Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas!

Well, it's almost here! Christmas! It's that time of year that we love to embrace, the fantasy homeschool fiction style Holiday traditions ;?)
In our family we like to merge the fun of the holiday and the homeschooler in us, by not only having fun, but learning as well. First I like to sit down and remind my children, The reason for this wonderful season "Jesus"!

And  of course  it would not be Christmas with out Santa! So we always sit down before bed and read one of my favorite holiday traditions that my parents did with me as a child. Twas the night before Christmas, is my all time favorite poem, and every year we always read it together before we all go to sleep, to await for the magic of "Santa" to happen ;)

We really all have had soooo much fun the past few days making cookies, wrapping presents, watching Christmas shows on T.V, and fun holiday music games ! I am just loving having two kids with the  perfect ages ( 4yrs and 10 yrs) They have made this years Holiday season filled with so much wonder, awe, and pure innocent amazement <3

~> Of course all good things must come to an end. Luckily we still have one more day till it ends lol! So I am going to end it here on that wonderful note.
 Here's to wishing everyone A Happy & Merry Christmas!

Kids, they grow up so fast...

Kids grow up so fast don't they? Seems like just yesterday I was one myself lol! Now, I have two little one's ((love)). My oldest just turned Ten years old ( already a dbl digit wow! ) and my youngest is four years old. Of course I am enjoying watching them grow and learn, becoming lil people. Today I have been thinking about what next steps I need to take with their education. Now with my youngest almost five years old, making sure he has a good phonics curriculum is very important in my opinion. We have had so much fun last year with his pre-k  curriculum, learning via preschool games, etc. This year so far, we have mainly  been doing a lot of review and easing into Kindergarten level material. I really do  think he is now 100% ready to be a serious Kinder learner! My oldest however, is at a different level. I have noticed that she is taking a pro active approach to what she is interested in, which make me so happy :-)  Seems like with each child and each age, learning at home changes and evolves. I know we are still in this school year, but I am already looking forward to next!

Hope Everyone Is Having A Wonderful Holiday!

Yep! I'm A Gamer

I have decided I am going to buy a bunch of games this year for Christmas. I remember having so much fun growing up playing them with my mom, dad, brothers.. They were so much Fun! Whether your a child or an adult, there will always be something we all have enjoyed playing at one time or another. I know growing up one of my favorite games was Monopoly, I loved it! (nothing like bankrupting friends and family to put a huge grin on yer face lol! ) I still love playing games, I will admit I am an online gamer ((blush)) and Yes! I am addicted to those Facebook games too ((dble blush)). I also get on Pogo and Yahoo and play. Scrabble and Canasta, and Backgammon are my top 3 I play. Of course I am not the only ones in my house who plays games online, my hubby is into Poker and my kids love those kindergarten games, Disney games, Nick Jr, and hink pink online...
~> Can you believe Christmas is 2 weeks away?  Hope everyone is enjoying all of their holiday shopping!

Homeschool ADHD

So I am not sure if I have ever mentioned that my mother has an adopted daughter who just turned 13 years old. I love my little sister... But, i'll admit it would have been nicer if we were closer in age lol ;)

So anyways, My Mom has be getting very frustrated lately. She says that it is harder to ahem! as she would put it, " homeschool ADHD "  I think any parent has times where they think they have it harder than anyone else... My mom still comes from a time where she thinks children should be learning 8 hours a day, like in a class room, sitting still, pay attention like perfect pupils. She has not yet been  de-schooled, or has taken her reality check in yet either... I of course comforted here, let her vent, told her that kids are going to be kids, and reassured her that it is better that she is homeschooling, especially since her daughter,( my sister) has ADHD. I really hope I helped her feel better, I think she is doing an amazing job homeschooling. So that is about what's been going on with me lately. 

     Hope every one is enjoying the Holidays and staying warm!

What A Crazy Turkey Day!

So I hope everyone had a Wonderfully "Yummy!" Thanksgiving :)~  
This year's was especially wonderful since my mom moved closer to me recently<3 It was so nice to be able to go to her house this year. My brother and his family came and we all got to spend some much needed time together. The kids also had a Great time too. They loved being able to see their cousins and of course pig out on goodies lol! My mom had decided to have some crafts and nature games for this kids to do this year. They made candy cane ornaments out of beads and wire and then she had them go outside and collect leaves and pine cones to decorate for yes! more Christmas tree ornaments 

On the Down side, I did manage to venture out for Black Friday sales... I was so excited this year and had done my research (like any good homeschooling momma lol ) and knew what I wanted, which stores had it, and which stores started their sale at what times. So first I knew I would go check out Walmart, but when I went there to do a quick sweep of the merchandise I learned that the 600ct sheets I wanted were spoken for. Apparently they only had 3 yes! 3 in the king size and there were already 3 ladies in line for them (this was 2 hours to sale time). So then I said okay let check out Toys-R-us since their sale started at 9pm an hour before Walmart. Well lets just say, imagine a Walmart parking lot long ways and that's how long this line was. We were told that there was also a 400 person max. allowed at once in the store... So my husband and I out of curiosity waited to see how much of the line would make it in, Not even half!  Now the craziest, we went to Best Buy and ~>people had tents! Apparently these lines had started days before.... I have went to Blitz sales every year and Never have I seen anything like this... We decided to go home, but I talked my husband in to checking our local smaller Walmart ( we had to drive an hour to get to a city that had the bigger stores)  on the way home to see if I could get some of those sheets.. Well I walked in and almost immediately I was stuck in an isle with people as far as the eyes could see, needless to say after 30 mins I had had enough! I had to fight my way cutting through taped off area to escape the anxiety inducing mob...
So I have decided that I will NEVER again do Black Friday! Next year, may be back to the normal amount of crazy, but I think I rather just pay full price from now on then risk that scene ever again!   Till next week, Happy Holidays!

