We are a homeschooling family raising 4 boys in Virginia. This blog is mostly about anything relevant to raising boys or homeschooling in general - but every once in a while I can't help but add some nonsense from our daily life. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:43:00 -0500 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:43:00 -0500           Faced with empty wallets, empty bank accounts, empty gas tanks, and a soon empty pantry and refrigerator - sometimes my very soul feels the emptiness that seems to be surrounding me.  But I refuse to give in to that emptiness.  I refuse to let my heart be empty as well!           Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling when you knew the offering plate was coming your way? - looking at the offering plate - last $20 in hand - 10 more days ahead until more income will come - a choice           I knew I wanted to plop that $20 into the offering - to demonstrate to the Lord how much I trust Him with our situation.  But hubby knew we needed gas - we needed milk - and will need more than that in the days to come.  I sat praying that he would put the $20 in the offering plate but I saw that sad, sweet look in his eyes as he slowly put the $20 back in his wallet.  The plate passed - both of our heads hung low.           To be totally honest, I began to feel shame, anger, and embarrassment engulf me.  But then a whisper in my ear - a whisper of truth from the Lord: "That offering plate is not meant to be a BURDEN - but a BLESSING." But Lord, I want to give!  How do you give when there is nothing to give?           Then I was reminded that sometimes all we can give is ourselves.  I am striving to give ALL of myself to the Lord - give my heart to others - give of my time - give of my talents - give my service to ministry - and give encouragement to others who are suffering financially as we are.  There are MANY others out there struggling as we are - some much worse.  But, we can make offerings to Him every day in countless ways!  It does not always have to be financially.           The offering plate is not meant to be a burden - but a blessing.  Even when you can't fill it, you still have much to offer Him! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/729034/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/729034/ I gave my younger boys the assignment of turning singular words into plurals.  They were told to pick 10 words on their own and make a list.  Here's what I got in return:                           Singular                                          Plural                     car                                                 cars                     fire                                                fires                     fire cracker                                     fire crackers                     bottle rocket                                   bottle rockets                     gun                                                 guns                     knife                                               knifes                     air soft                                           air softing                     paint ball                                         paintballing                     four wheel                                       four wheeling                     bb gun                                             bb guns Despite his misspellings and changing of some into verbs, I just had to smile over his list.  I love learning with my boys!  They can make any assignment interesting and so "GUY - ified"! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/726775/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/726775/ One of my boys is playing football on a homeschool football team.  It is almost 2 hours away so we are on the road 5 nights a week.  Sometimes we don't all go - another mom and I take turns driving, but my son needs something portable to eat every night.  I need ideas for meals that we can take on the go.   I am getting real tired of making Hoagie sub sandwhiches.   Any recipes or ideas you all have would be MUCH appreciated! Also: I am not having trouble keeping things cold but if I take a hot dinner, I am not sure how to keep it hot, it would need to stay hot (or at least warm) for 4 - 5 hours.  Any ideas? Thanks for your help! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/724959/ Tue, 8 Sep 2009 09:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/724959/ I love The Old Schoolhouse magazine.  I always find it packed full of insightful articles and helpful tips.  Today I found out they are selling a year subscription for $7.95 as a Labor Day promotion.  I was thrilled and immediately had the idea that this would be a wonderful and affordable way to encourage beginning homeschoolers. I called our support group president to sell my idea.  I want to pair up those who are willing and have been homeschooling for a while with those who are brand new to this homeschooling adventure.  We will each purchase a gift subscription to The Old Schoolhouse magazine for them.  I think it will be a great way to welcome them to our support group and provide them with additional encouragement and support all year long.  If you have a support group, why not take advantage of this great low price and implement a similar program?  If your support group has a large budget, maybe they could purchase the subscriptions for your new homeschoolers themselves.   Or, you could do it on your own - If you know of a new homeschooler, send them a gift subscription. I know they will be blessed! Here's the link: $7.95 subscription to TOS http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/724721/ Mon, 7 Sep 2009 12:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/724721/ I have blogged about reading the Bible this way before, but this week’s studies have reminded me again just how thankful I am to have this fresh new insight into God’s Word.      We are currently studying Unit 3 of Tapestry of Grace Year 1.  The topic this week is the Assyrians.  We are learning about them as a people group and how they affected the Israelites.  