Planning On Ordering From Christianbook Between Now And December 9th? Free Shipping Alert!

Christianbook.com is offering free shipping on orders of $35 or more from now through December 9th!  Just enter promotion code 338509 at checkout.  This a great chance to shop for anything from homeschooling resources to Christmas presents . . . and more.

And if you do decide to take advantage of this great deal, please consider going to Christianbook.com through my affiliate link on the right side of this blog.  Thank you ;)

Confession: I Love A Deal, And I’m Never Going Back

 

I didn’t used to be so concerned about getting a deal.  I was one of those blissfully naïve people that paid full price for everything and thought nothing of it.  But I’ve learned a thing or two the last few years.  I had to.  It was sink or swim time.  When the finances take a nose dive, you have no choice.  But, I have to say, in the end it made me a smarter woman.

Being a homeschooling mom has also forced me to be even more conscience of my purchases.  See the picture above.  That is one awesome easel.  It’s a classroom quality easel, and I never could have paid full price for it normally.  The local educational resource store had this easel on clearance.  It was missing the little tray that holds the paint, and was marked down from about $80 to $20.  Sounds good to me!

Recently I needed a new winter coat.  The old one didn’t fit right anymore.  A local store had a sale on their coats ($16.99), but they weren’t that great, quality wise.  Head down the road to the thrift store.  I walked into the thrift store and found a really nice down winter coat for $16.99 that was much better made than the coat at the last place.  But wait . . . it was 50% off that day.  It was only about $9 after tax.

Today my younger son and I went out to a restaurant to celebrate our birthdays together.  We had a delicious meal, and chocolate sundaes at the end of the meal.  Because our birthdays are less than two weeks apart, we both used our free birthday meal certificates.  My only cost was the tip.

I am learning to be a good steward of what God has given us, and I refuse to go back!

How are you able to save money in ways that blesses your family?

 

25% Off Any Lapbook Project Pack At In The Hands Of A Child

IN THE HANDS OF A CHILD!

25% Off Any Lapbook Project Pack

Use Coupon Code: HandsOnLearning (case sensitive)

HURRY!
This Offer Expires November 1st, 2010

In The Hands Of A Child is a wonderful company.  They produce many wonderful lapbooks!  Almost literally every subject that you can think of is covered in one (or more) of their lapbooks.  Each lapbook is a versatile wealth of cross curricular fun and learning for kids of many age groups (each lapbook is designated for a particular age range).  And if you’ve never gone through putting together a lapbook you’ll be happy to know that each one comes with photos as an example of what it might look like after it is completed.  Also, sign up for their e-mail updates or check their site for the free lapbook that they offer bi-annually.

This Year's Great Symbolic Butterfly Migration

Here is our class paper butterfly.

I love Journey North for Kids!  I know that I've mentioned them before.  This site is chock full of information, scientific study, videos, printable books, etc.  all about migration and seasonal change.

In that spirit, every fall they have a symbolic butterfly migration alongside the travel and migration of the Monarch's to their winter home in Mexico. 

While we were involved in this last year as well, I really like the way that they organized it this year even better.  Instead of each student making a paper butterfly, there is one sent per class.  The new design of the butterfly being mounted to the folder leaves lots of room for self expression and creativity inside the folder.

The butterfly is mounted on the outside of a folder.  The inside is reserved for information about you class (which for us, is also our family).

They suggest putting information, pictures, and their form letter inside to tell the students in Mexico about your class.  Since we home school we told them about our home school class.  I used this free translation website to translate what we wanted to say into the Spanish language (and dialect) that they would understand. 

After completing our butterfly and preparing the envelope and return envelopes as outlined on Journey North's Symbolic Butterfly Migration website I went to the post office to send it to the Journey North offices where they will process all of the butterflies and then send them on to Mexico.  While there is no cost to be involved in this symbolic migration, they gladly accept any donations offered to help them educate the kids, and study the butterflies.

