A Look Back at 2010

I got the idea for this post from my friend Heidi at Reviews and Reflections, where she posted about things that had happened each month of the past year.  I loved the idea, so I went through my blog archives to see what we did each month.  If you want to learn more about anything mentioned or see pictures just click on the links to go directly to a blog post about it. 

January

We began the year using a family workbox.  It was filled with a fun unit study on Ancient Egypt and simple machines.  You can see a video of the resulting lapbook narrated by Makayla here.  Life was normal and relatively quiet.

February

Oliver turned one this month.  We spent February on a safety and health month learning about Police, Firefighters, First Aid, and Valentines Day too.  We had fun field trips to the police station and fire department at which I forgot my camera entirely.  We had 3 ice storms in 2 weeks in February too.  We started our own Homeschool Book Club – tons of fun! 

March

I began writing for a brand new blog this month, Latter-Day Homeschooling.  We had a fun day out in the melting snow going for a walk and visiting the ducks with my sister and her children.  We finished up our school year and then did lots of review products.  We also found out were were pregnant for the 9th time!

April

I filled my homeschool tank by attending the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati.  I answered a reader question about what I did for homeschool with my 5 year old, followed up by a post of our day in pictures.  We did more lapbooking, had miscarriage scares, and I spent a lot of time with morning sickness. 

May

A fun book club meeting related to the story Heidi kicked off this month, with a real goat and lots of fun (but no pictures…sigh).  We took a trip to the zoo to meet the polar bears, then started a week of the flu.  We ended the month with some family in visiting and we did a family photo shoot too.

June

Whew – this was a busy month with learning about the California Gold Rush, Makayla’s ballet recital, a used curriculum sale, and then the Civil War.  Jason and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and Makayla turned 9 this month too!

July

Book club kicked off with balloons as we talked about the book The Twenty-One Balloons.  A 20 week ultrasound showed one little boy growing in my tummy.  Our Civil War studies continued, including this story Makayla wrote about Abraham Lincoln, and this lapbook.  Workboxes got a makeover in our home this month.  I shared about many ways we can pace our days (a post I need to reread right about now as we try to find a new routine).  We stared learning about WWI and Peter Rabbit, and my oldest started debating any assignments she was given – not good!  We finished the month with my husband and I having a great toy cleanout date. 

August

A computer virus took out my computer this month, but it wasn’t the end of the world because I had been backing things up.  We enjoyed a zoo trip as a family, made a paper mache globe, took school pictures, and celebrated our annual family Not Back to School Day at the Ice Cream Factory with Daddy.  As part of our geography studies we had a yummy homemade Chinese dinner (and we now make stir fry most weeks around here – chopsticks are fun).  This month also saw Daniel joining the ranks of the big boys with the easiest potty training yet.  We finished off the month with a trip apple picking – mmm.

September

This month we enjoyed the fun of Paperback Swap, met a praying mantis, and started piano lessons.  I also compared pregnancy at age 19 and 29.  Various lapbooks were done, including Meerkats and Space.  We also dealt with a rude woman outside the midwife’s office, and bought a 12 passenger van to carry our growing family around in.  The kids nicknamed it the Night Bus, like the purple one in Harry Potter. 

October

We listened to General Conference from home, I shared my secrets to getting a nap with lots of children in the house, we began using Chorepacks (love them still!), and we learned about France and made the Eiffel Tower.  This month Joseph turned 6 and Daniel turned 3 as well, with a combined birthday party.  We also were blessed with this huge pile of books for $3.00 at our library book sale.  We also got all our Christmas shopping done this month. 

November

We started computer school this month, in preparation for baby.  On November 20th Caleb Alexander joined our family and I officially survived another pregnancy.  Here is his birth story.  Makayla and Emma cooked Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma this year.  We were back to homeschooling by the kids demand just a week after Caleb was born. 

December

We started off with a fun field trip with daddy that not all my kids enjoyed, in fact, some of them cried.  Everyone started adjusting to life with a newborn, and right before daddy went back to work we made a new discipline plan that we’re still working on being consistent with.  My sweet Emma turned 5 this month.  She and Joseph made a lapbook on living and non-living things.  We celebrated the birth of our Savior.  We finished our history semester and I read through the entire Book of Mormon this month. 

That’s our year!  How was yours?

Don’t Make Learning Complicated

I have a confession to make.  Last night I  temporarily lost sight of why we homeschool and started worrying about what others think about what my children “should” be doing at specific ages.  This happens to me every so often.  Has it ever happened to you?  I did three things that always help. 

First, I prayed that God would take my worries and replace them with what He wants me to think about. 

Second, I emailed my sister, who is also a homeschooling mother.  She lives across the continent from me but is such a support.  I told her what I had been thinking and worrying over and asked for her to remind me why I was being silly.

Third, I cancelled regular homeschool plans for the day and instead we did the following:

• We recited our scripture memory verses.
• We practiced our hymns.
• We read the scriptures.
• And then we snuggled up and read a chapter book just for fun. 

We read for an hour, took a break to grab some snacks and get some wiggles out, and then read until we finished the entire story.  Want to know what we read?

It was great, and went along with our earlier reading of A Christmas Carol, as it was about Charles Dickens and that very story.  I was again reminded of how simple learning can and ought to be as my children enjoyed the story and asked questions.  Even my 3 year old.  Here are some of the things the kids wanted to talk about as we read:

1. Who was Queen Victoria?  Why don’t we have a queen in America?
2. Why were little children working in factories and other jobs?  Where were their parents?
3. Why did the police put people who couldn’t pay their bills into debtor’s prison?  How could they earn money and pay their bills then?
4. Was Charles Dickens really poor as a child and working like the children in the story?
5. What other books has Charles Dickens written?
6. Where did he live and when?  Were grandma and grandpa alive then?

Ahh.  I feel better now.  Learning does not need to be complicated, and children certainly do not need to learn the exact same things at the exact same time as every other child their age.  Living books and time together are things that are priceless to the education of my children.  I want to do more of this and less busywork.

My Top 10 Posts in 2010

According to the Blogger Stats, here are the top ten most visited posts here on Our Busy Homeschool for the last 6 months.  I’ll even tell you how many page views each one has had (since Blogger tells me that too).  If you want to know more about them feel free to go read them!

1.  Ever Heard of Workboxes? has been viewed 3931 times in the last 6 months.
2. DIY Dry Erase Boards has been viewed 786 times in the last 6 months.
3. Sue Patrick’s Workbox System Review has been viewed 544 times in the last 6 months.
4. A Curriculum Plan in Two Semesters has been viewed 531 times in the last 6 months.
5. Organizing and Binding a Planner has been viewed 324 times in the last 6 months.
6. Homeschool Takes Over the Dining Room has been viewed 324 times in the last 6 months.
7. Portable Circle Time Board Ready! has been viewed 254 times in the last 6 months.
8. Paper Bag Puppets has been viewed 241 times in the last 6 months.
9. Workboxes and Organizing a Room has been viewed 183 times in the last 6 months.
10. iLive Math Speed (IPod App Giveaway) has been viewed 163 times in the last 6 months.

