INDOOR CLASSROOM

Here is one of our "indoor classrooms" we use.

The Kitchen!

Cooking with my children warms my heart and fills my soul with fuzzy feelings. Yes, they are learning the basics of cooking. However, more importantly I hope I am passing on a family tradition to them. A love for cooking, spending time with family and having fun all at the same time.

My friend over at Mommy Cooks shared this recipe last week and I thought I would give it a try with the monkey's!

Pudding Cookies
1 cup butter
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 (3 ounce) box instant pudding mix (any flavor)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder


Cream butter and sugar, add egg and instant pudding.
Beat well, add sifted flour and baking powder.
Roll into small balls, flatten with fork on a cold greased tray.
Bake 350°F degrees for 15-20 minutes.



They did a great job. YUMMY!!!

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

At the Shore Stories blog she posted her outdoor learning class room. She asked for others to share their outdoor learning space too. So here is ours.

This is what school is all about. LEARNING

Our outdoor class room.

The assignment:

1. Re-create the digestive system using objects you can find in the yard, barn or garage.
2. Must work as a team
3. Be able to give an oral presentation on how the digestive system works.
4. Have a little fun with it.

They used garden hose, rocks, footballs, socks, sticks, pool hose, wrench, plug and more garden hose. It may not look like much. But, I was impressed. They worked as a team, were creative, had fun and most of all they LEARNED.

Do you have an outdoor learning room? I would love to hear from you.

HOW DO YOU HOMESCHOOL

I Have to Say is hosting Back to Homeschool Week to share how do we homeschool and other fun tidbits .

Well, I would love to knock your socks off. I would love to tell how I am "MATRTHA STEWART" organized. I would love to show off all organizational skills. But, after doing this for 7 years, I have learned there is no such thing....(NOT FOR ME) .... . I have had to roll with the punch. We do (try) to keep a regular daily schedule.

I use a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

When I first started I thought I had to "DO SCHOOL".

We started out using the Abeka DVD program. While it is an outstanding program, it did not work for us. To ridged.

We currently are using the Weaver Unit Study Program for Bible, History, Science, Social Studies. We have added Saxon for Math and Language. There are also several other computer programs we use online. Ed Helper and ABC Teach are helpful online resources .

Here is my little tidbit for today.

"BE FLEXIBLE....BE WILLING TO CHANGE WITH YOUR CHILDREN'S LEARNING STYLE"

BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK

I Have to Say is hosting Back to Homeschool Week to share why we homeschool and other fun tidbits .

I don't know how many of you actually know that I do homeschool. I have not posted much about it. To be honest with you I have been wishy washy here at my blog...NO focus. Maybe it is because of summer...or maybe it's just how I feel things are right now ----wishy washy. However, with school starting back in the next few weeks, my life will get re-focused in a hurry.

I love to homeschool, I love the lifestyle it allows us to live. For our family it WORKS.

Homeschooling is not for everyone.
The school system (private or public) is not for everyone.

I am grateful I live in a country that affords me the opportunity to make an educated decisions to pursue what is best for our family.

I have been homeschooling for 7 years. When my husband and I starting looking into our schooling options, the conversation kept going back to homeschool. I really did not think I had what IT took to homeschool (what ever IT is).

I did tons of research :

1. Went to homeschool conferences

2. Read "How to Homeschool" books

3. Searched the internet

4. Joined Support Groups

5. Went to book fairs

6. Read more books

7. Talk to friends

8. Talk to family members

9. Talk to teacher friends

10. LOTS OF PRAYING

I should have had praying at the #1 spot. I did more of that than any other.

I was overwhelmed -- however, I still was convited to do it. How can I argue with God. If He thinks I can -- Than I can. I know if the Lord was not in this it would NOT WORK for us.

Having said all this-- It is one of the best decisions we have made. NO REGRETS!!!

What I will be posting for the coming week:

Monday, August 6---What led to your decision to homeschool?
Tuesday, August 7---How do you homeschool?
Wednesday, August 8---Getting out there...
Thursday, August 9---If I had only known...
Friday, August 10---Curriculum