From the Heart: Last week left me wanting a slower pace…well that did not seem to happen! But God is soooo good all the time.  We were blessed to be able to travel to camp ( an hour away) three times this week to see my son play in the worship band. It was a powerful time of worship, prayer and ministry.  Very awesome to see our son in his element. He is very gifted!

Spiritual Growth: Learning to depend 100 percent on the Lord is an on going process. We have put much cash into our old car this month.  A battery, new door parts ( very expensive!). While driving back from camp this week ( late at night) the alternator went out. More money out the door. Thankfully my husband knows how to fix things so we are just out parts.

We are continually blessed with free food for the food pantry. Last week we brought in 1500lbs of free meat. We are always amazed at how the Lord multiplies the budget.

 On the Homefront: Just keeping my head above water! I will have more time at home this week and plan to get major cleaning done. Working on stuff for the wedding is priority this week. Flower basket, ring pillow, alterations to dresses, hair cuts and so much more.

In the School Room: The gals worked on their math. They are almost done. We have yet to start Botany. I am thinking after the wedding we will have plenty of down time.

In the Literary Scene:  Reading?! I would love to find the time to do this! I am preparing for teaching at camp at the end of July, So did reread the lessons. ( have taught them 5 times in the past)

On the Mission Field: Our car was broke down this week so we were unable to go out this weekend.

On the creative side: Working on wedding stuff!

Tightwad Living: Well I guess doing your own car repairs counts!

In the Garden; No time in the garden, We did enjoy new blooms all week. I really need to weed the gardens.

Lifestyle Change Progress: I am below my goal weight. It seems my metabolism has changed and is working well. I am still watching what I eat but have to admit I have had my share of sweets this past week.

In the Kitchen: We BBQed a lot this week as we had steak ( free meat!). Not a well planned week as we were so in and out all the time.  

The last three post I have posted are tightwad post. I usually do not have cash for curriculum. I use available sources: the library, the web, borrow and barter. The three post below share a wealth of free curriculum resources. Our curriculum is not like anyone elses! It works for us.

Each year I build my own curriculum in many subject areas. The Web is full of excellect free resources. Here are a few that you might find useful.

History

This year we are doing American History 1865 to present. I am using a college book as my spine. The American Journey. Vol 2 I still like to use web pages for maps, photos, narritaves, books and graphs.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/  Love this site. So much information, maps, photos and more.

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/  Another fabulous site. Good timeline. Lots of documents.

http://free.ed.gov/  This site is a bit tough to navigate at times. Be patient! Its worth it. Narritives, photos, timelines and so much more.

http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/index.html Very basic American History.

http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html fabulous visual map of American History.

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=americanhistory videos. Review first. Many choices.

Geography:

Maps:

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm

Interactive Games

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/  lots of fun!

Lesson Plans

http://countries.mrdonn.org/usa.html  Mr Donns plans. Very basic ( which I like!)

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/matrix.html Tons of lessons at all age and stage levels.

http://teachers.net/cgi-bin/lessons/sort.cgi?searchterm=Geography  more lessons.

Worksheets

http://www.tlsbooks.com/geographyworksheets.htm easy. Good for review.

http://bogglesworldesl.com/geography_worksheets.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/geography/provinces.htm Canadian

  Art

http://www.harmonyfinearts.com/   Love this site! CM style.  Plenty of free downloads and low cost downloads. This very talented homeschool mom has passed on her skills for us to enjoy and use. From her site:

"This is the art and music appreciation program for busy people. We have done all the research and organizing. You are able to open our plan and offer a great program for your children."

http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/Art_and_Design/ I get tons of ideas and inspiration here. I hope to go to DC this year and see the museum.

http://www.artgraphica.net/free-art-lessons/free-art-lessons.htm 

http://www.creativespotlite.com/

http://www.artyfactory.com/sitebody/gallery1.htm

http://www.blehert.com/lessons/lesson.html

 Science

This year we are doing Biology. I divide biology into four units: Botany, Anatomy and Physiology, Zoology, Cellular, and Molecular. I love using web sites that show the real thing.

http://science.pppst.com/biology.html Very good powerpoints! Great visuals. Lots of videos.

http://www.biology4kids.com/  Basic biology.

http://www.mysciencebox.org/ General science lessons. Very basic.

  Anatomy

http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html  Awesome click and view anatomy

http://www.stcms.si.edu/hbs/hbs_student.htm Tremendous amount of info on each body system. Good visuals.

http://texasheart.org/HIC/Anatomy/Anatomy.cfm Heart. Good visuals.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/heartmap.html Interactive heart. Simple.

