The Kindoll Adademy by Kristen Kindoll

I'm a maverick, a rebel with a cause, and a plain-old prospector. These flags fly proud, though a bit tattered at times. It is in the tradition of self-publishing and home-schooling, some of my alternative endeavors, that I wanted to expand my reach and create a learning academy.

Kindoll Academy has been in the works for over ten years. I initially conducted classes for my children and their friends. While homeschooling has many benefits, due to its construct of a one-on-one tutoring methodology, this positive has some innate

How to Teach Your Child the Value of a Thank You

I bet your children had a wonderful time this past Christmas opening all of their gifts. The wrapping paper was flying, decorative ribbons were tossed and eyes sparkled when they were set upon an “unexpected” gift just for them. It is always nice to receive gifts. As a gift giver, it is also nice to receive thank you notes. As we progress through the digital era, a hand-written thank you note is probably something you will continue to see less of in your life. Only a homeschool parent could turn that around and bring hand-written thank you notes back into popularity.

 

I do not know what it is about homeschool parents, but we have to turn everything into a learning experience. As a homeschooling

Homeschooling Artists and Crafters Spotlight: Sally's Retro Christmas Wreaths

Homeschool mom Sally of Shabby Shimmer Christmas first saw a glass ornament wreath tutorial at Retro Renovation and decided to give it a try. Fast forward a couple of years later and she's made over a hundred Christmas ornament wreaths and has also ventured into making putz houses (also known as little glitter houses).

Homeschooling Artists and Crafters Spolight: Annalise Joy's Carved Art

Homeschool mom and wood carving artist Annalise Joy creates hand carved ornaments, wall hangings, and hard bound books. Her carved art is available for purchase from her website.

Annalise learned chip carving by apprenticing with a Los Angeles based artist in the early 2000s. Her carved art was recently featured at West Elm in Green Hills. Be sure to visit annalisejoy.com to view the many options for unique and exquisite Christmas gifts. Here are a few of her beautiful creations:

Homeschooling Artists and Crafters Spolight: Rachel's Bookmarks

Homeschool student Rachel E. creates beautiful handmade string and bead bookmarks. She started making the bookmarks about two years ago and began selling them at yard sales. The bookmarks became so popular, she now sells them online as well. 

Calling all homeschooling artists and crafters!

Hey happy homeschoolers! Over the holidays we will be featuring homeschoolers (parents or students) who create and sell their creations.

Do you knit, bake, carve, paint, candle-make? Contact us and we will feature your wares and let the Williamson County homeschool community know how they can order your special creations just in time for Christmas.

Contact us through the Contact Form on the left sidebar and we will be in touch shortly. 

Not a crafter? Subscribe to this blog so you can keep up with the offerings from your local homeschool community. Know a crafter who should be featured on HomeschoolingWC.com? Send them the link to this post and let them know about the fun opportunity!

Set Reading Goals with Book Adventure

When you have a child who would rather wash dishes than read a book, coming up with creative ways to encourage their interest in reading becomes an ongoing task for you as a parent. Although there is no quick fix for a struggling or unmotivated reader, Book Adventure by Sylvan Learning comes close to being a key to helping your child move in the right direction.

Book Adventure is a free, online resource for parents and teachers to use to encourage reading in their student. The program is geared towards children in kindergarten through eighth grades. Book Adventure provides

Creative and Fun Nature and Art Challenges for Your Child

Do you have children who love spending hours upon hours outdoors enjoying the wonders God has created? Do you have sketch artists who write on anything that is blank? Well, whether you answered yes or no to those two questions, one or both of these challenges may interest your child and provide a fun and new addition to your curriculum for the school year. These fun art and nature opportunities are free to participate in and may be done from the comfort of home or by just stepping outside. They are also for all ages, from toddlers to adults.

 

Outdoor Nature Hour

Barb, a homechool mother of four, started the Handbook of Nature Study blog to record and share the nature studies she and her children did using the book Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock. What started as a simple way to archive their studies has grown into a wonderful resource for homeschool families as they pursue a nature study in their classrooms.

