*** Subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine ***
Click here to see the latest promotions from TOS!

Activity Bags - Feature Friday for January 26, 2007

Let's join Paula Reetz of Activity Bags today for PRMama's Feature Friday Highlighted Homeschool Business.

Help! How Can I Keep my Preschoolers Busy?

 

Have you ever wondered what to do with your preschoolers while you are schooling your older children?  I have for most of my homeschooling years, which now account for 12 ½ years of my life!  In the summer of 2002 I was thinking about the upcoming school year and wondering how I was going to keep my 3 year old son occupied so he wouldn’t destroy the house while I was busy schooling the older children.  I cried out to the Lord and He impressed upon my heart that I needed to keep him busy.  OK, but how was I going to do that?  I meditated on that idea and spent some time in prayer about it also.

I remembered seeing the idea of putting preschool activities in a zipper-type, gallon-sized bag.  At that time I had 6 kids -- 4 school age, 1 preschooler, and 1 baby.  I had a friend, Sherri, who had 4 kids, 3 of whom were preschoolers!  I called her and told her about the idea and we got to brainstorming.  We found out that we are good at that. J  We came up with some ideas for the preschool activities and decided we would try to get a group of 10 women together so we could do a swap.  We figured that if we each made 1 preschool activity 10 times it would be easier, faster, and more affordable.  Then when we did the swap, we would have a variety of 10 different activities.  Great!  Now, all we had to do was get 4 friends each to agree to it.

I am still amazed at the response!  2 or 3 days later, we had 25 women wanting to participate!!  Oh my, we had to really scramble.  We told everyone to stop telling all their friends, neighbors, and sisters about our project (because that’s what they were doing!).  We had already come up with about 10 activities but now we needed 25!  So, we got together and brainstormed again.  We did come up with the remaining activities while we also had some good girlie time laughing and giggling late into the night.  I’m so glad the Lord put me on this project with my good friend Sherri.  It sure is a lot more fun that way!!

We wrote up the activities into some sort of format so we could communicate exactly what we wanted the activity to look like.  We passed out the instructions.  Each participant was to make their activity 25 times.  Then we got together to do the swap.  We had a blast!  Most of those participants had friends who wanted to participate if we ever did it again, so we started a waiting list.  As the list grew, we realized that we were not the only ones who needed a solution to the preschool dilemma.  Isn’t that just like us homeschoolers to think we are the only ones with such and such a problem?  As we discussed this, we realized that we really should publish our ideas in a book.  That way, more people could make the activities for their preschoolers.

So, during the school year 2002/2003 Sherri’s brain seemed to explode with ideas!  She was always calling me with more preschool activity ideas.  Sometimes, she would have up to 10 ideas at one time.  I came up with some ideas and our children were willing contributors with their own ideas also.  By the summer of 2003 we had 80 more activities written up and enough participants to fill up 4 groups of 20 participants each!  Each swap felt just like Christmas!!  It was so much fun seeing everyone’s activities.

Now, the real work began.  We had our preschoolers test the activities to see if they worked.  During the swaps we conducted, we had collected questionnaires from each participant about the clarity of the instructions, the ease of finding supplies, the cost of supplies, etc.  We went through all those questionnaires and refined our instructions.  Our goal was to keep the cost down to $1 for each activity bag assembled.  Most of the activity bags did, in fact, fall within the $1 budget.  That made us happy.  It was a great deal!  Most of the participants got 20 activity bags for $20 or less.  With the activities tested, instruction sheets refined, and the rest of the book written, it was time to publish!  We did it! Preschool Activities in a Bag Book 1 was published and ready to sell.

