For Beauty of the Blooming Trees....

I really enjoyed the poem our Heart of Dakota teachers manual had us read a while back. Natalie and I both wrote out our favorite parts and did some doodling to go along! Natalie's assignment was to copy part of the poem, and she tried really hard to "write it sweetly" :) Read this sweet poem aloud for yourself and be sure to use your best Anne of Green Gables voice:

Father, We Thank Thee

For the flowers that bloom about our feet,

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet,

For song of bird and hum of bee,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For blue stream and blue of sky,

For pleasant shade of branches high,

For fragrant air and cooling breeze,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For this new morning with it's light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

                                             Ralph Waldo Emerson

American Elections Unit Study and Activities

Election day is this Tuesday! Have you taken time to talk with your kids about what an election is and what it means in our country? This 20 page unit study is the perfect way to cover the election with your preschooler through early elementary age child. It includes activities, games, writing, biblical references on leadership, easy to understand lessons in government, politics and the history of elections in America. And it's FREE! >>>> Download Here 

You may also be interested in using our Free Distance Learning educational videos to cover this material! Julia covers the Election unit study in two parts, seen below. Show them to your children and follow along with the printed material. ~Julia and Sarah

Part 1

Part 2

Free Online Distance Learning Election Unit Study Part 2

Here's Part 2 of the American Elections Unit Study.

Please provide feedback. We would love to hear from you!!

This 20 page unit study is the perfect way to cover the election with your preschooler through early elementary age child. It includes activities, games, writing, biblical references on leadership, easy to understand lessons in government, politics and the history of elections in America. And it's FREE!

>>>> Download Here 

~Julia and Sarah

Free Online Distance Learning Election Unit Study

This is part one of a three part Online Distance Learning Unit Study on Elections. This is in conjunction with the 20 page unit study we offered earlier this month. I teach in a homeschooling co-op. One of my students was home sick today, and I was able to tell his mom when he's feeling better he can easily catch up!

Please provide feedback. We would love to hear from you!!

This 20 page unit study is the perfect way to cover the election with your preschooler through early elementary age child. It includes activities, games, writing, biblical references on leadership, easy to understand lessons in government, politics and the history of elections in America. And it's FREE!

>>>> Download Here 

~Julia and Sarah

Teaching Your Child to Read : Blending 101

I have taught two of my own children to read. Let me help you teach your child to read!  One of the hardest concepts is blending, connecting the sounds of the letters, so you can hear the word that you are saying. This tutorial is designed specifically for your child.

Staying Sane While Homeschooling

We are 5 weeks into our school year. 

Here are the 5 things I've learned I need, to keep my sanity:

1. I need to make a weekly schedule, then take a chill pill and relax when things don't go exactly as planned. I like feeling organized, I like routines and goals. I need goals, otherwise I tend to get lazy. But we homeschool, and one of the perks to homeschooling is that you don't have to follow a schedule! My goal every day is to hit the gym by 7:30am, return home showered, dressed (looking fabulous) and ready to go (I know, right?).  I like when my husband has got the kids up, dressed and fed, so that when I return we are ready to get going on school by 9:00. It doesn't usually go that smoothly, but it's our goal. I've learned not to beat myself up when it doesn't happen quite like that (or at all like that).
2. We all need breaks. For the kids: If you're half way through a math lesson and your child has mentally checked out and seems completely unresponsive after numerous attempts, have them get up and take 5! Do a lap around the house, sit on the couch and rest, read a book, or eat a snack. Then, get back to work. For me: I need down time at least once a day to keep my sanity, regardless of how productive or unproductive the day has been. I strictly enforce nap time/quiet times here at our house. While my one year old sleeps, the four year old naps or plays quietly in his room and the five year old sits on a bed with books or at a desk to color. Since my 1 year old is still taking a good 2 hour nap mid day, the rule for my other 2 kids is to stay quietly in their rooms until she wakes up.
3. I kinda need a clean house. I find that my sanity is directly correlated with how clean my house is. Everyone in the family contributes to a general clean-up of everything before going to bed at night. We usually start the day off pretty tidy, but by noon, things can look like a disaster zone! After lunch, we do a round-up of all the toys, my 5 year old cleans the table off and my 4 year old vacuums up crumbs with the dust buster. I'm no clean freak, I'm all about letting the kids be kids and have fun with their toys, but a little mid-day organization in the midst of chaos can be very therapeutic!
4. I need unconditional support from my husband. Maybe it's all in my head, maybe it's reality, but I feel a lot of pressure as a homeschooler. I know there are people watching what we're doing; fellow bloggers, blog readers, friends and family members. I know there are some people watching out of general curiosity, and others that remain very skeptical. I know that on top of our parenting responsibilities, taking on the sole educational instruction of our children is no small task. Because of this, I have my moments of emotional breakdown, and I need to know my husband is behind me 100%. 
5. I need to get out of the house and have alone time. For this reason, starting my day at the gym really does help. At the end of the day, I can at least say that I got out of the house at one point! Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. I love having them at home and I love being around them all day. But I know my limits, and so does my husband. He is pretty good about picking up on my vibe that says "Help! Get me outta here!" Sometimes all I need is a change in scenery :)

