Horizons Math Grade 4 and K,Sequential Spelling, Lifepac Language Arts 4, Apologia Astronomy, Veritas Press New Testament/Greeks/Romans
Prima Latina, Contenders for the Faith and various Winters Promise books, Live Mocha Spanish, Plants Grown Up
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Jun. 17, 2009 - Beautiful Science
We got some wildflower seeds that were embedded in paper last fall, so we held on to them until spring, and I gave each of the boys a couple papers, ad a pot of dirt and it has been their responsibility to keep them watered and growing. (They help in my gardens but these were to be purely theirs with no interference from me).
I really did NOT expect much out of their "garden" but have been amazed! We have had so many beautiful flowers bloom (and many more to come still) and we've had a great time looking up and learning the names of all these new flower varieties we had never seen! (Thank you Heather for all your help as well!!!)
Our first to bloom ended up being Baby Blue Eyes. Gorgeous little flowers! Nemopila insignis
Then we had "Baby Snapdragons" or toadflax Toadflax Linaria maroccana
Baby's Breath Gypsophila muralis
5 spot or Buffalo eyes Nemophila maculata
Strawflower Centaurea cyanus
WallFlower Cheiranthus allionii
We're set to study Botany next year and now I really can't wait. I'm thinking seriously of not buying regular flowers next year either and just doing the whole front bed in wildflower seeds! This is so fun, running outside every morning to see what new surprise flower will greet us! We have sunflowers coming up and I think poppies too. I cant wait to see what else blooms!
I wanted to paste part of an email I just wrote,because I think it would benefit a lot of my readers :)
Curriculum is truly unnecessary until children are much older. We didn't start with formal curriculum until 3rd grade. I am really very relaxed in our homeschooling. And my children learn a TON.
At the ages your children are in, all you really need to do is instill a love of learning! Make it fun.
Point out the world around them. "Do you see that caterpillar? He is brown and fuzzy. Did you know God will turn him into a beautiful butterfly? Right now his to is to eat leaves and grow, but then he will go into a special home called a chrysalis, and when he comes out he will be a butterfly."
Read to them TONS. I personally am not a fan of a lot of the silly childrens' books, so when we go to the library we go to the non fiction section and gets tons of books on animals, plants etc.
Let them help in the kitchen. "First Mommy needs to add flour, 1.2.3 cups. We chose to use wheat flour because it is healthier for our bodies than white flour. White flour is made from wheat flour with the good stuff taken out. Then Mommy needs to add baking soda. Baking soda helps the cake get nice and fluffy. This is salt. It goes in next, would you like to taste some? Did you know the Bible says we are supposed to be the salt of the earth? What do you think that means?"
At around age 3 or 4 we start with ABC Bible verses. We do one verse a week, and learn the letter that goes with it using this book:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/angelnavywife/649679/
Andrew started memorizing verses at 2! He could barely talk but he remembered them!
We started with Prov 20, The hearing ear (point to ear) and the seeing eye (point to eye) the Lord has made them both, and similar easy verses he could understand the meaning of. And in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Gen 1:1.
We always go through the Bible as well. Starting in Genesis. We use a children's Bible (the Read and Learn Bible for us) and read through the entire thing in order(though my children also hear me read from the regular Bible every night at bedtime as well, and we just started reading at meals too).
We use it as history. I let them make a timeline, and my 8 year old is still using his. Every event we learn about they draw a picture and I label it (Day 1 of creation, The Flood, Jacob, Joseph goes to Egypt, Jesus' triumphal entry etc). The I hole punch it and put it in a binder in the order it happened. Later as we learn about other events, we add those in too. When we learned about Joseph going into Egypt, we pointed out Israel on a map, and then Egypt, and traced our finger to it.
Peter starts his day with his quiet Bible time. Then he gets up, and starts his chores.
After chores is breakfast, then he gets started on his math while I do reading with Andrew.
When he is finished, I correct his math and he works on his Lifepac Language Arts. I correct any errors and give ut back for him to fix.
Then he usually has some free time before lunch.
After lunch things are extremely varied. Some days we get tons done, other days we dont get anything else done!
We usually do spelling about 3 times a week. Lifepac has spelling included, but Peter has improved by leaps and bounds since starting Sequential Spelling so we supplement with that.(Today we skipped spelling)
We did Art Appreciation instead.
Lately we've been really involved in Geography. We tend to spend a few weeks really into science, or history or geography, then take a break and do the next one for a few weeks, as opposed to doing them all every day. As long as we finish them in the school year (and we seem to have been doing 2 years of each every year, so we definitely do) I dont care when or how it gets done.
We LOVE A Child's Geography of the Holy Land. On top of the book, both boys make a flag for each county for their notebooks, and Peter also does a page on traditional foods, and a map as well as his daily notes. We also scour the library for books on which ever county we are studying to go more in depth. Last week we finished Egypt so we made an Egyptain recipe for date balls as well. When we studied Turkey, we made Turkish delight, etc. We're currently learing about Iraq, and will take a break from the book to go in depth into the Iraq wars, because Peter is really interested in that.
