A Pretty Long List #goodstuff #lovelists

~~I Love Lists ~~

Now I can tell you that I have used many of these websites and they are fantastic, but it is just a list, make sure you check them out yourself. I can not tell you that I have been to all of them and they are all ok, so just be careful to be safe. I am a lover of lists, especially lists of websites that make my life easier or my homeschool run smoother, how about you? I am selfishly saving this here for myself if the truth be known.....lol , I want to check out more of those links.
If you find one website that is particularly helpful, share it with me in the comments, I love hearing from my readers!

Thinking About Homeschooling This Year? Stop And Listen To That Small Voice....

Advice is very easy to give out, seems like everybody has an answer for your journey in life. What does your heart tell you? That nagging, tugging feeling in your gut comes from.......God, and you know it. Listen to that still small voice, he is talking to you. The answer might not be what you want to hear. But it is the right answer, He will lead your way, guide you and give you strength.

For several years when my kids were young I fought God's call to homeschool. I kept telling myself and Him.....nah, I can't homeschool, are you crazy??  I found our family in a situation that financially required us to make some hard choices, one of those choices was yes.......to homeschool. Yes in the end God's never ending call won. We have homeschooled ever since, for nearly 8 or 9 years now. I have no regrets for that single step we made, it was the best step for our family.

Are you having a tough time making that decision? feel free to leave a comment or email me. Are you a homeschool mom like myself that took a leap of faith also, help me encourage other moms by leaving a comment about your journey.

What A Clever Concept! Planning For This Year's Curriculum.....#Homeschoolproducts

This is one of the bundles that I just ordered, I am super excited to get all this awesome stuff for 82% off the regular price!! Can you believe it, I still can't. Plus all the extra's that come free with your order, tons of extras I am telling you. I have used several of the books and programs already and love them, we use NotebookingPages all the time for science, history and copy work. I am excited to try Math Mammoth again, we have only done some samples before and really liked them. Many of these bundles have books that are great for all ages, since I have a 14 and 10 year old daughters, we are incorporating some of these together.

Below is a highlight of the 4-6 grade bundle I bought:

The "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is going on for one week only (July 21-28)! There are so many wonderful products and amazing deals! We are highlighting the Elementary Bundle below.

Take a look at the Elementary 4th - 6th Grade Bundle:

$220.35 ONLY $39.00 Save: 82% Your 4th-6th graders will develop foundational skills and gain insight into the ancient world using the comprehensive collection of resources found in our 4th-6th Grade Bundle. This bundle features science curriculum and a creative writing course from Cathy Duffy's Top 100 picks, Mapping the World with Art - a blend of history, geography, and art, math, Bible, handwriting and copywork resources, writing guides, timeline cards, ancient history notebooking pages, creative writing for both boys and girls, and an editable weekly homeschool planner for Mom! There are 2 products in Cathy Duffy's Top 100 Pics in this bundle! Buy more & save more! Purchase 2 pre-assembled bundles and get the 3rd one 50% off! See site for details. Checkout the items in the 4-6 bundle:

