How to Get Your Kids to Read How to Get Your Kids to Read is a post from Bekki @ A Better Way to Homeschool where we learn to train our children to become lifelong learners. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Bekki on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+! I make my kids read. There. I admit it. This summer has been a bit different though. Since I have to be off my feet for the summer, I am personally reading. A lot. The side effect has been that I am watching my boys grab books to read without being told. Apparently the example of me reading has had an impact. How to Get Your Kids to Read: Read aloud to them. Find some cliffhanging adventures, mysterious mysteries, fantastic fantasies, or stupendous science fiction stories and purpose to read every day. I read to my boys at breakfast because I find my day slips away from me. Oh. I almost forgot… Always leave them hanging when at all humanly possible. Find a Book Mentor I lost the ability to find great books for my older kids to read when my oldest passed the 500 words per minute mark. I needed help and I needed it fast. I took him to the local librarian (whom I trusted) and had him ask her for book recommendations. Perfect. Then I got my hands on resource books, like Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt (affiliate link below) and the Sonlight Curriculum Catalogue and used their recommendations. Then I asked my literary friends. That’s it. I am positive that there many be more suggestions like create a reading fort out of sheets and blankets, pop up the camping tent in the yard and fill it with books and bean bags, build an amazing ship in the back by the trees with its own book shelf, or enter a book reading contest and offer a sweet reward but that’s all I’m sharing today. Set a time, grab some books and make them read. Need Book Recommendations? Here are two great resources! Honey for a Child’s Heart Sonlight (click on the appropriate age level when you get there!) Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.
4 Things My Husband Taught Our Kids In 1 Week Nope. I didn’t know. I really had no idea how much I was micro-managing my kids. The revelation came to me as I was recovering from surgery. While I was down, my husband lovingly whipped my kids into shape in less than a week. While I was laid up in bed, my husband grabbed my boys by the scruffs of their necks, picked them off the floor and set them down on their feet. Firmly. He looked around the house, at me, and at the boys and decided things were going to change immediately. He didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t ask with his soft voice, he just stately things were changing. And then they did. 4 Things My Hubby Taught My Kids in Less Than a Week Hygiene. I hadn’t taught the younger boys how to take a shower (or draw a bath) alone. I’m not sure why exactly. Apparently, I enjoyed filling the tub for my 7 and 9-year-olds and allowing them to be totally reliant on me. (NOT!) I hadn’t realized I had neglected this skill. Husband to the rescue! The boys all now take their own baths and showers unaided. Chore Enforcement. Even though I have a fully laminated chore list posted on my fridge, I was still walking around picking up after the kids. This ended the first day I was down. Hubby ensured that they did their chores and then continued cleaning up after themselves all day. Nothing like the training of a dad! Daddy boot camp. Dishes. This is not to be confused with “chores”. Hubby decided that everyone would do their own dishes all day. While I do have one child assigned to kitchen duty every day, he began having them do their own dishes. Love it! The kitchen duty person cleans pots and pans and wipes down the kitchen, but there is much less for them to complete at any one time. Cooking and Meal Prep. He had those boys diced, slice, stir and cook meals. I’ve been teaching the kids to cook all along, but hubby raised meal prep to a whole new level! He always had at least two helpers in the kitchen making each meal. And the boys LOVED it! Being Team Players. He reinforced that our family of 7 is a complete team and that our world runs much more smoothly when we all work together. He has always been a great encourager for me, but I always run around trying to do too much all by myself. With me down for the count, I had no choice but to watch him coach the boys into doing their best. Honestly, I am only about half way healed from my surgery, but I feel like I have learned so much from him as I have sat here on the sofa (or couch or davenport depending on where you live). He’s my hero! [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=140485d46639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox] Go ahead and grab a copy of my book, Homeschooling from the Inside Out! It’s completely FREE. Just click over and fill in your first name and primary email below and we will send you a digital copy immediately!!
Math Resources Here are some of my favorite Math Resources. My Math Resources can be found here: These are triangular shaped flash cards. I love them because they contain complete fact families. One addition card may contain the numbers 12, 9, and 3. your child learns to associate all three of these numbers together making it a cinch to know 3+9=12, 9+3+12, 12-9=3, and 12-3=9 Math Dice! OK, my kids LOVE rolling the dice. Throw these together with Yahtzee and you have hours of math fact practice! Math drill sheets click here Great Math Games!