For science we are currently working on Apologia Astronomy.
We do daily notes for his notebook, and also supplemet with extra books from the library. We go outside and try to see what we are studying if possible, and I try and take pictures for him to add to his notebook. That was much easier when we did birds and insects, you dont just see a comet in your tyard every day! ;) We did get some good ones of the stages of the moon, and we got a decent one of Venus (the speck on the bottom right)
(but we also skipped Science today)
We are currently waiting to finish Geography before starting a new History unit on the New Testament/Greeks/Romans. Peter is dying to dig into it, but the organizer in me wants one subject neatly finished before starting another!
Today we didn't get much done because as we were finishing Geography the doorbell rand, and the UPS man brought Peter's much awaited Latin book and CD. He decided he wanted to learn latin, and I didn't really take him seriously, but the poor boy tried to dig into adult latin books at the library (they only had book 2, so it was way too hard to jump into ) and had taken up copying the latin words from the dictionary and trying to memorize the translations! So Daddy and I decided to go ahead and order Prima Latina and the accompanying CD. So we spent the afternoon memorizing Latin instead, which as much as I didnt think was important at first, it is actually fun! And I see that it will help not only with english grammar but learning Spanish later as well!
So that kind of gives you a rough idea of our day. It is very loosely structures, and I LOVE that about homeschooling. We can follow the children's interests, and work schooling around life.
A friend asked about our typical day and I was kind of at a blank because each day is so different.
So I tried to use today as an example for Andrew. We wake up and the boys do chores. Andrew puts the dogs out, feeds them, makes his bed, gets dressed and brushes his teeth. He then checks if the dishwasher is clean and puts away the silverware (though Abigail is starting to take this job over). Then we have breakfast and then try and squeeze in some work before "Daddy time" (the hour I get to chat with him each morning on Facebook chat) . Plus he is most attentive in the morning. He seems to loose concentration as the day goes on.
First we did reading:
We're using The Reading Lesson as I have posted about before (and still LOVING it)
But today after his lesson I decided to do his word list a little differently to mix it up, so we used our handy scrabble tiles
We had some extra time and he wanted to keep working so we did a couple pages in his phonics workbook as well.
Then I had Daddy time, while he colored in his new Dover coloring books(an awesome garage sale find! We got 5 brand new ones. )
Sometimes at this point, we would do math(Horizons Kindergarten), but it just didn't happen today. We did drill counting by 10s, 2s and 5s.
Then we sat on the couch and did a few pages of Come Look With Me: Landscapes. We are using a copy from the library. Normally I don't do a lot of art appreciation but I really liked this book. And the boys are enjoying it too, especially Andrew.
I also have been leaning towards more mellow music these days (maybe I am getting old) and discovered my boys LOVE Handel and Bach! We've been playing these CDs from the library through the day and when I put the CD player on shuffle the boys can usually tell me if it is Handel or Bach (I cant!). And they have been asking to learn more about these composers as well as others, so we'll be following their interest and doing that.
Andrew and I have been reading the Moody series out loud, through out the day as well. We're on the 3rd book, Winter with the Moodys right now.
We tried starting Andrew with Draw Write Now, and while he LOVES the drawing part he's not quite ready for that much writing.
Other than that he listened in on Peter's geography, occasionally asking questions, and running over to see the pictures periodically. (It would be the same for History or Science, but we haven't done those yet today)
*I put this together about 2 years ago, so feel free to let me know if not all of the links still work!
I put this together really quick, feel free to add your own advice, links!
STEP 1: Get library card, and check out their online catalog! Start a holds list. I make a list of all the books that have been recommended, and put them on my holds list, and pick up once a week. They have CDs DVDs as well, and mine has been known to actually have curriculums!
STEP 2: Order curriculum catalogs. Look up the books they sell that you'd like to try in your library catalog! My favorite catalogs (Winters Promise, Beautiful Feet)
Step 3: Buy a good printer! Starts checking out these links.
We are currently working through Ann Voscamp's A Child's Geography of the Holy Land.
We ordered it because I LOVE Ann's blog and was hoping her heart would pour out into the curriculum. I don't feel we are far enough through to write a full review yet. We are enjoying it, though there have been a couple things I would rather have seen left out. Luckily since I real aloud to the boys it was easily skipped over!
Anyhow, today as we were looking at pictures I saw some men wearing familiar attire... And it helped bring our studies to a new level!
My husband has been deployed to the middle east, and when he was there he brought home the traditional clothing as a souvenier. At the time I thought "What was he thinking?!?" but today as I dug through a chest in the closet I was so thankful for this easy way to bring our lesson to life!
