Podcasts Your Kids (and you) Will Love

Me: "What is that? A show?"
Husband: "Kinda. It's a podcast."
Me: "What the heck is a podcast?"

This was a very real conversation my husband and I had about a year ago. Now that I know what they are I have to share them with you! Podcasts are awesome! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, girl, Igotchu!

To put it simply, podcasts are audio episodes. You can play them from a free app like Sticher, iTunes, The Podcast App, Overcast, or Podbean. You can also use Spotify if you have an account.

Podcasts are a great way to add a little extra fun learning while on the way to soccer practice or grocery store, or on a road trip. They're interesting and engaging, both you and your kiddos will love listening to them.

For kids ages 3 and older

Story Pirates

We love the Story Pirates!! The Pirates encourage kids of all ages to get creative and write stories to send into them aboard their ship. Then they get together to perform these original stories. We haven't missed an episode since we've begun listening and we're waiting with great anticipation for the new season.

Circle Round

Circle Round brings us fairy tales and folktales from around the world performed by actors, some you may know from your favorite TV shows. On their site, there are original coloring pages to go along with the episodes so your kiddos can keep their hands busy while they listen.

Jesus is Better

This is the only Christian podcast for kids I have come across that we enjoy immensely. Alisha Yoder reads straight from the Bible and talks about the passage in a way children can understand. Each episode is short, about 20 mins or less. You can hear her love for the Lord and her passion for sharing it in every episode.

Little Stories for Tiny People

Rhea's original stories are always entertaining. She is a great storyteller and brings her tales of forest friends to life. She always has a guest or two visit her at the studio, which s always a treat. My kiddos squealed with delight when they were featured on one of her episodes. We can't wait for her first picture book to come out!

Noodle Loaf

My girls are sad when Noodle Loaf ends. The episodes are too short for them lol! In a very short amount of time, your kiddos are entertained with a highly interactive episode. My girls sing, dance and even draw.

For kids 7 and older

In addition to the ones above:

WOW in the World
Mindy and Guy Raz are your hilarious hosts on this science podcast for kids. Your kiddos will laugh along as they travel with Mindy, Guy, and Reggie (their pet pidgeon) and learn about space, the weather, and dinosaurs. We have at times taken to the internet to research a topic because we couldn't believe it to be true (of course, it was). *They do take an Evolutionary perspective of science. I'm always listening with my girls so I can filter the info through a Creationist perspective.*

Tumble

Tumble is another great science podcast for kids. Loads of different topics are covered from space, volcanoes and dino poop! Tumble always brings on a scientist on the topic so they can share their expertise with your kiddos. We have learned some cool stuff about the world around us that has caused us to do our own research!

Earth Rangers

This podcast is fairly new to us and it's already a favorite. Earth Ranger Emma takes us all over the world to learn about animals in their natural habitats. You can also join Emma by becoming an Earth Ranger yourself and help protect the environment with her.

But Why

But Why? is a unique podcast in that it's listeners, your kiddos, are the ones who come up with the episodes. If you have a curious child, they can send in their questions to But Why? and they will try to answer those questions for you. Questions that have been answered in the past include "why is milk white?", "why do we need to sleep?" and "why is tape sticky?". One of my girls still talks about the "Why do we need sleep?" episode and asks for fish to eat because it will help her sleep lol. 

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

Finn Caspian is what I would call a novela, just like the ones my grandmother watches. You have to start at the beginning or the story won't make much sense. These sci-fi episodes are loaded with adventure and mayhem, perfect for everyone in the family to enjoy.

For kids 10 and older

These you may want to preview first before you have your little ones listening to it. They're still great for kids, but little ones may find it difficult to follow the episode. Also, the main characters are older and in middle school.

