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Joy. What is joy? Is it happiness, fun, kindness, love? I think it is so many things to so many people. Now the question is when you know what joy is to you, how do you find it? Especially during the bustle and hurriedness of the Holiday season. Notice I said holiday not Christmas. When Continue reading Finding Joy We made the cutest tacktile ABC and 123 Lapbook. You just have to check out the pictures. Click here to see it. http://raquelshomeschooldays.blogspot.com/2008/12/abc-and-123-lapbook.html This has got to be the cutest thing. On 4th of July my family and I went to Tustin High School to watch the firework show as well as the entertainment. My daughter brought with her a set of pom poms to cheer on the fireworks. When the cheerleader saw her dancing around with them Continue reading Raquel The Cheerleading Captain This is such a great post, 9 Steps to a Meaningful Christmas for You and Your Family, by Terri Johnson at Knowledge Quest. Christmas can be a magical time for children. Yet this holiday can also bring out whininess, disappointment and an ungrateful “gimme, gimme” attitude in our normally sweet children. How can we, Continue reading Get Rid of the Gimmees Phyllis Wheeler is the author of Let’s Make a Web Page! eBook which she wrote to help 8-12 year old children learn to create a web page of their own. Phyllis really knows how to portray the building of a web page in a very easy plan to follow. Younger children will need a Continue reading Lets Make A Web Page eBook I think most parents realize how important play is in the development of our children. There is also research out there that says that play can also aid in learning. Jeffrey Peyton, the creator of Puppetools, feels this is very critical in helping educators and us parents in this area and he has a Continue reading Puppetools I just had to post this. I get an e-news from Living on a dime and this was in one of her lastest emails….. She stood at the window watching the snow falling gently to the ground. Thanksgiving was over and soon it would be Christmas, her favorite time of the year. But her heart Continue reading The Gift by: Jill Cooper What a great post by Jill Johnson at Knowledge Quest. Christmas can be a magical time for children. Yet this holiday can also bring out whininess, disappointment and an ungrateful “gimme, gimme” attitude in our normally sweet children. How can we, as caring parents, counter-act this contagious and disheartening attitude? Let’s use the word CHRISTMAS Continue reading Christmas can be a magical time for children, yet… If you read my blog, then you have kids. If you have kids then I know you want to raise your kids to the best they can be. I know my goal is to raise up our next generation of leaders to make our world better then what it is now. If that is one Continue reading Raising our Leaders Oh what joy!!! I just received the December module from the Old School House and the subject is “Lets be Scientists”. How fun. My son loves science and I need all the help I can get to come up with fun things to do. This semester we are working on the human body Continue reading Old Schoolhouse December Module You have to check out these absolutely cute and perfect for Christmas games I got to review. Now, first I have to be honest about one thing. When I got these to review, I thought that this was going to be about the same quality as I can get in the $.99 store. Boy was Continue reading Alphabet Alley Core Learning publishes teaching software for math, language arts, health, and art, all for elementary to the Jr. High school grades. Crayola Art Studio is the simplest and most complete computer based art program I have ever seen for children. Most of the drawing functions and their tools are in an easy to Continue reading Core Learning Art Studio Well, this review was a little tough for me. Why you ask? Because I already have a preset idea about computer based schools. I am not extremely happy with a child spending their school day on the computer. I also prefer to be a little more hands on with assigning my children’s schoolwork and choice Continue reading Time4Learning I was sent three books, The American Twins of the Revolution, Glaucia the Greek Slave and Mary Jane all by Salem Ridge Press. Believe it or not a homeschool teenager who wanted to bring some of that old wonderful literature from the days gone by started this company. This is one company that Continue reading Salem Ridge Books Trigger Memory System, has fantastic tool for your children. Clean n’ Flip Charts. Now what are these charts you ask. They are flip charts for your children that explain how to clean their room, bathroom, kitchen and do their laundry. I have been lookig at these for some time now and I was Continue reading Trigger Memory System I absolutely hated geography in school. I never memorized the U.S.A. states and where they were, but then I was given this cute book called The Little Man in the Map, by E. Andrew Martonyi, illustrated by Ed Olson, Schoolside Press. The Little Man in the Map uses rhyming stories with coordinating pictures of Continue reading Little Man in the Map by Schoolside Press When your child acts out in public to get their way, you CAN get control back. Here, James Lehman, MSW lays out some step-by-step techniques for you to use next time you hit the mall or grocery store. I’ve worked with many parents over the years who routinely gave in when their children acted Continue reading When a Child Acts Out in Public to Get Their Way I did it! I found