Last week we studied how Israel became divided after the reign of Solomon and became known as the seperate Kingdoms of Judah and Israel - each having their own unique kings, prophets, capitals, triumphs and troubles.  The Daily Bible tells these stories in chronological order which is a HUGE help to the boys (and me!).  It is hard to explain, but here are some examples of why this Bible makes it SO MUCH EASIER to understand the flow of history: The boys’ reading assignments were 2 Kings 11-17, Jonah, and Amos Joash In 2 Kings we learn about Joash, King of Judah.  He is crowned at the young age of 7 and reigns for 40 years under the guidance of Jehoiada the priest.  2 Kings tells about the reign of Joash – the devastation of the locusts, how he rebuilds the temple, etc.       But in The Daily Bible, the story continues . . .  sharing how, once the priest Jehoiada dies, King Joash accepts paganism, abandoning the temple he worked so hard on rebuilding and worshiping idols.      Had we not been reading from the Daily Bible we might not have known that part of the story because it is actually found in 2 Chronicles, not 2 Kings.  Had we just read 2 Kings we would still get lots of good information but not ALL the information available on Joash and God’s people.      Chronicles and Kings often overlap.  They tell the story of the same Kings, same time periods, some of the same details but also some different information.  The Daily Bible puts those different parts into one complete whole story to give you the big picture of what is happening and why. Joel Early in Joash’s reign, a great disaster befalls Judah - and army of locusts swarms, completely destroying crops and food storages. The prophet Joel seizes the opportunity to use the locust invasion as an example of a future invasion which is to come from the north.       If you just read Joel separately you might not appreciate the analogy or fully understand the circumstances.  But here, in The Daily Bible, the prophesies of Joel are interspersed right in the middle of the story of Joash and Judah – right when the people of Judah would have been hearing those words and experiencing the aftermaths of the locust swarm.  The words of Joel have so much more meaning when read in context. Jonah 2 Kings 14:25 mentions Jonah, but The Daily Bible puts Jonah’s entire story in here, putting it in its historical context.  It makes the story come to life even more than just reading the book of Jonah independently. The Daily Bible has made learning about the ancients, and God’s Word more alive, understandable and real.  It is not a narrative - it is the actual Scriptures.  Psalms are arranged by theme, Proverbs arranged by topic.  Mine is NIV, but other translations are available as well. I highly recommend it!  Here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/653933/ Tue, 3 Feb 2009 09:03:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/653933/ "Mom, I need some good non-school books." A few years ago I would have never imagined hearing these words coming from my most reluctant reader! It wasn't necessarily that he was reluctant - he was struggling.  Which in turn made him frustrated and feeling stupid and that is what made him a reluctant reader. My first son read well and read early - so of course I expected the same with the others (don't you just shake your head and giggle at all those newbie experiences!). At first, I really worried over my non-reading son but then I decided to ease off and give it some time.  I took it really slow with him and tried to make any reading experiences pressure free and fun. It took lots of time! And even after he started reading more fluently (which, by the way, wasn't until he was about 9) he didn't necessarily WANT to read.  That took some figuring out too.  His love of reading finally began when we found a genre that really interested him - science fiction.  I think the first book he really loved was War of the Worlds.  After that it became "Can you find me another book like this one". Now, he is my most avid reader.  He reads and comprehends his literature assignments faster than anyone else in this house and looks forward to finding new books to read for pleasure! And all it needed was a little time and interest - it sounds so simple now.  "sigh" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/651485/ Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:09:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/651485/ I was driving some of my boys home from a birthday party the other night and somehow we got to talking about some of the fun activites we used to do at the AWANA group hubby and I ran in our old town years ago.  They remembered movie nights, all-nighters at the church, dress up nights, craft nights, prayer puppies, all the fun stuff.  Since we are not attending AWANA anymore, they commented "Mom, we need to do more fun things in our TOG co-op" (our history/literature co-op) "Well, we are going on a field trip to DC to the National Gallery of Art.  They are having a special exhibit on Pompeii that will be amazing and right around the time we will be studying Greece and Rome." "Greece! (protests)  we've already studied Greece!" "Yes, but that was early Greece, the Mycenaeans, the Trojans.  Now we will be moving into the golden age of Greece.  We will be learning about: - the Olympics - the beginnings of philosophy - Socrates - Plato." "Huh?" "Well, the ideas of the Greeks still linger in our society today so it's important to study them." "Ok, but I still don't get what play-doh has to do with it!' My oldest picked up on what was going on started laughing.  I still didn't get it, I thought I was going to have to go into a detailed explaination of who Plato was. "Mom, he thinks you are talking about the philosophy of play-doh - as in clay!" My boys think I have taught some crazy things throughout our homeschool years and rolled their eyes at many of my ideas, but the philosophy of play-doh? No wonder he was confused! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/644400/ Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/644400/ I only have a few minutes to post but I wanted to share a wonderful resource for the new year.  