homeschooling belle

unschooling math

2011-10-26T22:58:00.001-07:00

A Book Review: Guerrilla Learning

2011-10-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

I love this book and think you will, too. This book is all about inspiring children to learn and filling their home environment with the joy of learning.

Pick yourself up a copy and let me know what you think!

Hugs,

Jenny

A Change in Plans...

2011-10-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Okay friends, Homeschooling Belle is changing it up once again. Since being unschoolers, my children are changing their initial interests, our unschooling plans for the week, into something else.

For example our, Greece Theme Nights, didn't happen, because they were involved in something else. But I do have some amazing Greek food that we've tried. Click here for authentic gyros and baklava. So good!

Being led by my children's interests is the heart of unschooling and so Homeschooling Belle will not be structured in its posting, either. But there most certainly will be something encouraging and/or a fun learning idea, daily, just not structured.

I look forward to introducing our new fun learning ideas and happenings here at Homeschooling Belle and all that encompasses an unschooling child.

I have another great book read for you later today... I'll share soon!

Historical Figure Tuesday...Amelia Earhart

2011-10-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Amelia Earhart

1897-1937

We are new to Lapbooks and I absolutely adore them! What a fun way to learn. I introduced to my children, Amelia Earhart. They knew of her, but we wanted to dig in and get a lot of the details. I am in love with her story and read aloud some fascinating facts about her life.

Making a Lapbook about her was so fun to create. We found a great photo of her and glued that right in our center. Wrote some great facts about her on the left side, with a map of her adventures around the world that was cut short. She only had 7,000 more miles to finish out of the 22,000 miles of ground she covered to accomplish her, round the world travel. On the right side of our lapbook the kids colored her plane, The Canary, and an image of her with her plane, too.

I have her biography, East To The Dawn; I've just begun and it and I'm excited to finish. This book is great for teen book clubs.

great for teen book clubs or moms!

fun children's book on Amelia Earhart

This book is a fun one for young ones that I'm sure you could check out at your local library. Have fun reading this with your children, first, before starting your Lapbook.

To assemble:
All you need is a folder per child, open it up and fold each side in half creating a nice booklet, like the image of mine below. There are a lot of different options to create Lapbooks, you can check them out on-line and on Youtube.

fold each side in half

open to create a book on a subject of your choice

Here are some great links to share with your children...

Fact About Amelia Earhart's Plane
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Fun facts and games

I encourage you to introduce Lapbooks to your children if you haven't already. Mine love it!

Amelia Earhart's Movie Trailer. Check for rating for your younger viewers...

Monday's Week of Learning Ideas

2011-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

The Planner Perfect, planner. Perfect for planning your life

I love planning fun learning ideas in our week and love the learning opportunities that aren't planned. It makes for fun-learning days.

Here are our plans for the week:

Tuesday's Historical Figure:

Amelia Earhart

Wednesday's Theme Night:

Greece

Thursday's Book Review:

I'll have another great book; stay tuned!

Friday's parenting discussion:

Is Punishment effective for the long-term: I never did get that out last week; this one is a good one to discuss

Saturday Fun:

Fun experiments and crafts

We are going to make a video of our volcano that we didn't get on video last week!

So fun!

Enjoy your Monday, friends,

Jenny

Great States! A Fun Learning Game

2011-10-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the game, Great States and Great States Junior? It's a fun learning game that has children, ages 7 and up, learn about state landmarks, capitols, locations. We had a blast learning and I learned quite a bit, too (eek!)

Have fun learning, friends!

Hugs,
Jenny

Friday's Craft...Apple Bags

2011-10-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Fall and the apple orchard go hand-in-hand. I absolutely love going to the apple orchard with my troop and picking apples and these homemade apple bags help us carry them all home.

We make apple pie, apple popovers, apple cake, apple dumplings, caramel apples, eat them just the way they are, and apple jelly (no name a few!).

These bags are also perfect for going to the library or carrying some books anywhere. We love to fill our apple bags with books we enjoy and want to learn from and go to a coffee or bagel shop and order some bagels, juice, and coffee and read. Sometimes I'll read some important facts of history, or a story from one of their favorite books and/or they'll work on projects. We always enjoy doing this, it's a lot of fun and gets us out of the house.

I actually made these bags from Martha Stewart with my older children when they were young *sniff, sniff* and now passing on the same tradition with my younger crew. Supplies are easy with just apples, paint and a canvas tote. So fun! Click here to get the full scoop on how to make these adorable bags.

Happy crafting, friends!

Jenny

Theme Nights Around the World

2011-10-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

Theme Night Around the World

Next Stop...Sicily!

My mom is Italian; well, actually Sicilian. Most people from Sicily see themselves as Sicilian first, Italian second. My ancestors immigrated here from Lentini Sicily to Omaha, Nebraska as early as 1912. Studying Sicily is a fun one for me because not only is it part of my ancestry but I can introduce even more fun facts about this island to my children and myself!

Image of my mother

I grew up on authentic Italian spaghetti every Sunday. My mom's sauce and meatballs would bubble away at the stove for hours taunting my brother and I and we would always steal a meatball or two for a midday snack. You wouldn't believe my reaction when I found out that spaghetti sauce could actually come in a jar!

I lived next door to my grandma and grandpa Marino when I was young and loved spending time with them everyday. My fondest memories are of my grandpa. He was spunky, handsome, and loved wearing his overalls with a little salt shaker in his front, chest pocket. I would always help him pick the ripest tomato out of his garden and he would take a big bite out it like an apple and sprinkle a little salt on it before offering me the next bite. My grandpa then would go on-and-on about why we should be so proud to be Italian.

I'm fond of those memories.

For our Sicily theme we are going to make our own pasta from scratch. Oh my gosh, how fun! Since my children know my spaghetti very well as I've passed the recipe on to my family, I thought making our own pasta would be fun to celebrate our trip to Sicily, today. If you haven't made your own pasta, yet, you must! It's fun, easy, and the kids will have so much fun. Unschooling is full of learning!


only eggs and flour in the pasta dough

Just eggs and flour to make this easy pasta dough

I rolled it out thin and we used a pizza cutter to cut our spaghetti into thin strips

ready for the boiling water!

It just takes a couple minutes before they're ready


I made homemade pesto to dress my homemade spaghetti noodles.

Ore che e' Italiana!

Translation: Now That's Italian!

For all these recipes visit my food blog over at, Planner Perfect Meals.

Click here, for the complete Italian dinner printable recipe.

Image of the active volcano, Stromboli in Sicily

Click here, and here, for some great volcano information just for children.

Sicily has 2 active volcanos and we made one after the volcano named, Stromboli. Using vinegar, baking soda, warm water and dish detergent...it was fun to do. We had a fun video we made together but it didn't get recorded well:( We will make another one and upload it soon. We'll also put it under our science guy on my sidebar for easy finding!

We followed this link, here, for information on how you can make your own volcano, too.

Image of Sicily

We had a wonderful time exploring Sicily today with our Theme Nights from Around the World. I hope you had a wonderful time, too!

A Book Review for Teens...Do Hard Things

2011-10-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I am already switching my days with you on Homeschooling Belle. Today was supposed to be the, Theme Nights from Around the World, study and we are currently so engrossed on our Sicilian studies, it's taking longer because we're having so much fun. From homemade pasta, to learning their language, (not so easy!) to creating a volcano, I can't can't wait to share with you what we've been working on. So needless to say we need an extra day!

For today, I am going to do my book review on these wonderful books for teens I've read titled, Do Hard Things and Start Here. It's all about challenging teens to raise their expectations and realize they were made to do big things. These two brothers are Alex and Brett Harris, homeschooled boys who make this a passion of theirs to challenge a teenage rebellion against low expectations.

An inspiring read that will make you never want to settle for being comfortable ever again. It will be a good book read not just for teens but for the whole family!

One advantage of having our children home with us is being able to be their primary influence. Get this book for you and your teen. It will challenge them and inspire them to seek out what God is calling them to do... to Do Hard Things.

Watch this video on one of their conferences about their book. They're amazing! Let me know what you think... I'd love to discuss!

General George Custer

2011-10-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Historical Figure Tuesday: General George Armstrong Custer

We watched the movie, Night at the Museum 2, and loved all the historical figures, one being General Armstrong Custer. We always laughed at the part where he would brush his long golden wavy hair in vain making remarks about his locks. (You must see this movie if you haven't yet!) And when we read some interested fun facts about him it was true, that he was considered vain because of all the time he would spend on his hair keeping it nice and beautiful...too funny. But there are of course, some other amazing facts about this man other than his hair...

Custer had two brothers, Tom and Boston and both were with Custer at Little Big Horn and were among those killed. His sister, Margaret, became a widow when her husband, James Calhoun, died with the Custer brothers. Nevin, next younger than George, was the only survivor to have descendents.

Custer had no children. General Custer and his wife, Libby, (Elizabeth Bacon) did not have any children.

Custer had a nickname: Cinnamon. Custer was indeed imbued with vanity for his personal appearance; in particular his long, flowing head of golden hair. He would religiously comb and then treat his hair with a cinnamon scented tonic. After the war, his troops' nickname for him was Iron Butt, apparently due to Custer's penchant for extremely long horse marches.

Custer's hometown: Custer was born in Ohio

Custer attended the Military Academy, at West Point, but was not a strong academic. He placed last in his class.

Custer was the youngest U.S. General at the time at age 23. He actually was demoted to lieutenant so he wouldn't have too much power.

Custer attacked at Five Forks. The Confederates, led by Major General George Pickett, were overwhelmed and lost 5,200 men. On hearing the news, Robert E. Lee decided to abandon Richmond and President Jefferson Davis, his family and government officials, was forced to flee from the city.

By the end of the war Custer had been brevetted for gallant and meritorious services on five occasions. Although only wounded once he had 11 horses killed under him.

Custer was outgoing: Custer was not shy or reserved

Custer was afraid of... water. Custer was deathly afraid of it.

Custer's leaders: Marcos Reno and Frederick Benteen hated Custer. They hated him because they thought he was an egomaniac.

Custer's Role Model: President Ulysses Grant. He was his role model because he was a military hero and U.S. president, something Custer wanted very badly. Unfortunately, Grant did not take a liking to Custer.

Battle of the Little Big Horn lasted 2 days. Custer was dead by on the first day the battle started.

These were some fascinating facts about General Armstrong Custer. I hope you and your kids find them fascinating, too. Watch the movie, Night at the Museum 2 with your kiddos, we are going to be studying each historical figure in depth from the movie, watch for our next one next Tuesday!

When you learn through living, everyday life presents learning opportunities, as well as the excitement from you to show them something new. Reading about General George Custer just might lead to more study and maybe a library visit for some more books on this historical figure!

Our Unschooling Game Plan This Week

2011-10-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've spent a little time with the kids figuring out all we wanted to learn and do this week and have written it all out in detail in my planner. I've also spent some time thinking of all the different ideas I wanted to introduce them to; here are some of our unschooling game plan this week and I look forward to sharing them with you!

We are going to take a look at the historical figure, George Armstrong Custer. We watched the movie, Night at the Museum2, and became inspired. I'll be posting a lot of great facts about him.