Cells

http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm My favorite cell site. Interactive and fun!

http://science.howstuffworks.com/cellular-microscopic-biology/cell.htm Great videos.

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/zoomIn/index.html DNA up close.

http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/blood/blood.html Blood Very basic.

Digestive

http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/westmin/science/sbi3a1/digest/digdiag.htm Very basic. Interactive.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/kidneys.html# Kidney. Very basic and interactive.

Endocrine:

http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/index.html

http://yucky.discovery.com/noflash/body/pg000133.html

Lymphatic

http://www.innerbody.com/image/lympov.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/immune-system.htm

Muscular:

http://library.thinkquest.org/5777/mus2.htm

http://sv.berkeley.edu/showcase/pages/bones.html a bit difficult to do but good!

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/seehowtheyrun/index.html  active gamesFrog Dissection

 Nervous System

http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/ dissection and more.  ( brain)

http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=4909 30 minute video on the brain.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.html#hrh vast amount of information. Kid friendly.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/ Excellent 3D interactive stuff!!!!

Respiratory System

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookRESPSYS.html shows all different types of systems. Very good.

Skeletal System

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookMUSSKEL.html Excellent for showing different types of skeletal systems, bone growth, and bone tissue, joints and more.

http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.asp interactive

http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001873 Build a skeleton

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/bones/kids_mazeGame.htm games!

http://www.ofsd.k12.wi.us/science/frogdiss.htm

http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu//Frog2/home.html

Engineering

http://teachengineering.org/index.php Fabulous resource! ( for all grade levels)

Videos

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ I use this site often. Skip the ads. Preview. Good demo videos, photos, and explainations.

http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nestcams/camera/index bird cams.

Music

http://datadragon.com/education/reading/  how to read music

http://makingmusicfun.net/ very basic easy lessons, tons of free resources. 

http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=31 audio lessons on composers. Really nice.

http://www.playmusic.org/  interactive with games.

Chinese ( because my daughter is passionate about learning it and wants to be a missionary to China)  It takes four years to master chinese. My daughter is going into 8th grade. I am hoping by next year to have the cash for tapes and books and a tutor. Its around 400.00. I did find a very basic book and CD by DK. It is very good.

http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Book_Get_Talking_Chinese_Dk~linkin_id-8046646

http://www.chinese-tools.com/learn/chinese  30 lessons or weeks worth of lessons. Geared for tourist. However it is a good beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh2Gt4HzAw8 Awesome You Tube Videos on the tones.

http://www.semanda.com/ Wonderful Flash Cards

http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/ccol/content.htm Short Audio Lessons.

http://www.learnchineseez.com/lessons/mandarin/ More short Audio Lessons

French.  Daughter number one is learning french The curriculum she needs is 250.00 for the full two year course. Since I do not speak the language I need a complete course! The below sites are not perfect but untill I can get her the books it is a good start.

 http://www.frenchspanishonline.com/beginnersfrench/freefrench.html 14 weeks basic lessons

http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/ 10 simple lessons on the basics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj/ 12 basic lessons with lots of conversation.

I found this awesome resourse!!!!! Check it out!  This is a huge resourse. The author of the site does the best job in describing what the site has to offer. I found her music Connexions fabulous!

"Connexions is a non-commercial, open-education resource for teachers and students. All materials are under a Creative Commons attribution license, and so may be freely downloaded, copied, shared, and altered. Because the content is submitted by many different educators, there is a very wide variety of subject matter and "grade level", from pre-school to university.

The Connexions commons can be searched from its home page (http://cnx.org). Or, people who are looking specifically for music education materials may find useful two modules that I have published there, "Music in Connexions: A User's Guide", and "Music in Connexions: A K-12 Teacher's Guide",  both of which explain how to use the site and how to find relevant material. Thank you for your attention and consideration."  ~ Catherine Schmidt-Jones

One would think that after 17 years of homeschooling that I would not need to plan lessons, find something new, ect. But each year is a new adventure! I taylor the curriculum to each childs giftings. I like to find exciting ways to help them remember things.

History is one of my favorite subjects to teach. I recently found this wonderful article by Sally Clarkson about teaching history. Its about using bibical history as our foundation. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wholeheart/96244/ 

Thats not a new way of teaching for me however sometimes we need to be reminded to look to the past at what and who was great. Role models that will help to form our childrens future.

If you are not familiar with the Clarkson Family I encourage you to check out their family site. http://www.wholeheart.org/whmain.php  and here http://wholeheart.typepad.com/itakejoy/  So many nuggets of wisdom.

I hope as you are planning for next years school adventure that you will take time reflect on what has worked in the past that can be taken into the future.