We just discovered this. At first I thought the idea was silly, but we found it at our library and it came well recommended by a mom I admire. So I checked it out. Peter LOVES it. He HATES writing. Always has, so rushes through it, and his penmanship is horrible. But he has been taking his time (well more than before) in order to get to the drawing which I was pretty impressed with as well! Here was the second assignment he completed. We'll definitely continue using these books!
A friend asked HOW I teach my children Bible verses.
In our house it always starts with THIS. This is our first "Curriculum". It teaches ABC and life relevant verses for a preschooler. And it has fun stories. Its is a GREAT resource!
We take 1 verse a week, and go through the entire book. It helps with discipline because I can remind them of the verse we learned "A soft answer turns away wrath" or "Do all things without complaining or disputing" and "Honor your mother and father". The stories explain the verses in a way that is relevant and easily understood by a preschooler! We've used it with 2 children so far and cant wait to use it a 3rd time!
And as they got older we add more. We've gone back and added more to the verses we learned in the book. For example on "A soft answer turns away wrath" we also memorized the next verse "but a harsh word stirs up strife". You'd be amaze at the long passages children can memorize! Get it in their heads when they are young! Right now the boys and I are working on Psalm 1. I printed it and put it on our fridge and when we are in the kitchen we recite it. They usually learn it long before I do!
Thank you for reading! And an extra thank you to those who comment! I know it takes a little more effort but it is nice to know people are reading, and even better, who is reading! I have my blog streamed through 3 sites, and today alone I got 50 views on JUST MySpace , but no comments! I cant help but wonder who those 50 people are! So thank you for those who have taken the time to leave a comment. I truly appreciate it, and I take your questions and requests to heart, and many of my blogs have been inspired by your feedback!
Peter has needed some motivation on his math. He was complaining that in real life we wont need to add a list of numbers up and then make change so why does he have to do it every day on his math sheet? So I replied" What happens when you want to buy things at the store?" and he said" The register does all that for you!" So we made a play store. He lined up his items (Abigail's play food) and I made a price list for how much each cost, some play dollars and gave him a pad of paper and a pencil.We all took turns purchasing a basket of items, and he added up the totals and told us how much change we would get. When we had more than one of an item (stawberries for example), he'd have to multiply the price by how many I was buying before writing it down as well. A lot more fun than his daily worksheet!
And I have to throw in this picture of Abigail. We made cupcakes yesterday and she was enthralled watching, so she's been using one of my cupcake pans, one of my measuring cups and "making cupcakes" since then. She amazes me how adorably smart she is, and how she already tries to be just like mama. This morning the boys realized her play cupcakes fit in the tin too!
Peter taught himself to read. He was really young (I think early 4? but he just started on his own. I read to him a ton, and he was always asking me what signs said. He was a sight word reader, and he didn't get phonics until he had been reading over a year. Andrew's learning style is completely different and it has been a challenge for me to relearn EVERYTHING all over again to suite his style. But we found a book that has worked. He LOVES it, I LOVE it, and we've been through a lot of books and styles!
It is The Reading Lesson.
You can actually download the first lesson online at http://www.readinglesson.com/.
We borrowed it from the library and just ordered a copy of our own from Amazon. It was very affordable too, only $18.
Before this the curriculum that worked best for Andrew was Weaver. We used Weaver Interloc for prechool for him, and it worked really well. I was pretty relieved because we were given the entire Weaver program and it just did NOT work for Peter. It is a pricey program so I hated to see it go to waste, but we used the Kindergarten Wisdom Words from it before starting the Reading Lesson, and it definitely fits for Andrew.
I'm not sure how I'm going to easily homeschool 2 children with such drastically different styles, or add a 3rd in a few years, but God is good and he will equip me for this work He has called me to!
And luckily Horizons math, Apologia Science and Veritas Press History and all good matches for both of them, so we do those subjects together!
We just finished studying the Old Testament and Egypt! This year we were given a Veritas Press Teachers Manual, and we LOVE it! It is Biblically based and thorough. We of course have supplemented with a ton of library books on Egypt as well, but I really liked this as the spine of our History program. We just have the Teacher's Manual, and that has been all we have needed. We like to work with what we have! To find supplemental books we rely heavily on the Winter Promise catalog. We can't afford to buy all the books (and I wouldn't want to anyhow-all that clutter!) so teh library has been a HUGE blessing!
The best book we supplemented with was by far Unwarpping the Pharaohs
It comes with a DVD, and was so very Biblically based, but still fact filled! It was VERY well done!
Peter is excitedly looking forward to moving on to the New Testament and Greece and Rome. We were able to find the Teachers Manual cheaply on Ebay (I HATE Ebay but we were blessed with this transaction!).
As a fun History supplement we LOVE Drive Thru History.
The first series walks through Paul's journeys in the New Testament (Rome, Turkey, Asia Minor, Greece) so it will tie in perfectly with our study! (Even though I admit we have those 1st 4 DVDs memorized!)
