Children Learn by Example

How do we teach our children to have a moral work ethic in today's society?
I think just like everything else, it starts at home.

My husband works in the construction business, and I can't tell you how many times he has been asked something like, " you must go to church, don't you?", or "are you one of those Christians?", or something to that effect.

Just the other day, someone asked him what church he went to, and they had never even discussed church or religion. They just knew from the way he was that he must be a Christian.

He has great morals, and it shows in his work too. He is honest, and doesn't cheat, cuss, or do anything else that is typically found in his business. Not that everyone who works in construction does these things, but he is one of the few who really stands out as different.

I think that he is a great role model for my son.

I also think that things such as a cashier giving you too much change back, and you returning it, are great examples of ways to teach your children to have a good work ethic. It teaches honesty.

A few months ago my son found a $20 bill on the Walmart floor, and really wanted to keep it. But we explained to him the reasons why it would be dishonest to keep it, and he returned it, and was praised by the cashier.

Once, I walked out of Walmart and realized that I forgot to pay for my bottle of water. I was so tired, and didn't want to go back in, but I knew it was the right thing to do, and a great opportunity to teach my children about honesty.

We were at Mardel one day, and my son found a dollar. We took it to the cashier, and she said the little boy who lost had just asked for it, but that they had already left.

It was so sad, but it was a lesson for my children. Even though a dollar isn't much, it meant something to that little boy who lost it. He had tried to find it, and if it had been turned in a little sooner, he would have gotten it back.

My kids felt sorry for that little boy, and they remember how it must have felt for him to have lost his dollar, and not have been able to find it.

So now they always want to turn things in so that hopefully whoever lost it will be able to get it back.

These type of things happen to us a lot, and I think it is those moments that teach our children about morals, and ethics.

You can tell them something all day long, but if they don't see it, and experience it for themselves, they won't really understand what it means.

So, if you want to teach your children how to have a good work ethic, or how to have good Biblical morals, you need to show them. You need to be their example. They need to see it in action.

Be sure to check out how my fellow Crew Mates teach their children to have a good work ethic. 

Could God NOT want me to go to convention?

I have been homeschooling for 9 years now. My oldest is 13, and she has never been to public school.

We have an awesome homeschool convention here, but I have never been able to go. It is usually because of time, or lack of money, that I haven't been able to go.

This year things have changed a bit. The convention was actually going to be held on a Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of the typical Friday and Saturday. This was actually a good thing for me. It has always been hard for me to go on a weekend.

Not only that, but they are also offering free admission to first time attendees.

So, I thought this would actually be the perfect time, and that I would actually get to go.

Well, my mother-in-law, who was supposed to watch the kids for me, went out of town, and won't be back until the day after convention.

OK, so I thought I would just take them with me, but then I found out that I would have to pay for them to come, and my husband said no. See, if I were taking them with me, I wouldn't be able to attend any of the workshops. I would only be able to look at the curriculum.

That would be fine with me. That's what I wanted to do the most anyhow, but my husband didn't want me to have to pay for them to come with me just to look at curriculum for a few hours.

So, I asked my sister-in-law if she would watch the kids for a few hours so I could run up there and check out the curriculum.

Well, both of our families haven't been feeling well, so that won't work out.

My aunt and grandma said they would watch them, but my aunt is not feeling well either, so that won't work.

And the second day of the convention, my kids have a dentist appt.

It just seems that no matter how hard I try to get to the convention, I just can't get there.

You know, I just keep thinking about it, and I think I am not supposed to go.

I don't really need anything in particular, I guess, but I wanted to see what else was out there, ya know?

But I think that I am supposed to use what I already have, rather than purchase new stuff just for the sake of trying something new.

I have tons of online stuff that I never use.

I have 100's of lapbooks. I have a lifetime membership to Hands of a Child, and we have only done a handful of them. That is truly sad.

I have dozens of unit studies.

