Lifetime Notebooking Pages.com Membership {Winner!}

Congratulations, Jill W.!

*This post contains affiliate links.

You are the winner of a LIFETIME membership to Notebooking Pages.com. You will be notified via email and will have 72 hours to respond otherwise the prize will be forfeited and a new winner will be randomly selected.

I'm sorry I could only pick one winner. Thank you to all those who entered. To learn more about Notebooking Pages.com, be sure to check out my review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FREE Summer Reading Programs 2013

A summer of FREE treats to motivate my children to read for pleasure?  

Yes, please!!  

After some searching, I've come up with a pretty hefty list of "around town" and on-line summer reading incentive programs all offering free goodies for eager...AND not-so-eager...readers.  Personally, I've got a couple of kiddos in both of those categories, so I'll take a healthy dose of "free incentive" any chance I can get.  How about you?  

Head on over to Hip Homeschool Moms to view my list of links!

10 Little Things That Can Make or Break My Homeschool Day

Before I even begin, I have to preface this little diatribe with a quick disclaimer...
This is a list of things that could "make or break"my homeschool day. Please remember that every homeschool is unique. While my day might run smoother with the help of these 10 "little things", someone else might find them non-essential. I encourage you to use this list as a suggestion not a doctrine as you evaluate your homeschool day. And in the end, determine what works or does not work for you.

But I digress...

I start my day with God as my Guide

Admittedly, with many little ones groping for my attention each day, it can be difficult to set aside time to spend in the Word. But I find that by devoting a few quiet moments with God each morning, I am able to face a harried homeschool schedule with a full tank...refreshed and focused with Christ's GRACE and TRUTH to guide me. In addition, I am setting a good example for my children as they develop a habit of personal devotions in their own lives.

I have a plan

Typically, I make a skeletal plan of my entire school year in my Brave Homeschool Planner by the time the first day arrives. I, personally, find freedom in a plan. I don't need to waste brain cells each school day trying to "invent the wheel." I just merely have to refer to "the plan" and add or detract as needed.

I begin each day the night before

I have no desire to begin my day in a frantic panic. I've always found it helpful to prepare for the homeschool day the night before. I can make a smooth transition into the school morning knowing I am thoroughly prepared for the first lesson on the schedule. Here's how I do that...

I stick to a morning routine

A Good Morning Board has helped my children develop self-discipline. I have no desire to nag my way through the morning. By providing them with a list of morning routines that are age-appropriate, I only have to oversee the morning happenings...I no longer have to dictate and micro-manage.

I prep for dinner right after lunch

Our typical homeschool day does not end until 5 o'clock in the afternoon which doesn't leave me much time to think about dinner. By setting meat out to thaw or gathering and prepping certain dinner-time ingredients right after lunch, I am ensuring that I not only HAVE a dinner plan in place, but that I can quickly pull it all together right after school without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.

I encourage self-direction in my children

It's physically impossible to teach four different subjects and grade levels at one time. The laws of physics and sanity just won't allow it! By providing my children with task cards, I am helping them to learn independence, self-motivation, and organization...three necessities of self-directed learning.

I schedule homekeeping pauses into our day

Disorder and clutter turns my mind into mush. Although I recognize that there is going to be a certain level of mess that is a natural part of a "lively" home, I also know that peace and tranquility can often only be found in order. So, I weave three quick homekeeping/cleaning pauses into our school day. I place them at the natural starts and stops (right before school, right after lunch, and right after school) in order to provide a smoother, less-chaotic transition to "the next."

I mark off "learning territory"

Because I believe learning and life should go together and that education should not be limited to only one room, we do not have an actual homeschool classroom. That being said, I do purpose to set our learning area apart in order that learning can actually take place. Have you ever tried writing a research paper while someone is firing a sock missile at you? Trust me...it can't be done! The general rule of thumb in our house (excluding the baby, of course) is that if the learning is happening here (the dining room table, the kitchen floor, the couch, etc.) and you are not a part of the learning at this present moment, then you can not be here. In other words, if you are on a break/free play time and your sibling is not, then respect him/her enough to take your play elsewhere.

I schedule an extended afternoon break

I'm often asked why I homeschool until 5 o'clock every evening when many homeschoolers keep to a traditional 3 o'clock quitting time. Although there is much method to my madness, the short answer is that I schedule a two-hour break in the middle of the day and those two hours are redeemed later on in the afternoon. As I've mentioned before, the Hubs comes home for lunch every day. To the best of my ability, I have made it a priority to set his hour-long lunch break apart as family time. Since I have a larger-than-average sized household and because I prefer not to serve sandwiches every day, it takes me about 1/2 hour to make lunch. After the Hubs heads back to work, the kids and I spend about 1/2 hour completing some afternoon chores (loading/unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the dining room floor, starting a load of laundry, etc.)...completing our 2-hour break and pushing our quitting time to 5 o'clock. I'll admit that it's a bit unconventional, but then again...so is homeschooling!

I maintain flexibility

While everything on this list would be filed under "the perfect homeschool day", I recognize that the perfect homeschool day comes along about as often as the "perfect hair day." These "little things" make up my goals. And although I don't necessarily meet my goals each and every day, I find direction...and therefor benefit...in having a goal. The important thing is to maintain flexibility, so that when the day veers off the plotted course, learning can still take place and sanity can still be salvaged.

