Home-school Mondays, Finding a schedule that works

I remember when I use to do daycare I had a schedule. I followed that schedule precisely, mainly because it worked for the kids. I look back now and wonder why it seems as though it was easier then with six kids ( including grocery store trips with all in tow) then it is now with 3! And then in a moment of clarity I realized that I don't have a schedule now. So what? Who needs a schedule. I don't have state workers (since I was state licensed) dropping in at what ever time they wanted. I don't have parents coming in for interviews and my kids know what they can play with and cannot.
So why is it harder?

Back then I was dressed and the house was ready by 7:00am the latest, every morning Monday through Friday.

7:30 Breakfast cooked
8:00 Breakfast clean-up and wash kids hands and faces, check diapers
8-9:00 Free play
9-10:00 story time and talk about or act out the story
10:00 snack
10:30 clean up like before and then outside to play in the back yard till lunch time
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Clean up and get ready for nap time
12:30(45) - 3:00 Nap time
3:00 Change diapers, brush hair and play inside
3:30 Snack again
4:00 Free play or watch tv till parents come to pick them up

See, scheduled. And it worked. It was amazing. I look back at it in awe at how well those kids behaved. So why can't mine have days that go as smoothly? I don't have a schedule. A schedule is important not only to me but also to my kids. Kids thrive on a routine as well - it is comforting for them to know what’s next in their day, even those things they don’t like.

So here is what I am hoping to accomplish as a schedule. Lots of things can run us off the road so to speak. So now I am going to attempt to drive myself out of the ditch.

6:30 Get up and shower
7:00 Get Pumpkin up and have her get dressed and feed the rabbit, wake up
rest of kids
7:30 Breakfast
7:45 Make sure snack is packed for Pumpkin
8:00 Take Pumpkin across the street for pre-school
8:15 Get Princess and Peanut started on chores for the day while I clean up the kitchen
9:00 Start third grade home-school or have Princess start on her "Daily works" folder if I am not ready. This consists of at least an hour of work she can do on her own. More on that next week.
10:00 Snack time, they just think better if they stay fueled
10:30 Home-school lessons till it is time to go and get Pumpkin
11:30 Walk across street and get Pumpkin
12:00 Lunch time
12:45 Peanut and Pumpkin go down for a nap
12:45 Princess continues home-school, I clean up from lunch then go and help her/teach lessons
2:30/3:00 Peanut and Pumpkin are awake
3:00 Outside to play or a trip to the park to play and feed ducks
5:00 start to make dinner, kids are done for the day


I think this is do-able. I am following pretty much what we do. There are just some time constrictions. Also this helps me to see when two activities are to be done at the same time so I remember to tell Princess to go and work on school work. Ideally she would just know and she would remember to do it on her own rather than depending on her pregnant mom. Alas. She is a kid. lol

So what is your schedule? Do you have one? Share it. Maybe we can help to make each other's more efficient.

Home-school Mondays I love cable

I have limited the channels that my kids can watch and where they can watch them and for good reason. Once what were safe children channels are now popping up with crude music videos with crude language between shows ( I kid you not!).

So why do I love cable? Because there are shows there that teach. Shows such as 'How it's made' and 'Rhino Rescue'. Currently we are watching Rhino Rescue together. It is heart wrenching and sad and happy all at the same time. More important it gives my kids a sense that there is more than just them and their immediate world, and to help where they can. They become aware of the just how lucky we are to live in America. Of the importance of following rules and the devastation that can occur when rules are not followed such as with poachers. It is a good lesson. It helps them to grow. It helps to further teach compassion and want to make a difference. That is why I love cable. Even though you will find my tv off more than it is on during the day. :)

New in Shop

I must admit that morning sickness has kept me from posting as I like to and made it even more challenging to get things in my shop as well as to get our schooling done. Schooling comes first, but I was able to get two new things in shop this last week.

They are a set of Kitchen Dishcloths. One cloth is a traditional square shape and the other is round like a pin-wheel (at least that is what it reminds me of). I love the round pattern, it is so unique. Each set took me a couple hours to complete and was nice and relaxing to make. One is in a rust color ombre and the other is in a spring color ombre, nice and bright.

