Friday, December 21, 2012

Welcome Back

Merry Christmas!


I have been off my blog for a couple of months, almost 4 months to be exact. In the process of being gone I have not been idle. I have been pretty busy homeschooling, teaching at our co-op (get back to that later) and  helping out at Bible Study. In all the business, I kept telling myself that I would get to writing a post but the time never felt right. Add on to that Christmas play practice for Lightning and potty training Little Bits, my life could not be put off to post. I follow many bloggers and a lot of them confess that their lives are sometimes bombarded by blogging, trying to get the perfect picture, getting lost in the business and not living their life. I have desired to have a successful blog but not at the cost of taking away those valuable, precious, once in a lifetime moments with my family.

I am going to diligently try to post on the blog once a month. Our co-op semester is coming to an end and I am not teaching any classes that require as much prep and attention as the past one. This past semester at our co-op I had the privileged of teaching my son and his friends a class based on the Nest videos the class was called Historical Heroes. In the class the children watched a movie about a historical person and then we would do some type of craft or activity relating to the person.

Like many homeschoolers out there I am always looking for a good resource for history, usually something that is free or dirt cheap.  In the process of researching for the class I had to keep a website up for the kids to do workbooks that I had posted. The only problem was I did not have a computer nor did I want to take time to scan every workbook and upload them to the site. After searching for sometime for a solution and praying that God would make a way I came across a website that had every workbook I needed uploaded onto their server. This was truly exactly what I needed. I praised God for allowing me to find the website and  always making a way when it seemed so impossible.


The website for the activity books is Dripping Springs Community Library at this link you will find all of the workbooks and to go with the workbooks  this youtube channel has the movies. Activity books are great because they cover a wide variety of levels, beginning, intermediate, and advanced.

If you are interested in my syllabus for this class and the activities that I used for each video please leave a comment below and I will be more than happier to share with a fellow homeschooler. 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

My Top Ten No No's in Our Homeschool

Let me begin by saying I love this linky party title being hosted by Sonia over at Becoming a Strong Woman of God, it reminds me of a book that my two year old daughter always wants to read called No No Yes Yes written by Leslie Partricelli. The toddler in this book is showing the no no things to do and the yes yes things to do. I love when my daughter repeats the words to me as she looks at the little boy eating out of the dog bowl she echoes "No no" and when she sees the little boy eating a banana by the dog bowl she says, "Yes yes". Sometimes Many times I repeat these words to myself during any given homeschool day. No no I say to myself, as I find myself getting frustrated because my son does not want to write for that day. Yes yes I say as I see the light bulb go on as my son masters his double addition facts.

Here is a list of the top 10 No No's in our Homeschool:
  1. Staying up all night before school is a No No!                             It really makes for a bad morning and a very grumpy mommy. I am naturally a night person and so I have to discipline myself and try to go to bed at a decent hour.  
     2. Not praying/no devotional time is a NO NO!
    I know this seems like a no brainer but I have been guilty of this especially if my kids get up before me or  I sleep in late. I try to beat my kids up, meaning my goal is to be awake before they are and walking in the  Spirit not the flesh.

     3. Staying in our PJ's all day is a No No!
      I am tempted to do this a lot but when I do I feel so lazy and sluggish and so do my kids. being in clothes just seems to make me have more energy.

    4. Running errands before school is a NO No! 
      I don't care how important the errand is it is not more important than  school. I have tried to do school after running errands and it does not work my son needs a routine. 

    5. Comparing my kids to others is a No No!
      It does not help to compare my child to my neighbors. Every child is different and learns at different pace, different ways, and is gifted in different areas. Comparing only hinders the vision that God has given you for your children and their learning.

Leave a comment below and share some of your No No's! I now have a computer so I am completely less frustrated with blogging. Blogging on bloggerwith an iPad is a very challenging task to say the very least. Thankful for the new laptop I received this past week. Things are not coming together as I planned but the Lord is taking care of everything I just have to trust in Him.   

Thursday, August 23, 2012

My Students- 1st Grade and Tot School



Seriously, contemplated calling this blog post, The Wows and Woes of the First Day, but I decided not too. I can sit here and blog complain about the number of tantrums my 1st grader has had in the first week of school. Or about how my curriculum got lost by the charter school we homeschool through. Or that I thought it was okay because Pinterest is a wealth of resources, only to discover that my printer is completely out of ink! The chances of getting any soon are highly unlikely. My husband is the only one who works and so money is tighter as it can be in this economy we live in. That being said our week, our first week back to school has been somewhat frustrating.