We just finished a LONG unit on America, and were so excited to see they have come out with an America series! We love exploring history with Dave Stotts! He is so goofy but it makes it fun while we learn so much!
We'll also be ordering A Child's Geography with that gift certificate I mentioned last night. I'm a faithful follower of Ann's blog. I LOVE the way she incorporates worship into EVERY single detail of life! I cant wait to see how she ties that into homeschooling!
Please let us know if you have anything to suggest for us to try and find about the New Testament, Greece or ROme. We are always open to suggestions!
We have a very loose homeschooling schedule. When Daddy is home his schedule is pretty erratic and he is a spur of the moment kind of guy, so when he is deployed we try to buckle down and get a lot done so we are free to follow where he leads when he is home! So we go through the holidays and summer, but take random days and weeks off all through the year and it ends up even in the end.
We have also been having the craziest weather ever lately, so I've been trying to mix it up and have some more fun since we're snowed in!
We have some left over holiday M&Ms and Christmas swirl chips since no one could make it to cookie day because of the massive amount of snow, so we've been using them for math! We've graphed them, added them, subtracted them, eaten them....
I discovered this FREE Christmas unit study tonight (thanks MamaGeph!) http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/ChristmasLesson/
and while searching the site I realized that they had free samples of all their Time Travelers sets as well as completely free unit studies! http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/
so I saved those and came across a printable 3D Jamestown replica http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/promo/Jamestown-Replica.htm
This last link will make Little Peter's day! He is happy to spend all day, every day with a stack of card stock and scissors and tapes making 3D replicas if I'd let him. It drives me crazy, scraps of paper everywhere, but I do admit he does awesome work. He got a WWII book that was my great grandmas and has decided to build a model of every tank/plane/ship that is in it and has been diligently working on it for weeks now! He was so excited before that to find a 3D kit to make Noah's ark at the thrift store, and for the last year has been obsessed with origami! I cant wait to show him my find when he wakes up tomorrow!
We also did another fun project last week. We made our own root beer! It was a fun chemistry lesson, and they had other experiments in the box as well! As soon as we finish drinking this batch we cant wait to try it again! We pulled ours a little too soon so it was rather flat!
We also used this as a spring board to learn how our kombucha tea turns into kombucha tea, since the boys watch me make that every week!
O Holy Jesus Most Merciful Redeemer May I Know Thee More Clearly Love Thee More Dearly And Follow Thee More Nearly ~Tasha Tudor book of Prayers for Children
This year has been especially exciting with my boys learning about the political process. My friend Christina had posted a blog asking how much information we share with our children, and I answered that am brutally honest with them. Politics have been no different. We've learned the ins and outs of the election process (with some help from some Scholastic workbooks and our awesome subscription to God's World News) Peter has watched some debates with me, and we've followed the candidates throughout the year. We've also used this time to impress on them a Biblical worldview. As I voted (in both the primaries and in the actual election-we vote by mail so its already done) I let them, Peter especially be involved. He read the voter booklet with me, he helped me highlight important issues from each candidate, and weigh them up to what the Bible says is right, and I took time to explain why I voted for each candidate I chose. More importantly he helped me pray over the decisions I made, and he has prayed with me for all the other voters in America as well as the candidates. Dear readers, my point in this blog is to remind you to PRAY over the process. Pray for wisdom to make the right decisions, pray for the candidates, pray for your fellow voters, and remember above all God is sovereign and in control no matter who the president is.
1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, andgiving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this isgood and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Romans 13: 1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Today I saw the first leaves change to yellow in our neighbors tree. Summer really is over! The first half of September flew by in the blink of an eye! The picture above is from a family walk on base a couple weeks ago. A reminder that they days are already getting shorter!
I saw this link today and wanted to pass it on, since many of you who read my blog are homeschoolers. We are never able to go, its always on the same Saturday as Peter's birthday party (so if you are coming dont look!)
http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/about.html
Also in just a couple weeks is Family Farm Day! We went to all the Whidbey farms last year and had a great time,
http://whidbeyfarmtour.wordpress.com/
this year we'll be heading to the Skagit farms:
http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/about.html
We also go to Padilla Bay's cider press class in October every year, if you've never been they have AMAZING classes, and they are FREE!
http://padillabay.gov/educationpublicprograms.asp
If you have any exciting trips etc coming up please comment and share them with me!
Happy autumn!
I cant seem to say no to creatures. My boys love them and they love science so they end up learning EVERYTHING about whatever they bring home.
But since April Andrew was catching these guys
(Excuse the weird Andrew face I was just trying to snap a picture fast to keep him happy, he believes the sole purpose of mommy's camera is to take pictures of his treasures)
And Daddy being the smart one was saying no we cant keep one..
But after he left they started building cocoons in the garage door code box, and since I had to scrape them out anyways to open the garage I let the boys keep them in our butterly habitat.
