I've Been Thinking...
Bye-Bye Crockpot
Homeschool Rooms & Homeschool Spaces
we use workboxes.
Using stacking drawers/bins from Hobby Lobby bought using my 40% off coupon of course!
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Above is my built-in workbox from our home remodel. This space was two large windows in our dining room. Our contractor thought I was crazy when I ask him to do this, until he saw how many books we had! lol. Once he finished it and I had all the books and the drawers up there, he was pretty impressed by my idea. |
Homeschool Graduation Day...It's Here Already...
Once I catch my breath, maybe life will slow down a bit, it's been a wild ride and busy time with college visits, applications, essays and fun stuff like that! We enjoyed our last homeschool convention and were so blessed to spend that time learning from college guidance counselor talks that were given. It was also a melancholy time of reflecting on the years gone by and a sad, but inexpensive time of shopping the vendor hall. It was sad to look at all the new curriculum's out there, yet have no need to buy anything. Of course I bought myself some goodies...lol.
We are embarking on some exciting uncharted territory for us with some interesting twists and turns along the way. But as the Homeschooled Young Man always tells me "God's got this." or "The Lord always takes care of us, don't worry." Got to love that little guy (well a big guy now!), who is now taller than me. And it's become obvious...lol.
Just turned 16 years old and graduating high school...WOW!
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The true blessing was that the Homeschooled Young Man spoke all of this from the heart, with no notes (which drives Homeschool Momma crazy because you must write notes for a speech in a rough draft form and then write the final draft notes on lined index cards!!!). There were not many dry eyes in the room, most of whom knew us from the very beginning before he was even born. They had wondered how this whole homeschooling thing worked and now they were enjoying the fruit of our efforts and the wisdom that the Lord had imparted upon us early on to homeschool.
Wow, what an exciting day, Homeschooled Young Man's birthfamily was with us for the day to celebrate (along with some of their friends), sadly without his birthmother who was killed by a drunk driver over Thanksgiving break in 2006 as she was driving home from grad school. But her memory is still with us and alive. For without her, we would not be parents. God is good, all the time, in the good and in the bad, God is good all the time.
Enjoy these new times and find the blessings while grabbing those last few fleeting hugs along the way.
Moe
Homeschooling Saves Tax Dollars
Pray for a homeschool mom, love on a homeschool mom, and appreciate a homeschool mom!
Homeschooling from your bookshelves? It's possible come see how!.
Well I'm all for frugal!
Most of us homeschoolers have enough materials on hand to educate a small army...lol.
This summer go through your bookshelves and make 3 piles:
THROW AWAY
KEEP
SELL/GIVEAWAY
Throw Away Pile: The first pile is just plain old junk, stuff that is used up, scribbled on, torn up etc. Get RID OF IT!! Including that workbook you bought on Ebay that smells like nasty musty YUCK!!
Keep Pile: This is stuff that you can use, organize it by subject, I like to buy magazine holders from the Dollar Tree or use cereal boxes with the top and side cut out and some cute wrapping paper to cover them. They are very durable if you put some clear packing tape on the bottoms. Use these for booklets, workbooks and things like that. Put subjects on them and on free days or Mom is sick days, tell our son to go and pick out an activity and spend an hour working on it. It makes learning fun because he can pick what he wants to do. Jot down what you have and later on in the summer when you really start planning out the coming school year you can see what you have to work with.
The sell/giveaway/trade pile is for stuff that is still usable, but you don't need it anymore or it did not work for your child. I have gathered up enough stuff to sell that I was able to buy some new goodies at the homeschool convention that I might not have otherwise been able to afford. The giveaway items are things that are still in usable condition that you can bless another homeschool family with. PaperBackSwap is another great way to get rid of books you no longer need. Check them out to see how they work. Or read my blog post on how it works.
