The Funny Farm

I have not been blogging - more like lame blogging.  Life has a way of whirling past us.  Soooo I have been trying to practice the No word more and concentrate on the things and people that matter most.

I have a great website that I came across the other day.  The kids and I have been enjoying it! 

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/index.php

There are videos and lessons that relate math and science to real life.  Check it out.  There is a yearly subscription but you can use it for free each week - I am guessing that the videos may change weekly.

Not much else,

Blessings,

Flossie

I just wanted to share some thoughts on the County Fair and how great it is for homeschoolers and all schoolers alike.  Now, were you like me and when you thought of the County Fair, your thoughts go to vendors and displays by groups like 4-H?  Did you realize that you can participate without being either one?  I am passing this along to my homeschool group and so I will pass along to you... At our local county fair there are divisions for Seniors and Juniors - you can display anything from photography to canning.  There is also 2 sections that I am excited about and they are FREE!  My price! 

1. Classroom Projects - this is where a class from school, an individual or a homeschooler can do a display on what they have learned for the past year - what an incentive to have my children compile all that knowledge in a concise manner :)

2.  LAnguage Arts Creative Writing - Short Stories, Poems, etc.!  Another reason for your child to write. 

They are free!  Our Fair gives discounted passes for exhibitos (another plus) and homeschoolers, just another way to witness :)

My thoughts on the local county fair - check it out!

Blessings,

Flossie

Whether you have the opportunity to belong to a local 4-H group or not, you can also incorporate their curriculum into your schooling.  Check it out online:

http://www.4-hcurriculum.org/projectsonline.aspx

There is all sorts of curriculum for free from aerospace to goats!

The more involved we get with 4-H the more I love!  It is more than animals, also!  This is a hard one for people to realize!

In addition, I just received my weekly Homeschool Minute Newsletter - if you don't get it, you should!  http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/ Go to the website and a pop up will lead you to sign up for the FREE newsletter.

Some websites to check out this week:

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Homeschool Freebies
Jamin, Freebie Finder

Spring is in the air and Earth Day is right around the corner. There is no better time to take your studies outdoors. Here are some resources to get you started.

Nature Study Charlotte Mason Style - If you are interested in learning about the Charlotte Mason approach to nature study this site is a great place to start.

Nature Study Online - Free resource that will encourage your child to become a backyard naturalist.

Free Art and Nature Study Ideas and Lessons - Weekly art lessons and Green Hour Challenges for other homeschoolers to use. Includes art, nature and music lessons, ideas and resources.

Free Nature Notebooking Pages - Here are some free notebooking pages to include in your study. (Scroll down near the bottom on the left hand side.)

Happy Homeschooling,
~Jamin

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This website looks interesting

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/

Blessings,

Flossie

Just wanted to share!  I got my issue of Answers in Genesis today - yippie!  this is a great magazine.  I am going to go sit down and read a little with an iced coffee before I make dinner.  If you have not heard of - check it out!

Blessings,

Flossie

Good Morning from the Funny Farm.  We are definite wannabe's and still trying to get everyone to learn about the nature of animals... yesterday we lost one of our rabbits.  The side yard where we have been letting them out to frolic, was left open and one of our labs who wants to love everything to death - literally got one of the rabbits... and so it goes, another life lesson.

Before I ramble and lose most of you :) 

 I have some Great Websites for FREE Bible resources

These are not my own thoughts but want to pass along.  I got these from my monthly homeschool newsletter.

Huge Resource Page -   http://www.teacherhelp.org/lesson.htm

Coloring Pages -   http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clr-indx.html

Lesson Plans:   http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/lesson-plans.html

Lesson Plans, Games, Stories - http://www.kidsbibleinfo.com

Old Testament Lesson Plans - http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm

New Testament Lesson Plans - http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum_n.htm

Lessons, Cards, Song, Games -    http://ebibleteacher.com/children/

Lessons, Stories, Songs, Games - http://www.gardenofpraise.com/bibleles.htm#new

There are more!!! But I need to get my homeschooling day going! - Lesson on Life

Thank you to those who stop by to visit and thank you to those who leave little notes of encouragemnt.  The enemy often wants to discourage us from reaching out and I am sometimes plagued by the enemies attacks of "you have nothing interesting to say, Flossie".  My prayer is that this websites touches someone and touches you in a way you need. 

To God be the Glory!

Free Language Arts Website:

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/index_main.php

Blessings,

Flossie

Spring is springing up all around.  My daughter took this one of flowers in our back yard.  I love to feel the little kisses of God all around!  Let your children go around and take some pictures of what they see - you will be amazed - most reccomended to have a digital camera because developing some can be way costly -lol.

I will share more!  My 6yo is also having fun taking pictures :)

Blessings,

Flossie

We are so blessed to attend a large church where many influential Christian speakers come on Sundays.  This past Sunday Lon Allison (He is on the Billy Graham Team) came to speak on being ready to serve God.  He spoke how we need to train every day like training for a big race.  Well, God placed it on my heart that my family needs to be "Fit" for God. 

