Thrift Schooling

Why not? We had a few days this past month where we were snowed in. The kids are outside enjoying the snow. It never snows here. They were in heaven. So I sat down and wrote. I mean, I invest time in my blog posts, why not try my hand at a little book. It's not a novel or anything but it is a useful tool for any homeschool parent out there thinking about teaching their child preschool! So many parents get nervous about teaching this age, but really, it's not that bad! Actually it can be quite fun and memorable for both the child and the parent!  I'm trying to make my hobbies more practical. Which is why I left Facebook over a year ago. Instead of spending my time online looking at pictures of friends I can spend my time creating images for reviews or work on a blog post that can encourage or inspire another homeschooler! Since I have left Facebook I have received thousands of dollars worth of products and services in exchange for my work. Seriously. Is that cool or wh...

Science4Us.com  is an online based science curriculum that includes both online and offline resources. I received the  Science4Us.com Online Subscription  for both my Kindergartner and Second Grader. ($7.95 per child, per month). This program is designed for K-2 but could easily be used for 3-5th grades students as well. It is a perfect fit for families who have several elementary aged children since there are group activities and discussion questions geared towards a group. It would work well for an individual child also. Computer(s)*  Printer Scissors/Glue and Crayons Common Household Items for Offline Activities * I found that having each child at their own computer, at the same time, during the online activities worked the best. If not possible, you will need to allow 5-15 minutes for each child's online time. Access to Online Animated Lessons and Activities Printable Teacher Guide for Each Lesson Teacher Explain Printabl...

KinderBach  is a piano program geared towards children ages 3-7. They offer materials for both group and home instruction. I received  The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership with Teacher Corner  (currently $95.88/year. reg. $130/yr) to be used at home with my children. I was excited to give this program a try since I have three, yes, three children in this age group! KinderBach offers six different levels. Each level takes ten weeks to complete with four lessons per week. My three and five year old both began with Level One. My seven year old began at Level Three.   How KinderBach Works The Online Subscription to KinderBach includes access to their Teacher's Corner providing homeschool parents with all of the downloadable materials needed to teach this music class to your children. When I first looked at the lesson plans I was excited to see that this music time could be a great opportunity for all of my children to learn togethe...

One of the joys of homeschooling is that you don't need to be tied down to some sort of schedule. You can be as relaxed or ridged as you want. Believe it or not, I'm the type of person that likes a plan. A schedule. A chart. But, that poses a huge problem. When the plan gets messed up, so do I. That does not make for a happy household and seems to defeat the whole purpose of homeschooling. I mean, I am supposed to be cherishing these years with my kids, not just getting by with some sort of checklist, right?  I've tried both approaches. One extreme, super chart driven and on the other end, completely relaxed. Neither worked very well. Everyone get stressed out with the charts and my kids are too young to be left to their own devices to try the relaxed method. Basically, what it comes down to, is you just need to find out what works for you and your family. At this point I feel we have found what works for us. But I'm sure, within a few months things will chan...

Good thing we still have two more weeks before the LEGO® KidsFest makes it's stop in Raleigh. Today was our second day of being snowed in. Fortunately after the massive amounts of snow, the weather warmed up quickly and we hit the driveway hard, shovels and all! Have you ever heard me say  I miss New York winters? I take that back. We had more snow than is imaginable here in Virginia but I heard Raleigh was hit worse. All I'm saying is, I'm glad it's not this weekend that we are heading that way. It's supposed to be close to 70 degrees next week. Go figure. Just as long as it stays above freezing for the KidsFest February 28th through March 2nd and I'm happy. If you haven't purchased tickets yet, now is the time. The Saturday sessions are filling up quickly with limited availability left. FIVE IDENTICAL SESSIONS ARE PLANNED  for the Feb 28 – March 2 tour stop to Raleigh, NC Friday, February 28  4 pm- 8:30 pm Saturday March 1, ...

Keep The Faith  is a Living Lights Berenstain Bear book are written by the late Stan and Jan Berenstain's son, Mike Berenstain. The Berenstain Bears were a wonderful childhood series that I enjoyed as a kid. Many of the stories were written with a moral and encouraged children to do what was right. I remember how the inside cover of each book has a memorable little quote, presenting the theme of the story ahead. I loved saving up my money and buying one of these books at my school's annual book sale and I enjoy sharing the stories with my children. Well, now the deal is even sweeter. Mike Berenstain not only has taken the torch with this series but has written a Christian series with the same lovable characters such as Brother and Sister bear.  In Keep The Faith , Brother and Sister Bear are confronted by Ferdy Factual. Ferdy's father is a scientist who does not believe in God. While admiring the night sky one evening, Sister Bear mentions God as the Creator. Ferdy...

