I am a home schooling mom of four from 7-15 yrs. Here we share the more interesting things we like to make, do, create... Our family owns a travel service specifically for homeschooling families that shows you how to get FREE TRAVEL ACCOMMODATIONS, make sure to visit our link below http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:16:00 -0500 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:16:00 -0500 As an education major in college, I had a great professor who helped us understand how to teach math.  Since her class, I have always had a bit of rebellion when it came to traditional math as I knew it…just learning formulas without fully understanding the concepts.    I love the Charlotte Mason methodology and "living books" so here are some of the best living math sources that I've found through the years. This site has lots of great information for "living math"...it has articles, lesson plans, links to other good math sites, games to play, living books on math - some with reviews. http://www.livingmath.net/ Penny Gardner's page on site...living math books and mathematical classics http://www.pennygardner.com/mathclassics.html Simply Charlotte Mason Your Business Math Series is a fun and “living math” kit that reinforces math skills for ages 8–12! Your student uses his math knowledge to keep his very own store running and, hopefully, make a profit. But there are also some surprises along the way! http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/your-business-math/   The Living Mathematics Project...uses computer animation/tech to present interesting projects http://sunsite.ubc.ca/LivingMathematics/V001N01/UBCExamples/ I hope these help and encourage you in your homeschool journey! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/680728/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/680728/ We love to read aloud!  This activity has provided some of our most precious family memories.  Nothing is more special than children gainfully employed with their hands and and enthralled with a marvelous story.  I wanted to add a different thought that you might also enjoy on your read aloud journey. Reading aloud well is a learned skill, that must be practiced. One thing that we do in our family is have our children do a short reading for the family to hone their own reading aloud skills.   We've found it is best to make the selections short, poems or short books.  The book should have previously been read and practiced by the child so that it makes for an enjoyable experience for all.  My children enjoy presenting their selections to our family and I love to see the sense of accomplishment that they gain from a job well done.  I love Jane Austin's  Sense and Sensibility.  During this time period "reading aloud" was considered an important skill, used to entertain friends and families.  Unfortunately, the character of  Edward didn't excel in his reading abilities, and came under the criticism of the free-spirited Marianne, who considered this ability one of due diligence when choosing a marriage partner!  Of course, I don't think that our children's read aloud ability is quite this dramatically important today!  but it is still a wonderful and enjoyable way to spend family time together. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/675824/ Sat, 4 Apr 2009 10:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/675824/ Invariably at least once every few days someone comes crying to me, upset and unable to express their frustration, I have found six words that quickly give me the information I need to defuse the situation! Are you Mad, Sad or Hurt?  This multiple choice makes it quick and easy for them to express in one word what has just happened.  One little word and I can put away my concerns about blood or injury and start to unravel the true reason behind the outburst.  It works EVERYTIME!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/670677/ Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:22:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/670677/ When traveling cross-country BY CAR one year to reach our vacation destination, I was hard pressed to find activities to keep my 2 year old daughter happily occupied. I read a fun tip that you can use most successfully for any little person under the age of five. A box of band-aids! That's right, just hand them a box of band-aids and let them go to it. At the time my daughter was almost two years so I think I had to help her get started but once she figured out that I was actually giving her permission to open the little packages and stick them on herself she was gainfully employed for over an hour. This is a good trick for homeschooling days when you need to keep a little one occupied. Works every time. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/665969/ Tue, 3 Mar 2009 13:05:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/665969/ Click Here to visit "A Homemade Christmas" Host Blog One morning my son asked to keep some empty cereal boxes, when I asked why (they usually get crammed under the bed to only be thrown away on our semi-annual-under-the-bed-cleanout!).  