...in a dry and thirsty land...

Brown Eyes Blue

2012-01-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

This post is mostly about the problems I've been having with running photo retouching actions on my dark eyed but fair skinned daughter. My favorite Photoshop Elements action is 2 Minute Miracle from The CoffeShop Blog, but while it is ideal for my blued eyed boys, it does seem to have issues with my brown eyed girls (and one brown eyed boy).

Here, see what I mean. This is a photo of my baby (who is almost 5, ACK).

This isn't the best of photos, as silly mama didn't think she would want pictures of another child's birthday party. I didn't have my camera with me, so I took this with my iPod. Anyway, the only work done on this photo was cropping and I used the clone stamp tool to clean up some pizza sauce off her check (clone stamp tool on the laptop is almost better than wipies in the purse).

This is the same photo with the 2 Minute Miracle action applied to following the tutorial for the Eye Bright portion of it. I left the opacity of "Bright Eyes" layer at 100%, and as you can see it didn't result in space alien eyes at all. Actually, they look great. Except... it turned her brown eyes blue. A pretty blue, to be sure, but blue nonetheless. I've ran into this problem with other photos as well, although depending on the lighting sometimes it turns her eyes green.

Here's the same photo again, with the same 2 Minute Miracle action, but this time I set the "Bright Eyes" layer to 0%. She looks more like herself, but here her eyes seem a little dull and not quite right to me. Part of the joy that is the 2 Minute Miracle is the way it makes eyes POP, and these just don't.

Same photo, same action, now with the "Bright Eyes" layer set at 30%. It's better than 0%, but there is still a blue-ish cast. When I go lower to 20-15%, you can hardly tell a difference from the 0%. I can live with this, and it has been what I've been using for her photos, but I'm not completely happy.

This time after running the 2 Minute Miracle action I hid the "Bright Eyes" layer and then ran the PowderRoom After Dark action. This action was made for retouching dark complexions, so I hid all of the layers of it except the "Eye Pop" layer and left it at 100% (the skin smoothing and defining layers are just way too much contrast for fair skin). I can't discern much if any difference between this and the photo above, so it's not the solution I'm looking for.

Not Just Pinning

2012-01-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

I succumbed to the blog-'o-sphere pressure and finally got myself a Pinterest account a couple weeks ago. However, I don't want to be someone that is always pinning and never doing, so here is some doing proof.

I've been pinning hair styles for ideas to use with my daughters hair, AND I've actually used a few of the ideas over the last week or so.

I took this idea on the left and used it for my preschooler's hair Sunday (on the right, sorry it's not the best of pics).

For my pre-teen, I took a tutorial on how to use a headband to create curls without using heat, and made it into a hair style. My daughter (right) obviously doesn't need help in the curls department, but we love the look of her hair wrapped around a headband. It looks like a soft crown of hair. We left the hair hanging down in the back on this day, and added a big pink flower to complete the look.

Workboxes Update

2011-06-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Last August I wrote about the workbox system I was implementing, and I promised to write a follow-up post in January or so. Well, June is more than a little late, but here is the follow-up on our workbox system.

The reason for this follow-up post is simple; many people blog about their wonderful workbox system they are just starting to use, but you don't hear much about what people have been doing for the long term. I, myself, have spent hours putting together a system that didn't last two weeks before, so I think it's important to let people know what has worked for us in the long term.

I am happy to say that we are still using workboxes.

We have changed things from how we started, however. The biggest change is my two oldest kids. My 8th grader didn't start this school year with workboxes of any sort, but rather I was just giving him an assignment checklist. My 6th grader was using a workfolder system (see the August post I linked to in the first paragraph above). Neither of these held up to the test of time, mostly because they required regular updating from me. The workfolder system especially was an epic fail, as it took 10+ minutes daily of my time in order for it to work. 10 minutes isn't much, I suppose, but they were 10 unnecessary minutes and as such they all too often were spent elsewhere.

Even the way the little kids use their workboxes has changed slightly. The whole "take off the numbered square and put it on this grid" thing is gone. First, neither the kids nor I needed that movement of numbers to feel like the work was done. Completing a bin and putting it back is more than enough visually to get the idea across. Second, I have always allowed my kids at least some choice in the order they do their subjects, but me setting up the numbering took all choice away from them.

Anyway, here is the description of how workboxes work in our homeschool now. We've been doing it this way for months (more months than we did it the other way) and I don't see it changing except I'm thinking of putting their colors on the ends so I can see more easily at a glance whose bin is whose.

Each kid has one bin per subject, more or less. My 8th grader has one bin per hour, as I require an hour from him a day for most subjects, but Spanish and Grammar only take up an hour together total. At the beginning of the school day everyone moves their bins away from their spot under the bookshelves and as they go through their school work they put the bins back one at a time. When they have gone through all their bins they are done for the day. They get to choose what order they want to do their work (I do override their choice as needed, but it isn't often) and that diminishing stack of bins is a great motivator. Many of the subjects don't require set up at all, as they are just "do the next thing" subjects like handwriting, math, and spelling. For history and science for the older kids I either give them a print out check list with lessons that will last them months at a time, or I refer them to the Sonlight Instructor's Guide to look up the assignment on their own. For the younger kids I put some IG pages in the bin with the books for me to use. The only bin, out of all five kids, that requires daily set up is the bin that holds my K'er's page from All About Reading Level Pre-1's Letters and Sounds Activity Book as it needs different craft supplies daily (I promise to do a review of AAR soon, it's WONDERFUL). Well, I've trained my guy that setting up for the next day is part of finishing up for today, so this bin is ready for the next day by the time he puts it away. Plus, that makes him excited for the next day too.

Anyway, that's our system in a nutshell. If you have any questions, ask and I'll give more detail.

PSE Drop Shadows

2011-05-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is a tutorial for adding shadows to items in Photoshop Elements; I'll be using digital papers but the steps will be the same regardless of what you want to add a shadow to. The screen shots are from PSE version 8, but the concepts apply to all versions. As always, click on any screen shot to see it full sized.

First we just set up what we want a shadow on. I am using a couple digital papers from Daisy Country Value Collection created by Teresa Loman of Digital Scrapbook Place. I resized and rotated the yellow paper using the Free Transform tool.

Make sure the layer you want to apply a shadow on is selected (darkened) in the Layers bin on the right.

Now open the Effects bin on the right by double clicking on the word "Effects". Then select "Layer Styles" option; the icon is within the smaller red circle. Once that is selected, go to the drop down menu and select "Drop Shadows".

The "Low" option is most similar to what we want our shadow to look like, so we will select it. Double click on it, or select it and hit the "Apply" button.

After double clicking the "Low" icon, or selecting it and hitting "Apply", the fx icon will appear on the right of the layer that the shadow was applied to. See it within the smaller red circle.

Now we will be working with that fx icon to adjust the drop shadow. Double click on it.

Once you double click on the fx icon, this pop up menu will appear.

From here you can adjust not only the shadow, but other things as well such as bevels, glow, and stroke. Bevels are like the edges of a finished piece of wood when a router has been used on it. Think of a picture frame. Glow puts highlights and lowlights on an item, and is often used to make it look like metal or plastic. Stroke outlines an item, such as a photo, in solid color. All of these are accessed from the Layer Styles drop down menu in the Effects bin, although Stroke can also be accessed under the top menu option "Edit".

Here I have changed the settings for the Drop Shadow. The setting of 8, 8, 55 is a good place to start and is adequate for most digital scrapping needs. After inputting the numbers I clicked "OK" and the changes to the shadow were applied. Feel free to adjust the numbers up or down from my recommendations as you desire to get the look you want.

We're done with putting a shadow on this paper.

Here you can see the same digital papers side by side, one with a drop shadow applied and the other without it. The first helps creates the illusion of realism, giving depth to the image. That is the point of working with shadows in our digital scrapbooking.

Lastly here are just a couple extra tips, shortcuts really, one to make adding shadows a bit quicker and the other will help you personalize PSE's interface to your own preferences. These may not be applicable to earlier versions of PSE. I know they weren't possible with PSE 5, and while I am not sure I don't think they were options with PSE 6 or 7 (if you know otherwise, please let me know).

Once you have your drop shadow set just how you want it on one item, you can easily apply the same shadow with the same settings to another by this method. Right click on the layer in the Layers bin that has the shadow on it. A menu will appear (for some reason my computer didn't want to take screen shots of that menu). On that menu select "Copy Layer Style". Then, once you have your next paper or item in your layout, you can then right click on it in the Layers bin and select "Paste Layer Style". The shadow will then be on that layer with the exact same settings as the other layer.

To personalize PSE, right click on the "Low" icon in the Drop Shadow menu and choose the "Add to Favorites" option.

Now go above the work space to the top menu and click on "Windows" (within the smaller red circle). From that drop menu choose "Favorites" and the Favorites bin will appear floating (within the larger red circle).

Now drag this floating Favorites bin into the docked bins on the right, by clicking and dragging the tab with the word "Favorites" on it and putting it below the Layers bin. A glowing blue line will appear to show you where the bin will be when you let go of the mouse and "drop" it.

You can leave the bin there, or move it up or down by clicking and dragging it to where you want it to be. I like to organize my bins by having Undo History and Favorites in the same location, and I can access one or the other of them by clicking on the tabs. I added the Undo History bin from the "Windows" menu the same way that I added the Favorites bin. There are a lot of bin options in the "Windows" menu. Feel free to play with them to find what set up works best for you.

In my Favorites bin you can also see the icon for "Masks Layers". It is for using layer masks in PSE, and I did a tutorial about layer masks previously that you may be interested in. It is more technical than this one, but I have been told that it is understandable even to a PSE newbie.

PSE Free Transform

2011-05-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is a tutorial for Photoshop Elements' free transform tool, with a focus on resizing and rotating items without skewing or distorting the item. The screen shots are from PSE version 8, but the concepts apply to all versions. As always, click on any screen shot to see it full sized.

