Home Keeping...

              Because to say chores just sounds like work! I think one of the main differences between homeschool and public schooling moms, is that we don't have several hours in a row to get a whole bunch of work, errands or what ever done. This is by far my most often asked question when I mention that I homeschool the kids. People want to know how I get anything done around the house. The truth is I just have to squeeze it in. Some days things are more tidy than others but from what I understand, that's actually normal for anyone. I do have a couple of resources that I call upon to keep things "clean-ish" and I try to leave it at that. After all, I don't want to make things more complicated then they have to be. Also, don't be afraid to enlist the short people for help. Benji thinks there is nothing more fun then running the swiffer around the house.

Picture by Susan Landor Keegin 

Time Warp Wife - Darlene is a wonderful christian gal, who shares her ideas and inspirations on how to build family bonds,  AND she also shares how to organize your home and home keeping so that it is part of the day or part of the week rather than making it a huge ordeal. She has printable cleaning calendars and shopping list/meal planners too. What's not to love?  Oh and she even has a recipe for a winning window cleaner that can be made with stuff you probably already have under the sink.


Martha Stewart Online - Martha is the quintessential homekeeper in my opinion. With her checklists, you can be spick and span before you know it. She has daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual checklists. And if that wasn't enough she has tips on how to organize just about every room in the house. Most of her ideas are reasonable afforded but some of her organizing ideas can have bit of a price tag. What I know is, she might use high end materials, but you can duplicate them for your own home with lower end materials or just some good ole imagination. I love her ideas, I just don't have her budget so I like to hit up the discount stores instead of the department store. Can my family tell the difference? Nope!

I like to keep my checklists in clear page protectors in a binder, so I can use an expo marker to mark them off as I go and then wipe them off at the end of the cycle. What do you do to keep your home tidy?

10 Things I've learned....

From Homeschooling!

I am in my third year of homeschooling and I feel like as my children have learned things, so have I. One thing I know about my self is that if I don't write something down, it goes away. So I am writing(...err typing) this list so I can remember some of those wonderful things that have been brought to my life.

• I can too be organized! I really can, just ask my husband. I am generally speaking not a person that organization comes natural to, but homeschooling has helped me become organized. It also made me realize why teachers like to pick one grade and park there a while! With all the planners and such I have learned to neaten up...now I just need to do it around the rest of my home!
• It's not to late to learn something new- I think a lot of people get hung up in the idea that you have to be a master of all subjects in order to teach or that you are too old to learn new things. It's simply not true. I can't even begin to mention the countless facts I have learned opening the book and reading alongside the kids. Did you know Paul Bunion was 6'3" and that George Washington never actually cut down that ole' cherry tree? These are just a few things I have picked up along the way.
• Learning is all around us- I used to think Charlotte Mason was a bit "laissez-faire" as compared to other teaching models but what I have learned is that before there was school, people were out discovering things for them selves. Before there were books of plants and animals, people would go out and see them and capture them with their own pen or pencil and draw, label and write of these discoveries and observations. Totally educational and doesn't cost anyone anything but time well spent. 

• Parents are teachers, and are the first teacher in each child's life- I always have to hold back a small chuckle when I hear others say they could never imagine teaching their child. I say that because they were already their child's first teacher before this subject even becomes relevant. Teaching how to eat, walk, talk and dress are very important skills first taught at home with pride. Don't think you're cut out for teaching health...well bite your tongue, because chances are you have taught your child how to brush their teeth, wash their hands and other health related lessons.

