7servingHim - Homeschool Blogger

Merry Christmas from our Pioneer Christmas

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:53:00 -0600

As we finish up our 2nd quarter, we are setting aside the My Father's World Curriculum and only doing Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic for a few days before Christmas break. We are using the extra time to finish making our family's Christmas presents. No Santa emphasis this year. We are having a good old-fashioned, what we call "Pioneer Christmas." We're all making our presents. We have a real tree, no lights, only handmade decorations. We went to Ft. Boonesborough's Winter Trade Days as if we had gone to town to buy a few things. No store bought items this year, unless we needed to purchase an item to help complete a craft/project. We are so excited. My desire for Black Friday shopping was not here this year. Better yet, my children haven't even been talking about Santa Claus. We have been focused on the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birth.

Some of our homemade gifts for this year.... a family sized Indian tent, pioneer nightgowns, crocheted dish cloths, recipe albums, school year photo albums, canvas paintings, fleece scarves, written stories, polymer clay crafts, tin punch ornaments, delicious peanut butter fudge, molasses cookies, Christmas Carolers from toilet tissue holders, doll clothes, skirts, and culottes.

Merry Christmas and keep focused on the true meaning of Christmas.

The Human Body - making brain, heart, lung models...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:48:00 -0500

We enjoyed using the following book with another family. We used a free room in our local library and met weekly. We rotated teaching and preparing for each lesson. My 1 year old overheard us saying the heart goes "bum bum bum bum," and she began pointing to pictures of hearts (real ones and drawn ones) and patting her chest while saying, "Bum bum bum bum." It has been amazing to observe the kids recalling information from the study. The extra effort in planning and preparing every other week was definitely worth it.

"Mom, it's a cell."

Brain Hat

We were able to go to a live production of Slim Goodbody in our town. Does anyone remember him growing up? I did! Wow, they memorize a lot to put on that production!!

"YEAH BODY!" This was Slim Goodbody's expression.
Easy Make and Learn Projects - The Human Body: Easy How-To's for Making 20 Models, Manipulations and Mini Books That Would Teach the Kids about the Incredible Human Body
http://books.google.com/books?id=S5db6WWbcXIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1

Preparing for another year of My Father's World

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:29:00 -0500

Thank you, Lord, for leading us into homeschooling. We are now into our 5.5 year homeschooling. I will have 7th, 4th, 1st, K4, and a 1 year old this year. I am scanning, shopping, searching the library, and getting supplies ready to begin Creation to the Greeks and the Adventures series. Somehow, I really want to add FIAR volume II. In January 2008, I began studying and researching different homeschool styles. The MFW has all we were looking for, and I don't have to put it together myself which is what I had begun doing. We were straight ABEKA, and I was adding my own lapbooks, notebooks, and unit studies to try to get more hands on. This curriculum truly has all of the above and more. Enjoy your school year. God bless. Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.

Fun homeschool days

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:26:00 -0500

We are enjoying so very much the Five in a Row series and the My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures. The activities help reinforce the subject content and helps the children retain the information. Plus, great memories are made for our family.

Patriot's Point, SC - great educational & fun field trip

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:03:00 -0500

This was a great stop on our vacation. If you are passing through Charleston, SC, or are close by, this is a must see. We only had time to tour a small portion off the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, the submarine, and the Vietnam base. You could definitely spend two days and not see it all. We love America and American History

Great reference for Bible lessons

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:37:00 -0500

This has been a great source of stories, children's Bible lessons, coloring pages. The verses are not KJV, but I've used a few of the object lessons already. Today, some of our homeschool families got together for our game day. The older children are learning to play soccer. The younger children did a nature walk and nature study. I did a devotional beforehand with the kids about forgiveness and how Jesus said we should forgive others 70 x 7 times. I had bags of 70 M&Ms to show how many times 70 is alone. We talked about good sportsmanship and being forgiving to our siblings and friends. One mother was able to use what we learned in the lesson during the nature walk with the little kids. What a blessing.

Hope you enjoy the site. www.sermons4kids.com

God bless!

