Just For Fun – Page 17 – Education Alliance

Plant a Garden in Your Home School

Mar 14, 2013MelissaClasses, Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun

Published with Permission
Written by Mary Ann Adams
maryannscountrygarden.blogspot.com
www.TOSMagazine.com

Children love to play in the dirt, and tending a vegetable garden gives them that freedom while learning science, math, reading, and other skills that count toward “school time.” My daughters, aged 3 and 6, have played and learned in the garden from the time they stopped eating dirt. My 6-year-old understands which vegetables are seasonally available, saying, “We eat strawberries in the springtime and tomatoes in the summer.” She knows that carrots grow under the ground and that beans grow above the ground, knowledge many children lack when all of a family’s food comes from the grocery store. Gardening helps children understand God’s plan for creation.

If you want to plant a garden for your home school, but have never gardened before, start with a small space; 10 square feet is enough room to grow several plants but small enough to be a pleasure to tend. Folks without yards can garden in large containers. Make sure to choose a spot that gets sun most of the day.

To start a new garden in existing sod, (more…)

Geography, World Missions & Comparative Religion

Mar 12, 2013MelissaClasses, Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun

Published with Permission
Written by Mary Hood
www.archersforthelord.org
www.TOSMagazine.com

Whenever you are deciding how to approach an area of study, it helps to think through your goals. When teaching geography, my own goals have very little to do with memorizing the names of countries and what they import or export. For me, it all begins with helping children develop a sense of adventure.

When my youngest son, Steve, was about 13, we traveled from Georgia to California by car. It was just the two of us, camping all the way. From Georgia to Fort Worth, Texas, I was on familiar ground and was completely within my comfort zone. However, heading out of Fort Worth, preparing to cross the desert for the very first time, I fully expected Apaches to come swarming out of the hills, due to a penchant for cowboy movies during my childhood. I was scared, but I went anyway, and was I glad I did! (more…)

Updated: We Are Not Alone

Mar 11, 2013MelissaBiography, Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun

Published with Permission
Written by Katharine Trauger
http://katharinetrauger.wordpress.com

Turning her back on wealth and marriage, loving the poor, pioneering in statistical graphics…who was this famous home scholar?

As a young wife, you rise early to arrange the daily tasks for your large housekeeping staff. Your three-story home with over twenty fireplaces needs someone to see about all that fuel and the accompanying ash and dust. Then there is the approaching holiday in Italy—you must plan for all who will attend you during the trip, as well as for those who will stay behind with the estate.

You are Frances Smith Shore, or, you would have been. However, your husband’s great uncle willed him all his wealth if he would but carry on the elderly man’s name and coat of arms. Who could know how prophetic this name change would become in the life of one of your daughters? (more…)