9-24-07
I am doing WinterPromise's American Story 2 this year with my youngest. He is LOVING it. The schedule is so "doable" and the books are totally engaging and fun. Every day, when I am finished with the scheduled reading, Ds keeps begging me to read more. I don't usually indulge him because that keeps him eager for the next day's work. ;-)

Here are some pictures of ds's recent notebooking pages. We are currently wrapping up learning about the Civil War and the Underground Railroad.

Ds's drawing of Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began:

An Underground Railroad drawing and info plus a page on the Confederate leadership:

A Confederate flage and Union leadership:

The Battle of Gettysburg with glitter pasted on for "explosions" and "smoke":

History Pocket on moving west pasted right into his notebook:

We also just got in our Animals and Their Worlds program which we are using for science, readers and art. Ds loves the more visual aspect of many of WinterPromise's books. I love it that he isn't overwhelmed, even doing two programs, and has plenty of time for his other subjects and extras like Latin for Children and Barton's Reading and Spelling program.

In other news, I also just received most of WinterPromises's Children Around the World program. Both sons will be using it next year. Why did I purchase it an entire year early? So I will have plenty of time to develop a high school supplement that goes with it! I am planning on adding high school level literature (hopefully with discussion questions), a high school geography component and extra activities. I also plan on looking up all of those "mentioned" web activities in the IG that don't have urls. When I'm done I will have a handy schedule to share (ala my American history program) with all of you.

In the meantime here are a few url's for those of you already using WinterPromise's Children Around the World:

Buildings of the world Fun and free 3-d paper models

Multi-cultural paper dolls

International swap pins

Children's songs from all over the world with lyrics and some MP3's and midis you can listen to

Listen to many different languages of the world. Select a region, select a country, click on a language, then click on the "words of life", select a message or song recording and listen to how the language sounds!

4-10-07
Wow, I haven't updated this page much! Most of the updates have been on the "what's new" page. I've been putting a lot of work into the site creating printables and also adding some more things to the history pages.

It's been so much fun for me to see that blogs have been linking to me lately. It's an inspiration to get to work and make some more downloads! One in particular made my day - a post by JennLovesJesus. You can thank her for the idea to make the alphabet handwriting pages!

Besides working on the site, I've been doing a lot of research about dyslexia. One of our children is having some issues with reading, spelling and writing. We're in the process of finding out what's going on and it's somewhat daunting. Here's a great site that was passed along to me that has some free videos you can watch and a lot of information to go through.

2-27-07
One of the challenges of homeschooling is the cost and deciding what to use. What curriculum should you buy and for how much? For those of you on a budget, did you realize that you can homeschool nearly for free just by using the Internet and your local library? There are so many dedicated individuals who have invested their time and talents in providing materials, worksheets, lessons and even entire curriculums at no cost. The challenge though is in finding all of these goodies, especially since the list grows almost daily.

I have been recently running into all sorts of sites and materials created by people who are sharing their passion for learning, teaching, homeschooling, etc. with the rest of us. I'd like to eventually create a section that showcases what you can do and use for free for various grades. For now here are a few listings that should help you on your way to homeschooling for free or just for a lot less! You may also want to take a look at our links section for more freebies or write me if you are looking for something particular.

Ambleside Online
Ambleside is a free online curriculum in the Charlotte Mason style. Ambleside makes use of many free texts on the Internet and there is no cost to use their information. As of this writing they have curriculum written for Kindergarten through 11th grade. They are working on 12th grade materials.

An Old Fashioned Education
This site is awesome! This mom has provided links to free resources for grades K-12 and she has even made complete 40 week schedules.

Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching
Scroll down to the school curriculum materials section and click on the link that corresponds to your child's grade or ability level. You will find excellent, free math workbooks, teacher's guides and more for each grade level. Your math program doesn't have to cost you a penny.

Don Potter's Phonics and Spelling Resources
There are multiple free PDF downloads for teaching phonics plus many linked resources. If you'd like a free guide to teach reading, you can find several to choose from at this site.

KISS Grammar for grades 2 - College
Although this site seems hard to navigate, it's worth taking a much deeper look at. This is an excellent free grammar program that has been made available by Dr. Ed Vavra. The grammar program spans grades 2 through college level and although all of the materials are currently online, they are also being formatted into downloadable workbooks.
You really should take a look at these materials. If you like them and the philosophy behind the KISS method (please do spend the time to look over the introduction document at the top), you won't need to purchase anymore grammar materials for the rest of your homeschooling career.

Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing
Free complete color copies of Scott Foresman workbooks are online for grades 1-6.

