Family, Faith, and Fridays

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Studying The Where and How- VCF Week 4

Welcome back to Week 4 of the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair!
hosted by Susan at Homeschooling Hearts and Minds. Last week we explored Math choices and such, this week- Exploring Our World, Social Studies and the Exploratory Sciences.

I have to admit, this week gets me a little more excited! My kiddos are all history buffs and the boys especially enjoy science for the most part. Quite frankly, I wish I had payed more attention to both while I was in school, so I am enjoying re-learning with them. We have found several programs we really like and that work well for us, but I will admit that there never seems to be enough time in the day for all the programs I want to do. If you add Geography to the mix, time gets tight!

Just know in advance, there are a lot of good programs for both History and Science out there. A lot! I will tell you our favorites, but we are not using them all currently. Some are better for specific types of learners and some we found later on in our homeschooling career. As always, know your children, know their learning style, find what works and go for it!

History-

Elementary- Veritas Press Self Paced History- Yes, I have raved about this online program before. We love that it is presented from a Christian Worldview and we love that it is online. There are 5 years of it. We found it with our youngest so he is the only one who has used it, but I would use it again and again if we had more kiddos. We have also used ABeka and were very happy with it years ago.

Middle School- Notgrass History. We found this during a review and loved it so much we bought the next level. They have a newer one as well we hope to cover.

High School- We have used Sonlight History for years and figure if it's not broken, don't try to fix it. Yes, there is a lot of reading involved, so if that is not a good fit for your child, you may want to look elsewhere. I will tell you ahead of time, there are a few books we do not allow our children to read because of content. Because I have had it for years, we are comfortable with it, but I would also be willing to bet the Notgrass High School level is amazing as well. I know several who have used it with great success!

Science-

Elementary- OK, bear with me on this one! We used several levels of Nancy Larson Science and love it! It is an all-in-one type curriculum and has lots of hands on components. It is well rounded, simple to use, and my youngest enjoys it a lot. It is not, however, Creationist based, although we ran into very few issues with it. With my older kids we used the Jeannie Fulbright books and liked them. My favorite thing about those books is that they are Creation based. I love how Jeannie incorporates God into everything she teaches. The only downside to those books is that they only cover one subject per year (can be done in a semester) and they offer a lot of information that seems a little overkill to me at times. This series can be used through the middle school years!

Middle School- We are currently finishing up Science Shepherd's Introductory Science. It is video based which is a good fit for my son and does have a spiral notebook to go with it. It seems rather simple and dry at times, but our 9 year old (4th grade) likes it. Jay Wile has a new set of books out for this age called Science in the Beginning and we are looking forward to reading the first one towards the end of this semester.

High School- Here's where things get a little hard for us. For my first two kiddos we used Apologia. The Biology and Chemistry books are good, solid programs. They also drove me crazy because honestly, my girls did not love science. After I finished with them I swore I would not do that to myself again. We tried Science Shepherd for a while, but found it to just be too in depth for our needs. We have returned to ABeka Science and are happy with it. The program is more traditional in it's presentation, but has a good overview of the world of science, covers the labs you need to have to graduate a student, and is not overly time consuming.

Geography- Here is my homeschool mom confession of the day! When my kids did standardized testing I realized that they were a little behind on Geography. Not really the "where things are" thing, but all the little details that they test you on like reading a road map and atlas and such. So I went on a hunt to see how I could fix that. I am sure there are lots of programs out there but what I found was Evan-Moore Daily Geography Practice. I love this little series of books and now our youngest goes through one grade level a year. There is a lesson we read together on Monday and then he answers a few questions each day, which are conveniently labeled Monday, Tuesday, and so forth. Makes it easy for me, and is part of his morning independent work. As my kids get older I have them use Memoria Press Geography Series. We reviewed it one year, loved it, and bought the other levels. One other Geography program I really like is World Geography by ABeka. I usually have my kids do it as a sophomore or junior.

