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Well, if you have found this place you may wonder at the barrenness of it. Just wanted to let you know that I am at http://www.2moremade4.blogspot.com/ I debated the move for a while but that just seems more like the home I want for my blog now. So please, visit me there. Â
I’m really not a very creative person so sometimes it takes me a while to come up with anything good. I was having a problem with some of my posters and charts hanging up in the basement school room. I usually use a poster putty adhesive but sometimes it just doesn’t work in my cool temp. basement (don’t get me wrong we do use a heater when we are down there). So I finally began to thing outside the box in relation to how to make these things stay on the walls instead of being on the floor every morning when I go down there. So these are some pics of what I came up with to work with my concrete block walls.
 I realize that no one else may find this interesting but it solved a long time problem with our school room. I just used a hole punch, reinforcement stickers for the holes, yarn, and a long nail in the wood on top of the concrete block. Cost was nothing. I wish I had thought of this earlier. By the way, my ABC poster was in a Hooked on Phonics kit someone GAVE me. The other two posters are from the Dollar Tree. The weather one has seen better days so I covered it with clear contact paper.
Other ways I have gotten some good decoration for our school room is from those laminated place mats that Wal-Mart has for $1.
I found a quote that says “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company that a good marriage.” It is credited to Martin Luther. Though my dear hubby never reads my blog I want to wish him a happy anniversary. Though not without some trials, these really have been the best years of my life so far. Happy 13. Also just wanted to note that I also have a new address. It is http://www.2moremade4.blogspot.com/. I have not given up on homeschoolblogger. I really like the “community” and all but I am just continually frustrated by some things. I want to only use the other one until I can make homeschoolblogger my permanent home again. So visit over there for new post although as my schedule doesn’t permit for much these days they may not be as frequent as I would like.
I know, the world is waiting for my next entry. LOL There MIGHT be a couple of people read this and maybe not even that many, and that is OK. This has just been a busy time. With school things are going pretty well. One thing I am not trilled with is that we are only hanging loosely with the Ambleside Online schedule right now. We are behind (at least where I like to be) on Little Duke and Understood Betsy. Others we are OK on and Science Boy is really liking Little Pilgrim’s Progress. During these busy times I feel pretty well if we get through Language Lessons (in my school days we called this English), Spelling, Literature, Math, Science and handwriting. The Social Studies has taken a little backseat in our doing a Thanksgiving study in the past few weeks. Both boys seemed to have enjoyed that. In the other subject areas we are progressing steadily on and I am seeing progress in each. Farmer Boy is progressing greatly in fact I am seriously considering starting him with the Math U See Alpha level after Christmas. I have also thought about starting AO year one with him though we may stretch one scheduled week to two actual weeks for the remaining of the school year and then pick up on the rest next school year. Still undecided but he is showing so many signs of being ready for these things so I may ease him in and see how it goes. It is such a blessing to be able to see their strengths and abilities and work with that and also in areas that are needed, spend extra time. The twins are doing remarkably well in their learning. Surprisingly, at least to me, they can identify most letters and count as well as knowing shapes and colors. Though one or the other may be a bit more fluent in each area. I am seriously debating actually staring something with them after Christmas. A friend gave us The Weaver’s Interlock for Pre K-K and it mentions that you can stretch it to cover a year and a half or so. My thought is that it might give a little 10 minute or so structure learning in their day. I wouldn’t loose what they have already picked up on, but I wouldn’t be pushing them too much either. They will be 3 then and we may see how it goes. At worst, if it isn’t working well right now, we will just shelf it for a while. Just a few my rambling thoughts on school for now. Something that has had us pretty busy is we have been doing a bit extra around the house. We have rearrange some & brought some home that is new to us, though not new. It is amazing how much this can pick up the mood. Need to finish up somethings today and hopefully get Christmas decorations out. A week later than I had meant to! Until later!
