Creative Homeschool Exerience

Christmas Products

Posted by EclecticEducation
6:44 PM, Dec. 7, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Richly Blessed

Posted by Home
9:48 AM, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 .. 1 comments .. Link


We are celebrating this Thanksgiving with grateful hearts for God's gift of salvation,  matchless grace, and provision to us way beyond our needs.






Thanking our Lord
for
Family,
Friends,
Faith,
Forgiveness,
and
Freedom
.


Truly,  we are richly blessed.




Christmas Resources

Posted by EclecticEducation
5:17 PM, Nov. 23, 2009 .. 3 comments .. Link
Wow!  Time is going so fast.  I can't believe it is almost December!!!  I don't know about you, but I usually start adding Christmas into our homeschool right after Thanksgiving is over.  I am hoping to do an interactive notebook this year of Christmas Around the World, but I will have to see if my printer is fixed in time.  Unfortunately, it started leaking.  Ugh!!!  Well, I wanted to share some resources that I have put together for Christmas.  

Here are my homeschool Christmas resources:

Christmas Lapbook
Christmas Around the World with Children
Christmas Unit Study
Reindeer Animal Study

Here are some other resources for Christmas:

An Organized Christmas
Gift Giving Guide- Do you still need to get a gift for someone?  Here's help!
Make Christmas Cards
Hot Chocolate for the Holidays

I hope these resources help make your Christmas more enjoyable. 




Click in the graphic for more details!

Neat Homeschool Project

Posted by EclecticEducation
9:21 PM, Nov. 16, 2009 .. Posted in Homeschool as usual .. 2 comments .. Link
I just wanted to let you all know about a a neat project some of my friends are doing on eHow.  Several of them are going to be sending a doll around the country and taking the doll to different landmarks and places in their community.  They will be taking pictures and writing about the adventures.  The project can be followed at this link: http://www.squidoo.com/ehowdollysgrandadventure  This would make a really good geography project.  I will say, though, a couple of the people sometimes have a uhm... colorful sense of humor, so I would preview it before showing it to your kids. lol!!!  Just in case.  Dolly is about to arrive at her first destination which is Maine.  This project will be going on through the winter and possibly into the spring.  Each person will be adding their adventures as they do them. 

Writer's Block, Homeschool Skedtrack, Curriculum

Posted by Deborah D
5:12 PM, November 7, 2009 .. Posted in School Room .. 0 comments .. Link
I'm watching my youngest son right now trying to juggle three little bags of skittles. The look on his face alone is priceless. I love cheap thrills.

Hesitantly, I thought I would start to fill in the gap of the last few months of silence. I guess I struggle with going that long and not blogging. Part of  the time I wrestle with a terrible bout of "writers block" lately. While the rest of the time, I'm just trying to find the time to sit down to do it. I hate that. Especially because it's something that I love doing so much. I find it aggravating to want to pen my thoughts....and then not being able to collect the words to write. I don't know if anyone else finds themselves in that same boat. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on the subject.

At any rate, our new school year is out the gate and rounding the first corner, so to speak. Back in September I found a great online program for organizing, scheduling, and planning the school calendar. It's at Homeschool Skedtrack. It took some time to get the courses and schedules entered. On a daily basis, it takes a little time to approve and update the work the kids have done. But, you can maintain grades and your school year calendar, and run reports as well. It's been a great way to lay out the lesson plans for the courses that I'm putting together on my own. I really love it. Each day we can print off the day's work for each child and that gives them something to manage their work a little more independently. They like being able to check things off. With a 9th grader this year, I'm looking forward to just being able to print off a transcript  and report card from the tip of my fingers.

For curriculum, we have some "old faithfuls" and a few new additions, all as follows...
  • Bible ~ All 3 are doing Kay Arthur's How to Study the Bible ~ for kids to begin with. 
  • Math ~ Math-u-See's Geometry for Bri, Pre-Alg for Sis and Zeta for Con
  • Science ~ Apologia's General Science for Sis, Biology for Bri and Creation Science Botany for Con
  • Grammar ~ Our Mother's Tongue
  • Writing ~ IEW American History Vol. 1
  • History ~ Beautiful Feet Early American and World History (literature-based) and American Heritage Series DVD's
  • Basic Maps and Geography ~
  • Literature ~ a broad look and discussion of different types of literature (Shakespeare, short plays, songs, classics, etc.)
  • Art and Music Appreciation ~ I have designed a schedule using the Usborne Book of Art  the Usborne Book of Art Skills and the Usborne Introduction to Music. One 2-hour class each week.
  • Keyboarding ~ Mavis Beacon CD-Rom
  • Guitar Lessons


Swine Flu!