Creativity, equals fun & learning

With holiday almost here, I know if your anything like me you are super busy! So when your kids need that extra help/Tutoring  in their school work it can be the last thing you wanna deal with at the moment. Thankfully I have discovered that it doesn't have to be just about having someone come in and help teach or taking that extra time to help teach your child your self. What I mean is even if your child needs extra help in a subject, and you don't have a lot of time, you can think outside the box.
~>Recently, I have noticed that my daughters handwriting has been well, not good. So, I decided I would have my daughter write a story, she would create. She had sooooo much fun creating all the characters and their adventures. She was so invested she even took extra time making her penmanship perfect : )   Now I could have had her write boring sentences etc, but like I said you can think outside the box and make boring fun, even if you don't have the time ;)

Happy Homeschooling & Happy holidays!  

Check out the Party!

HomeschoolLiterature.com is hosting its first ever virtual book

 release party on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. This event will

 highlight two new books being released by publisher Do Life Right,

 Inc., which focuses on books written by and for homeschoolers. The

first 50 visitors to the online event page will also receive a free Kindle

 eBook from the publisher!

Roadschooling

                      In case you didn't know already, we are a family of roadschoolers! What is roadschooling? Well, it is anyone who either home-schools part or full time, while either living in a RV or travels in either a RV or by car for part or all of the year . I know, I know, the idea seems nuts right? Well, when my husband first suggested we live in a RV when we lost our home due to his recent disability, I thought it sounded a lil out there myself. I wondered how are we going to make this work with our children? There were of course the concerns of space and comfort when living day to day life. Unfortunately, for many of us down sizing is something many of us have to do. Most may only have to look at a smaller home, but some whether by choice or not have to go one step further. After careful thought, we knew this seemed like the best option. I knew it would not be all bad, being able to see this country of ours was a nice thought and the idea of not being tied down to one location seemed like a refreshing change of pace. 

So how have I made living in a 36 foot travel trailer work with a family of 4. First I put in a real twin size bed ( trundle) in the living area. This gives both my kids their own bed and does double duty as a couch. I took out the  built in dining, and use a folding table set. This makes it easy to have extra space by folding it up when need be. I also bought a big rubber cabinet with 5 shelves to store all of my children's toys. Yes, even thou we may be in a RV, my kids still need to have their toys : )  As far as homeschooling, I bought a filing container for all of my unit study's papers/printables and I bought a laptop for my children to use for their Time4Learning. Online curriculum's are so nice when you are short on storage space.

Isn't it funny how life twists and turns and just when you think the road your on is straight as far as the eye can see, it can throw big hills to climb from time to time. Its been about 6 months since we have become a "family on the road". It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I am looking forward to the many places I will get to see. I know  someday we will have that Big home again, but I do not think we will ever not travel. Whether part or full time we will always be a roadschooling family!

                                                                                

Is it Black Friday yet?

            I hope every one had a Fun Halloween <];?)`     We had a blast! My kids got soooooo much candy.
So now it is on to the next Holiday, Thanksgiving ! I know alot of people can not wait till they get to eat Turkey, but for me I am sooo looking forward to Black Friday sales $-) I am getting giddy just thinking about it ((blush)) lol.... I have always loved getting a good deal whether its coupons on grocery, affordable/free homeschooling curriculum like SpellingCity or time4writing's homeschool writing courses, or super discounted store items. Last year I waited 6 hours in line at wal-mart for a Dsi for my daughter, crazy maybe, but it was too good a deal ;)

So wish me luck this year!

Halloween time

      Can you believe that it is almost Halloween! SCARY isn't it! It feels as if summer had just started and now its fall again. Before we know it this school year will be over and we will all be worrying about standardized tests for homeschoolers or homeschool evaluations once again. It can be so easy to think too far ahead into the future and really stress over what is to come. I know I am guilty of that from time to time ((blush)). I think I have just come to a point in my life where the concept of time has actually set in and it has given me this  feeling as if every year goes by more quickly then before. (( Time is soooo precious! ))
So this past month I have really been enjoying  Halloween in our daily lessons. The kids have been doing a pumpkin unit study which has been really fun for them. They learned all about the pumkin and did some copy work, fun crossword puzzle,  and coloring pages too! We are also planning on having some fun family time by going  costume hunting this weekend and  buying a pumpkin to carve. Then its off to a friends house for a bonfire and hay rides for the kiddos.

                                     I hope every one has a SAFE & Happy Halloween!

Blogging, You can do it!

So the other day I was hanging out with one of my girl friends. She had mentioned to me that she loved my blog and wished she could start one herself ( So flattered! ). I love blogging! I just enjoy being able to speak from the heart. When I get on here whether its about homeschooling, or a special event, just sharing my thoughts, and life with all of you is special to me. I can also understand where the thought of getting on the Internet and creating a blog can be a lil intimidating. My advice  is just not to think about it, just do it!  Pick any topic or a subject that you enjoy talking about. You should also have fun when creating  a page design, it should be something  that YOU like. If you still feel like you need more help in writing your blog, consider an online blogging course. I can tell you, once you have made something you enjoy, it will show in your writing and others will soon enjoy coming to your page and reading what you have to say.

~> As far as my friend? Well, I think she will start one soon, she just needed a lil hand holding ;-)

Home-schooling, a special education

I like to share a thought I have had this evening. I really think ever parent who decides to home-school is doing so because, they want their child to have that personal, one on one, special education. I have met so many homeschooling families over the years. I never seem to tire of hearing their "story" on how and why they finally jumped on the the Home-school wagon. Some have told me that they have always known they would home school, other call them selves  "accidental homeschooler".

