They Rent Dreams

If you happen to have someone in your household who would love to be an Eaglerider then this information will definately be of some interest to you. Now you can make your dreams come true with one of these Adventure Tours.

This company is the largest rental company specializing in Harley Davidsons, watercraft, ATV's, dirtbikes, scooters, and snowmobiles. So now you have the option to rent these awesome macheines without the long term commitment.

Rentals are just one of the services that they offer. There are self and guided tours, one way specials, and motorcycle sales. You can even sign up for their newsletter so you can stay up to date on all of the latest happenings.

July Top Drops

Here is the list of my EC Top Droppers for the month of July.

Merydith's Place 16
Chica & Pumuckl - Funny Cats in Egypt 15
Frugal Fergie 15
Melissas Homeschool 14
The Traveling Pants 14
Work at Home Mom Revolution 13
Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy 13
A Second Cup 13
The Matthias Chronicles 13
Blue Turtle 12

Thank you for being my faithful EC Droppers!

Magnetic Signs and Much More

I am such a huge fan of the company Vistaprint. We used them and their services so much when Rich was running his own business. I would have loved to know about the Magnetic signs for Rich's trucks from them. They have a great coupon for those available too. The coupon code for that is CarDoor25 - 25% off Car Door Magnets. Man I sure do wish I had this coupon code when we were buying these things.

But I also have to rave a little bit about some of the other services that they offer. This company is not just for businesses. If you are imaginative you could come up with many ways to utilize their almost free services. I have ordered all kinds of things from this place and have been very happy with each and every single thing to date. Some of the products that I have purchased from them are the rubber stamps, personalized notebooks, business card magnet and business cards. My sister uses the postcards to advertise the different events going on for the youth group at her church.

I am curious to know some of the ways you would use this companies services.

This just goes to show that you do not need to be running a business to utilize all the different products available through Vistaprint. Basically if you can think of it, then Vistaprint probably has something to help you achieve it.

Wanna Cut Your Grocery Bill By 50%

Have you heard the big news?

TODAY ONLY you can get an incredible ebook package from MoneySavingMom.com--over $100 worth of money-saving ebooks, homemaking helps, and encouragement for only $5.97! I can't believe she's offering such a great price and I'd highly recommend you run over here and check it out. I have learned so much from her already. I can't wait to read her books to learn even more.

What makes this deal so good is that this ebook package includes the ecourse Supermarket Savings 101--this course alone is worth much more than $5.97 and will teach you how to drastically reduce your grocery bill. If high fuel and food costs are discouraging you and leaving you strapped for cash, you definitely need to buy this ecourse. You'll learn how to cut your grocery bill by up to 50% or more and have fun saving money at the same time!

Go here to read more about this huge sale! Hurry, though, the price goes up tomorrow--get this money-saving ebook package at a ridiculously low price while you can!

This is where I got started in my journey to saving money.

Cancer Experiment

If you have ever watched anyone die from cancer you know how horribly painful it can be to watch. While we have yet to find a cure for cancer I believe that there is one out there. And it appeas that I am not the only one.

You can follow the story of a man who has been given four months to live as he attempts to try out a treatment that many believe is the answer to curing cancer.

After using this treatment to help a dog win against cancer they are going to try it on a person. Noone knows if this will wrk o not but they are willing to try it. If you would be interested in seeing if this experimental treatment works you can follow along at the resveratrol forum.

Freebie ~ Currclick

Today's freebie comes from Currclick. I absolutely love this company and cannot say enough about their products or their service.

If you have never dealt with this company before I must let you know that this curriculum company is a little different than what you might be used to. What you are purchasing is a downloadable file of the product. What that means is that you choose what you need and buy it. Then immediately you download it to your computer and save it. Then you can print it out. This is such an awesome route to go if you have multiple childre that you want to use the same workbook. Now you only need to buy it once and then you are free to print as many copies for your children as you need. Maybe you would like your child to redo a page, no problem, just print out a fresh clean one.

I use this company for Richie's math which I love. It is called Math Mammoth and he loves to do this math.

