Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

Our Homeschool Week in Review

March 16, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We had a good week this week. The kids all got their work done, and had some fun, too.

Hannah made another skirt for herself this week. She sewed it mostly by hand, she prefers it that way. She did a great job!

She wore it to the volleyball and basketball banquet on Monday night. We had a potluck “Italian Feast”, then your usual sports banquet doings. Recognitions, awards, pictures, etc. It was a very nice banquet. We brought macaroni and cheese, as well as bread. Hannah made the bread, two loaves of plain french bread, and two loaves of french bread turned into garlic bread. They were delicious. She is quite the baker. Here’s a picture of Abby and Hannah sitting at our table at the banquet with one of their teammates. (faces blurred to protect the innocent. lol)

I never have much to share about Calen. He’s working to finish up and graduate. I’m trying to get him to hurry up and finish, but he’s dragging his feet. He spends his time working at church, playing the guitar, and playing with wires. He works in the media room at church. At home, he seems to always be working with wires. Soldering and such things. I really have no idea what. lol I managed to snap a picture of him working on “something” the other day.

I posted to homeschool posts this week as part of a homeschool blog hop. I shared Homeschooling with Games and Homeschooling in a Crisis. Stop by and check them out!

To see more homeschooling posts, visit Weekly Wrap Up.

Homeschooling in a Crisis

March 14, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

When we have kids we think everything is going to be all sunshine, kittens, and rainbows. And most of the time it is. Then when we start homeschooling we think that the good times are going to continue. And most of the time they do.

But sometimes, things happen beyond our control. Jobs are lost, kids get diagnosed with diseases, Mom or Dad get really sick. Our worst nightmares sometimes come true.

That was the case for me, when in 2000, my then 5 year old son was diagnosed with leukemia. Want to talk about having the rug ripped out from underneath you. Your worst nightmare has been brought to the light of day. And come true.

So your looking for another job, or fighting hard for your child’s health or your own. But wait! You homeschool. How can you wage war in this battle and still homeschool? I know I questioned myself. A lot. “How can I keep homeschooling with “this” going on?”

I’m here to say you can do. Because I did. And I’m no different from you.

Like in everything else, though, you can’t do it all. Something is going to have to give. Fancy meals will have to be traded for simple, homecooked meals. In depth unit studies, detailed science experiments, and lots of field trips will have to be traded for just the basics for a season. It can be done, though. Kids will be fine if they don’t do every experiment or go on every field trip possible.

You will have to set the priorities for your family. Meals, laundry, medical needs, and emotional needs of the children will likely be at the top of your list. Then you can fit in school work in between. Math will be a homeschool priority. You don’t want to get too far behind in math, as it takes too long to catch up. For elementary and middle school aged kids, every other subject can be covered by reading good books. Read aloud when you can, have whoever is watching the other kids while your at doctors appointments or in the hospital read to the kids. The kids can also read for themselves. High schoolers can take responsibility for their own schoolwork and do the majority of their work by themselves. Really. Yes, you are still involved. Picking the curriculum, helping them when they get stuck, correcting their work when needed. But they can do most of their daily work by themselves.

If you have to take off two weeks because of a hospitalization, the kids will be ok taking an extra two weeks off. Think about it. Over the course of 12 or 13 years of school, is an extra two weeks off going to make a difference? No, it’s not. Even if you take off a week or two several times a year, your kids will still be fine. They will quickly catch up. They will have learned much from reading. Their reading speed and comprehension levels will have increased. This will benefit them in their lessons when they are returned to.

My son received chemo treatments for over three years. During that time, we didn’t do any schoolwork to speak of on clinic days or when he was hospitalized. The remaining kids at home didn’t do any schoolwork on those days either. When my son was diagnosed, our children were 14, 12, 5-the one diagnosed, 3, 2, and almost 3 months old. When he finished treatments three years and three months later, they were 17, 15, 9, 8, 5 and 3. I have been there and done that.

My advice for homeschooling in a crisis is to pray. Then pray some more. Then set your priorities. Daily living, (meals, laundry, etc.), medical needs, (or job hunt, or whatever is needed for your crisis), the emotional needs of the kids. Then school. Relax. Cut your self and your children some slack. If you can barely concentrate on anything because of the overwhelming feelings caused by a crisis, how can your kids concentrate on schoolwork? Circle the wagons. Gather together as a family. Gain strength from each other. Your family can draw closer together and learn much together in a time of crisis. These life and family lessons will be of greater benefit to your children than another science experiment, workbook page, art project, or field trip will be.

You can deal with a crisis and keep homeschooling. I’m living proof.