Told you we had a lot we liked! How about you? What do you use that you would recommend? We would love to hear what you use!

Please visit my fellow homeschool bloggers who are talking about Exploring Our World this week:

Note: all links will be LIVE by Monday 1/23 at noon EST.
Notebooking Our Way through History by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Studying the Where and How by Michele@Family, Faith and Fridays
The History of Our Mysterious Struggle With History by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
Social Science, Science and Exploring our World - Our Path by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Learning History Through Fiction by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset
History in Our Homeschool by Amanda H @ Hopkins Homeschool
Exploring Our World Through History And Science by Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Bringing History to Life! by Yvie @ Gypsy Road
History, Living Books and the Imagination by Sarah @ Delivering Grace
Exploring our world comes in many different forms. by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
Bible, History and Geography by Lizzy @ Peaches At Home
Beyond the Books - Social Studies and Science by Shecki @ Greatly Blessed
Exploring the World with Living Books by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
High School History & Science without Textbooks by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
Exploring the World Starting with Canada by Annette @ A Net in Time
Visit The World Through Video by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
Nature Study is Our Favorite Way to Do Science by HillaryM @ Walking Fruitfully
What A Wonderful World by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
The Time we got Lost in the Woods by Dana Hanley @ Roscommon Acres

An InLinkz Link-up

Blessings,

Friday, January 20, 2017

Remodel anyone?

We are working our way through a long list of things we (read, mostly me) want to do to the house we bought last year. Some were easy fixes like painting the front and back doors and working on the landscaping, while updating the boys' bathroom was a little more time consuming. But so far, we have been able to do the things ourselves.

But the laundry room/mudroom was a different story.

Try to picture this- the space off the garage to enter the house was a rectangular area, SMALL, and well, small. Trying to fit 6 people in there at once to take off shoes and coats when we came home was a nightmare. And then trying to fit all that stuff in a little closet with an annoying bi-fold door?? Good luck!

Right beside it was an identical space that shared a wall - our laundry room. It didn't seem too small when we bought the house but let's just say that after a few weeks of laundry, I realized it was a little tight.

Laundry day, can you tell?

Basically, the wall between the two areas was in my way!

And once I am annoyed by something, it grates on my nerves. Like every single time I came in from the garage or tried to do the laundry.

So I begged my husband to change it and he graciously hired someone to fix it. In December.

Because it seemed like a good idea at the time! NOT.

Well, it was a great idea, the timing just wasn't the best. You know, because of the holidays and all. And company. And having people over. And the chaos of December, And....

Do you EVEN know how much dust there is in your house when a wall is torn down and they pull out trim, and sanding, and painting, and putting in new lights, and tiling, and building a new "drop zone" for coats and such???

Have I mentioned that said space then empties into my kitchen, and was not at the time separated by a door? Yes, there is one there now. But during the 4 weeks of work, NOPE!

And there was a layer of dust over my entire main floor with several layers in the kitchen alone. No matter how much I wiped down the counters and counter tops and mopped it was a mess.

In December.

Yep, not fun. But the good news is we are done. Mostly!

The built ins still need to be painted as do the existing cabinets around the washer and dryer, but we are waiting to decide on a color to do our kitchen cabinets first so they will all match. One thing at a time, says the hubby! We (read I) also want to replace the utility sink with a stainless one, but that will be a future project.

The good news is we love the space. SO much more open with out the wall, a much more resilient floor to handle dirt,

an open area to hang coats and leave shoes that replaced the useless closet,

Still working on paint and finding matching baskets for the upper storage!

brighter with two additional lights,

and a place to hide mops and brooms!

Plus there is a door now between this space and the kitchen we can close if we need to!

So what's next?

We have decided to update our master bathroom on our own! In the summer! ;)

Blessings,

Monday, January 16, 2017

34 Weeks of Clean- Rinse and Repeat: Week 2- The Pantry

Welcome back to 34 Weeks of Clean!