 I'll be honest, I always knew we would home-school. I also dis-like the term accidental homeschooler! I feel that the term indicates some sort of embarrassment or a feeling of being less than, which is totally the opposite of what a home-school parent should feel IMO. I feel that to home-school means you are being more than, you are choosing to put in more of yourself for your child, I think that the term "home-schooler" should be worn like a badge of honor! So I think that no one should be an accidental, they should think of themselves as a late learner of all the things that make home-schooling a wonderful option for their family

 Whether you have always know or fell into it later, Give yourself a Great Big pat on the back for being an Awesome parent!

Paragraph Writing

Okay so have you ever heard the phrase what goes around comes around? Well, I think "karma"  is getting me back for attempting to teach my daughter how to write a paragraph last week. I swear my  student success teacher  must get something out of our paragraph writing! Every week we get so much home-work and there is soooo much writing!!! I know I know I am whining  ((blush)) but,  in my defense it has been quite sometime since I was in school. I am sure I will get used to all the work load in time :^/

~> So I think I am gonna be a sympathetic momma and ease up for the next few weeks on my baby girl and have her just do some handwriting worksheets instead..

Hope everyone is enjoying all this Wonderful Fall weather!

Yawn! YAWN!!!!!!!! & yawn some more.......................

Yep, its almost 3am and just now am I getting some much needed blog time in ;)  Lately my life has been a bit crazy, between soft/tee ball practice, kids school lessons ( Learning about multiple meaning words this week ), home life, chores, husband, etc...  Plus I am now  Yes! starting College... well let's just say I could do with out all the algebra curriculum this semester, and I mean for me : / 
On the bright side, the kids are really enjoying the fact that mom now has home work too LOL!
~> Thanks for the lil bit of unwind time, but I guess its now beddy by time ZZZzzzzzz :)

Our homeschool life so far...

This school year is really been going Great! We have really been getting involved in our local home-school community and I have signed the kids up  for soft/tee-ball which they are loving! They have not had their 1st game yet, they are still practicing, I am so looking forward to their 1st official game! My daughter has played soccer, gymnastics and dance before, but this will be her 1st time playing softball and my son well he is just 4yrs so this is his 1st anything.
The school lessons have also been going well too! My son is learning to write his ABC's and my daughter is doing very well in her homeschool language arts & math. We are doing more unit studies this year for Science and Social studies. With Halloween fast approaching we are going to be learning all about the history of and the anatomy of a pumpkin next month.
Until next week.....

Teaching Sound-alike words

So as we all know sound-alike words, also known as homophones, can cause confusion. I still remember the "huh" feeling as a child when I would hear people say a word in a different way or see a words spelled completely different with different meanings but, they would sound the same. This really make the job of "home-school" teacher that much harder when it come to teaching children to read and write IMO : /

Thankfully I have this wonderful Free homeschooling site I use for all of my spelling needs called  ~>
                                                       Spelling City!!

They offer word list per grade:


1st - 3rd Grade Sound Alike Words: ad, add, ail, ale, arc, ark, bait, bate, bare, bear, be, bee, blew, blue, but, butt, buy, by, dear, deer, dew, due, fair, fare, feat, feet, hair, hare, I, eye, in, inn, its, it's, leak, leek, meat, meet, nob, knob, nose, knows, oar, hour, or, our, pail, pail, pair, pale, pale, peak, peak, lie, lye, mail, male, pare, pear, read, red, sail, sale, seam, seem, see, sea, soar, sore, son, sun, tail, tale, tea, tee, to, too, two, weak, week, one, won, wrap, rap

4th - 6th Grade Sound Alike Words: accept, except, knot, not, marry, merry, alright, all right, affect, effect, allowed, aloud, away, aweigh, aisle, I'll, fore, four, lean, lien, loan, lone, loot, lute, shear, sheer, sink, synch, air, heir, scene, seen, lair, lyre, sign, sine, flair, flare, flea, flee, stair, stare, flour, flower, sweet, suite, bite, byte, boar, bore, board, bored, nay, neigh, tear, tier, bough, bow, threw, through, throes, throws, throne, thrown, thyme, time, peer, pier, praise, prays, preys, rain, reign, rein, plain, plane, wail, whale, waist, waste, cent, scent, sent, cheap, cheep, ware, wear, where, we're, were, real, reel, which, witch, rays, raise, rote, wrote, who's, whose, ring, wring, whine, wine

High School Sound Alike Words: accent, assent, ascent, excess, access, leak, leek, elude, allude. Aid, aide, mall, maul, muscle, mussel, real, reel, karat, carrot, discreet, discrete, license, license, slay, sleigh, altar, alter, faint, feint, satire, satyr, marshal, martial, baron, barren, beach, beech, medal, meddle, storey, story, berth, birth, moose, mousse, muscle, mussel, braise, brays, pause, paws, pores, pours, palette, pallet, naval, navel, boarder, border, gorilla, guerilla, calendar, calendar, canvas, canvass, he'd, heed, cereal, serial, principal, principle, coarse, course, whether, weather, complement, compliment, retch, wretch, council, counsel, desert, dessert, currant, current, annual, annul, accept, except, knead, need, leased, least, site, sight, addition, edition, accede, exceed, advice, advise, heard, herd





This is just a small taste of what this site has to offer :-)

Happy Homeschooling Everyone!

 

The BIG State of Texas

Since we have decided to introduce unit studies this year with our already awesome homeschool curriculum, we have decided that we would learn about each state. This month we are planning on learning about Texas. My kids love learning while they play games, so the Texas State symbols game are my favorite to have them use. It helps them with learning about the state's symbols, and rremembering the state's flower, state bird, state tree, state motto and even nickname in a fun way. At first I wasn't sure if I would like such unstructured learning, but I am really liking the flexibility unit studies are allowing me, plus there are so many Free online resources out there to help make it easier for me, for instance I got the US state games from a free site called Learning games for kids :)
hmmmmm.....Next month I am think we will move on to maybe Alaska brrr... lol!