Another interesting fact that overwhelmed me – in 2010 I have had nearly 100,000 visitors read Our Busy Homeschool.  It simply amazes me.  For those of you who read Our Busy Homeschool regularly – thank you!  For those of you who are new visitors, I hope you will be blessed by what you read here. 

Switching Gears to Science and Health

Are you ready for the new year?  In our homeschool January means it is time to switch gears from history/geography to science/health studies.  This is our first year trying a split semester approach, and so far we’ve enjoyed it.  You can read about how 4th grade has gone so far here.  This year is the last year where we only have to report to the state for one child, in case you’re wondering why I haven’t evaluated how the other kids’ year has gone so far.  Joseph missed the birthday cutoff date by a few weeks, so we were able to skip registering him for this year.  I am all for letting children be children, there is no need to push academics early.  We just focus on enjoying learning. 

I am trying to get everything ready for next week and thought I would share our science plans.  Like anything at our house, these are subject to change if we really want to follow some rabbit trails or new interests later on. We’re going to use Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia’s Young Explorer Series as our guide.  I absolutely love that this book is written from a Creationist perspective, praising God for his amazing work.  This book will be done with all my children.  While the book is written above several of my children’s level, we’ll use it as a read aloud, do the experiments and activities together, and supplement with some easier picture books for the little ones.  The goal is to complete 6 chapters between now and the end of April.  Each chapter should take about 2 weeks to do.  Those chapters are:

1. Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology – this chapter talks about a few scientists and how our understanding of the human body has developed over the years.  Did you know in Ancient Rome it was against the law to dissect a person who had died and so scientists had to dissect animals to try and understand how the human body worked?  Obviously, that wasn’t super helpful.  This chapter teaches us all about cells and before it is over we will even make an edible cell.
2. The Skeletal System – bones, joints, and more!
3. The Muscular System – We’ll learn about the kinds of muscle in our bodies, how muscle works, and do lots of experiments using our muscles.
4. The Digestive and Renal Systems – we’ll explore the organs that digest our food, including those that never touch the food but aid in digestions.  To finish up our chapter we will design a 3 dimensional digestion theme park with rides and attractions based on digestion.
5. Health and Nutrition – Not only will we learn what our bodies need to thrive, but how they use the foods we eat for health.  We’ll make trips to the pantry to explore food labels, and we’ll learn about vitamins and minerals and which foods give us the best ones.
6. The Respiratory System – We’ll learn about breathing, mucus, holes inside our head, vocal cords, colds, and even experiment with lung capacity and practice the Heimlich maneuver. 

If we finish all of that we’ll reevaluate and see if we want to continue our exploration of the human body of if we’re ready to take a break for spring and learn about plants. 

Want to know some of the resources I have sitting around the house to go along with our anatomy studies(some go with later chapters in the book)?  This list is only what I own, so I have tons more available through the library if we want them. 

• The Magic School Bus: Human Body DVD 
• Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup, and Yawn
• What Happens to a Hamburger?
• A Drop of Blood
• The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body
• The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie
• The Magic School Bus Has a Heart
• Skeletons! Skeletons!
• The Human Body Project Pack (a lapbook)
• Germs Project Pack (a lapbook)
• Easy Make and Learn Projects: Human Body
• The Magic School Bus Loses a Tooth
• The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls (I’ll use this only with Makayla)
• The Search for the Missing Bones (Magic School Bus Chapter book) plus lapbook.
• The Kids’ Guide to First Aid
• Eyewitness Skeleton
• The Giant Germ (Magic School Bus Chapter book) plus lapbook.
• The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses
• Inside Guides: Human Body
• The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever (has an entire section taking you through the human body)
• My Body reproducible book

We will also use a few free resources from the internet including:

• Edheads.org – this site has online games where you can do hip or knee replacement surgery (with kid friendly graphics).
• Crayola.com – This link takes you to the anatomy coloring pages you can print.
• Anatomy Arcade – This site has lots of games sorted by either body system or type of game.

What about you?  Do you have any favorite resources for a unit study on the Human body?  Let me know in a comment!

Interests Abound!

My children have developed a sudden interest in archeology thanks to one of our current review items – Roman Town software by Dig-It Games.  I love it when something educational is fun enough that the kids are begging to do ‘just a little bit more’! 

The other things they have asked to do today include learning more Spanish with Speekee, learning multiplication with Times Alive! , and learning about classical music and folk instruments of Russia as they listen to Peter and the Wolf from Maestro Classics, which combines music, story, and narration. 

I’m feeling especially blessed by the review opportunities our family is enjoying right now!

What are your children interested in today?

Small and Simple Things–Week 3

Welcome back!  How did last week’s small and simple changes go for you?  With the Christmas celebrations I knew it was going to be a challenge for me, but I was determined not to feel guilty over enjoying the fun times with my loved ones.  In all honesty I did not exercise most days, and I ate what sounded good, which meant a lot of cookies.  It showed on the scale this morning, I am back up a bit to 198.4 lbs, so I gained 1.8 pounds.  That’s okay, today starts a new week!  Here are some ideas for small changes you may want to try this week:

Focus on Fruits and Veggies – Try to have a fruit and veggie with each meal, and eat them first.  Fruits and vegetables naturally have lots of bulk for very few calories.  Translation = they fill you up so you don’t eat a too much high-calorie food.  Let me give you an example:

• At lunch I may want to eat two beef hot dogs on buns instead of one.  If I do that I’ve just eaten 580 calories and 34 grams of fat.  That is before I eat any sides. 
• Instead, I can start my meal with some fruits and veggies, filling up so that I am content with one hot dog on a bun.  Did you know that I would have to eat about 11 cups of fruits and vegetables to eat the same amount of calories in that extra hot dog and bun?  I’m pretty sure I physically couldn’t do that at one meal. 

Plan those Snacks – While you usually hear advice to plan your meals (and that is not a bad idea), I find that it is when I am snacking that my food choices center on easy, quick, and far too often fattening/junk food.  This week I hope to prepare some snacks in the morning, or even the night before.  Then I can grab them without having to think about it, and without time for the other less healthy things to catch my attention.

Walk walk walk – Make little choices to add some walking/movement to your day.  If you go to the store park at the back of the lot instead of in the closest parking space you can find.  At home grab out the vacuum or broom and sweep an extra time or two during the day.  Turn on some music and dance.  Walk up and down the stairs just because you can.  Feel that body moving.  God created us to be active, muscles are made for motion!

Now it’s your turn!  Write a quick post on your blog about your report for last week and link up, or just leave a comment here on this post.  Don’t forget that you’re welcome to do any small changes you want this week – the ones I’ve listed are just some ideas to get you going.  If you have a moment please share with your friends about how you’re joining me to do Small and Simple Things and encourage them to join us.

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Live, Laugh, Learn! Our Wonderful Journey Christina

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The Last Week of 2010!

