I just found an awesome website and thought that I would share. It's Handwriting For Kids. I woke up this morning and decided that it would be best to be able to create my own manuscript worksheets for the girl's. I wasn't sure if there was a website that would let me do it and with the help of Google, I found Handwriting for Kids.

You can print up your own sheets with the words you choose, plus they have several sheets geared towards left-handed children. Emma is left-handed and so that should be a big help for her.

Hope everyone is doing well and hopefully I will start posting here more.

It's been a long time since I've been on here. Just busy I guess. Nothing really to blog about because we haven't been doing anything too exciting and no cool craft projects. I look forward to Monday and doing school.

Anthony is about to switch math books. He has been struggling with the one's we have been using. And off the top of my head I can't remember the name of them! All of the workbooks have been placed in a 3 ring binder so it's not like I can glance over at the front cover. Anyway, I am switching him to Bob Jones 6th grade. And we are starting it from the beginning. He can move along faster if he needs to but I want to make sure he has mastered the basic concepts first. I have a feeling that his 6th grade year is going to end with him having math in "summer school".

Really homeschool will be year round for us. Christmas break was almost unbearable because of how boring it was!! I couldn't wait to get back to school to give the kid's something to do.

Emma has started Speech at school and she's supposed to goes twice a week. Don't know how much that will help. It's only 30 minutes twice a week. I guess any learning time is beneficial. She has actually only gone once because of the MLK holiday and then on Wednesday she had a doctor's appointment because she said that her ear was hurting her. It was nothing but I'm glad we had her checked out.

She is doing a lot better with her alphabet and learning sounds. She does not want to learn to read. If anyone has suggestions on how to make reading time more pleasant for her, please let me know. I believe she is dyslexic. The Diagnostician at the school said that she wasn't old enough yet for them to make that diagnosis but that Emma probably was. Good enough for me. She doesn't care much for writing either. It is so hard to stay positive and upbeat when the child is shutting down and refusing to do her work. Then I get mad and force her and she agrees to it. Ahh!!

Sara on the other hand demands more and more work. BUT she doesn't want to follow directions! She is 5 now and I realize that I spend so much time working with Emma that I don't do as much with Sara. Talk about a guilt trip! I bought this Leap Frog fridge letter thing the other day. It has alphabet letters that stick to the fridge and you put them in the base and it sings a little song telling you the name of the letter and the letter sound. It also does the entire alphabet. The girl's LOVE it!!!

Well I know at least a couple of people read my blog so I need to ask some advice!!!!

We are using Bob Jones 6th grade for Anthony. For those unfamiliar with it, basically the child has so many pages to read, then the teacher asks questions from her book and then you can have a conversation about it (or just the questions, either way) and then there are maybe one or two worksheets to do.

The problem I have is scheduling. I have tried it with just me and Anthony doing all of his schoolwork first and then do school with the girls. Which is tiresome because the girl's only have a little of work to do together and then they both have their own thing and I have to go back and forth helping them both. Plus I am just sitting there bored as all heck waiting for him to finish his reading.

I have also tried it where I do school for all three at the same time. The problem with that is sure enough I will be in the middle of helping the girl's and Anthony will finish up his reading and be waiting for his questions, or done with the subject ready to move on, and I can't help him right then because I'm helping the girls. Then Anthony will seize that opportunity to do nothing or bug me to get on the computer for just a minute (no no no). And he won't stop after I've said no, so then he gets into trouble and loses his computer time completely. Then he has an attitude for the rest of school.

AND it is frustrating because he is 11 years old and capable of looking into his assignment book and moving on if he needs to. He has his own little book and it tells him exactly what to do. I am so tired of having to baby him about it! And every chance he gets he asks to take a break. But if I let him, he won't go back to doing his work. So he doesn't get any breaks because of it.

I am soooo mad right now thinking about it. I shouldn't have to waste so much energy on it. He complains that I give him too much work! Go ahead and go back to regular school then. Go sit in a desk from 8-3! Of course he doesn't want that!

Deep breath.....

so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

ASHLAND, Ore. - Even in death, Chet Fitch is a card. Fitch, known for his sense of humor, died in October at age 88 but gave his friends and family a start recently: Christmas cards, 34 of them, began arriving -- written in his hand with a return address of "Heaven."

