Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Another fun thing we did while we were in Houston was go to....

Before we go any further you have to know that I am a BIG ole' geek when it comes to the Space program.  Being a child of the 60's the whole going to the Moon thing was a HUGE part of my childhood.  I was spellbound by it!  I remember being 4 years old and seeing Neil Armstrong make that "giant leap for mankind" onto the surface of the moon.  News from the Moon was constantly on TV and in the newspaper.  It was an amazing to be grow up and imagine what the future could hold. 

Then there was the whole I Dream of Jeannie show!  LOL  My sister and I watched every episode at least a zillion times!  LOL  I loved that show.  I loved how glamorous the life of an Astronaut seemed.  I loved seeing the outside shots of  NASA and the rockets going up.  It was all so different than the life of a little girl growing up in Kansas!

So going to NASA is a thrill for me!  By far my favorite thing was getting to go to Mission Control!  I mean I grew up watching men being sent to the moon from that room!  WOW!!!  (This is actually the second time we have been to NASA Houston.  But, the first time we went my 2nd child was 6 weeks old and honestly I don't remember much from that trip!  LOL  We happened to be in Texas for a wedding and I HAD to go!  In retrospect I got A LOT more out of it this time! )

Here are my excited children on the Tram ready to leave the Visitor Center and go on the tour of NASA!
Can you  tell they share my enthusiasum?  :^)

Here is the entrance to the stairs for Mission Control.  (I know right now you are all thinking...This is going to be a looooooooooooooooooooong post!  LOL)
The reason I am posting this is to reminisce about all the stairs we had to climb to get to Mission Control!  LOL  I wish I could remember exactly how many there were, but I think that Mission Control is on the 8th floor.  I can't imagine any building being build in this day and age where you had to WALK to the 8th floor!  When I worked at ABC I worked on the 3rd floor and they had the stairs locked because it was too much of a liability to have people climbing stairs!  LOL  I wonder if that could be one of the reasons people where so much thinner in the 60's?  (DUH!!!)

Now for Mission Control....drum roll please...
I am telling you it was like time traveling into the past!  They don't use this Mission Control anymore.  They built a new one a few years ago.  (I am guessing they have an elevator to get to it!  LOL)  But, this is the one used through the 1990's!  One of the cool things we got to do in this room was listen to the people on the International Space Station talking to Mission Control in  Houston live!  COOL!!!

Here is my oldest in front of a historic picture of the men in Mission Control celebrating when the first men landed on the moon.

We saw this on the way over to Mission Control. 
They said they use liquid nitrogen to test everything that goes into space to see how it will react to the freezing temperatures.

Here are the kids at the Astronaut Training Site.

All of the things in this room are life size modules that the Astronauts train in.

The kids LOVED this!

Here are the space suits they train in.

This is a full size trainer of the Space Shuttle minus it's wings so it will fit in the room.

We were lucky to see this one!
This is the new Mars Rover they are developing to send to Mars in the future.  The tour guide said this was one of the 1st times he had seen it out on the lawn for testing and we were luck to get to see it.  Very cool!

This was something we didn't get to see the 1st time we went.  They took us to a HUGE Building that houses a full size rocket including all it's engines.  It was HUGE!!!
I never thought about these being so HUGE when I have seen them being launched on TV!  It was mind boggling.

Here are the engines on the back that launch it.

Here is the info on the engines above.
WOW!

This is back at the visitor center. They have a awesome space themed kids climbing structure.  My 4 year old  had a blast here!

Then we checked out the hands on exhibits. In this one my kids were in the role of Mission Control.

The kid Mission Control talks to the kids in this space craft and they do experiments together over the computers. 

Here is may daughter in the space craft  working with another kid in Mission Control.

Here my 13 year old is learning about what things weigh on other planets.

More hands on learning!  Can you tell he LOVED it!

Here he is learning how they dock in space with other space crafts.
There was a little light on the chair and you had to maneuver yourself to shine the light into a small hole to achieve a successful docking.

While we were there my kids took their turn holding up the Moon!  LOL

And this is me!  As close to being an Astronaut as I will ever get!  I like the suit, it is quite slimming! LOL

There are about 100 other pictures I could post from our day at NASA, but I think you get the idea...It was a GOOD day!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Can clothespins and a hanger help you memorize the books of the Bible? Absolutely!!!

Old Testament

New Testament
To help my daughter memorize the books of the Bible I wrote all of the books of the Bible on clothespins. On the back of them they are numbered and say OT or NT for Old Testament and New Testament. 

