You Know You're A Homeschooler If...

You Know You’re a Homeschooler When:

When you do school at your kitchen table.

When your a teenager and still have a playgroup.

When all of your electronics have educational games and tools on them.

When you pass school in session while going to Busch Gardens.

When your math for the day is couponing at the grocery store.

When your school bus is your Mom’s minivan.

When you watch Science or Discovery Channel instead of reading your science book.

When you write this instead of doing your grammar workbook.

By: Katarine Benson

Based on Messy Mondays ‘’You Might Be a Homeschooler If’’

Whole Not Half by Duck

 

Whole Not Half

    I don’t know about you, but people who don’t take an interest or pride in what they are doing drive me crazy. God wants you to take a healthy amount of pride in everything you do. If you don’t do something joyfully it’s better off not done to begin with. Also when someone does half a job and I have to redo it for them I get a little annoyed. I try not to do this to others because I know how annoyed I get when it is done to me. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to try to be the best person we can be. He hates for us to be lazy half hearted people.

 

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.   ~Proverbs 18:9
 

God hates laziness. We should do all things as if we were doing them for Him. I don’t know about you, but if I was doing something for God I wouldn’t do only half of it. It should be the same in life. Do everything as if you were doing it for God, because you really are. If you wouldn’t do it for God you shouldn’t do it for anyone else.  God expects us as christians to set good examples to non- believers, and do honest work. Laziness should not charecterize who we are.

 "... and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

                            ~1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

  God wants us to live quiet lives for him. He wants us to serve both our community and our church. Serving in our community will show others how great God is by the work that we accomplish. Serving our church will show God how much we love Him, and that we are willing to work for Him joyfully. He will open doors to tell us where to serve and when to serve, but be prepared because he will also shut doors (we might want to go through) that He doesn’t want us to go through.

     Lastly God wants us to enjoy our life and have fun. He doesn’t want us to be so busy we can’t enjoy the life that he gave us.  

Duck's test results are in

Achievement test results are in. Duck passed with flying colors!!!! She did a great job and I am very proud of her.  We are moving upward to the 9th grade now. I am so thankful they are done and behind us for another year. To those of you who sent some extra prayers our way, Thank You!! We appreciated them. :)

Just pondering some thoughts...

As we close out one school year and prepare to open up a new one, how many of you look back at the past year and say how did we do it?  We lost so much school to this crisis or to that medical issue. Maybe you are military like us and your Service Member was being deployed, was on a deployment, was returning home from one or upon being home for a while you discovered they didn't completely return home "all the way?"  How many of you faced health issues be it with yourself, your kids, or extended family members and this swayed your schooling?  How many of you experienced the birth of a new child or worse yet, the loss of a family member?  All of these I mentioned have played into many of our school years. There was once a time that I was convinced we couldn't ever have a "normal" school year again.

With every year it seems that life some how gets in the way of the "every day" book work.  What, our kids can't learn if the text books aren't open.  I know some believe this is the case.  I have had people question me,  how much has my child really learned in a school year because of "x" crisis.  This is when I have to really watch myself because it is so easy to fall into the trap of, wait, oh my gosh, my child didn't learn anything, because if I compared her to the kids "in school" then wow, she didn't learn anything.  This is an evil lie the enemy tells us.  We have to remain strong in those delicate times and not believe the lies.

Profiting from Trials

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

                                                   James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

I will always believe as we continue down this homeschooling journey that as long as I walk in obedience to God's wishes, not the demands and expectations of society, that He will bless my child's education.  We have faced many school years now where I had to question if I was the "best" teacher for my child?  Was I doing more harm than good? Is she really learning from me or is there someone better qualified than myself to teach her?  All of these I hear other mom's question and the answer always remains the same. Yes, you are the "best" teacher. Your education level or in some cases lack of doesn't matter here.  If you are walking in God's grace, faithfulness and mercy, He will ALWAYS protect you.  Whether your protection will come in the form of a teachers knowledge, wisdom, guidance, discretion, grace and even mercy, it is up to God to decide what is ultimately right for us at that time.  Isn't it reassuring to know we have a God who knows our "every" need at just the "right" time?   

 

God will supply all my needs:

¹⁹ And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.                                 
                                               Philippians 4:19  (NKJV)

As we prepare to close out one year and begin the preparations for the next, take the time to pray and then reflect on what your children really learned this year. How many life skills did they pick up along the way?  Those life skills will supersede any book work you may feel they missed.  God will reward you with the ability to know where their weaknesses are and He will provide the time to tackle them. If he doesn't show you then do not fret over them. God has already picked up the pieces for you.

  Do not fret, it only causes harm...

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.  
Psalm 37:8  (NKJV)

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

     Matthew 6:34 (NKJV) 

As mother's and teacher's we love our children with all that we have in us.  We take on the burdens of all that they are and all they will become.  Sometimes I think God wants us to just step back and get out of His way.  If He called you to homeschool then you need to remember that He will provide "all" the needs of your children. Yes, this even includes their education.  Remember one valuable lesson here, God works on His time and in His own way, not ours.  We often see the works of His labor, but often times we don't. The times we don't He is filling in the pieces that we missed while we were handling other issues He placed before us.  Remain faithful and obedient and God will take care of the rest.

