Back in the “olden days”, memorization was a big part of school. They memorized poems, essays, books, and documents. I always think about Little Town on the Prairie and how Laura was called on to recite American History by memory from Christopher Columbus through the presidency of John Quincy Adams. Somewhere along the way it was decided that memorizing was unnecessary and some thought it was even harmful to children’s creativity. But children especially have a huge capacity for memorization and memorize things all of the time. Memorizing is a great was for children to increase their vocabulary and learn different language patterns, helping them to become better readers and writers.

One thing the children and I love to do is memorize poetry. I know what you are thinking, that you do not have time to add poetry memorization to your already busy school day. But this is something we only spend around 10 minutes a day on and it is our favorite part of the day. Poetry is fun to read, easy to memorize, and often uses wonderful vocabulary and imagery. Children and adults of all ages and work on memorizing poetry together. You can add poetry easily into your homeschool day.

Each morning after our Bible lesson, it is poetry time. We have a book of poetry that has a variety of poems by different authors and poems of varying lengths. The first day we are starting a new poem, I read the title, name of the author, and the entire poem. Then I read each line and the children read it after me. The next day we start memorizing sections of the poem a little at a time. If for instance a poem has three stanzas, I will read the entire poem first, then just read the first stanza a line at a time and have the children repeat each line after me. The next day I read the entire poem again, do the first stanza altogether and we work on the second stanza by me reading and them repeating the lines after me. After we are done with our new poem for the day, we recite a few poems we have already memorized altogether.

I have been amazed at how easily the children have memorized the poems. They can do them much faster then I can! It has also amazed me how much they enjoy reciting the poems. There have been some days that I have been running behind in the morning and have thought that I would skip it that day but they always ask to do poems. We have spent some time looking up information on some of the authors and they have even tried their hand at writing a few poems themselves. I have noticed too that the more we have memorized, the easier it has become and the children have been able to memorize longer Bible verses and entire passages in Scripture as well.

Take 10 minutes a day and add some poetry memorization to your homeschool. You will be glad you did!

Ready to add poetry to your homeschool day? Grab the newest, updated product in the Bright Ideas Press store …. Young Scholar’s Guide to Poetry.

The Mystery of History is my favorite history curriculum. I love it because it can be used with all ages from K-12th grade. It is creation based and chronological, showing what is happening all over the world during different time periods. The Mystery of History is written in a conversational manner, and there are many history resources offered for hands on activities, and includes timeline and mapping activities. Everything you need to teach history can be found in each volume. But, there are many wonderful optional resources you can use to enhance your history lessons with The Mystery of History.

4 Volumes of The Mystery of History

• Creation to the Resurrection
• The Early Church and the Middle Ages
• The Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations
• Wars of Independence to Modern Times

History Resources to Use with The Mystery of History

WonderMaps from Bright Ideas Press makes mapping The Mystery of History lessons fun and easy. Completing the mapping assignments increases understanding of the lessons by showing your children where each lessons takes place. Maps and answer keys are included in each volume of MOH but it can be difficult and time consuming to print these out, especially if you do not have a copier or scanner. WonderMaps contains all of the maps and answer keys for all 4 volumes of MOH. Maps can be customized and printed out with a click of the mouse.

There are also downloadable coloring pages for each volume. Each of the coloring pages has beautifully drawn pictures to color in that go along with each of the lessons you will read that week. You can make as many copies as you need for your family. These coloring pages are great for children of all ages to color while you read the lessons aloud.

The notebooking pages are my favorite resource. They have been designed so you can print out pages with spaces for your child to fill in information they want to record, or you can print out Information Pages that have questions for your children to answer. You have the option to print pages with larger lines for younger writers, or you can choose a Fill-able pages option to have your children type their answers in on the computer. Answer keys are included for the pages that have questions on them.

Making a timeline is a great activity to give students a visual reminder of historical events. There are timeline activities to go with each lesson of MOH. The author gives suggestions for making your own timeline figures, but for some families it may be easier to buy timeline figures. We love that Bright Ideas Press sells History Through the Ages Timeline Figures by Amy Pak to go along with each volume of The Mystery of History.

In addition to the resources I listed above, you can also purchase folder books, challenge cards, audio books, and other resources to go with each volume. The Mystery of History curriculum can be completely customized to suit your family’s needs. I have learned so much about history by teaching this to my children.

