These are a few of our favorite things...

For my job, I spend a lot of time online. Forums, social networking, reading blogs, etc. In spending so much time online, I have discovered that when it comes to homeschooling, the "resource list" is one of the most popular posts/threads.

I thought I would share some of our favorite homeschool resources. Remember, we aren't your conventional "school at home/classroom" homeschoolers... :)

~ Wikipedia - Seriously. I know that many people say you can't take everything on Wikipedia as fact, but we LOVE this site. Every one of us has a Wiki app on our phones/tablets, and it's referenced daily. Daily.

~ Time4Learning - Shocker, right? ;) We have used this as our homeschool curriculum since early 2007, and we have used it in several ways. As a core, as a supplement to other materials and as a filler for an unschooling/interest led approach. No matter how I need it, it's there and it works.

~ Library - Yep. Even tech-junkies like us take advantage of everything the library has to offer homeschoolers. Our local librarian keeps up with homeschool/after school programs for the community. We can find pretty much any book we are looking for, even if we have to wait a little while, while it's sent over from a different branch. Also, you can get ebooks from many libraries now!

~ Usborne Internet-Linked Books - I know there are tons of different reference/educational books out there, but we have a few of these, and the boys love them! They are nice, full color books that touch briefly on a bazillion topics. Then, you use the internet links provided in the books to expand on what the book was teaching. You can also just use Google, and we've done that too, lol, but I like that the books give the boys a starting place in their internet searches.

~ SpellingCity - Well, it's VocabularySpellingCity now, but it was SpellingCity when we started using it. Bailey was older when we first started using this site, but Braeden...man, this was a HUGE thing for Braeden. He was struggling and we didn't have a formal spelling program we were using. We were able to use VSC as his phonics and sight word curriculum, and we all loved that. Game play and online lists were the key...writing weekly word lists made us ALL miserable. Oh, and also, they have an app. And if there's an app, my boys will download it and play. :)

~Minecraft - Really. Just take a look at this Minecraft in Education Wiki (What? I told you we love all things Wiki around here.) to see what you can learn from a computer game, lol. The boys are even a part of a Minecraft Club within our homeschool group!

~ Homeschool Groups - Speaking of...one of our best resources is our local homeschool group. The boys and I have made new friends and have been able to be a part of tons of fun stuff. Sometimes we just play, sometimes there are field trips, sometimes there are classes/instructional activities. I think that homeschoolers can so easily feel cut off from others, that a good homeschool group is almost a necessity. Doesn't have to be a "real life" group if you are unable to find one local to you. There are TONS of fabulous online groups/forums that you can be a part of! Just to have a place to go to chat and vent if you need to...get ideas for activities and curricula. A couple of the ones I love (to be honest, I mostly lurk in these, but I have still gotten some great info and ideas from them) are the boards at www.secularhomeschool.com and www.letshomeschoolhighschool.com (this one even has a student forum for your teens!).

I thought I would list more. Haha. Well, when you're happy with what you're using, even if you're not using too many different resources, I guess you won't have a lot to share. :/

Instead of me worrying about my short list of resources, why don't YOU add to it, by sharing your favorites in the comments? Pretty please? :D

Squeezing Everything In

Photo credit HERE

These Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" memes crack me up. Especially when they are homeschool related. Thought I would share this one because it makes me giggle. And because he's sooooo pretty. ;)

Oooohkaaaay. Movin' on. 

So this time of year is when a lot of homeschooling families get all wiggy about making sure they have everything done for their school year. Are they on track to finish a grade level? Are they sure they are covering everything their kids need to know to progress? It can be a pretty stressful time for so many...

But not me. Not anymore. 

How'd I get so lucky? 

A butt-ton of stress and a few nervous breakdowns. 

Heh.

When we were first getting started with homeschooling, I was so focused on recreating a classroom at home. Even though I finally started realizing that that wasn't necessary, it took a really long time for me to let go of "school year expectations." 

We technically follow a year-round school schedule, but I have long since let go of having a time frame for either of my boys to finish their year. They have never gone more than 14 months in one grade level (and that was honestly a while ago), so I just let them finish when they finish. They're happier that way, and I'm happier that way. 

There will always be those that say that's a lazy way to homeschool, but until they spend a day in my homeschool, and meet my kids, they can just suck it. ;)

Instead of worrying about what school work we still need to fit in, we are going to focus on what fun stuff we can throw in, before the scorching GA heat starts to get here. We want to get the boys to a live baseball game. We have our annual beach trip coming up. We want to hang with our friends, and visit a couple of museums. 

That's what we are going to be squeezing in. :)

What about you guys? What are you trying to make sure gets done before the end of your school year? 

