I Found the Cutest Christmas Gift!!

Photo Stamps!




I have already ordered a sheet of photo stamps for each of my family members! I uploaded my photos into the photo stamp program, used their cropping tool and chose the best border color to match each photo. It was so easy and fun! I can't wait to see their faces when they open their presents. I am also sending them to extended family!

The neatest part is that these are real postage stamps that can really be used to send mail! How fun is that?? You can put your own photo stamp on postcards, letters or anything you need to mail!

Math - Ugh!

Math - There are not any shortcuts. I wish I could get that through my children's heads. Especially in math. They must do all of their work every day, have it graded and be tutored on each of the problems they missed. This goes back to my post on accountability. I have to ensure that this entire process happens each day. Math cannot wait a few days.

My children are very good about getting most of their subjects completed but my youngest continues to try to get away with not doing his math or more precisely, he doesn't do portions of his math. He simply skips over what he can't instantly recall.

He does struggle with remembering what he has previously learned so math programs that jump from skill to skill without repetition of previous skills are not well suited for him.

I have taught fractions, decimals, and percents so many times that I keep thinking this will be the last time I have to teach this skill. They know it now. Well, lofty thought. I have gone back to a math review for my youngest. I am having him do the Key-To series in my attempt to get those skills stuck solidly in his head. He needed to move onto algebra but is struggling with basic concepts making algebra impossible.

The Key-To series only works on one skill family for a whole series of books. It should give him plenty of repetition and quickly bring his skill level up to the level required to be able to complete his algebra program.

I suppose one of the best benefits of home schooling is the ability to work with each individual child on the exact material that would benefit them the most.

I thank the Lord for allowing me the ability to continue to home school. I pray for clarity of thought and the ability to see my children's real needs and my role in fulfilling those needs.

As always,
Blessings,
Julie

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Today is my son Jacob's 22 birthday. This year he is celebrating with his new wife - Brannan : )

Jacob - I just wanted to sing you "Happy Birthday" but just doing it over the phone this morning wasn't enough.

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Jacob !!!
Happy birthday to you : )

I love you and I am proud of the man you have become.
Love,
Mom

Christmas Time Is Upon Us!

With Black Friday here and gone already, the Christmas season is officially here. I suppose it is not even politically correct to say "Christmas Season" anymore but it will take a herd of pigs flying directly overhead to get me to drop the word Christmas from my vocabulary. In fact, I am going to make it a point to say it several times throughout this post!

Being a home school family is especially rewarding during Christmas time. We have time to do special projects geared toward the real reason for the season. Christ!

One of those Christmas projects has been to create a Jesse Tree. A Jesse Tree is a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Christ by making special ornaments, each symbolic of a prophetic scripture. All of the scriptures are based on the Isaiah 11:1 that says:

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Of course that branch was Jesus.

The Christmas ornaments are placed on the Jesse Tree, one each day along with a reading of the scripture that the ornament is symbolizing. By creating a Jesse Tree, not only do you learn more of our savior but also have a craft project for your family to participate in together.

There are many, many websites with Jesse Tree instructions and ornament patterns. Type Jesse Tree into a google search to find the one that best suits your family.

May your Christmas season be blessed.

Julie

What Is Thankfulness?

I got to thinking about the holiday that is upon us and I wondered if my son knew what the word "Thankfulness" really meant. So I asked him. All of his answers contained the word thanks, thankful, or some other derivitive or else expressed the things he was thankful for. As the, "Always seeking a teachable moment" home school mom, we set out to find the dictionary definition.

Aware and appreciative of a benefit (Dictionary.com)

I guess this year is a particularly hard year emotionally for me - (I say that every year around the holidays) but this year, I have the pleasure of working a 14 hour shift on Thanksgiving. I keep thinking to myself, "I sure don't harbor any feelings of thanksgiving this year." But - when I wipe away the dirty smudge of discontent that buries my thankfulness, I find I am overwhelmed with things to be thankful for.

It seems the most important one is that God has ingrained within the human race the ability (and duty) to be thankful in all circumstances. For this I am thankful. What would life be like if we never experienced the feeling of thankfulness.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Julie

Indoor Home School Activities

The weather has finally turned cold! I almost feel like Winnie the Pooh on the blustery day because the wind has picked up so much. Our forcast says it will continue to get colder throughout the day so . . . I am planning some indoor activities to bring us together closer as a family.

Some Ideas:

Play our favorite card game
Make a giant pot of home made soup
Get our surfaces ready for Christmas decorations (Oops, did I say "Work"?)
Start organizing our box of photos to try making our first scrapbook
(My family loves digging out the box! I imagine they will love scrapbooks even more.)
My son wants to learn game programming so I pulled that book off the shelf.
Pop some popcorn and watch a great movie together
Set up the card table with a new jigsaw puzzle
Put out a bowl of unshelled nuts
Get the black walnuts from our tree out of the husks (messy job - dyes your skin black but they will make a great addition to our bowl of unshelled nuts!)

Well, that is a start. I don't plan on being bored this winter and I don't anticipate my children being bored either. I love the wintertime. I think it is my favorite time of the year. Hopefully we will all draw even closer together this winter as we share a variety of indoor activities but more importantly - It is my desire that as a family we all turn our hearts and minds even more to the Lord and draw closer to Him.

Blessings,
Julie

This Beautiful Autumn

I wanted to take a minute to encourage everyone to enjoy
the cool weather and the spectacular fall colors. 
God never ceases to amaze me with the magnificence of
His creation.
Blessings,
Julie

For a fresh approach to organizing your home school curriculum
Go To:The Full-Year Notebook System

Full-Year Notebook Affiliate Program

I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got my new affiliate program up and running on the Full-Year Notebook website. There is a new URL to sign up as an affiliate. If you are interested in adding an affiliate product to your website or blog, go to:

Full-Year Notebook Affiliate Program Information

Registration is quick and easy. You receive your affiliate link immediately via email so you can use it almost as soon as you sign up.

To see the product go to http://full-year-notebooks.com

Affiliate tools will be added to the website soon.

As always, Blessings to you,
Julie