By looking through what you have, you can make a plan of action for your coming school year. I am betting that everyone has at least 1 full subject that they can teach this next school year without having to buy a thing. Take some time and get digging around, see what you can find to
THROW AWAY
KEEP
SELL/GIVEAWAY
Post on here to let us know what you find!
Moe
Popular Blog Posts...Finger Pointer Thingy...
Finger Pointer Thingy |
Long about October of that same year, the Homeschooled Young Man asked if he could do his history on the couch with the dog, I told him as long as he got his work done. Then next thing you know he was under the kitchen table (his all-time favorite place) on the floor with the dog doing science. A short time later, he discovered fort making with sheets, blankets, and kitchen chairs to study in. These shenanigans nearly ended our homeschool career before it really got off the ground when Homeschool Dad saw what was going on. Because you know, homeschooling dad's think that learning can only be done in a straight backed chair, a desk and feet flat on the floor.
My homeschool décor has also changed; I have cute laminated quotes and pictures all around our homeschool bookshelves. They perk me up on a long day and get me through the tough times.
The picture below is from WWW.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com I've had it for years on my refrigerator and no matter how bad my day is, I can look at it and just laugh, I don't know why it makes me feel happy, but it is just so funny!
You can see how our homeschool has evolved over time, changed and morphed into something wonderful and unique to our family, now do you see why I was giggling so hard when being poked with the Finger Pointer Thingy? It is amazing how a little Finger Pointy Thingy can bring back so many memories.
Schoolhouse Teachers Homeschool
http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=1054&p=https://schoolhouseteachers.com/member-resources/all-courses/ (The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, owner). Yet another
useful home education tool provided by http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/. SchoolhouseTeachers.com is set up by graded sections, pre/K & elementary,
middle school and high school with drop down menus for all. You will find
everything for homeschooling with topics such as logic, math, science, history,
fine arts, Bible and many more electives as well as helps for the homeschool
mom.
http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=1054&p=https://schoolhouseteachers.com/member-resources/all-courses/ is a must for all homeschoolers, whether you are a
boxed curriculum homeschooler, eclectic or unschooler this site has something
for your student with 400+ classses. Our homeschool has tended towards the
boxed curriculum (we have started branching out in recent years though) but it
was always missing something. I’ve found what was missing and it was
SchoolhouseTeachers.com, there are all sort of goodies to find on this site.
It just so happens
that my son was given an acoustic guitar as a gift and he has been getting
library books on how to play the guitar, but they have been either way over his
head or contained music that does not fit our family values. As we are
reviewing the Old Schoolhouse magazines website SchoolhouseTeachers.com we came
across the guitar lessons.
Mom & Dad have no trouble with reminding our son to practice his guitar because SchoolhouseTeachers.com is so much fun to use! |
The videos are AWESOME! It's great to go back and watch them again to get the finger movements down pat. |
Another area that I liked was the logic section. We have always struggled with teaching logic in our homeschool, so I was thrilled to see Logic on the drop down menu under middle school. I like how the lessons are set up so that my son can just go right in and get started. It has helped foster independence on his part. I know that we have a few years to go before college, but when I look at the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website, I’m thinking about how using this site will help our son out in the long run. Online college classes are the future for many of our children and what better way for them to be prepared than by teaching them in pre/k & elementary, middle school and high school with methods that they will continue to use down the road.
We plan to continue searching through all the goodies over the next year that SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers. Post and let me know what you think of the site and how it's enhanced your homeschool.
Have a great day!
What's that smell?
LOL...The Homeschooled Young Man asked me the other day "Mom, you need to help me figure out how much cologne to put on." My husband replies "Son, don't ask things like that of your Mother, you know how she is. She will plan a unit study, you will have to get on a plane and travel to Zimbabwe to study some exotic herb that is harvested to make cologne." LOL...Me? A Homeschool Mom, do that?
