What is a Workbox?

Now that back to school is in full swing for most of us. I get asked questions about how I handle homeschool organization. Well here goes. WORKBOXES!! Love the idea but I refused to pay the high prices for the actual Workbox system. So off to Hobby Lobby I went with 40% off coupons in hand. I bought these bins and they have worked well for us for a few years. And so why change a good thing! Plus having a small home it works great in keeping clutter down and things in their place.
I used my Cricut machine to label each drawer. I like to have about 6 weeks of material ready to go (I know in a dream world that always happens....lol). Things are in a disarray around here right now as we started school and then our son's birthfamily came to visit for 5 days, so we had vacation time from school. I'm needing to get a planning day together and get organized.

Each drawer in my workbox system contains what is needed for each subject. That way things are NOT strewn about the house. (I'm learning a lot of things from reading the Too Much Stuff book by Kathryn Porter). Once Science is done, it goes back in the science drawer or math, it goes right back in the math drawer. If I'm sick or I have to be gone for the day, it's all right there. No comments like "I can't find my history book." "I can't find my math test." It's all right there in the drawer. The 3 middle size drawers to the left of my Workbox system contain flashcards & class games, craft supplies are in the 2 bottom ones. The smaller set of drawers to the left of those contain packages of pens, pencils, markers, sticky notes (anyone else have an obsession with sticky notes? I lol........I have like 10 million pads of those crazy things!).

So that my friends is my Workbox system. Works for us and we love it! Share what works for you!
Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!
Moe

Book review coming your way soon!

Book review coming your way soon!

I just received a copy of Too Much Stuff from author Kathryn Porter and will be snuggling up with a warm blanket to read up on how I start "Winning the War Against Clutter." Stay tuned for more on this! It was also exciting to find out that Kathryn Porter and I have a lot in common, just a few things are chickens and homeschooling. What a small world.

Have a great week!

Beef Stew slow cooker recipe

It's finally cooling off here a bit so I've started cooking some hearty meals around here. I use my crockpot/slow cooker all summer long, but when it's time for school to start, I get that slow cooker crockpot really fired up! This time I made some Corn Free, Gluten Free & Dairy Free Beef Stew.
I found some flank steak on sale, cut that up into small pieces, cut up some organic carrots and added some garden fresh green beans. Poured in 2 cups of water (I don't always add water to my crockpot, but I wanted some beef broth to put in the freezer), added some fresh ground pepper, about 3 teaspoons of Grandmas Molasses (corn free & gluten free-had to call the company to find this out), 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce (corn free/gluten free brand), 1 tablespoon of Bragg Liquid Aminos (tastes like soy sauce to me but with less sodium and it's also Certified NON-GMO liquid protein concentrate), if you don't have Braggs, just add more soy sauce, and finally I added a teaspoon of Sea Salt.
If you don't have the allergy restrictions you can add mixed veggies, corn, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes and whatever seasoning sounds good to you.

I'm sort of funny about my beef, I like it very tender. So I put it in the crockpot for 3 hours on high and then about 5 hours on low. You can just leave it on low all day or put it on high for 4 hour.

I did not serve anything with this since I'm sort of doing a rotation diet so as not to get another allergy started. But this would be good with the beef stew and juices poured over mashed potatoes, rice or brown rice pasta. 

Next week I will share my new dairy free, corn free and gluten free cantaloupe sorbet recipe.......SO EASY!!  I'm loving my new ice cream maker BIG TIME!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Moe

Praying in the new homeschool year

I plan on printing out & laminating this very nice prayer reminder that was sent to me by another homeschooling mom. You will find it here  on the keeping it personal website you can print out an 11x17 or 8.5x11 size 31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your children chart.

Check it out, it's super nice!!

Have a great weekend.
Moe

10 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Day Run Smoothly

10 ways to make your homeschool day run smoothly was a blog post that I really needed to read! I hope that you will check it out also. So many simple things to do, yet we get wrapped up in other things and we don't do these 10 simple things. I can think of a few others that would work for me if I kept up on them. I'll give you 5 of my best to go along with the 10 from The Homeschool Classroom

1. Go to bed early.

2. Keep a running shopping list so I don't have to run to town for something each day.

3. Read over the Science lessons a month in advance so that supplies can be ordered and ready for experiments.

4. Do not over schedule, it's called homeschooling and not carschooling!! It's so easy to want to join everything and do everything. And to socialize our child.......LOL. Read Rick Boyer's book The Socialization Trap.

