

Knowing why you are doing something 

is the first step in being empowered 

to follow through with your choices.

For Further Reading and Tips on how to cope each day

1. Become Equipped: Know What You Think and Why.
2. Finding Your Rhythm and keeping to it.
3. Buy some Ice Cream - Dealing with difficult days.
4. Tip FOUR - One Step at a Time 
5. Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed
6. IF you are a new home educator and have just brought your students home then I encourage you to read: From School to Homeschool 
7. House Cleaning and Home School ? Just how do you balance the two?? 
8. Homeschool Daily Schedules Sally Clarkson says: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires." - The Mission of Motherhood.
9. Our Rhythm - Year Round Schooling
10. How Important is Alone Time and Home Schooling ? 
11. A little Word on Homeschool Record Keeping 
12. Homeschool Burnout
13. Take a Break when YOU need it ... Do not underestimate the power of rest. Rest at night, rest from school and mini rests throughout your day.
14. The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight. 

Be TRUE to yourself and who He has made you. When He formed you He placed within you all you would need through Him to succeed at the task He has placed before you.

Blessings

Chareen

---oOo---

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 
22. Value Added Learning
23. Writing Cursive
24. X-Factor in Your Homeschool

Featured from last week the letter W...

• W is for World over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• 
  

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is X is for Xylophone

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter X for this weeks ABC Blogging

Writing Cursive

 We certainly are reaching the end of Blogging Through the Alphabet 2021. with the letter W for this week.  Today I want to share a few thoughts on teaching our children to write cursive.  My co-host Deidre is sharing W is for World in her her Lego Alphabet Series.

When we started homeschooling I assumed I would teach my children to write cursive when they turned nine years old because that's when I learned it at school.  I was astounded however when I discovered that cursive was not taught to students in New Zealand.  The moment that solidified my decision was when I wrote out a recipe in cursive and gave it to a friend.  A few months later I asked if she had made the recipe to which she answered no.  When I asked why? She responded with she couldn't read it because it was in cursive!  I was astounded it never occurred to me that someone couldn't read cursive.  That was the defining moment I decided that my children would learn to both read and write in CURSIVE.

Taking time to write by hand slows us down and allows truth to seep in - Laurie Bestvater {The Living Page -30}

Advantages of Teaching Cursive

• It is less fine-motor skill intensive.
• All the lowercase letters begin in the same place on the baseline.
• Spacing within and between words is controlled.
• By lifting the pencil between words, the beginning and ending of words is emphasized.
• It is difficult to reverse letters such as b’s and d’s.

14 Abilities Needed for Handwriting (Source Brainworks)

1. Visual focusing: the ability for the eyes to work together
2. Mental attention: the ability to screen out distractions
3. Organized physical movements: the ability to maintain posture and hold the writing tool
4. Receptive language: the ability to perceive abstract concepts and follow verbal directions
5. Inner expressive language: the ability to think clearly, organize ideas and concepts, and communicate through writing
6. Memory recall: the ability to remember letter formations and the required movements necessary to make each letter and connection.
7. Concentration with awareness: the ability to maintain consistent awareness of details and form over a period of time
8. Spatial perception: the ability to utilize space.
9. Organization: the ability to organize mind, body, and space to produce meaningful responses
10. Integration: the ability to unite the mind, body, and space to create meaningful written expression     
11. Eye-hand coordination: the ability to use the eyes and hand together as a unit.
12. Motor planning: the ability to plan and carry out an action
13. Tactile input: the ability to feel the pencil in the hand and apply the appropriate pressure to write
14. Crossing midline: the movement of the eyes, a hand, or forearm to move across the midsection of the body without moving any other part of the body

My Product Choice to Teach Cursive

Cursive Logic is my favourite product to teach cursive.  You can read my review here.

Penmanship Resources on YouTube

•  Tips for improving cursive writing a walk through on the different types of pens and the effects they have on the writing experience.
• OpenInkStand Art & Calligraphy This channel has many excellent calligraphy tutorials.
• calligraphy - how to write calligraphy letters - lesson 1 for beginners  
• Basic Calligraphy Strokes (Beginner Calligraphy 101) - The Happy Ever Crafter

Writing

• Why Cursive Is So Good For Your Brain! (Start this video at 13 seconds.  Before this the content is not appropriate)
• Why write? Penmanship for the 21st Century by Jake Weidmann
• Why Writing by Hand Could Make You Smarter In surprising studies, researchers find benefits to setting keyboards aside. Read more at Psychology Today by William R. Klemm Ph.D. 
• Handwritten Notes Lead to Better Learning College students don't learn as well from typed notes. Read more at Psychology Today by William R. Klemm Ph.D. 
• What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades 
• Ten Reasons People Still Need Cursive - - Multiple links expanding on each of the benefits and reasons behind learning cursive.
• 25 Samples Of Perfect Penmanship That Are Totally On Point 
• A few years ago we reviewed Logic of English and one of their philosophies is they teach cursive before they teach print as they found that it made it easier for children to write English and read it as the letters are distinctly different.  Denise Eide explains Why Teach Cursive First here.
• Cursive: Reasons it Should Be Taught Today & The Science Behind It - This article contains links and excerpts from the research behind cursive and some of the benefits to you and especially special needs students. 

