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Monday, June 15, 2015

A review of 'Beware the Blackness! A Jellywonker Adventure'

When my friend, author Rebecca Black, asked me to review her latest book, I was thrilled. She sent me a free copy of the e-version of the book to share with my kids, and we sat down with it before bed one night to read the story.

"Beware the Blackness! A Jellywonker Adventure" is the second in the Jellywonker series created by Black. It follows the adventure of a little Jellywonker named Ted, who loves nothing more than cleaning the ocean and traveling around, learning about his big underwater world.


Ted the Jellywonker is joined on this adventure by his friend, Humphrey, a humpbacked whale, and Maud, a motherly pelican. What begins as an ordinary day turns into a long journey, north to Alaska, where Ted learns all about a major underwater mountain range, an unfamiliar habitat, and the effects oil spills can have on local wildlife.

Much like the combination of real photographs and whimsical illustrations, the book combines a fun and adventuresome story with real facts and lessons about ocean life and structures.

My homeschoolers like stories that give them enough information about the setting that they can go to a map and learn more. This book does just that. It also provides lots of opportunities for further research, on topics such as sea mounts and underwater volcanoes, aquatic birds, and how people can help address and prevent pollution from oil spills.

I liked that the book could be taken simply as a bedtime story for little ones, or read more in depth, as a learning prompt for older students. We look forward to reading more Jellywonker adventures in the future!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Pond biology: Who's afraid of a little muck?

Last week, my girls had quite an adventure with their best friend. We took a little drive out to the country to visit our friends on their farm. The girls played with the dogs and cats, followed the baby chickens around the yard and helped feed the goats. They even got to watch two young foals playing in the field.

Before we left, though, we got out our nets and buckets to get down to the business we'd come to the farm to do. We were there to learn about life in the pond.


Pond biology was always one of my favorite subjects to teach as a naturalist, mostly because kids were always astonished at just how much life lurked under the surface of a still pond.

In our short time collecting specimens, we found at least two different species of tadpoles, including the leopard frog below and a tree frog that lost its tail the day after we brought it home. We also found a leech, a salamander and several species of aquatic insects. Who knows how many microbial life forms we brought home in our buckets!



Ordinarily, we would catch and release wildlife after observing it for just a little while, because most wild things belong in nature, not in captivity. But I felt comfortable keeping the tadpoles and frogs for a while, because I have experience caring for those creatures, and it will be an incredible learning experience for the kids to see them complete their metamorphoses.


I love these photos of our brave girls, wading in the muck searching for wildlife. It was a hot and sticky afternoon, and they got tired, but they had so much fun looking for just one more good sized tadpole before calling it a day.




Friday, June 5, 2015

Fun Fact Friday: Daddy longlegs aren't spiders

You're undoubtedly familiar with daddy longlegs, those incredibly long-legged arachnids commonly found around the outside of houses, among other areas. More than 6000 unique species of daddy longlegs throughout the world, but did you know that they aren't spiders at all? 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rittysdigiez/889027787

Daddy longlegs certainly look a lot like spiders, with their eight legs and their fangs, but the similarities pretty much stop right there. Daddy longlegs are of the order Opiliones, while spiders are of the order Araneae. Both are arachnids, but their many differences make daddy longlegs more similar to other arachnids, like scorpions, ticks or mites.

A few key differences include the number of eyes, daddy longlegs have just two, while spiders generally have eight. Also, the lack of venom or silk. And perhaps most important, daddy longlegs have just one body part, whereas spiders have two, with an abdomen separated from the cephalothorax.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian02054/3934784369

To add to the confusion, though, there are some spiders that have gained the name, daddy longlegs spiders, due to their long legs. These species, also known as cellar spiders, do have a separate abdomen and other true spider characteristics.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

How to make your own homeschool planner on CreateSpace

It seems like so many people today are dissatisfied with the homeschool planners on the market. Yes, the most popular planners work for many homeschoolers, but for others they are a nightmare. Bulky books full of pages you don't want to fill out, blanks you'll never use, and price tags that make you wonder what exactly you're really paying for.

That's why the free, printable planners found online have been such a tremendous hit. Because you can customize your planner, with just the pages you want and for just the number of students you have. But those can also be expensive, after tallying up the cost of printing all those pages and having them bound.

It occurred to me this spring, after publishing my first book, that CreateSpace would be the perfect place to print planners, too. Professionally bound paperback books in a range of sizes, easily formatted to include just the pages you want, printed and shipped to your door for a fraction of the cost of most planners on the market today!