Close up of names on the clothespins.
Now she can sing the song she learned to memorize the books and find the right clothespins to clip them all in order.  Once she has them all clipped she can turn it over and see if all the numbers are in order.  So it's self checking!  She can also use the pins to test her knowledge of which books are in the Old and which are in the New Testament.  I will probably hang a string somewhere in the schoolroom when we get it all set up so she can work on them their too.

After I got the Books of the Bible ones done my 4 year old asked if I could make him some clothespins.  So I did his as the ABC's!
I put upper case at the top and lower case at the bottom.

On the back I numbered them 1-26 so he can use them to work on his numbers too!

The kids love them!  Huhmmmm, what else can I teach them with clothespins???

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I just happened to come across this website the other day and learned that today is Teacher Appreciation Day.  In honor of all the AWESOME homeshcool Mom's I know I thought I would re-post my Homeschool Teacher of the Year post...


Congratulations to the Homeschool Teacher of the Year.  This outstanding teacher is an amazing example of Homeschool education at it's best!  This educator is confident conducting class for several grades at one time.  It is not out of the question for her to have have preschoolers and high schoolers all in the same classroom!  Not only does she teach these multiple levels, but also she trains the older student to work with the younger ones.  Curriculum selection is the sole responsibility of this outstanding educator.  Not only does she chose the curriculum used by her students, but she has to budgets and pays for all curriculum used.  Along with her responsibilities for the schools finances she develops creative solutions for teaching her students.  This includes, but is not limited to; writing songs, designing craft projects, cooking from scratch  and organizing field trips to coordinate with her lesson plans.

In addition to all the amazing things this teacher does with her students she is also fully responsible for their care, feeding & clothing.  She cooks all their meals, does all their laundry, drives them to all activities, (Of course she is also training her students to do all these things as she does them,)  She is completely responsible for the character training and discipline training of her students.

This educator is the ultimate multi-tasker! It is quite common to find her nursing a baby while teaching a Math lesson or cooking dinner while quizzing a student on spelling words.  The car is yet another classroom for this creative teacher.  She keeps the CD player going with CD's that are educational, therefore teaching and reviewing with her students as they travel to activities.  Lectures are also frequently given while she drives.  These can range in topic from manners to the Biblical lesson of "Love one another". She has been know to teach health and self care lessons to the entire class while simultaneously potty training a preschooler.  This might also be a good time to mention that this incredible professional receives NO pay for the services she provides and works 24/7!

On top of all she deals with she is frequently questioned by well meaning people who make it clear they don't really understand why she does what she does.  She is continually asked questions about her teaching methods and her choice to home educate her students.  These questions are gracefully answered while she pays for groceries and removes unpaid for candy from the hands of her students.

In her spare time she is wholly devoted to sharing her homeschool experiences with other educators like herself.  She has been known to volunteer time with her local homeschool group, organize a homeschool co-op, blog at homeschoolblogger.com, speak at homeschool conventions and meetings and generally be available to other homeschoolers that need support and encouragement.

Congratulations to this amazing teacher!  Her contribution to the future should not be forgotten and neither should her name.  Her students lovingly call her, Mom.

Kudos to all the awesome homeschool teachers I know out there!  Each of you truly are the Teacher of the Year in my book!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

While I was getting my kids acclimated to staying at their Aunt and Uncles we did a couple of fun day trips in the Houston area.  The first one was a trip to the George  Bush Presidential Library.  I LOVE Presidential Libraries!  I have been to the Eisenhower, Truman, Nixon, Reagan and Bush.  There are 7 others I have not yet made it to.  Someday I hope to have visited them all!  Whether I agree with the politics of a particular President or not there is so much fascinating History along with each of the Presidents Libraries.  I really like the personal things like the First Ladies dresses and seeing things that were given to the Presidents and First Ladies as gifts while they were in office.  Each of the Libraries seem to give an insight into the personality of the President.  The kids and I had a great time at the Bush Library. 

Here is a little of what we did.

Here are the kids outside the Library.

One thing we really enjoyed about this Library is they have gone out of their way to make it kid friendly.  When we entered each of the kids were given a clipboard with questions to answer.  Each of the answers could be found by finding the Millie Bush dogs throughout the Museum.

The kids LOVED finding Millie!

They also had a lot of hands on exhibits.  Here my little guy tried his hand at Piloting a plane during WWII.

This is Barabara Bush's wedding dress.  So lovely!