Let’s Talk Spring Fever Let’s Talk Spring Fever is a post from Bekki @ A Better Way to Homeschool where we learn to train our children to become lifelong learners. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Bekki on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+! I almost had a heart attack yesterday when I realized it was May 1st already! Where has this year gone? Just a quick glance at my last post shows you that I have lost track of time. Not sure about you, but this is typical for my school year. Spring Beckons my children and me to come outside and play. There are weeds to pull, birds to watch, hills to conquer, gardens to plan and plant, adventures to be embarked upon. Who wants to do “school”? Not me. And certainly not my boys. I love Spring. It reminds me of the teacher I really want to be. It frees my sons to be the learners they are born to be. It releases me from any of the “curriculum webs” I have woven around myself that cause me to chain my energetic and enthusiastic learners to my kitchen table. Even though I have a clear vision for the education of our 5 boys, I find myself continuously fighting the impulse to see what everyone else is doing. I am not sure how to fight this. Do you? I know my kids as well as you know yours. No two kids in my home love the same subjects or have the same learning styles. I need to dig in and plan next year, yet I also know I need to do some serious reflecting. Grab a journal and a cup of something warm and comforting (or cool and refreshing depending on your weather). Ready? Let the kids build a fort in the living room while we chat and review this past school year. Answer each question honestly for yourself, then click on the question itself if you want to see my personal reflection post. I’ll be posting my reflections “as links” as I answer my own questions. Let’s Be Honest… Is my home more peaceful now than when the school year began? When I walk through my home, do I see order or chaos? Do the kids have a healthy glow on their faces from spending hours outside playing every day? Do we have fun memories and photographs of a few places we have explored together? How many books did I read aloud to my children this school year? How many books did each of the kids read quietly to themselves this year? What educational “rabbit trails” did we take because either the kids or I had an unquenchable need to know? How many letters of encouragement did each of us write to friends and family this past year? How many mind blowing science experiments did we participate in: both scheduled and surprise? Did I incorporate living math into our daily lives? Do my kids know their math facts inside, outside, and upside down? Did I love and nurture my husband, or silently ask him to take a back burner in my life because I was busy “teaching”? Did I serve healthy homemade meals most of the time? Are my children enthusiastic learners or bored students? What did I learn about myself this past year? How did I grow as a teacher this year? What was my biggest hurdle? How did I deal with or ignore it? Am I happy with the subjects, curriculum, and adventures that our family exposed our kids to? How do I want to manage homeschooling next year? Share some of your experiences with us in the comments below. We learn from each other as we homeschool our children! Did You Enjoy this Article? Subscribe to receive our latest and greatest: right here
Science for Homeschoolers What do the mating habits of crickets, hydrochloric acid, and Jupiter all have in common? Science! So why do we teach science anyway? I have good news for you who fear science. Science is simply curiosity. It is important to explore scientific topics with your children so that their minds are stretched and they become problem solvers. Do not get hung up on trying to figure out which areas to focus and what ideas need to be learned. Simply explore your world from a scientific perspective. Be prepared to dig deeper where there is interest. Short list of Science topics to explore: Scientific Method The human body Plants Animals Gardening Survival Techniques Electricity and Magnetism Atoms and Elements Weather Planets and The Universe Creation vs. evolution Health Forensic Science Natural Medicine Light If you can think of a topic, there is a scientific question to be answered! Science Resources: The Scientific Method Science buddies Dancing popcorn Creation Science Marine Biology Thanksgiving Science Experiments (Good any time of year) Electricity and Magnetism Science notebooking and journal pages My Opinion: God is a scientist! When we teach our children to be curious, they want to learn more. The incredible thing about studying science is that the deeper you explore, the more God reveals Himself to us. What a delight to look for a scientific answer and to discover the brilliance of our God!
History for Homeschoolers History resources, deals, tips, and encouragement. This page is continually updated with new resources! Why do we teach history and geography? History repeats itself! We want to equip our kids to make wise choices based on history. By studying cultures, events, and people of the past we can teach our children to pattern their lives, “based on history”. History gives us an endless supply of examples of wise and stupid decisions of people that have walked this world before us. Let’s teach our children to look for examples in the lives of those who have gone before us. More Important than studying any ONE particular person, event, invention, or time period, is teaching our kids to be natural investigators of the past. “Do you know about the Pony Express?” After asking all four of my sons the same question I beat myself up a bit. It turns out that NONE of them knew anything about this piece of history. I began thinking about all the different things, people, events, and inventions I haven’t made sure my kids have learned. And then I remembered the BIG truth. It doesn’t matter if we miss events, people, and inventions from history… It matters if we don’t pass on a HUNGER for historical knowledge to our kids. I’m not saying we should neglect teaching history. My kids NEED to know about the Pony Express, who wrote the first epic novel, and random and weird history like Knockers-up. Before there were alarm clocks, there were “knockers-up”, who were hired to shoot dried peas from a blow gun at people’s windows in order to wake them up in the morning. We can learn a lot from history! But we have to ask the right questions! {Click here for Free download} Short List of History Subjects: Biblical History Archaeology Ancient Civilizations (They were brilliant!!) Medieval History Renaissance Dark Ages Colonial America Civil War American Revolution Industrial Revolution Cold War World War I and II Native American History Westward expansion Geography! This world is a fascinating place! and more, much more Get your free History Topic Ideas and Questions to ask when studying History before you go… My Opinion: God is the ultimate historian! Read your Bible with your children and research history mentioned. There is so much to learn about God and the character of a follower of Christ wrapped up within the subject of history. You could spend an entire lifetime studying any one area of history. When exposing your children to important historical events, be prepared to pause and dive deeper into an area of interest! Anything that is important to God is important to us and therefore worthy to teach to our children.
