By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , popular , Recipes
In my book, Blaze New Trails, I devote a chapter to U-pick farms. I share how food can teach math in a hands-on way. Two families joined us and we jumped right into strawberry math at Oak Haven Strawberry Farm. Our goal is to find out how many strawberry plants are on the farm and […]
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By Holly Giles | homeschooling
I found three bean seeds on the kitchen counter. Later, I found a handful in Crockett’s pants pocket while doing laundry. What is going on?Grayson came in from outside and I asked him about all the seeds. He had a sheepish grin. “I have been planting them,” he said. “In the backyard?” I […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , homeschooling
We met up with a few families to tour the Sanford Armory last week. The sergeants told us they don’t really do field trips, but would give it a whirl. By the end of our tour, my boys decided this was the BEST field trip ever! I am ashamed to tell you that the armory […]
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By Holly Giles | Family , handicrafts , homeschooling
Life Skills The Giles Frontier had a booth at the Gifts of Grace arts and crafts fair. It was an opportunity for success and teaching life skills to sell our repurposed feed sack totes, lip balm, jewelry, homeschool curriculum, and slingshots. It can be a lot of work setting up a display, spending most of […]
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By Holly Giles | Boy Crafting , Florida , homeschooling
How to get a car for free My husband came home with a FREE car one Sunday afternoon. A friend was moving and asked for help and then said, you get a car for free if you want. This car had been sitting for a year at a friend’s house. What transpired from there is […]
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By Holly Giles | homeschooling
Mondays seem to be the do-over day for homeschool in our house. When the week before did not go as planned, Monday is always around the corner to make a fresh start. Today was no different. Last week we had several fun distractions that kept us from staying on our homeschool tasks and I spent […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , florida vacations , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Florida Manatee Florida manatee show up in the springs of Florida from December through March. During the winter months, manatee move to warmer waters and a large number of them find their way to Blue Spring State Park. We have been taking Grayson and Grant to the park to see Florida Manatee since they were […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Science in your backyard Around here, backyard science need not be planned. On any given day, it falls from the sky or slithers by for us to take notice. Why not seize the opportunity. On this day, we were reading on the couch when a loud thud hit the back window. As we searched the deck, […]
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By Holly Giles | homeschooling
Reading Learning to read can cause frustration throughout a household and within family and friend circles. When I first began working with Grayson, he was interested in reading. However, when Grant came along, reading was the last thing on his list! Comparison is just human nature. But as homeschool moms become wiser through trial and error. We realize, […]
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By Holly Giles | Boy Crafting , Florida , handicrafts , homeschooling
County fair There is more to the county fair for the family than candied apples, fried Twinkies, and the Ferris wheel! It can be used to educate your children and learn new skills. As a child, I loved going to the fair. My grandparents lived very close to the property where the Central Florida Fair took […]
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