Faithful Friend - Homeschool Blogger

Update

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:54:00 -0500

Hello Friends,
I will be posting mainly over at my blog, Drucilla's Stitches I love homeschool blogger but have a difficult time doing anything beyond the basics.
I love visiting you sweet bloggers and will add those who are interested to my friends list at blogger. Please visit me here.
God Bless You!
Tina

Handbook of Nature Study

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 12:16:00 -0500

We have been using Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study for several years and now have found a great website to follow along as we study from her book.
Handbook of Nature Study is an online journal that you will enjoy if you like this book.

Today we are making a Flower Notebook as we have been collecting flowers for the past few weeks and they are dried.

As soon as I can remember how to add pictures I will share our notebook.

Devotions and library books

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:17:00 -0500

Yes, we are back on track. One week of school and daily adding some of our extra curricular activities such as art, soccer, and our upcoming homeschool support group meeting. Much planning has went into our meetings this year with a newly formed leadership committee, in which I am truly grateful. As coordinator for our group it is sometimes overwhelming so I am very thankful for each person who helps in our group. We have a precious group of women who love the Lord and have been such a blessing to me the past few years.

I am determined to get up early this year before we begin school to have my quiet time of prayer and devotions before beginning our day.
Today as I was reading my daily Proverbs 31 devotion by Wendy Pope I was so excited to see that the P31 team is beginning a study on the book, He Speaks to Me, by Priscilla Shirer. This sounds like something I may really enjoy so I hope to get the book in the next few days to look over before deciding. You can visit her at her blog, Experiencing The Real Meaning of Free.

As I was waiting for my daughter during her art lesson today I decided to swing by the library and check out some books. We really enjoy History so I try to make it fun and add in a few books while we are reading from our particular text. Today I found a wonderful book that I have seen in homeschool catalogs from time to time called, The Signers, The Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence by Dennis Brindell Fradin. This is a fabulous addition to our history lesson as we begin our year! I sat down and read a little section this evening and can't wait to begin this with my daughter tomorrow!

We are having much needed rain today! Praise God!!

Tina

Friday Freebies

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:01:00 -0500

The Friday Freebies from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has some wonderful resources this week to help with your planning this year.
Everything from recipes to worksheet planners. Please take a look at the great freebies this week. If you aren't receiving the Friday Freebies you can sign up at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine website listed under E-Newsletters.
We are always on the lookout for helpful curriculum for Geography and this freebie is awesome!!
Thank you for all the freebies!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 17:33:00 -0500

It's always the same each summer.........we have a blast with trips, visiting friends, picnics, camping, and so much more, then around the first of August we begin to feel the pull to get back into a routine around our home. We truly love our home and being home. Yes, we love homeschooling! I've always tried to instill a "love for learning" into our home. Although my girls don't want to admit it, they do love learning and enjoy a good book and "digging" into a subject.
I learned early on in our homeschool journey that we really love the Charlotte Mason style of learning and reading living books.
For the longest time I couldn't understand what a living book was. Through experience from reading good literature and reading many books and blogs about living books I began to understand what it means and how important it is in the learning process.
If you are interested in learning more about living books or the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling you can find lots of information simply by searching Charlotte Mason online. I hope to post more information in the coming days about this learning style.

The Old Schoolhouse magazine is such a blessing and encouragement! I received the Summer issue today and have been glancing through the pages since finishing dinner. I enjoy glancing through the entire magazine and then allowing myself time each day to read each story and article written as I slowly digest each one. So very much to consider as you read about the lives of real homeschooling families just like you and I. This issue is one of my favorites because I enjoy the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling and all the helpful resources and information packed within this issue.
I also received the most recent flier from Progeny Press today in the mail and have been looking over the books listed for each grade level. This is a wonderful resource even if you don't plan to use the guides. You can take a look at Progeny Press if you would like to see the list yourself.
If there is one thing you order this year let it be The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, you will be so glad you did!

