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Search Results for: homeschool

Free Admission to Southeast Homeschool Expo!

May 4, 2023 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Hooray!  For a limited time, score FREE admission tickets to the Southeast Homeschool Expo!  This will take place July 28-29, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Simply head on over to their website, and use code free2023 when you order your tickets! This code expires May 12, 2023.

*Note: There is a $2.75 per ticket fee for your admission badge, but this is still better than the $30 normal admission fee!

If you haven’t been to a homeschool expo, this is a MUST in my mind!  We have gone to an expo thinking we wanted a particular curriculum and then ended up going with something else once we put our hands on it!  Definitely recommend it!

 

Homeschoolers! Time to Enroll in Book-It Program!

August 19, 2022 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Homeschoolers, it’s time to enroll your children ages 4-12 in the Pizza Hut Book-It program for 2022-2023!  Head on over to their website and enter in your information to the program.  We’ve done this for several years and the kids always enjoy going to get their free pizza.  Yum!

Things are a little different this year as tracking is done online and then reward certificates are printed.  It looks to be a fairly easy program to use.

Students may redeem one Reading Award Certificate per month, and the certificate must be used to reward the student who earned it. When a child redeems their Reading Award Certificate with Pizza Hut, they are celebrated with a one-topping Personal Pan Pizza.

Participation Rules

Teachers at accredited public, private, and charter schools who teach English Language Arts curriculum for PreK* – 6th grade students (ages 4-12), are eligible for the BOOK IT! Program and may enroll individually for their classrooms. Parents homeschooling their own children may enroll in the BOOK IT! homeschool program.  Homeschool support and co-op groups, where the student does not attend full-time, are not eligible.  Programs at residential addresses are not eligible.

*PreK requirements: School must be accredited and have an approved PreK curriculum. Eligible students must be age 4 by September 1st.

Kirk Cameron Presents: The Homeschool Awakening

June 12, 2022 By MommyOctopus 3 Comments
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Many thanks to TBN & CamFam Studios for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

We have been homeschooling ever since we had our oldest child nearly 19 years ago.  It definitely wasn’t something I planned to do, it just happened. The Homeschool Awakening is in theaters June 13 &14!  I got a preview of it and I found it very informative for anyone considering homeschooling.  As a veteran homeschooling mom, I also found it interesting hearing from other homeschooling parents of why they chose the route they did and how they homeschool their kids. There isn’t a simple “one size fits all” with homeschooling.

 

About Kirk Cameron Presents: The Homeschool Awakening
Families across the nation are experiencing the homeschool awakening, taking advantage of the freedom and opportunities for self-discovery — with the world as their classroom. Join award-winning actor, Kirk Cameron, as he dives into the adventures of dynamic American families on a mission to put fun and faith back into learning. The Homeschool Awakening explores the ins, outs, and honest answers to homeschooling’s most frequently asked questions.

You can watch the trailer below:

 

Interested in seeing it in theaters?  Head on over to buy your tickets now.

Giveaway:

One lucky reader will win a $10 Amazon gift card!  Simply fill out the Rafflectopher below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our Homeschool Plans 2021-2022

August 15, 2021 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that we have been homeschoolers since the very beginning of our children’s school years.  A few years back, I started writing down our homeschool plans since I would have friends and readers ask me what we used each year.  If you care to look back, you can see what we used in the 2015-2016 year here or in the 2016-2017 school year here. 2017-2018 can be found here. 2018-2019 can be found here, 2019-2020 can be found here, and 2020-2021.

This year, we have kids in 9th, 6th, 5th, and Kindergarten and we are switching it up a bit.  Since we graduated our oldest this past year and our youngest is officially school age, we’ve decided to make some changes.  My youngest 2 will be going to a local hybrid homeschool/private school a couple times a week.  They will be doing all their subjects there and then have homework to work on the other days.  My husband or I will be assisting them with their homework on their off days.

The older two are going to be going to a one day a week program that covers English, History, Logic, and a few other subjects.  Below, I’ll share a little of what we will be doing at home.

Math:

We are continuing with XtraMath.org for my 5th and 6th graders.  It’s a completely free way to make sure your kids understand all of their math facts.  As a mom, I can login and see how they are doing as well and what needs improvement.

For my oldest student, he will start his high school with Math-U-See for Algebra 1.  6th grader will start another year of Horizons Math.  The other 2 will do math with their school and are using Saxon.

Bible:

As a family, we are going to be working through Who is God? And How Can I Really Know Him? from Apologia.

Extracurriculars:

Everyone will be continuing with American Heritage Girls and Trail Life, and of course youth group activities.

 

Hope you all have a great school year!  I’m looking forward to having a lighter load this year and outsourcing more.  Plus, if you missed this on a previous post, I’ll be returning to work after 18 years at home!  So excited about that!

Homeschool Tip: Check Out Grammarly!

October 8, 2020 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Instant Grammar Checker - Correct all grammar errors and enhance your writing.

Here’s another fun homeschool tip for you guys!  Have you heard of the website Grammarly?  If not, you’re going to love this!  Grammarly is the world’s leading automated proofreader. It checks for more than 250 types of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and suggests citations.

