Alphabet Fun: ABC Coloring Puzzles

Here are printable coloring puzzles for all 26 letters of the alphabet. There are two puzzles for the letter X: one with words that begin with X and one that also includes words that end with X. The puzzles will also introduce some new vocabulary words to your student. Print the puzzles on cardstock for best results, color the pictures and cut apart the pieces.

These alphabet coloring puzzles are the first in a series of alphabet activity pages. Stay tuned.

Have fun learning the alphabet and beginning sounds with these printable ABC Coloring Puzzles.

ABC Coloring Puzzles, 28 pages

Labor Day Printables

The new Labor Day Printable Pages are up! The 7-page printable activity pack is perfect to remind us about the history of Labor Day. To many of us, Labor Day marks the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. But Labor Day is much more than that. The working conditions in America have come a long way in the last century thanks to the efforts of Peter McGuire, the “father” of Labor Day. How did he make a difference?

The 7-page Labor Day Printable Packet includes:

  • Door Hanger, Pencil Topper and Bookmark
  • Labor Day Tic-Tac-Toe Game
  • Labor Day Wordsearch
  • Labor Day Crossword Puzzle
  • Labor Day Multiple Choice Worksheet
  • Vocabulary Sheet
  • Coloring Page

Have a fun and relaxing Labor Day with your family!

Labor Day Printables, 7 pages

Back to Homeschool Wordsearches

Many homeschool families have already began their school year and many will be starting in the next few weeks. Here are a couple Back to Homeschool Wordsearches for you. I think the parents will enjoy the Homeschooling Wordsearch. I’ll add more printables to these when I return from vacation in a week.

Back to Homeschool Wordsearch

Homeschooling Wordsearch

Carnival of Homeschooling: Let’s Play School Edition

When I was a little girl, I loved playing school. It was my favorite thing to do. Surely I drove my sister crazy and when she didn’t want to play, I would play what I called “alone school.” I had imaginary students that I would make worksheets for, I had good students and bad students. I would play for hours. My neighbor had a shoebox filled with a toy school set that I absolutely adored. It had desks and little rag dolls and a chalkboard and a teacher. I loved when she brought that coveted shoebox outside and let me play. I think my obsession with playing school is why homeschooling felt so natural to me. My imaginary students came to life. Now, to be clear, I’m not suggesting that homeschooling is playing school, but I look back on both with fond memories. And now that my kids are grown up and graduated, I continue to “play” by making worksheets for my grandkids and your kids. 🙂

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Homeschooling Carnival and welcome to my new home at HomeschoolJourneys.com. If this if your first visit, take your shoes off and stay awhile.

Let’s start with some general homeschool issues and chatter.

In Homeschool Idea: Daddy Challenge Chair the Faughn Family of Four shares what they did to help keep daddy “in the loop” of what the kids are learning each day at school. I think this is a brilliant idea.

Lisa Nehring presents Homeschool Myth Busters over at Golden Grasses. She gives her perspective of five homeschooling myths.

In A Word to My Fellow People Pleasers… Jan Burt encourages homeschoolers to be true to their Lord and trust in Him alone as they walk the road of homeschooling. She says people pleasing is a common issue for those of us who homeschool.

As Rachel Noggle of Musings of a Reluctant Homeschool Mom sits on The cusp of school, she muses over the early start of local schools and is thankful to be able to start school according to her own schedule.

In Are You Ready for a New Puppy? Phyllis Sather shares the story of the loss of their dog a year ago and the purchase of their new puppy a year later.

Lorilynn Jones of 3 Partners in Shopping; Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy too! shares a couple of reasons why she believes that standardized testing is very wrong, a total waste of time and money in Another Great Reason to Homeschool Our Children.

Nebby presents The Goal of Education posted at Letters from Nebby where she discusses the different approaches to home education.

