Enforced Idleness or masterly inactivity??

Have you ever heard of this? It's a first for me too. "Enforced Idleness or Masterly Inactivity", it's all the talk in the homeschool world, it's making your kids do things like play outside, read a book, make a craft, chop wood, garden, play board games, play with dolls, or play with Legos.

LOL.......ok, I thought all those things were just about being a kid? I am so excited now and I can even relax over the fact that we now have a technical name for it, I fretted for years wondering what on earth to call it........LOL.

Though idleness is a topic that does need some looking into to make sure we know what our kids are doing during these idle times, because being idle or having inactivity can cause serious issues in the middle school and teen years  :) Three Bible verses come to mind when I think of Idleness.

1. Proverbs 31:27
   She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
2. Ecclesiastes 10:18
   By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
    
3. Ezekiel 16:49
   Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

I think Enforced Idleness is not a good term, it should be called "Kids Playing."

$10 Off Kids Craft Kits!!!

My friends Hal & Melanie Young over at Raising Real Men are offering up a $10 discount on this awesome kids crafts/activity boxes. 

One bright spot has been Craftsman Crate - our subscription box has been growing like crazy as people try to keep their kids busy at home! If you haven't heard of it, Craftsman Crate is our monthly box that teaches artisanal crafts, from wood-carving to candle-making to scrimshaw. Every box contains everything you need (no trips to the store!) – real tools, complete instructions, and every supply! Use newcrate10 to get $10 off your first box!

This is such a great idea! Kids LOVE getting packages in the mail!

Check them out and share pictures of what your kids create!

Moe

Art Class & The Homeschool

 

Why is it that most back to school pictures and ads contain art supplies? Most public schools do not incorporate art into their education, so why should we? Are we as homeschoolers incorporating art into our home education? BIG gasp here!

 

I may have just stepped on a lot of toes here, but I think I fear art more than I fear Algebra! lol. I know nothing about color wheels nor do I have any clue about the critical pedagogy of art. Nevertheless, I do like to shop at Hobby Lobby and Michael's...lol...and I have a ton of art supplies, brand new and still in the package!

 

 

Nowhere in my home will you find glitter, I despise the stuff. I remember the day my little man got his official title of "Homeschooler." I breathed a sigh of relief and said to myself, "Never will there EVER be another glitter covered art project brought into this home!" YEAH!

 

You know the evil glitter; it goes everywhere, gets on everything, including our bodies. LOL...nothing like finding that you have glitter all over your face when you go out in public.

 

Often times I giggle inside when I am talking to someone and they have glitter on their face, I think, "That poor Mamma."  I am so anti-glitter that if I get a card in the mail and it has glitter on it, I won't even take it out of the envie...lol. I keep the card in the envie, read it while carefully prying the envie open and then toss it out.

 

So, what will your art class look like this year?

I'm thinking of asking a friend of mine who has taught art to be a guest blogger this fall. Got anything you want to ask about teaching art? She has taught all ages and she is good at what she does (shhh, don't tell, but I don't think she likes glitter either!).

 

Next time I will share how I, the anti-glitter homeschool art teacher has incorporated art into our homeschool.

Moe 

 

A Journey Through Learning Review

We have been given the opportunity to review A Journey Through Learning lapbooks. A Journey Through Learning is a company that was founded by two homeschooling moms Paula & Nancy, how cool is that? 2 ladies who know exactly what we do on a daily basis with our children!! Who better to create a curriculum for us.

Our son is 7th grade but still enjoys doing some of the lower grade fun stuff. This is our first experience with lapbooks, I had seen them online over the years, but I was so focused on book work in the first few years that I overlooked lapbooking, "You can't learn from arts and crafts" I thought! Well our 7th grader took to lapbooking like a fish to water!

Stack of library books that became a part of the leraning process.

