Homeschooling Blessings

Valentine's Day Candy: YUM!

2012-02-13T14:02:00.000-06:00

We don't usually go "all out" for Valentine's Day at my house, but we do like to do a little something for each other on that day. My hubby and I usually exchange cards, and the kiddos often make cards for Scott and me. Rather than cards, though, the kids would rather have something yummy to eat!

Mary Grace (the only one who likes to help me cook) and I made some candy to share with the family and folks at church. We don't really know what it's called, but it's definitely easy to make, and it's definitely yummy!

Here's how it looks when it's almost finished.
The only thing left to do is let it cool and break it into pieces.

Although you can't see it in this picture, there is a layer of milk chocolate on the bottom of the pan. Then the milk chocolate layer is covered by a layer of white chocolate. We sprinkled M&Ms over about 2/3 of the pan before the chocolate had time to set. Then we sprinkled broken up bits of candy cane over the remaining 1/3. The kids don't like the candy cane part very much, but I love it! That's why we only covered a small part of it with the crushed candy canes. Maybe I will eat less of it that way. We'll see! ;)

We simply melted a bag of milk chocolate chips and put it in a foil-lined pan. We tilted the pan to make the milk chocolate spread around without tearing the foil. We put the pan in the freezer for a few minutes while we melted the bag of white chocolate chips. Once those were melted, we poured the melted white chocolate over the milk chocolate. Be very sure to tilt the pan to make this layer cover the other one. If you spread it with a spoon, it may cause the milk chocolate under the bottom to show through. Of course it will still taste great, but it won't look as pretty.

Then, as I stated earlier, we just sprinkled M&Ms over part of the pan and crushed up candy canes over the rest. The last step is to break the candy apart into pieces.

When I give away candy like this, I always choose the pretties pieces to give away. That makes me feel much better about eating what's left. After all, it wouldn't be nice to give away the pieces that didn't turn out as pretty, right?

Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, do you have any quick and simple recipes to share? Or do you celebrate the day without candy? I'd love to hear what you and your family do to make Valentine's Day special!

A Day in the Life of the Family Computer

2012-02-09T06:00:00.005-06:00

My friend Carlie over at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler just started a new meme called "A Day in the Life." It actually started last week, but I didn't get a post submitted. (Shame on me!) It will be held every Thursday, so if you'd like to participate, I'm sure she'd love to have you! I get to tell about a day in the life of a person, animal, object, or whatever else I choose. So here goes...........

Hello! I am the "school" computer that belongs to the Hilton family. I'm mostly used by Noah, my 14-year-old boy. I like being his computer because, being a boy, he's always doing fun stuff with me. Well, school isn't always so much fun (at least that's what he says. I find it rather interesting.), but his mom says it's something that has to be done anyway. And sometimes, when Noah's mom is busy doing school with one of the girls, Noah sneaks and plays a computer game instead of doing his work. But please don't tell anyone that I told on him! He'd get in big trouble if his mom found out!

Noah used to spend lots of time making stop-motion videos on me. He hasn't done that in a while. I'll have to remind him about that because it was a lot of fun. It was hard work, but it was worth it!

Sometimes I get to help Noah look up cool new Legos that he wants to buy. Other times, I help him do research for his speech & debate class or for his history class. Occasionally his younger sister, Mary Grace, uses me to look up American Girl dolls or to play games on her mom's Facebook account. (Honestly and truly. Mary Grace is the one who plays all those games. Mrs. Wendy is waaaaay too busy!)

The other day, the family cat, Tabitha (Tabby for short), took a nap on me when the laptop was left open and unattended. She likes to sleep on my keys because I'm cozy and warm. I don't like it too much when she sleeps on me, though, because she's rather furry. Makes me choke and do strange things. That day was terrible because she accidentally (somehow!) pressed my keys and made the entire screen turn sideways! Yep. Totally sideways. When Mrs. Wendy made Tabby move and tried to type on me, she had to hold the computer sideways. It was very difficult and confusing. Her friend, Mrs. Jennifer, who blogs over at A Glimpse of Our Life, helped her figure out how to fix it.

I always have a good time here! With 3 kids, 2 cats, 2 birds, and a fish inside along with 2 dogs outside, there's always something fun going on. Mrs. Wendy says sometimes it's too much fun around here, but I don't know what she means..........

The Family Computer

Wordless Wednesday: Hide and Seek

2012-02-08T06:00:00.004-06:00

Lilla Rose! I Love It!

2012-02-06T06:00:00.019-06:00

A while back, my daughters and I cut our hair to donate to Locks of Love. My hair has finally grown long again, so I decided to treat myself to some new things to help it look pretty. :) I have a wonderful friend who, along with her daughters, started a Lilla Rose business. I decided they could help me decide what products I might enjoy. I love my new Flexi clips from Lilla Rose! When my friends, the Millers, came to visit recently, I asked to see their inventory while they were here visiting. I bought this beautiful Flexi clip. The picture isn't nearly as beautiful as the real thing, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like anyway. You can get a much better look at this Flexi clip and the many others they offer on my friend's website at http://www.lillarose.biz/prettyhair/.

They come in different sizes, so I bought several. My younger daughter has short hair, so she needs a smaller clip. I bought a smaller one for myself to use when I only want to put up part of my hair (like I did in the photo above). I also bought some tiny little Flexi clips for my daughter to use for putting up her American Girl dolls' hair too. She was thrilled! She has spent hours styling her dolls' hair and making them look pretty with different hairstyles using different Flexi clips.

One of Mary Grace's American Girl dolls with a beautiful new 'do.

The same doll from the front. Isn't she pretty?

I also bought a set of You Pins. The ones I bought have stars on them. They are kind of like great big hair pins, but they have pretty designs on them. Take a look at the website under the category of "You Pins" and you'll see what they look like. I thought these star ones were so beautiful that I knew as soon as I saw them that this was the design I wanted to buy. I used two of the You Pins (They come 2 to a set.) to put my hair up in a bun. Even with my fairly long hair, the two pins were all I needed to put up my hair, and it stayed all day. I was surprised. I was also pleased because I'm pretty tender-headed. I worried that my head would hurt if I had to pin my hair too tightly. I pinned it a bit more tightly than I like it at first, and within a few minutes it had loosened just enough to be comfy but not enough to make it fall down. I love to wear my hair in a bun! I don't really know why, but I think it's so pretty. And when it's warm weather, it's so nice to have my hair out of my face and off of my neck too. And these You Pins are so pretty that I'll actually enjoy putting my hair up in a bun and won't feel at all frumpy!

This photo shows my 9-year-old daughter's hair. She bought this Flexi clip with her own money. Since we bought the products on a Saturday, we were getting ready for church the next day and were trying out our new things. Mary Grace put up her hair with her new Flexi clip and informed me that she was, "Very pleased with her purchase." ;) We got lots of compliments at church too!

I know my friend Jennifer and her two girls would love for you to stop by and take a look at their products! You can either click on the Lilla Rose button in my sidebar, or you can use this link: http://www.lillarose.biz/prettyhair/ to take a look. If you buy anything, be sure to tell them that I sent you! I'd love to know that I sent them some business! I hope you enjoy their products as much as I do!

Wordless Wednesday: Snails!

2012-02-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, this will be my almost-wordless-Wednesday post! My daughter, Mary Grace, found tons of snails crawling all over the driveway one day last week after it had rained for several hours. So, like any good homeschooling mom, we took the rest of the afternoon off and "studied" snails! I found them yucky, but Mary Grace found them fascinating. ;)

A Different Generation

2012-01-30T06:00:00.002-06:00

My husband and I realized tonight that our children truly are from a different generation than we are. In fact, they may be from a whole different world than we are.

We grew up when cell phones weren't heard of, nobody had a computer at home, there was no such thing as the internet, books were made of paper, and we kept our to-do lists in notebooks.

Our kids have grown up knowing what cell phones are and knowing how to use them. They've played the computer with confidence almost since they were old enough to sit up on their own. They never knew a world that didn't have the internet. They read books on ebook readers or on the iPad. They keep their to-do lists on the computer or my cell phone. (Ok. Sometimes they use sticky notes. You know--those electronic "sticky notes" on the computer screen!)

Tonight we were playing a game together. The boys' team (consisting of my husband and Noah, our 14-year-old son) was supposed to name 5 things in a category. The category was "surfing terms." Noah immediately blurted out "LOL" and "ROFL" and other internet slang! Scott and I laughed, much to the confusion of our children. Then we patiently explained that surfing terms would be words such as "hang ten" or "catch a wave."

Yep, we're definitely from different generations! :) And that's ok.

Game Night: Name 5!

2012-01-27T09:19:00.000-06:00

Noah Celebrates a Victory

For Christmas, we got the kids a few new games to play. We go through times when we play lots of games together. Then other times we forget or get too busy and don't play much at all. One evening this past week when the kids got bored, they asked Scott and me to play "Name 5" with them. It turned out to be lots of fun!

The basic object of the game is for each team to draw a card and name 5 things that belong in that category. Sounds pretty simple, but it's harder than you'd think!

We played boys against girls. Scott and Noah were on a team and Mary Grace and I were on a team. Hannah (my autistic daughter) won't play games with us, but she enjoys being in the room and watching or doing something else she enjoys. While we played Name 5, she played a computer game.

Mary Grace posed for the camera after the game.

One thing I really liked about the game is that it's pretty good for folks of all ages to play together. There were some categories such as "Name 5 sports team that use birds in their name," that Mary Grace and I couldn't answer at all! But then the boys might get a question like "Name 5 Barbie movies." That kept the odds pretty equal! There were other questions, though, like "Name 5 green foods/drinks." That one was really equally hard (or easy) for both teams. It is surprising, though, how difficult some of those "easy" questions can be when you are under time constraints! We had 30 seconds to give our 5 items. Occasionally that was plenty of time. Often we ended up just barely able to name our 5 items (or not able to name all 5 of them) in that 30 second time period.

We had a great time playing, and the rivalry (this time!) was pretty friendly. It was definitely worth taking some time after dinner to play together.

Even the two family cats wanted to get in on the action! We tried to kindly discourage them, though, because they kept trying to eat the game tokens. :P

Do you ever have a family game night at your house? If so, what are some of your favorite games? Are they suitable for all ages or mixed ages? I'd love to hear from you!

Tabby and Hazel asking, "Can we play too?"

Wordless Wednesday: David & Goliath's Cheeseburgers

2012-01-25T18:13:00.001-06:00

Goliath's Cheeseburger (by 9-year-old Mary Grace)

David's Cheeseburger (also by Mary Grace)

Don't forget to visit the Wordless Wednesday blog if you'd like to see more submissions!

Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

2012-01-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...
It is almost 6 p.m., and it's dark outside. A few weeks ago, it was dark by 5 p.m., but it's beginning to stay light for a little longer each day. During Christmas, I don't mind at all when it gets dark early because then I can see the lights on the Christmas tree better. Now that we've taken the tree down, I'm enjoying it as the days begin to get a little longer.

I am thinking...
I'm thinking that it has been a very mild winter so far! We've had just a small handful of days that have been what we here in the South would call "cold." There have been many days, though, that have been very warm. I'm trying not to think about all of the fire ants and bees and other creepy-crawly things that aren't being killed because of the mild winter.

I am thankful...
I'm thankful that I live near so many of my family members! Now days so many people live far away from their parents and siblings. I'm thankful that my husband and children and I live near both my husband's parents and mine. We also live near his sister and both of my sisters.

In the kitchen...In the kitchen, things have been interesting lately! I've been trying to lose some weight, so I'm eating only lean meat, fruits, veggies, and maybe a small amount of bread or a few crackers each day. (I don't think totally cutting out carbs is a good idea, but I have significantly cut down on them.) My hubby and children still want to eat the "regular" foods that we normally eat. For that reason, I've been trying to cook "normal" things for them while still making sure I eat only the food that fit into my "diet." I've been doing pretty well most of the time. Now and then I cheat a little bit, but not too badly!

I am wearing...Ha! I hate to tell you what I'm wearing because I totally don't match at all! I'm wearing pink and white striped fuzzy socks, navy blue shorts with white stripes up the sides, and a turquoise blue t-shirt. I may not match, but I'm totally comfy! :)

I am creating...
I'm not working on any sewing projects right now. I'd like to start on a new quilt, so I may try to make a trip to the fabric store soon. (The closest fabric store is 30 miles away.) I love making quilts during the winter because I can stay warm while I'm sewing!

I am going...
Nowhere! We don't normally have church on Sunday nights, so we usually stay home on Sunday evenings.
I am reading...
EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. I'm really enjoying it too! I'm totally surprised that a book about being an entrepreneur and business person is actually entertaining!

I am looking forward to...
I'm looking forward to going to Blissdom in February!

I am learning...
I'm learning lots of new things! I'm learning so much about social media (and hope to learn much more at Blissdom) and working with a team since my partner, Cindy Horton, and I became the new owners of Hip Homeschool Moms! It's been wonderful so far, and the ladies on the HHM team have been great! Most of them have been on the team for a year or more, and they know much more than I do! They are wonderful to remind me of things and help me out as I learn what to do. :)

Around the house...I've been attempting to clean out and sort through some things. It's slow going, but I'm making progress.

I am pondering...
I'm actually thinking about how hungry I am! (Sorry! No deep thinking going on here right now.)

A favorite quote for today...
My hubby teaches our Sunday School class. This morning a man in class was saying that he has trouble believing that God actually forgives his sins. (He knows that God does forgive him, he just has trouble understanding how God can do that since it's so hard for us human beings to forgive each other.) My hubby told the man something like this: "If you know that Jesus died for your sins, you can believe that God forgives our sins. If you think God doesn't forgive our sins, then you're saying your sins are more powerful than Jesus' blood." Wow! I had never really thought of it that way!

One of my favorite things...
One of my favorite things is being home with my kids and homeschooling them. There are difficult days, but it's worth it! (Please remind me of that next time I'm having a difficult day.) ;)

So what's going on in your life? Anything fun or special? I'd love to hear about it!

Technical Difficulties

2012-01-22T17:43:00.000-06:00

Hello, Friends!

Thanks so much to those of you who have visited my blog and left comments for me lately. My blog has been having some technical difficulties for the last week or so, and I can't post responses to your comments! In fact, I'm usually not able to click on your names and blog links so I can visit your blogs to leave comments there, either. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong so I can remedy it. In the mean time, please don't stop leaving comments! I am reading them even though I can't respond right now.

Blessings!

Is It Worth the Weight (Loss)?

2012-01-20T06:00:00.001-06:00

About a month ago, I posted about my efforts to get my family (and myself) to eat healthier foods and cut out most of the sweets. If you missed it, you can view that post here. I'm trying to keep myself accountable, so I'm going to give you a little update. Ok, I want to brag a little bit too..... I apologize in advance. ;)

First I have to tell you that I've had only limited success with my kiddos and my husband. I have managed to get them to cut out some sweets. They still consume more than I'd like them to, but at least they are doing better. And I'm paying close attention to how often they eat sweets too. I am strictly limiting it to once a day. As I said in my earlier post, though, I don't really think they should be eating sweets every day. But it's still an improvement, so I'm trying to look at it that way.

I myself have been trying to almost totally cut out sweets and fats. I allow myself to eat one Skinny Cow ice cream bar once a week (100 calories and they are yummy!!) and no more than twice a week. Other than that, I have given up sugar entirely. That means no sweet tea (and this Southern Girl used to live on sweet tea!), no cookies, no candy bars.

As far as fats go, I've totally given up butter (we use real butter) as well as cooking oil, fatty meats, and any other greasy foods. I've been either baking my meats, cooking them in the crock pot, or frying them with a tiny amount of fat-free calorie-free non-stick spray. I have been very surprised at how good my meat tastes even when cooked without any fats or oils. I've been using very lean meat too, so it doesn't have much fat in it to begin with.

Another thing I've been working really hard on is eating lots more fresh fruits and veggies and cutting down on breads and crackers. I found some yummy fat free, sugar free, low calorie salad dressing, so that has made it easy to eat lots more fresh salad. (I use romaine because iceberg lettuce generally has lots of pesticides on it.) I sometimes put diced apples and/or raisins or even dried cranberries or dried cherries on my salad. I don't use a lot of the dried fruits, though, because some of them have added sugar, and they generally have lots of calories. Dried cherries are a particular favorite of mine because they're chewy and very tart. Yum!!

I haven't totally cut out carbs because I really don't think that's healthy. Once or twice a day I eat a piece of melba toast (I actually like that stuff) or one slice of whole wheat bread. On rare occasions I eat two or three Sun Chips or a whole wheat cracker or two. That helps to satisfy my desire for something crunchy and salty without overdoing it.

In the last 3 weeks, I've lost about 7 lbs! That really has made me aware of the terrible amounts of junk food I must have been eating! I feel much better and have more energy (generally) than I've had in a long time. I've been trying to cut down on calories, so once or twice I've eaten too few calories and have felt tired and draggy. After that, I've been trying to cut calories but not so much that I feel bad. I'm learning where the balance is.

One thing I've learned just in the past few weeks is that, if I totally blow it and eat junk and sweets one day, don't get discouraged! One day during the past 3 weeks, I did just that! I tanked up on sweets, greasy pizza, and whatever else I "had" to have. It was totally worth it! Then the next day, I went right back to my healthy eating plan. It did set me back a few days as far as losing weight, but it satisfied my sweets and fats craving! Since then, it's been much easier to avoid those foods. (Partly because I felt so awful that whole afternoon and night after eating that junk!) So did you make a resolution to eat healthy or lose weight? How's it going? I'd love to encourage you along the way!

Before & After

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Sharing Books with My Kids

2012-01-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

Do you love to read? Everyone in my family loves reading! I like to read all kinds of books. I enjoy mysteries, historical fiction, biographies or autobiographies, fiction, Christian fiction or other Christian books, and children's books. I do occasionally read a science fiction book too. Just about the only kind of book I don't care for very much is romance books.
The children's books I like to read are those meant for older children and teens. It can be hard to find good children's books because there are so many books for those ages which contain questionable or downright inappropriate topics and events. I have managed to find some really good ones, though. As my children get older, it's nice to have read so many children's books so that I have an idea which ones are ok for them to read. Some of the ones on my list are those that I have read out loud to my children.

Every morning after our Bible reading, I read a chapter or two of a book out loud to my children. Even though two of them are teenagers now, it's still something we enjoy! In years past, we've enjoyed reading the original Dr. Dolittle books by Hugh Lofting. These are the original books, not the more recent spin-offs which are not even comparable to the originals.

Right now we are reading the Freddy series of books by Walter R. Brooks. I came across these books about a year or so ago in a homeschool catalog. I ordered the 3 books that they offered, and we all loved them immediately! I've found more of them on Amazon or eBay. I even found one at a used book store.

My younger daughter and I are reading (as part of her school work) the series of books about Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose. The series is called The Rocky Ridge Years. She reads a chapter or two each day to me, which is so much fun!

My son is reading a series of books that he wants me to read as well. He reads each book in the series and then passes it along to me. Our rule is that he can't tell me anything about the book lest he should spoil it for me! Then, after I've finished each book, we can discuss it. This works pretty well except for the occasional time when he accidentally lets something slip.

My older daughter is autistic and non-verbal. She loves to hear books read out loud. She is a very good reader herself, but I suppose that since she can't use her own voice, that causes her fascination with other people's voices. She sometimes reads books alone, but she very much prefers for someone else to read aloud to her.

There are so many simple ways to share books with your children! What are your favorites?

