BFS #110: Computer help People Help People (IBM)

Assignment:

Share some of your favorite homeschooling sites.  The only “rule” for this assignment is that you have to list at least one “free” site.  Many homeschooling families have made the choice to live on very little income to do what they believe is best for their children and I want everyone to be able to benefit from this assignment.  If you have other sites that are “paid” sites, feel free to include these also as it might be something someone would really appreciate.  If you feel led, share your curriculum choices with us.  I always love to learn what is out there that I don’t already know about.  Please make sure to include links to the sites you share.

My favorite Sites:

http://www.homeschoolviews.com/

http://www.makingfriends.com

http://www.childcareland.com/free.html

http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool/

http://homeschoolshare.com

http://www.makinglearningfun.com

Of course I could list more... I was just scanning my saved links and have several hundred (I need to purge them) but the above are my all time favorites for free homeschool stuff.. I have a list of fav's for blogs, mom stuff, ect but that is another post.

Field Trip: Willamette River Queen and RiverFront Park

We joined SASH for a fun afternoon on the Willamette River Queen today. Although the sky was cloudy and the wind was lightly blowing we still had fun. Cameron even decided to "drive" the boat and was put in an sailor's hat to take the wheel. Perfect as our mascot is a sailor.



Cameron tried out some new toys at the park and found out you can fly!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="Cameron can fly"][/caption]

Boys in Thought

As we were waiting for the launch of the Willamette River Queen today I caught both boys in thought as they looked out their windows. Wonder what they were thinking?



Nathan is usually so talkative you wonder what he is thinking about as he experiences a boat ride for the first time.


Cameron can get lost in thought often, he reminds me of myself sometimes.

Veteran's Day Lapbook finishes off Community Helpers Unit

I still need to reload the camera and take pictures of the finished lapbook but Cameron and I worked on a great Veteran's Day lapbook on Tuesday. It was a free download that another homeschooler forwarded to us and it was great.  We talked about each branch of the service, what is a veteran, how to treat the American Flag and then finished with Veteran's we know.  Cameron wrote the motto for 3 of the 5 branches of military as well as the names of 5 people we know that are Veteran's (Papa, Uncle Matt, Eric G., Pastor Jim, and Will W. ) those were the names he was the most familar with and could relate to, not that the others were not important but getting a 6 year old young writer to focus on writing a list... We picked just a few.  He decorated the cover with some patriotic stickers I found in my stash and titled it.  Overall the lesson was good and the time together was great.

Next week we will be changing gears and studying the stars. Day 4 of Creation... The boys have been looking forward to this unit for the last month... I'm glad it gets dark earlier and I can take them outside to see the stars (praying for a clear night at least once...)

Family Economics

As I try to plan the next few weeks I have to think about the economics of our family. Everyone is talking about the economy now and how terrible it is... Thankfully the price of gas has dropped making trips to town cost a lot less than they use to. When we moved out here 3 1/2 years ago we stuck with the idea that we would continue to be a one income household and make a ton of sacrifices to do that. People tell me about all the troubles they are having money wise and I just think, wait a minute these are the things I face everyday and have since I left the banking industry just over 4 years ago. People make choices in their lives, we have made the decision to live a simpler life without a lot of bells and whistles. I have to make the decision each week as to what is necessary and what is not. Some people have this impression that we have living some kind of cushy lifestyle where money isn't a problem and we have whatever we need, I'm sorry some have the impression but it is so far from the truth.

I have creatively come up solutions to problems, cut corners where I can and simply given up most of the conveniences of my former life. That is basic family economics.

BFS: #108 Quality is Job #1

My family and I rarely do anything apart from each other. We don’t really have quality time together because all our time is together. We feel like the more special moments are when we have dinner together or when we worship God together. For this assignment, tell how you and your family spend QUALITY time together.

This assignment is timely... Following Cameron's birthday I let him pick out a couple of gifts with his Gift Card from Walmart (Thank you Auntie Karla and Uncle Matt!!!). He picked out art supplies including an art pad, paint brushes, and a set of Crayola kid paints (washable and in easy to close containers)... so for the last 2 evenings we have been doing art after dinner with Daddy.  Tonight Nathan joined in and the 3 boys painted pictures (works of art!!! I'm not biased or anything.), while they painted I sat at the table and created a couple scrapbook pages of my nephew... We are enjoying this creative time together that is not "school" or eating time...  Of course I will be saving the boys' works of art in their school notebooks and scrapbooks.

BFS #109: We Bring Good Things to Life

Share a field trip/lifestyle learning experience where you really felt you were bringing good things to life for your children, where something came alive for them, or ignited a passion.

I can think of several field trips that have given the boys something to really grab hold of... OMSI teacher night back in September was a great trip for them to see things in action as well as reinforce several mini units we were working on... The dinosaur exhibit as well as the forest life area struck a cord with Cameron.  Nathan loved playing in the children's museum water works and sand box.   The other field trip was our trip to AC Gilbert House/ Discovery Village, the boys love going there and seeing what is new and exciting.  I know even a trip out to Daddy's shop can be a enlightening "field trip" for them as we strive to make learning engaging and fun.

Election Unit Complete

We started off the day by dropping off our ballots at the Elections Office.

[caption id="attachment_136" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Reaching for the ballot box"][/caption]

 

Then we stopped to show off the Vote Here sign.



Then home to work on our lapbook.

Cameron colored tons of election themed bits and pieces for his book. As the news started coming in about different states we colored the map red and blue.  Cameron even included his own ballots.

[caption id="attachment_140" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="inside lapbook including ballots "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_141" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="electoral collage map and fun star file folder"][/caption]

Election night Prayer

I have kept politics off my blog but feel I have to say this now.
I am praying for our country and my children. I am hopeful but not ignorant to reality. I hope those of you the voted feel the pride in knowing that you did what you could do to help, it doesn't matter if we agree on the different points or not, voting is a privilege and an honor.
As we completed our ballots last night I felt a solace in knowing I was doing the right thing for me, my family, and my country. The only thing left to do know if pray. Pray that what has been said about certain parties is not all together true, pray that God continues to protect and care for his children, pray that better days are to come in Christ.

File Folder Fun Grand Opening Celebration

We love file folder games and are so excited to share this new group with all our reading friends.

File folder games go along with our love of lapbooks and are great games that store inside themselves.

File Folder Fun is a great website for sharing ideas and finding some fun games.

Stop by the website to enter a great giveaway Valerie is having the celebrate the Grand Opening.