Looking For Fun St. Patrick's Day Ideas?

We are planning some fun St. Patrick's Day activities for this week.  Here are some fun pages I've created over at Squidoo for St. Patrick's Day food and crafts!

Traditional Irish Breakfast

Image: Traditional Irish Breakfast

How To Make a Leprechaun Trap

Image: Leprechaun

Throw a Pot of Gold Party!

Image: Pot of Gold

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Blessings!

Brandi



January 31st is Backwards Day!

!yaD sdrawkcaB yppaH

Photo courtesy of GoodNCrazy

January 31st is National Backwards Day!  Do you know what that means in a house full of kids?  Chaotic fun!

Some of the things we are doing today:

1.  We put our clothes on inside out (the tags are annoying if you put them on backwards!)

2.  When we made our beds, we put our pillows on the wrong end!

3.  For breakfast, we had macaroni and cheese with tuna and green beans!  (I have to admit, eating tuna at 9:00 am is NOT pleasant!  And I still had to have my coffee...)

4.  We learned to spell our names backwards...surprisingly easy for the kids...surprisingly NOT easy for me!

5.  We did backwards exercising!  Backrolls, backward crab walk, walking backward through the house, backward stair climbing, jumping backwards, upside-down handstands, etc.  FUN!

6.  We played backwards Chutes and Ladders!  We started at the finish, finished at the start, went up the chutes and down the ladders!

7.  We learned about palindromes!  (mom, dad, toot, peep, Hannah)  Google it for some really amazing palindrome phrases and sentences!

9.  For dinner we are making waffles, fruit salad, and oatmeal crisp! 

10.  Tonight we will do our bedtime routine backwards...pray, read, brush teeth, wash faces, put on PJ's, lights out...not such a big deal for me, but "mixing it up" is very exciting for them!

Are you celebrating Backwards Day in your home today?

Photo courtesy of RBerteig

Free Homeschool Resources

I've been browsing the web this past week, searching for curriculum for our homeschool, and I came across a ton of great free resources for homeschoolers that I wanted to share with any homeschooling readers I might have.  I tried to make it easy to browse through by breaking it down by subject.  Hope you find something that you like!

**There are no affiliate links in this post**

ALL SUBJECTS

Sheppard Software ~ Tons of fun games for preschool to 8th grade in all major subjects.

MATH

NumberNut ~ Love this site!  Explanations of math concepts and fun activities.  Elementary to advanced.  Scroll down the homepage for a tour of the website.

MathVids ~ Excellent instructional videos, especially for more difficult high school subjects.  I watched a couple of these and they are easy to understand and don't take any time to load.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Basic Cozy Spelling Course ~ Complete 30-lesson spelling course for Grades 6 thru 8.  I'll be doing one lesson per week with my 6th grader this year.

Wordsearch Maker ~ Free downloadable software for creating your own word searches.  Makes very professional looking puzzle sheets and is easy to use.  Use it with your spelling words from the Basic Cozy Spelling Course listed above!

SCIENCE

The Science Bank ~ We will definitely be using this website this year!  Borrow science resources for free (just pay return shipping), including videos, charts, books, software, models, and even simulated dissection kits.  Something for all grades.

Columbus Zoo ~ I love Jack Hanna!  This is a link to Jungle Jack's Animal Guide.  Very fun interactive world map, great for all ages to explore!

Smithsonian ~ Speaks for itself...tons of really amazing stuff here.  I plan on letting my kids explore this site before we take them to D.C. this year to visit the museums!

SOCIAL STUDIES

A Book In Time ~ History resources and crafts.  I especially love the extensive reading lists on this site.  All ages.

American Heritage ~ Free history curriculum for K-12.  Download from their website or order a free lesson plan CD.  Donations are accepted.

ART

smARTkids ~ An interactive website that makes art appreciation fun.  Very fun website to explore...my kids love this one!

MUSIC

SFSKids (San Francisco Symphony) ~ Educational and fun!  Graphics are eye-catching...try out The Music Lab!  All ages.

PRESCHOOL

LetterOfTheWeek ~ Totally free complete preschool curriculums, progressing from "Preparatory Curriculum" to "Letter of the Week" to "Sound of the Week" to "Story of the Week"!  4 years of free curriculum!  Also offers free curriculum guides for higher grades, although I can't speak to this personally, as I've never used them.