the best spelling program ever! The program name is All About Spelling. The program is so versatile. It can start at preschool aged children (my daughter) all the way to High School level (Level 6) because they are not specified to grade levels but they are arranged by concepts Continue reading All About Spelling And Then Mama Said…”It Takes Time to Learn to Read”. Isn’t that such a true statement? We sometimes forget this as a homeschooler and try to rush and push our children to keep up with so and so. But reality is that our children will read when their brain is good and ready! This book Continue reading Splish Book from TOS OK, so I know there is this continuous battle between the public school Christians and the Homeschooling Christians. A lot of times the public school Christians feel like us homeschoolers are calling them bad parents or bad Christians for putting their children in the Devils path. And the homeschooler feels the public schoolers are calling Continue reading The Future Belongs to Our Children Art can be a touchy subject to teach I think. Why you ask? Because at a young age, say 3-8 years old or so, you want to keep it fun, but still get some basic art concepts taught and some art appreciation too. Yet you have to be careful not to bore the heck out Continue reading Spears Art Studio, inc. Hi Homeschool Crew! A new blog was launched last week all about the Schoolhouse Store and they would love it if you could give it some attention! The blog address is: www.homeschoolblogger.com/storespotlight. They just did a drawing and gave away 10 of the Homeschool Planners to some of their earliest subscribers to the Continue reading Homeschool Bloggers New Blog Hey remember the Nativity set I reviewed from One 2 Believe? Well, one of my associated form The Old School Hose Review Team is having a contest and she is giving away her nativity set. You can go to her contest page here at a Better Life then I deserve and enter Continue reading Nativity Set Giveaway Now I think most people would agree that when a certain gene in an animal is not used over an extremely long period of time that the gene goes dormant. Would you say that in the animal kingdom most male animals find a female animal to procreate so that their species can live on and Continue reading Hot Topic for Discussion Now I know allot of my friends are saying…Oh I am not worried about this homosexual thing coming to my school. I have Christian teachers. Or worst yet they are putting on the rose colored glasses and thinking it will never come to the schools here in the O.C. we are pretty conservative here in Continue reading Gay Pledge Cards in Calif. Schools What is a Rimes you ask? They are words that sound and look alike. Such as Hat, Cat, Mat, Sat etc. So what is a Rhyme? Rhymes are words that sound alike but usually do not look alike. Lynn Klaiman and Dr. Sara Hines, PhD, at Rime to Read developed an interactive, educational, Continue reading Rime to Read Review I just got my hands on the November Module of The Old School House Planner. I have all their modules so far and have used much of each one of them. This one I am not as satisfied with as I have been with the past ones. Now please do not get me wrong…do I Continue reading November: Amusing Math Module I suppose this sort of thing shouldn’t be shocking. You have to go to the original site that wrote the article and see the video. Pretty bad!!!! This Article is by Charlie Sykes This is a video of Diantha Harris, a lifelong democrat and avid Barack Obama supporter. She is also a lousy schoolteacher, Continue reading Another Reason To Homeschool Our Kids Ok you have to see this working Replica of Noah’s Ark Opened in SCHAGEN, Netherlands. This is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I wish it were here in the USA. But since it is not you have to go to the site and see the pictures. It is the most spectacular Continue reading Working Replica of Noah’s Ark by Andrea Hermitt, Education Examiner When I started homeschooling my children over five years ago, I noticed that the vast majority of people had little understanding of what homeschooling meant. People Continue reading Please Don’t Jump into Homeschooling Blindly I am so proud of myself. After weeks of searching site after site I never found a theme study on clocks. No not one on time, but one on clocks. I ended up spending 4 days researching different sites on the subject. I found a couple great sites that gave me most of the information Continue reading I Made My Own Theme Study Oh boy oh boy! I just found a great site. File Folder Games I love file folder games and I have spent many a day and night trying to find some free ones on the Internet. Now this site pops up. I guess I am not the only one out there wanting this too. Continue reading File Folder Games The Socialism of Public SchoolingBy Jacob G. Hornberger While the nation is on the subject of socialism, we really ought to talk about public schooling. With the possible exception of the military, it’s the best example of a socialist institution one could ever find. It’s not a coincidence that public schooling is one of Fidel Continue reading The Socialism of Public Schooling I just finished reading a great easy read extremely descriptive book titled, “The Missing Link: Found”. This is the first book in the Truth Seekers Mystery Series by Christina Gerwitz who happens to only be 17 years old and her mom, Felice Gerwitz, who is the founder of Media Angels, which happens to be Christian Continue reading The Missing Link Did you ever dream of getting a horse