My mom is Sicilian, and we are going to study Sicily this week for our Theme Nights from Around the World! This is going to be fun, as we prepare and eat (as we always do) a Sicilian dish, study its culture, religion, agriculture and much more.

I have a great book review this week...I have read and have given my teens this book and can't wait to share it with you. These authors were homeschooled themselves and their book dares teens to be more and do more, for God.

My parenting tip/vlog this week is about mindful parenting and challenging the use of punishments to modify children's behavior.

I've got a fun kid craft that I think you and your kids will have fun creating together.

What is your unschooling game plan?

In case you missed the, Homeschooling Belle Happenings, watch the video to find out!

Homeschooling Belle Happenings

2011-10-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

I always plan my unschooling week and thought that I would start sharing my week of plans with you every Monday and what each day will bring here at Homeschooling Belle.

I would like to encourage you to do the same, by spending a little time on Sunday in planning your unschooling week and writing down all of it's details for your children's learning goals and sharing them with us!

What you'll find here each day at Homeschooling Belle:

Mondays: Sharing our unschooling plans for the week

Tuesday: Historical Figures...Taking a look at some great people in our history

Wednesday: Theme Day...Exploring a new country with its food, culture and customs

Thursday: Great book finds...Sharing some of my favorite book finds

Friday: Parenting tip: Wonderful tips and tricks that I've learned and what works and doesn't work and sharing them with you.

Saturdays: Craft day/experiments and more! Fun finds and projects we've done.

Are Rewards Effective in Motivating Children to Learn?

2011-10-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

How to Make Homemade Chalk

2011-09-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Friends, I found this over at Homeschooling-Ideas.com and just loved it! With the beautiful weather outside this one will be so fun to make with your kiddos!

Firstly, collect together the items you need.

Plaster of Paris or Egg shells.
Tempera Paint (yes - good old poster paint!). You can use either the liquid or powder versions.
Old bowls or pots for mixing - we use empty tin cans or yogurt pots.
Molds -
Water.
Spatula or old spoon.
Possibly needed - Wax paper and/or petroleum jelly. Duct tape. Tin foil or film wrap.

Next you need to pepare your molds. Kitchen rolls or toilet rolls should be cut to size if they are too long for you. Tape over one end to stop the chalk mixture running out when you fill them (we used duct tape). They also will need lining with wax paper or freezer paper to make them waterproof. Disposable molds like yogurt pots won't need any preparation - you can always cut them away from the chalk if they get stuck. Coat any other molds (such as your baking trays or ice cube trays) with petroleum jelly so the chalk will slip out easily when dry. Or alternatively (and better in my experience - I have never got the petroleum jelly thing to work) you could line them with tin foil or film wrap.

Science tip :
Plaster of Paris is a chemical that reacts with water and heats up to pretty hot temperatures that could burn you. For this reason, do NOT allow your children to poke their fingers in the chalk mixture when mixing or pouring. You can find a science lesson plan that looks at this reaction here. But, so you don't worry, Plaster of paris is non-toxic so the finished chalks are safe for the children to handle.

Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of your paint into a bowl and add a cup of water. Mix, then begin adding the plaster of paris slowly, mixing as you go. You probably need to check the instructions on the packet to get a better idea of how much to use, but my packet said add until all the water was absorbed! I kept going until I ended up with a thick custard/cake batter type mix.

Pour or spoon the mixture into your molds and leave to set. It will probably take a few hours! When set you can remove the chalks from their molds but they may need longer to dry out before you can use them (leave them overnight).

Tip : Don't pour any leftover mixture down the drain - it could well block it. Pour leftovers into an old container that you can bin - or combine leftovers to make a handprint of your child.

When they are dry you can use your homemade chalks for some sidewalk drawing - or make up chalk games such as hopscotch, tic tac toe or marble games.

More Chalk Ideas

Eggshell Chalk
No plaster of paris? How about using eggshells instead? There is a nice document here with step by step instructions and a lesson plan. You are going to need about 6 egg shells per stick of chalk. Sounds like an excuse for a cake to me!

Dont have a sidewalk you can use your homemade chalk on? Fear not. Check out this great way to make your own chalkboard paint. And if that inspires you, read out this great homeschool chalkboard wall idea.

Harnessing Learning Goals

2011-09-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Unschooling for us is taking the time to create learning goals for ourselves. This is an exciting time for everyone because we are exploring our interests and writing it down as an action plan. It's invigorating and keeps us active and fulfilled. Not all unschooling families do this, but for us; it is the only way to live. Teaching your children to be an active force in their lives, prepares them for life. They will learn to not just to float along taking life as it comes, but rather being the orchestrator of their lives and an active participant! Here are some tips that we use to plan out our unschooling year.

Check into the Planner Perfect, planner, over at my Planner Perfect blog. It is, The Complete Home Management System. This planner harness goals for you and your family, monthly, and is the perfect place to write down monthly learning goals. It is set-up for every mom to use easily, and you can manage everything from schooling to your complete home management... all in one place!

Plan as a group:
Take the time to sit with your children and make group plans of how you want each month to look. Each month has a fun feel to it such as September for the Apple Festivals and apple picking, zoo trips, and as many outdoor activities you can muster in this nice fall weather. Keep going with your months as far as you can.

Break your children into age groups:
Then sit with your children in age groups (depending on how many you have of course!) I have seven children, so I put my smaller children together and discuss with them what fun projects we can do together and bring to the table all of my ideas that I've prepped for and what I'd like to introduce to them. This smaller age-group of around 6-9 love fun ideas and hands-on learning. So the sky is the limit with them, so get creative and get their ideas and show them yours. Your planner will be filled to the brim on all the learning and activities you'll want to do.

The older children are going to be more individual with their plans and want to set personal goals for themselves and use their talents. This is where we can help them find their talents, if they don't already know of them, and help guide them into activities and set learning goals that help facilitate and help them grow in these areas.

Taking time to listen:
I know when they hit the teenage years it is crucial you know their needs. With unschooling it is part of our role to make sure that their learning and social needs are met. It is a personal decision for each family to make if highschool is an option if your teen wants to try it out, but for us, we try to ward off even the curiosity.

Teens love to keep busy and be around their peers. This is important that you make that happen for them. Create fun groups in your home on a regular basis such as book clubs, game nights, and/or movie nights and put them in classes that evolve around their interests and keep them active. Make sure they have their learning goals in place and keep the teens that prefer structure, structured, with their own plans they have set for themselves. Have them keep a planner of their own with just a spiral notebook or a calendar. (Planner Perfect will be coming out with a planner just for teens!) I have found that as children grow into their teen years, they like the structure. No problem! Unschooling is following a child's interests and if they want structure and/or even structured studies...fantastic! They are learning according to their own desires and that is what keeps them forever learners and leaders of their own destinies. What a powerful teaching tool! No one is telling them what they have to know, no one is grading them on their performance, no one is making them take a Spanish class, if they don't desire to learn it.

Unschooled children want to learn all the time! And we have a big job as parents to be their guides and help them obtain their learning goals every step of the way.

Watch this video on more of how we plan our unschooling year...

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Video Post...The Worth of a Day

2011-08-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a look into my family's typical unschooling day...

Being a Mother of Four Boys...

2011-07-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to be apart of the M.O.B. blog hop! Where it's all about boys...

I am a homeschooling mama of seven amazing children; four of them being boys. Their ages are fifteen, eleven, six and three. Raising boys is so much fun because they are, well, different than me. Not to mention I love their adventurous spirit, their love for everything dirty, insects, Nerf guns, and monster trucks. I also love the relationship between my boys and my husband who shares his love for the outdoors and hunting with them. He has a wonderful time teaching them everything he knows... that is always fun to watch.

But along with the fun, as with raising girls, it can have it's challenging times, too. My boys have strong temperaments (All four of them!) and part of my mission with my boys is to teach them how to temper, their temperaments and guide them to be spirit-filled. All temperaments are wonderful and keeping them spirit-filled gives them the tools they need to utilize it for God's glory.

I have learned so much raising children these past eighteen years, have learned most through my failures, and God is faithful, guiding my husband and I the whole way. I am not done learning and love to be inspired by other blogs, such as M.O.B. Society, and I've opened my eyes to other parenting alternatives that has enriched my life and taught me much in how children respond best to instruction and learn. I also can't express enough about learning from wise older mothers who have traveled this path before me.

Being raised in a Christian home, I was saved when I was seven years old. I remember it like it was yesterday; my mom also had me write a scripture in my journal to mark the special day...

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall have everlasting life.

I have learned a lot from my mother, I emulate this special time that I experienced with my mom accepting Christ as my Savior, and enjoy the time I have with each of my children when they accept Christ for the first time. They mark the special day, too, by writing down the date they became saved with their special verse in a journal.

It is my mission as a Christian mother to teach my children about Jesus and how He is the Way the Truth and the Light. I want all of my children to come to know God as their personal savior, and enjoy the privilege of showing them Jesus in our everyday lives.

This blog is all about our unschooling journey, a parenting and learning journey, that is based on scripture, and non-traditional. What do I mean by not traditional? It isn't mainstream; and you'll see what I mean throughout my blog. I hope to inspire you to slow down, to listen to your kids more, lesson the reigns of control a little less, and enjoy your children to the fullest.

For more on me you can check out my other blogs: Planner Perfect, a blog about organizing your life and your home and I introduce the perfect planner that harnesses it all. It is your Complete Home Management System. I am very excited about my eBook that is, The Complete Home Management Guide, soon to be published on Kindle in October, and is ready for download here at Planner Perfect.

Come visit me over at Planner Perfect Meals, where you can find amazing meals made from scratch. If you take the time to plan your meals and incorporate a baking day each week, you and your family can enjoy amazing meals that your children will remember forever. Nothing beats the smells and aromas that come from the kitchen; it creates memories. You'll love these printable recipes that your whole family will love and includes tricks, and money saving tips on creating family friendly meals that are beyond ordinary.

My camping cookbook eBook is in the works, filled with my favorite camp-out recipes. Filled with tried-and-true recipes and camping, planning tips. It is is scheduled to be out next spring!

Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter:
The Complete Home Management System
Planner Perfect
Planner Perfect Meals
Homeschooling Belle
Twitter

I hope you enjoy my blog on our unschooled life...full of all I have learned from having a large family, full of messy, fun, kids and teenagers and one wonderful husband...this is our unschooled life...Homeschooling Belle.

My contact information is: Jenny@PlannerPerfect.com

A Summer Flip-Flop Craft

2011-07-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Plan to Make These Flip-Flops This Summer

These are so cute and I found them over at the Craft Junkie. My daughter, Maddy, told me she saw some kids in the neighborhood with water balloon flip-flops and wanted to make some. We did a little Google search and viola! Found some and aren't they cute? With just some inexpensive flip-flops and some water balloons, you've got a cute and fun craft for the kiddos! Check out her site, here, for her simple instructions. After I found these, I put it in my planner on when to buy supplies and when to create them. We're off! I'll show you my finished projects, soon...

planning summer fun

2011-06-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ten Summer-Fun Ideas To Do With Your Kids

Swimming is always the best way to celebrate summer and cool down from the heat. But what other ideas are out there? Well, here are some of my top 10 picks for summer fun...

Reading together!