Okay enough of the review, on to the freebie. They are offering a Colonial American Lapbook by Knowledge Box Central which retails at $20.99! Do not hesitate to order this one. It will only be free for a week, then it will be back to its original prce. With school starting up these lapbooks make a nice addition to any lesson. It is also a great side project if you are studying this time eriod at all this year. If you aren't studying this time period this year, you can still download it for future years.

Boater Safety Education

Michigan is called the Great Lakes State. So with all the lakes it is no wonder that boating is so popular here. In fact public schoolers in Michigan actually take a boater safety class. I guess people realized that if you live in Michigan there is a pretty good chance that you will find yourself on a boat in your lifetime. So you need to know some basic things to keep you safe out on the water.

#1 Don't drink and drive. I can't begin to understand why people think it would be alright to drink and drive a boat if it is not alright to drink and drive a car. With all of the boater's out on the lakes in Michigan it is very dangerous for Boating Operating Under the Influence. So, even though we are homeschooling we shouldn't overlook this education for our children.

Freebie ~ For Homeschool Moms

Crystal from Money Saving Mom has a great freebie listed today for homeschool moms.


The ebook Getting It All Done is a valuable resource for any mom written by a mom with fourteen children.


Here's what the site has to say about this book.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the demands of parenting? Life is certainly a challenge for parents, and especially those who accept the added responsibility of home education. But there are ways to make life easier and more productive, and this ebook discusses some of those. Marilyn Boyer, mother of 14 children and a veteran home educator of 22 years' experience, shares her techniques for accomplishing a mammoth amount of housework while giving her children a superior education at the same time.

All you have to do is go to this site and add the ebook to your cart. Then use the coupon code HST and get it for free. (Some people are reporting that they are having trouble with the code, so make sure that you are using all capital letters. If it still isn't working then maybe try starting over from the beginning.)

Tactical Gear

These tactical pants have got to be one of those untold jewels that any mom of boys would love to know about. If you have boys then you are probably aware of how quickly they can wear out a pair of pants. Especially in the summertime. If we stopped buying regular pants and instead bought something that is made to be durable then maybe we wouldn't wonder where all those hole came from. Oh, and if your son is anything like mine he will totally love the fact that there are hidden pockets that are perfect for any secret agent wannabe.

Homeschool Freebie ~ Ice Cream

Did you know that it is National Ice Cream Month?

In honor of the fact that it is National Ice Cream Month, I have compiled some freebies to use in your homeschool that all have to do with ice cream. And everyone LOVES ice cream!

First you have to head over to my friend Shelly's blog. She has posted one of my favorite science sites. And the experiment is to make ice cream. YUMMY!

SCIENCE
http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca:80/dairyedu/findsci.html
http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/freeztheor.html

MATH

http://www.phschool.com:80/math/awsm/algebra/alg0403.html
http://teacher.scholastic.com/max/icecream/

HISTORY

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/icecreamcone.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream

LANGUAGE ARTS

http://www.teachersnetwork.org/dcs/benandjerry/lesson1.htm
http://ourohio.org/index.php?page=jeni-s-ice-creams


Ice Cream Facts

Cryo-Cell

I am constantly being amazed at all of the medical advances that are out these days. The minds that come up with this stuff is just brilliant if you ask me. A few years back, just after I gave birth to Richie I had heard about some moms who were choosing to keep their child's umbilical cord. I will admit that I was very young at the time and could not comprhend why anyone in their right mind who choose to keep the umbilical cord. All my immature mind could think was ewww gross.

Boy I am so glad to have a chance to educate myself on this topic now that I am older and passed the "ew gross" stage. I can't believe all of the benefits to saving your baby's umbilical cord. It is the value of the cord blood that is so amazing. Treating Diseases with Stem Cells is what it is all about. And these stem cells which have cause so much debate can be found in your child's cord blood which would otherwise be thrown away.