Home-school Mondays Using what interests them

I write this as Pumpkin pictured above is recovering from pneumonia so it will be short. Every parent knows that bribery can be a great motivator. Some have mixed feelings about using it. I was the same way. My kids were just going to do what I asked of them because I asked it. LOL. Yeah that worked so well.

I like to use 'earned time' for getting tasks done. For example my eldest daughter who is 9 has a hard time staying focused in her studies. I write out the weeks lesson plans ahead of time. She gets to mark off the subjects completed for visual satisfaction and for every page completed front and back she earns 2 minutes of computer game time. So far this is working, for how long is any one's guess. Her rewards have changed over the years as we have schooled. Use what interests them and you will have success!

Featured on a blog

I have been featured on a blog! How exciting. I would love if you all could go and check it out. She is a fellow Cast Team member on Etsy and has a wonderful store herself. Here is the link. http://suerunyondesigns.blogspot.com/

Home-school Mondays

MIA

Today's normal post for home-school Monday's will be MIA. We are on a lovely field trip to the Birch Aquarium. I have taken the camera and I am hoping to be able to share photos of our trip with you all in a Tuesday post. Until then, take a gander at a favorite of this house, Alphabet pancakes. They are a lot of fun and with the hands-on factor, it really help kiddos get into the spirit.

A popular web site lately for our pre-preschooler as she is starting to really master both upper and lower case letters, Starfall. I appreciate how it also includes the letter sound and is very user friendly. It is used as an award for pumpkin. Once she spends 20 or so minutes on upper and lower case flash cards, 1-10 number flash cards and the days of the week song, she gets time on the website. She has yet to grow tired of it.

New Items

I love how these earrings turned out. Earrings are a new thing in the shop of Rachel's Aprons. Resonably priced with excellent workmanship so that you can get something for yourself or a little gift without breaking your wallet. It really cannot get better than that. I am excited to be adding them. I hope that you enjoy them.

Home-school Mondays Thinking outside the box

Thinking outside the box.

While I was doing a Geography lesson with my 3rd grader I noticed the 1,000 mile stare coming from her. Not only that but I had two little ones that were being anything but quiet. Being as they are not big fans of T.V ( I am probably to blame, I don't watch to much of it myself), watching a movie was out of the question.

And then it hit me. We HOME-SCHOOL! Duh I know, but seriously. Who says we have to look at the pictures in the book. So we made the lesson out of blankets, some strategically moved couches and chairs and a fold out table we use when camping. Not only did we get rid of the boredom but we also were able to include the little ones. I was able to see what my eldest was learning because she was teaching it to her 4 year old sister. They were learning and they did not even know it. I love home-schooling.

So don't be afraid to think outside of the box. If you are new to home-schooling then break away from the traditional teaching done in the class room. Make it fun. Do crafts to teach the subject or find a way to lead it to something they love. And they do not have to be expensive supplies wither. Markers, crayons, glue, and some huge thing of construction paper from Walmart will make them happy. For example, my 3rd grader loves sharks. The whole gory mess of them, eww. But it was a great way to do math drills. Addition, add sharks. Subtraction, have sharks eat other little fish. You can draw pictures of it if you want but for her it was enough just to think of those numbers as sharks and this is something that we are carrying in to multiplication and division. While multiplication will take longer for her to retain she loves division.

Hump Day Sale

As I am having a massive savings sale in my shop already I am not going to post one item for sale today. Instead go on over to my shop. On sale are things for facials, the kitchen, the bathroom and even for the crafter or craft show person. Sale will be ending this Sunday 11:00 pm PST.

As for today I have listed a new Wristlet Key Fob for the Cheerleader in your life. Check it out and give someone a useful personalized gift.

Homeschool Mondays

Ideally I would like to be able to share something of my homeschool experience every Monday. Of course with a buisness to run, three kiddos, a home, and homeschooling it may be more of a dream then a reality. But hey, here we go.

Alphabet Pancakes.

I woke up one morning this last week thinking of how I would make school more exciting the coming week. Especially since we are coming off of a two week break for Christmas.
I have a preschooler and a third grader here at home and as much as I can I have been trying to integrate their studies together. Reading of stories is easy to do as well as sight word practice, especially when I can get them to play 'school' and use the flashcards that we have. It is fun for them and they retain so much more than being lectured to. Lecturing is boring anyways. I much prefer hands on.

