Enjoying the Chaos

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I was recently sent a copy of Elder David A. Bednar's book  One by One . When this book arrived I was going through a few things and it actually sat by my computer for a few days. This last Sunday we had a lesson in Relief Society about the Holy Ghost. I don't know if it's related but for some reason today, I found the time to pick up his book and read it cover to cover. It was just what I needed and actually spoke to my heart today. So although I was sent this book to review, it actually touched my heart in a way today that I wanted to share with you. I don't think it was a coincidence that I picked up the book today. In fact it reaffirms the whole point that Elder Bednar is making. That Heavenly Father knows us as individuals and that he loves us individually. Elder Bednar shares many experiences to express the truth that we are important to Heavenly Father as individuals. He knows us and he knows our needs. I was reminded of a tender mercy through reading this...

I am already looking at school curriculum for next year. One thing I want to change is our science curriculum. Captain still loves the Magic School Bus and was super excited when they came back to Netflix. He also loves doing science experiments! I recently re-looked at the  Magic School House Science Kit.  There are so many topics available and I am sure that Captain would be super excited. Not only is there some fun projects to do it also comes in the MAIL - that's exciting in itself! Captain would be super excited just waiting for the new box to arrive each month! Look at those fun topics listed. I think if I had been taught science in such a fun way I might have enjoyed it more. I found that Educents is having a super sale and you can get the kit for just $119.99. For this you get one kit delivered every month! The kits themselves were developed by Harvard graduates and scientists! The website says they are suitable for kids 5-12 years old and since Captain fit...

We have been fortunate to be able to use  CTC's Family Plan  for the last few years. All of my kids love it. Captain is using grade four for his main math program and Boo and Jam have been using it as a supplement. Don't just take our word for it - you can  TRY IT FREE  to find out for yourself why we like it. Also Homeschoolers get a huge discount and 6 months free until November 15th! CTC's Family plan covers more kids than I have. It's one of the reasons I love this company. They don't expect everyone to have 2.4 kids! I think you can sign up at least five without any problems at all. I also like that this program is so easy to navigate that Captain and do his math, have it graded, and print out a reward certificate all by himself. Captain has used this program since kindergarten and so his is pretty used to it. I don't think there is a big learning curve though it's pretty straight forward. We have a teacher account and student accounts. If I...

Have you ever taken your kids to the Home Depot craft days on Saturday mornings? They happened on the first Saturday of the month where I live. It's new on our schedule as we have only just moved close enough to one to attend regularly. It's a fun time and very educational. I have never had any disappointment with the kits. If you haven't had a chance to check them out. They are definitely worth going if you have a Home Depot near you. Last Saturday we went to our Home Depot and Captain was very excited when we turned up to see a fire truck parked outside the store and even more excited to be able to go inside. The craft was a fire station money bank, with separate places for saving and giving. It was a fun activity. The Home Depot was also giving out popcorn to the children, they also had some 'trick or treat' stands so he came home with a fire truck money box, candy, popcorn, and a visit in a firetruck under his belt! Disclosure of Material Connection: So...

Cursive is not my favorite thing to teach. It's also not one of Captains things to practice. However for the last few weeks we have been working through the Easy Peasy Cursive Workbook by Channie's Visual Handwriting & Math Workbooks. Captain has a friend who is a little older than him who can write cursive quite nicely and so this was a little motivation for him to try really hard with these practice sheets. Once you have learned the formation of each letter a lot of cursive comes down to wanting to put in the time to practice and being a little bit of a perfectionist with your writing. I am hoping by the time we finish this book that Captain will feel confident enough to continue. Although I think when we are done I will require all of his copy work and written work to be completed in cursive. It will be slower at first but I think it will be worth it. Channie's was created by a mother who saw the struggles of her son and so worked on creating handwriting sheet...

What if I told you there is somewhere you could go to find worksheets and teacher helps for just about every subject your child is studying. We have recently received a  Individual Membership  to  Super Teacher Worksheets . I have used quite a few different sheets during the last month. The first set of sheets I printed were the spelling lists and activities. I have been focusing on how well Captain can read, but haven't been quite as dedicated with spelling and so I decided this was the perfect time to start. Although Captain is the age of a 3rd grader most of his work is 4th grade or higher. However, I decided to start on the 3rd grade lists. Each spelling level or grade has thirty lessons. Each lesson contains a different list of spelling words. The spelling starts at grade 1 or level A and continues to a 5th grade or level E. Each level has a printable word list, and several different kinds of work sheets. Some of the work sheets contain ABC order activitie...

The first weekend in October and April are special ones at my house. It's not a birthday, or any known special occasion. But it is the weekends we get to stay home and watch the LDS General Conference. My kids love the little traditions we have tried to incorporate over the years. Even some that I didn't realize were traditions! I had been planning last week and had thought I had everything covered. Hubs had been in Mexico working for two weeks and the kids were excited for him to come home in time for conference. I was glad we could get some good family time in before the hustle and bustle starts again next week. So I had bought some treats for breakfast that gave me limited time in the kitchen. Some Saturday morning and Boo asked if I was making my Conference traditional orange cinnamon rolls. Hum...this took me a little by surprise. Mainly because I was going for simple. Who can turn down those big brown eyes...But Mom it's tradition. WOW it's amazing how soon ...