Wow, can you believe there is only a week left in 2010?  I’m posting this week’s plans for homeschool today – yes, the kids are still wanting to do school.  What can I say?  They thrive on routine.  The last few days have been such a disruption to the routine that everyone is craving some normal again.  Here’s the plan:

Gospel Study – This week we’re getting back to starting the homeschool day with scripture time.  In this first block of the day we will sing songs we’re learning, work on scripture memory, and read a scripture story.  Those will be:

• Sing “If I Listen with My Heart” and “The First Article of Faith”
• Recite 2 Nephi 32:3 “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.  Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.”  This is a new verse we’re learning.
• Recite the first Article of Faith “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”  This is just review.
• Our scripture stories will vary each day. 

The younger children’s homeschool will also include:

1. Speekee – spanish videos we’re reviewing (and liking)
2. Math – counting, numbers, etc based on age.
3. Reading – still using the I See Sam review item.
4. Signing Time – sign language
5. Penguins unit study and lapbook – we’ll finish this by Friday.

Makayla’s homeschool will include:

1. All About Spelling – step 21
2. Math U See Gamma – Lesson 12
3. Ten Marks – an online math program we’re reviewing (so far she likes it).
4. Times Alive – math software we’re reviewing that teaching multiplication (also liking it).
5. Writing – back to work with our DVD writing class we’re reviewing.
6. Dig-It Roman Town – a software program that is completely new to us (and yes, it’s a review item, how did you guess?hehe!)

I think that is all we’ve got planned, though Makayla is talking about starting a new lapbook about recycling.  I’m still reading my way through the Book of Mormon.  As of right now I’m on page 470 out of 531, so I should finish by Friday.  What is your family up to this week?

A Savior is Born!

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

Just a quick note…

I’m taking the day away from this blog to enjoy my family.  We’re putting up the tree, reading about the Savior’s birth, and spending time together.  Tomorrow you’ll get to see a new picture of all the children, so until then,

Merry Christmas!

Week in Review #76– Seeing Progress

Here is a picture I caught today of my four oldest children homeschooling themselves. They are coloring posters that show all 17 species of penguin. It has been a lovely homeschool week and I’m posting our Week in Review today as we’re done for the Christmas weekend. I blogged about our plans for the week here and we really did follow most of it. Highlights for the week from youngest to oldest are as follows:

Caleb turned 1 month old on Monday. He’s precious, a gift from God. I am so grateful to enjoy a new baby right before Christmas, it gives me so much to think about. This picture is from just a little bit ago, he’s mid-yawn. He is starting to spend more time awake, which is great, but I really love the sleepy faces he makes.

Oliver is still only 1, he’ll be 22 months old on Sunday. Here is a photo of him next to his little brother – it amazes me how quickly children grow: This week Oliver has really taken to pretend play. He likes to grab wooden food and eat it really noisily, then offer it to you to do the same. He’s talking more, only semi-legibly. Of course, it doesn’t help that now he’s trying to speak Spanish from the Speekee product we’re reviewing. Nothing like a garble of English, Spanish, and toddler speak with a lot of missing consonants to confuse mommy!

Daniel is 3 and I’m seeing small leaps in maturity. For example, he’s starting to “read” books to mommy now using the pictures and his wonderful memory of the familiar phrases. It’s rather entertaining. He, too, is enjoying Spanish with Speekee.

Emma is 5 and this week I’m starting to really notice how her drawing is developing. You can really tell what she is drawing, and she’s getting detailed. It’s neat to see, especially as my artistic ability is nil. She’s very big on coloring things too, a paper is not finished until she’s colored it. Her reading is coming along fine, she’s not getting much fluency yet, but she can sound out whole readers happily. She’s enjoyed learning about penguins all week too, and likes Speekee.

Joseph is 6 and his week has been marked by leaps in reading. More and more words are becoming automatic – mostly the little ones you read a thousand times in sentences like: in, on, up, the, he, my, she, see. He also is fluently reading bigger words that are used throughout a story by mid-story. For example, today’s story was about frogs, and by the end he was not sounding out frog, mop, shop, cop, and spots. They had been used enough through the story that he could remember what they were. In other areas he’s been happy to learn about penguins, especially gross facts like the parents eat food and then throw it up into the babies’ mouths to feed them. Boys! He, too, is enjoying Spanish, and is remembering a lot more than I thought he would after just a few days with the program.

Makayla is 9 and her week had lots and lots of math. For all that she says she doesn’t like math, she is liking the different items we are using and reviewing. She’s still learning multiplication, and it’s interesting to see which numbers she skip counts and which she is remembering the facts to. Makayla also finished up her Astonishing Animals Download ‘N Go unit today. She really likes these and I have to say that they are full of information! We purchased the 1 year set last December on sale and it has been a wonderful investment. There are so many topics ready to go that she can explore whenever she gets the motivation. They are a great help for this mom.

Well, that’s the highlights of our week, so why don’t you leave me a comment about your week?

Evaluating 4th Grade So Far

We homeschool year round and start new books whenever we need to.  That means we are at different points in the various subjects required by the state law, and that finishing a school year does not usually coincide with finishing a book.  Instead, I track how much we’ve done, with the amounts of samples for our yearly portfolio telling me when we’ve done enough for a grade.  The end of December is a time when I always check what we’ve finished and what we have yet to do.  I thought I would share that here.  Remember, we tried something new this year, focusing on history/geography the first semester of the year, and leaving science/health for the second semester.  That means we are finished with ALL our history things, but have very little science completed for the year so far.

Math – Makayla is on chapter 11 this week, which means she has 9 chapters and two unit tests to finish to meet our goal.  That will put her ready to begin chapter 21 in Math U See Gamma for 5th grade.

Spelling – Makayla has finished 20 steps in All About Spelling level 2.  To finish 4th grade she has 8 weeks of spelling left, which takes her 3 steps into Level 3. 

History/Geography – This is finished.  The units she covered this year were:

• World Geography - basics and China, India, Greece, Tanzania, France, South Korea
• If the World Were a Village – world statistics survey.
• The history of Kites, including famous people and places of kites.
• California Gold Rush
• American Civil War
• World War I
• American Government – How to become a senator, representative, or president, their jobs, the 3 branches of government, and how a bill becomes a law.

Fine Arts/Music – She’ll keep doing 1 art project a week, keep going in piano lessons, and will also do a study of the music Peter and the Wolf.

Writing – This is ongoing, the goal being another 4 units in our Student Writing Intensive level A.  That will take between 6 and 8 weeks I believe.  Grammar is included in this.

Science/Health – This is our major focus for the rest of the school year.  We’re going to use Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, the goal being to complete 6 chapters.  That will take us 12 weeks I think.  She has also already done the following science units for fun:

• Tigers of India
• Meerkats of Africa
• Astonishing Animals (finishing this any day now).

The other 3 things Ohio law requires we review each year are first aid, safety, and fire prevention.  Those are easy and have been done as things came up in daily life.

To sum it up, we’ll finish 4th grade at the end of March, unless we want to take longer with our science work, or we can stretch it out to finish at the end of May by taking 8 weeks off in the next 16 weeks.  We’ll see what happens!

Reading this Week

Is it really Wednesday already?  The week is trotting right along.  Today I thought I would share what I’m reading in those down moments when I’m holding the baby.  Don’t worry, a lot of it I’m reading out loud to him, so he’s learning all sorts of things already…haha!

The Book of Mormon – Yep, I already mentioned this one last week.  I’m still reading this and am on track to finish before January 1st.  Hooray!  Just in time to join the next Bible in 90 Days challenge.

