Mini-Books & Two Great Math Ideas

Anytime is a great time to collect ideas for homeschooling.  This summer, I have seen many amazing and creative units, activities, or lessons which we would enjoy.  However, I have learned, perhaps the hard way, we aren't able to do them all, nor are they all beneficial for our family.  Some ideas work well for other families and are great ideas in general, but are disasterous for us when we try to implement them. 

Today, I'd like to share three of the many great ideas I found this summer, which I hope to use in our homeschool this coming school year.  Perhaps one of them might be an idea you could use as well?

I first heard about mini-books while reading this post on Annette's blog, This Simple Home.
She had a link to a mini-book tutorial, which I so needed.  I made one template to keep as an example, and to remember how, in case I ever lose the link.  These mini books seem very versatile.  I think we could use them in our history or science studies, or even for specific pieces of literature and poetry.

The other two ideas are for math.  We have two children who love math and two who will say it isn't their favorite subject {the nice way of saying they hate math}.  So, when I learned about Mathtacular from this post on Jessica's blog, Close Enough, I knew I would have to try to find them.  A video that teaches math in a meaningful way sounds fabulous!  I did a bit of research to find the best prices and it appears Sonlight and the publisher have the best deals I have found.

Just last week, I read Marla's idea about teaching tally marks on her blog, Marla's Motherhood Musings.  Our youngest will learn tally marks this year and Marla's tactile approach seems like a fun way to learn them.  It will be super easy to add to our lessons since we have the materials and tally marks were already on the list for this year.

Thanks, Ladies, for sharing such great ideas and resources!