Loading up my library!

Every teacher/homeschooler knows the need for great books. Most of the time, it works out fine to get your necessary books from the library, but sometimes, when you know it will be one that is going to take a while, you need to have those in your home library.  Then there are those favorites that your kiddos just love to peruse again and again. Well, how do you build your home library without going completely broke? USED BOOKS!!! 

Here are a couple of my favorite places to look:

 

This website gives you info on tons of great used book sales by location. I found sales at two of my local libraries in the same week and rounded up some great buys! The whole stack below (including a hardcover,  11-volume history encyclopedia set) came home with me for only $21. Whooo hoooo!

And the best part of bringing home a stack of "new" books --> the child who can't even get her coat off cause she's so lost in the book she picked!  Usually the libraries have Bag Sales on the last day as well. For $4 or $5 dollars, you can fill a paper grocery bag with any of the books there! I've gotten TONS of books this way as well!

 And when you need that specific book that you just can't seem to find anywhere, what do you do? Amazon is still expensive, eBay doesn't have it. hmm. Well, I turn to my favorite website to find used books: DealOz

I absolutely love this site as it searches many other used book stores including Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks and Better World books for the lowest prices! You can even sort by price to make that easy! Love, love, love this website!

I get no compensation from either of these sites.  I just love them and wanted to share this great info with you!  Happy Shopping!

 

P.S. I have ordered frequently from Better World Books and have found them to be absolutely fabulous - their customer service staff were absolutely wonderful ---> highly recommended!

Hey there everyone! It's back: the Dollar Deals sale at Scholastic's Teacher Express is going on now FOR ONE DAY ONLY!!!

There are hundreds of their popular books to choose from and this is so much easier then paying $15 for a book and then making copies of page after page for each of my children! We are planning to use the Body Book with our Apologia Science next year and the Hands On History as well! See what "pumps up" your curriculum - you can't beat the price!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had each side of the family over separately - two days in a row. Let's just say, I'm really set on turkey for a while! 

I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. Whew! One more gift to buy and then I can break out the wrapping paper. I don't know about you, but Christmas always seems to come before I've even mentally accepted that it's the end of the year. Any one else a little shocked that 2012 is nearing an end ALREADY?!? Well, since I'm sure your funds, just like mine, are tapped out on holiday spending, maybe you've put filling some curriculum needs on hold for a while. Well, I've found a freebie I thought I'd share... ok, spoiler alert: 2 freebies!

FUNNIX MATH IS FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME!

The website says: this "is a 100-lesson computer program designed for children who have not learned beginning math operations."

Included are "100 animated, computer-based lessons, workbook material, a teaching guide, and a placement test for assessing the child. The program is unique in the sophistication of skills it teaches in only 100 lessons. Children learn different types of counting. They use counting by tens and counting by ones to solve addition problems that traditionally require carrying. For example: 45+35.


Signing up for the free download is simple. All you do is fill out a form and submit it. You will then receive an email with all instructions on how to receive the program."

And BONUS: Their fantastic Funnix Beginning Reading program will also be available FREE from December 16 - December 31

Make sure you check out these great programs - after all, you can't go wrong trying something for free! 

Pineapple Chicken Teriyaki Sandwiches

This is one of those yummy go-to recipes in our home that is so simple to throw together on a busy weeknight. My kids actually beg for this dinner too!  So... cheap, affordable, fast and big "mmmmm" sounds from the whole family ranks this meal a perfect 10 in our house!

Start by slaving away over a hot stove, cooking and shredding chicken breasts tossing one of those amazing pre-cooked rotisserie chickens in your cart at the grocery store.  Then just chop it up before preparing the sauce.

In a large skillet or sauce pan, add the following ingredients and heat:

• 2 Tsp Finely Chopped Green Onion
• 1/2 c teriyaki sauce
• 2/3 c Pineapple Juice (I just use the juice from the can of sliced pineapples you'll need later)
• 2/3 c Barbecue Sauce
• 4 Tbs Brown Sugar
• season with salt, pepper and garlic powder 

I add a little cornstarch (2 tsp?) and water mixture to thicken it as well.  Once it has thickened, add the chicken to warm. The chunks of chicken will fall apart as it heats to give it the "shredded chicken" texture. 

