God's Word is Applicable, even here.  

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NOTE: This was taken from Confessions of a Homeschooler.


Dear Jesus,
I wanted to discuss this whole homeschooling thing you have called us to. I have a few concerns and would just like to hear from you, you know some kind of confirmation that we should homeschool, that we’re on the right track, because I’m freaking out just a bit. So here’s where I’m at with this whole thing…
1. I’m scared. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deut 31;8)
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:20)
2. I’m worried about what other people will think or say.Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. (Prov 29:25)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov 9:10)
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
3. I doubt my own ability to teach my kids effectively.…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
4. I don’t think we can afford it.And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
5. How can I take care of my home, family, and daily responsibilities and homeschool?If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:17)
6. I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t even know where to start!Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6)
7. What about my free time?
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
8. What if my kids turn out weird and un-socialized?And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
9. What if I lose friends or family because they disapprove?But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. Philippians 3:1-8
10. What about my attitude and, um shall we say lack of patience?Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation”. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. (Philippians 2:14-18)
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)
…for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:20)
11. Um, so are you saying I’m going to be tested? Because we all know how that turns out…My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 1:3-5)
12. What if I can’t hack it? I mean it’s always easier said then done!…And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12: 1-3)
13. How am I to teach, I don’t even have a teaching degree?These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut 6-9)
14. Okay, I’m out of excuses, any final advice?But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
and thus began our journey…

This was taken from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Her blog and homeschool ideas are creative, fun, and movtivate me!

Insects Unit  

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We haven't actually started our lesson for this unit but I saw this little project and had to try it. Tomorrow we will begin our study of INSECTS.
Spider Web Treats.



Place stick pretzels on wax paper in a cookie sheet.
Place pretzels in a star shape.

Melt Almond Bark in microwave until soft but not hot.
Scoop into a plastic bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner of
the bag to squeeze out the melted chocolate.



Squeeze the melted Almond Bark into the center to make the
pretzels stick together and string it around to make a spider web.
Place chocolate in the center (that is suppose to be the spider- I
was not interested in melting dark chocolate for the legs.

Place in a cool place for just a couple of minutes.
Gently peel from wax paper and
ENJOY!


WATER  

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Today we talked about water.
We can not live without water. Even animals and plants need water.
Our souls (the inside of us) needs water too. Living Water.
We talked about water and how it is a liquid and can also be a solid and a gas too.

The kids played with water and ice cubes. I think they were busy for about an hour sitting at the table pouring water from a measuring cup into a bowl and scooping more water up with little medicine cups and dumping ice cubes in the water (and eating them) and watching them melt.

Ironically enough, during their snack time I popped in a video they have been asking to watch.
 Frosty the Snowman.   
                                       Frosty the Snowman & Frosty Returns

It was perfect. We talked about how when Frosty melted he became a liquid and when he was a snowman he was a solid!

All About Spelling  

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I am contemplating using All About Spelling Level 1. I have read some fabulous reviews of this program and it has won me. My only hesitation is $. We are really trying hard to not spend when we don't need to. In my opinion, this is a 'need' as I plan to use this program as our formal reading program.

But technically, our oldest doesn't even have to be in Kindergarten until next fall.

So my questions for my readers are:

Do you use All About Spelling?
Do you know anyone who uses All About Spelling?

Do I have to buy the readers that they sell? Could we get along fine without them?
What advice do you have for me?

Weekly Wrap Up Oct 18-22, 2010  

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We talked and learned about Dinosaurs!
Graphing
The letter "D." We decided to put out words to remember badge inside
the Dino's belly.
More graphing. At one time I gave the kids a mixture of
cheerios and goldfish for a snack. The bowl got dropped
and while I was picking them up I thought it looked cute.
It looked like the fish were blowing bubbles. Out of that came a
fish and bubbles graph!
Math: We played WAR! I was impressed that Gabe knew
which number was higher.
Next time we will keep score with tally sticks!
Science: We played with the magnet wands and paperclips.

We read
"How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?"How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?
"How do Dinosaurs Say GoodnightHow Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?."

"How do Dinosaurs Say I love YouHow Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?."

He loved them!

We also really liked, " Dinosaur ROARDinosaur Roar Board Book and Finger Puppet."

Cleaning Coins - A Great Preschool Activity  

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I have been using pennies for graphing and other counting projects. My conscience was getting to me cause we all know how dirty coins can be are. So today's lesson was cleaning coins! They had so much fun! We simply followed the directions on Wikihow. They are simple instructions but if you know chemistry there are some no-no's... like mixing different coins together. Who knew?

All we did was:
* pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 tsp of salt into a glass bowl
* drop in the pennies
* and watch them transform from dingy to glistening!

The process only took a couple of minutes.

I gave the kids old toothbrushes and when the coins came out of the vinegar solution I had them *shine* them up a little more. Then we washed them in soapy water.


My oldest didn't want to stop playing with the toothbrush so I told him he could shine up the kitchen floor. That lasted about 3 mins ; > )
Voila! Now we have clean counters!... and a clean spot in the kitchen floor.

Weekly Wrap Up Sept 27- Oct 1, 2010  

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Here are some of the things that I was able to capture that we did this week:

Fall Vocabulary Words

Patterning: 2 x 3 pattern.
These patterns were from out RightStart Math Lessons.
For some reason it is blogger is turning my pictures. Here I made a number matching
birthday candle game. A little someone turned 3 on Monday!
Here they had to put them in order of smallest to largest.
Pattering: ABBABBABBABB

Made wreaths with real leaves!
Puting the days of the week in order
Patterning: ABABAB




For those of you who are doing MFW K here is a good resource for the "US" unit.