I am planning on reading through the entire Bible this year and have found a free podcast of daily Bible readings which take you through the entire Bible in a year.  This is from Learn Out Loud - one of my favorite free audio download websites that I use often.  You can download the entire file to your mp3 player or computer and access it whenever it is convenient for you.  I still plan on reading the text as well but this is a great resource for auditory learners or people who are on the go a lot.  I am planning on having my boys listen to the podcast every evening and do their readings in the mornings.  Here is the link: Bible in a Year Podcast Enjoy! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/638377/ Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/638377/ If Jesus woke up in my shoes today - how would He handle my day? I am finding myself asking this question more and more often lately.  In the everyday challenges of being a mom I sometimes find myself in situations that I don't know instinctively how to handle.  Or, I might react in way that produces the desired results but doesn't necessarily get to the heart of the matter.  I am trying to remind myself to look to our Heavenly Father who knows all about our challenges and can walk us through how to best handle each situation. God has or parenting answers.  He knows better than any of us how to handle: Attitudes Disobedience Disrespectfulness Laziness ALL these heart issues! (in my children and myself!) While I will never be Christ-like in ALL that I do, I determined to try to put everything in His hands and act and re-act only after prayer and reflecting on the question of "If Jesus woke up in my shoes today - how would He handle my day?" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/632388/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:40:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/632388/ Most homeschoolers are already trying to survive on one income in our two income world, and the current economic situation is not making things any better.  Lots of families I know are really having to cut back on their expenses.  Our family is no exception, and I have been trying to find ways to enjoy Christmas events and activities without spending a lot of money.  I would LOVE to hear what you all do for cheap or free entertainment at Christmas.  I haven’t included things like volunteering, making homemade crafts and goodies, caroling, Christmas parades and the other free Christmas activities we all are used to participating in – I’m sure your calendars are already full with plenty of church and outreach events. But I have found lots of other free special events for our family to do!  Some have been hard to find so in this post I thought I would share some of the ways I find cheap or free entertainment. We live in a fairly small town so there are not many free opportunities right here in our community so I have to get creative in looking for Christmas opportunities.  Here are some of the tools I use to find activities: Churches Not to sound snobbish, but I don’t really enjoy the typical children’s church Christmas plays unless my children (or children I know well) are in them (doesn’t that sound terrible to say!  Sorry – just being honest), so I usually skip going to typical church plays.  But, I do check the websites of the larger churches in our community for holiday special events.  Most large churches have choirs and put on some kind of free Christmas cantata, carol sing-along, or candle light up service. You can also usually find a free live nativity scene for the kids to enjoy and the whole family to reflect on. Community choirs & bands Most cities have a community band and/or choir.  They tend to be large and in our experience, very professional.  They usually have a free Christmas concert every year. Newspapers I go to the newspaper websites of my town and the large cities surrounding us.  Most papers have a monthly calendar and you can see all upcoming community activities.  I don’t like waiting to just read the paper as it comes out – a lot of times you don’t receive much notice of upcoming events – looking at the calendars on the websites allows me time to put them on our family calendar and I get more variety by checking nearby towns (without having to buy all those papers)! Colleges I also check the local college calendars.  We have several universities in our area and most have free concerts put on by their bands or choirs, not only around Christmas time, but all year round. Museums Many museums have special Christmas displays and activities.  Go to the websites of the museums you are willing to drive to and sign up for their email newsletters, that way you will always know when something special is going on. Libraries Most libraries have Christmas story reading times or craft making activities.  Eventful This website is a wonderful resource for events in your community.  Check it out at www.eventful.com  You are sure to find something that you love! Parks & Rec Our state parks put out monthly emails with special events that are going on.  I sign up for these so that I don’t have to go to each park’s website to find out their activities.  Many parks have hay rides, sleigh rides, star gazing, and other free events this time of year. State website Our state has a tourism website that is a great resource when looking for activities (and field trip ideas, too).  Ours is searchable by area in the state.  I typed in our search area and dates and found many activities and places to visit that we had never heard of before! While you are doing all that web surfing, you might as well listen to some free Christmas music: Free Christmas Music We LOVE listening to old Christmas classics and I found some websites that let you listen to music stations for free.  The one I like best is www.live365.com They have a great selection of Christmas stations to choose from.  Have any other ideas of how to find free Christmas entertainment?  Please share! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/630379/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boysrus/630379/