What "little thing" would you add to this list?

Summer Bucket List 2013

Only 1 1/2 more weeks and the 2012-2013 school year will be in the rear-view mirror.  Hard to believe!  But as is the case with all of life's great journeys...when one ends, the next one begins.  And for us, as we say goodbye to "official" learning, we welcome summer and the education that only comes with experiences, adventures, and good-old-fashioned family fun!

Notebooking Pages For All Ages! {Notebooking Pages Review}

A couple months ago, when we began our Greek History unit, I plunked down around $19 for a companion set of pre-fabbed lapbooking/notebooking pages. I won't name names as I don't like to mud sling, but I was highly disappointed in the product I received. Half of the pages were geared toward much older kids and another large chunk of them did not apply to the specific topics we were studying.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of notebooking (educational journaling), and so I was determined to provide some better-quality pages for my kids.

(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

Enter Notebooking Pages!

Top 10 Favorite Parenting Books

To say that I am an avid reader is well, like saying the beach has a lot of sand. If you see me on the street and ask me what I'm currently reading, chances are, I'll pull a mini library from my purse and tell you way more than you wanted to know about each title.

The "history" of my library card reads much like an autobiography, showing the seasons of my life and what passions have come and gone.

There was the nine months during pregnancy number five that I was in a baking frenzy, or more accurately a muffin-baking frenzy and needed lots of baking books for finding muffin recipes to try...and eventually eat...and eventually regret!

How and Why I Give My Kids Allowance {Part 2}

A few days ago in Part 1 of this 2 part series, I shared HOW the Hubs and I provide allowance to our children.  Much to the dismay of many, I confessed that we do not dole out allowance based on the completion of weekly chores.  And while to some that might appear to mirror the financial style of welfare, I can assure you that my children have daily and weekly chores that they complete without payment.  Because as I mentioned previously, in order for a home to function at its best, each and every member of the home has to do his/her part to keep it running.  (Quick Aside:  As this is not a politically charged blog, I will not render my opinion on whether welfare should or should not be mirrored...ahem!)

Top 10 Language-Based Board Games for Elementary Kids

If given the choice between learning vocabulary words via a worksheet or learning those same words and countless others while playing a board game, my kids...and I'd venture to say almost ALL kids...would choose option B.

For this reason, I've tried to stock our game closet full of family-friendly, brain-building games that can serve as the much-needed "jazz hands" to an otherwise run-of-the-mill homeschool lesson. 

How and Why I Give My Kids Allowance {Part 1}

My little Blonde Warrior just turned five! Although every birthday brings a level of excitement, in our house, number five has the added benefits of...

1. being able to invite friends over for a themed birthday party with games
2. getting to sign up for summer sports teams
3. being able to chew gum
4. GETTING A WEEKLY ALLOWANCE

The Hubs and I have a great method to our madness for each of these four "rights of passage". But, as our little man was just awarded his very first handful of coins Today, I thought I'd take a few days to share a little bit about HOW and WHY we choose to give allowance in our home.

Homemade Granola Recipe

Every few Saturdays, I schedule a morning of BIG batch cooking. With a family of seven to feed, it is more economical and time effective to cook certain foods in large quantities to freeze...or serve immediately in a variety of different ways, as the case may be.

This simple granola recipes is one of my current GO TO big batch breakfast cooking meals and was given to me from one of my favorite women, the Architect's Wife. She is a woman of extraordinary hospitality and kindness and uses her kitchen as a means of ministry. She has given me permission to pass along her tasty treat to you. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine!

10 Things I was Unlikely to Learn Without Homeschooling

As I have mentioned before, apart from God's calling in our lives, it was highly UNLIKELY that the Hubs and I would ever choose to homeschool.  In fact, I actually recall a conversation in which I snickered and defiantly said, "I would NEVER homeschool!!!" Never, say never...life lesson learned!

Now, with six years of homeschooling behind me, I can see how God has clearly used the unconventional idea of teaching children at home to teach ME more than I ever would have learned otherwise.  Here are just 10 of the many things I was UNLIKELY to learn without homeschooling...

How I Schedule Our Homeschool Day {video}

I'm a card-carrrying member of the "I have a schedule and I'm stickin' to it!" club, BUT when it comes to scheduling my HOMESCHOOL day, I purposefully DO NOT have a schedule. With little ones to care for during school hours, our day has to be flexible...nearly fluid! Here's what it looks like.



*Quick aside...with several children/grade levels to teach, I obviously can not teach a CORE subject to them all at the same time. With the help of Task Cards, the kids can skip ahead to their "simple subject", do an enrichment activity (board game, computer review game, puzzle, etc.), or "play with the baby" time to one child WHILE I teach a core subject to another. The children each have an added incentive...if he/she can complete this solo activity quickly, he/she can have a few minutes to play until it is his/her turn to work on a CORE subject.

What does your homeschool day look like?  Do you have any helpful scheduling tips to share? 

An Introduction to Independent Project-Based Learning

After using our Task Cards for only a few months, it became glaringly obvious that our little Sweetie Pea needed something extra to fill her day. She, as a first-born and as the only sister (mother hen) to a tribe of boys, has always been quite self-motivated and hard working. The Task Cards gave her the organizational tools to get all her school work done in a timely fashion leaving most of the day for reading...and reading...and well, READING!