One-on-one prayer time

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:16:00 -0500

My husband and I don't do this often enough, but what a blessing it is when we do. After my husband prayed with us, we talked a few moments with each child alone. We asked them what they needed prayer for, talked about heaven, being saved and what sin is with our 3 year old, obedience, and told them what they did today that we were proud of. We then prayed with each child for their specific requests and for our desires for them.

Each child was so different and precious. This is a good reminder for me as I catch myself trying to teach and guide one child the same way as I did another child. They are God's clay, and He is the potter.

I love these memories, and I hope my children will remember those special times when they are grown and raising their own families. Prayerfully, they'll remember more good than bad. I pray they let God have His way with their lives. Maybe trying this one night this week will be a blessing to some Mommy out there. We need all the encouragement we can get as we go through the ups and downs of our busy lives teaching, training, and rearing our children. Sometimes their prayer requests are convicting, and we must change our ways, but that is a good thing.

God bless you ladies who are surrendered to God's calling of teaching your children at home.

Money saving tip for vacation

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:01:00 -0500

I researched many websites before our vacation for money-saving tips. One idea we've used in the past and decided to use again was envelopes for our daily food and souvenir money. We put $30 in each day's envelope for meals. Our hotel had continental breakfast. We ate at places like Wendy's for lunch or dinner and ate for less than $15. The other meal would be sandwiches or cereal or something of that nature. All money left over was put into the next day's envelope.

We visited Patriot's Point in Charleston, SC and Tybee Island and Ft. Pulaski. I found out admission prices beforehand, and we put that money into the envelope for the day we would be going there. We also set aside an amount for souvenirs for each tourist attraction. Any money we didn't spend, we transferred it to another envelope.

Ft. Pulaski Living History Days

It was fun for my husband to see how cheap and creative we could be with meals. He mentioned several times how glad he was that we had already set the money aside for meals, activities and souvenirs. He didn't have to worry about it. That was a blessing to hear from him.

The top of Tybee Island Lighthouse.

I recommend the envelopes - you will be more free to enjoy your vacation time with your family and less worried about having to decide whether or not you can do an activity or not.

God bless.

Vacation notebook for kids

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:27:00 -0500

We'll see if this is successful soon. We leave for vacation tonight, and I have put together a travel notebook/journal for my kids. Everything was found online through google searching. Coloring pages, journal and notebooking pages, travel games like finding license plates from all 50 states and coloring the license plate in on a pre-made worksheet, a map of where we are going for them to follow along, clear plastic sleeves for brochures, etc. I've seen posts of ladies who did this when they were little, and they still treasure their travel journal/notebooks.

Have a blessed day.

Notebooking and vacation ideas Hilton Head, SC

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:05:00 -0500

We are traveling to Hilton Head, SC, Patriot's Point, Ft. Pulaski, Ft. Sumter, Tybee island, and Cumberland Gap next week. I'm putting together a vacation/travel notebook for each of the kids. We began notebooking this year with the My Father's World Curriculum, and it is fun to look back through the notebooks already and see the wide variety of topics being learned. It all fits together - Bible, language, Writing strands, Science, History, Art, Music, Nature...

Any successful travel ideas or good restaurants in the area that are inexpensive - especially Kids Eat Free - would be a blessing if you'd like to comment.

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good!

I want to start school!

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 13:51:00 -0500

What a blessing to hear my daughters beg to begin school today, July 7, 2008. So, we began the My Father's World Curriculum. They did a little and were content. We usually begin school back at the first of August. I am now finishing up buying school supplies - Staples has a 1 cent sale today, so we'll check that out. We are trying Writing Strands and Learning Language Arts through Literature for 6th and 3rd grade, Math-u-See, MFW, and FIAR for K and Pre-K children.

I am interested in finding a Japanese language program for our foreign language. For Bible, we will make a notebook during family alter and devotions. I have learned about notebooking recently, and plan on using a lot of this during the year.

God bless you all as you plan your school year. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Managers of Their Home schedule AGAIN!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:09:00 -0600

What a tremendous blessing this morning. My 10 y/o daughter came to me with such excitement and said, "I can't wait for school to start. I love having a schedule and knowing what to do!" I redid our Managers of Their Home schedule last night. I had strayed from it for a couple of years. I posted it on the wall and she read through it and then came and expressed her excitement for the day. Praise the Lord. If you are looking for a schedule idea, I do love this one. It takes alot of work and time, but it is well worth it in the end. Aren't these the kind of comments that would make any homeschool mom's day? Have a wonderful homeschool day.