Have you used The Mystery of History in your homeschool yet?

Incorporating a spring nature study is a great way to teach children about the world around us–get them outside as much as possible and observe things in nature. Gardening is a wonderful way to teach children about plants and how they grow. Late winter and early spring is a great time to start planning a garden, but even though some days are warmer it is not quite time to be able to get things planted. You can however start planting seeds indoors that will later be moved outside.

This fun and easy Garden in a Glove Spring Nature Study activity will not only get your garden started indoors, it also gives children and up close view of the plants and the roots. They will have an opportunity to see differences in the way each plants grow and watch them as they change.

Garden in a Glove Spring Nature Study Supplies:

• Plastic Gloves (similar to what food service workers wear)
• 5 different kinds of seeds
• 10 Cotton Balls
• Twist Tie or Pipe Cleaner
• Marker
• Containers and dirt to plant in once the seeds outgrow the glove

Garden in a Glove Spring Nature Study Steps:

• Label each of the fingers of your glove with the name of the seeds you are putting in each glove
• Wet 5 cotton balls. You want them to be wet but not dripping.
• Place a cotton ball in each finger of the glove.
• Add 3-4 seeds in each finger. If you have trouble with this step, you can place the seeds on the cotton ball and then put in the finger of the glove pushing it gently down with a pencil.
• Wet 5 more cotton balls and place them over top of the seeds in each finger.
• Blow air into the glove and tie it shut with a twist tie or a pipe cleaner. Hang your glove in a sunny window.

Check your glove each day. You should be able to start seeing sprouts in 3-5 days. Your children can record in their nature journal what they see each day and draw pictures of what each of the plants look like. It is so interesting to see the different types of seeds growing and how each plant has it’s own rate of growth.

After 9-14 days, your seeds will be ready to be transplanted into a container. Gently tear open the gloves and remove the cotton. Plant the seeds in soil in disposable containers. Children can continue to journal the plants growth each day.

Keep your plants in a sunny spot and make sure they get enough water until it is warm enough to move them outside.

Do you garden with your children?

This is a great activity to help you get started!

Are you looking for other nature study ideas? Follow this Pinterest board:

A wonderful way for children to learn about the world and God’s creation is to spend large amounts of time outside, observing it. Nature study can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. In fact, all you need to get started is a blank notebook to turn into a nature journal by adding drawings, observations, or even poems. Add on a way to identify what you are looking at such as a field guide or nature app, and you’re set.

Nature study encompasses a wide variety of subjects: science, art, reading, writing, geography, history, and math. Although it may seem there is more to see and learn in the other three seasons, winter, too, offers exciting things to see. Here are four fun and easy nature study activities to add to your homeschool this winter.

1. Bird Watching

Set up a few bird feeders around your house in areas that you can easily see and wait for the birds to arrive. You can purchase bird feeders, build them out of  recycled materials, or make homemade bird feeders using pine cones, peanut butter and seed. Keep a bird guide nearby so your children can identify the feathered friends that stop by. Listen for the different songs they sing. Make drawings of the different birds and add them to your nature journal. Keep a count of how many of each bird species stop by and add a chart to your journal.

2. Tree Observation

When the trees loose their leaves many things are visible up in the trees that you would not be able to see in the other seasons. Look for nests and beehives. Notice the shapes of the different branches and trees that might be growing into one another. Make rubbings of the bark.

You can choose a specific tree and sketch what it looks in the winter. If it is very cold outside, you may choose to photograph your tree and sketch it when you are back indoors. Then in each subsequent season, draw a new sketch and compare them. Make up a poem or a short story of your tree and add it to your journal.

3. Nature Walks

Layer on the hats and gloves and take that walk no matter the temperature. Look for signs of wildlife such as animal tracks, scat, rubbings, hair, feathers, or fur and observe any animals that you see. Search for plants and trees that still have leaves. Bring a camera along to photograph items of interest. When you return home, your child can add more sketches to the nature journal.

4. Weather Calendar

Observe winter weather patterns by drawing pictures or making notes of daily weather conditions. Write in the amount of precipitation and record the temperature. You can also make a chart showing when the sun rises and sets each day and draw the phases of the moon and where it appears in the sky.

Nature study is something the whole family can enjoy together, even in winter. You will get in some much needed exercise, fight depression, and spend quality family time together. So bundle up, head outdoors, and take in the beauty of God’s amazing creation.