Fish and Trees

Have you read this quote? I just love it and have lived it. When expectations of you by others or put on by yourself exceed your natural abilities you face things like low self worth. Find out what makes your kids tick and build upon it.






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Valentine's Day Crafts

Today is one of those days where I've not gotten the kids and I into the school room in awhile. Crafts make any transition fun so I found a few valentine's day crafts for the kids and I to do. We're going to make a heart wreath out of the hearts below on the left. The kids can color each heart how ever they want then we'll cut them out, glue them in a heart or circle to hang up.

Image found at: Church House Collection



This bear was too cute and really didn't mention God so I added the text "Jesus Loves Me Beary Much!" and the verse 1Peter 4:8 which reads, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." and printed it out landscape oriented.


Image found at: calvarywilliamsport.com

Also today I printed out yet another daily schedule. As much as I think I can just teach on the fly, I can not. I have my planner but need a visual that can be hung up and taken with me anywhere in the house where my planner stays in the school room. Getting a full month of school is still the goal this year, I just want to be consistent so my kids won't struggle with it as much as I have.









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2012 is Here!!!

This is a new year and I'm so glad I didn't give up in 2011. Not that is was an option I just felt so doomed and ill equipped. Well I'm not doomed but I was very ill equipped. Our school room is under construction as I've rearranged some rooms in our house. This is a temporary move but the school room will be so much bigger for the time being and I really needed that (I also needed a bedroom with a door).

Now to ask the kids what they're most excited about this year:

Christina - Get Higher Grades
We get to start over again, get higher grades, and I like learning new stuff.
This girl was my talk at 9mos, sort of girl.
She is 7 and we started 3rd grade mid 2011

Jordyn - I love Math!!! 
How about we put Christmas trees all over my math papers. -J
Honey, Christmas is over... but Valentines is coming up. -Me
Oh, then let's put heart stickers all over my math papers. -J
Is math your favorite subject? -Me Yes, and I love to read too. -J
She is 5 and we started 1st grade mid 2011

Caleb - Yeah
He is excited about so many things. We started preK/Kindergarten with him mid 2011. He likes to get things right and gets super frustrated if things aren't perfect. We'll begin letter tracing in more depth, small words site and first letter sounds.

Gabriel - Da
Gabey is 13months and is just happy to crawl and play while we 'do school'. I would like to focus more on word development with him. I've done that naturally with all the kids. Just repeat words he can try to begin, Da is pretty big right now. It stands for Daddy, Dog, There, That but the fluctuations in his voice and tone are all different. It's really neat to see another one of my babies developing like this again.

I'm so amazed how my children learn, you know I sometimes don't give myself enough credit (most of the time)  but who else are they learning from? So even though I've dropped the ball this past year I'm excited to put forth more effort and watch them blossom even more.














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The Well Planned Day Planner

Future Home-Schooling Posts will be at: BIG Homeschoolers

 

If you fail to Plan, you plan to fail. I've searched and searched for the author of this quote with several names that came up. Whom ever said this was brilliant. It's so true too.

You can't go very far without a plan of action. 

As a homeschooling parent this is the one area I really do struggle with. I'm no where near perfect but somehow my kids learn anyways. I just think if I could do more things right how much farther they could go. This last week my son blew me away naming the planets of our solar system.

So how does a 2yo learn his planets? Big Sisters! Apparently my 7 and 5yos have been teaching him the planets off of a poster I have hanging in the boys room. They didn't have too much time to do this as I recently just hung the poster up. My point is this, how simple is hanging a poster on a wall? That little action even if not fully acted upon produced a huge change for the better.

This is how I see my new planner I received from the Home Educating Family Publishing. Because I struggle with consistency, my planner helps me see exactly where I'm staying on track and where I'm falling off. It's not hanging on the wall or anything but it's there for me to build up a constant routine, moving in the right direction.

