A peek inside...

We were doing family devotions the other night and we were studying Proverbs 22. We came to Proverbs 22:13 The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!” and our study bible put this clearly that the lazy man is going to make excuses for not working.

The following conversation happened next...

J-Bird--"Ohh! J-Bell is like a sloth!"

J-Bell--"WHAT?!?!?"

J-Bird--She tries to stay in bed everyday!

J-Bell--"You want me to punch you in the head?"

J-Bird--*shaking his head...smiling* "It's just an example.... and it's true!"

Can't you just see their angel halos?

movies

Took the family to the movie fireproof last night. It was great well worth the money.

Homeschool Memoirs- Summer Photo Essay

THEME
This week I want to invite you to take a moment and post a Summer Photo Essay memoir. Starting from around the official date of Summer to this past week - just give a basic summary of your summer as I know someone of you are photoholics!

We don't do a big summer vacation in our family. We spend our time close to home enjoying the great outdoors.

We will spend our time kayaking...

Or at the pool...

Or at the lake...

Or picking strawberries. We put up strawberries, blueberries, zucchini, corn, peaches, and pears this summer. Applesauce isn't done yet, so I can't include that.

This year we didn't get to go boating at my mom's. We ran out of time and were sorely disappointed. I guess that means next year we will have to go extra!

Free Sale

Free Sale

We are in the process of setting up for the annual free sale. What is amazing to me is all of this is just from Thursday set up. The church family has all day today to bring stuff in also. I can't imagine what it is going to look like tonight!

Homeschool Memoirs- Favorite Things

THEME:
Since I’ve been making you work really hard on the previous Memoir themes I decided to take a little break, and do something fun! This week I want to invite you to share a few of your favourite things. I know the list of favourite things could be never-ending, but I’ve made a list…

Magazines/Carnivals - About the only magazine I read is Readers Digest, the kids read Keys for Kids and Highlights

Freebie sites - any sites that offer freebies or often have giveaways-5 Minutes for Moms

Homeschool news/informative-?

Forums/book clubs -?

Networking, Blog “About” (sites that offer tech-support or tutorials for computer/internet) &

Quick Links -?

Mom site - a sites just for moms -5 Minutes for Moms

Inspirational/encouraging/motivational - Greg Laurie, Dave Ramsey

Youth/kid - sites geared towards youth/kids or owned by them-Fun Brain

Memes --Wordless Wednesday, Photo Hunt Saturday, Homeschool Memoirs

Organizing/crafts - sites that you look to for organizing tips or crafts -?

Homemaking/Homesteading ?

Bible-focused - sites mainly about God’s Word-?

Homeschool Method - sites that offer a lot of info on a certain method ?

Family blog - sites that give you a glimpse into another family’s life, run by a family -This is where I can't pick a favorite. My side bar has many blog, all of whom give insight into families

Businesses, particularly homebased-?

This was actually a really hard week for me. Obviously I don't spend a great deal of time on many different sites. Actually I spend less and less time on the computer, which is probably why my blog never gets updated. I check email, check bloglines, and check facebook (and play Scramble when time permits). I do this a couple times a day. Unless I have something I need to purchase or look up I don't stay on the Internet. The kids spend time looking up information for their lapbook research but they are not allowed to just surf in the Internet either. Hopefully next week will be easier!

39 Clues

As a family we have been reading what is going to be a new series. The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones came out last week. I had heard about it from the today show and thought it sounded interesting. It is interesting, educational, and keeps the kids begging for more.

Actually the last time I read the book to them J-Bell started laughing so hard that she fell over backward in the chair she was sitting in!

It is fun to see the kids all so interested in a book, and in the same topic.

*Just as a disclaimer, this is not a Christian series. If you are looking to read it, use your own discretion

Thankful Thursday

13 4 Things I am thankful for today

1. Choices. I am so thankful I have choices. I don't have to do what everyone one else is doing, and they don't have to do what I'm doing.