Start by putting your photo (or other item you wish to resize) in your working area and selecting the Move tool. It is the little crosshairs and cursor icon first in the Tools bin on the left (within the red circle). However, you can also select the Move tool with the keyboard shortcut V (just hit the letter V). Make sure the "Show Bounding Box" option is check above (where the red checkmark is) and that the photo is bounded by those little squares on the corners and half way along each side (also shown within the red circle).

Now get the Free Transform tool going. Free Transform is a function of the Move tool, so that is why I had us start with it. With the Move tool selected, put your cursor on one of the bounding box squares and click. This automatically gets the Free Transform tool open. In addition, you can use the keyboard shortcut of holding the control key and hitting the letter T (ctrl+T) to select the Free Transform tool at any time, whether the Move tool is selected or not.

Notice that the bounding box on the photo changed slightly, now that the Free Transform tool is in action. It went from dotted lines between the squares to solid lines between. Also notice that the menu above the working space has also changed.

When you begin to resize your photo, you need to verify that the "Constrain Proportions" box is checked (notice red checkmark). Now click and drag one of the corners of the photo to make it bigger or smaller (note, in the program the cursor will change to look like a small double headed black arrow when you are on the corner). Notice that the percent resized is equal for both width and height, designated W: and H: within the red circle (both are 44.4% here).

This screen shot shows what happens when you try to click and drag a corner of the photo when "Constrain Proportions" is not checked. The result is what is called a skewed or distorted photo, with the percent changed being unequal for the width and height (74.7% and 56.2% respectively).

This last screen shot simply shows rotating or tilting a photo using the Free Transform tool. Put the cursor over the little circle that appears below the bottom center of the bounding box. The cursor will change into a little circle made up of little black arrows when there. Then click and drag right or left to rotate or tilt the photo.

The tool item that is underlined in red here shows the degree of rotation. It's nice sometimes to know the exact degree of rotation so that you can match up exact angles on other items, if you need to do so.

When you finish resizing and rotating your photo, simply click on the green checkmark that appears below it whenever the Free Transform tool is selected. Doing this makes your changes. Clicking on the red circle with a line through it undoes your changes.

How my life would be better with a serger.

2010-08-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sew, Mama, Sew Blog has asked the question, "How would your life be better with a serger?" At times like this I wish I was witty or clever or funny, but the simple truth is I am not these things and my attempts to be so tend to be rather pathetic. Instead, I'll do what I do best, which is detailed and probably too wordy. Hey, everyone has to be good a something. So, here goes.

My life would be better with a serger because:

1. My limited sewing time would be much more productive.

This is how my school/family/dining room looked like this afternoon, and it's an all too common state. Today we took the time to clean it up before dinner, but sometimes I sew instead. I'm a homeschool mama of five, teaching high school Biology, preschool shapes and colors, and almost everything in between. I do well to get even two or three hours of sewing per week, and I get that time because I let other things go in order to have it. If I had a serger, just think of how much more I could accomplish in that two or three hours.

2. I find myself drawn to difficult fabrics and complicated construction.

My pre-teen daughter needs more skirts and pants, so I decided to take a pair of too short jeans and convert them into a skirt by cutting them off just below the zipper and adding a skirt. Did I choose a simple quilting cotton and a straight forward A-line skirt? No way. I'm using an airy gauze that is requiring french seems, and I am doing a multi-layered gathered skirt, all on a 20+ year old 6-stitch Kenmore. It's going to look so great when it's finished, but those multiple fluttering layers all need teeny tiny narrow hems, meticulously and time consumingly done. If I had a serger, I wouldn't have to do french seams and I'd be doing rolled hems on all those tiers. The skirt would be done by now, and I'd be on to another project by now.

3. Lastly, no one ever gives sergers away.
We are a one income family, and I just don't foresee being able to afford a serger any time within the next few years. People frequently want to clear out their closets and will give sewing machines away to someone (like me) that will use it. Over the years I've been giving 4 working sewing machines, and have been offered a few that don't work. But no on ever gives away a serger. People that have sergers don't have them sitting around in closets; they are using them. If I won the Husqvarna Viking s21, I wouldn't have to pine for a serger any longer.

Thank you, Sew, Mama, Sew, for your generosity in so many things in so many ways. Thank you for the mere chance at such a wonderful, high-end serger. I have 7 people (5 kids, my husband, and myself) I'm sewing for, plus we just bought a home that needs lots for decor and there is always gifts and charity projects to be made. Having a serger of my very own would be a dream come true.

Student Portrait Week

2010-08-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

It's week 3, Student Photo Week, on the NOT Back-to-School blog hop hosted at Heart of the Matter. However, my husband strongly prefers that I do not put photos of our children on my blog and I strongly prefer to respect his preferences. So, you won't find any photos here and if you were looking for them, feel free to move onto other blogs on the blog hop.

What you will find, instead, is a verbal snap shot of each of my children, a little paragraph focusing on some part of their personality. You see, I was hugely challenged by the keynote speaker on Saturday of the 2010 AFHE Homeschool Convention, Carol Barnier. She spoke of how we can focus too closely on the problems in each of our children, and miss their gifts, their unique qualities that can be of use to God.

My 8th grader –
Just that morning, while eating breakfast at the time-share we were staying in, I complained about my son's lack of opinions to my friend. She had asked him if he wanted another glass of milk, and he replied, "I don't know." He really and truly didn't know if he wanted more milk or not, and I just don't get how someone wouldn't know what he wants.

During Mrs. Barnier's talk, as a shed a few tears because of the conviction I was under, it occurred to me to rethink this character trait that annoys me so much. It took a bit, but then it became suddenly clear to me. It’s not that he doesn’t know what he wants; it’s that he doesn’t care. If he has more milk or if he doesn’t have more milk, it’s all good to him. Are you seeing where I am going with this? In 1Tim 6:8, Paul admonishes Christians with, “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” It seems my son is further along in this regard than I myself am.

My 6th grader –
This girl is immensely capable and reliable. Once she has learned how to do something, such as make a spaghetti dinner by herself, I can count on her to do it again without help, supervision, or even problems. She’s my go-to girl, and is slowly and wonderfully becoming my dearest companion. Other people are beginning to see her quiet and unassuming dependable character too. Even at such a young age, she is being asked by other people to do tasks typically reserved for older girls, such as serving drinks when our church hosting a meal for out of town preachers. Even better is that her reliability is accompanied by a servant's heart.

My 2nd grader –
There is a heart for missions in this guy. A couple years back, he told me he was going to build a boat when he grew up, travel to China and tell all the people there about God, Jesus, and the Bible, and then he would be a policeman. While he has a better understanding of the numbers of people in China now, and his policeman dreams are fading a bit, he still wants to tell others about the one true God and His free gift of salvation. The thought of being the mother and main teacher of a future missionary scares me a bit.

My K’er –
This boy has an overweening sense of order. Before he was a year old, he would line his cars up by size; a practice he still does when he is finished playing with them. I have to fuss at him in the grocery store, because he doesn’t want to leave an aisle until he has straightened all the shelves he can reach and brought packages of food forward to fill empty places. He even tries to change my organization system on my books shelves, but… Well I don’t tolerate that much because I disagree with him on a couple of key issues (for example, he likes books pushed all the way back to the wall and I prefer the spines all aligned). This little man has some detail-orientated future in store for him. I can see that God placing him with us will be a good thing. He will learn how to tolerate those that don’t sweat the details much ;o).

My preschooler –
My baby. The Lord definitely knew what he was doing when he gave us this one last. She has such a personality that only her youth keeps her from dominating all the rest of her siblings. I’ve even seen my teenager obey her commands once or twice! Thankfully, the majority of her bossiness is simple mothering. “Bruvver, use two hands!” is a typical ordered issued from her cute little mouth. I foresee her happily in charge of a large family of kids some day.

My children are wonderful, unique, pleasant individuals. I enjoy being with each and every one of them, and it is amazing to me to watch who they will be unfolding in who they are. May their unique gifts become a blessing to man and bring glory to God.

What's in the Workbox

2010-08-12T11:01:00.005-07:00

This is my 2nd grader's Read Aloud workbox for this week. Every thing I read aloud to him, and my K'er, goes into one bin with this week's Core Instructor's Guide page. If I felt I needed the guide pages for the books I would add them to the bin as well, but since this is only Core 1 and I've done this Core before I didn't bother with the guides.

This is my K'er's Math workbox for the day. He wants to do lots of pages in Singapore Earlybird book A each day, but he isn't really getting the concepts fully. So, as needed, I am making up additional hands-on Math for him. Today he has to count out the amount of beads written on each Post-It note. Not exactly related, but I used green Post-Its because his color is green. Yes, I do color code my kids.

This is a tea party in a bin for my preschooler. Her workboxes are all about keeping her occupied and happy while I work with my school aged children. Well, tea parties make her very happy indeed and I can't think of a single other activity that will keep her busy for more time. This is all she needs for herself and her two pandas, because (at least according to her) pandas like tea parties too.

This is my 6th grader's last pocket in her workfolder for today. She is working on a quilted notebook cover. We are both loving how using this version of the workbox system is getting her to more electives more regularly.

School Room Week + Workboxes

2010-08-08T22:05:00.005-07:00

It's week 2, School Room Week, of the NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop over on Heart of the Matter.

We don't have a dedicated school room, but school definitely dominates our family room. Check it out. As usual, click on any photo to see it full size.

This photo was taken from in front of our kitchen sink, over looking the bar counter, the dining room table, and then into the family room where school takes place. Notice the cattails in the foreground from an earlier blog post, and behind them you can barely see an ugly but comfy yellow chair, and off to the right between the wooden chair and the computer desk is a comfy but ugly green love seat. The shelves and desk are pretty ugly too. Hmmm, I sense a theme there.

We do have prettier dreams, however. We are making plans, counting costs, and saving up to put in built in cabinets and shelves along that large west wall of the family room. This is about what we plan. We'll replace the ugly but comfy seats with pretty but comfy seats too.

