To Our Homeschool Adventures

The Necessity of Air

2009-05-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple of years since the air conditioning compressor has been broken in my car.

I am hoping to one day be able to get it fixed. You never know how much you really do depend on something until it is gone. And I have been missing being able to drive around in the summertime with my windows rolled up and without sweat dripping from me.

I don't know what kind of auto ac parts I will need to get it going again. Rich had tried to fix it for me before, but it just did not work. I think if we have the ac compressor looked at it will do the trick.

Have you ever tried to drive somewhere in the rain, during the summer, with all of the windows up? That's torture if you ask me.

Sawicki Summer School

2009-05-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

Is your homeschool year beginning to wind down now that summer is approaching?

I can already feel the affects of summer at our house. Just like the rest of the year we try to remain flexible in our school. However we don't take a formal summer break. We do however, take a break in the way we "do school."

For example we tend to spend lots of time outside. This may include reading, experiments, or just observing nature. I don't let my kids know, but even when they think they aren't doing school, they're still learning. And there is a ton to be learned during the long lazy days of summer.

If is rains and we are stuck inside maybe we'll watch a historical movie or TV show. Sometimes it is really necessary to spend days and days building and figuring with Knex. I'll never tell my son he's doing science or math. Cooking and gardening are other activities that top the list.

School in the summer takes on a new look, but learning continues just the same.

Mosquito Attacks

2009-05-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to say that I do believe that the weather is finally headed towards the warm days and nights of summer. I have been waiting for these days for a really long time now. It seemed to me like winter would never really go away. But it was bound to happen, and it finally has.

I am enjoying leaving the windows open and airing out the house. I am also making plans for our backyard. We are planning to spend a lot of time together this year in our yard. We are planning to put up our pool and have lots and lots of fun in our yard.

With everything that I am looking forward to over the next few months, there is one thing that I am not looking forward to at all. That is the pesky mosquitos who like to feast on my blood. I am hoping to check out a mosquito magnet review or two to see if this is something that might work well for us.

Other than the mosquito issue, I do not think anything else could possible ruin our plans this year. Are you planning on spending lots of time in your yard too?

Do You Incorporate Sports?

2009-05-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

As a homeshooler and parent I think it is very important to find some sport that you child can be involved in and enjoy. There is a lot that is learned from the experience of being in a sport.

1. They learn the importance of working hard and seeing things through to the end.

2. If they are on a team, they learn teamwork. They learn that sometimes it takes several people to accomplish a task.

3. They learn the value of being physically fit and taking care of their bodies.

My kids have both been involved in sports whenever they can. This means if the budget and the schedule permits it.

My daughter has at some point in her life been involved in dance, soccer, basketball and volleyball.

My son has been involved in gymnastics, basketball, and baseball.

Does your family participate in sports?

Music To My Ears

2009-04-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

One thing that I think is very important to teach children is the love of music. Unfortunately you hear about the music programs being one of the first things pulled from schools when there are budget cuts.

This is just another reason why I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to keep my children at home for their education. I am able to make sure that their music program never does get pulled.

Also you do not even have to wait until kids are school age to start them in Baby Music Class. There are classes at for all ages and levels. There have been so many studies done that show the benefits of Children's Music Lessons.

I waited until my children were a little older to start formal lessons, but Music Classes For Toddlers would have been a lot of fun. I supposed that we did have some toddler music classes at our house too. It just was not all that formal. I am now thinking that all those afternoons allowing my kids to bang on pots and pans was a prelude to future music skills.

Do you make time for music in your homeschool?

Homeschool Freebie : Charlotte Mason

2009-04-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

When I first started homeschooling quite a few years ago now, Another homeschooling mom introduced me to Charlotte Mason.

Simply Charlotte Mason is offering the 45 page ebook by Sonya Shafer called Masterly Inactivity.

When I first began this homeschooling adventure I was turned on to Charlotte Mason and I loved the ideas I read from her way of teaching children.