And the thing is, they are all great! I could probably homeschool for at least this whole next year, if not many, many years with all that I already have, online and physical products.

I think the problem is that it is not as easy to "grab" something off the computer, as it is a physical item.

I think I just like to see what else is out there, but that just contributes to my problem.

I end up with so much stuff, but I never use it all.

I really feel like the Lord is telling me that I have all I need for now. He has put me in a position that I don't need anything right now.

I may need some things like math, soon, but I really can't think of anything else I "need".

Being on the TOS Crew this year has really blessed me with a lot of the curriculum that I currently have, and I know that the Lord has placed me on the Crew for a reason.

I think that with the combination of being on the Crew, and using the products I already have, I will be set for the next year, or more.

I don't know what this next year holds for me, but I know that I am being prepared for something, and I think that being more frugal is part of it.

I have spent years collecting books for my kids so we wouldn't have to go to the library.

I have SO MUCH online educational stuff that it is overwhelming.

SO, I think I am on a journey to using what the Lord has already provided, and being open to the new things that he will provide through the Crew, and other areas.

I am going to stop wondering what else I may need, or want, and just use what I already have.

Do you struggle with this as well?

How do you use all of your online curriculum, such as lapbooks, or unit studies?

I would love to hear how you implement these things in your homeschool.

I look forward to your suggestions.

35% off Kinderbach

Recently I reviewed a music program for younger children called Kinderbach.

If you read my review, then you know how much we loved it.

Today I was blessed by Kinderbach with a 35% off code, and was told I could share with all my friends, so I am sharing it with you!

Just use this code, TOSCrew2011, when you check out.

Here is a video clip of what Kinderbach is all about.



Just to let you know how much we really love it, I just ordered the first 3 levels on DVD!

I hope you love it as much as we do.

Have fun!

Nutrition 101:Choose Life/ TOS Review

As part of the TOS Review Crew, I have reviewed many products this year. My latest review product is Nutrition 101: Choose Life from Growing Healthy Homes.

I love this book! This has been one of my favorite review products so far this year.

Nutrition 101: Choose Life is awesome! This is not your typical health book.

First off, it is Biblically based. As a Christian, I appreciate this fact very much.

Second, it can actually be used as a curriculum. This is a 448 page family nutrition and health program/curriculum. 

Third, it is Co-authored by homeschool mother Debra Raybern, N.D., M.H., C.N.C., I.C.A.; homeschool mother and researcher Sera Johnson, B.MU; mother and writer/editor Laura Hopkins, B.S.; and mother, grandmother and former Home Economics teacher Karen Hopkins, B.S.

I love the fact that it is written by fellow homeschool moms. You know it will be written in a way that is easy to implement with your family.

You can use this program with all ages, although it is better suited for older children.
You can, however, take the key parts, and teach them to your younger children.

This book is not just for the kids. I am learning so much about health and nutrition, and how to better take care of my family, and their health. 

Your family will learn about the major body systems, how they work, how food can increase, or decrease your health, how to prevent common illnesses naturally, what foods are good for certain parts of the body, and much, much more.

The book is broken into 6 Units:

1. The Brain and Nervous System
2. Digestion and Elimination
3. Respiration and Olfactory
4. Muscular and Skeletal Systems
5. Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
6. Endocrine System and Emotions.

Each chapter talks about one specific body system/health nutrition aspect.

After you have read the main part, there are discussion questions, and activities for both the elementary and secondary ages.

One of our favorite aspects of this book are the recipes that follow each chapter. Each recipe correlates to the chapters topic.

The appendix in this book is awesome! I don't think I have ever said that before. lol

You will find wonderful charts that you will want to print out, and maybe even make a notebook with your children with all the wonderful pages. That is what we are going to do. 

This book has taught me so much. I did not know that things like high blood pressure, allergies, depression and eczema could be an Omega-3 deficiency.

There is much to be learned in this book, and I can tell you that we will definitely be reading this together as a family, not just to the kiddos. 

