Molly’s November Money Saving Digest!

Molly has another great digest out and ready for you! Molly is so full of wisdom for money saving ideas.

To start off this November’s digest she talks about saving money grocery shopping; how to make purchases using coupons, sales, and store saver cards. Can you imagine saving $19,000 in one year of grocery shopping? How awesome that would be!

Then she goes into scrapbooking! I Looooove scrapbooking BUT with the kids home all day everyday with homeschooling them, fitting scrapbooking in our daily schedule has been a chore. But after reading this ebook, I’m so hyped to begin scrapbooking again. Molly shares some secrets of storing pictures and the safety papers to use. She also share some wonderful sites for purchasing supplies and digital scrapbooking (I’ve not done this yet, I think it is worth looking into). I love taking photos and have thousands on my computer I need to get into scrapbooks.

Molly’s Digest also includes recipes and who couldn’t use some new and interesting recipes. This month are crock pot recipes. I’m up for anything to put in the crock pot! There is a breakfast recipe, put in the slow cooker before going to bed and have this wonderful egg dish hot and ready for breakfast. She has also included some dessert slow cooker recipes. I’m not sure I’ve ever cooked dessert in the crock pot!

Molly’s main monthly feature this month is on photography. The Who, What, Where, When, and How of taking your own photos. Saving not only money, but time and stress on your part, let alone on the part of the kids who aren’t in the mood or can’t figure out what these strangers want. Why not create photos using your own antique rocking chair? or using the real flower garden instead of the fake flowers and backdrops? I learned a lot of great tips from this article and have I mentioned, I Loooooooooove taking photos and have thousands on my computer ready to print for scrapbooking? Lol I have a new digital camera and I am planning to use lots of Molly’s advice (well, not technically Molly’s advice but Becky Emerick’s). Great pointers!

There are also other Reader Write-In tips.

If you’ve never read any of Molly’s Money Saving Digests, you should start with this one. It is awesome! She has her standard articles like On Sale This Month, Parenting that Pays, Goal-Getter Spotlight, Molly’s Minutes, and each month’s Monthly Feature (this month’s being Family Photography) and much much more.

You can find your own copy at The Old Schoolhouse for only $4.95.

God's Blessings

Vickie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Just wishing my wonderful husband of nearly 31 years a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!!! We've been together since he was 18 years old :) We have been abundantly blessed over the years and thanks be to God that Dave has had a wonderful 51 years of life here on this earth and praying for many many more :)

Happy Birthday, Sweetie Heart! XOXOXOXOXOXO

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Autumn Treasures...

Here is a new unit study series that The Old Schoolhouse is coming out with; the series is called “Download N Go”. With this series, one should be able to just download the ebook and be ready to start class with very little extra requirements. The inexpensive things that may be needed would be folders (for the lap books), scissors, glue, possibly brads, crayons and/or markers. As simple as that. Oh, it is geared for kids in grades K-4th.
So just think, if you need a filler subject for a week or two, waiting for new books to arrive, summer time activities, etc, this unit study would be just the thing. Each study is one-week in length, having five daily lessons and lap book to accompany it subject. It is awesome!!! Download N Go. Easy enough!
Now…the one we got to review is called Autumn Treasures. This unit study is as the title suggests…..autumn. Here are the daily titles: Day 1: What is Autumn? Day 2: Science Secrets of Autumn. Day 3: People and Places of Autumn. Day 4: Time for Tips and Treasures of Autumn. Day 5: Goodies and Gadgets of Autumn. Aren’t these daily titles eye catching and ready to dig in for a week of school? I think so too.
Each day also lists books (ISBN numbers included as well!) that you can get from the bookstore or from your local library. There are some video suggestions too. (No need to use them all, just a few suggestions). There are also some online links for more reading and some interactive links as well.
Everything you need in this ebook ready to do the lap book too. It is just such a complete unit study, one small price of FREE, download, and voila!! These would be perfect for beginning homeschoolers who just aren’t sure where to start or how to go about getting information. It is also great for the seasoned homeschooler for something different or a filler when you have time to kill. I almost think that even 5th-7th graders would get a kick out of these as an independent study, something to do when everything else is done. You know, I think this would even be good when you don’t know what else to get that niece or your favorite neighbor kid...how about this ebook, downloaded, put it in the file folder they’d be using for the lap book, nice gift wrapping and your shopping is done.
Go to The Schoolhouse Store and get your FREE copy today.