Now you can choose to save your baby's Cord blood as well. Cryo-Cell has over 15,000 clients worldwide. And while this may seem like a new thing I think it is the next great advancement in medicine. Now we can have all the advantege of stem cells without any of the debate.

The Laptop Is On Its Way!

Alright, I just did it!

I ordered the laptop I wrote about here. After checking around and reading the reviews I found I realized that it really was a great deal. And to make the deal even sweater I was able to also get 2 large Papa John's pizzas, a red tote to keep the laptop in, and a CD/MP3 player with wireless car kit all for free! These freebies are valued at $115.98. Yahoo!

Now I just have to wait and practice my patience.

Momma Needs a New Laptop

With two kids who love to be on the computer and one mom who does too, we have found ourselves with a dilemma. Although we have three working desktop computers, only one of them is connected to the internet. The other two desktop computers are in each of my kids rooms and I will not be connecting their bedroom computers to the internet. The one that is connected is located in the family room where everyone hangs out.

My thoughts are that if I got a laptop them Kalene and Richie should not have a problem sharing a computer in the family room between the two of them, and I could go on whenever and wherever I wanted. I cold also take it with me when we go on longer trips to my moms who does not have internet. I have started looking at different laptops. I really would like to get one that will work great without paying a small fortune. Right now this HP Pavilion dv2911us Notebook Computer with Intel Centrino Processor Technology- only $629.99 After $170 Instant & $50 Mail-in Savings at OfficeDepot.com! The price is definately right.

I would love to hear any input as I'm still undecided and there is only one review at the Office Depot site about this laptop.

The Fear of Failure

It is that time of year again.

I have begun to receive the back to homeschool catelogs. And although it is very exciting to go through them and see all of the newest and greatest products that are out. It is also the time where I can begin to hear that little voice in the back of my head that tries to get me to believe that I am not doing enough for my kids. That somehow if I don't providethem with all the latest and greatest educational materials then I'll have faile them somehow.

It never fails that this voice tries to get me to believe this every year. But I'm on to it now. I may have fell for it the first couple of years. But not anymore. That line of thinking is a very slippery slope that I have fell down one too many times.

What happens when I start slipping? Well I buy things we don't need. Then I "make" my kids do them out of the guilt I feel from using my money poorly and buying something we didn't need. Once that starts, it becomes an all out war zone around here. I'm constantly nagging to do the work and getting upset because it isn't working after I paid all that money for it. The kids are miserable living with a mom that they cannot please and they make sure I know how miserable they are. Need I go on? Yes this is a case for complete and total failure. And it all started with a thought that I seemed like I was just trying to do the best for my kids.

I think that the fear of failure is a dangerous enemy that motivates one too many homeschools.

So I refused to be that kind of homeschool. So what if my kids are not the picure of perfection. In fact I welcome their imperfections. We have all really blossomed now that I have kicked the fear of failure out of our homeschool. I have also come to grips with the fact that God is in control and He know what each of my kids need to learn for that special calling he has on their lives.

I do still like to go through the curriculum catelogs this time of year. But I don'tfeel burdened by them. And I don't feel insufficient if we can'thave it all, because the truth is that our relationships with each other and people we meet are far more important than how well they know their math facts.

Contest ~ Microscope

There is still time to enter Tami's contest to win a microscope. This is a real microscope for school, not one of the cheap microscopes that you find in the toy aisle at Target.

She is actually going to allow you to choose between three microscopes. With Kalene beginning Biology I think a good microscope will come in handy. I definately know that the National Geographic microscope that Grama got us will only do so much.

Here is what Tami has to say regarding the contest.

*** Discount Home School Supplies is holding a contest to give away a microscope. You can choose between one of the three following miscroscopes from my website, an MSK-01 Microscope, an MFL-06 microscope, or a SMD-04 Microscope. Just blog about the contest and link back to Tami's Blog. ***

The contest end July 23 and Tami hopes to announce the winner on her blog sometime that day.

While you are at her site, why not check out all the great stuff she has to offer, including free shipping. She's also running a one day only sale for 20% off Alpha Omega products.