Read alouds are a huge hit in our homeschool. Math, we have fun with. It comes easy to my second grader, and my kindergartner is eager to complete his colorful Math workbook pages! History is engaging and questions are always swirling around in their little minds. Science. They thrive on the experience and note booking. But when it comes to creative writing and SPELLING.  Everyone cringes.  Creative writing is not a fav around here with the kids but I don't necessarily have a hard time teaching it. Writing is a passion of mine, so it's more the lack of motivation of their part I have to deal with in that area. But SPELLING.  AHHHH! What makes it so hard for me is not the lack of resources available, but rather the abundance thereof!  Since I switch things up a lot in our homeschool, trying to find what is a good fit for each child, I get overwhelmed with the variety of teaching methods and strategies available for spelling.  I've Tr...

I was able to attend a pre-screening of the God's Not Dead Film that will hit the theaters in March below is my own personal opinion of the film. I find the whole, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water," in the realm of Christianity has been taken to the extreme. Sure, there is room for human error, we are in fact human, living in the flesh. We all make mistakes, and things happen, I get that. But it has come to a point in our society where not only have we overlooked the mistakes, but overlooked the outright sin, deception and wrong spirit behind the motivation in Christian media and entertainment. I have no problem sitting in a service and a scripture is accidentally misquoted or said wrong. I'm not going to put that preacher under the magnifying glass and dismiss him completely. Mistakes happen. But when you are dealing with media. A movie, a music album, even a book, e very single word is put there on purpose. Every shot, every angle. The produ...

It was one of those weeks. Expect the unexpected when it comes to homeschooling. On Monday, I was feeling a tad under the weather. And today, my youngest came down with something as well. We just all took it easy, but honestly, I enjoy weeks like these. More read alouds, (we are in the second book of the Little House series), more crafts, more relaxed. Aside from the random sick days, the middle of the week was quite entertaining. Here's a few of our highlights: 1) Homeschool Skate : A group of homeschoolers rent out the local roller rink once a month in our area. This was our second time attending and my kids loved hanging out with other homeschoolers their age! 2) Making Valentines : This year my kids are sending valentines all across the country, (and to Australia) to other homeschooling families I'm connected with through the Crew. I was amazed at how diligent those little hands were in making over 20 homemade Valentines for kids they've never met! I did tell them t...

The crazy cycle. We all experience it. In our marriage, with our kids. We just don't always realize what is going on, so we stay on this cycle of craziness. If you've read any of the books in the Love and Respect series, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Dr. Eggerichs explains in this book how we can show Love and Respect in our families. An interesting approach, since the only experience I've had with his concepts of Love and Respect was in the context of marriage. My husband and I attended a video series of his at our church a few years back and our eyes were certainly opened. The best way to keep a marriage strong, is to understand that men need to feel respected in order to love. Likewise, women need to feel loved in order to show respect. When a woman feels unloved by her husband, then it is very difficult for her to show him respect. The hurt and offense hinders the respect. Right or wrong, this happens. And vice, versa. When a husband feels disrespected...

And the winner is..... REBECCA W!  Congratulations on your win Rebecca!   Who is counting down the days to the LEGO® KidsFest, in Raleigh? This mom is! Apparently, a bunch of families in my church are planning on heading down from Virginia for the big event, as well. Who wants to wait until the Richmond stop anyway? North Carolina is only hop, skip and a jump from us, and we are  going to a LEGO® event, so the  three hour car ride won't be that bad, right? Right. I don't think my kids quite understand what is in store for them, but I will say that I have only heard positive remarks about this event. LEGO® is a big craze in our house, and I'm sure in many of yours. Imagine being in a place, with like minded folk seeing LEGO® brick creations everywhere you turn. Ok, maybe I'm starting to be a little more excited than the kids are, but hey, I'm a mom, I like seeing my kids engaged and having fun. It's just, LEGO® bricks do just that....

Sometimes it's easy to stay in the same rut when it comes to paying bills. Like a machine, I simply go online, pay my bills each month, without question. But I will say, that there have been a few times that certain bills, such as my land line/Internet bill would seem a tad high. Sure enough, I would actually take the time out to view my bill on these months only to witness, a third party charge. I hate that. Extra phone calls to make, extra hastle. Car insurance can be just as bad. I know that there have been times that we would continue to pay for car insurance, even though we weren't even using that car very often. And I'm supposed to be the thrifty mom around here! Well, rest assured, we just took a vehicle off recently and sure enough it dropped our insurance down $100 over a six month period. Go figure. It's the simple things. The little things that can help up save money in the long run! I know that sometimes it's confusing trying to find  cheap car insur...

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