A Homeschool Prom

 This year's "formal" turned out so great! 

 The teens in our co-op picked out the theme "A Masquerade in Paris." 

 I enjoyed making the masks.  (I adore glitter.)

Handy Math Drills

Just found this really helpful FREE math drill online.  I've used Math-U-See curriculum for years, but haven't seen their website in quite a while.  This is pretty cool!  You can design your own drills and use them as often as you want for FREE!  You can also design and print out your own worksheets.  No bells and whistles (wasted ink) here.... just nitty gritty math practice, plain and simple.

OK, well, Happy Monday!

Tibetan Beauties, Wheat Grass, Etc.

We're studying Eastern Hemisphere this year in school.  This is our second batch of kids to go through this curriculum... It's my favorite year of Social Studies!

What Day Is It, Again?

Yeah, so it took me until 6:00 last night to figure out that it wasn't actually Tuesday.

Well, duh.

I've been spending waaaay too much time out in the garage pounding pennies!
Or maybe it's the paint fumes...  : /

Oh, and today I've only got FOUR children.

Totally weird.

Jacob's at college and Grace and Noah are at work.

Somebody was up barfing last night.  Don't know who, yet.

And there's two random deer legs out in my front yard.

I think Annabelle brought them to me as a gift, because she never chews them, she just finds them and lays them in the yard outside the window where I sit at the computer...

So that I can see them.

Isn't she sweet?

Gosh, it's sure hard to do "school" right before Christmas!

Benjamin read his first real words yesterday, and it was totally effortless on my part.  I'm tellin' ya, 

have a whole bunch of kids because the last few are the easiest!

Now, there's a tip, and it's not even Tuesday... or Wednesday.

I think.   : )

A Garden's End... Tomato Wars!

My glorious gardening experience has come to an end... at least for this year.

Lots of workers bringing in the harvest before the first frost.

This is what homeschoolers do on lunch break.  : )

Tip Tuesday: Inspect What You Expect

I recently read an interesting book called Large Family Logistics.  It was written by a mom of nine.  I figured that since I only raised eight, I could learn a thing or two.  ; )

Well, the book was really annoying...for the most part.

This lady is terribly organized and boring and not at all like me.  Except for maybe the boring part.  Maybe it was just her writing style.  I'm not sure.  But she also cleans her bathroom every single day.

Every.  Single.  DAY.

Yes.  I know.  What a freak, right?

Just kidding.  Sortof.

But one thing I did learn from the book is this:

How I Roll

I just heard the school bus drive by my house.  My kiddos are still snoozing.  The house is completely silent and dark.  The sound of that school bus reminds me of how blessed I am to home school.  What a privilege it is. What a responsibility.

Truth is, I've been having one of those freak-out-about-everything weeks.

The Big Day

Today was the day.
My first little fledgling flew the coop.
My boy went off to college.

Bye, bye, Jacob.

Back 2 School

Glad to see that the kids are getting good use out of their outrageously expensive calculator!

All these Back to School ads really crack me up.  Just today I saw a Wal-mart challenge to get all your back to school clothes for under $100.  Are you stinkin' kidding me??? For ONE kid??  And that's a challenge?  I think I could get all seven ready for under 100 bucks!

(except for the calculator, of course.)

Seriously.

College Update: Packing and Procrastination

I just realized that I haven't updated you guys in a while on the whole traumatic first-kid-moving-away-to-college adventure.  I guess I haven't been feeling quite so traumatized lately.  That's a good thing, right?  I'm sure it will hit me out of the blue one of these days and I'll be all freaked out again.  But for now, I'm OK.

So, are you curious how it's going for a homeschooler getting ready to move off to college?

Little Viney Things

Many of you know that I'm new to gardening.  I've grown lots of gardens in the past, but never very successfully.  And none that I truly cared about.  So I never really thought of myself as a gardener. This year is different.

