Our Homeschool School Room(s) 2012-2013

Lots of things have changed since I last posted about our school room. Since my last school room post, we moved to a new house. In fact, we moved to an entirely new state! Not only that, we have changed our school area in our current home twice since moving in! We “have school'” in lots of places in our home. However, I will focus on the main areas that we use.

The Hall:

This is the hall area outside of our “classroom,” which is on the left. To the right is the laundry room and a bathroom. Do you see that blank wall on the left? I hope to one day fill that wall up with the kids artwork.

I store LOTS of school supplies, materials, manipulatives, and games within the cabinets and drawers at the end of the hall. Plus, I keep our encyclopedia set there as well as a few other book collections!

If you walk down the hall, the door to the classroom is on the left. I finally framed our ribbon rainbows and hung them outside the door. This is the beginning of the art wall that I mentioned!

The Classroom:

Below are photos of the inside of our classroom. I’ve tried to take enough pictures so that you can see around the entire room. You may notice that we no longer have the desks that we had in our old schoolroom. I’ll explain more about that later.

One of my favorite things in our classroom is the family portrait that my daughter drew when she was five years old! It is on the wall right by the entrance of the classroom.

The Dining Room:

So, I mentioned that we no longer have the desks that we used in our old classroom. It was hard to get rid of them, but we now do the bulk of our individual schoolwork in the dining room. (The classroom is primarily used for our Calendar Time, Bible, and other group activities.)

I used to be a firm believer that a dining room was for looking nice and pretty…not a place for kids to “be”. In fact, my kids used to refer to the dining room table as the one we only used for Easter and Christmas! But, oh how I have changed! We got a glass table top cut to protect the table and now we work in our bright, open dining room! It is great having ample space to work! In a strange way, it feels liberating to not just be confined to our classroom.

The Other School Rooms:

While the classroom and the dining room are the main places that we do our schoolwork, we also use the kitchen for art projects and science experiments. The den, playroom, and living room are often used for reading, etc. The kids love that they have the freedom to drag our beanbags from room to room to get comfy, cozy while they are reading or doing independent work.

In addition to the hall storage, I have a huge shelf in our garage that is used to store more supplies and manipulatives. Plus, my laundry room has lots of storage and counter space that I utilize for our homeschool supplies, including my beloved laminator!

Well, there you have it! This is where we do our schoolwork! Be sure to check out other homeschool bloggers sharing their school rooms as part of the Not-Back-to-School blog hop hosted by the iHomeschool Network! FYI, I know I am linking up a bit late, but better late than never, right?!?!

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Old Testament Books of the Bible {Printables}

As part of our studies in My Father’s World Creation to the Greeks, we are learning/reviewing the books of the Old Testament. So, I decided to make some Old Testament Books of the Bible copywork and printable pages to help us along.

What’s included in the Old Testament printables?

The Old Testament Books of the Bible printables are divided into the five groups:

~ The Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number, Deuteronomy

~ The Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

~ The Poetic Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiates, Song of Songs

~ The Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel

~ The Minor Prophets: Jose, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zechariah, Malachi

Memorizing the Books of the Bible:

Need some help memorizing the books of the Bible? I have found that they best way for us to memorize the books of the Bible is through music! We personally have and use the Wee Sing Bible Songs CD, but I’m thinking my kids would really like the Books of the Bible Rap! Here are some tunes that you can use to help with memorization:

What’s the Old Testament Really About?

If you are studying the Old Testament, you definitely want to check out the What’s in the Bible DVD series! It walks you step by step through the Bible in a way that even a child can understand! Plus, for a limited time, you can get $25 OFF the Old Testament DVD bundle using coupon code OTSAVE25! We currently have volumes 1-6 and are looking forward to adding the remaining three volumes to complete the Old Testament!

Download the FREE Old Testament printables:

Ready to download and print these FREE Old Testament Books of the Bible copywork and printable pages?

Download the Old Testament Books of the Bible Printables and Copywork Pages from my Bible Printables webapge.

FYI, New Testament Books of the Bible printables and more MFW CtG printables are coming soon…

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Homeschool eBook Sale {53 books for $25}

Omnibus: a book containing reprints of a number of works

French, from Latin, for all, dative plural of omnis, a combining form meaning "all," used in the formation of compound. First known use: 1829

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What is the Homeschool eBook Omnibus?