The greeting read: "I asked Big Guy if I could sneak back and send some cards. At first he said no; but at my insistence he finally said, 'Oh well, what the heaven, go ahead but don't (tarry) there.' Wish I could tell you about things here but words cannot explain.

"Better get back as Big Guy said he stretched a point to let me in the first time, so I had better not press my luck. I'll probably be seeing you (some sooner than you think). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Chet Fitch"

A friend for nearly 25 years, Debbie Hansen Bernard said, "All I could think was, 'You little stinker.'"

"It was amazing," she said. "Just so Chet, always wanting to get the last laugh."

The mailing was a joke Fitch worked on for two decades with his barber, Patty Dean, 57. She told the Ashland Daily Tidings this week that he kept updating the mailing list and giving her extra money when postal rates went up. This fall, she said, Fitch looked up to her from the chair.

"You must be getting tired of waiting to mail those cards," he told her. "I think you'll probably be able to mail them this year."

He died a week later.

Is anyone else ready for Christmas break to be over to start school again? I am just so incredibly bored during the day! We are going to start school back on Monday. We are going to be studying about money this month and we have a field trip to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth on the 18th.

Nothing else is new school wise. Just the same old stuff. Anthony will be starting a unit about space and stars. Mardel sells astronaut food so that should be fun to try out. I think we'll try the ice cream flavor.

I guess that's about it. Not too exciting over here.

Someone in my homeschool group posted this and I think it's cute!

The 14 Days of Homeschooling
(tune of "THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS")

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool
legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them
tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E.,
do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?"

On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE!
What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "How long will you
homeschool, YOU 'RE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Look at what
they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what
about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool
legally?"

On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do
this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE
SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do
you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the
prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
home school, YOU 'RE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests,
are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about
graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're
missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about
P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?"

On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "I could never do
that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look
at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE,
what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you
homeschool
legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to
college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the
prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are
they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can go to
college, yes you can do this, and they can graduate, we don't need the prom,
we do it cuz we like it, they aren't missing anything, we'll homeschool
forever, WE'RE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., life itself's a test, they
are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get
started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next
conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you
will help us, can we join P.E. and we'll homeschool legally.

Our theme weeks really don't have a lot in them. The girls do some sort of activity that relates to the theme and that's about it. On Monday we started our native american week and the girls did a color by number picture of indian corn. That's it. That's all I got. lol

Sara didn't want to participate and so this is what she was doing......

she's under the school table playing with Caleb! lol

I went to Teacher's Tools in Lewisville today to check it out. I had gone in there years ago when they first opened. It is a pretty cool store and they have a lot more than Mardel does. I found these little workbooks for the girl's for only $2.99 each. Emma is just starting on Sight Words so this will help reinforce it.

For Sara I got a math book. I don't care much for the math part of the workbook she has now so this should be fun for her.

This is the best thing I found there!!! They are tactile letters. You can choose between upper or lower case letters. I chose uppercase and they were $12.99. The lower case was only $9.99. Emma is such a hand on learner and they have a little bump where you start and then arrows showing you where to trace.

I tried to get up close so you can see the little ridges. I am pretty excited about adding these to our school day!

In science Anthony is learning about volcanoes and geysers. He is building a volcanoe out of clay tomorrow (I got the crayola kind of clay is a tub for only $4.99). I got him this Geyser Tube to experiment with. It was only $4.99 at Teacher's Tools. I know he's going to love it. I will videotape it and post it when we are done so everyone can see.

They gave me this calendar book that has some neat facts for every day of the month.

We are starting our November with Pilgrim Week yesterday. I wanted to do a History Pockets book with them about the Plymouth Colony, but after a search at Mardel and Teacher's Tools, neither had it. I could have tried the Home Educator's Resource store but it was all the way across town and I figured that when I do find it, we will just use it next year instead!

I had bought these blank puzzles at Mardel awhile back for 25 cents each and decided that they would make perfect turkey puzzles. Yeah, that isn't about the Pilgrims but that's okay. I drew the turkey (you like that art work don't ya? lol) and they colored it.  Here's Emma with her puzzle.

I read them this story book about the Pilgrims and I have to say that it is an excellent book for little ones. It explains the story without being too complicated for them to understand.

