Homeschooling multiple ages - our curriculum choices for the boys in 2013

I am thrilled about our curriculum for the boys this year. Although we do slow to a snails pace for the summer, we actually school year round. We have some more upcoming travel plans for the family which will offer a terrific break & return to officially kick off our new school year.

As you may know, we spend a great deal of time schooling outdoors and taking our cue from nature. We also include "sit down" time and do a good bit of our school time together as a group.

Homeschooling also offers the opportunity for me to work one on one with each of my boys in the areas where they need individual attention.



*affiliate links present in this post

In the 2013-2014 school year, we will have one boy in the 1st - 2nd grade, one boy in the 3rd grade, and another in Jr. High. Each of our boys are gifted in some areas. One has special needs and has struggled greatly with reading. 
It is my goal to provide a Christ based, well-rounded curriculum that allows for them to pursue individual interests while preparing them to compete globally later in life. I want to focus on teaching them "how to think" vs "what to think" while not missing out on the important details of what they need to know. 
Piece of cake - right? I believe that with the right curriculum, support and input from a network of other homeschool moms (like you), and by praying my way through each day - we will continue to set and achieve our goals. 

I hope that sharing some of our favorite resources will help you chart your own course for a successful homeschool year.

Our 2013- 2014 Curricula : 

Bible  -
* We are currently working our way through the Awana Homeschool Kits  -  we have the 1st grade, 2nd grade & the middle school programs. 
* We will continue:  Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?) -- Biblical Worldview of God and Truth (What We Believe, Volume 1)
* We enjoy & will continue to use various books from Master Books such as these: 
N is for Noah (Biblically Based Classics) (they provide wonderful coloring pages to keep my busy little artist busy while I read through the lesson too) 

Math - I am SO happy we have found the A+ Interactive math curriculum! It is a huge relief for me to know that they are getting a comprehensive program. It does the teaching for me, yet I can be as involved as I want to be. They have online lessons - printable worksheets and tests, even hard copy of workbooks. They also have cd software. There is a $12 per month plan with no contract. Everything we need! 

Science - We are still working on our Apologia Swimming Creatures, when we finish we will move to Flying Creatures. We work on this together and the boys have various assignments to do depending on age and ability. We also use the notebooking resources. (yes, we did those backwards) 
Our outdoor nature studies will continue. 

History -  US History and Geography - We love our Paths of Settlement  - It is the backbone of our homeschool studies! We have all the books that go with it and are slowly working our way through it. We LOVE the "Eat Your Way Through the USA" and "Eat Your Way Around the World" & use "Geography through Art" as well. 

World Geography - We love following a "letter of the week" format in our homeschool studies. We look for countries to fit the bill and stick to one continent at a time. We are excited about our new Biblical Worldview - Children's Atlas of God's World-  from Master Books & will be digging into it soon. 

We do as much of our school together as possible. History, Geography, Bible & then I work one on one with the boys on their reading & math. So thankful the math program with A+ is able to do the teaching for me this year - as it will free up some time, give me confidence in a subject that I am not so strong in & foster independent learning in my boys!

We do our art & nature studies together. My oldest helps sometimes with the younger ones & does some of our read alouds. Our middle boy is now stepping into a role where he is able to help his younger brother more as well.

All in all - we are looking forward to a wonderful year of adventure as we explore God's creation!

Please let me know if you have questions or need help deciding what curriculum choice is right for your family. I am happy to share my experience with you and to mentor - especially if you are brand new to the homeschooling adventure!

Marketplace Online


The new Teach Them Diligently marketplace online is a great place to buy curriculum at a discount!
Read more about what other families are choosing for their 2013-2014 curriculum by clicking on the pic

Homeschooling tips Incorporating Art in your Nature Studies: Wildlife Wednesday

I participate on Wednesday with Kathy Balman @Kathy's Cluttered Mind and Master Books at Creation Conversations to bring you Wildlife Wednesday. We share our adventures in nature and information about encounters with God's beautiful creation.