Homeschooling with Games

March 14, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We love to play games as a family. They are not only fun, but educational also. We’ve played games with all six of our children from the time they were very little and just barely able to play Candyland, Chute’s and Ladders, and Hi Ho Cherry-O. Don’t forget Go Fish, Slap Jack and War.

Here are a few of the games we currently have. These are on top of a cabinet in our schoolroom. Hours and hours of fun represented in this picture.

Here are a few more inside the cabinet. Bible Trivia is an awesome Bible game! And I do believe Scattergories is my favorite game of all time. We also have a couple of geography board games, those are fun, too.

The game I want to focus on today, though, is Scrabble. Scrabble is a great family game. It’s competitive, entertaining, and educational all at the same time. We had a Scrabble, Junior game when some of our kids were younger. I didn’t care for it, though.

I didn’t find it to be as fun and educational as the regular game. You can start your kids playing Scrabble as soon as they can spell a few words. For most that would be in the first to second grade range. An easy way to get them started is to make a rule that everyone playing, including the adults, can only use three letter words. That puts everyone on the same playing field.

Another way we play that helps the kids is to play with dictionaries in hand. I don’t consider looking in the dictionary for a word to use cheating for kids. I don’t mean just looking up the correct spelling of a word, but the child actually looking for a word they can make with the letters they have. The only thing I tell them is that they need to be looking for a word while the other players are having their turns. So the game isn’t held up for ten minutes while one kid finds a word. The game would never get over that way, and I would most likely lose my mind. lol

You can let them use any dictionary you have in the house, but a Scrabble dictionary is a great investment. It’s also helpful if you have a couple of dictionaries on the table, instead of everyone sharing one. It helps to keep the game moving. So while the family is having fun playing a game together, the kids are learning spelling and dictionary skills.

You can take any game that you like to play and modify it to be played with younger kids. You don’t have to follow every rule exactly. Make up your own house rules.

Like using a dictionary to look up words. Or adjust the Yahztee game so you skip some of the harder to get groups. In Monopoly, pass out all the real estate cards first, following the shorter game instructions, then let the kids have fun buying and trading from each other. Let them take turns being the banker. Let them count all the money without correcting them. If one of them catches another making a mistake, have them recount. If not, just keep playing. Once they realize they might be getting ripped off by a sibling, their counting will dramatically improve. lol

The family playing and learning together is more important than the game rules. Have fun as a family and the learning will follow.

In the Kitchen With Linda

March 11, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

The kids were kind enough (??) to share their stomach virus with me. ugh….. So needless to say I haven’t spent very much time in the kitchen this past week. We managed to stick to the menu, though. That’s what great about simple, home cooked meals and meal planning. If Mom gets sick, the rest of the family can still feed themselves.

I have no yummy food pictures to share with you this week. Just a reminder to go plan your menu. 😉

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….

What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- – Baked Chicken, stuffing, green beans

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – tuna sandwiches, chicken sandwiches

Monday – chicken – Volleyball Banquet – we’re bring homemade mac & cheese, homemade bread-french & garlic

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli

Wednesday – super simple – chicken soup, homemade biscuits

Thursday – beef – Crockpot deer, potatoes, onions and carrots

Friday – Sabbath Dinner – BBQ chicken, peas, corn on the cob

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Saturday on the Farm – Compost & Seedlings

March 9, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

This week, I had my oldest son move the compost pile for me. We, ok HE, moved the compost from one side to the other so we could start a new pile. Here’s my compost pile made from pallets.

I had him move what was left on the right hand side over to the left. As you can see, we’ve already started filling the right hand side. The compost on the left is ready to use!

I thought I’d share all my seedlings this week. Here’s what my dining room window looks like now. The two big plants on the left are a Passion Flower and a Mandevilla that are spending the winter in the house. In front of the window are two trays of tomatoes, one each of romas and beefsteaks, and a tray of broccoli seedlings. Each tray has twelve paper pots in it. As of now each pot has two or three seedlings, but those will be thinned out in another week or two. The tray on the table has bell peppers. To the right of the window you can see the pineapple plant we started from a fresh pineapple last year. They say it takes two years to get a pineapple from it, so maybe we’ll see one this year. In front of the pineapple are two chive plants that my husband brought home. Shhhh…..don’t tell him I already have some outside. lol

Into the schoolroom we go to see the trays of herb seeds. I only have one tiny, little chamomile seedling up. The chamomile is the reason I have the tray tilted up, it needs light to germinate.

