Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

SchoolhouseTeachers.Com Yearly Membership Review

January 6, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This post contains affiliate links.

I have used SchoolhouseTeachers.com for a few years now. They offer close to 200 different classes, as well as extras and printables with the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Yearly Membership. I love how easy to use the website is, and the variety of online classes available for for all ages, including adults. The printable homeschool planners available are some of the best I have seen in my 25 years of homeschooling.

For new members, the best place to start on the site is the New Members Hub. From there, you can check out Courses by Grade or Courses by Subject to choose what classes you want your students to take. With almost 200 different classes, there is something for every member of the family.

Art
Bible
Computer and Technology
Drama and Speech
Electives
Foreign Languages
History, Geography, and Social Studies
Language Arts
Math
Music
Nutrition, Health, and Fitness
Science
Just for Parents or the Whole Family

You can watch an Introduction to SchoolhouseTeachers.com video that is very helpful in seeing all that is offered.

Members of SchoolhouseTeachers.com also receive many extras included in the membership:

Digital back issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine
All 5 of the popular Schoolhouse Planners,
Recordings of the Schoolhouse Expos,
Free monthly eBooks and TOS supplements,
Membership to Applecore, an online homeschool tracking software
And more!

Here are a few of the offerings Just for Parents or the Whole Family:

Be Prepared
Charlotte Mason Homeschooling
College Choice Guidance
ESL Language Arts
ESL Vocabulary
Everyday Organization
Family Fitness
Family Nutrition
Growing in Homeschool Confidence
Hands-On Math Help with Cuisenaire Rods
Heritage Crafts
Homegrown Parenting
Homeschooling That’s Relational
Homesteading
How to Teach Elementary Math
It Starts At Home
Joy in the Morning
Kinetic Connections
Nourishing Nuggets
Parenting: The Early Years
Parenting Tips with Dr. Scott Turansky
Reading Remedies (Reading Lessons for Young or Struggling Readers)
Reading List (Monthly Book Lists for Families)
Special Needs
Special Needs Trenches
Tips for Homeschooling Active Learners
Whole Foods Cooking with Sue Gregg
Writing: Mechanics
Your Child’s Learning Style

There are hours and hours of reading & invaluable resources available for parents to help you in your homeschooling journey.

I have used some of the high school courses available with my students. For this review, my 9th grade son chose to use the Web Game Design course. The Web Game Design course teaches students how to create some simple games in their web browser. Students will learn to write code directly into the web browser to make things happen. With the Web Game Design course students will learn to use input fields, images & sound effects, 2D frame animation, how to start a JavaScript game, & more.

He is several lessons in and liking it. We have used core subjects before, and I will be adding some more in for my son this semester, but I let him pick which course to take first. This Web Game Design class includes 42 weekly lessons, and is generally expected to take 1-2 hours per week to complete. Students who complete the entire year should be comfortable receiving 0.5 computer science credit on a transcript. I really love that most of the high school courses tell you how many credits your student will earn by completing the course.

I, myself, have used the ASL course in the past, but haven’t completed it. I will be starting again. And finishing! I truly love everything about SchoolhouseTeachers.com!

Interested in trying SchoolhouseTeachers.com?

You can join monthly for $12.95 each month or save over 10% on a one-year membership for $139. One fee serves your entire family. Anyone living in your home can use the site 24/7. That’s right, no per person or per course fees! And you can cancel at anytime.

Here is a coupon code good for a 50% discount on a one year subscription! Enter CREWFOLLOWER in the coupon code box when signing up. This coupon is valid through 1/31/2016.

You can also visit SchoolhouseTeachers.com on their social media sites:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SchoolhouseTeachers/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOSMag/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tosmag/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/118111005169451277551/posts

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase something, I will receive a commission.

Where I Have Been

January 6, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I’ve been missing from most online activities for the last 2 and 1/2 weeks. And it was all due to sickness.

