FRUGAL HOMESCHOOLING

We've been homeschooling for 10 years. It seems like we've tried every kind of homeschooling from unschooling to overly structured. Somewhere along the way we became an eclectic, frugal, fun homeschooling family. Some weeks we go by a schedule, some weeks we don't. One thing we have stuck to recently, however, is freebie sites.

I have been over the moon for freebies and frugal ideas. The boys enjoy something different now and then and I enjoy changing up the learning adventure too.

I had a brain pop and decided to start an international Yahoo Group for Frugal Homeschooling Parents to store,
share and chat about all things Frugal and Homeschooling...including recipes! :-)

So, for all of you out there who ware interested in freebie sites, frugal sites and peeking into the links other parents have stored away...here's your chance to dive in...

FRUGAL HOMESCHOOLING NEWS has JUST begun.

Enjoy! This is going to be fun! :-)

MOTHER'S DAY FRUGAL CRAFT

TODAY'S FRUGAL CRAFT SITE IS

ACTIVITY VILLAGE! (click)

"All our kids crafts are quick and easy, require minimal equipment and materials, and offer satisfyingly instant results - because we know that even crafty kids like to be able see the fruits of their labour in action within minutes rather than hours! ...crafts sorted by holiday, season and activity."

Happy Crafting! :-)

THIS WEEK'S FRUGAL HS LESSON

This weeks FRUGAL HOMESCHOOL LESSON IDEA is an oldie but a goodie.

This is a "State" project that can be tailored for all ages preschool to high school.

Make a poster about your State or Country. GET CREATIVE!

Glue or draw pictures of the regions Flowers, Birds, Flag, Capital and Plant Life. List the state bird, flag and flower.

Draw a map or create a climate model showing the different months and season changes of various areas.

The possibilities are endless.

Our sons made a weather video after making their poster. They used it as the backdrop during a presentation where they are the weather man and they give the weather for the week. It's fun!

Kazz decided to take it a step further and make a home made barometer for his project and Brise made a wind meter.

The poster can be a launching board to find out what interests our children. My boys liked weather, yours may want to do a new report about flowers, plants, boating, recreations...who know! Whatever they find out about the area they live in they can decide the path that most suits their creative side.

HAPPY LESSONS!

HOME MADE BAROMETER

Source

What is air pressure? Did you know you can make something that will measure air pressure? You can actually do a bit of weather predicting from a simple made-at-home piece of equipment.

What do I Need?

An empty coffee can

A large balloon

A large rubber band, one that will fit snugly around the coffee can

A pin

Glue

Straw

Paper

What Do I Do?

First, as an experiment, blow up the balloon. Think about how the more air there is in the balloon, the more pressure it exerts outward. This is what makes the balloon bigger as you blow it up.

Cut a large piece of the balloon and stretch it over the coffee can. Hole the balloon in place with a rubber band stretched around the can, over the balloon. Make sure there is a tight seal around the rubber band. Any air leaks around the piece of balloon will affect how well your barometer will work.







Use a little glue (not hot melt) and attach the straw to the piece of balloon over the can. Then use a little more glue and attach the pin to the other end of the straw (see diagram.)
Take a piece of paper and place some regularly spaced lines on it.
Set up the can and paper as shown in the diagram. Outside will work better than inside.
Using Your Barometer
Make several daily recording for about a week. Make notes about the weather when you take the readings. What do you notice about the readings and the weather? Compare the readings of the barometer outside with those of a barometer inside.



How Does It Work?
When air pressure increases, it exerts more pressure on the balloon, pushing it down and the pin upwards on the scale. When the air pressure decreases, the pressure lessens on the balloon and a lower reading is recorded.
In general, low air pressure means rainy or cloudy weather. When the barometer drops, a storm may be approaching. High air pressure usually indicates clear weather.

SPRINGTIME FRUGAL CRAFT

Isn't this the cutest little craft idea? It is a piece of construction paper folded and cut to look like the backdrop of a flower garden. After you make the base you then cut flowers out of construction paper and glue them to the "popped up"areas of the backdrop.

As you can probably guess, this is one frugal craft idea.

On the other hand, we soon found out that getting the thing to look like the picture is no easy task.

(The directions can be found by clicking the picture)

The boys and I followed the directions but our craft kept flipping and flopping all over the place. One of the crafts wouldn't even pop up for that fun effect.


Daxx is holding up the final display. It's a far cry from a self standing craft. I would say to affix it to a harder poster board if the kids want it to stand freely for display.

By the end of the project the boys had given up. Daxx began cutting paper willy nilly and Kole made a Van and a Rocket from what should have been their flower gardens.

That was the fun part of this craft! LOL

If you have better luck with it please post in the comments and we'll come visit your blog.