Becoming Mother Nature

Becoming Mother Nature is a brand new podcast just out this September. My daughter (8) and I listened to the first episode together and we were hooked! The sound effects, music, and performers are on point. So much so I had to show my daughter that there really wasn't a video playing, it was just audio! We will definitely follow along with Chole and her grandmother as the story unfolds.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Mars Patel is a great podcast for middle-grade kids and is one you have to start at season 1, episode 1 in order for it to make sense. The mystery and suspense might be too intense for young listeners, so use your judgment. This one is definitely one I will share with my kiddos in a couple of years. I may just listen to it myself before then it's that good.

Mayan Crystal

My daughter (8) and I binged the first 4 episodes of The Mayan Crystal. You'll find adventure, mystery and girl power! I was especially excited to discover this podcast is set in the Central American country of Belize and full of ancient Mayan and contemporary culture. I love the diversity this podcast brings to the podcast-table.

Is there a favorite of yours, or your children's I've missed? Please share it! I'm always on the lookout for an exciting podcast. What new podcast would your kiddos like to listen to next?

Happy listening!

How to Homeschool for Free (Or Almost Free)

There are those who know they are going to homeschool even before they have children. Then there are those who are thrown into it very unexpectedly. I'm of the latter group. My girls were enrolled and ready to enter kindergarten at our local elementary school, but I just couldn't do it. I went to Plan B: Homeschooling.

Homeschooling can be very expensive with all the curriculum that is available, but it doesn't have to be. I firmly believe that all you really need to begin homeschooling is

• a positive attitude
• a love for learning
• resourcefulness
• a library card

When you are first starting out, don't panic and don't spend tons of money on curriculum. Instead, you and your kiddos take full advantage of the empty zoo, park, aquarium, science center and library in your area because everyone else is in school. Spend some time diving into what's interesting to you and your kiddos. Finally, check out these free resources, or low-cost resources, to get your homeschool started without busting the bank.

Math

Prodigy

My girls were seriously into Prodigy. They would ask me to play it! Students have to battle wizards and in order to cast a spell, they had to answer math questions. Parents can also schedule certain math activities for the student to practice such as telling time or multiple-digit addition. There are other students using the game and can interact with your kiddos, but you can control that in the settings.

Kahn Academy

Kahn has math practice for students kindergarten through high school. They also have other subjects for older students including science & engineering, computing, and economics.

Language Arts

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons

I have seen this title at my local library. If your library doesn't have it, put in a request for them to purchase it.

The Good and the Beautiful

The Good and the Beautiful offers Christian-based language arts curriculum, levels 1-5, for free in the form of printable PDF files. Each level includes phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and literature. It even ties in art, art appreciation and geography. For some of the levels, there are readers that go along with the curriculum available in the form of PDF files for a small price. For other levels, the books can be borrowed from your library or bought second hand.

Science & History

Library & YouTube

The best part about history is it's already written down for you! If your kiddos are K to 3rd grade, I would recommend starting with American history. There is a lot more available at the library for this age for this period of history. Then jump back in time to ancient history and move forward. Get yourself a world encyclopedia from your library as a spine and take one time period at a time.

You could also jump around history depending on interest. Ancient Greece, WWI, Egyptians, or kings and queens of the UK, whatever floats your boat.

The same can be done for science. There are loads of books on different subjects to choose from at the library including books dedicated to experiments. You could also watch and follow along with an experiment on YouTube. We did that for slime once with our co-op.

Art

ChalkPastel

Art with Nana is always a good time. She takes your student step-by-step through an art piece using her favorite medium chalk pastels. Many times her projects center around a holiday, season or another occasion such as the Perseid meteor shower, or Star Trek

YouTube

For our first grade year, I didn't buy a curriculum for art at all. I gathered a bunch of kids art videos online from youtube and made my own playlist. Check out channels like Art for Kids Hub, Paper Magic, MrPStudios, and ArtLessonPlanVideos. Also, your students can travel with Mati and Dada to learn about specific artists at Art with Mati & Dada

KinderArt

I don't have any personal experience with KinderArt...yet. The site has a ton of art projects with detailed instructions and organized by grade. The projects do increase with difficulty, simple materials are used, and the art history projects introduce your students to the Masters.