He said that he wanted to make his sister a doll house for Christmas for her Polly Pockets.  What a great idea I thought!  He was really thinking this year!  We encourage our children to be creative and think of gifts to make for each other and I was really proud that he had put some thought into it without any prompting from me! Later that  morning we googled homemade dollhouses and came up with an even better idea!  He was so excited.  He did the basic "framing" of the house and they are going to decorate it after Christmas.  He is planning on creating some furniture out of clay...stay posted for updates on decorating and furniture! This should be hours of play for my kids!  This is the kind of thing that I want them to spend time on together!  I want to thank another blogger for her really descriptive posts on their foam core doll houses!  I'm posting her blog link for you to check out too, in case you have a desire to create your own you can use her info for more ideas!  Visit this blog for a great tutorial on another foam core doll house! He used 2 pieces of foam core. Here he is with the first  piece showing cutouts, I didn't get photos of the second piece but here is the finished product. They started taping the house together then they decided to try to glue it. My son came up with using straight pins to stabilize it while drying this really gave it a lot of strength so the pins are staying! It has 2 floors and an attic. Although blurry, you can see where the straight pins are holding the floors and walls together.  Hope this gives many of you ideas of your own!  I love when my kids think of and work out their plans (with a little help from Dad and Mom!) "Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/635183/ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:21:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/635183/ Click Here to visit "A Homemade Christmas" Host Blog Last year my son created a sweet little pen/ink drawing that looked quite festive so I decided to make it into a note card to give as a gift for family and friends.  I then decided to choose one drawing from each of my children to make into a card design, from this we put together a packet which included two cards of each child's design.  Just take your artwork to the print shop and they will do the rest, ask them to scan and reduce them to fit two to each 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, ask them to cut them in half for you!  And your gift-giving worries are over!  A very special gift that cost us less than $3.00 a person!  Here are our cards from last year. As you can see each card is very distinctive.  Several of these selections you might recognize from some favorite books!  (The second one is my then 6 year olds rendition of Peter Rabbit in the watering can, in case you are wondering!) All that is left to do is on your next trip to Wal Mart or the office supply, pick up some invitation envelopes to include with your gift and tie it altogether with some festive red or green raffia and Voila! Memorable inexpensive gifts for everyone!  And you never know where this idea may lead!  After last years gift, we started a little cottage business that creates personalized gifts for gymnasts (my daughter's are competition gymnasts visit our site at...Leo-Cards.com (all gymnasts call their leotards - "leos" so we called our little business "leo-cards" - get it??  My son thought of that creative name! Creative things happen when you homeschool!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/629249/ Sun, 7 Dec 2008 19:03:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/629249/ One of the things we like to do with our pressed leaves is to use them to make lovely sets of note cards for friends and family!  These are very easy and inexpensive to make.  IF YOU MISSED PRESSING LEAVES...BUT HAVE PANSIES GROWING IN YOUR YARD, YOU ARE ONLY 3-4 DAYS FROM  SOMETHING TO PUT ON YOUR NOTE CARDS -- Check out how to perfectly press leaves below and use it for ferns or violets now. All you need is... Card Stock 8 1/2 x 1, I like to use one that looks like parchment paper. When cut in half you will have 2 cards that will fit "invitation envelopes". Liquid School Glue (mixed one part water to one part glue) A box of the largest, cheapest kleenex type tissue you can find. 2-3 inch wide SOFT paint brush (pastry brushes work well because they are so soft) wax paper box of invitation envelopes (costs about $4.50 for a box of 40 from Walmart or Office Supply store) Directions... Cover work surface with wax paper. Cut the card stock into halves so that you can fold them to fit in your envelopes. Fold paper.  Use 2-3 dots of glue to hold leaf in place on card. Separate the tissue into one ply.  Lay tissue on top of card.  If you can cover entire card do so, if not, make a slit in wax paper and slip the back of the card through it so that it won't get messy as you work on the front only. Try both ways to see which you like better. With tissue laying over card, dip brush in glue/water mixture.  