Homeschooling for His Glory

This summer we have been going to the park a lot, either just me and kids, or to meet friends. Here are some pics: Practicing new skills Going against the flow Some more skills

I have started a new blog over at homesteadblooger dedicated to recipes and posts relating to the kitchen and stuff like that. That does not mean that I will not post here anything that is related to the kitchen but, I did not want to fill this blog with them. It also allows for me to have all these recipes stored in one place where they can be easily found. There is not much there yet, but as time goes on, I hope it will get filled up. Come on have a look and let me know what you think:  www.homesteadblogger.com/therecipebox .

In the past few days and weeks I have come across a few interesting sites that some of you might like and find useful. Here they are: www.mrdonn.org This is a site where you can find a whole lot of free posters, games, lessons and more on a wide variety of subjects. Check especially the free for kids/teachers section. www.faithfamilyhomeschool.com This is a site or actually a blog where the owner list freebies that she has found, and continues to find, that can be very useful for homeschoolers. She has quite a collection of interesting sites that offer free downloads. Worth checking out. www.livingonadime.com This is a site that offers nice articles on subjects like money saving and management, recipes, housekeeping and organizing. Be sure to check their blog as they give a few good tips and free stuff as well. They also offer some e-book . You can check them out here   Still on the subject of freebies, I had previously posted about a freebie site called Homeschool freebi...

I just found out a way for my kids to eat blueberries: make blueberry sauce! I have been trying to have my boys eat blueberries, I certainly am, to no avail. They did not like the blueberry coffee cake, not even the blueberry desserts I had been trying (although my hubby and I have been enjoying them). But this morning we had pancakes, and I made a blueberry sauce to go with it, and surprise surprise, they ate it enthusiastically, even my very picky 2 1/2 year old eater (asking for more twice). So now i know what to do. I am really excited given that blueberries are very healthy. Here is the sauce I made: Mix in a blender: 1 1/2 cup of blueberries, 4 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice et voila.

I have not been posting much lately because I am in the process of getting myself organized. I am contemplating making myself a home management binder, and to that effect I have been doing lots of research. I am also getting ready to put together a school plan for my kindergartner. Once I get all of this together, I shall post it. Or may be I'll post it little by little, we'll see. For now here are a few sites I am looking at in the process : www.organizedhome.com www.donnayoung.org www.homeschoolmanagementbinder.com www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com www.homemanagementbinder.com

We are almost midway through summer and I was just thinking of what we have been doing. Well between DVBS and a few trips to our friend's house to enjoy their water slide, we have been to Rochester, to a water park (though small but free), a trip to center Island, and to a friend's cottage 2 hours away. I'd say that is not bad considering Hubby is still working, so that we only have mondays when he is off ,and, I do not usually have the car the rest of the week. Of course there is always the trip to the nearby park. We also have been doing a bit of school since we do not really take a summer vacation. Here are some picks of our latest trip: Still on the agenda are a trip to peterborough to the free petting zoo that includes a train ride, to a train museum in hamilton and maybe Ontarion place, center island again and some other things.

ELBOWS ON MY BED I was but a youth and thoughtless, as all youths are apt to be; though I had a Christian mother who had taught me carefully. There came a time when pleasure of the world came to allure, and I no more sought the guidance of her love so good and pure. Her tender admonitions fell but lightly on my ear, and for the gentle warnings I felt an inward sneer. But Mother would not yield her boy to Satan's sinful ways, and though I spurned her counsel she knew a better way. She made my room an altar, a place of secret prayer, and there she took her burden and left it in His care. And morning, noon and evening by that humble bedside low, she sought the aid of Him who understands a mother's woe. And I went my way unheeding, careless of the life I led, until one day I noticed... prints of elbows on my bed. Then I saw that she had been there praying for her wayward boy, who for love of worldly pleasure would her peace of mind destroy. Long the conflict raged within me, sin ...

Someone sent me this today: >I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. >The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. >The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. >Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed tihs psas it on. Dorothy I thought this was pretty cool. I was actually able to read it without any difficulty, so I guess it is true. Rather interresting! This is a reminder that there is a lot more involved in reading than we are ready to admit often time. I have to try this on my son and see how he does :-)

My boys love to cook and are not very crafty boys. Well, last night, my 4 1/2 year was on a creative roll and here is what he came up with all on his own. I thought it was quite cute and looked like an iron chef dish. he was using playdoh for the food.

I recently strumbled on this great book called Food Cures: Breakthrough nutritional prescriptions for everything from Colds to cance r. It is put out by Reader's digest and is a great resource for healthy eating. I personnaly have been trying to eat more healthy but that is still a weak point at our house. This book is really giving me a guideline as to the foods that definitely need to be in our regular diet given their health benefits. It explains quite in details the power of things like antioxidants, fruits and vegetables, fiber omega-3, whole grain, carbs, fats . . . What I really like about the book is that it alleviates a lot of the food myths that we have heard like weather eggs, coffee and wine are good for you or not, weather raw fruits and vegetables are better than cooked ones, and things like that . . . , and that they included a list of their 20 most powerful foods which includes avocados, beans, broccolis, carrots, garlic, flaxseeds, nuts, oat, yogurt ...

