Fun Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Every Friday is fun day for this homeschool family. Both of the boys love to cook and bake and the aprons that they made at VBS two years ago get plenty of use. On Fridays the boys and I both cook and bake something new. It gets so boring making and eating the same things all the time, but to make sure they will eat what is being made they pick it out. While fun days consist of different activities the tastiest one is cooking and baking. The library is a great resource to obtain books containing new recipes along with Usborne Books and More. With the holidays coming up "Christmas Baking for Children" a new title from Usborne would be not only a great addition to any home library, but also provide family and friends with holiday treats. A day at the nearest nursing home would be a great place to distribute some sweets, check to see if this is something you and your group could do. Also consider others in your area who may not have anyone to share the holidays with and drop off a smile. Usborne Books and More has a nice selection of cook books for the young cook and/or baker in your life.

Christmas Baking for Children

The Human Body

This Usborne title is a great book for seven year olds and up. It is a child friendly book which describes in great detail the different functions of the body. Flip the flaps to see a more detailed picture of various parts of the body while learning important information of their functions. This book earned the 2007 "Moms Choice Award Finalist" for children's chapter book. As with many of Usborne's books each page is a different color holding the attention of the child and information is printed in small sections allowing a question time for children to indulge even more. If you are planning to study the human body in the near future or would just like a more kid friendly approach to discovering the human body look no further, this is it.

See Inside Your Body board book $12.99 .

The Challenge

Consumed with research geared toward reading and how it effects the success of children both through their schooling years and onward has lead me to post this challenge. I started thinking as research continues how there will always be some parents out there who fall into one of two categories, those who care and those who don't. However, by looking at an individual this can not be determined. It is for this reason that I challenge everyone to to talk to parents of children under the age of five or those who will soon become parents about the importance of talking and reading to their children. children who are talked to and read to on a regular basis have a better chance at achieving success both in their schooling and their future. I myself am guilty of talking to parents or soon to be parents about a variety of topics concerning children, but never this topic.

Beating Illiteracy one Book at a Time

Thanksgiving and the Sukkot

While doing some research on the Mayflower Compact for my boys to utilize with our study, I got the idea for this blog. My search was geared towards finding some type of translation of the document which the boys could understand better. Through out my search I came across web sites dedicated to the pilgrims, Mayflower and Thanksgiving. It was during the reading of one article where this blog was born. The article was in the Washington Post written by Welton Gaddy on November 22, 2006 entitled “On Faith: Remembering the Mayflower Compact.” The article lacked in that it seemed to deny the fact that Thanksgiving was Biblically based. There are other web sites which also discuss the first thanksgiving and the fact that it was a time for the pilgrims to give thanks to the Lord. What some of them lack however is the ties between the Jewish celebration known as the Sukkot and the first Thanksgiving.

Let’s go back to the Old Testament and the book of Leviticus. It is here one will find God giving the command for various feasts to be held. While they are not named specifically in the Bible the Jewish people have names for them. If you go to Leviticus chapter 23 you will find where God discusses the appointed feasts. In order to read about the Sukkot one needs to advance in the same chapter to verse 39 and begin reading. It is important to read the article “Thanksgiving may originate in the Jewish holiday Sukkot,” and compare that to Leviticus. Sukkot also celebrated in the fall is a time when the Jewish and some Christians celebrate everything God has done for them and has given them. Unfortunately I missed a day of celebrating with friends due to illness, but it is a week long celebration. This year the Sukkot was celebrated from October 2nd-the 9th. There are many individuals who feel that these celebrations do not pertain to them as Christians. However if you read the chapter these are direct commandments from God. Others argue that the Old Testament is not meant for Christians, this also is false, both the New Testament and Old Testament interact and are meant for both the Jews and Gentiles alike.

This would be a great subject for 7th-12th grade students to dig deeper into. I encourage you to search on your own to learn more about how these two celebrations are really one. I utilized the search words Sukkot and the first Thanksgiving for my search.

Thanksgiving may originate in the Jewish holiday Sukkot

Sukkot Resources
Here you can find links for teaching about the Sukkot to all ages. Click on the current events and holiday link for Thanksgiving and more.