Oh my word! You all are amazing- your excitement has absolutely thrilled me and your comments have blessed me. I love to see you all cheering each other on and your sharing of our posts has helped spread the word across the United States!

If you are just joining us, we are so glad you are here. You can find week one, Holiday Decorations here if you want to start from the top! If this is your second week back, YAY you! Know that we are cheering you on as well. We really are so excited to hear about all the people across the country who are determined to take back their houses with us - one week at a time! And the pictures- wow, did I mention you all are amazing?

So how'd you do with week 1? Hopefully your trees are at the curb and your lights are taken down. Trust me, your neighbors will appreciate your effort! And as someone said this week, it is freeing. As much as I love the pretty decorations, there is just something about starting the new year with a clean slate.

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Up this week, The Pantry!

Why start with the pantry? I can only speak for myself here, but the holidays seem to be a season of food, more food, and even more food. And a lot more junk food than normal. I found myself opening the pantry, throwing something in, and shutting the door as quickly as possible to avoid the mess. Yep, I am THAT kind of gal during the holidays. But guess what ya'll? Eventually, that mess starts trying to come out on its own. So even if your pantry does not look as bad as mine, (and please do not tell me) yours surely could use some sprucing up as well. Plus, we are in a new house this year, and let me tell you- not all pantries are created equal. We went from a BIG, double door pantry to this little thing with a few pull out shelves. Needless to say, some adjustments have had to be made and we did have to snag a little extra space in the cabinets. Sometimes it pays to be creative.

Remember- our goal is to deep clean, de-clutter, and reorganize.

Here we go!

This week we are concentrating mostly on the food. If you have food in other areas of your kitchen as well, don't leave it out! Spices and such will be covered next week, as they reside elsewhere in my kitchen.

Pull everything out! Yes, just do it. I will wait. And get used to it, because you will see that instruction at the beginning of every week. We will pull EVERYTHING, yes EVERYTHING, out of a space to start with. I promise, it works, just trust me!

Check expiration dates and throw things out. One of our goals should be to NOT poison our families this year with bad food. Hey, did you know that even clear gelatin has an expiration date? Whoops. Who knew?!

Wipe down all of the shelves, wood or otherwise. Between sticky honey drops (anyone else?) and dirty handprints, those things need to be cleaned! If you are an all natural kind of gal, you can use my favorite natural cleaner recipe. If you use store bought stuff, no worries - I won't tell anyone!

Wipe down the floors (or in my case drawers) of the pantry and the doors (or drawers) as well. You know women did not design all those fancy doors with little rims and grooves! Sometimes it takes nothing short of a Q-tip to get those clean. Yes, go ahead and get out your Q-tips!

Decide a plan of attack BEFORE you put things back. I try to keep like things in one area, so in our case cans are on one shelf and boxed foods on another. You get the idea.

Put things back with purpose- do you use something only occasionally? Put it higher up. All of our snacks are together, with smaller items in a basket, and then breakfast foods are at the bottom for easy access.

Use glass jars when you can! I admit, I love glass jars. Here's why - I love the uniform look, I love that you can see exactly how much of something you have left, and I get so tired of looking at half opened boxes and bags. This is especially true of things like flour and sugar. I seriously would put our potato chips in a glass jar if I thought I could get by with it. I also use Tupperware for staple item that need to be airtight. After living in Florida for several years, I gave in and invested in containers that would keep the humidity and bugs out. 18 years later they are still reliable.

A quick word about food storage. Yes, we do store extra food in case emergencies come up. (think power outages, blizzards, hurricanes, etc. But not in the same state, I know!) We keep those foods in a large plastic tub that is inventoried and kept in the basement storage area where 1. it is cooler, and 2. little hands do not reach in and help themselves.