Coexisting

2009-04-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

With the weather getting warmer I am itching to get things looking great outside. This includes cleaning up the yard, planting some colorful flowers, and getting my gardens in.

I am planning to expand our garden area this year. I really hope to get a bountiful harvest that will help keep my grocery costs down and provide my family with plenty of healthy home grown fruits and veggies.

Thankfully I have never had to be concerned about deer coming into my yard and getting into things. But I know from visiting my mom that they have no boundaries. The deer will pretty much go wherever they feel like going.

I have heard stories of the deer destroying peoples yards and gardens. And although the deer are the cutest creatures to watch, they are not gaining popularity with some folks who have worked hard to get their yards the way they want them to be.

I think it is so important to learn about deer control if you live in an area that you have to coexist with them.Deer Off is one way to keep the deer away from the areas you do not want them to be. It is an all natural deer repellent that automatically sprays your yard to keep deer, rabbits, squirrels, and more away.

This sounds like a safe way to make some boundaries.

Take School Out of the Box

2009-04-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that it is getting more and more difficult to keep our focus on finishing up school for the year. It is not even the kids that I'm talking about, but me.

So I have come up with a list of ideas to keep us focused so that we can finish the year off right.

1. Take school outside.

Maybe have a reading time outside. Send each kid with their own blanket to find a nice quiet place to read outside in the fresh air.

2. Make gardening a Science.

This is a great time to teach about botany, weather, insects, ect. Besides it is a great thing when you can tell your kids to play in the dirt.

3. Get out of the house.

This time of the year is perfect for field trips. If you have been cooped up all winter it is exactly what you need.

Basically if you are feeling a case of spring fever why not just go with it? Sometimes its easier not to fight things, and this is one of those times. Besides lots of time outdoors is just what kids need.

Spending time in creation is a great way to get to know The Creator.

So Many Questions

2009-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

I remember when I first found out that I was pregnant I was so full of questions. I knew nothing!

I had never changed a diaper. I had no idea about burping and diaper rash. Or how to lay a baby to sleep. Or what I was going to name the baby. What changes in my body were normal. I could go on and on, but I spare you the rest of my questions.

I love all of the different sites I stumble across that are dedicated to helping a newly pregnant woman with all of her questions no matter how silly or embarrassing they may be. I would have loved something like this when I was pregnant.

But alas we didn't even think of owning a computer way back then.

Selling Used Books

2009-03-31T21:36:00.001-07:00

I have had a a lot of books accumulate over the last few years since we began to homeschool.

I did not want to just get rid of them. We take really good care of our books and I had always hoped to be able to get some of the cost back. I continued to plan on selling my used books and curriculum online for the last few years. I thought it would be a big process that would take a lot of time.

But the other day I decided to checked out how to sell used books on Amazon. I am so glad that I did. It literally took less tha five minutes to set everything up. This was two days ago, and I have already sold 5 books, and made over twenty bucks.

I am very happy with the process so far.

Insurance costs

2009-03-30T20:33:00.001-07:00

My husband has been laid off from his union job for about six months now. It has been an interesting six months. And although it could very easily become a time of stess, anxiety, or fear,it just really is not. We are kind of looking at the whole situation like a big adventure. Each day is completely different. And it is really nice to have my husband around more. A few years back my husband left his union job to start his own business. It was very profitable for the first year and most of the second. But when the economy first started to turn his business started to get tight. So he made the choice to try the union again. That went well. That is until he was laid off. So now we find ourselves in a new place once again. One thing that we need to be sure we continue to keep up on are things like out health and vehicle insurance. Autonet Van Insuranceis an insurance company that specializes in van insurance. In an effort to save money wherever we could, we looked at our insurance policies to see who had the best quotes. I think we'll need to do some more research.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

I cannot say enough how important a menu plan is to keeping your grocery budget on track. You'll be so much less likely to buy extras when you have a plan. You'll also be less likely to stop and pick up fast food if you already know ahead of time what you'll be making for dinner. I choose easier meals for the days I know we'll be super busy and very much tempted to pick something up, or go out to eat.