I'm terrible with planning. So instead my planner can serve as a recorder of what we've done. That's basically what I do now just on plain pieces of paper. Then all my notes get misplaced and I lose track of what's been completed or what I wanted to tackle for the month.

The name of our school here is B.i.G, which stands for Building Individual Gifts. I love this name, I feel it's God inspired. I believe I've been given a gift and great interest in logos, tags, and such. So when this came to me I knew it was a keeper.


As a parent, not specific to homeschooling, just as parents we are to create environments where our kids can succeed. One thing I really love about this planner is it caters to individual students, there's a place where I can document and track up to 4 children. Even perforated report cards. The subjects seem to be more geared more towards older children but it works just as well for those with children in younger grades like mine.

The Well Planned Day is more than a planner. The Home Educating Family Publishing group offers planners for the homeschooling teacher, students, specifically high school students (yearly and 4year plan), and multipurpose. Extras I wasn't expecting include...
Grocery Shopping Lists, Weekly Cleaning Schedule, Dinner Menus, Perforated Report Cards, Family Worship: Read through the bible in a year, and new this year there's a Holiday Organization Section: greeting card registry, activities and event schedules, shopping on the town or on the Internet. They have a Magazine in print or digital format. They offer pdf planners as well as printed planners and binders.

My printed planner = $24.95

or put it on your Christmas List.

also available for the iPAD

I'm looking forward to staying on track this year, this planner will no doubt help me do just that.

  

I'd love the magazine subscriptions to stuff my stocking, reading about other homeschooling families is always inspirational!

The product(s) mentioned in this review were provided by the Home Educating Family Publishing for the purpose of this review, all opinions are 100% mine Christy, Home-Mom.com. Pin It
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HomeSchool Support Groups & Co-ops

We have been a homeschooling family for five years now. Gosh that sounds ancient but I still feel like a newbie at times. Especially when I know I'm not 100% qualified to teach every subject. However I am 100% qualified by the love I have for my kids, who better motivated to get it right than I?

My number one fear or concern with homeschooling has always been "Can I really do this?"

I just found this quote and I plan on using it whenever faced with opposition. The answer to that question is NO, not alone. I've gone this journey alone thus far and it's a bit well, lonely. I'm not saying you can't do it alone or without groups. You totally can, I mean we all have the Wonderful World Wide Web to pull amazing resources from but interaction with other people, face-to-face/voice-to-voice is equally just as important. Blogs are a even a great way to see what other families are doing and try to see if it works for you.

How to find one?
Go Online. To find a group by state visit www.home-school.com. Google and I are bff's!! Type in your state and homeschool (with or without a space). If you were like me you'll be flooded with more than you can handle. Unfortunately, since the move further out of town two years ago I've not been able to find a group to join that is near me. We are about 45 miles from our church but still attend at least once a week and I'm so excited to say that the process to create such a group at my church is in progress. This pleases my heart and gives me so much comfort. Not just for myself but for the support of other homeschooling families in that community.

For those homeschooling or wanting to homeschool check out www.oklahomahomeschool.com created by Cindy Downes. This was and is a great resource for finding free sites, curriculum, info on starting out, just about everything I needed to know in one place. She has two fan pages on facebook, How To Homeschool Today and Oklahoma Homeschool.

What exactly is a Homeschool Co-op?
There are so many new terms and definitions to learn. Homeschool co-op or cooperative was one of them for me.  Definition of COOPERATIVE noun: an enterprise or organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services. 
Usually you'd think of a farm co-op, but homeschooling co-ops aren't that different. It's a place where more than one family can come together for the benefits and thoughts and teachings that each families offers, such as...

• Project/Small Groups
• Field Trips
• Skill Building (sewing or knitting)
• Extra Curriculum

My church serves as a sort of co-op when teaching my children about Jesus and the Bible. I can't possibly do the teachings they receive from them justice at home. At church there are colorful lights, songs, music, friends, just a great enthusiasm. We still relate to lessons about God throughout the day but there is something magical about the time my kids spend in their age specific classes and I love that! Co-ops have a specialty that you yourself provide or need.