I'm linking up again with the Let's Homeschool High School Blog Hop. You can too!

Homeschool Matchbox Swap!

You know me and picture taking...it's a rocky relationship that takes a lot of work. I'm trying. 

I really should have posted this LAST month (whoa...when the heck did March get here?!), but I kept forgetting to take pictures, and didn't want to do the post without the visual aids. 

The boys participated in their very first homeschool matchbox swap. It's like pen pals, but with more stuff, lol. My fabulous co-worker and fellow blogger, Joy (Who's Learning? Who's Teaching?), added us to the Facebook group after her kids enjoyed it (check out her hubby's post about their matchbox swap: TechDadz - Homeschool Matchbox Swap). Each month has a different theme, and you can choose which months you want to swap. Your kids fill a matchbox sized box (think the kitchen, strike anywhere matches) with things relating to the monthly theme. Hence the name, matchbox swap. :D

Last month's theme was Favorite Book. Sounds super exciting, and it ultimately was. But we are a family of readers. Picking one book turned into a traumatic experience. Fortunately, no one completely fell apart, and each kiddo picked a book. 

Now, here is where another one of my parental failures gets a chance to shine. While I knew I was going to take photos of the boxes the boys received, it never crossed my mind to take photos of the boxes the boys were sending. Sigh. 

Bailey chose Heir of Novron, by Michael J. Sullivan. Braeden chose Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. They both worked on drawing scenes from their books, they made little clay figures of something important (Bailey made a sword/dagger, Braeden made the Sorting Hat, lol) and they made a puzzle from a photo they printed. It was really cool. 

Here are the boxes they received...

Braeden:

Braeden's box was A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray, by Ann M. Martin.

Bailey:

Bailey's box was The Lord of the Rings. And his came from Canada! He thought that was really cool. :)

We probably won't be able to do the swap every month, but we are looking forward to participating again!

Starting this week, my tax hours are cut to just three days a week. Woot! Looking forward to getting caught up on stuff around the house and getting back to our normal-ish schedule of activities. 

This week is our monthly trip to Elachee for the boys' nature science program. I have been so pleased with how much they both are enjoying this, and at this point I'm pretty sure we will sign up again for next school year. I registered them for Master's next year too, so that's good, to know that we have that done. 

The schoolin' is going well. They've pretty much got a routine down. It's funny...as long as we've been homeschooling, we've been pretty eclectic and relaxed. We still are, for the most part. But with Bailey's high school courses, we can't be as relaxed. In setting his schedule, Braeden ended up with a schedule too. I like it! ;) Things are going smoothly, and it's fairly stress free. I have the occasional moment of "ARGH" when I discover that Braeden spent an entire afternoon working on 2nd grade science worksheets, instead of 4th grade math/spelling/social studies activities, lol, but those are few and far between. He likes his science. And he likes it easy. WhatcanIsay? 

Alrighty. Off to enjoy the rest of my beautiful Sunday with my guys. I heart my guys. 

Leaving you with these, because the hubs quickly snapped them and they are so damn cute. ;)

Planning for Spring

We've talked a lot about having a garden but we never actually started one. There was always an excuse. We didn't have time. We didn't really know what we wanted to plant. One after the other...a reason to not do something that we knew would be not only beneficial to us, but something that could be a fun AND educational family project.

Well to hell with excuses. ;)

The hubs and the boys started planning, then planting, an array of seeds for our first garden. We saved milk cartons and other containers, and dumped out old, dead plants to recycle some planters. Trying to use what we already had and save a little dough. 

Now. Just to clarify. When I say "we," I really mean "they." They all have my utmost support in this endeavor. I even volunteered to learn how to can/jar what they grow. But I don't have the mad gardening skills. To be honest, what I know, they probably teach in first grade science. I got nothing. :/

Anyway, here are some of our little seedlings. It's really incredible to see how much everything grows, just in one day. The boys are loving learning about what veggies and herbs need to be planted in what time of year. Bailey is already planning recipes around what he is going to be able to go out and pick. Cool, yeah? :)

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Spinach

I'm really hoping we remember to document the different stages of everything as it grows...you know us and cameras...it's hit or miss, lol. 

Alrighty. Logging off now. Looking forward to Sunday with my guys. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend! :D

More Snow!

Seriously...we only get snow about once every three/four years. To get a second winter blast of snow here is highly unusual, but it happened this past week. Snowmageddon, part deux. :D

It was forecasted to roll in on Tuesday, and after the fiasco from a couple of weeks ago, the officials took it seriously and took preemptive measures. Schools were closed BEFORE the snow moved in. Businesses and government offices were closed early. And grocery stores ran out of milk and bread.