The Mayo Clinic Diet – I picked this up from the library, it is from the official Mayo Clinic – you know, the health gurus.  The book is laid out really well and I’m enjoying it.  Their focus is really on health, not crash dieting, by making changes such as increasing fruits and veggies and exercising.  I really like the visual format, they have several pages with photos of meals that you are to figure out how many servings for each food group are in it.  Then it tells you the answers.  It was eye-opening just how skewed my idea of a serving is when food is all together on a plate! 

Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young – This one I will be writing a review on when I finish it.  It arrived in the mail yesterday and I am loving it.  I’m learning a lot about God’s definition of being a real man and just how all those natural boy inclinations that drive me crazy are made just for that.  Yep, lots of convicting going on here this week.

What about you?  What are you reading this week?

Homeschool Hint #5–Record Keeping Made Easy

Ready for another homeschool hint?  Today my hint is for record keeping.  Now, depending on where you live you have a variety of record keeping and reporting requirements to the local authorities.  If you’re blessed to be in one of those states where there are NO requirements enjoy it, but read this post anyway.    You never know when things will change in the current government climate.

In Ohio we’ve got a few different ways we can use to show the state we are homeschooling our children, including having the kids take standardized tests each year.  We don’t use that option because we don’t teach a standard curriculum (one that closely follows the local public school curriculum for each grade).  I have my reasons for that, which in a big way relate to my fundamental disagreement with the pathetic ‘standard curriculum’ in my state (you can read more about my thoughts on this HERE).  Ahem.

Another reporting option we have is to have a portfolio of our children’s work evaluated each year by a certified teacher (of our choice) or some other person we agree on with the local school.  We happen to know a wonderful local homeschool mother who also keeps a current Ohio teaching license, so that is who we work with.  It's like a visit with an old friend to look at all the work we've done for a school year.  She signs a little form that she’s reviewed the portfolio each year and it meets the requirements of the law, which we then show the local school when we notify them we’re homeschooling for another year in the fall. 

Here is where my record-keeping tips come to bear.  I don’t know about you, but if I don’t work on this all year long there is little chance I will be able to find papers and projects from each of the last 10 months in all of the subject areas required by state law.  Things disappear, I purge paper clutter regularly, and my children produce copious amounts that I really don’t want filling my house.    So what do I do?

First, I file things.  Yes, it’s really pretty simple.  Each child has a file in my crate labeled with their name, grade, and the word portfolio.  Any time my children produce paper in homeschool they stick it in their “Mom Check” folder in their workbox crate.  I clean these out semi-regularly, toss extraneous papers and worksheets, and move the best samples to that child’s portfolio folder in my crate.  Voila!  At the end of the year I have samples from every month in every subject ready to go.

Second, I keep a list of books read by fluent readers.  Okay, I try.  Makayla happens to be a voracious reader, so I can’t list every book she reads.  In the first semester of this school year, just the last 5 months, I recorded the following chapter books she read:

1. All 7 Chronicles of Narnia books
2. By the Great Horn Spoon
3. All 5 Fablehaven books
4. All 6 Rebecca American Girl books
5. The Twenty-One Balloons
6. The Secret Garden
7. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
8. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
9. The Hobbit
10. Peril at King’s Creek
11. Lady Margaret’s Ghost
12. Cry of the Loon
13. Secrets on Society Hill
14. A Bear Called Paddington and 3 others in series.
15. Black Beauty
16. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
17. The Adventures of Robin Hood
18. Stories of the Pilgrims
19. All 7 Harry Potter books

Now, that list does not include any book under 50 pages, or the nonfiction books she has read(over 100).  Not bad for 5 months reading for a 9 year old.

I also track how many days we homeschool.  I have a handy chart from The Schoolhouse Planner that has 180 squares to mark off.  The local public schools here do 178 or so.  As of today they are at less than 80 days in session for this school year.  Today we are at 133 days in session.  I like keeping track simply to reassure myself that it’s okay to take time off when things come up.  Even if we choose to do 4 day school weeks from here out, we will still hit 180 days in MARCH.  We homeschool year round – life is learning, we don’t separate it and relegate learning to specific months of the year.  And we have the flexibility to take time off when we need it, while still knowing that we’re getting work done in a timely manner.

The last tip – write on a blog regularly!  You had to know this one was coming, right?  I write daily here on this blog, which I started a few years ago as a way to keep track of day to day life with my precious children.  In a very real, visual way I can look back a pictures and posts to read where we were six month, or two years ago.  I can see the progress a child has made.  Sometimes that gets lost in the close-up of day to day life.  It often feels like we’re making little progress and all I get done is one eternal round of feeding children, doing dishes, changing diapers, and trying to get lessons done.  This blog is my memory, my markers along the trail of homeschooling. 

So what about you?  What homeschool record keeping tips do you have?  Leave a comment!

Small and Simple Things Challenge – Week 2

Okay everyone, it’s time for my report and yours!  How did last week go?  What small and simple changes did you try?  You can report in two ways, write your own blog post and add it to the LinkyTools list at the bottom of this post, or leave a comment on this post.

  Here’s my report:

• Look in the mirror to see my body (without clothes)and then say something nice about myself. – Yes, I really did this, and it wasn’t as traumatizing as it might have been.  Honestly I think it has to do with my relationship with my husband.  I feel comfortable in my skin, but more than that, he makes me feel attractive because he makes it clear he finds me attractive.  If he loves my body, why shouldn’t I? 
• Drink lots of water, every time I want chocolate - hehe.  I did this and got a good bit of water in.  I also did not open a bag of chocolate chips, and those are my weakness.  Seriously, I usually snack my way through a bag each week.
• Walk 1 mile every day but Sunday – Nope, I didn’t quite meet this one.  I used the Walk Away the Pounds dvds twice, then used the moves from the dvd while watching a movie on three other days.  It only takes me 20-30 minutes and can be done carrying the baby if I need to.
• According to the scale today I lost two pounds this week!  I’m now 196.6 lbs.  Hooray!  Every little bit is one step closer to a healthy me.

It wasn’t bad for a first week of small and simple changes.  Several of these I want to keep trying next week, but I have also got a few more ideas to share for week two.  Are you looking for a small step to take this week?  You can pick anything you want, but in case you’re stuck for ideas, here are a few:

1. Use Smaller Dishes – If you use smaller plates and bowls then you’ll eat smaller portions, you don’t have a choice, right?  I’ve got to look through my cabinets, I want to try this.  The only real exception is fresh fruits and veggies – eat those all you want!
2. Indulge in something delicious with no guilt – Eat a small piece of something you love that doesn’t fit in your idea of ‘healthy food’.  Christmas is this week.  I know I am baking homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and I’m going to enjoy one with no guilt attached.  However, I’m also going to be sure that I only eat ONE. 
3. Try a little strength training this week – I’m talking one exercise, be it crunches, arm curls with cans, etc.  Sure, I want to lose weight, right about 50 pounds, but if I don’t take time to tone those muscles that are hiding under all the extra fat then I’m not going to look better when the fat it gone.  Those muscles need some toning!