Legalities
Staying compliant with state laws is another great reason to find a group in your area or state. In Oklahoma there are sites like www.ochec.com educating home educators in the laws that concern them.

Oklahoma seems to be an easier state to homeschool in, at least that's what I keep hearing from moms that have moved here form other states. They were required to track daily attendance and agendas. I personally see some states overstepping their boundaries and that is why I love the HSLDA: Home School Legal Defense Association (established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms) who've also founded HSF: Home School Foundation (helping families homeschool through hard times) and Patrick Henry College (a college that provides academically excellent baccalaureate level higher education with a biblical world view).

I urge you if you can to find a support group or co-op that isn't too far away that you can attend no less than once a month. If you can't find one create one, 1-2 family groups are great too. You can share curriculum, expenses, resources, and supplies. I can foresee an extra cost for high school books, and more advance curriculum needed to teach the higher grades. For now we have been super blessed with buying used or receiving donations from other homeschoolers, garage sales, and friends.

As I continue to share and document my homeschooling journey, my hope is to help those who are just starting out and feeling a bit overwhelmed. That was me and still is some days. Push through, fall forward, and you'll be amazed how your children blossom and shine.
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Home-Mom's Future Direction

This is a time of reflection for Home-Mom. In the beginning I wanted a place to call home, the blogosphere is ginormous. I thought it'd be neat to start a blog to track my homeschooling journey, recipes, cloth diapers, giveaways, reviews, tutorials, crafts, business endeavors.... my life.

I think it's time to hone on what I really enjoy writing about instead of trying to capture it all. I'm a Christian stay at homeschooling mom of 4. That's my title anyways, if I had a card that's my description I'd put under my name with Home-Mom.com as the company name.

Since starting this blog in it's current form June 2010 I've fanned out with a crafting site for momMADE, my craft store, and Gymbella | Home Fitness Reviewd for all my fitness reviews and weightloss journey. I've ventured out with another dream to start a cloth diapering site and blog but it's in the early early stages still. I've learned that I'm a natural born MOMtrepreneur. Since becoming a mom my dream has always been to stay home and make money from home so that my husband could work his dream job from home. He's a tornado-chasing, photo taking, wonderful daddy who has been stuck in a job he doesn't like. Granted what he does allows me to be home, we are grateful and feel extremely blessed but know God has greater plans ahead.

I also believe God has plans for this blog to reach out, teach, and encourage other moms as I've been encouraged and taught by so many here in the blog world, youtube, and other social networks. What changes can you expect to see in the upcoming months? More life related posts regarding things that make me a Home-Mom, homeschooling, cloth diapering (making them, wash and care at home), recipes, tutorials, crafts, working from home, etc. The reviews/giveaways won't go anywhere, they'll just be more related to things that benefit a home-mom's home-life. I love writing both about things that matter and things that just help enrich your day.

What do you think about the new look? Like it, hate it?

Not that I'll be changing it anytime soon, it's still nice to know what others think.

Grab the new button...

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Speech Therapy at Home with Mom

H ome is where it's at. That's my goal anyways. Home school, home birth, home cooking, home boyeeeees... okay that last one was just making sure you weren't dozing off already. Wait a minute, speech therapy at home? Super Star Speech was created by Deborah Lott, a licensed Speech language pathologist with a Master's degree in Education/ Speech Pathology, and she says you can work with your kids from home.

You mean, I don't have to be licensed and know what the heck I'm doing. Or at least know enough to fake it? (I felt like this before we decided to home school) My momma always said "Fake it til ya make it". This philosophy really can only get you so far. However, it can also push you in the right direction. I think what my mom meant was to keep going, don't let your inexperience keep you from trying. I'm grateful for my blog for that very reason. Plus I get some really great opportunities to review great products that can help real families with real problems.