Math for Homeschoolers Why do we teach math? Math is everywhere! Whether your child will grow up to be a mechanical engineer or a stay at home mom, kids need to learn their math facts. Basic Math Skills necessary for life: adding/subtracting multiplying/dividing measuring to the nearest 32nd of an inch, or millimeter (English and metrics) Basic geometry: shapes and solid figures (cone, sphere, prism) finding area and perimeter. My Opinion: God is a mathematician! Anything that is important to Him is important to us and therefore worthy to teach to our children.
Homeschooling Resources and Encouragement Homeschooling is a living breathing thing. Just when you think you have it all figured out, your kids change on you. Life keeps you on your toes this way! Homeschooling moms can lead pretty isolated lives at times. Homeschooling can be challenging, and sometimes downright difficult. We all need encouragement, creative idea boosts, and sometimes a swift kick in the pants (That one is for me). We need to be learning and growing right alongside our children. We need to model good learning and studying habits. There all kinds of “how to homeschool” and curriculum guides out there. This is where I will share my own resources or years of homeschooling experience and wisdom. Click on these links: Start Here! Where do I begin? Homeschooling is a Beautiful thing! Teaching with Toddlers and Babies Why is it “A Better Way to Homeschool?“ Amazing Notebooking Templates for Journalling
Bible for Homeschoolers Why Teach Bible? The easy to read version of Isaiah 55:11 says it best, “In the same way, my words leave my mouth, they don’t come back without results. My words make the things happen that I want to happen. They succeed in doing what I send them to do.” Reading The Bible is like drinking pure natural spring water. Not only will it wet your whistle, it will bring much needed minerals to support your body. It is also an excellent springboard for studying history! Bible 101 for Homeschoolers: Read the Bible together Read from different versions (Choose an easy to understand version for young children) Read the Proverbs of the day (There are 31 Proverbs. Look a the calendar. If today is the 5th, read Proverbs 5. If today is the 29th, Read Proverb 29) Study the history of the Bible. You could spend your lifetime studying Biblical history and comparing it to what you read in “school books”. Choose Bible focused Curriculum. Pray together. Listen to Worship music. Write hymns as creative writing assignments. Use Bible verses as copywork and handwriting exercises. Focus on great Bible stories (like David and Goliath, or Ester) read the stories, draw pictures about the events. Read a Bible story and then enjoy a movie that correlates to it. (Joseph King of Dreams, Veggie Tales, Prince of Egypt, etc) Compare and contrast the biblical account and that of a movie or book. Creation Science Resources Homeschooling through the Holidays Advent Ideas My Opinion: My husband and I are Bible believing lovers of Jesus. We believe the Bible is the written word of God and can be trusted as completely accurate and applicable. If you have never read a bible before, or even do not own one of your own, you can access scripture at Bible Gateway for free. Not sure where to begin? Try the Book of John and Proverbs!
Arts and Crafts for Homeschoolers Art resources, deals, tips, and encouragement. This page is continually updated with new resources! Why do we teach and explore art? Francis Bacon said, “The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.” Art is beauty, majesty, and creativity. Monet said, “Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” Explore art. Create art. Share Art. Do not make the mistake of pushing this critical area aside! If you need help, find some art classes! Short List of Mediums of art: Drawing with crayon, pencils, colored pencils, colored markers Finger paint Pudding painting water color oil pastel cutting and pasting sculpting with paper clay Bread dough sculptures woodcarving soldering needle-work crocheting mosaics *studying the art created during the period in History you study together. jewlry making welding music dance Click on the following links for Art Resources: Subscribe below. New links and activities are posted all the time!e Hand Paining Projects Footprint Art Subscribe here so you do not miss any new resources
Make Your Kids Play Outside- Every Day I can almost say, “YES!” to this one. A fellow homeschooling mom shared an article about schools in Finland comparing them with our wonderful educational system in the United States. Interestingly enough, Finland’s kids have the highest test scores, yet their kids spend much less time in an actual classroom each day. News Flash: In Finland, the kids spend a short amount of time studying a subject and then they are sent outside for a 15-minute recess. Rain or Shine. I immediately tweaked this to apply to my household of boys. Multiple times a day during “school” I send my boys outside to play. At first, there was almost a full-scale revolt. I didn’t realize how much I had chained them to the kitchen table until I began sending them out during school. Benefits: They are getting plenty of exercise. They are starting to get along better on a more consistent basis. (Except right this second. One child is copying one of his younger brothers and it has caused some drama, but no one is perfect). The boys are basically best friends most of the time. The rest of the time they act like little tyrants, giving me plenty of time to practice patience and creative parenting. Anyone else in my boat? That healthy glow is not photo-shopped. The kids not only seem happier, but they look healthier as well. There’s nothing quite like a daily dose of fresh air. Surprisingly Challenging: I found that over the years this is one of those areas that I overlook and neglect. There is