With Grammarly, you can:

  • Copy and paste any English text into Grammarly’s online text editor or install Grammarly’s free browser extension for Chrome and Safari.
  • Grammarly’s algorithms flag potential issues in the text and suggest context-specific corrections for grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Grammarly explains the reasoning behind each correction, so you can make an informed decision about whether, and how, to correct an issue.

Even better, it’s FREE to use!  Head on over to check it out and create and account!

Homeschool Day at Tennessee Aquarium!

September 18, 2020 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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I have to say that the Tennessee Aquarium is one of our favorite places to visit. It’s well worth the drive to visit. I love the way it is laid out to walk through and of course all the animals.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the Aquarium will celebrate the indispensable role of parent-educators with discounted admission for homeschool families and groups.

“For homeschool families, the Aquarium offers exciting opportunities because it is a place where family members of all ages can learn together,” says Dr. Brooke Gorman, the Aquarium’s director of science education. “In a homeschool setting, there is more freedom to let students’ interests guide their learning, and the Aquarium offers many opportunities for one student or a group of students to get excited about different topics.” 

On Homeschool Day, eligible guests can take advantage of discounted, timed-entry tickets at $29.95 for adults and $9 for students ages 5-18. Homeschool families visiting on Homeschool Day also can purchase IMAX tickets and Aquarium memberships at a discounted rate.

Discounted tickets may be purchased in advance by visiting: https://community.tnaqua.org/events/2020/homeschool-day-at-the-tennessee-aquarium . In accordance with local health mandates, all guests ages 12 and older are required to wear a face covering during their visit. All tickets are timed-entry to ensure proper physical distancing within the Aquarium’s buildings.

Homeschoolers: Free Admission to North Georgia Safari Drive Thru 9/24!

September 16, 2020 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Here’s a place we haven’t been to before and this looks amazing! The North Georgia Zoo is offering free drive thru admission to homeschoolers on 9/24. Here are the details from their facebook page:

To say thank you to all Homeschool Teachers, we are offering FREE admission to our Safari Drive Thru. Join us Thursday September 24th from 11-3pm. Offer only valid for homeschool teachers & their family. For more info on our Safari Drive Thru visit https://www.northgeorgiazoo.com/safari-drive-thru.html No ticket purchase necessary for this offer, simply show up and you will be admitted to the drive thru!

This park is located in Cleveland, Georgia.

How to Create a Homeschool Transcript for High School

September 7, 2020 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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I currently have a homeschooled high schooler. One thing that overwhelmed me was trying to figure out how to create her homeschool transcript. I’m happy to tell you guys that we found a great way to create a beautiful transcript for her!

We having been using a website called FastTranscripts.com. On this website, I can type in her grades and classes and it will formulate her homeschool transcript. We used this to get her driver’s license as a homeschooler and other various things.

Here is a sample of how it looks when you type in your information:

It calculates GPA, keeps track of credits, and makes it very clear and professional. Then you can print it or whatever you need to do.

I definitely recommend this program to anyone wanting to create a student’s homeschool transcript. If you want to check it out, you can snag a 30 day free trial!

Free Vooks Account for Teachers and Homeschoolers!

September 1, 2020 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
By clicking my links, I may earn a small commission to support this blog. Please see our Disclosure Policy.

I love fun apps and programs that help my children learn.  Right now Vooks is offering 1 year free subscription to all school teachers and homeschool educators!  I just registered for mine as a homeschool parent and received access fairly quickly afterward.

Vooks is a streaming service for kids, where storybooks come to life!  I think we are going to like this!  Head on over to Vooks.com to register!

6 Awesome Homeschool Math Manipulatives

August 10, 2020 By MommyOctopus 1 Comment
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6 Awesome Homeschool Math Manipulatives

We’ve been homeschooling for over 6 years now.  During that time, I’ve found products that I loved and some that didn’t quite hit the mark.  Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite math manipulatives.

Screen Shot 2014-06-22 at 11.24.17 AM

Counting Bears with Cups –  These are awesome for counting and sorting.  You can even work on patterns by setting the bears up in different color orders.  We’ve had our set for years and have used it with all of our children.


Learning Cubes – These are great for learning patterns and colors for younger ages and as the kids get bigger, you can continue using them with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  My oldest is about to start 6th grade and we are still using them in fractions and such!  Probably one of our most used items.


Wooden Pattern Blocks – These were always one of my favorite things to play with in school.  You can make some fun patterns with them!


Learning Geoboard – You can use these to learn about shapes, area, perimeter, and they are a ton of fun for kids as well.  Really cool to make designs!


Learning ResourcesFraction Tower  – These connective blocks help immensely with learning fractions.  With some kids it’s hard to picture fractions on the page.  It’s easier when you have something to actually touch.  Even better, it shows the decimals and percents.


Double Dice – I actually had no idea about Double Dice until another homeschool mom friend showed them to me and told me how she uses them.  I was amazed at all the ways they can be used!  For example, give one child a double dice.  They roll the dice and whatever the dice comes to, they have to do a math problem.  Keep going until they have created and solved 20 or so problems.  For example, the outer dice is 5 and the inner dice is 2.  5+2=7.  Or for older kids do multiplication,  5×2=10.  Love this!

Do you have any favorites that I haven’t mentioned?  Leave a comment and tell me about it!  I’m always open for checking out new stuff! 

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