5. If you struggle in teaching a certain subject, look ahead and consult with someone who is in the know. Pray about this, we did this with Math. I'm not real great with Math, but the Lord has provided a good friend that has a masters degree in Math and another friend is a public school Math teacher.

Yes, the Lord provides just what we need when we need it. Philippians 4:19 " But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

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."

Love homeschool science "Solar S'mores"

It's so HOT that we are making smores in the sunshine!  A fun science experiment that brings in weather & climate, cause & effect, observation skills and some fun summer time memories. Nothing like schooling year round, it doesn't even feel like school!

Try something fun with your child today.

Happy Summer.

Moe



Character lessons learned through a baby chick

We are doing school at the kitchen table while a dying baby chick is nestled in a warm t-shirt next to us. Praying & petting him until he passes.

Character lessons being learned today in compassion, availability, gentleness, flexibility, alertness, reverence, thoroughness, love, contentment, responsibility, and sensitivity.

Sometimes life is our best teacher and life is hard at time. But knowing that it builds character helps.

Moe

rice casserole with bacon and spinach

This recipe looks so yummy!  rice casserole with bacon and spinach I plan on making it this week. I think I can make it corn free if I make my own broth.

Hope you have a wonderful week! We have a busy week coming, we are having a homeschool gathering to watch the Michelle Duggar DVD "Tea with Michelle Duggar" and then doctor and dentist appointments galor, husbands birthday and final school work to be done. With lots of nice spring weather on hand I'm thinking we will have some outdoor time too.

Still working on cleaning out the pantry, baked a turkey from the freezer (did you know that Butterball Turkeys all contain a solution made with corn that is injected into the turkey?  GGRR), used up some canned artichoke (ds made those last night sauteed with garlic and olive oil) I of course did not eat them since the can of artichoke hearts contains 'corn'.

We just can't get away from corn in this country, wonder if that is another reason why we have so many health issues in this country.

Thanks Kiara for the post about allergies.

Moe

Homeschool Field Trip Day

Had a wonderful homeschool field trip. Thought at first it might be a bust, too many people showed up to see the eagle and we could not get into the auditorium to see the show. But later we were invited in for a short talk and a private viewing of the Bald Eagle and the Golden Eagle. We were able to get up close, it was pretty cool to say the least!
This was a lesson taught and learned about how sometimes we think life is a bust, but there is more to it than that. Sometimes we think we know what we need, but God has other plans for us.

Notice the smooth head on the top picture.

Notice the ruffled feathers on the top of his head now. They were standing straight up, (like spiked hair) but I could not get the camera to focus quickly enough. I am hoping another mom got a good picture and I will share that if she did.

This guy is about 5 years old and is blind in one eye.



Look at those feet!! WOW!

 

Getting ready for flight.

Major wing span here.

Flying feet up close, those are HUGE!!

Tomorrow I will share the pictures of the Golden Eagle, he is missing a wing, but he is still ever so awesome and powerful looking!

Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

My dream book shelf

We added on to our home a few years ago and during that time our builder needed to remove a pair of windows from our dining room, since he was adding a bedroom to the other side of the windows. I asked the builder if he could put book cases/shelves in the spot that the windows had been. He looked at me like I was an alien, but said sure. We love them!!! Our son and I were jumping up and down at the handy work of the builder when he built them and installed them. Again the builder looked at us like we were aliens. He came back the next day and we had the bookcases filled to the brim, lol. We did not even wait to have them painted, I think this summer I will get them painted. Here is a picture of our new book shelves for our dinning room/school room.

This works so well for our school room!! Yes, of course I could use 10 more of these in my home....lol. It helps us make more floor space in that we don't have Rough Totes full of school books. Our whiteboard is right next to it and it works so well. It's even deep enough for us to have those Sterilte drawers sitting in it.

Share a picture of a neat and fun nook you have in your house. Our builder also built some shelves into our new bedroom using some deep space in the old wall.
Moe

Soup Supper anyone?

This is day 11 in my own pantry challenge and I found some soups hidden away in the cabinet. Soup suppers can be a very frugal way to feed your family. Think ahead in the day and get the bread machine out too. Make some sort of yummy bread, that always makes a meal seem special, or swing by the grocery store and pick up a loaf of crusty french bread if you are not gluten free. Pop a pan of brownies in the oven too. It's little things like that, that keep my husband from saying "Were only having soup?"