• Never say never- I really should needle point this on a pillow because anytime I say it, I find my self having to eat my words. I said I would never homeschool, so there you go. 
• There really is beauty all around when there's love at home- As the person who compiles the lessons for school, I didn't think it would be right to leave out loving one another. I'll never forget the night I laid Benji down for bed and he leaned over to me and said "Mama, Jakey is my best friend". I have to say, if that isn't beauty I don't know what is.
• All kids are gifts and all kids are special- There are two labels in the public school that make me want to climb the walls and spit nails. One is "gifted" and the other is "special ed". The reason why this is so troubling to me is the labeling that goes with the child reflects in their self esteem. In the short time my oldest was in public school, he was being pushed toward special ed, and the other kids were quick to let him know what they thought of it and not in a happy way. I really appreciate the philosophy of Dr Suzuki who says “If he or she really goes about it in earnest, anyone can cultivate ability in ten years, I believe. Even in one year, shortcomings can be changed into good points if only we set our aims high enough. Continuing for ten years, we can become outstanding indeed...There is no limit to our shortcomings. Until we die, we should spare no time or effort in changing our weaknesses to merits. To do so can be pleasant and interesting. We can become like the horse that starts last and yet outruns the field, reaching the wire first; it is the same fun.” ― Shinichi Suzuki, Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education 
• Teaching and homeschooling = Crafting - My sister said I was blessed with a crafting gene. The ability wield fabric paint and cut/paste and use a hot glue gun was something I have always had since I was very young. If you take a gander at most teacher and homeschool sites, there is a fair amount of crafting going on, and I LOVE it. Some project have required more skill and inspiration than others, but that is how I find joy in all the hours I spend cutting, assembling, and laminating.

• Learning doesn't have to equal eight hours glued to a chair and desk- When I first starting schooling, my kids must have thought I was insane. I would pull out the work and we would park our bodies in chairs till it was done and I would go on and on till sun set on the afternoon. After much pain and tribulation I realized I was making way more work than needed to be done. After all, even the kids at public schools got a chance to escape to a reading nook or do some out door learning. Since then I realized that our learning can be different and that can be a good thing. We do some sit down work, but we also can do math facts while jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. After a few hours at a time, kids just need to be kids and play.
• A little faith and inspiration can really make a difference, even on crazy Mondays! -  Each year......excuse me, ....each day, I find my self needing to tweak something to make it work for our situation. With that in mind I always have a back up plan. I love those books that are on the market called For Dummies  that teach different things. What I like is how in the back of each chapter they have a section called "the least you need to know". While I feel this is served up to kids in public schools daily, I can use this for situations like when someone is sick, has a doctor appointment, we get rained out of a  science field day and so on. This is also a technique I use when we are doing a unit study and there is a low level of interest from the group. We learn the concepts and then vote on a new unit. 

Any how, I feel like homeschooling has been just as much for me as it has been for the kids. I learn new stuff and get the privilege to see my kids take their first educational steps. Something I wouldn't miss for the world.

A Writer's Guide

       I thought it would be great to have a display for journal so Jacob can check some simple writing points and I found one that was FREE from The First Grade Parade. It's a sweet set that leaves a few open pages for adding to it if you want.
       I kept to what she had available since we aren't moving on to more complex stuff till packet two(second six weeks)
Points the display shows:

• Capitalization
• lower case letters for the body of a sentence
• spaces between words
• end punctuation

        So if you are still trying to get these basics mastered this would be great to have. If you don't have the wall space you could print them out and put them in a binder or print them four to a page and they would occupy much less space that way.  And YES, that is the back of my door...no space gets wasted in this room!

Just F.Y.I.

Crazy For First Grade is having a give away!

She is giving away a $25 gift card for Office Max and 3 FREE items from her TPT store.  Who wouldn't want some extra dough for stuff you need and some cool stuff to give your lessons and classroom a boost.

You can ENTER HERE !!!

Up coming projects

I feel like there is a perpetual work list for things I want to make or do for the kids or their classroom. Here is my list of stuff and why I want it so bad