While I'm at it here, I'll spend the rest of this post talking about our version of the workbox system. Don't know what workboxes are? Well, Squidoo has the best overview that I know of.

I opted to use Sterilite 6.2 quart flat bins instead of plastic shoe boxes, because the idea of folding workbooks to fit in smaller bins just bothers me. The bins I chose allow even extra large books to lay flat. Otherwise my system for my three younger kids is pretty much the same as explained on the above Squidoo page. For my preschooler, the bins with pink numbers, "school" is just a mix of games, puzzles, and other activities that keep her happy while I work with the others. When I first started out with these about three weeks ago I was changing out her things daily, but now I have found she is just as happy if I keep the same items for a full week.

Here is a peek into my 2nd grader's #1 bin. The underside of the lid has the workbox schedule grid for the velcro numbers to go as he finishes each bin. Also, in this bin is where his pencil, crayons, and other school supplies live, and right on top ready for Monday morning is a cardstock page with clip art of a child making her bed and it reads "clean your room". He has to clean his room for the #1 bin to be done and so he can go on with the rest of his school day. My K'er and preschooler have similar #1 bins.

Some people new to workboxes wonder how subjects that are done together with more than one child are dealt with. For example, if I am reading one History book to two or more children what do I do with it? Well, the biggest benefit of the workboxes in our homeschool is the accountability required of me, so it is important to me that all school is in the boxes. So, I just put the do-together items in one child's box and when we get to it the other child (or other children, as the case may be) take a break from their boxes and come along too. Again, we are only about three weeks into this workbox system, but it is working very, very well so far. I'll post a workbox update come January or February, as I am often curious how people's systems work in the long term.

Lastly, I'll show you my 6th grader's workfolder system, which has a similar premise but is a bit different in execution. I take no credit for the idea; I pretty much copied, almost exactly, the idea from this blog post from Homeschool Creations. For me, this is the perfect solution for kids (and moms) that could benefit from the general workbox idea, but that feel they are too old for a dozen or so boxes. Also, it is quite compact, so it would be a great small space workbox solution as well.

I found this comb bound plastic eight pocket folder at Wal-Mart on a low shelf in the school supply section, and bought two of them so that I could undo the comb binding and add four of the pockets from one into the other to have a single workfolder with twelve pockets (and another folder with four pockets that I am using for the Biology mini co-op I am hosting). The first pocket holds the schedule grid, plus has "clean your room" and "gather school supplies" as tasks to complete to call it finished. For items that won't fit easily into the pocket, such as the novel King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry that she is reading this week, I just use a Post-It note and a velcro square that says the subject (some, like this "Reading" one I got from Homeschool Creations' printables and others, like the "Clean your room." one above I made myself).

Using this workfolder has been a huge success so far this school year, all three weeks of it, and I have great hopes that it will continue to be an asset. It keeps her moving forward steadily in all subject areas, keeps me more accountable to keep on top of her work daily, and keeps both of us more motivated to make sure some "fun" things are scheduled in there too. In the next couple days she'll get a chance to do an online video Art Club and work on her quilting project. In just three weeks she has already done more art, hobbies, and extracurriculars (typing at this moment) than she did for all of last year, and all while still getting all her other subjects done too. Scheduling her "fun" stuff in this way doesn't make it less fun, but rather makes it like a reward for working hard.

UPDATE: See this blog post to read how my workbox system is working almost a year later.

Note to Self: School Guilt

2010-08-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Note to self: Weigh all the facts before allowing yourself to be overwhelmed with lack of success of last school year.

As I have mentioned here before, we bought our own home late last spring and moved in at the end of May. Last week my husband finally got the book shelves set up (look for photos in a post next week), so I spent most of yesterday unpacking boxes of books and organizing school stuff onto the shelves. As I emptied boxes I sorted out the books that we should have done last year but due to this, that, and the other we never got around to reading. The left pile is what the older kids didn't get to, and the right is the younger kids. Pretty depressing stacks, huh? I was feeling rather low looking at them.

However, as I continued unpacking books and arranging shelves, I noticed the pile of books we did read last year was growing steadily. Sure, there were a number of good, worthwhile books that my kids missed out on. Books that I had spent money on; book that are gathering dust. But look at the pile of books we did read last year. Hmmm, nothing bad to feel about looking at these stacks ;o).

What did YOU do this morning?

2010-08-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

So, what did you do this morning? Me? I did this.

I collected pond water, placed it into four jars along with various "foods", and then stashed them away in a warm, dark cupboard (and we picked cattails too, just 'cause cattails are fun). Two weeks from now we'll take the jars out and see what kind of microorganism zoo we have grown. Oh, I soooo wish I had one of those cool microscope digital camera attachments, because this is going to be fun! I love homeschooling :D.

Curriculum Week

2010-08-02T06:00:00.004-07:00

"The stores are filled with excitement to get public school kids geared up with new pencils, backpacks and even a new wardrobe just in time for Back-to-School. Missing out on all that buzz can be a bummer for homechooled kids and their parents – so we’re continuing the tradition with our 2nd Annual Not Back-to-School Blog Hop." Quoted from Darcy from Heart of the Matter.

Week 1 of the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop is all about curriculum. What we'll be using and how excited we are about it. As usual, I can summarize the basis of our school year with one really cool banner.

This will be our eighth year using Sonlight for History, Literature, and Language Arts. We occasionally use Sonlight's Science as well, although this year it will be just individual titles instead of entire packages. We will be starting World History again, with Core 6 as our basis and Core 1 and 2 books added in for the youngers. Mystery of History volumes 1 and 2 will be our spine instead of Story of the World.

Other than Sonlight, I'm only going to focus on four additional curricular things we are doing with each child. Even though it won't be a complete picture of what we are doing this year, this post still got very, very long. Sorry. That's what's happens when you have 5 kids and are an eclectic homeschooler.

My 8th grader --
He will be doing Sonlight Core 6, with Mystery of History volumes 1 and 2 and Sonlight's Language Arts 6, over one year. He also is finishing up the six week Kidswrite Intermediate class at Bravewriter. This class focuses on transitioning kids from elementary to high school writing requirements and so far has been beneficial to him.

For Algebra I, he'll be using the Keys to Algebra series along with Life of Fred Beginning Algebra. Actually, he started the Keys to Algebra books at the tail end of last year and it's going well, but then I found out it only covers Algebra I topics. Now I am madly researching Algebra II options to go along with Life of Fred Advanced Algebra. Life of Fred is a great word problem/deeper thinking supplement, but it covers things too much, too fast, on too deep a level to stand alone, at least for my kid.

Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology. Yes, this is a high school level course but this kid is more than ready for it. Honestly, I think I'm more excited about doing Biology than he is. I've been waiting for high school Science since this kid was preschool and we were first deciding to homeschool. We'll be doing the labs from this course with a couple other families, sort of like a mini co-op. Fun, fun, fun!

Recreating StickMan: Introduction to 3D Interactivity. At the Arizona homeschool convention last month, we met a family that is producing tutorials teaching kids how to use the open source (i.e. free) Blender 3D graphics software. Blender is no light child's play program. People the world over are using it to produce Pixar-like animated short movies and much, much more. The Recreating StickMan tutorials teach designing and programing video games, and while simplistic in scope (the character is a stick man) the process would be the same for a much more complex game, only with loads more detail. This is obviously an elective, but one that my son is personally excited about and motivated to complete. Add to that that the content is worthy of at least a half credit for high school, and we both are super happy about it.

My 6th grader --
She'll be doing Sonlight's Core 6, with Mystery of History volumes 1 and 2, and Sonlight's Language Arts 6 all over one and a half years. Along with Core 7, I plan to have her spend a total of three years on World History, slowing her down just a bit so that she doesn't start Sonlight's Core 100 before the 9th grade. Other items she will be doing include (but aren't limited to):

A Virtuous Girl, by Queen Homeschool Supplies. This is a Bible devotional/study/workbook for Proverbs 31:10-31. She does this independently during her 30 minute Bible time each morning, along with some time in prayer and any Sunday School assignments she may have. I don't correct or even look over her work in this, as I want it to be her time with the Lord. However, I have told her that I am free for any discussions or questions she might have.

All About Spelling level 4. I actually plan to buckle down and get her through all of level 4 and 5 this year, and hope to get through 6, the final level, as well. The only reason it took all of last year to do level 3 is simply because we were doing well if we got to it once a week or so, not because it was difficult for her. I plan to make Spelling a priority in her day this year, aiming to do it first thing in the morning right after Bible.

Singapore Primary Mathematics 5B. Along with it she's doing Singapore Challenging Word Problems 4, which is sadly out of print but I bought books 3 through 6 before Sonlight was completely sold out and I just make the kids use a spiral notebook. I've read a rumor that it will be republished, however. Anyway, she is not "behind" to be doing Singapore 5B and Challenging Word Problems 4 in the 6th grade, not by a long shot. When kids finish Singapore 6B they are usually ready for Algebra I, and the word problems in Challenging Word Problems 4 are eerily similar to problems I was given in my College Algebra class but Singapore teaches how to solve them without Algebra. When she finishes Singapore 5B and Challenging Word Problems 4, she'll do Life of Fred Decimals and Percents, before moving into Singapore 6A and Challenging Word Problems 5.

See the Light, Drawing Children to Him. I picked up this DVD that teaches chalk drawing at the convention, and free with purchase was the first three lessons of their online drawing videos as well. We haven't had a chance to try these out yet, but if my daughter likes them as well as I think she will I will consider subscribing to their online video lessons for the rest of the year.

My 2nd grader --
This kid, along with my K'er, will be listening in on Mystery of History volumes 1 and 2 over one and a half years, with books from Sonlight's Core 1 and 2 added in as appropriate. Basically, I'll be restructuring Cores 1 and 2 to more closely match the times covered in Cores 6 and 7.

Egermeier's Bible Story Book. This book is actually scheduled to go with Sonlight's Core K, which we did last year, but I feel it is better with slightly older children so I saved it for this year with my son.