2. Homeschooling. It is work, but I love having my kids around, and there are so many teachable moments throughout the day. I would hate missing those.

3. Friends. I am bad at finding a lot of time for life outside of my family, but my friends seem to understand, and forgive me for not always being there.

4. Grace. Not only do my friends lavish grace upon me, but I have been forgiven much. I am SO thankful that God and people have bestowed grace to me.

*I was going to do a Thursday Thirteen but ran out of time. Thanks for catching that Molly!

Homeschool Memoirs- Something New

This is our assignment this week:

Planning your homeschool is a lot of fun, especially if you’re going to be trying something new. Just like finding a shiny new penny, you’re excited to use it. This week I hope you’ll share something new you’re using, why you’ve decided to use it, and if you have used it how you like it.

We are trying a quite a few new things but my favorite is Spelling Power! For years we tried the old way of give them a list to memorize, test them on Friday, watch them feel like a failure. It just didn't work for us. At all.

A friend suggested Spelling Power. It is not graded. You start with a test to put them at the level they need to start at. The book then does tell the parent what grade level this is, but that information is not for the child. They test for 5 minutes every day, only working on the words they get wrong each day. The student workbooks are set up so they write out the rule for the list they are working on, have a 10 step study guide to work on their words, plus a place to write sentences. Then you are supposed to do 5 minutes of skill building activities. 15 minutes. No tears, no feeling helpless or like a failure, and the kids see progress.

What more could you ask for?

Homeschool Memoirs-Routines

The assignment for this week reads:

I know some people are very routine oriented while others may be more “day-by-day”, and it all depends on your family and what works best for your life-style. This week please post hat your planned homeschool routine is.

I have a routine that I try to stick to, but as with anything it is more of a guide than a schedule. I came up with a daily schedule, and also a school schedule for each child. This helps me to be able to teach those subjects that require more teaching time to each child, and since we have a couple subjects done on the computer they needed to make sure our school day keeps going instead of waiting for others. Our Daily Schedule looks like this:


Schedule
7:00 am Wake up
7:30-8:00 Out of Bed/ Room Cleaned
8:00-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-9:00 Clean up/ Chores
9:00-2:00 School
2:00-5:00 Free Time
5:30-6:30 Dinner
6:30-8:00 Free Time
8:00-8:15 Straighten up house
8:15-8:30 Get ready for bed
8:30 Bed Time
9:30 Lights Out

Our school schedule looks like this:

School Schedule--J-Bell
9:00-9:30 Devotions
9:30-10:00 Math
10:00-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:00 Reading/ Tapestry
11:00-11:30 Spelling/ Grammar
11:30-12:00 Spanish
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Writing/ Typing
1:00-1:30 Science/ Critical Thinking
1:30-2:00 Art


School Schedule--Desti
9:00-9:30 Devotions
9:30-10:00 Math
10:00-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:00 Reading/ Tapestry
11:00-11:30 Spanish
11:30-12:00 Spelling/ Grammar
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Art
1:00-1:30 Science/ Critical Thinking
1:30-2:00 Writing/ Typing

School Schedule--Rara
9:00-9:30 Devotions
9:30-10:00 Spanish
10:00-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:00 Math
11:00-11:30 Reading/ Tapestry
11:30-12:00 Writing/ Typing
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Spelling/ Grammar
1:00-1:30 Art
1:30-2:00 Science/ Critical Thinking

School Schedule--J-Bird
9:00-9:30 Devotions
9:30-10:00 Art
10:00-10:30 Recess
10:30-11:00 Math
11:00-11:30 Reading/ Tapestry
11:30-12:00 Science/Critical Thinking
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Writing/ Typing
1:00-1:30 Spanish
1:30-2:00 Phonics Tutor

I have this printed up and we refer to it often. The subjects in bold are the ones done on the computer (Art being art history). That is roughly how we spend our day. The only other thing I really try to do is to turn off the phone once it is time for school to start. I keep my cell on in case someone really needs to get a hold of me, but most people know that I am available in the afternoons, not mornings.