• 1-100 number line - I need a number line now that the older kiddo is doing math that needs him to think past the number 20. I found this great printable from 2nd Grade Shenanigans among other things. Now I just need to print it out on cardstock, laminate it and then hang it on the wall. 
• Flannel Story Box- The idea is using one of those folding suitcase style boxes and making it a portable flannel board story set. Also I need to make the pieces from the books we are reading this year so the kids can dramatize and review. 
• Even and Odd Street -  This I need to make sooner than later since we will be going over odd and even numbers shortly. I loved the idea and inspiration I got from The Teacher Wife. You could use scrapbook paper or old wallpaper samples to make odd street houses. Don't forget the free downloadable template!
• Personal work bulletin boards - I want little boards for each of the boys to hang up their own work at their own eye level. I have some ideas from some experts, but execution could be interesting. 
• Rule Breaker Word prison- In our curriculum we have words that are rule breakers and I want to make a wall display that I can pin the words up as we learn them so the kids can be reminded all year about those naughty words that break the rules!
• Some sort of large mural for one of the open walls just outside the classroom- I have know idea what this could be but I am open to suggestions and ideas here.
• Water color leaves for a fall seasonal tree-We are making small trees to display the seasons as we get to each one. I thought it would be super cute to do the fall tree with water color leaves. 
• Puppet Show Stage- I have a bunch of puppets and no stage....I see a vision of a science back board and some old fabric for this one so I can fold it and store it when I don't want it visible
• Math mini office: second grade edition- I have desk strips for the kids and the one Jacob has is on the young side for what he needs. I have found some good ones from Step Into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons. I just need to laminate it and mount it on the desk in place of the younger one. 

So I have some real work to do and hopefully you will see blog posts with these finished projects. Wish me luck and let me know what you're working on. 

Kitchen Science: Solutions

I love using my kitchen for learning stuff. It provides a hands on experience with the best part being that the end result can be touched and or tasted. Today we talked about solutions and we didn't even need fancy pricey lab equipment. We made Koolaid and Jello and then one more solution to show insoluble solutions. 

Materials:

• 1 large pitcher
• 1 packet of Koolaid
•  enough cool water to fill the pitcher
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 package Jello(my kids wanted the yellow kind)
• hot and cold water as per the directions on the box
• a small jar
• vegetable oil
• food coloring(any color will work except for maybe yellow)
• a recording sheet(just some lined paper will work well and the kind with a blank area at the top is even better.

First we went over some vocabulary and wrote it on our big chart paper

• Solution: groups of molecules that are mixed up in a completely even distribution
• solvent: does the dissolving
• solute: is what is dissolved

First we made the Koolaid and we added the dry ingredients into the pitcher. Then, we added the water.

 Just keep stirring, stirring, stirring.....

 Then when it was all dissolved we recorded what happened on paper. Oh and we drank the experiment!

Next, we made the Jello and showed how we can use hot water to dissolve solutes. We also practiced our spelling by labeling our hot and cold water.

 We slowly added the Jello packet and stirred showing how the heat dissolved the gelatin

 Then we added the cold water to stop the heat and start the Jello to coagulate. And now it's chilling in the fridge till desert time after dinner.

The last solution we made was in a baby food jar. I added some water and some food coloring and then a small amount of oil. I showed the kids that no matter what we did the oil will not mix with water. Even with heat the oil will still rise above the water and separate. I let them shake it and examine it and they loved seeing the bubbles rise up.

For more information on this and other great science activities for kids, check out Chem4kids.com

Beginning Blends: A quick and fun review

These past few weeks we have been reviewing our beginning blends to maintain our reading base from last year. We have been using our Sing Spell Read and Write curriculum as well as some other fine resources. I used the flash cards as stations to get my son thinking and remembering those blends.The first card of the flashcard set from Kizclub works very well for writing. I laminated my cards so I can reuse them and pass them down to the little pork chop who is still learning his alphabet! Allowing your little ones several methods for taking in this knowledge will give them the wings they need  to soar in reading and in learning all together. I have dug around the Internet and found some really great sources to share  with you and it is my hope that you will share what works great for you guys in the comment section below.

• Carl's Corner- This site has it all. If you want to one stop shop for reading stuff you can do that here. All of the content has been compiled by a wonderful teacher and poet. On the Blends Boulevard you have everything you need to teach blends from worksheets to dominoes and an assessment. Makes you wonder why I even plan to list anything else, huh! 
• Confessions of a Homeschooler- Is there anything Erica can't do? I am not sure, but she has a few great printables for blends. One being the blends latter that will allow you to help your child learn the blends quickly going from letter to letter, blending the first two sounds and the other is a set of worksheets. I wouldn't use these as a stand alone for teaching but definitely for enrichment to another set of instruction. 
• Free Phonics Worksheets- The creators of Rock N' Learn have put together a set of worksheets that could easily be used to teach not only beginning blends but vowel clusters and more. In a sequence that would get kids reading fast and know why the letters sound the way they do without a lot of senseless memorizing. 
• Kiz Club - They have a few activities that would work great in conjunction with a blending program from flashcards to matching activities. It's worth a look. 
• This and That - A great blog with lots of ideas for home grown activities that could work as a stand alone method for learning. There are folder games and crafting a plenty on this wonderful site!
• Quirky Momma - They might call them selves quirky but I call them clever with their wonderful use of low cost materials to jump start fun learning like their use of multi color paint chips for teaching word families and blends. 

