Landscaping with a Green Thumb: Composting

Compost is a free gift of nature that all plants thrive on. As a soil amendment or mulch, it improves the fertility and water-holding capacity of soil, encourages healthy root development in plants, and provides food for the microorganisms that help to keep soil in a balanced condition. That is exciting news for the gardener and his garden.

Developing a Curriculum for Homeschooling

Once you have selected topics and understand the types of resources that are available to you, it's time to identify the curricula you need. As with the subjects you select, you will need a curricular for each topic for each student for the upcoming year. You should identify your needs using the subject list that you created earlier.

Curricula Needs by Student and Grade Level

Student: Jill
Grade Level: 5th Grade

Learning About the Universe

The International Space Station. The Mars Climate Orbiter. The Mars Polar Lander. Hot news topics are great vehicles to boost your child's interest in science. Why not use the current developments in space to launch a new family tradition? Once a week, choose an intriguing topic and have the whole family investigate it.

Copper Nail

Here's another activity that demonstrates how chemicals change when they're combined.

Materials

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 10-20 copper pennies
• Glass jar
• Iron nail
• Pinch of salt Scouring powder

Directions

Volcano Experiment

Materials

• Dirt or wet sand
• Small shovel or spoon
• Two teaspoons baking soda
• White vinegar

Directions

1. Build a mound of dirt ten inches high.
2. Dig a deep hole in the middle of the mound with a small shovel.
3. Put two teaspoons of baking soda in the hole.
4. Then slowly pour in vinegar and watch your volcano erupt!

High Achievers: What Price Are They Paying?

A Harvard Interviewer's Honest Assessment
They come to me with SATs pushing 1600 and more awards than military heroes. The valedictorians. The student leaders. The super-jocks. They are applying to Harvard. They are the children you want your kids to become.

Homeschooling on a Budget

You Really Can Do It
Most parents believe educating their children is an expensive proposition. According to The Homeschooling Book of Answers, public schools spend nearly $7,000 per pupil per year. What if I told you there were families providing an excellent education for their homeschooled child for $50 per year? And even for those of us who splurge on a few beautiful books occasionally, we can easily manage to keep our total expenses under $200 a year. Sound impossible? Here's how:

Editor’s Note: This post is sponsored.

Summertime can be a stressful time for parents and kids. We find ourselves with bored kids on our hands and are always on the lookout for fun hands-on activities to keep them engaged. No one wants to be doing tedious worksheets and flashcards, and even though summer is about being outdoors and playing, we occasionally need a break from physical activity and a chance to cool off inside.

Three to Six Years: Dietary and Developmental Highlights

Around three, children become increasingly social, more independent, and even more fun to be with than they were before. Preschoolers are particularly playful people who can be quite jovial and entertaining. They love to run, jump, dance, climb, and roughhouse. They find humor in the ridiculous, often laughing easily at the drop of a hat. Clownlike behavior is par for the course.

Q&A: ADHD and Assessment, Placement, Services, and Programs

Read other parents' questions about assessments, services, placements, and programs for kids with ADHD.

1. How do we figure out if my eight-year-old has ADD, ADHD, or OCD? How do we get her help with math that she will understand?
Read the answer...

Arts on the Outs

For more than twenty years researchers have been uncovering positive relationships between arts education and cognitive development in children. With benefits ranging from the enhancement of vocabulary and math skills, to the development of spatial-reasoning, arts education has come a long way from the days when it was considered to be a lot of fluff.

Mathematics in Sixth Grade

Social Studies in Sixth Grade

History and geography are distinct fields of study in the sixth grade, as they were in the fifth grade, although they should be linked whenever possible to what is being studied in language arts and in science. Sixth grade children are able to use several different kinds of maps; to use primary sources -- historical records, diaries, newspapers, and the like -- to enlarge their understanding of other people and other time periods; and to interview their parents and grandparents about other times.

Why Teach Fine Motor?

Summer Homeschooling

These and other homeschooling choices are explored here, as well as some new ideas on how to change the way you homeschool.

Do you ever wonder if your child's cognitive ability was inherited or if it's based on environmental factors? In fact, human intelligence is a fairly equal mix of genetics and environmental influences. Genetic differences in cognition are more likely to be passed on from mother to child than from father to child (so for all the moms reading this, you were right all along).

More: Is Personality Genetic?

Podcasts are a great alternative to shake up screen time and allow for good old-fashioned listening skills to bloom.

My Homeschooling Mistakes

Isabel Shaw

Energy from the Sun

Materials

1. 3 used cans with the labels removed
2. White water-based paint
3. Black water-based paint
4. Brushes
5. Thermometer

Directions

Tornado in a Bottle

Materials

Paper Tower

Materials

• Sheets of paper, 8½ x 11 inches
• Paper clips

How high can you build a tower using only paper and paper clips? Your design should include a firm, broad base and some creative ways to make the tower as tall as possible.

Note: This activity can also be done with drinking straws and masking tape.