Thrift Schooling

    Spelling You See  is a spelling program that uses the five developmental stages of spelling. It is geared towards elementary aged students or can be used for remedial work for older students. I reviewed Spelling You See: Wild Tales (Level C) . This program is not like your typical spelling program. It does not use word lists. There is no memorizing. And get this, there are absolutely no tests! The child simply writes in an engaging fashion. Their philosophy here is that the repetition of correctly spelling words will result in success. Even though the focus is writing, there are other activities used throughout the week. This includes direct interaction with the teacher, drawing, and color coding special sounds. Even though there are no tests, there is an opportunity at the end of every fifth lesson for the child to see what they know. Rather than taking a "spelling test" where the teacher marks how many words were missed, the teacher instead focuses on...

We've all seen the old movies and TV shows depicting early American towns where the village gossip, a woman, would be chatting with her friends on a bench watching the townsfolk pass by. "Did you hear about Betty? She left ol' Johnny and took the stagecoach down south. Can you believe the nerve of her? That poor fellow, I wouldn't be surprised if that new cook stove of theirs doesn't catch their cabin on fire. And to think he bought that for her last Christmas, do you know how much he spent on that thing, tsk, tsk..." We laugh and often wonder how people like that have so much time on their hands to be worried so much about other folk. Really, are we much better? Even though, we as moms are so busy cooking, cleaning and taking care of our children there are still plenty of opportunities to fall into a similar trap. Play dates, girl's night out and of course the easily accessible social media. We may not tweet or post gossip filled comments on our social...

Thrifty Homeschooling Tips 1. Buy Non-Consumable Workbooks: Yes. These do exist. But you have to keep your eye out for them. Most homeschooling workbooks, primarily "boxed" curriculum such as Abeka are for one time use only. They are meant for one child and cannot be copied or used for more than one child. When looking at a book, or downloadable PDF see if it is allowed to be used only for one child or for all the children in one family. If you look at the fine print you will see some companies allow you to print out and/or copy for all children in your own home. It can be a tremendous blessing when homeschooling several children, to not have to continuously buy consumable workbooks, year after year. 2. Check For Used Before Buying New: Recently, when purchasing science materials for my two boys, I visited the website of the company I wanted to buy from and had my materials in the cart, ready to check out. The price of this particular company is low anyways...

What Exactly is Reverse Culture Shock?  Reverse Culture Shock is returning home after experiencing another culture and having a difficult time readjusting to everyday life. This is actually quite common for those who have been on an overseas trip, studied abroad or for missionaries.  Why Does This Happen? Most people are at least somewhat prepared for the initial culture shock of the country they will be entering. They know that in some way, the culture will be different and a challenge to adjust to. When returning home, it is hard to believe that it will be hard to adjust to life again. Many times, people will return confused and frustrated when close friends and family don't seem to appreciate what they have learned or experienced on their recent venture.  You Are Not Alone I for one I have experienced Reverse Culture Shock many times and think that if I had been prepared, that it would have been easier to deal with. Of course, I didn't realize that th...

Happy Purim Everyone!  Ok, I'm not Jewish. And no, I don't generally observe Jewish holidays, but Purim is my annual exception. It is my favorite Jewish holiday and is just too much fun. I've decided that we simply must celebrate it in our homeschool. My first encounter with this holiday was actually in Israel. We American Christians were invited to a Purim party at a neighboring synagogue. I had no clue what to expect. Boring readings in Hebrew, maybe? A good cultural experience, I suppose. I reluctantly went. We walked in and the place was packed. There were about a dozen of us and we squeezed in the back row as tightly as we could. Looking around, I realized this was not your normal service. Scattered throughout the room were children and adults alike dressed in costume. Random costumes of all types. Then the service began.  The reading of the book of Esther. From beginning to end. The entire service simply consisted of this readin...

Amazing Science ! Volume 1 DVD is a quality DVD filled with hands-on science experiments from  ScienceandMath.com . This DVD is  geared towards students in grades 1-3 and costs $17.95. When you order Amazing Science! Volume 1 DVD you will receive 2 Discs in one case. You will be able to view 23 different amazing experiments at your own leisure. Each experiment is a separate chapter on the DVD and is easy to access. Jason Gibson of ScienceandMath.com is the instructor for all 23 experiments. Certainly qualified, he holds a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in both Electrical Engineering and Physics. He also has served as a Space Shuttle flight controller at NASA.  You can either watch the DVD's and learn from simply watching how the experiments are done or your child can try it out for themselves, which is encouraged. If experimenting for yourself, you will definitely want a notepad handy while watch...

