Printables!

Yesterday, I was talking with a fellow homeschooling moms about typical school stuff. Ya' know ~> curriculum, finding time for co-ops, best places to get good deals on supplies, end of year evaluations, testing, etc. With June just around the corner most kids are out for the summer and parents are now trying to figure out the next school year. Since we use mostly online curriculum, we use alot of printable worksheets like Spelling printables, Math printables, etc. I think for me this is the best money saving tip I could give. Buying them already done can get kinda expensive IMO. Many times your left with pages you didn't need or you need more pages then you have! If you print or make them yourself you can make as many as you need. I mean yes! I have bought some school zone work books at Wal-mart, but still I prefer my printables. Anyways, If anyone else would like to add a tip, please go ahead & share :)

Test Anxiety

We all have been there at one time or another. You have been studying, working hard to learn your school work. You think you are ready and then when it is time to take your test, the dreaded ANXIETY Monster shows up and POOF! All the stuff you had learned is all gone. Whether it be: history anxiety, math anxiety, science anxiety, etc. The results are still the same unfortunately...
My children have so far been okay with dealing with this issue, mainly because we do not do any standardized testing ( we do end of year teacher evaluations) and I try to limit tests in our home to a minimum. So why am I talking about test anxiety then? Well, for one I know that there are others dealing with issue, also I know that one day my children may deal with this issue, and I have recently dealt with this issue.  For example, just last semester I was learning math facts for my Algebra class. I studied and studied, but when it came to being formally tested, my mind would go blank! It was so frustrating because I knew that I knew how to do the work,  but being put on the spot and fear of failure almost made me fail the class. So, before I took my end of class final I googled, "ways to deal with test anxiety". If I had a shot at passing I knew I had to conquer my test anxiety, plus I wanted to know how to help my children if they ever developed this problem. Luckily I found this website, It really helped me and I hope it might also help you or your children too!
~>Overcoming test anxiety

Walking down memory lane

Lately I have been taking a lot of walks, walks down memory lane that is ;)   I am so happy I became not only a homeschooler, but an open-minded homeschooler! As a child I can still remember getting up super early, rushing to get ready for school, missing the bus most mornings and having to walk :(   I went to a very, very, very, did I say VERY? small school. Litterly, the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade was in one 30 student classroom. Needless to say, I had the same teachers 3 years in a row. It was also always so boring! Doing the same thing all the time: roll call, English, Math, P.E., Science, lunch, etc. What made things even worse was that I had one of those teachers, you know the one's that hate children. Thinking about those memories has really made me so glad that I can homeschool my children. I.... I mean, "they" get to wake up naturally after they have had plenty of sleep. They get a teacher that loves children, and instead of them being made to feel stupid for having any sort of learning disabilities, they get to be made to feel smart for the things they are good at!
My children's school experience is so much better than mine was, thank goodness! They are not limited to 4 walls and they get to see the world, instead of just reading about it. No two days in our home is ever the same. We are I guess you would say Free-schoolers, living each day freely as it come :)
I used to think why me? Why did I have to have such an awful school experience as a kid. Now I know. It was so that I could, as a parent, be more open-minded and break away from the "norm" and make my children's school experience not just good, but extraordinary!
~Anyways, I just felt like getting on her and sharing, g'night :)

Hi Everyone!

So, I found a way to incorporate my kids learning software with regular reading books! ~> What I have started to do last week is I am letting my kids pick out books that they want to read, then as they read them, if there are any words they do not know I have them copy them on a sheet of paper. I also go through the book and pick random words and ask them to try and spell them, if they can not, then I write them on a sheet of paper. Then I get online and go to one of my fav free sites, Spelling City!!! I love how I can take those words and just plug them in and have the kids do games, test, etc. My favorite game on the site is their fill in the blank, love it ;)


On another note, I am so excited!!! I am starting my summer classes Monday :) I know you are thinking why? lol! I don't know, even as a little kid I always got excited about first day of school. Of course after a few days, I am always like, when will it be over!!??  The nice thing about this summer however, is I am only taking a couple of classes. I just decided that I wanted to take a break, but still wanted to at least get some of my classes out of the way. Plus, I am taking them all online, which is nice. I have never taken classes online, but people tell me that they are pretty easy, let's hope!


         Finally, I want to wish a "Early" Happy Mother's Day to all of the Super Momma's out there !

Just a May update

So I have some Amazing news!!!!!! I found out that I passed my Algebra!!!!! I know, I know! I said I failed. I was wrong :)  See, I was told I would need pretty much an A on my final to pass. I figured what are the chances of this happening.. Well, it did! Now don't get me wrong I got a C in the class, and pretty much passed by 2 points, but I don't care :) Just so Very very thankful and happy!

On other news I have had Vertigo all day, as I am typing the room is wobbly and I am getting flash backs of when I was preggers (no I am not preggers lol ) I have had this before and much worse, this episode isn't to bad, but I am hoping to be better by tomorrow ((praying))

On the school front, we have been pretty busy! It has just been so hot here in Florida, that staying indoors has been the way to go. The kids have been doing a lot of their homeschooling of course online: context games, art games, etc .. Next week will be a change however, I am starting a new unit study on every thing Florida. Sure to be alot of Fun. I am looking forward to learning about the Beach, hurricane's, etc. Visiting local zoo's, aquariums and did I mention the Beach?!



So anyways, I am going to cut it short tonight since I am having a hard time typing with my room spinning.... G'night everyone :)