OTHER

CyberSmart! ~ Awesome free computer curriculum!  I will definitely be using this one throughout the year.  Click on the links to the left to access lessons by grade level or topic.  K thru 12.

I would love to hear from you if you use any of these free resources.  Tell me what you think!

Blessings!
Brandi

Overdue Picture Post

Funny how "tomorrow" can turn into "2 weeks from now" in a heartbeat! One thing you must know about me is that I am always late...with everything...seriously. Ask anyone who knows me. If I tell you 6:00, you automatically think 6:30. If I tell you I will definitely get your birthday card out on time this year, count on it at least a week later...if at all! And, when my due date is May 20th, that baby's gonna stick around until at least the 22nd.

An unappealing trait, I know...

So, when I posted that I would have an update "tomorrow", what I really meant was I would have an update when my crazy life slows down a bit, which is never, so the fact that you are reading this right now is a miracle of the greatest proportions.

Here is the long-awaited (by whom, I don't know) update...if anyone still pops by here from time to time:

The J.O.B.

I won't bore you with details, but hubby was blessed with a steady, reliable job...and not only that, but he was able to start the very same week that his temporary position ended. What a blessing!

When I wrote this post over a year ago about the changes that were coming in our life, I didn't realize how the Lord was working everything together.

The New House

The only bad part about the new job was that hubby had to drive 90 minutes both ways. And we weren't getting any bites on our house. After a few months of driving, which lasted over the very looooong, horrendous winter, he was DONE! Mentally, I mean. We decided that he couldn't do another winter like that on the road, so we started looking at homes in the town where his job is.

Let me tell you, it's a small college town and there is not much of a housing market. Over the next couple months, we looked at close to 30 homes, even branching out to towns within 45 minutes. Some of the homes would have worked, but we didn't feel like they were "the one". We even put an offer in on one home, but during our inspection, we discovered it was full of mildew and mold...we were sick for a week after the walkthrough. Not the house for us!

Finally, after 6 long months of searching, we found out that one of hubby's co-workers was being transferred. His property sounded like what we were looking for, so we scheduled a showing before it ever hit the market. We knew it was right as soon as we drove down the lane and we had an accepted offer before we had even arrived back home that evening.

We moved in on July 1st.  We still don't have a contract on our other house.

The Kids

The kids love it here at the new house. They have a tire swing that they play on every day...

...and a hill that they take turns riding Jack's big wheel down and "crashing" into the garden below.

They have toys galore, but never cease to amaze me with what they decide to spend their time doing. The newest craze is chess...

Benjamin taught Addy and this morning, Addy was teaching Jack. I can't tell you how cute it is to hear a 4-year old say to a 2-year old: "Yeh, that's right! You got my pawn! Good job!"

School started last week and we have been busy with all that entails. Last week the kids made a water lens. It was a big hit...

Carter is almost 9 months old...unbelievable. He's a joy and the older kids dote on him like crazy.

I'll post some new pictures of him next time.

We recently found out that we are expecting #5 in April 2011. I will admit, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, but overjoyed at the thought of having another little one to love.

Critters

Our new place came with a few new critters. 

We inherited 4 cats, but we didn't realize one of them was pregnant.  2 weeks after moving in, she had 6 kittens.  2 weeks later, she stopped feeding them, but since they're outside cats, we didn't find out until it was too late.  So, we still have just 4 cats.

We also inherited 19 chickens, one of which was laying on a nest which hatched out 4 chicks.  Then, we decided that watching chicks was really fun, so we put another broody hen on a nest and she hatched out 2.  Then, one of the hens we brought with us decided to lay on a nest and she had 7!  So, we now have more than 30 chickens.

And then, of course, there's the dog.  She is a sweetie, but she can't hold her bladder, so she has also been relegated to the outside.

Blessings!

Brandi

I've been published!

I recently had the pleasure of being part of an ebook published by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine titled How I Homeschool: Twelve Families Share Their Lifestyle of Learning.

If you like to read about other homeschooling families, their different philosophies, and how they manage their days, this is the book for you! There are truly no two homeschooling families alike! My submission is called "Keeping Our Children Home".