Also you might think about adding to your soup or mixing flavors, sometimes I will mix the Chunky soups or Progresso ones. Such as 2 different types of beef soups or 2 different types of potato soups and add some extra corn, green beans, peas, carrots, canned potatoes, whatever your family likes, this way it sort of bulks up the soup, as my guys don't care much for runny soups. Sometimes I add a bit of cornstarch (1/2 cup cold water to 1 tablespoon corn starch, stir it up well and add to boiling soup, stir until thickened, about 3 minutes).

If you make a potato soup you might try sprinkling some cooked bacon on top or a touch of cheese (if you can have dairy) and even some parsley. YUM!! Search the web for some very frugal potato soup recipes!!

For the homeschooling mom soup suppers can be a huge blessing!! Easy meal, no planning and you can even let the kids pick 'their own can of soup'. Or you can dump all the ingredients into the crockpot first thing in the morning, get the bread machine up and running and dinner cooks while you teach. What a blessing a soup supper can be.

Enjoy a soup meal each week and I bet you will save a few calories and $$ in the new year!

SOUP's ON!!

Moe

Back to school day!

How is your back to school day going? We did school on and off during Christmas break since we like to take time off in February for cabin fever.

Our first day back starts with homeschool bowling, our son loves PE and bowling is a fine way to get it in.

Are you starting anything new and exciting this semester? We are going to finish up Latin and start on Proverbs People from The Learning Parent, love all the materials from the Boyer family. Click the link to see what they have going on. They are running a sale right now and a lot of items. They are Godly conference speakers and have 14 kids and started homeschooing back in 1980. Check them out!

Have a wonderful day back.
Moe

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

That is what life seems to be all about.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."

Tomorrow I see the first of many specialist, so we shall see what he has to say about it all.

I've kept busy here, decluttering and tossing stuff. I gathered up a large box full of scrapbooking supplies and gave them to a girl at church. And ya know those piles of papers that we all have, I've been sorting through those and have a rather large 'to be read pile!'. (yes, you know those hidden away piles of misc. papers, magazines, flyers and such that you had good intentions of reading.....lol).

I've also stumbled across a few Christmas gifts that need to be wrapped. Along with the latest homeschool class schedule for the spring semester, would like to sign our son up for a few classes, but not sure what the future holds as I have to wait 6-8 weeks before the doctors say that they will do any testing, that right there cuts into the Spring semester.

School has been going well, our son is working on a huge research paper on The Battle of Britain, I'm working on teaching him how to hone in on the topic, as he is pulling in way too much information (thinks he is doing a college paper!). He needs to narrow it down a bit, there is a TON of really neat info, but he needs to fine tune it.

The chickens are freezing their tail feathers off........lol. Not really but their water has been frozen over every morning. So it's for sure winter time. They are enjoying some goodies, we sliced up pumpkins yesterday and they like those. We have 1 watermelon left, I'm saving that for a mid winter treat, hoping it lasts.

Husband is burying himself in his work, that is how he deals with all this. No Christmas tree up yet, but I have a few snowmen out. I think we will forgo the tree this year since I just don't have the strength or energy to deal with it. In thinking along those lines, there was never any mention of Christmas decorations in the Bible, so I don't think that we are missing out on much this year, decorating seems to be a world's view of Christmas. We have been enjoying Christmas music and seeing the lights displayed on many homes near us. One tradition that we will keep for sure this year is driving to look at light displays. It just dawned on me that we did not get a Christmas tree up last year either, we were in the middle of a remodeling project and there was just no room for it. I used my Cricut Machine to make a cute cut out of a tree with a train underneath it.

What are some low key Christmas traditions that you enjoy as a family?

Moe

Homeschooling, Character Training & Other Musings.

Well it's been a crazy 2 weeks here, but I really think it's been a full 2 weeks of learning experiences for our son. While I was hospitalized our son got his school work done each day, this I attribute to allowing him over the years to read over the teacher manuals (not the answer keys, but the actual lesson plans and teacher explanations.) while I guided him, we started this in the 4th grade with history and science. I let him read the daily teacher manual and then do the work. He learned to pace himself as well as to follow directions and teach himself. Something that we as adults use daily if not hourly in our lives and it's all part of character training.

