Category Archives: homeschooling

Dec 15 2014

Mom Monday Week 50 – The A-Bear

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Recently, I came across a great blog on gentle parenting or, as the blogger herself puts it, on how to yell less and love more: The Orange Rhino. Many of you may already be familiar with her work. I had never heard of her experiment to live yell-free for a whole year.

Her blog provides lots of tools for calming down. Her book, which I am in the process of reading, will walk you through 30 days of learning why we yell and how to replace yelling with successful parenting techniques.

As parents, we should all take the responsibility of calming our own nerves and temper down. Only we can do that for ourselves. The world around us will never be peaceful enough, quiet enough, or perfect enough to soothe our psyche.

mom monday wk50

I applaud anybody who takes the time to share what has worked for her in that department. Showing some vulnerability in the parenting blogosphere helps, too. How many of us have read a blog and felt completely intimidated by the perfection exemplified there?  Continue reading »

Dec 8 2014

Mom Monday Week 49 – Christmas Gifts

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What do you want for Christmas? I hope you get what you wish for. Here are my wishes:

1. Health for everybody in the family. Right now, my daughter is complaining of ear aches and is coughing at night. My son just finished his cold. I am still struggling with a bit of a cough myself.

2. Patience with my children and myself. I certainly need it as we homeschool and enjoy each other’s company 24/7.

Mom Monday Week 49

3. Peace on earth, good will among men. You know how that goes.

4. Good weather so we can spend some time outside every day throughout the winter. Fresh air does wonders for the mind and the body, but freezing cold air does not appeal to me at all.

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Dec 7 2014

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 8

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Chapter 8 deals with the Assyrians: Shamshi-Adad and the Story of Gilgamesh. If you don’t mind the subject of cruelty and dictators, then you should be OK with this chapter.

Other than that, this was a fairly easy chapter to go through because I decided to read to them only Gilgamesh the King (Ludmila Zeman) and not the next two books. I am not trying to be mysterious here. It’s just that Susan Wise Bauer has specifically asked us not to publish her reading lists, so I will not go into details about all the other titles.

Gilgamesh the King Book Cover

Suffice it to say that I learned the hard way to preview these titles and, as I looked at them, they just seemed so pagan and raw for my young kids, I decided they should be in middle school before reading such matter.   Continue reading »

Dec 1 2014

Mom Monday Week 48 – If Only

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This week, I took the kids to see The Nutcracker. Is there anything more beautiful around the holidays? I think not. “Our” Nutcracker is performed by The Appalachian Ballet Company. They have been doing this show for 46 years now.

If only we could go through life as gracefully as ballerinas, perpetual smiles on our faces. Sigh. Big sigh. At this time of the year, I am struck by the idea of grace, graciousness, and gracefulness. Not just achieving goals, but the manner in which we achieve them. The beauty of Tchaikovsky’s music, the colorful costumes, the ethereal gliding of ballerinas remind me it’s not just about getting to the destination. It’s also about the journey. Mainly, it is the journey that counts more than anything.

Mom Monday Devotional for Homeschooling Moms

Both my kids loved it. My son told me at the end, “It was wonderful, mommy! I loved it.” My daughter made several positive comments throughout the show. Well, that’s a relief. It was their first time seeing a ballet and this gives me permission to take them back to see another one.  Continue reading »

Nov 24 2014

Mom Monday Week 47 – Thanksgiving Every Day

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The idea of taking one day out of the year to eat well and think about what you are thankful for really, really appeals to me. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, if not THE most favorite. I like the Thanksgiving menu and the whole idea behind the holiday. I think about the Pilgrims and what they had to go through – can you tell I am an immigrant? I know the feeling of looking back on my first year in a foreign country (Sweden and then the US) and knowing God’s protection and blessing has been upon me.

Thanksgiving Everyday

Having said all that, Thanksgiving should happen every day, in my opinion. Personally, I have chosen to write down ten gifts I already have in my life – every day. It’s a great reminder to walk away from discontentment and into the attitude of gratitude.

Continue reading »

Nov 17 2014

Mom Monday Week 46 – Thanksgiving Holiday

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That’s it, folks! No more school for the next seven days. I am declaring a Thanksgiving Holiday this week. I need to catch up on housework, writing deadlines and editing my new book, 101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home. I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get it out, but it’s a great lesson. Our plans get interrupted by life. And we all know that life is what happens while you are busy making other plans…

mom monday wk46

I spoke with another homeschooling mom who shared the same dilemma: how do you get it all done? If you focus on housework, school work will lag behind. If you keep all the school assignments up to date, your house starts looking like a tornado just went through and the laundry piles turn into small hills.