A digital stockpile of books to carry you through the school year with encouragement and practical how tos. There are 53 eBooks in the collection, valued at over $350. The authors want to bless you by offering the entire collection for only $25. That is less than 50-cents per eBook.

How long will this sale last, exactly?

The sale will begin at 12:01am ET on Tuesday, August 21st and end at midnight on Saturday, August 25th.

What eBooks will I receive?

• Truth in the Tinsel : written by Amanda White from Impress Your Kids

• Pursuit of Proverbs 31 : written by Amy Bayliss from Cajun Joie de Vivre

• Road Trip USA Geography & History Curriculum : written by Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

• Expedition Earth: A Journey Through God’s World : written by Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

• Boyschooling: The Fine Art of Homeschooling Boys : written by Jamerrill Stewart from Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling

• Notebooking Success : written by Jimmie Lanley from Notebooking Fairy

• Essay Tune Up : written by Jimmie Lanley from Jimmie's Collage

• Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum : written by Jimmie Lanley from Jimmie's Collage

• Weekly Homeschool Planner : written by Jolanthe Erb from Homeschool Creations

• Simply Homeschool: Having Less Clutter and More Joy in Your Homeschool : written by Karen DeBeus from Simply Living...for Him

• How to Have Your Cake and Eat It : written by Mandi Ehman from Life, Your Way

• Back to HomeSchool : written by Misty Krasawski from Encouraging Beautiful Motherhood

• 31 Days to a Better Spouse : written by Ashley Pichea from Ashley Pichea.com

• What Your Child Needs to Know When : written by Robin Sampson from Heart of Wisdom

• Plan It, Don't Panic : written by Stephanie Langford from Keeper of the Home

• Advanced Penny Pinching : written by Tabitha Philen from Meet Penny

• So, You Think You Wanna Homeschool? : written by Tiffany Manley from Sweet Phenomena

• Mindset for Moms : written by Jamie Martin from Steady Mom

• The Classic Housewife's ABC's of Eclectic Homeschool : written by Amber Oliver from Classic Housewife

• Homeschooling with Purpose : written by Amy Roberts from Raising Arrows

• Organize Your Homeschool : written by Bethany LeBedz from Bethany LeBedz.com

• Homeschool Your Preschooler on $1 a Day : written by Cheryl Moeller from Mom Laughs

• Aunt Sarah's Alaskan Cookbook with curriculm : written by Cheryl Moeller from Mom Laughs

• NaturExplorer: A Fungus Among Us : written by Cindy West from Our Journey Westward

• ABCs of Encouragement : written by Dawn Perkins from The Momma Knows

• Classic Literature Unit Study Mega Pack : written by Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

• 51 Frugal Father-Daughter Dates : written by Ashley Pichea from Ashley Pichea.com

• Help for Heart of the Homeschool Mom : written by Jamerrill Stewart from Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling

• Planner Perfect eBook : written by Jenny Penton from Planner Perfect

• Circle Time: Plan the Best Part of Your Day : written by Kendra Fletcher from Preschoolers and Peace

• Nurturing Creativity : written by Renee Tougas from FIMBY

• Princess Training for the King's Glory : written by Richelle McFarlin from Under the Golden Apple Tree

• Cut Your Homeschool Day in Half : written by Tamara Chilver from Teaching With TLC

• 321 Stop: Stop Running and Start Living : written by Lorilee Lippincott from Loving Simple Living

• Girl Power, God's Way: Living Out Biblical Womanhood : written by Angela Parsley from Refresh My Soul Ministries

• Managing Multiple Ages in the Homeschool : written by Christine Field

• Preplan for Your Best Homeschool Year Ever : written by Bethany LeBedz from Bethany LeBedz.com

• Blogger Behave : written by Laura Booz from 10 Million Miles

• K4 Curriculum : written by Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

• Letter of the Week : written by Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

• Lexi's Homeschool Diary (a novel) : written by Cheryl and MacKenzie Moeller from Mom Laughs

• Baby Saves Christmas (a novel) with curriculum : written by Cheryl Moeller from Mom Laughs

• Counting and Numbers Notebooking Pages : written by Melissa Telling from Lilliput Station

