Jimmie’s Collage

Notebooking for Research Skills

January 5, 2012 notebooking

We use lots of notebooking in our homeschool, mostly for narration. But notebooking has other applications too such as research. Honing research skills is one of the goals I have listed for Sprite’s middle school years, so I try to regularly incorporate short research assignments into her schedule. Here are two recent examples. Uganda Notebooking [...]

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Semester Planning for Homeschoolers Who Don’t Use a Packaged Curriculum

January 3, 2012 general homeschooling

A fresh calendar year and a new semester means work for a homeschool mom. It’s time to regroup and make plans. To be honest, I enjoy the planning part. I evaluate what has worked so far in the school year, how far we have gotten compared to my original year-long plans, and what is left [...]

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My Top Fifteen Guest Posts and Articles of 2011

December 29, 2011 general homeschooling

Today’s post is a sampling of some of my most popular (homeschool related) work of 2011 from other online spots. Some of my new readers may not know that I contribute to several sites besides Jimmie’s Collage and at The Notebooking Fairy. If you missed any of these posts from 2011, it’s not too late to [...]

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Thoughts About the Calendar

December 19, 2011 deep thoughts

I’ve always thought that our American way of having an academic year span two calendar years was such a headache. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just say school year 2011 instead of school year 2010-2011? Also a wall or desk calendar would work for the whole school year instead of just one semester of [...]

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I Give You Permission

December 12, 2011 family

If you thought you couldn’t, I give you permission. Set aside the normal homeschool operations for a few weeks and savor your holiday. (Building family traditions and happy memories is one reason that you chose this homeschooling path, isn’t it?) Here is your permission. To enjoy your Christmas tree. To hang your stockings. To make [...]

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Public Speaking Victories

December 2, 2011 language arts

Sometimes the best part about a project is that it’s over. I guess that being twelve years old and giving your first speech is good explanation for the emotional roller coaster this project created. On my part, I renewed my title as a mean mamma and a “crazy English chick” through the process. Initially there was pleading that I [...]

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Artist Study This Term: Bruegel

November 29, 2011 artist study

Our artist this term has been Pieter Bruegel. With Charlotte Mason artist study, the idea is to become so familiar with the artist’s work that you can recognize other pieces by the artist which you have not studied. Bruegel’s look is so distinctive, that I feel confident both Sprite and I can recognize his work. [...]

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Cookbook Review: Healthy French Cuisine for Less Than $10 a Day

November 22, 2011 book reviews

I don’t think I’ve ever shared it before, but my very first teaching job included one class of high school French 1. Admittedly, my French was extremely poor, but I would study hard each night for my lessons so that I always stayed one step ahead of the students. It was tremendously rewarding to take them [...]

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Developing Your Language Arts Curriculum EBook

November 21, 2011 language arts

For your convenience, I’ve compiled the 10 Days of Language Arts posts into an eBook — Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum. You can purchase the eBook securely with PayPal (via ejunkie.com) for only $3. After your purchase, you will be directed to a link where you can download the file. (The link does expire eventually, so don’t [...]

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