Instead of summer reading programs that try to inspire reading for prizes, try reading together, or find great books, together, for them as summer reads and inspire reading for the love of it, instead.
Reading books that are coming out in theaters, is a lot of fun, too. Judy Moody's, The Not Summer Bummer, is coming to theaters this summer, 2011, and we are reading it now and excited to see the movie together!
I have some fun reads that my children loved me reading to them all summer long. Try these out for your family...

Bowling

A lot of bowling alleys offer free summer bowling. Check out your area for one near you!

kids bowl free.com has a list of participating bowling alleys .
Rain or shine, bowling is always fun!

Go Camping!
We're big campers. We've done the tent thing and have graduated to the camper:) But camping doesn't mean you have to leave your back yard. You can always set-up camp in your yard, catch fire flys and make s'mores all in the comforts of your back yard. No matter where you are, it will create wonderful memories!

Do Fun Crafts
What child doesn't like crafts? I know my oldest daughter was obsessed! When is craft time? When is craft time? She would always ask. And to be honest, sometimes I just wanted to say, never, sweet pea! But got out the ol' glue, paper and scissors anyway. :)
Here are some fun summer-time crafts to do with your kids: 36 Family Fun Summer Crafts
Click here for my soap making, play-dough and other boredom busters!

4th of July, Fun!
The 4th of July is the smack dab in the middle of summer and is so fun to celebrate. Not only is it a great way to study some history on our country's independence, but also a time to make some Independence Day, crafts and games, and make a flag cake, together!

Have a Lemonade Stand
My children love doing this! I throw in some homemade cookies to sell, too and they've, now, made some real money!
This is a wonderful way to teach them about money and business. I have my children help pay for the ingredients and cups, help make the cookies and lemonade, and teach them about money. Just teach according to age and they will have a fun way to help celebrate summer!

Philanthropy
Teaching our children about helping others is one way to show love this summer. Check out this link for some charitable activities to do as a family

Host a summer slumber party
This one my girls just love, but doesn't mean your sons can't throw a dude bash. Pizza, some fun decore, plan a scavenger hunt and make a fun cake; you've got yourself a killer start to a great sleepover. Include nail painting and girly masks for a girl sleepover, and movies and PS3 games for the boys. Fun that they'll always remember!

Have a Movie night
I love watching movies with the whole family. Drive-in movies are a lot of fun in the summer and/or saving to see the summer kid-friendly movies in the theaters, is worth every penny. We've rented movie projectors and have watched movies in our yard outdoors, invited the neighbors and popped popcorn. What fun! Lay out blankets and throw some pillows out on the lawn and you've got some serious summer fun!
But it doesn't mean you can't have just as much fun watching a great movie at home. Pop a big bowl of popcorn to share and snuggle in on a summer night.

Go to a Summer Concert...
I know Life Light is an amazing summer concert with amazing Christian artists. It is a fun way to celebrate summer!

There you have it! My top 10 all time favorite summer fun ideas! For planning tips on these and much more visit Planner Perfect, for more on the ultimate organizer!

The Parent/Teen Relationship

2011-05-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Parent/Teen Relationship

Having a lot of children and meeting all of their needs is definitely a challenge. Having three of them teenagers, adds even more of a challenge. One of the components to having a home that thrives is having open communication. I want each of my children and especially my teens to be able to come to either my husband or I and tell us anything; whether it be about their frustrations, what they want in life, or talking openly about what they need help with, without the fear of disappointing us. Teaching them how to communicate with us helps them understand how relationships work, enables us to be there for them as guides and teachers, and keeps me on my toes with being approachable, so all of this can happen. Without being open to hear respectful criticism from our children, or use our relationship to our full advantage, we’ll be missing out on being a tremendous influence in their lives.

I haven’t been always approachable and when it came to my oldest daughter wanting to go to a public high school…she told me that she was afraid to ask me when it was too late. That hurt both of us. From that point on, giving my fears to God on everything on an ongoing basis, gives me the comfort, confidence, and wisdom I need to be the mother they need.

I learned that nothing is too fearful to talk about and I wanted each one of my children to know that, too, from that moment on. Even if it meant they wanted to give the ol’ high school a try or more serious matters like sex, drugs and alcohol.

I had a situation the other day where my oldest son, whom is near fifteen years old, wanted me to run him to his buddy’s house. Simple, right? Not when you have a houseful of kids who want to go along for the ride. At first, I didn’t see a problem with them tagging along even though they could have stayed at home with an older sister, but soon it came clear. Chaos ensued with seating arrangements in our vehicle, someone was telling the other that they had bad breath and the comments, chaos, and crying children kept up the whole ride, there. My oldest son had had it! He bellowed with his deep voice, that he hated everyone; and never wanted to see them again. When we finally, what seemed like hours, arrived at his destination he just jumped out of the car without even looking at me and slammed the door. I took my thoughts, semi-hurt feelings, and my chaos back home with me and had to do some pondering and praying. My knee-jerk reaction was to be angry with all my chaotic children and then with my son on how he treated everyone, including myself, and call him up to tell him so!

But with much needed prayer, I knew clearly how to use this as a teachable moment for all involved. Just by calling him up and sympathizing with my son, Taylor, on our horrible car ride, helped diffuse the situation and strengthened our relationship. He agreed to communicate with me what his expectations are ahead of time so we are on the same page and we talked on how in-turn that will reduce frustrations and unneeded hurtful words, expressed. Now to get my young children to keep it down on our car rides…that’s another story!

Our teens need us more now than ever and we don’t want to blow it. This is our last chance to pour out as much guidance, and inspiration as allowed by them and we don’t want to ruin it with over- controlling maneuvers and punishments.

Don’t let the pride and the success of your parenting be based on how your teens behave; something I've really had to come to terms with raising children. Once you have this released...you can focus on what truly matters most and with teens, it's your relationship.

Taken from the book, Parent/Teen Breakthrough. The Relationship Approach by Mira Kirshenbaum and Charles Foster, Ph.D.:

Start thinking of yourself as a successful parent when this is present:

· Your kid talks to you
· Your kid listens to you
· There’s an easy atmosphere of give-and-take between you
· You can have fights and can make up
· You can laugh together
· Your kid comes to you for advice from time to time
· You have fun together
· There’s a growing sense of your having an adult-to-adult relationship
· Your kid tells you some of his problems
· Your kid introduces you to the people in his life
· You can get your needs met with him even if you sometimes have to struggle to do so

The teen years, isn’t an easy one but with the relationship approach you have an advantage to be the support, influence and needed guidance they need.

Bento Meals with a Twist

2011-05-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

Bento Meals with a Twist!

Japanese boxed lunches are called bento or obento. These meals are all the rage in Japan where mothers think of them as an expression of love for their children. I found this fun site called Muffin Tin Mom that was so cute and creative, I thought I'd share it with you. She took the Japanese concept and made her own twist using muffin tins to encase your child's lunch. It is so fun; my small and not-so-small children, love it! You'll want to check out her site for more.

This is so fun to shake up our lunches since out children are home with us. I found since serving lunch this way that they are introduced to more food groups and are fuller, longer. I use the 6 muffin tin and it is just perfect. Don't take my word for it...check this out for yourself and have fun making this for your babes!

This is the book of inspiration for Muffin Tin Meals... I did buy the book and it is filled with fun lunch foods. Japanese meals never looked so cute!

Have fun

Resurrection Eggs for Easter

2011-04-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Make Your Own Resurrection Eggs This Easter

Resurrection eggs have been around for awhile and I simply love them. But making them with your children can be even more meaningful.

What you'll need:

An empty egg carton

A dozen plastic eggs

11 items that signify Jesus' death and rising

Printable verses to be applied and read with each egg

Markers/colors or whatever you want to decorate your resurrection eggs carton

Each egg will represent what happens leading up to Jesus' crucifixion to the last egg which is empty signifying Jesus' empty tomb. Each egg should be numbered from 1-12 to keep it easy and in chronological order. Read each verse that corresponds with egg to tell the story. Your kids will love this...

Print this out and cut out the verses. Staple together and keep in the carton for easy reading.

Egg #1--Bread. You can use a crouton, small piece of bread or a whatever you like.

Matthew :26

While they were eating Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. "Take it and eat it," He said, "This is My body."

Egg #2--Coins. I used nickles to signify the event

Matthew 26:14-15

Then one of the twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, "What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?" They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.

Egg #3--Purple cloth

Mark 15:17

They put a robe on Jesus

Egg #4--Thorns. I got mine from our rose bush

Matthew 27:29

Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. "Long live the King, of the Jews!" they said.

Egg #5--Scourge (a small piece of rope or string)

Mark 15:15

Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crusified.

Egg #6--Cross (I used an old wooden cross from a necklace)

John 19: 17-18a

He went out, carrying His cross, and came to "The Place of the Skull," as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Galgotha.") There they crucified Him

Egg #7--Nails

John 20:25b

Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe."

Egg #8--sign (We made this ourselves and covered it in tape to make it sturdy)

Luke 23:38

Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Egg #9 sponge

Matthew 27:48

One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it one the end of a stick; and tried to make Him drink it.

Egg #10--spear ( we made on out of paper, colored it and wrapped it in tape to keep in sturdy)

John 19:34

One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out.

Egg #11--rock

Matthew 27: 59-60

Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Egg #12--Empty

Matthew 28:6

He is not here He has risen just as He said

Have a wonderful time assembling this and reading it together every Easter.

Check out Planner Perfect Meals for menu planning, my mother's amazing hot cross buns to serve on Good Friday and my 4-strand Challah to serve for Easter dinner. You will love these recipes...

Hot Cross Buns...fun for the kids to help make and taste out of this world!

The traditional 4-strand Challah. Perfect for Easter dinner. Check out PPM for complete instruction on braiding this masterpiece!

Planner Perfect is your Easter planning headquarters! Hop over there for great tips on how to get your whole Easter planned, from your menu, and decore, to you and your children's Easter outfits...

Have a beautiful Easter!

how to hollow-out eggs

2011-04-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hollowed Eggs--How-To

This was so much fun! My children loved doing this and I know yours will, too. These have many versatile uses...for this, we are going to use these to adorn our Easter tree.

What you'll need:

eggs--as many as you want to hollow

dye--you can dye these naturally, or with a dye kit

push-pin--for creating a small hole at both ends of the egg

a bowl--to catch the yolks being blown out of the egg

Instruction:

Poke a whole with your push-pin, gently, at both ends of your eggs. Once you get that tiny hole, start to wiggle it a little to create it a little bigger. You'll need to be able to blow in it. Same with the hole at the bottom, the yolk has to be able to get through, fairly easily.

Shake the egg, gently, to break up the yoke for easy removal. Begin to blow on one end over your bowl and watch the yolk come out! Continue to do this with all of your eggs, rinsing the egg the best you can with water once finished. Dry the outside of the egg off for the dying process.

Dye as desired and let dry completely before using for your Easter tree.

how to create an Easter tree

2011-04-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Create an Easter Tree This Easter

It is simple, fun to do, and makes quite the appearance. Here's what you'll need:

printable

What you'll need:

eggs that have been hollowed-out

thin ribbon

tiny flowers--you can either use little iron-on flowers, or I used silk tiny flowers and picked them off their stem

medium to large sized vase

faux moss found in craft supply stores

branches--you can find these on your own outside, or in craft supply stores. I actually found mine at a floral shop.

hot-glue gun

little tiny birds and butterflies--these have a clip on them that you can get at craft supply stores. (optional) I do not have these on mine, yet, but they are so pretty and can be attached to the branches with their clip, signifying spring.