I've got four kids (I know you know already know this) and for the most part they've all spoken very clearly from a very early age. Of course I had girls first so the rules got thrown off the cliff once my little boys came into the picture. Lil man, my oldest son, is 30mos old. He didn't start talking freely until right after his 2nd birthday and now the boy won't hush. With each child has come a new language for me to learn. Lil Man says the (ee) sound where (errr) should be. It really is adorable, how can you not smile when you hear,

"thundy skeys me"(thunder scares me) or

  "latey, I going to week" (later, I'm going to work).

I know not to repeat him and try to correct him but he gets pretty frustrated when he doesn't get right then. The Hubs would say he's impatient like his momma. It seems this will be a long process but I am determined and we definitely can't afford Speech Therapy right now or anytime soon.

We received the ebook which
is 30% off the normal price.

Deborah has developed Super Star Speech for that very reason, to make speech therapy at home for children more affordable.
All of my readers will receive a 20% off your purchase by using code mamabuzz at www.SuperstarSpeech.com. Plus if you're a fan of Super Star Speech on facebook you'll see posts about free shipping until mid August. Yes!

Super Star Speech comes in several different books, we received the Super Star R and L ebook (ebook are up to 40% cheaper too). It has over 160 picture cards, games, worksheets, and more. This is really great for our homeschooling one on ones. There are quite a few more books available. S,ch, z, sh etc.

Example R Picture Cards

I love how you are supposed to get out a mirror to practice. Lil Man puckers his lips up so cute to pronounce the (errr) sounds. I have to stop myself every time from kissing his cutie tootie lips. Wonder why some kids do speak 'funny'? We've never spoken to our kids like babies. I think this helps enormously. Some of our family still will speak to my girls with that silly baby talk. "Does baby want somesing too eat". It really does more harm than good.

I'm not talking about silly voices, we do that. I'm talking about serious change in tone and pronunciation when talking to babies and/or toddlers. We are the teachers, save yourself some money and time.

Don't forget limited FREE Shipping and the 20%off code mentioned above. I hope you've enjoyed this review. Please let me know what resources you've used or want to use for your child. I can't wait to post a progress post. We actually took a break from school this summer and schooled just 1-2 times a week.

This is a Mama Buzz review, to read more reviews/giveaways about Super Star Speech from other Mama Buzz reviews visit Mama Buzz.com. This product was provided by: Super Star Speech for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions made are 100%mine.

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B.i.G. Time With PrincessJ

Idon't write enough about the most important things in my life. My kids! I have to admit I've gotten caught up in the Blog Review-Whirlwind. I love reviews and giveaways but lately it's been more about me getting behind on obligations. Can we say mis-managed much?

So today and from now on I'd like to document these B.i.G. Moments in photos as I get my priorities straight. princessJ is my youngest daughter. She's almost 5 going on 19. She loves to be 'Crazy' and her best friend is this guy...

MEET

Not to be confused with lil Turkey...

'J'

I think confessions of a stay at home mom will be a new series soon.
We school at home but some days, because of my mis-management, the kids are begging me to "do school". I hope they always love learning.

This little girl can throw one mean tea party.

pJ and I don't always see eye to eye. Mostly because we're a lot alike,

loving with some STUBBORNES STRONG-WILL. I've said that since day one.


Lately she's been writing notes on her own. Sounding out the words and spelling as she goes.
The B.i.G. Moment today happened when she read to me. This is HUGE people!



I♥This Face!
I couldn't be more proud that she's so proud of herself.

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One Room School House

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Did you love the Little House on the Prairie? I did growing up. I wanted to roll down a hill of tall wheat for the longest time until I realized their were probably bugs all up in there. Ewwww, still this city girl is getting country-fied a bit. Oh I have proof, this mama's been chopping wood, making soap, homemade deodorant, sewing, and crocheting all in a little over a year of moving out to the COUNTRY. I don't flinch every time a wasp flies close, a little too close and I'll still scream but believe me, it's a huge improvement.