Click on the link Knights, Castles and Middle Ages lapbook, the lapbooks are available in the following formats:
Instant Download- $13.00
CD- $14.00
Printed- $21.00
We were asked to pick one of the following lapbooks.
Letters, Numbers and Shapes (ages 3-5)
The Earth (grades 1-4)
Knights and Castles (grades 2-7)
Astronomy and Space (grades 2-7)

Section 1, with drawings and cut outs.

We were given the instant download version to review. That worked really well for us even with very slow and basic DSL Internet service. I printed out the lapbook for the Knights and Castles; my son just went to town on it! He got some library books to read up more on the subject. He has been cutting and pasting like crazy. He watched the how to videos from A Journey Through Learning and picked right up on how to make the lapbook without my assistance.

Middle section of the lapbook.

We had all the supplies on hand already for the lapbook. If you have younger children you will need to work with them on this, I would say most 3rd graders could read the materials on their own, 5th grade on up could do the lapbook on their own with you checking up on them. I highly recommend watching the how to videos that I mentioned above, they were very helpful and explained things in very easy to understand terms.

Last section of the lapbook.

For the review our son picked Knights and Castles Lapbook with Study Guide which covered the Middle Ages. We liked the fact that the materials were from a Christian perspective.

What our son liked about A Journey Through Learning lapbook:

1) It covered the Fall of Rome, Middle Ages, this was all new to me.
2) Love learning about the castles, I learned that they are not very fun to live in.
3) Knights and armor
4) Loved doing crafts that counted as school work.
5) Liked how there were places to draw pictures.
6) This was so much fun!

What our son did not like about the lapbook:

1) NOTHING

What this Homeschool Mamma liked about A Journey Through Learning lapbook:

1) This was so much fun!
2) Easy for "On your own work."
3) Easy instructions.
4) Not too many supplies needed.
5) Did I say "FUN?"
6) BONUS!!! No outside materials needed for research, if you wanted to go more in depth there are book suggestions included. Otherwise you can just use what A Journey Through Learning provides for you.

What this Homeschool Mamma did not like about A Journey Through Learning lapbook:

1) NOTHING! It was totally awesome and even hubby thought it was a cool way to learn.

I am finding that lapbooking is great for those homeschooling days, weeks or months when a homeschooling mom has health issues. I've gone through a Sigmoid Colon removal surgery, had an anastomotic leak, and then an infection from the leak, which has made for an interesting end of the school year to say the least! lol. A Journy Through Learning lapbooks would be a great learning tool for those times that homeschooling is difficult on mom. My son worked on handwriting, cutting, reading, spelling, and history, all while I rested quietly as I recovered.

Come see what others reviewers have to say about A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks.
For those of you that have NEVER done lapbooking, it's so cool and I think we are hooked on it. Looking back now, I wish that we had done lapbooks from the very beginning, but ya know, you can't go back. So we are going forward and he is looking at what else he can lapbook. So all is not lost, but you know how our mommy homeschool brains work, it was sort of a sad moment thinking about how those fun little homeschool learning moments are fleeting. Enjoy your children and relax with the textbooks for awhile and try a lapbook out.

Christmas & Only Children part 2

In the coming days before Christmas you will see some posts on things that our family does to help in raising our only child to be a caring individual and ward off the evil selfish behavior that is so prevalent in our world today. This would fall under Character Training and is taught on a daily basis in our homeschool.

What are the hardest things to teach an only child?
*How not to be selfish
*How to be giving
*How to be thoughtful

What can you do to teach the above things?
*Teach them to think of others first
*Give them opportunities to serve others
*Teach them about taking care of others

How does our family teach these things?
*Make placemats for Meals On Wheels
*Play the piano & sing Christmas carols at a nursing home
*Buy Christmas gifts for needy children

Here are some pictures of the placemats that we made.

 

They are simple to make, we just used construction paper, markers and scrapbooking stickers. We decorated them up and we will delivery them to the local Meal On Wheels to put out as tray favors.