*affiliate links may be present in this post - see disclosure page

We do a lot of different nature & wildlife activities. One of the best things we've incorporated into our homeschool nature studies - is art. It's fun and interesting, it helps the boys remember what they have seen. It reinforces what they have learned either out in the field or in studies afterward.

Incorporating art into our studies adds another layer of depth to our adventures outdoors. Our art can be very simple - in the form of a drawing or sketch in a simple notebook. Or it can be as extravagant as a sculpture, painting, or recreation/model about our experience.

Students can create a collage out of natural elements, or they can put one together from pictures in magazines (great for little ones). Art is a wonderful way to bring geography into your studies as well. You can learn a lot about culture, climate, and the people from any area on the globe, by studying the animals who call it home.

Using art in your nature studies requires the participants to take a closer look at the subject and allows for in depth discussions about God's incredible creation. It gives the opportunity to stop and appreciate the intricate details implemented by a loving and omniscient Designer.

You don't have to have a lot of complicated supplies to enjoy art and nature with your children. Start with a few basics such as a sketch pad and an art set with various mediums to try.

Suggestions:
Simple art tools
Sketch pads & Journals

Link up your own wildlife and nature posts and be Pinned to the Master Books Wildlife Wednesday pinboard and shared around the web. Please provide a link back to this post in order to spread the word!

Grab the button below or use a text link:

Kids in the Kitchen - Summer Supper: Beans and Rice

Each week I join forces with my good friend Carrie @YoungLivingOilLady

to bring you this Kids in the Kitchen family recipe link up - We are all about encouraging

families to cook and eat together. Real food, verses the fake processed stuff is always best.

We believe that food is healthier and families happier when they get in the habit of spending time in the kitchen together. 

We use Cooking 101 as part of our family homeschool - teaching life skills and healthy habits 

to last a lifetime. The kids plan a food budget, meals, study nutrition and much more. 

This week: 

My son is ALMOST 12 years old, and at this stage he can cook dinner for the whole family. His little brothers are always handy to help chop or grate and to wash and peel. I love that they are learning these all important life skills including planning and preparing healthy food for themselves and for the family.

( I'm secretly hoping to make a good impression on their future wives, by training them to help out, so they will visit a lot!) 

Recipe for Beans is here

We cook long grain brown or white rice according to directions 

*adding chicken broth to the water and a little coconut oil is very tasty 

I'm linking with these fine blogs: Titus 2 Tues The Better Mom   Try New Recipe   Happy LiL Hearts  floutMewithLove

Hip Homeschool Hop  Creative Mondays, Look what we did, Tasty Tuesday, TemptmyTummyTuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows, AddictedtoRecipes, HomemakingWednesdays, LivingWellWednesday, NOBH,, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, FullPlateThursday,  MeltinyourMouthMonday, ShowOffFriday Tuesday'sTable, LookWhatWeDid , Titus 2sday,  Mom's Monday Mingle, Monday Mingle, CraftySpices, CreatewithJoy, Thursday'sTreasures, TastyThursdays Wonderful Food Wednesday

We are leaving the linky open all month for a more relaxed comfortable summer schedule! I will still post a new recipe each week and hope you will too. Join us by linking up your favorite family recipes or tips for cooking with kids! Grab a button from below, on my sidebar, or use a text link back to Adventurez. Please visit another participant or more to help encourage each other. I’ll be visiting and Pinning away on our Kids in the Kitchen Pinterest board here. It’s a wonderful resource for finding yummy recipes the whole family will love. Enjoy your time in the kitchen this week!

Real Life Homeschooling: snakes, snails, lizard tails & other such critters . . . real life with little boys

*affiliate links may be present in this post

I'm participating with this awesome group of bloggers to share our hearts for homeschooling- in real life. Real life homeschooling is all about enjoying a lifestyle of learning. 

In our homeschool, we use books, texts, and curriculum - but we don't let the curriculum control our homeschool. We take a more relaxed view and use it as a platform, a "jumping off" point or a base of resources. We let life be our guide and real life interests be our inspiration too dig deeper into learning about the world around us and to create a desire in our children - to learn more. 