Homeschool Portfolio Evaluations

                       Yep! It's that time of year again, home school portfolio evaluations!!!  We live in a state that allows us to choose whether we want to have our children tested or have a teacher evaluation done every year. The key in making these meetings a breeze is: 1st keep a record of what your child has done for the year, 2nd make sure you  have a evaluator that is either a home-school mom or is home-school friendly. I thankfully found ours 3 years ago at a local co-op home-school get together.

                        Since my son is still only 4 years he stayed home with dad ( in our state it is not mandatory to register children or evaluate/test till 1st grade ) When we got there my daughter age 9yrs was Super excited to see if she made it to 4th grade ;-) ~> LOL! so funny, but she says mom, "The teacher has to review my work to make sure I am ready". First thing she always does is chats with my daughter, asks how her year has went, her favorite thing she learned, then she asks a few questions like favorite books she read, etc. Afterwards she goes over the record book I keep though out the year and views a few samples of my daughters work. The best part is when we can just sit back for a few moments and discuss curriculum. She always gives me tons of tips and tricks. This year she has really gotten me thinking about adding some Fun Unit Studies to our homeschooling curriculum. My daughter has already requested one on Horses :-)

So anyways, every thing went great she passed her ;) and now I officially have a 4th grader! ~> crazy where did all the time go??

                    

              Hope every one's evaluations, testing and school year went well. Happy homeschooling!

Here's the Scoop

I want to share with everyone this Awesome  "FREE" website that I just love called, Spelling City.  In my oppion you can never do enough spelling practice with your children, as it really is helpful in the reading/writing process. So anyways with the school year back in full swing, I got on my favorite spelling site today and printed out the kids spelling list by grade <~ such a neat feature IMO ;)  I like that you can either get lists in perfect alphabetical order ( you could do "A" words then "B" etc ), themed or you can create  your own to meet your needs. So  like I was saying anyone who is home-schooling or just wants to have their kids practice their spelling more and likes freebies!!! ~> go check them out ;-)

Yep! another co-op post

So we had another homeschool co-op meeting this past  Thursday, this was our 2nd get together, but 1st time incorporating the learning games. The Woman who runs the co-op had the children do a " Syllables Challenge".  What she had the kids do was break  up into groups up two. It was really fun to watch,  each team had a their own bell and  after she would call out a word like Rab-bit, the first team to ring the bell and be able to tell you how many syllables the word had would get a point. The kids really got into this! So far this new added feature to our group is working out pretty good :)

Just another day at our co-op

Yesterday, I took my children to one of our local home-school co-op's. The group had taken a break during the summer and this was the first get together of the new school year. I always love getting back together with my home-school friends, My kids do too!  The kids of course spent most of their time playing with each other, I on the other hand enjoyed quite a bit of chit chat with all the other mamma's. I learned that  aapparently they are going to start incorporating some learning games at each meeting. We had not done this prior. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to have more homeschooling lessons added at these visits since this was mainly for play and socialisation in my mind. The gals eventually sold me on the idea after they told me about a few of the games: Compound words game- You have to take a list of different words and see how many "compound words" you can create, Skeleton puzzle- You take paper cut out of bones and tape them together in the right spots, etc. I think the kids are really going to enjoy this type of fun  learning, so I am super excited about changing the idea of our lil group. So I guess we will find out next week if the kids are excited too ;)

Secular home school curriculum vs. Christian home school curriculum

Secular home school curriculum VS. Christian home school curriculum? This a question that many home school mom's face. Do you go with a program just because it is faith based, or do you go with one that isn't ?

In the beginning, I struggled with this in my own curriculum decision. I soon learned that even thou in a perfect world, if you were Christian, that the school curriculum you provided for your children would incorporate one's faith in the learning. This is my advice as one Christian home school mom to another. If you find a curriculum that is secular, do not dismiss it, because you can provide the Christian influence in yourself. You can also buy just  the Bible curriculum itself from quite a few top brand Christian based curriculum's fairly cheap to add to any secular curriculum's out there. With the new home school year fast approaching I wish you all Good luck in finding that perfect Home school Curriculum for your children!

I was Blown away

So, I recently met a home school family with  6 children. I am so blown away by this family, Thier oldest 4 children are already in college with the youngest 16 yrs. The whole family is Super smart! I my self am currently struggling to re-learn algebra, Kinda embarrassing seeing as their 16 year old is already doing College Calculus!!

I want that for my children thou. I want them to go past average and be those Super Smart kids, So I know I need to step my game up. I have been thinking about adding a extra day of learning every now and then,signing up them up for some SAT writing courses eventually & maybe even hiring a tutor from time to time to help in my weak areas. I want to give them the Brightest future I can. I chose homeschooling, for my children so that I could offer them that.

I am not worried thou, I know that with a little effort and encouragement , My kids are going to be blowing other family's minds one day too ! ;O)

Almost that time again! Can you believe it?

Wow! It is so hard to believe that summer is already almost over. Yesterday, I was in wal-mart and I noticed that they already had the back to school supplies out. I always get so excited at this time of year when I was a kid being able to go shopping for new school clothes, book bags, folders, pencils etc. The funny thing is even thou I am all grown up and I home school I still get excited lol ((blush))

I have not yet purchased anything for this next school year ( I am waiting for those wonderful Tax free days!!! ) but I have so far this past week began to do some reviewing of last year work to prepare for starting a brand new year in September. What I like to do is buy those cheap lil work books from walmart, To me there isn't enough content to learn, but their great at being a BIG end of year test ;) I also go thru and just click on previous lessons that my kids have already completed via their online program and just see if they remember. Just yesterday my daughter was reviewing Analogies and my son was learning about his ABC's again. I really think it is important to run a mini refresh course before going back to school. At least I think so, and even thou I do get some moans and groans it makes it easier for them to transition to a new grade level when they got the previous year down packed!