I honestly feel that by reading this book, and putting these things into practice, I will be able to be a better mom and wife to my family.

I want be able to teach my kids good health and nutrition, and not just tell them "because it's not good for you". Now I can tell them why certain foods are not good for them.
They will know the reason behind what mom is saying, instead of just "Mom said so".

I highly encourage you to take a look at Nutrition 101: Choose Life!  I believe it will be such an encouragement to you, and your family.

You can see a sample of this book, with all of it's beautiful photos, here. 

You can purchase this book in 3 different packages:

1. (CD-ROM) - $79.95
2. Book - $99.95
3. Combo: CD-ROM and Book - $129.95

I know this may sound like a lot of money, and if I hadn't reviewed this book, I probably wouldn't have seen the value myself.

I think you will love it though. I think your family will be just as blessed to have this book as my family has been.

I actually reviewed the electronic version, and I would much rather have the physical book. If I could swing the physical book and the CD-ROM, that would be even better.

The electronic version is great for printing off individual pages that you may want printed out.

It is definitely worth saving your money for. And to help out a little on the financial part, I am allowed to offer you a 15% discount! Just use the code TOScrew11 when you checkout.

Also, tomorrow, April 21st, The Old Schoolhouse is hosting a webinar with Sera Johnson, one of the authors of Nutrition 101: Choose Life!, at 4:00 EDT.

This would be a great opportunity for you to get to know more about this program, and help you decide whether or not this program is for you.

Here's to your families great health!

Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew mates have to say about Nutrition 101:Choose Life!

*I have received a PDF copy of Nutrition 101: Choose Life!, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion.

No other compensation has been given to me.*

Living My Dream

This weeks Blog Cruise question is...If I weren't homeschooling, what would my dream job be?

When I was younger, I always wanted to be a singer. lol (No, I can't sing that well. )

I also really wanted to be a therapist. I really wanted to help other teens through a lot of the stuff I went through as a kid.

Then, even after I was married, I wanted to be a cosmetologist.  Boy, am I  glad I didn't pursue that. I cut my family's hair, and that is enough for me. lol

But, honestly, even as a teenager, I just wanted to have kids. 

I think I wanted to have them for different reasons than most though. I wanted to have a child of my own so badly, so that I would have someone to love, and someone to love me back.

I wanted to prove to my mom, that I could be a good mom, even a better mom than she had been. I wanted to be there for my kids, and have a different kind of relationship with my kids than I had with my mom.

Now, as an adult, I don't hold grudges, but having kids is still my dream. Just for different reasons now.

Now, I want to raise Godly children, and Train them up in the way they should go.

I love homeschooling my children, and I hope to have more in the future.

It really is my biggest joy in life. There is nothing I would rather be doing.

So, I don't have another dream. If I weren't homeschooling, my dream would be homeschooling a family, and training them up for Christ.

I'm living my dream. What could be better than that?

Check out what my fellow Crew mates had to say this week. 

My Birthday Present

	My husband bought me this Wolfgang Puck Reversible Grill/Griddle. I have wanted a griddle for a long time. Now I have one, and it can be a grill too! I'm makin' breakfast in the morning! lol

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week… 


This past week was one of the busiest weeks of my life. Do you ever have those moments where you feel like everything is falling apart?

I have been trying to get all the housework done, get back into the swing of things with homeschool, make sure I get my reviews done, on and on and on..

I did get an Ab Glider! lol It works. It is like a whole body workout, not just for the abs.


In our homeschool this week…

This week we have been using some activity kits from Adventures n Learning that my neighbor gave me. We are just doing the crafts. It is pretty fun. They do have these little booklets for each letter that is fun to do. 

We are working through Nutrition 101. It is awesome! I love it! My daughter has been using Wordy Querty, a spelling program. She loves it!. 


They are also trying out a new math program called Mad Dog Math. They are having fun trying to beat their own time on their math facts. 


 
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We have not done much this week outside the home. I did have to take my car in to get a couple things fixed.