Weather Lesson 1 mission 1

We just are getting started on our weather unit and I am combining our lessons from the core knowledge and our missions from Jason.org for it. I am so happy to have found the wonderful blog Crazy for First Grade and using some of her great extensions as well. This can easily be adapted for grades higher and lower than the ones my kids are in by adding more objectives for learning or only picking a few.

In our first lesson we read the book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. We then brainstormed about all the types of weather we know and wrote them in our science journal, which consists of notebook with printed copy of the "monster storms" cover mounted on it.

We also learned some key vocabulary words and wrote them in our journal as well.

• Meteorologist- A scientist who studies weather
• Atmosphere- The air in our world
• Data- collected information
• Weather- state of our atmosphere 
• Storms- weather events

If you haven't already started, it's not too late, you can start teaching the kids to start noticing and collecting weather data in a basic chart and noting the temperature(we aren't doing actual temps yet, just hot warm cool or cold) Here is a great graph that you can print from teacher vision. And you can just use a piece of graph paper or large chart paper to make our temperature chart.  Next lesson will be about wind and how to collect wind data from our own home. 

Sayings Week 3: "Look Before You Leap"

           This is a great lesson of cause and effect and also about thinking through what you want to do before you do it.  To make it fun we used our marble run pieces and made a tube and tried to get the marbles into a tub. This required a lot of forethought on their part. The moved the tub around and then they tried to find just the right spot for the tube so it wouldn't move when they released the marble. You can do this too at home with a tube from wrapping paper or a couple of paper towel rolls and a tub of any size. The goal is to get the kids to think things through and to know that they can change things to make it right if it doesn't work out.

In phase 1 Benji stayed at the top of the marble run and Jacob adjusted the bin so it would work right

 *please ignore the clutter in the background!

 Phase 2: They could both drop marbles from the top of the run. That tiny blue speck below the marble run is the marble on it's way to the tub. They were so thrilled they ran marbles for about an hour!

How do you teach your child to look before they leap? I would love to know what you do so don't forget to leave a comment!

A Pair of Socks: A story time connection

Stop! Don't throw out all those cute tiny socks that have been out grown by your little cuties. I saved a few of mine and we are using them for our story time connection with the book A Pair of Socks by Stuart J. Murphy. The story is fairly short in length but is long on ideas for learning connections from learning to count by two's to color matching and more.
         After our book, we looked for rhyming words and highlighted them.

Then I took a small bin and put the little socks in there for the kids to match up.

 They loved matching the colors and patterns and then clipping them together with clothespins. I then opened up the opportunity for them to color their own pair of socks.

 For those that like dictation and copywork, I found this wonderful poem:

"Two" by Cynthia Cappetta

Two hands, two feet, two eyes, two knees— You have a pair of each of these.

Mittens, socks, gloves, and shoes, These things also come in twos.

Children born in pairs have a special name. Some twins look different, and some look the same. 

Extensions and links:

*I found some really great extensions from Weekly Reader(do you remember them from when you were young? I do, and they've gone digital)-"What is a Pair" is a great edition of that reader where I found the above poem and other great activities.

*Mathstart also had great ideas for hands on learning geared for kids three and up. 

*Laugh, Paint, Create had a great blog post about making a sock collage. It's a great idea that can foster scissor and glueing skills.  

My favorite handwriting blogs and websites

Exactly that! I spend a great deal of time tracking down resources to help my little guys to not be the dude with the bad penmanship and I am going to share them with you right here and now! If you have any resources that you think are top notch then please let me know in the comments section and I will check it out and add it to my list! Now here they are in no particular order and why they made my list.

