Finishing Strong Archives - Eva Varga

Welcome to Finishing Strong ~ a weekly link-up dedicated to families homeschooling middle & high school kids. Each Wednesday, moms just like you share their best tips, encouragement, advice, and more for teaching older kids at home.

Finishing Strong is hosted by me here at EvaVarga along with my friends – Heather from Blog She Wrote, Megan and Susan from Education Possible, and Heidi from Starts at Eight.

I know you will find the posts that have been shared with us inspiring! Grab a cup of tea, kick back, and take some time to check out the wonderful posts shared below. What are your favorites?

---

This past month has been busier than usual for me as I have been substitute teaching quite frequently and my kiddos had a swim meet this past weekend. To top it off, I came down with acute bronchitis and just haven’t felt myself.

My saving grace has been our online homeschool planner from Homeschool Planet. I had done a significant amount of planning over the holidays and was able to rest easy knowing that my kids knew exactly what lessons I expected them to complete when I was working.

 

I love the weekly and/or daily digest emails that are sent to everyone in the family. My kids can refer to the digest email or log into the online planner to see what tasks they need to complete each week. It is flexible and keeps us focused on what needs to get done.

 

Finishing Strong Favorites

Each week, the post shared that received the most clicks is featured on all four host blogs. Here’s the most popular post from last week:

Creating a Themed Literature Unit for Middle School by Tonia at The Sunny Patch

When choosing posts to highlight, I look for posts that are inspiring to me as a homeschool mom with two kids in middle school. My oldest is currently in eighth grade so posts that provide insight into preparation for high school are also of interest to me.

Here are three posts I enjoyed reading last week. I’ve annotated each to give you a peak into what I liked about each of the three I selected.
Resources for Putting the Technology in STEM by Heather at  Blog She Wrote :: My son is just beginning to discover a love of technology, specifically Minecraft. Heather’s post pulls together an impressive collection of resources for integrating technology into our homeschool curriculum.
Keeping a Nature Journal: A Review by Meredith at The Curriculum Choice :: Nature study has always been a major part of our curriculum. If you are not already familiar with the book, Keeping a Nature Journal by Claire Walker Leslie, you won’t want to miss Meredith’s review. She provides tips and suggestions for using this resource in your homeschool.
The 2016 Reading Adventure for Middle School by Megan at Education Possible :: I have been struggling to get my daughter to read anything other than fantasy novels and purging on Japanese manga (graphic novels). Megan provides a great way to inspire her to branch out of her comfort zone. I look forward to challenging her every month with this great printable.

Thank you for helping us to make Finishing Strong a key resource for families who are homeschooling through the middle & high school years.

What are you going to share with us this week?

Guidelines:

1. Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.
2. Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!
3. Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 4 sites. If you were featured, we would love for you to use the “I was featured” button.
4. The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Please Share! Add our button to your post. <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-.png” /></a>

Were You Featured? Grab an “I was featured” button! <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-I-was-featured.png” /></a>

Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

Welcome to Finishing Strong! Here, homeschooling families with middle & high school kids come together to collaborate and share tips, encouragement, and advice.

Finishing Strong is brought to you each Wednesday by the ladies at Blog She Wrote, Education Possible, EvaVarga, and Starts at Eight. Take a moment to visit each to see what posts we’ve selected as our favorites.

We are ever so thankful to each of you – our readers and contributors who help make Finishing Strong a key resource for everyone homeschooling through the middle & high school years. We hope you’ll take some time to check out the amazing posts that have been shared with us.

Finishing Strong Favorites 

Here are three posts I enjoyed reading last week as well as the most popular one, as always, in the #1 spot.

Is your post featured?

1. 10 Games to Make Middle School Geography Fun & Interesting by Susan at Education Possible

2. Home Hydroponics Experiments by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations

3. How to Make a Model of Earth’s Layers – Spice Jar Style! by Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

4. History Quest: Robert Fulton Edition by Heather at Blog She Wrote

What are you going to share with us this week?

Guidelines:

1. Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.
2. Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!
3. Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 4 sites. If you were featured, we would love for you to use the “I was featured” button.
4. The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Please Share! Add our button to your post. <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-.png” /></a>

Were You Featured? Grab an “I was featured” button! <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-I-was-featured.png” /></a>

Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

 

Welcome back to another fabulous week of Finishing Strong! Thank you so much, Megan, for filling in on my behalf these past two weeks while my family and I were away.

I am excited to be back in the states and to share with you again my favorite posts that were shared last week. The posts you all share each week are such an inspiration to me.

Remember each of the participating bloggers (myself, Heather at Blog She Wrote, Heidi at Starts at Eight, and Megan & Susan at Education Possible) will be selecting our personal favorites, so be sure to stop by each blog to see if your post was selected.

We love being a part of this community. We thank each of you for supporting our link-up by coming by every week to see what incredible posts are shared with us and for sharing your own.

Our Featured Post

Our featured post this week was Learning Plan 2015 by Carol who blogs at Learning with Boys. I love how she describes their interest led approach. “… that doesn’t mean we wake up with a completely open schedule every morning.  Making our schedule for the year / semester is  a collaborative process.”

My Personal Favorites

I recall going to the junkyard to get replacement parts when I was a teen. Generally, it was with my boyfriend (who I later married) as he was restoring an old VW bug. My kids aren’t driving yet – my oldest is yet three years away – but I love Annie’s post, A New Idea for Your Teen’s Drivers Education. I’d never thought that a visit could also be educational. I’m definitely adding this to our field trip bucket list!

