Journey to Excellence

Brynne's Homeschool Co-op Valentine's party was last Friday. When she was working on some Valentines, she said, "I wish you would write where I could read it." I asked her what she was talking about. She was copying "Happy Valentine's Day" that I had written for her, and she pointed to the second "n" in "Valentine's" and said, "What's that?" I told her it was an "n". She gave me the blankest stare, like I had lost my mind. I spelled the whole word for her and she said, " Ooooohhhhh .... I thought it was Valen tiMe's Day." The girl is a trip. Anyway, here is a photo walk through her party. And Dawson never ceases to amaze me. He told me that next year HE wants to do a box. I just laughed at him. I told him that if I would have handed him a box and said, "Here's yours and your Valentines to hand out," that he would have had a COW! When I don't think he would want...

On July 31st, I posted about my intention to post my lesson plans and materials used in our "America: The Story of Us" self-built American History curriculum. I did have plans to do it, but as we have gotten into school I haven't made the time for it. I have noticed that one of my most popular blog posts was THAT POST on July 31st. That tells me that there are educators out there who are searching for lesson plans that incorporate "America: The Story of Us". And today I received an e-mail from a sweet reader who wants to use the series as a spine, but isn't used to building her own curriculum so is feeling overwhelmed. She asked me if I would mind sharing what we have done this year. And I would be so glad to. So, HEADS UP! Starting this Saturday, my Study America Saturday post will feature my American History lesson plans using "America: The Story of Us" as the spine. And just to show you how serious I am, I have already completed the fi...

I think Joyce Meyer calls it "Stinkin' Thinkin'". You know it ... all that negativity that floods your mind and thoughts. We all do it, at one time or another. The mind can be a bad place to reside. It can convince us our circumstances are insurmountable. The stresses of being a mom, thinking other moms "have it all" and "do it all" is one place where "Stinkin' Thinkin'" can certainly come into play. When posting my Day in the Life post the other day at Simple Homeschool , Jamie Martin's new e-book, Mindset for Moms , caught my eye. I looked at what it had to offer and considered purchasing it for some reading on my iPad. What is "Mindset for Moms"? Jamie Martin says this: "In time I realized that much of my negativity stemmed from my thinking. I slowly discovered that my happiness had less to do with my circumstances and more to do with my thoughts about those circumstances. As I began to learn how to c...

Kris's January Homeschool Showcase is up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Go over and see links to some great articles. Our Yummy Fermentation post is featured.

Over at Simple Homeschool , we have been invited to post about a day in the life of our schooling day. We homeschool a 15 year old 9th grader and a 6 year old 2nd grader. We also have an 8 year old 2nd grader who is in public school. Here is what our typical day looks like: 6:30 a.m. ~ I start my day before everyone else. Ideally I like to get up at 6:00 a.m., but I've gotten lazy as of late! I get up and have my quiet time with the Lord and spend a little time on the computer. Then I get in the shower and get ready for my day. My Bible, devotional, glasses, computer, books I'm reading, Homeschool planner, and more. 8:00 a.m. ~ Eli is up, but not too excited about it. He has his breakfast, watches a show on t.v., and then gets ready for school. Before he leaves, he reads his book to me while I am making his lunch. 9:00 a.m. ~ I have just dropped Eli off at school, and I come home and get Dawson up for the day. While he is showering, I feed the dogs and straighten u...

Yeah, I've been doing that ... planning for next year. There are going to be some significant changes in our homeschool next year, so I am trying to figure some things out. We have decided to bring Eli home from public school to begin homeschooling next year. We feel like he has probably gained everything he can from public school and is now ready for our kind of learning. I am also talking with a good friend of mine (who happens to be Eli's speech pathologist at his school) about a partnership whereby I will help in the schooling of her 15 year old son while she helps with speech needs for Eli. Her dad is also a science and math whiz who loves to teach, which would come in very handy! Generally speaking, I am thinking of going to schooling SIX days a week, with five of those days being what we do now and adding time on either Saturday or Sunday for in depth science study. This would allow us to take some big breaks in the year. I am thinking of starting the first Monday in...

Dawson has been working on a fermentation experiment for the past 10 days. I have often received the ziplock bag from a neighbor with an alcohol-smelling concoction and a 10 day plan for turning it into Amish Friendship Bread. We usually save a cup of the start, giving the remainder away to friends (thus the FRIENDSHIP part of the bread), and keep it going for a couple of rounds. But then we either get tired of it or accidentally miss a day or two of the instructions, so end up throwing it away. And then later I will get a hankerin' for some Amish Friendship Bread, but no start to start it with. Enter the Fermentation Experiment . We found a recipe for the Amish Friendship Bread Starter . The purpose of this recipe is to get the proper fermentation going to successfully bake the bread. The " fermentation of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast ... is the fundamental step to making bread dough. Before most bread doughs get baked, they require time to rise. Thi...