The photo I used in this post is from: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2926

Things I Love

2012-01-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

In no particular order, here are some of the things I love:

Jesus

Eating dinner with my family at the table together

When my hubby comes home from a business trip

My 3 wonderful kiddos!

Vacations at the beach or in the mountains or.......

Books!

Babies (Especially other people's babies!) ;)

Chocolate

Music

Living close to my parents and my husband's parents

My 2 rotten kitties

Christmas

Homeschooling

Playing the piano

Spending time with my family

When my house is clean

My sisters!

Thundershowers

Flowers

The smell of freshly cut grass

Mint tea (freshly made, of course!)

Ice cream

My many cyber-friends

My church family

Hugs

Hearing my children laugh

Watching my daughter do ballet or my son play tennis

Taking photos

These are just a few of the wonderful blessings in my life. I could add many more, and I may do that later. What are a few of the things you love?

Wishful Thinking

2012-01-11T06:00:00.007-06:00

Big News!

2012-01-11T06:00:00.002-06:00

I have a really exciting announcement to make!! To see it, you'll need to click on this link. Then I'd love for you to come back and tell me what you think!

Last Year's Book List

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

As I've visited other blogs for the last week or so, I've noticed that many people are posting lists of books they want to read in 2012. Since I love books and reading so much, I find that it's lots of fun to read other people's lists to get ideas for books I might want to read. I also like to write down the book and author after I finish each book.
Since 1994, I've kept a list of all the books I've read each year. (I know! I'm such a nerd!) I'm sure I've forgotten to write some down here and there, but it's a pretty accurate list. I don't know what made me think to begin my book list all those years ago. I'm glad I did, though, because it's fun to go back and look at it. It's also handy sometimes when I can't remember a book's title and want to reread it or recommend it to a friend.

I'll list some of my favorites from 2011 in case you might like to read them yourself.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride
Little Farm in the Ozarks by Roger Lea MacBride
In the Land of the Big Red Apple by Roger Lea MacBride
Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter R. Brooks
Freddy the Politician by Walter R. Brooks
Freddy and the Ignormous by Walter R. Brooks
Freddy's Cousin Weedly by Walter R. Brooks
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus

OTHER BOOKS (ALL CATEGORIES)

The Me Project by Kathi Lipp
Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsburg
Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer
Becoming a Little Woman: A Novel about Louisa May at Fruitlands byJeannine Atkins
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
Book of Days by James L. Rubart
Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Have a New You by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman
Steve and Me by Terri Irwin
The Martyr's Song by Ted Dekker
Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

Did you read any especially good books last year? I'd love to know what they were. I might add them to my "to be read" list for 2012.

The photo I used in this post is from: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2079

What You Can Do with a Lightbulb

2012-01-04T08:30:00.002-06:00

To see more Wordless Wednesday posts, go here http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave me a comment! :)

Communicating and Autism

2012-01-02T07:00:00.004-06:00

I am so excited! I am getting ready to try a new method of communication with my autistic daugher! Hannah is 16 and is totally non-verbal. She spoke when she was about a year old and was able to say 10 or 12 words appropriately. After her 12-month vaccines, though, she had a horrible reaction. After that, she developed more and more symptoms of autism and gradually lost all verbal communication. By the age of 18 months or a little later, she had lost all spoken language.

For years we have tried to interest her in various methods of communication. Some of them were mildly successful, but she wasn't much interested in any of them long-term. We tried sign language; we tried teaching her to speak; we tried a picture system; we even tried an electronic communication device made especially for autistic people and others who can't use spoken language because of cerebral palsey or other problems.

Sign language may be a good option for some autistic folks, but Hannah has very poor motor skills. Because of that, sign language was very frustrating for her. She would do a few very simple signs, but other than that, she just didn't have the motor skills necessary for signing.

Teaching her spoken language was equally difficult. She has poor muscle tone in her entire body--including the muscles needed to produce speech. She can make a few sounds, but either it's just too difficult for her to produce speech or she chooses not to speak. I truly think she just isn't able to speak, but of course I can't know for certain.

She was mildly interested in using a picture system, but she quickly got tired of it. I don't really know why since she couldn't explain, but she just never "warmed up" to the picture system we tried. It got to the point where she would actually get upset when we tried to get her to use the picture system, and we didn't want her to feel negatively about communicating, so we gave up on it after a while.

Finally, we tried a communication device. We loved the device, which we called her "talker." The main problem with it was that the system was very complicated! Hannah would press a certain sequence of keys, and the device would speak the word (or words) out loud for her. Hannah was able to remember the sequences of keys she needed to use most of the time. Advanced communication, though, required more and more difficult sequences to be used. After a while, it became frustrating to all of us!

About a year ago my husband told me about an app he'd learned about from a friend at work. This app is actually a picture system, but it's used on a device like an iPad or iPod. The person touches a picture on the touch screen, and the iPad or iPod speaks the word. The pictures can also be programmed so that a complete sentence is spoken when a picture is touched. For example, if Hannah touched the picture representing a book, it could be programmed to either say just "book," or it could be programmed to say, "I want to read a book." This way it can be individualized to fit the user.

Hannah loves computers and feels very comfortable using them. I'm praying that her love of computers will help her feel favorably about this new way of communicating. We considered buying an iPod and having her try the app on it, but her poor motor skills would cause her great difficulty on such a small screen. For that reason, we ordered an iPad for her to use. The app we are considering is only available for iPads and is not going to be made available for other tablets--at least not in the foreseeable future.

The good news is that, if she won't use the app to communicate, the rest of us can still use it. So at least we won't have spent the money on the iPad for nothing. I desperately hope, though, that she will use it! Sure, the rest of us would love to have a new iPad to use for work or games or homeschool. It's much more important to us, though, for Hannah to be able to communicate with us.

I'd love for you to pray along with my family that Hannah will understand how to use the device and that she will be motivated to learn to communicate with us. It will probably be later on this week before the iPad reaches us. Then I'll probably have to work with it for a few days to get the app downloaded and customized. (Get ready to hear from me, Tech Support!) Hopefully it will ready in a week or so for her to begin using. In the mean time, I'll keep praying and looking forward to that day!

Speech & Debate

2012-01-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

Does your homeschool support group offer speech & debate classes? Mine does, but I've never had my children participate in them until the 2011-12 school year. My son, Noah, is 14 years old and will be 15 soon, so my husband and I felt like it was time for him to do speech & debate classes in order to help him be a better speaker (and hopefully a better leader) as he grows up and when he is an adult. Men and women need to be able to stand up for themselves and their families. They need to be well-spoken. They need to be confident speakers and leaders. They need to be able to stand up for their beliefs and to tell others about God.

We had a practice speech & debate tournament a few weeks ago, and it was great! It was so much fun and so interesting! I was absolutely amazed at the poise and confidence shown by the students. I could tell that most of them had prepared really well ahead of time by looking up information, writing speeches, memorizing speeches, making visual aids, and reading their speeches and debate information over and over to friends and relatives until it felt natural.

The students were of various ages. The youngest one was about 8 years old, and the oldest was probably 17. It was so much fun listening to these students talk to each other about their information and negative or positive evidence. I heard lots of good-natured teasing (especially among the boys!), but I also heard the students support and encourage each other. I was really proud of all of them!

It was neat to see how the older students helped the younger ones know where to go and what to do. I also loved watching the younger children who weren't in speech & debate serve as timers. That made the younger children feel so important and needed, and they really were performing important jobs! By serving as timers they were also being exposed to the other students' speeches and debates, so they were learning what they will need to do when they participate in the future.

Right now my son really does not appreciate being in the class. He enjoys being around the other kids in our homeschool group, but he's not thrilled about the "extra" work. (By "extra," I mean the work that he would not have to be doing if he wasn't taking the class.) I can see improvements in him, though, since the class first started in September. He has learned to do better research, to organize his thoughts in an orderly way, to enunciate more clearly, and to speak with confidence in front of others. Of course he still has a lot to learn and much room for improvement, but I'm thankful to be seeing regular progress.

I'm very grateful to the moms, dads, and teens who are helping to teach the class too! They are all doing an impressive job, but I've been particularly impressed with the maturity that the teenage teachers have shown! Sometimes there are activities and commitments that I wish we hadn't signed up for, but I'm very glad to have been a part of our group's speech & debate class so far this year, and I'm looking forward to the remainder of the year!

Pictionary Fun with the Family

2012-01-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

A day or two ago, the kiddos and I decided to play the Pictionary game that I got for Christmas. If you haven't read about my Pictionary Incident from years ago, you can do that here. In spite of my sordid Pictionary past, they still wanted to play, so I gave in.

I have always loved to see how different people draw and guess when playing this game. I can tell a good bit about a person's past experiences and where that person "comes from" by observing his or her drawings. Of course this time I was playing with my own children, so I already know their backgrounds. It was still a lot of fun, though! I thought it might be fun to include some of the pictures we drew during the game. The first picture is one that I drew. Can you guess what it is supposed to be?

The next picture was drawn by one of the kiddos who prefers to remain unidentified. I was the "guesser" on this one, and I never did guess correctly! I gave it my best, but I'm a very concrete-literal thinker, so sometimes it's hard for me to guess what something is if the idea I formed at first glance isn't correct. I thought this was a face of some sort, like maybe a ghost or a "smiley" face with only eyes. I assumed the drawer was in a hurry and didn't complete the face. The arrow, of course, I recognized, but I wasn't sure of the 3rd drawing. I thought it must be some strange kind of baby bottle to feed the little ghost. (I know! I know! Kind of a crazy idea! It was what came to me at first glance, though!) Have any idea of what this actually represents? Maybe you'll do better than I did!

What about this one? Have any ideas? I drew this one too. Nobody ever guessed it correctly. Sometimes, after drawing a picture for the others to guess, I just don't have any additional ideas for drawings to add to help them understand better and guess what it is. This was one of those times. Maybe you can figure it out!

And the last one here was drawn by me as well. (My kiddos didn't want their drawings included! I thought they did a great job, but I'm respecting their wishes. At least I did get to include one of my kids' drawings.) Of course when I drew the picture it didn't have the words at the bottom. I added those later so I wouldn't forget what my son said in response to my drawing. I was attempting to draw the word "shield." I drew what I hoped looked like little Vikings with shields. Then I drew an axe in the hand of the Viking on the right. When that didn't help, I drew a gun in the hand of the other Viking. See the little bullets he's shooting?

Well, when my son gave up guessing and asked me what it was, I explained. He was indignant! He immediately said, "Oh my goodness! You don't use shields with guns!" It was so funny because he was so appalled by my terrible drawing! I laughed until the kiddos started laughing along with me. Then we were all laughing but weren't even sure why!

Sometimes it's terribly difficult to make myself stop and play games with the kids, but I'm (almost) always glad that I did. Nearly every time we play a game together, we end up laughing and having a really great time together. In fact, perhaps that should be one of my New Year's resolutions (which I really don't make, but I might make an exception for this one!). At least it would be an easy and pleasant one to keep!

So what about you? Do you have any board games that you like to play together as a family? I'd love to hear if you do!

NOTE: If you're wondering what the pictures are, I'll list them here:
1. The first one is "ballerina slippers."
2. The next one is "button down collar." That weird thing that I thought was a baby bottle was actually supposed to be a dog wearing a collar!
3. This one is "hike." I was trying to draw people hiking up a mountain.
4. The last one, as I already mentioned, is "shield."

So how did you do? Were you able to guess any of them?

Pictionary!

2011-12-30T15:44:00.000-06:00

I love Pictionary! If you can't quite see it in the photos above, it's the Pictionary game I got for Christmas from my mother-in-love. And if you're wondering about the "caution" that is taped on my new game, I'll tell you the story....

When my hubby and I were dating (20 years ago!), we loved to spend time with his parents playing games. We often spent our "date time" eating dinner at his house with his family and then playing board games afterward. One evening they got out the Pictionary game. What they didn't know was that I was a Pictionary champion!

You see, my identical twin sister and I were fantastic at Pictionary! We were virtually unbeatable. We were always on the same team, of course, and we absolutely terrorized the team that we played against. I guess it was our "twin connection" that gave us the advantage, and we definitely used it to our advantage. (My sweet hubby now says that one of us could draw a stick man holding a microphone and the other one would instantly know that it was a drawing of Kenny Loggins eating an ice cream cone!) Anyway, you can see that I was in a habit of performing well whenever I played the game.

So one weekend we decided to play Pictionary with Scott's parents. Scott and his dad were on a team, and I teamed up with his mom. The game wasn't going as well as I had thought it would, but we were all having fun. It was nearing the end of the game, though, and I wasn't sure if my team was going to win. I suppose I must have been a little too competitive back then, because I was getting a little bit frustrated that his mom wasn't understanding what I was drawing. I guess I got a bit carried away in the moment.

My final drawing was of a spring and a chicken--at least it was obvious to me that my drawing was of a spring and a chicken. And the word, obviously, was "spring chicken." The only problem was that Scott's mom was guessing everything except the right words! Without really realizing it, I jumped up out of my chair, pointed to the spring and the chicken, and yelled, "Think people! Spring! Chicken! Spring! Chicken! What else could it be?!"

Then, after completely humiliating my poor sweet hubby (who wasn't yet my hubby at that time), I sat back down, looked around the table, and noticed that everyone at the table had his (or her) mouth hanging wide open with astonished looks on their faces! What had I done??

To my great relief, we all burst out laughing right after that! You can probably understand why this story is still being told even 20 years later. And you'll be glad to know (at least I was glad) that Scott's parents forgave me and even agreed to continue playing board games with Scott and me on the weekends--as long as it wasn't Pictionary!

Lego Friends for Girls!

2011-12-28T21:35:00.001-06:00

Have you heard about the new Legos made especially for girls? Evidently there's a big controversy over them! Some folks are upset because they feel like the new Legos, called Lego Friends, reinforce "gender stereotyping." These new Legos, for one thing, are in shades of pink and other "friendlier" colors. They are very detailed. And the Lego people are curvier and a little taller than the typical short, "boxy" Lego characters that most of us are familiar with.

Do those sound like improvements to you? I thought they were! In fact, the Lego company had some of their top designers spend hours watching little girls play in order to decide what kinds of changes might make Legos more enjoyable for girls. Now that they've tried to provide Legos that are "girl friendly," folks are upset that they promote "gender stereotypes!"

The thing that really bothers me about all of this is that people fail to realize (or to believe) that God is the one who decided to give girls certain tendencies and personality traits. He also gave boys certain tendencies and personality traits. There's nothing wrong with girls wanting to play like girls and boys wanting to play like boys! Of course there are exceptions and differences among girls and among boys, but in general He made girls more nurturing and social while boys are generally more action-oriented and project-oriented. Even if critics don't agree, it's still true! God made girls and boys different because He knew we would need to be different. We balance each other out. If you ask me, that's a good thing, not a bad one!

In the Lego Friends sets, there are Legos for building places like veterinary clinics and beauty salons. There is even some kind of science laboratory or inventor's workshop too. The lab is made of pink and blue blocks, the girl inventor/scientist is supposed to be smart, and folks are still critical of it because "all of the Lego characters for girls are not smart." I disagree! Why do we assume that a woman (or a Lego woman) is not very smart because she works at a beauty salon? Isn't that a case of "stereotyping" right there?

I guess what I'm really saying is that I hope folks will give the new Lego Friends a chance! (No, I'm not associated with Lego or Lego Friends in any way. I just found this too interesting not to blog about it!) If my daughters want to play with pink Legos and use the little Lego people to tell stories or play with like dolls, I'm good with that. If my son wants to play with red and blue and black Legos and build huge projects that take hours to put together and then use those projects (mostly battle ships, guns, and an occasional building) to fight battles, I'm good with that too.

At the same time, I'm happy to have my son help with the dishes and laundry. I'm happy to have my daughter help with yard work. I'm not suggesting that we force our children to fit into traditional roles. I do believe, though, that we should allow them to be girls and play like girls or to be boys and play like boys. It's ok that boys and girls are different! It's good that boys and girls are different!

So what do you think? Would you buy Lego Friends for your daughter?

Christmas Maestro

2011-12-26T20:20:00.000-06:00

Kids are so creative! It's so much fun watching and listening to them play--especially when they don't know I'm there. (I wouldn't call it spying exactly. It's just "surreptitious observation.") A few days ago, I found that my 9-year-old had rearranged my nativity scene. Not only had she rearranged everything, but she also combined two different nativities--one more delicate one that I use just to look at and another plastic one that is for playing with. Not only that, but she added a character from one of the old Christmas television shows and had him set up as a maestro leading the nativity choir!

You can see the little maestro there (from behind) leading the choir with his little baton. Below you can see a close-up view of him from the front. Isn't he one of the little guys from the island of misfit toys or something like that? Or maybe he's one of Santa's elves.

And here you can see the choir a little bit closer up. Notice the reindeer (I think that's Rudolph, but I can't tell for sure if his nose is red or not.) on top of the stable!

While my nativity scene is a bit unusual, I think it's definitely beautiful! It reminds me not only of the birth of Jesus but also of the imagination and creativity that He gives our children.

I pray that you and your family have had a blessed Christmas this year!

Wendy

Christmas Blessings

2011-12-25T23:03:00.000-06:00

My family and I had a wonderful Christmas today! We had church at 11:00. The choir did several songs from the cantata that they sang last week. The songs were beautiful and really reinforced the truth that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. I’m glad we took the kids this morning. I’m also glad because I got to hear some of the songs that I missed last week. (When the choir did the entire cantata last Sunday, I had to leave the service with my older daughter and didn’t get to hear it all.)

My husband and the kiddos opened our presents yesterday so we could all enjoy our presents for the day. I’ve been wanting (and needing!) a new camera. My sweet hubby got me a very nice one!! I was thrilled! I spent some time learning to use it today, and I hope to look at it again tomorrow and hopefully learn more. Then I’ll be able to use more photos on my blog! Hooray! My “old” camera never worked well, and it sometimes doesn’t work at all. Now I’ll have a reliable way to take lots of photos.

We gave my hubby a gas grill and a nice metal fire pit. He loves to grill and is really good at it! He wants to fix up a little place in the yard with his grill, fire pit, benches, etc., and kind of make a little outdoor cookout area. We will be happy for him to grill for us more often, and hopefully the new grill will be easier to use and to clean. The fire pit will be great fun for all of us too because we can use it to roast marshmallows. Yum!

The kiddos each got one or two things that they really wanted, so they were each really happy with their gifts. And it made Scott and me really happy to see their happiness! Many times when I give something to someone who really enjoys it, I think of Matthew 7:11 that says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Isn’t it neat to think that God enjoys giving gifts to us?! Even though we don’t deserve them, God actually wants to give good gifts to us and actually enjoys doing so! Wow!

I hope that each of you had a blessed Christmas with family and friends. Blessings and merry Christmas!

The Reason for Christmas

2011-12-18T14:50:00.000-06:00

Isn't it neat (and sometimes a little bit humbling) how God uses our children to teach us things sometimes? My oldest child, Hannah--age 16, is autistic and non-verbal. But God often uses her to teach the rest of us lessons! This morning was one of those occasions.

During our church service this morning, the choir presented a beautiful program! We are temporarily having church services in our gym while our sanctuary is being re-done, so the gym itself wasn't really all that beautiful, but the songs and the message presented sure were! Of course some of the songs expressed the events leading up to the birth of Jesus and told about the birth as well. Then they went on to tell the reason for His birth--to take away the sins of everyone who believes in Him and trusts Him.

As I was listening to the music, I realized that Hannah was sobbing! She always sits in church with her head down because I think it makes her feel more comfortable and secure. For that reason, I didn't notice at first that she was crying. After a few minutes, though, I noticed that her shoulders were shaking and that she was crying. I felt so bad for her!! It's hard for a mom to see her child upset, isn't it?

