Been Awhile....

Been in a dry spell...obviously from my lack of posting as of late. Don't think I have reached burn-out...just trying to find my niche...

I have decided that my main problem is not just being...well, ME. Trying to go against the grain I guess. The fact is I'm an unorganized, impatient, too many irons in the fire type of gal. And God has made me that way for some reason. What does this mean for me in my spiritual walk? In my role as parent/teacher? How do I make this all work within the way I function?

Is the solution to just become ultra-organized? Nope, too stress ful. I've learned so much during this dry season where it seems I've just been keeping head above water for so long. I still have so much to learn.

Been working with the kids on the first lapbook I've printed in three years....

We're studying the 7 ancient wonders and new wonders of the world.

Today, I actually utilized a large scale project I found on Pinterest...we're talking paper, glue, scissors...the works...which would normally put me in the fetal position for hours from the stress of kids spilling stuff and glueing things in the wrong place. LOL...I'm being honest here...

But what's homeschool without a little mess...one thing I've learned...I can clean later...knowledge can pop up at any time and an educational opportunity is always around the corner as are the dishes and laundry...but the learning can be so much more fun. So I'm now surrounded in the aftermath of my project with paper all over the place, modge podge on my skirt and the floor...but I'm not really bothered by that. We made life sized bodies...with organs and bones and such...they didn't get all the way done cause the kids got too tired of glueing and things...and normally that would make me mad...but they learned more than one thing, so I'd call it sucess...

Jack's


I had to laugh...I stink at scale work...the organs are not the right size, pretty much not the right shape...they're in a relatively correct position, but some are glued totally wierd...now that would have driven me crazy several months ago. I didn't take my time making sure the organs were perfect...not with 3 people vying for my praise and totally getting mad because the glue wasn't working right. But I'm okay with it...as long as they learned and more importantly had fun doing it.
ANd just to give you a laugh...Jack asked if we would be glueing our "none of your business on" which is Della speak for the area of the body I'm SO not ready to delve into. LOL...I said, no not this time...so he just drew it in. Ahhhh fun.
My days are filled with having to constantly remind myself of the things I know are true, even though life sometimes throws me a curve ball.
Have a blessed day!

Geometry Can Be Phun...and Yummy

In typical Tyler fashion....he came by to destroy all our hard work! The kids were all yelling at him to "STOP LITTLE BUBBY!"

Victory is SWEET....

Have a Blessed Day!

A Must Read....

I came across this excellent article today off the Learning in Freedom site....this is one of those secular articles that is well researched and documented and sings the praises of the homeschooling movement. It was super interesting to read an article like this proclaiming what I already know but that , without articles like this one, are merely my opinion and nothing more...this article lends validity to what I'm trying to do with my children. Read it when you have time to let it sink in...it's lengthy and it's got alot to digest.

An A for Homeschooling by Brian C. Anderson

Our Week in Pictures

Tyler LOVES the Cozy Coupe...now I am very glad I didn't get rid of it...it allows him to be out on the porch with us and I don't worry about him squeezing through the rails.

It was so nice outside this week...we had a painting free for all on the porch which ended with me having to bleach and wash the porch off where the paint leaked. These are salt paintings. You draw your picture with school glue and instead of glitter, you shake salt over it, shake off the excess and let it dry. Then take water and a drop or two of food coloring and drop a bit onto the salt and it spreads through the design. Very cool to watch....

It is Lillie's style to make her art as wet and messy as possible...but the colors on this blended so pretty! Dad, I figured you'd appreciate this...LOL. Speaking of Dad...Jackson said he wanted to make a living making art...I told him to come talk to you!

Unknown to me...Jack had tied Ty's car to a chair to "keep him safe"...
This week's Bible was about Elijah (Lillie Picked)...here's the kids drawings.

Chloe's

(She said it was Elijah and Baby Jesus and a bunny or something)

Jack's: Elijah and the bullock and some short person....

Lillie's Jezebel and Ahab

Tyler spent most of Tuesday morning trying to figure out how to sit in his toy basket....

Victory at last...and a lap around the living room.A Snail the kids captured and, with all their creativity named "Snaily"...I know...it boggles the mind where they came up with such a name.If you would like to try the art project we did...go here...

For a good recipe for fingerpaints (and a way to use those pesky baby food jars), go here.

Have a blessed Weekend!

My Ridiculously Long List of Go To Links....

Anyone who knows anything about me will tell you that I have a knack for finding things on the internet. In fact, my close friends sometimes make fun of me because they can tell me they need something and they say I find it in a flash. I guess it's my super power (LOL) and I'm cool with that. However, I have a problem. When I find something, I put it in my favorites and then forget I found them...so I am going to keep a running list of my favorite sites here. Now, on my sidebar I have a ton of links for you on everything from crafts to cooking to homeschooling. But in this post I'd like to list my GO TO's...those sites I shoot off to first thing when I need something for school. I hope you find it useful.

GENERAL SITES

(These have a little bit of everything from lesson plans to subject specific materials and printables.)

