Thrift Schooling

  Perfect for any homeschool shelf,  Grizzly Gears  is a single-player game to keep your younger ones occupied while you are homeschooling older ones. The goal? Rotate the puzzle pieces to get out of the woods. With survival on the minds of many kids these days, this is an excellent way to introduce survival skills in an entertaining manner. The six puzzle pieces with adorable animal figurines are not only made of high-quality materials, but are also enticing for little fingers still learning through play.  The object of the game is to move each character to its end position by moving the tree pieces only. Little bear is an exception and can be moved to be in front of mother bear. You don't want to get her angry! I have found that what makes this single-player game created by Smart Games unique is that the challenges are organized by figurine. As your child works through the levels, Starter, Junior, Expert, and Master, an image of the figurine he is working with is l...

  As my son works his way through his  Timberdoodle Grade 4 Kit , he is lightly introduced to the concept of test-taking skills in various ways. Two of the materials included in the kit are: Thinking Skills for Tests: Upper Elementary Test Prep: Grade 4 Using the Timberdoodle scheduler, his school year has been primarily open-and-go. He logs into his scheduler each day, and he knows exactly what he needs to do. I am still helping him with about half of his subjects, but he is able to complete several independently.  Having these two test-preparation books built into the schedule is a gentle way to introduce test-taking skills. This was the first year he has been introduced to tests in the traditional sense. In years past, he would take occasional quizzes and tests for math and plenty of dictation for history and science, but not all homeschooling methods rank test-taking at the top of the list—usually it is the exact opposite. Testing makes perfect sense for a co-op,...

  Hands-on homeschooling does not have to be intimidating. It all comes down to a mindset shift. Redefining education. What I have seen with homeschoolers, and what I am guilty of myself is trying to do too much. By attempting to do traditional schooling *plus* the extras. What if the extras could actually count as school? What if the hands-on experiences around the kitchen table or on the living room floor are where the learning truly happens? This week, my kids have learned about the parts of a cell through notebook journaling, how to read through a Green Eggs and Ham unit study, and about the Middle Ages with paper dolls. Yes, paper dolls! A more acurate term would be articulated paper dolls, but yes, children can and do learn through play.  Epic Heroes & Heroines of the Middle Ages: Articulated Paper Dolls to Cut, Color, and Assemble   was added to our homeschool as an supplement to our Medieval studies, but this resource could easily be a stand alone unit. In add...

  Living on a homestead has its perks—silence is not one of them. Although we haven't had sheep yet, we have had our share of goats—and they always liked to let us know they were around! Farm noises take some getting used to, but they are worth it. We did visit some friends with sheep recently, and though the sheep are not quiet, they are pleasant—especially during lambing season!  As homeschoolers, how can you incorporate homesteading, farming, and traditional skills into your homeschool when you do not have a homestead?  CREATE YOUR OWN UNIT STUDY! Creating your own unit study does not have to be as intimidating as it may sound—and it provides a hands-on educational experience. Choose a topic you want your children to know more about, then find 3–5 creative ways to introduce or reinforce it. Consider using any of the following: Themed Board Games Recipes Video Playlists Field Trip Lapbook Diorama  Collage Copywork Picture Books Counting Sheep without Falling A...

The 4th Grade Timberdoodle Kit continues to gain momentum as my son works through it. The beginning stages of the homeschool year are crucial when it comes to igniting a passion for learning, but how does this happen with a struggling reader?  Graphic novels (comic books) have been working surprisingly well when it comes to encouraging independent reading—even with history, generally a topic that can be met with resistance.  The  Disasters in History 8-Book Compilation  is a book that can be read anytime, anywhere, by a child of almost any reading level.  This book is divided into two sections: Part One: Exploration and Space Disasters The Donner Party Shackleton and the Lost Antarctic Expedition The Apollo 13 Mission The Challenger Explosion Part Two: Fire and Wartime Disasters The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire The Hindenburg Disaster The Attack on Pearl Harbor Teaching about historical disasters needs to be handled with care—...

  Challenge games are the perfect addition to any homeschool bookshelf—or travel kit. This past summer our family traveled to several homeschool conventions. The kids had filled their backpacks with coloring books, printable games, snacks, and small toy cars to keep them entertained in our monstrous 15-passenger vehicle with no CD, DVD, or even tape players. The radio works, but when traveling across state lines, attempting to find a radio station everyone agrees on without exposing the kids to unpleasantries never seems worth it. Even though going in, I knew the car rides were covered (after many years of practice!), I had a different challenge in front of me—keeping the kids entertained at the convention booth for each event. My kids can only visit the other booths at events so many times—even with my strict rule of only one piece of candy per booth per day. (I do not want my kids to be the annoying ones visiting booths throughout an entire event, wiping all of a company's marke...

  It's a new school year! Instead of loading your teen with piles of bookwork or online classes, consider adding hands-on problem-solving activities to help sharpen her mind this year. In the younger years, it is easy to remember to add breaks and games into the school day—but what about with our teens? The IQ Circle from Timberdoodle is a perfect way to keep your teen learning while breaking up the monotony of the school day.  With so much amount of time and energy dedicated to ACT/SAT and career prep throughout these pivotal years, we cannot forget about the importance of including opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Having these skills developed will prove useful in real-life situations, even while still in high school: Driving Tests Job Interviews Volunteering Ministry  Household Chores Study Habits All of these situations require our teens to think on their feet and to use problem-solving skills in a practical ...

Hands-on homeschooling just got real with  iBrick STEM kits for kids ages 9–12! Have you ever attempted to begin your homeschool day and, instead of finding your kids throwing spitballs at you like you would see in a classroom, you see that your kids snuck bricks into their pockets to play with while you read history? Maybe you eventually gave in and let them play with them while you read (sheepishly raising a hand over here). Now homeschoolers don't need to feel guilty for their desire to build during homeschooling . What better way to teach discipline than to incorporate it into their schooling? Rather than attempting to set aside a certain time of day to play with bricks, or using them as an incentive for completing school—it now is school! The discipline comes with teaching them how to use them productively.  When my 10-year-old opened his iBrick kit for the first time, he could not believe that it was for school. He still can't, and he has completed dozens of models over ...

  Look what showed up on our doorstep! My fourth grader could not wait to open this box so he could see what is in store for him during the 2026–2027 homeschool year. Are you just as curious as he is? Come join me in my dining room and help me unpack this incredibly hands-on, educational kit.  At first glance, my son saw the puzzle globe, which caught his eye immediately. That is definitely going to be his first project. He also noticed that most of what came in the kit were activities. Games. Puzzles. Engaging projects . Even the math manipulatives are something he is looking forward to. He has been used to doing math strictly online, so I was not quite sure how he would do with the switch to a more tactile approach in that subject—but it is needed. Though he is generally strong in math, his division needs work. Implementing the Math-U-See Delta program this year will be perfect.   The Timberdoodle kit for fourth grade definitely meets the Thrift Schooling crit...