Why? Well, there are many reasons - but the most important reason is because as we spend time in God's creation, as we carefully investigate the world around us, we begin to recognize the unique fingerprints of the Creator. 

Nature, creation, life - points to a Divine Designer. There are wonders to discover and God's marvelous creation to enjoy. I hope you'll join us on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (yes, this is Thursday - but that's real life too) as we share our hearts for homeschooling and investigate the world around us. 

This month at our home: 

We've had a lizard egg hatch in our own hands! 

The boys were out collecting tad poles, because that's what they do after it rains. They found this strange little egg. Of course, it could have been some kind of snake, thankfully, it turned out to be a tiny baby lizard.

 As they held the little egg, it began to move, and out came a baby lizard!  They immediately claimed it to be "the BEST DAY EVER"

 Now, there will be research. We will find out what kind of lizard we have here, how long he was in that egg, and what his life cycle will be. We want to know what he eats, how he lives, and his impact on the environment. 

Studying these details on their own might make ones eyes glaze over in boredom, but when the critter has hatched right before your very eyes - it takes on a real life excitement and a passion to learn more. 

This is real life experience, and a lesson they won't soon forget. 

Now, if we can just get their fingernails clean - we'll be in good shape! 

Read about the gopher tortoise who ran into the house here. 

Fun learning about lizards - links: 

free coloring pages

fun lizard information with links to creation videos about lizards and frogs 

Are you enjoying real life learning in your homeschool? If you blog about it, we'd love for you to link up your blog post and share your experience to encourage others to get out and explore a lifestyle of learning. 

also linking with Ultimate HS Hop

Homeschooling With Apologia: Why it's taking us so long to work our way through the curriculum this year . . .

*affiliate links present in this post -see disclosure page

We love LOVE our Apologia - Swimming Creatures - of the 5th Day  (Young Explorer Series)  written by Jeannie Fulbright. We also use the Notebooking Journal along with it. 

We have been taking our time working our way through it and we may or may not be finished with it by the end of the summer. Living near the beach provides the perfect back drop for this study, and we are fortunate enough to get to witness much of the facts, information, and creatures - right up close and personal.  It's been wonderful for our boys to be able to learn more about the wildlife in the ocean - many of which are living right in our own back yard, well, our waterway. It has given them a different perspective about the world around them, a deep appreciation for the animals who live here, and a rich understanding of how they live.

We love the creatures of the sea and it's been fun learning more about them. It's been a favorite at our home for sure. 

We have enjoyed weekly studies in the Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day book and have enriched our studies with field trips to the beach, to the Tampa Aquarium, to Mote Marine Laboratory and more. It made the regular read aloud sessions from our curriculum, all that much more relevant for them to be able to see the creatures in their own environment or live at the aquarium. One of my favorite parts of accompanying our studies with the many field trips and outings, was the opportunity to discover how much information the boys have retained from our reading. You know what? They've retained a lot! On our visits, they've been able to answer questions posed by me and also by the various docents or guides at the aquariums. It's that much more exciting for them when they are able to share valuable information with others. They surprised more than one of the spokespeople at the Florida Aquarium as they explained the difference between benthic and necktonic creatures and as even the youngest of my boys correctly identified species and answered questions intended to educate the audience. It made for some great opportunities to respond to "how smart they are" comments and smile and say, "Yes,  We homeschool!"  (you know you love it when that happens - it can't be just me!!! Right?) 

We've studied fish, sharks, sea horses, sea turtles, manatees, sea lions, and dolphins - Our favorite! Of course, the boys love the sponges, the sea stars and even the mollusks.  Maybe the sea turtles are our favorites. Of course, the manatee are very sweet. Dolphins sure are smart. It's so hard to pick a favorite. 

From dolphin watching to sea lion shows - we've fully enjoyed studying the wildlife of the sea with Apologia as our guide. The boys listen attentively as we read aloud from our Swimming Creatures book and learn details we've never known about our little wildlife neighbors.