Wordless Wednesday

Rich and Kalene are always so weird! Here they are on top of the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier pretending to be scared. I'm not sure they've done a very good job though.

To see more Wordless Wednesday posts, you can check them out here and here.

Trying To Get My House In Order

Well we had a wonderful time in Chicago. I am planning a post to tell all about our adventures complete with photos. However after we returned home I took a look at our family room and decided we need to spend some time getting our house cleaned and organized so I don't feel so frazzled and can relax a bit before we start back to school after our mini break.

Here is a picture of our family room. You see a few weeks back we brought all of our stuff home that we were keeping in storage while waiting for the house to sell. It was no big deal because we just kept it all in our utility trailer waiting for after our vacation to go through it all and decide what we will keep and what will have to go (we've run out of room)

Two days before our scheduled trip we received a notice that we needed to get rid of either our boat or our trailer from the city. They were giving us 5 days or we would be ticketed a lot of money. We complied and moved our boat behind the garage. But we can't just get rid of our trailer. So Rich's mom said we could keep it there so we wouldn't have to figure anything out to do with it until after our trip.

So, we unloaded all of the stuff into my family room and that is where we found it when we returned home. Rich has listed his trailer for sale. It's sad because he uses it for work, but it has to be done. And I am doing a major purge of every room in my house this week. We just can't keep it all.

I also returned to a car that needs to take a trip to the auto body shop. My neighbors friend backed into it and of course his insurance is not covering the damages. I am thinking of running away back to Chicago, but I guess that won't do any good. I am glad to be home.

Time For New Glasses

I have a regular thing I do around here each year. While the public schooled kids are getting ready to go back to school by purchasing new clothes and shoes. I like to make eye doctor appointments and get everyone new glasses for the year.

ZenniOptical.com has very stylish glasses for as low as $8 a pair. Even with my insurance I can't get glasses for that low, let alone such great styles to choose from. I mean for that price I can afford to get a couple of pairs that way noone is without during the inevitable broken or lost glasses moments. No more excuses around here. They even featured Zenni on Fox news!

So although shopping for glasses online will be something new for me, it will save me a ton of time and money driving back and forth to the eye doctor's office. Just one trip and then I can pick my glasses out from the comfort of my own home. Cool!

Coming Home

I am returning from our trip to Chicago today!

I can't wait to post all about it and share all of our adventures with you.

Photos to come shortly.....

Homeschool Freebie

I am borrowing this Homeschool Freebie from Shelly's site.

This is a wonderful resource for teaching language arts to all grades K-12th. The site is called Read, Write, Think.

There are a multitude of lesson and ideas for all ages and all styles.

I am especially impressed by the interactive calendar of ideas that they offer. You can check it out for yourself here. You click on the date and it will give you a bunch of ideas for reading, writing, and thinking assignments.

I love this for those days when we just need something new to do to be the humdrum of everyday lessons.

Subway Contest Revamped

I am not sure how many of you heard about the contest debacle with Subway and homeschoolers a little while back. If you haven't heard about it you can read some of the posts that my friend Shelly wrote when she heard about it here and here. You can also read a news report about it here.

Well Subway didn't realize what a force they were messing with. Boy oh boy don't get those homeschoolers going. I think they are trying to make amends with this one. They have revamped the contest to include homeschoolers. You can get to the contest through the Homeschooling Today website. Or you can go straight to the Subway site.

Thank you Subway for seeing the error of your ways. I love Subway, and now I don't have to feel like a total traitor to the homeschool community any longer when I eat there.

7-11

Yahoo!!!!!

Today is the annual Free Slurpee day at 7-11. We do this every year. It is a fun tradition. We usually hit up several different 7-11 stores throughout the day. It is so much fun!

You can check out all of the details HERE!