I sat here wondering if I'm the only homeschool mom that has such a hard time teaching their children. All the homeschool blogs I follow seem to have a perfect homeschool routine and as of this week with all the craziness going on in our house I have to stop and reevaluate my attitude and really seek the Lord. Homeschooling should be a blessing and really should not be this hard I must be doing something wrong? I allow breaks, I give snacks, we play games, have bible study and even pray together but still I feel this battle occurring. It's at these moments I stop and say a prayer and ask the Lord for His Devine intervention. Only He is able to change my heart and my children's, to bring a peace and a calm that is beyond what I can humanly do.

Today was our third day of 1st grade I woke up at 4:30 and sought the Lord before my day started. Did I still have complaints and murmuring today about writing, yes, but I also had the Holy Spirit to lead me and teach me to love my kids even when they were difficult. I praise the Lord because it truly is a blessing to homeschool my kids even if at this season in our little schoolroom it seems like an unorganized mess. Remembering that God does not call the equipped He equips the called. So if you are  having one of those weeks take heart knowing the Lord is with you in everything! Here are my  students


My handsome 1st grader

My beautiful Little Bits

Sunday, August 12, 2012

"Not” Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room Hop


This weeks theme for the "Not" Back-to-School blog hop is your school room!

We are in our second year homeschooling and moved to a bigger house than we had last year. We do not have a spare room for a class so basically my living room houses most of our school curriculum and tools. For this reason we do not have a couch in my living room so we can best utilize the space that we have been blessed with. The way I figure is that learning takes place in many places inside and out side the house. I am really trying to work on organizing our homeschool library. Sometime in the near future I can share pics about that (: 
Lap desk from Michael's

At the kitchen table





School desk for writing time









Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Dig for Kids


Just bought the new Bible study,The Dig For Kids, for 99 cents. It's on sale right now for 48 hours!

Book description via Amazon:

The Dig for KIds is a simple and easy way for parents to study through books of the Bible with their children. The Dig takes the guesswork out of teaching for parents. Each lesson is just one page that contains four main parts:

The Map - The Map is the overview of each lesson. It will tell you as a parent and your child what you will be studying.

The Dig - The Dig is the main passage of the Bible you will be reading. There are typically three or four review questions that will help with discussion and review.

The Treasure - The Treasure is the big idea of the passage you have just studied. Simply put, it is what you want your child to remember in one sentence.

The Display - Archaeologists go on a dig, find a treasure, and then put it on display for all to see. This is the basic idea behind the Display. It helps your child live out what he or she has just learned.

Early on in The Dig you will meet a character named Doc. He will be your expert

 and experienced tour guide. Through each Dig, Doc will help guide a child systematically through books of the Bible. The Dig for Kids is a great resource for parents because it makes teaching children the Bible simple, fun, and interactive!

If you are interested click here The Dig for Kids

Monday, August 6, 2012

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 2012-2013

We are know entering our second official year of homeschooling. We started homeschooling when my son was 3 years old and now he is going to be six soon and is entering First Grade! And all I ca say is thank you Lord we have made it this far. Things are going to be a little different this year because my little girl is two and we are going to be entering the start of Tot School. I am excited to start this new adventure with my Little Bits, the goal for Tot School is going to be making learning fun! If she learns to read or write that's great but if she doesn't that's also great! A love for learning is my goal for her. We will be using a lot of fun things found at Homeschool Creations and  1+1+1=1 and reading lots of books!

Bible {Daily}


Language Arts

  • First Grade ~ We will be using Spelling and Vocabulary from Houghton and Miffling, I found it at a used curriculum sale last week and it has most of the things I was looking for
  • We will also be using a lot of books, some of our reads this year will include Tom Sawyer and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. These books will be used to build vocabulary and a love for reading
Math
  • This year we will be switching from Saxon Math to Math-U-See
Science
  • For science I would have loved to do Nancy Larson Science 1  but I dream on a budget lol We will be doing a lot of unit studies this year including anatomy and a lot of Magic School Bus books 
  • If any one know of any good, thrifty, science curriculum please leave a comment below



  • Seeds Family WorshipSeeds Family Worship

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Winner of the 2012 Curriculum Clean Out

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who entered the giveaway, followed the blog, or followed me on Pinterest! I hope you come back  and join us as we travel through 1st grade and Tot school and the giveaways in the future!  God bless you all and have a great homeschool year






The winner is Cynthia H. comment #33.  You will be hearing from me by email so I can get your address and send the books to you! 

