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Free Homeschool Unit Study: All About Raccoons

This free homeschool unit study comes from my natural curiosity to learn more about one on my favorite animals. These animals often get a bad rap, being called “pests”, I hope you learn how awesome raccoons are and the importance of them in our world.

These lessons can be used across all elementary age levels and can be adjusted for lower and higher grades. Any resources used including books and videos should always be prescreened by the parent, just because it works in my home does not mean it will work in yours. This will be such a fun and engaging addition to your science curriculum.

This unit is faith neutral leaving it up to the parents to decide which direction to take it.

Additional Resources

There are no required resources. This unit can be used stand alone as it includes informative reading passages. These resources below are not required, just additional add-ons if you want to enhance or extend the lessons. Please pre-screen any recommended resources, just because they work in my home does not meet they will work in yours.

There is a recommended video to watch for each lesson. These really tie together the entire unit.

I created an Amazon page where I included all recommended books, be sure to check out your local library.

Recommended Lesson Video Playlist

Learning Objectives

  • Identify and describe the physical characteristics of raccoons.
  • Explain the importance of animal tracks in identifying animal species.
  • Define mammals and describe their characteristics.
  • Describe the habitat of raccoons and explain its importance to the survival of raccoons.
  • Describe the characteristics of the temperate forest biome and identify its location.
  • Explain the adaptations of nocturnal animals.
  • Describe the lifecycle of raccoons and identify their different stages.
  • Understand the purpose of animal rehabilitation, and describe the basic steps involved in rehabilitating injured or orphaned animals.
  • Compare and contrast raccoons to other animal species using Venn diagrams.
  • Research and create presentation on an animal and their habitat, including information on their physical characteristics, lifecycle, and other interesting facts.

Unit Updates 4/25/2023 – Lesson 1 Updated – Raccoons live up to 15 Years should be 3 years in the wild. Updated unit emailed out to any customers with downloads. You can also repurchase (for FREE) and download the updated unit.

Access FREE Raccoon Unit Study

You can get the FREE homeschool Raccoon unit study clicking on the button below! You will need to add to your cart and check out.

Do you like Free Homeschool Units? Check out my Free Human Body Unit

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The Newest Online Learning System: Homeschool+ Review

Homeschool+ is a new online learning system that aims to make learning fun and engaging for children aged 4-8. Designed by a team of educators, the platform features a range of interactive games and activities that cover topics such as reading, math, science, and social studies.

I was given complimentary and early access to the Homeschool+ beta version to review and share my honest thoughts.

Fun Fact: The creators of Homeschool+ are the same creators from ABCmouse and Adventure Academy!

Overview of Homeschool+ Online Learning System

We were so excited to try out the beta version of Homeschool+! My son, who is 4, loves learning games and took to this right away! I was able to plan a “schedule” with daily lessons for him to complete. After he completed a lesson I was able to review his progress and see the lessons adapt to his needs.

Some of the subjects you will see on Homeschool+ are:

  • Math
  • Reading
  • Art
  • Science
  • Grammar
  • Geography
  • Spanish
  • Community

We can’t wait to see all Homeschool+ has to offer once this learning system is fully released!

Homeschool+ Unique Adaptive Learning Model

One of the strengths of Homeschool+ is its adaptability. The platform adjusts to the child’s individual skill level, providing appropriate challenges and rewards as they progress. This ensures that each child can learn at their own pace and stay motivated throughout the learning process.

Homeschool+ Daily Lessons

When your child first logs on they will see any lessons you planned out prior, or they will be shown free play options. I love the adaptive Match and Ready Academy sections! Once your child is in a lesson they will interact with the lessons by selecting responses and playing games.

My son really loves the Reading Academy and when familiar stories are read to him like “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”.

Homeschool+ Lesson Planner

I really enjoy the lesson planner option. I am able to add or delete lessons and plan out our homeschool week easily. It’s extremely responsive and flexible- which is a must in our homeschool.

Homeschool+ Progress Tracker

Parents will also appreciate the platform’s tracking and reporting tools, which allow them to monitor their child’s progress and identify areas where additional support may be needed.