Hopefully those things give you some ideas.  That’s all I’ve got to share for today, so now it’s your turn, link up!

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Homeschool Plans This Week

We’ll be doing homeschool four days this week at the kids’ request.  I’m posting the plans here exactly the way I’ve got them written down for myself, in case anyone was wondering how planning is going at my house right now.  Pretty simple.

Makayla:

1. Building Life Castles – 1 page/day
2. Math U See Gamma – Lesson 11 Multiply by 3.  Intro on Mon, Test on Thurs.
3. Times Alive! – Daily, esp. times 3 facts.
4. Ten Marks – 1 online worksheet daily.
5. All About Spelling – Monday new concept/words, Thurs test.
6. Astonishing Animals – Finish this Download N Go.
7. Art – 2 fashion art drawings

Joseph and Emma:

1. I See Sam – Read to mom daily from level 2 books.
2. Speekee – Spanish daily, print fun pages to go along.
3. Math U See Primer – 1 page/day.
4. Penguin Unit Study and Lapbook – It’s printed, read 1 book and do 2 lapbook pieces each day.
5. Art – Penguin Art of course.

Daniel and Oliver:

1. Brill Kids – daily
2. Signing Time – Focus on animal signs and colors daily.
3. Speekee – Spanish daily, print fun pages to go along.
4. P is for Penguin – Join big kids for books, work on letter Pp.
5. Art – Penguin Art of course.

As you can see, Joseph and Emma finally agreed on a unit.  We’ll be learning about penguins.  I have a few books, including a Magic School Bus book per their request.  I already owned a penguin lapbook from Hands of a Child, so I printed off enough pieces to last them about 2 weeks.  We’ll watch some of the Life and Planet Earth DVDs we have for Antarctica and Penguins. 

Makayla is finishing up her independent learning on Amazing Animals, and it just so happens that one whole section is about Adelie penguins.  Believe it or not, I didn’t realize that until after I had Joseph and Emma’s stuff ready.  So we can also use the links and videos in her Download N Go unit as a group, and she’ll probably take over at least one day of teaching her siblings about penguins to share what she knows.

That’s the plan!  We’ll see how much of it Caleb lets us do…

Scripture Reading Update

I’m not sure if you remember my December 4th post about reading the scriptures, but I wanted to give an update.  I started on December 1st in rereading the Book of Mormon, with the goal to finish it by the end of the month so I’m ready to join the Bible in 90 Days challenge on January 3rd.  That challenge runs through April 2nd. 

I knew it would be a challenge finding time to read with a new baby in the house, and it has been.  By the end of today I am happy to say I will be right on track with my reading at page 324, over halfway finished with the Book of Mormon!  Hooray!  One thing that has helped me is being able to listen to an audio book of the Book of Mormon when my hands have been busy or my eyes too tired to focus on the page.  Usually I dislike listening to something when I could just read it.  While the rest of my family love listening to audio books, I prefer the book in my hands.  However, listening has been a lifesaver for me with this. 

I am so grateful for the scriptures!  I know that God loves his children, that he sends prophets to teach the people, and that he sent a Savior to atone for our sins and make it possible for us to return to him.  I am grateful for the examples I find in the lives of those people in the scriptures.  I feel the Spirit when I read, and over the last 18 days have had several times where I have felt inspiration and a greater understanding of the things of God.  It is amazing to me when those flashes of insight come, sometimes when they are least expected.  God speaks to us through his scriptures.  I know the Book of Mormon is a true record of God’s dealings with some of his children, and that it testifies of Jesus Christ, our Savior.  What a blessing to have so much scripture available in our day!  

If you are wondering, some of my favorite parts in the Book of Mormon are yet to come in my reading.  I love the book of 3rd Nephi the most, especially the chapters where it tells of the signs of Jesus’ birth, the signs of his death, and his visit as a resurrected being to people in the Americas shortly thereafter.  Love, love, love it!

Week in Review #75 – The Two Week Edition

Well, last week I simply forgot to post a week in review, so consider this to be your catch-up edition. Homeschool is moving along in a funky and unpredictable fashion. We have no routine at the moment with a sweet new baby in the house(learn more here), so the way I’ve been doing planning for each week is to write down the subjects each child is working with and how many times I hope they work in the subject that week. We have also had an influx of review items coming, several are math related. While math is not Makayla’s favorite subject, I learned last year that aside from the strong base Math U See is giving my daughter, she really does well when she uses several supplemental math activities to reinforce her learning. So at the moment Makayla is doing her regular math curriculum plus the following review items for math:

• Math Facts Now! – Two days a week, this strictly practices math facts. It shows a problem, she types the answer. Incorrect answers require her to type the entire problem out twice. We’ve been using it to focus on one fact family at a time and I’m seeing some multiplication facts becoming automatic – hooray!
• TenMarks – This online program assigns her a specific number of worksheets(online problems really) in a topic each week. I can set the number of sheets that are assigned, and it has a due date. Each sheet is only ten problems. The genius is it has 3 hints and a video she can use if she struggles with a problem. It also doesn’t grade her until she finishes the 10 problems, so she’s not stressing over a missed problem. She likes this and is doing 1-2 worksheets a day.
• Times Alive! software – We just downloaded this yesterday so we’re only beginning. It should be fun, and focuses on multiplication facts – just what she needs.

Other than math here are the things Makayla has done for homeschool:

1. Piano – she is doing really well and practices willingly each day.
2. Building Life Castles – This bible study is going well. She likes the workbook. She is also reading the scriptures on her own daily outside of this.
3. All About Spelling – We picked this back up and breezed through a step. Still in level 2, but we will finish it before summer.
4. Art – This week she has done “Fashion Art Week”, inspired by a gift from grandma. She has designed clothing and purses so far.
5. Writing – She has worked on unit two of IEW’s Student Writing Intensive dvd class. I think she finished the unit, I’ll check later.
6. Astonishing Animals – She is still working through this Download N Go unit study. She’s learned about lots of animals and is enjoying every single part.

Joseph and Emma have been really focusing on reading the last two weeks. Here is what they’ve done for homeschool:

• I See Sam – This review item is a reading program. I’ll be honest, we tried it the way it is laid out and it didn’t click. We also began at the beginning of level one and quickly realized that was a mistake. We’re now working halfway through level 2, which is an early first grade level. They can read the level 3 books too, but level 2 is more comfortable. I’m beginning to see some fluency from Joseph, he’s able to just ‘read’ some words after he sees them earlier in the story and sounds them out. Whoo Hoo!
• Math U See Primer – They’ve both done some math review the last two weeks, a worksheet a day. Nice and easy.
• Unit Study – They finally finished their unit about Living and Nonliving Things this week. You can see the microscope activity and their lapbook in this post. They enjoyed it and have been asking what unit we’ll start next week. Yes, they know it is Christmas, but they’re not willing to put homeschool on hold. I’ve had a request for a Magic School Bus unit, so hopefully I can pull that together this weekend.
• We started reading Dragon of the Red Dawn - a Magic Tree House book set in Japan in the 1600’s. Joseph brought the book to me to read, which was nice. Daniel has been joining in on this one, he likes it. We’re also reading a Magic School Bus book about microbes and pickles! Yum – I need to get out a jar of pickles and grab a cucumber at the store so the kids can try both and see which they prefer.
• Art – They used oil pastels this week for their art medium, and last week was playdoh. You just can’t beat the fun of playdoh!