for Christmas? You can get a sneak peek of our Fall issue and see Nancy Carter’s first horse! The Old SchoolHouse Magazine.Oh, and she’s not the only one sharing her childhood pictures. You’ll see photos from the 50’s through the 80’s.But, you’ll need the Fall issue Continue reading The Old School House Subscription I was so excited the other day to get a big box on my front door and in this box was a beautiful nativity set just right for children to play and learn with. My kids tore through the box and started playing with it right away. I was going to put it back in Continue reading One 2 Believe In, Nativity Set Now first let me say that I am not a reader. When I first set out to homeschool I got book upon book upon book on how to homeschool, different curriculum’s to choose from and general education books. Did I read them all cover to cover? No! I skimmed over each book. Read the table Continue reading Homeschooling A B C’s by Knowledge Quest So here I am once again writing about politics. For those of you who have known me for most of my life, you know this is not me! However, this year is so important to our country not only who we vote for but on several of the propositions. So instead of preaching about prop Continue reading Prop 8 Our state Assembly has put forth bill A3123, which seeks to highly regulate homeschoolers. We will all pay higher school property taxes if the bill passes.A3123 will force every homeschooling family to be evaluated as to whether their education is appropriate. However, “appropriate education” is not defined in the bill. We know from experience that Continue reading Bill A3123 Real Mothers don’t eat quiche; they don’t have time to make it. Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox. Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids. Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn’t come out of carpets. Real Mothers don’t want to know what the Continue reading MOTHERS The Familyman Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries Let me just jump in and say that the computer is a great tool for homeschooling families. We use it for typing, piano, math, and grammar. The computer allows our children to learn at their own pace and get hands on instruction. . .sometimes from a person Continue reading The Computer is a Great Tool for Homeschooling Families The Old School House. I have been a subscriber for a couple years now. As a matter of fact I use to have a subscription to 4 different ones when I first started homeschooling. As I became more confident in homeschooling I realized I only needed one magazine to fill my needs. That was The Continue reading The Greatest Homeschool Magazine I had a chance to review a site for teachers and homeschoolers. This site has over 2,000 links to educational sites for parents, students and teachers. The person who put this site together was a teacher for 40 years. And Help me 2 Teach was created to enable us to use these links for a Continue reading Help Me 2 Teach Review On the Homeschool Blogger the following question/comment was written. I had a few things to ask her. Read on after her question for my answer to her. Dear Minute to Minute Readers, I am a homeschooling mom of two. My daughter is 7 (almost 8), and my son is 5. I am feeling guilty for Continue reading Tracy…to homeschool or not. That is the question! Andrea Hermitt from the Education Examiner wrote a great short article with a question. Homeschoolers like to point out problem with public schools. Public educators want to call homeschoolers out of touch. But can Homeschooling an public education Coexist? think it can. Otherwise, why would I as a homeschooler write a blog on education? Costco Continue reading Can Homeschooling an public education Coexist I found the greatest article on homeschooling. It sums it all up in a very brief article!!!!! The FamilymanTodd Wilson, Familyman Ministries After a quick Google search, I found that the term Home Economics was coined in 1899. I’m guessing that some pubic school brainiac officials decided that school needed to be more Continue reading The Best Place To Teach Children Is In The HOME Yea, I was excepted to the focus group. I am so excited. I can not wait to start giving my opinion on homeschooling products. I can make a difference in the homeschool community! YEA! I am so looking forward to reading and looking and trying all the great new products that are going to coming Continue reading The Old School House Focus Group You know Heart of the Matter asked a very good question. Do all the extra activities WE have our children do help or hinder our family time. I am going to make it real sweet and simple. Hinder. I know some mothers who have their child in a cooking class, (like she can’t teach her Continue reading Extra Activities, Helping or Hindering? Ok, so I am not that savvy on politics. Never have been! But I really think this year is soooo very important. Now most of you know I am very conservative so obviously I like McCain. He is a TRUE American. He LOVES our country and will lay down his life for it. Well, he Continue reading Politics You know what bothers me the most about homeschooling? The I can’t Attitude my son has sometimes. I think if he were in public school he would be in so much trouble all the time, teased, in the principles office etc. I can ask him what 2 + 2 is and he’ll answer without any Continue reading I can’t Attitude Well, its that time of year again. School is starting for us on the 15th. I have to admit this year I am a little scared. Sounds funny coming from me. Well, even though Vincent is in 2nd grade because of his age this is the first year I have to register with the state Continue reading School starting Yea,! She is ok. She is back to normal now. Thank God. looks like it might have been a reaction to her estrogen! Now after reading the warnings on the package it said it can cause stroke, loss of speech, weakness on one side etc. All signs of a stroke and all the signs she Continue reading Shes OK Well, this past couple of weeks has been so busy for me. But last night was the topper. Got a real scare. My Mother-in-laws boss called us and told us that Maggie was in the hospital. That she could not talk and was un-able to stand. We went right off to Upland. 