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Prayer Request for Sterling

Sterling and Bits
My heart is heavy as we start this morning. Above is a picture of my daughter and one of her friends from our co-op. Long  story short, this precious little girl was suffering from massive head aches after many test it was revealed that she had a tumor in her brain the size of a golf ball. On Sunday she had surgery to remove the tumor. Well it turns out that a piece of the tumor was left behind and another surgery will be taking place this morning at 10:30 am (PST).  All prayers for this beautiful little girl and her family would be appreciated. Also prayer for the surgical team and all involved in the surgery . And for Sterling who is only 2.5 years old for a quick and speedy recovery.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Curriculum Clean-Out: BOB Books set 3 and 4

Hi all, it has been a long time since I have posted on the blog a lot of the reason has been because my computer died and I had no means of posting! I have an iPad now and I have finally figured out how to post pics and post. Just wanted to let you know about the Curriculum Clean Out being hosted by Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations. Head over there and enter for a chance to win some great curriculum being given away and if you have some curriculum lying around feel free and join in blessing another homeschool family. I was recently blessed by one of my homeschool friends and that being said I am going to be giving away two sets of Bob Books, set number 3 and set number four. One covers compound words and the other word families. They are in perfect shape! Both will be given to one winner!

This give away is now closed! 

BOB Books 
To enter, simply leave a comment below

You can also leave up to three extra comments each worth an extra entry


2) Follow me on Pinterest

3) Share the link to this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter

You may leave up to FOUR comments (for a total of four entries in the giveaway). This giveaway will end next Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 10:30 PM (PST). The winner will be chosen via Random.org.

And I look forward to posting more as I finally learned how to post to the blog via iPad!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Presidents, A Cat in a Hat, and Keeping my Little One Busy

Trying to post at least once a month so far so good. Today I am posting some pics about the month of February and early March. Also a picture about what I do with my Little Bits, many times when I tell people that I homeschool they ask me what I do with my one year old. Obviously she has a very short attention span so I usually give her things to keep her occupied:

Playing and Making a mess
Practicing Fine Motor Skills


Presidents Day- We studied about President George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this year: We read several books about both presidents. Also made two anchor charts one for each president. An my son had a smaller version to record our findings. After he did a sort with all the information we gathered and glued them on the appropriate presidents head.

Lincoln's Anchor Chart

Comparing the Two
 Dr. Seuss' Birthday: These are just a few of the things that we worked on I was completely blessed with a lot of the material you see by What the Teacher Wants! She had a giveaway called Dr. Seuss Wonderfulness giveaway and I was one of ten winners. So we did a lot of Dr. Seuss things this month!


Rolling to make silly or real words

Recording Words

A Silly Word!

Syllable Sorting

Recording Results
Thank you for visiting,  if you have any questions leave me a comment. Looking forward to posting again on my review about the book The Good Wife's Guide by Darlene Schacht coming soon.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Priorities UPSIDE down

A thought, with all this technology calling out to me everyday it becomes obvious when my priorities get twisted. Recently, I was blessed with a ipad2 by my hubby, I was so excited. But then it started, pinterest, words with friends, hanging with friends, pandora, YouTube all were calling for my attention. And my Lord was getting very little attention. I started to feel a change inside of me that maybe I could shorten my bible devotion time for a little more research for school the Lord would understand. But as my day went by the Lord kept placing in my heart to put him front and center. At church tonight one of the pastors read a blog entry that really hit a nerve: Diary of a Bible found at http://www.bible-reading.com/diary.html and it reads:
Diary of a Bible

January: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.
February: Clean-up time. I was dusted yesterday and put back in my place. My owner did use me for a few minutes last week. He had been in an argument and was looking up some references to prove he was right.

March: Had a busy day first of the month. My owner was elected president of the PTA and used me to prepare for a speech.

April: Grandpa visited us this month. He kept me on his lap for an hour reading 1 Cor. 13. He seems to think more of me than do some people in my own household.

May: I have a few green stains on my pages. Some spring flowers were pressed in my pages.

June: I look like a scrapbook. They have stuffed me full of newspaper clippings- one of the girls was married.

July: They put me in a suitcase today. I guess we are off on vacation. I wish I could stay home; I know I'll be closed up in this thing for at least two weeks.

August: Still in the suitcase.

September: Back home at last and in my old familiar place. I have a lot of company. Two women's magazine's and four comic books are stacked on top of me. I wish I could be read as much as they are.

October: They read me a little bit today. One of them is sick. Right now I am sitting in the center of the coffee table. I think that the Pastor is coming by for a visit.

November: Back in my old place. Somebody asked today if I were a scrapbook.

December: The family is busy getting ready for the holidays. I guess I'll be covered up under wrapping paper and packages again.... just as I am every Christmas.

"I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me." Psalm 119:93

And then the question was asked what does your Bible diary say about you?