So that's been my week, next week not sure yet? In this family life changes day by day ~> But that's why I love it ;)

Love my kids, Love being A Mom!

My Kids......


I Just love the age 4! It is such a Fun loving Curious age wouldn't you agree?

My son is awesome, whether he decides to make a beetle his pet for the day, feeding a ant pile or Unscramble a puzzles, playing dinos in the tub, informing me of shapes he sees while we are out and about I just can't get enough :)



Now I also am starting to gain a new type of love for my oldest as well, she is almost 10yrs old. She is no longer a lil kid yet not grown up yet. She is starting to primp more, wanting to shop and have cute hair. It is really fun for me to be able to hang out with her and do girly stuff & Bigger kid activities. Recently I dug out my old super Nintendo and and we had a Blast playing games together.



I Just Love being a Mom! 

Our 4th of July!

So we had such a Great 4th of July!
We defiantly need a lil family Vaca away from the daily grind of work and I know the kids needed some fun time away from their Reading & Math vocabulary school work.
So we took our yearly trip to the home town my husband and I grew up in about 2 hours from us. It is a bit of a drive but, my kids love this family tradition :-)
Being able to get together with family and old friends, Grilling out and watching Fire works is always so much fun!
So by that evening we were at our towns park, it sits right on the gulf so its always so pretty. There was so much food and good music.
Sometimes I think hmmm... fireworks seem kinda of boring compared to this high tech world of ours filled with so many things that entertain us, but every year I am surprised with how much I enjoy and still am in aww of those beautiful colored fire works.
It was a Great Day & Night ;-)

Learning styles

Learning styles, A  term that many many of us homeschooling moms know. Unless your child was one of those lucky multi learners, I am sure you have had to figure out which of these was your child's learning style.

•Auditory learners remember by talking out loud, like to have things explained orally and may have trouble with written instructions. Auditory learners may talk to themselves when learning something new.


•Visual learners easily remember visual details and prefer to see what they are learning. They prefer to write down instructions and may have trouble following lectures.

•Kinesthetic or tactile learners prefer activities that allow them to do what they are learning about. Tactile learners like to touch things in order to learn about them and like to move around when talking or listening.

For my daughter she is more of a Visual learner/ Kinesthetic or tactile learner, leaning more towards Visual since she doesn't require hands on but, she does do well with it :-)

If your child is struggling, I would suggest making sure that not only thier learning environment  meets thier  style needs but also  thier curriculum.
When I began homeschooling I bought a popular curriculum and pretty much imitated how I was taught growing up in a class room. After a year of many tears and feelings of failure ( me not her) I decided that something was not right and learned that Yes! not everyone can learn the same. Whew! what a relief.... Now I had a possible reasons why my child was struggling, and soon had my suspicion's confirmed. No my child wasn't slow or stupid, she just needed to have her learning environment tweaked to meet her needs. ~> Another reason Il ove Love Love homeschooling, if she had been in a public school, she could have been labeled slow or lazy and her needs gone un met. Thankfully I home school, so I quickly changed gears and switched to a online program that gives her that visual interaction she desperately needed!
It has been 3 yrs and she is excelling wonderfully ! So again my advice, don't assume something is wrong with your child, it could be something is wrong with how they are being taught ;-)

The Writing process

The Writing Process: How to teach Writing Success to your children


As parents we all know that "Good writing" is essential for success in school and the 21st Century workplace. Teaching this skill to our children  is best taught by breaking down the process into steps. I know that with my daughter breaking down writing step-by-step, helped remove the mystery and of course any writer’s block she may have ; )

~The Goal is always that our children progressively master, and even enjoy, writing.


Steps in the Writing Process:

1. Pre-writing: This is the planning phase of the writing process. Brainstorming , researching, gather and outlining ideas.

2. Drafting:  This is where your child creates their initial composition by writing down all their ideas in an organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument.
3. Revising:  This is where you have your child review, modify, and reorganize their work by rearranging, adding, or deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.

4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, "writers" proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s (parent) feedback in this stage is very helpful.

5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared . Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers, it can even be printed or published online.




                                                   ~Writing is a age old tradition and a Art that will never die out ....

Sound-Alike words

~> Sound-alike words, also known as homophones, cause confusion. I know that as a kid I would  have those "Huh" moments when I would  hear people talk about things that sounded the same but meant something entirely different. Of course as I learned and grew older those Huh moments went away.
The English language has been said that it is the hardest one to learn, I guess I should be grateful it is my first and not my 2nd then ...lol ;-)
To help my kids figure/learn  these alike words,I like to play a game where we try and see who can come up with most words that sound alike in the shortest amount of time. I also use online games & reading short stories showing how certain words that sound alike can have different meanings.
Hope my tips help :')

Why I'm still in love

Have any of you every sat back and really thought, why do I love my home school curriculum?
I mean we choose what we use for our kids for a reason right? Since the year has pulled to a close I have been thinking about our past year of school studies and kinda had a bit of ah ha moment so to speak.
Like with my son he is only 4 but doing kinder level work ((so proud)), I love how my online program lets him work at his own pace. It seems that no matter where we go nowadays he is counting things or pointing out shapes etc... I also love their remedial reading programs they offer since this is my daughters weakest area, she had come so far from when we first started using this program :_)
Another thing I love is it allows my kids to work with or without adult supervision. I can help when and if I am needed, this allows me more time so that I can plan other home school activity's to add to our learning, since I do not ave to grade papers or figure out lessons sigh.... : )
 The best thing I have to say I love is the Price & the month to month commitment! I'm not wealthy and I can not blow money on book type of curriculum that may or may not work ~> been there done that I have a whole grade level of Abeka in the trash :(    Another thing that I realised I love was the T4L forums, being able to go and get tips,help or just some support from other parents doing what I am doing is priceless to me. Honestly even thou I have 4 years to go with my oldest before I will need to look for another curriculum ( they only go to 8th grade) I am still wondering how am I going to find anything that compares, Guess that's what happens to us Curriculum snobs when we find the best lol ;)
Just my 2cents for the day.............