So you wanted proof here you go...

cowgirl boots, an ax, and some wood = crazy addicting workout

I really feel like a terrible mom some times. Why, because I have yet to fall into a steady schooling schedule. So Back to basics yet again. Any given day school starts whenever o'clock. The goal is by 1pm but sometimes it 3pm and runs for a good few hours. I guess the idea of dependents looking to me for answers freaks me out.

The reason I brought up the Little House on the Prairie is to bring back the idea of the one room school. First off I love this picture because everything is soooo organized. Secondly I'm in love with the pot bellied stove in the middle of the room.

Don't you just love this?

Notable students of one-room schools were:
Former President Herbert Hoover
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. The first American in space and one of only twelve astronauts to have walked on the moon
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder (I love that site - seeing how I got this info)
Laura Ingalls Wilder, speaking of Little House on the Prairie!


In Elementary my class visited Rose Hill, a local one-room school house dedicated to preserving and teaching about the days of old. I LOVED it, I guess you could say the experience never really left me. I felt like I traveled back in time to a place when things at least seemed simpler, like I was little Laura in a dream. I wore a long dress, packed a lunch of biscuit and apple sauce. Everything we did that day was as close as I've ever been to that era. I've got  a picture somewhere I wanted to post but couldn't find it. I'd love to take my kids for a school trip once their old enough.

I've got 6, 4, and 2 school age. I'm getting a big confused as how to run things. Curriculum stretches from preschool to 2nd grade. If you have tiny tots and homeschooling older kids I recently read a great concept over at 1+1+1=1 about handling tiny ones just beginning the homeschooling journey.

can't leave the little guy out, or that other guy .)

Our current concentration is on the Three R's: Arithmetic, Writing, and Reading. Progress reports coming soon.

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Our first official school year

I'm not saying this year is our first year to Homeschool. We've been playing with the idea for a few years now, four. The girls have been learning still but we have been far from organized the way I'd like to be successful. When I say we, it really means me. This is a huge struggle for me. This summer we specified a room as our school room, we organized and decorated the walls with art work, the alphabet, and various other fun learning things.

This past week I was so blessed to come across our grade level in FREE curriculum another mom listed on craigslist. PT just turned 6 and entering 2nd grade this year, PJ just turned 4 and is straddling Kindergarten and 1st grade. The curriculum is all pre-organized for me, in folders and even labeled. I'm applying to be a reviewer for a great homeschooling blog and received 2 unit studies last week and have been waiting since last week to open up all the new goodies and get this year rolling. So this week we started one of the unit studies and plan to complete them both before the week is up. Planning and executing are such huge accomplishments for me but this blog really helps me to stay on track. Things accomplished thus far regarding homeschooling...

School Room ✓

Actual Curriculum ✓

Clean House...um I need help FlyLady!

I'll be starting a new Home-Mom Challenge soon to help me stay on track with the house work!

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Choosing a Grade Level

We have the philosophy that you should teach where your kids are and encourage them to go further. Princess T is our oldest and will be 6 this year. She has been reading ever since she was 2 and really taught herself after the age of 4. We knew nothing about baby can read back then, we just worked with her constantly. It wasn't hard since we had one child and it was super fun to watch her soak it all up. Baby #2 came, and we were blessed with Princess J. They are two totally different beings, they learn different, they comprehend in different ways. J has been reading since right before her 4th bday and I was really surprised since we hadn't worked as diligently with her. Baby #3 came, lil dreamy, and now #4 and it just gets a bit harder and harder.

It's not impossible to teach multiple levels of education just tricky. Well today I finally visited grade by grade at PBS.org/parents after I googled what children should know for each grade. The kids have been watching PBS since forever. I grew up watching it too. I've seen the commercial for literally years now but never went. I can get easily sidetracked on the computer. Anyways I love the grade by grade break down of what they should learn and how they actually learn. You will find a breakdown for grades Pre-K - 5th. I'm a list follower. I need lists to get things done and check things off and to remember. Here is another sample subject list at donnayoung.org.