I do not get the opportunity to go to homeschool conferences. However I love to learn all I can. I am still learning how to implement CM into my school as much as possible. I found this resource. Its like going to the conference !

• From Enigma to Educationalist - Assessing Charlotte Mason by Jack Beckman

• Teaching Nature Study to First and Second Graders by Deborah & Holly Anne Dobbins

• Composer Study: The Waltz King Cordially Invites You to Attend by Megan Hoyt

• Knowing What Knowers Know by Lisa Cadora

• Revealing the Beauty and Power of the World Through Science Instruction by Nicole Hutchinson

• Developmentally Appropriate Use of Narration by Jennifer Spencer

• Assessing Therapies for Special Needs Students from a Charlotte Mason Perspective by Tammy Glaser

• Making the Heart Sing with Recitation by Bonnie Buckingham

• Training the Intellect Through Literature by Lori Lawing

• Nature Study by Dr. Carroll Smith

Here is a free download from CM  http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/masterly-inactivity/

From the Heart:I was hoping that when school was over we could have a few weeks of slower paced living! It seems to be full steam ahead and I am craving some quiet time. Looking forward to a slower pace this week. Spiritual Growth:  When you pray and ask the Lords provision be prepared to work! We have been praying for a way to stay on budget with the food pantry ministry and for a way to stretch the budget as we are seeing an increase in clients. We have also been praying for more people to be involved in the ministry. And we have been asking the Lord to help us connect more with other "pantries" so we can learn from them and do the very best that we can. That answer came in the way of free food.The Food Bank lifted their maintenance fee and all dry goods were free of charge for the last two weeks. We made an appointment for each day and did our 30 miniutes on the floor each day. This is a physical 30 minutes! We loaded cans into boxes at a fast pace. The average weight of a loaded cart is 300lbs. The results: Answered prayers!  8000 lbs of dry goods! Several new team members, Many new friends from around the area who also do food pantries. We were blessed with the use of two sturdy trucks. A total of 15 people helped with the process. 4 of them are staying on board to be trained in the pantry.We are ahead of our budget. We have prepared for the rain...as a farmer does when he plants seed. I can hardly wait to see the harvest! God is good! So the two week blitz came to an end yesterday. As we are checking out at the food bank the lady mentions that next week all meat is free..... so we will be going at least two days to collect meat. Our freezers will only hold so much. What a blessing. As I said God is good!  On the Homefront: I have been away from home much of the past two weeks. With the gals help we managed to keep the house clean and our laundry caught up. I learned I could spend a whole day cleaning and really get caught up. ( shopping at the food bank was on T - F so we cleaned on Monday only) Really need to spend time to clean the front porch, mow the back yard, tame the tall weeds in the wild flower garden ( they are 10 ft tall, no kidding!) and tidy up the car. In the School Room: The gals did their math and should be done next week! We will start the Botany portion of Biology this coming week. I am really excited about doing this as it is very hands on. I am starting the lesson plans for the Anatomy and Physiology portion of Biology. I am hoping to find a creative, fun way to learn this. The book seems so dry. And it has sooooo much vocabulary. In the Literary Scene:  Reading?! I long for time to do this! Maybe this week! I did finish my daughters Biology book. On the Mission Field: We have been very blessed with ample water and snacks for the homeless for the summer. Always amazes me! There has been an increase of new homeless on the streets. I am guessing we will see more and more. On the creative side: Does stacking and organizing cans count? Tightwad Living: Well we ate at other folks homes 2 times this week! Okay thats cheesy... I am thankful that hubby can do his own car repairs most of the time. He spent many hours working on our van this past two weeks. He also fixed my computer. And he will be fixing the dishwasher. Repair guy wanted 125.00. The part is only 7.00. In the Garden; Too much rain! Many weeds waiting for me. Someone topped our baby maple tree and I am very sad. I will have to pull it and plant another baby. Need to find a way to protect it. The wildflower garden is very tall and full this year. There are some weeds that have to go. They are over 10 ft tall. They are in the dandylion family. Not sure what they are. Lifestyle Change Progress: Eating on the run and working hard all week did not cause me to gain weight. I managed to eat healthy because I planned ahead.  ( at least for breakfast and lunch) I really got hungry while working and had to exercise self control.   In the Kitchen: We managed a few full sit down cooked meals, some out of the fridg quick meals, ate out at a friends a few times.  Last night we had cell group at our house and had a nice sit down dinner: Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, and french bread. Lemon Cake and Sugar Cookies. I plan to get it together this week and plan the menu. Trying to use up what we have in the freezer. Seems we have alot of pork roast! Guess I need to get creative. Here is a photo of our living newel post. Our stair rail is very masculine as it was built by a batchlor.  ( we love it! )The newel post do not have toppers. The cats often position themselves on the post to look out the stairwell windows.