This exhibit was really fun for the kids.  It was in the section that covered President Bush's time in the CIA.  They had a body heat camera that was controlled by satellite where you can see yourself via the satellite.  Very interesting and kinda nervwracking!  LOL

This was just a little moving lighted logo that moved around on the floor.  My little guy thought it was SO fun to chase and jump on it.  LOL

This is an exhibit where you get to look into the windows of the White House.  You can push the buttons to look around the room and see everything from different angles.

My fellow Americans...
She needs to get a little taller before she can be President!

This was the kids room that is dedicated to literacy. They have all kinds of kids books.  (Remember, Barabara Bush's pet project was promoting literacy.)

Here are the kids in front of the mini White House.
One of the fun things they had in the kids room was a TV running with videos the Bushes had put together.  Some of them where clips from shows they had been on like David Letterman.  Our favorite was The President and Barbara racing on Segways.  It was hysterical.  When we left I asked my oldest if he had learned anything that day.  He said "Yeah, I learned that President and Mrs. Bush are really funny!"  LOL

Here is my son in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Here he is in front of the same wall, but on the "free" side.

This was a picture of a Bible verse that was on the wall.

My daughter posing with one of the soliders in the section about Operation Desert Storm.

Just for fun! A baseball game with the President and First Lady.

It was a great "school" day!  I would rather have fun learning together seeing real pieces of History than sit in a classroom any day!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

The kids and I went out and explored 2 local parks today.  Having been in the desert for 4 years we are thrilled to be surrounded by trees, prairies, creeks and lakes.  Everything is SO green!!!!

The first park we went to is actually a nature preserve owned by the public school district here.  (We didn't know that until they ran us off because we had our dog with us and they don't allow dogs there when the field trips are going on. LOL)  We had fun hiking on the trails and trying to figure out which of the plants were poison ivy. 

The second park was more of a regular park.  It had a play structure and picnic tables.  But, it is also along a creek with lots of trees (And pollen, my allergies are all flared up!) and a path where you can hike and enjoy all the beauty.

This has gotten me thinking that we need to start keeping nature journals.  I have been intrigued with this idea for awhile.  Jimmie over at One Child Policy Homeschool has been writing a lot about the nature journals she and her daughter have been keeping in China.  It is so fun to look at the pictures they have drawn and compare them to the pictures Jimmie has taken. 

So I guess I need to buy each of us a notebook and keep them in the car.  I ran the idea past the kids and they all thought it sounded like a lot of fun.  Hopefully someday soon I will be posting wonderful nature drawings done by my kids.  (Mine will not be recognizable.  Can you draw a stick figure beetle or leaf???  LOL)

Okay, I am off to search for my homeopathy remedies and find some Histaminum!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

As you can probably imagine find books on Armenia is not very easy.  Thankfully with the internet and wonderful websites like armeniapedia.com it wasn't too hard for my son to do his Armenia Lapbook.  I still like the idea of him getting some of the information from books though.  So the other night I noticed that our friends we are staying with had the book The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors mixed in with their cookbooks.  Low and behold the very first chapter is on Armenia!. 

I thought I would pass this information along because while most of you are probably not looking for information on Armenia this book covers A LOT of other immigrant groups.  (Thirty six in all!)

Each chapter has a brief history of the people and what brought them to America.  Then there are 5 or 6 recipes from each Country.  There are also great explanations of cooking technics and suggestions for substitutions for hard to get items. 

I had my son read the chapter on Armenia and pick a recipe to copy and add to his lapbook.  (We had left this section blank because all of Grandma's recipes are at home and I thought he could add one of those later.)  He chose to add the recipe for Lavosh, which is Armenian Cracker Bread.  This is an Armenian treat my kids are very familiar with because we all love it and eat it all the time!  We have never made it ourselves though, but we will have to try it after we get settled in our new house.

Here is the recipe for Lavosh:

1 1/3 cups tepid water(barely warm, about 105 degrees)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pkg. quick-rising yeast
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk for topping
Sesame seeds for topping