There the teachers and scientists will teach the school children about the Monarchs and how to protect them and care for their wintering sites.  The class will display our butterfly, and be able to write to us if they choose.  I can also check the Journey North site to see which school received our butterfly.

The students will care for our paper butterfly, as they do for the real butterflies, all winter.  And in the spring our paper butterfly will travel back north with the real butterflies and "land" in one of the schools that sent one out in the fall.  Last year we received a paper butterfly back, with Milkweed seeds, and information about the people working to teach the children about the butterflies and the butterflies themselves.

While yesterday was the postmark date for this year (I mentioned this program in earlier posts), I wanted you to know just how wonderful this  program was "first hand".  Hopefully you will consider it next fall, and in the meantime, use the wonderful resources they offer in their website!

Community Of Educational Opportunities

I find the home in homeschooling laughable these days.  While much of our education IS at home, there are many opportunities outside the home.  There are SO many in fact, that we routinely pick and choose.  “Socialization”?  That’s not a problem here!

We had full run of a gymnastics facility earlier this week, and are preparing for drama, pottery, and art classes in the next few days.  The drama and pottery classes are at the same time, and at the same place, as they are offered through the co-op.  One less thing to worry about.  Art is offered through a wonderful man that moves between different locations, one of them being near us.  He supplies everything needed for the class.  It’s intensive, and it’s reasonable.  I love these opportunities!

But while these opportunities are all offered through the homeschooling community, there are a wealth of resources in the community at large. 

Science centers, libraries, nature centers, skating rinks, zoos, historical centers etc. are all possible resources for classes and/or positive physical activity for home school families.  And remember, that as an educator, you may be eligible for a discounted membership fee at many science centers, zoos, and historical centers.

We have created a school newspaper.  This is such a fun Language Arts activity.  Why not interview people in the community?  This is fantastic practice in interviewing, and communicating with strangers.

These are but a few of many possible ideas?

What ideas do you have to add?

I Have A Confession To Make . . .

My kids love books, books about presidents, and explorers, and scientists.  Just recently my kids devoured books about Ronald Reagan, George Washington, and traveling on the Mayflower.  And at night, we read aloud from the Anne of Green Gables series of books, and my boys love it!  And I love that they love it!  (Even my hubby is enjoying the “Anne books”, but don’t tell him that I told on him ;)

OK, so it’s not a real confession.  I mean I’m sure that many of you have similar stories about your children.  But this is like a whole new world to me.  Within the last two plus years we’ve gone from a family that runs around from one thing to the next, to a family that loves to slow down, declutter, read, learn, and grow.  I’m really enjoying this!

We are now in a new way of thinking then I have ever been, and it’s nice.  Learning fractions is no longer just for math class, it is now learned when the bananas start to turn brown and I assign “The Master Chef” (my oldest son) the duty of making banana bread.  I ask him to double the recipe, and poof, we learning math . . . in the kitchen!  Outside of our language arts studies we also put together a school newspaper, and suddenly “The Bug Whisperer” (my younger son) is searching the information in his favorite nature books for the perfect subject for an article or crossword puzzle.  (You can generate your own crossword puzzles here.)  I open the computer and our little one is begging to work on her phonics on Starfall.  This is fun!

And I am learning with them.  In the past 2+ years I have learned that Monarch Butterflies winter in Mexico.  I have learned more about where the subject and predicates are in a sentence.  And most importantly I have learned that “The Bug Whisperer” thrives and flourishes under the tutelage of a calm teacher, but even more than that needs one on one help from time to time to feel secure.  He is more confident now then ever in school at home.  His love of animals, and nature, weather, and creation is amazing!  And “The Master Chef” is not only a master chef, but he is also a mentor to his siblings, and an excellent student and observer of the things and people around him. His dream is to own a restaurant some day, and I believe he’ll do it!  And it will be a nut-free restaurant ;) Our little one is growing faster than ever through the encouragement of her “brudders”, and is happily invited on (almost) all of their adventures.