Thanksgiving:The American Sukkot?
This site is a great place for older children and you to read about the intertwining of these two celebrations.

Alpha Omega Giveaway

On October 8, 2009 Alpha Omega announced they will be conducting a drawing which homeschoolers can enter. Individuals have until February 28, 2010 to register, no purchase is necessary, individuals must be over 18 and only one entry per family. The grand prize consists of $500.00 in FREE Alpha Omega curriculum. These items can be any of the various products which the publisher carries. Three other prizes will also be awarded.

1st Prize is a five subject set of their popular curriculum Switched on Schoolhouse

2nd Prize consists of eight DVD's from the Character Builders product

3rd Prize a Devotional Book entitled Daily Focus

The drawing will be held on March 1, 2010 and winners will be notified by phone. Oh but wait there is more register and receive a code to obtain a discount for your order. You will need to shop online in order to receive the discount and it has to be before October 27, 2009. This is not a lot of time, but if you were going to place an order now might be the time to do so. Hey I got FREE shipping, what will you get?

Alpha Omega Homeschool Giveaway Registration Page

Home School Dads

While doing a random search for the word homeschool I hit the number ten page just to see what was there. It was there that I found a web site geared towards dads who are homeschooling their children. The site is filled with a variety of articles geared towards homeschooling and message board which seems at one time was active, but sits now waiting for some more dads to come around. Just like the web sites us women frequent there are a variety of links to choose from. For instance dad get some homeschool wear for himself including an apron. Dad might want to check out the local homeschool curriculum fair or purchase materials online to add to the homeschool library. I don't know who thought of this but kudos to them.


Homeschool Dads

Homeschooler Days

The Creation Museum in KY is having homeschool days on Tuesday's and Wednesday's. This has been going on through out September and October. So, this means next week is the last week to get in on this great experience. Regular admission prices are $21.95 for individuals 13 and up, $11.95 for children 5-12, under five is free and those whose occupation is a firefighter, police officer or military enter free with ID along with their dependents are 50% off.

If you go on the last two homeschool days adult tickets are $12.00, 3-12 are $8.00 and under 2 is free. However, you do have to call and let them know you will be there giving a count of the number of adults and children who will be attending. You will also need to pay ahead of time in full in order to participate in this day. The price of the planetarium is included and it is important that you have a time set up when you will be arriving so they can be sure you will be able to enter.

I found this on facebook on one of the homeschool group pages. The number to call if you want to make reservations is 888-582-4253 ext. 377 for Eddie Lutz who posted the information. If you are interested in going next week he said the reservations need to be made by Thursday October 22, 2009.

Creation Museum
While I did not see any information on the site for this you can browse the site for what the museum has to offer in the future.

Advent

Christmas is right around the corner, some people have developed the tradition of an Advent calendar. While these are easily accessible in stores which include a chocolate for each day, there are other options which will last year after year. Story Time Felts makes two different products to keep track of Advent, to either start your family on this wonderful tradition or to make sure there is always one on hand.

The first option is a Christmas Tree Advent which includes twenty five figures to be placed on or under the tree and decorate the house. Literature is included allowing children to learn what the different Christmas symbols mean. The second option is an Advent Calendar displaying Mary and Joseph winding their way to Bethlehem. Once in Bethlehem Utilize the nine figures which include the wise men, shepherds, baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph to tell the story of Jesus’ birth.

The backgrounds are unmounted and Velcro dots are included to mount the figures onto the background. I suggest purchasing a medium sized dowel and some festive cording to mount the background to. You can then use a hot glue gun to mount the background to the dowel then tie both ends of the cording around the dowel to hand from a door knob or a cabinet door. You want to be sure where you decide to put it there will not be a lot of disturbance. Other ideas include a nail unused, a hook use your imagination and you will find the perfect stop.

Buy These Items and More Now
Click on the Christmas link to view these items.