always one more book to read, one more paragraph to write, a few more math facts to perfect, chores to be done, and errands to be run. The simplicity of letting the kids get outside and play wasn’t a simple thing for me. I have to purpose to let the kids play. Its so very important, not just for their ability to get out some of that energy, but for their problem solving, creative, and eager little minds. They are better when they have played outside (OK, usually). Quite honestly, I am better when they play outside. It allows me a few moments to form an individual thought, make dinner, or simply regroup. It’s so very important, not just for their ability to get out some of that energy, but for their problem solving, creative, and eager little minds. They are better when they have played outside (OK, usually). Quite honestly, I am better when they play outside. It allows me a few moments to form an individual thought, make dinner, or simply regroup. How about you? Do your kids get enough outside time? Evaluating What Works and What Doesn’t. Click here to read “Spring Fever” to help you take a good look at what you are doing. More from Bekki So, God made YOU a homeschool mom Choosing a chore system that works for your family Inside Out Homeschooling A Better Way to Homeschool
Let’s Be Honest: When I Walk Through My Home, Do I See Order or Chaos? Let’s Be Honest: When I Walk Through My Home, Do I See Order or Chaos? I definitely have some spring cleaning to do! At a quick glance my house is tidy, but I’d never pass a white glove inspection! As I do a self inventory of my home I am fighting the urge to clean everything so I can tell you I have stayed organized this year. Nope. I said Let’s Be Honest, Right? I see multiple areas that need attention: School “Stuff”I have an eclectic homeschooling style. I love to tailor the books and materials I place in front of my children based upon their passions, talents, gifts, weaknesses, and my own curiosity. I also am blessed and cursed with an embarrassing short term memory. I have no idea what I wore yesterday, what chapter I am on in any of our current readers, or even what color my own house is unless I write it down in my journal. (See, anyone can homeschool as long as they are determined to learn and never quit!) I have piles of projects, worksheets, books, readers, lapbooks, books, and more books that I simply leave visible so I do not forget them. What does that look like? Embarrassing photo #1 Yes, that right. This is our school area.Although I have created worse messes in the past, currently everything is piled and mixed up. Sure, that closed door hides more of the mess, sure my high-schoolers supplies are not in this picture, sure I have a bazillion reasons why I stack and not file. Being Honest: I need to go through everything in my school zone and purge what is unnecessary. It’s amazing how chaos creeps in, isn’t it? Do you collect curriculum and art supplies throughout the year? How do you deal with these intruders? More School Stuff. Well, more like art supplies… Embarrassing Phone #2 I am not a shopper, so I do not have tons of supplies pouring out of my cupboards, yet what we do have is a mess! My 7-year-old is like a tornado through our supply cupboard. I have to admit this is a bit humbling. Since my kids have a laminated chore chart posted on my fridge, I fully and naively assumed that I’d have a clean child’s bedroom to report: Embarrassing Photo #3 This is our 3 Musketeer Room. Apparently, a bomb went off because there is no other explanation as to why I should be tormented through the necessity of sharing this disaster with you. What a mess! The issue goes back to the title of this post, Do I see Order or Chaos. Yes, I see chaos. It’s late in the school year. We need to fix that broken picture frame (casualty of the latest Nerf battle), purge a few thousand toys, and pull out summer clothes with the goal of getting rid of torn pants, donating things that are too small, and somehow convince all the young boys that being handed down their older brother’s clothing is a blessing. This chore is way over-due, but always nags me at this time of year. That’s all the “Full Disclosure” my time (and pride) will allow. My honest answer to this question is that I can see through the piles of chaos. I know with a few days of hard-core organizing and purging and a reward of something sweet and wonderful we will soon whip our home back into shape. The order/chaos battle never ends and effects more than my pride.I find it hard to think straight when the home is in disarray.I am less patient and easily distracted when the piles grow faster than I can sort them. It’s a wonder we get any school done in an atmosphere of disorder… Yet, somehow or other, we do. Your Turn:What condition is your home in right this second? [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=141f60546639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]
Apple TV and Homeschooling Apple TV and Homeschooling is a post from Bekki @ A Better Way to Homeschool where we learn to train our children to become lifelong learners. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Bekki on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+! My husband was right. There I said it. Go to Code.org and watch the short video on their home page and see what caught my attention and made me decide he was right. Years ago, my brilliant husband began talking to me about computer programming. I refused to listen because just the thought of software code gave me a migraine. He had just bought one of the first iSomethings that had games on it and said we should learn to develop applications. I nodded and walked away with honestly no intention of ever looking beyond a pretty internet site. Funny how things change over time. About a month ago, my husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary by blessing each other with his and her iPads and while at the Apple store he threw an Apple tv unit into the pile. Apple tv is this little box that plugs into our current telelvision and allows us to share whatever we are looking at on the computer right there on the big screen. Netflix, websites, YouTube: anything. I fell in love with this $100ish device. I began using it for homeschooling videos and games. I do not receive anything for telling you it is worth the $100, but I have to warn you. It may cause you to change your mind. I had resisted computer programming for well over a decade, up until that little Apple tv entered our home. I didn’t see it coming. After a few weeks of sharing his favorite YouTube Videos, this past week he crossed the line. He (brilliant husband mentioned in sentence number 3) made all 7 of us sit on front of the television on a beautiful sunny morning to watch videos.on.Python programming!! Yes, I protested internally (which means I left to clean the kitchen and start laundry), but eventually I caught glimpses of what was being shared on our big screen and began to wander closer. (you can read and watch on code.org.) There are currently 400,000 computer science students projected to be employed by 2020. Modest estimates say there will be 1.4 million computer jobs open by 2020. Computer Science is one of the highest paying degrees 9 out of 10 schools do not even offer computer programming classes. By this time I came into the room to watch some of the interviews. Seriously. GO watch the video on their home page with an open mind. Want to dabble in coding? There are a bazillion coding languages, where should you begin? Here’s a great visual of some popular computer languages. What computer code should you learn? Did You Enjoy this Article? Subscribe to receive our latest and greatest: right here
Notebooking Testimonials If you’re like most homeschooling moms I meet, I bet you’re tired. I WAS TIRED. Tired of chasing after the perfect homeschool method, curriculum, and schedule. Tired of worrying about whether my kids are behind or ever going to catch up. Tired of endless hours spent preparing, teaching, and grading lessons no one enjoys. For six years, we did school right up to dinner, trying to check all the right boxes. Of course, my day didn’t end there. After dinner, I had piles of worksheets, workbooks, and tests to grade FOR MULTIPLE CHILDREN. It was exhausting! It wasn’t working. It certainly wasn’t sustainable. I WANTED TO GIVE UP. I wanted to give up the boring textbooks. I wanted to give up the complicated curriculum. I wanted to give up the busywork that was sucking the life out of my kids. I was in a constant state of self-doubt. What is homeschooling supposed to look like? Am I doing enough? Am I ruining my kids? How long can I keep doing this? Am I good mother? On-and-on the spiral went. I WANTED MORE FOR OUR HOMESCHOOL. I wanted more than just checking off boxes. I wanted more than just grades on a report card. I wanted more than just doing “better” than public school. I wanted to simplify our homeschool, make it more engaging, more life-giving. I wanted to cuddle on the couch with interesting and inspiring books and have engaging conversations. I wanted to follow rabbit trails and my kids’ interests. I wanted to to develop thinkers, writers, lifelong learners. More than anything, I wanted the freedom in our homeschool to enjoy the journey wherever it led us day-to-day with no regrets. AND THAT’S WHEN I FOUND THE PERFECT HOMESCHOOL TOOL… Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Membership I am a homeschooling mommy of four children, ages 4-14. I am also a missionary in a remote African village. I have been teaching my children for 10 years, and haven’t yet found my fit in the curriculum world. I have my kids creating binders for Bible history and geography with pages I create & they fill in & decorate. I had no idea that what I was doing was called notebooking or that anyone else did it. I stumbled upon your site a few days ago and can’t get enough! We only have internet access three times a year when we’re in the capital city, so I’ve ordered your CD with ALL your pages. I am really excited about incorporating your pages into my kids’ binders that they started last year. You have blessed our family tremendously. I plan to tell all the other missionary – homeschool moms here about your site. Most here use Sonlight, and these pages would be fabulous for the kids to use to keep a record of what they’ve learned from the books they’ve read. Tina Gebhard West Africa My kids and I absolutely LOVE your notebooking pages! They look incredible and are so easy to use! I love that you can use them for older or younger ones also! All the options for each product page is wonderful!!! Thank you so much for such a helpful and affordable creation! Julie Tennessee Product: Nature Study Pages Wow! Notebookers and Charlotte Mason fans pay attention! Here is a great resource for you. And for those who don’t fit the above descriptions, you may very well like this, too. I think everyone from unschoolers to the classically minded could make good use of this nature-journal facilitating software. The first part of this computer CD contains a slew of nature notebooking pages. At the beginning there is a Nature Study Notebook Cover and suggestions for using the pages themselves, which are categorized in eight sections. First comes the “7 Days of Creation,” with several templates for journaling and illustrating. All of the pages that have writing space include pages with primary-style lines (with a dotted line between two solid lines) and pages with standard lines for older students. Next is “All about Animals,” which has six sub-sections: Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Mammals, and Reptiles. Among the myriad options, there is a page for drawing animal tracks, an “observation