So today I heard excited yelling and found this:
And I tried to convince them to let him go because after all we dont have any moth food...
Which led to my 7 year old quickly finding out he is called a
silver-spotted tiger moth
and they do not eat during the adult part of their life cycle.
Yay! (Roll eyes here)
So my new moth friend is sitting on my computer desk with his creepy owl looking face watching me type this. I just keep reminding myself my boys will look back and remember what a "good" mommy I was!
Step 1: Find out what your child likes
example a: birds
example b: insects
2: Go to the Library and find EVERY book on the subject you can (even adult books). Read them to and with your child! (Be prepared to check out the same books over and over until memorized!) Try to find books specific to your region as well as general information.
example a: BackYard Birds
example B: Bugs of Washington
3. On the next holiday ask Grandma to send educational objects on the subject as opposed to MORE plastic toys! (We also ask for good field guides)
example A: bird feeders, bird bath, bird foods (Suet, seeds etc), binocular, field guide
example b: Pocket GuidesBug Land
4. Get your hands on the object if possible (go to a zoo, raise insects through all the lifecycles, observe birds, go to an aquarium, a bat class, a nature hike)
example a: find local audobon chapter, go to owl lectures, get on cornell's mailing list
example b: raising butterflies
5. Spend time learning with your child and learning to identify the things they love
example A: rufous hummingbird, purple finch, white crowned sparrow
example b: tiger moth caterpillar, painted lady butterfly, german cockroach, potato beetle
6. Start over with next object of interest
examples: sharks, airplanes, origami, Israel, Revolutionary War
The BEST part of homeschooling is I get to learn alongside him! I never learned the things we learn in all my years of school, even in AP and advanced college courses! And he is only in 3rd grade!
P.S I'm constanlt adding items I recommend on my Widget (green box on left side) so be sure to check it out!
So this is homeschool blogger and I don't blog about school much (other than to rave on and on about how much I LOVE our Science program-Apologia!). But after struggling with spelling for quite some time I found something that works! Peter doesn't hate spelling anymore, in fact we have fun with it, and the frustration is gone! (Now if I could find something as great for multiplication we'd be set!)
Sequential Spelling is AVKO's premiere seven level spelling program for the teaching of the patterns of English spelling within seven normal public school years.
Not just for Home School Parents. This is great for regular classrooms or for teachers to have parents use at home.
Nearly every teacher has some students who need one-to-one help in spelling. This is designed for those parents to help their children who are not succeeding with the standard textbook approach. Most parents are more than willing to purchase and use this book at home to help their child.
Note: Many homeschoolers complete all seven levels at a much faster rate. As there are twice as many days in a regular year (2x180=360) with an extra five (for good behavior), two levels can be completed with just one ten minute lesson every day, Monday through Sunday. Two ten minute lessons a day, every day, one in the morning and one in late afternoon will get you through 4 levels in one year.
Important Note: The Sequences are not based on grade level curriculum. The sequences are based on building from easy words to advanced words as from all, tall, stall, install, installment, installation. Start with Level 1.
What Makes AVKO’s Sequential Spelling Program Different:
Traditional Spelling Program
Gives the child a list of words to study (and they forget them after the test at the end of the week).
Tests the child on individual words.
The tests are corrected by the teacher/parent with the looming red ink pen—after the tests are done.
The rules of the English language are presented in dry, hard-to-understand ways outside of the spelling program.
The overall emphasis is on a grade for one week over one set of words.
The emphasis is on a theme of words (colors).
The sequencing of the words may be due to introduction of words into the curriculum, instead of the relative difficulty.
There may be a guilt reaction when children study but don’t do well on the test on Friday.
Sequential Spelling
The child doesn’t study anything (they remember the patterns used to spell the words—even after the test).
Tests the child on patterns of the English language.
The child corrects his own paper as he is taking the test immediately.
The rules of the English language are embedded in the program, without lengthy explanations.
The emphasis is on learning the patterns of spelling for mastery of the language.
The emphasis is on the meanings of the words (root words, suffixes).
The sequencing of the words is based on research and the building of English words from the root word to expanded forms.
Children build confidence when they can spell words that they’ve never seen before without studying.
EDITED TO ADD:
If you do end up buying it go to http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php
Its the cheapest place to get home school supplies! It was only $10 and can be used over and over for multiple children.
Also here is a sample of the 1st few days:
http://www.avko.org/Samples/Try_the_SS_Approach.pdf
and I admit this did NOT win me over. Once I had the instructions on HOW to use the list of words it was 100 times better!
One thing all homes with children need is homemade playdough. The store kind is filled with chemicals, is expensive and doesn't last! We've had this kind last well over 6 months. Its so fun for the boys to measure and help make, it takes only 15 minutes, I cant rave enough! Go make some today!!!
Playdough (NOT Edible)
2 cups flour
3/4-1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups water (add in coloringand 1 tb tea tree oil)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Mix ingredients in a large pot
cook stirring continuously on low heat until mixture is lumpy and play dough consistency.