Hold the tissue in place with left hand and carefully brush over it with soft brush moving in one direction.  You will now have brushed across one 2-3 inch strip. Now move down and do the same thing until you have brushed over entire card.  Do not go over the same area twice as it will cause the tissue to tear.  If there are spots that didn't get dampened, gently use brush to pat at the dry spots (if it tears simply use brush or your finger to repair hole) Let the cards dry, then tear the excess tissue from around edges. To really make it pretty, tie a piece of raffia on spine of card.  Then complete your gift by adding envelopes and tying them together with another piece of raffia. When we give these note cards no one can believe that we made them all ourselves!  They are really beautiful.  You can also make bookmarks!  AND using the same pressing instructions listed on this blog you can press ferns, greenery and flowers pansies are easy, readily available and keep their color nicely!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/621143/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/621143/ There is just something about fall leaves, I have to collect them, save them, stare at them, press them, microwave them!  Yes, microwave!  That post is next on the list!  Many people have problems pressing leaves, they get too brittle or they turn brown or they never do it because it seems one of those things that takes SO long.  However, pressing leaves properly is simple and quick.  Here is the secret!  (Plus this works for flowers too!  Pansies are the easiest!) Put the leaves in a phone book or large book with non-shiny pages (the pages absorb the moisture in the leaves)  Leave them in the book for only three days - four at the most.  Take them out and enjoy!  Sounds too easy doesn't it?  I have pressed leaves for years, but it wasn't until I read an article about a professional leaf artist (did you know that there was such a thing?) that she made a statement that changed my leaf pressing forever!  Leave them 4 days at the most!  Here is a link to another professional leaf artist...the simplicity of his work is breath-taking!  PressedLeaf.com http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/621126/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/621126/ Recently a friend remarked in a 3-sided conversation that I was unconventional!  It rolled off her tongue as if she thought I would perfectly agree... Inside my own head, I thought..."Whatever does she mean? Me? Unconventional?  How??"  So I ventured forth, "What do you mean I'm unconventional?"  She laughed, "Don't you consider yourself unconventional?" "No, I've never thought about it, but not really" "Oh, come on Amy!  You've drug me through meadows and to lakes looking for animal tracks, you've gone to a friend's sister's husband's grandmother's house to collect ginkgo leaves for goodness sakes!  Yes, I would say you are slightly unconventional!" "Oh...humm... yes maybe I am..." "Though, doesn't everybody when finding out about the exquisite, leathery gingko leaves, search high and low to find them???  So that they can do a leaf pressing project with their children?  No, I guess not...but they were worth the search to me!  Actually, a friend knew of my search and having remembered seeing them at a family get-together told me about them!  and then she kindly called the grandmother to ask if I might visit with my chirdren.  That's not so strange is it?  When we arrived at the home of this said grandmother, it was an Autumn Wonderland.  EVERY tree in her yard was ablaze, my children squealed with delight!  We stayed there for hours, quite literally.  The children were able to climb into the branches of several of these blazing beauties and pick perfect specimens of every leaf in every color of the fall pallette! What a memory, though this took place two falls ago I remember the joy as if it were yesterday! Every year I can't let Fall pass by, something within me just has to hold on to it!  Definitely the best way I've found is by collecting, pressing and microwaving leaves!  Coming soon!  How to press leaves PERFECTLY!!    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/616342/ Sat, 8 Nov 2008 07:37:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/616342/ Since starting my home exchange agency for homeschooling families I've had the pleasure of making some Gulf Coast friends. I also have family in S. Texas and Louisana.  Tonight as, once again, many are having to face the reality of an oncoming hurricane, my husband and I were talking about how emotional and exhausting the preparations must be. The thought of evacuating!  Narrowing down what you want to take with you. Our car would be filled with 4 kids and critters, cockatiel (big cage!), dog, 3 chickens, what about the fish?? photos! special things!  I'm overwhelmed just trying to imagine! Please know that our prayers are with each of you! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/588838/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/creeksideschool1/588838/