Place the tepid water in your electric mixing bowl and add the olive oil, sugar, and yeast. Using the batter blade let the electric mixer blend these very well. It will take about 5 minutes on low speed. Stir in the salt. Gradually add 2 cups of the flour and beat on low speed until a thick and smooth batter forms. Change the blade to a bread dough hook and knead in the additional 2 cups flour. If you do not have a heavy mixer such as a KitchenAid, incorporate the flour witha wooden spoon and finish the kneading by hand. Kneading should take about 10 minutes in the machine, 20 minutes by hand. Place the dough on a plastic countertop and cover with a large stainless-steel bowl. Allow the dough to rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch the dough down and divide into 8 pieces. Let stand, covered, 15 minutes. Roll out each piece of dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. Working with 2 pieces of dough at a time, arrange breads on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds over tops. Prick with a fork many times, all over. Bake on the lowest racks in the oven, at 375 degrees, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until light brown. Rotate the pans in the oven from top to bottom, to insure even browning. Serve dry or wet. (To wet, hold the cracker under running water until lightly moistened all over, and then wrap in a moist towel for 10 to 15 minutes.) If the cracker is too dry to roll, it will crack. Sprinkle with a little more water and let stand a few minutes. If it is too wet, cover with a dry towel and let it stand.

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

This is SO cool!  When I was looking for mini books for another project, I came across these free Mini Books for every letter of the ABC's

http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/index.htm

Not only are there free printable mini books but they also have each one linked to other printable crafts, songs and poems for that letter.

YAY!!!  My four year old is going to LOVE these!!!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Yesterday we made up our new set of Resurrections Egg.  We have a store bought version at home, but for some reason it never occurred to me to pack them. 

Here is the outside of the carton with the free printables I found.

Here are our eggs all numbered so we can follow the story.

This year my oldest son read all the Bible passages which was very special. I LOVE to hear my children read God's Word.

The 2 littles took turns opening the eggs and telling us what items they found inside.

Just like her multi-tasking Mother this one was also coloring a bunny.  LOL

We will probably open these and read through the verses a few more times this week.  This is such a fun way to turn our focus on the true meaning of Easter.

If you want to learn more about Resurrections Eggs click HERE. 

If you want to use the same printables we did to make your own set of Resurrection Eggs click HERE.

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

When my daughter and I went to the American Girl Place in January I saw some books there that were new to us.  They are a non-fiction companions to each of the American Girls.  I didn’t spend too much time looking at them then because I knew we were not going to buy any books at the American Girl Place.  (It only makes sense to buy new books at Border’s or Barnes and Noble since they give me a teacher discount there.)  But last weekend we were at a used bookstore and I came across one of the titles, Welcome to Kirsten’s World – 1854.  These books are awesome!  We picked up Kirsten’s World for $6.00 (regularly $14.95) and have been reading it ever since.  These books are not about the fictional girls, but the time period in which they lived.  There are lots of pictures of actual items from the time, maps, drawings, paintings, photographs.  Each page is primarily pictures with just enough descriptions to make the pictures more interesting.  My daughter mentioned that they are like visiting a museum from each of the girls time period.

Here is a picture of my daughters (18") American Girl doll with one of the books to give you an idea of how BIG these books are.

Yesterday we went to the Library and found a few more titles in this series.  We spent several hours pouring over the pages.  I am sure I learned just as much as my daughter did.  It may be that everyone except me already knew about these.  But, I am just thrilled to have found them and I know we are going to have to collect them ALL.  (Used of course!  LOL) 

Here are all the titles I found on Amazon.  They all have the Search Inside feature so if you want to take a look you can.

Welcome To Kaya's World - 1764

Welcome To Felicity’s World – 1774

Welcome To Josefina’s World – 1824

Welcome To Kirsten’s World - 1854

Welcome To Addy’s World – 1864

Welcome To Samantha’s World – 1904

Welcome To Kit's World - 1934

Welcome To Molly’s World – 1944

Just thought I would spread the word!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Posted by Anonymous

More amazing stuff! Thanks, and may I request a topic for your next blog: What basis do you use to make choices for your homeschool? Every day I am literally (but wonderfully) bombarded with all the coolest games, sites, lapbooks, notebooks, copywork, educational tools and neat things to use. How does one choose?

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I was talking to a new homeschool Mom last week and mentioned the concept of creating a learning rich environment.  She looked at me like I was a nutcase!  LOL  (Nothing new there, I get that a lot from new homeschoolers I meet!)  But, it did make me realize that although I think of a learning rich environment as normal maybe I should explain what I mean.  So what is a learning rich environment?

The idea is to surround your children with learning materials.  This way no matter what they choose to do they will be learning!  There are so many great educational items today, and I am always on the lookout for them!  We have letter, number and word magnets that go on the fridge, books everywhere, board games, play-doh, paper, stickers, etc.  We buy (and rent) educational videos.  Our car is loaded up with educational cd’s.  For the computer we have educational games.  We have puppets, puzzles, mad libs, etc.