I ended up having to take Hannah out to the parking lot to sit in the van with me while the rest of the service went on. Thankfully, though, the weather was beautiful today! It was about 58 degrees and sunny, so it was actually a lovely day!

Because Hannah is totally non-verbal, she couldn't tell me why she was so upset. I have noticed over the years, though, that she often gets upset when she hears music in which the words talk about Jesus dying for our sins. I was not happy that she was so upset, but it did make me wonder what good changes might happen if all of us who are Christians cared that much about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Most of us hardly think about the terrible things that Jesus went through for us. It's not pleasant to think about, that's true. But maybe we should take a little more time--even here at Christmas time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus--to think about exactly why He came.

Does it amaze you that Jesus died so you and I could be saved? Does it make you stop and think about your actions and attitudes on a daily basis? I admit that I don't think about it nearly often enough. I know it's true, but I take it for granted and don't appreciate it very much.

So thank you, Hannah, for reminding me that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, but we should never forget the reason for His birth!

100 Days of Class Challenge #2

2011-12-17T19:40:00.000-06:00

One of the things that Challenge #2 of 100 Days of Class challenged me to do today is name 5 things that I like about my personality. That made me think about something. All my life, at least since I was old enough to think about it, I wished my personality was different. There are some things I like about myself and my personality, but there are other things I never liked and didn't really understand about myself.

As I've gotten older, I've realized that God gave me my personality, though, because He knew exactly what personality I would need as an adult. My oldest child has autism, and for many years doctors "blew me off" and thought I was just expecting too much from my first child. They thought she was just a late bloomer and that I was worried about her just because she wasn't as quick to develop and mature as friends' children. I knew, though, that there was a serious problem going on with her! It took great persistence to keep on and on insisting that the doctors listen to me and help me find out what was wrong with my daughter.

As I grew up, I felt like my persistent nature was a flaw. I felt like persistence made me seem too "bossy" or that it annoyed people. The truth is that it may have bothered a few people when I showed persistence in areas I should have just let go. Now, though, I can see that God specifically made me persistent because He knew persistence would be necessary so that I could find out what was going on medically with Hannah and get her the treatment she needed (and still needs).

Is there something about your personality that you would change if you could? Or have you realized that there is a certain character trait that God gave you for some certain reason even though you may have thought in the past that it wasn't a good trait? I'd love to hear from you!

2011-12-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

Do you know what's sometimes really hard for me, but it always turns out to be the best choice? It's so hard for me to allow God to have control of my life, my decisions, and my concerns! It seems to me that it should be easy by now because I've seen God work in my life and my friends' and family members' lives so many times! It seems that I would know by now that God's will is always best and that God doesn't need my help or my input; He just needs my cooperation!

Realizing this also makes me so very thankful that God loves imperfect people! He knows that I'm not perfect and that I don't always choose to obey Him, but He never loses patience with me or decides to give up on me. Some days I'm not patient with my children when they mess up just a few times, yet God is patient with me no matter how many times I mess up or how many times I choose to do the wrong thing. Wow!

Just a few days ago, I had a really big decision to make. (I can't tell you just yet! But hopefully it won't be long.) I prayed and asked God to totally take control of the situation and to make it clear to me what He wanted me to do. Every time it came to mind, I chose to pray about it instead of worry about it. I really wanted the situation to turn out a certain way, so I confessed to God that I really wanted my own will to be done, but that I was asking God to do what He knows is best in spite of what I wanted to happen. That was very hard for me to do because I don't like to give up control of my life and my decisions. Don't we all like to be in charge and do what we feel like needs to be done?

I can't say that I didn't think about the decision often or that I didn't worry a little bit. The great thing was, though, that I knew in my heart that whatever happened would be God's will. I admitted to myself that the situation might not turn out the way I wanted it to and that I would be disappointed if that was the case, but I would still know that God's will was being done.

I'm happy to report that the situation turned out the way I hoped it would! At the same time, I think that if it hadn't turned out favorably, I would have still known that it turned out the best for me and for the others involved. I admit I would have been disappointed. I think God understands that the human side of me would have been disappointed, though, even though I trust Him to do the best thing for me and everyone else. But would I have felt like God had made a "bad" decision if it had turned out differently? No.

Matthew 7:11 keeps coming to my mind. It says: "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!"

Isn't that amazing!? God wants to give us good gifts! He doesn't want to punish us for being unfaithful to Him. He doesn't want to "zap" us for making bad decisions! His desire is to give us good gifts! Can you imagine how much God must love us to feel that way? Can you imagine the depth of not only His love but also of His forgiveness and mercy?

This time of year is not only a good time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it's also a great time to celebrate how much God loves each and every one of us. After all, isn't that why Jesus was born and lived, died, and rose again? I'm imperfect, but I'm loved by God! Amazing!

100 Days of Class (Challenge #1)

2011-12-14T20:13:00.000-06:00

A friend just started a new blog at 100 Days of Class. I decided to take a look and see what it's all about. Maybe I'll even complete the "100 Days of Class" challenge!

I know that God values each of us and that, with Him working through us, we can become the "classy ladies" that God already knows we are! It will be interesting (and fun!) to see what these challenges will be! If you'd like to join in, we'll take the challenge together.

Here is Challenge #1:

Make three lists:
10 Things You Love About Yourself
5 Things You Can Work On
3 Things You Believe You're No Good At

After you make these lists pick one thing from the last list of three things and try it. Then add "fearless" to your list of things you love about yourself.

Wow! 10 things that I like about myself! I guess that, since we are all created by God, we shouldn't have much trouble thinking of 10 things we like about ourselves. It's surprisingly difficult, though! I'll give it a try. Here goes.....

I like the fact that I love and respect my husband. He is a wonderful man, and I'm thankful that God gave him to me!
I like my brown eyes. My daddy has always been proud of his 3 brown-eyed girls!
I like that, the older I get, the wavier my hair gets! It used to be straight as a board. Now I'm able to either blow-dry it straight or put gel in it and leave it wavy.
I like that I enjoy my children (most of the time!) and that I am able to homeschool them. I love getting to know them and teaching them not only academics but also life-skills and how to live a Christian life. I'm not perfect, but I'm doing my best to teach and train them. That's very important to me.
I like that I love to read and that my husband and I have helped our children to all love to read too.
I like my painted toenails. ;) Even in the winter, I keep them painted.
I like that I'm a hard worker. My house doesn't always reflect that fact, but I really do give my "all" to any job or project that I do. I think it's the right thing to do, and I believe God expects us to always do the best we can.
I like the fact that I've decided to try to eat healthier foods, cut down on sweets and junk food, and exercise 5 days a week. I've been doing it for a couple of months now, and I feel so much better!
I like knowing that I have "chilled out" considerably since my children were born. In the early days of becoming a mom and the early days of homeschooling (I've been homeschooling for about 13 years.), I was so stressed and rigid about everything! I now know that it's ok to have fun. It's ok if things don't go according to schedule! It's ok if the house isn't always clean. What's important is teaching my children that "life happens" and we should roll with it instead of staying stressed out!
I like that I'm getting to an age where I'm not afraid to pursue some of my own interests! I love being home with my kiddos, and I love homeschooling. As the kids get older, though, I'm getting to a place where I can take care of them, teach them, and still have time to develop my own interests. I used to be afraid that, when my kids finish homeschooling and get ready to move out on their own, I won't know what to do with myself. I now know that God is helping me develop some skills and interests that I will need when that day arrives.
I thought of one more! I like that I use good grammar! Living in the South, lots of folks expect me to say "ain't" as in: "She ain't never gonna get her house clean!" and to use incorrect subject/verb agreement as in: "I seen Larry at the store yesterday." The truth is that there are people in the South who use good grammar! :) And we still love those who don't. ;)

Now I'll tackel the 5 things I need to work on. I don't think that one will be nearly as difficult!

I need to try harder to keep the laundry done!! My dear sweet hubby just posted notices on my washer any dryer. On the washer it says: "STOP! Before you put on a load of clothes, please be sure that all laundry that is already clean has been folded and put away!" On the dryer it says: "STOP! Be sure to clean the lint filter before drying a load of clothes." (*sigh*) Gotta love him!
I need to do better about having the kids help clean the house, do laundry, cook, and do the dishes. I try to do everything myself. That's not best for me or the kids. It's so much easier, though!
I need to be sure to do my own personal Bible reading every day. I get up and read the Bible, pray, and read a just-for-fun book with the kiddos every morning, but I often put off my own Bible reading until just before bed at night. I'm often so tired that it's hard to pay attention to what I'm reading by that time of the night.
I need to be more consistent!! (Ever known a mom who doesn't think she needs to be more consistent? Me neither!)
I need to do a much better job of meal planning. During the weeks and months that I consistently do a meal plan, the evenings are so much easier! So why don't I do it all the time? Who knows?! Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution!

Now for the list of 3 things I think I'm no good at. Let's see......

I am absolutely horrible at making biscuits!! We Southern women are supposed to make wonderful, light and fluffy, delicious homemade biscuits! Mine always turn out like little rocks. Yuck!
I'm no good at loading the dishwasher. My hubby asks me to please not load the dishwasher!! He does it because he can get so many more dishes in there than I can. And somehow he always situates them so that they all get clean! Amazing! (Just so ya know--this is one that I really don't want to get good at!)
I'm also terrible at remembering things! The good thing is that I'm great at writing notes to help me remember important things. The bad thing is that I often lose my notes or just don't look at them. So I guess that'll be another New Year's resolution for me! I'll try to get better organized so I can remember things and make the best use of my time.

I think this "100 Days of Class" will be really interesting! I hope you will join me!

The River Walk in San Antonio

2011-12-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-12-10T23:23:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a daybook entry for a while, so I decided to do one today before I head off to bed. It's been a good day!

FOR TODAY

Outside my window it is cold! It's also dark. I feel sorry for our two outside dogs on nights like this!

I am thinking that I'm cold and ready to snuggle under my quilt and go to sleep. And I would do that if my younger daughter hadn't "stolen" my quilt I made specifically for myself! I suppose I'll have to get started on a new one. Then she'll probably take the new one and give back my other one! ;)
I am thankful for my wonderful husband and my twin sister!! My hubby took me to finish our Christmas shopping this afternoon even though he loathes shopping. And my wonderful sister kept my kids and hers so we'd be able to go. I'm blessed!!

From the learning rooms: The kids are trying to get ahead on their school work so they can take the rest of December off. I told them that, if they want to work ahead, I'll give them the rest of December off. But they have to have ALL of December's assignments done or they'll only get a few days off. They are highly motivated!

In the kitchen there's not much going on right now. The dishes are done and the dishwasher needs to be unloaded. My tummy is growling, but it's 11:00 p.m., so I don't want to eat anything this late. I'll bet I'll be ready for breakfast in the morning!
I am wearing a hot pink long-sleeved shirt, my favorite blue jeans, and my crocks with socks. And for once, my hair is not up in a ponytail!

I am creating a quilt for my younger sister for Christmas. Shhh......it's a secret! Well, at least it's a secret if she doesn't read my blog!

I am going to bed! We have church in the morning, so I need to get some sleep! It's no fun to be so sleepy that I have trouble paying attention!

I am wondering if my TMJ pain will keep me from sleeping well tonight. I hope not!

I am reading a book by Ted Dekker called The Martyr's Song. I'm also reading Little Women with my 9-year-old. And I'm reading Freddy and His Cousin Weedly with all 3 of my children in the morning after we do our Bible reading and prayer time. So, of course, I'm reading the Bible as well. (If you've never read any of the Freddy the pig books, you really should! We all love them--from my 16-year-old daughter, to my 14-year-old son, right down to my 9-year-old daughter.
I am hoping to exercise every week day this coming week!

I am looking forward to Monday! I have something exciting going on that day, but it's a secret, so I can't tell you what it is! I may be able to tell you more some time later in the week.

I am hearing my dishwasher running. Evidently my dishwasher didn't need to unloaded! It needed to be run, and it will need to be unloaded tomorrow.

Around the house everyone is in bed asleep except for me! But I'll be there soon!

I am pondering over my "secret" for Monday.

One of my favorite things is sitting here at my table with my computer while one kitty cat sleeps beside me and the other one is trying to climb on my computer to sit on it because it's warm! One of them often sits in my lap while I blog, work, etc. They feel so warm and nice--like my own little fuzzy heater--in my lap. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week are to babysit for my twin sister tomorrow and Monday for part of each of those days. I will also try my best to decide exactly what to get my hubby for Christmas. Other than that, I hope to help my kiddos stay motivated to get waaaaay ahead on their school work so we can take a few weeks off!

Here is picture of the newest member of the family! Her name is Hazel. She's the one on the right. ;)

You Are What You Eat

2011-12-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

My efforts to get myself and my family to eat healthier foods has been a huge challenge!! My husband and my kids just don’t see a huge need to try to cut out junk food and sweets. I think they all know that they really should cut out the junk—even the kids—but they just love it all so much that they just can’t stand the thought of giving it up!

The honest truth is that it’s extremely hard for me too. I don’t want to give up junk food and sweets any more than they do. And it’s even harder for me to give it up and to stop buying it when they all beg for it!

I started by encouraging them all to eat smaller portions of unhealthy foods. I had them start weighing their servings of chips or crackers or candy to make sure they weren’t eating such large portions. None of us had realized that we were waaaaay overdoing our serving sizes! We had been eating 2 or 3 servings of, for example, potato chips. When we looked at what the packaging actually calls one serving, it was a lot smaller than what we had called one serving.

Then I started allowing them to eat sweets only once a day. Without realizing it, I had let them get in a habit of eating sweets two or three times every day! It’s so easy to let bad eating habits sneak up on us! Some days I won’t let them have sweets at all, but those aren’t easy days! And the kids have learned that, if they talk about it enough and cause me to crave ice cream or chocolate or something, that I’m much more likely to give in! :P

I’m trying to get to the point where I stop and think about whether or not a particular food or dessert is worth the amount of exercise I’ll have to do to work off the calories! If it is, I’ll go ahead and eat it. If it’s not, that makes it much easier to decide not to eat it. If I do eat it, I try to allow myself to truly enjoy it and not feel guilty about it. If I’m going to eat it anyway, there’s no sense in being miserable over it!

I hope to keep at it until my family and I only eat sweets on Saturdays and Sundays and not during the week. I honestly don’t know if we’ll get there or not, but I think it’s a good goal to work toward. If I can convince my sweet hubby that we need to cut out sweets on weekdays, it’ll be much easier. If not, I’ll just do the best I can.

I’m also cooking more and trying to cut out fast food except on rare occasions. And I’m trying to cook more vegetables and to sneak some extra veggies into dishes where my kids won’t know they’re there. (For example, I put cooked, mashed carrots into my spaghetti sauce.) This is working better for me than cutting out sweets is! My family members are pretty good about eating veggies even though they’re not necessarily their favorite things to eat.

My younger daughter and I are good about eating raw fruits and veggies too, but my older daughter, son, and hubby aren’t likely to eat them raw very often. At least we’re moving (slowly) in the right direction!

What about you and your family? Any suggestions for eating healthier foods and encouraging our families to eat better? If so, I would love to hear them!

Getting Fit

2011-12-07T07:00:00.005-06:00

If you’ve been reading my posts about exercising, there’s something you should probably keep in mind. I started exercising about 2 months or so ago, and I’m just now getting to the point where it’s getting a little bit easier. For the first month or so, it was pretty hard work even if I was doing a workout that would have been considered to be “beginner” level.

The first couple of weeks of exercising every week day were pretty difficult. I struggled to get through each 30-minute video every morning. I wondered if I would ever be able to exercise without feeling like I was going to kill myself trying to get healthy! After a couple of weeks, I was thrilled when I saw a change in my endurance. I began to be able to complete the video with some effort but without feeling like I would die. 

Now, a couple of months later, I can get all the way through the workout and am able to do the “add—ons” to increase the difficulty just a bit and give me a bit more of a workout. I can’t do that for all levels on the video, but I can on the level 1 routines. (Each of the Jillian Michaels circuit training videos has 2 or 3 difficulty levels. I just use the level 1 workouts so far.)

Another thing I do two or three times a week is go to the park in town. There is a walking/jogging track around the park. When I first began going to the track, I had a really hard time even walking quickly around the track for a full mile. I had lots of trouble with shin splints, and that severely limited my speed and endurance!

It takes 4 laps around the track to make a mile. After a week or two, I started walking half of each lap and jogging the second half of each lap. Usually my shins were killing me before I finished the mile. After about 5 or 6 weeks, I was to the point where I could walk/jog the mile and be pretty comfortable, so I started walking/jogging 2 miles each time. My shins still hurt too badly if I try to run a whole lap at a time, so I continue to walk half and jog half. I’m hoping that will gradually get better over time.

What about you? Have you recently started exercising? Have you made any progress? I’d love to hear about it! If you haven’t started yet, do you have plans to start exercising?

Growing Up

2011-12-05T07:00:00.001-06:00

Mary Grace is now officially 9 years old! Her birthday was a few days ago on December 2. Since that was a Friday, we took the day off school to do whatever she wanted to do. She also gave her brother and sister the day off school too. :)

It's hard to believe that my youngest child is 9! I'm thankful for my children, and I choose to try to enjoy them at each stage of their lives. It's sometimes a bit difficult not to get a little sad as they grow up, but I'm so glad that I have them right now to teach and train and love!

We all watched a Barbie movie that she picked out. Then Mary Grace and I went to the store so she could spend some of her birthday money that her grandmother sent her. She used it to buy a few small gifts for her daddy and her brother and sister. And, of course, we made our annual gingerbread house like we do each year on her birthday. That evening we had cake and ice cream after dinner with her grandparents. It was a good day.

Here is a picture of her sitting by our Christmas tree on her birthday. Her grandfather gave her a pretty necklace, and she's showing it off here. :) I always have to be sure to label her birthday and Christmas photos so I'll know which is which. Most of her birthday pictures end up having Christmas decorations in them, so I get them mixed up if I don't have them labeled!

She got a mini cupcake maker from her grandmother, and she loves it! She made several batches of mini cupcakes from scratch all by herself! I'm trying to allow her to cook more and be more independent (I'm always right there supervising) so she'll enjoy cooking and be good at it when she grows up. I never had cooked much when Scott and I got married, so I practiced on him. Poor guy.

To the right is a picture of her birthday cake. It was a beautiful chocolate cake with a bunch of chocolate roses in the middle. Mary Grace wanted to spruce it up a little, so she added lots of those little sugar decorations--you know--the ones that peel off of the little piece of paper. There were some hearts and some of castles and crowns and that sort of thing. She also added those wacky twisted candles. It certainly turned out to be a very interesting cake!

The day after her birthday, Saturday, we went to see our friends the Millers in Louisiana. We had such a wonderful trip! The picture to the left is of the Miller children along with Mary Grace. We had a great time with them and are so glad we got to go visit. It was Mitch's birthday that day, so we decided to have a joint celebration with them. In the next photo you can see Mitch and Mary Grace blowing out the candles on their cake together. While we were there, Mitch cooked some delicious meat on the grill. And Jennifer and the girls made some very yummy potatoes and corn and fruit salad and homemade bread to go with it. I don't know how any of us had room for cake and ice cream, but we did!

Days like the ones we just had make me so thankful to have friends and family members close by. I'm so glad to be able to share special occasions with folks we love!

Decorating's Done!