Still trying to master letter sounds with my preschooler and spelling words with my third grader, the idea of Alphabet pancakes was born! My kids loved them! A my preschooler was so happy to reach on the plate and pick letters. She had to tell me the sound and a word that began with the sound before she could eat them. With help of course. S, my third grader, got to spell words. The spelling of words is going to take some pre-planning on your part. Or you can throw in some home economics and have your child make the pancakes.Just make sure that you supervise as needed. As you can see from the picture below, S is Shiloh. Her eyes twinkled to see her name spelled out in pancakes.
I shapped the letters by spooning out the batter but if you have one of those cookie pressers (a tube one) then it would be so much easier to do.

Hump Day Sale

Here you go, today's special. Spa Facial scrubby. I love these things. Made of 100% cotton yarn they are nice and thick and they exfoliate so gently. Much better then what I can buy in the store. And even better.....you can choose your color and the quantity you want. Just send me a convo on etsy and i'll make it just for you! These make wonderful stocking stuffers or additions to gift baskets.

10% OFF all Spa Facial scrubby orders placed today. Valid till 11:00pm EST

Happy Shopping!

Together in Prayer

The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. - Proverbs 15:29

Prayer gives us the strength to go on. It allows us the ability to communicate with the One Who loves us so very much.

Prayer brings you closer to the Lord and it allows Him the opportunity to speak to our hearts in the areas that we need His guidance.I want to encourage you to pray.

Pray MORE, and pray OFTEN!

May you all have a blessed day.

Hump Day Sale!

10% OFF all aprons in sale section ( this is 10% in addition to the sale price)

Happy Shopping

Please mention my blog at check out and the discount will be refunded back to your paypal account. Valid till 11:00 pm PST.

Reasons that we homeschool

The reasons that we all homeschool are as varied as us and they can be as personal as a wish.

I am a Christian and I homeschool so that my children can be brought up in a Christian atmosphere. I want them to see the truths of the Bible and not be 'brainwashed' into thinking that the worlds sins are 'okay' just because we see them everyday. I do not want them to be desensitized to the pains that take place all over the world by seeing them in unsupervised places where they are left to think what they will and are ashamed to ask questions for fear of being called stupid. After all, asking questions is how we learn and oh how I want them to learn!

So whatever reason it is that you homeschool......religious, medical, location. Hats off to all of you! The sacrifices we make over material items is greatly over come by the light in our children's eyes.

Chickens and international shipping

Ha! Bet you thought it was shipping chickens internationally! LOL

No really it is just to help to unload some things that are heavy on my heart. It is hard to live under someone else's rule at times and I think it is also a good lesson for my three girls to have to do it. With their father and I working for ourselves they rarely see that we have someone to answer to other than the paper bills in the mail.

First off let me say that we are blessed enough to have the landlord that we do. He is a believer in Jesus, he is our friend, and he is overall a nice guy. We live on the same lot together and more often than not we eat dinner together. It is like an extended family.

Living in Ramona I thought it would be neat to get the two older girls involved in a 4-H and with chickens. They are managable and can be kept in a pen. Visions of them having fun showing at the various fairs available to them danced in my head! I will not lie. Our friend had said no roosters. So I brought home 3 chickens. Another friend was nice enough to GIVE one to each girls and these were some really cool chickens! Cochin chicken. They have feathers on their feet, they are incredibly docile and very easy to hand tame. Another benefit...they do not go nuts and try to dig their way out of their pens as they take to confinment well. This is not to say that they would only spend time there but there is a small space of side yard that they could roam and I had tied pieces of string to their legs and the girls held the other end. They also are a breed that prefer to stay on the ground so the chances of them flying away (we clipped them anyway) was slim. This was a ground loving breed that did well with children, confinment and were show birds.

In the house we had previously live in here in Ramona we have lived 2 houses down wind and they had more than 3 chickens so I was very certain that the smell would be very minimal if at all. The children would have to daily rake out the pen and dispose of the droppings much as I do the dog and cat ones. I really thought I had it under control.....