Adoptive Momma Tears Flow
Just yesterday the nearly 15 year old young man brought me a Taraxacum officinale, a weed, better known as a Dandelion. That little yellow weed filled this adoptive momma's heart with love and her eye's with tears, happy tears that is. It made me thankful that he thought of me, stopped during his busy day and took the time to smell the flowers, even if they were just weeds. These are simple little pleasures a Momma gets and uses as teaching moments for her son. I remind him that his wife will enjoy getting a simple bouquet of flowers on a rare occasion, just because he thought of her.
I treasure these moments as the days are fleeting and soon those Dandelions will be untouched. But I think that somehow I will be getting a bouquet of flowers in the Spring from my little man when he is all grown up, no matter where the Lord plants him.
Moe
2014 RUNNER UP for the top blog post
Kicking off the new school year with some of my favorite homeschool websites!!!
Happy schooling!
Moe
http://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/index.html
Homeschooling boys
http://www.spellingcity.com/
LOVE this site! I entered in an entire year of spelling words and each week he uses this site to learn them. There is a ‘teach’, ‘play’ and ‘test’ area. He loves this site.
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Make your own comics, this is a great tool for creative thinking
Thanksgiving ideas
http://localhs.com/holiday/thanksgiving_elemetary.asp
Math games
http://sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
Tests grade school through high school
http://www.thatquiz.org/
Math games
http://www.quia.com/mathjourney.html
Word scramble and puzzle makers
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/make-your-own/word-scramble/
Math & grammar games
http://www.funbrain.com/
Math games
http://www.lizardpoint.com/math/add-ws.html
http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/
Keepers of the Faith
Christianity Today home school info
http://www.christianitytoday.com/momsense/homeschoolcenter/
Lots of neat stuff here for Bible believing homeschoolers & Bible studies & character studies
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/bibleforms.htm
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
Worksheets for different grades
http://www.squidoo.com/50statesnotebook
Great ideas for state notebooks
http://www.bjupress.com/resources/ecamp/
Bob Jones University kids website
http://www.barbarafrankonline.com/
The Imperfect Homeschooler (great encouragement)
Workbox system-we use this system and LOVE IT!
http://wayzleyacademy.homeschooljournal.net/2009/07/31/my-workbox-system/
http://www.wfmu.org/onthedownload.php/album/5654
Neat Christian science/nature programs
http://www.johnsburglibrary.org/
home school resource library
Let’s play math
http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/
Lessons plans using Legos
http://www.weirdrichard.com/activity.htm
Lego site
http://forum.littlebrickschoolhouse.com/index.php
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/
Lots of printable lessons
http://www.sonlight.com/TF4.html
I don’t use Sonlight curriculum, but the website offers up lots of great info on home schooling, books and has book lists by grades. I enjoy the emails they send too.
Lots of printables
http://www.canteach.ca/
http://www.canteach.ca/links/linkhomeschool.html home school area of above website
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_4.php
Math games & printables
http://www.ntm.org/kidstuff/index.html
New Tribes Mission kids website
Info and printables
http://homeschooling.about.com/
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/
Arts & crafts
http://www.sundayschoolresources.com/clipartcoloringpages.htm
Lesson plans
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp067.shtml
Resources for Christian teachers
http://www.teacherhelp.org/hs.htm
Crafts/Art
http://www.teacherhelp.org/crafts.htm#recipes
home school info
http://delicious.com/LifeSchool
Physical science
http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/index.cfm
Free resources
http://www.learningresources.com/category/teachers/resource+center/for+your+classroom/free+activity+masters.do?code=PROMO-WIND09
Coloring pages & resources from National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/archive/
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/index.htm
Neat stuff
http://www.unshackled.org/
Pacific Garden Mission-great place to take a field trip.