Homemade chicken fingers. Yes, it actually is as good as it sounds, and yes, it is easy too! Note that the recipes I post from time to time are not meant to be super healthy or anything. Just frugal! I'd rather spend the time at home preparing a dish like this rather than forking out a pretty penny at a restaurant every time I get a craving for good old-fashioned chicken fingers! I love to have fun with my fryer, once in a while. I certainly don't plug it in every week but when I do, this simple recipe is a big hit! If you have never tried chicken fingers at home, give it a go and you might be surprised at how easy it truly is. And if frying makes you nervous, (as it does me some days) you can use the same recipe and simply bake them instead. I've done that a time or two as well. Ingredients 2 lbs Chicken Breast Meat 1 cup Half and Half 2 cups Flour 2 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning  Salt and Pepper to Taste Vegetable Oil Directions 1) Preheat Fryer.  2) Combi...

Sometimes it's best to power down the laptop and simply spend time with the family. Listed here are three fun ways we've been trying to spend time together recently other than the typical "family movie" that we started gravitating towards. 1) Music : Get out the musical instruments. Whether you know how to play them or not! Kids love to make noise and skill usually isn't a factor for them. Just let loose and have fun. Pick up that guitar that has been hiding in the corner all these years or wipe the dust off of the piano and have some good old fashioned fun! 2) Board Games : The challenge with board games is, when you have young children you have to be right there vigilant and watching at all times. But the catch is, that's why kids usually thrive off of board games, because you ARE there with them. They love the attention, interaction and instruction! We love board games in our house because you don't see one child sitting at a computer screen sep...

Goodnight Angels , by Melody Carlson is a simple, cute and fun board book for kids! This book is written in a similar fashion to Goodnight Moon,   except it places God at the center. The story focuses on a little boy who is saying goodnight to the world around him. At the end of his day, he prays to God thanking him for his blessings, love and care. It is a great way to teach children that each day, it is good to look back at all that God has given us and done for us and to be thankful.  This would be a great bedtime story for the child who has a hard time transitioning to bedtime. The story goes through a typical bedtime routine from having to come in from playing outside to taking a bath and brushing teeth. It is a wonderful tool to help children understand that a bedtime routine is normal. This book can help to calm the senses as this particular boy's routine is being read. Disclaimer: I received this book as apart of the Book Look Blogger Program. All opinions stat...

When this adorable hardcover picture book arrived at my front door, I was thrilled! Pups of the Spirit  by Jill Gorey and Nancy Haller, (illustrated by  Deborah Melmon) is an adorable, quality book geared toward children ages 4-8. I have personally tried to teach preschoolers the fruits of the spirit and let me tell you, it can be overwhelming! I prepared a series of lessons for the preschoolers in our church complete with cute poems, games and hands-on lessons to try to get it into their little hearts. Even in our own homeschool, at one point, we had two baskets on top of the fridge. A "fruit of the spirit" basket and a "works of the flesh" basket. If my kids, (at the time, five and younger) would demonstrate a fruit of the spirit such as kindness, then they would receive a penny in the basket. If they would demonstrate a work of the flesh a penny would go into the other basket. It worked for a while, but became overwhelming on my part after a while trying to k...

 Well, the Raleigh LEGO®   KidsFest is currently underway  and going strong! When my family and I arrived in Raleigh  (after a two and a half hour car ride), the sign stated that  ALL  sessions had been sold out ahead of time! Not surprising.  LEGO®  sets and everything that goes with them are all the  rage these days. My kids are fans as well. Even though it is my  oldest who absolutely adores  LEGO®  anything, my other  two had an absolute blast! How can you not? When you  arrive and overlook all that awaits you it is quite  overwhelming. My oldest son looked at me and expressed  that it was the best day of his life! He could hardly believe it!  Life size creations made of  LEGO®  bricks around every  corner, games, activites and of course the big brick pile in  the middle!   After hanging out in the brick p...