Assembly:

Place your branches in your vase with your moss and pack the moss around it. You want it to be sturdy and stay in place.

To create your egg ornaments, place a little hot glue at the narrow end of your egg, where the pin-whole was when hollowing out your egg. The flower is then placed over the whole, which hides it, and then the ribbon it attached to one side and then the other creating a loop to be able to hang from your Easter tree.

Continue to assemble all of your eggs this way.

Adorn your new tree with your newly-made Easter ornaments! I also wrapped my vase with some pretty polka-dot green ribbon. Simply beautiful...

boredom busters--dixie tower fun

2011-03-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Dixie Tower Fun

What's more fun than making a Dixie cup tower in your pj's...to my crew, nothing! Who knew? They count them, stack them, top them and drop them.

Give the gift of Dixie cups to your children... it will entertain and teach for hours!

All About Toads

2011-03-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

All About Toads!

There is something about toads and frogs that children just love. They hop, they make funny noises and are fun to catch. We live near a lake and a forest line so this time of year is when all the toads come out to play. My daughter, Belle, in particular is very fond of them and wants to call it George and keep it forever and ever.

We decided to give keeping a toad as a pet a try...for just a little bit anyway. This way we can study him, and enjoy watching him. Here are some amazing facts that we learned about toads:

Toads are adapted to living on land. Their skin is rough and bumpy

They lay their eggs in gelatinous strings in water

They hatch underwater and develop legs and arms and lose their tails and gills

My Brock holding our toad

We are going to the lake to find tadpoles so we can watch their transformation from tadpole to toad! We will post when we catch some...

Male toads are noisy and more so during mating season in the spring

If you want to try keeping a toad for a little bit you must make it as close to his habitat as possible. This is what you'll need:

Soil for the bottom of the aquarium or tub
An aquarium with a lid or tall bucket so he cannot jump out
a hollowed out log, or tipped flower pot to hide under.
A little container of water that is half a toad deep, two toads wide and four toads long. Using filtered water only and changing once a day
mist his home with water when and soil gets too dry

Food:

Toads are carnivores. They eat on meat and like bugs, worms and especially rolly polly pill bugs. Feed them about every 2-3 days. If they are not eating, it is usually just because they are not hungry.

Here is some info. on how to tell what sex your toad is:

Female toads are generally larger because of the many eggs they carry.

Females have thinner arms than males, which have stronger, muscular forearms.

During the breeding season, male toads have dark "thumbs" or metatarsal knobs on their front legs. These extra rough patches enable them to clamp a female during breeding season. (The thumbs return to normal once breeding season is over.)

Male toads are noisier, as the females make no sound.

During breeding season, the male's throat sac is darker.

Learning from every day wonders...

Homeschooling Belle

Plan Theme Nights from Around the World with Your Kids

2011-03-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Plan Theme Nights with Your Children

Next Stop...Ireland!

I grew up with a full-blooded Italian mother, so as you could imagine we never celebrated Saint Patrick's day. I'm pretty sure we had spaghetti and meatballs on that day and never wore green. :) I love her!

I never celebrated it with my children, either, until I realized what a perfect invitation this day is to explore this country with our children and make it a theme night!

We Made Treasure Boxes

We created fun boxes of treasure for the leprechauns to hide their treasure. They decorated them with stickers and markers. I found little plastic containers in the dollar isle at Target and filled them with little treasures from a local party store.

A Treasure Hunt

I went to the bank and cashed out $10 for $1 gold coin pieces. These were perfect for the kids to find with clues to find their hidden treasures! With eight clues...they all had a blast seeking their gold coins and unraveling clues.

We read about Saint Patrick and how it all originated, too. Here is the link to this information. We spent the day at the library and also looked at books on Ireland and then paid my $13 dollar late fee before I left. That was the only not fun part.

It was quite wonderful to understand the history and more about the country.

We of course had some green pancakes, but instead of all of the pancakes being green, which I thought was too unappetizing, made just a few green ones and free-formed a small shamrock and placed it on top of their pancake stack! Check out PPM for my delicious, pancake recipe to die for. With some bacon, eggs and mini bagels, we didn't eat again until dinner...well almost.

Shepherd's pie, a beautiful salad and cupcakes to end the evening was a fun way to celebrate our Saint Patrick's day. Check out Planner Perfect Meals
for all these recipes and so much more!

Have a wonderful time learning about Saint Patrick's day!

Slán cairde maithe

Translation: Good bye friends

Plan Theme Nights from Around the World with Your Kids

2011-03-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

Plan Theme Nights with Your Children

Next Stop...Mexico!

Honestly, when I embarked on this with my children as a fun way to learn, I didn't know it would be this much fun! Lucky for me, I have a wonderful friend who lives up the street from me who not only has some Mexican in her, but cooks and speaks it, too. She was the one to call when it came to planning my day with authentic foods and fun. Plan this one with your children and let the fun begin!

Yes, we made a pinata. What fun it was, too. Print off these simple instructions and give yourself at least 3-4 days to complete. I planned for my Mexican theme on a Wednesday and started the pinata on Sunday.

printable recipe

To make the glue:
3 cups flour
2 cups water
Stir to make a paste

Newspaper, torn into strips
1 balloon
streamers, markers anything you want to decorate your pinata
regular Elmer's glue
candy and small pinata toys
heavy duty string to hold up your pinata
aprons...this gets messy

(you can use shaped balloons, too, to create fun ones other than a circle). I used just a regular balloon for us newbies and thought I'd get more creative once I had this one mastered.

Blow up the balloon and dip the strips of newspaper into the homemade glue paste and lay all over the balloon. Do this to cover the whole balloon, giving it a good 3 coat coverage of dipped newspaper. Allow to dry, it takes about 3 days. I had mine sit in a bowl to help circulation of air. Keep rotating the balloon in the bowl to ensure it is all drying well.

Once dry, pop the balloon, and it's time to decorate! We used streamers of all different colors and glued them on. We even had some hanging off the bottom. I just let the kids have at it and they had a lot of fun!

Now cut, carefully a hole (just half of one so you can close the flap) at the top to fill in the candy. You can take out the deflated balloon in the inside.

Cut two holes on each side of the hole at the top and tie tough string through and tie. This will enable you to tie another piece of yarn to it as a way to harness it up high to hit. I used our swing-set, taking out one of the swings to accommodate all the swinging.

Load it up full of candy, grab a handkerchief if some children want to be blindfolded, a stick (we used a broom) and you're ready for some true Mexican fun!

ahora es el momento para la cena

Translation: Now it's time for dinner!

We had fun making guacamole, and homemade tortillas for a full taco bar.

Delicioso!

You will never eat or buy store-bought tortillas again. This is easy, fun, and everyone can help. Click here to get the full menu for our Mexican night over at PPM, Planner Perfect Meals.

For dessert...Churros!

My friend, when suggesting this recipe for us for dessert, rolled her r's when pronouncing the name Churro. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! The nerve being so darn cute saying it with an accent...one of the many reasons why I love her:)

Read about this country together in your day, practice some Spanish together, (it makes for great dinner discussion) and end the meal with breaking the pinata! This way Dad can celebrate with everyone.

Learning about Mexico will be fun and educational for all involved. My 6-yr. old son told me it was the best day ever!

Have fun on your theme night...and share some countries you do with your children!

Plan Theme Nights from Around the World with Your Kids

2011-03-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Plan a Theme Night
First stop...China!

I am in love with planning theme nights with my children. It is such a wonderful way to learn about other countries and have a fun time, too. Over at Planner Perfect I get into the details of how to plan for these, themed nights and I used Italy as my first example.

China is on the agenda for one of our days this week over here at Homeschooling Belle and I thought I'd share with you some of our fun we had planned.

We made Chinese lanterns for our China party

Tools Needed:

Construction paper

colors or markers

scissors

glue sticks

They were a lot of fun to make; I got the idea from Family Fun. Have your child color pretty designs on a standard 81/2 x 11 construction paper and fold length-wise. Then using scissors, cut 1-inch strips along the seam leaving a 1-inch border on the top and sides. Open and glue the short edges together and making a handle for the top. Hang these as above to create beautiful decore for your Chinese theme.

Read about China at your local library or book store.

I love going to Borders to read about our chosen country. For one, we don't have to be so quiet, and two, we can order our favorite hot cocoas and lattes! Nothing beats reading together while enjoying our favorite beverages...even my two-year-old, reads his favorite books. Everyone can join in on the fun.

Make your family's favorite Chinese food...it will be the hit of the night!

We made homemade ramen for our first course, crab rangoons and chicken egg rolls as our main entree, and last but not least, homemade fortune cookies with special messages made by yours truly. It was such a fun night!

Chop sticks were a must at this special dinner and everyone had a fun time trying to use them.

Make homemade fortune cookies.

Fun and easy to make, nothing beats making it from scratch and inserting your own messages. We had a blast ending our meal with special messages. Click above to get this easy and fun recipe!

This was our night opening our homemade fortune cookies and I asked for everyone to read their special messages. My oldest son didn't kiss me like his fortune instructed.
A mom can try can't she?
You'll love creating your own special messages for your children to enjoy!

Planner Perfect Meals has all of these printable recipes for you to make for your Chinese Theme party.

Learning has never been so fun!

make your own soap

2011-03-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

Honey Oatmeal Soap

This was so much fun! With ingredients you have in your own home and just the extra ingredient of glycerin, you and your children will have homemade soap in a snap. We used some honey, oatmeal, cinnamon and clove...when you wash your hands you smell like apple pie! Ahhh, life's simple pleasures...

This main soap concoction is Martha Stewart's, and you have infinite possibilities.

Glycerin, you can get this at Micheals, or any craft store. I used the clear glycerin for the soap above

Cinnamon

Oatmeal

Ground clove

Chamomile tea

You can use mold containers that are found at the craft supply stores. I used heart shaped ones that were only a couple dollars for each that came with 5 or so molds per sheet. But you can use containers you have in your home, such as yogurt cups, cottage cheese containers, or any container you think would make a fun shape.

For each cup of clear glycerin, add 1 tsp. honey and 2 pinches ginger, cinnamon-clove (2 pinches, each), and 2 tsp. oatmeal.

Melting:

To determine how much glycerin you need, fill your mold(s) with water, then pour it into a liquid measuring cup. Chop glycerin into 1/2 inch chunks with a bench scraper. Microwave in a bowl or glass measuring cup covered with a paper towel on medium for 30-seconds intervals until melted but not boiling (you can also use a double boiler). Stir until smooth. Skim off bubbles with a spoon.

If using food coloring: Use a toothpick to add food coloring, stirring until desired color is reached. regeat for 15 second to even out. Mix in essential oil (4-5 drops per 1 cup of glycerin) or other addivtives.

