Oct 30 2018

Bright Businesses You Can Run As A Homeschool Mom

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Being a homeschool mom takes up pretty much the entirety of your day. This means that you might not have time to go out to work. If you need an extra income, you will need to find an alternative way of gaining an income. But, how do you go about doing this?

Mom Laptop Couch

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Well, you can run a business from the comfort of your own home. You don’t need to have an office or a staff to run a business, and this is what many people forget. Below, we have talked about some of the businesses that you can run as a homeschool mom. Continue reading »

Oct 30 2018

Why Home Schooling Is More Popular Than Ever

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Homeschooling has become more popular than ever. We won’t use this space to decry the difficulties of the contemporary education system. Most home-educators simply do not want to interact with it.

We often think we can do a better job. This sounds like hubris, but when you really think about it, how hard would it be to teach your child 1 + 2 = 3? And that c-a-t spells cat? You start there and build on it. Teacher’s manuals will help you when you get stuck.

Girl swinging on a swing

Pexels

While this article will focus on the benefits of home education, we in no way mean disrespect to you, your child, or their school. However, those on the fence about home education may want to read on. Continue reading »

Oct 29 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 25

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 25 covers armies in China. The first story talks about Japan, China, and a pretend emperor. The second story talks about the long march. It also introduces Chairman Mao to the children.

The Chrysanthemum throne paper craft

The Chrysanthemum throne paper craft

Having grown up under communism, this information is painful and very difficult to process. I cannot begin to tell you how badly I feel for Chinese people who still have to live under communism. Continue reading »

Oct 21 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 24

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Chapter 24 has an intriguing title: The King and Il Duce. First, I had to explain the title to the kids. We will study about the first king of Egypt and then we will travel to Italy to learn about Mussolini, whose nickname was The Leader or Il Duce in Italian.

Fasces craft

Fasces craft – no dowels or straws in my house, so we used pencils.

Then, we proceeded with the reading as well as we could while the new kitten, Smoky, was running around the classroom. He is a big distraction these days, but I try to be accommodating. The children love him and they have never had a small pet like this before. Our previous pet was an old cat named Izzy. He was 15 by the time we lost him. There was not much action with Izzy, but Smoky runs and plays all day. Continue reading »

Oct 14 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 23

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 23 covers the Peace of Versailles and the rise of Joseph Stalin. The kids did not enjoy the injustice that occurred in the aftermath of World War I or the atrocities of Stalin. I emphasized that communism or socialism do not help the working class, although the chapter made that plain.

Kitten in Book Box

Our kitten likes the Story of the World, too.

It did not help that we adopted a kitten this week, either. It is two months old and has come to us from another homeschooling family. Our children have named him Smoky because we live in the Smoky Mountains. He is mostly black with white paws like socks and a bit of white around the chest and face. Saying that he is adorable would be an understatement. Continue reading »

Oct 10 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 22

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 22 deals with Ireland’s Easter Uprising and India’s Nationalism. Michael Collins and Mohandas Gandhi feature prominently in their respective stories. We learn the beginnings of the IRA or the Irish Republican Army. For me, as a child of the 80s, when the IRA was very active in their terrorist attacks, this chapter was very interesting.

The Salt March

The Salt March

Another important lesson in this chapter was about the Sikh religion. Also, the comparison between Sikhs and Muslims. We are Christian and we believe in teaching our children what other people believe in order to respect their beliefs and practices. Of course, we believe in freedom of religion. Also, we believe in being respectful of other people’s convictions according to their own consciences. Continue reading »

Sep 30 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 21

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 21 covers the Russian Revolution and the end of the Great War or World War I. I lived under communism for the first 15 years of my life. Therefore, I take great interest in how our history curriculum covers this topic. As usual, Susan Wise Bauer’s portrayal of historic facts impressed me.

Faberge eggs - crafts

Faberge eggs – crafts

My children have heard me talk about living under communism before. Through this chapter, they understood more about the causes that brought about such a terrrible scourge upon the world. Continue reading »

Sep 16 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 20

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 20 finally brought us to World War I, which the kids have been very eager to study. Before that story though, we read about the Mexican Revolution.

Boy trying to break the code

Trying to break the code

They could not believe all the twists and turns in Mexico, all the dudes that took over and became corrupt, and all the assassinations. Studying history opens up our eyes like nothing else could.  Continue reading »

Sep 5 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 19

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 19 covers the last emperor of China and the Vietnamese Restoration Society. We read it without any incidents, though we also listened to it in the car over the summer.

Coloring Mandarin Squares

Coloring Mandarin Squares

I purchased the audiobook for volume 4 because I had a sneaky feeling we would not be finishing it over the summer break. As the new year has started, this will come in handy. If we do not get to history one week, I can always take the audiobook along one of our longer car rides and catch up on assignments. Continue reading »

Sep 4 2018

Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 18

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 18 took us to Persia and then to the Balkans. Well, since I grew up in Eastern Europe, I took a special interest in this chapter. Again and again, Ms. Bauer amazes me with her ability to summarize complex historical facts into a readable story for elementary age students.

Story of the World

Romanian paper weaving craft kit

For our craft, I pulled out a set of weaving cards from Romania. I think my sister brought this over the last time she came to visit, which is a few years back. Continue reading »