*For further encouragement to chill out, read this cool little post: Dear Moms, Jesus Wants You to Chill Out For the record, I read that right after publishing this post and found it very fitting to include here :)

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Hip Homeschool Moms

Free Election Education Activity Pack 2012

This 20 page unit study is the perfect way to cover the election with your preschooler through early elementary age child. It includes activities, games, writing, biblical references on leadership, easy to understand lessons in government, politics and the history of elections in America. And it's FREE!

>>>> Download Here 

Several ideas are out there for younger children. One of our favorite books is Duck For President.  You can easily obtain it from your local library at a great price :)

~Julia and Sarah

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SugarBeeCrafts, HomeStoriesAtoZ,  

What We Learned Playing Uno

Great Grandma and Grandpa Cavanaugh (AKA Grandma and Grandpa Dopedo) came to visit one Saturday afternoon. They came prepared with card games, dominoes and homemade mac and cheese. What can you learn playing card games with your great grandparents? A lot! As my grandma, a retired school teacher was quick to point out.
Socialization? This is inter-generational socialization at it's best. Help your kids strengthen their ability to interact with people of all ages. Play cards or dominoes with grandma and grandpa, they just might cover:

• Fine motor skills
• Matching
• Number recognition
• Patterns
• Color recognition
• How to win unselfishly
• How to lose gracefully 
• Taking turns
• Following instructions
• Sitting still
• Patience
• Good sportsmanship

Just to name a few! Provide opportunities for your kids to interact with people of all ages. If you don't have grandparents that are able to be involved in your lives, arrange for meetings to take place with other elderly couples from your church, or visit a nursing home. When in your life, aside from a public school classroom, are you ever in a room all day, with a group of peers your same exact age and grade level? Never! Teach your kids to confidently interact with kids and adults of all ages, and they will be well ahead of the game!

Behavior Chart and School Store

I have to give credit to my friend Rachel for posting a photo of her behavior chart and reward system that she is implementing with her kids for school. I saw a picture of it during our first week of school, but didn't think much of it since everything was going so well! By our second week, I was revisiting her photo and frantically trying to recreate my own! 

What we're doing:

• We start out the day at "Ready to Learn"
• Frequently, throughout the day, each child's name will be moved up and down the chart depending on how they are behaving. 
• I reserve "Excellent" status for really good behavior. I like that the bottom section says "Consequence" because this could be any number of things, you choose. Loss of privilege, time out, etc. 
• If a child ends the day at "Excellent" they earn 10 points
• "Good Job" earns 5 points
• "Ready to Learn" earns 1 point
• "Warning" and "Consequence" earn 0 points
• Points can be accumulated and used when we have a "shopping" day at the "store"
• Prizes are priced from 20 points on up, based on their value (I got prizes from the Target dollar section, Dollar Tree and Five Below) 

What you need for a Behavior Chart:

• 1 Standard size poster board, cut in half lengthwise (this should make it 28.25" long and 11" wide)
• Clothes pins for each child
• My FREE Behavior Chart printable
• Glue and Tape
• Scissors
• String

Cut out each page and glue to the poster board. If you use the cutting guidelines printed on each page, they should all fit perfectly on a single poster board. Use arrows to write your children's names and glue to clothespins. Attach a string to the top of the chart (for hanging) using tape or by punching holes.

I also got thinking that this would work great in a Kids Church setting! I tweaked it just a little bit and have included it here in case anyone wants it: Church Behavior Chart

Best Counting Songs...Ever

Ok, trust me when I say, I love listening to this CD! It's a little bit techno, a little bit hip hop, and a little bit too easy to make fun of us while we're moving and grooving to counting songs in the mini van, but don't hate.

Aside from the fact that it is fun and I personally enjoy it, my kids love it too! I have yet to purchase any of the other CD's or DVD's available through this company, but the counting songs are great. They start with ones and each consecutive song covers skip counting all the way to 12 and then counting down from 20. These songs really helped cement the ability to skip count, for my first grader. My preschooler and 1 year old are singing right along, they are ahead of the game thanks to this CD. My weakest subject was always math. I want to do what I can from the beginning to (hopefully) help my kids not struggle and despise math as much as I did growing up. The added bonus is that listening to this CD has helped give me a fun refresher too!