This is great if your making kids soap. Use a small yogurt cups. (I like the Greek yogurt cups, they have the perfect shape for this. Pour some of your desired soap in the container, put a small toy in such as a small ball, dice, small frog, jack, the sky is the limit, and pour more soap mixture over the top. Let set, and pop out! These make wonderful gifts! For more recipes, there are an abundant on-line. Just Google it and you'll find some.

Molding:

To begin, coat mold with a vegetable-oil spray, wipe out excess. Pour melted soap into a prepared mold, then spray the surface with rubbing alcohol to eliminate any bubbles on the top of soap. Let harden to 2 hours. Then release from mold.

I loved making these and know you and your children will, too!

Happy Homeschooling!

learning at the zoo

2011-03-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

The zoo is a wonderful place to draw and learn. Even when it's cold outside, you can go into the warm buildings such as an aquarium, or the jungle to sit and watch, draw and learn about all the animals.

Today, we packed snacks, colored pencils and our drawing pads and went for a field trip. We sat with our legs crossed and drew the whole afternoon. We wrote the name of our specimens at the top of each page so we could further learn about the animals at home.

This was a fun day and the kids and I drew a lot of beautiful pictures. Try a drawing day at your local zoo or aquarium...your children will love it!

Zoo day March 2011

science experiment

2011-03-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

An Amazing Eggs-periment

Materials Needed:

Peeled, hard-boiled egg

Glass returnable milk bottle

Bowl of cold water

Hot tap water

Dish gloves

This was a lot of fun and we tried it two ways: #1 with using just the hot tap water and #2 with using a flame at the bottom of the jar. Both worked and both were fun. The video here is my son using the flame, well...because he likes to play with fire.

First when doing this video, try having your kids push the hard boiled egg down the neck of the milk jar without breaking it. Give up? Now place the egg in a bowl of cold water. Meanwhile, place the milk bottle under hot top water for a minute or so, letting it fill. Then, wearing dish gloves to protect your hands, empty the water down the drain (a parents, job). Quickly place the egg, tapered end down, on the mouth of the bottle and watch carefully. The egg slowly gets sucked into the bottle with a satisfying thunk. That's because the hot air inside the bottle is less dense and thus lower pressure than the cooler outside air. The difference creates a suction that pulls the squishy egg through the bottle neck.

boredom busters: a big color day

2011-03-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

You know those days...winter does it to everybody I think, but this idea made my kids color their little hearts out for hours! At Micheals hobby and craft store, they have these coloring pages on a large roll. I bought a hidden pictures from Highlights, a plain roll, and a zoo theme. They have been entertained for hours... and at $2 a roll, you can't beat it.

So, roll out some fun at your house and create some beautiful artwork!

boredom busters: edible play-doh

2011-03-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Edible Play-Doh...yummo!

This recipe is fun to make with your children and they can eat it, too. There are several recipes out there to try, but this one is our favorite! Add mini chocolate chips, pretzels, raisins or cheerios and not only will you have a masterpiece, you can eat it when you're done!

printable recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups instant dry milk
2/3 cup honey

Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and your ready to play!
I put mini chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels, and cheerios in small bowls on the table to use for their art.

Boredom Busters: The Best Play-Clay Recipe

2011-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

Do you need some boredom-buster ideas?

This Family Fun play-clay is fun and entertains little ones for hours. This recipe is the best one I've tried--add food coloring and you've got wonderful colorful fun!

This recipe makes 4 softball size play-clay as shown above.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup salt

1 tsp. cream of tarter

2 cups water

2 tsp. vegetable oil

food coloring

Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, and oil in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it holds together (keep mixing or it will stick to the bottom fo the pan). When the clay is cool enough to handle, knead it on a floured surface, divide it into smaller balls, and add a different shade of food coloring to each ball.

(I used small plastic bags on my hand to mix the food coloring for mess/stain-free hands!)

President's Day Craft

2011-02-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

Craft Day

Abraham Lincoln's Cabin and Story

I found this on Martha Stewart and thought it was so fun to do with our kids on President's Day.With just a 1/2 pint rinsed milk carton, creamy peanut butter as your mortar, pretzel sticks, thin crackers and graham crackers, you've got yourself Abraham's log cabin, mini-style.

Here is a great story about Abraham Lincoln to share with your children, too, to go along with your craft. As well as word puzzles, and other print-outs.

Happy President's Day full of learning!

Homeschool Blog Hop--Deschooling Thyself...

2011-02-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Unschooling came naturally for my little ones and actually for me, too, in my children's younger years. There is always so much to do and see for young ones and they soak their world up like a sponge. Whether it was from books, the library, their endless questions that we took the time to answer in depth, or from legos...they were learning from their world around them and I felt good about it. I think a lot of traditional homeschooling families understand what I'm talking about here, because learning in the world outside of curriculum is a wonderful benefit of our homeschooling; but as they grew older, our anxiety would start to settle in.

Are they learning enough? Are they ever going to read? Are they going to ever learn math?

These questions and more loomed over my husband and I all the time, but we clung on to what we knew about how children learn best...and that is simply to let them have fun learning by seeking out what they want to learn! They are educating themselves according to their own interests and that's a beautiful thing. They end up learning all sorts of things in all various subjects.

It is so simple, yet can be so hard to do.

It isn't easy to change what we've always done, but a very important process to being all we can be, is to be able to dissect into what we've always done and challenge it! Put some purpose on what we believe to be true.

So, when I would anxiously notice that one of my children wanted to play blocks instead of going over the alphabet, play PS3 instead of reaching for a book, or when one of my children still hadn't a desire to read at age 9, I would remember why we were devoted to child-led learning in the first place, which is to let them find true learning without the interference of me...me teaching them what I thought they should know, regardless if they were interested or not. When I would feel fear, I would journal all that they were learning, loving, and passionate about, and these things were endless! I would pray for continued direction, and I would remember to fall in love with the journey, living and learning. Just like in parenting where quick-fix doesn't work for the long-haul, unschooling is all in the journey as well. There is so much to do in the world that is full of learning. What do they want to learn? Find out each day. What do they want to do? Explore, live together, learn together...unschooling is about learning without fear.

Punished by Rewards and Teach Your Own were awesome books that were just the remedy when I would feel anxious. These books always kept me in perspective since I was going against mainstream. Not to mention deschooling myself was something I knew I needed to do, first, before ever approaching my children with my fears, in which I failed miserably at several times in our homeschooling life. But, I consider that all apart of the deschooling process, and it doesn't take long before you see the amazing learning that goes on all without any prompting!

As long as we don't squelch their love for learning, they will never stop, learning. The world is full of it and the main goal I have with my children is to always seek out answers for their questions and learn about this wonderful world God made. I have seen with my children that they view learning as apart of life and is as natural as breathing; and it is to be enjoyed...

We have partnered with 16 of the most inspiring, lovely, and just plain awesome bloggers in the homeschool community to bring you 10 days, 160 posts full of resources for those starting out, burned out or need new ideas.

The idea for this blog hop was modified (aka stolen) from Darcy's 31 Days to a Better Photo, but that is ok because Amy is her cousin and families are allowed to do such things. Using this idea we hope that many people in the homeschooling cyber-world feel encouraged, inspired and recharged in their own homes.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Blog Hop Day 6--How Unschooling all began

2011-02-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

How Unschooling All Began...

I was twelve years old, books and lessons in hand, red pen behind my ear, hair in a bun, and ready for class to begin…for my little brother that is. You see I was the teacher, and my brother, then eight, was to be my student; sitting at my self-made teachers’ desk of an upside down laundry basket and a square piece of plywood. I would neatly place my red pen for correcting, of course, on my desk along with my books and lessons for the day. Boy was I excited and I had a grin from ear-to-ear! My brother, on the other hand, on the floor sitting Indian style was not quite as enthused as his teacher but ready for “school” none the less. I gave him his lesson of multiplication (I think his four times tables), and waited patiently for his finish so I could correct his work. I really needed to use my red pen! Isn’t this what teachers do? What fun! If he really did a poor job on his lesson I simply would put a big red ‘redo’ on the paper and the fun could start all over again! Well the ‘fun’ didn’t last any longer than ten minutes and he took his multiplication ‘redo’ paper (marked in red) and stomped out of the room. I thought to myself, “Well, I guess I must wait until I’m old enough to be a ‘real’ teacher with a ‘real’ desk, with some students who’ll appreciate me!”

Some many years later, I’m married with seven children and a happy homeschool mom. I should tell you first that I did not become that ‘traditional’ teacher with my red pen and desk, yet my husband and I did decide that we would homeschool our children. When my first child, Abby, was ready for school you could probably imagine my excitement. What a wonderful time! Off together we went to gather our school supplies. We picked up folders, markers, crayons, construction paper, lined paper, glue, and a large packet of red pens! I smelled, touched, and stroked everything before putting it all in our cart. I then ordered my first set of “curriculum” because this is what you do to be a successful homeschool mom. When that came to my door it was like opening Christmas gifts! There were spelling, grammar, and math books as well as teacher’s manuals. Oh how I loved the teacher’s manuals. There was something about that big spiral bound book of answers that made me feel so official! What a fun filled year we would have.

Abby with sister Belle

Abby’s first lesson was on a beautiful morning. The birds were out and that school time smell was in the air, still warm but a foot into fall. I had traded in my plywood desk for our dining room table. My books of curriculum were to the side of me at the table and I used a beautiful mug to encase all of my fresh red, pens. Across from me was my little five year old Abby, very excited to be home with me to learn. We were dressed and we were ready. Little did I know we both had completely different ideas on how the day should go; she was ready - ready for crafts that is.

So the story goes that it was a very hard battle of wills. She wanted to do fun crafts and draw and I wanted to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. I was so sure that there was no other way to teach than to have a curriculum, and stay on the schools schedule with testing and grades; but my Abby’s stubbornness had me seeking into alternative ways to learn. She definitely did not like my way of traditional learning.

This is how our journey into child-led learning began. And oh, did she love the more relaxed me. She could learn what she wanted to learn in her day and had a fun time doing it. It was I who needed to deschool. Her being fresh with no other influence knew learning what she wanted was natural. Sure, sometimes along the way I would get nervous and send everyone to their rooms to read books and do math lessons, and sometimes considered putting everyone on curriculum; but all of that came from fear...my own fears. It didn't take long and soon, it was very natural for me, too.

Abby was the first one to be unschooled, as six other siblings, followed in her path. Abby is now seventeen and my has time flown! Because she has been able to pursue her interests, for Abby, it was horses (and crafts of course!), she was able to pursue horses as much as she wanted and we were able to provide to her. She now owns her own horse that she bought, is currently a horse trainer, while taking classes at a local community college earning an associate’s degree in business for the knowledge to own her own stables, soon. High grades she’s making even though she’s never been graded until now, scores high on tests, despite the fact she’s never tested at home, and she loves taking these classes because she’s following a dream…now that’s learning!

These highlights of my oldest are only to show how unschooling is a very natural way to learn. She and her siblings enjoy the freedoms in their learning and are motivated simply by obtaining the knowledge. No tests, grades, gold stars, or mandatory lessons...this way of learning has been very rewarding for our family and has proven to be an amazing, learning journey.

And that is how it all began... a little girl who knew what she wanted and taught me how she needed to learn.