Travel To 7 Continents

Rules :

1. Start Copy from "Begin Copy" until "End Copy".
2. Put your blog's name and url write in which continent you live, add the country you live in. Example : My Imaginary Travels (Netherlands)
3. Leave your url post in here and I'll add you to the Master List.
4. Please help spread this tag by tagging your friends as much as you can.
5. Don't play unfair! If you have more than 1 blog, you can participate all your blogs for this tag. BUT you will have to post this tag to all your blogs as well. So, please. Don't cheat!
6. Please come back again to copy the update of the master list, often. This process will help new participants to get the same gains as the first participants.
7. Don't forget to use the banner at your post, you can save as or you can just copy the code in here.

Master List :
A. Asia : 1. Moms... Check Nyo (Philippines) 2. Aeirin's Collections (Philippines) 3. Jenny and Belle(Philippines) 4. Hailey's Beats and Bits (Philippines) 5. Appleofmyeyes(Saudi Arabia) 6. Deranged Insanity (Philippines) 7. PROJECT HEAVY TRAFFIC (Singapore) 8. Rooms of My Heart (Indonesia) 9. Blessings and Beyond (Philippines) 10. lancerlord (Singapore) 11. allinkorea (Korea) 12. kimchiland (Korea) 13. korean food (Korea) 14. idealpinkrose (Korea) 15. Pinay Mommy Online (Philippines) 16. Momhood Moments (Philippines) 17. Business Mars (Philippines) 18. Maiylah’s Snippets (Philippines) 19. Picture Clusters (Philippines) 20. My Wanderings (Philippines) 21. Hit-or-Miss (Philippines) 22. Life Quest (Philippines) 23. FunFierceFabulous (Phils) 24. and Life Goes On for... (Philippines) 25. Moments of Colours (Philippines) 26. Making sense… (somehow) (Philippines) 27. Day To Day (Philippines) 28. My Happy Place 29. Me and Mine (Japan) 30. Little Peanut (Japan) 31. Creative In Me (Japan) 32. Pea in a Pod (Japan) 33. A Slice of Life (Phils) 34. Jenny Said So (Phils) 35. Live it Up... (Philippines) 36. A Sweet Taste Of Life (Philippines) 37. Through The Rain (Philippines) 38. Sugarmagnolias (Japan) 39. ParentZine育兒好好玩 (Singapore) 40. We are Family (PH) 41. Reference Notes (Hong Kong) 42. The Sweet Life 43. A Great Pleasure (Malaysia) 44. Lalaine's World ( Thailand) 45. Proud Mommy (Philippines) 46. Petty Ramblings of a Petty Queen(Malaysia) 47. The Real Deal (Malaysia) 48. My Sweet Escape (Malaysia) 49. Mommy Earns Money Online (Philippines) 50. Pexlinks Triple Love (Philippines) 51. OnlineBiz and Resources (Philippines) 52. LadyJava's Lounge (Malaysia) 53. LadyJava Life's Pages (Malaysia) 54. Being Woman (Malaysia), 55. Cat Tales (Malaysia) 56. Make Money Online (Malaysia) 57. LadyJava's Food Paradise (Malaysia) 58. Lourdes' Mia (Philippines) 59. Miss Write (Philippines) 60. Me, Myself+2 (Phils) 61. Moments of My Life 62. My Deepest & Honest Thoughts (Malaysia) 63. Crissy's Haven 64. Strangely Out of Place (Philippines) 65. Frozen Moments (India) 66. NER: Never Ending Resolve (Philippines) 67. Mindjuice in Full Throttle 68. Straight from the Heart 69. Creative Thoughts (Philippines) 70. Emila’s Illustrated Blog 71. WilStop (Philippines), 72. Alanzain-home decor world (Malaysia) 73. Let's talk-everything in one space (Malaysia) 74. Tiklaton (Pilipinas) 75. Digiscraptology (Philippines) 76. A Life in Bloom (Philippines) 77. Because Life is a Blessing (Philippines) 78. Day to Day Miracles 79. Budget Traveler 80. The Success (Indonesia) 81. Lets Travel Philippines (Philippines) 82. enlaceré. tordu. (Singapore) 83.Blessings in Life (Philippines) 84. Tere’s World (Philippines) 85. Journey in Life (Philippines) 86. Thoughts and Beyond (Philippines) 87. Geng's Journal (Philippines) 88. e-Shopping (India) 89. Tippy-Tips 90. Life and Me (Singapore) 91. Xploring Asia ( Singapore) 92. Baboyita (Philippines) 93. A Place Of Being (Philippines) 94. Bits and Pieces (Philippines) 95. Asian Mutt International (Malaysia) 96. An Anonymous Journal (Malaysia) 97. WebGeek Journal (Philippines) 98. BlogScope (Philippines) 99. The Mind The Heart The Lines (Malaysia) 100.BoBo the Bimbo (Singapore) 101.Sjtl (Philippines) 102. Crissy's Zone (PHIL) 103. [S]hiphire [D]ominion (Malaysia) 104. All about your children (Singapore) 105. Hardy Chen Power Blog (Indonesia) 106. Rien Mais Tout, Nothing But All (Malaysia) 107. A Nice Thought (Philippines) 108. Choc Mint Girl (Malaysia) 109. KaDusMama (Malaysia) 110. Chorva (Philippines) 111. Geek Chic Guru (Philippines) 112. Erlinda's Wandering Thoughts (Philippines) 113. LZmommy(Singapore) 114. Free VB Tools (Indonesia) 115. Bloggerbin ( Malaysia) 116. Love Is Colorful (Malaysia) 117. Liangmui 38 Zone (Malaysia) 118. Pinay Heart Wanderings and Musings (Philippines) 119. Me, the islands and the world (Philippines) 120. i Share (India) 121. RamblingMoo (Malaysia) 122. Watchamacallit! (Philippines) 123. Nellypie's Chatterbox (Philippines) 124. Emjei Says (Philippines) 125. Solo-Flight (Philippines) 126. iAM-MAi (Philippines) 127. BlackNickel (Philippines) 128. Neuropatch (Philippines) 129. Express For Free (Philippines) 130. your turnB.

