HOMEschooling

 

 I found this post lingering in my drafts and it served as a great reminder for me today:

  Home.  It just feels good when you come in, doesn't it?  It doesn't matter where you've been, it always feels good to be home.  Home is where it all happens.  The nurturing, the caring, the learning, the disagreeing, the laughter are all things we love about home. For most who are reading this blog, it is home base for educational purposes.  Yes, we are inspired by others in our lives and communities.  We are encouraged by our groups and various events that we attend.  It  even feels great to go and be refreshed at a church gathering.  We are made to desire relationships.
     It is vitally important  that we evaluate the outside activities on which we expend our time and  energy .  If we are always out running all over doing all things, we are not able to accomplish the very thing that we set out to do.  Train our children up, teach them at home by the way we live.  We will instead, develop an appetite for the  admiration we receive for being "Supermom". The appetite that is fed is the one that grows, whether it is for things that are wholesome or for our detriment. We are then depended upon and expected to fulfill all sorts of other roles.   If we are not careful, this can give rise to the spirit of discontentment, comparison, even envy and fatigue.
    Ministry can seem a noble cause to an at-home mother.  She may feel that she can do that alongside being wife, homekeeper, mother and teacher.  After all, she can just take the children along with her and be more things to more people. I am all for letting our children work and minister alongside us.  That is training them up.  I am referring to times when many priorities are set aside for the sake of 'ministry', when the" first church" is not necessarily receiving the top slot. If there are times when a mom is out teaching classes for co-op or Bible study and she hasn't been diligent to pray and teach her  children from God's word in her home all week.  Co-op really isn't that important if her first set of students are behind or inconsistent in their lessons or are in need of extra help in some subjects.    We need to make sure that the ministry that is going on is that which is in alignment with the will of God for our families. 
    I'd like to further elaborate further but this post is getting long.  I will try to post again in the future with more of my thoughts on this subject.

TOS Review: Download 'N' Go: Pizza Party Review and Giveaway

WHAT?
Pizza Party:  The study is in e-book format and very simple to use. The only preparation required is to search out optional library books to read along during the week for enrichment.  This already contains indepth studies in every subject in this lineup:

Day 1: Pizza—What Is It?

Day 2: The Story of Pizza

Day 3: Types of Pizza

Day 4: The Science of Pizza

Day 5: Let’s Have a Pizza Party
 

 
WHO?
I used this study with my two sons, ages 6 and 8.  Although, it would have been appropriate for even my 5th grader since I learned so much myself!
 
HOW?
Again, we went at this with just the unit provided.  We live in a small town and a search of the library yielded very limited results for us.  We learned so much  just doing the study alone with none of the read-along type extras.  It was more than enough!  I find in doing these DNG units that I don't really need extras.  Amanda has done all of that for me and that's the simple beauty of these studies.

THE VERDICT
We are pizza lovers here, in the truest sense.  If pizza hasn't made it onto the menu in the last few weeks, I'll know about it soon!!  Every child here participates on pizza night. We do all ours homemade, so my crew knew exactly what was going on with this one-- some delicious FUN!!! The Download 'N' Go provided all that I needed to inspire more than just my children's taste buds when it comes to all things "pizza"!  The study of Italy was their favorite part, aside from the food, of course.  My children were quite interested in the city of Venice and the famous Italians we studied. As the teacher,it is such a pleasant experience to see your children learning and not have to jump through hoops to make it happen.  It's all right there for you-- outlined, organized, clickable bliss!

If you'd like to read more reviews from other homeschool parents,  click here and see what they're doing at their own Pizza Party!

This weekend there will be a Pizza Party and you're invited!!!  Saturday and Sunday, Pizza Party will be on sale for just $5!!! 
I have been provided one free copy of  Pizza Party Download 'N' Go to give away free to one of my readers!! To enter, leave me a comment and provide a contact email so that I can let you know if you're my winner!!!!!

Disclaimer: A copy of this unit study was provided for my use in exchange for an honest review.