1 1/2 hour Continue reading Where have I been This new day and age we are all so darn busy with our lives, we don’t even have time to sit down to a magazine and read it cover to cover. We have gone digital. Even my homeschool magazines have done this. Now let me say that sentence sounds as if I am complaining. Well Continue reading Books, Digital or not Digital I love this planner from The Old School House. It is such a wonderful combination of information, forms, recipes etc. I highly recommend this planner for homeschoolers. With the wealth of information that is available right at hand, this is a wonderful resource. Now first let me say that I do most of my homeschooling Continue reading The School House Planner You know creating a balance throughout the day in chores, homeschooling, mommy duties, cooking, cleaning, wife duties, taking care of Mom can be challenging. I do a pretty good job of it, but I still struggle with my never ending to do list I have going on not only in my head, but also on Continue reading Letting the kids help with housework That title is a mouth full! Well I just finished my first online homeschool conference. WOW, it was really great. There are ups and downs to doing it online. The downside is that if you need to look at curriculum, then you don’t have the touchy feely that you have at a conference held at Continue reading Heart of the Matter Homeschool online Conference Here is a great article on how to begin scheduling for lesson plans from Heart of the Matter. Now I had to put in a few of my own comments in there too…… I have had a few readers ask about how I approach lesson planning within our homeschool. I know that quite a Continue reading Lesson Planning I have told so many of my home school friends about the Heart of the Matter Home school Convention going on at the end of this month. Well they were holding a contest last week for 5 ladies to win free tickets. Guess what???? I won. I am so excited. The line up of speakers Continue reading I Won tickets to the HOTM Convention You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.It’s a big family by today’s standards – “just like stair steps,” as the old folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls with braids, in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her no-frills shopping list.There’s Continue reading Homeschoolers Threaten Our Cultural Comfort You know homeschooling is a huge responsibility! I think allot of people out there think us homeschoolers are crazy for doing what we do. That we will ruin our children and make them social outcasts in our community, !!!LOL!!!. I really wish those who say these type of things would do thier research. One of Continue reading What has not worked for me My son seems to amaze me every day. Today we went to a friends house and Vincent and Raquel went swimming. Now my son finally has gotten up the guts to swim in the deep end. YEA!!! I knew it would happen sooner or later. Today he actually dived into the deep end and I Continue reading Swimming day I have figured out that something is very wrong with me lately. I am not exactly sure what it is, but it is getting to me. Everything is bugging me. I am moodier then usual and grumpy most of the time. Sad most of the day and just down right DOWN. ball I want to Continue reading Satan Get Out of my Heart, Head and House Are Rising Prices Scaring You? I haven’t decided if I should just laugh or start tearing my hair out. First everyone panicked over the price of gas… then it was the price of apples, then milk and now rice. What I find so amusing about the whole thing is a lot of those same people Continue reading Are Rising Prices Scaring You? A dear friend of mine gave me this prayer to say daily when we are hit hard by our advesaries. I wanted to share it with all of you!!! The quickest way to lose a war is to not even realize you’re in one… PREPARING FOR WAR! Good Morning Lord, Thank you for assuring me Continue reading Put on Your Armor Ok, You have got to check this out! This is a planner you can either print out and put in a 3 ring binder or keep on your computer. It is a PDF file and it is interactive. I think this is the best thing I have seen in a while to help you get Continue reading The Master Plan I finally did it. I got a blog. You see I have actually had this blog for about 6 months, but forgot about it. Can you imagine. I have been reading and posting information on other peoples blogs and completely forgot about my own. So here it is and I am going to start from Continue reading More details about me Well, got to tell you…the idea of being able to purchase all the same color of buttons is fantastic. Just look at my new card idea. I used some of the Christmas flocked paper as well as Bazil card stock and lots and lots of glitter. It will be hanging up at the Continue reading Creative Card Idea |
