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 :)