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Featured and Random Blogger of the Week (Aug. 26)

11:04 AM, Aug. 26, 2005

Blogger of the Week

My Smoky Mountain Homeschool

 

Amy Kear of My Smoky Mountain Homeschool claims she never heard of the word "blog" before April.  And she considers herself a “newbie” to blogging.  But when you look at her blog, that's not exactly obvious.  She won Tennessee’s best blogger award.  When you visit her blog, you instantly know why.   Her blog design, along with rotating family photos, and cute little graphics, and wonderful writing all contribute to her award winning blog.   (Tip: make sure you have the volume on when you click over.)    

 

Amy first started blogging as My Smoky Mountain Home and then switched to My Smoky Mountain Homeschool.  She’s very thankful to the Suarez’s for starting a homeschool blogging community.  

“I am thankful to Paul & Gena and TOS for giving us the opportunity to have a place to come together and share our joys, frustrations, accomplishments, ideas and fears with others.  I believe that successful homeschooling depends a lot on your support system.  This allows those who may not have that type of support system to have a place to go for encouragement.”  

 

Amy is in her second year of homeschooling.  Previously, her children older children (ages 8 and 6) attended the public school.  She also has a 2 year old.  Last year her family used Abeka.  This year she switched to Sonlight, which was introduced to her by a dear friend.  Amy loves it and it’s everything she expected it to be.   But the transition to home had some challenges. 

“Trying to get out the ‘public school’ frame of mind was the most challenging.  Once I realized that they didn’t have to be sitting at a desk doing paperwork 4 hours a day to be learning, it was much easier to relax and have fun.”

However, in those challenging moments, Amy has experienced many joys.  A special one that is etched in Amy’s mind was when she was reading, Peoples of the World.  She told her two daughters about a Hindu who worked with her husband.  Both girls became alarmed and asked if their daddy had shared Jesus with him.  

“They wanted to know if daddy told him about Jesus.  I told them, yes and they wanted to know if he prayed and accepted Jesus.  I told them no.  They said that we needed to pray for him.  Then I told them about one of their friends whose dad was a Muslim.  The girls asked what her mom was.  I told them she was a Christian.  They wanted to know what their friend was.  I told them that her parents were raising her as both.  Sarah Beth just shook her head.  I asked her what was wrong.  She said, “Mommy that just isn’t right.”  Right there, during school, both of the girls prayed and asked Jesus to reveal himself to these two men who didn’t know Him, and they prayed that they would accept Jesus as their Savior.” 

It is in stories like this that Amy receives the reassurance that what she is doing is making a difference in the heart and lives of her children and those around them.  And now that she's blogging we'll all share in the joys and challenges with her. 

 

Please take a few minutes to visit Amy at My Smoky Mountain Homeschool and don’t forget to turn on the volume.  

 

Random Blogger of the Week

Our RollerCoaster of Learning is the winner of the Random Blog prize! Remember - to qualify to win a Random Blog prize, you must have posted an entry within the last week and you must have contact information readily available (just fill in the Email info). 

The sponsor for our Blogger giveaways this week is Michelle Eichhorn of Treasure Box

 

The TWO lucky Bloggers of the Week for 8/21-8/27 will receive their choice of any $14.95 Sam's Science Adventure available at Treasure Box Press, which is owned by Michelle Eichhorn and Cindy Hullings. If you go to the Newsletter sign-up page and enter your email, you will receive information about upcoming sales ... and there are several FREE science adventures on the page, too!

 

Also, don't forget to check out the Adventure of the Month Club - this is REALLY COOL!  When you join this club, your child will receive a new Science Adventures Kit every 4-5 weeks for the low cost of $12.95 plus s/h and there is even a discount offered for purchasing additional kits for multiple children.

 

 

 

 

 

Sam's Science Adventures are divided into 3 levels:

 

PreK-2nd (click here to view the available kits)

 

 

Filled with beautiful picture books, fun crafts and action packed educational notebooks, Sam’s Science Adventures are the answer to all of your early educational needs. Each adventure covers science, history, reading, writing, art and very often music and geography. Simply add your choice of phonics and math programs, and you are well on your way to a fun filled school year with Sam.

Of course, we understand that many families enjoy the structure that textbooks, such as Abeka or Bob Jones, can provide. For that reason, all of our kits are perfectly compatible with any science curriculum you may currently be using. Visit our Scope & Sequence page to see where our adventures fit in with many popular science textbooks. It’s affordable and easy to add any Science Adventure to your study for added enrichment and hands-on fun.

 

3rd-6th (click here to view the available kits)

 

olderbirdkitpic-000.jpg

 

The middle school years are exciting and fast paced. Students are able to understand topics more in depth and do much more of their schoolwork on their own. This is the time to teach students the skills required for researching and reporting on assigned topics. However, it is important to continue offering fun hands-on activities to discourage boredom at this age.

Sam’s Science Adventures offer the perfect balance between hands-on activities, research and report writing, and scientific experiments. Making Sam’s Science Adventures a part of your school day couldn’t be easier! Simply pick a topic that interests your child, and let the adventure begin!

We do understand that many families enjoy the structure that textbooks, such as Abeka or Bob Jones, can provide. For that reason all of our kits are perfectly compatible with any science curriculum you may currently be using. Visit our Scope & Sequence page to see where our adventures fit in with many popular science textbooks. It’s affordable and easy to add any

 

7th-9th (click here to view the available kits)

 

 

Jr. High through High School can be a difficult time for many young teens and their parents. Decisions must be made regarding what courses would best prepare them for graduation and college.

This is the time, in our opinion, to make a students school work as individualized as possible. If your child is interested in medicine and wants to become a doctor, their needs will be very different from the child who dreams of leading a praise and worship at church.

After researching many junior high and high school level textbooks, we believe that they can provide a nice foundation for learning, for some students. However, they are not right for every student. For those students Sam’s Science Adventures offers a chance to study, in depth, topics in which they are personally interested. What better way to visualize the Electromagnetic Spectrum than by creating a model of the various wavelengths.

Our upper level studies require a lot of research skills. Students are guided through a subject, while being encouraged to dig deeper for the answers. They will research a variety of scientists as they construct a timeline outlining the progression of the topic. They will conduct scientific experiments, sharpen their creative writing and essay skills, and still enjoy the benefit of hands-on learning.

 

Featured Blogger and Random Blogger are selected each week by Karen Braun of Spunky Homeschool.

 

Prize giveaways are coordinated by Kris Price of Classical Education 4 Me.



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