I am happier than I have ever been before and I have God, and the Titus 2 homeschoolers that He brought around me, to thank for that!

Blessings!

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Thinkfinity is a great search engine of valuable printables for teachers from many sites across the web.

Super Teacher Worksheets and WorksheetsPLUS are also great resources for the teacher that needs worksheets to help students grasp a particular concept.

Author Jan Brett offers a wealth of cool tidbits to use in a classroom or at home.  She has everything here from printable flashcards and handwriting sheets to wall murals, all with her beautiful illustrations from her books.

Family Education is a wealth of printables based on both educational concepts and even historical events.

 

The Importance of the Titus 2 Woman

In the book of Titus chapter 2  older woman, uh I mean more experienced women, are called to teach the younger women how to behave and to love their husbands and children.  I would venture to say that these women of faith are more needed now than ever!

We have so much marketing hitting us, almost literally, everywhere we go . . . including the stall door of the public restrooms sometimes!  There are so many more choices these days, and with each choice advocates and marketers to push you in the direction of their “perfect choice”.  For woman, some of the debates over the choices that we have to make are fierce, and overwhelming.  After all, who wants to be the “awful mother” that made the wrong choice!

Do I have natural childbirth, or do I accept pain medication during childbirth?  Should the birth be at a hospital or at home?  Once the baby is born, do I breastfeed or bottle feed, or both?  Then before you know it it’s time for school.  Do I send them to a public school, a parochial school, a charter school, or do I home school?  And then there’s all of the homeschooling options!  Arrrrrggggg!  (The arrrrrrggggg is directed at they many decisions we have to make. I like the wealth of homeschooling options ;)

The truth is that are many choices that are fine.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each choice we make, but whatever we do, we need to be informed so that we can make the best choice for our family.  We are in our third year on this homeschooling journey, and the counsel and information of the more experienced women in our support group have enriched and opened our choice to home school into a whole world and wealth of opportunity and joy.  For those new homeschooling moms, strong in their convictions to home school, we need to be that same shelter in this storm of the educational controversy around us.  We need to guide and teach them to be the best that they can be, so that they can grow where they are planted until God should take them down a different educational path.  One of the greatest joys of homeschooling is that in teaching my children, I am also learning a great deal myself through my life with them.

Blessings on your educational journey ;)

It’s a educational opportunity and a lemon-limeade stand all in one!  (Counting money, handling customers, offering a quality product . . . )  Loving the “mascot” ;)

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P.S. Here are a few promised home school resources. 

Edifyathome.com- a home school version of the famous big name auction site

SoftSchools.com offers free educational games and worksheet generators, organized by grade level

WorksheetWorks.com is, by far, my VERY favorite worksheet generator.  It features every kind of worksheet generator that you can imagine!  You can make anything from personalized handwriting sheets to visual multiplication sheets and maps.  This is WELL worth checking out!

Steve Spangler Science is a great resource for buying science supplies, yes.  But also look at the experiment ideas and science videos.

 

 

 

Have I Mentioned That I Like Free (and inexpensive) Resources?

It is a well known fact, that many homeschooling families are one income households.  Not all are, I realize, but the point is that by and large we value the offer of something that is free or inexpensive.  It’s not that we are cheap, but many of us have found a need to be frugal.  In that spirit, and to that end, here are some resources that I’ve compiled over the last two and a half years that you may have missed in your web travels.

Grade Books-For those of you that are interested in a free online grade book/ school calendar/ report and progress report generator, there are others, but I use Snapgrades.  I found it recommended in another home school blog, and I have found it easy to use, and a great resource!  I love the fact that during those weeks that I am questioning whether we are doing enough in school I can easily check the interactive calendar, and rest my nerves.  The irony is that the weeks that I question whether we are doing enough in school, are usually the weeks that I find that I’ve been “cracking the whip” in school and trying to do more than I need to.  The boys love the fact that they receive a report card just like they did when they were “ in school” before we started homeschooling.