If you check it out in the TOS store, make sure you download the sample excerpt. And since it's an ebook, if you decide to purchase it, you can download it right away and read it today. I know I'm a little biased, but it's really a great collection of stories! And no, I'm not making any royalties off the sale of the book. :0)

It was really fun to be part of this project. Thanks, TOS!

Blessings!

Brandi

Hubby's Big Project

Guess what I will have soon? A schoolroom! Yes, a separate, all by itself, not on the dining room table, genuine, 24K gold schoolroom!!!

I didn't think we would be in it before spring, but my incredibly wonderful hubby has been working his tail off to get us in ASAP! Wanna see it? I thought you might!

Last week, I showed you this picture:

Well, this is what that space looks like now!

The new room is being built right off of our dining room and pretty, natural wood French doors will grace that gigantic opening.

This is the front corner of the room, to the right when you enter the room. My desk will sit under that single window looking out over the front yard (where the summer garden and the henhouse are). The double window looks out onto the wooded acreage of our property. The bookshelf from the first photo above will sit under it. A table and chairs for the kids will sit in the middle of the room and there will be an easel set up in the corner for painting and a corkboard on the wall above it for displaying the artwork.

This is looking to the left when you enter the room. The entire back wall (the one without the window) will be a closet. Half of it will be for jackets and extra shoes, vacuum cleaners, etc. This house didn't come with much storage! The other half will be my...drum roll, please...SEWING NOOK! I am psyched! It will have rows of shelves above for organizing fabric, patterns, supplies, books etc. and a built in table for the sewing machine. No more time wasted on getting everything out and set up, just to have to put it all away when I'm done! I will be making curtains for the opening instead of closet doors. I think that will soften the room up a bit, since I don't like drapery obstructing the views from my windows. That's one nice thing about living in the woods...bare windows!

This is looking back out to the kitchen/dining area. You can see that I had to move my newly organized shelf until it can go into the room. I was so glad that I had taken the time to clean it out and declutter since it made the adjustment so much easier! Eventually, I'm hoping to get hubby to give me bookshelves on either side of this doorway...you can never have too many!

This last shot is proof that he has been busy working...it's only been 3 weeks since he began and he's done it all on his own (except when I had to hold the walls up while he nailed them in...that was a little treacherous!). Tomorrow he plans on starting the drywall. I helped him carry in 24 sheets of 8-foot drywall this afternoon over snow and ice in big chunky boots...now that was a workout!

While hubby takes care of the big home projects, I'm working on a couple of much smaller ones. I'll post about those soon!

Blessings!

Brandi

Friday Fun Day

I've been struggling with how to fit all of the school subjects that we want to do into our school day. I think I've found a solution: Friday Fun Day!

My son loves science projects, art projects and crafts, music lessons, cooking lessons, computer and board games, typing, and watching educational DVD's. However, by the time we finish our core lessons (Bible, math, language arts, reading and social studies), there is hardly ever time for the "extras". So, I've decided to try dedicating Fridays to these more "fun" activities!

I think this will free up Monday thru Thursday for us to focus on the core subjects without getting sidetracked and we'll probably even get more done on a weekly basis. Then, we can relax a little on Fridays without feeling "guilty".

I would like to post on Fridays over at Homeschool Hollow about the activities we did that day, so check it out next week if you're interested! I'm also hoping to get my "Free Homeschool Fridays" posts up and running again.

So, I'm interested in hearing from you...how do you "fit it all in"?

Blessings!

Brandi

Free Homeschool Friday

I can't believe it, but a new school year starts for us on Monday! It's amazing how fast the summer flew by! I don't know about you, but I am ready and excited about all of the new things my kids (and me) will be learning this year! I've been collecting free resources over the last couple of weeks and wanted to share them with all of you here. Even if you don't homeschool, you can use these with your kids for fun and/or as supplements to their school work.

