Which face pops into your head when you think of someone who is always willing to help out and do so with a smile? For many of us at Lesson Pathways, it’s Jackie! Jackie has diligently worked to create a number of amazing units for Lesson Pathways. When we needed additional help reviewing units and getting them ready for posting, Jackie was happy to lend her two hands to that project as well. Get to know a little more about this homeschooling mom and Lesson Pathways contributor, below:

What is your name?

Jackie P.

How does education relate in your life?

I am a homeschooler and former school teacher.

What was your biggest triumph as a homeschooler?

Seeing my daughter Hannah excel much faster and be much happier in our home environment.

What was your biggest blunder?

Trying to get Hannah to try and love lap booking. I made her do everything exactly by the book and she hated it. I am a “rules” person and I made a wonderful experience a horrible experience because I didn’t take into account her learning challenges and her learning style.

What has your role been with LessonPathways.com?

I wrote units, tagged units, did copy-editing work, checked finished units for mistakes, added resources to incomplete units…whatever Nikki needed is what I did. LOVED IT!!

How did you come to create Pathways for our site?

I saw the ad for the job on FaceBook and applied.

What was the most challenging part?

Understanding the Deki platform. Once I got that down, it was soooo enjoyable.

Of all the Pathways you created, which one did you enjoy the most?

Oh, this is a very tough one! I loved almost all of them! I would have to say Language 2, The Cricket in Times Square was really fun.

How do you feel Lesson Pathways impacts the educational community?

LP is a wonderful avenue for public school teachers to lighten their work load by using the pre-made Pathways to enhance their curriculum. It is a super way for homeschooling parents to get involved with their children by working one on one with them, without having to invest their valuable time to do the research work.

If you could offer one piece of advice to a new homeschooler, what would it be?

Have more fun with your students or child. So many great ideas and learning take place when the stress levels are low.

Do you currently have a blog or website you would like to let others know about?

Quaint Scribbles.

More about Jackie: Jackie Penn, a former public and private school teacher, joyfully homeschools her 13-year-old daughter Hannah. Jackie made the arduous journey from classroom teacher to homeschool mom just over four years ago and hasn’t looked back since. Currently, Jackie serves as the Parent/Teacher Chair on her local homeschool co-op board, tutors, and keeps busy writing literature units.

Do you need to spice up your math curriculum? Our contributors have found the most wonderful hands-on activities and resources for math.  Check out our Pathway on Carrying and Borrowing – it might be just what you are looking for!

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In this unit, your child will learn about how to carry numbers to solve addition problems and how to borrow numbers to solve subtraction problems. He will also learn how to check his work by casting out nines. Worksheets, quizzes, games, and activities are provided to reinforce the concepts. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach math.

Sunday marks the 86th anniversary of the first time King Tut’s treasure was photographed!

Dig into the history of Ancient Egypt with this introductory Pathway, “Exploring Ancient Egypt.”  We’ve included some fantastic hands-on activities and resources. When you’ve completed this Pathway, your child can continue his or her studies by following it up with one of our other Pathways devoted to Ancient Egypt, including Hieroglyphics, Mummies & Pyramids.

While you are visiting LessonPathways, please don’t forget to support our sponsors.  Every time you do, you help keep LessonPathways free for everyone!

In this unit, your child will become familiar with Ancient Egypt through exploring the geography, daily life, foods, and religion of this historic civilization. Your child will have fun creating sand paper art and helping you prepare a yummy meal of Egyptian beef and rice. Skills will be mastered through the use of hands-on activities, interactive lessons, mapping activities, games, coloring pages and videos. This pathway is designed to take approximately one week to complete, depending on how often you teach history.

With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s right around the corner, sugary sweets are sure to be in bountiful supply over the next few months.  Teach your children the importance of making wise food choices with this week’s featured Pathway about Nutrition.

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Explore healthy eating and the food pyramid in this unit. Hands-on activities include creating a healthy meal collage, fishing for healthy foods, singing a food song, asking 20 questions about foods, and making a healthy snack. Worksheets and coloring pages are included to reinforce the concepts. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach science.

Christine, also known as Tina, is a former public school teacher turned homeschooling mom. Throughout her time at Lesson Pathways, she’s been a pleasure to work with and always willing to share her unique perspective as someone who has taught both in the home and in the classroom. Read more about Christine, below:

What is your name?

Oh the joys of National Punctuation Day!  It’s the perfect time to pull out this little gem of a Pathway, Bee! I’m Expecting You! By Emily Dickenson.

