Homeschool Campfire

As our school year is coming to a close, apparently so is our kids’ computer.  I now have a BIG gripe about the Switched on Schoolhouse curriculum.  All of a sudden, the SOS system had a glitch and we lost one-third of the work the kids have completed this year.  YUCK!!  The computer was partly to blame since it is on its way to the local trash heap as soon as we can replace it.  I was foolish in relying on the computer to keep the records for me.  I should have printed them out on a weekly basis to stick in my records book.  Lesson learned the hard way!  At least we saved a good portion of the lessons through the back-ups!  Make your kids do a daily back-up of their lessons and be sure to print out the finished lessons grade at the end of each week for your records.  Other than that, the curricula was fairly good.  I did not have to be as involved in the teaching process which was really helpful for us this year.

How many of you out there suffer from something called Mother’s Guilt?  You know it.  The kind that gets you when you are at the dentist’s office and you are told your child has a cavity.  It is like you have been slapped in the face.  You truly take it to heart!  You feel so guilty, like someone is telling you that you are a bad mother for allowing your child to get a cavity.  So many of us can get wrapped up in this, especially those of us who homeschool.  When we see our child struggling with learning, we tend to take that to heart and blame ourselves for our child’s struggles.  Pray, relax and breathe!  As a child grows older, we have to allow them to become themselves too!  (They just might be the adult who has to have false teeth.  We will still love them!)

This is so true with children with special needs.  We have a tendency to place our own expectations onto the child.  This can have direr circumstances often leading to a stifling of the child’s true abilities and an increase level of frustration for all parties involved.  We all need to learn to separate our guilt from the equation when a child does not meet our expectations.  I struggle with this too!  There are things my child will excell in and things my child will not and that is okay!  Don’t get me wrong!  I still have very high expectations for my children.  I just try and not come down hard on myself when it seems they will not have success in the task at hand.  It just might be who they are!  My children continue to surprise me and blow me away with what they have overcome!    So, today work on getting rid of your Mother’s Guilt.  Our children will be what the Lord needs them to be in order for His Glory to be done!  Pray, relax and breathe!

Hi, I go this from another homeschool group.  Sounds wonderful!

As we have had our ups and downs with switching over to the Switched-On Schoolhouse curriculum, I have to say that I have enjoyed their science curriculum.  Within the program, are great science experiements.  If you do not have the supplies to actually complete the experiment, there are videos included so the kids can watch the experiment and learn from it.  Well, I just purchased a science kit from Home Science Tools just for Switched-On Science.  It is great.  Very complete kit!  Everything has been easy enough for me to follow and I was impressed with the cost.  So, if you are using the science curriculum, I highly recommend purchasing the accompanying kit from www.homescience tools.com.

On February 13, 2009, I had taken the kids to a Valentine’s skating party. They enjoy skating around and around as the music booms so loudly that no one can possibly carry on a civil conversation with one another. As our time drew to a close and the kids removed their skates and put back on their shoes, my son wobbled over to me with such a pitiful look upon his face. He feebly told me that his skates must have been too big, because his “thumb toe” really hurt!  Thumb toe - what a riot!

I am unaware of how many of you watch American Idol and saw Tuesday night’s episode with the young lady who misspoke so many of her words.  I laughed out loud so hard while watching her state that she sang from the wrong rectum.  It was priceless.  I was able to use it as an awesome example to my children of what an uneducated adult can sound like.  Anyway, my son is a wonderful reader and his vocabulary grows weekly as a result of this.  He often times uses a ‘big’ word in a sentence in the wrong way, but I praise him for at least trying to use these words.  It is the start of a great foundation in my book.  Today, though, he completely created a new word on me.  It so reminded me of the young lady from American Idol.   He missed only one problem on his math test.  As I handed him his test paper back, he through out an “aw man, I knew I mutilplicated that problem wrong!”  (We haven’t stopped picking on him about it yet…)

I got this through an email.  I think it is wonderful!!

Enjoy!

