Keeping It Simple

Our Homeschool Resource Page : As an "old timer" in the homeschool world, I find the internet amazing! Having spent hours in years past at Kinkos making copies for our homeschool, and having experienced the frustration of trying to order materials on the phone or by mail sight unseen, I have an unmatched appreciation for the resources available at my fingertips! That being said, I went through my resource page to check the links (got rid of a few), and edited a few that were misdirected. Under "Favorite Resources" (the first section of the page) I have listed a few books, but most  items in the other sections are links for resources that can be used for free (or limited use for free). And we have used all of these resources, except one that is explained on the list, at one time or another. Please let me know if you find a link that does not work.

I am sort of cheating in that this is actually an excerpt from a previous post that was in answer to some questions I received. Looking back at homeschooling my now adult children, I will tell you that I don't regret one single workbook page that we did not get to- my only regret is the time I spent stressing that I wasn't doing enough (or well enough). I wish I had woken up each morning with less expectation and just enjoyed that time with my children. I still lose sight of this, but I am working on listening to my own advice! I am belatedly linking this post up to Helpful Homeschool Hints at Many Little Blessings .

Organizing: Reorganization is the still the key word around here. I had a little set back when I gave up caffeinated soda and spent two days in a semi-coma! Honestly. The school room is next on my list. School Time: Just trying to keep up with the basics. My big goal right now is to try and get started earlier. We used to do math before breakfast and that was always a good feeling having that one thing checked off first thing in the morning. In the High School Corner: Erin worked on this fun drawing for her co op class. Creativity: Paul (12yo) has decided he wants to make a boat. It might be more accurate to say that he is obsessed with making a boat.  He has been doing all sorts of mock ups and running tests to determine what materials will work best. There has been lots of figurin' going on with building things to scale and all, so I would say that it is a fairly educational project. Reading: We are still reading "Peter and the Starcatchers". The boys are c...

Radio Rescue by Lynne Barasch- One of the things that I am excited about with this challenge is to have the opportunity to see what great pictures books other readers review. The review I read for this book was lukewarm, but the reviewer did say that it is better than it sounds- and it is. My boys love true stories and they love true stories about a boy hero even more. This book is not just about a boy saving the day, it is about his perseverance in the face of failure (I love that he does not give up- he just works harder), and his ultimate success in becoming the youngest licensed ham radio operator (at that time). Gleam and Glow by Eve Bunting-  This book, inspired by a true story, is set during the Bosnian war. The book seems to intentionally avoid actually naming the time and place, except in the author's notes, in an effort to make this a more universal story. I am having a hard time thinking of the right words to describe this story, but I thi...

Around the House: When a family member moves out of a house the size of ours, their space if filled as quickly as it is emptied. And there is a trickle down effect. Michelle, who just got married, moved her stuff out which means that Erin has moved her stuff in to her sister's place and my boys are moving their stuff in to Erin's place! Yikes! It has been a wild week. We are all enjoying the breathing room. There is lots of purging, cleaning, and fun being had by all. The biggest news is the boys can fit their Legos in their bedroom, and they are having a great time building things that don't have to be moved. I am loving not stepping on Lego pieces! Outings: My dear hubby agreed (I don't think he had any idea what he was saying yes to ;)) to take a group of children to visit the Elephant Seals this week. The blessings of having a 15 passenger van! We were able to transport 11 young people to Ano Nuevo Elephant Seal Reserve. These pictures to not begin to capture th...

The Helpful Hint by Many Little Blessings this week about seeking out homeschool support is right on. The encouragement I receive from my homeschooling friends has given me the fortitude to keep going. When I started homeschooling, we had three little girls. Easy enough. Girls actually like school! (mostly;)) My vision was we'd do this for a few years (maybe to high school), I would finish my education (I was still taking college courses at the ripe old age of 28), and then I would join the "grown-up" world. Well, it did not exactly turn out that way. Here I am, almost 20 years later, still plugging along and trying do the best I can (and mostly loving it). Like the above "hint" from Many Little Blessings will tell you, support is integral. Just  listening to another mom share her excitement about a breakthrough she has with one of her children or a fun unit study that they have done, is like soaking up that mom's energy. It renews my resolve to keep ...

 I think I mentioned that I love Klutz books. They are just fun .                                                                                        My kids seem to love them too.  I thought this was pretty clever!                                                         ...

Who wouldn't want to win a Sandra Boynton book? My son loved, loved, loved her books when he was a toddler, and now I love reading her books to my grandson. If you are fan as well, you can visit Brimful Curiosities to enter a giveaway to win this book:

I am not going to post a review for each book that we read- if I stick to the "Harvest" level of the challenge that would be 200 posts just on the picture books we read. I am going to attempt a weekly post after this. I was anxious to get started though. Stellaluna is our first official read for this challenge. My hubby purchased this book about 17 years ago to read to our now 24 year old daughter when she was 7 years old, and it has since been read numerous times to her 4 younger siblings as well. If the measure of a book's quality is its staying power, in our family at least, it has that! Book review aside, joining this challenge made me do what I promised I would do- spend some time with James doing some 7yo stuff. He was having a hard time (on the verge of a meltdown) while playing with his big brothers today- I walked in the room and asked if he would like to read a book. He replied, "ya, sure" (instant mood change), and we had a wonderful time sitt...

 I am excited to participate in this challenge. On my list of goals for this school year (2010-2011) is to do more with my 7yo. I was finding that I would refer to an outing, a book, or a movie assuming that my 7yo would know what I was talking about only to find out that he did not. Many of the "great reads" and other wonderful things our family has shared took place when he was much younger (or not born!). I am hoping that this picture book challenge will keep me accountable in fulfilling my goal in at least the reading department. I am looking foward to sharing many wonderful books with him in 2011 (of course, my older boys are welcome to join in too!). These are the challenge levels: Reading with a Child: •“Planting” – Read 12 picture books with a child during the year. •“Watering” – Read 36 picture books with a child during the year. •“Feeding” – Read 72 picture books with a child during the year. •“Growing” – Read 120 picture books with a child during the y...

I knew I wanted to make these pretty Poinsettias with my kids as soon as I saw the post at "The Crafty Crow". Along with a tutorial, there are some book suggestions to go with this craft as well. I should note that my boys made theirs with 5, not six pedals as a flower would have, but that was just how they like them- and it may have been easier to glue that way. Either way, I think they are adorable. This post over at Muffin Tin Mom has pretty much the same craft, but in white for stars.

The holidays are over and our third daughter was married last weekend, so we were ready to get back in to some sort (any sort) of routine this week: Our Schedule: I have never been successful at a schedule that dictates exact times. I don't hold to it and then I get discouraged. For the start of the New Year, we are breaking our day in to "blocks". We have "chore block", "school block", and "free time block". This is to address the difficulty that I have keeping my boys on track- rather than have a set number of chores, we have a "chore block". That means that while we are in our chore block, they are not allowed to go off on any tangents. They cannot decide that they are done and start working on Legos or reading a book (not an usual occurrence for my distractable boys)- they need to report back to me anytime they complete a chore, I inspect the chore, and then they move on to the next chore. I definitely have that New Year...

I know it is January- but it is never to late to document! :) We were limited on time this year, but managed to get a in a few fun crafting days. Mod Podge- the new favorite thing around here:                                                                                                                                       ...