This blog is a meandering of my thoughts along the way. My goal is to be an helpmeet to my husband, mama and child trainer to my four children, and an encourager to all in my path. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:02:00 -0600 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:02:00 -0600 Homemade Caramel without the mess Lightly boil an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours, then chill. When you open it, it is supposed to be like caramel. You may have to add water to the pot when boiling to make sure the pot does not go dry or your can could blow. The longer it boils the thicker the caramels. Good for a lonnng time in the pantry!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745138/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745138/   Another good post from Flylady. ~ ~    Dear Friends, Sometimes there is a learning curve [on learning a new habit] and it doesn't just snap into place. Even more so with menu planning, sometimes your Plan A menu plan hits the skids for whatever reason and now you're in a bind. What to do? Plan B. And Plan C even. Don't get trapped in perfectionism and believe that you can never ever deviate from the menu plan! Stuff happens, we are all susceptible. So when that stuff is hitting the fan, you need the insurance protection of Plan B and Plan C. Here's what that looks like. ... Plan B - I think everyone should have a stash of frozen meals in their freezer. We've even got frozen crockpot meals it's by far the easiest, cinchy-iest way to dinner and great in a pinch! Plan C is what I call an emergency meal. This is where your well-stocked pantry saves your biscuitsâwhat you need to make a quick and dirty dinner is right there, in the pantry and you can get it cooked and on the table as quick as lightning because you have to. I've got a recipe here for you to try the next time you're slammed busy and suddenly don't have the time you need to make it. The goal of course is Plan A. But be ready just in case for Plan B and even Plan C scenarios. That's just the way life is sometimes! Here's that recipe I told you about. Get your pantry stocked with these ingredients this week! You'll be glad you did! The Original 911 Emergency Dinner Serves 4 3 cups instant brown rice, cooked 2 (15 ounce) cans of black beans, not drained Jarred salsa (your favorite) CONDIMENTS Shredded Cheddar cheese Sour cream Tortillas In a saucepan, heat the beans till nice and hot. In a bowl, place your cooked rice, top with beans and salsa. Add the condiments of your choice to the top and heat the tortillas to be used as either a bread-type side dish or to allow your family to make soft tacos from their meal. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745137/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745137/ I got this in an email from Flylady (a cleaning help enewsletter) and I thought it was pretty neat. ~ ~    Dear Friends, You know who you are! Many of us are Fabric hoarders! Here is a great idea that was posted on our BigTent message page. All you have to do is click the link at the bottom. Here is the message that was posted. About 2 years ago we joined the "Go Green" bandwagon. My mom made simple cloth bags in various sizes for wrapping presents. Now we have no paper to worry about buying, tossing and buying again. I think I may make some to give as gifts this year for all occasions... ********* FlyLady here again Any kind of fabric will work for these gift bags. I did a Google search and here is what I came up with. http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/ezgiftbags/easy_giftbag_pattern.html Not only can you use your Fabric stash but you can use those old clothes you can't get rid of! Maybe even some of those goofy holiday sweaters that MissusSmartyPants has been ragging us about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PFJkzcLTlI Have fun but don't get sidetracked! Do your routine first! Get dressed to lace up shoes and then take a few minutes to have some fun being creative. I want to see pictures. Don't pull out more than you can put back in an hour and pick up after yourself! We may never have to buy gift wrap again. LOL I can see it now! Everyone giving gift bags as presents and have Gift Bag Making Parties and Gift Bag Swaps like cookie swaps!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745136/ Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745136/   http://www.amblesideonline.org/Copywork.shtml http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/copywork.html  http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73442 http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/printables/printablescopywork_bible.html http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/printables/printablescopywork.html http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/RollsLife/414090/ http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/free-print-and-cursive-copywork-worksheets http://www.4shared.com/file/123462028/32663c3e/copyworkprint1st1.html   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745134/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/745134/     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/721084/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/721084/   In this post I have some "overviews" that can be used as a guide for you to use to teach from. Like a spine. See my other post on teaching from a spine (HERE). These are just guides, as all curricula and teacher manuals are only a tool for us to use. The one from Heart Of Wisdom is very good. I say that especially because it also incorporates science. A nice blessing! All overviews and especially chronological teaching should, in my opinion, use a timeline. Some families will post one along their hallway or make a big long fold up one (accordian style). These are mostly based on a four year rotation, as is popular in current education.     Four Year plan http://heartofwisdom.com/homeschoollinks/four-year-plan/   Four Year plan http://www.highlanddove.org/history.htm http://myhomeschool101.blogspot.com/2007/11/rc-history.html   Four year plan http://www.pennywiselearning.com/The-Weaver-Curriculum-Scope-and-Sequence.html   Four Year plan for high school http://www.janice-campbell.com/2008/09/09/high-school-a-four-year-plan-for-homeschoolers/   Four Year living book list sequence http://homescool-ed.blogspot.com/2007/04/sonlight-books-arranged-by-well-trained.html   Overview plan http://www.konos.com/quickoverview/scope.htm   Overview plan http://www.sonlight.com/scope-and-sequence.html   Overview plan http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/suggested_course_of_study.htm   Overview plan year by year http://www.bjupress.com/catalog_pdfs/scope_sequence09.pdf   Overview http://www.anchorchurchresources.com/scope_sequence.pdf   Overview – editable http://www.bjupress.com/resources/christian-school/curriculum-guides/word-format.php   If you like these kinds of posts, please check out my other blog that focusses just on homeschooling on a dime. Inspired To Learn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705948/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705948/ Does a big mess keep you from doing art projects? Here is an idea I came up with recently as I am beginning to implement the "Workbox System" into my home. You can make up a workbox (plastic tote) for a particular kind of craft or art method. Like watercolor painting, coloring in colorbooks, stencils, scrapbooking, lapbooking, etc. One craft per workbox. If you do this then all the supplies needed for that activity are there. Make sure the scissors, glue sticks, colored pencils or whatever are all in there- whatever is required to that art activity! The child just goes to retrieve the workbox and will not need to search for this and that! The bonus is that it makes it really easy to clean up and put away too!