Blizzard Conditions

cause {home}school to close.

Because all kids need snow days once in a while :)

Organization is

a beautiful thing.
I will be doing several posts on organization in the upcoming weeks.

Several things which help me stay organized are...

The Laminator.
I've used it recently for recipe cards, ABC flashcards, game pieces, and math tables.

These are Ashlynn's (my 2 year old) ABC flashcards.
She is madly in love with penguins, thus the reason for penguin themed flashcards.

The Label Maker
A sweet friend gave me this beauty.
Let me tell ya'
.Best. Toy. Ever.
I am slowly replacing all my handwritten labels with nice, neat printed ones.
You can even buy cloth label tape. How awesome is that!
Look out kiddo's, your camp clothes will be fully labeled.

And on extremely challenging days, you can even label the kids.
Brilliant!

I also L.O.V.E....

*Storage Boxes.
Labeled of course

*Hanging Files
Labeled & important documents Laminated.

*Calendar/Planner
Keeps me at the right place at the right time.

*Weekly Lists
I love crossing off things!

Snow Crafts

I am longing for snow.

.Not rain.
.Belch.

We are making our own snow this week.
You can too!

Aren't these the coolest looking snow globes!
.get instructions here.

We are going to make some beaded snowflakes to hang on a few of our little trees.

.instructions for Beaded Snowflakes.

I personally think these snow globes are too cute!
My kids are going to love playing with them.
image credit outbestbites.com
.instructions here.

Let your little ones color, cut and make their own snowman.
.snowman craft here.

A favorite at our house is making 'gingerbread' houses & igloo's out of sugar cubes.

. my icing recipe & instructions here.

How will you make your own snow this week?

TTT - Word Fun

Two weeks ago, I mentioned I was
'bursting at the seams with excitement'.
My excitement...I flew to VA to visit a dear friend who is on bed rest with her second child.
I surprised her!
It was great!
She is a school teacher, and is a wealth of knowledge. I enjoy picking her brain about school things. She introduced me to Wordle.

You can create things like this

  

Go to www.wordle.net, click 'create'. Then start typing words.
The number of times you type the same word,
on the same line, determines the word size.
The greater the number, the larger the word

I plan to use Wordle as an aid while teaching parts of speech, in creative writing
and as a tool to help study for tests.

Go check it out and let me know how you would use Wordle for learning.

Sporcle

Yes, I am addicted to Sporcle.
My kids are too.
We might need an intervention.

Almost every time I sit to feed baby, I pull up another Geography Game, Math Drill, Science Quiz or History Test....
I am pleased to say I can place all the states, correctly spelled. Annnddd, I am in the 99% for speed. I can also complete Simple Math Mindfield in less than a minute, 54 seconds to be exact. My 12 year old and I race. He sits at his laptop and I at mine.
Yes, we are slightly competitive here.

If you have no clue what Sporcle is, check it out.
It is a great learning tool for kids and adults.

TTT - Devotions

95% of our school days start with devotions. I read to the children while they eat breakfast. When their food is gone they are required to sit still and listen. We are going through 4 books this year.

We start our morning by reading a chapter or two from The Child's Story Bible. Bible stories from the Old and New Testament are retold in easy to understand language, while remaining true to Scripture. Each story has Scripture references if you choose to look them up in your Bible.

Jesus Wants All of Me has a short, simple, daily devo for little ones. My 8 year old is in charge of the daily reading of this book. We do this devo mainly for the little girls.

Sticky Situations has one page real life scenarios which allows for discussion in various topics and helps in decisions making. My 12 year old reads this to us daily.

Who Is God? And How Can I Really Know Him, by Apologia, is a workbook we started this year. We love it!
from Apologia...'Who is God and Can I Really Know Him?, introduces the concept of worldview while laying the foundational truths upon which the evangelical Christian worldview is built: God is truth and He reveals His truth to people; He is the one true and almighty God; He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; He created everything; we are God’s children and are made to love and to praise Him; God meets all our needs; sin keeps us from God; and Jesus is the only way to God.'
Download a sample lesson here.

