Homeschooling A Houseful

{Photo from Shelf Reliance Website} I would have taken a picture of my own, but it's in our dark and dreary storage room... this picture just looks happier!!!! We love, Love, LOVE this... the Harvest 72" Food Rotation System by Shelf Reliance . So I thought I would post a quick review of it, here. Many homeschoolers.... epecially homeschoolers of a houseful, tend to stock up, by in bulk and well need food-lots and lots of food!!!!! I ran across this at a local store, and fell in love with it! {AWE Love at first site!!} Papa Bear, well he doesn't have that love of all things organized as I do. Not to say he's not organized.... but it's just not in MY way of being organized!!! He actully thinks I'm weird, because everything I do, or say... somehow turns into an organizing project. And yet, I always feel so unorganized, maybe if everyone else would just do it like I wanted it done, that would be taken care of. I actually have warned everyone if they can't do ...

Just recently I was thinking to myself... man these kids have got to be better about washing their hands, and keeping things CLEAN!!!! not just "clean" {anyone with kids, understands what I am saying} Then I received one of the science email newsletters from Home Science Tools {LOVE THEM!!!} all about germs, soap and hands!! Perfect. If you don't already get these.... you so need to. Nothing like discovering a love of science! We have always done science, but now we love science. Follow the link above, and click on the tab email newsletters. Now for Germs....Germs...Germs.... oh and some bacteria too from the Homeschooling a Houseful... homeschool!!!!! here are 4 out of 6 of our containers. Two of the A's wrote their names, so I can't post them. If I had been thinking {or if this inspires you to do this experiment} I would have written on them, what we used to collect the germs!! First up EGGS!!!! We raise chickens and collect their eggs. This is the responsibilit...

At our last visit to the library, A6 got a book titled Ladybug Girl . She loved this book... it was her choice for nap book everyday. I am sure I memorized it... after reading it that many times. It was a sad day, when Ladybug girl was returned to the library. It was a very cute book, and easy to make "educational" A perfect unit book. One thing Ladybug Girl did was water her avocado plant. Every time I said this, A6 asked what's an avocado plant? We went out and bought some avocado's and today started our plants . {this way to grow avocado plants didn't work, I believe that it might be better to try the dark cupboard way? Will let everyone know when we try again!} Even though we don't have the book anymore, they still remembered, and said... Like in Ladybug Girl!!!! As a side note we didn't space our toothpicks right, so we used four to make it balance on top of the water. Guess what A6 will be getting shortly... her own copy of Ladybug Girl {sshhhhh, do...

Yes we are going to become year-round schoolers. We use to be year-round, then for a few years Papa Bears Nephew lived with us, and it was "easier" for everyone to go along with the public schools schedule. However if I ever had another child in public school, I'd still go year round and make it work in others ways. {but that's a whole different post} We also love Saxon Math. I always thought A2 would need a different math curriculum, however she has learned to work Saxon, and it works!!! That being said, I do not use the early Saxon. I used these with A1, and when it was only him, it worked. However I can not sit down and "teach" math to all my children day in and day out. Not to mention, Mama Bear all but detests math!!! We love the Rod and Staff Math, and we have used Abeka for the first years. Now we are only using Rod and Staff, it's much cheaper and I believe has better review. I also enjoy being able to purchase materials and keep using them for a...

I need to post this here, see I just read it on another local homeschooler blog, and we all said... hey we learned that before! My good friend Andrea taught it to us, a few years ago! Since it's such a hit, and so loved... I thought the littler A's need a turn to learn it too... so this weeks geography song, will be the 50 states that rhyme!!! Thanks Lara ! I had no idea it was on You Tube... it seems everything is on you tube!!!

that is one thing I walked away from our local winter homeschool convention thinking.... need more science fun. We do science, and it's fun, but we need to add those WOW...AWESOME...AHHHHH type of activities too. I found two fun sites, and you know what's awesome they both will send me fun science activities each week! Some are even from simple things around the house. I am so excited!!! Steve Spangler Science ~ this guy is awesome!!! there's videos and all sorts of fun ideas on this site. This is the site the homeschool mom/teacher told us about, and she said there's easily a years worth of science on this site.... she was so not kidding. Home Science Tools ~ this is another great one. I have received a few of their emails, and they use a lot of around the house items for many of their emailed experiments, or at least the ones I've seen so far. Anyone else, have any great sites to add or share???? Remember, I LOVE COMMENTS!!!!

Did I ever mention we don't watch TV??? Well we don't, not television that is. We do watch movies, Papa and Mama Bear approved! It seems there are just way too many questionable things on television. If it's not the advertisements, it's the content of the movie itself. I mean come on, Victoria Secret commercials during a preschool age movie!???!! In my book that's just plain wrong. Since it seems the more I talk with other parents, both homeschool and not, it seems parents are starting to question the values of the television. Hooray, I am so excited people are seeing with their values. Now we do own movies, and actually quite a few. Here's a list of a few of our favorites: Little House on the Prairie while we enjoy all the ones we have.... it seems the earlier ones have more values and less questions. the Waltons same thing with the Waltons, it seems the earlier ones are the safer ones. Anne of Green Gables Dr Dino {Dr. Hovind} We have his creation science s...