Through what she calls “nature challenges,” Barb has created a free study using the book Handbook of Nature Study as a resource, which you can go through with your children to learn about the great outdoors during anytime of the year. There are more than 50 challenges available. Although they are designed to use in any order you choose because of the different climates participants live in, you may want to at least start here and follow through in order with the first couple of challenges just to have a sense of how everything flows.

Sketch Tuesday

Calling all sketchers, children and adults. Yes, adults may participate too in this weekly art assignment, which gives you the opportunity to create through drawing. Sketch Tuesday is another creative idea from Barb, who is also known as Harmony Art Mom from her website Harmony Fine Arts where she offers art and music appreciation curriculum.

Jennifer Smeltser writes for HomeLife Academy blog. HomeLife Academy is an official private school serving thousands of home educators. For more of Jennifer's articles, visit the Homeschool Roster.

Hide it in Your Heart Coloring Book by Annie Douglass Lima

More than just a coloring book, this inspirational activity book will help you relax, unwind, and enjoy some creative fun while hiding God’s Word in your heart. The 35 separate verses and passages are printed in colorable word art with decorative borders, blank on the back to make them easier to remove and frame or display, if desired. Each one is accompanied by two different activities or puzzles featuring the verse or key words from it.

Hide it in Your Heart is an ideal Scripture memorization aid for Christian schools, homeschool programs, Sunday schools, or your own personal use. Children and adults will enjoy learning, practicing, and meditating on these artistically presented verses from the New International Version Bible.

Proceeds from the sale of Hide it In Your Heart will be donated to www.Christar.org to help provide a translation of God’s Word for a particular people group in East Asia who do not yet have the Bible in their own language.

Here is a sample coloring and activity pages from Hide it In Your Heart. If you'd like to color it or complete the word puzzles, click on the link to access a PDF that you can download and print.

Hide it In Your Heart is available in paperback on Amazon for $8.99. Happy coloring!


About the Author:
Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since her childhood, and to date has published thirteen books (two YA action and adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, five anthologies of her students’ poetry, and a Scripture coloring and activity book). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.

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Introduce Your Children to Live Theatre

Do your homeschool children add drama to your life? Well, add some to their lives and take them to the theatre. The Nashville Children’s Theatre (NCT) has just the ticket for you and your homeschool children.

The Nashville Children’s Theatre has been entertaining audiences for more than 80 years. The productions over the years have been ones geared towards children, which has introduced many young people to fine arts in the form of live dramatic presentation. Ever since the theatre has been presenting student matinees during regular school hours, the audiences have grown in numbers. So many of the productions have been childhood favorites and have brought other book classics to life for the students.

This year, student audiences will enjoy five of the 2016-2017 season productions during the weekday school matinees. Those school students include homeschoolers too. The performances that are open this season include:

Afflicted: Daughters of Salem: Wednesday, September 28 at 1 p.m.

Junie B. Jones Is Not A Crook: Wednesday, November 9 at 1 p.m.

Scot Copeland's Treasure Island: Wednesday, February 1 at 1 p.m.

And In This Corner: Cassius Clay: Wednesday, March 8 at 1 p.m.

Goodnight Moon: Wednesday, April 26 at 1 p.m.

Homeschoolers are invited to attend Homeschool Days at the NCT.  They may attend as a family or bring a group of homeschoolers and enjoy live theatre at its best. These productions are open to the public and offered at a reduced ticket price making it more affordable for people to attend. That is not only a benefit for larger families, but all families. We get to experience that same theatrical performance and all of the talent while keeping the drama on the stage (at least for a couple of hours).

If you would like to attend one or all of the upcoming productions at the NCT, you may purchase your tickets online, by calling (615) 252-4675 or at the NCT box office. The first performance is on Wednesday, September 28, of Afflicted: Daughters of Salem. Although you may purchase tickets at the door, I would suggest you purchase them in advance. Tickets for NCT homeschool performances sell fast.

Jennifer Smeltser writes for HomeLife Academy. HomeLife Academy is an official private school serving thousands of home educators. For more of Jennifer's articles, visit the Homeschool Roster.