I rarely ever use workbooks for “school” but my little ones love them.  They always think of it as a big treat to get a new workbook.  It is not unusual at all to find me working on my laptop at the dining room table with a little one on each side of me working on their workbooks. 

A rich learning environment is more than what happens at home.  We also choose to do educational day trips and vacations to enhance our kid’s education.  Learning truly is a way of life for our family.  One thing I love about this type of lifestyle is that anything my kids learn spontaneously is something I will not have to teach them!  LOL  So this is really a time saving concept for homeschool Mom!

A learning rich environment could also be called a kid friendly house!  This means that instead of the house looking like something out of House Beautiful it will look more like the pages of a teacher supply catalog!  LOL  But to me that is fine.  I love watching my kids learn and nothing is more beautiful to me than walking in a room and seeing my kids voluntarily learning.  There will be plenty of time for a clean “House Beautiful” type of home someday when they are all grown.  For now I will enjoy our educational lifestyle.

Here are a few posts that mention different educational items we have incorporated into our home:

How I Teach My Preschoolers

Keeping an Active 5 Year Old Happy!

More on Teaching the ABC's

Phonics Fun

Fashionable Phonics

Global Puzzle

Weaving a Tale

Bean Bags

Felt Board Stories

Our Schoolroom

Studying Art with Children

Making the Most of Museums Visits

Teaching Combining Coins

Me and My Bean Bag

 

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Here are more cool online Christmas Studies my kids will be working on in the next few days.

For my 3 year old:
What God Wants for Christmas Coloring Sheets (We will be making this into a book.  It is just too cute!)

For my 6 year old:
Free Nativity Lapbook  (My daughter will love this.  LOTS of coloring and cutting!)

For my 13 year old:
Christmas Unit Study for Ages 13 and up

Here is the great site where I found the links to ALL of these.  (There are A LOT of other great Christmas freebies at this link!)

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

WARNING: Mom, this has to do with mice.  Read at your own risk!  LOL

Yesterday we dissected an owl pellet.  What is an owl pellet you ask?  Maybe the cover of the book that came with the pellet will explain...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/amtell/217394/?#c567069

Here is the link to the book/owl pellet we used.

BTW, in case you are wondering...My Mom is terrified of mice (dead or alive) and an avid reader of my blog.  I just HAD to warn her! (And rib her a bit!  LOL)

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I took the kids to get haircuts yesterday.  I am positive we have the EXACT same conversation  with the hair stylist every time we go!  Here it is...

Stylist - "Why aren't you in school today?"

13 yo - "I'm Homeschooled."

Stylist - "Really?  What grade are you in?"

13 yo - "Mom, what grade am I in?"

Me - "8th"

Stylist - furrows brow... "Do you like being homeschooled?"

13 yo - "Yeah!"

Stylist - "Don't you miss being with your friends?"

13 yo - "No?"

Stylist - "Oh?"

Apparently stylist just don't get homeschooling!  LOL 

After the haircuts we were eating lunch and my son and I started talking about what other things he "could" say to these questions.

Stylist - "Why aren't you in school today?"

13 yo - "I'm Homeschooled."

Stylist - "Really?  What grade are you in?"

13 yo - "I have no idea.  Grades were developed to categorize children in to groups in order to make it easier to manage them in a classroom setting.  Grades are irrelevant to homeschoolers.  We learn at our own pace."

Stylist - furrows brow... "Do you like being homeschooled?:

13 yo - "Yeah! What's not to like?  I get to learn what I am interested in and learn at my own pace.  I don't have to be distracted by other kids behavioral problems, learning styles or schedules.  I learn twice as much in half the time.  I don't have to stand in line or wait for others to finish their work.  With all my spare time I can pursue learning things that interest me.  It's awesome! "

Stylist - "Don't you miss being with your friends?"

13 yo - "No, I have never been to school so I don't miss anything about it.  I see my friends all the time, just not while I am doing school.  School time is for learning, not socializing."

Stylist - "Oh? Wow, homeschooling sounds great!  You are so lucky to be homeschooled!"

Yep, that is the plan for next months haircuts!  LOL  Our new mission is to convert hair stylists to homeschooling one salon at a time! 