My Calendar Book by Christian Light Publications. My older kids both learned the days of the week and months of the year easily through normal daily living and the occasional calendar lesson. This child is just not having the success with this method, and he needs concrete day-in and day-out instruction, I think, to get it to sink in.I'm hoping this workbook will be just the ticket.

Sonlight's Discover & Do Science DVDs and the Usborne Science Activities books that go along with them. With 4 official students this year, and not one of them fully independent yet, I need to minimize my teaching time wherever I feel I can without too much compromise. These DVDs allow this son to watch the experiments and then he can go ahead and do them himself without much, if any, help.

Miquon Math Red book. I'm a huge fan of Miquon and love the great foundation of understanding of Math that it develops in kids. My son is already half way through the red book and will move onto the Blue and Green books as the year progresses.

My Kindergartner --
This is the kid that is leaving me with the feeling of ACK!!! this year, not because he is or will be hard to teach (quite the opposite, he is bright and eager), but because he makes 4 official students this year, 2 of them still learning the most basic fundamentals of Reading and Math. This kid will tag along with our Mystery of History volumes 1 and 2 study mixed with pieces of Sonlight Core 1 and 2.

Sticker Activity ABC book. He is doing Sonlight's Language Arts K, and one of the activities scheduled in it as a letter is introduced each week is for the kid to make a "letter page" with the letter written large and pictures of items that start with that letter pasted all over. Sonlight's Instructor's Guide does include pages of little pictures to use for this purpose, but I've done LAK two times before I know that as the year moves on we will be less and less likely to pull out the scissors, paper, color pencils, and glue (I have this thing against glue, which is also why I do digital scrapbooking instead of traditional scrapbooking). Anyway, this little activity book has stickers for each letter of the alphabet all ready to go, and attractive alphabetically ordered pages to place the stickers on. I bought it from Rainbow Resource at the convention, and what I paid is more than worth the savings in time and hassle I'll get all year long.

Singapore Earlybird Mathematics. My little guy loves this book, and is burning through it. It is bright, colorful, solidly introduces the most basic of number concepts, and yet has just a little to do on each page which is perfect for the younger crowd that likes to do a lot of pages at any given setting. I like to start with book A while the child is still in preschool, which is why my son is almost finished with this book and will be moving into book B before too long.

My First Book of Cutting by Kumon. I found this book at a used curriculum sale in June, with only 2 pages (out of 80) missing out of it. It was only $1.00, so I picked it up and it makes a fine addition to my K'er's workboxes. I find his fine motor skills to be a bit behind for his age, and the cutting activities in this book are fun and fairly no-mama-needed exercises to strengthen his hands.

Pattern Blocks and Cards. Despite this kid having always loved puzzles, he has hardly used the pattern blocks that I have had since my oldest was about his age. I suspect because unlike puzzles the pieces don't lock in, and his avoidance of these blocks may be related to his fine motor skill difficulties. So, I'm starting him with the easiest cards in this kid and having him build the designs or pictures on a piece of felt so the pieces don't move as much. I will add, however, that this kid is the only one that I have found that doesn't love the pattern blocks. Even my sisters, then aged 14 and 10, loved playing with them one Summer when my Dad brought them for a visit.

My preschooler --
Last, and certainly not least if she has anything to do with it, is my preschooler. My usual practice for preschoolers is to simply bring them along with whatever I am doing and not to do anything academic until they turn 5, which for my kids where their birthdays fall is usually the second half of the year before they start Kindergarten.

Sonlight's Core P3/4: Fiction, Fairy Tales, and Fun. This, the youngest Sonlight Core, isn't really "school" so much as it is great books to enjoy together. I'm not doing this systematically with her, yet, but it makes up the basis of most of the reading I do specifically with her (she also listens in somewhat on the reading I do with my K'er).

Preschool Scholar workbook. This isn't nearly as "school-ish" as it seems. It was simply the best inexpensive, colorful, preschool workbook that was both easy enough for my little girl to do and not limited to a single subject area. I bought it to make her happy that she had school work like her "bruvvers", and it serves that purpose well.

Lauri Puzzles and other puzzles. I love the durability and originality of the Lauri puzzles, and they are the only preschool puzzles I pay money for. However, I have been given a number of wooden and cardboard preschool puzzles as well that I do make use of in my littlest one's workboxes to encourage her to keep quietly (or at least mostly quietly) busy while I do school with the other kids.

Okay, I give a brand new box of crayons to each of my three younger kids at the beginning of the school year, but a box of crayons with her name on it makes my little one so.very.happy. Oh, for the days when a brand new box of crayons was enough to make you smile big. Wait, I still smile big when I open a new box of crayons and start to use them. I guess my littlest one and I have more in common than I sometimes think.

Little things...

2010-07-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

In honor of our first day of school for the 2010/2011 school year, here is a post about a few little things that make homeschooling just a bit easier for me.

Pencil boxes. This things go on sale for 10¢ or so in July of every year, and I snatch up at least a few each time. They are the answer to many organization needs, from crayons, to Cuisenaire rods, to flash cards, to their intended purpose to hold pencils. Every homeschool can use a few more. I even like to corral hair accessories, cookie cutters, sewing machine feet, and other small things all over the house in pencil boxes.

Colors. I color code my kids. Sure, it sounds sort of super organized and just a little bit inhumane, but it actually is neither. Identifying each kid with a specific color allows all of us to see what item belongs to what kid at a glance. I know I could just write their name or even initial on the item, but these poor old eyes can't read very far away anymore. But from across the room I can see which pencil is marked with green and which is marked with orange, staving off, "He has my pencil!" arguments before they even start. Some of the tools I use toward coloring coding are permanent markers, Post-It Note flags, spools of 1/4 inch ribbon, and packages of colored printer paper. It sounds like a lot, but each item is inexpensive over all and lasts for years, with the exception the Post-It Note flags that I buy yearly.

Date stamp. Hey, I have four kids in school this year and that means lots and lots of math, copywork, writing, and more that need dated each day (a dated paper trail is my only recorded keeping before high school). Technically only my Kindergartner is unable to date his own pages, but the other three regularly forget to do it. So my date stamp to the rescue. It's fun for the younger kids to use, and it's constant use during the morning serves as a reminder for the older kids . I need to buy a new one this year, as my current one only goes through 2010. I bought this one at Staples.

A Herd of Sheep

2010-07-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

I dislike car rides. I don't even like driving so much, but just sitting in the passenger seat is even worse. So, a few years back I took up knitting as something to do to help me deal with my car ride issues. Well, we just got back from a visit to Colorado, which entailed an approximate 16 hour car ride each way (thankfully broken up over two days each way). In addition to listening to almost two audiobooks while on the trip (we didn't quite finish Journey to the Center of the Earth, but did finish and greatly enjoyed Nick of Time), I knitted 3 sheep. Check out these funky cute things.

These are made from the "Sheepish pattern" purchased as a download from KnitPicks.com. However, this and many other googlely eyed patterns are available from the author's Etsy shop, cheezezombie. I know the sea horse, and the lizard, and the bunny, and the spider, and about a half dozen others are calling my name. Good thing she offers deals if you order a number of patterns at once :D.

Anyway, this Sheepish pattern isn't for the total novice or faint of heart. Serious double pointed needle work, picking up stitches all over the place, tiny stitches crowded tightly together, and some embroidery to boot (and I totally am not good at embroidery, which is why my sheep eyes aren't as cute as the pattern photo). Still, if you have intermediate knitting skills, or are a motivated advanced beginner, these would make excellent baby gifts as there are no loose parts anywhere.

My first sheep. This was made from Lion Brand's Fishermen's Wool in natural. I dyed a small amount of it for the face, ears, and feet using Wilton food coloring, vinegar, and the microwave. I used the instructions from here, more or less. This guy was named Shaun the Sheep, after a stop-motion animation show that my husband enjoys. I photographed this one while my 3 year old was holding it so that you can see its scale better.

I made the second sheep from Sensations Beautiful yarn, in pink, for the body and Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice, in taupe, for the face, ears, pupils, and feet. The eyes are from the Fishermen's Wool natural. My 11 year old daughter initially called this plump lady "Pinky" but it quickly was changed to "Cotton Candy" or "Candy" for short. I used size 6 needles while making this one, instead of the size 3 the pattern suggested, which is why it turned out bigger than the others.

My last sheep, at least for now, was made from Lily Sugar 'n Cream in red, white, and blue. Oh, how I love self-striping yarn, but that is a whole other post for another time. My 5 year old chose this yarn for his sheep, and I decided to give it a go even though I wasn't sure it was the ideal yarn choice for this pattern. "Stripes", as he was named, is well loved even if he isn't quite as sheep-like as his friends.

June Book Reviews

2010-06-29T08:53:00.002-07:00

June was a busy month for us, what with moving into the house we bought, our church's Vacation Bible School, and a trip to visit my family in Colorado. So, my reading log for this month is much less than usual. In June I read:

- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

A classic of American literature, with important historical significance, this book is a must read for any American that wants to consider themselves well read. This was in a box of old books someone gave me, and since I hadn't read it yet I decided it was about time.

Parts of Uncle Tom's Cabin read as a great novel with characters that are easy to connect with, either positively or otherwise. However, other parts read as a written sermon. Much as Mark Twain did a couple of decades later, Stowe would stop the narrative of the story to directly speak to the reader. "And Oh!, mother, that reads this...", she asks in chapter IX. Her purpose, stated clearly in the preface, is to "awaken sympathy and feeling for the African race", and she doesn't take the risk that the narrative will make her point by itself. Throughout the book Stowe addresses the reader, preaching her message, giving real life examples of similar events, and otherwise arguing her point.

Uncle Tom's Cabin is an interesting and thought provoking read, but it isn't an easy one. This book is better taken in little amounts at a time, and while I typically read a book straight through in just a few days it wasn't so with this one. I didn't start this book in June, although I finished it this month.

- Revolution in Missions by K.P. Yohannan

This book was being given away for free at the Arizona Families for Home Education (AFHE) Convention last year in July. I took it home with a bunch of catalogs and other stuff handed out and promptly forgot about it. When we moved I came across it and decide to give it a read.