Organization: My Monthly Menu

A few days before I read Erica's post at Confessions of a Homeschooler, I had the same thought! With school starting and so many other things to keep organized, I could not possibly think of adding another paperwork item to my list of to-do's. So, I decided to make a monthly menu and just repeat it. It already allows a few "new recipe" slots in there for variety. So, I hope it won't feel like we are having many repeats in a month. I try to make healthy , homemade meals. I also try to accommodate what my family likes and will eat. Some are healthier than others, I do concede. I am planning to create 4 shopping lists, one for each week of the month, and that way my master shopping list is done for me each week. That would feel great, no??
A few really quick notes: my husband works Tues-Sat so, our weekend is Sun/Mon. He loves to grill out on those days and he loves a burger! J Also, veggies vary, depending on season/availability but are served at nearly every meal. Breakfast and lunch are planned so that my children can either prepare themselves or with little supervision. Breakfasts don't really need a plan… and lunch sometimes revolves around leftovers, soup/sandwiches or other fairly light fare. Snacks are at around 3:30 and are something like cheese sticks, yogurt or peanut butter crackers. And I do very little on Sundays . SO, this is just my dinner menu.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Soup/sand- wiches	Burgers on the grill	Spaghetti Salad Breaksticks	Breakfast night (varies)	Tuna Casserole Veggies	New Recipe	Chicken tetrazinni
Shake 'n' bake chicken Mac'n'chz	Hot dogs on the grill	Enchiladas and Mexican sides	Beef tips in gravy/rice Salad	Chicken pot pie	Chili Cornbread	Beans n rice with cheese J
Sloppy joes	Burgers on the grill	New recipe	Stroganoff Salad	Deli sandwiches or hot sub	Corn dogs and tater tots (family request)	Taco nite
Grilled cheese tomato soup	Chicken kabobs over rice	Chili dogs sweet potato fries	Pork chops (method varies) Veggies, Homemade bread	Whole roast chicken Veggies Baked potatoes	Pepperoni rolls Salad	Cubed steak w/ gravy Veggies (family Request)
Chinese (frozen)	Salmon cakes Salad or veggies Pasta salad	New recipe

Download 'N' Go Giveaway Winner!!!

And the winner is...................... Kelly Zavala !!!!! Yay! 

So happy for you, Kelly!!  --and thank you for your family's choice to continue to serve our country :)

You should have a link in your inbox soon :)

Glorious Hair

Remember sleeping in pink sponge rollers?  Love it!


But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her 1 Corinthians 11:15

I'm Dreaming ....????

Okay, so I came across this website, Planner Perfect and together with what I've been reading at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee, I was inspired.  I was inspired to look long term and make goals for myself.  Long term for me is for the whole month or maybe some things for next month.  Most days, I am honestly just living that day.  That's all I can handle.  Mentally, I must only survive the day to feel accomplished.  Meals. Clothes. School. Errands. Bible. House. Smiles. Hugs. Kisses. Those are my priorities and they occur in random order throughout the day. 

I didn't used to think of dreaming as writing out the "to do" list for next month.  But now I do.  It is my dream to live a life with purpose.  To think out a bit about the things that are important and make them happen, with a bit of forethought. That IS success for me. I'm mostly writing this out for myself (accountability).  Here are my dreams, so far.....

August: keep kids fairly consistent in keyboard lessons, finish knitting the hat I've started, finish the rest of the month staying within my WW points, get kids' pictures made.

September: plan for a drill date that we are traveling to with my husband, plan for a child's birthday that is the 25th!, make a date/reservation and go camping, make ornaments for a Christmas ornament exchange that we do each year, begin searching for deals on winter clothing, kids' sports start--keep up with that.

Those are the things that will keep me on track and feeling like I have the majority of things under control. And, my planner contains the details of how to make all of these things happen for our family.  It might loook like a glorified "to do" list, and to some, it is.  For me, it is Peace :)

Organization: Home Management Binder

You are looking at one of my most treasured homekeeping tools!  I used to do the Flylady type Control Journal.  That has since morphed into my Home Management Binder.  I don't have the time to follow an entire notebook system devoted solely to housecleaning.   This binder manages each area of our home, in as much detail as I can manage. Simplify and streamline.  That's what works best for me.

Here's a look at what mine contains:

1. Meals and recipes

There is a recipe section for things that I have printed out and do not have the time to transfer to little index cards. I have a monthly menu made up and will hopefully share that soon and I'm planning to make a grocery shopping list to go with each of those weeks so that the lists is already done for me.

2. Homeschooling

This section contains all those little notes that you write down along the way or lists that you must print out and have no place to store.  For example, I have a 3-pg list of narration starters.  Where would I put that? Also, if I have pending orders I would put email confirmation paperwork in there. 

3.  Personal

This section has a chart with each person's name, date of birth and social security number for easy access.

There are gift ideas and clothing sizes.  This is also where I do some of my "doodling".  I plan for my garden, write down home dec ideas, etc.

4. Household

My secretarial spot.  It has the name, phone number and account number of every agency and business with which we hold accounts.  Also, the library, our hair lady, medical offices' numbers, etc.  There is also a rough schedule in there, just to keep me on the path, but nothing like a Flylady get-up.  We do jurisdictions each day and try to encourage each other to clean behind ourselves as we go along.  Also contains husband's drill schedule and any info that he needs me to have handy.

5.  Ministry

Contains contact list for church families and ideas/notes I have in my head for things church related stuff.

Now the front inner pocket contains immediate needs, such as delivery confirmation slip from the Post Office, or other things I would want immediately at hand on a day-to-day basis and I don't want to leave it out on the countertop to catch a spill.

I do have the zipper pocket in the front (Flylady) that holds handy stuff like pens, paper clips, etc..

Can I see yours???
Link up with me to share our Home Management Binder ideas!

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