(don't burn it, but make sure its not gooey anymore)
Turn the dough onto wax paper and let cool, then knead thoroughly and store in an airtight container!
The recipe calls for tea tree oil because originally I was making it for the preschoolers at church, so up to 20 children were touching it per week, and the Tea Tree Oil kept it germ free! Today we used Lavender Oil because that is what the boys asked for, but you could really put in any essential oil you'd like, or none at all. I also had a friend use a packet of kool aid as the coloring/scent and she said it was great!
Also for toys, I have found that toothpicks, popsicle sticks, a rolling pin and a plastic knife will beat out expensive toys any day!
Another playdough my boys LOVE but we didn't make today is:
EDIBLE Playdough:
1 cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
1 ½-2 ½ c powdered milk until desired consistency, mix, play EAT!
*I saw this on the Calvary Chapel website and LOVED it!
This is the best presentation as to why you should homeschool. I received it at: http://www.consideringhomeschooling.org The Lord Jesus bless, Sarah
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Government Schools
What is a Christian parent's responsibility?
Dr. Bruce Shortt, Esq., Author, Harsh Truth About Public Schools
We hope the following information will help you make the decision to bring your children home to be educated and trained with a biblical worldview. God is faithful to bless you whether you start homeschooling when your child is 5 or 15. As one mom said,
"Once I started homeschooling I knew this was my purpose. I LOVE IT! I went from being against homeschooling to being a huge advocate! I have seen such positive changes in my kindergartener since she came home."
Brief History of Education
For the first 200 years of education in North America, the primary goal of schooling was to foster religious devotion. The original Puritan and Separatist colonists, inheriting the Reformation's concern that everyone be able to read the Bible, opened schools for the purpose of teaching children how to study the Scriptures. A biblically literate population was seen as the best insurance for a successful society.
Our founding fathers recognized that education should primarily serve to encourage faith in Christ. They acknowledged that civilization's health and very existence depended on people who understood and lived Christian principles.
George Washington said, "True religion affords government its surest support. The future of this nation depends on the Christian training of the youth. It is impossible to govern without the Bible."
Noah Webster wrote, "The education of Youth is an employment of more consequence than making laws and preaching the gospel, because it lays the foundation on which both law and gospel rest for success."
In the 1830's, however, secular concepts began infiltrating the worldview of US citizens. Horace Mann, the "Father of American Public Education," conceived of an educational system without any religious creed (faith). This was the beginning of a long process of excluding God from public education. From this time on, education was seen increasingly as a tool to indoctrinate the public with secularism and humanism.
Secularism seeks to remove God's existence, or at least His relevance, from reality. Humanism centers the universe on humanity, making man, rather than a divine creator, its most important being.
"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism. What can the theistic Sunday schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?" wrote Charles Francis Potter, signer of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto & author of Humanism: A New Religion.
Consider a Christian Home Education for your children. No other environment can provide the safety of a whole Christian worldview and Biblical education.
Will your children believe in Jesus when they graduate from high school?
Homeschooled: 94%
Public Schooled: 15%
94% of homeschoolers keep the faith and 93% continue to attend church after the high school years. But a shocking 75% to 85% of Christian children sent to public school drop out of church, and do not hold a Christian worldview after high school graduation.
By grade eight, the average homeschooled student performs four grade levels above their public and private school counterparts.
A background in teaching is not necessary; in fact, "home educated students' test scores remained between the 80th and 90th percentiles, whether their mothers had a college degree or did not complete high school."
What does God say about education?
Homeschooling is the most Biblical form of education. God addresses parents as the educators of their own children:
"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
- Deuteronomy 6:6-7
"All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children."
- Isaiah 54:13
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
- Proverbs 22:6
Jesus said: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."
- Luke 6:39, 40
"Learn not the way of the heathen."
- Jeremiah 10:2
"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
- Proverbs 13:20
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Zan Tyler, Author of 7 Tools for Cultivating Your Child's Potential, reported that new research reveals 92% of children from Christian homes will reject Jesus:
Zan writes, "I spoke this winter at Sally Clarkson's WholeHearted Mother Conference in Dallas on "Seven Tools for Cultivating Your Child's Potential." As I discussed tool number four (Developing a Christian Worldview), I gave some of these same startling statistics. One mother sought me out after the workshop and informed me that her husband works for Josh McDowell Ministry. She said the statistic they are now using for evangelical children (actually teens and young adults) abandoning the faith is 92 percent. 92 percent! That is catastrophic."
Did you know the latest study by Dr. Brian Ray discovered 94% of children educated at home will keep their faith in Jesus?
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85% of children from Christian homes that attend public schools for 12 years will reject Christ by high school graduation.
Dr. Robert Simonds of the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) has spent over 35 years teaching in Public schools. He has more experience than just about anyone. Dr. Simonds contacted parents of church children who went K-12* in public schools (in 1990) and found that 85% of all those children left their church and faith by 12th grade.
The Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported to the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention that 88 percent of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18, never to return; http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200406/200406030.asp - We acknowledge that this study took into account all forms of education, but we know that most Baptists (80-90%) send their kids to public schools.
We hope that this information will help you see why we feel this message is vital. We will not change the minds of everyone, but we know that children taught at home with the Bible as the foundation to their education have the best chance to not only keep their faith, but maintain a strong Christian worldview throughout their lifetime. For more information on the children that keep their faith who have been homeschooled, visit http://www.nheri.org.
Percentages affect peoples thoughts, but it is not about the percentages, it is about what God has said how we should raise our children. He is not silent about a child's education. Education is not neutral. It is either for Christ or against.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness". 2 Timothy 3:15
Aug. 22, 2007 - Answers to questions from my last blog
I looked up some old blogs for you ladies: Homeschooling encouragement (the week we finished kindergarten) http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.listAll&friendID=13654152&startID=163489949&StartPostedDate=2006-09-03%2013:37:00&next=1&page=6&Mytoken=C5E43780-E6C2-450F-AA87E280DCAF5AA781578014
YOU MUST READ THIS
book! It covers everything for your personal spiritual life, marraige, children, social issues, how to be a Titus 2 woman... It's taken me awhile to get through but there was GREAT stuff worth pondering all the way to the very end!
ELISABETH ELLIOT-KEEP A QUIET HEART
Here is some of the stuff from last night about being a parent:
Teaching your child:
Teach your children to memorize (the scriptures they hide in their heart will help them through their entire life)
Ask Questions(to make children think)
Read aloud to your children until they leave the house
But a microscope or magnifying glass
Have a globe
Teach them abstract truth from the parables
WHY HOMESCHOOL:
1. Children have MORE time to read (aloud and silently), to learn responsibility through chores, to play (without adult direction), and imagine, to enjoy each other and learn obedience
2.Parents do not need to reteach values to children who have heard conflicting information for 7 hours each day. The parent has the child's full attention all day
3. Children love each other more. They do not look down on one another, idolize older kids or favor peers. These ar all things society teaches in the public school. CHildren at home do not get forced to "grow up" in the wrong ways
4. The learn to become servants of one another, the family is a microcosm of th ebody of christ
Books I recommend
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So almost all of this is repeat but I wanted to revise my list and combine a few blogs. Hopefully someone finds something helpful!
First and Foremost THE BIBLE(NKJV)! read it EVERY day!!!
Wisdom and the Millers-Mildred A Martin (I've heard GREAT things about this for a long time and we were recently given a copy. Its AMAZING! We then went on to Prudence and the Millers and this is probably the best resource we have read in teaching how to live a Godly life at a level for children to REALLY understand.
Halleys Bible Handbook-Its a great mini commentary, and has so much archeology stuff in it that is just amazing!
ELISABETH ELLIOT-KEEP A QUIET HEART
Created To Be His HelpMeet: Debi Pearl (expands BIBLICAL principles for being a godly wife)
Raising Children to Adore God: Patrick Kavanaugh
10 Peas in a Pod: Arnold Pent III (see below)
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Read and Learn Bible: American Bible Society (great for those starting to read alone)
Gods Wisdom for little Boys: Jim George or for Little Girls by Elizabeth George (beautiful illustrations)
Little Pilgrim's Progress: Helen Taylor
The Word & Song Bible: Stephen Elkins (my boys go to sleep hearing teh Word of God)
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any study guide by Elizabeth George
My ABC Bible Verses: Susan Hunt (great to help decide what verses to teach little ones. Its so important to hide God's word in their hearts when they are young at at the prime age for memorizing!)
the squire and the scroll (for boys) the princess andthe kiss is for girls
Max Lucado has some great ones for children, My favorite is Just In Case You Ever Wonder, Because I Love You
All You Ever Need by Max Lucado are good ones too Andrew LOVES Hermie
and we recently got a great one from the library by Debbie Anderson called Jesus in coming back. It was so good I did a Sunday School class around it as well before I had to return it!
And we also do this Advent study every evening after dinner. I did it with my 5 year old last year, but I learned a lot (and so did Tiff who was 16) and it came with coloring pages my 18 month old also enjoyed. :
This year we are also reading:Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide
It's really good so far. It has a lot of prophesy and it great about making the waiting for the Messiah (in old testament times and now) come to life (there are also 2 other books in this series) I had put off reading it but I am TRULY impressed with this book.
Last year I also did a lot of reading about traditions and holidays in an attempt to make our Holidays Christ centered. Unfortunately I dont remember it all, but here are some I do remember
The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions by Lisa Whelchel
10 Ps in a Pod
I just had to bump this up! I picked it up again (last time I read the library's copy, but then I went and bought it (visionforum.com) and just picked it up again! Its a true storyabout a family with 8 children and how they LIVE out their faith! Its just SOO inspiring! They also have a lot of common sense advice about every day living through out as well!
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I am currently reading this and it is SOO good! It really gives you perspective on your spiritual life! He talks about most people spend more time feeding their bodies which will decay and die than they do feeding their souls, which are eternal. It is so true, and has spawned some changes around here.
His family spends an hour in quiet devotion every day 1st thing in the morning (children under 6 spend 30 minutes) and the 30 minutes reading the Bible out loud after every meal! By the time they turn 21 his children can quote the entire New Testament from memory! Not because they spent time memorizing, but from the sheer number of times they have been exposed to it
So homeschooling for us was a complete accident. It started when Peter turned 3 and I just couldn't bear to send him away from me for preschool. So I started teaching him at home, he loved it and so did I! So 4 came along and again I felt preschool was a bad idea for completely selfish reasons. My husband really felt "normal" school was necessary, but agreed to let me put it off until Kindergarten. So in this time we moved to Washington, he turns 5 and we walk him over to the school that is just 4 houses away and go to enroll him. They denied him enrollment because his birthday was a mere days past the cut off (he was born September 28th), they said he must go to preschool that year and we were frustrated! He was reading very well and doing addition, he could tell you facts about every animal in creation, and they wanted him to learn his colors! We looked into testing him in, skipping a grade we were told it would not happen in ANY situation. I see clearly now this was God's hand as it was His will all along for me to homeschool! So we decided to do Kindergarten at home. My husband was still weary about homeschooling and said the next year we would enroll him anyhow. So we started talking about what we were doing and had friends give us a whole years worth of Christian curriculum for FREE! This was another sign that God's hand was in this! During that first year we found MANY other homeschooling families both online and in our community and Peter thrived. At the end of the year my husband was able to look at him compared to his public school peers and realize there is no way he could get this kind of education in a public school and gave me the OK to make this a permanent situcation!
Now Peter is about to turn 7 he is doing 3rd grade level work in many subjects and to be honest he knows more in science and history than I EVER learned going through GATE and Honors and AP classes up through high school graduation! I'm learning right along side him! Not to mention he is gaining life skills he could not learn anywhere else, and I can make sure what he learns is glorifying to the Lord. We can teach him from the best source of literature EVER, God's Word.
And even know I am sick as a dog and hardly able to fuction which is the biggest test we could have scholastically but we can still read, he reads to his brother we can read in my bed and he is still learning!
And it has never been expensive for us! I take full advantage of my local library, use catalogs to know which titles to search for at the library, and have found that in being generous and giving away curriculum we can no longer used we have been blessed 10 times that in recieving gifts of curriculum! We have realy only bought 2 books brand new and they are the Apologia science books I've been raving about for months, and at $25 each they will last us ALL our homeschooling years!
I have TONS to blog about but no time, this baby is keeping me sick! But I need to get my mind back on homeschooling, and this looked fun!
I am Angel, mommy to Peter age 6 in second grade and Andrew age 3 who started preschool this year. I've been homeschooling officially since Peter started preschool.
Homeschooling has not been happening much lately as I've been so sick, but we usually go all year long. We're really flexible but rarely does it take more than 2 hours a day of actual book work. We're big on learning through hands on experience and real life situations.
I'm not really loyal to any curriculum, but our FAVORITE resource ever has been Apologia science! We did flying creatures last year and will jump into swimming creatures this year! We read a lot of historical fiction, and spent last year going super in depth to American History, we'll finish up with The Light and the Glory (which we are working on now) and then see if we want to linger a little longer or pick a new topic. We're also Horizons math fans, and we're currently working through LifePac LA (grade 3).
W e homeschool in our playroom "officially" but it always leads to the kitchen table as I prepare a meal, we read snuggled on the couch or in a bed, the great thing about homeschooling is it can happen anywhere at any time!
...last week, and we only started in April, we just happen to be a family of science dorks! So we speed through a years worth of curriculum!
This was by far the BEST science book I have ever seen in my life! We ALL learned a lot! And not only did we learn stuff, it actually stuck in our memories and was fun! And we had lots of great pets and projects from it!
http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/Zoology1.html
Peter is already begging to start Zoology 2 already (and I am currently printing the notebook pages for it so we'll be ready)
but we had so much with science we started letting other subjects slip a bit (but before getting this book we went a little overboard with history, our other favorite subject! We went in depth into American History this year, and still have a little more stuff to go through before I consider us finished) including this book which I have heard so much great stuff about!
Have I mentioned lately how fun homeschooling is? I LOVE that God has blessed me with the ability to stay home and do this!
), two levels can be completed with just one ten minute lesson every day, Monday through Sunday. Two ten minute lessons a day, every day, one in the morning and one in late afternoon will get you through 4 levels in one year. 
Currently reading : 