Wordsmith Apprentice - Retail $16.00 This Cathy Duffy Top 100 curriculum is a creative writing course for grade 4 through 6. All the practicality, humor and fun of Wordsmith, but written for the younger student, ages 9-12. An easy to use writing course encouraging students to develop their writing skills as they participate in every role on a newspaper staff: editor, reporter, writer, etc. Click here to learn more! Creation Geology: A Study Guide to Fossils, Formations and the Flood - Retail $18.95 Flood geology comes alive with the 57-page teaching outline included. This study includes easy to follow lesson plans for K-12, over 300 activities and experiments, information about radiometric dating, oil and coal formation and Geologic formations and fossils occurred during the time of Noah's Flood, vocabulary list, recommended reading (not necessary to complete this study), math activities, book reviews, reproducible sheets and much more! Click here to learn more! Mapping the World with Art - Retail $14.95 "Mapping the World with Art" is a blend of history, geography, and art for ages 10 and up. This curriculum is actually three books in one. The first section is a history text history lessons that tell the story of cartography from ancient Mesopotamia up through the discovery of Antarctica in the late 1800s. The second section of the book provides step-by-step drawing lessons for each of the history lessons. After you learn some history, you draw the primary place you read about. Click here to learn more! Bible Road Trip - Year One: The Books of the Law and History - Retail $20.00 The Bible Road Trip Year One Curriculum is a 480-page digital PDF download of the full Bible Road Trip Year One curriculum for all five levels, preschool through high school. The Bible Road Trip Year One Curriculum includes the Parent / Teacher Guide and 32 weeks of curriculum schedules for all grades. Click here to learn more! Keyboarding for the Christian School Elementary (KJV available in options) - Retail $12.95 Do you anticipate your student using computers in the future? Is your student going into a technological field? How far your student will go will be determined by their proficiency in computers. Give them the edge in computer applications by purchasing curriculum that really works. Click here to learn more! Weekly Homeschool Planner - Retail $20.00 Tired of looking for a brand-new homeschool planner each year? What if you could buy ONE planner, type in your plans, save them and use the same planner year after year? The Weekly Homeschool Planner will help you organize your school day and record your daily learning. Additional forms help you keep track of testing results, evaluations and special events. Click here to learn more! Ancient Times Notebooking Pages - Retail $19.95 This is the entire collection of Ancient Times notebooking pages. This COMPLETE package contains notebooking pages for: - Ancient Africa & Egypt - Ancient Americas - Ancient China, Japan, & India - Ancient Greeks, Minoans, & Mycenaeans - Ancient Mesopotamia - Ancient Romans, the Early Christian Church, & Other European Cultures Click here to learn more! Timeline Cards - Creation-Early Greeks - Retail $5.00 136 timeline cards covering Ancient History: Creation to Early Greeks. Includes: 2 sets of cards: 1 with dates and 1 without dates / Memory Work & Copywork pages / Blank Timeline Cards / Blank lines & generic design to print on backside of cards / 3 different style timelines. Click here to learn more! Math Mammoth Bundle - Introduction to Fractions & Fractions 1 - $8.80 Retail Math Mammoth Introduction to Fractions contains lessons for fraction arithmetic for grades 1-4. The topics covered are on a simple level, constantly illustrated with visual models, and with small denominators. Fractions 1 covers the concepts of fraction and mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, adding and subtracting like and unlike fractions, adding and subtracting mixed numbers, and comparing fractions. Click here to learn more! Writing Guides for Children - Retail $14.00 These Writing Guides are for beginning and reluctant writers. Each set can be used with children as young as Grade 1, starting with Writing Instructions, and Writing Poetry, and children in Grade 2 for Writing a Biography and Writing a Research Paper. Includes: Writing a Biography, Writing Poetry, Writing Instructions, and Writing a Research Paper Click here to learn more! Creative Writing Made Easy Bundle- Retail $25.90 Your students will be guided step by step in creating an adventure where both the student and her characters grow in faith towards God. Each of the 12 lessons will teach the basics of creative writing such as: creating the princess character, developing a faith filled plot, using your senses in a setting, and spicing up your dialogue. Click here to learn more! Spies of the Revolutionary War Creative Writing Unit and Lapbook - Retail $10.95 Creative Writing has never been easier! Eighty pages of lessons and lapbook fun- it's a wonderful way to engage boys to write! Create a secret code, make a battle drum, become a spy and write about it! Kids can't wait for school time! Click here to learn more! Homeschool Copywork Membership - Retail $24.95 Homeschool Copywork is a brand new membership site with a Charlotte mason flare. There are currently 18 different copywork ebooks and 1 artist study available in the Homeschool Copywork Full Membership Area. By purchasing this bundle, you will be given a full membership for one year. Click here to learn more! Dragons of the Bible Copywork - Retail $7.95 Did you know that dragons are mentioned in the Bible 22 times? Dragons of the Bible contains each of the 22 verses for copywork in lined manuscript, regular cursive, and regular print PLUS notebooking pages and coloring pages for each featured dragon graphic. The beautiful line art graphics are perfect for coloring as a reward for a job well done. Click here to learn more!

BUY MORE & SAVE MORE!

*Lots of ways to save! When you purchase ANY 2 pre-assembled bundles you will get the 3rd pre-assembled bundle of equal or lesser value for 50% off! When you purchase ANY 2 "build your own" bundles you will get the 3rd "build your own" bundle of equal or lesser value for 50% off! Tell your friends about the "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition Sale using our referral system that is found on the top of the website! When 10 of your referrals visit our site using your unique link, we will give you a code to save 10% off your total purchase! *The B2G1 50% off offer applies to pre-assembled or "Build Your Own" Bundles only. Discount taken off the lowest priced bundle. See site for complete details and FAQ.

Prefer to pick and choose what you want?

Gotta Glow Yourself, To Give Light To Others

Another new year is rolling on by, more resolutions made have been broken by the second week of January if you are like me.

Or rather were like me before I began to accept a new attitude about New Years resolutions.....This year I have resolved to accept me for me and build on those building blocks I already have.

I have to adopt the mentality "Gotta Glow Myself from Within" in order to help others out.

Even teaching my own children at home is sparking a love and light for learning in them, but requires a certain glow from me to help nurture that light.

Learn how to glow from the inside out if you want to give and pass your light on to others..... Think about it.