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Flat Stanley is a book written in 1964 by Jeff Brown.  It is a charming little story about a boy who wakes up one morning to find that he has been flattened by his bulletin board which fell off the wall in the middle of the night.  Instead of being disturbed by the flattening of their son his parents decide there are advantages to having a flat son.  One of them is they car save a lot of money on travel fares because he can be mailed places in an envelope!  LOL 

For years school children have been mailing Flat Stanley's or flat versions of themselves around the world for friends and families to take on adventures.  We 1st learned about this about 10 years ago when my niece (now 16!) sent us a Flat version of herself through the mail and asked us to take it on and adventure.  Of course we had to get the book and read it 1st!  Once we read the book we were hooked!  Not only did we take her Flat version on an adventure and write her a letter telling her about it, but we made our own Flat Stanley and passed him around to friends and family also.  This has gotten so popular over the years that the book we just bought actually had a Flat Stanley to cut out and mail right in the back of the book!  What a fun way to learn geography!

A few months ago I came across the Virtual Flat Stanley project online. This is a great idea!  Instead of mailing a paper version around everyone can print their own from the pdf file at the website.  Then you take Stanley on and adventure and post it on your blog!  You know the blog connection had me hooked!  LOL  Once everyone has posted about their adventures an E-Book will be put together with everyones posts and given to all the participants!  What fun!

So here is our adventure....

Of course even though there was a Flat Stanley in the back of our book my kids wanted to make their own.




The mask is not part of Flat Stanley, but my 3 year old LOVES these pads of body shaped papers I have.  Since I had them out to make the Flat Stanley's he had to make a mask too! 

I had been putting this off until we went somewhere "good" but the kids were dying to take Stanley somewhere.  So yesterday we took him to the Skating Rink!

Here is my daughter at the skating rink with her Flat Stanley.

Here is my 3 year old doing what he does every month at homeschool skate day. 
This time he had his friend Stanley to drive with him!  LOL


Here is what my kids had to say about Flat Stanley's adventure!

My 3 year old:

I took Flat Stanley to the Skating Rink.  I drived with him!  It was fun!  I liked the book it was good!

My favorite part (of the book) is Stanley being flat!

My 6 year old says:

I took Flat Stanley to the skating rink.  We skated around in circles.  Both of his arms got torn off.  Skating is hard for a paper person!  We gave the Flat Stanley from our book to our friends who are going to the Grand Canyon.  They are taking him with them!  Lucky Stanley!!! 

My favorite part of the book is when Stanley's brother is jealous and he tries to flatten himself with books!

I hope you will click on over to sign up and add your families adventure with Stanley to the project!

BTW, here is a FREE Unit Study on Flat Stanley!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I have promised at least a half a dozen people that I would write a post on homeopathy.  So here it goes... 

Twelve years ago when my oldest son was one, my father passed away.  My son and I spent 3 months in Kansas with family and during that time my son was sick with one thing after another.  (We lived in California at the time so we were not use to the cold weather, exposed to different viruses and were under a lot of stress!)  As I was caring for him I felt helpless.  I am not a big fan of traditional medicine.  It seems to me that you take one thing and it causes another side effect and then you need something else.  I struggled through those few months without taking him to the doctor, but realizing if I didn't want to be camped out in the waiting room a whole lot I needed a plan. 

In the back of my mind I kept thinking about homeopathy.  My entire exposure to homeopathy was a little one paragraph blurb in one of the zillions of baby catalogs I had poured over before my son was born.  It was a "natural" baby catalog and had a little Homeopathy for Baby starter kit in it.  The blurb said something like "Keep your child healthy naturally by stimulating your child's immune system with homeopathy."  Interesting?

So we got back to California and I started to investigate.  This was back in the dark ages before the internet so I went to the phone book.  There was one lone listing in the phone book for homeopathy.  I called the number.  I told the lady on the phone my story and asked if she could help me learn more about homeopathy.  She said that she was a homeopath who dealt with chronic problems, and what i was looking for was acute care.  (I had no idea what she was talking about honestly!  LOL)  She said acute care I could handle myself at home if I was willing to do some work.  She gave me the phone number to the person who was the contact for a local homeopathy study group.  (This person turned out to be a homeschool Mom and one of my very best friends in the world, Suzie! A HUGE THANKS to Suzie who edited this post for me to make sure I had my facts and my Latin right!) I made the call and never looked back! 

For 7 years I studied homeopathy with a group of 4 precious ladies.  We were part of The National Center For Homeopathy.  We met monthly and worked through workbooks we got through NCH.  (Think Bible Study format.  Everyone has a book and does independent study through the month and they meets monthly to discuss.)  Through the years we all became great friends and we learned to care for our families through homeopathy. 

Here is how I can tell you that homeopathy works....In 13 years of being a parent NONE of my children have ever had a antibiotic.  Only one has been to the doctor for an illness and it was for a chronic stomach problem.  We did use one over the counter medicine for a few months after seeing the doctor.  Then I was able to get him regulated on some herbs for the chronic condition and got him off the OTC medicine.  Homeopathy works!