Finished results-

This project is a little quicker than last week's! Regardless, don't forget, if you cannot do it all at once, no worries! Set a timer for 15 minutes each day if you have to and work until it goes off. Slow and steady wins the race. You have a whole week so don't fret! When you are done, reward yourself with a cup of tea and some chocolate.

And because a few of you have asked - nope, I am not going to give you a list of all the weeks in advance, though if you really want it, it is not hard to find! ;) I remain convinced, and I saw from our first run of 34 Weeks, that it is best to only share each assignment as we go. I think our tendency is to go in strong to a project like this, push too hard, and then fall off the wagon from exhaustion. It's kind of like that rush at the gym every January. This way you can truly concentrate on the task at hand and not be weighed down by what is to come.

So, I think that is about it! This should not take you all week, but go on and get started. There is never a better time than the present! And don't forget to post pictures of your progress- everyone who posts a picture for ALL 34 Weeks will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 prize package from our friends at 621 Gifts! Wanna know one of our favorite products they have?

Sugar and Spice Pretzels and the Dipping Caramel. Simply divine! It would be the first thing I would put in the shopping cart!

Until next week - Happy cleaning and many blessings,

Sunday, January 15, 2017

When Math is NOT Your Thing

Welcome back to week 3 of the Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Susan at Homeschooling Hearts and Minds.

Last week we talked about Language Arts, so this week: Math - Discovering Patterns, Math, and the Mathematical Sciences!

If you are anything like me, just the mention of Math makes your heart beat a little faster. No, not in excitement, but in pure terror. I can still remember trying to learn my multiplication tables for TWO years. Seriously, I just stunk at them. I had a sweet teacher in 4th grade that would not give up on me- she knew I needed to know them and pushed me to succeed. Of course, I know that now, but then, I thought she just did not like me and wanted to make me miserable. Sad, but true.

So yes, math is the one subject I was really afraid I would not be able to teach my kids. Sure, doing math with elementary aged kids was pretty easy. It is fun to add and subtract with teddy bear counters, tell time with fun little yellow clocks, and learn patterns with M&Ms!

But, higher math? UGH!

Good news, friends! Well actually, four points of good news!

When you teach your child math, you learn as you go. Just like them, you learn, and therefore you WILL be able to teach them!

Many math programs today have DVDs to follow that include full step answer guides.

There are many online Math tutors out there to help you!

Your older children can take online math classes from many colleges, and often receive college credit at the same time!

So what do we use? Here we go-

For elementary through about 3rd or 4th grade, we still believe in Saxon Math. I know that some complain about the monotony of this program, but I believe that 1. monotony is good at this age, and 2. it makes learning fun when you can use manipulatives. As for the two sided worksheets, we required only one side be done unless the child needed extra practice.

Somewhere around 4th or 5th grade, we switch over to Teaching Textbooks. Why? For several reasons actually. By the time my kids get to this age, I am training them to be more independent in their schoolwork. Being on the computer independently works better for us. In addition, I LOVE that the lessons are automatically graded!! As a busy mom, this is just one area that saves me a lot of time. I can easily check grades each week and see what problems they are struggling with. Video based lessons reach auditory and visual learners- both of which I have.

For now we are continuing Teaching Textbooks for high school math. There have been a few times when I thought my children might be behind in math, but when their math scores come back from standardized testing, they always do fine, so I have let that fear go. If this is a fear of yours, ABeka Math may be a better fit for you.

A few bonus things I want to mention-
Remember those multiplication facts I struggled with? The two best programs I have found to combat that are Times Tales and Math U See's Gamma level. We actually took time off from our Teaching Textbooks last year for a few weeks to work through those two programs simultaneously. Our youngest learned his facts faster than any of our older kids and I HIGHLY recommend both programs. Learning Wrap Ups are also great for hands-on kids! You can get them for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Click on the highlighted names above to read our formal reviews.

Times Tales practice dice

What about you? If there are math programs you have used and love, we would love to have you join us by linking up below! Share what you use and why you love it!