jar” page for drawing little captive creatures, and lifecycle pages. The spider page has a place for sketching the web, and there is an arthropod page with a sectioned template for drawing the head, thorax, and abdomen. A nice feature found here and in the plant section is a “word bank” where specific terms are printed at the bottom of the page for student reference–good for building vocabulary and spelling skills. The “Habitat” chapter is most comprehensive: arctic, beach, creek and pond, desert, forest, jungle, mountains, plains, prairie, rain forest, streams and rivers, rotting logs, savannah, sea and ocean, under a rock, underground, and yard. I especially like the last one, as that is a familiar and convenient habitat for children to explore! Rotting logs and under a rock sound like fun too. The “Nature Log and Journaling Pages” are lined with “date,” location,” and “notes” column headings. There is a generic page and one for each season as well as various template pages with space for writing and drawing. “Plants, Flowers, and Trees” come next. The flower pages have places for leaf and flower/petal detail. The tree pages have spaces to illustrate the bark, leaves/needles, and the flowers/fruit/nuts/cones. There is also a place for bark rubbings. The last three sections are “Rocks and Minerals,” which includes igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks as well as minerals; “Seasons”; and “Weather,” with all kinds of daily, weekly, and monthly weather logs among other things. There is even a page for the water cycle. Each section contains a cover page for separating each category and organizing your nature notebook. The template pages are most attractive, with beautiful illustrations and pleasing layout. At the end of this Nature Notebooking half of the CD is a bonus section. It is an amazing assortment of nature-themed fun frames and borders. These could be used as additions to your children’s nature journal or would be perfect for letter-writing or stories. The author also suggests using them for copywork and dictation. There are rainbows, birds, flowers, leaves, seashells, snowflakes, frogs, and butterflies to name a few. Some are black and white, most are in color and range from quaint to “cartoon-y” in style. In general, they lean toward “girly” in their appeal. Whew! Okay, so now comes the second half of the CD, which is North American Birds Notebooking Pages. There are 680 notebook pages for 97 types of birds, and there are blank templates for adding other birds. Again, you will find both primary and regular-style line options for all the pages that have journaling space. Seven different page templates are available for each bird. Some are full-page illustrations for coloring. Where it applies, male and female species are shown. Many of the pages have a space for the common and scientific name. One template has a range map printed on it. We usually school year-round, trying to plug in some fun stuff in the summer months along with the usual catch-up. I’ve added “Nature Notebooking” to my summer to-do list, and the kids are 100% behind me. I will also make sure we take pertinent pages (animals, habitats, birds, frames, and borders) with us on our family vacations from now on!
Favorite Family Games Family Game Night!! Jenga Settlers of Catan Risk Scrabble Chess Make it memorable! Why not make homemade pizza?
Budgeting for Beginners- 1o Easy Budget Tips Getting a hold of your money is a key step to having peace of mind. Great news! Budgeting for beginners isn’t that hard. There are simple things anyone can do to get their budgeting under control, even if you’ve never learned how to handle money. If, like me, you want to stay home with your children during their educational years, then getting your budget under control is super important. Let’s do this! 1. Learn how to budget from a Preschool Teacher! 10 Simple steps to Becoming Financially Whole This book introduces financial wholeness, the 10 aspects of your financial life that work together for your greatest good, your biggest benefit, and your richest life. Tiffany is a former preschool teacher and brilliant educator. This is the first budgeting overview that makes sense to my teacher brain. She covers the 10 Aspects of financial life and teaches you how to get each one under control. Like a great teacher, each chapter is laid out as a lesson plan and contains: Objective: basic overview of what you’ll learn The DO: actionable step by step lesson The Review: She circles back and makes sure you understand 2. Write it down! Budgets can be fancy computer programs, or simple budget journals. The idea of a budget is to understand, track and plan for every penny that flows into and out of your life. Even that five dollar bill you found in the empty parking lot yesterday. If you really want to save some serious cash, establish a budget and stick to it! My husband always wants our budget in a spreadsheet, since he’s computer saavy. But, if you’re a paper girl like me, you’ll want a pretty journal. It makes it easier to face budgeting when the journal itself is fun. 3. Teach your Kids about Budgeting The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone. Because you get to learn it twice. Even if you don’t understand all the areas involved in budgeting yet, teach your kids what you are learning. This will help set them up for their financial future! Plus, it counts as a math unit! Related: Printable Personal Financial Literacy Project for Kids 4. Food Spending Cook at home. Bummer, I know. But making meals from scratch is cost effective. Cooking in bulk and freezing meals can save you valuable time and money on those days that you barely have time to eat dinner, let alone prepare it!. Here are some freezer meal ideas! 