A couple of my kids have been sick for about 3 weeks. I’ve been sick for about a week and a half, and my husband and 2 more kids have been sick for the last week. We’ve had multiple visits to the doctor and multiple medicines. This cold, or the doctor said possibly the flu, got a grip on us and led to sinus infections, and bronchitis for the whole family, a pleurisy for one kid. I am now referring to it as “the plague”! Hopefully this newest round of meds will knock it out of us for good! We’ve had as many as 4 of us in the doctor’s office at once. I took a pic of our feet because we were too sick to show our faces!

sickies

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, my mother got really sick with Strep Meningitis. She has been in intensive care this whole time, at a hospital 2 hours away from where we live. Today, she is being moved to a continuing care hospital about an hour away from home for inpatient therapy before going home. She will be there getting intense respiratory and physical therapy for about 4 weeks. At least she is a little closer to home, making it easier for all of her family to visit. The doctors are expecting a complete recovery, but at 79 years old, it just takes a body longer to recover. She’s wearing glasses to protect her identity!

granny hosptial

One of my sons has not been able to visit her at all this whole time because he has been too sick to go to the hospital. The rest of us haven’t only visited a few times. We are so afraid to pass this sickness to her!

So I am back working online now. I have lots of great posts and giveaways coming up!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

December 21, 2015 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

My middle daughter had her 20th birthday last Thursday. I made her our favorite chocolate cake.

Chocolate Cake slice

If you want the best chocolate cake ever, get a can of Hershey’s Cocoa and follow the recipe on the back of the can. Honest. You will not believe how awesome this cake is. Flavorful and always so moist. Make sure you use the frosting recipe on the can, too!

Chocolate Cake

That was Thursday night. Then things went down hill after that. I spent 12 hours in the ER with my mother on Friday. Then traveling back and forth to the hospital, which is about 2 hours from our house, to see her on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, I’m traveling there again now as I type this.

The kids have managed to carry on with meals while I am away. Thanks to my menu and having a few emergency convenience foods in the pantry, they are still eating good. Remember, my kids are older and all able to work in the kitchen without burning my house down.

Today, for example, I pulled some already cooked Lemon Pepper Chicken out of the freezer for my daughter to warm in the oven. She is going to throw some potatoes in to bake, put the chicken in later, and open a can of corn. An easy, nutritious meal for them. I don’t usually use canned vegetables, except for beets. I prefer frozen vegetables, but with canned they just have to heat it. You know teenagers. If it’s not quick and easy there is no chance of them eating the vegetables.

In my quest to get healthy, I started using Plexus products. I have to say I have put them to the test the last few stressful days. There is no way I would have had the strength or energy to stay at the hospital so long. But thanks to Plexus I have been able to be there for my mother and be abke to take care if my family when I am home. It truly is amazing stuff!

In the Kitchen with Linda

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Macaroni with jarred spaghetti sauce

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Leftovers

Monday – chicken or turkey – Lemon Pepper Baked Chicken, baked potatoes, corn

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – pizza, carrot sticks

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Guisado (tacos) with all the fixings

Thursday – pork or beef – Beef roast with potatoes, onions carrots

Friday – venison – Christmas dinner – turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, stuffing, pies

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

How to Make Soap Last Longer

December 16, 2015 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

My kids can go through so many bars of soap. Is it just my house? (Please tell me it’s not!) They are not whittling soap bath toys. (at least I don’t think so!) The soap just seems to “melt” and be used up so quickly. Have you ever been using a bar of soap, and it gets so soft and squishy, it seems like a lot of the soap is coming off the bar? That’s what I mean by melt.

How to Make Soap Last Longer

I usually buy a big 12 pack of soap at a time. We are going to use it, and it’s cheaper per bar. When I bring it home, I open the pack, and rip the paper off both ends of all the bars of soap.

I know, you’re thinking, “What?”. There is science behind this, though. By removing the paper from the ends, you can remove the whole wrapper if you prefer, the water in the soap evaporates. When the water in the soap evaporates, it makes the bar harder.

When the bar of soap is harder, it doesn’t “melt” as fast in use. Now, if the bar of soap gets left in a puddle of water, it will melt, regardless of whether you use this tip or not.

In as little as a week of the soap sitting with the paper removed you will be able to notice difference. The longer the soap sits, the harder it will be.

I have used this soap tip for many years, and it really does work.

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

December 14, 2015 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

The new recipe I tried last week, Venison Guisado, turned out to be a big hit. Guisado means meat & spices, and is a Mexican dish. This recipe I tried from the new venison cookbook I bought, uses taco seasonings, and is served on tortillas. So basically, a taco. lol The family loved it! They said they liked this recipe better than the usual taco meat I make. That works for me. So I will be using this recipe from now on.

The big kitchen news this week is the chickens we got in the spring started laying eggs!

Yes, those are green eggs. That is the color eggs the variety if chickens we have lay. They look like a regular egg inside, though.

