Kids are out from school today. Even though we homeschool, we stick to a regular “school” schedule. So my kids get summers off (and I do, too!). We work on projects during this time– gardening, home remodeling, etc. I haven’t started any projects yet, due to lack of funds and time. I’m REALLY hoping I can renovate the kitchen in the near future though. sighhhh But I have a hunch this is going to be a lazy summer. ;)

My kids absolutely LOVE dressing up. They will dress up as anything– David and Goliath, Arabian sheiks, Pilgrims, Founding Fathers, or cowboys and Indians. I loved dressing up as a kid, too. I really liked the cowboys and Indians (I was always an Indian!) and I remember liking to dress up as Laura Ingalls Wilder, with her prairie dresses. As a teenager, I was a huge, huge fan of the Star Wars movies, so I always made my own Star Wars halloween costumes. My kids don’t celebrate halloween, but they love to dress up and I don’t mind it. Except when they use my makeup for “Indian paint.” Heh. They put on some great plays which we have incorporated into our homeschool, under the “drama” and literature subjects. :D

Our favorite kind of dress up is period costumes. We LOVE history and there is nothing more fun than making history feel “real” by acting out favorite scenes from the Bible, from American history, or ancient history! My eldest is 18 years old, and she still loves to dress up. Therefore, we’re always on the prowl for some good, inexpensive costumes and dress up props, like wigs, hats, and gloves. Halloween Adventure has a terrific promotion going on right now– 5% off an entire purchase! Costumes are for all year ’round!

Holy guacamole! I saw this an my jaw dropped open. The lady makes this look so easy, lol. Can the average person do this?

Love the music, lol. HT My Interesting Files. Now I’ll be haunted for the rest of my life.

Update: Oh here’s a much better video! I think I can do this…..

2 Second T-Shirt Fold!! - video powered by Metacafe

I’m finally going to begin what I’ve promised I’d begin– a series of posts about our homeschooling routine and our resources. The hardest thing about homeschooling is getting started. I know a lot of young moms and dads are completely baffled about how to begin, and the thought of educating their children is terrifying. But I believe in you– you can do it!

As I’ve stated very clearly before, reading is the most essential element of education. Reading is much, much more than looking at letters and words. Reading comprehension is absolutely crucial. You can read more about my reading philosophy by clicking the link in my sidebar. I am 100% in favor of phonics when it comes to reading education. Two of the best books I have seen are Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade. These books are available by Cedar Valley Publishing. They cover more than teaching reading– they are a condensed summary of the first two years of education. Educators (and to you homeschooling parents– that means YOU) can use them as a scope and sequence for the basics, for what the child should be learning that year (colors, numbers, etc for Kindergarten; subtraction, geometric shapes, etc for First Grade). I like these books a lot, and wish I’d had them for my own children when they were young.

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Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten addresses the basic curriculum for kindergarten. You could even use it for preschoolers. The book is extremely durable (laminated thick cardboard pages). I love the bright colors and very clear illustrations. This book covers the alphabet, colors, basic shapes, numbers and counting, money, opposites, seasons, weather, telling time, the calendar, and more. Each page is very basic- you should develop your own activities based on what is addressed in the book. For example, there’s a page about the different seasons of the year. What you can do is– throughout the year– start a notebook and fill it with words, pictures, and leaves throughout the seasons. My kids had a three-ring binder that we filled with the leaves of spring, the weather we saw during the spring season, and the birds and bugs we noticed. We looked up the different kinds of leaves and birds in the encyclopedia and drew pictures of them, and wrote their names in the notebook. We did this for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This fulfilled the requirements for science (noticing weather patterns and collecting leaves), for language (by using the encyclopedia and watching mommy write letters), for art (drawing the birds and flowers), and more. Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten will not teach your child for you, but will give you the tools and basic information you need to know what to teach the child. And because the pages and the book in general are durable, the child can flip through the book himself, too.

Let’s Get Ready For First Grade is similar, and advances to the next step of development. Now that the child has learned numbers and letters, the child can advance to learning basic addition and subtraction, and learning the phonetic alphabet. I love that these books emphasize phonics for reading. This book addresses things like vowels, consonants, punctuation, compound words, ordinals, graphs, solar system, money, measurement, shapes, and government structure. You can really get creative with this. For example, print a picture of the Supreme Court building, and allow the child to find the different shapes that form the building (the columns are rectangles, the pediment is a triangle, etc). The child can trace the shape and color them. As he colors, you can explain what the Supreme Court does. This fulfills requirements for art (coloring), spacial skills and geometry (finding and drawing shapes) and civics (government function). Let’s Get Ready For First Grade takes the very basics of what is necessary for First Grade (or sooner, if you want to get ahead), and you can go from there. The only limit is your own creativity!