You will also need:

• hamburger buns
• can of pineapple slices in juice

Add a yummy pineapple slice and toss some chips and fruit on the side and they are ready to serve. These are amazing! But hey, don't take my word for it --> try them for yourself!

This week, I had to share my new absolute favorite toy! As a homeschooler, there is no shortage of paper around here. Seriously, I think we've taken out 2 or 3 Sequoias just this month! So how to keep all these papers organized? Well, I love the ease of spiral bound books, but the cost of binding made me feel like cumbersome 3-ring binders might not be so bad, right?

Enter the ProClick binding system. WOW! Ok, I know I'm a type-A who thinks with a labeler and color-coding the world is simply a happier place, but even the most laid-back personality would have to fall completely in love with this tool. This has all the benefits of a binder - you can add or remove pages anytime - with the easy-to-handle convenience of a spiral bound book. The machine itself is basically a 32 hole-puncher. You place your pages in, just like a typical hole puncher, but then slide the handle like a paper cutter, leaving 32 pretty little holes in the side. Then you take your spine (available in varied sizes) and slip the pages on.  Next, you steal the super fun tool back from your children so you can have a turn use the fun little zipper tool to close up the clips. This handy little doodad also opens all the clips in case you want to add or remove any pages. GENIUS!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this tool and think if you can think of any way at all you can justify the purchase have a need for a binding system, this is the tool to buy!

We bind printable workbook pages, we made an "Art this Year" book compiling all their beautiful creations in their own books, I created student planners for my older kids and the spiral binding makes it easy for them to take with them as they complete their studies in different areas of the house. We also plan to make a portfolio/yearbook... the possibilities are endless!

They are a bit pricey, but I got mine on eBay for 1/2 the price, so shop around!

We are studying elections this week. Yeah! I'm so proud of myself for having this pulled together BEFORE the election this year! We watched a great video together and since we have a whole week left before the big day, I thought I'd share it with all of you.

It includes an overview of the branches of government, an explanation on the Electoral College (which, let's be honest, is helpful to us moms too!), our major political parties, political campaigns, and even periodic multiple choice questions to make sure they remember what they've learned. I've included a link for purchase, but I just grabbed a copy from my local library. If you are looking for a great resource to help your even your younger kids understand the election process - this is great!

(Honest, I wrote this Monday and scheduled it to post but.... Grrrrr! Well, better late than never, right?)

Getting a first grader to practice his spelling words can be nothing short of a battle sometimes. This year though, I found a way to make it easier on both of us! My son uses the workbooks from Explode the Code which introduces new a phonics concept in each lesson and provides practice isolating, reading, and writing words with each digraph or blend. At the end of each lesson, I enter the words he's been practicing and our current sight words into a great app called Spellosaur that sells for only $3.99.  

Because of our co-op classes, we have a four day school week at home so he completes 1 level each day. Level 1: Listen and Choose is pretty self-explanatory. Level 2: Complete the Word shows the word with a couple of blanks where missing letters are chosen by the student. Level 3: Unscramble the Word shows the user the spelling word and then breaks the word apart into separate letter tiles that are then rearranged back in order. Level 4: Spell the Word simply states the word and the student spells each one completely independantly. If a word is missed, it is highlighted in red for him to see until he finishes the list and can try again. 

The voice used in the app can have some difficult-to-understand pronunciations, but the great perk... I can record the words in my own voice so I'm sure each word is communicated clearly.  This has been working so well for my little man and his spelling and reading have both drastically improved! Check this out if your kids are looking for the nearest exit any time you mention spelling. 

So many times, I run across great tips, yummy recipes, or clever ideas that I really need to share! So I've decided to post a weekly series called the Tuesday Tipster. Stay tuned each Tuesday to find out that latest nifty tidbit I've discovered!

This first one is a doozey!  Home Educating Family is offering their Well Planned Day lesson planners for 1/2 off with the coupon code 50sale! These are so much more than planners and allow you to schedule your shopping list, to-do's, meal plans and even your weekends! Check them out here. Hurry! This sale only lasts through 10/17/12!

