For we have freedom in Christ to run free and to taste and see that He is good. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:12:00 -0500 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:12:00 -0500 Apparently I had fallen off the face of blog-land! It's been too long since my last post and now that I am indoors more than out, I am hoping that I will be more faithful in typing my thoughts to share! So without further ado here are my thoughts!!! (crickets chirping) Hmmmm...obviously I need to start working out the writing muscles again!  Stay tuned for more stimulating, err, uh....posts!!! ~April http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/739245/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/739245/ My previous post spoke of my children needing to be rebooted, if you will, from the summer brain drain of no structure. This week I decided to do just one thing each day to help their minds reactivate. Although Monday and Tuesday I was battling the syndrome I spoke of in previous post and decided to start this effort on Wed. Here's what we did: Monday ~ We came home from vacation and unpacked our stuff, mowed the lawn and what not. Tuesday ~ We harvested lettuce and beets, played outside and canned beets. The kids were very scarce during that, I don't think they liked the smell very much! Wednesday ~ I read two short chapters in our God's Design for Life series Botany book. It was on roots and we then went in the garden and I showed them carrot roots and some bulbs that I hadn't planted soon enough, but thought why not plant them anyway! Ha! They also remembered seeing the beets we pulled the previous day. Thursday ~ We played Math Bingo. Thank you Target Dollar Spot! We refreshed our brains with some flashcards, then played a couple of rounds. The older two did a one game face-off of War with the flashcards. It was great to see them get back into thinking like that! Friday ~ We went to the Library to redeem their points from the reading program there. They got some nice prizes and more motivation to keep reading for the next 2 weeks to see if they can get the top prize. We also checked out lots more books and discovered new series for them to get excited about. They were the epitome of book worms that day! Saturday ~ We have been watching tv, reading, rollerblading/biking (the girls) and just relaxing..my son was sick all night with the stomach flu. So I've been doing laundry, catching up on my neglected blogs and cooking some Black Bean soup for tonight's dinner. Can't say today was much of jumpstarting their brains, but we've enjoyed some togetherness time. I think doing a little bit of learning each day will help us when we start school up again full time. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/709197/ Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/709197/ It happens every year! The kids turn into crazy people sometime after the 4th of July. You see, before the 4th, the kids are content to be outside without food, shelter or rest for days on end it seems. Their black bottomed feet a sign of gleeful shoeless fun paired with shrieks and squeals of joy echoing through the neighborhood. They are content to eat rocks and sand and drink water from the hose or birdbath, whatever is closest. The objective is play and play hard. They have no duties in sight and they are free to run wild and pretend. The girls play things like "animal hospital" or "puppies" or the ever popular princess scenarios. The boys act out battle scenarios they've been conjuring up all winter long. Episodes of Star Wars reenacted over and over again. Bicycles, scooters, skateboards...anything with wheels tumbling out of the garages and rolling and zooming up and down the cul-de-sac. The activity is so intense you can't imagine it'll ever stop! You start thinking, "I will never be able to get my child to want to do chores, eat dinner or do schoolwork again!" And then WHAMO! Right in the middle of this amazing thing called summer the madness begins. They start to say things like, "I'm bored, what should I do?" every 5 minutes You retort with, "Go outside and play!" They answer back, "There's nothing to do outside."  You stand there for a moment amazed at this answer because you just watched them pretend, explore and run around non-stop for weeks on end outside! Really!? Nothing? You sigh in frustration and begin to wrack that super Mommy drive for fun things to do. It starts ticking down the list: ride your bike swing on a swing play tag run through the sprinkler help Mommy do laundry pretend you're secret agents cops and robbers hopscotch jump rope .... They stand there looking at you as if you're speaking a foreign language. The hauntingly blank stare greets you with the next phrase all mothers dread, "I don't want to do that, what should I do?" So the madness continues... At this point, I am more than ready to start school up again to unearth my highly intelligent, creative children that are lost somewhere behind the mind numbed child standing before me. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of structure summer brings. I believe it's also connected with the lack of sleep they are operating with. They are tired and needing direction! Perhaps something organized...this is when super Mommy steps in and starts doing "cool mom" things. You bring out yummy snacks and water mid afternoon not just for your angels, but the whole neighborhood! Then you organize events and games for the kids to participate in to reboot their minds. Ding! Round 1 and you start to see some progress. The kids start talking to each other and coming up with fun solutions after they finish their snack. Who knew a little graham cracker with peanut butter and chocolate chips could be so amazing!? I don't know why I don't plan for these things better each year. I think it's because I'm on vacation too. My creative brain I've been utilizing all school year needs to reboot for the next. I always feel like I need post-it notes on my mind this time of year to remind me what's next and what my responsibilities are. Somedays I am walking around in a fog of "what's next?" Structure is good. Breaks are good, but I think my mind stays on the ball far better when we have structure throughout the day. These are things I need to think about for next year. How can we have a super fun summer without the madness!? A little structure might go a long way! A little structure like afternoon snack time... I better go make some cookies and get ready for tomorrows afternoon of "what should I do?" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/708612/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/708612/ Well blogging friends, I have much to report, as the last month has been full of fun! We went to my parents house in Kansas to visit for Mother's Day and my Dad's 60th Birthday. What started as a 5-6 day visit ended up being 12! It was a wonderful time of relaxing on the farm and being with my family. The things I remember thinking was how quiet it was on the farm. The low hum of traffic in the distance that I tend to block out in suburbia was noticeably gone in the middle of the country! What a blessing! I hadn't been home in the spring for a long time and everything was beautiful and green. One morning, there was an amazing amount of mist and fog due to very cool temperatures overnight. I looked outside and saw this: It was a beautiful gray/green sea of wheat. It looked like I was walking in an almost black and white picture! It was just amazing! My dad's favorite dessert is apple pie, so I wanted to make him one for his special day. I just started using organic flour before I left for Kansas and was thrilled with the results in my pie crust, so I had to pick some up for this one. I think he enjoyed it! My grandma lives right down the road from my parents, so we spent a lot of time with her. She is 92 years old and still living on her own! I hope to be that spry when I'm her age! I love my grandma! I had been wanting to help her with her garden beds around her house, so my mission while we were there was to plant some perennials to liven it up. I had to do some weeding and hoeing to get it all ready, but in the end we had some nice flowers planted for her. The kids love playing outside and finding forts, making forts etc. The old one between two trees was no longer there, so they found a new spot to claim as their own. They were clearing old wood out and Papa even broke out the chain saw and helped them clear some more of the dead wood. They were sweeping and raking the floor like it was a sod house on the prairie! This entertained them for hours! Then they checked out the junk shed and found all sorts of treasures to use in their tree fort/home. It was pure treasure for them! Old frying pans, wheels to an old lawn mower, boards, old garden fencing...etc.! I remember my brothers and I doing the same thing at our grandparents house. It was so much fun! Here's my son relaxing on their "porch." One night we had a bonfire to burn all the deadwood from their fort. It was wonderful! Fire, bubbles, hotdogs and s'mores! This was a very productive vacation because of all the projects we completed! I helped my grandma with her garden, the kids made their fort, I helped my mom clean out some cupboards and part of her storage in the basement and we even did 2 full weeks of school while we were there. It's hard to believe, but I think we got more done in Kansas than we had in quite a while! The kids were so motivated to do their work and be finished for the day. It was wonderful! I also started making a dishcloth using an actual pattern while I was there. I had failed many times before in attempting this, but low and behold...it was working! I'm almost done with it. It's a real cute heart pattern. The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay and can't wait to go back for another visit! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/700028/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/700028/ Hi blogger friends. Just wanted to let you know that Notebooking Pages is having a humongous sale starting tomorrow and running through the 8th. We use some of their great products in our homeschooling adventures. Go check it out! This is what they have to say about their sale: 3rd Birthday Celebration Sale Tired of Busywork? Seize the Most from Your Day . . . with Notebooking! Notebooking is a powerful tool that captures what your children have learned, turning it into a concise, artful piece of work. Visit NotebookingPages.com for free and affordable templates to help you get started today! Simply print out a selection of free notebooking templates or choose pages from one of their themed sets. Now is a great time to try some of NotebookingPages.com's products during their 3rd Birthday Celebration! Every product and specially priced combo set is 50% off! You can get ALL of their products for $50 - save almost $90! This sale is only in effect May 6, 7, & 8th. They are also giving away three great prizes! Check it out here: NotebookingPages.com Birthday Celebration Sale   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/685854/ Tue, 5 May 2009 09:35:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/685854/ I've been busy adding new entries of all my gardening adventures over at Playing in the Sonshine at homesteadblogger. Here's a sneak peak at what you'll find there: Square Foot Gardening: Making the Grid Starting Seeds Moving Rocks New Raised Garden Beds Garden Fairy Go check it out! I've had a lot of fun this past week enjoying the warm weather and wearing my "get-r-dun" clothes! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/680893/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/680893/ My creative juices have been flowing and I have been compelled to write more than about Homeschool Life. I have started a couple of new blogs that you can check out if you are interested. I will still keep this blog and dedicate it to our Homeschooling Adventures and other family things, but I have a need to spread the love if you will on different avenues! The first new one is over on the sister blog of homeschoolblogger, homesteadblogger. It's called Playing in the Sonshine and is all about my pursuits in homesteading (mostly gardening). The second new one is over on blogger and is called A Little Sonshine4u. This is dedicated to my journey of understanding and growing into Beautiful Womanhood. I'll be sharing my journey, my thoughts, my discoveries and some challenges for us as we discover who God has called us to be. I hope you'll join me on my new endeavors and visit me in these new venues! Thanks for reading my blog! I am always glad that you stop by! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/669438/ Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/669438/ I loved being 100% Irish for a day! The wind blowing through my hair, as I ran through the enchanted fields of clover looking for the end of the rainbow with that silly leprechaun taunting me.... Yesterday I raced my first 5k (3.1 miles). It was an Irish for a Day 5K and apparently, everyone who participates gets to be 100% Irish for the day! My hubby, who has been training all winter to get ready for an Ironman this coming fall wanted to race it in style. So he pulled on his Irish soccer socks, Official Ireland soccer jersey and his not so Irish (Scottish) but close to Irish kilt. He looked awesome! After race at Blazer's house. As for me, I just went with a green pullover. I was nervous, but excited all at the same time. I had been training for the past 4 weeks and pretty much knew how it was going to feel. I knew I wasn't going to be walking it, because I had ran the distance earlier in the week on the treadmill. I just didn't know what to expect as far as humongous group starts and how that all worked. I soon found out that the first 1/2 mile is dodging people running slower, people walking, people running with strollers or dogs...it was an adventure! My biggest thing to dodge however were all the icy patches on the trail. While the day before had warmed up enough to get most of the snow melted off the sidewalks, the morning of had some very slippery icy patches. I was just thankful it was 34 degrees and not below freezing! I soon realized that as I was approaching mile marker 1 that it hadn't even felt like I had run a mile yet and when I hit mile 2 I could hardly believe how great I was feeling! Running outside is so much better than on a treadmill. Hubby sprinting to the finish in his fast kilt! As I approached the end of the race, my hubby and his running buddy Blazer (who had already finished in 20 minutes) came back to keep me company for the last push. I was so glad to see them, but also was challenged because they did push me in their "slow pace." I'm so glad they did that because I really did need that encouragement to push it up that last hill. I was feeling so good by the last 100 meters that I was able to sprint it. Me, hubby and Blazer after the race and ready for breakfast! I was very happy with my time (33:56) considering that I was so far back in the swarms of people where you're not really running till things get spread out. My goal was to be under 35 minutes and I did that! Next time I know not to get stuck in the back with the dogs and the walkers. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I did it! I can't wait till I do another one! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/668958/ Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/668958/ My kids and I love Math-U-See. I love teaching this program with Mr. Demme via DVD and the kids love watching him too! They also really understand what they are doing! This is the best program out there and I will not try anything else! We tried several different things before this program and will never look back! With all that said, this spring, Math-U-See is debuting a new binding to their books, which deserves a shout out of AMEN! They also have improved their layout inside the books to provide more space to work each problem and look sharper. If you would like to hear it straight from Mr. Steve Demme himself, just watch this video and pop on over to Math-U-See to get all the rest of the details! (Price lists and which editions are new this year.) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/667730/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/667730/ I love to organize things and I strive to find systems that will work not just for me, but also for my kids. If it's hard for them to put things away, then it just won't happen. In the 5 years I have homeschooled, I have discovered a few ways to help keep things in a relatively orderly fashion...umm...just don't come over this second...okay?! Here is our workhorse bookcases from IKEA that house most of our history, Bible, Dr. Seuss and other subjects (in magazine holders). The bottom shelf is holding jumbo magazine holders of our subjects that aren't used everyday or are the next round/level in a subject. I have found these holders on line for a huge amount of money, but have found them at Wal-Mart for around $5.00. I love how they keep all the books together and organized! Here is our desk for the three kids. It is a hollow-core door varnished and mounted on our wall with roofing braces or something. My hubby made my day with this project! What you can't see is my door desk joined right next to it with my computer and paper-covered desk. When I find the top and have finished making my area "cute" I will be more than happy to share it will you all! We use the jumbo magazine holders for all the core subjects that we use often (Language Arts, Math, History, Science). I love this system for keeping all our workbooks in an orderly fashion! Along the desk, you'll find the three-ringed binders sandwiched between the magazine holders. Each child has a folder for History, Language Arts, Geography and Science. We keep all our papers for each child in these and they are working great so far! The Langauge Arts Notebook is by far the greatest asset of these binders. We have 5 tabbed dividers with pockets for each LA subject (Spelling, Handwriting, Phonics, Grammar and Writing/Composition). The assignments for the week are in the pocket of the dividers and the finished work gets 3-hole punched and placed behind the divider. It is working so well! Some days the kids want to finish more than one days work and so that has been a perk too! My kids also enjoy seeing how much work they have been accomplishing throughout the year. Here is my second area of bookcases. The tall white one is primarily for our art supplies/books and our Science books. The top shelf has 2 red boxes with phonics games and the other with old magazines to use in art/science projects. The next shelf has a cute basket with flash cards, a few manipulatives and other random school things. It also has magazine holders for our construction paper and tin pails that hold our extensive colored pencil collection. Third shelf down is our Art library and believe it or not, more colored pencils, different types of coloring utensils and a cup of scissors. The fourth shelf is big buckets of pencils, big markers and fine markers and our cute color crayon caddy which you can read about here along with some other organizing ideas. The bottom 2 shelves are for our Science books. The next 2 bookcases are holding most of our Sonlight read alouds, readers and core books we aren't currently using. I used the bins from one of those frustrating organizing things that you can get most anywhere that houses things at an angle. We go rid of that contraption and are using the bins to hold our readers! It works great! I was gong crazy trying to keep all our read alouds in order and save shelf space at the same time. This system works great! I just put all the oversized ones on another shelf. Oversized read alouds with the handy dandy color coding tape from Sonlight. Well, I don't know about you, but that's enough organizing for today! Hope some of these ideas will help you or spur you on to creative thinking about your stuff and your space! If this wasn't enough for you, The Heart of the Matter Online is having a Carnival called: 8 Ways to a More Organized Homeschool. This past Friday was the beginning of week one with Organizing your Physical Space. So go check it out! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/667626/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sonshine4u/667626/