We always end our devo time with prayer. I pray specifically for daddy's work day, that he might have wisdom and safety, as well as each child by name and a specific thing they need help with. It is amazing how the children respond to hearing me pray specifically for each of them. I am not wimpy or sugar coat my words in my prayer. I am specific and honest.

I don't know why I haven't learned that skipping devo's and prayer time does not yield more school accomplished. (wow that was quite the sentence) Yes, it provides more time, but I am a better teacher and my children are better workers when we begin our day learning from our Maker.

'I can do all things through him who strengthens me.'
Phil 4:13

TTT - Brain Work-Out

Brain games are a fun activity we do to stimulate different parts of our brains.

The games provide a break from our work, add fun into our day and help sharpen our thinking skills.

Try these out...

Say the color, not the word.
Yellow
Green
Blue
Brown
Red

Are the horizontal lines parallel?
Yes! Measure them to prove it.

How does your brain see the two squares below?
They are exactly the same color. Put a pencil over the line in the middle to see.

Which line is longer?
They are exactly the same!
What causes one to appear longer? The ends trick your brain into thinking figure one is longer.

Next time you need to refocus growing brains, or want a fun mind stimulating activity, try playing a few Brain Games.

To learn more about how the brain works, watch Brain Games on the National Geographic Channel.

TTT Fall Crafts

Fall explodes with a unique coziness after a hot summer.
I love the smells and activities of the season;
football, bonfires, sweatshirts, hikes, gourds, squash baking, beautiful leaves ...

Fall is a breath of fresh air after a hot sticky summer, which I also love, but only for a season.

We enjoy the addition of fall crafts during our school day.
Below I've highlighted a few.
If you have a fall craft you enjoy with your children, please share in the comments!

Fall Leaves


We are going to try these leaves this week.
photo from Better Homes and Gardens

Maple Flavor Leaf Cookies

Paper Pumpkins
photo from Martha Stewart

Owl Paper Puppet
photo from While She Naps

Fall Trees
photo from 1+1+1=1

Teaching Tip Tuesday

Awesome job!

Wow, you really stayed in the lines!

Good job sounding out that long word!

Hey, you did it! Remember how hard it was a month ago to tie your shoes?

Thanks, I needed your help.
You might never hear thank you from them, but you are making a difference.
*smile*

Praise...

We all need it.
Some more than others, but we all need to hear encouraging words once in a while.

Do you offer genuine praise to your children? Your husband? Your friends?

I haven't ever met someone who doesn't respond to genuine praise. Not the cheap, 'Wow your the best at that', stuff; unless of course your child/husband/friend is a world famous toy pick-r-up-r or a record holder for shoe tying.
Genuine praise, is truthful.
Genuine Praise is encouraging.
Genuine Praise speaks honestly about ones achievement.
Genuine Praise is individualized.

Now, before you disagree, think about what I am saying... cheap praise is something simply not true. As adults, we often do this to each other, and shrug it off. But our kids see through it. They know they aren't the best____. When they continually hear cheap praise from adults, eventually they won't hear it at all. Your encouraging words will mean nothing.

So... Next time you are encouraging,
Be Specific
Be Genuine!
Your child will appreciate it.

Kids Radio

Do you get tired of your kids wanting to watch TV or use an electronic devise?
We don't have a Wii or anything of that sort, but my kids do ask to watch TV more than I think they need to. His Kids Radio has been a great alternative for us!
We were given our WiFi His Kids Radio as a gift from my parents at Easter last year.

My kids LOVE it!
I LOVE it!

It is Christian Radio Programming live & on demand any time of the day.
Below I copied information from the HisKids website.
Check it out, it might be something to add to your Christmas list!


*************
Taken from hiskids.net

SAFE, SIMPLE FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT -- ON DEMAND!

The HisKids.net Wi-Fi Family Radio™ plays kids' programs from the following ministries at the simple push of a button -- without using your computer!