So if you aren't planning your menu why not start today. Just try it, and see for yourself if it makes a difference.

Here's my menu plan for the week. If you've been reading for a while you'll notice we have the same things for breakfasts and lunches. The only thing that changes is dinners. This keeps thing nice and easy.

Breakfasts - consists of oatmeal, cold cereal, fruit smoothies, toast & poached eggs.

Lunches - consists of soups, peanut butter sandwiches, or dinner leftovers.

Dinners - I will try to include lots of veggies this week.

~ Monday ~

Chicken Casserole

~ Tuesday ~

Hamburgers, Salad, & Glazed Carrots

~ Wednesday ~

Steak Stir Fry

~ Thursday ~

Pizza Night

~ Friday ~

Sesame Chicken and Rice

~ Saturday ~

Ham and Cheese Omelets, Potatoes

~ Sunday ~

I leave Sunday open. A lot of times we got out to eat after church and aren't really hungry for dinner after such a large late lunch. If we do get hungry, then we just eat whatever is leftover in the fridge from the week.

You can find out more about weekly menu planning here. To check out more menu plans for this week click here.

Kids' Choice Awards

2009-03-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

When I had heard that Nickelodeon was not going to do anything about the fact that Chris Brown was one of the nominations this year, I was pretty much completely disappointed by the entire situation. I mean after all of the media about the incident between him and Rhianna, the last thing I wanted was for a company like Nickelodeon to brush it off like it was not a big deal at all. Thankfully Chris Brown himself realized that if he did not withdraw his nomination there would be a huge uproar among parents all across the country. Now that the situation with Chris Brown has been cleared up, I can comfortably post this Kids' Choice Awards widget for all of my readers to check out for themselves. It is a pretty neat way to get the word out regarding who you think the clear winner should be. Plus it is also very helpful in making sure you know exactly how long it is until the awards show The Kids' Choice Awards airs.

I am not all that excited by the majority of the nominations. However I am glad to see The Jonas Brothers are on the Kids Choice nominations list as well as Twilight.

Kids Games | Kids Video | Kids Music | Quiz

Adopt A School

2009-03-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Since we are a homeschooling family, I have never paid much thought to the Box Tops program.

But this year I started doing a food ministry at the local elementary school and since then I have realized that even if we aren't "going to school" it should still be an area that we remember. Not every child has the opportunity to be home educated. And it should be everyone's concern if the schools that teach the children who will grow up to run this country one day are in need.

I would challenge you to adopt a school. Maybe in your neighborhood or a neighborhood that is more needy. You never need to go to the school at all. All you need to do is go to the Box Tops site and enter some basic information to find out if the school near you is participating, or to find a participating school. Once you've completed this step you'll be ready to clip the Box Tops and stick them in an envelope. After you have found a school, you can either go and drop them off in the office or mail them in.

I promise you the school will love to get these. Especially if they are in a low income area. It may not seem like much but these schools in particular are very grateful for every cent. And what a wonderful way to teach your kids to care about the needs of their peers. You could even use the time to pray for the school, the teachers, and the students before sending the envelope full of blessings and prayers to the school. Blessing the local public school like this works for me, and could work for you too.

Commission Soup

2009-03-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some Affiliate Marketingon my other sites for a while now and I have had pretty good experience with it so far. I will not necessarily get rich doing this or anything, but it has brought in some extra spending money. And I have been able to buy my laptop, pay for all this years Christmas presents, and also this past weekend I was able to purchase next years homeschool materials. Now to me this is pretty good, and I love being able to contribute financially to our house hold and take some of the burden off of my husbands shoulders.

If you are unfamiliar with affiliate marketing let me give you a simple explanation of just what it is. Basically you sign up with an affiliate marketing company and then you are able to place their ads on your site. These ads are what will actually generate revenue. Some ads make money when someone simply clicks on it, and some ads will not generate money until one of your readers purchases the product through your link or banner which has been placed o the site.