 

 

Homemade Fluffy Marshmallows

photo credit Healthy Green Kitchen

Recipe Credit to The Smitten Kitchen 

Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows 

Adapted from Gourmet, December 1998

These homemade marshmallows are not only easy to make, they set as perfectly as promised: puffed and lightweight, bouncing off one another as I tossed them in the container. Even better, they toasted like a campfire charm speared on the end of a skewer, and s’mooshed between two graham crackers with a square of chocolate.

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows

About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top.

Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) 

Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.

Enjoy in that hot cocoa....yummy or make some smores and have a family night around the firepit (our favorite)

Top Pet Safety Tips This Halloween : Learn With Us

Great information from PetMD.com :

Halloween can be a festive and fun time for children and families. But for pets? Let's face it, it can be a downright nightmare. Forgo the stress and dangers this year by following these 10 easy tips.

1. Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets.

All forms of chocolate -- especially baking or dark chocolate -- can be dangerous, even lethal, for dogs and cats. Symptoms of chocolate poisoning may include vomiting, diarrhea, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, and seizures. Halloween candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and subsequent loss of coordination and seizures. And while xylitol toxicity in cats has yet to be established, it's better to be safe than sorry.

2. Don't leave pets out in the yard on Halloween.

Surprisingly, vicious pranksters have been known to tease, injure, steal, and even kill pets on Halloween night. Inexcusable? Yes! But preventable nonetheless.

3. Keep pets confined and away from the door.

Not only will your door be constantly opening and closing on Halloween, but strangers will be dressed in unusual costumes and yelling loudly for their candy. This, of course, is scary for our furry friends. Dogs are especially territorial and may become anxious and growl at innocent trick-or-treaters. Putting your dog or cat in a secure room away from the front door will also prevent them from darting outside into the night … a night when no one wants to be searching for a lost loved one.

4. Keep your outdoor cats inside several days before and several days after Halloween.

Black cats are especially at risk from pranks or other cruelty-related incidents. In fact, many shelters do not adopt out black cats during the month of October as a safety precaution.

5. Keep Halloween plants such as pumpkins and corn out of reach.

Although they are relatively nontoxic, such plants can induce gastrointestinal upset should your pets ingest them in large quantities. Intestinal blockage can even occur if large pieces are swallowed. And speaking of pumpkins …

6. Don't keep lit pumpkins around pets.

Should they get too close, they run the risk of burning themselves or knocking it over and causing a fire.

7. Keep wires and electric light cords out of reach.

If chewed, your pet could cut himself or herself on shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

8. Don't dress your pet in a costume unless you know they'll love it.

If you do decide that Fido or Kitty needs a costume, make sure it isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict movement, hearing, or the ability to breathe or bark and meow.

9. Try on pet costumes before the big night.

If they seem distressed, allergic, or show abnormal behavior, consider letting them go in their “birthday suit”. Festive bandanas usually work for party poopers, too.

10. IDs, please!

If your dog or cat should escape and become lost, having the proper identification will increase the chances that they will be returned. Just make sure the information is up-to-date, even if your pet does have one of those fancy-schmancy embedded microchips.

 

We love our furbabies and wanted to learn more about taking care of them at Halloween, thank you for learning too!

 

 

Tuesday Tips: Using Time4Learning for Your Homeschool Family #homeschool #backtoschool

 

We have been a Time4Learning homeschooling family for several years now, all 3 of my children have used this awesome resource for schooling, extra practice and reinforcement of learning.
I have begun to use it more and more as our main homeschool curriculum since the lessons are so fun, interactive and give me the parent a great view of how my child is doing daily in their school work.
As a working mom with much to do on her plate, I needed a way to keep up with lesson plans and how the kids were doing with their lessons. Time4Learning gives me all that and more.
Now I am so excited that they are offering a High School track, we will be utilizing this next year with my middle daughter for sure.

My youngest daughter has struggled with reading and her attention is not at all about schooling, she seems to really like the Time4Learning platform, it keeps her interested, I can level her up or down a grade level according to how she has progressed. The positive reinforcement that she gets from the program has helped to keep her wanting to come back and boosts her confidence. I really enjoy helping her now.
Whether you have a exceptional learner or a special needs learner, Time4Learning caters to all levels of children and makes a homeschool mom a happy mom. Highly recommend it for homeschoolers just starting out, seasoned homeschoolers looking for a change, or even the after school learner that needs extra help with a traditional school program.

Time4Learning is an online interactive curriculum used at home for afterschool reinforcement, homeschooling, or summer study. Time4Learning is student-paced and the levels of the subjects can be set independently.

• Online Curriculum for
  Pre K to 12th Grades
• 1,000+ Student-Paced Multimedia Activities
• Language Arts, Math, Science & Social Studies
• Interactive, Project-Based Activities
• Detailed Reporting for
  Easy Record-Keeping
• Lesson Plans & Teaching Tools for Parents
• Lessons Correlated to State Standards

As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschool, after school study or summer learning.

Proud Homeschooling Family!