SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Recently, I've become a huge fan of The Old Schoolhouse.  I used to get their print magazine & loved it.  Kind of like a homeschool convention you could snuggle up with while drinking a hot cup of coffee.
While I enjoyed their magazine, I am LOVING their new app that makes the magazine digitally available on the iPhone (also on Kindle Fire, iPad, and Android).  I can now take it with me wherever I go and enjoy reading an article here and there whenever I have a moment.  An added bonus is that I can annoy all my Twitter followers with links to the articles.

Have I mentioned I love Twitter?  Yeah, well, that's another post.

Anyway, since I've been able to carry the TOS magazine with me on my phone, I've been more interested in its website and e-mails.  Today, I found out a great resource that they are making available March 1, 2012.  Note the time:  that's only 1 hour and 12 minutes away.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is being unveiled on Thursday.  It is an incredible resource of a variety of lessons and ideas created by dedicated and talented teachers.  I've already become a "Premium" member.  For less than $5.00/month (face it, two Starbucks coffees cost more than that!) I get all the past & present issues of TOS magazine, all the lessons for each month (Geography, Home Ec., Technology, Writing, Literature, and more), each Expo to Go (I've been dying to check those out), and more!

I've already looked into the classes being offered this month.  Amazing!  I hope to have my kids learn about Google Earth with the Technology lessons...I've already spent the last 45 minutes discovering things on that which I never knew existed.  Seriously, with all the extras on that, one could spend an entire school day learning history, science, geography, etc!!  The Home Ec looks absolutely fantastic and I love the idea of having new writing assignment ideas each week/month when I come up empty.

I seriously think this website will help me a lot in making up my curriculum for next year.  I hope they'll be continuing throughout the summer for those days when my kids just need something to put their minds to!

Check it out & let me know what you think!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Feb. 19, 2012

In my life this week...

     My husband went to Louisville, KY for the National Farm Machinery Show.  He left on the morning of Valentine's Day & returned on Friday.  Being a farmer, it is not often that we are without him for days at a time.  But, now that the children are older, I didn't feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders and we actually had a good time.  Texting back and forth with my husband made the distance seem less, as well.  

   

In our homeschool this week....

We took a bit of an unscheduled Winter Break due to my husband taking this trip.  We did school on Monday and Wednesday with our bi-weekly homeschool co-op on Friday.  We needed a break, so the kids enjoyed the more relaxed week....as did I!

Places we are going & people we are seeing...

     To fill up our time without Daddy, we had some fun things planned.  Valentine's Day is my absolutely favorite holiday, so we had our second-annual Valentine's Party with about 40 friends.  You can read more about that here.  On Thursday, we headed to the local science museum and just had a great time enjoying the different exhibits and hands-on activities.  Not having a schedule to worry about made for a nice few days.

     On Saturday, we all headed out to my mom's small-town and had a wonderful down-home breakfast in their local cafe.  

     Truly a week of fun & family.

My favorite thing this week was...

My husband returning home.

Questions I have...

Did you all do anything for Valentine's Day this year?  Also, how do you single homeschool moms do it day after day?  God's grace is sufficient...but what is your best tip for keeping on track and not exhausted?  

Things I'm working on...

Some e-mails concerning our Homeschool Fair.

I'm reading...

I'm kind of in between books right now.  Just can't seem to get into any at this time.

I'm cooking...

Let's see...while my husband was gone, we had pizza (ordered out) on Tuesday, French toast on Wednesday night (we often do breakfast for dinner on Wed), and Arby's on Thursday.  My hubby came home and I did make him a nice ham dinner on Friday and we had lasagna while friends came over on Saturday night.  What's for dinner tomorrow?  Suggestions welcome.

I'm praying for...

All to go well with doctor appointments we have this week.  Struggling friends.

A photo to share:

My hubby took this picture of me, my mom, and our girls after breakfast on Saturday.

You Know What I Love?

I love seeing some of my children helping their younger siblings with their school work - voluntarily!  No, it doesn't happen every day, but it has begun to happen more frequently as of late.

I'm pretty sure my position as head-teacher is secure, but it sure is nice to have some help from time to time!

Math Argument

I've mentioned before that my children are doing Mathletics this year.  Along with the on-line activities and games, I also print out their worksheets for each grade level.  One of the best aspects of this curriculum is the different ways they have of getting students to view problem solving.  They include many real-life applications and fun games for the younger ones.

This week, Seth is reviewing counting.  Yes, a bit below his level, but, sometimes it's nice to do something a bit easy.  Anyway, one of the activities was to pick a number from a given list and count up to the next 100.  We chose the number 922.  The spin was to do it with a partner each person alternating numbers (i.e., he'd say 922, I'd say 923, he'd say 924, etc.) and say them as if you were arguing.  This was a ton of fun!  Mike got the camera out about half-way through our argument.

Just another day of homeschooling!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Feb. 6, 2012

In my life this week:
I did little else besides school & get ready for our first day of our second semester of our homeschool co-op (HOPE).

In our homeschool this week:
My husband took over much of our son's science, for which I am very grateful.  I get so frustrated with the fact that I haven't improved much in that subject area since I was in 9th grade.  Desiring to be better at Science & Math is just not enough to make it so.
My 2 older daughters wrote short stories for Language Arts and I was very pleased with their final copies.
My middle children have come far in working independently this year and I am very happy with them.
My youngest daughter finished her First Grade Science & History...already.  Took her a total of about 4 weeks.  Very reminiscent of her 2 oldest sisters.