• Preschool Printing Practice from Kidzone- Not only do they give a break down of age and skills to work on, but they also match it with free worksheets. A total score if you are looking for something quick and concise and not a lot of who-ha.
• Donna Young- Donna, I have never met you, but your handwriting readiness stuff totally rocks! With worksheets that take you from making simple lines to perfecting cursive writing, I would even say that I could gain something from what your site has to offer
• ESL Writing Wizard-OK, so if there were a Mr Wizard for handwriting, it would be the folks at ESL. The easy to use website allows you to make handwriting worksheets so you can incorporate handwriting into any lesson. I know lots of homeschoolers are keen on dictation and learning through copywork and this would be the handwriting companion in my opinion. You get options for what style and size of writing your child needs. 
• Handwriting Help For Kids- This site really could also be known as Encyclopedia Handwriting. Written by an occupational therapist, it seems most problems can be answered on this one site. She has lots of free advice and printable product as well as other product for purchase
• Practical Pages-This gal is not only practical, but sensible too! I love her philosophy and if you are willing to let go of the idea that kids need lots of worksheets to be able to learn, then this is the blog for you!
• Fairy Dust Teaching-Need help organizing how your child learns these letters? Why not let a giraffe, monkey and a chicken help? Intrigued? check it out and get her free printable while you're there!
• In The Teachers' Lounge- Need a way to keep a pencil in your budding writer's hand? The video tutorial and tips on the blog are just the tip of the ice burg! 
• Confessions of a Homeschooler-Do you do a letter of the day program and want one that fosters handwriting? Well go no further! It's all here and it's almost all free printables to boot.

I would really love to see what resources work best for others as well so don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom!

Money: Can I squeeze in one more display?

As I start trying to get the kids more fluent in money, I knew I needed another display. I found these really cute poems here at Mrs. Wheeler's Blog for free and laminated them. Then I just used my display coins that I have had for a while. And where on earth did I have room to put this display? Well, I used the side of the cabinet that faces opposite the wall of the calendar. It was the only space big enough and I am too stubborn to rearrange the walls again!

Reasons why it is worth having a money display:

•  math reference 
•  when they play grocery
•  when the tooth fairy comes they exactly how much they have
•  learning to save for something they want
• understanding how much the coins they dig out of the couch are 
• and so much more

Vowel Reveiw

We are reviewing our short vowel sounds this week and had a great time having both kids doing a sorting game with the magnets. I just printed out these super cute owls from a great blog called First Grade Owls  and laminated them. Then put them up on the magnet board and gave the kids the basket of magnets and let them start sorting. It sort of grew from there, and they decided to start making word family words. I guess I was just there to start their engines! This was something so simple and can be transformed into what ever phonics directions you want.

Art: Primary Colors

We had an art lesson on primary colors and we also learned a song to help facilitate learning them.


The supplies we used were a set of watercolors(cheap ones work just as well as the expensive ones. Tempera paint would work well here as well. You could also use colored pencils or crayons, but they don't work as well in demonstrations for the very young), a small paper plate, a paper for mixing paints on. You can duplicate the coloring sheet I made very easily by just drawing a circle and drawing lines through to make six segments. I also printed on a poster a copy of the song.  You can have the children hold up or point to circles cut from construction paper of the primary colors as they are said in the song as an extension.

"The Primary Song"(to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star)

Primary, primary what are you?

I am red or yellow or blue.

Primary, what can I do with you?

Mix us into colors that are new.

Primary, primary what are you?

I am red or yellow or blue.

For the painting, I had the kids first fill in the triangles with the primary colors and then showed them how to take two colors and make the color that goes between them. If you don't want to do this with paint, you can use crayons by coloring both colors lightly over each other. I then explained that the new colors were called secondary colors.

Just make sure you display the fine works of art when they are dry. After all, art is made to be admired.

Book bin: September

What's in the book bin this month?

This month I have books with no real theme in mind with exception to our few books about fall weather and a few books about school.

 A funny thing about the books for school, I like to read them and the boys like to hear them, but they still really like the idea of not having to leave home to go to school.