• Geometry Notebooking Pages : written by Melissa Telling from Lilliput Station

• Honoring the Rhythm of Rest : written by Daniele Evans from Domestic Serenity

• Copywork for McGuffeys Eclectic Primer : written by Amy Maze from Living and Learning at Home

• File Folder Games : written by Lauren Hill from Mama's Learning Corner

• Training Your Children in Home Economics : written by Angie Kauffman from Many Little Blessings

• Bedtime Learning Book : written by Richelle McFarlin from Under the Golden Apple Tree

• The Ugly Duckling : written by Richelle McFarlin from Under the Golden Apple Tree

• Hands-On Learning: Cross-Curricular Projects to Make Learning Come Alive! : written by Kris Bales from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

• Homeschool Road Map : written by Alyse Scicluna Lehrke from Write Foundations

• Unplug Your Mind and Recharge Your Soul : written by Karen DeBeus from Simply Living...for Him

Why are you selling this collection so cheap?

The authors are all homeschool moms like you who have just bought a multitude of school supplies and curriculum for the new academic year. They know that money can be tight at this time of the year. That's why each of the authors wants to give back to the homeschool community with this ridiculously discounted eBook Omnibus.

Is there any other information I need to know before purchasing?

Yes, the download links for the eBooks will be valid for only 2 weeks. You must be sure to download all files before September 8th. Please remember to back up your files as well. iHN and the authors cannot send you copies of eBooks that have been deleted. Each of the eBooks in the Omnibus is copyrighted by the original author. Your purchase does not entitle you to share the files or upload them anywhere online where others can access them.

~The sale has ended~

~The Omnibus is no longer available~

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OLLO Action Kit: A Gentle Intro to Robotics {Review}

Have your kids wanted to get involved with robotics, but you were just a bit nervous about trying it out? Well, this is the kit for you (and your kids)!

My First Thoughts: I had the OLLO Action Kit in mind for certain little boys in my house who love to build with Legos. The boys in question often commented on how cool it would be if they could put batteries in their Lego creations to make them move. So, choosing to review this kit was definitely a no-brainer for me!

Included in the Kit:The kit comes neatly packaged in a sturdy plastic carrying case. Included in the case are:

~ 150+ pieces including reconfigurable plates for the riveted building system

~ a motor, battery box & switch

~ an illustrated, no-text instruction manual with 5 different building models

~ FYI, AA battery is required (not included)

What I Love About the Kit: What I love about the kit is that although the instruction manual comes with five different set of building plans, you can un-assemble and reassemble the pieces any way you like to create your very own motorized creations! I LOVE open-ended educational toys!

Our Experience With the Kit: While designed for children ages 8+, my 7 year olds LOVED the kit and had no trouble whatsoever following the directions to make their models! I was pleasantly surprised, because I thought for sure I would have to help them since this was their first experience with robotics! I gave them the box and they got to work building…

…and then proudly showed me their creation! A walking, robotic dinosaur!

After they had fun playing with their dinosaur “that really stomps around”…

…they unassembled the dinosaur and made a windmill “that really spins”!

Thank you Timberdoodle for bring sheer joy to my little mechanics!

Be sure to head over and check out the OLLO Action Kit! It is even part of Timberdoodle’s 3rd grade Core Curriculum! While you’re there, be sure to sign up for their free homeschool catalog filled with all kinds of homeschool goodies!

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received this product free of charge in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

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Weekly Homeschool Planner {How I’m Using It}

After having made my own homeschool planning pages, I decided to switch things up this past school year and I began using the Weekly Homeschool Planner. 

Why, you ask, did I make the switch? Well, I fell in love with the idea of being able to type in my lesson plans and have them saved for years to come. I am, after all, going through most of our curriculum three times! I expect that having the plans already typed up for my oldest child will make things extremely easy for me to just go back in and edit for my younger kids in the upcoming school years!

After I was sold on the idea of being able to simply edit and reuse my lessons, I quickly decided to customize the editable pdf template to meet my needs. At the time my oldest three kids were using workboxes. So, based on how we tweaked the workbox system, I decided to add little lines before each assignment so that I could assign a workbox number to each assignment, much like I did with the little boxes on my own homeschool planning pages…except now, I have it all saved and ready for re-use in the future! Oh how I L.O.V.E saving time!