These following pieces are a few from the November 17, 2010 Issue of the Homeschool Minute an e-newsletter by The Old Schoolhouse. I hope that every thing is given credit properly as I certainly didn’t come up with these but I think they are quiet useful and I really wanted to share them. By the way if you don’t get the homeschool minute, I do recommend it. Lots of encouragement there. The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine
Preparing to Answer Questions From Family at the Holidays While some of you may be eagerly looking forward to the holidays, envisioning a loving family gathered around the table or cousins enthusiastically playing games, I know that the holidays can be very different for others. For some it might feel more like marching in to the Spanish Inquisition, with pop quizzes for the kids, discussions of all your kids are missing by not being in public school, and questions about when you’re finally going to let them go to “real” school. I think one of the key things that you can do is to prepare yourself and your kids. You don’t want to approach the situation with dread, you just want to be prepared so that neither you nor your children are caught off-guard. Face it, while many of us in the homeschool community understand why a child might not know what grade he is in, that’s typically not going to fly well with people used to traditional schooling. Remind your children about what grade they are in, remind them about what they are learning, remind them about their manners, and remind them about some of the field trips, activities, etc., that you all have enjoyed. Many kids just kind of freeze when they are put on the spot with questions, so it’s better to practice the best ways to respond. And you may need to think of ways to answer the questions that your family throws your way. Pray and ask God to tender your heart and give you wisdom in answering those questions. Don’t feel like you have to be perfect, and don’t feel like you have to “change their minds” about homeschooling. You all can still love and respect each other even if you don’t agree about educational options. No matter what you say, people usually respond well to love. These holidays may be a good opportunity for your children to see you loving the unlovable, turning the other cheek, building relationships by finding common ground, keeping your focus on the Audience of One, and pouring into others’ lives. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Start preparing your hearts and minds now. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- Mercy Every Minute How long will you try this interesting experiment of homeschooling? What will you do if you fail? You’ll put them in a real school in high school, right? What will the children do for socialization? How will they face the real world? Don’t you think they are missing out on a real education? Don’t you think you should leave education to the experts? And the questions go on and on. And those questions are especially hard at the holidays, not just because it can be tiring and frustrating to continually defend your educational decisions, but because the questions come from those who are supposed to love and understand you the most: your family. When a friend heard what our subject would be this week, she said, “Oh my goodness, I remember those days. I dreaded getting together with family when we first began homeschooling. I was so insecure; I would make the kids memorize history facts to recite to the family. I even made them go around doing surveys with questionnaires and charts to turn the attention onto the family and off of the homeschooling questions. I’m so happy that we’re beyond that now.” Have you been there? Me, too. Have you been hurt by words that were not thoughtful or were unkind? Me, too. They may not mean to hurt us, and are just curious, but when family members speak against our choices, we tend to take it personally. After all, we’ve banked our lives (and educational choices) on obeying Christ, and they just don’t understand. So, this year, instead of taking it personally, take it personally to the throne of God and intercede for those who don’t understand. In Matthew 5, we are told to pray for those who “persecute” us. That doesn’t mean the kind of prayer that says, “Change them before I disown them!” It’s the kind of prayer for their very souls; that God would draw them to Himself; that God would give you wisdom in dealing with them; that God would open their eyes to see Him; that God would soften your heart toward them; that God’s Word would reveal to them what your words have failed to reveal to them. There’s a reason we are admonished to “think on those things that are pure and lovely and of a good report.” There is a reason we are told to “cast our cares” on Him. The reason is our freedom: freedom from the discouragement that could so easily swallow us up; freedom to praise God instead of ponder that other person’s actions; freedom to pray for those whom no one else may be praying for; freedom to follow God’s commands rather than our own emotions. The holidays should be a time when we turn our attention toward God, loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength, and then turn our attention outward: loving our friends, family, and even our enemies. It’s not a burden; it’s an opportunity to show the love of God to a dying world. ~Deborah —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- The Familyman The way I see it, you have only a few options when dealing with the unavoidable homeschool questions that well-meaning Aunt Bertha asks every Thanksgiving AND Christmas.