We have partnered with 16 of the most inspiring, lovely, and just plain awesome bloggers in the homeschool community to bring you 10 days, 160 posts full of resources for those starting out, burned out or need new ideas.

The idea for this blog hop was modified (aka stolen) from Darcy's 31 Days to a Better Photo, but that is ok because Amy is her cousin and families are allowed to do such things. Using this idea we hope that many people in the homeschooling cyber-world feel encouraged, inspired and recharged in their own homes.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

More From Alfie Kohn

2011-02-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

Blog Hop Day 5--Death by Appointment

2011-02-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

Blog Hop Day 5--Death by Appointment

Everything always seems to be running smoothly until I open my planner to reveal… an appointment. I don’t care if it’s ice skating lessons for one of my children, the doctor or the dentist. I seem to always have the same problem—getting there on time. It’s hard enough just getting myself ready, let alone several of my kids. And when we have to be somewhere it usually gets stressful, such as one of them can’t find one of their socks or a baby is crying when I have one foot already out the door. Sure, it’s fun filling up my calendar: lunch at noon on the 13th, we’ll be there! Teeth cleaning at 3 o’clock on the 20th, no problem. Science class this Friday, exciting! But when the time comes to actually going to these appointments, I’m not as excited as when I made them. One time, I had all seven of my children with me on our way to the dentist, because my two older ones had an appointment. I of course was running ten minutes late; turned into the dentist’s parking lot on two wheels, and pulled in front of the building with a screeching halt. I put our truck in park, looked back at all of my children in our Suburban and yelled, "Hurry and get out!" We unbuckled ourselves, the older ones helped the younger ones, and our feet hit the pavement in record time. We all ran in the front door, I tripped over the foyer rug and out of breath exclaimed, "The Pentons are here for their appointment." The receptionist looked at us over her spectacles, then her appointment book, and then back at me with pity and said, "I’m sorry honey, you’re here too late for us to take you. We’re going to have to reschedule."

It’s amazing how one appointment in my day can be the death of me. Combine that with all my children’s activities and we’ve got chaos! Keeping my children busy and active in the homeschooling community was something I did all the time. I wanted to be plugged in to all the science projects, field trips, and sports, like I was taking care of my children’s education by being submerged in all the activities. Keeping busy felt frazzled, which I thought at the time, was a good thing. It seemed the busier I kept us in life, the more successful they would become. And talking about children’s busy schedules and rigid time frames was the topic of conversation everywhere. At my son’s football games, my daughter’s ice skating lessons and even the dentist. Homeschooling your children definitely does not make you immune to an over scheduled life. There is so much out there to entice you. It’s as though, I think they need to learn gymnastics, piano, and a writing class all in one week. And that excludes all the appointments, such as doctor visits, dentists and meeting with friends. It was then becoming clear to me that I didn’t want to be a part of that busy life any more. I wanted to go back to living and enjoying life, unhurried. Of course that doesn’t mean that I took my kids out of everything, and we never go anywhere. We go and do things all the time, just more at our leisure than by appointment. For us, when we are just running errands, going to the library, or visiting a museum, we learn more and enjoy each others company. The mistake was made when thinking they were not going to learn anything unless they were in a structured learning atmosphere. They do not need to dabble in a hundred different things to find out what they want to pursue, but rather knowing and seeking out themselves, personally.

We now focus on that one thing each really wants to put their energy in. Those kinds of activities I don’t mind doing. They have true purpose. They of course have a lot of things they do and enjoy, and being home enables them to do them, and the time to do them well. Life has a lot to offer and God has shown me, that He wants us to live life to the very fullest. I’d rather we all do one or two things at full potential, than a dozen things mediocre.

Being free of an over scheduled calendar allows us to learn about ourselves without the interference of time restraints. There are the appointments in life that we must do and keep, such as the dentist. But as far as activities and my children are concerned, I want to be focused on the ones that create purpose and meaning, rather than always being frazzled to "Death By Appointment!"

"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each."

Henry David Thoreau

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

learning in the kitchen

2011-02-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling Blog Hop--Day 4

Learning in the Kitchen

Learning in the kitchen is fun and a great way to teach your children a life skill that they can take with them forever, not to mention learn some math and science that tastes good! I have made many a memory with my children in the kitchen. My oldest who is seventeen, knows how to bake breads, cookies and meals, all from scratch. I don't think she even realizes how this will benefit her when she is a wife and mom one day...but she will.

Some of my boys like being in the kitchen, too, and love to help. I can't tell you how much children love to smell homemade goodies coming out of the oven. I thought today, I would share one of our favorite recipes because this is just one more blissful reason homeschooling is so wonderful...enjoy!

Try out these pizza bites of mine, and they will soon become a staple in your home.

These pizza bites are fun, perfect for parties, or anytime. This is made in my mini muffin tins using my favorite pizza dough and sauce. Using mini pepperoni and spicy italian sausage adds a kick...you'll love these!

Print the whole recipe:
printable recipe
Ingredients:
6 ounces tomato paste
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 can tomato sauce (29 ounces)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
1-3 tsp. dried red pepper flakes--to taste
2 cups water
salt to taste

Directions:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir the tomato paste and olive oil together, then stir in the tomato sauce.
Add all of the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered for 3 hours, stirring frequently. Add water if sauce gets too thick, but it should reduce down to a thick paste that has enough body to cover a pizza.
Makes 3 cups, enough for 2-3 pizzas

deep dish pizza crust

printable recipe Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups warm water 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1 tsp. sugar 4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. salt

Preparation: In a large mixer bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, along with herbs and garlic (I use basil, oregano, thyme, and garlic powder--just small palm-fulls of each.) 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is srill slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky., 3-5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 tsp. oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Divide into 2 equal portions and it's ready to use!

Notes: I've added herbs and garlic to this crust which gives it lots of flavor. I've also tried this with white whole wheat flour if this interests some...it works wonderfully. I like to throw this on my pizza stone fully topped and with a pastry brush and little olive oil, brush the dough with the olive oil--it helps create that crispy crust. Bake at 425 degrees if using a pan...if a stone--I like it hot at 500 degrees

Added toppings:
Mini pepperoni bites
Ground Italian sausage, sweet or hot, depends on you taste. I used spicy in my recipe. Brown the Italian sausage before assembling.
Hand shredded mozzarella. About 3 cups

Assembly:
Spray a mini muffin tin with a non-stick spray. Tear off a small piece of dough, roll in the palm of your hand and stretch to line the muffin tin up to the lip, creating the shape of the muffin. Add about a tsp. of pizza sauce, Italian sausage, a small dollop of cheese and the tiny pepperoni.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 12 minutes until golden brown. Pop out of the tins, place on platter and watch them disappear!

Check out more of my recipes on Planner Perfect Meals!

We have partnered with 16 of the most inspiring, lovely, and just plain awesome bloggers in the homeschool community to bring you 10 days, 160 posts full of resources for those starting out, burned out or need new ideas.

The idea for this blog hop was modified (aka stolen) from Darcy's 31 Days to a Better Photo, but that is ok because Amy is her cousin and families are allowed to do such things. Using this idea we hope that many people in the homeschooling cyber-world feel encouraged, inspired and recharged in their own homes.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Punishments and Rewards

2011-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling Blog Hop--Day 3

An Alternative to Punishments and Rewards

Taken from the book, Unconditional Parenting by author, Alfie Kohn

Motivation. Of course we want our kids to have an abundance of it. But there are actually different kinds of motivation. Most psychologists distinguish between the intrinsic kind and extrinsic kind. Intrinsic motivation basically means you like what you're doing for its own sake, whereas extrinsic motivation means you do something as a means to an end--in order to get a reward or avoid a punishment. It's the difference between reading a book because you want to find out what happens in the next chapter and reading because you've been promised a sticker or a pizza for doing so.

The Key point here isn't just the that extrinsic motivation is different from the intrinsic kind, or even that it's inferior to intrinsic, although both statements are true. What I want to emphasize is that extrinsic motivation is likely to erode intrinsic motivation. As extrinsic goes up, intrinsic tends to come down. The more that people are rewarded for doing something, the more likely they are to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward.

Being unschoolers, what Alfie Kohn writes here has been my truth. Years ago, my husband and I went through some radical changes in not just the way we educate our children but how we relate to them on a daily basis. By default, when my children were not behaving well, or didn't want to learn what I'd given them for the day; I felt I needed to take control of the situation. But we don't always need to gain control. Yes, it works when you use a reward or a punishment to gain compliance, but does it work in the way we really want? Child rearing, to me, is never a quick-fix, it is a journey. Don't we want our children to take ownership for their learning, or to share their toys because it would make the other child happy? When we use punishment or praise manipulation with our children we are using extrinsic motivation and that has its consequences.

Another change we have done years ago is with chores. Out went the gold stars and chore charts, instead, I gather all my children in the room and discuss what needs to be done to keep the house running smoothly and what we all can do each day to help. Bringing them in on the discussion, gives them choice and ownership, rather than, me just telling them what to do and dangle gold stars or a punishment to get the job done. Loving them unconditionally means they get the picture that we love them regardless if they did want we wanted or not. Even though using stars as a way to motivate is done with the best intent by us as parents, the message we are sending is: if you do what we want you will be rewarded. An alternative might be to explain we need certain things done in the house so the room likes nice. Same holds true with learning; obviously there are a lot of variables here and age groups to consider, but the same common thread is considered with all of our daily lives together, and that is being in it together, rather than a hierarchy theme in the home.

It is rewarding to see intrinsic motivation at work. To see children gravitate towards what they love because they want to learn it, be helpful because they just want to help, or apologize because they realized they've hurt someone. Loving them unconditionally, without the use of reward or punishment has changed our lives.

I encourage you to read Alfie Kohn's books:

He is a fresh perspective on how children learn, and how we can better care for them as their parents.

We have partnered with 16 of the most inspiring, lovely, and just plain awesome bloggers in the homeschool community to bring you 10 days, 160 posts full of resources for those starting out, burned out or need new ideas.

The idea for this blog hop was modified (aka stolen) from Darcy's 31 Days to a Better Photo, but that is ok because Amy is her cousin and families are allowed to do such things. Using this idea we hope that many people in the homeschooling cyber-world feel encouraged, inspired and recharged in their own homes.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Unschooling Reading

2011-02-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling Blog Hop with Heart of the Matter...Day 2

Teaching children to read can be fun...or not so fun. It all depends on the child and their temperament. Having gone through quite a few readers, I thought I'd share some of our tips:

Don't be in a hurry. I started out homeschooling my oldest thinking I needed to get her going by age 5. Not so...introduce reading throughout your day, read to them often, and go by their timing. When they are ready to read, you'll have a much better teaching/learning experience. I've had early readers, age 5, and I've had late readers, age 9 and later. They will learn to read when they are ready.

Dick and Jane books have taught 2 of my girls to read. They make wonderful reader books because of their word repetition. Once they mastered these, they've gone to other books they chose, but seemed to always need help with at least one word per sentence. One tip that has helped with this, is while reading a sentence, I asked my girls to underline in pencil words they could not pronounce and continue to finish the sentence. Then going back and giving it another try made it easier after reading the whole sentence. They figured out how to figure out words they couldn't pronounce with this method. It was empowering to them to know that they could figure it out on their own instead of always asking me. Both my daughters were frustrated with all the asking--this helped them immensely.