More Free E-Books

If you are not familiar with Curr Click take a look at their site. They not only offer a free e-book weekly, but have other free e-books along with free e-samples. This is a great resource for obtaining a variety of curriculum geared towards unit studies and more. Prices are reasonable and they carry a variety of publishers such as "In the Hands of a Child." If you are not familiar with this publisher or lapbooking I encourage you take a look. If you are familiar with notebooking you will find materials there by "Notebooking.com" other popular publishers include Scholastic, Teacher Created Resources and Amanda Bennett. The options for searching through the many products makes it easy. Search by age, subject, publisher or if you are interested in a live class that is also an option, some of the classes are even free. This site is a great resource if you are experiencing hard economic times or just want to take a break from the ho hum sometimes experienced by all of us. You can also register to receive their newsletter so you won't miss out on any of the great offers they have.

Free E-Books

While I have not been blogging as much as I would like I have a bunch of information floating around my head. There are a variety of things I would like to share on educating the children, but what I am blogging about now I feel is of time. There are a couple of places which free e-books can be obtained and with the economy the way it is it will make homeschooling a little cheaper. If you are concerned about printing pages and the ink factor see my post concerning where to obtain cheap ink online.

The first site where free e-books can be obtained is that of the Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I am sure many of you have heard of it, but for those who have not here it goes. This magazine is geared towards homeschoolers and does contain spiritual content, however not all of it is so don't let that keep you away. You can sign up for free to receive various e-books or stop by and see what is free every month. This month they are offering a free e-book entitled "Autumn Treasures." This is a unit study and lapbook geared towards K-4th grade and offers one week of lessons full of fun and learning.

If you are not familiar with lapbooks please click on the "Education Jump-Off" link and go to the lapbooking and notebooking link for more information. While the links on the site go directly to sites for those already familiar with lapbooking and notebooking there are pages included for those just learning.

Because this is more than I was going to write I will be informing you of the other resource which also supplies free e-books in my next blog.

Vocabulary & Spelling on a Shoe String Budget

After utilizing Total Language Plus I realized that we no longer had our vocabulary and spelling words. Due to the economy and issues we are facing financially I decided to continue with the way Total Language Plus was set up with some differences. The program utilizes words from the book for vocabulary and spelling. There are twelve words which stem from the various chapters to be read during the week. On the first day spelling words are written on index cards with the definaition on the back and gone over with the students. We changed this into a group activity, I tell the boys the word and they try to guess what it might mean and attempt to spell it until one of them completes it. I look up the word and tell them the meaning, the boys listen for the words during our reading time and will call it out while sometimes including the meaning. The program included different work sheets to complete through out the week which has been a little tougher to develop on my own. However, one included the vocabulary words along with the definitions which the child would need to match, this I can easily do on the computer. For spelling the boys write a sentence for each word during the week. They will be taking the spelling words and mixing up the letters for the other to decode. This of course works well when you have two or more children close in age more work would need to be done in order to accommodate one child or children at various levels. I will use a word search generator for one of the spelling lessons during the week also. I'm utilizing Discovery Education which does incorporate some advertising on the bottom of the page. There are a variety of other puzzles which can be generated utilizing your own words which can be incorporated into work sheets for spelling or vocabulary all it takes is a little imagination.

If ink is a concern consider purchasing online from the two companies I have listed below. I have done business with both companies and have been happy with both. The only difference is that one may have the ink you need or the other.

Discovery Education Puzzle Maker

Web Source Sales
Carries a variety of ink cartridges from 40% to 80% off retail.

Monster Toners
This is the last place we ordered ink from, we got three black for $19.00 which included shipping.

Phyllis Wheatley (1753?-1784)

The first major Black poet, Wheatley's 1773 work was the second book published by an American woman.


October 17 is black poetry day, I find it incredible how much this group of individuals has contributed to this country and how many Americans have no idea of those contributions. I love homeschooling because I am able to share what other cultures have contributed with my children where in school the text books leave out so much. Even during black history month those who are acknowledged are the more famous individuals. It is important that our children learn about all the individuals who have contributed to the building of the country and have contributor in other areas such as the arts.

Links for the study of African American poetry