2011-11-25T19:52:00.002-06:00

A Christmas tradition that my family and I keep is putting up and decorating the Christmas tree every year on the day after Thanksgiving. I really don't remember when we started this tradition, but we've done it for years. I'm sure we probably started it after the children were born because they like for the Christmas lights and decorations to be up as many days as possible.

Our kitchen, dining area, and living room are all one big room, so the picture you see above on the left is the island in the kitchen. We like to put something pretty in the middle of the island not only so we can enjoy seeing it but also because that motivates us to keep the island clean instead of letting it collect clutter! On the right, of course, is our Christmas tree. We have a pre-lit tree because my hubby hates stringing up Christmas lights! It's much faster and easier than stringing lights too, so the kids don't get as impatient! We used to have a real tree every year, and I'd like to do that again one day. For now, though, the pre-lit tree seems to work best for us.

This morning we let everybody sleep a little bit late, and then we all (except Hannah) went up into the attic to drag down all of the boxes that we needed. Scott and Mary Grace usually put up the tree while I clean off the entertainment center pictures and things. Then Mary Grace and I put the ornaments on the tree. The guys don't particularly like doing that part. After the tree is all decorated and I've finished dusting the shelves of the entertainment center, Scott and I usually set out the decorations on the shelves. Mary Grace is usually tired of helping by that time.

I put a few other decorations here and there (like the reindeer and the teddy bear on the rocking chair), and I usually put out a Christmas throw pillow or two. Some years Scott puts up red bows on the front porch columns, but I don't think he's going to do it this year. We do put out a Mr. Snowman and Mrs. Snowman on either side of the front door too. That's about it for us. We don't decorate the entire house. To be honest, I'd love to have Christmas decorations everywhere, but I'm just not motivated enough to take the time to put them all out and to take them all down after the season is over! So I'm content with what we do.

Mary Grace does like to have a pink Christmas tree in her room to match her pink and yellow room. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of that later. I told her that she has to clean her room before she can put up her little tree in there, so we'll see if it gets put up this year! I hope so because she loves it so much. Hopefully this weekend we can get in there and get it cleaned up a bit. It will need to be cleaned up and cleaned out a bit before Christmas anyway, so we might as well get it done, right?

So how about your family? Do you have a certain day that you put up your Christmas decorations each year? Do you decorate the entire house, or do you keep it to the living room or other "main" rooms in your house? Does the whole family like to get involved in decorating, or do you do it mostly by yourself? I'd love to hear from you!

A Gingerbread Tradition

2011-11-23T07:00:00.005-06:00

One of the nicest holiday traditions at my house is the gingerbread house that we make each year. My younger daughter's birthday is December 2. It just so happened several years ago that we made a gingerbread house on her birthday. We didn't plan it that way; that's just how it happened. When we thought about it, we decided that that would make a really nice tradition, so we started making a gingerbread house every year on her birthday. I know we've done it for at last 3 years (including this year), and maybe 4 years.

Right now we prefer to buy the pre-assembled gingerbread houses, and we just do the decorating. The first year, I bought a cheaper gingerbread house set that we had to assemble ourselves. It was torture to Mary Grace to have to wait until the next day to do the decorating, but the house had to "set" overnight so it wouldn't fall apart while being decorated. For now it's worth a bit of extra expense for the convenience of being able to immediately decorate it and not have to worry that the whole thing will fall apart! I figure that one day when Mary Grace is older, she may want to assemble her own house or even bake her own gingerbread "cookies" to use to make the house.

When we went to the store, we found both a gingerbread house kit and a gingerbread townhouse kit. Because they were fairly inexpensive, we bought one of each. We are saving the gingerbread house to decorate on December 2. We decorated the gingerbread townhouse last night. It was lots of fun, and I think Mary Grace did a great job!

Here's what we started out with. Mostly just the pre-assembled house and the decorations and icing included in the kit. We also had to use our own scissors, corn starch, rolling pin, and parchment paper.

Mary Grace likes to do most of the decorating herself, so I let her decide where everything goes and what she wants it to look like. I mainly put on the icing wherever she wants it and offer suggestions if she can't get something like she wants it.

The first year or two that we did the gingerbread houses, it was so hard for me to let her decide how to decorate it because I wanted it to look beautiful when it was finished. Thankfully, I realized that it's far more important to establish a tradition that she will look back on with happy memories than it is for the gingerbread house to be perfect. She gets to use her creativity and have fun while spending time with me, and those are the most important things!

We have other traditions that we do together as a family which I'll tell you about later. Do you have any holiday traditions that you and your family do every year? Have you made any new traditions, or are they things that carry over from when you were a child? I'd love to hear about them!

San Antonio

2011-11-21T07:00:00.007-06:00

My husband and I recently went to San Antonio. (I tagged along on one of his business trips.) Besides just having a great time together, we enjoyed sight-seeing during his free time. I don't remember learning much (if anything) about the Alamo when I was in school, so it turned out to be one of my favorite attractions. I had no idea what a colorful history the Alamo has!

First of all, the Alamo that you see in the photo above is only one small part of what was originally a mission serving as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly 70 years. All that is left now is the building you see as well as a long building (you can see a bit of it on the left side of the photo above) called the long barracks.

The original name of the mission was Mision San Antonio de Valero. It was renamed in the early 1800s (when it was no longer used as a mission) when the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit there. The soldiers, in honor of their hometown, called it "Alamo de Parras, Coahuila." (Alamo is the Spanish word for cottonwood.)

During the Texas Revolution, Ben Milam, along with his Texian and Tejano volunteers, occupied the Alamo. In February of 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his army prepared to fight and hoped to defeat the Texian and Tejano volunteers. The defenders of the Alamo were able to hold out for 13 days against Santa Anna and his army.

The defenders sent out couriers asking for help defending the Alamo, but the only help they received was about 32 men. This brought the total number of defenders to nearly 200 men. They were far outnumbered by Santa Anna and his army. They refused to give up, though, because they believed that the Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas. They would give up their lives before they would give up the possibility of Texas being a free state.

The final attack came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836. (The movies about the Alamo show the battle as having occurred during the day. It actually happened while it was still night.) The defenders were able to hold back Santa Anna and his troops for a while, but they were eventually overwhelmed. By sunrise, Santa Anna had entered the Alamo compound and secured victory.

All of the defenders were either killed during the battle or were executed after the battle was over. Because the defenders were so willing to die for their conviction that Texas should be free, the battle has come to symbolize their heroic struggle against overwhelming odds. These men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

And in case you're wondering, Jim Bowie (the renowned knife fighter) and David Crockett (frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee) were among those who gave their lives defending the Alamo. By the way, while he lived, David Crockett was never called "Davy Crockett" except by relatives.

This is just a tiny bit of information that is available about the history of San Antonio, the lives of the men who defended the Alamo, and the effort to make Texas a free state. I hope you will leave me a comment letting me know if you learned anything new from my post today. I hope so! In a day or so I'll share some photos of the River Walk. I hope you'll come back to see me!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

2011-10-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

In my life this week…
We have had a really busy week! The kids have so many "outside" commitments this year that 4 days a week we either go to tennis, ballet, piano, or speech & debate. We're only home all day on Tuesdays, so we try really hard not to plan anything on Tuesdays! We are back in school "full swing" now, so there's been plenty of work for the kiddos to do. I've been busy with some editing that I do for Grapevine Studies and with my work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine as well as supervising and assisting the kids with their school work. It's been a good week, though! Even though we've been busy, the kids and I have spent a lot of time together. :)

In our homeschool this week…
We've gotten a day or two behind! There were a couple of days this week that unexpected things came up and kept us from finishing everything. We're not worried, though. Our work will still be right there waiting for us next week! :P

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
This week, I think I need to hear some tips and advice rather than give it! For example, I'd love to know what other homeschooling families do when they get a few days behind. Do you just push everything back and start the next week where you left off this week? Do you work over the weekend to catch up? Do you double your work the next week and catch up that way? I've got to decide how we're going to handle this!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We are going once a week to Mary Grace's piano lessons, twice a week to tennis lessons, and once a week to speech & debate class. We also go to the library (usually) once a week and to get Noah's allergy shot once a week. Of course there's the occasional grocery store outing as well.

My favorite thing this week was…
Tennis!! We've all improved enough that we're able to actually play some practice games, and that's really fun!

Questions/thoughts I have…
I wonder if my 14-year-old will ever be mature enough to get his driver's license! (But don't tell him I said that!)

Things I’m working on…
Letting my children take more responsibility for keeping their own rooms clean and allowing myself to sit down and take a break to read a book or rest or whatever without feeling guilty about it.

I’m reading…
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Have a New You by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles (This one is a children's book. I love to read children's books!)
I’m cooking…
Nothing! We had leftovers tonight. :)

I’m grateful for…
A husband who is willing to help me in the house!!

I’m praying for…
My family. For maturity and self-control for the kids (and Scott and me!). For the future spouses of my kids.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Cousins Mary Grace (my younger daughter--on the left) and Sarah (my twin sister's daughter--on the right).

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet, Fat Baby!

2011-10-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

This is my nephew, Silas. At the time these photos were taken, he was one year old. Now, he's almost 1 1/2. I was looking back at some "old" photos and came across these. I had to share them with you!

Shaping Up

2011-10-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

Did I tell you a while back that I was trying to get into a regular routine of exercising and eating better? I don't usually like to announce such plans because, when I don't follow through, I hate for folks to know about it!

About a month ago, I decided I wanted to seriously get in a routine of regularly exercising and of trying to eat better. For the first week, I would look at my plans for the next day and decide when to exercise and whether I wanted to jog/walk at the track (a few miles away) or whether I wanted to do a workout video here at home. I did manage to jog/walk at the track maybe once that week, and I did an exercise video another time or two. I realized, though, that what I'm going to have to do is get up each morning and exercise first. It was so discouraging that first week when, at the end of the week, I'd only exercised 2 or 3 times instead of the 5 or 6 times that I had planned.

Because our schedule is often unpredictable, I'm now getting up and exercising first thing each morning. I get out of bed and feed the cats, brush my teeth, put on my exercise clothes, and start exercising. Every weekday. I've now been very consistent with it for the past 2 or 3 weeks. Then, if I have a chance to go to the track later in the day, I just consider that a bonus.

I've also started playing tennis twice a week for a hour each time. The kiddos and I decided to take tennis lessons for our "P.E." class this year. We are loving it!! For the first several weeks we didn't actually play tennis a whole lot, but we got lots of exercise running after all the balls we missed! :P Now that we're improving, we can actually get some exercise running to the ball and hitting it back across the net! And it's lots more fun than exercise videos or jogging!

I still have trouble forcing myself not to eat lots of junk food and sweet stuff. All of us have a huge sweet tooth, and I seem to be the only person in the house who's wanting to cut down on unhealthy food. (My family's motto is: "Eat a Twinkie for Jesus!") I'm getting better at it, though. And I'm going to begin writing down what I eat every day to (hopefully) help me pay more attention to what I'm eating and when.

Do you exercise or try to eat healthy foods? Any tips or tricks you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!

Interview with Karen Andreola!

2011-09-30T16:40:00.000-05:00

The Gentle Art of Learning

Please give a short explanation Charlotte Mason Homeschooling.

Living Books

What first attracted me to the writings of the 19th century British educator Miss Charlotte Mason (1842-1922) was what she called “living books.” She confidently replaced the Victorian textbook-workbook-grind (its emphasis on tests and grades) with living books and narration. The standard textbooks used throughout my own schooldays were dull. They left no impression on me. I got by. In my homeschool I aimed to satisfy and safeguard my children’s natural, God-given curiosity. Living books, books alive with ideas, kept our homeschool interesting. It kept my children curious. Boredom and tedium close the mind. Curiosity keeps it open like a flower in sunshine.

Narration

Charlotte Mason believed that the best way to gain knowledge from all these lovely vivifying books was with narration. When a child narrates he tells back in his own words what was just read aloud to him. What he narrates, he knows and remembers. Narration takes the place of multiple-choice quizzes or worksheets. To narrate exercises the whole mind. In the late 1980s I hadn’t met anyone else who did school with narration. At first I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. But I am so glad I placed my trust in this method. I soon saw that its benefits were many.

There is much more I could say about how wondrous school can be when Charlotte Mason’s principles for learning are tried. But I’ve set these other ingredients aside for my column. I hope you will join me as we explore together what I call, “The Gentle Art of Learning.”

Is Charlotte Mason Homeschooling something you recommend for any homeschooling family? Will it work for all types of families – for example, those with children who have special needs, children who hate reading, or families with lots of children?

Charlotte Mason’s principles will work well for all teachers who see education as something to understand as well as something to do, for all teachers who see the child as person to understand as well as to teach.

Particular Advantages

In her day Miss Mason’s saw her method being worked out with thousands of children. It enlightened the dull child as well the bright. I’ve been in touch with mothers who have children with special needs and I’ve been told that “The Gentle Art of Learning,” is particularly advantageous. Even a blind child can do Nature Study by learning to identify a tree by the feel of its bark, a bird by its song, or an herb by its fragrance. He can write by narrating orally from the books read aloud to him, etc.

Batches For Big Families

The mother of a large family learns to cook in “batches.” The principle of batches can apply to some of Charlotte Mason’s lessons, too. Together children can observe the same art prints, take nature walks and record observations in their nature notebooks, become familiar with beautiful music of the great composers, memorize the words to a hymn; listen to poetry read aloud, or to a story on audio while folding a batch of clean laundry, for instance.

Reading Worth the Effort

All my children looked forward to their reading lessons. Here is the key. Giving a student review of juicy “sight words” among all his “sounding out” practice (and adding a few new sight words weekly) helps him progress more swiftly and in a more interesting manner. Reading is not all about “sounding out.” Reading is recognizing words as the symbols of interesting things, ideas, and actions. The more interesting the things, ideas, and actions - the more appealing reading will be for the child. I learned this from Miss Charlotte Mason’s book, Home Education.

TOS Interview with Amelia Harper!

2011-09-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends!

Today I have an interview with Amelia Harper to share with you. Amelia will be one of the new writers for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine when we begin publishing our interactive digital monthly magaznine in January 2012! I'm so excited about going monthly and all the new columnists who will be joining us! I'm happy to say that we will still have our "regular" TOS writers too, so don't worry that you won't be hearing from your favorites any more--because you will!

Instead of explaining who Amelia is and what she'll be writing about, I'll post her interview here. Keep reading all the way to the end of the post to find out how you could win a free one-year subscription to our "new" interactive digital magazine!

QUESTION: Tell us a little about what readers will find in your upcoming column, The Inspired Homeschooler.

The Inspired Homeschooler will be a column that focuses on improving writing skills and inspiring homeschoolers to create written masterpieces of their own. Each column will have suggested writing assignments drawn from that month’s column material. However, the column will not primarily focus on writing instruction for children. I find that there are a growing number of homeschooled teens—and even parents—who are inspired to pursue writing for themselves. And we hope to help them on their journey.

I will be cohosting the column with Susan Spann. Susan and I met through our mutual work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and found within one other a kindred spirit. We both love to read and write and both have a passion for inspiring others to writing excellence. However, we have different backgrounds and focus.

Susan is an intellectual property attorney who also writes and speaks on topics such as copyright law and writing contracts. She has made radio appearances and also spoken at writers' conferences. However, she is also an author in her own right and has worked hard to develop her craft. During the coming year, her columns will focus on the steps needed to take an inspired idea and bring it to the point of submission for publication—sort of a mini writing handbook written in a serial style.

My background is more journalistic and educational in focus. I have written for my local newspaper for over fifteen years and for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine roughly seven years, so I have a great deal of research and interview experience. I also teach English classes for homeschooled teens (including my own) and have written a literature curriculum for the homeschool market. In addition, I take occasional forays into poetry and creative fiction—especially fantasy. My columns will alternate with Susan’s and focus more on the wide variety of writing genres in the hopes that others can find their own writing style. So Susan and I complement each other’s skills quite nicely. She is really the brains, however. :)

QUESTION: Amelia, you created the literature-based curriculum Literary Lessons From the Lord of the Rings. What prompted you to write this study? Has Lord of the Rings been a favorite book of yours for a long time?

I have loved The Lord of the Rings since I first read it as a teenager. It was the work that first showed me the true power of literature and inspired me to want to become a writer. Over the years, especially since I have produced this work, I have found that I am not alone. I have met dozens of homeschooled teens who have come to me and told me how this intense study of The Lord of the Rings has inspired them to pursue writing, or history or even Old English. I love that sense of setting a new scholastic passion aflame in a young person and Tolkien is just the author to do that. Asking me this question is quite dangerous, because I tend to go about it for hours (reportedly with a mad gleam in my eye). But for now, I would just encourage those who want to learn more about this one-year literature curriculum to go to my website at http://www.homescholarbooks.com/.

QUESTION: Parents often fear the high school years. What encouragement can you offer for parents preparing to homeschool their teens?

Are you kidding? These are the best years! You’re young person practically teaches themselves and you are simply a guide and mentor. Actually, the scholastic independence they start to gain is a great way to prepare for college—and life—where learning is largely self-taught. Also, you start to see an adult bloom before your eyes and you set the stage for a new relationship with your child—hopefully one that will last the rest of your life. You start to have amazing conversations about life and love and faith and philosophy. I have three now that have already graduated from college (quite successfully, I might add) and yet I still have two at home, so I am sort of caught in the middle of this whole experience. The worst part about the experience is that your child finally becomes this amazing human being—and then they move away! But that is really the way it is supposed to be—the most beautiful butterflies have to take flight. The teen years are simply the final preparation for that wonderful person you will unleash upon the unsuspecting world. Enjoy these days and keep your sense of humor. You will treasure the good moments and can always store the bad experiences to use as blackmail when they have kids of their own. :)

If you would like a chance to win a free one-year interactive digital subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, please leave a comment below. If you sign up to follow my blog on Google Friend Connect, you will get a second entry. (Please leave separate comments for each entry.) I would love to hear from you!

Blessings!

TOS Blog Hop Interview with Sheila Campbell!

2011-09-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be hosting an interview with Sheila Campbell for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's blog hop! Sheila will be writing the sidebar in the new monthly column The Joyful Homeschooler. I have so much respect for Sheila because she continued to homeschool her children even after the death of her husband in 2001. And to make it even more challenging, one of her children had special needs!

I hope you enjoy getting to know Sheila a little bit better!

How can parents balance academics with character-building? Of course, academics must be done, but how do we keep that from overshadowing the need to have a relationship with our children and to teach them to be men and women of character?

As homeschool parents we often feel pressure from others to prove that our choice of home education is a good choice for our children by producing students that are academically superior to their peers. I think that if we are honest with ourselves, this especially true of those whose approval we wish to gain, like grandparents, other family members, members of the community, or non-homeschool friends. However, we have to be careful that our push for academic excellence does not take our attention away from our first responsibility to build a relationship with our children and to build character in them.

Although we may set aside time each day for character training, character is something that must be worked on continually throughout the day. I think the scripture in Deut 6: 7 best teaches us how to do this, “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

We must be careful that the need to finish a math lesson or academic subject does not become so important that we are unwilling to set it aside to deal with a poor attitude or capture teachable moment. Remember our children will learn from our actions what we value most – academics or character.

You have homeschooled for years as a single parent. What advice do you have for single moms who are homeschooling? Any advice for single moms who have to work outside the home yet still want to homeschool their children?