In honor of Hanukkah last week, my 19 (20 this week!) daughter made Potato Latkes. So good! And a favorite with the family. Served with sour cream and homemade applesauce, they are amazing! I made some beef patties topped with carmelized onions to go with. Hopefully, she doesn’t wait a year to make more!

In my quest to get healthy, I have started using Plexus products. I tested the pink drink out for a week, and had good results. So I have become a regular user, and added two more products to help me. You’ll be hearing more about the Plexus products I’m using in another post.

I don’t have to cook tonight! We are going to a dinner at a local ministry. Yeah for no cooking! It’s nice to get a break once in a while!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Beef patties topped with carmelized onions, Potato Latkes topped with sour cream & homemade applesauce

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – soup & grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches

Monday – chicken or turkey -Dinner out at a local ministry

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – pizza, carrot sticks

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Guisado (tacos) with all the fixings

Thursday – pork or beef – Pork chops and applesauce, rice, green beans

Friday – venison – Venison roast with potatoes, carrots & onions in the slow cooker

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Our Homeschool Update – Transcripts!

December 11, 2015 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Transcripts. Just the word is enough to send a homeschool mom running from the room. Or is that just me?!

Our oldest two kids never wanted to go to college. So I never made transcripts for them. The next two graduated in 2013 with neither one planning on going to college. Now, they are both talking about going. Our 5th that graduated in September of this year saying she didn’t want to go to college.

So I had to stop procrastinating, and compile some transcripts! I decided while I was doing the transcripts for the 2 now interested in going to college, I might as well do the one for the most recent graduate. You know, in case she changes her mind like they did!

Want to know what I discovered? Transcripts are not that scary after all!

I found that there are 2 basic formats for high school transcripts. Classes listed by year, 9th, 10th, etc. And classes listed by subject, Math, Science, etc, with no mention of what year they were taken. I chose to list their classes by subject. Since we school year round, and the kids have the option of doing more work to graduate early, listing classes by subject works better for us. Especially since one student may be working on 10th grade science, 11th grade english, and 9th grade math, for example, all in the same year.

You can find samples of both styles online. If you are a member of Home School Legal Defense Association, they have editable PDFs that you can download and use.

Now that I have 3 transcripts under my belt, I just need to get my last student to finish his daily work. If there were credits given out for trying the hardest to get out of school work, he would earn them all! Our oldest son gave me a run for my money while he was in high school, but this youngest son just might be the one to finish me off!

Ok, maybe it’s not quite that dramatic. lol But it is wearing on me that he doesn’t care if he gets behind. While I have always let my kids work at their own pace, I don’t like for them to get behind. If he doesn’t step up his pace, he will be on the verge of getting behind in my eyes.

I’ve been trying to find out what motivates him to work faster. So far, I have found nothing. I don’t give up that easy, though!

So…… have you been working on your students high transcripts through out their high school years, or are you like me and waited until they were finished? Something I don’t recommend, by the way!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

December 7, 2015 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Turns out, I didn’t take any food pictures last week! In my defense, it was a really busy week. Multiple doctor visits, kid activities, driving kids to and from work, church activities, and my husbands birthday!

The family did get together for his birthday, and I did make him a cake. I just didn’t take any pictures! In a way, that’s a good thing. It means I was living in the moment. It would be nice to have some pictures to share, though!

I did manage to stick to the menu and cook every night last week. Well, except I did change the menu for my husbands birthday and bought take out. We usually take him out to eat, but the schedule was so full, there was no time for that! So I bought burgers, fries, and onion rings from a local restaurant (not fast food!) we ate quickly right after he got home, then we went out. To a local Walk Thru the Nativity. It was awesome! After that, we came home and had cake and ice cream with all 6 kids, our son in law, and my mother.

Now onto this weeks menu!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Turkey & gravy, rice, corn, green beans – My son cooked!

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – soup & grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches

Monday – chicken or turkey -Oven roasted chicken, baked potatoes, corn

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – pizza, carrot sticks

Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Guisado – that would be meat cooked with spices served on a tortilla. Basically, a taco. lol That’s what the recipe in the cookbook is called, so I’m calling it that, too, so I remember what recipe I want to try! lol

Thursday – pork or beef – Beef roast in the slow cooker with onions, mashed potatoes, peas

Friday – venison – Venison steaks, oven roasted potatoes,

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

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