Unscramble

So I just found a Fun way to help step learning to read & write up a bit in a fun way for the kids. I found this cool Unscramble games for the kids to play. The object of Unscramble is to rearrange the letters to form each of your spelling or vocabulary words. The Spelling City site has many word list to choose from. Since me son is still at the Kindergarten level this game is really not for him just yet but, my daughter is entering 4th grade so it is a perfect for her : ') 
 So if you if your wanting to add a lil bit to your reading & writing routine, I would defiantly give this a try! It really challenges the kids in a fun way to figure out thier spelling words. It is one thing for a child to read a word from site and write a word from memory but, to solve a word mystery that is just Cool!

Making Tutoring Affordable

 With end of year evaluations or testing coming, I know that so many of you, whether you home school or not are scrambling for math tutors, reading tutors, or writing tutors for your children. Unfortunately this can be a cost burden that many of us just can not afford.
The facts are that tutoring can be just what your child is needing to get over those learning hurdles but, if you can not afford to hire someone or maybe your child needs help for a extended period of time, then what do you do?
Online tutoring can be just what you may be looking for! Its easily accessible, affordable and can be used when ever and for how ever  long you want .
I know that using the Internet has really help my kids reach thier full potential in our home school class room ;)

Just my 2cents~> Hope it helps!

Math Vocabulary time

So now that my lil girl has really sharpened up her reading skills this past couple of month ((so proud)), I wanted to use this summer to really dig deep in her 3rd Grade Math Vocabulary on top of reviewing what she has learned in Math this past year Period! Adding, subtracting, multiplying, clocks & money are all important but, learning math terms and understanding them are VERY important. I myself am not looking forward as yes! I am bored already but hopefully I can help make it more Fun for my lil girl ;) 

Learning Homophones

My daughter has been having a lot of fun learning homophones. The English language can be a bit confusing when they are learning to read with so many words sounding the same and being spelled differently like to, too, & two Or words that are spelled the same and yet still have different meanings like "Rose" A flower that is a rose or He rose up yesterday from a nap still tired.
We have been playing alot of homophone games which is helping her understand and learn. I have also had her sit down and try to think of as many words that sound alike but are spelled different and also words that are spelled alike but have different meanings. This lesson has defiantly been pretty cool & a lot of fun for both of us this week .

How learning changes with time

I remember when I was going to a public school that one of my least favorite subjects was Social Studies. It wasn't because I didn't like hearing about History, in fact now that I am all grown up I tend to watch shows on my TV that are on the history channel. I think what I did not care for was that they would make us copy word from word out of the text books, after some time my hand would cramp up and honestly it never made learning the info any easier : /
That is one thing I knew would change when it came to our homeschool social studies program for my children, luckily it is mainly online and the kids do not have to suffer as I did with mindless coping.
Just recently we have been studying the Exploration of the Americas. It has been teaching  about the history of the United States during the early years of exploration and discovery.  Columbus’ journey, Ponce de Leon, the Seven Cities of Cibola, and other North American explorations have been the topics. Of course since my daughter loves history and science ~> Her Fav subjects!! ;)  We also like to add to our homeschool curriculum by using the TV and books from the library. It is amazing what 20 yrs can do for the options we have for our childs education ~>I love my education choice for my family <3

Homeschooling in Florida

Ahhhhhh..... Homeschooling in Florida, anyone who lives in a place with similar heat will know that summers are for schooling (at least that's my opinion ) We personally school year round and when other are taking their "summer break" that's when are school really gets going ;-) We mainly take advantage of fall and spring months for our Vacation time, when its sooooooo nice.......
Florida really is a great place to home school a child, beside the fact that thier are so many groups and programs here that helps with support and socialisation, the laws are pretty fair too! ( must have either a TEST or evaluation by teacher once a year )
Sometimes I think about what it would be like to live in the mountains or in a colder climate but, then I think about our wonderful beaches and warm winters B-)

Accidental homeschooler ~> NOT!

Accidental homeschooler ... A term I hear so many times used from other home-school parents. I remember once  when I attend a group for just homeschooling Moms, it was place to hang,vent and get support. At the very 1st meeting they had everyone say a lil something about themselves and their homeschooling life style. There were about 20 + ladies there and about 1/2 of them mentioned being a "accidental homeschooler" When they talked they sounded almost embarrassed like they never had any intention to home-school thier children and that this was a last resort for them. It honestly made me sad and when it was my turn I made it a point to let them Know that for me Homeschooling was Defiantly NO accident! I have always known that I would home-school my children. for me it is the only option and I am very proud to be a Homeschooling Mom :)

Day at the Beach

This past Thursday a fellow homeschooling mom with her two daughters invited my daughter and I & my niece to take a Beach day with them. I was Super excited to get away from the day to day and relax while I soaked up some color sigh.. This is one of the perks I Love about homeschooling :)


On the way I to the Beach we stopped off at a Mcdonalds to take a potty break (it took about 2 hrs to get to the Beach ) I took all 4 lil ladies to the bathroom where we ran into a older woman who went on to question what we were doing that day?? The question she really wanted to ask was why are they not in school!!! Even thou this is going on my 5th year homeschooling it still surprises me when people look at me like I am a unfit mother because my children are not in school. As if the thought of homeschooling never entered thier thought process... Maybe if people learned more about how homeschooling is becoming very much more of the norm, awkwardness like this would not have happened. I know there has to be articles online or books about homeschoolers out there, of course most people unless interested in this life style probably don't take the time to read them...



