New to homeschooling

Isn't funny how when you are brand new to homeschooling, you tend to have a feeling as if you are all alone in your choice and that there isn't many of you out there. I know for me that is exactly how I felt.
Fast forward 5 years later ~> How things quickly change! Now it seems like where ever I go whether it be when we go to the library to get our weekly homeschooling books to read or at the grocer store, park or even the bank I am always running into some one I know or have seen at a home-school group meeting. What I thought was a minority actually ended up to be more of the majority in my area ,at least it feels that way : ')


So anyone out there who is afraid that you will be all alone in this choice , Ha! Trust me you won't be. IMO I think it is just a matter of time and more and more people are going to be jumping on this band wagon!.

A Spongebob Squarepants moment

Last night my daughter came and crawled in bed with me. Of course it was not empty handed, she had a Spongebob Squarepants book with her. She was very much wanting me to read with her. I said sure but, that I was wanting her to read to me ;-)


I was so proud of her, She started reading and I honestly thought that this book may be a bit to much for her as it was not thin and printed in tiny print . I was proved wrong! I would say she read about 95% of the words with out needing my help. I am so very thankful for her Language Arts program, it has helped her so much with her reading ability and learning how to sound out words,site words, compound words ect

It is those small moments in life that makes all your hard work and sacrifice and worries all worth while <3

Teaching what I wish I was taught

So I myself have always wanted to learn another language. I never was able to achieve that in the degree I had wanted, so I am working hard to allow my kids to be able to have this opportunity & honestly I am hoping to learn something too along the way myself  ;' )

After some searching I found some online games in foreign languages, They are so neat and Fun and the kids are really learning.

I think that living in America where there are so many different types of people with different languages, It is really a necessity to know English & at least Spanish.

I know for some just having the "basics" in their homeschooling curriculum is enough. For us we want to try and go beyond that goal and give as much extra as possible so that our children may be able to navigate thur this big world a little bit easier.

Just another reason why I ma so thankful that I can home-school my children <3

Christmas Time

So last night we put up our Christmas Tree, we do real trees which I think is not only prettier but they smell better & are better for our enviroment. Okay like I was saying I watching the kids hanging the ornaments just made me feel like WOW! I am actually all grown up and have my very own family <3 Christmas may be more fun when your a kid but, untill you are a parent you never really learn the meaning of it ......


So now that the  Holidays are officially here and going Full Blast! My kids are so into the Christmas spirit this year now that my youngest is almost 4yrs.
Having one child always makes the Holiday season more special but, having more than one child makes it really Fun! Between the Decorating,Christmas shows on T.V, Shopping for gifts, Sweet treats and Online Holiday games and Art projects
~~> This time  of year is defiantly my favorite time of year :' )

Sometimes you must Review Review Review!

As much Fun as Thanksgiving was, Family,Friends,Food & Fun! The time we broke from our studies and the distraction of the holiday, past and present sure has made for some serious distractions in my oldest.


I found myself today wondering why she is acting as if she doesn't even know her basics ugh! I tell you what on days like this I sure am thankful that I can use those Online Math programs to help get her mind back on target ;)

It is soooo weird how she is sooooo good in most areas, like she loves doing her Science program and Language. Math thou has always been a tough spot for her to remember.

I seem to always find myself letting her go back and review, review, review!

I am just glad the computer is doing most of the re teaching as I think I might go bonkers if I had too ((blush))

I am thinking of taking this month that is so full of other Fun things to do and just go do review on all subjects..I think it may be just what the "Teacher" orderd lol ;)

Be Eclectic!

If you have been home-schooling for any length of time, you will soon relise that when you gather with others who do as well, that everyone does things a lil different. One question that always makes me smile a bit is when new comers ask , "What do you use or what style of home-schooling ect "


I am sure that some families use just one way the whole time they have children home-schooling, but this is not the case entirely for us, we refer to ourselves as a family that does eclectic homeschooling.