So what is homeopathy? First off Homeopathy is NOT Herbs!  (Obviously I am not opposed to Herbs, but Homeopathy is a completely different system of healing than herbs.  We do take a few herbs in our house too for ongoing things.  But that is a whole 'nother post!  LOL)  Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine developed in late 18th Century by Samuel Hahnemann.  The term homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo, meaning similar, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease.  Homeopathy is different from Western medicine in that is seeks to stimulate the body's defense mechanisms to prevent or treat illness.  Treatment involves giving  very small doses of substances called remedies that in larger quantities would produce similar symptoms of the illness in healthy people.  Here is an example:

Allium Cepa is the homeopathic remedy for "burning, watery eyes with with acrid nasal discharge and laryngeal symptoms."  It is for the kind of cold you get when you nose and eyes are runny and teary.  Burning and weepy.  You know just like when you are cutting an onion?  The reason Allium Cepa works for this kind of condition is because it is made from Red Onion!  (Allium Cepa is Latin for red onion.  You also learn a  lot of Latin with homeopathy!  LOL)

Homeopathy is also individualized.  You know what when you have 3 kids who all have colds they can all be different?  One may have a deep hacking cough, one has a runny nose and the third is congested.  Homeopathy works within the law of similars meaning you treat with a remedy that would produce similar results if taken non-homeopathically in large doses.  So each of the 3 colds above would get a different remedy

I know this is a lot to absorb! Homeopathy is a very different way of thinking than that of Western Medicine.  It is not my intention for this post to be "Everything You Need To Know About Homeopathy"  I just want to be "the little blurb" to someone else that might be seeking a way to take charge of their families health. Homeopathy is NOT for everyone.  Quite honestly homeopathy is a lot of work!  (Kind of like homeschooling!)  But, it is doable!  You can learn it and you can stay out of the Doctors office.

Another thing I want to tell you about homeopathy is that it is cheap!  You can easily get started with your 1st book and a couple remedies for $25.00.  I highly recommend you buy a kit of remedies if this is something you are serious about.  You will save a lot of money and be very happy you have what you need on hand at 3:00 in the morning when you most need it! 

Last but not least...if you decide to investigate this I will tell you up front there is a lot of information both pro and con for homeopathy online.  People who have spent their lives pursuing traditional medicine are most likely NOT going to support something so different.  In part this is because is is very cheap and can be handled at home without a specialized education! How could unskilled, untrained person take care of their families health at home inexpensively?   (Huh, kind of like sounds like an argument against homeschooling I have heard?)

Here are some of my favorite resources to get you started:

National Center for Homeopathy - Excellent source for all kinds of info on homeopathy.  You can also look for a study group in your area.

ABC Homeopathy - Has an online Remedy Finder!  You can type in your symptoms and it will help you locate a remedy. (This is a very nice thing, but it has made me lazy!  I use to know a zillion remedies in my head.  Now I just click over to abchomeopathy.com! LOL)

Homeopathy Overnight - Great place to order kits.  I have had wonderful customer service with this company.  So I always recommend them!  Unfortunately their website is not too good.  You will probably want to request a catalog before ordering.  (The BIG kit I have is the DOLISOS HOUSEHOLD 6C
SNGLREM51_6C which is $79.95.  and can be ordered HERE.)

1-800-Homeopathy - Another good source for kits

Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines - My 1st and favorite homeopathy book

Homeopathic Medicine at Home - My friend Suzie's 1st book and her favorite!

A Christian's Guide To Homeopathy - Great Book!  Will answer a lot of questions if you are concerned this might be a "new age" type thing.

Minimum Price Homeopathic Books - The best price on almost every book on Homeopathy! (And the main reason I have soooooo many books!  LOL)

Homeopathy Books Online you can read for FREE!  - Look on the left hand column for Read Free and click to correct page. This is a great place to start if you want to delve deeper into the study of homeopathy! 

Homeopathy Today - A good Homeopathy Magazine

Hpathy - Online site with tons of great info for those who want to study homeopathy.

Below are some remedies I would start with.  As I mentioned above there is no one right remedy for everyone, but the ones below generally fit the symptoms I have listed.  Each will also treat a plethora of other symptoms!  I will never forget the time I took my oldest son, (then 2) over to a non -homeopathic friends house to babysit.  I left for her the remedy he was taking at the time for a cough, which was Pulsatilla.  Later she calls me and says "You realize this medicine you left says on the bottle it is for PMS!"  LOL 

Here is the list:

Allium Cepa - Common cold (See description above.)