Continue reading »

Nov 11 2014

Snake Oil Educational Games Review

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Out of the Box Games offers fun educational products and we were glad to review Snake Oil – Party Potion. This particular game is for ages eight to adult, but my children had no problem playing it. They are seven and four.

I did have to read the cards for my daughter, who is four and does not read long words. And, sometimes, I had to give her an idea of how to put the cards together, but she relished it. She asked for help and quickly repeated out loud what I was suggesting to her. This was a great experience for her because she loves games. She is my playful one – everything is funny and fun to her. On the other hand, she hates to lose and she lost a few times.

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Nov 10 2014

Mom Monday Week 45 – Enjoy!

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When was the last time you had lunch or dinner at your local Olive Garden? For those not living in the US, Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant (American-style, of course), which stays full pretty much all the time. Wherever you go in the US, if you find yourself in an Olive Garden restaurant, you will be told by a server, “Enjoy!”

As far as I know, this is the closest American equivalent of “Buon apetito!” – have a good appetite – which many European languages and cultures have before a meal.

mom monday wk45

 

I remember the cultural shock of some American evangelical missionaries who came to Romania. Before meals, everybody wished them a good appetite. These sons and daughters of the Pilgrims told us they pray before a meal. They don’t wish each other to have a good appetite. It’s enough to make one smile, right? Continue reading »

Nov 3 2014

Mom Monday Week 44 – All Sugared Up

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It seems that I wage a daily battle against sugar. This season, more so than other months. Between Halloween, my son’s birthday, and my husband’s birthday, we have been floating through a sea of candy, chocolate and cake. Coming up in three short weeks, Thanksgiving itself, with several pies for dessert.

Look, I am health-minded enough to say, “No candy.” But my husband thinks our kids should be allowed to have a bit of candy now and then, as long as they behave. Thank God for my husband, who balances me out. So we dance this dance daily, negotiating how many pieces of candy corn we should allow or if we should allow any at all.

mom monday wk44

It is our responsibility as parents to raise children who understand nutrition and what is good for their bodies. Sugar is not good for your body. Period. Taste buds do not have to be trained to like sugar. It is concentrated enough to overwhelm and give an addiction after a few tries. American sweets seem to have a lot more sugar than European ones, too.

A friend of mine has not given her daughter, who is two, any sugar yet. As a result, this child is calm, peaceful, and reasons from cause to effect. Yes, even at two. I watched it happen and it helped me stay even more resolute against sugary foods.  Continue reading »

Oct 27 2014

Clued In Kids Review

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This post covers a couple of products from Clued In Kids, a Soccer Treasure Hunt and a Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt. I always like it when I can share information with my children and they do not even know they are absorbing new concepts. I’m not a fan of making learning fun 100% of the time and at all costs. But, as far as possible, I try to make sure that school time is enjoyable.

For those who have never heard of a treasure hunt, it is an activity which starts with you hiding different clues in different spots around your home. The first one, you hand to your children and they go looking for the second clue after they solve the first one. After 12 clues, they find the treasure, which could be anything you think they would appreciate: a small toy, a game, a cupcake, a treat, a ticket to a special place, chocolate etc. For us, it was lollipops.

Kids showing off lolly pops

The Thanksgiving hunt ends in the laundry room, with the treasure buried in the dryer.

I have a stash of them in my car because the bank tellers give them to me every time we go through there. So they were actually free. If you have a re-gifting closet or shelf, if you can print a nice coloring page for them to find as the treasure, if you have a bag of marshmallows drying in the pantry, you’re in business. You don’t have to go out and spend money on something big for them to find at the end of the treasure hunt. These are just some ideas. You know what makes your children tick more than anybody else.

Clued In Kids Logo

These treasure hunts contain practice in math, social studies, history, science and other subjects. They also have different themes. They are printable PDFs. Of course you can always print them black-and-white, but I thought they looked so much better in color. I think it’s worth splurging on color if at all possible.

Clued In Kids Thanksgiving

The pages will have to be cut in half, because each 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper contains two clues. Do not print these both sided. Obviously, you want to have each clue hiding in a different place.  Continue reading »