Live simply! I think the single biggest concern and obstacle for single parents is income. Some single parent families (like mine) may have a source of income (we were blessed to have some social security income) but it usually isn’t enough to maintain the “typical American lifestyle”. A few things we did to keep expenses down: we raised and canned a large percent of our food, we raised chickens for meat and eggs, we cut our own firewood and did without air-conditioning and a dryer. My children and I did everything together when they were young – we schooled together and after school we worked together. In the summer we did odd jobs and sold vegetables at the Farmers market together. We worked both for extra income and to keep expenses down. There is a big difference between wants and needs and I think we live in such a wealthy country that it is difficult to distinguish that difference at times.

When the youngest two were in high school I did work part time and this worked well for our family. It is very difficult, but it is possible to work and home school. I think this is much easier when children are old enough to study assigned work while Mom works. Again, I think the only way to make this possible is for everyone to work together as a team – so everyone helps with the daily household tasks and sometimes this may mean kids work on laundry or other chores while mom works or manages the household budget or pays bills. Our motto was we all work until we’re all though – including Mom. I often thank my kids for their help (even today) and remind them that their willingness to help allows me to spend more time with them- which we all enjoy.

I also feel it is very important to develop a spirit of gratitude within our children – especially for children in single parent families. We thank God for every little thing we have and I didn’t allow myself or my children to feel sorry for ourselves or feel as though we deserved special treatment from others. We were always thankful for help, but I didn’t want my children to expect people to help us because they didn’t have a dad. I wanted them to know the Lord was our source and sometimes He used other people to help meet our needs.

Thank you so much, Sheila, for taking the time to share this with us! I hope this has encouraged everyone who has read it--whether you are a single homeschooling mom or not. The job of homeschooling is not an easy one, but with God as our guide and support, we can do it!

Southern Living

2011-09-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

For some reason earlier today, I was thinking about how much I love living here in the South. I have friends who live in other parts of the country and even in other countries, and hopefully they love where they live too. I am particularly happy to live right here, though.

I love hearing the check-out lady at the store say, "Y'all have a good day!" when we leave. And she really means it.

I love that we get to wear shorts and short sleeves all year round. And flip flops. Or bare feet. (Yes, we do own shoes. We just prefer not to wear them.)

I love that people wave as we pass each other going opposite directions on the road. Whether we know each other or not. That's just what we do.

I love cornbread. And black-eyed peas. And turnip greens. And good Southern-style dressing at Thanksgiving. And grits with lots of butter. And sweet tea. Very sweet tea.

I love that we can begin planting our gardens in March or April. And we have a long growing season.

I love that Southern men often nod their heads as a greeting when they see a Southern lady. No, I don't know why. I just think it's kind of respectful and sweet.

I love that we say "fixin to." As in, "I'm fixin to go to the store. Wanna come?" But I don't say ain't. Never. Ever. See, we Southerners can use good grammar!

Yes, I feel truly blessed to live right here in the South! And I hope you feel the same way about where you live. I'd love to hear what you love about your part of the country!

Sharing Spaghetti O's

2011-09-06T07:00:00.004-05:00

I wish my camera had been handy yesterday evening. I found my 16-year-old daughter sitting at the table eating some spaghetti o's. Sitting on the table on the other side of the bowl was our cat, happily helping Hannah eat them! Yes, out of the same bowl. No, I'm not kidding....

In case you don't know, Hannah is autistic and is non-verbal. She is also very non-confrontational most of the time. I guess she figured that she could eat as much as she wanted and let the cat have as much as she wanted and they'd both be happy. :P

And the moment I had shooed the cat off of the table and away from Hannah's bowl, my first thought was, "Man! I wish I'd taken a picture of that for my blog before I shooed the cat away!" My second thought was, "What in the world is wrong with me!?"

After shooing the cat, I told Hannah, "Please don't share your spaghetti o's with the cat any more! At least not out of the same bowl....." Isn't it crazy the things you hear yourself say when you're a mom!?

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

2011-08-26T11:08:00.001-05:00

In my life this week…
We have done our second week of school, started back to ballet, and started tennis lessons. It sure was nice over the summer not to have to go somewhere nearly every day! :)

In our homeschool this week…
We are now doing all of the subjects we will be doing this year except for my son's online history class (Omnibus III that he takes through Veritas Press) which begins after Labor Day and the speech and debate class that both Noah and Mary Grace will take with a group of students from our homeschool support group and which also begins after Labor Day.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
The advice I have for right now is for myself! My advice is to take it one small step at a time and not to get too overwhelmed with the kids' school work, my own work, keeping house, doing laundry, chauffeuring back and forth to tennis and ballet and church that I forget that I'm doing all of this to honor God. My husband I believe that it is God's will for our children to be homeschooled. Sometimes I forget to obey and honor God in the things I do, and I try to get it all done in my own strength. That never works!

I am inspired by…
Folks who can get up early, work all day whether at home or at an outside-of-the-house job, get in bed late, and get up and do it all again the next day! I am not a night owl!

My favorite thing this week was…
Tennis lessons! I had no idea I would enjoy tennis so much, but I do! I also love the fact that the kids and Scott and I are all learning to play so we'll be able to play together.......eventually........when we all learn to actually hit the ball over the net on a regular basis!

What’s working/not working for us…
Getting up early is not working for us!! But, alas, we must get up a bit earlier than we did all summer in order to get things done before we lose the ability to concentrate later in the day.

Questions/thoughts I have…
I wonder if one day my children will want to homeschool their children.

Things I’m working on…
I'm doing a project or two for work (I work from home for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.) that I'm really enjoying! I'm also working on a quilt for my little nephew. I love to quilt!!

I’m reading…
Several books. It drives my hubby crazy because he likes to read one book, finish it, and then read another. My son is the same way. My daughters and I, though, like to read several at a time. That way we can read a mystery when we're in the mood for one, an adventure book when we're in that mood, an informational book when we're in that mood........

I’m cooking…
Oh no! I'm probably "cooking" my tea bags till they're dry! (Went to check tea pot on the stove.) Just in time!

I’m grateful for…
My house! Even after being in my house for 3 1/2 years, I'm still thankful for it every day! I can't believe that after years and years of waiting to be able to build and 4 months of building, I finally have the house I dreamed about for so long! It's not fancy or huge or any of those things, but it's just right for my family and me. And I'm so thankful to have it!

I’m praying for…
A good school year. I want this school year to be the best one we've ever had. I want to be more organized, be more cheerful, keep a better schedule, have dinner cooked when Scott gets home, keep the house clean (well.....at least decent), and to have more time to relax and spend time with the kiddos on the weekends. (Might as well aim high!)

Follow Me on Twitter! (Please?)

2011-08-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

Hello Friends,

Just a day or two ago I set up a Twitter account for myself! Now I need followers. :) If you are on Twitter, I'd love to follow you too. My username is @HiltonWendy.

If you're wondering why I decided to join Twitter, I'll tell you. For two years I served on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew. I not only enjoyed using and reviewing lots of great products, but I also enjoyed getting to know the other moms on the Crew. It was so much fun to communicate with other homeschooling moms and find out how they "do school," how they schedule their days, and how they get things done (like chores, outside activities, and church activities).

I created a blog for myself so I could post the Crew reviews. I also started doing some blog posts about various things I wanted to share about my family and other topics. I had no idea how much I would enjoy blogging! I don't have as much time for it as I'd like sometimes, but I really do enjoy posting and visiting friends' blogs to read what's going on with them as well.

Through friends I made at the magazine while working on the Crew, I was so blessed to be able to begin working for the magazine first as conventions coordinator and then as assistant to the publishers. Now, I'm beginning to help the marketing department with some social media things as well.

Those of you who know me might think it's funny that a "technologically challenged" person like myself is doing social media. I thought it was funny too! The thing about it is that I'm a "people person," so I love the communications part of it. It's just the technical part that sometimes gives me a bit of trouble!

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm trying to branch out and learn new things partly because it's just plain fun, and partly because I feel like it will help me do a better job for the magazine. So last year I started a blog, and now I'm signing up for a Twitter account. Who knows what I'll be up to next!

Having a Ball with Homeschool P.E.!

2011-08-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

It's true!  I think we are going to have a great time with homeschool P.E. this year! Do any of you other homeschooling families out there do physical education classes of some kind? We've never really done any kind of structured P.E. class.  We have studied about health and nutrition, but that's about it. It has gotten to a point, however, where I feel like my kids need more than that.

While my kids were younger, they were very active just playing outside and swimming and doing those kinds of things. I felt like they were getting plenty of exercise just running around being kids. Now I feel like it's time for something more, so we decided to take tennis lessons!

We had our first lesson this past Monday. Noah (age 14), Mary Grace (age 8), and I along with another mom and her three kids all met at the tennis coach's house for our first lesson. (The tennis coach has his own tennis court right beside his house. Isn't that neat?) The other kids that we met took tennis last year, but the other mom and my kids and I were brand new at it. We moms made an agreement that each of us would be willing to take lessons if the other would. :)

Anyway, it turns out that we all love tennis! I was totally surprised! My husband and I had tried to play tennis together just for fun when we were first married and didn't have kids yet.   I don't remember it being an experience that I was good at, and I certainly don't remember thinking that it was much fun. I was a little reluctant to give it another try (even though it's been 20 years since I've tried it!), but I figured it wouldn't hurt anything except perhaps my pride to give it another try.

Our first lesson was promising! Noah was better at it than Mary Grace and I were. Mary Grace did a great job for her age and size, though. She got a bit discouraged because, being the smallest and youngest one in the group, she felt like everyone else did better than she did.  If she will keep at it, I think she will improve quickly.

Noah did very well for someone who has never played tennis before! He was highly motivated because one of the other boys taking lessons with us is Noah's age and size and has taken tennis for a year already. Nothing like a little competition to get a teenage boy fired up! I did pretty well too, although I wasn't nearly as "spry" as the kids!

We decided that the kids and I will take a lesson on Monday mornings along with the other homeschooling family. Then my husband Scott will take a lesson with Noah on Thursday evenings while I take Mary Grace to ballet. That way all of us (with the exception of Hannah) will be taking tennis lessons and will hopefully become good enough for the 4 of us to play sometimes. This will allow Noah to take 2 tennis lessons a week while the rest of us get at least 1 lesson a week. Mary Grace already takes ballet twice a week, so I feel like one tennis class a week is enough for her right now.

So for the first time in........well..........ever we are all excited about P.E.!

Do your kids do any kind of P.E. class? Do you do it with them? I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions. And I hope you enjoy what you're doing for P.E. as much as I think we will enjoy tennis!

Our School Year Begins!

2011-08-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Good news! I finally chose, ordered, and received this school year's books and materials! In fact, we started school last week. :) After a week of schooling, I'm feeling encouraged.

We have managed to start our school year with a successful first week. I'm praying that we will be able to "keep up the good work." I've never been super great at keeping a good schedule and getting everyone's school work done every week, but my goal this year is to do just that. I want to try to get one week's worth of work done with each child every week. We do normally end up finishing everything at some point each school year, but this year I want to do it without falling behind and catching back up several times during the year. I'm hoping that by admitting that right out in the open, I'll be more motivated to follow through!

This year Hannah (16) and Noah (14) are doing 9th grade. For some subjects they use the same materials. For the subjects that are a bit more difficult for Hannah, I allow her to use something else. First, I'll list what they are both using. Then I'll list the ones that differ.

Hannah & Noah (9th grade)

Spanish--Rosetta Stone

Science--Switched on Schoolhouse

HistoryLiterature/Bible--Veritas Press

English (grammar)--Switched on Schoolhouse

Hannah

Math--Math Mammoth

Handwriting--The TV Teacher's Alphabet Beats

Noah

Math--Switched on Schoolhouse

Handwriting--The Italic Handwriting Series

Typing--Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

Noah is also taking tennis lessons (twice a week) as well as participating in our homeschool group's speech & debate classes. Tennis begins today. I decided to give tennis lessons a try myself so that (hopefully) the kids and I can all learn to play, and then we'll have each other to play against and practice with. I hope it goes well!

Speech & debate class begins after Labor Day. I want Noah to try both speech & debate. Once he gives them a try, I'll allow him to choose to continue participating in both or to choose one or the other. I think it's important at his age for him to be able to speak to a group of people using good grammar and enunciation and looking them in the eye. I hope he enjoys it, but he's going to have to participate anyway!

Mary Grace is doing 4th grade this year. She's getting more independent with her work, but she still likes for me to do some of it with her. I'm going to allow her to take more responsibility for her own work this year, but I am also planning to keep letting her read to me and to keep helping her with math since that's not a strong subject for her. I figure it won't be many more years until she doesn't really want my help on a regular basis, so I'll try to spend some time helping her and listening to her while she still likes for me to do it!

Mary Grace (4th grade)

Reading--Mary Grace is such a strong reader that we don't really do a particular program. I like for her to read aloud to me every day to be sure she is pronouncing words correctly and understanding what she reads. She likes for me to read to her too, so I also try to spend some time reading aloud to her each day. She is continuing reading "The Rose Years" books to me. (The book series about Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose.) I am still reading Little Women to her since we didn't finish it last school year.

Math--Switched on Schoolhouse

Science--Switched on Schoolhouse

Bible--Switched on Schoolhouse

History/Literature--Veritas Press

Typing--Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

Handwriting--The Italic Handwriting Series

Mary Grace will also be taking tennis lessons (once a week) as well as continuing her ballet and tap & jazz classes. This will be her 7th year of ballet (she started at age 2), and she's really enjoying it! She added tap & jazz last year for the first time, and she wants to continue those this year too. She'll have ballet twice a week and tap & jazz once a week.

Mary Grace will "try out" participating in speech & debate classes with our homeschool group this year too. I don't know how fully she will participate in speech & debate at her age, but she really wants to give it a try. The class is "officially" offered to students age 10 and up. Hopefully she will at least be able to participate to a limited degree.

We've planned to do school 4 days a week this year. That means a bit more work each day, but that allows us one day off each week, so we feel like it's worth the trade. Most weeks my sister and her children come to visit most of the day on Monday. Our 4-days-a-week schedule will hopefully allow us to have tennis lessons on Monday mornings before Melissa and her kids come over. Then when we get home and they come over, we'll have the day to visit (and the girls have ballet later in the day on Mondays) without having to worry about trying to squeeze school in there somewhere.

Of course we may end up making changes here and there as our year progresses. That's our plan right now, though, and we'll see how it goes! I pray that we (and you!) have a great school year!

Progress Report

2011-07-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

I posted months ago about the fact that I normally choose and buy my homeschool books and materials in April or May to have them ready for the following year. For some reason, this year I've been putting off choosing and buying everything, and now it's just a few weeks until the time we normally start school, and I have almost nothing ready! I admit that I generally procrastinate on most things, but this is not usually one of them. I usually love to choose and order my supplies because I so enjoy receiving those boxes of brand new books!

I think one reason I've put it off this year is that Noah will be doing 9th grade this fall, and I feel pressure (from myself, not anyone else) to be sure that I choose just the right subjects from just the right companies since I'll have to start keeping a transcript for him this year in case he goes to college one day. Also, 9th grade seems like a "transition" year to me because it's high school. I feel like I need to try to be consistent for these last 4 years of school. I would like to choose and use the same math curriculum and the same history curriculum, etc., and stick with those for these last 4 years. I want to feel like he's not missing anything important since this is all the time I have left to cram whatever knowledge he needs into him!

For the last few days, I've been trying to force myself to decide once and for all what I'm going to use so I can get it ordered! (Thank you so much for not saying, "Well, it's about time!") I've narrowed it down, but I haven't decided absolutely for certain. My plan is to look a little more today, make my final decision, and order on Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully everything won't be on back-order because of all those other procrastinators who are just now ordering too! ;)

So what about you? Do you have everything sitting on your shelves ready to get started? Or have you already started your year? I'd love to hear from you!

Responsible? You Gotta Be Kidding!

2011-06-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

I'm posting this for all of you moms who think all of the other homeschool moms have perfect families and responsible children. The details have not been altered. This is what really happened. I'm not kidding.

A few days ago I was doing laundry, got sidetracked with something else, and forgot to take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. I had to leave the house, so I asked my husband to please switch the clothes over. When I got home, he told me about this conversation between him and our 14-year-old son.

Husband: "Hey, Noah, will you check and see if the washing machine is done?"

Son: "Ok." Son walks to the utility room, checks and sees that the washing machine is finished washing the clothes, and leaves the utility room.

Husband: "So, was it finished?"

Son: "Yes, it's finished."

Husband: "Um.....did you put the clothes in the dryer?"

Son: "No, I didn't."

Husband: "Well, will you please go put the clothes in the dryer?"

Son: "Ok." Son goes back to the utility room and takes the clothes out of the washer and puts them in the dryer.

Husband: "Thanks! You did turn the dryer on, right?"

Son: (Blank stare.) "Uh, no, should I go do that?"

Husband: "Yes, I think that's a very good idea."

Son goes back to the utility room for a 3rd time and starts the dryer.

Do you feel better about your kids now? ;)

On the Mend

2011-06-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

It's been exactly a month since Noah broke his jaw, and I am pleased to report that he is healing nicely! It sure has seemed like a looooong month, though! For the first 3 weeks, his teeth were wired together so that he couldn't open his mouth at all. After that, his teeth were held together with rubber bands so that he could have very limited movement of his jaw joint to keep it from "freezing" up and causing him not to be able to open his mouth like he should be able to once it's well. (There are wires on his teeth that look like braces. The wires that were keeping him from being able to open his mouth were vertical wires attached to the "braces." Now, the rubber bands are attached to the "braces.")

I will take him to see the oral surgeon tomorrow. They will do x-rays and check to see if the jaw still seems to be healing correctly. If everything looks ok on the x-ray, they will take off the rubber bands and let him start eating soft foods. (He hasn't had anything to eat this whole past month--only what he could drink through a straw.)

Then he will go for another visit to the doctor 10 days from tomorrow. If his jaw is handling eating soft foods and is still healing correctly, the doctor will remove the "braces," and Noah will be able to start eating regular food--or at least he will be able to begin the process of working his way back up to a normal diet. To take the "braces" off, they will have to put Noah to sleep again, which he is not looking forward to. At least this time, though, it will be much nicer when he wakes up without all that hardware in his mouth and with the ability to eat again!

I would really appreciate it if you will continue to pray for Noah's healing for the next 2 or 3 weeks. If at any point his jaw isn't handling eating foods that have to be chewed, the doctor will have to wire his teeth together again. I really don't think that will happen because it has been healing well so far. If he slowly works his way up to eating foods that are hard to chew instead of jumping right in there and putting too much stress on his jaw, I think everything will be just fine. I know the temptation will be to start eating all of the things he's missed for the past month. Hopefully, though, he can resist that temptation if he knows the possible consequence of that!

Last month when I first posted about all of this, I was not sure how I was going to handle this whole ordeal. It seemed like it would be forever until this was all over. Now, a month later, we are close to getting "back to normal." Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for Noah and the rest of the family since this happened!! Noah has actually handled this very well, and I've been proud of how he's behaved these past weeks. This has given him the opportunity to mature a little bit and develop some patience too. It has also allowed him to see how many folks care about him and are concerned about him.

I will try to remember to update again once he has the "braces" off and is allowed to get back to a normal diet. As for right now, though, I am quite pleased with how things are going. Thanks again for your prayers and concern! And hugs from my family to yours!

Institute for Excellence in Writing Review

2011-05-16T21:52:00.002-05:00

I have homeschooled my children for more than 13 years. I've noticed that, whether we are just starting out or whether we are "veteran" homeschooling moms, we never feel like we have arrived at the place we want to be as moms and teachers. There are many things that I would do just the same way if I were able to start all over again. There are some things I would completely change. One of the things I would definitely change is the way I have approached writing with my children.