Everyone has also worked on the following together in homeschool this week:

1. Sign Language – we’ve watched a Signing Time dvd daily, hoping to get Oliver using some more signs, though he is also beginning to talk more legibly. He likes these and will also try speaking with them, so it’s a perk when his big siblings do it with him.
2. Spanish – we began our review of Speekee, an immersion program for early learners in Castilian Spanish - the Spanish spoken in Spain. It uses similar puppetry to Sesame Street, something my children have not ever really seen, which makes it a novelty here.
3. Reading about Christ’s life – we’re partway through Matthew right now.

Other than all of that the kids just play and learn and create on their own. As I type this the girls are creating game lapbooks (no clue yet what they mean by that, other than it involves little bits of paper!), the boys are all working on some project involving balls and making tracks to roll them on. And the timer on the muffins just beeped, which is my cue to get off here! I hope you all had a wonderful week. Tell me about it in the comments! You can also check out the Weekly Wrap-Up, which this post is linked to.

Homemade Bread–Mmm!

I love the smell of fresh baked bread, don’t you?  Here is my updated basic bread recipe, for those who are interested.  It is a smaller quantity than a previous post, though still quite a lot of dough.  Please recognize that I never follow the recipe exactly, I add different flours in varying amounts depending upon my mood.  I check for the right consistency by touching the dough.  I know that’s not helpful, but I’m always willing to answer questions if you leave a comment!

Ingredients:

• 4 3/4 cups warm water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 1/2 T. yeast
• 1 T. salt
• 14 cups whole wheat flour (this is approximate, humidity and type of flour will play a factor and it may be more or less)

I mix all of that in my Bosch mixer for about 7 minutes, then pull it out and divided it in 3 or 4 lumps.  Usually I put each loaf in a 10 inch long bread pan.  Other times I divide a lump of dough into 3 parts.  Each part is rolled into a long rope.  Braid the 3 ropes and tuck the ends under the bread.  Put that loaf onto a cookie sheet.  I cover each loaf with plastic wrap to let rise(30-60 minutes, depends on how cold your house is!). Bake it on 350 degrees F for 28 minutes, cool, and enjoy.

Life with a Sixth Baby in the House

I wanted to offer this very honest post today about how life with six children is going.  Many times all we see when we read a blog are the highlights.  We come away with a picture that the mom has it all together and life is smooth and easy for her.  It ain’t so!  At least not at my house. 

Yes, my recovery from Caleb’s birth (he’s almost 4 weeks old) has been easy peasy, praise God!  That is a blessing I’m grateful for every day.  I’m feeling great, just a bit sleep-deprived.  Caleb sleeps like a newborn, which means he’s up several times a night generally.  He also hates sleeping in his crib.  After 3 crib sleepers we are back to a baby in our bed.  Makayla and Joseph were determined cosleepers, then Emma, Daniel, and Oliver happily used the crib.  Not Caleb.  Sigh.  It actually wasn’t a hard choice, Caleb will sleep 2-5 hours at a time in bed with mommy, and 30 minutes to an hour in his crib.  Sleep is the priority right now.

Which brings me to mornings.  Things just aren’t happening like they used to.  Before Caleb was born we would be doing homeschool by 8am most days with everyone fed, dressed, and chores done first.  Some mornings that still happens – if Caleb is sleeping – but most mornings we’re barely into homeschool before 9:30am, and snack break is at 10!  We have more interruptions too, of course, which means unless work is independent it may take a long time to get something done.  I’m not sure how we’ll ever find time to do a science experiment or something that takes mom’s full attention for any length of time.

I’m happy to say we’re all fed but we’ve had more than our share of sandwiches for meals.  Sure, I’ve made some real meals, from stir fry to spaghetti, but a lot of meals don’t happen on time unless they’re quick and easy to make.  And if you’ve never seen my kids around meal time you have no idea how important it is that meals are on time!  That blood sugar starts to drop and 5 kids start melting down.  We’ve even had cereal for dinner a time or two just to get something in them fast.  I’m trying to exercise each day but Caleb doesn’t seem convinced that it’s important.  He wants to be fed within two minutes of me starting a workout.  Or he poops.  I swear he has a built-in radar.

There are moments where I wonder how we’ll ever get back to a normal routine.  Heck with normal, I’ll take any routine at this point!  We’re all waiting around for Caleb to settle into some predictable routine and we’ll make do with that.  You know, one where he naps at regular times so I can have two arms free.  I’m wearing him in the Moby Wrap a lot, which helps sometimes.  He doesn’t have head control yet and he doesn’t like having the wrap around the back of his head for support if he’s awake.  He fights it, and then I have to have one hand available to support his head, which cuts down on what I can do. 

The children are adjusting pretty well.  Makayla loves holding Caleb, helps with the occasional bottle, etc.  Joseph and Emma are my prime runners, getting things for me, or helping Caleb with the pacifier he drops when I’m trying to cook or go to the bathroom.  Daniel is doing his best just to not get into things.  He really is easygoing most of the time and has turned into a chatterer, so he’s happy to talk to me and Caleb.  Oliver is even doing pretty well.  Of course, he’s only 1.  He doesn’t understand why he can’t climb on top of Caleb to sit on my lap too.  And he understands all too well that when I’m feeding the baby that my reaction time is far slower and he can get into things easily.  He’s learned fun tricks like pulling a crate over to the door so he can unlock it and try to go outside.  (Yes, he even unlocks the dead bolt!) 

All in all life is just what it should be with a sixth baby in the house.  The newborn stage is not the shock it was with my first baby.  I knew what was coming and we’re rolling with the punches.  Sure, life is not as routine and predictable as I would like, but I know this is the season God has me in.  I have perspective.  I know this stage won’t last for long.  I see proof in my five older blessings that I need to soak up every minute I can of the baby snuggles and midnight feedings, because sooner than I expect it will be over.  Babies don’t stay babies forever.  This, too, shall pass.

Taco Frito Recipe

One of the recipes I grew up enjoying my family called Taco Frito.  One reason I love this recipe is we put everything in bowls on the table and the children can choose the ingredients they like.  It pairs well with the refried bean recipe I shared earlier.  We double the recipe for our family, or triple it and put some taco meat in the freezer for later, which saves me time down the road.  You can also replace the ground beef with ground turkey if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained.
• 1/4 c. taco seasoning mix
• 1 can tomato sauce (Don’t have tomato sauce?  Blend up diced tomatoes or whatever variety you have on hand.  That is what I did yesterday.)
• 1 bag Frito chips
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
• salsa (for topping)
• sour cream (for topping)

Brown the ground beef and drain it, then toss the taco seasoning and tomato sauce in the pan with the meat and simmer on low for half an hour while you chop lettuce, shred cheese, and gather bowls.  That’s it!  Each person layers into their bowl the ingredients they like. 