Curriculum- Lapbooks, and worksheets, and worksheet generators . . . oh my ;)  There are so many choices when it comes to finding free and inexpensive curriculum, but here are some of the ones that I like.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op and Christianbook.com are awesome websites for deals.  Next to attending a home school curriculum fair, these are the best places to save money on your homeschooling resources. Well worth checking out before you spend more elsewhere!

Homeschool Share is a site full of free lapbooks (including preschool lapbooks!) as well as other wonderful resources.

 Hands of a Child also offers one of their awesome lapbooks free semi-annually.  The others are not free BUT here’s the thing . . . they are reasonable, they are beautiful, they are well researched and thought out, and they almost literally offer lapbooks on just about anything you can think of from World War II to Hot Dogs (it was more cross curricular and in depth then it sounds, really LOL ;).

Learningpage is a wealth of free printables for Pre K- 3rd grade!  Here you’ll find professional worksheets/fun sheets to teach many basic skills like handwriting and counting money, printable themed wall murals that you can color and piece together with themed worksheets to match, and many wonderful free resources by current event in the monthly themed worksheet area.

ReadWriteThink is full of interactive resources to teach kids how to write a postcard or a newspaper, create a crossword puzzle or a action hero trading card (in lieu of a book report ;), or many other fun activities of Language Arts learning.  At the end of the activity you are then able to print your creation.  So much fun!  There are also lesson plan ideas each activity for those that want to use them.

Binding Books Beautifully features a book binding tool that is both inexpensive and versatile. It facilitates the older method of binding books by sewing them together between cloth or paper covered book covers. Imagine not only being able to create a beautiful book out of your kids best school and artwork, but to be able to create your own books and yearbooks, economically.  It is a way to do what the product name suggests . . . bind books beautifully!

Pizza Hut BOOK IT! is also offered to homeschoolers!  I love that Pizza Hut allows our kids to enjoy the free personal pizzas as well!  It starts in October so you may be too late to sign up for this year, but if you haven’t already, you can still try.  

I have more . . . but phew, that will have to wait until next time.  The school bell is about to ring for today, and being that I’m the teacher, well it’s time to go ;)

Until next time, God Bless ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short On Cash? There Are Plenty Of Free Resources Perfect For Homeschoolers

There are sooo many choices when it comes to educational resources for the homeschooling family!  Some are worth paying a little extra for, but at times people pay for resources when there are perfectly good and free alternatives.  You just have to know where to look (like the Journey North Kids Site that I mentioned yesterday).
For instance, are you looking for a phonics program? Starfall is a completely free four stage phonics program.  I loved it and have used it with my younger two now.  Not only is it an awesome interactive phonics site, but if you peruse the Download Center and the Scope and Sequence Page you will find a wealth of printable material.  Also when using the site look for a picture of a little printer at the end of the interactive books and activities for even more free printable worksheets.   (Only one word of caution about Starfall:  They also offer a Kindergarten curriculum which includes in it’s readers a book about Darwin.  Being a Christian, I wasn’t too keen about that to say the least, but there was nothing like that at their phonics site, as far as I know and it’s free.  I’ve looked it over pretty well, but look it over for yourself as well.)
Literactive is also an awesome site for reading AND spelling fun and interactive books, as well as printable activities.  Spelling City is another site for learning to spell as well as games to reinforce what you are learning to spell.  Speaking of Spelling City, if you use AVKO’s Sequential Spelling books, you should know that AVKO's spelling lists are on the Spelling City page!  (For those of you who don’t know about AVKO, I highly suggest that you watch the video demonstrations on their website.  This educational research foundation was founded by dyslexic Don McCabe, so their materials are especially helpful for others with dyslexia, but they are for everyone learning and/or struggling to learn to spell and read!)
Well, now you have a taste of the free and valuable resources bookmarked in my Language Arts bookmark (or favorites) folder.  I’ll try to give you more to “chew on” later.
God Bless!
Hubby and the kids pretending to be run over by a train rendered stationary long ago.  Fun, fun ;)