As tough as it may be, we have stayed the course. We have faithfully tracked down the manatees - cow of the sea . . . . . and studied it in it's natural habitat. THIS was an interesting day - right in the middle of mating season. She forgot to mention that in the book - and I walked right in to that trap! But, seriously, it didn't seem to phase the boys and they will now recognize bugs, butterflies and other various species and announce that they are wrestling or mating. We shall fill in the rest of the details at a later date. 

It's such hard work, reading . . . and exploring . . . tracking down the wild sea creatures . . . like blue crabs and even taking on the tough task of fishing  searching for further specimens. 

I'm sure you must be feeling quite sorry for us at this point, as you realize how dedicated we are to our studies. You are probably beginning to understand why it is taking us so long to work our way through the Apologia Swimming Creatures Science curriculum. I assure you, it is not the text. It's all this intense research.

 By the way - we are also working our way through the Who is God? series. We use it as our bible study and plan to continue on through Who am I?  

Dedicated as we are to the beach wildlife studies, 

we do actually do some book work while we are at it. The Apologia Zoology Notebooking Journal is a fantastic resource for recording what we  the boys are learning.  But, the value of the first hand experience they are getting as we are out  for a swim  in the field doing intense research . . . . is invaluable to their education and it makes for happy, smart mommy  little boys. 

And now you know, why we choose to study on through the summer. . . .  . As tough as it is . . . . . We are willing to make the sacrifice. After all  . . . . somebody's GOT to do it! 

I do hope you enjoy your summer. You can be sure we will be here . . . slaving away on our research! 

*also linking with Blogging Through the Alphabet:
"Mm" is for Moving at our own pace! 
and Heart for Home 

We will be participating again this next year: 

Check out all the wonderful Blog roll Year -End Posts here 

Homeschooling for the Frugal Family: Summer fun savings

In an effort to save money this year,  I'm joining my friend Marcy +Ben and Me  as well as Sam +Sam's Noggin  to bring you this weekly  link up full of tips for becoming a more Frugal Family. We will be sharing ideas to help you save money on groceries and meals, homeschool, crafts, and plenty of frugal DIY posts. We've made many sacrifices so that I can stay at home to teach the boys, and I've become pretty frugal in order to help make that possible and to keep it that way. It's become a challenge I truly enjoy, and one I enjoy sharing with you!

*affiliate links present in this post 

Summer is here and it's time to play! Oh wait, we do that all the time. Still, it's the perfect time to check out local programs and take advantage of special deals for family fun. Many of the opportunities available can even be counted for school credits in certain circumstances. At the very least, they result in happy, well rounded children who are soaking up knowledge as they soak up the sun. 

On our summer bucket list: 

• Join the pool (Local Aquatic Programs - Charlotte County) or take swim classes at the YMCA - don't forget to let them know you are a homeschool family and don't be afraid to ask if they offer discounts for homeschoolers! I have been surprised on more than one occasion when I just threw it out there thinking I'd be turned down. 
• Join a "regional specific" program, sport, or hobby. On the coast in Southwest Florida - we can walk the beaches and help tag sea turtle nests. Use the subject matter for a special summertime unit study. In coastal areas - learn more about sea turtles here. One way or the other, get outdoors to learn about the local wildlife and enjoy the time together exploring God's Creation. 

• Spend at least a week or 2 bird watching! Keep track of the birds you see in a log book or download this FREE Printable checklist . Even if you don't know what type of bird you are seeing - you can log in a good description, take or draw a picture - and look it up later with a great guide book -like this field guide for young naturalists. Check this awesome online bird guide from Cornell. 
• Make a nature collage. 
• Build a sand castle - you don't have to live at the beach to enjoy building sand castles. Put together a little sand box in the back yard or go down to the creek! Read all about castles in this book by National Geographic or gather books from the local library. 
• Make a homemade bow and arrows. Gather sticks, use some string and then practice in the back yard with your new primitive set of tools. Read about this and more in the Dangerous Book for Boys.
• Build your own backyard Teepee!  Gather sticks and secure at the top with rope - drape a simple sheet around it and you have a wonderful teepee. Indoors, you can make a paper village like this one. 
• Explore local history museums and parks. Learn about getting your ASTC passport here  for huge savings all around the country. 