Always cracks me up. Milk and bread. MILK AND BREAD! Not me. Whenever the threat of nasty weather moves in, I make sure we have enough ice cream and wine. It's all about priorities... ;)

Anyhoo. I enjoyed the extra couple of days with the boys. They had fun. Snowmen, snow angels and lots and lots and lots of laundry. Lol. Every time they went out and came in to dry out, they changed clothes. But it's all worth it, to see them have SO much fun, with something that we don't get to see too often.

The great thing about homeschooling, is we can take some time to go play in the snow, then we can take breaks and get in some schoolin'. The boys have really been working on their handwriting, doing copy work from the books they are reading. Sounds mundane, and it is, but it's necessary.

This upcoming week should hopefully go smoothly. I am finally cutting back my hours at the tax office, and may even see a day off on Thursday to do my Athens thing with the boys. That would be great! Bailey has a costume fitting for his Master's play on Tuesday morning, and only has a few more weeks to get ready for his 4-H DPA.

Braeden is on his third Harry Potter book. Yep, third! We are so proud of him! He's plugging right along, and it just proves that whole "it's not that they can't read, it's just that they are reading the wrong books" thing. :) He is getting better with staying focused on his school when he's working as well, even though I find him going back through past things like the kindergarten science curriculum, rather than his current 4th grade science, lol.

Tonight, I'm enjoying a movie night with my guys (Catching Fire and Percy Jackson!). Tomorrow we have a birthday party we are so looking forward to attending, then back home for a little more down time. And laundry. Always. With. The. Laundry. *sigh

Hope everyone has a great week!

Six More Weeks of Winter...

Image credit: Washington Post - Groundhog Day 2014

That's what Punxsutawney Phil told us. I actually don't mind winter, but I really would like Mother Nature to make up her mind. After we had the snowmageddon last week, we enjoyed almost spring like temps over the following few days. This week has been back and forth, between warmer and colder, and now the forecast is calling for more snow/ice this upcoming week. Sheesh. 

With the whole groundhog day thing, the boys enjoyed learning more about the history of the day, as well as learning more about groundhogs. Of course, they both have my superpower (distraction), so googling "facts about groundhogs" led to googling a more general "facts about animals." Which then led to a gazillion texts (I was at work) of them sharing all of those neat little facts with me. :) 

This week was my worst longest at the tax office, and I ended up with 60 hours. I'm exhausted and honestly...have no plans whatsoever for this week. Bad homeschooling mama, I know. The boys each have projects they are working on, outside of their school stuff. Bailey is practicing his 4-H DPA project (a healthy sesame chicken with broccoli over jasmine rice) and both he and Braeden are working on making some claymation videos. Fun! 

It's a good thing that our homeschool is so flexible, and that we all appreciate and enjoy the online resources/programs that we rely on. 

Hope you all have a great week!

This week I'm linking up with the LHSHS High School Homeschool Blog Hop. Feel free to browse the other blog hoppers, and link up your own post! :)

Snowmageddon!

If you live in the north, I'm sure you mock us southerners when it snows. In these here parts, we don't see much of the stuff. The stores run out of bread and milk (because...apparently...in a snow storm, you're going to make soggy bread/milk sandwiches?), the state shuts down and the interstates and roadways become death traps. :/

You have no doubt seen the news coverage of what I labeled "snowmageddon" this week. When it started snowing Tuesday, all of the schools and businesses collectively closed at the same time. What happened next?

Madness.

People were driving for 4, 5, 7...even 12 hours to get home (a normal commute, mind you). People slept in cars, kids were stranded overnight in schools...it was just insane. Fortunately, the area we are in got hit less with MUCH less snow and ice compared to other parts of Atlanta and the surrounding areas. I made it home from the office, and the hubs and the boys were safely at home to begin with.

And we had plenty of bread and milk.

Crisis averted for us. :)

The boys had fun playing in the snow that we did get. Snowball fights, mostly. 'Cause that's what boys do, I was told.

Mother Nature still hasn't made up her mind about what season she wants us to feel like we're in. According to the boys, she's the one that needs a weather lesson, not them, lol.  Today was nice, and tomorrow the high is supposed to be 65! It's no wonder my sinuses are in a nasty state of rebellion.

I have what I call the tax brain now. It hurts. So I'm logging off to get some sleep and to look forward to my one day off tomorrow with my guys. I'm leaving you with a shameless (SHAMELESS!) plug for one of the homeschool resources we use. Science4Us is an online, interactive program that teaches science for elementary school aged kiddos. Interested in seeing what they offer? Go here:

:D