After church I started working on my Bible study and a quote from Martin Luther struck another cord : " The Bible is alive, it speaks to me. It has feet, it runs after me. It has hands, it lays hold of me"

Hebrew 4:12
The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

I hope these words speak to you as they spoke so clearly to me. This world is passing and all that is in it I pray that I would hold on to the everlasting word of my Lord. Amen

Monday, February 6, 2012

Making Learning Fun

Since it has been almost a month since I have posted I am just going to post some pictures of some of the activities we did this past month. A lot of these ideas came from the many teachers and homeschoolers found on Pinterest if you are interested in any of the ideas you can check them out on Pinterest under my boards or leave a comment and I will give you the direct link to the activity.

Going Shopping Working on counting money

Cup of change ready with plenty of dimes

Figuring out how much to pay

All his purchased items

 Using books to teach Math

Splash is a book about things jumping in and out of a pond

Used the book to illustrate adding and subtracting

Comparing Different Versions of the Ugly Duckling


Pictures that illustrate the beginning, middle and end of the story

Sentences written on map about the story
Math journal tying into the book Splash

 Leave me a comment let me know how you are keeping learning fun at home!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Easy Healthy Pizza

Chefs getting ready to make pizza
Often I struggle with what to feed my kids for lunch. I have breakfast down that is a no brainer my kids are not picky but for lunch they both have different taste so it becomes a challenge. I myself love sandwiches but my kids are not into them unless they are grilled cheese or egg sandwiches.  So when I go shopping I usually try to get dino nuggets or pizza. Frozen pizzas, however, have a lot of sodium which is really bad for anyone. So today as I was tempted to buy a frozen pizza I decided we could make our own so here we go:

Ingredients 

  • pizza mix cheese 1lb.
  • olives
  • pepperonis
  • spaghetti sauce
  •   pineapples
  • pre made pizza crust



Steps
  1. Place pizza crust on baking sheet and preheat oven to 400 , make sure all your chefs wash their hands
  2. Spread pizza sauce on pizza 

Chef Lightning doing a great job!
 

3.Sprinkle cheese blend on pizza
Still doing an amazing job 

4. Add various toppings of your choice

Loving this process
5. Place in oven for ten minutes and enjoy :)

Waiting...
I have no pics of the final product because well we ate it. But my son did comment about how the pizza tasted better than the one we order.




Monday, January 9, 2012

The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back

If you read the title of this entry you may know exactly where I am going LOL Since the start of the new year I have been diligent in reading my Bible every day, I am currently reading through the NLT One Year Bible. As I started to read and pray that God would just speak to me, He kept reminding me of His love for me and how to show that love to my children. It dawned on me recently that I was repeating the cycle with my children that my mom did with me, my mom was a yeller. Not sure if that is a word but she was constantly yelling at me, calling me names and always seemed so angry. Seeing as my son has a personality like I did when I was a child I can see how she was so frustrated. It would make my heart ache when I blew it with my son when I went there and "EXPLODED" words of frustration and anger at my son. And to see his eyes grow bigger and his smile turn into a frown because his mommy was so angry and frustrated. That being said I knew there had to be a better way for all of us and to have piece in our house.

I believe that God has called us as women to raise up our children in the way that they should go and in doing so we need to choose our words and the way we correct our children wisely. We do not want them remembering the most about how we were always yelling and correcting them but how we taught them to love through our love, to be patient with others like we were patient with them and to also  use our tongue to speak words of life and not words of death. Remembering that our little tongue that the Lord has blessed us with can be used to bring life and growth into the lives of the children that HE intrusted into our care. As we teach them at home to be witnesses of His love.

All that being said I am linking up with Gentleness Challenge  at Women Living Well Ministries as we tackle the giant of Yelling and enter into the gentleness of our Father.

Key verses for this week: A newness only found in Christ
 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

What is this newness:
Galatians 5:22,23 says: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Please join me

Sunday, January 1, 2012

A Rough Start

Fighting the urge to pull my hair out at the present moment!!! Yes, school resumes tomorrow but of course I am not prepared, I have been down with a cold for about 3 day and tried to muster up the strength to prepare. As I am printing and planning I run into a little snag in my plan. The ink for my printer is running out. I laugh it off because of course I always try to have a spare ink cartridge in the house for such an occasion. What I did not plan for was a very curious 19 month old going through boxes (we just moved last month) and placing said ink cartridge in who knows where???? Well all I can say is maybe the next day of school will not be what I envisioned it to be but the Lord knows what He is doing. Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that you would lead me tomorrow help me not to get frustrated on all the things that so easily upset me develop patience in me towards my children, my husband, and the little snags in my plans that cause me such distress. I love you Lord and seek whole heartily to please you.  Amen