Lesson Pathways

Super Teacher Worksheets

Learning Pages

A-Z teacher Stuff

Education.com

School Express

Teacher Planet

Lesson Planet

Homeschool A to Z (A MUST READ)

The Homeschool Mom (A MUST READ)

Enchanted Learning

DLTK Kids

Kidzone

KID CRAFTS AND FUN ACTIVITIES

Family Fun

Crafty Crow

Kids Craft Weekly

Crayola.com

STORYTIME/PLAYTIME

Storyline Online

Barnes and Noble Online Story Hour

(Just Found this one the other day and my kids LOVE it)

Speakaboos

(A Pay Site, but has alot of FREE stories and things)

Story Nory (Download to MP3)

Kiddie Records Weekly (Download to MP3)
Primary Games

Gamequarium
Readquarium

SqoolTube (Videos)

This is it for now...surely it's plenty to look at! I'll add more as I come across them. I love to share links with other homeschoolers because sometimes you just don't want to hunt something up...and when I find something that is helpful to me, I figure it's bound to be helpful to someone else.

This Is How We Do It: Spelling

Spelling is something I've always had a knack for and I'm very thankful that it appears Lillie also has a knack for it and likes it. And though I think that it's important to make those subjects your kids DON"T like fun...it is equally important to stoke the fires of the subjects they LIKE to do. So, in the spirit of making schoolwork fun...here's how we keep spelling interesting.

First off, I felt like I needed a solid base from which to start. I didn't want to buy an expensive curriculum and I knew I wanted something that not only embraced the learning style I love so dear, but that also could be used over and over and over again. So that is why I'm plugging Kathryn Stouts Natural Speller. It's affordable (I got mine on amazon.com used for less than $5).

It has grade appropriate word lists that are grouped by sound patterns and sight patterns (which is how I spell..by visualizing the shape of the word. If I can write it down, I can spell it.) which is a real plus with visual learners.

*Short Lessons

*Plenty of activities to reinforce the words being learned and also tying in dictionary, grammar and handwriting skills.
*Super flexible..take it at your child's pace.

Okay, in short ...I like it and give it two thumbs up and if I had more than two thumbs I'd stick them up as well.

Now...here's how I work spelling. It's a daily thing. On Monday, I choose 10 words from the list that she doesn't already know (when we started out, most of the words on the first list were too easy for her.) Then we pre-test. The words she misses, she writes 5 times each. I was giving the test verbally and may still do that from time to time, but was SO EXCITED to find this website that I can type in the words and it generates an online test with a lovely lady who calls out the words and uses them in a sentence for me. SPELLING CITY is very cool, Lillie likes the format and it's FREE. Ahhh, free...I just love that word!

In addition, Lillie goes through her picture dictionary and picks a word for the day. She copies the definition and draws a picture of the word if she can and we put it in her spelling notebook.
Now, Tuesday through Thursday, she does what I call spelling challenges. The Natural Speller has alot of grade appropriate activities and then I add some I make up myself. I write them on slips of paper and she draws one out. The activities include finding the words in the dictionary, busting the words into syllables, crosswords, word searches, word scrambles, all sorts of things.

BY THE WAY....here are two sites where you can make your own puzzles to print...the uses for these are unlimited and it's FREE.
Discovery Education Puzzle maker
Armored Penguin Word Scrambler

On Friday we test again. All written work is put in a folder in the filing cabinet. I have found if I have a separate routine for each subject I do alot better and it keeps me from flying off into all different directions.
Okay, so there it is...nothing fancy and nothing expensive. Which just goes to show with a little tad of gumption and high speed internet, it is possible to homeschool on less than a shoestring.

So don't sweat it if you find yourself low on funding...the internet has a wealth of information and support and free stuff to help you through the lean times. Your child's education doesn't hinge on if your globe talks to them or how big your school area is or anything like that. Your child's education hinges on you, the parent, investing your time and your excitement into what can be one of the most rewarding times in life...no pressure or anything. LOL

Have a blessed day!

Friday Fun Day

This concoction is great fun! When you mix it and pour it into the pan, it LOOKS like water, but then you touch it and it's a solid...scoop it up in your hands (as a solid) and it turns back to liquid
,dripping off your fingers. Add food coloring and it ups the fun level. The kids squealed and screeched everytime they touched it and, well, I think you can see from the pictures that this Friday Fun Day Activity was a big hit. Easy to clean up too, except the food coloring stains their hands...but nothing a little diluted bleach mixed in with some hand soap and a healthy dose of scrubbing won't cure. Small price to pay for a little fun time with the kids.Here's the link to the goop recipe if you too want to have some fun today!


Have a blessed day!

Some Great Bible Resources I Love...

Since I've been saved , I've been very interested in the science of the Bible, specifically what scientific evidence for Biblical Creation that can be proven aside from taking the Bible at it's word, which is easy for me, but not so easy for someone who doesn't really believe the Bible.