So the three areas we are training are

1. Mentally - being in God's Word each day as a family - reading the Bible and talking about it before we do anything else in our day!

2.  Spiritually - We have made a family prayer journal.  We used a 3-Ring binder and made a cover.  The pages are simply note book page with three columns -

Column 1- Date, Column 2 - Prayer Request and Column 3- How God answered our Prayers 

Everyone can add the prayer requests.  Each night before bedtime we have family prayer time and at that time we will pray over these requests.  Also, each morning when we do Bible time we open in prayer, lifting our day to God and then petitioning these prayer requests.  God has done amazing things in our lives and friends/ family - this is an exciting way to document and remember how He answers on those rough days!

Here are pics below:

 Journal Cover

- My daughter picked a Bible Coloring page she liked and then we glued onto Construction Paper and put in the Clear pocket on front.

Inside Journal

3. Physically  - we are making it a commitment as a family to have family exercise time - walking 30 minutes a day and keeping a journal of exercises done and progress.  WE are starting with sit-ups - yikes!!!

Blessings,

Flossie

SPRING FEVER – I have it BAD!!!   Iwill keep updating as I find more stuff :)

Easter Ideas!!

 I love to come up with different crafts to decorate and to give at the holidays.  These paper angels are great to printout and have the kids color.

 http://www.dltk-bible.com/measter_angel.htm

• You can hang on a string
• Put a magnet on the back to hang on a refrigerator (reuse those magnets that come in the mail – I save and use for crafts)
• Use as a pattern and cut from fabric or felt to make a wall hanging J
• Use to decorate the front of a Card
• Use to make for wood crafts – We have been making a manger scene utilizing coloring pages – we made transparencies and then traced and printed

March 11th - Johny Appleseed Day - Did you know about his faith!! Amazing story!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/apple.html

For those who don't know,

A California Court of Appeal recently decided that homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified teacher.

Have you heard of lapbooks - they are a great idea to use on a regular basis or to break up the winter blues days :) 

Lapbook Lessons

http://www.lapbooklessons.com/Videos1.html

 Sign up for free lapbooks and help (I always need a little of that!)

http://littleblots.ning.com/group/lapbooking

 Free Lapbooks

 http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Lapbooks_at_HSS.php

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/index.htm

Today my 6 year old and I did the following lapbook on Adam and Eve and Creation!  One section said to make finger puppets but we used Popsicle sticks and he is having a blast playing with them!  We got the stuff from:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/395069/

I found this at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/whatdolknow/90115/ Be Keepers website and thought I would pass along.  Looks fun and we love different ways of learning!

Flossie

What is Tomatosphere?

"Tomatosphere is a research project involving more than 9,000 classrooms of Grades 2 to grade 10 students ("Tomatonauts") across Canada, the United States and several other nations. In 2008, students will have the opportunity to grow tomatoes from seeds that have been placed in an environment to simulate the effects of aerocapture, as might occur when entering the atmosphere of Mars, and a control group. In the research project, students will be asked to germinate the seeds, but will not know the origin of the seeds until the results are reported to the web site. At that point, the teacher receives an automatic response indicating which seeds were from each group. This methodology, known as a "blind study" will allow the mystery of the project to be real for the students."   ~quote from FAQs on the Tomatoshere website.

Check it out.  You can register at the website, Tomatosphere.  Homeschoolers are definitely welcome.  They have resources for Teachers and Students of different grade (age) levels; study guides, stories, games, experiments, and more.  This is my first year doing this but it looks like it will be quite interesting, fun, and educational.  :)

I love my homeschool group!  I have found such amazing women of God in the one homeschool group I belong to.  In a recent newsletter one mom shared some of her websites she uses.  The following a re realted to geography and in another postI put the science ones.

Enjoy!

The more we share, the more we grow!

www.mapmsg.com/games/statetris/usa

www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/

www.usgs.gov/

www.mywonderfulworld.org

www.mrsmcgowan.com/projects/flags/states_books.htm

www.mrsmcgowan.com/projects/flags

I got these from my homeschool group newsletter and thought I would pass along!

Science:

www.answersingenesis.org   - I love their magazine!!

www.exploratorium.edu - This has some cool stuff - science in the kitchen!!!

www.kidsastronomy.com

www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

 www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html

 www.scienceniche.com/science/science.cfm

 www.geocities.com/athens/8259/lego.html#lego

What are you doing with your children to prepare for Easter?  I would love to hear your ideas !

We have been working on the Book of Luke and reading a few chapters a day.  Also, I have "Animated Stories from The New Testament" by Nest Entertainment which are 30 minutes long.  We start our lesson this way for my visual learners.  I have also been printing out Bible coloring pages for younger ones.  We then take turns reading out loud from the Bible.  It has been great!

Love to hear you ideas and adventures!

Flossie