I also customized one of the pages included in the file to go along with each lesson planning page, which I printed onto the back of each of the corresponding weeks lesson plan.

I labeled the boxes on the page as such:

~ To Do List: As I went through planning out the lessons, I used this to make note of things that I needed to do prior to the week. I included a little line so that I could check off things on the week’s To Do List. (Yes, it looks like I did forget to check off some things!)

~ Library Books: This is a list of library books to check out prior to the lessons for the week.

~ Supplies: As I planned out the lessons, this is where I made note of various supplies that I needed to have on hand for the lessons during each week.

~ Field Trips: Here, I recorded possible field trip ideas.

~ Other & Notes: I just used this space for random comments, notes, and reminders.

So, that is a brief overview of how I used the Weekly Homeschool Planner last school year! If you are interested in purchasing this fully editable pdf lesson planner, now is a great time! Use the code BACK2SCHOOL to purchase the planner for only $12 (regularly priced at $20). The 2-day sale ends 8/14/12.

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2012-2013 Curriculum Choices

It is hard to believe but the summer is almost over! We are planning to start our school year on Monday, August 13th and I am SO very excited to be using My Father’s World again! In fact, my kids are visiting their grandparents for a week, which means I am busy preparing for school! I can hardly believe that I will have a 4th grader, two 2nd graders, and two kindergarteners! Where oh where does the time go? Here is what we have planned for our 2012-2013 school year:

Bible: The Discipleship Curriculum: The Creator (as our primary Bible study) AND Grapevine Studies (as they tie into our My Father’s World Creation to the Greeks study) AND We Choose Virtues (as part of our calendar time).

Math: Singapore Primary Mathematics 4A-B (will finish up 3B first)

Science: My Father’s World CtG (includes books shown below plus a few extra ones I’ve added) AND Little Professor Science Kits AND activities from Crowe’s Nest Media: Your Backyard DVDs

 

Spelling: Spell to Write and Read AND SpellQuizzer 

Grammar: Intermediate Language Lessons AND My Wise Grammar (goes along with SWR)

Writing: Writing Strands Level 3

Reading: McCall-Crabbs: Standard Test Lessons in Reading along with various other books & read-alouds

Vocabulary: English from the Roots Up

History/Geography: My Father’s World CtG (includes books shown below) AND African-American History Units (more info coming soon!)

 

Arts & Crafts: God and the History of Art AND projects from Ancient Egypt: The Hands-on Approach to History AND projects from The Usborne Art Treasury AND various See the Light Art DVD lessons.

Music: My Father’s World CtG AND piano lessons

Typing: Typing Instructor

Spanish: Sonrisas Spanish School

 

Bible: I am so thrilled that my oldest three kids will all be doing a lot of subjects together now! That is one of the things I love about My Father’s World! Bible is one of the subjects we will be doing together! See above for more about our curriculum choices!

Math: Singapore Primary Mathematics 2A-B (will finish up 1B first)

Science: See above

Spelling: Spell to Write and Read AND SpellQuizzer AND various spelling printables

Grammar: Primary Language Lessons (with the Teacher Guide & the PLL Workbook) AND My Wise Grammar (goes along with SWR)

Reading: McCall-Crabbs: Standard Test Lessons in Reading along with various other books & read-alouds

Copywork: My Father’s World CtG and Copywork for Future Heroes

History/Geography: See above

Arts & Crafts: See above

Music: My Father’s World CtG AND perhaps piano lessons (we are still deciding on this one!)

Typing: See above

Spanish: See above

 

Bible: The little boys will be participating in our Bible curricula listed above as best they can. However, Bible is also included in their My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum.

Math: Although I used Singapore Math Essentials with my other kids for kindergarten, I am still debating if I will use it for my little guys!

Science: Science in integrated into the MFW Kinder curriculum. Some of our fun activities will include a Butterfly Garden, an Ant Hill, and learning about What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs.

Handwriting: My older three kids all have successfully learned cursive in kindergarten, but I’m not so sure my little guys are ready. I plan to use Cursive First, but if it proves to be too much, I will back off and wait until 1st grade.

Spelling: Spell to Write and Read AND various spelling printables

Arts & Crafts: I will incorporate lots of crafts based on our MFW Kindergarten lessons and our MFW Kindergarten printables.