5. Organize your recipes. Take the time to make a list of all the recipes you know how to make. (this is easier if you brainstorm with the whole family). If you are like I used to be, you may be staring at a pretty short list. Make it a goal to add 1-4 new recipes a month. I made this commitment when I was 24, and now have dozens and dozens of amazing family/budget friendly meals! 6. Make a 2 week- one month menu. Cooking according to a plan will save you. period. It saves you time and money. I make a bi-weekly menu every pay-period and stick pretty close to it. I love knowing what I am making for dinner before lunchtime. It is amazing how stressful it can be to look at a clock reading 5:00 and have no idea what’s for dinner! 7. Plan shopping around your menu. Again, it is all in the planning! I organize my shopping list according to my menu. I eat before I shop and I have dinner planned before I leave for the grocery store. (This saves me from ordering pizza after buying $300 worth of groceries!) Buy in Bulk, but compare prices. 8. Look for deals on clothing This is not a huge issue for me since I HATE shopping and have a bunch of boys who have no idea what a name brand is. I cut costs with clothing by purchasing everything I can from a second hand store. I have no issues buying used clothing and dress shoes for my boys while they are still growing! Ebay is an amazing place to get great deals and save hundreds if not thousands a year. 9. Clip Coupons There are coupons for almost everything! Many moms can shave their grocery bills in half by using coupons. Before you buy anything, hunt for coupons and discount codes! 10.Discount Gift Cards Did you know you can buy discounted gift cards online? At Raise.com you can search from a gazillion cards that others are offering for sale. You can save money by buying these cards online and then buying what you need with the gift card. This is a new discovery for me! Super exciting! 11. Electricity Unplug any appliances that are not in use. They drain electricity even when they are powered off. Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms. Better yet, install motion sensor switches! You can spend close to $150 a year simply by leaving your bedroom light on all day. Turn it off and buy a new outfit instead! More ways to lower your bill! 12. Evaluate Extra Spending. I make the personal choice to stay at home rather than require manicures and highlights. I do my own hair and nails. I also cut all my boys hair. If you add all that up, I am saving anywhere between $160-$300 a month because I choose to be the hairdresser/barber. Granted, I have all boys and I wear my hair long, but this is a conscious choice. 13. Cars We traded in our fun sports car for a gas efficient model. We now have a gas guzzler and a Prius. When the whole family needs to be there, we drive the Guzzler. When I go anywhere else, I drive the Prius. The difference is 14 miles to the gallon vs. 50. It’s a no brainer. The difference is spending $120 on a full tank or $30. We drive a Prius: Add it to your wishlist for later. Standing at the gas pump, a crotchety old man snorted as he glanced at my car while filling his truck. “I can tell you exactly how you vote by looking at your car.” I took the bait. “No, you can’t.” “YES, I CAN.” The poor guy had nothing better to do than to harass a woman pumping gas. As I finished filling my car and paid my $24.37 for a full tank, he kept pumping, and pumping and pumping… Sir, all you can tell from my car is that I like to spend my money in a different place other than at a gas station. My little car will go over 500 miles on that $24.37. His jaw dropped. How far will your truck go on your, I glanced at his rising cost, on that ‘over $73’? He shrunk. “Not far.” I smiled sincerely. “Don’t judge me based on my car. This was purely a wise economic decision for my family. Have a nice day!” And now we’re thinking about getting a new one. Which color should we get? Bonus tips Simple Living Quite honestly, we simply try to live within our means. That means we try to look at any new purchase with the “is is a need or a want” mentality. Technology My husband works from home and we homeschool. Technology is woven into our loves more than most, but we do try to make very wise careful decisions. Our four kids each have chrome books. But they are older and need the ability to work online. I create and sell teaching materials and use a Mac. I saved up to buy it. Bottom Line By making some very intentional choices, over time I have been blessed to stay at home with my children. These choices are not always easy, and often we choose to go without a want to satisfy the need. But it is worth it! Did you take your financial wholeness quiz? How about YOU? What are your favorite budgeting tips and tricks? Were you taught budgeting skills? Have you begun teaching your kids about money? Let’s do this!!
Busy Homeschool Mom Fitness Yes, I am lazy. sad, but true. The reality is that I am not just lazy, but my picture is in the dictionary beside the word “Busy”. I have 5 boys. I home-school 4 of them and design and write my own curriculum. I run a few websites and blogs from home. Did I mention that I adore my husband and love serving him? I’d come up with a few more excuses, but I think those are sufficient. I stumbled on the idea of embracing “the lazy way” a while back and it has transformed my exercise life. No, I may not be able to squeeze a 10 mile run in today, but I can do lunges every time I walk my hallway, or do torso twists while waiting for the ground beef to brown. I love this gals approach and I invite you to take a few minutes and browse through her exercises. There is something here that you can incorporate into your busy day as well! Take a trip to Lazy Girl Fitness and get inspired! Before you leave: Subscribe to this blog so you do not miss anything! Share me on facebook, pinterest, twitter or wherever you hang out socially online! Have a great day! (I’d love to hear which lazy exercise you choose first!)