I've undergone a mini-attack this weekend. Nothing personal where I was criticized for homeschooling, just a concern really that it was the best choice for my family. I have started to wonder why is homeschooling looked at under a microscope the way it is? Why the concern when you feel you are doing one the best things you can for your child, why not the same concern when you send your kids off to public schools? From public, to prove, to homeschooling; public schools have the lowest success rate. I've seen government run establishments and you can tell a big difference. Oh of course there are always exceptions to any generalization but for the most part kids can really get lost in the system. Because of this mini-attack I've built up a defense. I'm not proving anything to anyone else. My kids will learn, they will learn well, and they will succeed in life because it is my goal and my job as a christian mother. I'm not only to bear fruit but my fruit should bear fruit. My kids are my fruit but if they continue to go forward and further than me my legacy will die. As parents we are legacy builders, no matter how we came up or were brought up, we are to do better than our past.

I'm extremely excited because the best is yet to come. I've not pushed myself in this way and am glad to know my kids have me 100% and I'm refocusing.

UPDATE: yesterday I was so confident, today I feel lost. Not really liking the roller coaster of emotions but I did mention I'm preggers right? So maybe that's it. We currently have been using free things from the net like worksheets, but no one set curriculum.

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Our homeschooling story 2010 - Back to School

So this is back to school for tons of kids and we never stopped. We never fully started either. This month I want to really stay on track. I can say my record keeping has greatly improved and I've even set up our extra room as our school room. The girls love to have their own chairs and really beg me to "do school" tons more.

courtesy of: www.home-mom.com/BIG

courtesy of: www.home-mom.com/BIG

courtesy of: www.home-mom.com/BIG

 Silly Poem...

   The kids love having
   their own space,
   Mom likes having    everything in it's place.
   Dad thinks it's great we're not at the kitchen table,
   with the new set-up
   learning is fun and growing's enabled.

         

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B.i.G. Vision

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Proverbs 14:1

          

     Gotta love those God inspired names. I was really just wanting a name that was big and strong and something to convey a message and this one does just that. My husband and I knew early on we wanted to homeschool. We are Building Individual Gifts in our children, something that will stick with them for the rest of their lives and affect future generations. I had and still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and over load, then overwhelmed sets in.  I am learning that I am very plan oriented, if I don't have a list in front of me things will not get done. I'm afraid to say it but its true, mundane things like baths, dishes, and general picking up around the house seize to a halt when I am listless.

   

   So last week we converted our beloved playroom into a schoolroom. Why didn't I think of this before. I got rid of tons of unwanted toys (sneaky momma spy bagged toys as they weren't looking) and we glued all those drawings we'd done up until now on the walls. We have a card table and chairs with a sheet as a cover and it just feels good to have a place and it has stayed clean!

   I'm a all-in or all-out kinda gal and lately its been all-out. So this last week we've started school back up again. I don't want to ride this rollercoaster of starting and stopping anymore. Most kids are on break but we're kicking it into gear and I figured what better way to keep me on track than to blog it out. So tuesdat we carried through with our themed days of the week and all wore tutus. The girls laughed at me but hey it was fun.

   Yesterday was wet wednesday, we had an unopened bag of water balloons and the girls didn't know what hit them. Pictures coming soon!

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Tutus - Tag you're it!

Tutu Tuesday has a nice ring to it, I think I need to think of something to do on every day of the week that will get me the girls excited about school and just tackling the day.

Here's some of my ideas:

Musical Monday We'll make up a song, dance, or just place homemade instruments. Photos coming soon!

Tutu Tuesday Its a requirement to wear tutus all day. (now to find one in my size)

Water Wednesday Great for summer time, bath suits and the hose. (plus I bought a bag of water balloons that need to get used)

That's all I have so far. What sort of themes do you have set up for your homeschoolers? 

I'm tagging today, follow.

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