Spanish: See above

Well, that’s what we have planned for the 2012-2013 school year! What are your curriculum plans? Be sure to link up and share at the Not-Back-to-School blog hop hosted by the iHomeschool Network!

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Mama’s Mission of the Month: August 2012 {and July Accomplishments}

Welcome to Mama’s Mission of the Month! My hope is that this will help me {and you} follow through on some of the goals that we have set for the month! So, if you are a mama and you want to join in, check out the intro post! (If you have already read the rules, you can easily grab the buttons from the Buttons Tab on the top of the sidebar.)

July Mission Update:  It has been a busy month for me! We have had lots of summer fun, including a huge two week vacation to see family we haven’t seen in years! So, in all honesty, I am kind of surprised that I was able to get as much done as I did!

 

Personal:

1. Continue getting up before the kids everyday during the week so that I can exercise and have my prayer time/Bible reading time. For the most part I did really well with this! Yay for FINALLY being a little more consistent!! Now, if I can only keep it up! LOL!!

2. Complete 10 scrapbook pages. Ughhh…am I ever going to mark this off? LOL!!

Marriage:

3. Go on two more date nights! We only got in one date night…if you only count dates outside of the house! LOL!

Parenting:

4. Make Give/Save/Spend pouches for the kids.

5. Plan fun activities into my and the kids daily schedule. Ooohhh, I’ve got something in the works for this! I’ll share it with you all soon!

Homeschooling:

6. Begin planning and preparing to use The Discipleship Curriculum. We are planning to start school on Aug 13th and I am excited to start using this curriculum!

Homemaking:

7. Try making sour dough bread from a starter. When I decided to do this, I conveniently forgot that we were going to be out of town for two weeks…so not being around to feed a starter would not have gone over so well! LOL!

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family:

8. Write 2 letters.

9. Plan another movie night under the stars with friends! We had the best intentions, but it didn’t end up working out!

Blogging/Online Activity:

10. Finish transferring all of my printable files over from 4shared to my MamaJenn.com site.  Aside from a few Bible verses, I think I have it all done. If you happen to notice something else that needs to be transferred, please let me know!

11. Update my printable page to include ALL of my free printables. I think it is all up to date now. However, if you notice something that I forgot to add, please let me know!

 

My Mission for August 2012: 

I feel like summer is beginning to wind down and I am really looking forward to the upcoming school year! I am thrilled that all three of my older kids will be using My Father’s World Creation to the Greeks TOGETHER!!!! That means a little less lesson planning for me and a lot more learning time together! So, while I will be busy planning and getting ready for the upcoming school year, I have decided to keep it somewhat simple. Here is what I hope to accomplish this month:

Personal:

1. Continue getting up before the kids everyday during the week so that I can exercise and have my prayer time/Bible reading time. My new/used treadmill off Craigslist has made exercising so much more “do-able.” The light bulb finally clicked on and I decided to add this to my 21 Days to Becoming chart!

Marriage:

2. Find a way to flirt with my hubby daily in spite of his busy work schedule!

Parenting:

3. Update the kid’s chore charts.

4. Make Give/Save/Spend pouches for the kids.

5. Finish reading Good and Angry:Exchanging Frustration for Character in you and your Kids.

Homeschooling:

6. Complete lesson plans for the upcoming school year.

7. Purchase and organize all of the supplies needed for our projects, experiments, crafts, etc. My goal is to have everything I need ahead of time so that I have no excuse for skipping any activities!

Homemaking:

8. Revamp my cards and restart the SHE Method. I want to start the school year off a little more organized!

9. Try making sour dough bread from a starter.

10. Clean and organize our school room.

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family:

11. Write 2 letters.

Blogging/Online Activity:

12. Begin to resurrect my other blogs.

13. Participate in the 2012 Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop hosted by the iHomeschool Network.

14. Write a new workbox post showing how we have revamped our old workbox system shown below.

 Other:

15. Update our budget again.

16. Complete 10 scrapbook pages. Umm, I really do plan to be able to mark this one off this month! LOL!

What is your August mission of the month?

If you participated last month, how did you do?

Feel free to link up and share! It is a great way to hold yourself accountable! Need a visual reminder of your monthly missions? Download the Mama’s Mission of the Month Checklist!

For more information on how to join in, please read the intro post. The linky will be open until midnight, August 5th.

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