Apis Mellifica - Bug bites, swelling and puffiness, stinging.  (Made from Bumble Bee!)

Arnica Montana - Bumps, bruises, aches and pains. 

Arsenicum Album -  Exhaustion

Belladonna - For anything that comes on suddenly.  Take at 1st symptoms.

Chamomilla - For calming and relaxing inconsolable cranky kids! (And the occasional Mom!)

Histaminum - Allergies (Think antihistamines! This is probably the least common remedy on this list.  But I do use it often for myself.)

Ipecacuanha - For persistent nausea and vomiting

Kali Bich - For green ropy discharge!  Gross!

Oscillococcinum - Overall flu symptoms (Fever, chills, body aches and pains.)

Podophyllum Peltatum - For diarrhea 

Pulsatilla - PMS

Rhus Tox - Poison Oak/Ivy & rheumatic pains

There are over 2000 Homeopathic remedies so you will never have them all.  I have about 50 and I find they cover our needs nicely!  It takes time to figure out which ones best fit your family.  I have built up my supply over a 12 year period.  You don't need 50 to start!

I told you I was outside the box!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I am not an unschooler, but I am frequently mistaken for one!  LOL  I do have a lot of unschooling tendencies and the longer I homeschool the more relaxed I get. The new Christian Unschooling blog is a great resource for those of you who are "real" unschoolers or are toying with the idea of unschooling.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the Christian Unschooling blog:

"That brings us to...GOD LED INTERESTS!!  I truly believe God gives us everything..what we do with it is another story! Too often God given interests are stifled in the rush to learn at an appropriate nationwide level. What about the child who watches Gorillas In The Mist and wants to be active in Gorilla preservation? This is about more than giving some extra time to an interest, this is about embracing things laid on our children's hearts, whether it is for 5 minutes or for 5 years. WE don't know God's plans, not for ourselves, and certainly not for our children!"

(used with permission.)

I'm telling you this kind of thinking s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s me!  I love the words, but I am just not there yet!  I can tell you I have seen several uncshooling Mom's who live this!  I have seen this comfortable approach to following a child's lead and letting them learn whatever they love work.  Let me tell you unschooling is not for the faint of heart! (I think it takes a special laid-back personality!) I have always said "Unschooling parents are the hardest working parents in homeschooling!"  By this I mean they are not relying on a curriculum to lead their days.  They are out there opening a zillion doors and waiting to see which ones their children choose to walk through!  That is a lot of work and trust in God! 

So for those of you who may be thinking about unschooling and especially if you are looking for information and support regarding Christian unschooling you will want to visit the Christian Unschooling blog!  There are also 31 back issues of the Christian Unschooling Newsletter Seedlings available to read on the blog. There is a lot of  great info waiting for you! Oh, and there is a Toile background!  What's not to love?  LOL

Enjoy!

Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

Without question Operation Christmas Child is my favorite part of the Chrsitmas Season!  There is nothing better than seeing my children load up a shoebox with gifts for a child they will never meet on earth, but hopefully will meet in heaven because of receiving this box!

Here the kids are with all the goodies we bought got to fill 2 boxes. (One for a boy one for a girl. The pink side if for the girl!  LOL)

This is the picture we had printed and sent along inside the box.  We also made cards to send to the kids.

Here they are with the boxes filled and ready to go! (We added Chrsitmas Stickers to the boxes after this picture was taken.)
(Yes we cheated and got the biggest box we could justify still being a shoebox! LOL  I think they are more boot size.  :^)  You can fit so many great things in the bigger boxes like spiral notebooks, coloring books & lots of candy!)

After we pack the boxes we always pray for the children who will get our boxes and their family.  This year even my 3 year old prayed "That they would like the boxes and love Jesus!"  I would say that sums up this ministry pretty well!

You can also "follow the box" via videos on the Operation Christmas Child website.  My kids LOVE seeing these videos every year! 

Want to incorporate this project into your schooling?  My friend over at Filled With Joy has posted about a book and free lapbook you can do to go along with making these shoeboxes!  I am going to try to find the book next week at the Library. Make sure to click over to her blog and see the great ideas she has for making the boxes even more meaningful for your children!

National Collection week is November 12-19!  If you are not involved in a church that is participating in Operation Christmas Child you can find one in your area by using the zip code locator located HERE.  It is not too late to bless a child!