We have also done this at other times of the year and they are very receptive to it. You could also use  old Christmas cards by cutting out the pictures and gluing them on, scrapbook paper scraps, use punches, Cricut machine, die cuts, rubber stamps or have the kids draw a picture on them.

 

Check back in the coming days for more festive ideas for you and your only child :O)

Moe

Winter Time Kitchen Decorations

Cricut fun!!

 

I had some fun playing with my Cricut machine! I made this cute refrigerator snowman using the Snow People cartridge. LOVE IT!  It was easy to make and very cute. I also made a knit type of hat with matching scarf (made out of card stock not yarn) so that I can change his outfit. After the winter season is over, just pack him up in a baggie and he will be ready to go next winter.

Right around the Christmas season we all need to take a small break here and there. It was nice to relax on Friday with another homeschooling mom. She chatted with me while I cleaned up my craft room and got organized. Got a lot accomplished, the conversation was like a soothing balm and we both felt refreshed. She entertained my two guys, (my husband was on vacation and our son was enjoying some man time with Dad) she brought her Kindle FIRE and they both played on it while we visited. So with a cleaned and organized craft room I was able to PLAY!!

What sort of fun have you been having with your Cricut machine?
Moe

Thanksgiving & Christmas FREEBIE

Use the following code to get FREE notebooking pages from currclick. freehomeschooldeals4thanks at checkout
Currclick is one of our favorite homeschooling websites. We take classes from them and also get some really great lapbooking and notebooking projects there too.

 What are you planning on doing for Thanksgiving in your homeschool?

Moe

Come see what I made during my mental health day!

I was wanting to spruce up our school room and with the recent discussions about Workboxes, I thought I would start there. So I decided to get out my Cricut machine and goof around a bit on my mental health day. LOL.......here is what I made.

I used the Locker Talk Cricut Cartridge and laminated the items that I made. These were very easy to make. Here are a few close up shots.

Here is our pencil, ink pen/marker and Post-It Note bins.

The infamous Post-It Note drawer......lol.  My guys won't let me live this one down!

 

 Our reading & language bin, DS says we need to change this to Literature this year since he is in Junior High now.....we shall see about that  ;O)

 

 As I read through the Too Much Stuff book from author Kathryn Porter I have come to realize that I have some clutter issues, one that I found was POST-IT Notes, I have about 15,000 sheets of Post-It Notes. I got them on sale one time and thought, I would use them. So lets just say I have a drawer full. I will post a picture with my book review next week. Back to the Workboxes, I had a lot of fun making these and the mental health days was good for me. I spent the afternoon listening to homeschool convention tapes (yes cassette tapes, I borrowed from a friend, but the information was still very relevant.)

Hubby was pretty impressed with these new Workbox labels, he says it makes me a better mom when I take some time for me on occasion.

 

Take some time for you and have some fun this weekend!

Moe

 

 

Rainy Daze Activity Sticks

I just found a really cool idea for the new school year! It's called rainy daze activity sticks. I can't wait to make these!! I saw them over at How To Next For Less blog. Erin has a list of ideas to put on the rainy daze activity sticks on the blog along with full detailed instructions on how to make them. I think with having an older child I will make different activities than she has. Here is a finished project from her site.

So head on over and make one of these for your homeshool!! I'm thinking of some nice fall colors to use on my sticks. Post a picture of yours. I will do the same when I get mine finished.

Take time to think through some fun ways to spend time with your child this school year. What are you looking forward to when school starts? I'm looking forward to campfire school!!  My husband made me a very nice fire pit for our campfire school. We love to sit around the fire and do school.

Have a wonderful week!
Moe

Deuteronomy 6:7
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Scrapbooker and stampers check this out!

Our local scrapbook store bought out a store going out of business and they were selling paper racks, I bought one and LOVE IT!!  I highly recommend getting one, they are so nice to stay organized. I had my paper just stacked in drawers and could never find what I needed.

Now I just need to figure out how to label each row? Any ideas? I think sticky notes would fall off, maybe address labels folded over? What do ya think?

Moe