Click on any of the images or links to purchase through Amazon, or watch the YouTube video for a fun sample.

Have Fun Teaching: Counting Songs CD

Homeschool Style

Yea, we actually did this. I'm apologizing now for the cheesiness :-)

No Tears Today...

It is a privilege and a joy to stay home with my kids! I am blessed. I don't think I could handle sending them away on a bus, and one of the perks to homeschooling is that I don't have to! No crying for this mom on the first day of school. There are plenty of other reasons to cry, and plenty of time for that later. But not today.

FREE Printable: Find these cute and convenient "First Day of School" signs here.

Natalie and I both got new "back to school" sparkle shoes :)

Not long into the day, Batman decided to show up. Hey, this is another perk to homeschooling, right?

Making Back to School Fun!

Cute picture idea!

School is already in full swing for many people across the country, others are gearing up to start in a few days! Our family is going to start next week. The curriculum has been chosen, lesson plans are mapped out, and books are lined up ready to go. What about the little details? As a homeschooler, it's fun to make "going back to school" a special time for your child. No doubt, they are watching their friends prepare for school and seeing the school buses out on the road. They may hear about getting new school clothes and taking school pictures. Those were the things I felt I was missing out on as a child. Yea, the little stupid stuff that you either don't get to do or simply overlook as a homeschooler, can become a big deal to kids.

They want to fit in with their public school friends and feel like what they are doing is just as important, normal, cool, etc. Putting a little effort in can help make what they're doing at home feel just as official and exciting. I like milestones and structured start dates that set things off on the right note. Here are some ideas I've been putting together to use this year!

Free Set of First Day Signs!

I created this set of signs to hold up each year on the first day of school - purely for my own benefit as much as yours! I had seen a lot of cute picture ideas floating around, and one of them used printable signs with the idea that every year a picture could be taken, and then put all together at the child's graduation! How cute! In the following image, you can see how cute this looks. Go to the link if you like, but there are a lot more hoops to jump through to get to their free signs, use my link above for no-strings-attached free goodness!!

Free Printable Signs

If you already started for the year and forgot or skipped out on this step, don't fret it! Print out some signs and take some pictures anyways. You're still pretty close to the beginning after all, and it's not too late to start this tradition with your family!

Memory Sheet to Fill-Out Each Year! Free Download Here
This is a printable I created to use each year. It can be saved and easily printed off year after year, to compare all the changes! The following picture gave me the idea to do this:


Fun Facts to Remember


Back to School Party Ideas
A collection of cute ideas from our friend Melissa at RedFly Creations!


A Cute Picture Idea!

My plans are not elaborate. What I want to make the point to do:

• Take some cute pictures on the front porch using these sign ideas
• Have my kids fill out one of the "All About Me" printouts
• Buy a special "back-to-school" outfit to use for pictures on the first day
• Get "official" school pictures done at a local studio (the $10.99 special)
• Go out to eat at some point with other homeschool friends!

What are your traditions or plans to make this back-to-school year a success?

In the Beginning God Created

Bill Nye, popular as The Science Guy, has come out with a YouTube Video saying, "Denial of evolution is unique to the United States." 

"In another couple centuries I'm sure that worldview won't even exist. There's no evidence for it. "

We all believe in something...and we all get to choose what that something is. Bill Nye believes in evolution. I believe in God.

Ken Ham with Answers in Genesis has devoted his life to refuting evolutionism. He has developed and built The Creation Museum in Kentucky.

A well written article may be found here stating that in a recent gallup poll 46% of Americans believe in Creation by God. That amazes me since evolution is the only view taught in public schools. Praise God ~Julia

Telling Time

Helping your children learn 

to tell time is an ongoing process.

Space is a commodity around our house, so I really like to get things that are multipurpose. This Melissa and Doug clock has telling time for the older kids and shapes for my youngest.

OK to Wake Clock

The first level of telling time for our kids is knowing when the clock says 7:00, so they are able to leave their room. We trained our child to know that whenever they see a 7 to the left of the colon they could come out. If you want another option, you can cover the right side of the time so you leave no confusion. This OK to Wake Clock glows green at the time that you set, so if the clock is green your child knows he can get up.

If you like making candy or cakes, 

this is another fun option to do with your kids!!

You can find a full tutorial by Clicking Here

Living Books

The thing I loved best about Sonlight curriculum as a child, was their use of "living books" that brought history to life, rather than being limited to a dry textbook. Many homeschooling families enjoy this approach, and as I searched for the "perfect" curriculum this year, I found that many companies are adopting this philosophy of learning. Now, I am bound and determined to instill a love for reading into my children, and I want to follow this model as close as possible by using quality read-alouds, and early readers of historical fiction and biographies to supplement my history curriculum. 