**Note: Everything is this list is 100% free, including shipping if applicable!**
Unit Studies

Anne Frank - grades 3-12

Earthquakes (USGS) - grades K-12

Chronicles of Narnia

Student Newspaper Project

Bible

COMPLETE 325 lesson Bible curriculum - grades K-6 (online or order FREE CD-ROM)

English

1000 Good Books List (Classical homeschooling)

ABC's of Writing - grades K-12

Automated Essay Writing Program

Math

Math Fact Cafe: The Fact Sheet Factory

Patterns, Functions, and Algebra (complete course) - grades 9-12

Basic Geometry (complete course) -grades 9-12

Science

Experiment of the Week Newsletter - email subscription

Experiment of the Week Videos

Social Studies

Online Tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

 

Art/Music

Music crossword puzzles (java)

Manuscript Paper

Music Appreciation course w/sound files - grades 9-12

Languages

American Sign Language - Full curriculum w/photo visuals (my favorite find this week!)

Early Childhood/Preschool

At the Seashore (theme unit)

Please let me know if you find any broken links or objectionable material I might have missed. I tried to be careful, but you just never know!

'Til next time...

Brandi

Lessons in Grocery Shopping

Today I went grocery shopping. What a task! I try to go on a big trip about every 3 weeks, and then half way in between I go on a smaller trip to get produce and milk. Today was my big trip and I am so exhausted! Thank goodness for my husband who took the kids to KMart while I shopped!

I got some great deals. Kroger was having their Buy 10, Save $5 deal, so I did 4 groups of 10 items and also got some other items I needed. I had to do it in two separate transactions. The first one, I spent $34.xx and saved 58%!!! The second one, I spent $95.xx and saved 35%. I usually save at least 50% on each trip, and I'm only spending between $150-$200 per month on groceries for my family of 5, including all toiletries, diapers, and pet food!

If you'd like to learn more about couponing, and get great tips for shopping at stores like CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid, Walgreen's and more, visit Money Saving Mom.

Here are some great ways to make grocery shopping educational!  The kids learn some great lessons while you run your errands!

1. Teach them how to get the best price per unit by comparing shelf tags.

2. Compare brand name items that are on sale with generics. Most of the time, generics are just as good or better than brand name and cheaper!  But sometimes, you can get the brand name for less.

3. Show them how to figure out the percentage saved at the end of each trip.

4. Read nutritional labels.

5. Enlist your kids to help you plan balanced meals for the month based on what you bring home from your bargain shopping!

6. Fine motor skills are exercised when kids cut out the coupons.

7. Sorting and categorizing are practiced when they organize the coupons into piles.

8. Social skills are practiced at the store. Kids love to interact with all of the employees!

9. Kids get practical life skills by loading the belt with the groceries and by paying with cash. They can figure out how much to give the cashier and how much change they will get back.

10. Let your kids keep a tally on the calculator while you're shopping to make sure you don't go over your budget!

Engaging your kids in your shopping will keep them occupied in the store.  You will have less behavioral issues and the trip will go more smoothly!

'Til next time...

Brandi

What a Day Looks Like

I will attempt in this post to give you an idea of how a typical day might look in our home. Notice I said "might". Not all days are the same, but I do strive to stick to somewhat of the same schedule each day, Lord willing. My son thrives on consistency and routine...I'm a bit more relaxed. Okay, I admit...I'm naturally A LOT more relaxed, so I've had to learn to be a lot more disciplined for his sake!

5:00 am: Mom gets up, nurses Jack, coffee, bible reading and prayer
6:00 am: Dad gets up, Mom and Dad eat breakfast, Mom makes lunch for Dad
6:30 am: Dad goes to work, Mom unloads dishwasher, starts laundry
7:00 am: Addison gets up and eats breakfast, Mom exercises and showers
7:30 am: Benjamin gets up and does chores, eats breakfast, Mom switches/hangs laundry
8:00 am: Read from children's Bible, Bible teaching and activities
9:00 am: Free Time
9:15 am: English
10:00 am: Math
10:45 am: Free Time, Snack
11:00 am: Social Studies/History
11:45 am: Science
12:30 pm: Clean Up, Lunch
1:00 pm: Free Time
1:30 pm: Free Time, Mom's preschool time with Addison (reading, playing, puzzles, songs, etc.)
2:00 pm: Addison and Jack nap, project time for Benjamin and Mom (work on current projects such as sewing, art, music practice, writing, etc.)
3:00 pm: Typing/Computer Skills
3:30: Art/Music
4:00: Clean up, Free Time, Mom journals about the day for her records
4:30: Afternoon chores (Fold/put away laundry, vacuum, clean bathroom, trash, general cleaning)
5:00: Free Time, Mom starts dinner
6:00: Dinner
6:30: Dinner Clean-Up, Kids' time with Dad (usually helping with outside projects)
7:00: Jack's bath and dinner
7:30: Jack's bedtime, Free time for Mom (I usually blog, clip coupons, read, do meal plans, take care of errand preparations, etc.)
8:15: Addison and Benjamin's bedtime routine (showers, brush teeth, read from chapter book, read from Bible, prayers, lights out)
9:00: Ahhh...Mom and Dad time