This progress tracker is perfect to track learning milestones and if you are required to meet certain standards.

Daily Printable Lesson Plans

Homeschool+ not only offers engaging video lessons and online learning games, but they also offer printable lesson plans and activities you can use with your little ones!

I absolutely loved this option to take a break from the screentime but still have educational resources!

This is an example of a Human Body lesson you would download and print to complete:

Our Favorite Things About Homeschool+

Another noteworthy feature of Homeschool+ is its emphasis on learning through play. The platform is designed to be both educational and enjoyable, with games and activities that encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Children can earn virtual rewards and badges as they complete challenges, adding an extra layer of fun to the learning experience.

My son doesn’t even call this “school-work” he totally views it as fun games he gets to play!

Overall, Homeschool+ is a fantastic online learning game that provides a fun and effective way for young children to learn and grow. Its adaptability, emphasis on play, and tracking tools make it an ideal choice for homeschooling families or anyone looking to supplement their child’s education.

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2022/2023 Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Better late than never, right? I am sharing the curriculum choices we have been using for the 2022/2023 school. I figured you might be interested to see what we have been using before I share our picks for next school year.

During the 2022/2023 school year I have a preschooler, 2nd grader, and 4th grader.

We made ALOT of changes this year, pretty much all the curriculum we started the year with was changed by mid-year. The good news is we absolutely love everything we changed to, and you will see a lot of that carried into our next school year.

Just to avoid any confusion our 2022/2023 school year is July 2022- June 2023.

Most of the curriculum we use, I have also made YouTube Videos on it, I will make sure to link those below !

2022/2023 Family Subject Homeschool Picks

One of the big changes we made this year was moving some of our subjects from individual to family subjects- at least for my 2nd and 4th grader.

Language Arts

IEW Structure & Style Level A Year 1

After doing the 3-weel FREE trial from IEW, we decided that their structure and style writing program was a perfect fit for both my daughters. The recommended grade level is 3rd – 5th, since we started this mid-year, we will continue working on this next school year.

Guest Hollow Beowulf Grammar

This program is designed for grades 2nd – 6th and was that perfect addition to our homeschool. We needed a more in-depth curriculum on basic grammar principles and this has been the perfect fit.

Unit Studies – Science / History / Social Studies

2022/2023 4th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Math

Saxon 5/4 with Nicole the Math Lady Video Lessons

Foreign Language

American Sign Language with Mr.D – Check out my Review Here: Learning American Sign Language: Mr.D’s ASL Course for Homeschool

Handwriting

Cursive – The Good and Beautiful Level 4 Handwriting

2022/2023 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Math

The Good & Beautiful Math 2

Times Tales

Saxon 3

Foreign Language

Song School Spanish

Handwriting

Cursive – Handwriting Without Tears Kick Start Cursive

2022/2023 Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Picks

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Step by Step Planning for the Upcoming Homeschool Year

Many of us are only half-way through out current homeschool year but already thinking about planning for the upcoming homeschool year! Regardless if you are brand new to homeschooling, planning your first year, or a vet homeschool mom planning their 10th year- we all need a little help getting organized planning for the upcoming homeschool year.

In this post I am going to share my step by step guide to how I plan for the upcoming homeschool year.

Step 1: Determine any Homeschool State Requirements

This is an extremely important step if you live in a state that has homeschool requirements. If you aren’t sure if your state has requirements- I recommend using HSLDA to find your state and any legal requirements: https://hslda.org/legal

Some states have specific requirements, such as a certain number of hours of instruction per year, specific subjects to be taught, tracking requirements, or testing. Make sure you are aware of these requirements and plan accordingly.

Thankfully the state we currently live in has very low requirements, however because we plan on moving in the future, I try to keep records for attendance, curriculum, and testing.

Step 2: Plan for Co-Ops, Extra Curricular Activities, Camp, and Vacations

Planning for all the “extra” things is also an early and important part of my planning process. Its not always easy knowing 6 months or a year from now exactly what is going to be going on but the more you can plan and anticipate for will help you in the long run.