Apple Unit

As I mentioned in an earlier post,  I am creating thematic units for my first grader's history and science lessons. I plan these to last 2 weeks per topic, and we do it three days each week. My friend and I are both doing these units with our boys and at the end of our unit, we get together for a theme-related snack and craft. Now that it's fall, of course we had to have an apple theme. Here's what we did:

Read:  How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World

Find each country listed in the story on a world map

Play this game from fiarcircle.com 

 Read:  Apples Grow on a Tree, Mari Schuh

Life Cycle of an Apple Tree 

Apple Life Cycle

Read:  It's An Apple Tree! Elisa Peters

Parts of an Apple Craft

Read:   Johnny Appleseed, A. Smith

Watch the Johnny Appleseed DVD 

Make J.A.

Read: Apple Fractions

Basic Parts of a Whole

Apple Fraction Activity

Gummy Worm Stretch

 

Group Day: 

Snack: Mini Apple Pies

Craft: Stained Glass Apples

 

Thanks to all the great teachers and bloggers for sharing their creations for us to enjoy! The next unit I'll be posting is our Ocean unit! 

Finding Rest in Him!

Well, I must state the obvious here, but God is amazing!!! It's been that week where all the stress and anxiety you've built up in your mind just works out so simply that you feel a little foolish for getting all worked up in the first place! I wrote last of feeling stressed and overwhelmed by all the really good things that were getting in the way of things being great. We have made some changes, dropped some things that were difficult to let go and are now seeming to settle into a easier groove.

My lesson: God ALWAYS has a plan. If I could just learn to really rest in Him, how much simpler would life be!

Amen!

Is it June yet?

Ok, so maybe I'm not quite that burned out, but I have to admit, this year is off to a surprisingly exhausting start. We are using great curriculum, involved in wonderful group classes, sports, and church activities. But all of that great stuff has left me feeling kinda like I'm steering a ship through a tornado. 

Is it just me? Has this "back to school" season left anyone else feeling completely overwhelmed?  Perhaps it's time to change my focus. While I fully believe in a rich, thorough, quality education, I am asking myself to prayerfully evaluate what that looks like for OUR family. What good things are getting in the way of our best learning? How can we as a family, truly enjoy this journey together?

I will keep you posted on our progress through this chaos and hope you are loving this new school year and the wonderful opportunities to grow and learn with your children.

 

A Day in the Life.... sort of

Ok, well because of major pain in the rear issues technical difficulties with my camera (as I explained in my last post) I missed posting my lovely students photos last week. There are beautiful pictures of our first day of school stuffed in that stubbornly inaccessible memory card that will, at some point soon, be freed and shared with you, but until then... the show must go on!

This week's theme in the Not Back To School Blog Hop is a Day in the Life. Ok, I don't know about you, but I'm not sure there really is such a thing as a "typical" day in the life for anyone, let alone a homeschooler. No matter how laboriously I try to plan for every conceivable facet of our week, something burns at breakfast time, a surprise visitor pops by, an event creeps in that I didn't anticipate or life just somehow happens and it throws my pretty little schedule in a tailspin! Always happens... without fail. So I choose to embrace the unexpected and use my nice schedule as a really optimistic guideline. 

Here is a breakdown of our week. My biggest challenge in scheduling is being available to actually TEACH one child while the others can continue working. So I've laid out my schedule so that I can be available to each student for the subjects where they need instruction, and put them opposite the subjects that my other kiddos can complete separately on their own. The items highlighted in red are where I need to be working with that student. 

Mondays are crazy because my oldest takes classes through a co-op for most of the day, then after coming back home and completing a few subjects, I skitter the younger two over for their two afternoon classes. Chaotic, I know, but it does give me two hours of personal, quality, one-on-one time with the grocery store. Ok, so it's not exactly girl time, but still, always a trip better done alone!

Again, this is a really optimistic guideline but it helps keep me on task and prepared for each day. I look forward to hoppin' around some blogs to see how other people work their days!