• HIS KIDS RADIO
• Down Gilead Lane
• Jonathan Park
• Karen & Kids
• Keys for Kids
• Kids Corner
• Paws & Tales
• PRIMEtime with Pastor Mark
• The Pond
• TOONZ! - Music for His Kids
• We Kids with Mr. Nick
• plus others

The menu also contains programming for adults, including ...

• FamilyLife Today
• Grace to You
• Insight for Living
• Midday Connection
• Mission Network News
• Moody Presents
• Open Line
• Precepts for Life
• Proclaim
• Renewing Your Mind
• Revive Our Hearts
• The Back to God Hour
• Truth for Life
• 24/7 Christian Music
• and more to come

Other Key Features ...

• Automatic menu updates
• Backlit display
• Channels listed alphabetically
• Clock radio with alarm & sleep timer
• Customizable Personal Menu
• Free software upgrades
• Live and on-demand content
• No subscriptions to pay
• Plays internet radio & audio tracks stored on your PC or Mac
• Plug & play simplicity
• Supports RealAudio, MP3 and WMA
• Tune in without turning on your computer

Go to hiskids.net to learn more!

How to Use A Semicolon

It's that time of year again... school is starting across the nation. Kids are reluctantly cleaning out brain cobwebs & trying to remember just what it was they learned last year.

These cartoons are silly, but they are a good reminder.

Has school started where you live?

Homeschool Q's

for you to answer for me!

• Have you ever used Saxon Phonics & Spelling? What do you think of the material
• What books do your boys like to read? 3rd grade & 7th grade specifically. We've done most of the Hardy Boys, Cowboy Sam, Frog & Toad... My 7th grader loves a good mystery or history book. My 3rd grader enjoys anything with animals or adventure.
• What is your favorite spelling program? Have you ever used Sequential Spelling? Thoughts?
• What phonics program would you recommend for a 4 year old little girl who did 30 pages of 4's & 5's preschool work in one day? She can spell and sound out short vowel words.
• What is your favorite Bible program? Not devotionals, but Bible Education? Ok, you can give me your favorite family devotions too :)
• Anyone ever use any online classes or classes on DVD? What classes? What are your thoughts on it?
• What is your all time favorite field trip?
  

Summer Goals

• Get the summer chore charts up ASAP ~ I'm on that T.O.D.A.Y
• Create summer reading & math drill schedule
• Paint in the girls room
• Relax, enjoy, soak in life
• Swimming Lessons
• Have regular swim parties with our friends, invite a some new ones too
• Order the rest of our school material
• Organize school closet
• Organize and sort kid & baby clothes
• Paint a few decorations on the wall in the nursery
• Potty Train child #4
• Relax, enjoy, soak in life
  
• Enjoy the garden but don't stress about the weeds
• Put up: pickles, salsa, peaches, green beans, pumpkin, jam, strawberries, raspberries, sauce
  
• Figure out landscaping
• Finish Mulching
• Write Birth Plan
• Pick Baby name
• Relax, enjoy, soak in life
• Wrap my little brain around the fact I am going to be a mommy of 5.

Summer Reading

I firmly believe, once a child can read, the world is at their fingertips!
Reading is the most powerful educational tool you can give your child.
If your child can read, he/she has the ability to
learn
create
build
do
travel the world
Not only on the pages of the book, but in real life. I realize the ability to read won't get your child a plane ticket to Australia, however, it will give him/her the next best thing, the ability to learn all about it. Reading can physically give your child the skills to: build a catapult, build a fort, sew, create beads, knit... the list is endless.
My boys have built things, created things, & fixed things, I had no clue they were capable of. The ability to read & follow directions is what helped them accomplish those things.

Don't let your child stop reading this summer!

Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program.
Check it out.
Use their program, or use it to create your own.

• Make reading fun by gathering books that interest your child.
• Go to the library and allow him/her to pick several books to read.
• Set a reading time each day or 4-5 days a week.
• Read together as a family.
• Pack a picnic & a book. Read to your children as they eat.

Keep your kids Reading this summer!

How to Use An Apostrophe

Poster Credit The Oatmeal Shop