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/
Good info & printables
http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/100-COMPLETELY-FREE-Distance-Learning-Resources-for-Homeschoolers-125.html
Neat free stuff
Homeschool articles
bonajo/index.htm
Homeschool programs
http://caa-archeology.org/html/programs.htm
Math curriculum & games
http://www.mathusee.com/
Evangelism tools for kids & fun stuff
http://www.wycliffe.org/Resources/Kids/RecommendedResources.aspx
Homeschool Classifieds
http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/planner_form.asp
This is a funny home school blog a few great articles & links to home school websites
http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2009/07/my-ten-must-haves-from-back-to-school.html
Timeline helps
http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TimelineHelps/
Frugal website (sometimes has home school content, but otherwise about saving money with kids & being frugal.
http://www.livingonadime.com/articles/deprivingkids.htm
Interesting home school blog
http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2007/10/homeschool-resources.html
Science homeschooling
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1256956745
Socialization of homeschoolers
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sasschool/socialization.html
home schooling forms to print
http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/index.htm
Candy science experiments
http://www.candyexperiments.com/
Geography worksheets
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/geography.html
Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/play/games/
Neighborhood Bible Time kids site
http://www.nbtime.org/kidscorner.html
Weather
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treehouse/
History
http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/
Lego building projects
http://creative.lego.com/en-us/FamilyTime/buildinginstructionssecret/BuildingInstructionsBoxSecret.aspx?domainredir=legofamilytime.com
Homemade Homeschoolers
http://hmhomeschoolers.com/blog/category/games-for-learning
2015 Time For A Change
Things have been crazy around here, my husband was injured at work and has been recovering at home. We have had some fun eating out of the pantry to save on groceries.
Learn to eat from your pantry to save post coming soon! |
I also have a prayer request for one of readers, Deb, she is also homeschooling an only child...who is going off to college this year!! YEAH!! Please pray for her family as her Dad passed away this week.
How is your New Year going? I am praising the Lord for the wonderful sunshine that He is giving us this winter. It's wonderful to sit in my sunroom and work on my blog.
We are going to change the look of things from the dreary winter blog look to a fresh new look.
Let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Moe
~Let's Get Cooking Series~
All the recipes in this series can be made either gluten free or with gluten, so don't run away if you are one of my readers that is NOT gluten free.
So the Let's Get Cooking Series is kicking off today with some AWESOME recipes from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. Hop on over and check her out! Tell Lynn that Moe sent you from Adoptive Mom Home Schooling An Only Child blog.
40 Ground Beef Recipes
Lynn's Kitchen Adventures has some wonderful meals that could be easily made gluten free. Stop by her blog and check out the 40 recipes that she has on there.
Taco Soup photo from Lynn's Kitchen Adventure blog |
Many of these recipes look like they could be easily changed to gluten free and also look freezer friendly. Easy swap outs would be regular noodles for gluten free noodles. I think that these recipes will be easy enough for a Gluten Free newbie to try out and enjoy.
Lynn also has a Gluten Free button on her site for more recipes. Always check your ingredients and make sure that you are using gluten free.
Warm up with a nice hot meal on the cheap!
Moe
Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
YUMMY Fall Gluten FREE Recipes
As I was taking a much needed break from life, I came across this wonderful website from My Gluten-Free Kitchen...YUMMY is all I can say. I printed out several of her recipes and plan to make them this week. I just love the fall time of year! I want warm, soft foods like casseroles and Michelle over at My Gluten-Free Kitchen has just the recipes.
Here recipes are all gluten free, but some of her links to other websites/blogs do not have gluten free recipes, but many of them that I looked like could be easily made gluten free. Such as replace soy sauce with gluten free soy sauce or replace noodles with gluten free noodles. All easy fixes so check her out!
Just a few recipes she offers up
Buckeye Brownies
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Snickerdoodles
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Visit Michelle and enjoy some wonderful fall recipes.