Australia : 1. Reflexes (Australia) 2. Emcee 3. Outback-Pinay 4. Collect and Connect (Australia) 5. Stand My Ground (Australia) 6. Alive (Australia) 7. your turnC. Afrika : 1. Doudy Sketche Watercolor Paintings 2. Optimizing for Search Engines 3. Painting Artworks 4. Pictures in Egypt 5. your turn


D. North Amerika : 1. Simple Life, Simply Me (USA) 2. Pinaymama's Diary (USA) 3. 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires (United States) 4.Traipsey Turvey (USA) 5. Dabawenyako (USA) 6. Icelog (USA) 6. The Misadventures of an Ordinary Housewife (USA) 7. It Is Nap Time (US) 8.A Mother's Journal (USA) 9. Journey And Journal [USA] 10. Life is good and beautiful (USA) 11. Tasteful Voyage (USA) 12. Jenny's Wandering Thoughts (USA) 13. Mom Knows Everything (Canada) 14. Filipino love stories (USA) 15. A Mom's Note (USA) 16. Life with the Two Crazy Dogs 17. BLOGSILOG (USA) 18. Juliana’s World ( New York, USA) 19. My Daily Discourse (USA) 20. My Point Of View 21. My Blog Entry (USA) 22. This Side of Eternity (MI, USA) 23. The Paper Vision (USA) 24.Beyond Being A Mom(USA) 25.My So called life(USA) 26. Blogging By Sandee (USA) 27. Comedy Plus (USA) 28. My Life... My Journey!(USA) 29. Your Fun Family (USA) 30. Big Money List (Canada) 31. Life Expressions (USA) 32. DOTBLOGGER 33. Nita's Random Thoughts (USA) 34. Thomas Travel Tales (USA) 35. Nita Corner (USA) 36. Thomas Web Links (USA) 37. Great Finds and Deals (USA) 38. Filipino Online Community (USA) 39. Batuananons (USA) 40. Bohol Paradise (USA) 41. Living or Surviving (USA) 42. Welcome To Our Homeschool Adventures(USA)