For example – I know we have 2 co-op sessions, each one running about 9 weeks. long- 2x a week. I can factor in these days as school attendance days, as well as I might not need an extra school subject because it will be completed in our co-ops.

I also tentatively know around what months we will take breaks- like for example in December we usually take around 2 weeks off. My kids also enjoy summer camp, so as much as I would love to be year-round homeschoolers, I know with summer camp we take a longer break in the summer months.

Step 3: Plan Out Your Homeschool Year

This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on your family’s needs and preferences. You may want to follow a traditional school calendar, or you may prefer a more relaxed approach.

If you have notes and some ideas from Steps 1 and 2, then you can start formulating your school year.

I tend to use a 40 week school year, and break that into 4 quarters, each being 10 weeks. Doing it this way gives me about 12 “no-school” weeks.

We don’t school every day, and typically we only school 3x a week because of those extra things like co-op. So if I take 40 weeks times 3 school days – that equals 120 actual school days PLUS- I can also count in our co-op days which is 36 additional days. Attendance wise, we school around 156 days per year.

Our state has no attendance requirements, so this works just great for us and gives us the flexibility we need.

If you are like me and like physical papers to plan I have FREE planning resources available here

Step 4: Choose Your Homeschool Curriculum

Now, this section is not “How To” choose curriculum, that will be its own blog post. This is just saying in the planning process, this is where I start picking curriculum.

This is the longest process for me, but because I have completed the above steps, I at least have a general game plan.

I know we have 120 at home school days, so when looking at curriculum, if I choose one that has 180 lessons I must be realistic and understand we won’t complete it in 1 year, or we would have to double up lessons on some days.

This is also where you don’t want to over buy, its hard to think about those fun holiday units- but we know we will all end up wanting them. Leave yourself some wiggle room and don’t over commit.

Last bit of advice in choosing curriculum as far as the planning process- decide between teacher-taught, self-taught, or outside-teacher lessons. This obviously will depend on your kid’s ages, your time restraints, and more- but if you have older kids and are ready to hand over the reins on some of the teaching part- there are tons of great curriculums out there!

Step 5: Be Realistic and Don’t Over Plan

Even though this whole post is on planning – don’t over plan !

Don’t try to do too much in the upcoming year. Plan the basics and give yourself wiggle room! It is always easier to add more in, than take some away.

Be realistic with your time, there are only so many hours in a day and only so much our kids and us as teachers can handle.

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Homeschool February Fun: Planning for February Holidays

February is a busy month for homeschoolers! February holidays this month: Black History Month, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, and Valentines day. There are so many opportunities for field trips and learning activities. I will be sharing all the resources here on this page including activities, decorations, and books. This page will be updated frequently with new things, make sure to save it for all your Homeschool February planning!

February Homeschool Planning Ideas:

Black History Month Homeschool Ideas:

This is a time to learn about the important contributions of black Americans to our country and world. There are lots of great books and resources to help teach about this topic.

Ideas for activities include:

FREEBIE- Black History Month Passage

  • Research and create a presentation on a prominent figure in black history, such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Harriet Tubman.
  • Read and discuss books about the Civil Rights Movement, such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee or “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.
  • Watch and discuss documentaries or films that depict important moments or figures in black history, such as “Selma” or “Malcolm X.”

Black History Month Decorations:

Our Bulliten Board Decor (FREE)

Black History Month Book Recommendations:

Groundhog Day Homeschool Ideas (February 2nd) :

This holiday is all about predicting the weather. Have your students research different groundhogs and make predictions about how much winter is left.

Groundhog Day Mini Unit – FREE

Groundhog Day Pintables ($3.00)

Other ideas include:

  • Create a groundhog puppet and use it to act out the story of Groundhog Day.
  • Research the history of Groundhog Day and create a timeline or presentation to share with your family.
  • Make a groundhog day craft, such as a groundhog paper bag puppet or a groundhog themed decoration for your home.