This is a sticky note! Please check often for new freebies. I add stuff daily!!!!

Scroll down for regular blog entries.

Its that time again! This year I have found a few more nuggets. I will be updating this as I find more free stuff. If anyone has free offers to add please let me know! I will remove stuff as it expires. ( let me know if I miss an expired one)

Free Summer Activities:

Free movies at Regal  We do this each summer and really enjoy it. http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx 

Free Bowling ( you have to pay for the shoes ) Easy registration. No hidden fees. http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ 

Kids Eat Free ( usually 12 and under) http://coupondivas.com/kids-eat-free/ 

Free National Park Service Entry Fee

Hello Blog Friends,

My computer is currently not working. Please feel free to leave a message. I am not posting entries but I will check daily for notes and messages and get back to you as soon as I am able.

I took the free sample offers off the Summer Freebies post because I do not have time to update it daily till my computer is back on line. Hugs to all!

I love thrift store shopping. Sometimes it is fun just to go when you don't "need" anything. A friend gave me her "victory bucks". These are coupons valued at $5 each for my favorite thrift store. All the proceeds of this store go to help a program for alchol and drug addicion. All employees are part of the program. Its a great place to browse, visit with folks, and grow in faith if you take the time to hear a testamony. Its the cleanest thrift store I have ever been in.  Thats a bonus for me! It has the charm of a country store. You can get a glimps of the store here: http://gpbcmelanie.blogspot.com/  She is in charge of much! Does a wonderful job! You can check out the program here: http://www.victoryhomerecovery.com/ 

Back to the bucks! I often take the gals out just to spend time and browse. They save pennies and when we have enough we make a trip. They always find something cool. This past week was no acception. DD1 found a name brand purse for $3.00 ( does that surprise anyone!?). DD2 found an 1970s jewelery box that plays the theme from Love Song for $3.00. She was thrilled. Me? I found the best deal of all! I found something I was not even looking for! My out of pocket was 1.50!

2 old books dated 1903. No longer valuable as they both have much wear and tear. But cool books. A Tuscan Fields oil decanter, spoon rest,and utinsil holder, and 4 resturant grade personal augratin dishes that match my antique Hall casserole. After doing research: the tuscan fields stuff is expensive new or used so I did really well. The Hall dishes are repos but match my antique perfectly. I spent 1.50 on about 48.00 worth of merchandise. More than that I LOVE what I got and it was not a burden to the budget. ( all my thrift store cash comes out of my washer from change left in pockets!)

Here is a photo of the Tuscan Fields and Hall dishes. The salad plate is from a yard sale. I paid 25 cents for it. It is valued at $13.99.  Can you tell I love Sunflowers!!?

Bible Study Through the Bible in a Year

I am back to reading full time. Not sure how or exactly when I got off the track but back on and full steam ahead! I like to study the word not just read it so it takes me a long time to get through a passage sometimes. Thus the long post! I plan to be at 50 percent by end of July.

Apr 9: 1Sam 4-8  
Apr 10: 1Sam 9-12

Goodlier, goodly ( found this error in the online bible. Was suppose to be godly!)
Apr 11: 1Sam 13-14

Mattocks: a digging and grubbing tool with features of an adze and an ax or pick

 Coulter A blade or wheel attached to the beam of a plow that makes vertical cuts in the soil in advance of the plowshare.

Set the goads: http://bible.cc/1_samuel/13-21.htm  goads A long stick with a pointed end used for prodding animals http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20060110.htm 

And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Jehovah will work for us; for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.  Samuel 14:6

I love the above verse! Jonathan really trusted in the Lord with all his heart and knew God could save with a few or with many.

Apr 12: 1Sam 15-17

I liked this commentary on Sauls repentance.  ( or lack of true repentance to God)

There were several signs of hypocrisy in Saul's repentance. 1. He besought Samuel only, and seemed most anxious to stand right in his opinion, and to gain his favour. 2. He excuses his fault, even when confessing it; that is never the way of a true penitent. 3. All his care was to save his credit, and preserve his interest in the people. Men are fickle and alter their minds, feeble and cannot effect their purposes; something happens they could not foresee, by which their measures are

broken; but with God it is not so. The Strength of Israel will not lie. (1Sa 15:32-35)

six cubits and a span ( just what does that mean!) http://home.teleport.com/~salad/4god/cubit.htm  http://epistlesofthomas.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/how-tall-was-goliath/
Apr 13: 1Sam 18-20; Ps 11/59