A friend of mine mentioned to me a few weeks back something about  a great museum of play out in Rochester NY. Since we had to make a trip to the border, monday, we decided to go all the way to Rocherster and checked it out. Well, the 4 hours drive was well worth it. That place is great. There is a large gallery of toys worth checking out. The place is made up of stations in which children can play and really use their imagination. It is a great place for pretend play. A sesame street station, a clifford station, , a reading adventure station where you go inside fairy tales and nursery rhymes, a discovery station They also had a train station with a train set and a real choo choo train to ride on, as well as a nice play market that we did not even get a chance to go into. Our kids  had a lot of fun. If you happen to pass by this area, this is a definite place to visit. It only costs $9/adult and $7/child over 2. We would go back often if it was not a 4...

Last week was our Vacation Bible School week at our church, and our family was busy with that. That is why i did not get to post last week. I was part of the music team and it was much fun seeing the kids, especially the 3-5 year old enjoying the songs and the actions. My kids really enjoyed the time, which was a change from last year, when they did not want to leave me. The theme was on mission, telling others about Jesus and serving our brothers and neighbour. Here are some picks of the crafts they did:

One of the value of homeschooling (and one for which I am personnaly homeschooling) is the great opportunity  to teach our kids character value. And this, not out of the blue but in context. As one author I read said, we need to teach our children "in the milieu", meaning in context. The verse in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 makes it clear ". . . when you sit in your house, when you lie down and when you rise up . . ." and the verse continues on. We learn best when the teaching fits life's situation and happenings as it happens. One thing that I have done to aid me in this process, is to make up my own poster of character traits and their definitions. I also made up posters of  verses relating to them. These posters are on our hallway  and in the kid's bedroom. When I discipline them or correct a behavoir, I try to refer to the poster, reminding them what such and such attitude is and also of the verse. Often times, since my son reads, I send him to read it and tell me...

One of the blogs that I read is having a frugal food series. This week iit's about ground beef and I thought I would post 2 of my easiest ground beef recipes: Beef in brown sauce (actually a french recipe called viande en sauce brune ) Brown a pound of ground beef with 1 onion and some garlic. Set aside Prepare a roux (melt butter in the pan and add flour, mixing contstanly until it becomes brown) Add 2 cups of water and 2-3 brouillon cubes, mix until thickened Add beef and let simmer 20 minutes et voila Beef and pasta dinner Brown 1 pound of ground beef with onion and garlic Add lots of thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, parsley and basil (I use dried herbs) Add one jar of ragou. Let simmer 15-20 minutes Add cooked pasta and some grated cheese. Mix it all up et voila See more recipes on Jen's blog at Frugal Upstate

Struggling to keep you home neat and tidy? Run out of time to do everything you have to do or wish to do. Well that's me. Here is a tip that I read somewhere a few year ago which has helped keep a reasonably decent home and accomplish things that would not get done otherwise. 5-10 minutes tasks . As you go about your day look for tasks that you can accomplish in 5-10 minutes and do them. Here are a few examples: Wipe something: microwave, fridge, kitchen counter, bathroom sink, toilet .... Dust something around the house: desk, TV, TV stand, furniture, artificial flowers .... Sweep or vacuum one spot in your house Clear the dishrack (we do not have a dishwasher and I hate drying so the dishes are left to dry on the dishrack) Go through a pile of paper As you walk around in your house, if you see something out of order, pick it up and put it back where it belongs (you can have the kids practice that one by calling t...

Last night we had soup and pizza and the kids helped with the pizza. We used a recipe from one of my son's magazine. They had a blast. they are begging me to make more today.The 4 1/2 called himself the chef and put on a chef hat (a napkin) and the 2 1/2 was doing the actual preparation. It turned out pretty good.   this is the chef showing how it is done And now for the toppings  Ready for the oven   And for the finished product (well half of it, since I only remembered to take the picture after we've eaten half of it already; it looked too yummy!!!!!!!!!!!) Here is the recipe: 2 cups of flour 1 Tbsp of baking powder 1/4 tsp of salt 2/3 cup water 1 tbsp oil (I used olive oil) Mix all the dry ingredients together, add the wet ingredient. Form a ball. Roll the dough to fit your baking sheet or pizza stone. Put on your sauce and toppings. bake at 400F for 20-25 min. The sauce I use:  Mix together plain tomatoe sauce and barbecue sauce. Add italian seasoning (or basil, ...

Still on the topic of reading, i had two interesting incidents this week. Yesterday we took the ferry to get to Center Island (we live in Toronto). it was a holiday so the boat was rather full and not everybody was seating, and that included us. Now on our way back, my 4 1/2 year son who is in the habit of reading signs everywhere he goes, noticed a sign that said "For safety reasons all passengers should remain seated until the boat docks." Now you have to understand my son tends to have these phobias (he gets scared of noises he is not familliar with or which are out of place, of elevators some times, and things like that). After reading the sign he actually got scared since we were not seated. It is a good thing he trusted his dad who was trying to explained to him that it was ok, we were still safe and that we were almost at the dock. He did not panicked but you could see he was not very secure. Today a similar incident happened. We were in the laundry room ...

One of the milestones in the development of our children is when they start to read. My 4 1/2 year old can read at a grade 2 level, and I have to say that I played a small part in that achievement. Want to know what I did? Here are a few pointers: Surround your house with books: It has been said over and over that your baby, toddler and preschooler need to be surrounded with print, well there is much truth to it. My husband read recently about Dana Gioiea, who is the chairman of the national endowment for the Arts in the US,  who said that though his parents did not read much, because his family had inherited a huge library, his constant exposure to books contributed to his lifelong interest in literature and his career as a respected poet. Our house is full of books, almost every corner in the house has books in it. Some of our walls have printed material taped on them as well. READ READ READ: Here is another well known habit that enhances your child picking up on readin...