Now that we actually had our book published, we realized that we had to become a company in order to sell it!  Yikes.  Neither of us knew quite what to do.  After a lot of phone calls and research, we finally got all the necessary paperwork filed.  We were a business!  Activity Bags, LLC was born. We have learned a lot along the way!  Mostly, we would like to give all the glory to God.  It was His idea and His hand that brought it to pass.  He put us together as a team and we praise Him for that.  Sherri and I make a great team!!  We both have weaknesses that are the other’s strengths.  Well, maybe it would be more accurate to say that one of us has always been willing to tackle whatever needs to be done. J 

OK, so we wrote a book, became a company, now we needed to figure out a way to sell the books.  Sherri contacted the local MOPS groups and we were able to speak at a few MOPS meetings.  We loved sharing our ideas and our book with other moms and selling a few books that way, but we needed a better way to get our book out there.  We assembled some sample activities and packaged them up with a book and sent them off to some prospective retailers.  That was quite a learning experience!  We just figured that since there is a big need for these activities and no other books like it everyone would fall in love with our book and we would sell oodles of them. LOL  It isn’t that simple. Duh, we should have known that. J  We discovered that there is a reason people spend big bucks to market their products.  We didn’t know anything about marketing!  The Lord has been good to us and we now have a few on-line curriculum vendors and a local curriculum/Christian bookstore carrying our book.  We are trusting the Lord to grow our business when and how He desires to do so.

Preschool Activities in a Bag Book 1 (yes, that means there’s 2 more on the way) has instructions for assembling 34 preschool activities that are self-guided and self-correcting.  What that means is that the preschooler can do the activity by himself and know if the activity was done correctly.  These activities were developed so the preschooler could do them with no help from Mom.  They are, of course, enhanced if someone actually sits down and helps the preschooler with the activities.  These activities are fun for the preschoolers, but also educational.  They help develop hand/eye coordination, alphabet and number recognition and order, pencil skills, cutting skills, patterning, sorting, matching and many other skills.  The book also contains step-by-step instructions for conducting a swap, which is the most fun and economical way to assemble the activities.

Preschool Activities in a Bag Book 2 is currently being proofread and edited.  It is getting close to being published.  Book 3 will follow as time allows.

Science Experiments in a Bag is also in the works.  We spent last summer doing swaps to collect science experiments that fit in a gallon-size zipper bag.  Our goal is to have most of the necessary items in the bag for each science experiment.  We are testing each experiment this school year.

Craft Kits in a Bag is also in the works.  We are busy writing up assembly instructions so we can conduct our swaps over the summer. 

Sewing Projects in a Bag is still in the planning stages.

We do not have a timeline for when the other books will be published, unfortunately.  We keep busy with our homes and children and work on business projects as time allows. J  It may take a few years to get them all done, but at least we know we won’t be bored.

You can check out our web-site for more information. www.activitybags.com

 
Paula Reetz

Activity Bags, LLC

www.activitybags.com

"Where fun and education fit in the same bag"

 

Feature Friday for November 17 - Donna Conner of "Homeschooling Only One"

Me, write a book?

By Donna Conner, author of Homeschooling Only One

 

If five years ago, anyone would have told me that I would write a book, I would not have believed them. I’ve always been drawn to language and have enjoyed writing; even in high school, one of my aspirations was to become a writer. It was not something I pursued, however. So, how did I end up where I am today?

 

My husband and I never planned to have only one child. We found homeschooling early on, however, before our firstborn was even crawling. We didn’t do anything special with Mike, since homeschooling didn’t need to start until he was 5 or 6, according to the “authority figures.” We read to him, played with him, and gave him answers when he asked them, showing him the world around us as we lived life. His brother came when he was 2 ½ years old. Richard was a special needs baby and was only with us for 2 years. I had heard that it was a good thing to delay formal teaching at least a year with boys, and so started “Kindergarten” with Mike when he was 6. He surprised us by learning how to read before we even opened any book, so we started our homeschooling journey at a higher level than what I expected. 

 

After our 4^th year, we knew we were homeschoolers until the end. I had been blessed with a wonderful support group before we even began the homeschooling journey. During our 8^th year in 2003, one of the ladies of my support group approached the organizers of a large, local book fair, to ask for a special fellowship for those homeschooling an only child. Since she was only in her first year of homeschooling, she asked me to co-moderate the fellowship with her. I agreed and was blown away by the turn-out. I knew that having only one student was rather rare in homeschooling circles, but I had no idea how many there were “out there.” We had standing room only the first day, and a full room the second with totally new people attending. I was so energized that weekend, seeing a need, a gap of information and fellowship in the homeschooling community for those with only one child, or with only one student. I kept repeating that “I could write a book!” and very quickly thereafter, indeed, started it.