I have tried out several different affiliate marketing programs. Some of them have been a very positive experience. There are some companies that are easier to work with and easier to make money with. Commission Soup is a new affiliate program to me. I am curious to hear if anyone else has ever had any kind of experience with this affiliate marketing company?

Homeschool Curriculum Fairs

2009-03-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, Rich and I did managed to brave the Used Homeschool Curriculum sale.

This is THE sale in my area. It is huge. In fact they sold $18,000 worth of used materials.

This was the best year for me because I had to work to set up the sale the night before, I was also able to set aside things I needed and then avoid the huge line in the morning to buy them. I found everything I needed and what I didn't find at the used sale I was able to get for the Lifepac vendor for 20% off and free shipping.

I am one happy mama. I am completely ready for next year even though this year hasn't come close to ending yet!

I'll post our curriculum choices for each child later. I wanted to ask if you have ever been to a curriculum fair and was your experience with it positive or negative?

Veggies

2009-03-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is another post about gardening.

As you may very well be able to tell we are getting all of our plans in order. I have been waiting and waiting for spring to finally get here, and it would appear that it is really here to stay. So I guess that means that no longer will I be spending my time dreaming of playing in the dirt. Oh, did I mention that I love playing in the dirt?

We are already preparing out flower beds for the warmer weather, and they are looking great. Now is the time to shift my focus onto the veggies. I am hoping to get a decent crop going this year that I can freeze a good portion of what we grow. I may even look into canning.

I am excited about the possibility of using an organic tomato growing kit to grow quality tomatoes. I am also planning on growing cucumbers, zucchini, beans, and blueberries.

What else should I add to the gardens this year? What are some of your tried and true things to grow? I am planning to have my kids take care of one of the raised garden beds by themselves. So I am looking for veggies that they can grow easily. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

College at 15

2009-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

We have been looking into the options as far as colleges go our my daughter.

I thought I had it all figured out. We went and registered her at one of the local community colleges. Everything looked like it was going smoothly. Then we found out that most of the credit will not transfer to any other college. So we have gone back to the drawing board to see what our other options are. We just could not see getting two years into her college career only to find out that when she went to transfer, her credits would all be lost.

I didn't realize that this was even something that needed to be considered. I am glad that we found out sooner rather than later. I am curious if anyone else has experienced sending their 15 year old to college?

I'm going to post my experience with this on this blog.

Organic Bug Patrol

2009-03-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have spent some of this morning outside cleaning up my yard and making plans for this new season that is upon us.

We recently cut down a giant tree that took up the better part of our yard. Then we chipped the brush, so I have been cleaning out my flowerbeds and moving the chipped wood into them. It is really starting to look quite nice.

I hope that we will not have any issues with bugs in my flowers beds this year. We have had a history of slugs in the garden beds. These pests will wreck a whole lot of havoc on your delicate flowers.

We looked into some of the different organic pest control last year. However we never did try any of the options. The funniest one was to pour beer in the garden. I tend to think this one might work only because it was an elderly lady who told me.

I have also heard that organic bug patrol kills over 40 insects.
Which sounds perfect to me. I like some bugs, just not in the garden.

Curriculum Planning

2009-03-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is already time for me to start planning for next years schooling.

This Saturday coming up is the huge used homeschool book sale. That means I need to prepare myself with a list of what we plan to use next year. Last year was my first experience at the used sale and I must say I really made out. I found almost everything used for my son and even picked up a couple things I was unsure about. But with the price being so low I was more willing to try it out.

So, what about you? When do you start planning for the next school year? Also, I am looking for suggestions for math for my son. He is going to be in 7th grade. What do you use?

The Scheduling Game

2009-03-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather has begun to resemble spring more and more, I am beginning to think of our spring activities.

We will be signing our son up for baseball tomorrow morning in fact. And I know any day now we will be hearing from our daughter's soccer coach. And then the schedule game will begin once again. Please don't get me wrong we love giving our kids the opportunity to play the sports they like. And we don't mind buying the baseball and Soccer Gear. We don't even mind driving all over town.

But I am going to enjoy these next couple of weekends free before the sports take over once again.

