Homeschool Conference In Your PJs-August 3-7 2009

Last year I was blessed to have won a free ticket to attend the Heart of The Matter Online Homeschool Conference. It made the first year of homeschooling a lot easier because I had a "real view" of homeschooling. I did it all from the comfort of home.

Come on by to learn, laugh and share the Homeschool LOVE!

Now what to wear hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

This Month's Mom Read: Encouraging Homeschooling Mothers

The Spiritual Power of a Mother: Encouragement for the Home Schooling Mom by Michael Farris

School's Out ....or it was

TS was so excited to write this.....

We stopped school the minute the house actually sold. I am proud to say with all that was involved with getting the house on the market and getting it sold we managed to complete over 140 days of school. In Texas there is no minimum number of days you are required to homeschool. I set a personal goal based on material from What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning (Core Knowledge Series) by E.D. Hirsch Jr. I also focused on some areas such as fine motor skills and character building activities.

Lapbooks on the Left and other work on the Right

The Lapbook storage system is the brain child of Erna at Simply Lapbooks. She has great material!

Last year's work is capture in binders, scrapbooks and this blog. Nice and neat. This blog has been a major help in keeping me focused and helped us all see improvement in skills over time.

Next year we will continue with lapbooks, maybe some notebooking along with Sue Patrick's Workbox System.

Homeschooling with Target's Dollar Spot

Apparently it is beginning to smell a lot like "Back To School Time" at Target. I am really trying to keep things simple this year. I don't have a lot to buy just one book and maybe glue sticks. After decluttering and hitting the sales last October I don't need any supplies. But I could not resist Target's $1 school items. I used everything from last year's bargins to create wonderful lapbooks and save printer ink.


Here are some of the goodies I found....

Nice upper level readers.

Nice United States Map and notebook foldout with all the state maps.

These will be used in lapbook and notebooks.

Nice unit study on the presidents.

TS is very into animals right now. I see a lapbook on lions, sharks and whales in the future.

Yes, I whole book of science experiments, more animals activities for lapbook.

Oh we are going to have so much fun. Thank you Target.

Thank You for The Love

Thank you so much friends for your love and support. It has been a season of growth and change here at the Sandbox. Prayerful we move forward .......

This has always been one of our favorites songs by a fellow alumni.

Well done, good and faithful servant

"His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter you into the joy of your lord." Matthew 25:23

Grandpa served the Lord for over 80 years. He was a minister, husband, father to his children and his grandchildren and a beloved friend to many. His quiet manner belied the humor and strength that dwell beneath. Grandpa could tell a story that would have you laughing until you cried but taught you something at the same time.

He shaped the man that I love. He joined us in Holy Matrimony 15 years ago and provided wisdom since that September day I first met him 17 years ago.

I will miss his smile, his sly humor, wisdom and courage. But his work here was done and now he lives in our hearts forever.

How do you Homeschool on your own while selling your house and moving across country?

The real answer is with Grace of God with a healthy dose of constant prayer and support from family and friends. What that looked like daily is still to fresh and raw for me to get into right now. I have not blogged steadily for months now because I was faced with one of the biggest challenges of my adult life. In the last six months I have completed the following:

• Packed up my spouse to live 1500 miles away
  
• Homeschooled as a single parent
• Suffered from stomach virus with kid (oh ..that is a story)
  
• Decluttered and staged our primary residence for sale in a slow market
  
• Sold said home in under 14 days!!!!!!
  
• Nurtured my son through the turmoil of moving and missing his father
  
• Dealt with less than honest contractors
  
• Uprooted my son from everything and everyone he knows to a new face pace environment
  
• Had one ER visit because of stress attack
  
• Learned that another close family member is living through a life threatening disease
  
• DS graduated from Kindergarten
  
• Prayed with five friends who have lost jobs, homes and businesses
  
• Moved the entire family from Central Texas to Washington DC metro
  
• Moved into a new home, with a new climate
  

Bless the military moms who do this every day with multiple kids because there were days when I didn't know if I could take just one more thing. I wasn't my best a lot of days because I don't ask for help like I should. There are days when I wasn't the best mom or wife, sometimes I yelled or cried or both. Some days I could not see beyond the next thing to do on the very long and every growing "To Do" list. There were days when the look on my child's face …begging me to spend some time with him cut my soul, but I had to get things done for all of us. But God sent his angels and his grace.

People just helped where they could. Packed boxes, came over and played with ds or just listened to me on the phone. Through it all I learned to praise God and understand that I can't do it all, that's His job. I learned a lot about myself and a lot about what is important. In the coming months I will share some of that but right now we are just enjoying life as a family.

So you are now all caught up. Just in time to start planning for the next school year.

Happy 4th of July

For those keeping count our country is 233 years old today.