Hey everyone, I'm full of information for you all today. I get a Freebie of the Day newsletter actually the newsletter is posted on Monday for the week but each day of the week they have something free for Homeschoolers mainly to download. Anyone can download it if you just sign up to get their newsletter. Go check it out @ http://www.homeschoolfreebie.com/
Look what Jamin has posted today any one with younger girls will love this. This is just way too cool. Wish my girls were still young enough to do this.
Since my daughter LOVES all things American Girl next week we are starting an American Girl Club. Our club will be meeting one night a week to learn together about the different time periods the girls are from.
We will start with Samantha (1904) and meet 12 times to go through the 6 Samantha books. (So the girls will read 1/2 a book each week before they come to the club.)
The activites for the club will be based on these books: The craft and cook book are out of print, but are readily available on E-Bay. (I got all 3 of these at a used bookstore for a total of $12.00!)
Each week we will do a craft from the craft book, have a snack from the cook book and read a bit about the period from Welcome To Samantha's World. This book is like a museum in a book! It is loaded with pictures and drawings of things from the time period. I just LOVE it! We have 4 of the different girls "World" books and I find myself leaving them on my nightstand so I can look through them on my own time. :^)
This is the craft we will be doing the first week: This is called a Calling Card Box. Back in the day before telephones people would just drop in for a visit! If no one was home they would leave a calling card. (Like a business card with just a name and a decoration on it.) Boxes like this were kept in the parlor to collect the cards of friends and family in. The second week we will be making enough calling cards for all the girls to trade and have one from each girl in the club!
We will also do a few booklets of a Samantha Lapbook each week and when we finish up each girl will have a lapbook they have created all about Samantha and the early 1900's.
Just had to tell you about the Fall Swap that Susan is hosting over @ Simply Susan. Head over there and check it out. It looks like a whole lot of fun.
Ok here's a cute little ditty to do just for fun. I guess since it was a bit chilly here today it got me in a little bit a Christmas mood. Then I was looking at some crafts from Merry Makers that I subscribe too. So it all just got me in the mood I guess. Any way have fun finding out your true Christmas color. Blog Things- What color Christmas tree should you have?
You Should Have a Purple Christmas Tree
For you, the holidays represent a time of creativity and expression.
There's no way you'd do something bland simply for tradition's sake.
You are an independent person, and you definitely do the holidays your own way.
And you're decadent enough to go way over the top with any unusual holiday ideas you have.
Your purple tree would look great with: Purple lights and ornaments
You should spend Christmas Eve watching: A Christmas Story
What you should bake for Santa: "Kitchen sink" cookies - with a ton of things in them
Now this is way too much! If you teach small children in Sunday School, JR church, scouts, whatever... Jamin gave us a goldmine here and all for free. Character building... we all could use it. Take a look and see.
A seasoned homeschool mom told me something years ago that I still remember. "I don't worry about socialization. God managed to put 6 people in our house with completely different personalities. If they can learn to get along with each other 24/7, they can get along with anyone."
If you have more than one child in the house, you probably know this is true. It is also true that some days they just get along better than others and some personalities just seem to clash. Some days it can be enough to drive mom crazy!
When I saw the topic for this week, I thought of a freebie I already have lined up to do with my kids in the coming school year. Homeschoolshare.com is offering free printables for 10 character lapbooks covering attentiveness, cheerfulness, compassion, dependability, diligence, forgiveness, helpfulness, kindness, stewardship and thankfulness! This could be made into 10 separate lapbooks or one big lapbook that covers all of the character qualities.
There are general templates at the top of the page that would apply to any of the character traits. Then there are free mini booklets below that you can print for each of the character traits. There are over 130 free printables in all!
I am looking forward to working on these lapbooks with my own children. I know they are going to learn a lot about character development and each other. If you are looking for a great free character study to do with your children, this is it!
Some of you probably wonder if I actually use all these freebies I pass along. The answer is YES! If you stop by my blog you will see that we use as many freebies as possible in our homeschool. Here are the ones my family returns to again and again.
When I was growing up I really didn't give history much thought. We had history class in school of course, but it was dry and boring and just something I had to get through. Then I became a homeschool mom. I knew that I didn't want to bore my children with history. So, I decided on a literature based approach to history. Wow, what a difference! Now my whole family loves history! We have a great time learning together through books, hands on activities and lapbooks.
My two favorite sites for free lapbooks and unit studies are homeschoolshare.com and homeschoolhelper.com. These sites are loaded with wonderful resources for lapbooks, unit studies and hands on activities.
Here is a free E-Book called Helping Your Child Learn History. This E-Book is full of tips on how to enjoy history with your children. You will also find activities that will help you incorporate a hands-on approach to learning about the past.
Here is an interesting site I found that has the complete text of every State of the Union speech given from 1790 to present. This would make for outstanding copywork! I found it interesting to see how language has changed over the years. It was also fun to look up the speeches from the year each member of our family was born.