The focus of this book is on rethinking how missions are supported, specifically that a native missionary can not only reach more of his own or nearby people more easily, because he doesn't have the cultural barriers, but that a native missionary can do it for much less money than a foreign missionary. Brother Yohannan's challenge to North American Christians is to support the native missionary movement.

Overall, this book was convicting and full of thought provoking views of our culture from an outsider's perspective. However, large amounts of it were repetitive and about half of it could be edited out without harming the book's impact or message. I recommend reading this book, but don't feel bad about skimming through the last half of it or so. You too can get this book for free from Gospel for Asia.

- The Rat Catcher's Son and Other Stories by Carolyn London

This is one of the Readers from Sonlight's Core 5, Eastern Hemisphere. While Sonlight's Instructor's Guides makes pre-reading the children's Readers unnecessary, I enjoy Sonlight books so much that it is a pleasure to do it.

The Rat Catcher's Son is of an African grandfather telling traditional stories to his grandchildren. This concept, of an elder relative telling cultural folktales, has been done many times with many cultures, and this book isn't remarkable in its delivery. Still, between the interactions of the grandfather and his grandchildren and the tales themselves, the book does give a nice insight to the culture. It was an easy and quick read, pleasant but it won't make the top five faves from Core 5.

- Star of Light by Patricia St. John.

This is another Reader from Sonlight's Core 5, also set in Africa. However, unlike The Rat's Catcher's Son, this one may be destined for the Core 5 favorites. Star of Light is a riveting book that I couldn't put down. Hamid, an eleven year old boy, sets off across county on an adventure to save his baby sister and ends up finding a way to save himself as well.

Many Christian books contain great stories poorly told, or will have a well told story and then simply tack on the gospel as an after thought. Star of Light does neither. A great story superbly told, and the gospel message is vital to the tale.

However, I have one gripe with this book. The cover. The protagonist of the story is eleven year old Hamid, an Islamic Moroccan boy. The cover, however, shows a boy that would be at home in the hills of Scotland. Reddish hair, blue eyes, and pale skin in a native of Morocco? Ummm, not likely. What were the publishers thinking?

Using the Gradient Tool with Layer Masks in PSE

2010-05-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Now that you know how to use layer masks, you are ready to use the gradient tool. Set up PSE to have a photo layered over a paper like this. (Papers are from Fantasia's Charm Backpack created by Nicole Young, a blog freebie that will soon be available in the DSP store.) (Click on any of the photos to see them larger.)

Apply a layer mask to the photo layer (see this tutorial for how). Also, make sure the mask is selected, indicated by the double frame around it.

Now select the gradient tool on the left Tool Bin (arrow 1). Once that is selected, go up to the tool menu and select “linear gradient” (arrow 2). Finally, make sure black is set as the foreground color (arrow 3).(Oooop, I have white as my foreground color and I had to change it before proceeding. The keyboard shortcut X easily switches the foreground and background colors.)

On your layout, click where you want the fading to start and drag to where you want it to end. The shorter the distance you drag the more abrupt the fading, and the longer distance you drag the more gradual the fading. Try it again and again dragging in different directions, even at angles, until you achieve the look you want. Here are a couple different results.

Lastly, the gradient tool can also be used to blend one paper into another, to achieve a new look. Here is an example using two contrasting papers so it shows up well, and below that is a layout I made years ago showing a more subtle example of using the gradient tool to blend papers.

Layer Masks in Photoshop Elements

2010-05-06T12:44:00.007-07:00

Someone over at DSP was asking me about how to use the gradient tool to easily and quickly fade a photo into a background. Simple right? Except she is a newbie, and even if she knows about layer masks other newbies won’t. Sadly, I can’t find a decent and not confusing tutorial about layer masks in Photoshop Elements (PSE), so I have decided to make one myself. I hope I have made this not confusing, but if it is less than clear please let me know and I will rework it. All screen shots are from PSE 8.

What are layer masks?

Imagine that you lay a piece of paper on top of a photo so that you can’t see the photo. Now imagine you cut a hole in the paper, so that now you can see a portion of the photo. That is a simplification of what a layer mask does. When you apply a layer mask to a layer in PSE, it becomes like that piece of paper. It blocks you from seeing whatever is below it, but when you cut a hole in the layer mask, by using the brush tool to paint black on it, you see portions of what is below the mask.

This is a screen shot of paper with a layer mask applied and you can see where I painted black on the layer mask a hole in the top paper has been made showing the green paper below it. (Papers are from Fantasia's Charm Backpack created by Nicole Young, a blog freebie that will soon be available in the DSP store.) Notice how the black painting on the layer mask on the right corresponds to the hole in the paper. (Click on the images to see them nice and big.)

How do you apply a layer mask?

In full-blown Photoshop (and the newest version, Creative Suite 5 has been announced), all you have to do to apply a layer mask is click a little icon. Sadly, however, PSE doesn't come with layer masks and you must use one of two work-arounds to achieve the same effect. The first, using Adjustment Layers, requires no set up before beginning, but does require more steps and more layers in your layout, not to mention that for some reason every time you click on your layout with the move tool in PSE 8 the Adjustment Layer is always selected. I find that so annoying that I personally opt to not use Adjustment Layers, but rather use Grant’s Tools. Grant’s Tools require time and effort to set up, but set up is a one-time thing and thereafter applying a layer mask is as easy as it is in Photoshop. First, I will describe how to use Adjustment Layers as layer masks, and then I will tell you how to install and use Grant’s Tools.

Adjustment Layers

Let’s practice using two papers of different colors, as I have done in my samples.

Now, at the bottom of the layers bin on the right you will notice a little icon that is half-black and half-white. That is the Adjustment Layers icon. Click and choose the top option, “solid color”. It doesn’t matter at all what color you choose.

Make sure the Adjustment Layer is directly underneath the layer you wish to be masked. You may have to move it to get it there. Then select the layer you wish to be masked, the top paper in our example, and group it with the layer mask by holding the Control key and hitting the letter G (ctrl+G). The masked layer will now be inset a bit and have an arrow pointing down to the Adjustment Layer.

Now we are ready to start painting on the layer mask. Make sure the mask is selected in the layer bin at the right. Notice how that layer is darker, and how the mask (the white box) has a double frame around it. That is how you know it is selected.

Now use the brush tool (the paintbrush icon on the tool bin to the right, or keyboard shortcut B) and paint black on the paper in the working space (not in the layer bin). Painting black will have the same effect as if you were using the eraser tool, but by using a layer mask you can go back and paint it white again to put back what you “erased” away.

Grant’s Tools

Grant’s Tools are effects you can download and install into PSE to give it some options that are similar to Photoshop. Each version of PSE has its own Grant’s Tools download, so be sure you get the right one. You can find the Grant’s Tools downloads here. After downloading the tools, unzip them. The trickiest part is installing them, but I feel they are very much worth it. I use the masks layer tool in almost every layout I do. I am sorry I am Mac ignorant and cannot even begin to address how Grant’s Tools can be installed on a Mac computer, although I have read it can be done.

Prepare to install Grant’s Tools. You must make sure PSE is not open, and you must make sure that you have Window’s set to show hidden files. This page shows you how to do it in Vista, and it is the same in XP and 7.

Install Grant's Tools
1. In the Grant’s Tools folder that you downloaded and unzipped, open the folder called “actions pngs and xml files” and copy all of the files.

2. Now you need to paste these files into the PSE Photo Effects folder.

For Windows Vista and 7 the path is C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\Photo Effects

For Windows XP the path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\Photo Effects

3. Next, you must rename an existing file, to point PSE in the right direction for Grant’s Tools. You must rename the file Mediadatabase.db3 to be MediadatabaseOLD.db3 (the same name with the word “OLD” added to the end in caps).

For Windows Vista and 7 the path to locate this file is C:\Program Data\Adobe\ Photoshop Elements\8.0\Locale\en-US
For Windows XP the path to locate this file is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Locale\en-US

4. Now start PSE editor. It will take a long time for PSE to start up this first time after installing Grant’s Tools, but don’t be concerned. The software is “rebuilding” its database. It will start as normally after that initial time.

Using Grant’s Tools

You will find Grant's Tools in PSE under Effects>Photo Effects. If you are anything like me, you will be using the masks layers tool all of the time, so I suggest you add it to your Favorites. You can easily do this by right clicking on the masks layer icon and choosing “Add to Favorites” from the pop- up menu. You can add a favorites bin to the right by choosing it from the Window menu at the top of PSE. I also added low drop shadow to my favorites bin, so that both are easily accessible, since I use them so often.

Set up two contrasting pieces of paper as you did for Adjustment Layers.

With the layer you want masked selected, double click on the Grant’s Tools masks layers icon.

Make sure the mask is selected in the layer bin at the right. Notice how that layer is darker, and how the mask (the white box) has a double frame around it. That is how you know it is selected.

Clearer than mud I hope. Next look for a tutorial on how to use layer masks and the gradient tool to fad photos into backgrounds. That one will be much shorter and simpler, I promise.

Edited on 27 Sept '11 to add: I recently discovered another source for a layer mask action like Grant's Tools. It is at The CoffeeShop Blog. I haven't personally tried Rita's layer mask action, since I already have Grant's Tools installed, but I have quickly fallen in love with many of her other actions, such as the 2 Minute Miracle. Your photos may never be the same.

Grace Greater than Our Sin

2010-04-18T12:57:00.002-07:00

Sunday Hymn

2010-04-04T07:16:00.002-07:00

Wednesday Websites - LibriVox

2010-03-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

This first of my Wednesday Websites posts is featuring LibriVox. LibriVox is an amazing resource to anyone that loves, or even just likes a little, to listen to books being read aloud. Don't have time to read Around the World in Eighty Days for that school project? Listen to someone else reading it. LibriVox has 3 versions of it. Want your children to be exposed to good old fashioned books like Kipling's Just So Stories or Fisher's Understood Betsy but find your voice is gone due to a Spring cold? LibriVox has multiple versions of each. Want to make good use of your commute time to work? Let me suggest Little Women, Call of the Wild, Pygmalion, or Treasure Island. Working on learning a foreign language? LibriVox has many titles in a number of languages. I've seen Spanish, French, German, and Japanese.

