Free Thanksgiving Unit Study Ideas for Early Elementary

We have been enjoying a fun collection of free Thanksgiving unit study ideas for early elementary. I want to share some of the free Thanksgiving ideas we have found on the web. Making the holidays special helps my young homeschooler to look forward to schooling and help break up the normal everyday homeschool routine.

By Rankin/Bass, a great 45 minute young child appropriate story of the Pilgrim's voyage on the Mayflower as told by a little mouse on board the ship named the Mayflower Mouse. You can find it on YouTube.

Scholastic has a very detailed interactive online resource including the First Thanksgiving virtual  field trips.

Fall word wall printable

National Geographic Wild Turkey Video

Lots of Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

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Small Space Homeschool Room Ideas

We do not have a designated homeschool room but we do have a space in a room. A new table in the corner of our den will be our homeschool area so are looking for attractive ideas to set up our homeschool classroom. Here are some of my favorite ideas for small space homeschooling.

1. Love this classroom look of this homeschool classroom. Traditional look and the shelves are great for organization.

2. I love the Ikea cart idea for homeschool organization. This is something that would work perfectly in our new small homeschool space.

3. Now this is not small but I just love the color and the order of this perfect homeschool space.

4. The last homeschool homework area looks like it is set maybe in a craft or sewing room. I love the color and beauty of it.

happinessishomemade.net

smashedpeasandcarrots.com

rightwhereweare.com

mom4real.com

Frugal Homemade Healthy Lunchable

When your kiddo asks for those lunchables the other kids have and you just can't bring yourself to buy one you make a frugal homemade healthy lunchable at home.

How about this homemade lunchable full of munchies for the grazer.

via

 And for the little one who loves pizza, like mine, this homemade pizza lunchable is perfect.

via

So now my kiddo does not have to be left out and has a healthier frugal lunchable.

Superbowl Cupcakes

My daughters and I enjoy making these football cupcakes as our Super Bowl desserts each year.

Getting Started in Homeschooling

Boy, the resources available today for those interested in schooling at home are endless. Back in the early days when I was first starting out, we had a tougher time finding like minded parents. But just as that was a good place to start back then, it remains the best place to start now.

If you are the parents of young ones, preschool age, finding other homeschool families is a good first step.
The amount of encouragement and advice you will get from other families learning at home, is invaluable to making the first big step and deciding to school at home.

If you can find a support group that meets near you, go ahead and join before your kids are school aged. When my oldest was four, I joined our first group. It felt great to be with others who could guide me on what  steps I needed to take legally to homeschool and also good resources for curriculum.

Preschool at home, supplemented with play dates and other activities is simple to achieve. Children learn so much just following you along in your day and helping when they can.

Make learning a part of play, offer some craft time and pick up some workbooks for preschoolers. Right now with a four year old I spend about 15-20 minutes a day on workbook activities and practice in writing and making sure she knows her letters and the beginnings of reading. Literally this is it. If a child is not interested, don't force it. Once my little one looses interest we are done. I have readied all four kids for school this way and they were well prepared. Play that includes pointing out letters and sounds is learning that they are not even aware of.

The Subject of Socialization

In all my years of homeschooling, the most often asked question had to be about the girls' socialization.

I never really understood this as unless you kept your kid under a rock, how could they not be getting socialized. But I of course always took care in answering the question.

My girls were always busy. We had a support group, classes, Sunday school, groups we belonged to, sports, clubs. You get the idea.

I felt homeschooling offered a very balanced approach to socialization as they were often with kids and people of all ages, economic status, from other areas and not always the same kids every day. We worked with older folks doing volunteer work and also just felt comfortable spending good old days at home together. They never seemed to develop a restlessness to be on the go which is a good thing.

There are many different ways to keep kids busy and developing social skills. No one way is necessarily better than another. My kids all seemed very independent and not clingy. This is just my experience. Whether this had anything to do with the way we did things, I am not sure, but the results were good. Good old play and wearing a kid out so they don't even want to finish their donut is always a good thing.

Marshmallow Snowman

I enjoy getting to do the crafts with my youngest again. Yesterday we made a cute winter snowman made of marshmallows.

I saw this idea here. Great site by the way so check it out. Anyway, who doesn't have these things lying around right. Partial bag of stale mini marshmallows, glue, black marker and construction paper.

I first drew the snowman in pencil and let Q draw the eyes, mouth, buttons and arms. I then, one at a time covered the circles of the body with glue so she could glue the mallows on one at a time. I told her to stand them up. Great idea for working those fine motor skills.

Yep, she was proud of her marshmallow frosty.