What are your thoughts on teaching Cursive in your homeschool?

Chareen

---oOo---

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake  
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers  
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game  
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts  
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
    
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 
22. Value Added Learning
23. Writing Cursive

Featured from last week the letter P...

• V is for Vacation over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• Vaughan Williams and Villa-Lobos ~  (composers ABC) from At Home: Where Life Happens
• Letter V Homeschool Tips from Homeschooling Highway.
• Discovering the V Rabbits of the World - At Home Pets.

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is W is for World

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter W for this weeks ABC Blogging

Value Added Learning

 These last few letters of the alphabet are really stretching my thinking.  This is week 23 in Blogging Through the Alphabet 2021. This week we are looking at V is for Value Added Learning.  My co-host Deidre has been sharing some amazing things to do with lego in her Lego Alphabet Series. This week she is sharing V is for Vacation

I am a first generation home educator, as such I really struggled with homeschooling in the begining because I was looking at everything from a compartmentalised perspective.  Thankfully two things happened which really helped free me to enjoy homeschooling.

At the time I was living in New Zealand and they brought in some new laws about reviewing homeschoolers.  Our local homeschooling group (South Island Home Educators) held a meeting to help us understand the process.  I remember one of the mentor's Dot Brown explaining how to look at what we were doing and classifying it according to subjects.  For example if we were doing home economics and baking a cake there were numerous academic subjects being covered not just home economics.  We were covering: language arts - reading, math - measurement, critical thinking - following instructions, science - chemistry, home economics - baking, math - budgeting etc.  

It really does not matter what you are doing in the moment it is built upon multiple disciplines the art comes in knowing how to dissect it and classify it into the jargon that the homeschooling authority is seeking.

This is what homeschoolers are meaning when we talk about Value Added Learning.  You do not need to present six seperate subject classes to cover six different subject areas.  Carefully evaluate what you are learning about and you will soon discover that there is far more involved in learning in the every day. 

The second thing that happened was I was given The Three R's by Dr Ruth Beechick.  This is a treasure trove for new homeschoolers of primary aged students. 

Ruth empowers you with the jargon and know how to put you at ease when teaching Reading Writing and Arithmetic. Excellent.  It is available from: The Book Depository, Amazon, Fishpond, Sonlight.

It's the jargon affiliated with education that often stumps us as home educators and makes us feel inadequate.  Knowledge is power and this really helped relieve me of the anxiety that was clouding my journey.

Chareen

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake  
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers  
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game  
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts  
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
    
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 
22. Value Added Learning

Featured from last week the letter P...

• U is for Unicorn over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
• Ustvolskaya ~ Composer ABCs (composers ABC) from At Home: Where Life Happens
• Letter U Homeschool Tips from Homeschooling Highway.

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is V is for Vacation

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter V for this weeks ABC Blogging

Ubiquitous Homeschooler

 Welcome to week 22 of Blogging Through the Alphabet 2021.  This week we are looking at the letter U and for the life of me I couldn't thing of a U topic to share.  So I threw it out to the family who suggested - Ubiquitous Homeschooler so here it is.  My co-host Deidre has been sharing some amazing things to do with lego in her Lego Alphabet Series.  This week she is sharing U is for Unicorn.

What does Ubiquitous mean:  

• present, appearing, or found everywhere
• Widespread
• exisiting or being everywhere
• They seem to be everywhere
• Universal

One of the greatest blessings I experienced was working with the Homeschool Review Crew where I was able to meet homeschoolers from all over the world who were on the journey of educating their children. Each country or state has it's own laws pertaining homeschooling and it was interesting walking alongside those who have had different requirements placed upon them.

I've been blessed to home educate in two different countries: New Zealand for nine years and in Australia for the last fifteen.  It's been an amazing journey of self discovery and I've loved getting to know the home educating communities in these countries. 

Even if you are not officially homeschooling every parent all over the world is educating their children in one way or the other be it teaching them to eat, sleep well, driving, reading or discovering the world around them, we are ALL homeschooling our children alongside our academic choices for them.  So in a way we live in a world of homeschoolers.

Should you find yourself wanting to pursue home education at home be sure to arm yourself with knowledge to empower your journey.  Remember homeschooling is not a race it's a journey for you and your family. Be encouraged and seeking good mentors. If you are needing help on your journey take a look at this series: Homeschool Help ... practical tips regarding the basics of home education.

Chareen

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
4. Delight Directed Education
5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
6. For the Children's Sake  
7. G is for Geography
8. Homeschool Bloggers  
9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game  
12. Life Skills in Your Homeschool
13. Math Resource for Home Education
14. Netflix in Your Homeschool
15. Olympics 2021
16. P is for Podcasts  
17. Quintessentially Homeschool
    
18. Read-A-Loud in Your Homeschool
19. Science in Your Homeschool
20. Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie 
21. Ubiquitous Homeschooler 

Featured from last week the letter P...

• T is for Tensegrity over at Our Homeschool Notebook 
  
• Tavener & Tchaikovsky ~ (composers ABC) from At Home: Where Life Happens
• Letter T Homeschool Tips from Homeschooling Highway.

This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is LEGO ABCs: U is for Unicorn 

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter U for this weeks ABC Blogging