 

I decided that the book needed to cover the beginning basics of why one homeschools, and what methods were utilized in the actual teaching. I chose to write to an audience with one student, regardless of family size. I realized that this segment of the homeschool population might have a lot of different stories, bringing them to the point of homeschooling only one. For some, they are teaching their eldest child while they have a baby or toddler not ready to start any formal teaching. They are many grandparents who are homeschooling a grandchild, as well as those who have one child by choice or circumstance.

 

In the book, I share information on the relationships between parent and child, emphasizing some of the treasures of such a relationship, as well as the stressors that are inherent when there is only one child. Some of the topics I present from the perspective of having one student are:  curricula concerns, outside activities, “socialization” (more of a concern when you only have one, but still not a big thing), balancing things when there are other children, and how to transition from an institutional setting to home. My readers can see what a typical day looks like at the various ages, learning that “school” doesn’t have to last from 8am to 3pm. I encourage finding and becoming active in a homeschool support group, and to be open to joining more than one if needed. I shared each of our first nine years curricula---what I used each year, along with my thoughts on each:  what worked and what didn’t, and why. In the appendix, I have listed trusted companies that I have used, and I list possibly all the books, programs, and materials in my homeschool library, with enough information to make them easy to find.

 

The book seemingly wrote itself, but I had so much help from my friends… several who helped to edit, another who took the photos for the covers and the author page, another did the formatting… The Lord put them all in my path long before I knew any book would be a reality. Even the printer came to me thru the help of a friend. The very next year, my friend and I co-moderated the second “Only Child Fellowship” and I was permitted to sell my book, hot off the presses only weeks before the book fair. And now, I find myself at various book fairs in my state, and have even gone one state out.

 

In addition to writing my book, and in order to support this segment of the homeschooling community, I set up my website (http://donnac.com) as a clearing house of information and support. I have a page defining the various methods of homeschooling with links to sites that either sell material or support each particular method. I’ve also created a message board so those with only one student can meet, support, and help one another. I’ve paid for it as part of a ministry mentality (and as it grows, hope I will be able to continue to pay for it myself), so that no one has to deal with pop up advertisements there. There are over 150 families from all over the globe presently represented. (http://share.donnac.com)

 

So although I would not have believed five years ago that I would write a book, I did, and I’m extremely gratified to have been a help to so many through both the book and my website.

 

Donna Conner lives with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their beloved dog, Lucia, and calls Fort Worth, Texas home. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling within the next two years. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One three years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at http://donnac.com and read her blog at http://homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

 

copyright © 2006 Donna Conner

All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.

The Feature Friday Homeschool Business for November 10 is Knowledge Box Central.

Why Me, God?  (Oh…NOW I get it…!)

By Cyndi Kinney

 

I know we’ve all felt like this from time to time.  For some…..those times are more frequent than others.  After several years of this being the most common phrase spinning around in my head, I finally figured out that I should be listening instead of doing so much whining, complaining, and asking questions.  I should be doing more obeying than resisting.  This discovery led to Knowledge Box Central!

 

Now…….a little history is required for that to make much sense.

 

Over the years, there have been many trials in my life and that of my family...as I am sure there has been in yours as well.  As a Registered Nurse, I was very proud of my profession and became very focused on the monetary gains that came from that profession….I am sad to say that I became quite materialistic.  God started calling me to mission work, but I “didn’t have time,” which really meant, “I don’t want to take off work and miss my paycheck.”  So…..He allowed an accident to happen that forced me to be off work for QUITE a long time.  During that time, our church mission team approached me about going to Romania.  I did NOT want to go.  However, God is God.  I went on 3 separate trips to Romania….  I no longer valued material things because I had seen people who were so grateful for dirt streets, outdoor plumbing, and raising their own food….and realized how selfish and prideful I had been. 