I saw this on someone else's blog and I want!! It looks like it would be a fun game and it's not that expensive...maybe Santa will bring it to me

If you want one, you can buy it here

In my Household Binder I have really 6 calendars. Six!! It's not quite like it sounds. I have a cleaning calendar that I downloaded from Motivated Moms. Mine doesn't start until the last week of December so I haven't used it yet.

Then I have my regular planning calendar. This is a 2 page calendar that I list all of our to-do's. Doctor's visits, field trips, birthdays, etc...

The next calendar is my menu planner. Okay it's not really a "calendar"...but I do organize our meals according to what events we are doing in the month. That way I'm not last minute lunch shopping for a field trip...or I can plan simple easy to do quick meals for when I won't be home (ex: Bunko night)...

Next...Anthony's school calendar...I use it as a back-up because I have a little assignment book that we use everyday...but just in case, it's written in here....It looks the same as Emma's calendar (pictured below) but her's doesn't change...just the themes and letters of the week so those are listed in order behind her calendar....Sara has been doing the same work as Emma so she didn't need her own calendar...but we are changing that and she will have her own soon enough...they both do "circle time" activities together though...

My favorite calendar is the Arts & Crafts Calendar. I always come across cute ideas for projects for the kids to do, especially when it involves a holiday. But what I am really and about it remembering those cute ideas and planning for them. It makes me so mad at myself when we miss opportunities to do something creative.

So I have a calendar just for that. Every week is a different theme and Friday is always Cooking Day (well, except when we have to juggle holidays, then we move it)...but there is always a Cooking Day no matter what! You can see what we are doing for November...I'm not done planning for the Cooking Days yet.

So that is all 6 calendars! Not to mention that I use the Cozi Calendar on my computer to keep track of the same stuff as the event calendar.

Let me go ahead and list all of the categories in my Household Binder: (In order)

1. Cleaning Schedule

2. Calendar (event)

3. Register (for our bank account)

4. Menu Planner

5. Recipes

6. Grocery list

7. Anthony school

8. Emma school

9. Sara school

10. Art & Crafts Calendar

11. Arts & Crafts Instructions

12. Curriculum Planner (for writing down all of the stuff I want to use next year)

13. Reading Log

14. Field Trip Planner

15. Directory of Kid's Places (for fun field trips)

16. Holiday Planner (mostly from OrganizedChristmas.com)

17. Phone book (I have tabs that I have written the alphabet letters on)

here's a couple more pics I have

register

curriculum planner

field trip planner

Here is the November calendar as I have it right now. I'm sure more things will come up.

Wed. Nov. 7- Cards for the Troops
Fri. Nov. 9- Homeschool Skating
Mon. Nov 12- Bunko
Tue. Nov. 13- Lego Club
Wed. Nov. 14- Flower Mound library Rockin' Readers "In a Circle Long Ago"
Thurs. Nov. 15- Gaylord Texan Tree Lighting Ceremony
Fri. Nov. 17- Candle & soapmaking at Log Cabin Village
Tue. Nov. 20- Flower Mound library storytime
Thurs. Nov. 22- Happy Thanksgiving!
Fri. Nov. 23- Ft. Worth Sundance Square Parade of Lights Parade
Sun. Nov 25- Dickens of a Christmas in downtown McKinney
Thurs. Nov. 29- Grapevine Parade of Lights

Here are pictures of the kids at the Harvest Skate Party. They had a great time and we were one of the last to leave. Emma didn't feel good and she was running a fever so she laid down half of the time but she didn't want to leave. Sara enjoyed trying to skate even though she spent most of the time on the ground! lol They offer skating lessons for only $3 a lesson on Saturday's so i think I might let Anthony do it. I even managed to find a coupon for one free lesson so that is even better!

The girls and I made cupcakes to take to the Harvest Skate party....here they are decorating them!

I got Emma a couple of new workbooks to help her along. She does so well in math so I thought that I would introduce some more subtraction work for her. Her curriculum (My Father's World Kindergarten), does a good job with the alphabet and phonics but I think that I could do a little more with her. I think she will do well with a little more of a challenge. We are still waiting for her testing results, but even if she is dyslexic, she can move faster than what MFW is paced at.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday and here are some of the pictures of it. We go to the same pumpkin patch every year and the kids always have a good time.