Posted by EclecticEducation
10:59 PM, Nov. 2, 2009 .. 3 comments .. Link
Ugh!  I've had a rough month!  My 2 sons came down with the Swine Flu on Oct. 7th and I followed on Oct. 8th.  My kids are doing ok.   I am still fighting to get well.  That is why I haven't written at all for so long.  I've been very sick.  I've seen the doctor's 4 times and had to get chest X-rays.  They say if my cough is not better by the end of the week, I may be getting more X-rays.  *sigh*   I was having trouble eating and couldn't keep my food down.  I lost a total of 12- 14 pounds and I was getting dehydrated.  If I hadn't started keeping my food down over the weekend, my husband was suppose to take me to the hospital on Sunday night.  Luckily, I started keeping it down!!!  I think I am finally on the mend, but I still have a ways to go, so my post may be light for another week or two.  Hopefully by then, I'll be doing better. 

Hello Autumn

Posted by Home
2:28 PM, Sunday, October 4, 2009 .. Posted in A Day in Our Life .. 1 comments .. Link





Here it is October already!  When did that happen?  We are moving along in our schoolwork but not without some issues.  Not everyone has a great attitude about school so the principal has stepped in to help work out some adjustments!  Homeschooling the upper grades is quite different from the younger years.  We shall persevere and the Lord will see us through! 

As I glance out the window beside me I can see beautiful color in the trees across the street.  I love this time of year,  not only for it's beauty but because the crisp, fall air brings about welcome changes. The fresh apples are out and they are abundant here in western NY!  (I feel an apple crisp coming on....) Not too mention all the baking I've tried to avoid through out the summer --- now I want to flick on the oven (it's a new convection oven to boot!) and bake up some muffins, breads and roasts. 

And don't you just love to pull out the cozy throws and snuggle up in the evening?  It has me thinking about what new book to choose for a read-a-long. I've already coaxed Jordan into lighting the fireplace a few times. =) 


Make Homeschooling Fun

Posted by EclecticEducation
11:00 PM, Oct. 3, 2009 .. Posted in Homeschool as usual .. 7 comments .. Link
School does not have to be a drag!  There are many ways to jazz up your homeschool, allowing your child to have fun and get a good education.  Here are some tips:

1. Use living books instead of textbooks when possible.  Children can get into stories much easier than they can a dry textbook.  Use the living books as a jumping off point to learn more about the subject.  You can build an entire study around the book.

2. Make lapbooks or an interactive notebook to go along with your studies.  Most children love colored paper, stickers, colorful markers, cutting and pasting.  Use this love to do something creative, fun and educational.

3. Use puzzles.  Puzzles require thought and so they are educational, in among themselves, but if you do a puzzle of the United States, the World Map, fine artwork or something, then you have an added benefit.  By studying the pieces, your child is learning the parts of the map or is studying the fine detail of that makes up the artwork.
 
4. Go on nature walks.  Studying nature not only teaches your child about the world around them, but it helps them develop important observational skills. 

5. Play games.  There are some games, like Made for Trade , that are made to be educational even though they are fun.  Then there are games like, Monopoly that were not made for educational purposes, but still have many educational components.  Games are a wonderful way to have fun, but learn also.

6. Add movies and videos to your school day.  Ok, I know this is a controversial one, but I truly believe there are some awesome shows and movies that teach.  A few that my son loves are Word Girl (teaches vocabulary), Cyber Chase (math), Magic School Bus (science), Liberty's Kids (American History) and Between the Lions (Reading).  Now obviously, you don’t want to try to watch them all in one day, but one or two of them a day a few days a week is a good balance.  Kids love the idea of getting to watch tv in school and a lot of the educational shows are packed with information.  It’s a good use of the 30 minutes.

7. Make sure art, nature, music and physical activity is a part of the daily activities.  These extras are fun as well as good for your child.
 
8. Make scrapbooks for learning.  These can be for history, science, geography, or even art.  It’s a fun and educational way to display what your child learns and they can get creative putting it together (if they are old enough). 