The reason Sonlight curriculum can be quite costly, is because you get SO MUCH from them. I am grateful that my mom saved most of the books from our years of Sonlight curriculum, and I am always on the hunt for other ways of collecting quality books at a reasonable price. What's nice, is that books lists can be found from a number of sites and discounted books can also be found in a number of ways. Here are some examples I use:

The local library (duh, guess this should be a no brainer!) 

Open Library - A huge on-line collection of ebooks that you can check-out for free! 

A Book in Time - Book lists in chronological order and by age/grade level 

Heart of Dakota Book Store - Lists of books by age level and topic that correspond with their curriculum 

Christianbook.com - I order a lot of stuff through them 

Amazon.com - Also a place I frequent for new and used books 

Sonlight.com - Book lists like this can be found for all their core programs 

Redshift.com - A long list of books in chronological order with levels noted and links to movies that are also based in the noted time periods

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Scholastic E-Books $1 This Week!

We're so excited to see that Scholastic is offering their e-books for $1 again! Maybe you took advantage of this last time we posted about their sale, maybe you missed out and now is your chance! This offer is good August 20th through the 27th. These books can really save you some time. Because they're all in digital format, making copies for multiple children is super convenient. No need to scan or use a copier, just print off the pages you need!

Use this link: Scholastic Teacher Express $1 Deals

BOOK IT!

I looooved BOOK IT! as a child. The cool buttons, the stickers, the free pizza... and all you had to do was read some books?? Coming from a family that hardly ever ate out, getting that free personal pan pizza was pretty exciting stuff.

I am really glad to see Pizza Hut is still running this program. I haven't come across anyone that has been involved in it recently, so I will be interested to see what changes they have made over the years. I believe public school teachers are responsible to individually enroll their classrooms. Homeschool families enroll on an individual basis as well, as apposed to an entire homeschool group enrolling together. It's a free program to encourage your child's love for reading, click on the link below to enroll. Hurry, enrollment ends September 1st!!

BOOK IT! Homeschool Enrollment

The "Unofficial" School Room

I, have seen so many super cute pictures on Pinterest of school rooms people have set up in their homes. I have to admit, it makes me a little jealous. We have a decent size home, but our rooms are all tied up at the moment being, well, other kinds of rooms. This spot here will make a great office or school room one day, but for the time being, it is a play room! Instead, I have "school" hiding all over my house.

I have a nice looking dry erase board in my kitchen, a basket of supplies on the kitchen counter, bookcases tucked behind furniture and many other little clues that learning goes on here, scattered throughout my home.

Growing up, we did school at the dinning room table, on the couch, in our rooms, on the swing set. Sure, if you've got the space and want to create a more structured area for schooling to take place, as Julia has done, then go for it!

On the other hand, don't feel pressured to make your home resemble a public school classroom. Do whatever works for you! ~Sarah

Be sure to visit iHomeschool Network's collection of school room ideas: Here  and check out Julia's "Official" School Room: Here

Homeschool House

This is what our school area looks like. Our homeschool house is located in the basement. In one of the corners we set up shop. I wanted one of these U-Shaped teacher's desk and my husband found one in the trash. I put Natalie on one side of the table and Noah on the other side.

I took closer pictures from left to right. I have a section for the verse of the week, Spelling list of the week, and Hymn of the the week. I really enjoy teaching with a white board. The kids love using one as well. Below the white board I have a six pouch divider from IKEA mainly with flash cards.

This shelf in the middle behind the teaching desk is a life saver. I really enjoy having the teacher's manuals and student books vertically. I seemed to forget what I had when they were stacked on top of each other horizontally. I have games and manipulatives on the far right. The divider on the floor has each of their subjects. One side is for Natalie and one is for Noah. The top two shelves are for them to put in whatever they want coloring books, etc.

The other side has a magnetic board. We put the list of subjects for the the day, and any papers that qualified for stickers or they were just particularly proud of. Something they want to show Daddy. It does not get lost that way.

To the right of the magnetic board, I have space for a Composer of the week and an Artist for the week. I typically model those after an episode of Little Einsteins. It makes it easy to chose and an easy format for them to relate. 

Almost every preschool has a weather chart. We are no exception. This is from Bob Jones FootSteps For Fours.

I have a closet where I store my other materials by subject (except PreSchool). I find that old paper boxes work great! Again, I like to see my stuff.

If you have read my entire post, I guess I trust you to see what my school area looked like before I cleaned it up for the picture :) ~Julia

Check out many other HomeSchool Room options at iHomeschool Network.