All Subjects & Electives

Outschool

Outschool offers live online classes with a teacher who has a passion for the subject they're teaching for a small fee. Some classes are one-and-done, others are over a period of several weeks. Over the years, my girls have used Outschool for science, art, geography, and language arts. In our experience, the classes have been engaging, fun, and informative. They've been a great supplement to our curriculum and a great jumping off point to dive down some rabbit holes.

Full Curriculum

Easy Peasy Homeschool & Easy Peasy Highschool

In my opinion, Easy Peasy is a great option if you are looking for a free curriculum for your kiddos. You can choose to do the full online curriculum or you can choose to do a single subject. Each day is organized and easy to follow with links for each activity given. You will need to do some planning ahead of time such as pre-printing worksheets or gathering materials for science activities. If you prefer a printed curriculum, you can order them through the EPStore. There are several support pages for Easy Peasy including their Main Support Group, Special Needs Support Group, and High School Support Group

Ambleside Online

Ambleside follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy which is literature-based. At AO you will find a detailed schedule and booklist for Kindergarten to grade 12. You will have to find your own math and, if you choose to, foreign language curriculums. While the schedule is all planned out for you, the books are not included. Some of the books can be found online and are linked to on AO. Other books can be either found at your library or bought second hand.

Worksheets, Handouts & Lapbooks

Teachers Pay Teachers

I have found many printables for free on Teachers Pay Teachers for math, science, and history. There are also printables available that can support your kiddos learning for very little investment. 

HomeschoolShare

Homeschool share is another site I've frequented for free printables, especially lapbooking and notebooking pages.

Check out what events your local library or youth center is hosting. Classes can range from storytime to art, ballet, and karate. Get in touch with local homeschool groups or co-ops to find support and other resources you may not know of yet. Be resourceful!

Transitioning to homeschool does not need to happen all in one shot, you do not need to have it all figured out. Focus on the child in front of you and go from there.

You've got this!!

Our Reasons for Homeschooling

There are so many reasons a family chooses to homeschool. It could be for religious reasons, your child was bullied or not challenged enough. Maybe for medical reasons or the family travels a lot. It could be one singular reason or a mixture of multiple reasons.

Whatever the reason or reasons, all of them are valid.

 My girls were blessed to be at an amazing preschool when they were 3 and 4 years old. The school was designed for students with various special needs. All their needs were met academically and therapeutically. After two great years there it was time for kindergarten. We attended our elementary school's Kindergarten Round-Up, filled out all the paperwork, and completed the dreaded IEP.

That's when anxiety set in.

I realized there were several reasons why going the public school route wasn't going to work for our family. I did not feel comfortable sending my special needs daughter, who was still falling a lot, into a big school with big kids. I didn't like the fact that so much of my legal and paternal rights to my child's education and well-being were being handed off to people who didn't know her and who were also accountable to a few hundred other kids.

As for my typically developing child, I had a feeling that she would be the nail that would have to be hammered down to fit in. She is strong, fierce, and opinionated but gentle and compassionate. I didn't want her to lose that.

I didn't want someone else raising my children and I didn't want to miss out on all that time with them. I love my children!

Now, some people may say that I'm overreacting, I'm being a helicopter parent or I'm sheltering my children. To that, I say they're my kids and the law is on my side.

The longer we keep on this homeschooling journey, the more secure I am in my decision to homeschool. I have shared so many amazing memories with my children and have been learning right alongside them.

I think it's an absolute privilege to see my children learn and grow year after year without missing hardly a thing. Those moments when it finally clicked and she read her first book or how her face lit up when she learned some amazing fact about her favorite animal; those moments belong to us, me and my children.

Thank God that we all have the ability to choose how our children are educated in this country. Whether it be public, private, or homeschool, we choose what's best for our children. One form of education is not less-than another, it's just different.