 

When it came time for my daughter to begin school, I felt that God wanted me to homeschool her.  BUT, I was afraid.  About that time, I was diagnosed with M.S. (Multiple Sclerosis), and that gave me another excuse not to follow God’s lead.  So, I sent her to public school.  God’s voice was SO LOUD!! Needless to say, she soon became homeschooled.  God helped me to realize that even if we had to have school in my bed, she would get a far better education than she was getting in public school.  So, once again, God got his point across.

 

Then, I began to feel sorry for myself because I couldn’t “work” outside the home.  I KNEW that God wanted me to be home.  But why did he let me get my education….and let me have all of these ideas running around in my head all the time if I wasn’t supposed to do anything with it?  Physically, I could NOT work.  How fair was that?  (This was when I was going through one of those phases when I thought life was SUPPOSED to be fair..LOL). 

 

About this time, my medication was changed to a daily injection, and my symptoms improved.  I began to be more active in co-ops.  Others knew that I had done some lapbooks with my daughter and asked me to be in charge of lapbooks in the co-op.  After several co-op classes involving lapbooks, I began having parents ask me to show them how to create lapbooks.  In our Tapestry of Grace (a great Christian Classical Education curriculum) co-op, someone suggested that I put a note on the Tapestry of Grace forum and let the users know that I had made some lapbooks to go along with a couple of the units.  These well-meaning parents seemed to think that someone out there might want to buy them from me. 

 

So, I created a very small, cheap website and put 2 lapbooks on it.  I posted a note on the Tapestry of Grace forum, letting them know about it.  Before I knew it, I had orders coming out of my ears!!!  You would think that this would be a good thing, right???  Wrong…I was totally unprepared!!  I didn’t think anyone would REALLY want my lapbooks…..let alone want to BUY them!!  As I was scrambling to figure out how I was going to make this “new business” work, I received a call from the owner of Tapestry of Grace.  Thank God she GAVE ME GRACE!  It seems that I had crossed some important lines when I posted my advertisement on the forum.  She politely said, “You can’t advertise on the forum.  I’ll have to remove your posts.”  Then, she added, “but we’d love to talk with you about having you design lapbooks for all 16 of our units.”

 

………………………………..  (That’s me…speechless….doesn’t happen often)

 

And so…….there was born Knowledge Box Central.  We were now a full-blown home-based business.  I no longer had anything to whine about…I had plenty to keep my brain busy!  God gave me a way to use my brain, even when my body didn’t want to cooperate with me much.  Isn’t he good?

 

The business took off….to the point that my husband came home full-time in July.  He felt God calling him to make the sacrifice to leave his job and give his support to the ministry that I had begun.  He has been the biggest blessing for this business!  It is still a struggle, but we are finally “breaking even.”  I guess that’s not bad, since we started this business officially in February, and it’s now November.  We don’t have a storefront or big cars, and we haven’t gone on any vacations……and I still wear old clothes from years ago.  We are a long way from what I would really call “profiting,” but we are making something that is OURS…TOGETHER.  It’s a true family business.  I think God is pleased. 

 

So……what is Knowledge Box Central?  We specialize in Lapbooks, CopyWork Notebooks, Notebooking Pages, Activity Books, and Republishing of Antique Books.

Currently, we design lapbooks for Tapestry of Grace.  We are in the process of designing lapbooks for Jeannie Fulbright (Elementary Science series from Apologia), Geography Matters (Geography Matters and Cantering the Country), and possibly a few others. 

 

Here is some information about Lapbooks and CopyWork:

 

v    What is a Lapbook?  A Lapbook is a way of displaying a summary of what a student has learned and accomplished during a particular unit of study.  Technically, it’s nothing more than some folders and paper booklets (but arranged and folded in unique ways)!  The first time I saw one, it reminded me of the old “pop-up” books from my childhood!   It may include maps, vocabulary, creative writing, coloring/drawing, questions & answers, reports, and so much more. 

