A place of their own, the reading nook.

Yesterday we put together a little reading nook in the unused space at the end of our daughter’s bed. This space often collected stuff and was never a very usable space but with the addition of a small chair and two book ledges made long ago from these plans we made a great little reading…

I Need Your Questions. New “Ask the Educator” Feature on Harmonic Mama

I am starting up a new monthly feature here on Harmonic Mama in conjunction with Amanda from The Momma Files. She’s a former teacher and is here to answer your questions about education from the other side. So in preparation for getting this feature off the ground I need you! Comment below with questions you…

Learning Through the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program

Recently while on vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains we discovered the Junior Ranger Program offered by the National Park service for kids ages 5 to 12. The way the Junior Ranger Program works is that you purchase (or download) a booklet that is age appropriate and has various activities related to the park that…

Unschooling / Homeschooling – Where to Start

Way back before we started homeschooling our kids my husband and I had many discussions about educational options. I was a more traditional let’s send them to school and do what “normal” people do kind of person and he was all about allowing our kids to make their own path, more of an unschooling attitude….

Wordless Wednesday – Nature Walk

Continue Reading ….

Self Directed Math Learning with Base Ten Blocks

Can you unschool math? Sure you can, especially with base ten blocks and other manipulatives! My kids love math and love working with numbers, splitting up sets, multiplying (although I’m not sure if they understand what that word is), etc… A great deal of this enjoyment comes from unstructured work with base ten blocks. Base ten blocks are a…

Learning on the Fly

  Sometimes life presents to you great opportunities for learning, the goal is to be open to them. We had a great time camping last week but our last morning was rainy so we decided to pack up camp and have breakfast in a nearby town. While we were there our waitress showed us amazing…

Friday Finds – Writing Resources for Kids

Lately I’ve been encouraging my oldest to write more. We don’t follow any sort of curriculum but I do require her to write something every day whether it’s an email or writing in a journal. Lately she has been extremely responsive to writing in a journal. We use a numbered list of writing prompts. Every day…

Groupon Deal – Complete DVD Sets from National Geographic Store.

Complete DVD Sets and More, Including Free Shipping, from National Geographic Store. Five Options Available. Continue Reading ….

Making T-Shirts into Pillows

I was at a friends house the other day and saw this wonderful t-shirt pillow that her daughter had made at school, it was so simple I just had to try it. This is a great way for us to recycle some of the more beloved t-shirts in our house. All you need for this…