 

11-2-06

If you are a Christian and you want your kids to know and understand alternatives to the world's way concerning the "dating scene", sex and the opposite sex, I highly recommend you read some of the following books out-loud with your teen or preteen. You don't have to read them out loud of course, but it will give you a chance to discuss things if you do (and you can do a little editing on the fly for portions you decide may not be appropriate or in keeping with your specific beliefs or the age level of your child). You may leave out some details during a read aloud at a "younger" age (late preteen or early teen) and then set them loose with the entire book at an older age (mid to late teen)

Books like these (about purity and so on) are huge priority, in my opinion, to have in the house if you have older kids (or get them early on for you as a parent to read if you want to get a fresh perspective on how to mold your younger children's ideas about the opposite sex as they grow up). You can't assume that they will just "get" what to do without discussing things in depth and really studying over it and talking things out. This is potentially life changing stuff.

These are all issues that I don't think a lot of parents really spend time on. Kids are being bombarded with "other" ideas even if you limit their T.V. and so on. They will pick it up from their peers and billboards and everything else in our current culture. Even if your kids are too little to read these books to now...I recommend them as reading for you so that you can know how to deal with things as they come up.

Here are some of the book titles (feel free to email us if you have any specific questions). Click here for a printable list of the books.

And the Bride Wore White (Dannah Gresh) -a book written for young women (teen and up)

I Kissed Dating Good-bye (Joshua Harris) -an excellent book!!!!!

Boy Meets Girl (Joshua Harris) -this book follows the book above. It is about courtship and how to behave towards the opposite sex, how to know you are ready to marry, etc.

Integrity Dating (John Holzmann) -an excellent book!!!!!!!

Sex Has a Price Tag (Pam Stenzel)

Passion and Purity - Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control (Elisabeth Elliot)

Quest for Love -True Stories of Passion and Purity (Elisabeth Elliot)

Authentic Beauty - The Shaping of a Set Apart Young Woman (Leslie Ludy)

A Young Woman After God's Own Heart (Elizabeth George)

A Young Man After God's Own Heart (Jim George)

Why True Love Waits - A Definitive Book on How to Help Your Youth Resist Sexual Pressure (Josh McDowell)

The Measure of a Man (Gene Getz) This is written mostly for men, but it's great to read to your teen son so he knows what to model himself after.

When God Writes Your Love Story (Eric and Leslie Ludy)

Every Young Woman's Battle (Shannon Ethridge & Stephen Arterburn)
or
Every Young Man's Battle
*Warning, this book has some subjects that you may want to edit on the fly when reading out loud. Don't turn your kids loose with this book until you've been through it with them. There are some items discussed very frankly and honestly, but not in a titillating way.

Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry -Why Women Lose When They Give in (Lisa Bevere)

Not Even a Hint - Guarding Your Heart Against Lust (Joshua Harris) This book discusses a very uhm, sensitive issue that most parents are going to have a hard time talking to their teens about. Still it's worth getting past the discomfort and reading this book. I think this book is most appropriate for a teen vs. a pre-teen. You may wish to prescreen it.

Lady in Waiting - Becoming God's Best While Waiting for Mr. Right (Jackie Kendall & Debby Jones) This book is very appropriate for your college student or a single adult.

Choosing God's Best (Dr. Don Rannikar) - Wisdom for Life Long Romance This one would be also good for a single

Gift-Wrapped by God - Secret Answers to the Question "Why Wait?" (Linda Dillow)

A Passion For Purity - Protecting God's Precious Gift of Virginity (Cala Stephens)

Secret Keeper - The Delicate Power of Modesty (Dannah Gresh)

For mom and dad:
Teaching True Love to a Sex-at-13 Generation (Eric & Leslie Ludy)

Epidemic: How Teen Sex Is Killing Our Kids (Meg Meeker )
This books is such an important read. Don't miss it. It's not a Christian book per se but you won't want to miss the info. It's also fine for a read-aloud with some "on the fly" editing.

Please don't wait until your children already "liking" the opposite sex! If they are, hurry and read a few of these together!

If your child commits to a life of purity, you might consider getting a purity ring, I.D. braclet or other reminder of his / her commitment. Let him or her know too that if s/he has already gotten involved in sexual activity that it's never too late to "start over".

10-26-06

I love free stuff! For those of you in the Bay Area here's something you might be interested in!
Fill out a survey and get a free admission to the Bay Area Discovery Museum!

10-13-06

"Homeschoolers Hot Commodities"

I was really encouraged to read this article. Having a daughter who will most likely be entering college in the next few years we've been researching our options. It's great to hear that more colleges are FINALLY paying attention to the every growing pool of homeschoolers!

Previous thoughts / articles and so on:

September 2006

Our Experiences With Math

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