Curriculum and Resources

Christa Fairbrother of Mother of Discussionlinks to sources of Free Media for Homeschoolers such as audio books and sound recordings. Check out her Modern Pentathlon post – such fun!

In Back to School Plans, Part One: Changes to Dollygirl’s Grade Six Science, Mama Squirrel of Dewey’s Treehouse shares a review of The Great Motion Mission: A Surprising Story of Physics in Everyday Life.

For my post this week, I have a couple sets of Math Vocabulary Worksheets for you. The first set is basic arithmetic terms, the second is more advanced.

As a newcomer to homeschooling, Vincent Cate shares Computer as the Teacher at Why Homeschool. He is looking at having computers do most of the teaching for his two boys and possibly a small school.

Tea Time with Annie Kate reviews 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curricululm by Cathy Duffy. She says like its predecessor 100 Top Picks, it’s the best book for beginning homeschoolers and for any homeschooler who is facing changes in family or homeschool.  She’s read it half a dozen times, at least.

Projects and Teaching Ideas

History:

Try this fun outdoor activity – Celebrating Lewis and Clark with To-Scale Mapping presented by Our Journey Westward. Even though it was meant for the older students, the younger student joined in.

Language Arts:

In Why Keep Reading Aloud – 5th grade, Monique of Living Life and Learning discusses the value of continuing to read aloud to your child even though they could read it themselves.

A Game for Making Your Own Oz Story includes instructions and cards created for a homemade board game made by Christy at Just Another Step to Take. They played it with another homeschooling family  as part of a unit exploring the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Nadene of Practical Pages shares some of the ways different types of puppets can be used to tell narrations in Narrations 103 Puppets.

Science:

Lindafay discusses nature journaling in Nature Journaling -Stage One continued posted at Higher Up and Further In. Do you have a child who just doesn’t seem to enjoy drawing in his nature journal? Does he draw his specimen in a few minutes and then is ready to go on to something else because this activity bores him? This is a normal behavior for children in the first stage of nature journaling. We must help them get past this initial phase or they may never learn to enjoy nature.

Nirvana Homeschooling shares Exploring Music and Science with a Wind Organ made from recycled plastic bottles. She says a wind organ will make music when the wind blows. Our wind organ did not make a loud sound, but you could hear it if you were standing about 1-2 feet away from the organ which was a nice treat when we were working in the garden. I had never heard of a wind organ before. Check it out.

In Chemistry Lab Camp Day 8 and 9, Janine Cate of Why Homeschool wraps of their Do It Yourself Chemistry Lab Camp. They look like a great group of kids and I love the funny face picture.

Out and About

In Important Fire Safety Tips – from the Professionals, Mindy Hoffmann of DenSchool shares about a trip to the fire station with some life saving tips to teach children about fire safety.

Ages and Stages

Jamie Gaddy of MomSCHOOL says homeschooling many children isn’t easy, and having little ones can be a challenge. In Keeping Your Little Ones Engaged, she shares a few tips to keeping them engaged.

Eclectic Momma shares some ideas on how they are doing Preschool this year. It looks like they’re having a lot of fun together.

Dee Trope discusses thoughts on when a child is old enough to be left Home Alone and safety measures for when you do.

In Homeschooling and Concurrent Enrollment in College posted at Harmony Art Mom, Barb discusses their experience with concurrent enrollment during high school and making sure to fit the action to the needs of the child.

In Conclusion…

With the 2012 Olympics on in the background and a 4.4 earthquake centered a couple miles from my home, I was able to stay focused and finish up the Carnival. I hope you enjoy the posts and try some of the ideas in your own homeschooling. The next carnival will be hosted at Under the Golden Apple Tree.

~ Beverly Hernandez

Chalkboard images by Scrappin Doodles.

Carnival of Homeschooling: Home Education Edition

I’ll be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling here at HomeschoolJourneys.com for the first time next week. I’ve hosted many times from About.com, but I’m looking forward to hosting here at my new home. Please send your submissions by Monday at 6 p.m.