Lapbooks can be done for any subject:  Science, History, Grammar,   Music, Art, Math, ANYTHING!!!

v   Why Use Lapbooking?  Lapbooking appeals to all ages/grade levels.  It improves retention of materials learned and reinforces topics.  It allows for creative students to be motivated, and for “creatively-challenged” students to accomplish tasks in exciting ways! Lapbooking motivates reluctant writers and budding artists.  It allows for a “fun” way of studying an otherwise challenging topic. It reinforces the connection between writing and reading.  Lapbooks can even replace testing, as it is a display of what was learned!  It’s a GREAT evaluation tool!  One of the best parts of lapbooking is having it for years to come for display or showing to family and friends.

 

**What is “copywork,” and how do I use it in my child’s education?

Copywork is a great way to teach your children.  By copying passages from Great Works or historical documents, children learn many areas of Language Arts.  Children have the opportunity to be exposed to great writers and/or facts, while learning Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Creative Writing from the “Masters.”  Most Classical Education programs recommend copywork as an intricate part of educating your children, and many actually use copywork in place of traditional Language Arts programs.

By copying passages 2-3 days per week (or more), your children will come to learn and possibly even memorize some of the greatest literature from our history.  While penmanship is important, the knowledge that they are gaining through the copywork is what is most important.  

However, do encourage your children to take pride in their penmanship. Also, instruct them in the importance of the “art” of Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Creative Writing.  With some practice, they will begin to “imitate” these in their own personal writing.

 

 

We have a Newsletter called Knowledge Box Knews, and it quite often features special discounts for our subscribers ONLY! 

We also have a special Yahoo E-Group called Lapbooking_Made_Simple, where we chat about lapbooking techniques and ideas.

 

If you like Notebooking, we have a Yahoo E-Group called Notebooking_3Dimensional, where we plan to talk about using lapbooking folds in notebooks to create a 3-dimensional notebook!  We just started this group!

 

Lastly, we have a Yahoo E-Group called Homeschool_Funnies, where we encourage our friends to send in humorous stories about their homeschool adventures.  We plan to compile these and others into a book someday.  Any submissions that are used in the book will receive a free copy of the book when it is published!

 

If you like contests, watch our website.  We currently have a Christmas Coloring Contest, and the winners in the 2 categories win a FREE E-book and a $25.00 gift card to Target!

 

If you have read this far, you deserve a special offer!!!  Here is a special discount code for you.  It will give you 25% off ALL items on the site.  It will be active NOW through November 30, 2006.  Here’s the code:  PRMama25  Enter it at checkout!

 

We have a Representative Program and also provide Workshops/Seminars…so let us know if you are interested!

 

Our goal is to provide “Adventures in Learning” by strengthening EVERY learning style, while giving God the glory.

 

Blessings,

Cyndi Kinney

Knowledge Box Central

www.knowledgeboxcentral.com

Cyndi@knowledgeboxcentral.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lapbooking_Made_Simple/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Notebooking_3Dimensional/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homeschool_Funnies/

 

Feature Friday has returned with JoJo Tabares of Art of Eloquence

Feature Friday - Jean Henrich of Enrichment4You

 

The Test Pilot, The Teacher, The Family

By Jean Henrich

Creator,  http://www.Enrichment4You.com

http://www.Enrichment4You.comhttp://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Enrichment4You/

Click Here To View A Multimedia Presentation About Enrichment4You

God certainly works in mysterious ways and sometimes He takes our NO and turns it into a YES! 

From birth, I have been blessed beyond measure – amazing parents, an unbelievable husband & son, & the opportunity to travel to & live in distant countries – Japan, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Wales, England, Ireland & the land of my ancestors – Scotland.  Everything in my life is credited to others – without them, nothing that I do today would exist.  It has been through their love & vision that I have been able to see some of my hopes & dreams develop.

