Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

I knew what I hoped would happen when my daughter began using Reading Rulers (a very, very cool reading tool from Crossbow Education ). But I knew I'd have to give this product a thorough working-over in order to know it was helping my daughter. So I worked it over...and I wasn't disappointed! Crossbow Education 's motto is "Reading Tools Anyone Can Grab" ~ and it's a fitting motto! I received their ten-pack of Eye Level Reading Rulers (assorted colors, currently costs $16.95) and my 12-year-old daughter started trying them out right away. She did a "test read" with all ten colors, and then began to narrow down the options based on which colors were most comfortable for her. She settled on celery because it made the text the most clear to her (I found pink worked best for me - so be sure to have your children try out all the colors to find their ideal match). To determine which one was ideal, she simply laid them side-by-side over the...

You've heard it so many times before, but it bears repeating simply because it's truth:  Take the time to enjoy your children today, because this season of your life will soon be gone. It really does seem like just yesterday that I became a mom for the first time...but in all actuality, my first-born will turn 20 in about a month. Time flies, doesn't it?! Wherever you are in your journey as a mom, take a moment today to enjoy each one of your children, exactly as they are, right now. Cement it into your memory, because it will mean so much to you in the coming years. Enjoy them now, store up memories for later, and be blessed all the way around! Our children are a gift from the Lord, a treasure of unspeakable worth. Sometimes when the days are long, the laundry pile has become mountainous, and homeschooling feels overwhelming, we forget that simple truth. Step back, take a deep breath, and enjoy your kids today. You'll never once regret it! May you be richly ble...

On Saturday, October 13 and Sunday, October 14th, you can get a fantastic eBook for your Kindle absolutely free. And this isn't just any old book - it's a spelling book that will bless your homeschooled kiddos. But it's only FREE for two days, so get a move on this one! The book is titled " Spelling Made Easy:  Learn Your Words in Half the Time " and was written by Pat Wyman (founder of  HowToLearn.com ). If you haven't heard of her, check out her website. Click HERE for the direct link to the FREE book on Amazon. Feel free to share this link with your friends, and remember you only have two days to get this brand new book for free! Happy spelling, everyone! Day 230 done :) Jan L. Burt www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com www.SavanasClayCreations.com

Sometimes you are blessed to come across a product that every member of your homeschool (i.e. all your children!) learn from and enjoy doing. The World War II Pearl Harbor educational module from Box of I.D.E.As . is one such product. If I could sum up the way my children & I feel about it, the word would be ~ LOVE!! A general overview of Box of I.D.E.As. is this:  a variety of topic-focused, activity based learning modules are offered in pdf or print format. Each Box contains 10 or more modules with exercises that fit the topic. Topics available include Salt, Laundry, WWII Kitchen, Pigs, Quilting, Civil War Overview, Eleven, and Pearl Harbor. These fantastic units have well researched web links for further study, and include a devotional booklet designed to biblically examine the subject matter. A perfect curriculum choice for multi-level teaching! Most modules in each Box can be used in any order you choose - just pick one and start exploring! (The exception is the Pe...

This post is purely a mother's pride, so if you'd like to learn a little more about three of my children, read on! I'll start with my daughter Savanna, who makes amazing things out of polymer clay. One of her more recent clay creations is an adorable Captain Jack Sparrow charm that she made for a YouTube contest. Here's a pic of the little Jack ~ He's pretty awesome, isn't he? You can see more of her work with clay at her website ~ www.SavanasClayCreations.com ~ and from there you can visit her YouTube website which has a TON of instructional videos. Her most popular videos have been viewed over 15,000 times! If you are interested in using polymer clay for art in your homeschool, check out Savanna's video tutorials. Next I'm going to talk about my son Gage, a sophomore at Wheaton College (a fantastic place known as the Harvard of evangelicals). He has worked hard to overcome some calf injuries, and had surgery last fall after his Achilles tendon...

Hope Auer, the author of the book A Cry From Egypt , is a homeschool graduate who began work on this project when her family was studying ancient history. Her writing progressed from an interest in Egyptian history to a full-blown book. And she continues to work on future books ~ A Cry From Egypt is the first in Ms. Auer's Promised Land Series . The book contains a preface, 16 chapters, a research section, and a preview of the second book in the series. The artwork in the book, as well as the cover, were done by Mike Slaton (also a homeschool graduate). A Cry From Egypt deals with the time period just prior to the Israelite's exodus from Egypt, at the end of their long era of slavery. But the story line isn't about Moses, Aaron and Miriam. The setting is in Moses' day, but the tale is not his story at all! I began reading the book right away, before giving it to my children to read. I typically try and read whatever they are reading, since you can...

Ever take a road trip with the family and hear that question from the back seat? I think we ask God the same question at times. And His answer (to me, anyhow!) seems to be a gentle reminder to enjoy the journey instead of racing to the destination. Homeschooling is indeed a long, drawn-out journey. It's days seem to stretch on into infinity, with no end in sight. We can get tired...tired of preparing dinner while grading math papers; tired of last-minute errands to find supplies for science experiments; tired of people asking us about "socialization"; tired of staying ahead of all our children in all their subjects for all their grade levels....oh yes, we can get tired. But it helps to remember that the journey itself is the real blessing! We will look back with fondness on these days ~ and we will look back with tears on the day we hand our children their diplomas, or the day we say good-bye to them on a college campus. The tiring days are the days that truly matter....

Physical education is often neglected in the homeschool setting. This may be due to financial or time constraints, lack of available options, or even the fact that many of us are, well, a little bit on the lazy side. Regardless of the reason for the neglect, physical education truly is an important part of a well-rounded homeschool experience. Enter Family Time Fitness ! I received the pdf download (otherwise known as an eBook) of their " Fitness 4 Homeschool Core 1 Curriculum " for this review. It is suggested for use in grades K-8, but I used it with my high-school daughters as well as my 7th grader. They do have products designed for the upper grades, which I am sure are excellent resources based on my experience with this level. The download itself came in multiple modules; there was actually a whole lot more than I had anticipated! (260 lessons in all) There are plenty of regimens that would adapt to suit any homeschool family's needs. Each lessons provi...

We can't do everything; we shouldn't try to do everything. And we all know that. Beyond the enormity of "everything", we shouldn't do all the things that appeal to us. Not all of us understand that. If you are called to homeschool, then by all means do it well. Work at it with diligence. Continually seek the Lord for His guidance as you educate your children. Do the same with your marriage, in your daily walk with Jesus, in areas where you know the Lord has clearly called you. I really believe that homeschooling moms have this figured out, and are doing a pretty terrific job with our children overall. But some of us, or maybe even all of us to some degree, can get excited about a new idea - then we take off running at a full sprint to make the idea a reality - and often we run out of steam and fail to finish what we started. This common problem has a simple fix. Well, two simple fixes. The first fix is to STOP!!! before taking every idea and turning it into...

I take homeschooling seriously ~ really seriously. A subject of enormous importance to me is math, especially at the high-school, college preparatory level. It's nothing to mess around with, avoid, or ignore. Every single high school student, home educated or not, needs a solid four years of high school math. Umm, did I mention that I take this seriously?!!? You've heard me say this before, and I will say it again because it bears pretty heavily on my review of Math911 ;  my son attends Wheaton College, a Christian liberal arts college that is ranked as an Ivy League school. For my son to even be considered for acceptance as a homeschooler, he had to take the ACT, SAT and two SAT II subject tests. One of those subject tests was in college math. In the end, his hard work paid off. Not only was he accepted into Wheaton, but he was one of a handful of freshmen who did not have to spend a few hours of their first day on campus taking an extensive math placement test. So as ...