Anyways our day was so great!!! We finally made it to the Beach about noon and had a nice little picnic then me and my friend lay ed on the sand and watched the girls play in the sand and splash in the waves.... I did get some color, some being the shade of red ((blush)) but it was all worth it! Can't wait to go again B-)

Home-school Newbie

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday and she has a lil boy who just turned  4yrs old this past month. She was telling me how she was not wanting to enroll her child next yearr in public or private school. She knew we home-schooled so as you can imagine she had TONS of question for me lol ;) The funny thing is I never seem to get tired about talking about this subject~> It was a good thing too we talked for about 2 hours!!!!
She was a bit nervous about her ability and social skills for her child ( every Newbies Fears!! )
I think that we have be brain washed growing up to think a certain way about school and education and I myself used to be just like her until I realised that kids are like lil sponges and they love to learn if you make it fun. I suggested to just start  doing some preschool games with her boy next year and then if she wanted she could add to it after she gained some confidence...
I think she felt better after our chat and I think she will make a Great Home-school Momma!!!

TV & computer time is a Good thing

My son has been obsessed with using my computer lately, now mind you he is only 4 yrs old but he just loves getting on and playing games and watching educational videos.


   This is one of his favorites that he watches over and over lol !





I have always been one of those parents that find the TV and computer a good thing for my children to use ( within reason of course ) I think there is just so much to learn and benefit from the use of these devises. Between learning to read, counting, Why it rains, build vocabulary skills, etc ... Just very Thankful to live in an age to offer this to my children.



Isn't it funny how when we were kids that a home computer was extremely rare and TV well we might have had half the channels we have now. Sometimes I wonder what this world will be like at far as "tech" wise  when my kids have kids.. hmmmmmm.... ;)

Tutoring

I am sure that I am not the only home-school parent or parent period, who has thought about hiring a tutor for thier child at one time or another. Just like adults children are not perfect and from time to time they need that extra help to reach thier full potential. As the school year is ending for most, I always like to take this time to see if my kids need any extra help or review on any areas. Even thou we school year round I like to take the spring time to break and review and then use the summer to address any areas that need more attention.
I know most of us can not afford to hire someone, I am no different that's why I like tutoring online and getting family members to pitch in from time to time. From what I have gathered so far, I need to have my daughter practice her reading more and my son seems to be doing good in all subjects for his grade level. Who knows maybe this summer will be a vacation even for us year rounders ;)

outdoors time

I love the months of  March, April, May in Florida . Such wonderful breezy warm but not too Hot weather .
I am dreaming of the Beach, laying out on a towel soaking up some rays sigh..... soon I hope! B-)
Even thou I have not made it to the Beach yet this year, we have been having alot of outdoor time lately. Honestly today has been a 1st in the past week that I have actually stayed home. Just hard to stay cooped up when the weather is so nice out. I have been taking the kids on nature walks and bike ride at our local State Park & getting together with my home-school moms and let the kids play at the playground while we Yes! relax lol.
 Even thou we have not done much school work I think that sometimes the best learning comes from just getting out and exploring this world ;)
~> Thanking how Thankful I am that Spring & Summer are here!
( of course by August I will probably be begging for Fall LOL! )

Online games & Grammar

When your kids are just starting out in school, teaching them is always so much fun. I remember when my son used to get on the computer and play those preschool games online, Even thou he is "officially" a Kindergartner he still like to get on and play those games, sometimes for hours LOL ;)



Of course they get older, I have a 9 year old as well and the school work for her is getting harder and more time consuming but, I do try to make things easier and as much fun for us all the best I can.



Even thou I school year round I have been trying to ease up a bit here lately because of our wonderful spring type weather we have been having. The kids have really been enjoying being outdoors and enjoying nature :) So I have just been focusing with my oldest with her Grammar ( she is taking a online grammar course ) I am just so very glad that I am home-schooling in the age of Computers! ;)

Unschooling

When you start this home-school journey,you may have a lot of ideas about how you want to teach, how you want your child/ren to learn, Curriculum choices, how your day, week,month etc will be. Once you have been in "it" for any length of time you will relise that for the most part you can throw all of your "ideas" out the window and you will do what works best for everyone involved. When we started out I had this little room set up, almost like a classroom. I had bought a book type curriculum and for the 1st year I tried to "school" the way I had imagined. In the end it did not work and I not only changed what curriculum I used but I changed where we,how &when we learned. This is how we ended up becoming a Unschooling  family :)




~> Contrary to how it sounds, Unschooling is an active learning process, and not the passive, unstructured method that it sounds like. Unschoolers are homeschoolers who are focused more on the experimental process of learning and becoming educated, than with ´doing school´. The focus of unschooling is on the choices made by the individual child, dictated by interests, learning style, and personality type.



John Holt, one of the leaders of the unschooling philosophy said,



"Birds fly, fish swim, man thinks and learns. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do, and all we need to do, is bring as much of the world as we can into the school and classroom (in our case, into their lives); give children as much help and guidance as they ask for; listen respectfully when they feel like talking; and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."

A Fraction of a pie

This school year has been going pretty well so far. My kids have really seemed to enjoy and move through their school lessons swimmingly. Everything was going just lovely until Yes! The dreaded fraction lessons, let me just say I am so glad I have those online math games available. I am not gonna lie, Math can be a hard subject to teach and learn. There is only right and wrong answers and you have to learn the formula to figure them out.
 I do try to make it fun thou, I like to show fractions in real life situation as to help my kids get a feel of why they important to learn.
 A few days ago I had the kids help me make a Pizza. They helped by  measuring out the ingrd. etc
Knowing that having the right amount of this or that can make  a difference in how a food taste, I think  really showed the importance of learning fractions.
So once cooked I also showed them that cutting the pie up gave everyone one a fraction of the pie and I had my oldest tell me what fraction of the pie she was eating. I feel doing things like that really help in the hands on learning process.