1st lapbook completed!

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:49:00 -0600

We completed our first lapbook over the weekend on weather. We did one for all ages, so it is packed with many flaps and mini-books. For those who do lapbooks, how do you organize the process? Do you make the lapbook as you go, or do you put it together when you are finished. What works for you? I would appreciate hearing how others have done it and what works for your family.
God bless!

United States Party Night

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:58:00 -0600

Here's an idea for adding to your studies of the United States.

We kept a surprise all day of the giant cookie we were going to make, shape, and decorate as the United States of America. It was a fun kitchen experience again. It's nice to hear excited yells of, "Can I help you?" being followed by the kids running toward the kitchen. Messier? Yes. More time consuming? Yes. At dinnertime, though, another memory of cooking in the kitchen together is invaluable. Below are the instructions. Add some home ec, art, and memories to your day. Maybe some hot chocolate, too! God bless.

United States Cookie
We doubled a chocolate chip cookie cookie dough recipe and left out the chocolate chips. Once mixed according to the package directions, we pushed it out into the shape of the U.S. Next, it was rolled smoothed. Mountains were formed for the Rockies and the Appalachians. A cinnamon and sugar mixture was sprinkled on the desert areas, and green sugar applied for grass/mountains. We baked it until it was done according to package directions. While still warm, we added large hershey kisses for the Rockies and smaller ones for the Appalachians. We got a few toys to add to represent different states/cities. A horse for Kentucky, a bell for the city of Philadelphia, etc. Blue icing was used to make the rivers.

My children tagged our night the United States Party. Since it was a party, they HAD to get dressed up. The girls begged me to curl and fix their hair fancy. I figured since we would probably never take them to Libby Lu (spelling?) to let a stranger fix them in a way we wouldn't approve, I could make it memorable and fun at home for them. They wanted Daddy to dance with them and twirl them around. It was a late night and full of fun for them. What a blessing to look back and be glad for the extra time spent late at night to make this "homeschool" activity so much more than just geography learning! These are the memories we homeschool moms cherish and add to our belt to get out when the devil comes knocking with discouragement and doubt!

What fun kitchen activities has your family experienced that you'd like to share?

Please give advice on unit studies and lapbooks. Thanks.

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:19:00 -0600

Hi everyone! We asked the kids this weekend what they would like to learn about next week. Weather it is! Hurricanes, tornadoes, clouds, etc. Off to the library we went. I have lots of ideas. I love Unit Studies and am wanting to teach this way all the time. We've gone from traditional curriculum to a mix and match of dabbling in unit studies and substituting it for some of the book work/traditional. They beg each morning, "Can we do unit studies today?" I love it, they love it, but a part of me holds onto, "What if they miss out on information others their age are studying..." The devil tries to discourage me, but I know where my heart is leading...unit studies! We've done mini unit studies on Pilgrims and Colonial history, Little House Series with Unit study guide (I can't think of the name), and most recently on Veterans. The Veterans study has been so interesting and we have branched it out into many areas. We've all loved it. Even today, my sometimes skeptical Mom brought me copies of family who are WWII veterans. I was blessed by that. They are enjoying hearing what the kids are learning.

Here are my requests for help:

1. I love the lapbook idea!!!!! Any tips and pointers for our new study on weather? I believe we will do one for the Veterans study and go from there.

2. Do any of you just see where the Unit Study leads or do you have to do a lot of preparation before the study begins? I haven't done alot of planning outside of searching for books at our library and some simple brainstorming to see where the studies can lead?

3. Has anyone done a Weather lapbook? I'd be interested in seeing it.

4. Can anyone share a testimony on going from traditional to unit studies and how that has impacted your children and your family and schooling experience?

Thanks for any comments ahead of time. God bless.

Sewing a birthday gift

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 22:55:00 -0600

We purchased a good, dependable sewing maching for our girls, and we put it to use today. Faith made a Bible bag for a friend. Makayla made a change purse. After showing Faith how to use the machine, she just took off on her own. She was meticulous and did a wonderful job.

Here is the work in progress:

Here are the finished projects! Great job girls.