This week while home resting has been spent on some Home EC type things (LOL!) getting the house straightened back up from the bachelor pad look. I checked out several DVD's from the library and our church library on science, the human body and space, so that has been a lot of our schooling this week. Relaxing and watching educational videos and then discussing them. While I was in the hospital a Civil War kit came in from the library that we had ordered. So that has been a lot of school work this week too. It comes in a huge suitcase with rolling wheels, there are books, video's, DVD's, lesson plans, and all sorts of things to play with like hard tack, gun powder keg, dishes and many more Civil War era fun things. That has kept DS busy for many hours last week while at Grandpa's and this week while home with me.

Home schooling is such a blessing, it amazes me how many of the kids are willing to read good books (if presented with them), play with educational items (like the Civil War kit) and still have fun without the TV, computer, radio, IPOD, or gaming systems. We must be mindful that these things can sneak in and take over our kids lives and our homes. Be mindful of the influence that media plays in your own life and life of your child. Not all media is bad as we can see from this week: enjoying some educational videos during a time of sickness. But a steady stream of daily intake can take it's toll. Our son never even asked for the password to the computer while I was in the hospital, though he was thrilled to get to check his email when I got home and he had 100's of messages......lol. I had to hear about all the
Vision Forum 'deal of the day' emails that he missed out on......lol. We love that website and have gotten some really great toys and books from them. We are planning on using the Soldiering Through History Collection (3 DVDs and 3 Study Guides) this winter along with our regular history.

Feel free to share any homeschooling highlights you have had during a time of sickness in your home and how you handled it. As you home educate think long term, instead of from test to test, think about how each day you are imparting learning on your child for the future. A well rounded education is key to a well rounded adult, so books knowledge, love, home ec, sickness, and forgiveness should all be a part of our schooling day. I know that sometimes we get in the TEST mindset, but look at life through Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."


Have a wonderful week, slow down and enjoy the true meaning of the holiday season. And to my Jewish brothers and sisters, I praise the Lord that you are His chosen people and I love you!! Happy Hanukkah.

Moe

A Smoother Homeschool Year?

I came across this today at www.hsclassroom.net blog, click on the link below to find 19 Everyday Helps For A Smoother Homeschool year.  This had some great ideas. Share some ideas of way you make your homeschool year run smoother.
Have a great evening!

How is your homeschooling going this year?

When stressful days come a knockin', momma has got to figure out how to get a rockin'!

Here is my best tip for you on those tough homeschool days.

Always keep a pocket new Testament Bible in the bathroom drawer. Escape to the bathroom, AKA Teacher's Lounge. Read a few verses of scripture, cry your eyes out, wash your face and grab a fresh cup of coffee. Kiss the kids and move on...............

Moe

Dice Math Games

Thinking of my previous post today about the homeschooling mom and the public school math teacher mom, I found these cool Math dice games over at the home iz cool 101 blog stop by and check her out.

I have some really cool extra sided dice (more than 4 sides), I bought them last year and forgot all about them until I read this blog post. Note to self, STOP BUYING THINGS AND USE WHAT YOU HAVE ON HAND! lol. How many of us have all these school goodies that we bought with high hopes of using them and later find them covered in dust? Shake the dust off your dice and roll into some fun & games this school year!

I can't wait for school to start next week! We love to play games in our school and it's a great way to keep your students interested and make concepts real to them.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program of me working on 6 scrapbooks for tomorrow, our church is hosting a 9/11 memorial service for all our fire, police and ambulance personnel.  I was asked to complete the task of making commemorative scrapbooks for them all. Nothing like the last minute, as my MI buddy would say "If it weren't for last minute, nothing would ever get done."
Turn your life over to Jesus Christ and He will bring you comfort even in all of the ills of this world, including the devastation that 9/11 brought to us.

Interesting Bible verse

This sort of makes me think of my post on Aug 31 that was on time management. How does this relate to that post?

I came across this Bible verse today and it really spoke to me. The first version is King James.
"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you" 1 Thessalonians 4:11.

This second version is the NIV.
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you"

WOW, it says a lot to me and makes me think on a number of things. Slow down in life, concentrate on the important things in life (God, husband, child, education), deal with your own house and get your work done.

What does this say to you?

Have a wonderful week!!!

p.s. There is nothing more convicting (besides the Bible) than listening to the homeschool convention MP3's!