All of the above mentioned titles, plus many more with more being added regularly, are available on LibriVox to download for free in mp3 and Ogg Vorbis formats. The files can be played on your computer, mp3 players, many cell phones, iPods and other iStuff, and probably other technology items I am forgetting. The catch? LibriVox only records titles in the public domain, that is writings that no longer have a copyright on them. So, the majority of the titles available on LibriVox will be from the early 1900's or earlier. Still, that's when so many books that we call "Classics" were first written, so you will find lots and lots to keep you busy. The second catch is that LibriVox recordings are done by volunteers, so titles available are limited to titles that people have volunteered to read and record. It also means that one book may have a different person reading each chapter, and some volunteers are better at reading aloud than others and some voices and accents lend themselves to some books better than others. What do I mean? Well, one of the versions of Little Women has an Australian man, with a very thick accent, reading one of the chapters. Somehow a book about young women set in the late 1800's in the USA just doesn't sound right with a masculine down-under accent. No offense to the volunteer intended, but it just didn't work. However, I would love to hear him reading a collection of Banjo Paterson's works. His poetry just doesn't work in North American English.

Anyway, check LibriVox out. Download a book today. Increase your cultural literacy and don't spend a dime. Have fun.

Make-It Monday - Digital Scrapbooking

2010-03-28T20:42:00.015-07:00

Scrapbooking is a hobby that has been all the rage for years now, but digital scrapbooking is a form of it that is just beginning to come into its own. As the name implies, digital scrapbooking is scrapbooking done digitally, on the computer. With a computer, some software, a digital "page kit", and a little playing you can achieve a page that ends up looking just like a photograph of a paper scrapped page. Take this one at the right (click on it, or any of the others here, to go to the full sized page). Pages with similar looks can be found in scrapbooking magazines, samples at scrapbooking stores, and in albums in homes across the world. The difference with my page, however, is that no glue, scissors, pieces of paper, ribbons, and all that other stuff was needed, and I didn't have to figure out how to store and organize that stuff either. I love that I can get that great look, without all the mess and hassle. Besides, digital page kits are much more economical. With traditional scrapbooking you use a paper once, and if you want to use it again you have to buy it again. With digital scrapbooking I can use the same "paper" a hundred times over, if I so desire, and it's never used up.

But the benefits of digital scrapbooking over traditional scrapbooking don't stop with less mess and less cost. With digital scrapbooking you can create looks that paper scrappers can't even imagine. This is where it shines, in my opinion. Trimming close to a person or subject in a photo is commonly done even in paper scrapping, but in digital you can take it to an entire new level. See this page to the left. I was able to extract the baby from the photo (the original shot is of him laying on a quilt) and "put" him in those clouds and it really looks like he is sleeping there. Then there is the "graphic" style of digital scrapbook page that doesn't even have a tradition equivalent, such as the page to the right. The blending of the photo, "paper", and word art done here is unique to digital scrapbooking.

Anyway, I have been doing digital scrapbooking for over four years now, and I find myself getting more into this hobby as time has gone on instead of less. However, it does have a learning curve, as there usually is with any hobby. The specific details such as software choice, technical how-to, where and how to print pages, and much more are too broad to go into here in this introduction to digital scrapbooking blog post. My digi scrapping home online is Digital Scrapbook Place, and if you want to find out more I suggest you start there. Look me up if you decide to check it out. My user name there is "Robin E." Feel free to ask me questions here too, if you are interested. I am happy to go on and on about this subject and have helped more than one person get started in it.

Sunday Hymn - 28 March 2010

2010-03-26T15:41:00.003-07:00

Some changes around here

2010-03-26T14:58:00.002-07:00

I have been less than regular in my posting to this blog, I am sorry to say. I want to change that, and one way I have heard is to do certain types of posts on certain days of the week.

So, to start I am going to post "Sunday Hymns", every Sunday, showcasing some good old fashion hymn that speaks to me. I'll keep it short too, focusing on just one verse, usually not the first verse either. Too often, in this get-r-done age, we are familiar with just the first verse of these old spiritually rich songs and that is our loss. So, look for my first Sunday Hymn post early this coming Sunday. I already have it ready to go.

Next will be "Make-It Monday". Not necessarily things for you to make, although I'm sure I'll do that at times, but it will be at minimum things that I have made. This is beneficial to me in three ways. First, it's another weekly topic I think I can go on and on about for years without running out of ideas. Second, making stuff is usually an interesting blog topic, at least I enjoy reading blogs about people making stuff. And third, having a "Make-It Monday" will encourage me to craft, cook, sew,scrapbook, paint, or whatever more often.

Then it will be "Wednesday Websites" when I'll write a post on some website or blog that I find cool, helpful, or just interesting. Hey, I love finding new things online and suspect that you all do too. I think I can share weekly for a good long while without boring you. We'll see.

Lastly, I want to do at least one journaling type post per week. I can't guarantee which day it will show up on, but no later than Saturday, although it could be late Saturday. This is what I planned to do all the time on this blog, but it just hasn't happened. We'll see how it works this time.

Oh, and I'll be giving the blog a little visual make-over too. Look for it, but I'm not sure of the exact day that will happen yet.

Mid-Year Doldrums: and how you can beat them

2010-01-30T19:42:00.006-07:00

Sooner or later every homeschool mother feels them. A feeling, most commonly in January or February, of burn out, weariness, or despair that comes upon us like a slow fog or sudden storm. I call these feelings the doldrums in reference to the area near the equator known to sailors for both stagnant calms and abrupt squalls. As the sailors in the days of the great clipper ships had to face the Doldrums in order to reach their destinations, so must we face our own doldrums in order to reach our goal of a successful homeschool year.

How the doldrums manifest themselves can vary from mother to mother and from year to year. Some may find themselves questioning if homeschooling is what they really should be doing. Others may find themselves in a panic about the quality of their child’s education, worrying about their child being “behind”. Still others may find boredom setting in. The monotony of their days seems endless and the end of the math book so far away.

So, what’s a homeschool mom to do when staring into the face of the doldrums? Well, the first thing to do is be aware that you aren’t the only one to ever feel this way. Such feelings, in one form or the other, are common among homeschoolers especially at this time of year. Don’t you for one second believe that all the other moms have it all together, no matter how all together they look or sound. Be willing to open up and share your feelings either in person or online, and you will find just how common the doldrums are.

What NOT to do

While in the grip of the doldrums is not the time to make drastic changes or decisions concerning your homeschool. It may be the doldrums are the stimulus that sends you searching for new curriculum, but delay spending money or setting anything in stone until the feelings have past. Give yourself time, maybe lots of time, before making any radical decisions so that you can avoid the possibility of serious regret later.

Try something new

I know I just said not to purchase all new curriculum during this time in your homeschool, but sometimes adding in a single new thing can go a long way toward breathing new life into your school year. Whoever said you have to begin every subject fresh at the start of August? Maybe you could start a new Art curriculum or take a week off of your normal work to do a unit study on some topic of special interest to your family. If you are worried your child is behind take a week off to work through one of the What Your … Needs to Know books. There are too many ideas for fun and fresh things you could try for me to list them all here.

Do something different

Sometimes the best way to get a more realistic picture of your homeschool is to get out of your home. If you haven’t been taking part in a local support group’s Field Trips or Events, maybe now is the time to do so. What better way to bring history alive than visiting the Renaissance Faire, and Science Fair projects are a time honored rite of passage for generations of American children. Another idea would be to start a new small group; the theme of the group is less important than the getting together. Let me let you in on a couple small group secrets: If you organize it, they will show up. And: Other people care less about how clean your house is than you think they do.

In contrast, if you are already busily involved in extracurricular activities and homeschool co-ops, maybe the cause of your doldrums is that there isn’t enough home in your homeschool. There is nothing like the pressure to get everyone ready, with whatever gear or materials needed, out the door and across town without being late to raise the level of stress hormones in your blood. Changing the level of your out of the house activities and commitments, either adding more or dropping back to less, may be all that is needed to improve your homeschool environment.

Maybe the problem isn’t your homeschool

Because of the day-in day-out intimate nature of homeschooling our children, sometimes problems that would exist whether we homeschooled or not make homeschooling more unbearable. Character issues, in the children or in you, are particularly difficult on your school day. From a habit of laziness to just plain rebellion, the possibilities are diverse. Addressing character faults isn’t easy, but at least you can comfort yourself that it is work that would need to be done no matter what method of schooling your family used.

Another possible cause of problems that is not related directly to homeschooling is a continually messy or clutter filled home. Taking a week off your studies to focus on “Household Management” (aka deep cleaning, decluttering, and organizing) may be just the ticket.

Seek positive help

I purposefully wrote “positive” help, because the middle of the homeschool doldrums is not the time to confide in a homeschool skeptic friend or relative. It would do more harm to you than good. Rather, seek out those you know that will give you positive and supportive help, and the first person you turn to should be your husband, if at all possible. At the minimum tell him that you need more of his prayers and understanding now than before.

Lastly, I urge you to seek the help our heavenly Father. I mention this last not as an afterthought or because it is least important, but rather because if we remember best what we read last I want this to be what you remember best. He has offered us many precious promises that will sustain you during the trying times of the doldrums, but we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

Vote for Me!

2009-10-28T11:43:00.003-07:00

I have mentioned on this blog before that I enjoy the hobby of digital scrapbooking. I got into it because I love the idea of scrapbooking, but hate paper crafts. Anyway, I've entered a digital scrapbooking contest to win a Wacom Bamboo tablet, among other things. If you just read "Wacom tablet" and have no idea what's worth getting all excited about, then check out this video. They are the coolest things.

