Great Playdough link

Decadent Housewife has great pics and recipe for playdough.

Jan 2010

And here we are again. . . laughing that it has been a whole year since I posted about how I was really going to try to post more often! I guess maybe I was thinking once every two years or so? LOL!

I guess we have had so much LIFE happening in our home that I just haven't found time to write about it.

Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to this year in our home:

• pre-readers who are ready (that is 6 children!) will be doing a short 6 week intensive phonics course using Tartaras Phonics program. My good friend will be doing this class with my 6 and 1 of hers. I will take another of hers and 2 of mine who are older and we will be going through "Grammar Ace" and through the "Mathematical Mystery Tour." Should be fun and interesting. We'll be meeting 2-3 times a week for an hour or two.
• Continuing to adjust and work towards healing the hearts of our 6 new children.
• A GRAND gardening adventure coming up as soon as the snow clears. We will be quite the "weeding team" this year!
• working out new Grand Plans for the older children and helping them to implement them.
• Country Reports currently being researched and written/displayed by our older children (kind of suggested by me, but very much their own projects!)
• Lots and Lots of reading aloud together
• An always continuing focus on what really matters: God and His Word.

hmm. . . I'd love to say I'll post more this year. . . but I'll most likely be back sometime in January 2011!

Last Semester. . .

Since August, I have posted exactly. . . um. . . ZERO times!  LOL!  

I must say that a LOT of learning has been occurring in our household and I really am going to try to use this blog more this semester!

So much to learn, so little time. . .

By far, the hardest thing for me to do when planning out upcoming learning year is planning what NOT to do!  I really do LOVE to learn and I love to think about all of the possibilities for what things my children might learn this year. . . 

However, it is simply not possible to cram in every good thing into one learning year or even into one lifetime. . . 

so that leaves me with the questions I am asking in these last few weeks of planning:

When I look at my list of things of good things we would like to cover this year, 

-what is essential (I run this through our goals for our children)?

-what is needed for each child right now?

-what are my children most interested in learning about?

-of the rest of my "list," what is BEST?

and then (sadly, but necessarily), I simply must leave some plans on the cutting room floor. (sad sigh)

Love, Live, Learn

I decided to title our "home learning record blog" after our very simple homeschooling motto.  It is the basic and simple reason we homeschool and also directs (in many ways) what we focus on in our home learning adventure (except when I get off on a tangent - whoops!)  

LOVE God and Others

LIVE for His Glory

LEARN to love learning

If, Lord willing and by his Grace, I can instill this into the hearts of my children, I will be able to call this home learning adventure a great success in light of eternity!

my new blog is actually

my attempt to simplify my home learning records - sort of an online diary of what we have done and learned about each week (or month, but hopefully I can blog here at least once a week).  

My purposes are really two fold:  

First, I would just like to have something for my children and I to look back on and say "oh yeah, remember when we did that?  

Second, we are a part of a charter school (that is SUPER homeschool friendly) so I have to turn in "learning records" once a month.  I LOVE almost everything about our great charter school but I cringe every month as I try to go back through the month remembering what we did, what books we read, etc. . . and then I have to list it all out.  Hmmm. . . I thought. . . maybe I can just keep a weekly list here and then ask my EF (Educational Facilitator) to just log in and print it out if she wants a list of books and activities!  

So, new blog here we come (well, most likely I will be back here about 1 week after Labor Day.  LOL!)

More on the title later. . .