My favorite layers go in this order: lettuce, fritos, cheese, meat, more cheese, lots of sour cream.  My husband likes to add some salsa in there.  My children prefer to use a plate and put each ingredient in it’s own spot and eat that way.  Do whatever works!

Does your family have their own ‘family recipe’ you make?  Tell me about it in the comments!

Living and Nonliving Things Lapbook

One of the fun things we did Monday was do some exploring with our pocket microscope to go with the unit Joseph and Emma have been working on.  I actually put Makayla in charge of that, so she helped the four younger siblings use the microscope.  All I did was run the camera.  They looked at both living and nonliving things, and learned that cells are so tiny that we can’t see them without magnifying things. 

Tuesday Joseph and Emma finished up their lapbooks and unit about living and nonliving things.  Hooray!  I’m so proud of them, they really enjoyed working on this unit and understood the concepts really well.  I have no idea what they’re going to want to learn next, but I’m sure it will be interesting.  If you’re interested in doing this lapbook we got ours from Hands of a Child.

Wits and Wagers Family Review

One of the things my children look forward to in our product reviews is when a game arrives in the mail. As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew we received Wits and Wagers Family ($19.99) from North Star Games to review. Wits and Wagers Family is for ages 8 and up. This version is based off the original Wits and Wagers game, with the rules, questions, and scoring system simplified so the whole family can play together.

Here is how you play: One person reads a question card aloud. Each player then writes their guess on a mini dry erase board. All answers are a number, and these guesses are then laid out in order from lowest to highest.

Then the fun grows. Each player has two Meeples, little wooden people in their own color. They place their two meeples on any of the answer boards, their own or someone else’s. You see, you may think that someone else had the best answer, and that’s okay. The answer is then read from the back of the question card and points are awarded for those whose meeples are on the correct answer. The score is kept on a central dry erase board, and the first person to 15 points wins.

For our first try at Wits and Wagers Family my husband and I played with our 9, 6, and 5 year old children. It really was easy and everyone grasped how to play quickly. The kids loved having their own personal dry erase answer boards and meeples, and with someone helping those who can’t read well we were set. We had fun for a while. Unfortunately, we found that because all the answers were exact numbers, our children (and mommy and daddy) went many rounds with nobody getting any points. Everyone started to get frustrated and we had to lower the points needed to win so we could get through a game. We simply didn’t know the answers, the questions weren’t easy enough. For example, none of us had any clue how tall the Cinderella castle is at Disney World. Adding to the trouble was the fact that any number over 25 is a pretty fuzzy concept for kids under 10. I think this game is best played with children older than 10 or 12 based simply on that fact.

What I would really love to see is a question pack put out for the game where all the answers are a number between 1 and 25. Then I think my children would have better hope of answering right and getting points, (and so would I). For now we just lowered the winning score a good bit so the kids can stay interested in a game long enough to finish.

EDITED TO ADD: I just found out that we had misunderstood the rules!! The person with the closest answer to right without going over is considered correct, so it will work so much better now for my kiddos as points will be awarded every round! I suppose that's what I get when I let the kids read the instructions and teach us how to play. (blushing)

See what my Crewmates think of this game HERE.

{Disclaimer: We received one copy of this game free to review. We received no other compensation and all opinions presented herein are ours.}

Homeschool Hint #4–Relax and Follow Their Lead

We have never sent our children to preschool because we always planned on homeschooling them.  I remember with my first child, Makayla, hearing the surprise when others asked where she would be going and we said we didn’t see the need to put her in preschool.  It was unheard of with the moms I knew then.  Most sent their child the minute they turned 3, if not at age 2.  Everyone was trying to get their child into the ‘best’ preschool to prepare them for kindergarten.  I started working with my oldest on preschool skills when she was 3 1/2, and we spent just a little bit of time on it each day, certainly less than 30 minutes.  Mostly we read books and played games. 

As we have added children to our family I have never been tempted to send my children to preschool, but I have to admit there have been times when I thought I ‘should’ be working with them on reading or some other academics.  I remember feeling the pressure when Joseph was 4 1/2, especially.  He had no interest in letters, phonics, or reading.  Thankfully, I waited.  I relaxed.  When we did begin phonics work it was with active games that got him moving, running, jumping, and playing.  In other words, it really didn’t look like what others thought learning to read should look like.  He’s now 6, and still learning to read.  But guess what – I’m not stressed.  To this day Joseph would rather be learning science and building things with his hands.  He has been fascinated with space and the human body.  At 3 or 4 his favorite book was Inside Guides: The Human Body.  He wanted to see the guts, bones, muscles, and body all taken apart.

My next child, Emma, has been Joseph’s opposite in most ways.  She has been interested in writing letters, reading, and doing ‘school’ since she was tiny.  At 18 months she knew the alphabet and what each letter said.  She learned it all in one week, while I was trying to teach her big brother.  She asks to sit down and do more.  She loves to color and draw.  She also doesn’t hurry for anything.  She can spend an hour coloring at the table on the same page that her big brother finished in two minutes.  With her I have had to learn to relax and follow her lead. 

After Emma we have Daniel.  Dear, dear, Daniel.  He is a ball of energy and wants to be right there in the middle of the action.  He walked early, climbed even earlier, and has always insisted on joining the big kids for homeschool.  With him I began to offer preschool material early simply so he had something of his own to use.  He is a technical wizard.  He can use my iPod Touch as well or better than I can.  If it is electronic or has power he will figure out how to use it.  He learned to use the mouse on the computer well by just over age 2.   

Oliver is still 1.  He has been a part of our homeschool lifestyle from birth, and shows traits from several of his siblings.  He likes to participate for a while, insists he is at the table and has something to color with or manipulate.  Then he will be done and off he wanders to happily play on his own for an hour, not feeling the need to join in with the big kids at all.  It is amazing to see each little personality develop. 

My advice today is simple:  Relax and follow their lead.  If you have one child who is not remotely interested in ‘academics’ then give them the time to be little, to grow and learn at their own pace.  Offer opportunities, but don’t force them to learn.  Who says a child must be reading or writing or doing math by age 6? 

The opposite is also true.  If you have a child that begs to learn, to sit and ‘do school’, then let them.  Follow their lead, and when they hit a patch where they suddenly don’t want to, remember that it’s okay to slow down and take a break.

Follow your children’s interests.  Encourage them to explore God’s world, introduce them to great people in history with stories, and then follow the rabbit trails that come up.  Everyone learns in different ways, at different ages.  Relax and enjoy the journey!

Small and Simple Things Challenge - Week 1

Welcome to week one of the Small and Simple Things Challenge! Just what are we doing here? Getting healthy one small change at a time. Scripture tells us that our bodies are temples of God, that he created us, and honestly, my temple is showing some wear and tear. The scriptures that really stood out to me when I was thinking about losing weight and getting healthy all had two themes running through them, being patient and doing little steps. Here are the three verses that are my favorite:

“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” Alma 37:6

“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” Doctrine and Covenants 64:33

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

What can you expect to find here? Each Monday I will post about a few small and simple things you can do to move toward a healthier body. I will also share my progress, struggles, and weight because I need to be accountable.