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In this unit, you will read the poem, “Bee! I’m Expecting You!” by Emily Dickinson. Your child will have fun creating a diorama of Fly and Bee’s home, and making yummy Queen Bee Quesadillas. Skills will be mastered through hands-on activities, worksheets, games, puzzles, coloring sheets and videos. Your child will also learn how to use commas and exclamation points in a sentence. Writing assignments include writing a letter to Fly, writing a poem about an insect or butterfly, and writing a short story about Bee. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach language arts.

Yo, ho, ho and a stick of gum!  Sunday is Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Have fun with pirate speak and then follow it up next week with this engaging unit on Pirates!

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In this unit, your child will learn about pirates, privateers, buccaneers, and corsairs. Your child will learn about individual pirates as well as their ships, weapons, and the food they ate. Hands-on activities will have your child making a Jolly Roger, sea bisquits (hard tack), a treasure chest, drawing a ship, and writing about a chosen pirate. Games and a word search will also help reinforce what your child has learned in this unit. In addition, your child will watch a video to help him or her understand that pirates were much different than we view them today. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach history.

Jen B. is well known at Lesson Pathways for her awesome sense of humor and her skill with graphics. She coordinated the ChoosyHomeschooler blog before moving over to Lesson Pathways, helped with creating and arranging images for the Lesson Pathways site, took on some editing, and tackled a range of administrative tasks with continued enthusiasm. Get to know Jen B. in the interview below:

What is your name?

Jen B.

How does education relate in your life?

I am a Mom. Need I say more? Just teasing. We are homeschoolers.

What was your biggest triumph as a homeschooler?

I don’t think I have a biggest triumph. I do believe my boys have many triumphs as they have (and will continue to) accomplish more than anyone ever imagined. Not in spite of or because of their special needs but because of who they are as fascinating individuals who have a lot to offer the world.

What was your biggest blunder?

Setting up ’school at home’ when we first started. I had the chalkboard, desk, full curriculum complete with teacher manuals (this was for grade 1 too). I should have waited and learned more about how my son learns before spending so much, and taken more time to deschool.

What has your role been with LessonPathways.com?

I was Jennifer G’s administrative assistant and helped her out with whatever she needed.

How did you come to create Pathways for our site?

I met Jennifer on a Yahoo! group and she asked if I would write for Choosyhomeschooler’s blog. After awhile, she promoted me to blog coordinator. When Lesson Pathways began, she moved my services over there.

What was the most challenging part?

Deadlines. We had deadlines to meet and before this job, I never had deadlines to meet. I did find it extremely challenging but also extremely rewarding when we would accomplish it! It was a great feeling to work with a team of people collaborating towards one common goal.

Of all the Pathways you created, which one did you enjoy the most?

The Magnet Pathway. My son still asks about it. I learned so much too! In fact, my eldest had a small module to complete for grade 9 science about magnets and we used some of the information in this Pathway!

How do you feel Lesson Pathways impacts the educational community?

Greatly! It is the one-and-only fully free curriculum that is also multi-sensory, meeting all learning styles, from anywhere in the world, all in one package!

If you could offer one piece of advice to a new homeschooler, what would it be?

Relax. Do not let worry push you in the wrong direction. Let the children lead and you will learn more from them then you ever thought was possible.

Do you currently have a blog or website you would like to let others know about?

A blog, Special Needs in Homeschooling, and a group called Special Needs Parents Homeschooling Special Needs Kids.

Here’s how Jen describes herself: Mom to two special needs boys who exceed all expectations and wife to supportive, advocating Hubby.

To compliment our blog series, “Making Math Meaningful”, this week’s featured Pathway is from our Math Year 2 Guided Journey.  Designed to be engaging and interactive, this unit on Place Value could be just the thing to make math meaningful for your child.

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In this unit, your child will review place value up to the hundreds and learn to write numbers in expanded form to 199. Hands-on activities, such as using manipulatives and playing games, will enhance this unit and provide your child with a more thorough understanding of place value. Online activities and worksheets are also provided to reinforce the concepts. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach math.

This week’s featured Pathway is based on the beloved childhood story, Chicken Little, part of our Language Arts Year 1 Guided Journey. Even though it’s categorized for the younger set, it is sure to be fun for all ages!

While you are visiting LessonPathways.com, please be sure to support our sponsors by clicking their advertisements to see what they have to offer. Every time you do, you help to keep LessonPathways free.

In this unit, you will read “Chicken Little” with your child. By creating a feathered folks paper chain, playing a rhyming name game, learning about strangers, and designing a game, your child will understand the story and have fun. You will also discuss contractions and your child will play Contraction Concentration and Contraction Pickup. Your child will also learn the sight words “know,” “let,” “live,” and “may.” This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach language arts.