Here's how to publish your own homeschool planer on CreateSpace in a few easy steps.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Homeschooling is the best!



I've shared before that I was a wildlife biologist back before, you know, I chucked all that aside to be a full-time mom and the Unplanned Homeschooler. Well, a post I saw today in one of my favorite Facebook groups really caught my eye.

Fellow homeschooler, Kara Alysce, shared photos she'd taken when she and her daughters went for a walk and happened upon one of the most awesome unplanned learning adventures I have seen in a while.

Kara and her girls happened across this gorgeous turtle. And guess what she was doing...


Laying her eggs! Look closely and you can see one of the eggs about to emerge from the cloaca.



And here's the best part. Kara didn't stop with just observing the turtle. She called a Turtle Rescue hotline to learn more, and shared that information with her girls and with all of the homeschoolers on the Facebook group!

Here is the post she wrote, shared with permission...

  • The girls and I went for a walk and we found this Mama Turtle laying her eggs! Homeschool is the freaking best! We learned that these Painted Turtles are on their own from now on. The Mama takes off and the father(s) only serve one purpose. His sperm can stay inside her for 5 years and each baby could have a different father! They will hatch under ground in 60-90 days. When they hatch, they will stay under ground all Winter. They freeze! Their hearts stop beating and freeze and when Spring comes, their hearts start beating again and they thaw. They come out of a hole the size of thumb and go on their way. Incredible.


Homeschooling really IS the best! Keep having those unplanned learning adventures, everyone!

The Unplanner is available now!

THE UNPLANNER is not like other homeschool planners you may have seen. Brought to you by the Unplanned Homeschooler, this organizer will help you record all of your amazing learning adventures without overloading you with pages and blanks you'll never fill in.



I understand that too much planning can lead to stress, anxiety and even feelings of guilt, especially for new homeschoolers. You don't need that!

What does THE UNPLANNER include?


In addition to helpful advice, you'll get attendance sheets for each of your students, Month at a Glance pages to help you track your appointments and upcoming events, Year in Review pages to help you record all the work your kids have done as you go and do a little light planning, and Learning Adventures pages to record the field trips, experiments and other special experiences you won't want to forget.


I designed THE UNPLANNER to cover a full 13 months, from July 2015 all the way through July 2016, because I know how frustrating it is to procrastinate and not get your new organizer in time. And priced at just $6.49, it probably costs less than what you would spend to print your own planner pages and bind them yourself.

THE UNPLANNER is professionally bound in a convenient 6x9 inch paperback, perfectly sized to toss in your bag and carry with you wherever you go. It has all the pages you need, and none of the ones you don't.

You can do this! You'll never feel like you're a failure at planning again. So relax, place your order, get your pencils ready and let's get started.


How to purchase THE UNPLANNER

It's easy! THE UNPLANNER comes in six versions, customized for 1 to 6 students. You can order the version of your choice from Amazon and take advantage of free shipping or order directly from CreateSpace by clicking one of the links below.

THE UNPLANNER from Amazon - $6.49






THE UNPLANNER for 6 Students - $6.49


And don't forget to check out my first book, The Unplanned Homeschooler: My Disorganized Path to Homeschooling Success. It's available in my store on Kindle or paperback. 

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Not one more day

Today I watched one of the saddest videos I have ever seen. In an excerpt from the Champion of Choices DVD, bereaved mother, Amy Briggs of New York told the world about her son, Daniel.

Daniel was a loving and caring young man, who had been bullied horribly at school for most of his life. His mom talked about how he helped a neighbor who had cancer until he died, then carried on assisting the man's wife after she was widowed. He was, for all accounts, a good kid.

But like so many good kids, he became a target for bullies at his school. And when he could no longer take it, he decided to take his own life.


Briggs wept as she told of how her son lost hope, and after a particularly awful text message from a classmate, decided to end it all. She shared how her son told people at school, and even the bus driver on his way home, but no one listened. No one did anything.

This bereaved mother told her son's story, begging viewers not to let the same thing happen to anyone else. "Do something," she said. Don't just stand by and let someone you know become a victim of suicide.


I see so many posts, at least a half dozen every single week, from moms whose children are being tortured by bullies at school. They are on the fence about homeschooling, asking for advice about whether they should pull their kids out of school.

I don't know if homeschooling might have saved the life of Daniel Briggs, or so many other young people who have committed suicide after years of being bullied in school. But I think if your child is being bullied, and you are worried about them, you should follow your instincts and do something. Don't depend on classmates, or teachers, or even counselors at school to save your child. 

Don't wait. Not one more day. Do something before it is too late.