Groundhog Day Decorations

Groundhog Day Book Recommendations

Valentines Day Homeschool Ideas (February 14th)

Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity for students to learn about love and relationships. Here are three activities that students can do on Valentine’s Day:

Valentine’s Day Activity Book (FREE with Teacher Club Card)

  • Create homemade valentines cards using various art materials like construction paper, markers, and glitter.
  • Have a valentine’s day themed cooking class and make delicious treats like heart-shaped cookies or chocolate covered strawberries.
  • Research the history of Valentine’s Day and create a presentation to share with your family. You can also include different customs and traditions from different cultures.

Valentines Day Decorations

Valentines Day Book Recommendations

Presidents Day Homeschool Ideas (February 20th)

This holiday celebrates the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Have your students learn more about these two presidents and do activities related to them. Ideas include: -making a flag of the United States -writing a speech as George Washington -creating a presidential seal -designing a campaign poster for Abraham Lincoln

If I was a President for the Day Writing Sheet (FREE with Teacher Club Card)

  • Research a specific president and create a presentation or report on their life, accomplishments, and impact on the country.
  • Create a timeline of the history of the American presidency and include important events and key figures.
  • Have a mock presidential election in your home. Family members can learn about the voting process and make speeches as their favorite presidents or candidates.

Presidents Day Decorations

Do you have any homeschool resources to share for February? Leave them in the comments:

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5 Ways to Keep Homeschool Kids Engaged in Learning Over Summer – For FREE

If you are like us, we chose to take a nice long break over summer! We had some trips planned as well as, my girls were attending camp multiple weeks throughout summer. Even though we were keeping pretty busy, when we weren’t busy, we were itching to have some educational time. Yes you read that correctly, my kids were actually asking to do school. That’s one joy to homeschool, kids don’t dread it (most of the time).

I didn’t want to break into our curriculum for our upcoming school year, so I came up with 5 ways to keep my kids engaged in learning over summer.

5 Ways to Keep your Kids Engaged in Learning Over Summer:

1. Summer Reading Challenge

This one was so simple, but so fun! Each of my kids found 5 books around the house that they haven’t already read, and added it to their summer reading list. We set a start date and some basic rules and my kids competed against each other to read through their books. Oddly enough my girls finished reading the exact same day. This was a simple and free way to keep them reading over summer.

2. Free Homeschool Curriculum Trials

After we quickly completed the reading challenge, I was looking for something else to keep their attention. I was so pleased to stumble across the Home School Buyers Club! Early in summer I started seeing a lot of chatter about this company and it peaked my interest. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to work with this company and share some great things with you guys!

Homeschool Buyers Club provided Smart Points to use their product to share my honest review, as always any opinions expressed are my own. 
Summer is here, and what better way to get a jump-start on homeschooling than with free trials on top of curriculum. Explore new programs and tools that will help your child succeed this upcoming year and beyond.
  1. Thinkwell Free Trial
  2. Reading Skills Assessment Ongoing
  3. HomeSchoolPiano Trial
  4. Code Avengers Free Trial
  5. Monarch
  6. Kids Guitar Academy Trial
  7. Mr Henry’s Music World Freebie
  8. Nessy.com Free Trial
  9. Mark Kistler Art Lessons
  10. Creta Class 7 Day Trial
  11. Math Mammoth PDFs
  12. Brilliant.org
  13. Reading Eggs
  14. Doodlemaths
  15. Smile and Learn
  16. History Alive Grades 6-12
  17. History Alive Grades 1-6
  18. Vocabulary Quest
  19. Dynamic Earth Learning (Aquaponics Course)

3. Free Gifts from Homeschool Buyers Club

Any order you place from Homeschool Buyers Club you can also access 3 free gifts that are great learning tools over summer! These free gifts include items on staying safe online, Craft & hobby ideas, plus a whole month access to eSpried Library!

Enjoy up to 3 exclusive free gifts (a $38 value) with any purchase! Simply head to their website place your order, and upon checkout, select your free gift(s).

4. Try a Unit Study over Summer

Unit Studies can be a great way to expand learning through summer! They can be interest led topics that your child chooses, and a fun way to keep busy over summer. If you are interested in a FREE unit study– check out my Human Body Unit Study– this would be perfect for summer!

