Buying Gifts for Homeschool Families

Homeschooling is growing every year and the odds are increasing YOU know someone who homeschools! Let me help you select a gift they'll really appreciate.

1) Memberships! It is so wonderful to know you can go enjoy a special location in your area whenever you want. Most museums have standing installations but they also have special traveling
exhibits there for a limited time that homeschoolers love to take advantage of. In our city we have art, history, science, children's museums, and more. So museums that host exhibits are a great gift membership. Zoos and gardens are good too because they change over time. For example, we have a Japanese and a Chinese garden on our city and a state garden that features indigenous plants. But even places that don't change can be fun every once in awhile and a gift card for one-time admission can be a nice present, too. So, check into your local options or ask your homeschoolers what attractions they love.

2) Related to memberships is season passes. Many areas have arts programs that offer season passes - symphonies, children's theaters, ballets, etc.. So passes are great, or a gift cards for one performance is nice as well. Many more grown-up shows offer special performances for kids.



3) Subscriptions. This is a huge and growing category! I'm going to break it into subcategories:

• Websites. Homeschoolers use a lot of online resources! We love to show educational films and movies. So video websites subscriptions are welcome, like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Learning websites like ABCMouse, Clever Dragons (for boys), & Always Ice Cream (for girls) are popular as well.
• Magazines. There are magazines for adult home educators like Practical Homeschooling & Homeschooling Today, full of ideas, resources, and encouragement. I personally subscribe to a number of kids' magazines because I like to keep them in the car. I only let the kids read them there, so I think it helps keep them fresh so the kids enjoy reading them. Plus I feel like having something good to read in the car makes up a bit for time spent on the way to lessons or errands. Audio books are good for the car, too.
• Kits & lessons. People send a box to your home,
  
  usually once per month, with a new kit or lesson inside. These are a lot of fun because what kid doesn't love to get mail? I have personally used and like Little Passports, a geography lesson subscription. They come with website codes for each country too, to expand the lesson. I found some others that look promising like Young Scientists Club, Animal Trackers Club & Space Scouts. I'd love your feedback on those! Here's another place to look http://www.findsubscriptionboxes.com/, or you can just do a web search.

4) Outlets for physical play. Consistent physical activity can sometimes be a challenge for homeschooling families, especially in areas that have long stretches of bad weather. An option for helping with this can be rec center or YMCA family memberships! Our local rec center offers other types of classes too, like dance, art, cooking and more. So gift cards for rec centers are very useful.

Other places for exercise include skating rinks, bouncy house centers, trampoline centers, and bowling centers. Many offer both single and package admissions.

5) Babysitting. The parent that does most of the homeschool instruction (usually the mom) often has little time away from home. We get creative for carving out time for ourselves, but time out is a special blessing and since most homeschool families are in single-income homes, they sometimes put time out together in the luxury category. A good way to make sure your homeschool couple will use this option is to offer them a specific time (one that works for you both) not just say "I'll babysit for you." They will be a lot more likely to take you up on your offer.

6) A Rainbow Resources card. Every homeschooler can find something they want or need at Rainbow Resources!

7) Supplies. Homeschoolers use their printer A LOT and ink is expensive. If you know what kind of printer they have, you can buy ink or you can give them a gift card for office supplies. We use a lot of printer paper and of course all the other things kids use in school.




8) Science kits. Science is one of the more challenging subjects to teach, especially the hands-on experiments and demonstrations. Pre-made kits can be great for a quick activity or for rounding out a
science lesson. You can subscribe to kits (see #3) or just buy a few and give them either all at once or over time. That would be a great way to correspond with a grandchild - sending kits and then asking how it went and what the kids learned!

I hope this list is helpful and blesses you and the homeschoolers you love!

Updated 3/24/2020.

Thanksgiving Resources

Hi Homeschoolers! I am so thankful I am able to homeschool and I pray I am always able. That brings me to today's post - I'd like to make it a repository for all the cool resources I find related to Thanksgiving. I hope it will continue to grow over the years. So let's get started:

1) This is the proclamation in 1863 that became the basis for a Thanksgiving national holiday on the fourth Thursday in November. I like the background and context of it. The fact that the people felt a need to show their thanks even in the face of war is inspiring.

2) Here is a link to an episode of This is America Charlie Brown called The Mayflower Voyagers. It features the peanuts gang in the roles of children on the historic voyage and discusses their journey and the first Thanksgiving. I like they way it draws kids into the story, talking about how the children played an important role when the adults suffered illness.

3) This segment of Drive Thru History discusses the Mayflower Compact, considered a foundational document of our representative US government. And here is the text of the compact.

4)  This film made by New Dimension Media was well done, in my opinion. I like how we got some more insight into the lives of the Native Americans involved with the Pilgrims.

5) As a kid I always wondered why was that horn thing called a cornucopia? I think this Wikipedia page gives a concise and helpful discussion of it. And here are some pictures of horns of plenty to color.

6) These Thanksgiving poems would make nice copywork or cute entertainment at dinner when recited by the little ones. I like number nine.

7) I found this cute Thanksgiving-dinner-themed logic game where you have to arrange the guests around the table according to what (or whom!) they like or don't like. I just had to play it. It was fun and was a bit of a mental workout. See if you and your family can beat my score of 11,000!

8) We watched Monumental today and it was so good. I enjoyed the in-depth look at who the Pilgrims were and what motivated them. The number of obstacles they faced was daunting, even before they left for America. Most of their story in the film is before they landed here, which is something I don't think I've ever seen before. I also enjoyed the discussion of the monument in Plymouth about "the matrix of liberty." The role of faith in our country's history is such an integral and fascinating subject and the fact that the our forefathers felt it needed to be foundational is reason enough to look at it, IMHO.


That's it for now. May your Thanksgiving be full of many blessings to count!

Updated 3/24/2020.