What do you get to do? Join me in making small changes each week toward a healthier body. You can try one of the ideas I post or choose something else that you want to work on. The only rules are to keep the changes small and simple. God will magnify our efforts into great things. Each week after this one I will also include a Linky (yep, gotta figure out how to do that still!). To help with accountability I hope you will make a quick post on your own blog about the small things you’ve tried in the previous week and link it up. We can celebrate our successes, admit our weaknesses, and support one another on this journey. Ready to join me? Great! You’re welcome to grab the button or even make a post on your blog pointing others here to spread the word.

This week I have three small and simple things on my mind. Remember, you can use one or more of these or something else completely that you want to do for the week!

1. Look in the Mirror. This week really take time to see what condition your temple, your body, is in. Be brave people! Denial is what keeps us from making the changes to health. Find a full length mirror, shut the door, and take off those clothes. Look at yourself from all angles, it may surprise you. I know I haven’t really looked at my body in a mirror in a long time. Sure, I glance at my clothes to make sure they match and see that I brushed my hair. But I don’t look too closely at what condition my body is in. Step two of this is to say something nice to yourself right there in the mirror. Find something you like about yourself. It’s easy to see the things we want to work on, but God created us and even in our out of shape state we are beautiful. Praise the handiwork of an awesome Creator – you are loved just as you are by God. It’s time to start loving yourself.
2. Drink more water. More than half our body is made of water and every body system needs water to work. I know I don’t get enough water, and one side effect of dehydration is being tired. I wonder how many times I eat when what my body is really needing is some water to hydrate it? This week I’m going to fill up a water bottle just for me and drink drink drink. Check this article from the Mayo Clinic to learn more about water.
3. Move in the moments. Find small moments in your day and choose to move! Muscle was made for motion – God made us to move. Walk around the room, make a few extra trips up and down the stairs, dance with your husband – I don’t care what you do, just move!

There you have it! I look forward to taking this journey with you all.

Upcoming TOS Crew Reviews

I thought I would share the products that are up and coming reviews here at our house as part of our TOS Homeschool Crew work.  Right now we have a few that are long-term reviews, not due until late spring (greek and writing), some due soon, and others we’ll get to begin soon. 

• Wits and Wagers Family – Our review of this game will post soon.
• Building Life Castles – a 4th grade bible curriculum from Positive Action for Christ, coming early January.
• Math Facts Now! – a computer program that is all for practicing those math facts.
• Peter and the Wolf – This CD’s in the mail from Maestro Classics and will be fun, music and story in one.  Due in January.
• Speekee – This Spanish program looks like a lot of fun, we’ll get access to their new online version soon and the review is coming in late January.
• I See Sam – a reading program that we’re reviewing.  We’ve started this one already, but the review won’t come until late February.
• Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek level 1 – Makayla has worked on this one off and on for a while and it is not due until April. 
• Student Writing Intensive A - from Institute for Excellence in Writing, this is the DVD course we started just this month.  You won’t see a review from us until May.

As you can see we have quite the variety right now to work with.  I also have been working on our second semester homeschool plans (science semester!) and hope to share those soon.  Until then, have fun checking out the links to each product!

Time4Learning Review

When Time4Learning contacted me recently about trying a month of any levels free in exchange for a review, I jumped at the opportunity.  We started our free month just days before I had my sixth child, Caleb.  I signed up the following children:

• Joseph age 6 for the 1st grade level.
• Emma who was a month shy of age 5 for the Kindergarten level.
• Daniel, just turned 3, for the preschool level.

My hope was that my children would have fun and academics independent of mommy, freeing me up to focus on adjusting to life with a new baby.  I’m going to tell you what I thought of each level we tried.

The Preschool Level: 

After a few days of sitting next to Daniel and helping him learn how to maneuver the menus he was on his own.  This level has many themes, but there are a standard set of activity types that are reused in the themes, including puzzles, matching games, patterning activities, painting, and more.  Here is part of the main menu (it can scroll down for more themes):  The benefit to this was that Daniel really was able to be independent once he knew how to play each type of game.  The program speaks directly to the student, asking if they want to play the activity, explaining what to find/click on, and he was happily engaged for a while.  There were a few days where Daniel just wasn’t interested in doing Time4Learning towards the end of our review period.  He was starting to get a little bored by the same types of activities, so I do not think he would enjoy a whole year’s subscription, but it was a fun month’s activity.

The Kindergarten Level:

  At age 4 during the review, Emma easily picked up how the program worked.  It read all problems or explained directions out loud so she did not need to be able to read extensively.  For this level there were two main curriculum areas, Language Arts and Math.  The Language Arts area has 199 activities set into sequential chapters.  Navigation is simple!    The LA at this level focuses on letter and sound awareness, which was a bit easy for Emma, who is already reading short vowel words.  This level tells the student the new information and shows them exactly how to do each activity (what to click, how to answer, back up, or move on), before it relinquishes control to the student.  She could not click ahead and skip the demonstration, which was frustrating on the LA area. 

The Math section for the Kindergarten level was right on for Emma however, and the instruction/demonstration was something she usually needed to watch.  This level covers numbers to 20, including representing those with objects, shapes, sorting based on different attributes, measurement, and more.  This was the part of the program Emma liked the most.

The 1st Grade Level:

Joseph, just over age 6, was the one who absolutely loved Time4Learning.  At the 1st grade level there are more curriculum sections:

• Language Arts and LA Extensions – Over 600 activities between these two divided into chapters, taking a student through concepts such as short and long vowels, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, and compound words.  This was spot on for Joseph right now.
• Math – 102 lessons covering fractions, order of operations, basic algebra, shapes, graphing and probability using interactive prompts and animated stories.  Here it moved a bit fast for Joseph.  He would have fit better about two-thirds of the way through the Kindergarten math.
• Science – 16 lessons in 4 areas: living and nonliving things, earth science(weather/seasons), Jane Goodall, the surface of the earth.  This was Joseph’s absolute favorite area, he always wanted to do ‘just one more’.
• Social Studies – This is actually second grade level material, which means that more reading is expected of the student and less is done by the program aloud.  It was okay, but took more work to do than Joseph wanted to put in.  Topics covered include American identity, basic human survival needs, maps and globes, historic places, cultural holidays, patriotism, and jobs.

To Sum It Up:

Time4Learning was a great mommy helper for this new baby time.  The kids were still learning and having fun but it was not all dependent on me.  I don’t think Time4Learning is something we would want to be our total curriculum year-round, we enjoy reading and doing things together too much for that.  However, I think it is a great program to use for a busy time at home, such as just after a baby is born or around a move.  The monthly membership is $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child and there are levels for Preschool through 8th grade. 

If I could change one thing about the setup, I think it would be nice to be able to choose a level for each curriculum area, so I could have used a lower or higher grade for math and language arts as needed for each child.  I also wish there was a bigger discount for multiple children in one family.  We can’t fit even a month or two in the budget for the four children who are old enough at our house to use Time4Learning right now, that’s $64.80 a month.  A year’s membership is even less workable for our budget.

If you want to learn more about Time4Learning you can try free demos here, and also be sure to check out their website for specifics on what is covered in each grade level.

{Disclaimer: I received free access to Time4Learning for one month to enable this independent review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions presented herein are my own.}