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705933/ Sun, 5 Jul 2009 15:39:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705933/     SPELLING   Pick up a simple spiral notebook in late August during the school supply sales. Usually you can get one for 10/$1.00! This will be your student’s spelling notebook. You can choose to use this as the place to keep/record the spelling lists or to also complete spelling practice in. If you choose to do the spelling practice in another spiral notebook, try to pick one that is the same color as the first. Open the spiral notebook and on the first page, or inside the cover, write the basic instructions down for your student. Your student will be forming a list of words that they misspell throughout the week or over a specified period of time, say two weeks. These words will be recorded in list form on this spelling practice list’s page. Continue until you have 10 or 20 words – depending on the age and ability of the child- then stop the list. You may choose to carry over words that did not make the list because of quantity and any words that were incorrect on their test from last week. If you have trouble coming up with 10 words, choose words that are from lists you can find online or in books of most misspelled words. (200 Most Misspelled Words, AskOxford, Etme, 3 more links here) To buy something, you can get 1001 Most Misspelled Words at a thrift store or new for $10. Have the student turn to the next page or work in the second spiral notebook to practice spelling each word 20 times. It also works to only spell 10 times and then require a sentence be made for each word. This is also good penmanship and grammar practice. A test must be given by another student or yourself. If you required sentences to be written, you may decide to say the word and then say the sentence that they wrote for it. It is association and cements the learning process! Any words missed should be recycled onto next weeks list. Be careful to praise the words all spelled correctly. Remember, these are all words that were difficult to that person. These are not the spelling lists we were given as students and we knew how to spell most of them already. Try not to focus on errors made on the test and give plenty of praise where praise is due! So, there you go- an extremely effective spelling program that is tailored to the specific needs of your student and only cost you 10 cents. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705929/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:37:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705929/   This is a new site that offers up a complete homeschool curriculum, "People of America". This is a 37-week schedule of scripted American History lessons, geared to kids ages 6-8, and includes units focusing on Native Americans, European Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans & Asian American History. It's a very large site. These are interesting, easy-to-use lessons for primary students. Check it out and see if this is a resource you can use in your homeschool. http://www.prontolessons.com/     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705928/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705928/   One of the coolest things you can take advantage of as a homeschooler is using timeline. It can be added to every year or a fresh one made. If you add to it every year, it becomes this wonderful living history project that will both cement learning and inspire learning. Discoveries/landmarks in science and family history are great additions to any time line. Each student could have their own timeline or the whole family might share one. The benefit of each student having one is that your children may be studying different time periods and if they are making their own timeline figures it will be entirely their own creation, instead of a shared project. Each student's timeline would be a cool keepsake, too. The whole family may decide to have one! It is possible to have a family time line and each student to have their own. What ever your family decides, it will be a project you all will benefit from and enjoy. Styles of timelines can be mounted to the wall like a hallway, a folding accordian style, or as pages in a binder that you flip through. The binder style is more difficult to grasp the layout as it is not laid out in a linear fashion. If you want to use butcher paper, keep in mind that it may roll up on the edges. There is always the option to laminate it before you add the time line figures and that may help with the rolling edges. Another option is to tape pages together end to end on the back (with strong tape such as packing tape). You may opt for cardstock for a more sturdy project, which I recommend. The heavier, the better. The benefits of this page to page style is that it can be added to if need be on the end, can be folded, can be mounted on the wall, and is small enough to go into a folder or on a shelf. Your student may create their own artwork for timeline figures, do no art and just write what happened when or use premade artwork for it. Many families enjoy the Homeschool In The Woods products for premade figures and you can reproduce them to save big money. Then all your figures "match" if that is important or you have a child who is not comfortable with their craft skills. I have included some links for free or nearly free timeline figures here below. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ClassicalEducation4Me/9726/ http://www.squidoo.com/homeschooltimelines http://www.abookintime.com/timelines.html http://isaiah5413.blogspot.com/2007/01/free-or-almost-free-time-line-figures.html http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=296481 (A topic thread here, at the link just above, gives an address to a yahoogroup with 850+ members that share timeline help. I am a member myself.) http://www.angelfire.com/or/mtdewbydo/timelines.html http://www.biblioplan.net/timeline.htm http://www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/socialsciences_ancientcivilizations.htm    If you like these kinds of posts, please check out my other blog that focusses just on homeschooling on a dime. Inspired To Learn       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705924/ Tue, 7 Jul 2009 15:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/H0MEFree/705924/