Helpful homeschooling advice to share:
If you can find a homeschool co-op to join that is like-minded...join! It breaks up the monotony and helps with areas you may be weaker in.

My favorite thing this week:
My husband telling me he liked my hair.  If you know him...this is a rare thing.  Made me smile.

Things I'm working on:
Last week, it was HOPE.  This week....Homeschool Fair.

I'm reading:
Still on The Lamplighter.  Didn't have a lot of time to read.

I'm praying for:
My friend to receive good news in her test results concerning her breast cancer.

A video to share:
Just being goofy with my 2 youngest one day.  (NOTE:  I have no idea why Zane was trying to pull his tongue out.  I swear, it is NOT a threat I use!!)

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - January 29, 2012

In my life this week...
Though it was a rough week with school, in the grand scheme of things, my life is good.  And uncomplicated.  Wednesday, my good friend's life became complicated - she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  What have I to complain about?

In our homeschool this week...
This was a week I'd rather not repeat or remember.  Interestingly, it seems that many homeschoolers had a trying week.  Just when everything had been going so well.  While my children did FINALLY complete all of their assignments, I'm ready for a new and better week.


Helpful homeschooling advice to share...
When scheduling doctor appointments, schedule them for the afternoon when most (if not all) of the school-work is done.  If it's an emergency & there's no way around it....just call a sick day.  Maybe I'm uptight, but after driving an hour, getting checked by the doctor, and filling a prescription, I'm not in the mood to pick up school when I get home.  Therefore, I try to cram as much as I can in the short time I have before leaving for the morning appointment I so stupidly made.  This only raises my blood-pressure.  Not a good thing.

Learn from my mistakes.   Schedule appointments during non-school hours.

I am inspired by...
Michelle Duggar.  Proverbs 15:1 in action.

Places we are going...
We headed to the Federal Building in our city for a great field trip in which we met a Federal Prosecutor, a US Marshall, a bomb dog that works for the US Marshalls (one of only 19 in the country), and a DEA agent.  Very cool.

My favorite thing this week...
Getting ALL of my laundry done on Saturday.  With a household of 9, this is no small task.  Nor is it one that happens often.

What's not working for us...
Morning doctor appointments.  Do you sense the frustration? ;)

Thoughts I have...
If all my kids went to school, I'd get so much done & they'd like me better.

Oh, please, don't tell me you've never thought that!

Things I'm working on...
The final roster for our 2nd semester of co-op, lesson plans for co-op, speaker schedules for co-op...I guess I'm working on co-op.

I'm reading...
The Lamplighter.  This is an old Christian fiction book that I was able to get for free from the Kindle store.  According to the review, this book was second only to Uncle Tom's Cabin in sales during the 19th century!
I'm cooking...
Check out my blog post on my Triple Chocolate Cake!

I'm praying for...
My dear friend and her family.

A photo to share...

See?  Told you it was a rough week...

...but I may have recovered.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - January 20, 2012

In my life this week...
I took care of a couple of sick children, took one to the doctor, consistently got up late, but am glad to say that I'm still staying on my goal to read my Bible every day this year.  Some days, it's more than others, but God has spoken each time I've gone to Him.

In our homeschool this week...
We had the day off on Monday due to MLK Day.  This was not a planned vacation, but as my niece & nephew had off of school, my brother asked if they could come to our house for the day.  Like my kids were going to get any school work done and I'm sure my niece & nephew would have loved for me to make them do extra school work!  So, they all had a blast playing outside and enjoyed tubing with my husband.

Due to illness and kids just feeling "blah", I didn't rush any one out of bed.  We had no plans to go anywhere at all, so we just got school done as we could.  Haven't double-checked, but it appears most of the children have finished all of their assignments.

Helpful homeschool advice to share...
The Homeschool Chick reminded me of this one.  HSLDA.  If you are not a member, become one.  In this world of ever-changing laws, it is essential to have legal advice and advocates if ever you need them.  The membership is about $120/year.  We never have had to use them, but we don't feel we've wasted our money.  It's worth knowing that they're there if we need them & our cash allows them to help those who are in need currently.

Places we are going...
Does the grocery store count?  How about the doctor's office?  Piano lessons tomorrow?  That's about it.


What's working for us...
Having few outside activities planned.  One more week of this bliss and then all activities pick back up.  This rest has been like a high-carb meal before a marathon.  So glad to be rested before the busyness gets going.

Thoughts I have...
*this space free*

Things I'm working on...
Getting info out about our second semester of co-op and organizing details.  Getting more serious about planning the annual Homeschool Fair.

I'm reading...
I'm finishing up "The Heart & the Fist."  Other than some profanity (which I don't recommend and is why my 14 year old won't be able to read this book), it is a fantastic book in which the author knows how to balance compassion and warfare.  Sadly, in this fallen world, one needs the other.
I also read a newly released e-book written by the author of a blog I regularly read.  Her blog is the Parents Magazine winner of Best Blog about children with special needs.  Her new e-book, Dreams Change, is a must read for anyone desiring to understand the heart of a mother with a child who had Down Syndrome.  It is a poignantly real look at the emotions that come with the diagnosis and the love that grows along the journey.


I'm cooking...
Black beans, at the moment, for chili.  Does anyone else think that cooking beans smell like dirty feet?

I'm praying for...
A friend who is having a biopsy Monday to find out if she has breast cancer.

A photo to share...
My kids, niece & nephew tubing with my hubby.  I think the caption is a perfect reminder for the rest of this homeschool year!