Host book clubs. For 2 of my daughters, we hosted book clubs. It was a wonderful way to read with my daughter and get together with friends and food.

Read together. Reading together is a lot more fun than phonics drills or assignment books. All of my children have learned to read by reading together, going over sounds, and by reading books with a lot of repetition such as Dick and Jane. Reading together doesn't have to be just for the younger ones, find a book that all will enjoy...the older ones like to listen in, too.

Read all the time. My son, Gabe, learned to read by reading everything he could that wasn't in a book. Popsicle sticks, road signs...anywhere. He was frustrated when trying to read from reader books or any book for that matter, and knew that it wasn't for him. I encouraged him to to read everything he sees and as often as he liked. Now he's an avid reader, and at age ten, enjoys books very much.

Learning to read doesn't have to be done like the schools. I've found with 5 of my children (the other two are 5 and 2), that it comes very naturally while living, on their own timing, and with their own style.
If you're stuck with your child learning to read I hope you'll try these tips that I've learned and know you'll enjoy watching them learn to read according to their own style and timing.

Happy Reading!

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Homeschool Blog Hop...Fighting the Winter Blues

2011-02-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

If you are a mom, have several homeschooled children, and are in the dead of winter...this post is for you. January is usually when the "I'm bored" blues come in to play, or when the kids resort to releasing bottled up energy in the home and run around trying out new Kung Fu moves on each other in their underwear, play the Wii, loudly, and my personal fave...taking all my cushions off the couch to jump on. Yay!

Maybe you can't relate. Sigh...

I need this post more than anyone, but I have come up with a plan that I think you might like. If you know my other blogs, you know then that I am a perpetual life planner. My Planner Perfect, harnesses an organized life and knew that mapping out a winter fun plan was no exception. In the goal section in January of my planner, I have written a wonderful map of all the fun things all my children and I want to do over the cold, winter months. I have written the details, and have gotten quite creative. Gather the kids and get them involved in the brain storming, they will love throwing out fun ideas to combat winter blahs. Here are our fun ideas...

Book store outing/library: finding new books to read is always a fun past time and especially cozy near the fire. We love to go (ages 14 down to 2) to the book store and get cocoas and lattes and read. I read to my younger ones, we chat, sometimes we make a purchase (with a fabulous coupon, of course), and we spend the afternoon surrounded by books. We have found that we love it so much, we make it a regular, winter outing. Yes, it takes some money to buy all my children something to drink, around $20, but I think it is worth the money ten-fold and budget for it. You need the whole feeling that comes with the outing. It's cold outside, snow is falling, we're inside surrounded by good book reads and sipping hot chocolate. Enough said.

Ice-skating once a week. What a blast! From my oldest, who is seventeen down to the two year-old, we all skate and it is inexpensive, too. Our local ice arena offers homeschool rates and the price is quite nice! We take breaks and have some hot chocolate, mingle, and get some great exercise.

Craft day once a week/science experiment. I was always into the craft thing when my oldest kids were young and somewhere along the line I have dropped the ball. I am bringing it back for them and throwing in some science experiments to lure my older ones, too. Each week, we plan a craft to do, buy our supplies, this can be fun in itself.(sometimes it costs us nothing or we have it around the house) and we have fun together doing something new and exciting. This week we are making paper maches, next week we are going to make molds of our faces...wish me luck and check for future posts on our craft makings!

A book a week: No pressures or mandates, just something we, as a family, decided to do and I love the idea. We all read one new book a week. Our book store outing compliments this quite nicely. Then it gives us all something fun to talk about...

Field trip: Seeing a new place, or visiting a museum, to a pet store to see all the new kitties and goldfish makes for a fun outing while it's too cold outside. We've made this as a 2 times a month plan and may adjust and make it happen more often if we feel like it.

Host clubs: I have done this for my older children and it was a huge success. One way to get my kids involved with things and other homeschoolers they love, is to host clubs. I don't have to go anywhere, and children come to me. I have hosted book clubs, guy, teen clubs for gaming and food, teen girl gatherings...crochet classes, anything you and your child(ren) want to host and do. It is a wonderful way to integrate some fun time with fellow homeschool buddies, your children get the experience of hosting and all that preparation for guests, entail and the best part I just love...you don't have to drive anywhere.

Take Vitamin D3. Still blue? Check this video out and see why it is vital to be supplementing with this nutrient.

The beauty of unschooling is the freedoms to truly live and learn together and enjoy each others company. Plan out your winter months with Planner Perfect and enjoy being together.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Teaching Children to Apologize

2011-01-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, teaching children to say sorry is no easy task and boy, do I know it. All four of my boys, after hurting someone, never would even contemplate saying sorry. After all, they were mad! You'd think I was asking them to kiss the victim on the lips...sorry was just out of the question.

So, what is a mom to do? Like most, we use punishment as our tool to get an apology out of them. It usually works, they'll throw it out at their victim, but do they really mean it when the alternative is punishment?

Using punishment to get the desired results, is a quick-fix tool. It gives us leverage, power, and control over the situation; but does it work with our children's heart? Does it work for the long-haul?

When we are in one of these situations with our children, the most effective tool is to use our relationship to teach them. Using our relationship based on mutual trust and respect that does not involve punishment or control, gives us a powerful advantage...we have their trust to be an influence. Take the time and find out and care about his or her feelings, too, to find out why he acted the way he did. This is all apart of understanding one another and teaching them how to relate. This is also when we can use this opportunity to teach them about why it is important to say sorry, what God says about our actions, and an alternate way to relate with someone.

Don't dismay if you don't see results immediately. Sometimes they might not want to listen to you and this is okay and can be part of the process; walk away and try again when you feel they are ready. Their hearts need to be open and ready to listen and in order for their apology to be genuine, it needs to come from within and they need to own that feeling. You can't make it happen and you can't rush it.

You may be thinking that you don't have time for all this, that punishment as consequences is all you need to get their attention. But considering that all relationships take time, commitment and investment, same holds true for child rearing. When you invest your time into your children by listening and teaching, without use of punishment, you are not into controlling the moment, you are into giving them tools for life. You will be influencing your children and still respecting their autonomy and that is very empowering for all involved. It is a beautiful thing to witness a child's sincere apology after a fight, it could be even up to a day or two afterward, but it is from their heart.

How do you teach children to apologize? With patience, your invested time, and your influence through your relationship...

New Years Traditions

2010-12-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

New Years is such a wonderful time to celebrate and children like to be apart of the celebration time, too. I grew-up with New Year's traditions and with seven children of my own, had a fun time tweaking them to make them unique to my family. Here is what our family does every year and some family tips to help make it go smoothly...

Plan an event before dinner: We've always gone to the movies on New Years Eve. It can be costly with my brood, so saving in advance...a little each week, makes it happen. Have a jar if you want and have the kids put in all their change and put a sticky note that states loud and proud: *New Year's Movie Monies!* Have the jar up and running in the fall and by New Years...you should have enough. Going to the movies is a lot of fun for everyone. It takes a chunk of time, since the night will be long until the ringing in the new year.

Traditional food: Every year we have homemade pizzas. I have my dough rising and pizza sauce made before I go so when we get home we just top them and put in the oven. Yum. Nothing beats tradition! For dessert, we have chocolate fondue and over the years, my Christmas has been awesome fondue pots. I get out the fondue pot and lay out an assortment of goodies to dunk in the melted chocolate. Pretzels, plain donuts, strawberries, large marshmallows, and chocolate chip cookies. This is a lot of fun and your children will remember it for a life time.

Next a little clean up. All hands on deck to get the job done in no time!

Game time: We have our games that are traditional every year and then some new ones are introduced from Christmas gifts. If you have young and small children, I like to start out with some fun games with them, like Memory, Chutes and Ladders, and the like. The winner puts their name in the game lid as winner of the year! Next we move on to games we all can play that older ones love, and all games can be manipulated a tad to accommodate younger ones. Winners are claimed winner of that game and the title cannot be thrown until next year's battles.

Pop out the sparkling cider for the wee ones and make some Bellinis for you and your hubby. With a little fruit puree and some sparkling wine...your night is off to a great start. Pour your sparkling beverages in champagne glasses and plastic ones for the younger ones and don't forget to go around announcing your New Year's Resolutions! This is a lot of fun because it gets everyone thinking about the future, fresh starts and all the exciting new things to do and see for 2011. Clank those glasses while watching the clock drop on t.v. and get ready the clock to strike midnight! With pots and pans, some blow horns, hats and whatever else festive you can think of...make a racket in the cold snow at midnight! Throw that confetti (outside), spray that silly string, your children will love being a family on New Years, celebrating with family, creating traditions, and making memories!

Have a wonderful New Years!

An Alternative to Punishment

2010-12-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

What if there was an alternative to punishing your children? When they are naughty, quarrelsome, defiant, or rude there is another way and you can yield far better outcomes than punishment.

I remember on a cold, slushy winters day when I was little, walking along side my mother on a shopping trip and had in my hand some coins of all kinds. I discarded all, and just the pennies, and tossed them on the ground as if they were trash. Now to my mom, it was a blatant disregard for money and to teach me a lesson, made me run back over to the pennies and pick them all up. It was embarrassing because of the nearby shoppers snooping to see what I was doing and I had a hard time rummaging through the slushy, dirty remains of snow to find them and pick them all up. She had reminded me to never throw away money again in her loving, yet very firm, voice of disapproval. I still threw away pennies, I just did it when she wasn't looking. Don't tell anyone, especially my husband, but now-a-days, when finding pennies while sweeping in my kitchen or hear their kerplunk from pockets of jeans on my laundry room floor, still have the propensity to throw them away.

This is just a benign example of a much larger picture. My mom was the most loving woman who was nurturing, loving and caring and valued, like most, the importance of firm, loving discipline. But the question is...does any form of punishment work when it comes to truly teaching your children the ways of this world?

My answer to this is, no.

What was going through my head when I was throwing away those pennies as a child? I simply didn't understand their value. I didn't understand that pennies do add up. What if a different approach was taken and my mom took the time to explain to me why I shouldn't throw away those pennies? What if she explained to me all that could be bought if enough pennies were saved...or better yet what could be given? If I didn't want to pick up my tossed pennies, my mom could have for me and lovingly put them back in my hand that was full of my treasured dimes and nickles. If I still didn't want them, my mom could have used them for herself. Another life lesson would show itself again where I might need those pennies or simply an opportunity to give them to a bell ringer during Christmas. Sometimes, you don't see turnovers in attitudes right away, but if teaching is always the method of child rearing, rather than punishment, they will understand and want to do what is right. When children feel the empowerment of learning and doing something they are convicted about on their own, it is truly learned, it is truly understood, and truly a gift.

Before you pull-out punishment as a tool...consider teaching as your alternative.

raising boys

2010-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing could have prepared me for having boys. I have four boys and three girls and even though my girls are just as precious to me than my boys, there is something to be said for raising the opposite sex. Quite simply, I love that they are different then me. They love to get dirty, they are sweet and sensitive, and easy to get a long with. They love Tonka trucks, frogs, digging in dirt and guns. Batman and Superman are their heroes and the hearts in their eyes that they have for me makes me melt.