My favorite thing this week was…

My husband took my daughter to breakfast, and my son and I did some crafts together. That was nice to have that time with him.


What’s working/not working for us…

What is not working for us is the disorganization. I have to get my home in order.


Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

Hmm, I guess I am just trying to figure out how to implement everything I need to with my Kindergartner son, and make sure my daughter is getting what she needs. (8th grade.)


A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I reviewed Science Weekly this week. 

This is my first time linking up to the Homeschool Mother's Journal.

Hopefully nest time I will be more prepared, and have more to say. 

Blog Walk - Week 19

1. Accidentally Homeschooling
2. Live The Adventure
3. Garden of Learning
4. Reviews & Reflections
5. C.H.I.N.A. Chronicles
6. A House Upon The Rock
7. Tumbleweed News
8. Simply at Home
9. Life at Rossmont
10. Abundant Blessings
11. Blue Skies Academy

Ab Glider

Today my husband bought me an Ab Glider.

I used it today for about 5 minutes, and I can already feel it!

I have the Ab Circle Pro, and I hate that thing. lol

My husband and I both thought it would be good, but it is too hard. Not hard as in I am just out of shape hard, but hard as in you are on your knees, and having to lean way down to reach the handle bars, hard.

It was so uncomfortable. I could not use it because it hurts my knees so much, and it put all my weight on my arms. It just is not well thought out.

Now, the Ab Glider on the other hand is like the well thought out version.  Your whole knees and shins are on a soft cushion, and you arms are much higher. You can actually watch TV while you work out, which make it a lot more fun. It takes your mind off of the workout.

Here is a video clip of what I just got: Ignore the bare bellies! lol



I will let you know how I like it after more use, but so far I am liking it a lot, and it is much better than the Ab Circle Pro. (In my opinion.)

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

TOS Review/ Science Weekly

Science Weekly is a subscription magazine for children in K-6th grade. What makes Science Weekly unique is that is has 6 different levels  for each topic that you can choose from.   For instance, I received "The Flu" for review.  I received 6 individual magazines. Levels Pre-A through Level E. Each magazine is about the flu, but each one is geared towards a different age group.  Here are levels Pre-A and A .  Levels B and C Levels D and E You can tell from the front covers, that each level gets progressively more detailed. In the next two pictures below, you can see the different activities in the magazine.  The first one is level E, the one I used with my daughter.  The second one is level Pre-A, the one I used with my son. Here is a side by side view of the back covers of level Pre-A and level E. What makes this program especially handy is that you can teach all of your children the same topic at once, but at the same time, have the ability to tailor the topic just to them. What I did was read from the highest level, and then go over the level Pre-A magazine with my son.  If you like using unit studies, you will enjoy these magazines. I am calling them magazines, but they are more like a newsletter  in form.  Each one is 4 pages. (Like a 16x20 piece of paper folded in half.) My kids thought they were fun. My son said he liked getting to spray his sister the best! lol In one of the activities, he was to take a spray bottle and pretend he was sneezing on his sister. This was to see if sneezing could spread the flu.  I think that these magazines are a great idea, and I would love to  keep receiving them, but unless I was to split an order with a group, or unless they came out with a family option, I would not be able to afford them.  A subscription to Science Weekly is as follows: So, for me it would cost almost $40 just for my 2 kiddos.  For a family that has 4 kids, you are talking about $80.  I would definitely consider getting a subscription if there were a more family friendly option, or if the $19.95 were for as many levels as you needed for your family.  I like the magazine, and the idea behind it however.  Science Weekly also has an interactive program that is really cool.   Currently they have 5 different topics up, with 4 levels apiece.  (Grades 1-4) Pyramids Living in Space Kites Hurricanes Dams Here is a sample from the Interactive Program.  As you can see, these actually have more pages to them than the physical one.  You can look at them online, or print them off so that your kids can write in them. They look really cool, and my kids can't wait until I print them  out for them. And the best part is...it's free~! There are also free coloring books available. There are currently 6  of them to choose from.   Science Weekly is a hit in our home. Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew Mates thought about Science Weekly. *I have received a copy of Science Weekly, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion. No other compensation has been given to me.*

TOS Review - Kinderbach

I asked my son what he liked best about KinderBach, and he said, " I like everything about it! I like the coloring the best!"