E. South Amerika : 1. Oscar Luiz (Brazil) 2. dibujandoarte (Argentina) 3. your turn

F. Europe : 1. My Imaginary Travels (Netherlands) 2. Juliana's Site (Netherlands) 3. Picturing of Life (Netherlands) 4. SuperMae (Portugal) 5. The Callalily Space (The Netherlands) 6. Portia (UK) 7. Daily Grind (Germany) 8. Amel's Realm (Finland) 9. Mummy Diaries (England) 10. Mirage as Usual (Austria) 11. Say Cheese (DE) 12. Ramblings of an ad hoc doctor (United Kingdom) 13. Love Defies All (England) 14. Breather 15. your turn

G. Antarctica : 1. your turn

~ End Copy ~

This tag is open to anyone who reads this.

Evolution of a Records System

I have tried a few different ways of keeping track of my kids "schoolwork" and I think I have finally come up with one way that definately works around here at least.

Because I live in Michigan, it is not all that important for me to keep records. I don't have to report to the state and there are no requirements to keep any kind of records.

But I decided from the start of our Homeschool Adventures that I would keep some kind of records. You know to prove to family members that we were really learning stuff. (I was so scared that first year)

The first year I homeschooled, the method I used was to just keep every single shred of paper that either of my kids so much as looked at. Well let me tell you that living in a 1200 sq. ft. house without a basement proved that this was never going to work for us unless we wanted to replace the furniture with rubbermade totes of junk.

The second year I used a wonderful tracking program that is available for free called Homeschool Tracker. I really did love this program. But, I found that I became a slave to it. If I had anything scheduled in this program to do on a given day then we were going to DO it no matter what. You can probably imagine what kind of year that turned out to be.

The third year I used a system like this one here. (Scroll down to where it says The Card System) This worked really well for Kalene. But it was a bit tedious for Richie. I believe he was too young to be keeping track of anything. But I was trying to come up with a way to keep Kalene accountable for her own learning. I realized the year before that I wasn't going to force feed my kids information so they would be up to par with everyone else's ideas of what they should know. I had a lightbulb moment one day and woke up to the realization that this was her education, not mine. So I started to do little things, like ask her what she wanted to learn about. Crazy idea, I know, but it worked.

Year four. I threw out the idea of keeping records altogether. But a funny little thing began to happen. Kalene had picked up an idea on her own from her piano teacher. I noticed that she was always writing in this little notebook. I asked her one day what she was doing and she showed me that she was keeping track of the work she did each day. WHAT!?! After all I had done to let it all go, she realized the importance of knowing where you've been, that way you can know where you are going. So that worked out great that year. And Kalene began to take ownership of her own education.

Each day got its own little page. She would write the date at the top and everything she did or read in there, including extracurriculars like art, piano, or church stuff.

This year, we are continuing with the little notebooks. Richie started keeping one too. He said it helps him remember what page he was on last. Also Kalene is much more motivated to get her stuff done so she can move on. And mom is a much more laid back homeschooler. It helps to have kids who are motivated. And that really was what I was working for from the beginning. I guess I just needed to evolve into the homeschooler I am now so my kids could step up.

Homeschool Freebie ~ CurrClick

It is time for CurrClicks weekly freebie. This time they are offering a Study of Ancient Rome: A Multi-book Approach. This usually sells for $19.95 and this week it is free. Don't hesitate as it will be back to its regular price once this week is over.

If you have not already studied this time period in history can I just add that we did this last year and we had a blast. It really was amazing to us how similar our culture is with that of Ancient Rome. It also helps with understanding the world that God chose to come into. He could have chose any time in history but he chose to come during the Roman Empire. It was no coincidence, it was divine timing.