I was never really taught to write when I was in school. Sure, I learned how to spell, use correct punctuation and grammar, and those kinds of "technical" things. I don't remember ever being taught, though, how to do creative writing or essays or critiques or any of the other types of writing that exist. I did learn how to do a research report, but that was about the extent of the writing I was taught to do.

Several years ago, I began to consider what kind of writing program I could do with my children. I realized that I wasn't teaching my children to write any better than I had been taught myself. I knew I wanted to do better than that with them, but I honestly had no idea where to start.

I began researching the different writing programs that are available. I looked at so many that they all just began to run together--without any one particular program seeming to stand out above any other. Then I came across the writing programs offered by the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I immediately knew that I had found a program I was interested in!

I began to talk to other moms, do internet research, and read everything I could find about IEW. I loved what I was seeing and hearing. The next step was to decide which program I wanted to actually try. As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was given the opportunity to use and review the Teaching Writing/Student Writing Intensive Combo Pack plus a Portable Wall (Level A). I was thrilled! This was exactly the program I was hoping to try out with my children during the next school year! I could hardly wait to get started!

This particular program is meant for students from 3rd-5th grades and costs $239.00. You can see some information about all 3 levels that are available here. You can see more details about Level A, the level I'm using with my children, here. My younger daughter is in 3rd grade this year, and my son is in 8th grade. I decided to do Level A with both of them since I felt sure I could modify the lessons to require more from my older child while still using a level that my younger child could handle. It worked beautifully!!

My children absolutely loved watching the DVD lessons taught by Andrew Pudewa. From the very first lesson, they loved him! He was funny and interesting and not at all stuffy or boring like my children were just sure that he would be. In fact, the only negative about the DVD lessons was that my children wanted to listen to a DVD lesson every single day instead of watching a lesson, taking a few days to do the work associated with that lesson, and then watching another DVD lesson. They actually began begging to do writing each day! I was so thrilled with their response that I was just sure it couldn't last. But it did.

I listened to the DVDs that are meant for the teacher because I wanted to know better how to help my children as well as for my own sake. In fact, I had the option of listening to the teacher DVDs and then teaching my children instead of having them watch the lessons taught by Mr. Pudewa. I thought I'd allow them to watch the DVD lessons, though, if they wanted to in order to take a little bit of the pressure off of me. After we began using the lessons taught by Mr. Pudewa, I was really glad I'd made that choice since they enjoy his lessons so much.

One of my favorite things about IEW is that the students are allowed to model or imitate good writing that was written by other people instead of just suddenly being asked to think of their own topics and information and writing about them. When we first began using IEW, I thought maybe that wasn't such a great idea and that the students were being given too much help so that they would never be able to write without being provided with the basic outline to follow or copy. Now I realize, though, that if students are given plenty of chances to imitate "good" writing, they will be much more comfortable and much better able to produce their own "good" writing.

At first, I was a little overwhelmed by all of the wonderful information that was included in the combo package that I received to use and review. It didn't take long to look through it all and begin using the materials, though, and now I'm so glad I did!

I do usually have to help my 8-year-old a good bit on her assignments. My 14-year-old, however, is perfectly capable of following the directions and doing the assignments independently. I often work along with them just because I'd like to improve my own writing skills along with them.

I can absolutely say that this is a writing program I will continue to use with my children. There are other programs offered by IEW if you want to start with a smaller package. I enourage you to check out their website at www.excellenceinwriting.com to see what they offer. I also encourage you to take a look at what some other Crew members had to say about their experiences with IEW. You can do that here.

If writing is something you don't enjoy, don't want to teach, or just don't feel adequate to teach, I hope you will love IEW as much as my family and I do! Happy writing!

Permanent Marker

2011-05-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Breaking News

2011-05-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

I've gotten Facebook messages, emails, text messages, and phone calls this past week from so many of my wonderful friends!! I thought I would post an update here on my blog for those of you who have been asking how Noah is doing.

For those who don't know what happened, my 14-year-old son, Noah, broke his jaw a week ago! Yep. Broke it. Some of you have asked how it happened, so here's the story.....

Last Sunday, May 1, Noah was playing the Wii in the living room. I was attempting to take a nap because I'd had a busy week and was really tired. Everyone else was occupied too. We were all just taking it easy and enjoying our Sunday afternoon. Around 2:30 or so, my husband came running into the bedroom and woke me up. All he said was, "It's Noah. Come here......NOW!" If you know Scott, you know he doesn't yell. He's usually calm and collected. Not this time.

Needless to say, I was instantly awake and running into the living room. There I found Noah sitting on the floor and holding his chin with blood dripping from his hands. I couldn't tell if the blood was coming from his teeth, his nose, his chin, or where. He kept saying, "I think it's broken!" (He was a little panic-stricken and in lots of pain!) I finally calmed him (and myself) enough to try to find out what had happened and where the blood was coming from.

He had been playing ping pong on the Wii when he blacked out. We don't know why he blacked out, and the doctor didn't seem too concerned about it. We still don't know why it happened, but hopefully it won't happen again! Anyway, for some reason he blacked out and fell face first onto our stained concrete floor! When he woke up (which was just seconds later), he sat up and realized that something was terribly wrong and that he was in great pain. I think he realized right away that his jaw was broken--or at least he thought it might be.

Turns out the blood was dripping from the cut on his chin which happened when he hit the floor. The cut wasn't actually too bad. It just looked bad because cuts on the head usually bleed a lot. Once it heals, it will hardly be noticeable at all. That was the good news.

Scott and I immediately called a neighbor to come stay with the girls while we rushed Noah to the emergency room. They took him back pretty quickly and did an x-ray to try to see if his jaw was broken, fractured, or what. The x-rays at the hospital looked as if his jaw bone was just fractured. They said it would be best, though, to follow up with another doctor here in town who specializes in oral and maxillofacial surgery. First thing on Monday, we saw the specialist and had more x-rays done. It was very clear from the x-rays on Monday that his jaw bone was broken all the way through. That was the bad news.

The doctor, because it was an emergency, did surgery on Noah that very afternoon to wire his top and bottom teeth together. He said that he could have put a metal plate over the broken bone, but there were several reasons why he thought the wiring together was the best option. After listening to him and weighing our options, we agreed with him and went ahead with the wiring.

Poor Noah had been in so much pain since the afternoon before, and he had been unsure of what was going to happen. He was pretty stressed out by Monday afternoon when it was time to do the procedure. He made it, though, and Scott and I did too!

He was in a lot of pain for the first 2 or 3 days. He was taking some pretty strong pain medicine and was sleeping a lot. On about Thursday or Friday, though, the pain started decreasing, he started resting much better at night, and he was beginning to feel a little better in general. Now, a week after the procedure to wire his teeth together, he isn't taking any pain medicine at all and is feeling pretty good.

The main problem now is that he doesn't have much energy since he can't eat "real" food. He's been living mainly on Ensure milkshakes and cream of chicken soup. He can only eat whatever he can suck through a straw until the wires are taken off! We don't really know how long that will be, but the estimate is 4 to 6 weeks. He'll go back to the doctor once a week for x-rays to see how it's healing and decide when the wires can be removed.

So far he's been really good about not resenting it when the rest of us eat. I was afraid it would upset him or make him miserable. We don't make him sit at the table with us when we eat meals (but of course he's welcome if he wants to), and we try not to eat candy or cookies or things that might be particularly tempting in front of him. He hasn't wanted to try drinking applesauce or other kinds of creamed soups (like tomato or mushroom, etc.). I figure he'll get pretty sick and tired of milkshakes and cream of chicken soup, though, and maybe he'll try some other things then.

I am so thankful that he is alive and well and that no worse damage was done to him. Times like this make me realize that life can change in an instant. We always think that things like that happen to other folks, but sometimes we ARE the "other folks." We surely do appreciate the prayers for comfort and healing for Noah and ask that you keep on praying! Soon he'll be healthy and well. And then we'll all have to listen to his "war" stories! I'm looking forward to that day! :)

Signs of Spring

2011-05-04T07:00:00.005-05:00

It's Spring!!

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hooray!! It's spring!! Ok, truth is we don't really have much of a winter down here in the South. Some of my friends who live in the North would probably consider what we have to be a really wimpy excuse for winter. Let me tell ya, though, it's plenty enough winter for me! (Now please have mercy on me when I complain in July and August about the extreme heat we have here, though. Along with the mild winters come terribly hot summers!)

The weather here has been pretty warm for weeks and weeks now. A "cool spell" from this point on pretty much means highs in the low 80s during the day with a heat index in the 90s or so. As summer gets here, it will be in the 90s during the day and the heat index will be over 100 pretty often. Although one April over 20 years ago, it actually snowed! That's the truth too. We were all shocked! I'll bet it'll never happen again. Too bad I didn't have a blog back then. :)

Anyway, with all of this beautiful spring weather, I've been itching to get my garden going. Several weeks ago, I bought tomato plants, bell pepper plants, hot banana pepper plants, lots of different kinds of flower seeds, and some herbs: basil, oregano, and 3 different kinds of mint. The soil where I live is mostly clay, and plants don't like to grow in it very much. I don't blame them! So I decided to try to do some container gardening instead.

My hubby and I found some boards left over from when we built our house several years ago. We used them to make a frame. I know the boards will eventually rot, but for now it was the best material to use because it was free! We also had some topsoil in a huge pile in the yard that we could use to fill the raised bed. Our church had some dirt work done recently, and the top soil was just going to be dumped somewhere, so I suggested that they dump it in my yard!  ;) It was such a blessing to be able to make a good-sized raised bed without having to spend lots of money on materials for it. I am SO thankful!

I've already started most of my plants in small pots, so I'll try to move them from their pots to the raised bed in the next week or two.  My herbs are already beginning to outgrow their pots, my sunflowers are over a foot tall (and those were started from seeds), and my pepper plants are definitely in need of being transplanted.   The tomatoes I will leave in their pots because I found some HUGE pots that are just right for them. I absolutely love home-grown tomatoes, so I want to be sure they do as well as possible. My mouth is already watering thinking about BLTs with my own juicy, yummy tomatoes in them! I even eat plain old tomato sandwiches in the summer when I don't have bacon or lettuce to go on them. I just toast the bread and put a bit of mayo on it, cut up the tomato, sprinkle on a little sea salt, put it all together, and eat it. SO yummy!!

Besides tomato sandwiches, we also love freshly brewed mint tea using the mint from our garden. (If you plant mint, though, be SURE to keep it in a container because it will spread everywhere and be hard to get rid of.) To make mint tea, all I do is put a big handful of freshly cut and washed mint right into the pot while the tea bags are steeping. (Stems and all. No need to take the leaves off. That just makes it harder to keep the mint leaves out of your tea.)  This year we planted sweet mint (my new favorite!!), chocolate mint (my old favorite), and a beautiful variegated mint with green leaves that have white edges.

Do you have any favorite summer recipes?  Or maybe you have a suggestion or two for plants that your garden must have every summer. I'd love to hear about them! In the mean time, enjoy the spring weather if it has reached where you live!

Busy, Busy Dreadfully Busy

2011-04-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

Wow! I didn't realize I'd been AWOL for quite so many weeks! There's been a lot going on lately, and I just haven't made the time to blog while I've been so busy. I'm sure you other moms can understand that, though. We all have those times when there's just way too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it. I've been trying (somewhat successfully) not to panic and get all anxious when my to-do list gets so long. I'm actually making progress in that direction, although not as much as I would like.

Have any of you watched the Veggie Tales video (it's about loving your neighbor--but I can't remember what the exact name of it is since it's been a loooong time since my kids have watched it) in which one of the veggies gets stuck in a hole and needs help to get out? While the poor veggie is stuck upside down in a hole, several other veggies stop by, see him stuck in the hole, and then waltz around singing songs about being too busy to help him get out. Lots of times when I get too busy, that song goes through my head.

"We're busy, busy, dreadfully busy! More than a bumblebee, more than an ant. Busy, busy, horribly busy! We'd love to help, but we can't!" Another line says, "Busy, busy, you've no idea what I have to do! Busy, busy, terribly busy! Much, much too busy for you!"

Well, I've noticed that, when I remember that song and try my best to make time for my kids even when I'm "too busy," home life seems to go much better. I'm sure you've all experienced those times when you were in a big hurry to go somewhere or get something done, and your kids all fell apart, fussed with each other, had tantrums, and whatever other negative behaviors they could come up with. I sure have!

So, how does this all fit together? Where are my ramblings going? Here's my point. Even though I've been really busy lately, I've been trying to slow down in other areas (like blogging and even housework at times) to spend time with my kids in spite of being "too busy." I don't plan to stop blogging, and I CAN'T quit doing housework (oh, well!), but I am trying to make time for my family first. Then if something else doesn't get done, at least I've done what's most important first.

I have definitely seen a difference in my family since I've been putting "family time" first. I hate to admit that it's so hard for me to do that, but I'm getting better at it! What about you? Do you have any time-saving plans that help you get the "have to do them" things done faster leaving more time for the "want to do them" things? Are you great at meal planning? (I'm NOT!!) Housework tips? I'd love to hear them! Are you "in the boat" with me? I'd love to know that too.

Wordless Wednesday: Good and Evil

2011-03-02T11:10:00.000-06:00

Daffodils! My favorite!

Red ants! Nasty, horrible little creatures.

Math Rider Review

2011-02-25T11:56:00.001-06:00

When I received Math Rider to review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew, I wasn't really sure if my daughter would like it. She's not particularly interested in horses, so I wondered if

that might cause her not to enjoy using the program. I had nothing to worry about, though! She really enjoys it!

Math has never been her best subject, and I'm always looking for ways to make it easier or more fun for her to do. There's not much way to make learning math facts easier except by making it more fun, and Math Rider does that!

The screen shot above shows one of the backgrounds that your student will see as she races to correctly answer her math facts. There are other backgrounds that are used as well. (You can see one of the other backgrounds below.) The student sees a math problem (We started with addition facts since she's not quite ready to go on to multiplication facts yet). and has to type in the correct answer before the horse jumps over the hurtle.

Mary Grace (age 8) really likes the challenge of trying to answer each math problem before her horse jumps over the hurtle. I like it too because it doesn't give her time to count up the answers if she doesn't already know them. I remember learning to quickly count up the answers to the math facts instead of really learning them. I don't want Mary Grace to learn to be a quick counter--I want her to actually learn the facts so she will always remember them. With Math Rider, that is a necessity.

The screen shot above shows the student's progress. The red line shows the student how far she has progressed, and its length increases each time she completes a new "lesson." Mary Grace loves looking at this "progress report." It makes her feel like she is accomplishing something.

The only thing I didn't care much for is that, at the beginning of the program, there is a story that tells where/why the horse needs to ride quickly and jump over all the hurtles. The child's mother is deathly ill and the child is racing to get some medicine for her. I would like to see the story be something less negative and maybe more inspiring or something like that. I thought maybe the story would bother Mary Grace since she's a real "Mommy's girl," but she just ignored that part and went on with the math problems.

One other thing that some folks may not like is that there are some references to magic or things being magical. I don't prefer to stress magic, and my children know that things don't happen because of "magic" but instead because of God. I would prefer that the magic parts not be in there at all, but it's pretty easy to skip over them.

In short, I have to say that Mary Grace is really enjoying practicing her math facts using Math Rider. This is certainly a program that I would recommend!

You can visit the Math Rider website here. Math Rider can be purchased for $37. It comes with a 30-day money back guarantee too, so you can try it out out without worrying about wasting money if your child doesn't like it for some reason.

If you'd like to see what some of the other Crew members have to say about Math Rider, click here.

Wordless Wednesday: A Good Book and a Good Cat

2011-02-23T06:00:00.005-06:00

Memoir Mondays Week 21

2011-02-21T07:00:00.001-06:00

This week's Memoir Mondays questions are about family trips and grandparents. When I was small (before I was in school), my dad was in the Army. We lived in one other country and several different states from the time my sis and I were born until we started 1st grade. For that reason, we didn't live near either set of grandparents. We also didn't take many vacations when I was growing up. This week's questions brought back some fond memories that I do have, though, of vacations and grandparents. I hope you enjoy reading about them.

1. Do you recall any outstanding family trips or summer holidays you experienced as a child?

I do remember once (when we lived in Nashville, I think) when my parents and sister and I all got up really early one morning to head to Mississippi to see both sets of grandparents. I remember being really excited about seeing them. I also remember asking my parents to tell me about each set of grandparents and having them explain which set was which. It was a little confusing to be up so early and traveling while it was still "night." I honestly don't even remember getting to Mississippi and seeing my grandparents on that trip at all, but I do remember the anticipation and all those questions I asked!

Oh, and here's a bit of "bonus" information just for fun. When we lived in Nashville, my dad was the manager of the apartment building where we lived. In the apartment right under us was Ronnie Milsap and his wife and son! He was just beginning to really become known in the music industry, and he was gone most of the time. His wife, though, knew my mom, and his son (Todd--if I remember correctly) played with my sister and me. I sometimes wonder if they remember us at all. Guess I'll never know!

2. Do you remember any of your four grandparents? Any greats? What were their names? Any memories that you have.

Both of my dad's parents have passed away. Their names were Mae and James. I absolutely adored my grandfather!! He was always very active and talkative and happy. He loved to talk about politics with my dad, and I remember Mamaw getting onto him because he would get so excited when they talked politics that he would end up getting really loud. I always thought it was so funny the way she got onto him and the way he always ignored her and went right on with what he was doing. They really loved each other, though, and we knew it.

Mamaw was not a very outwardly affectionate person, but she loved us and we loved her too. She always called my sis and me "Sugey." (Like the word "sugar.") She raised the biggest, yummiest tomatoes in the world!! They were absolutely fantastic!! She and Papaw had a garden every year, and they loved to show it to us when we visited. Once we were school age, we lived pretty close, so we saw them pretty regularly. Mamaw was a good cook, too, but she didn't use many spices or much salt. We always had to add a bit of salt to whatever she cooked, but it was good.

My mom's dad died when my sis and I were pretty young--maybe 7 or 8 years old. I do remember him, though. I particularly remember his bald spot and how we loved to use crayons (who knows why??) to poke his bald spot when he was sleeping in his recliner! I also, for some weird reason, have a pretty vivid memory of one time when he was keeping my sis and me when we were sick and couldn't go to school. My mom was a teacher, so he kept us sometimes when she needed to go to work but we were too sick to go to school. He always took us in his old pickup truck to a little store nearby. On this occasion, he took us to the store, bought us each some kind of candy, and then one of us threw up (sorry--gross!) in his truck on the way home. (Because my sis and I are twins, our memories sometimes get mixed up and we can't remember which of us the memory actually happened to and which one was the bystander. I'm not sure which of us actually was sick in his truck.) I remember feeling really bad about it because he loved his truck. He was always so calm and quiet, though, that I don't remember him getting upset about it or anything.

My mom's mother is still alive. She lives next door to my mom, so I see her fairly often. She makes the best, fluffiest, yummiest biscuits you've ever had!! Honest!! You should try them sometime. I remember spending the night at her house when my dad had to go out of town sometimes (because my mom was afraid to stay at home when Daddy was gone). She had a window unit air conditioner for the years we were small, and we slept in the living room on quilts and listened to that old air conditioner as we went to sleep. Then in the morning she would quietly go into the kitchen and make coffee and biscuits and sausage. When it was all ready, she'd yell out, "Breeeeeeeeakfaaaaaast!"