I love the free printable reference sheet Tina has created for Homeschool High School Chemistry and Free Reference Sheet and Resources. If your teen loves science, particularly chemistry, you won’t want to miss her rich post.

Six Tips for Teaching High School English from Betsy at BJ’s Homeschool is a wonderful walk through of all the components to help design high school English courses. Whether you choose to use a prepared curriculum or make your own, her tips will ensure your teen is skilled in written and verbal communication.

What are you going to share with us this week?

Guidelines:

1. Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.
2. Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!
3. Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 4 sites. If you were featured, we would love for you to use the “I was featured” button.
4. The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Please Share! Add our button to your post. <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-.png” /></a>

Were You Featured? Grab an “I was featured” button! <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-I-was-featured.png” /></a>

Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

We’re back!!

We hope you’ve had a wonderful summer. It was nice having a break, but we did miss connecting with you. Now that we’re back, it’s time to get Finishing Strong up and running bigger and better than before.

As you may have noticed, we’ve made some changes during our time away. First and foremost is a new logo. Hopefully, you love it as much as we do. Feel free to grab one below to add to your site.

Secondly, our layout will be changing as well. Starting next week, each co-host will be choosing a few of her favorite posts from the week before to highlight, so make sure to visit all of our websites to see which posts we loved.

One thing is remaining the same – Finishing Strong will continue to be a key resource for those homeschooling middle and high school kids.

So make sure you come back each Wednesday to share your ideas, stories, and helpful tips. Our link-up is only as good as the posts shared, so we need your help to keep it beneficial and relevant for families.

Look at what our co-hosts have been up to:

Eva at EvaVarga – I Am NOT a Soccer Mom (or How to Avoid Child Burnout)

Heather at Blog She Wrote – High School Curriculum Choices 2015-2016

Heidi at Starts at Eight – Life Skills: Using The Library – Dewey Decimal System

Megan and Susan at Education Possible – Simple Back to Homeschool Ideas Moms and Teens will Love

Follow Education Possible’s board Finishing Strong on Pinterest.

What are you going to share with us this week?

Guidelines:

• Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.

• Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!

• Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 4 sites. If you were featured, we would love for you to use the “I was featured” button.

• The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Were You Featured?

Grab an “I was featured” button!

<a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-I-was-featured.png” /></a>
 

Please Share!

Add our button to your post.

<a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/finishing-strong-green-and-purple-200×200-.png” /></a>
Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

*By linking up, you are giving us permission to share your images, always with credit!

Finishing Strong is Co-Hosted By –Blog, She Wrote,Education Possible, Eva Varga, & Starts at Eight

Thank you for joining us here at Finishing Strong. We love connecting with you each week.

Here are last week’s most popular posts from the co-hosts.

100 Books You Should Read by the Time You Turn 20 from Blog, She Wrote

How to Get Stared with Citizen Science (Our NestWatch Introduction) from Eva Varga

How to Teach: Homeschool Families Share Their Stories from Education Possible

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Math Curriculum & Resources from Starts At Eight

What are you going to share with us this week?

Guidelines:

1. Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.
2. Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!
3. Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 5 sites. If you were featured, make sure you add an “I was featured” button.
4. The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Share the love. Add our button to your post. <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-Link-Up-Button-125-x-125.jpg” /></a>

Was your post featured? Grab an “I was featured” button! <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-I-Was-Featured-Button-125-x-125.jpg” /></a>

Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

*By linking up, you are giving us permission to share your images, always with credit!

Finishing Strong is Co-Hosted By – Blog, She Wrote, Education Possible, Eva Varga, & Starts at Eight

Finishing Strong is a link up that’s all about families homeschooling older kids. Every week we come together to share our experiences navigating the middle & high school years.

Are you almost finished the school year or does your family school year round? Hopefully, you’re not experiencing too much spring fever in your house as you try to keep the learning going.

Did you get to read these popular posts from last week?

20 Questions Kids Have About Homeschooling from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

The Easy First Step for High School Curriculum Planning from Annie and Everything

Why I Don’t Like Homeschooling {and 3 reasons why we still do} from the Sunny Patch

We can’t wait to see what amazing ideas get added this week. Don’t forget to share!

Guidelines:

1. Link up to 3 posts from your blog. Make sure you use the exact URL to the post, not to your home page. You can add any post related to homeschooling middle and high school students. Posts unrelated to that will be removed.
2. Please no advertising, individual Pinterest pins, Facebook, Twitter, or other link-up links!
3. Grab our button to add to your post after you link it up. Each week we will be choosing our favorite posts to highlight on all 5 sites. If you were featured, make sure you add an “I was featured” button.
4. The linky will go live on each co-host’s blog each Wednesday at 6am EST, and will be live until Tuesday at 11:55 pm.

Share the love. Add our button to your post. <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-Link-Up-Button-125-x-125.jpg” /></a>

Was your post featured? Grab an “I was featured” button! <a href=”http://educationpossible.com/finishing-strong-link-up/finishing-strong-homeschooling-middle-high-school-years” target=”_blank”><img alt=”Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years” src=”http://educationpossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-I-Was-Featured-Button-125-x-125.jpg” /></a>

Bloggers, by linking up, you may be featured on our co-hosts’ social media pages or our Pinterest board. We may even select you to be featured in a future post!

We love people who SHARE WITH US!

*By linking up, you are giving us permission to share your images, always with credit!