When Jack was so obsessed with Dinosaurs, I was leary of letting him watch anything that didn't have a biblical worldview of creation and found that there was nothing really out there. Not many books on his level either and I didn't know enough to counteract the questions he was asking. I mean "Momma said so." works in some things, but not in these sorts of things. I wanted to be able to give him adequate answers. I also wanted to be able to give others adequate answers should the need arise. So, here are a few of my favorite Bible resources, mostly about creation, but the Building on the Rock series is really good for devotional times. They are collections of real life stories from history that show the absolute control and soverignty of God and how he cares for us when we don't even realize it. The Bible Learn Series are older and might be hard to find. Your library might have them, mine has some. I was fortunate to find a bunch at a used bookstore.
Answers For Kids by Ken Ham
Did Adam Have a BellyButton? by Ken Ham
Did Eve Have An Extra Rib? by Ken Ham
The Great Dinosaur Mystery by Ken Ham
The Building on the Rock Series by Joel Beeke
Bible Learn Series
Jonathan Park Audio Stories

This is How We Do It: Bible

This will be the first installment in the series This Is How We Do It. And I hope it will help someone out there. There are times I've been talking to other homeschoolers and they'll ask how I use notebooking or how we do a certain subject, so this series will answer those questions.

BIBLE

*We basically use our King James Bible and Catherine Voss' Story Bible for Reading.

*Memory Verses

*Lillie is working her way chapter by chapter through the Bible and I print each selection from the BLue Letter Bible site and choose the KJV translation. That way she doesn't have to try and squint at the tiny print in our Bibles and we can highlight trouble words and make notes.

*We also have started a Bible Notebook.

How I Teach Memory Verses

Jack and Chloe pretty much learn by repetition, but since Lillie has started reading , I do a couple fun things aside from daily repetition of the verse and copying the verse.

I write each word of the verse on a Post It Note and scatter them on the wall, then Lillie comes and re-arranges them in the order they go. She really likes doing this and even wrote her verse on Post IT's herself yesterday ...guess mine weren't good enough.

The second thing we've tried and it's really effective and not boring at all is something I call Bible Verse Wipeout. I write the verse on the dry erase board, then Lillie reads it, then I erase one random word from the verse and she has to fill it in the next time she reads it...we continue on until only one word is left standing.

A Note on Notebooking

Since my kids love to draw, I thought I'd incorporate that into our Bible study as well.

For Lillie, I type up the bible stories using my Catherine Voss Story Bible and leave spaces here and there to draw the story. Lillie did Creation the other day and did very well and I really like this activity because not only does it reinforce the story but allows me to see how she sees the story in her mind. I can also see how neat this will be for her when shes older.

I usually print off coloring pages for Chloe and a blank notebooking page like this one from First School for Jack which has a space to draw and an area to write a short sentence. He can write a verse or a sentence from the story and illustrate a part of the story.

What I like about Notebooking is it is simpler than lapbooking and the outcome is the same, not to mention it can be adapted for any age group.

All Fun and Games?

The Bible ought not be boring, especially to kids. I believe you ought to respect the word and handle it properly, but I think our tendency as adults is to be too serious in our pursuit of Bible knowledge. When we adopt such a rigid approach, we ourselves tend to give off the idea that the Bible is this boring , unexciting book that we HAVE to read. THis is the wrong attitude for us and squelches the excitement of the scriptures for our kids. So I say make it fun...do object lessons, Bible Science Experiments, Get a Good Story Bible (I think you know the one I like), but don't neglect reading directly from the Bible. We don't want our kids to think there is any absolute substitute for God's Holy Word. And invest in or buy board games and Bible trivia games. Many games are adaptable to Bible. In my Sunday School Class we play Bible Jeopardy and they really like it. We also play a game called Who Am I? in which one child comes up and turns her back to the others. I show the crowd a card with a name and the chosen person has to guess what person they are by the clues the class gives. It's a great way to judge as a group how much the kids know.

So, this is how we do Bible in our Home, but I would add that Bible shouldn't be something we do for 30 minutes during school, we shouldn't see it as "just another subject to cover"...we should be living the Bible and the truths in it in front of our children every day. This is where I fail the most...trying to shove God into a scheduled out time slot and expecting a blessing in return. Yeah, not happening.

Have a blessed day!

Lotso Linkage...

Berenstein Bears Curriculum for a Year
This is really a nice resource and FREE if you're looking for a character developing curriculum for young children. I really like the usage of classic books from back in the day (at least in my day)that have very good messages. Check this one out for sure!

File Folder Fun

Free File Folder Games for all kinds of subjects and topics! I love file folder games, by the way , and so do my kids

Ideas for Spelling Practice

Certainly going to use these with Lillie's Natural Spelling Program.

Write Start: Nurturing Writing at any Stage

I really would like to get this book to add to my growing collection of "grown folk" books.

Friday Fun-Day...Flyin' High

So , to give the kiddos and myself a bit of a break from school work, Fridays will be kinda a free day. Short review of what we've covered the past week and then a special fun project or activity for that day.

This Friday, we read this book....

The Story of Flying

And to go along with the book we made paper airplanes. And by WE , I mean, me of course because they couldn't get the folds . Here's the plane we made...anything more complicated than this one and my one endangered brain cell would be offically extinct.

THE GREATEST PAPER AIRPLANE

Here are some pictures of the festivities. The kids had a blast and I came close to losing an eye several times.