July Highlights

Books & Curriculum
Written By Cassie Shepherd

Why does July always fly by so quickly?! I told my kids Christmas will be here before we know it. I swear this second half of the year moves faster than the rest.

America

We had a fantastic 4th of July and here in Utah we also celebrate Pioneer Day on the 24th of July which is just as big as the 4th around here. We partied with lots of BBQs, fireworks, parades, swimming, races, and even the rodeo! We also visited THE largest flag in America over at Follow the Flag (the flag travels so you can check to see if it’s coming to your state). It was definitely a highlight to a patriotic month.

Hatched Chickens

Five years ago if you had told me I’d be hatching chickens in my laundry room I would’ve thought you were absolutely crazy, but what an amazing experience it was! I am so glad we did it! My friend mentored me through the process, but if you’re anxious to learn I’d recommend watching this gals YouTube channel: Just One More Story Farm: Incubating Eggs Start to Finish and here are the materials we had:

Watching the chicks grow inside the egg was absolutely AMAZING and the joy we all felt the day they hatched was incredible. I feel like the kid’s learned so much from this experience and now we have 6 chickies to add to our coop! (We will have to give away any roosters…but we can’t tell yet what gender they are yet!)

If you want to see our documentation in action don’t miss my story highlight: Chicks

Books We Read:

New Releases from The Good & The Beautiful

I am in love with these new releases:

Backyard Campout & Outdoor Movie Night

Our summer bucket list included both of these big events and the kids had a blast. My boys lasted a whole 1/2 hour for their backyard campout which, honestly, I wasn’t at all sad about. We also had so much fun doing our first outdoor movie:

  • Screen: Tied down with these bungee cords.

  • Projector: We use this in our theater room and just brought it out for the big night.

  • Fort Kit: -We’ve had so many forts over here this summer I finally ordered the kids this sweet fort building kit. The funny thing is - they’ve used it for a half dozen other things —beds, building, tunnels —but, no fort making, ha! They do love it though!

New Art Makes Me Smart Membership

We have been using Art Makes Me Smart for years now and it’s absolutely one of those resources we keep coming back to. Their new membership gives you access to:

  • Around the World Art Tutorials

  • Watercolor School & Unit Studies for 80+ subhects

  • Nature’s Art Club

  • Math+Art Connection

  • Backyard Bird Bundle

  • Paper Dolls & Paper Doll Camp

  • The Music Connection with Composer Studies

  • Artist Studies

  • Paper Play Nursery Rhymes and more

I did a tour of inside the membership over on my IG and it’s saved in my story highlights called “Art Smart.”

Popular Blog & IG Posts:

In case you missed it, between my blog and IG I also shared:

I hope you all had a great July! I’m so excited for August because that means back to homeschool! Have questions about anything? Drop a comment below and let me know and I’m happy to help!

Cassie Shepherd
Next

Back to Homeschool Round Up