Here's another little bit of extra free info for ya. When we ate breakfast, we ate what we called "coffee and biscuits." What that meant was that we ate biscuits crumbled up with black coffee poured over them and mixed all together. I know it sounds gross (and DON'T try it with canned biscuits--nothing but homemade will do for this), but it's so yummy!! I still love to eat it when I'm at her house if she has any biscuits left over since I'm never there at breakfast. In fact, just typing this is making my mouth water (no kidding!). I think I'm going to go call my grandmother right now and tell her to make me a big pan of biscuits!

Do you have a memory of a trip or a grandparent that you'd like to share? You can leave me a comment here, or you can post on your own blog and link up at Heartfelt Homeschooling. I'd love to hear from you!

Times Alive!

2011-02-20T20:47:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of City Creek Press? The TOS Homeschool Crew got to use and review their Times Alive multiplication CD ROM. I didn't actually get to review the product myself, but I think we would have enjoyed using it! (One of the Crew members who was going to review this product was sick and unable to post, so I'm doing an informational review to tell you about it. Now if I could only sneak over to that Crew member's house and creep in to snag that CD!)

This program sounds really fun! It's a way for your children to learn and review their multiplication facts. Did you teach your kids their multiplication facts the way I did--using flashcards and endless drills? Not much fun, huh? Well, for those of you who haven't yet taught multiplication facts or those who need review (whether you homeschool or your kids go to school somewhere), this looks like a great way to do it!

Times Alive! is a supplementary math program. There are CDs that are for use in schools, others for homeschoolers, and even some that are specifically good for use in special education classrooms. They have CDs for teaching addition facts and others for teaching multiplication facts. The way it works is this: The CDs contain fun little stories with cartoon-looking numbers and songs telling about a particular math fact. There are also interactive games and quizzes and worksheets to be done on the computer. There are progress reports and quiz scores. To see more about any of these features, you can take a look here. In fact, as I was looking at screen shots and demos on the website, my 8-year-old and her cousin were looking with me, and they loved the multiplication songs! The first thing my daughter wanted to know is if I will buy the CD for her!

The Times Alive! CD is $48.95. Or you can buy the instant download for $44.95. I think this might be a good program to consider particularly for folks who have music-loving and story-loving kids. I suppose there are a few kids who just want to get the basic information and be done with it (like my son). Most kids, though, like my daughter, would probably really like this fun, animated way to learn math facts.

If you want to read more opinions from other Crew members who used the Times Alive! CD, you can do that here.

Do you remember how you learned your multiplication tables?

Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution

2011-02-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

We are a family of folks who love to read. I have loved to read ever since I can remember. My husband loves to read. My kids have loved to read ever since they were old enough to be able to read. When my son was learning to read, though, he didn't like the whole process at all! He thought he should just "already" be able to read without all the work it took to learn! Once he was able to read easily, though, he started to love it just like the rest of us. One thing that would have been really great to have back when I was teaching him to read is a program like Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution!

You see, the problem he had when he was learning to read was that it was hard to find reading material that was interesting to him but that wasn't too difficult. If he had to struggle to read it, that took all the fun out of it. Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution aims to provide reading material that is interesting and fun and makes the child want to read while enjoying reading. Pretty neat, huh?

Although I was given this program free in order to use it and write this review, anybody can sign up (for free!) for one part of it. Kid Scoop offers 30 days' worth of reading tips for parents of reluctant readers. Each day for 30 days, you will get an email with a tip telling you a fun way to get your reluctant reader to want to read and to enjoy reading. And you don't need any special materials either. If you subscribe to your local newspaper, you can use it for the "assignments." If not, I think you could use magazines just as well for most of the tips.

There are two other products included in the program if you decide to buy it. First, I'll tell you about the digital newspaper subscription for your reluctant reader. It is called Kid Scoop News, and it is read online. My daughter thought it was really neat to have her own online newspaper to read. The articles are pretty short and are, of course, written to be of interest to kids. It is also colorful and fun-looking, which can be very important in motivating a child to want to read it. Besides articles, there are things like crossword puzzles and mazes.

The other part of the program is an ebook. This book, called The Reluctant Reader Solution, includes 60 different topics along with activity sheets (365 individual activity sheets). The topics all have 6 or 7 worksheets with fun activities for the reluctant reader to do. There are topics that will appeal more to boys and topics geared toward girls as well. Since you probably won't do a worksheet each and every day of the year, it looks to me like there should be enough worksheets to do 1 or 2 a day for the whole school year. These activity sheets are simple black and white sheets so they can easily be printed out so the child can complete them. If your child likes word searches and puzzles and cartoons and those kinds of fun things, then he or she will probably love these worksheets! I think they are a great way to encourage any child to read--whether he or she already loves to read or is a reluctant reader.

You can buy a one-year subscription to the Kid Scoop News along with the ebook for $97.00. If you'd rather, you can also buy individual Reluctant Reader Solution topics for $2.99 each. There are also ebooks with several topics which can be purchased for $14.99 each.

Just keep in mind that this is not a program for the purpose of teaching a child to read. This is to encourage kids who don't really enjoy reading to learn to enjoy it! I personally think it could be quite useful for children who already like to read too, like my daughter. She loves to read, and she loved this program!

If you'd like to see examples of pages of the newspaper or worksheet pages, you can do that here. You can also read more about the program and how it works. If you want to see the topics available for purchase for $2.99 each, you can do that here. Some of my favorites are Creative Outdoors, The Nutcracker, and Blooming Creative. And finally, you can look here to see the 3 ebooks (each with about 36 activity pages) that you can choose from.

If you want to read more opinions from other Crew members who received, used, and reviewed Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution, you can do that here.

Wordless Wednesday: My Nephew, Silas

2011-02-16T06:00:00.005-06:00

Memoir Mondays Week 20

2011-02-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

This week on Memoir Mondays, the questions are about teachers I've had in the past. Even though I homeschool my own children, I grew up attending publich school. My mother taught at the school that my sis and I went to from the time we were in 1st grade (There was no public kindergarten at school back then.) through 7th grade. (Back then there was no middle school either. 1st-7th grade was elementary school, and 8th-12th grade was high school.)

On to this week's questions!

1. Do you remember the name of the teacher who had the biggest impact on you? Who was it? Tell something about that person and that time in your life.

Yes, I do! The teacher who had the biggest impact on me was probably Mrs. Simpson. She taught me in 1st grade--which was my first year of school since there was no kindergarten at the elementary school. I think 1st grade teachers are so important because they are some of the first teachers who influence students and help them begin to develop good (or bad) attitudes toward school. Mrs. Simpson was pretty tough--even on us 1st graders--but I liked her just fine. She motivated me and made me do my best.

She taught me again when I was in 7th grade. (She moved from teaching 1st grade to teaching 7th grade the year that I entered 7th grade.) In 7th grade, she was really tough! She didn't put up with students goofing around and not doing their best! Some of the students didn't like her, but most of the students who were willing to work and do a good job did.

And then, when I was in college, I did my student teaching under her! I guess she thought she'd never get rid of me! She trusted me with lots of responsibility when I student taught in her class, and I learned a lot. She observed when I taught, gave me pointers, and was very supportive. It was really kind of strange to be back in her class again but to be treated as an adult instead of a child. I'll never forget that!

2. Do you remember having a teacher that had a negative impact on you? If so, what happened? How did you get past it?

The funny thing about this question is that, when I first read it, I didn't think about any of my own teachers as I was going through school. I thought again about another teacher (not Mrs. Simpson) that I student taught under. As part of my student teaching, I had to do a kindergarten practicum for 9 weeks. I did not care to do it because I don't particularly like teaching that age. I did, of course, enjoy teaching my own children when they were that age. When it comes to teaching other people's children, though, I prefer to teach junior high kids.

Here's a little aside: I know! I know! I'm weird. Junior high kids are obnoxious. Junior high kids are all taller than me. Junior high kids think they know everything. It's all true! And ya know what? I still love teaching that age!! Perhaps it's the challenge that draws me. Who knows? I guess God made some of us willing to teach them so that everyone else didn't have to!! So here's where you say, "Better you than me, Sister!"

Back to my answer: While I was doing my kindergarten practicum, I spent the entire 9 weeks with the same teacher. She was young and seemed very nice when I talked with her on the phone before beginning my time in her class. I figured I would enjoy teaching with her even if I wasn't really thrilled about being in a kindergarten classroom. Boy, did I get a surprise when I actually got to her classroom!

Let me just be blunt. I hated it. It was awful. It was terrible. It was traumatic. (And not just for me. It was traumatic for all the poor kids in her class!) This teacher was very unkind to her students. She was nice to a few kids who were really smart and who tried really hard to please her. Besides those few kids though, she wasn't very nice to the rest of the kids. There was one little boy in particular who had some learning problems and some behavior problems too, and she was just plain mean to him!! The poor kid hid under his desk almost every day, and the principal had to come get him out. No wonder. I wanted to hide under there with him!

I felt terribly sorry for those kids. Truth is--I felt pretty sorry for myself too--having to spend 9 weeks with that teacher. I don't even remember her name, but I sure remember how miserable she made school for those little kindergarten kids. Some of them probably hated school for the rest of their lives because of her.

I usually try to be thankful when folks help me (such as when this teacher allowed me to be in her classroom for 9 weeks), but in this case, it was a struggle! I wasn't very thankful for the opportunity except that it may have helped me learn what not to do in my own classroom. I also try not to be too critical of folks who are trying to do their best. Please forgive me, because I know I was very critical of this poor lady.

I think teachers are so very important in the lives of the children they teach!! For good or bad, we make a big difference! I am once again so thankful to teach my own children at home. I'm certainly not perfect, and I have really goofed up at times, but I do love my kids and want what's best for them. And that means a lot when you're a teacher.

Thanks to April at Heartfelt Homeschooling for hosting this meme! If you'd like to see more answers to this week's questions, you can visit her blog.

Oh, and don't forget to leave me a comment about your favorite (or most memorable) teacher! I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Are You Curious about Puffer Fish?!

2011-02-11T09:45:00.004-06:00

One thing I really like about the Curiosity Files unit studies is that they work for older students as well as younger. So many unit studies are geared toward elementary students that it's pretty easy to find them for that age. These unit studies, while great for younger students, are also wonderful for junior high and even high school students! Adults will love them too! I sure did.

And there's such a wonderful variety of activities to go along with each one. Besides the information about the topic of the unit study, in this case it was puffer fish, there is also a great variety of other kinds of related information. There are math activities, writing ideas, spelling and vocabulary words, links to the Bible, science fair ideas, art projects, just-for-fun activities, and even music-related ideas!

I agree with Professor Ana Lyze, the "writer" of the Curiosity Files unit studies, that I had no idea puffer fish were so fascinating! I chose this topic because I thought my children would enjoy it since they like fish. I really didn't realize how much we would all learn from it too!

My 8-year-old daughter really enjoys those books that show her how to draw animals, so she really liked the "Draw a Puffer Fish Step by Step" activity. She also loves word finds and crossword puzzles, so she enjoyed those too. The mini-book activity was fun, and she liked the additional books suggested in "Read All About It." My older kids love to read too, and they love using the computer. They had lots of fun checking out some of the many websites listed in "Wanna Learn More?" I appreciated that an answer key is included at the end of the unit study!

There are already quite a few topics available with more coming soon! Right now you can choose from:
blue diamond
dung beetle
MRSA
puffer fish
red tides
zombie fire ants
blue-footed booby
cicada killing wasp
quicksand

You can buy a CD including all 9 topics that are currently available for $49. Or you can buy all 9 topics as downloadable e-books for $46. Either way it works about to be just about $5 per unit study! Or you can buy individual unit studies in this series for $6.95 each (at the time of this review). Right now, though, several of these are on sale at the Schoolhouse Store for only $1 each! Just go to The Old Schoolhouse Store and type "Curiosity Files" in the search box.

If you have a good idea for a future Curiosity Files unit study, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know! We are always looking for wacky topics to add to our list. What would you like to learn more about?

NOTE: I received the Puffer Fish unit study for free in exchange for using the study and giving an honest review of my family's experiences and opinions on the product.

I Was Awarded!

2011-02-10T06:47:00.033-06:00

My friend April at Heartfelt Homeschooling awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award! April and I have become friends since I started participating in her meme called Memoir Mondays. Each Monday (we get a sneak peek of the topic on Sunday) she asks two questions related to something in the past that you might want to post telling about memories of a person or event, etc. I have really enjoyed participating in Memoir Mondays for the last few months! Thanks so much, April, for the award!

The rules to follow for those receiving the Stylish Blogger Award are:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you.
Share 7 things about yourself.
Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

7 things about me:

I have a twin sister who lives nearby. We talk on the phone every day (usually more than once) and see each other at least once a week (or more if possible). We have children of similar ages, so it works out great!!
I have a "baby" sister who was born when my twin sister and I were 15 years old. When our baby sis learned to talk, she called both of us and our mom all Mommy! :)
I work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine part-time from home. I work as Assistant to the Publishers and as the Social Media Coordinator for the Schoolhouse Expo. I love my job!! I'm also on the Homeschool Crew which I also love!
I am the wife of the most wonderful husband in the world! In May of this year, we will have been married for 20 years. :)
I have 3 great kiddos too! Hannah is 15, Noah is 13, and Mary Grace is 8.
I will be turning 40 years old on February 15--next week
I love reading (and reading and reading some more), quilting, blogging, playing the piano (although I don't play as often as I'd like to any more), and spending time with my husband and kids. That's one reason why I love homeschooling so much. I get to spend my kids' growing-up years really getting to know them.

On to the 15 bloggers who are receiving the Stylish Blogger Award from me:

Jacqueline's Jabberings
A Higher Calling Christian Academy
A Life Better Than I Deserve
Homeschooling in Nova Scotia
For Such a Time as This
A Deuteronomy 6:7 Family
The Crafty Home
Crystal in Stitches
A Teaching Heart
Holey Stockings
Reflections in the Window
Live, Laugh, Learn
This Beautiful Mess
Serenades and Solace
Saved by Grace

I hope you will take the time to visit some of these blogs! Some of them are brand new and are just getting started blogging. Others of them have been around for a while. All bloggers love visitors and comments, though!

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

2011-02-09T06:00:00.010-06:00

Memoir Mondays Week 19

2011-02-07T07:00:00.013-06:00

1. What did your room look like when you were growing up?

I don't remember what our bedroom looked like when my twin sister and I were really little. When we were about 1 1/2 or 2, Mother decided to let us try having our own rooms (2 separate rooms instead of sharing a room), but Melissa and I would get out of our beds at night and meet in the hall to see each other! After that, we went back to sharing a room again, and we shared a room until we left the nest.

My most vivid memory of how our room looked growing up was from the time we were probably about 1st or 2nd grade. Melissa and I had desperately wanted Bambi bedspreads, and our parents finally let us get them. We were thrilled! I wish I had a picture of those bedspreads. Now the only picture I have is in my memory. I haven't thought of those in a long time. I'll have to ask Melissa if she remembers them.

The bedspreads were kind of sky blue with, of course, Bambi and Thumper (remember Thumper, the little rabbit?) and Flower (the skunk) on them. Our room had white walls and real wood floors. The room was so small that our twin beds took up most of the available space. We did have a dresser and a chest of drawers too, but we could barely get the drawers open and get what we needed out of them! The curtains were pink.

The closet was one of those wide closets that wasn't very "deep." It had sliding wooden doors. On one of the sliding doors was a place in the wood grain that was darker than the rest of the door and looked like a face. I remember that I never could go to sleep at night unless the sliding closet doors were completely closed.

2. Did your family move when you were a child? If so, what do you remember most about it?

Our dad was in the Army when we were born and until we got to be school-age. We were born in the Panama Canal Zone and moved back to the US when we were (I think) about 6 months old or so. For our first several years, we moved a few times, but I don't remember any of the moves.

For some reason, though, I do remember a time when we lived in Tennessee and we were getting ready to visit our grandparents who lived in Mississippi. I remember that it was still dark when we got up that morning, and I was a little confused about getting up so early thinking it was still "sleeping time." I remember being so excited about getting to go see both sets of grandparents. I remember trying to remember which grandparents were which since we didn't see them often and I wasn't really sure.

Once Melissa and I started kindergarten, my parents decided that my dad should get out of the Army so we wouldn't have to move from place to place and from school to school. Then we lived near our grandparents and got to know both sets very well. Looking back, I'm so glad we lived near our grandparents while we were growing up! So many kids don't have that chance now.

I suppose I strayed some from the original Memoir Mondays questions, but it sure was fun thinking of those memories that haven't come to me in a long time! Thanks, April, for coming up with such great questions!

If you want to read more Memoir Mondays responses, visit April at her blog, Heartfelt Homeschooling.

Monarchs & Milkweed

2011-02-04T06:00:00.012-06:00

I have been visiting some homeschool blogs this week just to see what everyone else is up to. What I've noticed in my visiting is that nearly everyone is sick of snow!! To be honest, we don't have a chance to get sick of snow here in the South since we so rarely get any at all. I'm not that crazy about it myself, though, since snow necessarily involves really cold weather! And I'm not a fan of cold weather at all. Which is great since we don't get a lot of that either most of the year.

So what in the world could snow possibly have to do with monarchs and milkweed? I'm glad you asked! My younger daughter and I were doing her science lesson today. We are using Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (Apologia Science Young Explorers) by Jeannie Fulbright. Today's lesson told about monarch butterflies, their features and how they eat, and about their migration patterns. The pictures were absolutely beautiful, and it was so nice to think about butterflies when all we see outside right now is brown grass and bare trees. We do see some fat little chickadees and red birds most days because we have a bird feeder outside our window, and the poor birds are desperate for food in all this cold weather! (You can tell by looking at those fat little birds that we are taking care of them very well until the weather is warm again.)

So we were looking at these beautiful photos of the monarch butterflies and reading about what they eat and how to attract them to our yard. We had never really thought about trying to attract them to our yard before (even though we did raise some Painted Lady butterflies in our house in a butterfly habitat earlier this school year). We read that they like to get nectar from milkweed flowers, so we did a little research on milkweed to see how to grow it.

We found a website where we can order milkweed seeds, so we went there to check out their information. It turns out that there are LOTS of different kinds of milkweed. (We didn't know that!) Different kinds like it better in different areas of the country. I looked for several that might be happy to grow here in the South, and I'm planning to order some tomorrow.

We also didn't know that some kinds of milkweed seeds must be exposed to the cold, wet conditions of winter before they will germinate in the spring. For other kinds, that's not necessary. Now is the time, though, to start preparing the seeds that need the cold and wet, though, since they'll need it for 6 weeks before they can be planted. Once our seeds arrive--hopefully pretty soon--we'll start getting them ready. In the spring when we plant them, maybe I'll do a gardening post. Then, of course, we'll have to show off our beautiful flowers once they bloom. (I was so surprised to see all the different varieties of milkweed and the many very different and colorful flowers that they produce!) Hopefully we'll attract those butterflies and be able to show off their pictures as well.

So instead of thinking about the cold, wet winter weather we're having right now, we're going to think about beautiful monarchs and milkweed! Would you like to join us?

Wordless Wednesday: Making a Splash!

2011-02-02T06:00:00.014-06:00

How Are Your New Year's Resolutions Going?

2011-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Did I tell you that I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions? I don't. It just stresses me out when I feel like I have to make some resolution and stick to it when it's obviously got to be something I don't want to do or I wouldn't need to resolve to do it! So this year, when New Year's Day rolled around, I decided to do something different. I decided to make a resolution to do something that I actually want to do!