5. Take those Homeschool Field Trips

I know as a homeschool mom, you planned the most perfect year, with lots of great field trip ideas…..but also as a homeschool mom I know life can get in the way. Take the summer break to catch up on those missed field trips- your kids will love them!

Remember, you are taking a summer break for a reason, refresh and recharge. Don’t over you do it- save that for the new school year! Use these great FREE ideas and get your kids signed up for these amazing free trials…..that way when someone asks what you did over summer, you can replay, we took piano lessons and did an art study– with never learning the house!

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Engaging Homeschool Learning Program – BrainPOP Homeschool Curriculum Review

As a busy mom who works full-time, homeschools multiple children, and somehow keeps our house from falling apart, I need all the help I can get when it comes to providing fun and engaging educational resources for my kids. I’ve been hearing about BrainPOP for a while in the homeschool community but didn’t quite understand how I could fit it into our homeschool. This summer I got the opportunity to work with BrainPOP and I am so excited to share my thoughts on their BrainPOP Homeschool Online Learning Curriculum!

BrainPOP provided me free access to use their product to share my honest review, as always any opinions expressed are my own. 

BrainPOP’s Mission:
BrainPOP’s mission is to empower kids to shape the world around them and within them. BrainPOP Homeschool brings high-quality, teacher-approved education tools and content home, to help every kind of learner connect deeply to what they’re exploring.

What I love about BrainPOP for Homeschool

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. My oldest daughter, who can be hard to please with online curriculum, LOVED playing the challenging games after watching a lesson.

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun! The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. 

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun!  The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

What Curriculum does BrainPOP offer?

Well, let me just say BrainPOP offers ALOT. I was a little overwhelmed with all the topic choices they have, I don’t think I have ever used an online homeschool curriculum that had such a vast array of topics. Of course they have basics like Math and Language Arts but what really got my attention were topics like STEAM and Computer Science! Check them out here! Also they offer topics for grades K-8, which covers all 3 of my kids for years to come!

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. 

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun!  The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

There are main units and then a variety of Topics in each unit. Once you select a topic, you will find educational videos, games, writing practice, even coding practice and many more activities.

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. 

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun!  The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

How I use BrainPOP in Our Homeschool

I use the BrainPOP Homeschool Combo which is for grades K – 8. This subscription made the most sense to me since I have multiple kids across various grades. I get access to all the learning materials in BrainPOP Jr (K-3) and traditional BrainPOP (3-8).

In our day to day, BrainPOP is easy enough to log in, and just search for a topic- this is a quick and great tool we use when we want to take a deeper dive in a topic that comes up during our homeschool. They have a super easy search, that populates any topics or lessons related to your search.

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. 

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun!  The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

Not only do I have access to the entire learning library, I get teacher tools that allow me to create classes for my different children and assign lessons to them. This way I can assign something to my 2nd grader, and something different for my 4th grader. This is a great too to pre-plan some lessons if I know I might be a little busier and need some extra teaching help!

As soon as I started introducing learning videos to my kids from BrainPOP, it grabbed their attention. The fun, educational videos kept my kids intrigued. BrainPOP creates an active learning experience that keep kids highly engaged, rather than passive and inattentive. 

The variety of topics to learn from and the variety of activities that go along with each topic will guarantee years of educational fun!  The hardest thing for me was choosing where to start, there are so many great topics to choose from! They are also always adding new and exciting topics!

Get Started with BrainPOP Homeschool Combo K-8 – Free Trial for 2 Weeks!

Using BrainPOP in our Homeschool has really taken our learning to the next level. If you are interested in adding a fun and engaging program with a variety of topics, check out a free trial! All readers can save up to 28% on a Family or Homeschool annual subscription and get 2 weeks free! The free trial starts when you sign up for a subscription. To gain 28 % off, you would have to select the annual plan.

Using BrainPOP in our Homeschool has really taken our learning to the next level. If you are interested in adding a fun and engaging program with a variety of topics, check out a free trial! All readers can save up to 28% on a Family or Homeschool annual subscription and get 2 weeks free! The free trial starts when you sign up for a subscription. To gain 28 % off, you would have to select the annual plan.