Thursday, February 22, 2018

Nature Study and Science - The Easy Way!

Need to get some nature study in but...well...you don't know where to start? Try The Kids' Nature Book!

This has been our "go-to" when nothing exciting is happening outdoors. Why would this be the go to? Because there is something to do EVERY DAY of the year. Is it January 12th and you don't know what to do? The book has you covered. November 30th?...Got It. Save your sanity and check this out of your library...you'll see what I mean.

Pair this with The Storybook Of Science for your older children and you've got your science covered!

What a fun and educational book Nature Anatomy is! The kids will love to just peruse it and maybe even copy the illustrations :)

And I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest that YOU have yourself covered by getting the classic Handbook of Nature Study. This has tons of info for you to read (not to the kids) so you sound like a naturalist without trying! Simply find what your kids asked you about and let them know. Of course don't bore them by reading directly out of it...unless they are wanting you to, or they are in Jr. High and up.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Minimalist Homeschool Expo!

Dr. Art Robinson was a minimalist homeschooler before it was a "thing" 25 years ago. Watch this interesting video on homeschooling with his curriculum and see how easy and freeing it really can be!

ALL six of his kids went into science majors (Chemistry, Vets etc) and ALL of them got PHds early. Amazing family!

Dr. Art Robinson Explains the Robinson Curriculum

You can get the Robinson Curriculum here. It's available online now so you can have either a PC or a Mac. ;)

Friday, December 8, 2017

Homemade Nourishing Face Cream

Ingredients for making Nourishing Face Cream

1 cup Grape Seed, Olive Oil or Jojoba Oil
¼ cup Virgin Coconut Oil
1 tsp. Lanolin
½ oz. grated Beeswax
2/3 cup Distilled Water
½ cup. Aloe Vera Gel or Juice
Vitamin E at least 10,000 IU
Vitamin A at least 150,000 IU
2 drops Essential Oil of your choice
Clean Cream or Lotion Jars

Procedure

Before you begin making your face cream, ensure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
The first step is to mix the grape seed oil, coconut oil, lanolin and beeswax and put them in the top pan of the double boiler. Apply low heat to the boiler and heat the mixture until the mixture has melted.
Once melted, take it out from the pan and pour it in a glass measuring cup. Allow it to cool until it reaches room temperature.
Now, put the distilled water, aloe vera, Vitamin E, Vitamin A and essential oil in a mixer. Make sure that you blend them at the highest speed. While you blend them, drip the above made oil mixture into the mixer.
The lotion would start getting thicker and the mixer would get slow in speed. Turn off the mixer when you reach this stage. The face cream is ready!Pour the cream in fresh cream or lotion jar and store them in a cool place. If you do not intend to use the cream for a few weeks, you can as well put the jar in the refrigerator.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Am I Doing Enough?

In case your worried about how you're doing homeschooling...consider this quote:

"Studies have shown that all of typical grade K to 8 academic content can be mastered in eighteen to twenty-four months, as can all subjects taught in grades 9 to 12. Every year American School, an Illinois independent-study High School, has several students that complete four years of high school academics in less than eighteen months." - Cafi Cohen, Homeschooling the Teen Years, page 60.

Monday, November 27, 2017

At Home ACE Homeschool Expo

So I named this A.C.E. Homeschool Expo but really it's organization whiz Andrea Mill's ACE playlist from youtube.... in case you need some inspiration or help ;)

Friday, November 17, 2017

Why We Don't Homeschool In The Morning Or How To Make Your Life Easier!

I was thinking this morning about how nice our days are and then that made me think about when I first started...don't even want to tell you how long ago but let's just say Bush and not George W. (dubbya) was in office.

What I found was that EVERY so called "expert" or homeschooling mom would tell you (and still do) is what I like the call "The Homeschool Mom Protocol": get breakfast, do chores and then start school and be done by noon or 1 (lunch time). I tried this...really...for years I tried this. And every morning SUCKED! I started thinking that if I had to fight like this to get crap done I'd rather send the kids to school and if you know me, that's pretty bad since I'm a HUGE proponent of homeschooling.

And then....

I decided to not do anything but let the kids play first thing in the morning.....
......And our life began to look like what I thought homeschooling could be.

Then I got wild.....and I started asking the kids what they wanted for breakfast instead of me dictating what they were going to have. We made out a list of things they liked to eat and what days they wanted them (for my sake)..........and mornings got even better! No fighting about not wanting oatmeal~

And if that worked......I asked them what they liked for dinner and we made a weekly chart for it. My cravat on this was it had to be easy or in a crockpot.....and our nights started becoming better. Daddy's started coming home to a happy house.

now we were on a roll.....we decided that they would do some math and english before lunch and then.....
.....before dinner they'd do Science and Social Studies and more joy prevailed!

my point???

Stop looking to the "experts" to tell you how YOU need to run YOUR house. If the kids are running around the house madly first thing in the morning, maybe you need to do afternoon school or even Gasp!!! evening school! Maybe you do all your work after dinner!! Just reading that for some of you may seem like a relief and for others you are cringing right now. If your kids are full of energy, maybe break everything into small pieces like, just this one and now run around and come back for the next one or give me the answer while your jumping rope! But either way...ask your kids what THEY would like to do. How would it feel if your husband told you exactly how to vacuum or grocery shop or some other thing? Wouldn't that be annoying? You bet it would! So why not let the kids tell you what they may like to do. What's it going to hurt? Probably nothing so why fight over it?? Seriously!

Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting--and conflict.

NLT Prov. 17:1

A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.
NLT Prov. 15:17

Now go! Find your families' joy!

Monday, November 13, 2017

Cranberry Thanksgiving - 2017 Edition

***If you can't get the book you can watch it being read here:

Cranberry Thanksgiving

Another copy of Cranberry Thanksgiving

Bible

Memory Verse Psalm 100:4

Social Studies

Geography - New England

Map of New England
National Geographics New England
What's the Time and Weather in Cape Cod - put it on the thermometer
13 Colonies
Thirteen Colonies - **in depth for beefing up

***Beefing Up

Research the Thirteen Colonies or Cape Cod or New England and write a report or do an oral presentation.

Repetition
Vocabulary

Make a Word Search from Vocab words

Simile

Simile game

Beefing It UP!

Grammar- Noun - watch Schoolhouse Rock - Noun Using one of the sentences in the book circle or color the nouns in School Journal (composition book) or Worksheet Works (you can do this with verbs, adjectives or adverbs also)
Play the Nouns and Verbs - Make sure you have an Ad blocker program!!
Write a sentence using a similie
Write a paragraph (or sentence) using some of the vocabulary words