Note to dads: Dad, it’s your job to be a knight-in-shining-armor and protect your sweet damsel from dragonish relatives. Stand up, take the brunt of the questions, and let your wife hide behind you. Be REAL and don’t whitewash the cold, hard facts, Todd ———————————————————————————————————————————— It’s Just Common Sense The scene is the kitchen of a family member’s home, with preparations for holiday meals in full swing. In the midst of happy chatter and kitchen activity, you see the sight you have feared! Great Aunt Sally (the lifelong teacher) has just cornered little Johnny, asking him to read “just a few sentences” for her. You make a beeline for the living room and arrive in time to share how wonderfully your school year is going. You have diligently protected your children from discouraging voices, waiting for their God-ordained timetables to kick in. You know family members mean well, yet their questions can produce a stress that takes much of the joy out of previously joyful gatherings. What can you do to help others see the fruit of your labors? While sharing about your homeschooling, use educational terms like mastery learning (you don’t move on until they actually have learned the material), hands-on learning (you use manipulatives and activities), and tutorial approach (you customize your instruction to fit your child’s strengths and weaknesses). You are the expert on your children, so don’t be afraid to sound like it! With many children, the best evidence of homeschooling success shows later. So be patient, and in time relatives will see the wonderful character of your children. ~ Debbie
If you are getting in the Thanksgiving mood and interested in freebies you need to check this out. Each day at Homeschool Freebie of the Day this week you can check out a new and different freebie related to the Thanksgiving season. Also (right now at least) you can still download the one for Nov 12 which is the Thanksgiving Holiday Helper from Living Books Curriculum. These are great. So head on over there each day and get a Thanksgiving goodie.
We went on a great field trip yesterday and saw reproductions of Christopher Columbus’ ships The Nina and The Pinta. They were really awesome and we loved it. I only took Science Boy and Farmer Boy with me, leaving the twins with my mother in law. I learned so many facts about them. The Nina reproduction was built using no power tools, just 15th century techniques. Some very interesting things include: these ships were really pretty small, the crew slept on deck, they put ballast stones in the bottom of the ships to counterweight the high mast and sails, there was no steering wheel and it was steered by a rudder. There were many more interesting facts as well. Check out the website at The Nina.
Nov
11
2010
 
SlideshowPosted by momma K in Homeschooling, Just Kiddie Adventures, Just Life, OutdoorThis is just a slideshow of pictures I have I have taken in the last few weeks and just never got around to posting them. Enjoy!
Oct
25
2010
Review of a busy weekPosted by momma K in Homeschooling, Just Kiddie Adventures, Just Life, OutdoorIt has really been a busy week here. Last Monday we took a tour of a Fire Station in a nearby city. It was great and the boys all really liked it. I FORGOT my camera though! I was about 15 min. from home when I remembered it and I knew that I didn’t have time to go back and still meet our homeschool group at the right time. The firemen put on all their equipment and explained the use of everything, went over fire safety, they got to sit in a fire truck, and look at the fireman’s living quarters. It was a really cool trip for all but alas, no pictures. I only had my phone’s camera and I can’t download them. We finished out our time with a picnic lunch/playtime at the park with our homeschool group. We went to the zoo class this week and while Science Boy was in class, Farmer Boy and I did school work. While at the zoo we read and sounded out words from his day’s lesson. We counted animals in one area and then would add the next area’s animals to that and some other things I found to make “school”. School time as usual the rest of the week.
Red panda coming to meet us!
Cool catapillar on a branch.
Discovering science at the Discovery Center Saturday morning.
On a hayride with Papaw Saturday night. Then we also had missionaries to Russia at church Sunday morning and they at lunch at our home. Today during school time among other things we read Nesbit’s Shakespeare “Romeo & Juliet”. Not sure how that would go with my boy! Well we acted it out with our “little people” to our reading and he loved it! Shocker there. Tonight we went and ate Chinese with my mother in law to celebrate her retirement. It was great and a big congrats to her. Can we slow down now?
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momma K