Last but not least, here is a fun unit study on the Oregon Trail I thought I would share with you. It is designed as an educational resource to be used at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon. Much of the information could be used for any study of westward expansion. This is a great way to get your feet wet with hands on learning!
Jamin has done it again. She's posted some cool science activities to do with your kids. How neat is that. Check them out. I know the Color Changing Milk I posted on my blog Exploding Rainbow
some time back. Never hurts to repost.
I came across this really fun website the other day - SteveSpanglerScience.com. The site is loaded with unusual science items for sale, but there are also free experiments complete with videos to watch of the experiments being done.
Here are 9 great links you will want to check out!
All of these can be done with simple items you have around the house or can get at the grocery store. My kids and I have done several of them through the years. However, I really like how he explains the science behind the experiments. The videos are fun to watch even if you are not going to do the experiments yourself.
I always look forward to seeing what kind of freebies Jamin gives in the Homeschool Minute e-newsletter that I receive. I haven't looked at them all but sure sounds like some fun ones again. So I'm sharing it for you all to pass on the wealth of information.
American citizens were taught at home by their parents or hired tutors. The model of one-on-one teaching is hard to beat! I looked around for a good "History of Homeschooling" online and the best one I found was on Wikipedia. Here is the article. If you are interested in learning more about how homeschooling came to be what it is today you will want to read this article.
As a homeschool mom I owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who homeschooled before me. It is amazing to me to see what has happened in the movement in the 13 years we have been involved in it. I remember when I first started telling people we were going to homeschool back in the early 1990's the common response was "Is that legal?" From that we have gone to pretty much an acceptance of homeschooling as a viable option for education in most people's minds.
So join me in celebrating the people who paved the way for us today! Below are some interesting links and freebies that have to do with how homeschooling has gotten to where it is today.
Here is an article entitled The Founders of the U.S.A. Learned Without Public School.
Here is a fun and encouraging list of Famous Homeschoolers. If you have never looked up a list like this, it is fun to look at and think about the possibilities of the future of our kids.
At the Moore Foundation you can learn about the Moore Formula developed by homeschool pioneers, Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Dr. Moore has frequently been called The Grandfather of Homeschooling.
Here is the book Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto free to read online. John Taylor Gatto is a former teacher and education activist. He has written many books on the problems with public education. HERE is a site with links to many of his writings in pdf form, including his 1990 Teacher of the Year speech where he lambasted the public school system in America.
Here is an interesting interview with John Holt, a public school teacher in the late 1970's who became one of the best known proponents of homeschooling. HERE you will find the frequently asked question section of the John Holt website.
HSLDA has the transcripts to several of their radio programs on the theme of Homeschooling Through History. You will find them HERE.
Charlotte Mason has had a huge influence on homeschooling. If you missed the free links I provided in THM last week you will find them HERE.
Jamin has done it again. She has posted some summer fun ideas to do. Just thought I'd pass them on to you. May you have a FUN SUMMER! __________________________________________________
Last summer my kids and I did several fun, messy outdoor projects that they just LOVED. These included the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, decorating Home's Cool T-shirts using bleach and the sun and building a pizza box solar oven. This summer I want to do some other messy outdoor projects.
Just for fun today I thought I'd post a link to a citizenship test. See if you can pass it. There are just 30 multiple choice questions on the test you must get 24 of them correct. Average HS student doesn't pass it. I got 22 correct and two of them I missed I knew them just miss read them. Argh!! I'm going to have my daughters take the test and see how they do since we are in test mode this week in school. They finish all school work by Wed. this week and then we take the achievment test and we're done!!! YES!!!! Am I excited or what?! Anyway take the test see how you do. Got to run and get the girls up and going now.
I get the on-line magazine 'The Homeschool Minute' (if you click on the link you should get a subscription screen and can get HomeSchool Minute in your own box weekly) put out by 'The Old School House'. This issue was on getting outdoors with your kids. Jamin has a section where she posts Homeschool Freebies she finds on-line. Well anyway I thought I'd copy and paste her article here because she has some good resources she's given this week. So just thought I'd share them with you.
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.)
This information I'm posting here was in my homeschooling news letter that I get in my e-mail. I have looked at some of the stuff that Jamin posted and it looks good. So I just copied and pasted her whole article. If anyone wants to use it I guess it's free for the taking. I haven't looked at all of it so can't say I agree with it all 100% but didn't have time to sift through it all. Have to get supper and going on it Wed. night church. Use what you can and delete that which you don't agree with. All part of the web. I have tired to make the links stand out in bold spring-y colors to make it easy for you recognize to just click on and follow the link. Abi
Wow, Easter is early this year! Did you know it can actually only fall one day earlier? It will not fall this early again until 2160! If you would like to find out what date Easter falls in any year click HERE.
I have found a batch of wonderful Easter freebies. You may have seen some of these in Freebie Friday and some on my blog but, here they are all together for the first time!