Happy Homeschooling!!!

                                                         

Oh the joys of testing...

Testing has begun in our household. Oh joy... don't you just love this time of the year. I  just have never truly understood why this is so important. Why should one test have so much weight on what a child has learned when it isn't an accurate depiction of what have done all year? I wish we lived in a state that they judged the merit of a child's academics in a different manner. How many of you also have to do these crazy tests? How many of you feel the same way I do? Just a curious thought as we just finished up the first 2. We will tackle another one later today. Then I will call it quits for today and go back to the "fun" work.

Are you looking for a great math worksheet site...

 

Check out this great link:
This is a great web site if you need additional math help worksheets. I have used this web site for many years and have come back to it once again. I thought I would share it with you here as well.
Math-Aids.Com | Printable Math Worksheets for Various Math Topics

Achievement Testing Preparation Site

Just thought I would share a useful tool I discovered to help with achievement testing preparation. It is designed to help the pre-k thru 8th grader. It also provides tools for the high schoolers, but you have to dig a little farther into the web site to find it. 

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm

Is your child having problems remembering when to use a positive or negative sign? Check out these easy rules…

How To Know When to use a Positive and Negative Number                               

By Deb Russell, About.com Guide

1. Adding Rules:

Positive + Positive = Positive: 5 + 4 = 9
Negative + Negative = Negative: (- 7) + (- 2) = - 9

Sum of a negative and a positive number: Use the sign of the larger number and subtract

(- 7) + 4 = -3
6 + (-9) = - 3
(- 3) + 7 = 4
5 + ( -3) = 2

2. Subtracting Rules:

Negative - Positive = Negative: (- 5) - 3 = -5 + (-3) = -8
Positive - Negative = Positive + Positive = Positive: 5 - (-3) = 5 + 3 = 8
Negative - Negative = Negative + Positive = Use the sign of the larger number and subtract (Change double negatives to a positive)
(-5) - (-3) = ( -5) + 3 = -2
(-3) - ( -5) = (-3) + 5 = 2

3. Multiplying Rules:

Positive x Positive = Positive: 3 x 2 = 6
Negative x Negative = Positive: (-2) x (-8) = 16
Negative x Positive = Negative: (-3) x 4 = -12
Positive x Negative = Negative: 3 x (-4) = -12

4. Dividing Rules:

Positive ÷ Positive = Positive: 12 ÷ 3 = 4
Negative ÷ Negative = Positive: (-12) ÷ (-3) = 4
Negative ÷ Positive = Negative: (-12) ÷ 3 = -4
Positive ÷ Negative = Negative: 12 ÷ (-3) = -4

Tips:

1. When working with rules for positive and negative numbers, try and think of weight loss or poker games to help solidify 'what this works'.

2. Using a number line showing both sides of 0 is very helpful to help develop the understanding of working with positive and negative numbers/integers.

"Duck" morphs into Tacky the Penguin

We were at the library today for a "Special Penguin" time this morning. My "Duck" is having an identity crisis. She doesn't know if she wants to be a "Duck" or a penguin. Meet Tacky the Penguin. He is based of a children's book. He seems to find himself in lots of trouble. Atleast "Duck" didn't live up to that side of this cute little guy. I couldn't resist sharing a picture of kiddo here today. :)

Princess Anne

  Princess Anne was born February 6, 1665 and died August 1, 1714. She was daughter of King James ii and Anne Hyde who died at the age of 33, on April 10, 1671. She was buried at Westminister Abby.  Her stepmother then became Mary of Modena.

  Princess Anne Married Prince George of Denmark. They had seventeen children, only one survived, William, but only until he was 11. William died on July 30, 1700.

  She was faithful to the Church of England. Her father, however, was Catholic and tried to have one of her baby daughters baptized into the Catholic Church. This made Anne so sadden she cried. The baby, born before William, died soon after.    

  Princess Anne became Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland 1702-1717. She became Queen shortly after William died. She was a popular Queen and she appointed her husband Lord High Admiral, which also gave him power over the Royal Navy. She appointed Lord Marlborough control over the Royal Army.

  Queen Anne was saddened by the death of King George, her husband, on October 1708. Duchess of Marborough tried to get her to come to her palace, but she never did. In return the Duchess took the picture of King George away from Anne, and would never give it back. The Duchess was determined that she should have control over the Royal Navy, but Queen Anne wasn’t convinced. She decided to take it over herself.

  During the trials of her husband’s death Anne was also dealing with the loss of her mobility due to an illness called gout. She also had other heath complications and was in a wheel chair most of the later part of her life.

  Queen Anne Died August 1, 1714 and was buried beside her husband in the south isle of Westminster Abby on August 24.

Kiddo wrote this for a history lesson. She chose to learn something about Virginia history that other kids aren't learning about.   March 30, 2012