When we first began to use KinderBach, my 6 year old son thought it was babyish. 

After a few sessions, he began to change his mind. I remember when he said to me, "Maybe KinderBach is kinda fun." lol

Now all I hear is how fun KinderBach is, and how we just have to buy it!

KinderBach is a fun, and easy to use program that introduces your younger children to music. It is geared towards children ages 3-7, but I am sure it can be adapted for kids a little older who have had no prior lessons in music.



We are only on week 6, but my son already knows the finger numbers, where the D keys are on the keyboard (Dodi's house), how to follow a quarter note, high and low, and soft and quiet.

Each lesson has a video that the children watch, and usually an accompanying activity, or coloring page.

My son loves the coloring pages!

They even have additional coloring books that go with the program. 

They also have additional crafts and games available. Some are available for purchase, and some are free.

They are not necessary to the program though. So you needn't worry if you don't have them. They are just fun extras. 

I have no background in music whatsoever, and it definitely would not be easy for me to teach music. Now, don't get me wrong,  I do believe that a parent can learn, or find a way, to teach their children everything they need to know. I believe that we are perfectly equipped by our Lord and Savior to teach our children.

KinderBach falls into the category of "finding a way" to teach them something.

This program is perfect as an introductory music class.

I love it because we can do music lessons in our own home. I've never wanted to go to a music class. They are expensive, and I don't like the fact that if we miss a class, we are out of luck.

With KinderBach, we can go at our own pace. We can always go back and listen to a lesson we have already done if we want to. You just can't do that in a public music class.

This program is just plain fun!

I highly, highly recommend this music program to anyone with young children.

My son really enjoys it. He asks me everyday if we can do KinderBach. I think that is the best recommendation there is, don't you?

If you are interested in KinderBach, there are actually several pricing options available.

I usually give you the prices in my reviews, but this time I am going to send you to their pricing page, so you can see all of the pricing options.

KinderBach has a free online trial option as well. Give it a try. I think your kids will love it!


Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew Mates thought of KinderBach.

*I have received a three month trial to KinderBach, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion. No other compensation has been given to me.*

Blog Walk - Week 18

1. Homedaze
2. Pondering on the Prairie
3. Mrs. D's Homestead
4. Training Children Up for Christ
5. Ahoy Maties!
6. Mountaineer Country
7. Life with the Tribe
8. Tenacity Divine
9. Ramblings of the Blonde Mother Bear
10. Circling Through This Life

Giveaway!

Hey guys. I have a friend over at The Blessings Pour Out, who is hosting a giveaway.

You will have your choice of either a Rebecca St. James CD, or Diana Waring's book, Beyond Survival, if you are the winner.

I would pick the book if I won!

So head on over to her blog, and enter for your chance to win.

Leave her a comment letting her know that I sent you, and I will get extra entries.
You can do the same as well.

Good luck!

2011 Ultimate Blog Party

I am linking up with the Ultimate Blog Party! This is my first time, and I thought it would be fun to get to know other bloggers like myself.

Welcome to my blog. I try to post about homeschooling, cooking, and all the funny things my kids do. 

I have recently been learning to cook, and have been sharing my experiences with you.

For example, I just learned how to make bread!

I am also a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew.

We review homeschool curriculum, and educational products.

You can check back here often for my most up to date reviews.

I always review honestly, so I think you will find my reviews very helpful.

These are a few of my favorite reviews this year. There are many, many more though.

I look forward to getting to know you all soon.

Let me know if you joined the Ultimate Blog Party, and I'll look for you!