A Homeschool Planner is the Key to Success!

Posted by Alaina Frederick on Jun 17, 2013 in Homeschool

Are you struggling to complete your year-end homeschool portfolio?
 
Do you know at a glance how many days of instruction you have completed?

At the beginning of the school year I shared about my excitement for the Weekly Homeschool Planner that would hopefully make our first year go smoothly. So did it?

Well I’ll be honest, the first half of the year I was amazing at updating the planner. I followed the advice of veteran homeschoolers that planning is the key to homeschool success.

Over time I got into the habit of not scheduling our school out, letting the advice that was so key slip on by.

11 Year Old Says: Eat Local. Grow Your Own. Know Your Food Sources.

Posted by Alaina Frederick on Jun 17, 2013 in Bringing Up Boys, Gardening, Homesteading

Boy is this one smart 11 year old. In the video below he shares his thoughs about eating local, getting to know your farmers, and how farming isn’t what you might think it is.

Ask yourself:

Is the food you eat genetically modified in some lab or has it been freshly picked from the ground by your neighbor?

Does your meat come from a farm where thousands of animals are crammed into a small barn?

When was the last time you read a food label?

Sweet and Simple Fathers Day Gift Ideas

Posted by Jenn at Simple Haven on Jun 12, 2013 in Lifestyle

Before I had children, I could be counted upon to remember birthdays, anniversaries, and minor holidays with impressive accuracy and punctuality. However, after birthing two babies, transitioning to full-time mommy and homemaker, and never fully recovering from “baby brain,” my loved ones are fortunate to receive timely acknowledgements of their special days.

Ironically, now that the Hubs and I are parents, it’s events like Father’s Day that often catch me off-guard. Sad but true.

How to Stay Cool While Pregnant During the Summer

Posted by Guest Author on Jun 11, 2013 in Outdoor Adventures

The dog days of summer are almost upon us. Most of us look forward to the beautiful weather and greenery. However, few of us really enjoy the extreme heat. If you are pregnant this time of year, you are in for a special treat. The heat and humidity can be bad enough, but facing them while pregnant can bring on a whole new slew of challenges.

Staying cool while pregnant is not something you only want to pursue for comforts sake. You also need to keep the health of your baby in mind. Excessive heat and the accompanying dehydration will do neither one of you any favors. I don’t mean to alarm, but becoming overheated can cause a number of potential health issues for you and your baby.

Homeschool Deal Alert: Educents Human Body Curriculum for Kids

Posted by Karla Bond on Jun 6, 2013 in Homeschool

Human Body Curriculum for Kids

What ages is this for?

• Ideal for grades 3-5
• Perfect for homeschooling families or teachers

What do you get?

Pick from the following Human Body Curriculum for kids:

• The Circulatory System
• The Digestive System
• The Immune System
• Or save and grab all 3 Body Systems

In each you will get:

• Four 50-minute lesson plans
• 20+ pages of activities and worksheets
• Jeopardy® review assessment on Power Point
• Audio recording of the story
• Audio recording of the theme song (plus lyrics)
• Hands on labs and experiments
• Colorful stickers
• HBD poster

What is the Human Body Curriculum?

How does the sale work?

• Customer will be contacted within 24-48 hours with download instructions
• Must download product by December 31^st, 2013
• All sales are final

Why purchase this special offer?

• Teach your child good eating habits and inspire them to live a healthy lifestyle
• Learn about how your body works
• Engages students, and engaged students want to learn!

Hurry – grab all 3 titles and save $232.80 today!!

Check out Educents for complete sale information – But hurry this is a limited time special!

Tips for Camping with Small Children

Posted by Erica Mueller on Jun 3, 2013 in Outdoor Adventures

Camping. It sounds so peaceful, so away from the business of life. And then you add kids. Camping with children doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can be a really fun experience for everyone and a chance to build memories that will last a lifetime.

I can’t remember a single family camping trip without small children in tow. I am the oldest of 8 and while my family didn’t really camp, us kids did in the backyard and once I got married my husband and I were both so busy that we didn’t camp till having children slowed us down. And so, I know camping as a very noisy, very snuggled up, extra-joyful family time.

Top 5 Homesteading and Farming Books for Beginners

Posted by Alaina Frederick on May 30, 2013 in Gardening, Homesteading, Outdoor Adventures

While I like to believe that I’m an expert in all fields of life, it just isn’t so. I can talk someone blue in the face about breastfeeding, skipping baby cereals, my love of bamboo cloth diapers, or how awesome having four boys is but when it comes to gardening I’m a complete beginner.

I am proud of myself this year for getting a large container garden going and some of it is even showing signs of being a thriving shaded vegetable garden. Through the help of reading a couple of books I feel that I now know enough that in a few weeks I’ll be buying less of certain vegetables at the Farmer’s Market. Here are the top five books beginners should read to get started in a quest to garden, farm or homestead their land (or back porch like I do) according to me – a beginner gardening mom!