What's in the Workboxes?  

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I recently mentioned that I have begun to use a form of Sue Patrick's Workbox System.
I am doing the simple version as my kiddos are very young and I wanted to keep from confusing them in anyway. As they get older I may implament more of what the book recommends.

One of my readers asked me to tell you what I put in the boxes. That is the beauty of this you can put anything in it from school work sheets to snack to puzzles or toys.

I did type out a general 'schedule' for what to put in and when and in what order. {that last sentence sounds real complicated but let me explain - keeping it simple is so important to me}.
Here are some other ideas that I have written up. I just keep penciling in more ideas as they come.
Workbox Ideas
Workbox Ideas

There are two pages posted. Where it says 'book' at the bottom, you may need to click scroll then scroll down to see page two. (still learning Scribd ; ))

Here are some of the things we have done with them so far.

Anything you want to use for an activity you would put in the box. For example we did a fall leave wreath. I put in the box a paper plate with the center already cut out, a glue bottle. I had them go outside and pick up colorful leaves and bring them in. Then they glued them to the paper plate ring.

If I want them to do a math lesson. I put in what that day's lesson needs, pencil, worksheet, abacus, square tiles for pattering.

Just for fun I will add a puzzle or a building toy like blocks.

The first box is always a devotional, bible story or character book.
We also practice our AWANA bible memory.
I printed out this character coloring book - this is great for the 3 year old when the 5 year old is doing 'real school.'


Fall Vocabulary Words that they glue to a page

A Devotional or Character Building Book goes in the first box every day.

Math lesson for the day : couting with the abacus

Landmarks of the World flash cards
We will just read through these together.

A fun activity to keep them busy.

Cutting

We jumped on board! Workboxes!  

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I have good news ~ for me anyway.


I really struggled for about 4 weeks with how to plan what to do and when. When is a big issues when you have a preschooler and a crawler! Schooling just wasn't fitting in (without babies crawling up in the table and preschoolers throwing temper tantrums).
I had thought about it, scratched out many possible routines but it wasn't happening. I was so discouraged and frustrated by it all. I knew we needed to do something totally different from what we were doing.


Finally I said enough is enough and I got online and ordered

this from Joann Fabric! It has made things so much more fun and we actually get school done.... not just do a little.... I mean we accomplish what I want to accomplish.




For the kids is it just something that fills their day. They are loving the boxes and the fun 'projects' inside!. I kept it real simple and didn't do the whole Sue Patrick's Workbox numbers and cards and valcro. It is just the drawers and I tell them "Go see what is in the blue box" - It helps that they are all different colors - they are learning their colors too!


Oh! You know what was even better? I ordered it online and they had two different prices. On the list of items it was priced at only $33.00! That's a great deal! So I clicked "add to cart" and there it showed up as $66.00 plus $14 shipping. So I called customer service and they gave me the cheapest price listed. And shipping was really only $7.00!  Woooo Whoooo!


(by the way, the 5 year old gets one side and the 3 year old gets the other side.)

Counting by Two's  

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In the last couple of weeks we have been cherry picking. Cherry Tomatoes.
We have been counting EVERYTHING that we get from our garden. So I pulled out the muffin
tins and we counted the cherry tomatoes by twos!
We 98 of them this particular day.


I had always heard of home schoolers who just incorporate learning into their day in a natural way. I am more of a 'follow the book' gal but I am seeing more and more ways to 'learn in everyday life' now that I am an official home schooler.

Nest Unit  

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Once again I have to tell you how God is interacting in our lives. It is small things but they are showing me and my children that God knows and cares about every detail of our lives!

I have a journal notebook that I keep the list of recommended books for each unit. I also write in other books we want to read too. I have a section for the book title, the author and the call number. Before we go to the library I go to the library webpage and look up each book and write down the call number. That way when I get there I will already know if the library even has the book and I can begin my search.

Well, I had found the books I was looking for and then as usual I just randomly pick up other books that look good.

This time I picked up NO ROSES FOR HARRY by Gene Zion.

No Roses for Harry!

Cute little book. As the story 'unfolded' I began to see how the Lord directed me on my library book search. I had no idea what this book was about. Let me tell you. This little dog gets a sweater from Granny that he doesn't like. He finds any possible way to get rid of it but has no luck. Finally, a little thread comes loose and it begins to unravel. A bird picks up one end of the string and flies off unraveling the entire sweater. Harry is so happy and the bird is happy cause now the bird has a beautiful nest that looks like Harry's sweater and is so soft and cozy. And Harry no longer feels silly wearing this thing.

I almost teared up. God put this book in our hands with out us asking for it. At the very time we were studying nests!

This IS my Father's world. He cares about everything in it! Yes. Even today. Even you! Even me!

Matthew 6:26 (New International Version)



Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Week 2: THE MOON  

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God really is amazing.
 The creator of the Universe and yet he knows everything (large and small) about us.
We decided to go to the library one day and low and behold they had a
"VISIT TO THE MOON" exhibit!
The kids had so much fun!


I learned something too during this unit. The Moon does not actually give off light. So why does it shine? It shines because it reflects light from the sun.
Spiritual lesson: We are like the moon. There is no light in us. But we can (if we choose) to shine because of the light of God's 'sun.'

I was also impressed cause my 2.5 year old actually learned from the activity we did
learning about the Full moon, Half moon, Crescent moon, and New moon. We decided to read books outside in the evening before bed and she saw the moon and declared that it was a half moon. She was right!