Yes!!!!!!!!!! it was Yummy :)~ lol

Home schooling on the Road

So My husband and I have seriously been thinking about going on the road for awhile with the kids in our Travel trailer. I of course am Leary but also excited at the idea of such a learning adventure for our kids. My mom of course has asked me how are we going to homeschool on the road? Typical mom question,right?


I am not worried too much thou since my kids do most of their learning online. The other things we do, like spelling lists and art projects I am sure we can make work even in a tight space KWIM.

So again not sure when or if but I can tell you that if it happens you will be the 1st to know and share my home-school road journey with ; )

Printables=Seatwork

If you are not aware,we use a Online program Curriculum for our kids. Now I have been asked at my local home school group recently, what about seat work? A lot of people may hear "Online" and think O' I am going to have to buy separate curriculum for Handwriting worksheets etc...


With Time4Learning this just is not the case! They offer Fee home school printables. Of course if you crave more then what they offer then you will be happy to know that the Internet has so many sites that offer again Free home school printables LOL ;)

We have been using them for over 3 years now and honestly my kids have not needed for me to buy any book curriculum seat work....

Anyways just wanted to clear this up .....

Happy homes Schooling Everyone!

Pros and Cons

The Pros and Cons of homeschooling, A question that I have pondered and been asked many many times.


 So here are 5 reasons I have come up with  in my opinion



Pro:

1. Freedom~Educational, Physical, Emotional & Religious
I love being able to decided how and whtat my children are learning.
I like that my kids get to get more exersise and be able to learn about God freely.

2.Closer family ties
I love that I get to be with my kids all the time and watch them learn.

3.Well rested children
When I was growing up I remember how I hated getting up before the sun even rose and waiting at the bus stop to go to school, the truth is I was always too tired to really pay attention for my 1st period. I like that my kids can get a good nights rest an wake up in the A.M at a normal time and not be tired and then can really focus on thier studies

4. Can be made fun with Learning games
School doesn't have to be boring....It can also be Fun!

5. Less waisted time
In a nut shell takes a shorter amount of tuime to do the same amount of work


Con:

1. Can pose challenge in a house hold where both parents work


2. more of a Financial burden ( thou it pales in comparrison to private school and may even equal out if you caculate scholl clothes, food and transportation costs)


3.Must have full parental envolvement


4.Again must make an effort for socialization oppurtunitys

5. Can be stressful

Thank God it's Online

So this past week I have been cursed with what has been going around our lovely town. If you have not figured it out yet well I am yes SICK!!!! Ugh! Congestion,sneezing,coughing , fever ect :(


Okay so my point is that all week my miserable self has been mainly in my warm bed. I almost let this week be a "Vaca" for the kids lessons but, my husband ~> Mr.Wonderful offered to take over our home-schooling and let me just say Thank GOD everything is Online and more or less able to kid run itself. He means well but I even had to show him how to turn on our computer LOL!

Hopefully I will feel back to my self next week .... So hate being sick hmmmmm..... maybe this might be a good time to go back into the germ discussion with the kids .



Home-schooling Gotta Love it ;-)

Writing

Lately I have been thinking that it is about time that I get my daughter enrolled into some writing courses. She is pretty good in her studies but I think offering this to her will help sharpen her writing skills a bit better.


I remember when I was in school that when we had to do writing it was not my favorite thing to do, mainly because I wasn't very good at it. I think that being a better home-school parent is remembering where you struggled and making sure your kids have what they need so they will not.

Affordable learning

Since I have began home-schooling my children I have heard the, " I can't afford to home-school" comment a lot from some of my friends and family. In a way I can totally understand that but then at the same time it seems to me that your child's education should be 1st priority.


Of course as parents we want the best for our kids and circumstances like money, having to work, etc can make it ....well hard to do this sometimes. Thankfully there are so many affordable online programs and Free educational games & websites out there available to everyone.

So to anyone who is reading this weeks blog, remember whether you can't afford to or maybe you don't want to but wish you had that lil bit of extra educational boost for your kiddos, utilize that internet! Lots of things for not a lot that can really make a difference ;-)

Education at home

Education at home is in my opinion the best way to teach your child. Not only is it a familiar environment that allows your child to feel safe and secure but, It also gives your child the luxury of learning at their own pace and the ability to have that one on one instruction, plus the ability to customize curriculum as needed. I love the fact that I can nuture my childrens interests and watch them learn and grow.


Just like with my daughter, if it was not for the phonics games I had her play she would probably taken much longer to learn to read & with my son, he is very much a fast learner. Even at age 3yrs he is already Kindergarten level.

Again like I was saying home-schooling is such a wonderful alternative to public/private school ;-)

Home-schooling.. What Freedoms it brings

There are so many freedoms one has when they decide to take the route of home-schooling their children. Besides being able to sleep in wink! wink! :) you also get to choose what, how & when you want to teach your kids. I know that for any parent who wants to give their child the very best environment to learn that this is very important but, for a parent who has a child with learning disabilities this is not only Important but it is a Must!


I have been very fortunate with my children that I have not noticed anything out of the norm learning wise, except with my oldest. She is Very smart and has always picked up and retained quite well, that being said she was a slow reader. We quickly relised that a traditional book curriculum was not going to work for her as she was more of a visual learner, so we changed what we were using and added some spelling games, she has since excelled in her reading.

Like I was saying home-schooling gives you the freedom to customize how you teach to make learning for your child that much easier