Now, on to this weeks carnival… The Common Room talks about the longevity of the Carnival of Homeschooling in this week’s edition of the carnival: Home Education Edition. She says most people have moved from this old-school style carnival to linkies.

Again, the next carnival will be hosted here at HomeschoolJourneys.com. Send in your submissions by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Math Vocabulary Worksheets

Divisors, dividends, denominators… Here are two sets of math vocabulary worksheets to help sort out these terms and cement them into your student’s mind once and for all. The first set is basic arithmetic terms, the second is more advanced.

Each 5-page Mathematics Vocabulary Packet includes:

  • Mathematics Vocabulary Wordsearch
  • Mathematics Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle
  • Mathematics Vocabulary Matching Worksheet
  • Mathematics Vocabulary Multiple Choice Worksheet
  • Mathematics Vocabulary Vocabulary Sheet

Arithmetic Printables, 5 pages

Mathematics Printables, 5 pages

Here’s a trick I learned years ago to remember how to spell arithmetic: A Rat In The Hat May Eat The Ice Cream

More About Math:

Image by Scrappin Doodles.

Long Vowels Worksheets

“When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its own name and the second one goes to sleep.”

Learn the two-vowel rule and practice the long vowel sounds with these printable worksheets.

Long Vowels Printables, 6 pages

Homeschooling Physical Education: Let’s Get Moving Challenge

Meeting the physical education requirements for some kids can be a challenge if they’re not naturally active. Here’s a printable “Let’s Get Moving” weekly challenge form to encourage physical activity and to help kids set goals for themselves and keep track of their successes. I’ve also included one for the moms to challenge themselves to get moving and set a good example for the kids.

The 3-page Let’s Get Moving packet includes:

  • Let’s Get Moving – Boys
  • Let’s Get Moving – Girls
  • Let’s Get Moving – Moms

So, print your forms, set your physical fitness goals and let’s get moving!

Let’s Get Moving Printables, 3 pages

More Physical Fitness:

London 2012 Summer Olympics Printables

As the Olympic Flame makes it’s journey to the Olympic Stadium, the world waits in anticipation of the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games! The 2012 Olympics will begin on July 27, 2012 with an exciting Opening Ceremony. Here’s a set of Summer Olympic themed printable activities for your kids. They’ll learn terms related to the Olympics, make a puzzle, play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe and more.

The 11-page Summer Olympics Printable Packet includes:

  • Olympics Puzzle
  • Summer Olympics Wordsearch
  • Summer Olympics Crossword Puzzle
  • Summer Olympics Matching Worksheet
  • Summer Olympics Multiple Choice Worksheet
  • Summer Olympics Vocabulary Sheet
  • Olympics Tic-Tac-Toe Game
  • Olympic Medal Stand Activity
  • Gymnastics Coloring Page
  • Summer Olympic Sports Coloring Page
  • Summer Olympic Sports Coloring Page 2
  • Answer Key for Worksheets

What is your favorite sport to watch during the Olympic Games? Who is your favorite athlete?

Research question: Who are Wenlock and Mandeville?

Summer Olympics Printables, 11 pages

More Summer Fun:

Olympics Resources Available: (from Teacher Created Resources)

Slide 1
Journey to London Grd 1-3
Slide 2
Journey to London Grd 4-6
Slide 3
Medals Wear 'Em Badges
Slide 4
Olympics Stickers
Slide 5
US Olympic Gold Medal Stickers
Slide 6
Olympic Dream Banner

Homeschool Support Group Lists

Homeschool support groups exist to provide encouragement and support for homeschool parents as well as provide activities and field trips for the children.  The Homeschool Support Group Lists are ready to be populated with your support groups. You can submit the information on the Homeschool Support Group Form and I’ll take care of the rest. There are two groups in the database you can take a look at, one in Florida and one in North Carolina. I will be making lists for other countries in the future.