I did consider resolving to exercise more often. I've been trying for several months now to make myself exercise. Some weeks I actually get up before the kids are up and either walk on the treadmill or do an exercise video. Occasionally I even do it 3 or 4 times that week. Then, after a week or two, I get distracted or discouraged and don't keep it up. So I'm planning to try to exercise more often this year. Perhaps I'll even get into a good habit of doing it several times a week. Who knows?! But I'm not going to resolve to do it. No pressure.

I also considered giving up carbonated drinks. I gave up drinking caffeine 15 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child, so the caffeine isn't what I need. I do, however, love to drink those wonderful fizzy carbonated drinks!! I love a good Mug rootbeer (caffeine free!) or a good Sprite. I really love caffeine free Cokes, but it's harder to find them, and they don't make them in the little bottles with the lids that twist on and off. I don't normally drink a whole drink at once. I like to spread it out over a couple of days so I'm not drinking so many of them. So anyway, I considered giving those up, but I decided not too. Too much pressure. Too much temptation to overcome.

So what was my resolution? Well, do you moms remember how when your kids were all little you stopped wearing all your pretty necklaces and earrings and bracelets because the babies or toddlers were always grabbing them and breaking them? So, you guessed it, I resolved to start remembering to wear my jewelry again! :) Now that's a pretty painless resolution. A resolution, in fact, that I have actually been enjoying keeping! I don't try to wear it when I'm at home with the kids, but I have been remembering to wear it to church and even to the store or the doctor's office or wherever else I go. I've gotten lots of compliments, too, which is really nice.

So did you make a resolution? Have you been sticking with it? If not, you are certainly welcome to borrow mine. Or, if you already wear your jewelry, perhaps you can be thinking of a suitable resolution for next year. A resolution that will be fun to keep. A resolution you can live with! So it's confession time. I'd love for you to share with me what your resolution was and if you've been keeping it.

Memoir Mondays Week 18

2011-01-31T06:00:00.003-06:00

Today's Memoir Mondays questions were inspired by the host's date with her hubby! :)

Where did you go on your first date?

I don't honestly remember our first date since we were friends before we started dating. I do remember lots of our dates, though. We mostly went to his parents' house and watched movies or went to football games. We didn't do a lot of fancy or expensive things. We went to high school together and started dating when we were both 16, so we saw each other every day at school too. Just a few months after we started dating, we knew that we would one day get married. From that first date (wherever we went!) until now, we have never once "broken up." Now we've been married almost 20 years!

Do you still remember your first love?

I would have to say that my hubby was (and is) my first true love. I did go out with a couple of other guys before we started dating at age 16, but I never thought that I truly loved them or would ever marry them. Maybe at the time I thought I loved them--I really don't remember. I know, though, that once I started dating the man I would later marry, I knew it was the real thing.

If you would like to participate in Memoir Mondays (or know someone else who would), why don't you go to the host's blog at http://bzoohomeschool.blogspot.com/ and leave her a comment telling her so? She has considered no longer hosting the meme, and I'd love for her to continue! Maybe a few more participants would encourage her to keep going!

Giveaway: Winter Edition of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!

2011-01-28T19:53:00.001-06:00

Would you like a chance to win the winter edition of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that just came out? I have subscribed to TOS for quite a few years, and I still eagerly look forward to every single magazine! In fact, I'm hoping to introduce some folks who don't already subscribe to the magazine. That's why I decided to do this giveaway.

The winter magazine includes our annual homeschool convention directory and our homeschool freebie directory. It also includes several articles about helping your child improve her writing as well as 10 tips for good handwriting. (Let's face it. If your child writes a wonderful essay but nobody can read his handwriting, that's not much good!)

Also included are some great articles about classical homeschooling (with Susan Wise Bauer), keeping preschoolers happy and busy while teaching older students (Boy, do I remember those days!), and even how technology is changing homeschooling. There are several articles about foreign languages as well--from sign language to Latin and Greek.

That's not all, either, but I won't give away any more. You'll have to read it for yourself. :D

If you don't currently subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, you can enter to win this winter edition. Just click on the link below. It will take you to my blog. When you get there, simply leave a comment telling me which of the above articles you'd especially like to read and/or why you want to win the magazine.

I'll choose a random person and will mail out the magazine (brand new) in about a week. Please leave your comment by Friday, February 4. I will try to mail the magazine to the winner on Saturday the 5th or Monday the 7th. I will do another giveaway when the spring magazine comes out too, so stay tuned!

It's Official

2011-01-28T06:00:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately, it's official. We will definitely have to do some of our school work over the summer! Before the holidays, we got just a bit behind where I wanted the kids to be with their homeschool work by that time of the year. During the holidays, I kept telling myself that, after our nice 2-week break, we would hit the books and get back on track. Alas, it was not to be!

The kids have actually done fairly well on their school work. The problem, though, is that they are so slow about getting it done! I had hoped they would be energized and ready to work with energy and commitment in January. Instead, it has turned out to be terribly difficult for all of us to get going again.

Another issue has been doctor's appointments. It seems that, somehow, all 3 kids and I have ended up needing dentist and eye appointments right here in January and next month too. And I've had an appointment or two with the ENT about some reflux issues I've been having. Plus Hannah has had at least 2 appointments with doctors about her problems with her feet and legs. To hear us tell about all of our appointments, you'd think we sure are a sickly lot! Thankfully most of them have just been routine exams. Still, they must be done.

I've just decided that, since it looks like there's no way around having to do some of our work over the summer, we're just going to make the best of it. At least this will give me the freedom to choose to do our work for the rest of the school year at a "normal" pace and not to try to cram it all in and over-work everybody until summer. Also, my kids always end up bored and looking for something to do during the summer anyway. They might as well be doing some school work and keeping in some sort of a routine, right?

Last summer, we were able to take the summer off. There have been years that we've worked over the summer, but I honestly can't remember how we handled it!   When you find yourself having to finish up your school over the summer, how do you do it? Do you work in the mornings and take the afternoons off (or the opposite)? Or do you work certain days each week? Are you kind of hit-and-miss, doing your work whenever you happen to have the time?

I'd love to hear from you if you have any advice or even just want to share how you do "summer school" or have done it in the past. In the mean time, I hope your school year is going great!!

Memoir Mondays Week 17

2011-01-24T06:00:00.001-06:00

I had a busy week last week, and I missed my Memoir Mondays post! In fact, I didn't post the whole week. Hopefully this week won't be quite so busy!

This week's topic is about animals. The first question is:

What pets did your family have growing up?

We had cats while my twin sister and I were growing up. We always had either grown-up cats or kittens--or often both! My sister and I just loved cats. My dad didn't particularly like them coming in the house, but we would bring them in to "visit" and play with occasionally. In one house we lived in, we had a little playhouse in the back yard, and we sometimes let the momma cat and kittens stay in there. For some reason, I have one particularly vivid memory from when we lived in that house (as very young children) of being inside the house on the hardwood floor and playing with the momma cat, who was white, and 2 or 3 of her baby kittens.

We lived for most of my school years, though, in a house just down the road from the one I mentioned above. While we lived in this house, I remember once having a couple of gerbils (or maybe hamsters--I really can't remember). One of them was named Lightning, and the other was Sweet Pea. We named Lightning that name because he was mean and would bite. For some reason, we thought Lightning was an appropriate name for his personality. We named Sweet Pea because she was sweet!

We also, of course, had plenty of cats and kittens while we lived in this house as well. We named one little boy kitten Cotton. Our dad didn't think that name was "macho" enough for a boy, so he altered it and called the kitten "Colonel Cotton"! We had lots of cats and kittens over the years we lived there, but the only other cat I remember by name was Mitzie. She was one of our favorite cats that we ever had! We all loved her.

Describe your best or worst experience with an animal.

I remember once (while living in the second house that I mentioned above) going for a walk to the park with my mom and my twin sister. As we were walking, a dog came running and barking at us out of one of the houses we were walking past. I have always been a little afraid of dogs--especially barking and growling dogs. We do have an outside dog now, and I'm not afraid of her. I'm usually a bit afraid of other people's dogs, though, especially if they are big. As my mom and sister and I were walking, the dog came running at us and tried to bite us. I don't remember him actually biting any of us, so he probably didn't or I'm sure I would remember it. He sure did scare us (especially me) half to death though!! His owner, thankfully, came running out and got him back under control pretty quickly. I remember many times after that wondering what might have happened if that woman hadn't run out and taken control of her dog right at that moment!

I don't remember one single "best" experience with an animal, but I do remember how much I loved my cats as a child. I still love cats today. So does my whole family! We have two inside cats named Tabby and Ginger. They are spoiled and rotten, and we love them that way!

Ya Gotta Be Kidding!!

2011-01-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

As a mom, I sometimes find myself in situations that I never dreamed would be part of living with children. When I was younger and even when I was married but didn't yet have children, I would imagine what it would be like to have my own children. You probably did it too. We imagined the children being clean, well-dressed, polite, respectful, and of course all the siblings would get along with each other nicely. Even after I had been a mom for just a short time, I realized that those dreams were a little bit, perhaps, idealistic. (In other words, they were just plain wrong!!)

This morning was one of those times that I was involved in a situation with the kids that just made me laugh because it was so ridiculous!! (I figure I might as well laugh about these goofy situations instead of cry over them. After all, I can't be that bad a mom--can I?) Here's what happened:

Two of my children were discussing how much time they get for electronics each day. I won't mention which two so that they can remain anonymous, but my oldest child is autistic and totally non-verbal if that helps you narrow down the possibilities any (for those of you who know me). :) At our house "electronics time" includes playing video games, playing games on my smart phone, playing on the computer, watching tv, etc. If it has a battery and/or has to be plugged in to an electrical outlet--it counts. Well, I don't count listening to the radio or to CDs since the kids aren't glued to those and can do other activities at the same time. Everything else counts, though.

Anyway, two of my children were discussing how much electronics time they get, and one was mentioning that he thought I limit his electronics time too much. At that very moment, the two parakeets that we have as pets began squawking and making lots of racket. The child whose electronics time is limited to an unreasonable degree (haha) looked at me and said, "See--even the birds agree that you are being unreasonable about it." Then his sibling looked at him and said, "Only your bird agrees with you! Mine thinks your electronics time is just fine!" (Just in case you're wondering, the children all have the same amount of electronics time each day.)

As I listened to their conversation, I normally would have been unhappy with them for arguing, but in this case I just laughed out loud. The kids both stopped arguing and looked at me like I was crazy. I then explained to them that I couldn't believe I was listening to two of my children argue about the opinions of their pet parakeets!! Oh. My. Gracious!!

I'm not sure if they stopped arguing because they realized how silly they sounded or if they were more worried for my sanity. In any case, though, they did stop arguing, so I was happy. Ah the joys of motherhood!!

So, how much time do you think is reasonable for kids to do electronics in a day? One hour? Two hours? More? We try to keep it to about 2 hours. Sometimes on weekends they may do more than that--especially in the winter when they can't go outside as much.

I'd also love to hear about one of your "I can't believe this is part of raising kids" moments if you'd like to share one. Don't worry. I will just laugh with you. :)

Math Musings

2011-01-12T06:00:00.001-06:00

So what do you think about the importance of math in a student's life? My younger daughter has struggled with math for her entire school career. (She's now in 3rd grade, so admittedly her school career so far has been short.) This is the same child who almost independently taught herself to read and now reads on a level much higher than she "should" be reading for an 8-year-old, so I know it's not a question of academic ability. She simply doesn't have a "math mind." She excels in subjects that have to do with reading (like history, science, literature, etc.) but she simply cannot seem to grasp (at least not very easily) most concepts related to mathematics.

Lately, this has really started to bother her because she is realizing that math is a subject in which she really has to apply herself while other subjects come much more easily. So what does that mean? Well, it means she fusses and complains about doing math and tries in every way she can think of to avoid having to do it!

I've been using a math curriculum with her that seems to "work" pretty well for her--at least better than many others I've tried. (We use Math Mammoth just in case you're wondering. This is not a review for Math Mammoth, though, so I won't go into details about the program. Of course you can take a look at the website, though, if you're interested.) It gives lots of review and explanation and doesn't move too terribly quickly. It gives her more time to really understand what she's doing before it moves on to something else. That really helps her.

Another thing I did was not even do math with her until she was in 2nd grade. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, but when I tried it with her in kindergarten and 1st grade, she just got so terribly frustrated that I was afraid she would develop a hate relationship with all things mathematic. I figured it would be better to wait a year or two to start a "formal" math curriculum with her than make both of us miserable and cause her to hate math forever. Of course we still did the regular daily "count the forks as you set the table" and "if you have 3 M&Ms and I give you 4 more, how many do you have" kinds of things during our normal days, so she wasn't totally without math exposure.

I figure that, either she will begin to "get it" one day and it will begin to come more easily to her, or she will simply have to learn to do basic math that she needs for daily life (whether she wants to or not) and will have to concentrate on some kind of job in which higher math skills are not required! Hopefully she will homeschool her own children some day. One advantage she will have though, is that there are so many online programs and DVD programs available that she will have the option of teaching her kids the language arts-related classes and letting them do an online or DVD program for math. My son's 8th grade math is a little more than I like to try to handle, so he does Teaching Textbooks, which we've been very happy with.

Do any of you have a child who just doesn't "click" well with math? If so, would you share an idea or two about how you've tried to deal with it? I'd love to hear from you!

Wendy

Memoir Mondays Week 15

2011-01-10T06:00:00.003-06:00

This week's Memoir Mondays questions are about higher education. It seems like a long time ago that I went to college, and the truth is I'm glad I'm not there any more! I did very much enjoy school and learning when I was a young child and through my college years. It was the whole college environment that I didn't like. I also worked full time while going to college full time, so it was a rather busy and sometimes pretty difficult time of my life.

There were definitely some good things about it, though, and some things I really enjoyed. Since I went to a private Christian college, that made most of the issues with the college environment better than those at typical secular colleges. There were, though, still some issues and negative things to deal with like there probably are at all colleges whether secular or Christian.

1. Did you go to college? If so, how did you decide where to go? If not, why did you decide to go a different route?

Yes, I went to what was at that time called William Carey College. Since then it has become William Carey University. I went for one year to USM (the University of Southern Mississippi), but I completely and totally hated it there!! (Sorry for all you USM fans. It just wasn't the school for me.) USM was just way too big and impersonal. I didn't live on campus because I was paying for my own college and couldn't afford to pay for the dorm and all the other expenses that living on campus brings. I had to live at home and drive back and forth to save money. That made it hard to make friends. It also made it hard to find time to work in the library, do research, meet with my professors if I needed to, and all those kinds of things.

My second year of college I transferred to WCC. I liked it so much better there!! The school was much smaller, so it was lots easier to get to know not only the other students but also the professors. I had an easier time finding time to do work in the library, meet with professors, etc., since the school was smaller and easier to navigate. It also gave me more time to do my work since it took so much less time just getting from place to place on campus!

My second year at WCC (my junior year of college) I started taking mainly education classes. Because the school was smaller, there were lots of the same students in my education classes. There were three of us who became really close friends, and that sure did make college much more fun! Even though none of us lived on campus and we all worked in addition to going to college, we really enjoyed taking our classes together. We had so much in common and just enjoyed being in class together.

I decided at first to go to USM because I knew it was close enough that I could commute since I couldn't afford to live in the dorm. Also, they had an education program there. Then, I chose to attend WCC because, as I mentioned already, I just felt too anonymous at USM. I needed a smaller school where I could feel a part of my classes and get to know folks.

Education was pretty important in my home growing up since my mom was a teacher and her mom had been a teacher too. I knew that it was important to learn, and I enjoyed learning so I didn't mind school at all. Well, there were some subjects I wasn't crazy about, but I did enjoy school in general. I got bored at times since I was a good student and we sometimes had to slow down for students who had trouble. I spent my "down" time talking, though, and that kept me happy! It did not, however, make my teachers happy. They knew I was basically a good kid, so they didn't give me too hard a time, but I did get in trouble pretty often for talking.

I don't remember ever getting much help from my parents on my homework or projects or those kinds of things. I was always a pretty independent student and I don't remember ever really even thinking to ask for help. That sounds kind of weird to me now since I homeschool and do so much school work with my students, but that's just the way it was for me. I suppose it worked out fine, though, since I made good grades.

I don't think I would return to my college years if I was given the chance, but I do have some fond memories of those years. I graduated with a degree in elementary education. (At that time we could still get a K-8 degree. Now I think students must choose either K-4 or 5-8.) My husband and I married before our junior year of college and, after we graduated, he got a full-time job there at WCC. Because he had a full time job there, we were both able to get our master's degrees without having to pay tuition. I remember that I was a little burned out on college by then and didn't really want to commit another two years to getting my master's degree, but I did it anyway since I knew I might never have the chance to go tuition-free again. During the two years that I worked on my master's degree, I also taught school.

I've found since then that my favorite school years have been (and are) the years that I'm spending right here at home teaching my own kiddos!

Don't forget to visit April at Heartfelt Homeschooling to read more Memoir Mondays responses!

Math Facts Now Review

2011-01-05T19:33:00.000-06:00

I remember teaching my now 13-year-old his multiplication facts. It was so tedious and time-consuming!! (Not to mention boring for both of us!) Now, it's time for my 8-year-old to learn her math facts. I've put it off because I just couldn't stand the thought of going through those boring flashcard drills. She's not really a "math person" anyway, so I knew I'd have to deal with her less-than-enthusiastic attitude about it too.

Then I was asked to review a program called Math Facts Now. It's designed to simply help students learn and practice their math facts. And guess what?! If my 8-year-old uses Math Facts Now to learn her math facts, then I don't have to do them with her!! Woohoo!! And even though I mentioned that she isn't a "math person," she actually seems to enjoy (well, as much as possible) practicing her facts using this program. Ok, well, she enjoys it way more than she was enjoying using the flashcards and being drilled by me. She will actually do her practice without fussing about it and looks like she's at least having a pleasant experience as she practices. That's definitely better than the response I was getting!

This practice program can be either instantly downloaded or ordered on CD-ROM. My sister ordered the CD to use with her kids since she doesn't have a very good internet connection where she lives. I got the instant download since I do. Either way the program works the same way, though.

The program is designed for students from kindergarten through about 6th grade. It can certainly be used by any age student, though, if he or she needs to learn any math facts: addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

The parent has lots of control over exactly how this program is used. He or she can choose which functions and even which specific numbers for the child to learn. The parent can also choose how many problems each student must answer correctly during a session and how much time the student will be given to answer each question. (I particularly like this because my daughter has learned how to quickly count up the answers to her multiplication tables. I like to set it so that she must type in her answer almost immediately so she won't have time to count up, and that way I know that she really does know the answer from memory.)

Parents can also decide how many times missed problems must be correctly re-answered during each session. They can choose rewards for completed lessons (IF they want to do this. It's not necessary.). They can create lessons and even save or reuse them again. Finally, parents can keep track of each child's progress and mastery by reviewing progress reports for each child.

You can take a look at the Math Facts Now website and even get a free trial if you're interested in trying it out. If you decide to buy, you can buy the instant download for $15.95 or the CD-ROM for $15.95 plus $3.95 S&H. I usually try not to comment on the prices of the items I review for the Crew since a certain amount might be a lot of money to one family and not much at all to another. In this case, though, I have to say that I think the price is very reasonable! Most students will needs months and months (or perhaps even years) to learn all of their math facts and maintain what they've learned, and $15.95 seems completely worth it to me! If you have a student who needs to learn his or her math facts, I hope you'll take a look at Math Facts Now.

If you want to see what other Crew members had to say about their experiences with this program, you can see their reviews here.

NOTE: I received Math Facts Now for free in exchange for writing this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I did not receive any other compensation.