Out side of our wonderful Online program, that we have used for the past 3 yrs we are always adding a lil of this and a lil of that as we see fit. It is never the same, we go with what our children our needing at the moment. I think what takes back some of the ladies at my local home-school group is that even thou I am Christian I use mostly all secular homeschooling material. I do not believe that I should exclude a good curriculum just because its not Christian based. I feel I am more then capable to teach my child about GOD all on my own. My point of this weeks post is that your child's education is very important and should never have limitations. Be Eclectic!!! Try it all!!! Keep what you like , get rid of what you don't!!! and most important, Have Fun!

Thank Goodness for Mi-Fi

So I  have finally gotten my Mi-fi, This allows me to be able to get on more than one computer at a time. Before we obtained this, it was a bit hard to get every ones Internet needs met on a daily basis with only one computer being allowed to be in use at once. So as you may imagine the past few days  has been soooo nice.
In the A.M. my daughter gets up and goes to HER computer , turns is it on and get her lessons done .
Now before she might have had to wait till later, because I was on or if she was on ,her younger brother would whine about wanting to get on and do his "mouse" and it would distract her too much. If that happens now I can just turn on another computer to be used, Which has freed up time to do other things in the day and its been alot less stressful not having to juggle the Internet time.
So today was day 5 of the Mi-fi.  My daughter was do her school work, Learning Contractions . I had just given her the contraction word lists and my son ran in saying, "I wanna do school work too!" So usually this is where I would have to stop helping my daughter and go distract him or tell her we will just have to do this later...But  not now I just said come on over son to the other computer :-)
He was happy ,She was happy , I was Happy!!!! lol
I tell you what anyone who is facing what I had been facing..Get the Mi-fi ,It is so worth the money! $-)

The importance of Vocabulary

Is it just me or have you noticed that the way our children speak or quite honestly the way our peers speak , sounds in most instants very uneducated ? It was not very long ago when the  importance of vocabulary was well IMPORTANT!

In today society it does not seem to be that anymore. Slang is just to well excepted. I will admit that from time to time I will have a slip up myself but, I blame society for that negative influence. I do try very hard to over come that , so to show my children how to speak from example.

Of course kids always think us moms or dads are just ol'fashioned and do not know what is "IN" ect . So sometimes it takes more then just being a role model to instill certain values into our children. Thankfully I have been able to take advantage of the love of video games my children have and use these Online vocabulary games to help them learn how to speak with out them really realising it .

If anyone is trying to help teach your children better Vocabulary , my advice is it starts at home and go from there ;)

Trick or Treat Time!

Yay!!!! Its almost time to go Trick or Treating <):?)- 
My kids are SUPER excited & I cant blame them,Halloween has always been one of my Favorite times of the year.
So to enjoy this festive time we have taken a break this week on our School work & have been focusing on some fun!
Last week I took my daughter  Costume shopping and she of course changed her mind a Billjillion times but, Finnally decided on being a  "Good" Witch & my son who is on 3 years wanted to be a Ghost.
Well my daughters costumed took me for $15!!!<~~crazy that much for cheap polyester aghhhh ! & all the the ghost costumes were a bit too scary and honestly too exspensive for something I can do at home with a plain white sheet..So after purchasing a white sheet a ghost mask from Yes! the $$ store Viola all done ~~>Less then $6 all together $-)
Halloween Day we will  carve our Jack O'laterns and then get ready to go into town ,This year our city is hosting a Costume Contest,My daughter is so thrilled !!!!This will be her 1st one ever..Afterwards we plan to start the Trick or Treating till about 9:30pm then we will end with some Yummy Pizza .
Of course Saftey 1st ,No one is allowed to eat any candy till it is checked out by the Candy police~~>AKA MOMMY!! LOL ;)
On another note,I am looking forward to getting back into the school grind again,At a Used Books sale I purchased a teach your child to speak spanish program ,I have personally always wanted to learn how to speak another Language .So we are really going to focus on that for november ~~>check back for some progress updates :-D
So to end this Blog I want to wish every One a SAFE and  Spooky Halloween!

