So, Whats Been Going On?!

As you can tell, I have not been writing every week as I usually do. I am very sorry to my regular readers, but I have been taking more time this past month to spend time traveling with my family.
I love to travel! I know that I have mentioned in past posts that I also roadschool, from time to time.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "roadschool" let me explain. Roadschooling is simply homeschooling while on the road. It could be for the day, the weekend, the week or even full- time. No matter how long or how short your road trips may be, if you are learning while traveling, you are roadschooling ;)
So, since I will be spending more time with my family and traveling more from time to time, my blog entry's will be fewer, but I promise to continue to post at least once a month :)
So, what else has been going on? Well, we had our children's year-end homeschool evaluations.
(In our state we have the option to have a certified teacher evaluate or child's progress verses state testing) Our daughter, is doing very well. Officially, she is in sixth grade, but in reading, writing,  and science she has excelled beyond and is in seventh. Wow! hard to believe I will be using sixth and seventh grade homeschool curriculum this year?!
Another special thing that took place during this evaluation, was that it was my son's first. He was so excited to show the teacher samples of his work. He is now officially in the first grade!!!

                                            I am so very proud of my children :)

                                                          Until Next Time...

The Food Chain

I hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July. If your kids are anything like mine, then they have been eagerly waiting for Fireworks. It is so nice that with so many modern devices kids have today, that our kids can still be fascinated by the bright lights up in the sky ;)






In homeschooling news, we have been busy learning about the food chains. With my oldest, we have already went over this, but not with my youngest. I think children figure out to a point on their own that there is a pecking order to how animals live, eat, and survive. For example, lion's eat the zebra, but when the lion dies, it helps grow the grass that the zebra eats. So, it isn't cruel or mean that the lion eats the zebra, its just part of the cycle of life.

 Since there are so many scenarios, depending on what animals you are talking about, I let the kids create as many food chain scenarios as they could think of. I was surprised how many they were able to come up with.

Here are some food chain illustrations that you could show your children below.

Until Next Time...

Summer Crafts For Kids

It is official! Summer has arrived! I must admit that summer is not one of my favorite seasons. The hot, muggy days, filled with summer storms are not fun for me personally. Yes, I enjoy flip flops and the beach, but that is about it. That is why we chose to homes-school year-round. For us, our days our mainly spent indoors to escape the brutal heat. So, it makes sense to use this time homeschooling.

In homeschooling news: This past week we have been working on reading mostly for my youngest and some spelling test online for my oldest. We have been using “summer” as our theme for fun. We have been doing some fun summer themed crafts too. Below are a few summer craft ideas that you can do with your kids too, regardless whether you are homeschooling this summer or not ;)

 

 

 

Hand Crab

Fish Plates

Stepping Stones

Friendship Bracelets

God's Eyes

 

 

Until Next Time...

 

Homeschooling, what should you be doing!

If you are thinking about or new to homeschooling, you are probably looking to other homeschoolers, to figure out how and what you should be doing, when it comes to homeschooling your children. Depending on who you ask, will depend on the answer you receive. Some may say you need a room dedicated to schooling. They may say you need to have a proper school desk. Others may say, a kitchen table is enough, or if you have a floor, grab a cushion. There are some who may say, you need to buy a boxed curriculum from a well-known homeschool company. Whereas others may say shop around and pick what you like, from whom you like. Some may say buy a curriculum?! You can make your own curriculum! Then there are those who say who needs a curriculum, when life is your teacher. Educational games, printables like “grammar worksheets”, etc. are big with many homeschoolers too, but not with others. Some say you need to stick to a public school calendar year. Others disagree, homeschooling year-round. The point I am trying to make, is everyone homeschools differently. It is okay to want to get ideas from other homeschoolers. That is how we all learn and figure out what we like, by getting ideas and trying things out for ourselves. Just remember to do what works for you and not what you think you are supposed to do ;)

 

Until Next Time…

How To Pick A Homeschool Curriculum

For those of you who are not year-round homeschooler’s, you are probably using the summer time to shop for new homeschool curriculum, especially if you are new to homeschooling. If you are a newbie, then you may be feeling overwhelmed at all the option’s you can choose from. Having so many options is a good and bad thing. It is great to have so many selections, but it makes it that much longer and time consuming to weed through them all. There are few things that you can do to help narrow your choices.

1.     Take the time to learn your child’s learning style.

2.     Decide if you are going to want a Christian or a secular homeschool curriculum.

3.     Do you want a boxed style curriculum or do you want to piece it together yourself.

4.     Do you want to use an online homeschool curriculum or text/work book style?

5.     And of course know your budget!

 

 

Until Next Time…

Happy June!

 

Wow, it is June! Am I the only one feeling like this year is passing by a bit too quickly? Feels like spring just began and now summer is almost here. Of course, the nice warm weather is always welcomed. Kids are already asking when we will be hitting the beaches ;)

In home-schooling news, I am taking advantage of the month of June by having my oldest practice her essay writing. She will be creating a story that takes places during this month, that is the only requirement; she is free to include anything else as part of her story.

For those of you who are new to my blog and may be wondering, "home-schooling in June?!", we our a home-schooling year-round family. So, for us any day in June, July, and/or August, is just another home-school day ;)

                                                                       Until Next Time…

Developing a Love of Reading, Starts with Finding the Right Book!

If you are lucky, your child will develop a love of reading from the start. If they don't, then it may make it harder for you, to find books that they will enjoy or at least read. Personally, I like to enlist my fellow homeschoolers to help me find books for my kiddos. Thankfully, we live in the age of the Internet, so I can easily find homeschool book reviews to help me pick out new book selections.
If you are anything like me, then you do not like to pay more than you have to, for your books. Luckily, there are many places you can find the books you are looking for, at a discount or even free. First, try your local library. Depending on the size of your library, you may be surprised how many titles they will have, that you are looking for. If you prefer to buy, amazon.com is a great site. You can also get many books for free or at a discount through Kindle, and other e-book sites. Sometimes getting your child to develop a love of reading , is just finding them the right book (;


Until Next Time...