Internet Safety

    

 With so many people having computer's and Internet in their home, on top of the fact many family's have more than one computer, it can be hard to monitor every website your child visits. This is why I think it is very important to think about how you will provide Internet Safety for kids, your kids obviously ;) In our home, I require my children to ask before they get on their computer. This way I can monitor what they are doing. However, I know that as they get older this may not work as well. I think putting parental controls on your computer is another smart idea. This way if they get on with out your knowledge it may help keep them out of age inappropriate areas. Of course websites are not the only thing to be aware of. Even though many of us use the computer for just homeschooling purposes, many also like those My space, Face book, etc sites! We are one of those families :) In fact one of my favorite homeschooling places is on Face book ~>  FB Roadschooling page! Even with so many innocent, safe, social places on the web, there will always be ones they are not and people that will try and take advantage of place like these to prey on unsuspecting people.
So, first I NEVER post photographs of myself or my children. I just see no reason to allow strangers to see what I or my children look like. Second, my children's Face book pages do not have their real names ( First are okay, but I Last names I feel are unsafe to post). This way they can play games and talk to their friends and maybe make new online friends with out me worrying about predator's. Of course no matter how many barriers we put in place the only way to truly keep kids safe is to talk with them about the dangers and what you expect of them.  My children know to only go to websites I have approved and to ask before going to new ones. They know not to give out their real name or phone number or location to anyone or post pictures.

I hope these ideas have helped inspire you to make the Internet a bit safer for you family as well :)

Creative Writing & more...

Lately, I have been encouraging my oldest to be more creative in her writing. I know many children need creative writing help whether they are in elementary grades, middle or high-school ( of course many high-schoolers need more help with high-school essay writing so to prepare themselves for college). She has always had a wonderful imagination, but I have always felt that it never hurts to push themselves to be the best they can be.

On the home front, I spent a lovely day with my family: husband, children, mother, sister, step-father, & Grand-mother :)  It had been a long time since we had all been together and we enjoyed a nice dinner and some much needed catching up!



Well, don't Forget that there are only a few days left to get FREE haircuts through JCPenney!

Until next time...

Teaching Resources I love

As a homeschooling parent, teacher resources are so very important. Regardless what you want to teach or how you want your child to learn, you still need the tools to accomplish your goals.
I would like to share with you my favorite teaching tools ~>





First off it would have to be my computer! Without it I would not be able to type this blog, but my children would also not be able to use their online program called Time4Learning, which BTW is my second favorite on my list. I also love those free online programs like SpellingCity.com & Learninggamesforkids.com not to mention the  hundreds of other educational resources available on the Internet. In addition I love those schoolzone.com books you can buy get from walmart. They are just big enough to add a little extra sheet work and they are so cheap compared to other work books that it is okay that they are just "extra". Last but not least is Clipboards!!!!! I recently bought them for my kids at Walmart, you know the ones that come with a storage compartment underneath for papers, pencils, etc. Well, I found that these are wonderful, especially if you live in a small space like we do. My kids use those in place of a table and instead of me having to give them their assignments daily, I have separate folder inside labeled with each day of the week. Inside those folders, I have school lessons filled out, so everyday they grab the correct folder and do their lessons and put the finished sheet work back inside to be graded. We have been doing this for about a month now and so far it has been working wonderfully ;)

Until next time....

Back to School Time

Well, for many of us it is back to school time. Whether you attend public school, private school, home-school or a college, many are getting ready for a brand new year.
Even though we school year-round we are also preparing to begin another year as we just completed our yearly school evaluations. Not only are my children starting on their next year's schooling material, I am also preparing for my new semester of college.




On our home-school front, for anyone who is curious about our plans~>

For my youngest who is at a Kindergarten level, we are focusing on learning to read this year. We will also be focusing on adding and maybe some subtraction, etc. My oldest, who is going into the 5th Grade, will be doing some review of her multiplication and division and will be focusing on reading chapter books and writing book reports this year. She also will continue to learn about the president and the US states, etc. We will also be using Time4learning online program for both of our children's core and adding some great unit studies that I am learning how to create on my own (they will be interest based)

Until next time...

Is it August already?

~ Above cartoon is Funny, but also very true! ~

Is it August already?! Can not believe my Summer semester is almost over. For anyone who is new to my Blog, I have been taking some college classes. Sometimes I have a hard time believing I have been in college for a year now. Seems like just yesterday I began. What is more unbelievable is I still have about 2 more years left!!!! Still, nothing life worth having is every easy, now is it?


On the "Home" school front ~> My daughter has really been doing wonderfully with her online math. She keeps asking me, "Mom! Can I just do Math today?"  I just love that :)
I also have started focusing on teaching her the Presidents and the United States. I bought these great flash cards from Office Max. They were about $4 a piece. Every day I give her a president and the state he was born in ( When I have done all the states that go with the presidents I plan to move on to the the rest of the states). We have been doing this a week and so far it has been going great! I also found these learning games to go with it called Place the State. It is a really a neat free game to help reinforce what I am already doing.




~>Don't forget to take your kids to get their free haircuts at JCPenney this month (K-6th) and of course the Tax free weekend if that applys to your state.








Until next time...