I hope these tips help you make your homeschool fun as well as educational!

A Craft Apron and Craft Bag you can order for your child:

Child Craft Apron apron
Child Craft Apron by lynnhsmomof2
Design your own apron at Zazzle



Mummies, Flowers and Blue Dolphins

Posted by EclecticEducation
2:12 PM, Sep. 28, 2009 .. Posted in Homeschool as usual .. 3 comments .. Link



Ok, it's been a few weeks since I have posted about our school work.  We've had some unorganized weeks, but I finally feel like I'm on track again.  Here is a sampling of what we have done. 

In the School House:

I finished the Magic Tree House book Mummies in the Morning with Little One.  Then we made an interactive notebook page for the story. 


I am really liking the format of an interactive notebook for the Magic Tree House series.  We basically just do enough minibooks to fit in a two page spread (or a two page spread with flap) and when we are done, I glue them in on a page labeled with the title.  This allows us to extend the study to include other things like geography without spending a lot of time on it.  I try to do 1 book every week to a week and a half.  Since there are so many books in the series, I don't want to spend a ton of time on each of them.  That is why about 5-7 minibooks for each book is ideal.  I try to find stickers to go along with the studies (if I can) to make the pages more colorful and stand out.  They are not necessary, but since I am a scrapbooker and have tons of extra stickers, I might as well use them. 

If you would like to do you own study of Mummies in the Morning (or just an Egyptian study) here are some resources:
http://www.squidoo.com/magictreehouse--mummies-in-the-morning-studyguide
http://www.squidoo.com/magic-tree-house-study-guides (this has a directory of other MTH books)
http://www.squidoo.com/interactive-notebook


Both of the boys did some indoor nature studies since the weather has not been cooperating lately.  I brought some wildflowers in from our garden for them to draw. 

Prince Caspian's Drawing:


Little One's Drawings:


and


Here are some resources for your own nature studies:
http://www.squidoo.com/naturestudywithchildren
http://www.squidoo.com/homeschool-nature-studies

Prince Caspian was reading the book Island of the Blue Dolphin and he was to notebook what he read.  Here is a page he did:


The notebook page is a part of the Basic Primary and Regular- Lined Notebooking Pages set by NotebookingPages.com.  You can find them here: Notebooking Pages  I love notebooking with older children.  It gives them more practice in writing and it involves more thought than just circling a,b or c. 

Being a WAHM:

I've also been busy working!  I've gotten some of my Christmas line out on Zazzle.  Here are a few examples:


Christmas Mug mug
Christmas Mug by lynnhsmomof2
Make a customized t shirt online at zazzle.com

Christmas Apron apron
Christmas Apron by lynnhsmomof2
Get a tee at zazzle


to see more, go here:

http://www.squidoo.com/christmas-zazzle-dazzle

I plan to add a lot more in the following weeks. 

Well, that was our wrap up.  To see more wrap ups, check out: My Heart's Desire  Have a great week!



Here Comes Autumn!

Posted by EclecticEducation
10:42 PM, Sep. 22, 2009 .. 3 comments .. Link
It's hard to believe that autumn is here!!! It's funny it felt more like autumn during the summer, than it does now. lol!!! I for one am looking forward to the cooler weather.  I just wish we would have had a better (warmer, dryer) summer. 

Well, I have been busy on fall stuff.  I have put together fall resources for lapbooking if you are interested.  You can get them here: Fall Lapbook.

I have also been busy designing Autumn products for my store.  Here are a few of what I have done.
Barn Sticker sticker
Barn Sticker by lynnhsmomof2
Design custom stickers using zazzle.com



Autumn Window stamp
Autumn Window by lynnhsmomof2
Make custom stamps online at zazzle.com

Autumn Pumpkins stamp
Autumn Pumpkins by lynnhsmomof2
Create your own stamps with zazzle

To see the rest of my products, go to My Zazzle Store at: www.zazzle.com/lynnhsmomof2  or check out my Squidoo lens: Celebrate Fall


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About Me

I am 30 years old and have been married to my wonderful hubby for eight years. We live in Michigan and I am a SAHM and homeschool mom of two wonderful boy's. One is six (will be 7 in March) and the other is five. This is our seond year of homeschooling and with the love of the Lord we have really loved it.
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