This year I really care about my plants.  I've been babying them since February and I really want them to grow.  I actually go out into the garden at least once every day and check on everything.  And I'm learning so much.  About plants and also about life.  I'm learning how to be more patient.  And nurturing.  And I'm learning about these little viney things.

What to Do With Toddlers

 Thanks for all the great responses to the homeschool question, "What do I do with the baby/toddler while I'm trying to teach school?"  You can read other mom's great ideas in the comments of the last post.  I'm hoping to get a few more on there pretty soon.

 While we're waiting...

Homeschool Forum Question: What to do with Toddlers

Hi there faithful blog friends!  Today I've got a question for YOU.  You're all so smart and helpful, I'm sure you've got lots of answers.  So, here's the question...

Yesterday I had a really nice talk with a younger homeschool mom who was heading to one of our local conventions for the weekend.  She said that she wished there was a speaker there who would address one of her most pressing issues...

What to do with the baby/toddler while homeschooling?

I think that the issue is rarely brought up at convention/co-op etc. because the speaker is often older and busy touring conventions, often DONE homeschooling or has a husband who is HOME and helping on a daily basis.  Young moms with babies who are in the thick of it are rarely ever the guest speakers!  So, that's where you come in!  What advice do you have for this young mom? 

And if you're not a homeschooler, don't worry!  You can also chime in if you're a mom... coz ALL moms have their own helpful methods for keeping those littles under control and happily occupied while you're busy doing something else.

OK, so, Fire away!

A Home School Graduation

It.  is.  Finished.

The lists and lists... and lists of lists.


The planning and stress and worry.


The 14 years of home schooling.



The graduation, reception and party...

The $5 Prom Dress...Spring Formal

 Who says homeschoolers are nerds???

This weekend was the homeschool co-op Spring Formal.  All the kids and moms pitched in to make it a fancy, special evening.  We sent FOUR teenagers.  Major feat, there.  But worth the effort...

No Shame on You

I just got this letter in my email and I thought it was too good not to share.  Ellyn Davis is a really neat lady who helped me tremendously during the beginning of my home schooling journey.  Although I've never met her personally, her family used to put out a really good curriculum guide under the name "The Elijah Company."  She wrote lots of in-depth articles that helped shape my views of home education and a lot of other things.  If you want to read more, here's the link.

I don't know about you, but for me, the expression, "Shame on you!" was something I heard quite a lot. And I think some of that shame is still sticking around.  It is pretty hard to recognize and to overcome.  It is crippling to our children and something that we should never be wanting to put "on them." 
This is a long article, but please read it all when you get a chance.  We homeschool parents sometimes try so hard to look good and make sure our kids act "good" that we actually do more harm than good to them in our efforts. 


Love,
Jen

Permission to Change

Final stretch, y'all!

How was your school year?  For me, it's been a pretty darn good year.  But there's definitely a few things that are going to need more of my attention next year.

Since we're close to the end, it's a good time to evaluate...while we're still in the thick of it.  If I wait until after summer break to plan for next year, I might forget the things that bug me right now, not make any changes and possibly be doomed to repeat it.  Remember that verse in the Bible that says that it's the little foxes that spoil the vineyard?  Sometimes it's like that in homeschooling, too. The good news is that a lot of them can be fixed!

Pingin'

Have you ever heard that term?  It might be another militaryism.  Like, "I've got so many different things on my plate that I can't handle them all and I'm really starting to ping."  Except that we rarely state it so clearly.  We just start to ping without warning.  That's me lately.

Socialized Homeschoolers Learning Fair

This was a neat opportunity for our homeschool kids.  Our co-op put together a learning fair.  Kindof like a science fair, but with lots more varietly.

 Graci did a display about chickens.  She sure got lots of questions.

Seedlings, Schooling, Potatoes & Prizes

After only one week, these babies are reaching for the light.

Here's my rig-jig operation.  So far... Hey, it works!