I was in bed sick the other day, and no one even bothered to open the dining room blinds to let my little seedlings have some light. They were very sad little seedlings when I finally got up and around yesterday. So I moved them into the craft room under the light. I had to build up the workbench with a tool box and little crates to get the plants up close to the lights. lol It worked! lol Until my middle son wanted to use the workbench. But my little seedlings were much happier after several hours under the light.

When I went outside this morning to take the picture of the compost pile, I found this plant coming up in front of the house. I was given this plant a few years ago, and told it was a house leek. It’s actually a Sedum, though.

And I was very happy to find another plant coming up!

Just in case you felt sorry for my poor snow covered Daffodils last week, here they are in the bright sun this morning. The ones blooming are mini Daffodils and the green plants in the back are full size Daffodils. You can also see a Tulip coming up!

I have other bulbs planted in this garden. They may even be coming up right now under the mulch. One of these days when I get brave, I will clean out all the mulch to uncover them. You see, this lovely little bulb garden is also invaded with poison ivy. It wasn’t when I first planted it, but it has been for a few years now. And every year in the spring, I clean the garden out and I get a bad case of poison ivy. It really is a dilemma. If I try to kill the poison ivy, I will kill the bulbs, and if I try to move all the bulbs, I will develop a severe reaction, I think. What to do, what to do. I guess I’ll just keep doing like I’ve been doing. Clean it out once a year in the spring, and suffer with a small case of poison ivy. sigh….

Any suggestions for a poor, itchy gardener? lol

[Read more…]

Our Homeschool Week in Review

March 9, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

This week, Zach has been working on a Knights and Castles Lapbook. We’re reviewing it for The Homeschool Review Crew, so look for the review in the next couple of weeks. Zach’s really enjoying it. I can usually coax him into letting me post a picture. But this week, he wouldn’t even let me take a picture with his hand in it. lol

It has been nice this last week with no volleyball practices. Abby did play in an all star tournament today. Unfortunately, the East team she played on lost. As far as I know, that’s the last game any of my girls will be in. It will be so nice to regain the family time that is lost with practices and games. Sports are good for kids, they just take so much time.

The two 12th graders have been working on their schoolwork, too. It’s just not very exciting to see a picture of a teenager doing Algebra or Geometry. lol

It’s been a busy week for homeschool reviews. Check out some of the homeschool products and books we’ve been using lately. Lone Star Learning Science Vocabulary Cards, Abraham’s Journey, College Common Sense

To see more homeschooling posts, visit Weekly Wrap Up.

Lone Star Learning Science Vocabulary Cards

March 7, 2013 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 cards from Lone Star Learning

Lone Star Learning offers math, reading and science learning aids for kindergarden through eight grade. Lonestar has been offering their products to schools and is now starting to offer them to homeschoolers. In fact, there is no mention at all on the website about homeschooling, everything is geared to the public school classroom. I also saw no references to private schools of any kind.

The vocabulary cards are to supplement your curriculum. As you can see from the above picture, they are colorful and entertaining. There are a few different sets of cards available, I was sent the Science 1 cards. The cards are coated, so they can be handled by kids without too much scuffing. The Science 1 cards are for grades 3-8.

These vocabulary cards can be used in many different ways. The set comes with an idea sheet to help you. Here are a few of the ways I used them with my 12 year old 6th grade son. We used them as flash cards, first. Going over any that he missed. The set comes with an answer key, however, it would have been much more convenient if the definitions were on the back of the cards.

I hung the simple machine cards on our school room cabinet. That way there were in front of my son all the time, and he would ask questions when he thought of them. At 5.5″ by 8.5″ Lone Star Learning cards are nice and big, making them easy for kids to handle, and to hang on the wall.

Another way we used them was to have my son sort the cards out into categories. For example, here’s the season cards. The cards are bright, colorful and fun, with pictures that depict the definition of the word. However, some of the pictures can make the words hard to read. I, the teacher, had to look to the rest of the word to find out that the fish on the carnivore card was a “c”. While working on the review, I asked my son if there were any cards that he had trouble reading, or if he could read them all with no problem. He said, “Yes, the one with the mice.” The Mammal card below. I asked him if there were any other cards that he had trouble with, and he picked these cards. You might look at these cards and think “I can tell the raindrop and line are a “d” in the word flood.” But it’s the kids who have to be able to read the cards. Like I said, most of the cards can be read easily. These are just a handful that my son had trouble with. Overall, my son had fun using these cards and learned a few new words. The Science vocabulary card set contains 40 cards and sells for $29.99 on their website. *Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a this set of cards for review purposes. I received no other compensation. I was not required to write a positive review. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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