Chapter Book: The Little Prince

I like to take the time to read to the children a chapter book. I think it helps them in their desire to read and bring the characters to life. I don't ask questions of the academic nature during this time. We just read and let our selves join the characters in their world and let our imaginations soar. This is considered a sacred time in our house. If you wanted to punish the kids you would simply say "no story tonight then" and the children would immediately straighten up! Beyond that, the American Library Association has twelve wonderful reasons to read aloud to kids and they are as follows:

• Children's self esteem grows as they experience the security of having a parent or other caring person read aloud with them.
• Children experience increased communication with parents and other family members.
• Children are introduced to new concepts such as colors, shapes, numbers, and alphabet, in a fun, age appropriate way.
• Children build listening skills, vocabulary, memory, and language skills.
• Children develop imagination and creativity.
• Children learn information about the world around them.
• Children develop individual interests in special subjects like dinosaurs, cats, or cars.
• Children learn positive behavior patterns and social values.
• Children learn positive attitudes towards themselves and others.
• CHILDREN LEARN THE JOY OF READING!

From time to time, I will ask the children to illustrate their favorite parts of the story. I won't however, ask questions about comprehension, vocabulary or any other questions that might diminish the love of just reading for the sake of reading. 

   So far the children are loving The Little Prince. They love the concept of a little boy being so wise to a grown up. And they roared with laughter at the idea of a boa constrictor eating an elephant. This book would make a great story to do a lapbook for but, I must restrain my self from that unless it becomes the idea of the children to do it. 

Sayings: week 2

"The Early Bird Gets the Worm"


This was a great saying for this week. It's meaning is, success comes to those who prepare well and put in the effort.  We brainstormed ideas where we can do well if we prepare and put in the effort. We wrote the saying in our journal, colored a pictured. We also did a small activity that required "planning" in order to achieve success using stacking cups. We had to lay them out  in the right order so they can be stacked without having them fall. Any activity that requires a "planning" stage would work great here too!

What's new this year for science?

The Jason Project       
In my pursuit to make certain our time spent with science was hands on, fun and mentored by pros in the field, I searched the web and found the Jason Project. 

• What is the Jason Project?- It is a multi platform learning station for kids and teachers via online that connects with the real scientists out in the field and other kids. 
• Does it meet national and state standards of learning?- Yes! You can even tailor your missions to meet the needs of your child by grade level and state. 
• Does it cost anything to get started?- So far my only costs have been time and a ream of paper. You can download the curriculum for free and print it. If you want more materials beyond that, they do have some for purchase. 
• What topics do they cover?- Their missions include:

1. Forces and Motion
2. Geology
3. Energy
4. Ecology 
5. Weather

• Why is this worth while to the home educator?- Because I think this offers a new opportunity to connect kids to REAL science. They won't just read about it, they will get to be a part of it. I also think there is value in asking our youngest of minds for possible solutions. You don't have to be old to be smart. Also as a parent educator, I can ask the experts as well as other teachers questions I may have. They also have professional development available as well.  
• What grades levels is Jason designed for?- as of now, it is set up for grades four through ten, but I adapt for my young children by way of dictation. I read to them any questions or materials that may be to difficult to read and I allow them to give information out loud and then type it in for them. I also allow my kids to write and draw answers on their own level on paper as well. I am choosing to jump in despite the age/grade difference because I believe there is still merit in learning this way. I am always impressed at how much my children learn and know despite their difference in reading/writing levels.

So what mission are we starting with?

Operation Monster Storms! We are going to learn about weather, weather prediction and how to improve forecasting. We will also learn about emergency preparedness. 


You can find and start your mission at www.jason.org

Sayings: week 1

Each week we will learn a common saying. This weeks saying is:
"A dog is man's best friend"
We talked about how a dog could be man's best friend and why it is a common saying. Then we drew pictures of a dog. A simple lesson and yet when the children hear others use these sayings, they will understands.

Doubles Rap!

We are reviewing doubles addition as we begin our school year. I first laid out a set of doubles addition fact cards without answers and we worked with manipulatives to answer the cards. To help remember our facts, I have a little song we use. We say the little rap a few times and then I got out a dice to write our doubles addition.  For instance if you roll a 1 you would do 1+1= 2 and so on and so forth.