Home-school Goodies

Just the other day I was talking to another "home-school" mom and the topic of our states standardized testing came up.She was exsplaining how she dreads trying to prepare her kids every year but,that this last year she found these Online SAT courses that have made it so much less stressful on everyone.Even thou I am fortunate enough to live in a state that allows you to use Teacher evaluations in place of state test, I went ahead and kept my personal choice quiet and let her Brag about her new found goodie ;)


Speaking of Goodies,In about 4 days I will be getting a new wireless card that allow me to use several computers at once with just one internet!!! I am super excited since my son is now really starting to do his lessons on a more regular bases,It has been a bit more work only having one computer at a time.I am hoping that with have two computers and internet going at once it will free up more time for interest projects and Fun craft time !!

Home-school goodies that is was makes this job of ours so sweet :-p

Home- schooling Curriculum

O today I was at a P.E "Play group" and while our kids were busy playing soccer ,We mommas were sitting on the side lines chatting away.Of course at some point in the conversation the topic of home-schooling curriculum always gets brought up.Let me tell you hearing how stressed out and over worked both the kids and parents were just made me feel so thankful that my curriculum is so easy for me and my kids to use ,Its fun for the kids and less stressful for me ,Because I don't have to worry about putting it all together myself .


Sometimes when I talk to the other home-school parents I get the sense that they feel like their child has to learn this now and you have to spend X amount of time on this.I just don't go by that philosophy,I am so for looking for your child's interest,Looking for cues to know if they need more time or are ready to go forward,taking the time to really learn and enjoy it.

Lately I have been toiling around with the idea of adding some homeschool writing classes to my schooling.Since My gal is becoming such a good reader,I really want to help strengthen that area for her & I am thinking she is about at the age to do this ;)

X= Multiplication Math

Now that my daughter is knee deep into her 3rd grade year,We have went from simple math to yes MULTIPLICATION!!!!


Unfortunately the concept of this type of Math is a bit aggravating for my daughter to get .Just yesterday she asked,why is everything X 0=0??? I tell you if it wasn't for the interactive math program I would be pulling my hair trying to figure out how to make learning this easier for her.

I think what has helped the most so far is the online math flash cards she has been using,They are Awesome! Really has made practicing everyday easier on the both of us ;)

I am just so Glad we live in "2010" where my daughter will not have to endure how we had to learn,Ya'know writing with pencil and paper each X's table hundreds of times ,So that they get drilled into our heads.

Sometimes I wonder how we all managed to get a Good education with out this Great Invention called the computer/Internet combo ;)

It's October !!!!!

I can not tell you how Excited I am to start doing "Holiday" themed projects with my kids.
I know that for some Holiday starts with Thanksgiving & Christmas,But not for me I like the Spooky month of October.I feel that even Christians can celebrate Halloween with no problem,If done in a innocent playful way.I view this month as celebrating the Dead like the people of Mexico do.To think of all your loved ones who have passed & to allow your children to view the 31st day of the year as a Big Fun dress up party where every one comes to get candy and just have some spooky fun !!So this month in addition to our regular curriculum,I have printed out some cute Fall themed  coloring pages and connect the dots for my son.For my daughter I have been using all things Halloween in everything I can.For science we are going to learn bout the human skeleton ,Also There is this Great Site called Spelling City,They have it where you can put in 5,10,15 ect ect words at a time and It will help teach them how to spell & read the words.My daughter loves the games and I like that I can customise them to what ever I want .Our Spelling List this month includes words like ,Halloween,Witch,Candy,Spooky,Ghost among her regular spelling words.
We are also going to visit a pumpkin patch this year and learn about how long it takes for a pumpkin to get Big enough to make a Jack O'latern out of  ,Of course once carved the seeds will be used to make a yummy snack.