Anyway, I'm begging everyone I know and their brother to vote for my scrapbook page so that I have some sort of hope of winning. The contest deadline is still another month off, so I'll probably make another page or a dozen to enter as well. This is just one I had already made that fit the entry requirements.

Think!

2009-09-28T10:42:00.006-07:00

I have found a great blog that allows me to add critical thinking to our homeschool without it being tedious worksheets (which is an apt description for the majority of critical thinking curricula I have found). Think! posts weekly challenges that require hands-on work with a definite engineering bent. Usually the new weekly challenge shows up on Thursday, but it can vary. Then the following week photos of what real kids have made for the challenge are shown. The results can be quite original and creative! Here is an example of one of the challenges, and what my two oldest kids (a junior highschool and an upper elementary schooler) created for it.

Marshmellow Madness

Your materials: a bag of large marshmallows, a box of toothpicks, 2 pairs of tongs.
Your challenge: build the tallest marshmallow arch you can using the materials above, but you may not touch the marshmallows with anything but the tongs.

My favorite part about Think! is that I don't have to assign it has school work, I don't have to correct anything, and I don't even have to tell them to do it. I simply gather the supplies and they ask me what they "get" to do this week. I don't even have to be there when they work on their Think! challenges. This marshmellow arch above was done when my husband and I went out for dinner and a babysitter was in charge. Thus the poor quality photo, by the way. They snapped the photo and then ate the evidence before we got back :D.

Mama Bird Diaper Patten

2009-08-13T13:49:00.008-07:00

Years ago, when baby #3 was new, I developed a cloth diaper pattern that had all of the features of the fancy boutique diapers but could be sewn at home on a budget. Well, after putting all that work into I just couldn't keep it to myself and my in-real-life friends, could I? So, I put together a website hosted by Geocities in a free account and shared my pattern for all the internet to use. Between emails I've received personally and from lurking a bit on cloth diaper sewing forums, it seems I have blessed many a family by doing this. I am thankful for that.

However, it is time for a change. Ceocities is closing it's operation in October and my website will be gone. I have never made enough on the pattern to pay for even the most inexpensive website, and with Geocities I had constant bandwidth issues. In addition, since my family has moved beyond the need for diapers, I find myself feeling less inclined to spend time and effort maintaining the pattern site and answer questions about it for free.

So, as of today I will be offering my diaper pattern for sale for the cost of $2. I still want to keep my pattern very affordable and available to the public, but at this time in my life I need to make a tiny profit on it to keep myself motivated to offer the support I should be offering.

If you are interested in purchasing my unique diaper pattern, with detailed instructions including numerous photographs, please PayPal me $2 at robine_30@msn.com and I will email the pattern and instructions to you. I have been told my instructions are more detailed and better to understand than much more expensive ones available on the market. For the low cost of $2 you get the patterns for three sizes that will fit babies from newborn through toddlers and the in depth instructions for making All-In-One diapers, Fitted diapers, and Pocket Diapers. In addition, you'll receive information about fabric and notions choices and scattered throughout are tips and methods that can be applied to all sewing.

Edited to add: I have been told that people are having trouble when trying to copy and paste my email address into PayPal. If you experience this, try typing it in instead.

Here are some photos of diapers made from my pattern. Some I made and others people emailed to me.

School Area Photos

2009-08-10T09:01:00.012-07:00

It is School Room Week over on the Life With My 3 Boybarians Blog Hop. I'm participating, even though I don't technically qualify. We don't have a school "room", we have a school area in our dinning room/family room. First, here is an overview photo.
To the left of the shelves is the door to the garage, where the washing and dryer are, and the door to the right in the photo is the door to my daughters' bedroom. To the right of the All About Spelling magnet board is the sliding door to the backyard. Opposite everything here is the dinning room table and beyond it is the entrance to the kitchen. My laptop is there because we use Homeschool Tracker Plus right on the computer for our daily assignments. No printing and wasted ink and paper for us.

Now for a detailed close up of my school shelves. Click on this one to go to a larger version of it, as I wrote right on it what every thing is.Now, as to why we don't have a school room is simple. We've had them in the past and for the most part they don't work for us. I need schoolwork to take place within sight of the kitchen and within hearing of the laundry area. We have lived in well over 10 different houses, condos, duplexes, and apartments over the years, and some of the time we were able to have a dedicated school room. But guess what? The school stuff ended up in the living room and on the dinning room table every day because that is where I was and the kids needed to be near me. The little ones would not even play in the school room if I wasn't there, but would rather bring their toys or puzzles to where I was. That meant stuff strewn from one end of the house to the other. No, now that we are in our 8th year of homeschooling, I have found for us it works much, much better to have a dedicated school area right in the middle of our living areas. School, and puzzles and such, stay where they belong and I still get my stuff done too. It is the best arrangement for us.

We just moved into this house at the tall end of June, so we are still getting settled. There are some changes I would like to make in the short term and in the long term to our school area. First, we having wall files waiting for my husband to hang for us. They look like this to the left but deeper and I hope to hang 6 of them where the pencil sharpener is now and move the sharpener over to the right of the All About Spelling magnet board. Each of the 5 children and myself will have one. The littles will keep things like their crayons and Sunday School papers in them, while the biggers will keep things like their Math books, and I'll keep things like my pocket notebook in it. My pocket notebook, shown right, is what I use to hold a single week's worth of the Sonlight Instructor Guides and other stuff so I don't have to handle the big binders more than once a week.

I hope to get an alphabet chart for the blank wall above the table as my 1st grader is very visual and I think it would help him to see the entire alphabet in order. Also, I would love to have a single shelf along the top of the entire wall extending from the top shelf of the current shelf unit over to even above my daughters' bedroom door. Such a shelf will allow me to have all of my Sonlight books out of boxes. As it is currently I only have 3.5 Cores worth out (some of Core 5 plus all of Cores K, P4/5, and P3/4).

Lastly, some day I hope to have a beautiful wall unit for this wall. Maybe something like this. Although I'm not sure what I'll do for a school table then, but at this point this is pretty far down the list of furniture and improvements we want to do so I'm not worried about details yet.

Sonlight Rocks!!!

2009-08-04T06:34:00.003-07:00

I've already posted about how we love Sonlight curriculum, have been using it for years, and will continue to use it for years to come. Honestly, it's all about all those wonderful books sitting on my shelf just waiting for us each year.

This is just approximately the first third of the books we will be reading this year.

Anyway, Sonlight has announced that they will give a $5 dollars off to anyone placing their first order ($50 or more) if they are referred by a current Sonlight customer. Basically, you get $5 off because I told you to check Sonlight out. How cool is that? What do I get out of this arrangement? Well, there is some sort of points system that I don't understand, but I think I get a discount somewhere down the road if I get enough points. It doesn't matter really, because I'd be telling you about Sonlight anyway, as anyone that has talked to me in person or online about curriculum could attest to.

So, check Sonlight out. My customer referral ID is RW20055206, or just click this link to visit Sonlight's website.

Our homeschool curriculum plans for 2009/2010 school year

2009-07-31T19:32:00.005-07:00

Most homeschool mamas are gearing up for the new school year right about now, but not me. No, I'm one of those "year rounders" and our school year started a month ago on the 6th of July. Of course, we didn't even manage a full 10 days worth of school in the last 4 weeks, but school has been happening. Anyway, this what we are doing this year:

Now, that is rather an over simplification, as not everything we are doing is from Sonlight, but by far most of it. It's not new for us either; we've been using Sonlight as the basis of our homeschool for over 7 years now. We love it, and I really can't imagine not doing something from Sonlight every year. (No, I am not a Sonlight affiliate, although I have thought about it.)

Anyway, here are some specifics of what we are doing this year.

My 7th grader will be doing:

Sonlight Core 5 - a geographical study of the Eastern Hemisphere with a cultural and missionary focus
Sonlight Language Arts 5 in a Bravewriter way with a focus on doing more revisions this year.
Apologia Physical Science (we're using the full course CD-rom for this instead of the book)
Math finishing Singapore Primary Mathematics 6B (no later than mid-August), starting Life of Fred Beginning Algebra, maybe starting VideoText Algebra too.
Bible, he is reading through the Bible from cover to cover for the first time this year. He started in January, and is behind now, so just getting caught up is his focus. He is doing the Core 5 assignment Bible memory verses too.
Current Events, he'll be reading from Student Daily News when it starts up again in mid-August.
He may start some other things later, such as Winston Grammar Basic, Spanish (can't get Rosetta Stone or Tell Me More to work right now), Art (probably Draw Squad), and Music (continuing the alto recorder and possibly starting piano).

My 5th grader will be doing:

Sonlight Core 5 with her brother
Sonlight Language Arts 5 in a Bravewriter way too (but not so much revision for her).
Sonlight Science 5 - a focus on human anatomy and physiology, with some geology and survival skills.
All About Spelling. She'll finish level 2 this week and start level 3. I expect her to get into level 4 this year, and possibly even level 5.
Math Singapore Primary Mathematics 4B, maybe Life of Fred Fractions, Singapore 5A, and possibly (depending on how much trouble she has) starting 5B before the end of the year.
Bible, the Core 5 assigned Bible reading plus a mix of Bible memorization from her Sunday School class, what Core 5 assigns, and what I assign as fits in with what she needs or is studying.
Current Events, she'll be reading from Student Daily News when it starts up again in mid-August.
She may start some other things later, such as Spanish (see above), Art (probably Draw Squad), and Music (continuing with the sopranino recorder and definitely starting piano).