Have a Great Day,
Tina

Thinking about school

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:55:00 -0500

Routines and schedules have been thrown to the wind for quite some time around our house. We have been enjoying the freedom to take off on quite a few little excursions while on our summer break. Joy, pure joy, to spend time with your family and enjoy all that summer has to offer. We still have many days left to enjoy the warm weather and beauty, however, all things have a season, and we must think of getting back into our routines as we gear up mentally and physically for our school year once again.
This year our oldest daughter will be entering her second year of college, whew, I can hardly believe it. We are so excited for her as she begins another year anticipating what the Lord has in store for her.
At home, we will be homeschooling the youngest daughter in 8th grade. I have been looking through magazines, websites, and seeking the Lord's will for our curriculum for the eighth grade and here is what I've come up with.

Math - Teaching Textbooks and Money Matters for Teens by Larry Burkett

Language - LLATL (Learning Language Arts Through Literature) Gray book, which includes a book study of the following books, Brother Andrew, Eric Liddell, A Lantern in Her Hand, and Across Five Aprils.

History - Focusing on American History, Abeka, Land that I Love, along with several other good books we will be using with some wonderful American History.

Health - Abeka 8th grade

Books I hope to read this year:
The Cat of Bubastes, A Tale of Ancient Egypt by G.A. Henty, All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot, and The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter.

Poetry - Favorite Poems Old and New

Do not be anxious

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:44:00 -0500

Do not be Anxious About Tomorrow

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feed them.
Are you not of more value
than they?
Matthew 6:26

Puppy Love

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:12:00 -0500

We are having a wonderful summer!!
Meet "Ellie" our new Australian Shepherd puppy. She was 9 weeks old when we got her. Playful, loveable, and truly a handful, we love her!
Summer is flying by and we are staying very busy.
I hope to post more here when I can.

Backyard Nature

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:15:00 -0500

You don't have to go very far to discover all the wonders of God's creation here in our little part of the world!
We have truly been enjoying the warm weather along with God's awesome display of nature right in our back yard. We have saw many different kinds of birds, bird nests, butterflies, blooming trees and bushes, flowers budding, and mushrooms growing! Today my daughter and her friend found Morell mushrooms growing at the edge of the woods around the rocks. Truly awesome! I can't believe I've never noticed these before! You can see them on my photo display across the top of my blog, enjoy! Now, go out in your back yard or near the woods in your own area and see if you can find some of your own!!

Looking Back, and Ahead

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:03:00 -0500

The school year is coming to a close as we finish our reading and other curriculum for the seventh grade year. We have enjoyed reading all the Living Books designed into our Westward and Onward study written by homeschool mom Dorian Holt. Here is a list of some of the books we read this year:

Streams to the River, River to the Sea
Lassie Come Home
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
American Tall Tales
Strawberry Girl
Old Yeller
A Gathering of Days
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Caddie Woodlawn
Bound for Oregon

As I look ahead and plan for next year, the year before High School, I am thinking of using the Progeny Press Study Guides. Has anyone used these and how did you like them?
I am certain I want us to use the Living Books approach. If anyone has any other suggestions for curriculum for older grades using Living Books I would love to hear from you!
Looking back, I am very pleased with the accomplishments this year.
Using Saxon 87 has been a struggle at times but I feel certain she has gained an understanding of the math concepts. We only finished half the book and if I don't change my mind and find something that is a better fit for her we will continue to move along in Saxon 87 using the DIVE CD.
We have also enjoyed the Apologia General Science and will continue with Physical Science next year. We hope to form a study group with friends in our homeschool group, looking forward to this.
Our homeschool group consists of around 25 families who meet together twice a month with Club Meetings for the children. We plan activities which revolve around the books, Keepers at Home (girls book) and Contenders of the Faith (boys book). We also have scheduled field trips and Mom's Meetings once a month. It has been a very interesting year, far less structured than previous years. We are making plans for a Leadership Team, which will consist of 5 or 6 moms who will make the schedule for the year and plan the activities before everyone in the group meets for the year. We have found it to be very difficult for a group of 25 moms to try and plan the year. So many opinions, ideas, etc. that nothing is accomplished. This is what happened last year.
Is there anyone who has experience in a small homeschool group setting with similar experiences? I would love to hear about your experience!
I will post more about our school year later.