I met my husband Steve when I moved to California from Washington State to teach learning disabled students in the Mojave Desert.  Not only were some of these young people experiencing difficulty learning, several were members of gangs.  They were dynamic, dangerous and desperately in need of attention.  I had just earned my Masters degree and moved to California without knowing anyone.  I was 26 years old and was discouraged at best about meeting someone (especially a dynamic Christian) to share my life.  I remember driving down with my father and passing by Edwards AFB and he said, “Jean, this is where the Shuttle lands and where all the action is for test flight.”  Off hand, I remarked, “Well, maybe I’ll meet a pilot.”  Those words were going to come true faster than expected over the course of several weeks

I attended numerous churches trying to find where I belonged.  After awhile, I settled comfortably into attending a Methodist church.  One Sunday, when it came time to shake hands, sitting behind me was, “this guy”.  I really did not pay much attention to him, we shook hands and I thought that was the end of it.   As I was driving out of the parking lot, “this guy” waved me down.  Now remember, I was a single woman in Calif. & some strange man was stopping me – I rolled down my window and his opening line went something like this…”The men’s group is having a breakfast next Sunday would you like to join me?” 

Great, either I looked like a man or I had just attracted someone who wished I did…neither option seemed terrific.  We laugh a lot about this “opener” now, but again God can take weird and turn it into wonderful.  To make a long story short, this ended up being my future husband.   During his Air Force career, as a fighter pilot he earned the European Top Gun award and eventually became a test pilot, and 8 years ago retired as a full Col.  He is now a lead acquisition manager.  At the time I met him though – I could care less.  All I knew was that he was not who I had envisioned I would spend my life with – God knew better.  We were “friends” for approximately two months.  On Easter Sunday of 1987, he indicated he wanted to be more than friends and within 2 weeks, we were engaged.  We married Aug. 15, 1987 and three years later, we were blessed with our now teenage son.  We will be celebrating our 19^th anniversary this Aug. Steve is a wonderful husband and father.  Without his constant & consistent support, encouragement and contributions, I doubt if any of what I have created over the years would have ever come into existence. 

As the wife of a military man, we moved frequently and as a result, I had to either renew or loose my teaching certification.  When we had our son, I wanted to stay home, but having worked hard for my Masters degree, I still wanted to be involved in education.  For several years, we published various books and titles and each time we moved, we moved our entire inventory.  After one move, we had over 30,000 books in our basement & were assembling numerous hands-on kits with the assistance of a handicapped workshop that did incredible work.  

We had grown to a point where either Steve would have to retire or we had to find an alternative to handle the business growth.  We found an alternative through a distributor who took over the inventory & allowed me to continue creating products.  Approximately two years ago, I decided to look into establishing a web site that would offer immediate PDF downloads.  The advantage of eBooks (electronic books) is enormous – no inventory (except virtual), you can reach a wider population, and it allows for growth. 

It took over a year to create all the material we now feature – over 300 enrichment guides on our web site:  http://www.Enrichment4You.com.   I have also delved into the world of blogging – fun stuff!  It allows for regular updates and sharing of tips & techniques that relate to doing hands-on activities and DISCOUNT CODESJ!  I would love to hear from any of you about topics you might wish covered!  Please let me know what you think of my blog.J  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Enrichment4You/

The basic philosophy of our web site is that Learning is for Life. http://www.Enrichment4You.com is designed to do just that by introducing and assisting teachers, home school parents and young people to a selection of highly imaginative hands-on activities that complement many subject areas in both public and home school curriculums.

Each of our http://www.Enrichment4You.com e-guides is specifically oriented to provide hands-on learning materials that inform, encourage, stimulate and excite both youth and adults alike. Unlike a typical lesson plan, our guides are like mini adventures to different times, cultures and experiences.  Our e-guides are inexpensive (most average $4.00 or less) and ready to print as PDF files that complement existing curriculum.   Here are a few examples of some of our projects.

 

          Our primary goal is to instigate a desire to learn - beyond the four walls of a classroom and into the grand world of discovery and knowledge.  With the premise that doing promotes learning, most of our e-guides have original projects that will facilitate a better understanding of the sciences, history, the arts, language arts, and much more while achieving academic excellence in the best way possible - experiencing by doing.

As Christians, we believe that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ gave each of us innate gifts that we are to grow and share with others.  Our gift to you is this web site.  We hope and pray that you will find something new to learn and venture into the thrilling world of our Creator.

 

Jean Henrich

Creator,  http://www.Enrichment4You.com

http://www.Enrichment4You.comhttp://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Enrichment4You/

Click Here To View A Multimedia Presentation About Enrichment4You