Home-Schooling in Florida

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my Wonderfully Sunny State " FLORIDA " !
My daughter really enjoyed learning about the place in which she lives , But for us as home-school parents,We really should know more the just our state Bird,Flag ,Tree ect. ect....We should know about all the Florida resources available to us.
The First thing you Must  learn is your State Laws ,As every state is different.After you have done this I recommend browsing  forums / message boards , Talking to others who are already  home-schooling can offer  valuable support & information ,Giving you the confidence needed to begin your home-school journey.
One area of concern for most parents is teaching them at home ,They are concerned about thier ability & how it may effect their child's education.I can understand this,Remember that children are smart & with your one on one guidence &  a good curriculum   you should be just fine,Also do not forget to locate your local home-school groups ,Finding people in your own community who also share your same  choices can be a blessing,Not only for you but your children as well .
Home-schooling is a great choice in your child's education.I have only touched on a few areas,So with anything do your own  Research,Read the fine print & make the Best choice for you and your family ;)

Back to school

fter This last year End of year evaluation,I have been really pumped up about getting Back to school with the kids. I have always kinda went with the flow and not had any sort of real schedule.


This year , I really want to give my kids that little extra nudge just to see how much they can really accomplish . So I bought a book & I am keeping records of all they are doing (kinda a pain but keeps me thinking and on my tip toes) I have also took a look see ,at their online lesson plans for their grade level to see what needs to be done this year..

The Great thing is ,Is that we school year round ,So we don't have to do as much weekly/daily .So I am doing our "lessons" 3 days a week & allowing the other 2 days for what ever comes to mind ;)

It has been a couple of weeks and so far so good.I have even noticed my daughter is reading more ( although I think this is due to our facebook time/reading arrangement lol )

I still can not believe summer is already over and New school year has begun,Is it just me ore does time fly faster the older we get ?

We haved added something new !

ART......
This very word to me means seeing beauty and interest in any & everything..

I have decided to start adding Art History to our school lessons,So that my children can learn to see & enjoy Art in their lives.
I think that for most when they think of Art they think of paintings.So to begin with I will focus on famous painters,I have chosen the 3 artist below to begin with ,As I felt that they all offered something a bit different in who they were & the type of style of artist they were..

Frida Kahlo  ,A self taught Mexican painter who was best known for her self-portraits.

Pablo Picasso  , demonstrated uncanny artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence; during the first decade of the twentieth century his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown and immense fortune throughout his life, making him one of the best-known figures in twentieth century art.

Georgia O'Keeffe was an American artist born on November 15, 1887 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. O'Keeffe is chiefly known for her landscapes and paintings of desert flowers, which are often interpreted as yonic symbols.

Leonardo da Vinci who life work was far more then just the Famous

Mona Lisa

Da vinci as seen in this red chalk self-portrait

My daughter's favorite is the Mona Lisa & she  was  amused at the Picasso's nude lady with necklace.

She is already looking forward to the next series of artist and loves doing the new Online art program & Art games ,That I am using to reinforce my teachings.

Please visit again and be on the look out for the next set of artist we will be learning about .

We passed!!!

Yesterday My daughter went for her end of year evaluation.In Florida we have the option to do this instead of state testing.I really prefer this over testing, because it allows me to really see where my kid is at & to get advice,tips & ideas from a Cert. Teacher.

So at the appointment the teacher looked thru some of my daughters work that she had done thru out the year,She also asked my daughter a few questions & did some seat work ,she even did a few riddle games with her ,My daughter thought they were fun .

Afterwards the teacher and I chatted a bit, she said that my daughter was doing really well,She had made great improvements since last year,& that she was at or above her 3rd grade level !!!! :)

She also said my daughter had pretty good spelling skills .Which I was very please to hear,Since we just really started focusing on spelling for her.

This really helps motivate me as home-school teacher/mom to keep on.That yes I am doing a good job and that this is working for my child ...I am not saying I wont have those moments of self doubt,I think all moms whether home-schooling or not have those ,But having the reassurance sure does help keep me positive and motivated !

Reasons to Home-school

To home-school or not to home-school,Once upon a time this was the question...

I am so very Thankful of the choice I made & I owe it all to those  helpful getting started  web sites available on the Internet .When your new and full of questions they really help you figure out how to get started..It has been 5 yrs since I officially started home-schooling  & there are far more then 20 reasons ,I would say my #1 reason I love to home-school is being able to watch my children learn,This amazes me everytime!