Teaching with Toddlers and Babies Have a nightmare with me Imagine being pregnant with baby #4 and being on bed rest. Now throw in an 18-month-old who is terrified of umbrellas and balloons. Not enough? How about a kindergartener scheduled for MAJOR surgery. Oh heck, why not toss in a 12-year old hormonal 5th grader. Now decide this is a perfect year to begin homeschooling! Teaching with Toddlers and Babies Yes. That was my first year of homeschool. So how did I survive? medication prayer The key to my homeschooling survival was three-fold. I had the heart and attitude that no one was going to be more invested in my children’s success than I was. I took the time to create a plan with my husband. I found successful homeschool moms and asked a lot of questions and implemented their methods that were successful. You can grab a copy of my Survival Plan Overview at the end of this article. It’s all Attitude When you school around toddlers and infants you have to be dedicated. There is no other way to describe it. It is exhausting to chase little ones and teach algebra simultaneously. The first question to ask yourself is whether or not you are committed to “Stick and Stay”. Our kids desperately need to see us model a never quit attitude. The great news is that, with a few adjustments, it is absolutely possible to do a great job! Your Plan If a plan is going to succeed, there must first be a plan; a goal. It was here in my life’s story that my husband and I focused and formed our foundational goals; our Mission Statement if you will.I would encourage you to do the same. Our goals were simple. Pass on our faith Teach our kids basic math facts Foster a love of reading while exposing our kids to great literature Begin the lifelong journey of becoming an excellent writer and communicator. Over 20 years later, three kids are in college, including the umbrella/balloon hater and the babies are now in high school. But our goals are the same. Asking for Help from Experts I would never have survived that first year of homeschooling had I not taken the time to seek advice and ask for help. Some people have a really hard time asking for guidance, not me. I knew I was a good teacher, but I also knew my house was a mess and I had no idea how to teach with little ones around. Here’s what I gleaned from experts. Organization: I actually had a new friend come and help me organize my home. She taught me how to clear and organize clutter. She taught me how to store things in to clear bins. She taught me that taking the time to organize my home, even above the time I took to teach would save me countless hours. Fast forward to today. This was the smartest thing I ever did. It took me about 3 weeks to completely clean. purge, and organize my home yet I have been able to maintain it for over a decade. Toddlers Crave routines. (Actually, we all do, but toddlers thrive when they can anticipate the next thing). One of the moms I “interviewed” encouraged me to schedule my toddlers into manageable time-chunks. It can best be compared to kindergarten “stations”. I established a cycle of activities that followed this order: eat, quiet activity, busy activity. If I could give any advice it would be to glean this “quiet-time”/controlled environment mentality. I used a high chair, a car seat, a booster seat, a playpen, a crib and a gated area for quiet time activity centers. I chose activities that were age appropriate and safe and gave the toddler their own space. Related: Engaging, Pre-planned Activities that Help Create Magical Moments together I honestly did not let them “roam”- that’s when they would get into trouble. Sometimes they were in the same room and even at or near the same table; other times I had them “play” in the next room or in their room. This was something I trained into their day. I began with 5-minute intervals and slowly worked up to 30-45 minutes. It worked beautifully with all my little ones. There are many, many, many kinds of activities to entertain and educate your toddler available online. Keep it simple. I always kept my school activity time toys out of reach so they were fresh and new when needed. Toddlers: crave consistency. thrive under a schedule of rotation of activities. need to have set boundaries for their own development and safety, as well as the sanity of your homeschool environment. Download your FREE “Babies and Toddlers Survival Plan” {printable} Easy Preschool Crafts and Activities Homeschooling with Babies and Toddlers: Quiet TIme
When Mom is Down I had minor surgery yesterday. I left my 9th grader in charge of my 3 musketeers and was chauffeured to the hospital by my best friend (the love of my life for 23 years now). Everything went well with me and I eventually made it home around 6:00pm. This is what I found. The house was clean and most of the laundry was done. All 5 boys helped. Dinner was ready. My oldest makes pizza better than I do now. The house was decorated, cards were made, and there was a gift wrapped. Did I mention it was my 44th birthday? You might say, wow she’s such a blessed and lucky woman. While that is true, it’s taken years of training to get here and I want to encourage you today. Take the time today to teach your children daily living skills. If they can make a mess, they can be taught to clean it up. Give your kids daily team tasks (chores) and mentor them until they can do them independently. Teach your kids to cook. Let your kids decorate, wrap, and prepare for birthdays. (I say “let” because I hogged this price ledge for too long). Allow your older kids to babysit if they are responsible, loving, and kind. If they are not then begin working with them so they become that way. As a homeschool mom, I cannot tell you how great of a blessing it was to come home last night and find my children healthy, happy, and excited that they had worked so hard together because they knew it would bless and help me. Spend the time now to train your children to be the adults they are to become. Great adults do not appear by accident. They are nurtured and trained on purpose. While it is important that my kids read, write, and do math it is more essential that they grow up to be productive, hardworking, loving, and kind men (all my kids are boys). I would love to hear from you… What life skills are you teaching your kids?