So I picked up the chickens, got a list of materials that would be needed to care for them and had the eldest run the list in to dad. No problem right, these were after all hens, not cocks. Boy was I wrong! Needless to say the chickens stayed 3 days and 2 nights. The night before we took them back my husband and I were so sick we could not eat. We waited till the girls had eaten and bathe to tell them. I think we all cried ourselves to sleep. Tearfully the chickens were returned. And still they are missed.

Someday


So now onto international shipping....


Whoo Hoo I have finally added it to my etsy shop and I am looking forward to expanding that range of business now. :)

Praise god for the safe surgery and a sale in my etsy store.....

This last friday (Aug1), my husband went in for an outpatient surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. The word 'outpatient' makes you think that there should be no worries but when you are there witing and waiting and the surgery goes on for 2 hours rather than 1 like the doctor said, makes it scary. But praise god that everything went well and he is recovering well. Thru it all the kids were great. We did not hide what was happening to them in case something did happen and Richard was called to be with our maker. I am so proud of them. They are such awsome children of god.

Understandably, I have not been making new things terribly quickly for my etsy shop. The easy part is to find the fabric.....it is much harder to relax at home enough to work when worring about whether or not my husband has a life and death hernia or not. The doctors could not be sure until they operated but his weight was a factor in it. I am thankful this is behind us now. :)
So now I am having a huge sale...... I have just finished the Christmas in July sale but would like to move the current inventory of aprons that I have. All prices have been discounted already. There are also two bags currently on sale.

Something new..... I have started to make themed Key Fobs! They were a great distraction while waiting for my husbands surgery and they are fast to make and so can be offered at a great price! I love that. I love finding deals and I really enjoy being able to have them for people. They are under $5, perfect! Check them out. I have lots more ideas for themes on them and I am hopeing to have them out soon.

Now it is 9pm and time to see how my husband is doing and check if he wants pain medicine again. Thank you Jesus for the many many blessings you bestowed upon my family and myself this past week especially.

Father's Day

Other than being rather frugal and well, lets face it, cheap (living on one income will make you be creative), I love no no no....LOVE the idea of home made gifts! I am not sure when it became the norm that if you have a homemade gift that you are cheap, but that seems to be the attitude I encounter the most. Anyway...back on topic.

Father's Day!

Yeah DADS!

I have decided that this year we are going to make hand impressions to follow with a poem, I also have them painting wooden hearts with their names on them and a place to hang a key. Daddy hold's the key to my heart. I will have to post pics when we have that one done. For now I wanted to share the recipe for the handimpressions (sure you can buy the stuff at your local craft store but it is so much more fun when you can mess the whole kitchen, right?) and the poem.

Handprints

What you need:

4 cups of flour
1 cup salt
Food coloring
Water to moisten
Large Bowl

What you do:

Mix all the ingredients together in large bowl. Add water to get desired dampness.
Take half of the salt dough and gently flatten with palm of your hand. Don't let it get too thin. Keep it thick.
Ask your little one to make her handprints in the dough. You can do the same for feetprints too. With a toothpick have your child write their name on the back of the mold with the date. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Peom Idea:

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls
But everyday I'm growing up
And soon I'll be so tall
That all these little fingerprints
Will be hard to recall
So here's a special handprint
Just so that you can say
This is how my fingers looked
When I placed them here today

Find this idea and more at the link posted below
http://www.homeschoolzone.com/pp/crafts/momday.htm

Staying on track......

This is something that I will admit I am pretty horrible at. Hence all the lists. On my list still, to crochet those 3 white cloths and photo them! See, horrible. Good thing God and can forgive (and that no one had ordered them).

So what did I find so much more intersting then cloths?

I love a challenge and if I can learn something new, even better. I have come to really appreciate the internet. For example, these last two days I learned how to make a crochet and fabric dress. Something I have never done before. I do not have a serger so I learned how to finish a raw edge (I don't have pinking (sp?) shears either) with a special stitch on my machine. Then I also learned how to make ruffles with machine basting stitches......too technical? I have now decided that while I can live without the serger, I really really want a ruffler foot for my machine. Yeah internet.



Here is the finished product. It turned out so good and since I also was able to figure out how to machine sew the crochet bodice to the woven fabric skirt, it will stand the test of my friend's daughter. Here is a picture of my daughter wearing it. Yes it was in the morning and finishing the dress was more important than brushing hair this morning. At least I was able to put aside my artistic tendecies to make them breakfast. :)

And if all that wasn't enough to be proud of myself for..........my hubby was impressed! I heard a WOW hun, that looks really good. Then he had to touch it so I know he liked it. Score one for the girls back home! (my 8 year old latest phrase)

Buisness cards......Check!