What we are Reading

My daughter is starting the 3rd grade this year and of course she is very proud to tell anyone that is willing to listen.
I have really noticed a change  in her over the summer.She is very much into things that make her feel more "Grown up" sigh.... Like wearing lip gloss or watching shows like Icarly ,shopping ,playing games on Face Book & going to the Library and checking out books...
 Of course as a parent I am in one sense screaming NOOOOOO !!!! your still my baby ,Don't grow up to fast !But , On the other hand I am trying to encourage the positive things that she is becoming interested in,Like  her new found love of books .
I of course have always enjoyed reading ,Whether it be fiction or non-fiction,magazine's,blogs ,ect .I sometimes can get on the Internet for hours .My favorite thing to do online is to read  Stories about home-schoolers .
So,like I was saying  I wanted to encourage her to read but,at the same time do more then just allow her to read these books,You know take more of a educational in depth approach to . So I decided that along with the books that she picks out at the library I would pick one and add to it and add a literature based word list. I really feel that doing this along with some games ect,Will only help her Vocabulary & spelling skills .
So After  reading some "Book Reviews" we have decided to start with a Book called ~
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo  :)

Curriculum Reviews..What should you use?

Whether it be a Curious friend thinking about home-schooling ,
A confused newbie home-schooler or Parents on Internet forums,I am always hearing /reading  ,
"What Curriculum should I use????"
This question is very popular,Specially right now with the New school year starting.
With so many options out there ,This question can not only be confusing but just plain stressful!
I defiantly feel that the Internet is one of the best places to do Curriculum research .People are  usually always eager & willing to share their Curriculum reviews ,You can find these reviews by googling "Curriculum Reviews" or searching home-school  message boards .You can also look to see if the brand of curriculum you are interested in has their own Online Parent community ,I can tell you from experience being able to speak with other parents who are using the curriculum you are interested in is so helpful .
A tip I always tell people is that if you are planning on using a Book type curriculum is to try and see if you know some one who is using it or see if they have displays near you,That way you can get a feel for it before you plunge head 1st and buy it.
That  also goes for Online programs too,IMO any good company that stands behind their product will allow you to try Free Demos of it or a least allow you a money back guarantee if you do not like it.
Like I said before I know this can be a stressful but Don't be discourage !
When you finally find the perfect curriculum and you see your child Blossom,It will be worth it ! :^)

Summer School

For most kids home-schooled or Not those very words are like the words Jail to us .....Of course for most kids they probably envision summer school as going to a school sitting for hours a day listening to a teacher re-teach them things they should have or already have learned during the prior school year,Waisting their summer days in side a classroom instead of outside playing ....
No wonder the very words Summer school brings on moans and groans from children every where ...
So I am sure after reading this you will be surprised that our family actually schools Year-Round ...Yes! I am not joking we really do ;)

For me ,My kids do not moan or groan, because I try to lighten the usual school load by doing more summer educational games ..Making school ,especially summer school Fun,Is the  key to happy  non -whinning kids ;)

For those that Do not home-school year round or who don't home-school at all,But are looking for something to help your child retain what they have learned or maybe help them catch up ,So that next year they will  be 100% ready for the next grade . Yet ,do not want to turn your summer into a classroom then I would look into T4L Online Summer Courses ,Only a few hours a week is all that's needed  !
 

I  have always felt that my childs future depended on them getting a good education....How I wished I would have taken advantage of obtaining that for myself when I was growing up.These years are so important for providing them with a good foundation,A foundation which no one should waiste ;)

Teaching Florida

    FLORIDA
        The Sunshine State

I think with anyone who home-schools Learning your State home-school info,As well as teaching your child about the "State" they live in is Very important.
So this last week that is exactly what I started to do.I must admit that in the process I also re-learned many Florida Facts like,
The State Tree ~Sabal Palm
The State Bird ~ Mocking Bird
The State flower~ Orange Blossom
ECT.,Ect,ect....

My daughter  really enjoyed learning about her state.Especially seeing Florida from outer space Aka "above picture".I suppose its hard to imagine that the very earth she was standing on actually looked like that.Of course we are not stopping with Florida.,With 50 states we have plenty to learn !
The Internet has been a Big help in locating the information to teach her ,Online games (50 state game) being the Biggest help!