Whatever your reasons, they are all valid.

Visual Homeschool Schedule

When we first started our homeschool journey my girls always wanted to know what was next. I should've known better since they always ask what's next. Why would homeschool be any different?

Enter the visual schedule!

I needed something that would be cheap, durable and easy to keep up with. Three years later and we're still using the same system.

As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

How to Make It

If you want to make your own all you need is

• construction paper
• cardstock
• laminating sheets and laminator
• velcro
• scissors
• small bin
• Microsoft Word

I used a couple of sheets of construction paper taped together to make a long strip, placed my girls' names on top and ran it through the laminator. Then I placed a strip of velcro down the middle, done.

For the scheduling pieces, I had access to Boardmaker which is an awesome product for non-verbal and visually inclined kids. Alternatively, you can use Microsoft Word and pictures from clipart or create your own if you're so artistically inclined. My squares are about 1"x 1". Run them through the laminator and pop velcro (the opposite side you used on the strip) on the back of them, done.

For the bin, I grabbed a couple up from my favorite dollar spot! This is where I keep all the scheduling pieces. As we've added new subjects over time I created new pieces on Boardmaker or Microsoft Word.

How to Use It

Every night or in the morning before school I set up the schedule for the day. The girls are so happy knowing exactly what they are doing every day and they LOVE ripping off a completed assignment and triumphantly putting it in the bin (not exaggerating, sometimes they squeal with delight).

It helps me out too! I don't have to keep going over to my planner to see what's next. I just glance over at the chart or ask one of my girls to tell me what's next.

It's really been a sanity saver, and who couldn't use more of that?

Other Ways to Use This Schedule

You could also use this chart with a morning time routine, bedtime routine, or chore chart.

Play with the orientation of the chart. Make it horizontal or zigzag or round if you're feeling fancy. Make the chart work for you.

You can be as creative and fancy as you like. I went the no fuss, just-get-it-done route 3 years ago and it works great.


How do you keep your daily routine flowing? Do your kids need visuals or are they cool with moving on the next activity?

A Day in the Life 2018-2019

This post does NOT contain affiliate links

Last year, life got really difficult just a few weeks into the school year. Having a plan of what to do was helpful in getting going again, but this year I wanted things to be even simpler. The longer I homeschool the more relaxed I become.

The girls wake up (read: are not allowed to leave their room) at 7:30. They have a Good Morning board that helps them keep on track in the mornings. We don't start school til around 9am and go until 2 if we get stuck down a rabbit hole. Some days we're done by noon.

This year I wanted to have a rhythm to our days with some loose structure. Having a rigid schedule doesn't work for us. My girls would lose interest after 20 mins of sitting in the same spot. I wanted to bust through everything and get it done, but my girls were dragging their feet. I couldn't figure out why. Didn't they want to hurry up and finish?

Then my girl Charlotte Mason gave me the answer. I needed to vary the subjects so different areas of the brain were being used. Thanks, Charlotte.

Keeping this in mind, I created a kind of loop that created variety, breathing room, and kept us moving:

• reading time
• table top
• computer work

And then added the subjects that fit into the loop and moved us around our home so we wouldn't sit in the same place for two lessons in a row. Monday to Thursday look something like this:

• Family worship
• Spelling
• Math (on the computer)
• Read Aloud
• Grammar
• Handwriting
• Lunch
• Quiet reading
• History/Geography/Science
• Brave Writer

Keeping lessons short and simple, no more than 20 mins and no extra busy work, is key for us. Our days go by quickly with variety and moving to different areas of our home. My children have been enjoying school this year and are sometimes surprised when I say we're done for the day. 

Friday is a more relaxed day. We get creative with art, do some light table work like handwriting, snuggle up for our read aloud, and go for a nature walk. This will change when we head back to Florida and we join our co-op again. We miss them so!

How do your days look? Do they change every year? Every semester? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants?