Jan. 30, 2009 - Have you Heard Voddie?
This amazing man of God is so encouraging for me and my husband. We really enjoy listening to him together. He encourages us as homeschoolers, parents, and disciples of Jesus Christ. I found this amazing link that will give you a lot of free mp3 files:
http://psalm305.blogspot.com/2007/03/voddie-baucham-mp3-sermons.html
*Even better, go to Behemoth and get Voddie's "Culture Wars" or "Who Controls the Schools...". These are amazing for homeschoolers. It will really encourage you and your husband in homeschooling.
Jan. 20, 2009 - Great Finds
I am very excited that Behemoth has been created to give us Christians a wonderful selection of amazing audiobooks, homeschool encouragents, amazing Christian movies, and much more to download on mp3 files. I was quite impressed that the prices were very reasonable. I just downloaded a wonderful Christian, godly movie that just won awards. I can't wait to watch it with dad and the children Friday night. Isn't it great that we can watch amazing Christian movies that are on par with Fireproof with a simple download? I can watch great movies with knowing that the themes will bind our hearts and lives closer together with Christ and each other. I look forward to enjoying movies that will be good for us. I also just downloaded the freebie of the day, an hour long encouragment from the Botkin girls (love them) and The Family Toledoth, Part I, which is an hour long encouragement for just today. Don't forget to get it because, if I understand correctly, they change it daily. Also, don't forget to go to handsofachild.com website and grab the freebie of Ecosystems lapbook, what a great gift.
Have a great week everyone,and don't forget to leave a comment. . As a past public school teacher, I couldn't agree with these clips more. I had the hearts and parents, much more than the parents. It was a powerful thing to hold that in my hand, yet some how it felt wrong.
Nov. 19, 2008 - Wordless Wednesday: Our New Chore Sticks for Young Ones
Oct. 29, 2008 - Free Election Lapbooks
There are some great lapbooks on the currclick.com website, Hands of a Child, or knowledgeboxcentral. However, if you are in a pinch for pennies then you might really like this freebie. Click HERE for a fabulous free election lapbook. Oh, I don't want to forget that Sheila and Jamin are both sharing the finished product on her page if you want ideas for layouts. There are also some great copy pages from enchantedlearning.com that are great for adding to a lapbooks. I like the multi age pages from this website. Page around with the search election presidents. You will even find an electoral coloring page, showing each states electoral number. HERE is a fun link to show the origination of the donkey for the Democratic party and elephant for the Republican party. Lastly, don't miss this extra freebie-a free election lapbook of 25 pages. Click here for this great lapbook. Be sure to thank Melanie for it! Here are two fun School House Rocks Government cartoon for teaching with your lapbook
If you wish to see other lapbook freebies, here is a link for share
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/index_lapbooks_master_list.php
Sep. 14, 2008 - Organizing Tip for Juggling Many Children and Homeschool
This quick easy download organizational software was an answer to prayer. I needed a software that could keep track of all the different assignments and work for all six children whom I teach. I often would find some of my children forget to do assignments. Originally, I had created assignment books which the children would write their assignments into. However, I think I was expecting too much. One child who was the organized child of the family did well while the very disorganized personality child got lost. I was then trying to keep track of everything on my lesson plans to call them to account for completing their assignments. However, my lesson plan week at a glance book was too small. This software prints off what each child has to do each day. There are many assignments tied into their readings or lapbooks, etc. They check off the boxes as they complete. It even allows me to go between subjects that are multilevel, including various reading levels, and assignments that are much more individualized for the older students. It also keeps track of their work for a final end of the year summary for each child, as well. I wish I had found this software a long time ago. It should help cut down on all the time I would spend in trying to accomplish a paper trail of assignments and accomplishments. Can you believe that you get to purchase and use it right away (a quick download with a cd in the mail) for under fifty dollars? Here is two links that give you a good over view of what it does:
Homeschool Tracker link#1
Homeschool Tracker link#2
Sep. 13, 2008 - Have you Considered a Historical Reenactment Group?
We have just recently joined up with a reenactment group, the French Colonial group. The idea is very new to us as a family. We went to visit with the French today at a historical site just an hour away, my husband was outfitted for his clothes by the group. What an amazing way to learn history. The children are learning about living history from clothing items to living conditions and Indian involvement. It has been so much fun. I wish we knew about this a long time ago. So, I hope to share this with anyone else who might be interested. Check with your local historical society to see if there is a historical reenactment near you. It is a lot more fun that any amusement park or vacation. It is family oriented, and it provides a lot of family bonding. You get to have fun with your children working and playing together. There are no distractions of the modern day conveniences. It also works well with work schedules because it is mostly the weekends that we meet. The children are busy this week copying their patterns, cutting them, and sewing them, lapbooking, and reading about the time period. If you get the chance to visit a reenactment, you will want to mark your calendars. It is sooo much fun. Here is a great link that helps children learn about the time period clothing. Click HERE for the link. When we finish our costumes, I will put some pictures up.
Aug. 4, 2008 - composers for kids and other great stuff
I found this great website that I wanted to share. I really like the interactive composer timeline. Free stuff on the link: classicsforkids.com Here is a link for free kids music: http://freekidsmusic.com/music-mn.html
And, lastly, here is a great link for teaching the different classical music pieces. The free samples are fun to listen to: classicalmagic.net
If you children love to learn via magazines. I have a couple of these. My husband loves them as well, even though they are for kids (they are that great). They have amazing graphics and illustrations which is packed full with information. Check out this discover link where you can purchase themes of magazines by American History, World History, Health, etc. Discover Magazine for kids
You can sometimes find these on ebay, but they are broken up sets not complete themes.
If you want some free fun documentary stuff to tie in with your lapbooking and such, there is a free trial on http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com
Let me know if you enjoy getting these links.
What is your favorite link?
Jul. 24, 2008 - Free Homeschool Magazine Trials
Do you get really encouraged by a favortie homeschool magazines? Here are some of my favorites. I sometimes get them through ebay or subscription, and even better, some have free samples!
1. Old Schoolhouse- I don't know if they give free trials, but I found one to purchase at Borders
2. homeschoolingtoday.com free trial sample with no obligation. This is now a favorite magazine
3. HomeSchoolEnrichment.com-free trial sample with no obligation. This is a favorite
4. Wisgate.com for Home School Digest which comes out quarterly -a jam packed magazine with awesome articles. Also, check out their other magazine, An Encouraging Word. You can see some great sample/free articles. Click here: Encouraging Word
5. Above Rubies magazine is donation based. It is one of my must haves. I read mine so much that I wear out the pages. I hope you get to enjoy these. What are your favorites?
Jul. 19, 2008 - Diana Waring
Yeah, I got my Diana Waring's cd of "Ancient Civilizations and the Bible" the other day. It is a fifty minute cd that goes from the beginning of time through the history of ancient civilizations in a way that any auditory student will be probably memorize easily. She goes through history in talking about where God's people are in the midst of the changing cultures and leaders. She sure knows her stuff. I can't imagine how much time she spent learning all this for herself because it is so packed that it left me amazed and speechless. The cd was less than ten dollars but worth so much more than that. I am eager to get some more of her items. I also really recommend Well Kept Secrets of Homeschooling (discipleship in homeschooling). I also really enjoyed the books, Beyond Survival and Reaping a Harvest. But, I can't wait to get Box Free Living cd (homeschooling without the boxed curriculum) and Hilarious Homeschooling. If any of you have heard her in a homeschool conference than you know how funny she is. I hope she will be at next years Chicago homeshcool conference. My husband and I had so much fun visiting her workshops. I especially loved the one with putting on plays with the books, reenactments. She is one of my favorites! Visit her website and glean from her. http://www.dianawaring.com/catalog/ P.S. Check out this great blogger, Twaddlemenot, for a great contest. Just leave a comment to enter http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/TwaddleMeNot/562834/?#c1104790
Jul. 9, 2008 - Paper Plate studies
Have you heard of using paper plates with your studies? I thought this was a fun find from a fellow yahoo lapbooker. I didn't want any of you to miss this website. Click HERE to find out more so that you can use it in lapbooking, notebooking, etc.
Have you checked out homeschoolshare.com? It is full of fun unit studies that are made by other moms. It is fun and free. Check out the Nim's Island one. The children and I can't wait to start that one. It looks really good.