Florida State Flag

English Language .....Gotta Love it!

We start off schooling our children with the basic ABC's .We work very hard teaching them the shape of the letter then the sound it makes.We are always so very proud when our children learn how to blend the sounds to form their 1st word !
Reading is such a important step in education that everyone must master to move on .
Of course anything worth doing is never easy...
IMO our language is so very confusing....You teach your child the phonic rules just to have to explain why they don't apply to all words..That's where memorising site words come into play..And then when you think you are past the confusion your find out ..Wait I also have to Teach Contractions aggghhhh!!!
When I first introduced these type of words My daughter actually said, Mom you misspelled do not ..LOL!!! It was soooo cute because she actually was very serious looking at me as if  something was wrong with me to misspell those words.When I told her that this was a contraction ..She took a minute in thought and then she said ,Why not just spell out both words? Of course I further explained and then to make things easier on us both I utilised my favorite teaching tool,The COMPUTER!!!
Luckily I have a lot of "Free" sites that help me teach my daughter..So after a lil bit of browsing my favorites I found a great site that had Contraction Games !
So far my daughter is really having fun with the games and seems to be accepting the idea of these "Contractions" ...
The English Language...Gotta Love it ;)

Summer

Its mid July & Summer is in full swing.....

Depending on what state you live in ,Most of us our trying to stay cool from this horrible heat "Swimming ,A/C,Ice cream ect ect ect "

For most summer means relaxing taking a break from the every day school grind . This thou is the totally opposite for my family,Are you Confused??? Let me exsplain.We are a Year round home-schooling family ,Which means when everyone else is letting their "Brain" take a break we our still working ours out ",so to speak .

Now for anyone who schools year round they know that we our not full force 5 days a week all year. The truth is besides being able to lessen our school days per week ,One of the perks of schooling year round is that we can take breaks when ever we want!

Another reason we chose this type of calender year is because for us summer time is not the best months to vacation in ,As we live in a very HOT and HUMID state and other then those swimming days ,Going out side isn't very pleasant or fun.So we like to break during spring and fall or any day that seems nice and breezy.

I will admit thou it can cause some confusion,Just the other day a older lady asked my daughter if she was enjoying her "Summer Vacation" ....LOL! My daughter looked at her strange , like "what vacation? "

One thing I do change during the summer months is our work load ,It is even lighter then usual.Even thou we school year round ,I really try to allow my kids to do more "Fun" type educational programs during time so that way they dont feel so left out when all thier friends our free to do nothing .For instants just yesterday she was using this Free website I found  for Language Arts that had Compound word games ...
These Free sites really help IMO to break up the monogamy of ones curricula & add a bit of Fun to learning :)

If anyone is home-schooling or thinking about home-school ,I hope that you might consider all the benefits year round schooling can bring.As I pointed out you have more control over you "vacation time " You get a lighter load in general during the week when you are doing lessons.Another perk is your child doesn't have to re-adjust to school come august .Since they never stopped ,Its business as usual.Plus if you wanted you could in theory do more grades a year and finish school earlier if you wanted too !

Whether you choose to school year round or not,I wish you all the Best in Your Adventure in Home-schooling ;-)

I took a break from "Life" & had a Pic-Nic....

In today's world it seems like our "life style" can keep us from appreciating the things that mean the most to us.Whether it is a Job that we have or a hobby we love , phones ,T.V's & yes computers seem to take so much of our focus away from what really matters ,Which is our Family!
A few days ago a friend of mine lost her grand-son who was only 4yrs old by a woman talking on her cell-phone while driving,which was an avoidable tragedy. After hearing this I just wanted to hold my children ,Unfortunately my daughter was at her grand-ma's, so I went and found my son who was playing on the floor with his lil match box cars.He was making the cutest VROOM! VROOOMM!! sound :) I  picked him up & gave him the biggest hug and tons of kisses ,Then I decided at that moment not to waste the rest of the day in front of the tv or computer or anything.So even thou it was already 3 in the afternoon I went into the kitchen and packed us some PB&J sandwiches ,cookies & chips and we went down the park. Now I wont lie at 90+ degrees it was pretty hot so not the best day for the park ,But I didnt mind. I just needed that special time just us, I found a nice shady spot & we had a nice lil pic-nic just him & I <3