Moe
The Price Of Home Education: Dollars & Sense
The Homeschooled Young Man's hero ever since the 4th grade has been Dr. Ben Carson, MD. If you get the chance watch his movie Gifted Hands, we have watched it several times and I am so not a movie watching person...lol. Dr. Ben Carson also has an autobiography book for younger kids and a book called America The Beautiful, which is good for teens and adults. A homeschool friend was able to help me secure 2 tickets to see Dr. Ben Carson speak. During that time the Homeschooled Young Man was able to meet Dr. Ben, shake his hand, get his picture taken with him and get his autograph. Let me just say that this might have been the highlight of his homeschooling career! I think this may be a close runner up to meeting Dr. Jay Wile, PhD, who authored the Homeschooling Young Man's favorite science textbooks.
Now mind you, we are not a well to do family, we live on one income, we follow Dave Ramsey's budget planning, save as we go and scrimp some months. We had to figure in gas, food, miles on the vehicle, hotel, tickets to the event and purchase of Dr. Ben's latest book. So as you can figure it took a bit of financial planning to make this trip to see Dr. Ben a reality.
I was talking with the executive director of our state homeschool group and he was asking me about the medical school program that the Homeschooled Young Man is in and the experiences that all that carries with it. And he said this to me in an email. "Do you understand that you can't separate that interview from making the sacrifice to hear Ben Carson? One is affected by the other. This is where so many homeschooling parents miss the mark. They want the convenience of slapping a worksheet down in front of their children but miss the importance of real life, usually because it comes at a price of time, energy and resources."
This is what homeschooling is all about. Yes, some homeschoolers have a set of state standards that they must abide by, but there is so much more that we as homeschoolers can focus on. So many more rich life changing experiences that we can afford our children. What are you spending your homeschool resources on? Worksheets only? What can you change up this coming school year that will afford change in your child's real life world? Homeschooling dollars & sense: it's what you make of it.
Are you considering home education for your child this coming school year? It's not too late, even if you have already registered them for the big yellow school bus. You can do it!! Let me know how I can help you.
Moe
HURRY!! FREE Homeschool Planner!! ENDS TODAY!
Come on over and check this out from the Frugal Homeschool Family. They are super nice and just in time for the new school year.
Moe
Cake + Teenager = Lesson In Contentment
I got this really cool idea to have a ER, well now known as an ED birthday party theme for the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man. He corrects me on this every chance that he gets ;-0
You see back in the 'old days' as he would say, hospitals only had 1 room for emergencies, hence the name "EMERGENCY ROOM". Now hospitals have more than 1 room and so they are now deemed "EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS." In light of this I thought what better birthday party theme to go with? lol.
I had this really cool cake in mind, ya know the Mejier version of an AWESOME Cake Boss cake...lol. I even explained what I wanted twice to the cake decorator. I warned the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man that "I don't think the cake lady understood what I wanted, she kept drawing and crossing things out." I was thinking how hard can this be? I want a cake that says EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT at the top and then a large blank space for me to put my own decorations on.
Fast forward a week and I pick up the cake the morning of the party and it's not the right cake. The girl said "Well I can take this one with the polka dots on it and write emergency department on it." Dare I even laugh? They were large pastel polka dots and he is a 14 year old boy." hahaha. I just said "No, I will just take the other cake." As I walked away discontented, the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man put his arm around me and said "Don't worry about it, I like it, it's fine."
I liked it better once I got the Lego doctors, nurses, surgeon, patient, gurney and other equipment on the cake. ( with a little help from a friend). I am still trying to figure out what some of the things are that the cake decorator had drawn on the cake...lol.
Earlier tonight, the day after the party, Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man was cutting himself a slice of his cake and he thanked me for taking the time and effort to get the cake for. He told me that even though it was not the cake that I had wanted, that he was happy with it. He even said "You could have just thawed out one of those giant cookie cakes we have in the freezer."
So this is where contentment factors in. I already had a cake in the freezer, but I wanted more/better. We teach our kids day in and day out about math, science, grammar and history, but what do those things really boil down to? Smarts, yes smarts count for something in life, but contentment factors into our every day lives. Yet it is so easy to forget that fact and busy ourselves with all sorts of school stuff. Nothing like a teenager to teach you about the facts of life.
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