Archive for August, 2009
Getting back to God
Posted by: | CommentsIn some ways I never left God but, I’m ashamed to admit, in some ways I have. While my heart has always been for God and He has always been the most important person in my life, I haven’t always treated Him as such. God has been speaking to me through many different things recently and I’ve come to realize that I need to get myself back on track. I need to be spending more time in His word, I need to be spending more time in prayer, and I need to be doing more outside of myself to further His kingdom. My first step that I’m going to take is to try to faithfully have my quiet time each morning before our day officially begins. I’m not a morning person though so pray that I can do this!! 
Chris Klicka – an amazing man in need of prayer
Posted by: | CommentsIn a homeschool e-mail loop that I receive, there was some information today that made me so sad. Chris Klicka, an amazing man who has done so much to change the face of homeschooling in this country through his work at HSLDA, has MS and has started having more trouble recently. I have heard him speak at homeschool conferences a couple of times and he is truly an inspiration. Please take the time to read a little about what he’s going through here and say a prayer for him. I know he and his family would appreciate it!
Homeschooling State History
Posted by: | CommentsA few years ago we spent almost a year and a half in New York. During that time we incorporated state history into our homeschool curriculum and used an amazing curriculum. I have never been too fond of state history. I grew up in Oklahoma and, I’m sorry, but I just don’t remember there being that much to learn about from our state that was exciting and that included various topics. Now New York, THAT was a different story! There was so much that went on in the early days of our country in New York! So many interesting people to learn about, so many events, and so many places! I really enjoyed the curriculum we used and wanted to share it with you guys. It’s called Around New York in 80 Days. If you live in New York (or just want to use this to study some of our country’s early history!) this is a great program to use. You can check out their website here for more information. (They also have one for Ohio but unfortunately no other state right now.) Happy studying!
No Fear Shakespeare
Posted by: | CommentsShakespeare Literature is a class I’m teaching at our homeschool co-op this year and I’m already having so much fun and learning so much with it! One of the reasons is this book that I’m using as a teaching aid:
Title: No Fear Shakespeare: A Companion
ISBN: 978-1411497467
Pages: 320
Publisher: Spark Publishing
Rating: 5 stars
This book has been a wealth of knowledge about Shakespeare. It’s full of facts but it’s also easy to read and not dry at all. If you want to learn about Shakespeare and his plays I would highly recommend this book!
I feel a little silly for this but…
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t do much surfing on the web and I just accidentally came across a thing that google has that I didn’t know about. I’m sure all of you already know about it (hence the title of this post!) but at igoogle you can have a whole page with all kinds of cool gadgets! They have news feeds, calendars, to do lists, games, weather reports. How cool!
Yeah, I know… I don’t get out much! haha!
It’s almost time for school again!
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t know about you but we area gearing back up for school again. In fact, in some ways summer has already ended. This week was the beginning of football practice which means four nights a week we’re at the practice field. My daughter also had cheer camp this week so she’s been gone all day for that too. Next week will be a little calmer because cheer camp will be over but the week after that is when school begins. I’m actually kind of excited! Which doesn’t surprise me because I always am by this time of the summer. I enjoy taking the summer off very much but I’m always ready to get back into a routine by the end of it.
One thing that I’ve been working hard on recently is the class that I’m teaching at our co-op this year. I’m getting really excited about it and looking forward to being with the new group of kids and seeing what they bring to the class. I teach high school literature so we get to sit and talk about what we read each week. It’s so fun! The kids amaze me sometimes and it’s always fascinating to hear what they get out of it.
One thing I’m adding to my class this year is two big writing assignments. Last year we just did smaller papers once a month but this year I’m having them write an essay first semester and a research paper second semester along with their other assignments. I found the coolest books to help me teach them how to do this:
by Sparknotes Editors
ISBN: 978-1-4114-9976-8
Publication: Spark Publishing 2006
and
by Emma Chastain
ISBN: 978-1-4114-2341-1
Publisher: Spark Publishing 2008
I’m really excited to have found these! They are going to be a great teaching tool for me this year.
Does your house need to be cleaned?
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t know about you but I can find it a little overwhelming to try to keep my whole house clean – and I don’t mean “surface” clean but “deep” clean. To try to take a day to really clean house can be exhausting so rather than get it done it usually just stays the way it is. Until last year that is. I got a neat idea from someone else and kind of ran with it and the list below is what I came up with. I have this on my computer and I print the list out and have it in a binder that has some things like this in it. I can open this up each and day look at what needs to be done, go take care of one thing on the list (sometimes more if something was really quick and/or easy), and then highlight it so I know it’s been done. Once the list has been completely highlighted I know the whole house has gone through a cycle where everything was completely cleaned. Then I print a new one and start all over again. That way every month or two everything gets cleaned really well. Of course, some things we do daily and/or weekly. It really wouldn’t do to leave the floors or bathrooms undone for a month or more. That would be a little gross! 
I’ve really liked this system and it’s worked really well for me. If you need help in this area, save my list to your computer and tweak it to fit your house. You might just love it!
Deep Cleaning List
Kitchen
Clean refrigerator
Clean freezer
Clean/organize pantry
Clean plate cabinet
Clean spice cabinet
Clean pitcher cabinet
Clean under sink
Clean pot/pan cabinet
Clean extra dish cabinet
Clean pot/pan drawer
Clean oven
Clean stove
Dust top of cabinets
Clean toaster oven
Clean glass/cup cabinet
Clean Tupperware cabinet
Kids’ rooms
Clean closets
Clean shelves
Clean desk
Office
Clean out desk
Clean top of desk
Clean off table
Clean under desk & table
Clean bookshelf
Clean closet
Clean out file cabinet
Laundry Room
Clean under washer
Clean under dryer
Straighten top shelf
Clean bookshelf
Clean game shelf
Clean top of dryer
Dining Room
Clean trash can
Clean buffet
Clean chairs
Clean spoons/spoon rack
Clean movie stand
Clean TV stand
Headboard
Clean under bed
Master Bedroom
Clean under bed
Clean out chest
Clean under couch
Clean TV unit
Master Bathroom
Clean out cabinet
Clean out medicine cabinet
Wash shower curtain
Clean out basket
Master Closet
Go through clothes/shoes
Clean out drawers
Clean top of chest
Clean under/around chest
Straighten stuff on shelf
Hall Bathroom
Clean out cabinet
Clean out medicine cabinet
Wash shower curtain
Clean basket
Living Room
Clean out desk
Vacuum under furniture
Clean coat closet
Clean TV stand
Vacuum furniture
A pet peeve of mine
Posted by: | CommentsIt drives me nuts when people mispronounce words and add letters to the words that are not there. Two examples that drive me nuts:
The word is real-tor NOT real-A-tor. Two syllables, not three.
And height does NOT have an H on the end – it’s height – not heigth!
I feel better now.