In the next few posts, I’ll talk about other helpful books and offer tips on what worked for us. Homeschooling is very fluid and flexible. People have asked me how on earth I find the time to do everything that I do. I can only answer that homeschooling is a lifestyle– you find out ways to educate your child with everything you say and do. It grows on you, too. In the beginning of homeschooling, structure is very important. The child must have a set time to work and a set time to play. The child must accomplish goals and he must realize from the start whether he is accomplishing them correctly. Expect to spend a lot of time with the child for the first 4 to 5 years of homeschooling. After that, however, the successful discipline really shows and the homeschooling child becomes independent and responsible much quicker then the public-schooled child.

I missed the last two MM, one on purpose (didn’t like the questions) and then on accident (it was Wednesday before I realized it had been Monday and Tuesday). I figured if I didn’t do today’s, I’d lose my momentum and get lost in the Manic Monday Time Warped Black Hole and never do it again. So, well, here goes!

Are you a talker or a listener? Is it ever possible to really be both?
I am both. So yes, it is possible.
It depends on the situation, as well. I’ve been a talker when I should have been a listener, and vice versa. But there have been those glorious moments when I was a talker when talking helped a situation, and when I was a listener and listening aided someone. I try to be sensitive and walk in the Spirit, as the scriptures say.

Do you think God has a sense of humor?
Absolutely. For one, God created everything so that means humor; two, he created people which must give everyone in heaven a really good guffaw from time to time.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Have you ever experienced it?
I don’t know about this one. “Love” needs defining here. Is love to be defined as “lust”? If so, then yes, there is lust at first site. With “love” as in agape, that Greek word for unconditional love? Yes, I think this can be at first site, too, although it is rarer. Take, for example, when a mother lays eyes on her newly-birthed baby. That newborn looks like a pink prune and screams his head off, but mom loves him. And that goes back to question number 2– proof that God has a sense of humor, lol. ;)

We’re really hoping– oh, ever so much!– to visit my brother who lives in Virginia. We’ve been wanting to see him for a few years now, sheesh! The kids are very excited, and we’ve been saving our nickels and dimes to go. We also hope to see Washington, DC, on our way there. I have fond memories of seeing Washington, years ago. I attended the very first “Washington for Jesus” conference at the Washington Memorial. It was such a blast! I got to meet Steve Green, Larnell Harris, Melody Green (Keith Green’s wife), and several congressmen. I went there for a radio show (I was in radio at that time) and it was quite the experience! I didn’t have a chance to see the sights, though. So I’m looking forward to seeing the historic side of Washington, DC.

Plus, my kids are tremendous history buffs, and we could never travel south past Washington without stopping. We’ve already got some ideas for our future Washington dc sightseeing thanks to Trusted Tours & Attractions.com. Have you ever seen this site? It is the best travel site I’ve ever come across, with terrific online travel guides! It has a great listing of attractions and events for the city (as well as various other major U.S. cities) and also has discounts for popular attractions. I love perusing this site. I even signed up for their newsletter to keep on top of things to do in New York. Sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and you’re entered to win a handheld GPS! The offer ends June 30th, 2008, so get going if you want to try for it.

The population of this country is 300 million.

160 million are retired (or illegally here).

That leaves 140 million to do the work.

There are 85 million in school.

Which leaves 55 million to do the work.

Of this there are 40 million employed by the federal government.

Leaving 15 million to do the work.

2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama Bin-Laden.

Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work.

Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city Governments. And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.

At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals.

Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.

Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.

That leaves just two people to do the work.

You and me.

And there you are,

Sitting at your computer,

reading jokes.

Nice. Real nice.

hat tip Living With Me. :D

I’m not sure if the figures are correct, but it was cute.

Can you believe that, thanks to the Internet, you can shop for used cars online?! Yes you can! I am flabbergasted. And of course, elated! :D If you live in the North Carolina area, check out these cool used cars Wilmington, NC. It’s the Bruce Cavenaugh AutoMart, AutoPalace, and Suzuki SuperStore virtual dealership. At Bruce Cavenaugh, you can search the inventory, watch BruceTV, clean up your credit, and even apply for credit online. Pretty amazing. The Bruce Cavenaugh Automart has a huge selection of cars, trucks, vans, and SUV’s, including Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet. Buick, imports, and — amazingly– some hybrids! I would just love to check those out! Deals are incredible because gas prices has everyone looking to save money on better and efficient vehicles. Check them out online at your leisure with no nosy salesman to follow you around! Gotta love the Internet!

My husband works for the Postal Service sometimes. So I got a great big kick out of this goofy photo.

/p>
I hate it when those packing peanuts spill out of the shipping box! Woe to the person who has to pick all that up, lol!

Hat tip Slacker Heaven for the photo.

I won’t be doing much dropping today, looks like. The widgets are not showing up on a good 75% of the blogs I visit. I reload, reload, reload… nothing. The sun is shining, I have laundry to do… no dropping today! Sorry. I really do enjoy dropping. Maybe later.