Here is what CurrClick has to say about this download freebie:

"This multi-book study on Ancient Rome is a detailed study bringing a time from the past- to life! Daily life, architecture, warfare, science and technology, and much more is covered during this study. It uses several books including text books and fiction to bring the student into the realm of Ancient Rome! There are lesson questions provided in a worksheet type format for the student to answer. There are additional writing requirements at times, in the form of essay's and a book report. There are hands on projects that are recommended during the course. The text book questions may be able to be answered via internet researching should you choose to go that route in lieu of purchasing a text book. By the end of this course a deep understanding of Ancient Rome should be evident. This course was designed for 5th – 7th graders. A 4th grade student with an interest in history and a high reading level can succeed in this course. There are 45 lessons to this study. Depending on how you approach history in your school; this study could be done a few months or may last your entire school year. Most lessons take 20-30 minutes to complete and the individual lessons can be broken down further if needed. This course can be done by the student with very little assistance or preparation from the teacher."

And if you have never dealt with CurrClick before can I just add that this is one of my most favorite homeschool companies. They offer great materials at a wonderful price. Also since you don't have to wait for shipping, since these products are available for immediate download, you are free to run in whatever direction the homeschool moment takes you.

I'm A Junkie

I have spotted school supplies in the stores!

I am a school supply junkie.

There, I admit it.

Ever since I was a child, something about new crayons with perfect points and unopened notebooks has given me a strange feeling of euphoria. This is one part of school I did miss! But a couple of years ago I decided to keep this back to school tradition, even if back to school really isn't at our house.

So every year we go out and stock up on all kinds of school supplies. Our favorites are crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, notebooks and more I'm sure I'm forgetting. Most of the supplies we get are totally unneccesary, but we get them anyways. We also get backpacks and binders to keep everything in.

Although I have to say I wasn't so sure about spending my money on backpacks and binders. But they have proven to be invaluable in our house. Richie rarely loses anything because it is all kept in the binder. And the backpacks are perfect for sleepovers at their cousins or grandmas house.

If you are a homeschooler how do you handle the whole back to school thing? Do you stock up or stay away from the stores when they are filled with people frantically getting ready to go back to school?

You Need A Story ~ George Washington

With the celebration of our Independance, Robert Green has decided to offer up a great story about our very first president George Washington. It is a little over a half hour long. So sit back and enjoy the story of a great man.

George Washington, the Great Man at Home

Have A Great Holiday!

Homeschool Freebie

This is one of the best homeschool freebies I could come up with. This site lists a new homeschool freebie each day. It is like getting a present everyday! The site is called The Homeschool Freebie of the day! Check it out everyday!

All Natural Relaxation

I have learned over the last couple of years that it does noone any good in my household if I allow myself to worry and become stressed over stuff. I think that as a homeschooling mom the tendency to stress out is definitely a very real possibility from day to day. I have also found that if I do not allow my life to be grace filled then I am more inclined to become the stressed out homeschooler. This is not what I signed up for. So I have learned that there are several things that I can do to avoid becoming stressed out, or as homeschoolers like to call it, burned out in the first place. It is always better to cut it off before it even has a chance to start.

I spend time with the Lord each day and I allow him to order my days. I also have given up on a strict schedule because when things don't go according to the plan this is a recipe for stress for me anyways. So I look at each day as a new beginning. I also learned to enjoy the simple things. Watching a bird on the feeder. A nice cup of coffee or tea. A cool breeze. You get the idea.

I also like things like chammomile tea or AbsoluteCalm to help calm my nerves once they have already been triggered. These are both all natural ways to settle yourself down. I would love to say that I never let anything get to me. But I would be a liar. Sometimes I just am not as quick to submit to the Lords ways. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it's always easier to cut it off before it gets started. But once it is started there are still things that you can do that are natural ways to help aide the body into a calming state.

AbsoluteCalm actually starts to work in as little as 15 minutes and can continue to work for about 8 hours. So this might be good to take if you know ahead of time that you will be facing a high stress situation. I always try to keep to things that are only all natural.

Globalmania

Knowledge Quest is once again offering their Geography book Globalmania as a free download.

I downloaded it the last time it was made available and was very impressed with what I saw. I am planning on using it with Richie possibly this year.

If you are looking for a geography resource for your children you will not be disappointed by this one.

And it doen't get any better than FREE!

I love Free Homeschooling!