Bible in Living Sound is offering The Passion of Jesus Christ as a free MP3 download.
Easter Bunny, Are You For Real? - Enjoy the complete text of the children's book written by Harold Myra. (You can click on the printer friendly version to view and print it without the banner ads.)
Suddenly One Morning - The Shopkeeper's Story: An Easter Narrative by Charles R. Swindoll
The Passion of Christ in Art - Here you'll find major moments of the Passion highlighted by major works of Western art.
Instructions to make your own Resurrection Eggs - Learn to tell the story of Easter using plastic eggs.
Hereis another site with free printables to use to make Resurrection Eggs. (The kids and I will be making a set of these this week!)
Jesus Lives - Free bookmarks to print. (These would be great to hand out in Sunday School or give to friends.)
Easter Cookie Recipe - Make these special cookies with your children to learn the true meaning of Easter.
Here is a Christian Easter Preschool Curriculum. Here are all the printables to go with it.
Free Christian printables for kids. This site includes directions for a puppet, popup card and coloring sheets.
These Scripture cards can be printed and put together on a ring to help your family learn passages of Scripture related to Easter.
This notebooking project uses passages of scripture from the last week of the life of Christ. What a great keepsake! I can't wait to work on this one with my kids!
Lastly, I want to leave you with my favorite scripture verse about Easter:
He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Matthew 28:6
I love this verse because it conveys so much about God. He keeps his word and never changes! He promised a Savior and just like always, He did what He promised.
I pray that the links above will help you and your family to learn more about how AWESOME God is!
I was fishing through theFamily Fun Magazine @ the library and I ran across this cute little construction idea they had so just thought I'd pass it on to you all. You may take a look at their websit @ Family Fun.go.com for on-line ideas. I have used may of their ideas with when my girls were in Girl Scouts with their troops and they were well received and loved.
Strawconstruction March 2008 Family Fun Magazine (p. 23)
Materials: bendable straws and scissors
Looking for some instant fun on a rainy day? Grab a box of bendable straws and invite your child to try his hand at a building activity that takes all kinds of whimsical twists and turns.
Connect the straws by squeezing the end of one and sliding it into the end of another. Kids can also slide straws through one another by snipping a slit in the straw by bending it and snipping with scissors. Then they can make twists, and turns over, under, and through the structure.
Hey all I found this really cool site(s). They have a printable memory book that you print off and fill in for your students school year. It is geared more for elementary 1-3 maybe 4th? 5th might want to do it. I don't know. Check them out.
This is a cool science experiment. I found it in a Family Fun magazine (Feb. 2003). I love this magazine. You may visit their site too.@ Family Fun Science fun in action!!
EXPLODING RAINBOW
One of the key ingredients to pulling off this trick is the right magic potion: dishwashing liquid. That's right, dishwashing liquid can do more than clean dinnerware; it can also turn a plate of milk into a display of swirling colors. Some brands work better than others, so be sure to test yours ahead of time. We had particularly good result with Ultra Sunlight brand.
Get Ready:
1. Fill a pie plate halfway with whole milk.
2. Pour some liquid dishwashing soap into a plastic squeeze bottle (such as an empty sports drink bottle) and label it "Magic Potion."
Showtime! Invite everyone to gather around the pie plate and announce that you will transform the milk into a rainbow of exploding colors. Ask for a few volunteers to gently squeeze drops of red, blue, green, and yellow food coloring onto the milk (you want to end up with at least 3 drops of each hue). While saying "Abracadabra!" or something else that sounds magical, quickly drizzle the magic potion onto the surface of the milk all around the edge of the pie plate. Your audience will be amazed at what happens next. The milk will instantly turn into a kaleidoscope of colors-an entertaining display that can continue for several minutes.
Behind the Magic (sssshhhh! don't let your your secret; but then again maybe you'll want to if it is a science experiment)
What causes the colors to swirl: Milk may look like a white liquid, but it's really tiny droplets of fat (as well as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals) suspended in water. In this magic trick (experiment), when you first add the food coloring, it floats on top because the mild's molecules at the surface naturally stick together and support the colored drops. Adding soap, however, disturbs the surface tension by breaking the bonds between fat molecules, creating gaps that the food coloring quickly swirls into.
We all must have a lighter side to us and I'm hoping that in my blogs to share crafts, game ideas, recipes, funny happenings etc. I have another blog with my quiet spiritaul thoughts as well.
You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive.
The craft and cook book are out of print, but are readily available on E-Bay. (I got all 3 of these at a used bookstore for a total of $12.00!) 
This is called a Calling Card Box. Back in the day before telephones people would just drop in for a visit! If no one was home they would leave a calling card. (Like a business card with just a name and a decoration on it.) Boxes like this were kept in the parlor to collect the cards of friends and family in. The second week we will be making enough calling cards for all the girls to trade and have one from each girl in the club!
I love finding cool finds and sharing them. 