When they are small, I love dressing them. Nothing beats Toy Story underwear, Gap t-shirts and blue jeans. Having all four of my boys home ranging from ages fourteen to two is a blessing. They are loud, they wrestle and enjoy being together; something that homeschooling has been able to provide them.

When it comes to raising my boys, the relationship we have together is important. I have an awesome responsibility, along with my husband to teach them and unschooling makes it natural. Unschooling is not just a term coined for non-structured, studies. It is a wonderful, enriching way to live with your children, without the use of rewards and punishments, without the use of control to gain compliance, and all about building a mutual respect with each other. Each of my boys are different and that's one of the things I love. Being able to teach and inspire according to their temperament enables me to truly know and understand them and act accordingly. I love the Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye. It gave me a wonderful insight to the four temperaments and all the blended temperament possibilities. I not only know and understand my boys, but myself! You will also enjoy understanding how each temperament has its weaknesses and how they can be spirit-filled. Understanding ourselves is empowering and recommend reading it to help you gain some insight on your children.

Having a teenage son, has had its challenges. I've had to learn to approach him when he will most listen. To understand how he handles his anger, and teach him how to better manage it. Using any and all opportunities to impress on him what I would like to teach, to talk about God often, to show him how to have a relationship with Christ by having one myself. To teach him how to respect others by how I respect him and others. To let him see me apologize when I've been wrong and see him feel and see the power of forgiveness and grace.

Being a mother of boys is a privilege that God has given me. I love how they are wired, I love our journey together living and learning, and I enjoy their company...it is a blessing raising my boys.

2010-11-20T07:24:00.000-08:00

video on an unschooled life

2010-11-19T19:21:00.001-08:00

Video of The First Thanksgiving

2010-11-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

When Stress Strikes

2010-11-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

My mom is my best friend. She is there for me when I need her in times of stress and has always been my biggest cheerleader to push me towards my dreams. Full of wisdom and support, I have her on speed dial for both my joys, and for when my stress levels get even slightly elevated. If I cannot reach her at home, I simply track her down on her cell-phone. I once found her at the grocery store and while holding the cell phone in the crevice of her neck, and putting an order in to Ed the butcher, she was able to help me gain perspective within minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I respect when she’s busy, such as the time has told me that she’ll call me back, for something ridiculous like being in the shower. I simply told her that she doesn’t have to call me back…I’ll talk to her while she’s showering!

Being a homeschooling mom of many, I remember a grocery shopping experience of mine where I was grocery shopping with all my children. I had passed by a mother whose toddler was throwing a tantrum, right in the middle of an isle; basically a mother’s worst nightmare. She was frazzled, had a baby strapped to her body, all while trying to push her heavy cart. She was completely stressed out. I walked on by, judging, and feeling good my kids were sitting nicely. I only did that once in my life. It didn’t take long for the same thing happen to me, except, and I remember this vividly, another mom put her hand on my shoulder and told me that she had been there before and she knew just how I felt. That non-judging, support from a woman I didn’t even know gave me enough strength to get through the tantrum with my child in a positive way, and left me with a lasting impression. I learned to give support to other women as well, definitely not judge, and always try and offer support… when stress strikes. We all experience stress and being a mother means stress can strike at any time; we need that support, love, and wisdom from other women who have been there before. God wants us to turn toward Him for everything in our lives and that means in times of stress, too. And God also gives us people to love and support us here on earth. God is good!

The wiser women in my life have made me wise beyond my years. They have and still do give me strength and the encouragement I need to be all I can be: personally, spiritually, and mentally. That pours into my family life and helps me be a good mother, wife, and friend. Find the mentor you need from wiser, older women. They have invaluable wisdom and can help you when--stress strikes!

Then they (older women), can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Titus 2:4-6

The Buddy Club

2010-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

The Buddy Club

“The Buddy Club is now in session.” The ten-year-old proudly states to her two younger siblings. “What we need now is to have club names. Mine will be Ralph, Christian, you look like a George, and Anna--I am going to name you Filbert.”
Christian was five, and Anna was 6-months and barely crawling, but they were a team of Buddy Club members’ none-the-less. The oldest member, Ralph, was a little bossy, but she was the oldest and felt she needed to take on the leadership position. She created agendas for everyone and loved using a clipboard to hold all of her bossy papers. After all, there was so much to play and so little time. At club meetings they would cut and color an over abundance of identification cards and listened to Ralph list off all her ideas she had planned for the good of the group. Meetings never ran long, primarily because of the youngest member’s attention span, but usually included an unmade bed as a desk, and some sort of toy that was used as a gavel. There was a special handshake and a weird grin they made that was called the “doo-doo” face. The grin, when used, made you look like you had a large chin with no teeth, and the handshake--it was used to settle an argument. The Buddy Club was a club of various fun activities to do daily (inspired by the leader), but most importantly it was a pact between siblings that they would always be friends.

One day, they had an incident that did challenge their pact. On George’s birthdays, Ralph thought it would be a nice gesture for him to divide his “gift loot” amongst members, specifically with the leader. At first, George didn’t seem to mind this tradition. What a great club it was! But one day, after a couple birthdays had past, and while watching Ralph play with an assortment of his birthday toys, he decided he did not like the way the club was run.
“Why do I have to give half of my toys to you?” George sternly bellowed.
Ralph fumbled with her words and had a look of disbelief. The day George wised up and found out that giving his toys to Ralph was not a good idea, was a sad day in the books for Ralph. Later, they made-up with a Buddy Club handshake and a doo-doo face. However, as they grew older, it was a lot harder to keep the club running. The club was soon dissolving in its “formal” sense. Soon went the clipboard, all its agendas and even the club names. Christian (a.k.a. George) was spending more time with friends in the neighborhood and grew tired of all the club meetings. No problem, Ralph still had Anna. And being the oldest by ten years, Ralph figured she had much to do and to show little Annie, and would carry her around all day to various spots in the house to play. Even though she was small and in diapers, she was a great companion and an amazing listener. Anna was up for anything her older sister wanted to do. And as they grew older, the relationship only got better. Ralph would take her to the shopping mall, to her friends’ houses, and even on dates. This was exciting for now ten-year-old Annie. Ralph and Annie were so close they soon started to refer to each other as “Buddy.”

It was the Buddy club of sisters now… and their relationship is a special one. Of course their brother would always be a member, but honestly, when he started only caring about his hair, weight-lifting routines, and girls, it was best he be an absentee member only. The close relationship that siblings can have, if cultivated, is a beautiful one. The ten year span between the two sisters has never mattered; they are as close as close can be. Of course the relationship has its ups and downs as in any relationship, but with mutual respect, keeping short accounts and a whole lot of humor…they will be best friends, always.

And as for Christian (George) well, he goes out to lunch with his sisters once and awhile, to catch up on everything. He does have a hard time competing with their relationship, and has had to come to terms with the fact that one brother sandwiched between two loud sisters, make you out numbered. But in a way, I think he feels lucky. You can see it in his smile when they’re all together.

This story of Ralph and her Buddy Club members is a fun look at life through the eyes of the oldest of three siblings. There is so much to do, learn and to play, and in Ralph’s case, so many, to strongly influence. Being a homeschool mother of seven, I hold this story very dear to my heart, for I am Ralph, and my heart will always remember the Buddy Club.

I am dedicating this to my little sister and brother, Anna and Christian.

What are some of your favorite memories of your siblings...

Living Out Loud

2010-11-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling our children, gives us the advantage of being their primary influence. Because they are with us most of the day, every day, we are a living, breathing example. They will see that I’m not only their mother; I am a human being with emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. When my family was small in number and I had an emotion other than happy or even-tempered, I would hide from my children until I was done working it out. However, the more children I had, the harder it was to hide. So instead of hiding...I started to live out loud. Of course I use discretion, but if something has made me feel upset, angry, or hurt, it’s okay for them to see me work it out. It’s not only okay, it’s important! After all, we are role models. As a role model we take on the responsibility of being watched and that means being aware and living out our best as godly mothers. However, we are also not immune to stress of money, being hurt in a relationship, or being angry with our spouse, or our children. Living out loud is a great way for them to learn how you handle different emotions, and when you handle it wrong, they can see God’s grace and forgiveness when you make it right. Children have a way of seeing right through to your heart and will tell or show you if you have hurt them, if they feel your heart is not in the right place, or if they feel wronged. They may not say it with such sophistication, but if mutual respect is allowed to be developed between you and your child, they will tell you the way they know how. And this will be enriching their life and teaching them how to be a part of real life relationships. They can learn how to handle hurts, anger and other emotions, that occur in relationships with the security of your unconditional love. Living out loud enables your children to learn how to have healthy relationships… by living it.

Another small thing I know helps our family in a big way is not living rushed or hurried. We try not to be on a tight schedule, and this makes caring for our emotions that much easier, including my own. Since being an example and an imperfect human being, I don't want to set myself up for failure, since I'm watched 24/7. Children and busy schedules don’t mesh. There are always going to be errands and certain things that need to be done, so take the extra stuff off your plate because calm lives are unhurried.

Living out loud also means that I want my children to be able to see me use my talents and strengths, and that includes doing what I enjoy and want to learn each day. Usually this makes my children curious and they all start to come around and emulate me. They’ll get out a book if I’m reading, yarn if I’m crocheting (even my boys), and a pencil when I’m drawing. They get to see me do something I enjoy each day for myself.

Having this awesome responsibility to our children by living out loud can help us better ourselves as mothers and as persons. Giving to the needy, reaching out to a neighbor who is hurting, baking up delicious dishes for a new mother, and being careful not to judge others or gossip, are all wonderful examples of how we can live out loud for our children and for God.

When learning is done through living, it’s disguised. Children just know that when they are curious, they can find out, on their own or with help, and enjoy the process. When their life is unstructured in terms of “schooling” they are embracing learning throughout their day and I as well! Throughout our day we learn, laugh and play, and do it together! Since time is on our side, endless questions have time to be answered like, “Did George Washington really chop down a cherry tree?” That kind of question always leads into further exploration to find out more about our first president in full detail. Another question that has been asked is, “Where is Italy?” Since being Italian, this one was fun and led into finding out more about my ancestry, cook and eat Italian for the full day, and study all of Europe! The fun part was that we were spontaneous and it was entirely on their timing. By following their interests they retain amazing facts, naturally, without use of traditional quizzes and memorization.

By living out loud, I use life in all it has to offer for our learning. Through its ups and downs, through our relationships, through God’s grace and love, and through the everyday learning experiences that only life can give, we learn every day, all day, without a time to start learning or to stop; they know that learning has no end. The slower pace life we live enables us to put one hundred, percent toward anything we put our minds to, and living out loud lets my children understand how to build loving relationships and how to work through different emotions. When we live with mutual respect with our children, they will learn that we are not perfect, that we are fully human, just as they are, and that we are equipped with all of their same emotions and most importantly, that we were all created by God in His image. This creates a dynamic that let’s our children develop a relational bond with us that is made up of respect, and with that trust and respect from our children, they will be open to hear what we want to teach, and that is how we will be our most influential. When this happens, we will be used by God to share, teach, and inspire our children.

Become a living, breathing example by…living out loud.