Now I know this blog is dedicated to my Journey as a "Home-school" mom,So I am sure by now you are wonder why I am talking about all of this .The reason I chose to talk about this is because ,Life is too short & I just feel so Blessed to be able to stay home with children every day . I know some parents wish they could & are unable, while others would cringe at the idea of home-schooling . Spending 24/7 with their child may sound like a over whelming idea,But not for me!  Home-schooling  my children Online really does not take that long ,Which allows me to spend that precious time that for most is just wasted.

Today I am a very Thankful Home-school Mom <3

Our Beautiful Earth.....what have we done?

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.


~George Carlin


Reading this and seeing it happen before my very eyes (Oil spill 2010) Makes me feel like,What are we leaving for our children,What did are parents leave us???



I do not want my children growing up thinking that because of the sins of the parents that it is okay to keep on destroying their Earth. I am focusing very much this year on,How are actions and lack of actions have and are and will effect the earth and because of how the earth is changing will effect us and future generations to come.



I think that the ol' saying "being to old to change" might have some truth to it...But luckily we have a whole new generation before us and new one being born every day..So all is not lost because they are defiantly not to old to be taught new ways of thinking .



I know that our world has become so dependent on the advancements we have made throughout time,and I realise that it would be impossible for us to go back to a time before this ..I dont expect this to happen...but just because we can not today change the "BIG" things doesnt mean we should not try and change the small ones,and educate ourselves and our children on the bigger issues at hand ,Because who knows if are child maybe the next president ..and with that sort of foundation placed early on who knows what they may do to make this world a Better place to live!

Moments that make you Smile :)

SHOCKED!!!! PROUD!!!!THANKFUL!!!!
All words that i can use to describe what i felt today ...


This morning i woke and decided to get on the computer....I had not been on 20 mins, When my daughter who is 8 comes in..MOM!!! can i get on and do some Science? (grinning from ear to ear)

Part of me was thinking ,Dang't just signed on to check my mail..but ,the mom in me was like i suppose i can do that later..

Okay..I will turn on your Time4Learning..Yay!!! she says ..LOL ;)

I am not kidding,It had Not been 1/2 an hour..I hear the kids Gripping & whining!..
I run in What's going on!!!!  Mom,she says.....He's messing with my work!!!.(he is my son who is just 3 BTW)......Then he starts yellin,I wanna do MOUSE!!!!I wanna do MOUSE!!!!I wanna do MOUSE!!!!

Okay ..now i know sibling fights are not good..aggravating to say the least..Yelling at mom was defiantly something that deserved a time out....but I have to admit this one time  i let it go......
I mean How many parents get to say that their children actually fight over who gets to do their school work :)

Why all the work is so worth it!

When anyone start this "Adventure" into homeschooling there will be many hurdles to jump,
I know for me it was when I saw my own child learning that It made all the work I had put in all worth while <3
Last night My daughter and I were hanging out in her room and she was reading me one of her books....I was just so proud of her !!! Especially since last year she was having so much trouble..Isnt funny how one minute they are so lost and and the next they are pros ,acting as if it was no trouble at all ;)
What I love about homeschooling is you dont have to keep to a specific anything..I mean yes she does Time4Learning but we kinda wing it alot ...
Like right now outside of T4L we read a lil everynight &
I just bought "The Story Of the World vol 1" For History..
And my hubby has been getting her into astrology lately which is so interesting and she really having fun with it :)
My son he is turning 3yrs in a few days and I have been getting him into "homeschooling" Makes me wonder how smart he will be in 5 yrs ...They say that your 2nd,3rd ect are always quicker at picking things up because your older ones are there as Special Teachers <3..I tell you if thats the case as smart as my daughter is ....I can only imagine what he will be like at her age..sigh :)