Oh yes. After months of saying, " Today, I will get those buisness cards done." they are finally done. However I refuse to disclose just howmany months it took. That's my secret.I am so proud I got them done that I took pictures. Yes! I am lame, I mean cool enough and now with homeschool done for the year officially to have the time to take pictures. So here you are.......

I would love to say that I got it right the first time but it is more like the second. Oh well, I crochet, not make buisness cards.

I am doing good this morning. Out of 11 things on my to do list (you know you have one to) I only have 3 left.

1.Crochet 3 more white dish/wash cloths for etst to make a set of 4

2.Take pictures off all the others that I crocheted this weekend (2 hot pink, 1 white, 2 natural)3.Put 1 basket of laundry away

The last one will most likly not get done. I have no problem washing the laundry, after all, it stinks. But to put it away......I homeschool so there are days when wrinkled cloths are ok. :)

What else to I have to do? I am making a market bag out of all 100% cotton yarn. I made myself one already and I love it. The holes are not so big that my cell will fall out or pens and I can use it for the park (sand shakes out), I have used it to replace what would normally fit into 3 plastic grocery bags (yeah!). I love it because when I go to check out the bag girl looked at me, smiled, and under her breath asked the checker lady, "What am I suppose to do with this?", truly puzzled. I smiled and said, "Fill her up as much as she will hold".

Oh horror. My daughter just now is talking about when she buys a horse!!! I need to go and find some other educational channel other then animal planet. We have a zoo as it is, but that is another post entirely. ;)

Policies and Wisdom

So I am trying to be witty but when kids are being whinny, it can be difficult. I decided to write my store policies for my etsy shop (thought I had already but apparently that was in the same dream that I had also gotton all the laundry done, sigh) with some humor. Here is my attempt.

Welcome
Welcome to my refuge of peace! I am a SAHM/WAHM that homeschools....need I say more on the refuge of peace? I love to create and find that it keeps me sane on those days I need it most. I much prefer crochet to banging my head in the wall and my kids don't look at me as strangly.

Payment
I accept the following forms of payment and prefer that payment be made or mailed within 3 days. Failure to do so will result in my re-listing the item for someone else to have it (unless you communicate with me first)

*Paypal
*Money OrderShippingAll items are sent via First Class Mail with delivery confirmation. They are carefully packaged in a plastic bag with a thank you note and a free gift if I have them available. I then package them in an envelope to accomedate their size.

IMPORTANT
I am not responsible for items that are damaged or lost in the postal service system. Once it leaves my hands it is out of my control. If you would like to purchase insurance for you package then please let me know and I will send you a revised invoice to reflect that.

Refunds and Exchanges
At this time I am hesitant to offer refunds but if you open the package and do not like it after all please convo me immediatly (within 3 days) and mail it back. Once I have recieved it and made sure it is still in prestine condition I will refund you the cost of the item.

Additional Policies and FAQs
I am open to trades. Have never done them but don't see a harm in them. I have something you like you have something I like, lets talk!

I try to add new things once a week however it can be difficult with homeschooling and three kids so I add them as often as I am able. If you are looking for something and I do not currently have it in my shop, convo me. I will drop everything, lock myself in my room leaving the husband to fend for himself and make it for you! Truly, I will. :)**I especially enjoy the part of leaving the hubby to defend for himself. ;)

Now for the wisdom part of todays blog posting!
Drum roll please...............
Wisdom teeth are so aptly named because you realize after the dentist has PRIED them OUT of your mouth that it would have been WISER to just leave them.Had all my wisdom teeth pulled, I cried, I shook and after it all, I went and drove myself to the pharmacy to get the pain meds because it if hurt that bad still with the novicane then it was really going to hurt later on!

Now to let you know just how dedicated of an educator I am, when the dental assistant asked if I wanted my teeth (they do that for adults?) I said yes thinking that I could turn this into a really good lesson on oral health and the kids could look at them (mind you I have all girls) and we could look them up on the web. And we did.