• Teach the kids to fish! Here's an article called "Fishing with kids: Instilling a lifetime Passion" by my own sweet husband - Captain Mark Becton on the subject of teaching young children to fish. Of course, you could always book a charter! 
• Use bowling as an extracurricular activity and count it as a homeschool class credit this summer! Learn all about the sport of bowling and enjoy time together as your kids bowl free. There are frugal deals for the parents as well. Plan to meet up with local friends as you refer them to the program and earn prizes for the whole family. See the details below. Please be sure to use my referral email if you sign up the kiddos (totally utterly completely FREE)! 

Please enter my email address under "referer": 

Kellidparker (at) yahoo (dot) com 

Link up your own tips for saving money on our Frugal Family link up for January

Please grab the button to use or link via text - Visit others to encourage each other and

share great information! The group Pinterest board is here - I'm pinning away!

<center> <a href="http://www.Adventurezinchildrearing.com/"><img border="0" </span><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;color:#000099;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l525/adventurezinchildrearing/frugalfamily150_zps92102054.jpg"/></a></center>  

Our homeschool life - Free homeschooling products for you

In our life this week . . . 

FLU! yup - yucky, icky, gross 'ole FLU. We are slowly but surely on the mend.
We didn't do much at all for Memorial Day because of this illness of ours, but we did manage fried chicken and apple pie with ice cream!

My husband is working his busy season right now - so he is gone a LOT & I am on my own with the boys. For those who don't know - he is a Pro Fishing Guide & it's Tarpon season in Southwest Florida! Captain Daddy is a busy buy.
Find him here if you are looking for a BIG father's day surprise for your guy. Let me know and I will arrange a homeschool family discount for you and a gift certificate for a fishing charter.



In our homeschool this week . . . 

We are mostly resting and recovering. We had such a big time at Teach Them Diligently, Nashville (we'll be headed to Fort Myers mid-June for TTD The Marketplace)  If you are in the area - this is the place to go for homeschoool encouragement & huge curriculum discounts! There are Marketplace locations set up all around the country with only $15 Family registration.
Read, learn, explore . . . 
We purchased some of Tim Ostermeyer's incredible books at TTD and are really enjoying them. The pictures are breathtaking, he took them all himself. They teach about creation from all around the world. As much as we enjoy studying animals - these books are great to read and explore.
I'll be making up some unit studies to go with them soon for further exploration of the books. We will also do some nature sketches of the animals in our nature journals.


Our letter of the week . . . K is for Keeping their hearts trained on Jesus

I made free printables for teaching handwriting with Scripture  - both print and cursive
There are 4 of them total - you can download here  - be sure to link up any frugal posts you have and find plenty of others there as well!

                          


Other freebies . . . 

                          
Favorites for Mom:
                  

Favorites for kiddos:

Animals of Africa       Outback Australia      Rocket Boy Visits Venus



We're cooking . . . 

Chicken soup - of course! Homemade chicken soup should cure us for sure



Be sure to visit our Kids in the Kitchen posts each week & link up your own favorite family recipes!

A link for you . . . 

We spend a great deal of time exploring God's Creation - my series shares tips and tricks on how to get your family out enjoying the great outdoors - just in time for summer!




Our homeschool schedule . . . 

We school year-round  but will be slowing to an easy pace for summer.
What are your plans for the summer? Do you have fun adventures planned?
Do you take time off from school or just keep on going?

Linking with -

Favorite Resources this Week, Homeschool Freebie Fridays, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Collage Friday, ihomeschoolnetwork Mommy Teaches   homeschool fridays  friday faves Read.Explore.Learn I choose joy