Organic Valley Freebies

2009-03-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sign up with Organic Valley and they'll send you a welcome kit that includes coupons!

Also, I've noticed that when I sign up with a company like this, I'll receive more coupons from them throughout the year in the mail or through an email they send. So it is worth it.

Also you can get $1.00 off coupons for Milk, Cheese, Butter, Cottage Cheese, Chocolate Milk, and Soy Milk which can all be printed twice. If you hit the back button after you print it the first time it will allow you to print each coupon one more time.

Lastly, if you are a parent, you can sign up for M.O.O. Organic Valley will send you a kids activity flyer, bumper sticker, newsletter, and more coupons!

You can find a store near you through the store locator.

Almost Garden Time!

2009-03-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Even though it is beyond freezing here in Michigan today, Spring is on its way. In fact spring has been flirting with us for a couple of weeks now. When I woke up this morning I looked outside and it was super sunny. But it was not warm at all. It was actually the opposite of warm.

But still, it is really only a matter of time before the warn and sunny weather will be here to stay once and for all.

And with the warm weather approaching, it is only natural that I am beginning to think about my garden plans. I love to use this time to teach my kids about sowing and reaping. I think this is an important thing to teach our children. As a homeschooling family it seems like a no brainer. It is getting warm and we need to plant a garden. So why not have your kids do it, and learn a bunch of different lessons while they are at it.

I am hoping to focus more on the benefits of organic gardening I would like to incorporate more of the organic techniques this year in our gardening. I also think it would be great to give my kids their own garden plots. However my yardis so small. I am thinking that instead I will give them both one of my garden beds to work this year together.

Heart of the Matter

2009-03-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share my entry for The Heart of the Matter weekly meme.

The topic for this week's Heart of the Matter is to share what your family does ordinarily that teaches your child an abundance of lessons.

I love the topic this week. I think that there are a lot of things we can do with our children that teaches many more lessons than they could ever get sitting behind a desk.

I thought that I would share this week one of the things we have been doing this year as a family.

I was made aware of a brand new program that was available at the beginning of this school year, and was honored to be able to bring the program to our local public elementary school.

The school has a lot of kids who are considered to be below poverty level. In fact almost 80% of the kids rely on the free lunch program. So this program addresses what happens with these kids when they are home over the weekend without a free luch available to them.

My kids and I pick up bags of groceries from the local food bank and pass them out on Friday after school to the kids who signed up for the program. As of this week we have 70 kids who regularly pick up their bags on Friday with enough food for the weekend.

This has been a wonderful experience for us all. At first we were thrilled to be able to give food to kids in need. But since the program has been going, we have learned so much about the people God loves. We have made friends with some of these families.

I love that my kids don't treat these kids like charity, but like friends. I love that my kids are learning that God love all people. That He is the provider. That people are people. I love that at least once a week we completely take our eyes off of ourselves.

The lessons we are learning are not necessarily about academics like math (although there is a lot of counting, adding, and subtraction involved). But these are life lessons. God is teaching my kids at a young age how to treat all people and to value them even when there is nothing to gain from it.

Also, how cool is it that a group of Christians are able to go into the public school and show love. And we actually pass out the food in the front of the building, and on the wall above us is a plaque of President McKinley and the phrase "Not His Will, But Ours Be Done"

Springtime Plans

2009-02-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

Well Spring is in the air around here for me, even though it is still freezing outside.

I have been dreaming of springtime for a couple of weeks now. I love sprng, it is a time of renewal. I love watching everything that appears to be dead start to come alive again. I love hearing the robins and watching the squirrels. I love planning and planting my gardens.

I also love sprucing up the outside of our house. We are thinking of the things we would like to do to the outside of our house this year. Rich would love to take our awnings down, but I love them. They give me the ability to keep my windows open when the spring rains come which is one of my favorite things to do.

Besides I think my house would look so bare without them. Maybe we would have to get shuttersjust to dress it upa bit. Are you making springtime plans yet? Do you have any home improvement projects you want to accomplish this year?