Anxious? Take Vitamin A.
All things work together for good for those who
love God, who are called according to his purpose.
(Rom 8:28)
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Blue? Take Vitamin B.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. (Ps 103:1)
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Crushed? Take Vitamin C.
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
(1 Pet 5:7)
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Depressed? Take Vitamin D.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
(Jas 4:8)
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Empty? Take Vitamin E.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts
with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
(Ps 100:4)
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Fearful? Take Vitamin F.
Fear not, for I am with you, do not be afraid,
for I am your God. (Isa 41:10)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greedy? Take Vitamin G.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together,
running over, will be put unto your lap; for
the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
(Lk 6:38)
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Hesitant? Take Vitamin H.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
the messenger who announces peace, who brings
good news, who announces salvation, who says
to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isa 52:7)
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Insecure? Take Vitamin I.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Phil 4:13)
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Jittery? Take Vitamin J.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Know nothing? Take Vitamin K.
Know this that the Lord is God, it is He that
made us and not we ourselves. (Ps 100:3)
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Lonely? Take Vitamin L.
Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
(Mt 28:20)
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Mortgaged? Take Vitamin M.
My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9)
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Nervous? Take Vitamin N.
Never, no never will I leave you nor forsake you.
(Heb 13:5)
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Overwhelmed? Take Vitamin O.
Overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perplexed or puzzled? Take Vitamin P.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (Jn 14:27)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quitting? Take Vitamin Q.
Quit you like men and women, be strong. (1 Cor 16:13)
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Restless? Take Vitamin R.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. (Ps 37:7)
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Scared? Take Vitamin S.
Stay with me, and do not be afraid; for the one
who seeks my life seeks your life; you will
be safe with me. (1 Sam 22:23)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tired? Take Vitamin T.
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their
strength, they shall mount up with wings like
eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. (Isa 40:31)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uncertain? Take Vitamin U.
Understand that I am (the Lord). Before me no god
was formed, nor shall there be any after me. (Isa 43:10)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vain? Take Vitamin V.
Vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. (Acts 5:16)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wondering what to do? Take Vitamin W.
What does the Lord require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
eXhausted? Take Vitamin X.
Exercise thyself rather unto godliness. (1 Tim 4:7)
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Yearning for hope? Take Vitamin Y.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you
art with me; your rod and your staff-they comfort me.
(Ps 23:4)
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Zapped? Take Vitamin Z.
Zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:14)

Hi All!

I hope your holidays were all bright and cheery.  Ours had lots of ups and downs, including an illness that had me down for the count for 2 weeks.  We are all better now and are looking forward to the new year.  As I began preparing for the upcoming semester, I wanted to be able to give my kids some extra work on the areas they are weak.  After much research, I think I have found exactly what I was looking for at www.worksheetlibrary.com.  The cost is $29.95 a year, but well worth it.  The worksheets are broken down by grade and subject.  Within each grade, they also list the subjects and items that each grade is suppose to have learned by the end-of-the-year.  This is a great way to doublecheck what you currently are working on in your homeschool.  I have been very pleased with the selection and have even come across a few sheets that contain lessons we have not learned yet.  Check them out.  If you get on their mailing list, they will send you some free downloads from time to time so you can see if the worksheets would be right for you.

I have raved about this program in a previous posting.  Now it is your turn to find out what all the fuss is about.  Even if you do not use the program, the testing they do on your child is great information for each parent to have.

Learning RX
Tuesday, December 9th 6:30-7:30
(721 Longpoint Rd, Suite 408)
Is your child reaching his or her potential in and out of school–want to learn Why or Why

Open House Attendees will receive:
-A coupon for one FREE cognitive assessment valued at $150
-1 FREE, autographed copy of Dr. Ken Gibson’s book:  Unlock the Einstein Inside

We make their brains STRONGER & FASTER!  BRAIN TRAINING TREATS THE CAUSES, NOT THE SYMPTOMS!

Call Julie Chase at 856-0135 to Register
JChase@LearningRx.net
(Seating is Limited and goes fast, please RSVP)

I found a great website for science:  glogerm.com.  We bought the mini-germ kit and had fun experimenting today.  The kids learned that their “basic” handwashing method really does not get their hands clean.  It was great!  Their faces were hiliarious!  The stuff really worked.  Try it out!