I try to have the main subjects done before lunch, then the afternoon can be relaxed and fun. I do my major cleaning on the weekend, but our house is pretty simple so one good hour is usually enough! We run errands and visit the library one day a week, usually Tuesday or Wednesday...this saves on gas and helps us to be efficient with our time and money!

Of course, I can plan and plan...but it's all subject to God's plan for our day! I begin in the morning by asking Him to guide me and my family throughout our day. My desire is to do His will first...all else can wait! Also, if my husband asks me to do something for him, I make it a priority during my free time.

Although we pretty much school year round, our first official day of school will be August 25th this year, Lord willing. Wow, I can't believe that's a month away!

'Til next time...
Brandi

How We Homeschool

I thought I'd write a little on how we go about educating our children, especially for those of you who don't know much about homeschooling.

I would say we have an eclectic teaching/learning style. I (Mom) am the primary educator as my husband works outside of the home during the day. For our main subjects (Bible, English, Math, Science, and Social Studies) we use LIFEPACS by Alpha Omega Publications. AOP also has other great curriculums that are all Biblically-based. The LIFEPACS are a series of 10 workbooks and a teacher's guide, per subject, per year. It's not all stale written work. The teacher's guides suggest supplemental reading, science experiments, field trips, crafts and activities. We add what we have time for and the things that look interesting or especially fun.

We use different curriculum for Art and Music. Until this year, we haven't had formal classes in either of these subjects, but for 3rd grade we are going to try some new things. For Art, I have chosen to use Artistic Pursuits: K-3, Books 1 and 2. This is absolutely the best art curriculum I have ever seen! My son is an artist already, but I am very excited to see what a year of this curriculum will teach him about his art and other styles and works. They have books for students all the way through high school, so that's how long we plan to use it! I am not an artist myself, so I love the fact that this curriculum does all the work for me and we can learn it together. Plus, my 2 year old will be able to do the projects with us on her own level. I will be posting pictures of their projects here each week.

For Music we are using God Made Music: 1 and 2 by Praise Hymn, Inc. This is also a great curriculum for homeschool parents who are not very educated in Music themselves. It looks very fun and gives the student a basis in music reading and appreciation. We will also be learning to play the recorder. I promised Benjamin that if he learns to play the recorder and decides he likes making music, then we'll get him a keyboard. I can't afford a piano right now, but maybe someday!

We will also be doing an ongoing study of the 50 states throughout this year and next: two weeks for the United States in general, two weeks for West Virginia (including a visit to the state capitol), and one week for each of the other 49 states. We'll do computer skills/typing and health once a week each and tons of outside play and free time. We're even considering a karate class, although the nearest one is 40 minutes away and with gas prices being the way they are...well, we'll see!

There will be no formal preschool for Addison, but we will do a lot of reading. We will work on colors, shapes, and ABC's...all through play, of course! I don't believe in formal curriculum until 1st grade. When she is 4, we will start doing fun unit studies (letter of the week, numbers, holidays, etc.)

In my next post, I'll talk about what a typical school day looks like for us...it's busy!

'Til next time...
Brandi

New Beginnings!

It's great to be back in blogland! It's been a year since we left, so we decided to begin a whole new blog as a reflection of our whole new life!

Welcome to any of you who found us through our old blog at HomeschoolBlogger! We had some great friends there and we're looking forward to getting back in touch with some of you! There have been a lot of changes in our life over the past year and we will write about them here.

It is hard to believe that Benjamin will be starting 3rd grade next month! I have been busy reviewing and organizing curriculum and I'm excited about the materials we will be using this year! I'll tell you a little more about them in a future post.

In my next post, I'll tell you about our journey over the last year and how we ended up here in the beautiful, quiet mountains of West Virginia!

'Til next time...

Brandi