My 1st grader will be doing:

Officially he is doing Sonlight Core K, which is an Introduction to World Cultures, but I am taking it apart and putting it back together to better match up with Core 5. For example, I read the two Dolphin books from Core K to go along with Core 5's Pacific Island study (I know they take place in Florida, but ocean adventures seem appropriate for the Pacific Island study). However, in addition to Core K he is listening attentively to Core 5's books too. He is loving Ship, Sailors, and the Sea and greatly enjoyed Seabird. He even asks to listen in on Torches of Joy instead of playing, although I wonder at how much of the depth of it he is getting. So, all that to say he is, so far, doing Core 5 light and Core K.
Right Brain Phonics Program by Dianne Craft. This child, while not officially tested and diagnosed, is almost assuredly dyslexic. Through Home School Legal Defensive Association's Struggling Learner coordinator program, I was able to speak with Dianne Craft for over an hour with some email contact after that. She actually tried to direct me to other programs and products for this kid, but time and again I said we had either tried that or due to our distance from services (3+ hour drive each way), we came to the conclusion together that her phonics program is the logical next step to try with him. It certainly is the right price, considering that many (most?) other programs specific for dyslexic children are hundreds or even thousands of dollars. We'll be starting it Monday.
Handwriting Without Tears K (he's about 1/2 of the way through it already).
Developing the Early Learner book 3 and then book 4. He did book 1 and 2 last year.
Sonlight Science K - a wonderful visually appealing overview of a many science topics.
Math - Miquon Math book orange
Bible. Right now we are finishing The Family Time Bible. My initial plan was to go back and do 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible again with him, but he has really jumped in his listening comprehension and attention span. I'll do the Core K Bible instead, the Egermeier's Bible Story Book, and start 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible with the younger 2 kids. He learns memory verses from Sunday School.
He will join the above two for Art and will do other crafty things without them as well.

My preschooler will be doing:

Core K. Officially he is just "tagging along" with Core K, but he is happily listening to almost every word. Only I Heard Good News Today seems to be boring for him.
No Language Arts for this kid. He would love me to teach him how to read, and I think he would do okay with it, but I need to get my 1st grader reading first.
Surprisingly he is not that interested in much of Science K. He liked the Frogs and Tadpoles book last week, but that was the only part of Science K he joined us for.
No formal Math for this kid either. We're working his counting and real-life addition and subtraction, á la Ruth Beechick's The Three R's.
Bible, The Family Time Bible and when that is finished in a month or so we'll use 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible. He learns memory verses from Sunday School.
I've been meaning to start activities that will help strengthen his fine motor skills, such as playing with dough. He doesn't enjoy drawing or coloring at all, and has trouble using silverware to eat too. Writing this out was a good reminder to me that I need to get busy with this with him daily or at least a few times a week.

My nursery-schooler will be doing:

Bible, The Family Time Bible and when that is finished in a month or so we'll use 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible. She is very verbal and repeats very well (we call her "Echo" for a reason), so I'm thinking of starting her on a monthly memory verse too.
She knows all the color names, or at least she can say the words, but doesn't know her colors. Learning to put the right names with the right colors is one goal I have for her for the first half of this school year. Her fine motor skills are well in hand, as attested from the nice scribblings she does daily, including the ones with a Sharpie marker on the hall bathroom toilet this last week . She'll join my preschooler in play-dough and other fine motor play, however, because it would be just too hard to keep her from it and it surely won't harm her.

Hey, this list has even impressed me! It really looks and sounds like a busy year, but I am so excited and know it will be so fun. I expect that we might not finish everything I've listed here, because we also have plans to do Missoula Theater, a play with our homeschool group (I'm directing, ACK!), Math Counts competition, 4H, and much more too. With all that I am adding in I am fine with Core 5 and Core K taking us up to 1.5 years.

I present a more "together" image than reality

2009-04-27T14:38:00.006-07:00

I was complimented again on how I homeschool. It comes up every now and then that someone on the Sonlight forums or our local homeschool group or somewhere will tell me, or tell someone else within my hearing or where I will read it, that they admire how I homeschool, or that I do it so well, or my kids are so bright and learning so much, or they wish they could start over and homeschool the way I do it, or something to that effect. Such statements almost make my skin crawl. To all of you that have admired me I offer this photo of my living room as it looks right now.
Imagine me in the gold chair way back in the corner typing away on that laptop, and imagine a kid or three reading a book, emptying my purse, or playing on the patio. That is what my oh, so admirable homeschool looks like today. Thankfully it doesn't always look this way, or even usually. Still, it looks this way often enough for me to cringe at any statements about how organized or altogether I have things.

I need a vacation to recover from Spring break.

2009-04-05T15:05:00.003-07:00

That's not me, but I wish it were. A beautiful tropical island, a hammock, and my laptop... Now THAT would be lovely.

This week was Spring break for our homeschool, as it was for all the public schools in the area. The term Spring break inspires scenes of fun and play, but it was up earlier, in bed later, go-go-go almost all day, day after day for us. You see, down here in the desert the county fair must be held early or it is simply too hot. And, since two of my five kids are active in 4H, plus my husband is a project leader and a third child is involved with the Clover Kid program... Well, we LIVED at the fair grounds these last 4 days. My feet hurt, my bum is sore (from sitting in the bleachers so much watching the kids show), and I'm exhausted from getting up at 5:30 to iron show attire because it had to be worn three days in a row and washed each evening.

What's worse is that early in the week I got the fabulous idea to use the down time I had then to do some serious Spring cleaning. You know, moving furniture, cleaning the oven, deep organizing and so on. While I'm happy to have a clean home, I wish I had used those days to get ahead on sleep and projects instead. I could have done the Spring cleaning a little at a time over the next month, especially now that fair is over so all our 4H obligations done for the month. Oh, well. I'll remember that for next year. Of course, my oldest wants to raise a goat as well as rabbits next year.... That would mean having to be at the fair grounds more often and for longer times. I'm just thankful fair week is only one week of the year.

On a brighter note, my oldest won Grand Champion award for the leather wallet he made and I got an "outstanding" purple ribbon for this digital scrapbook page I entered.

The Easy Truth about Homeschool Transcripts

2009-03-30T08:37:00.003-07:00

I just have to review this lovely e-book I purchased in December called The Easy Truth about Homeschool Transcripts. Usually I am wary of e-books, as I have seen some that made my pre-teen's writing look like college level. However, since I have been impressed with everything else I've read from Lee Binz of The HomeScholar, I bought the e-book the day it became available and have not regretted it a moment. Lee homeschooled her two boys from mid-elementary school through high school and both boys were accepted to every college they applied to and both received full-ride scholarships to their first choice college. She didn't use some expensive transcript agency, but rather her sons got the scholarships and college acceptance with her mommy-made transcripts. She took all her experience and knowledge and put it in this wonderful, well organized, and truly "easy" guide to creating excellent high school transcripts written in the "love language" of colleges.

While the book focuses on transcripts, there is a wealth of information to be learned about homeschooling high school. For example, you will read about how your child's passion can be turned into $$$ (through scholarships) and what to do a junior high kid taking high school level classes or a high school kid taking remedial classes.

Additionally, The HomeScholar includes additional bonuses with every purchase of The Easy Truth about Homeschool Transcripts. The one I found most personally helpful was the month membership to her Gold Club. Through that membership I was able to talk to Lee personally on the phone each week, asking questions specific to my concerns. The very first call with her was an eye opener to me, and changed the way we are doing Science this year. Now my son is learning the same, but enjoying it so much more (and if he is enjoying it more then so am I, if you know what I mean).

In the interest of full disclosure, I will add that I have recently become an affiliate for The HomeScholar. I decided to become one since I was already sending praises out about this wonderful high school homeschooling resource and Lee personally invited me to be an affiliate.

This is my life.

2009-03-29T16:23:00.004-07:00

I actually laughed out loud when I read this in today's Sunday paper. I can SOOO relate. At least once every couple weeks or so hubby will come home to a totally trashed house and say, "Looks like you got a lot done today." The only thing, he isn't sarcastic about it. He knows my most productive days end up with the biggest messes. I thank God for such an understanding and wonderful husband.

I love words.

2009-03-28T14:27:00.002-07:00

There, I just added a "gadget" to my blog, the "Match Up" vocabulary game you see to the right. My favorite online dictionary (yes, I HAVE a favorite one), The Free Dictionary, has a new one of these and other games and interesting articles on their homepage everyday. Does the fact that I play a vocabulary game almost every.single.day confirm my geek status or what?

Homeschool Arts and Crafts, for Mama

2009-03-26T21:17:00.006-07:00

I've been busy creating things for our homeschool, and these are the results.

Over on the Sonlight forums there has been a lengthy discussion of the Workbox System of assigning homeschool work. At first I was resistant to the idea, as it would take up a lot of space (all the more so considering I have 5 kids) until I saw this woman's adaptation to the system to fit in pockets in a single plastic bin. Well, I gathered items I already had on hand and made one up for my Kindergartner. I didn't have any cool pre-glued velcro dots on hand, so I just cut squares of the regular velcro I had and hot glued them on.

All the sample photos and descriptions I found of the Workbox System had 12 boxes, pockets, or envelopes per day per child. I made up 12 for my son, but only for future use. I only filled 8 pockets today and put the 4 away. I require that he complete the first 6, and the last 2 are fun or lighter activities that he can do if he wants. Today's pockets were:

The Family Time Bible story book and his Sunday School memory verse.
Handwriting Without Tears workbook (half a page).
A Sonlight Core P4/5 book, Things People Do. While I only put one book in a pocket it is the reminder that it is time to read a few books to him.
His sand letter cards (see below).
A Miquon Math Orange book page.
A Draw Write Now book and a couple sheets of drawing paper. He usually draws a single animal or something each day and doesn't do the writing.
(he didn't get to this today) Developing the Early Learner book 2 workbook. He calls this his "fun" workbook.
(he didn't do this either) Mighty Minds game.

Sunday I made sand letter cards for my Kindergartner as well, based on Heather's blog post about the cards she made. The biggest difference in my letter cards over Heather's is that instead of using red sand to make the starting point dot I used a dot of red paint. I had red paint on hand and it was much easier than doing the whole sand process twice. Anyway, I am now making the sand letter cards a daily part of his school, to make learning letter sounds a more multi-sensory process. He traces the letter while I say and he repeats the sounds, involving visual (seeing the letter), auditory (hearing me say the sound and then repeating it himself), and tactile (feeling the shape of the letter as he traces it with his finger).