As always God’s Blessings
Vickie

School Starts Tomorrow :)

Although we homeschool year round...the summer schedule is mainly focused on the 3R's and play time. Back to the full schedule for the year tomorrow. Woohoo!

Our classes are:

1. Bible (studying the book of Acts to begin with then moving on to learning about the feasts and festivals of the Old Testament)

2. Language Arts (Reading, English, Phonics, Spelling)

3. Math

4. State Study (for History, Social Studies, and Geography we've decided to study the states. We are going to do a state a week in chronological order, beginning with Delaware of course. Once we get to our state, we'll stay there a bit longer for more indepth study. Should be fun :)

5. Science (Apologia General Science)

6. Home Ec and Wood working

7. Latin

8. We'll also finish up our Gardening workbooks. That should be completely done by the time the harvest is completely in and put up.

I think that covers it LOL

This year we'll only have one that is basically in pre-school. Even though he is 3, he thinks he needs his own "school books" too. I've found a couple for him.

I've decided to divide the kids up so I basically have 3 classes and then the 3-year-old. I have the bigs, middles, and littles. As a whole class though, we'll do all but language arts and math together. Those will be done as the 3 smaller classes.

Time to shift the chores around as well. I put those in a hat and they draw out their new chores for 1st semester. Even if it means having the same chore as this past assignments....luck of the draw.

I think that is about it. We are rip roaring and ready to go.

What class/es are you doing that I'm not? I may have to add that to my list for the future. I'm open for new ideas LOL

God's Blessings

Vickie

College Success Begins at Home

I was given this book to review and it is awesome! I mean, at first I didn't think our school/students were "ready" for thinking about college yet. Boy was I wrong!!!

What I did learn is that I/we need to be thinking of college when our student/s is in Jr. High and begin planning their High School curriculums at this time. Finding the kids' passions and desires for their future and helping them find what they can be doing now to prep for the future. Not all kids will go to college, not all career choices will call for college but to read these great stories from parents and even students that have been there and done that, is awesome!

I liked that this e-book has stories from parents that have homeschooled all or nearly all their kids schooling years and then sent them off to college. To the students who were homeschooled and how they viewed college. Have you ever thought of homeschooling college? There is that option too!!! There is also stories about having a graduation ceremony or not and ideas how to go about it.

Here is a list of the different sections found in this e-book:

1. Forming a Foundation
   


2. Stories, Strengths, and Strategies
   


3. Adjusting to Unique Abilities
   


4. Deciding the Best for Your Family
   


5. Learning from Homeschooled College Graduates
   


6. Celebrating a Home-style Graduation
   

Don't those titles just sound awesome? You have GOT to get this e-book ($12.45 at The Old Schoolhouse store) if your child/ren are in Jr. High and beyond. It probably wouldn't hurt to get it at a younger age if your child already has a calling in life like my son. This e-book reinforced that I am on the right track with him but I didn't realize I was doing it. How's that for being ahead of the game?

God's Blessings

Vickie

Busy Busy Summer

What a summer! Can you believe it is nearly over already?!!!!! I'm sorry I haven't updated anything on here lately.

Although we homeschool year round, our summer schedule mainly focuses on the 3R's. We've been doing school work in the afternoon, during the hottest part of the day when it is too hot to go out and play anyway. It did help keep the kids on a certain amount of a schedule so they aren't wondering around saying "I'm bored". Rarely heard that this summer.....yea!!!!

We've grown a huge garden and the Lord has blessed it's production of it immensely. I've tried gardens off and on over the years but this year....I am just soo amazed! There are a few vegi plants that didn't grow, that gave up the last root, but others are totally making up for it and giving abundantly. We'll be trying our hand at canning our produce this year. I've already done a batch of Salsa. Yummy!!! We've had lots of zucchini bread already and other grated zucchini in the freezer for winter time zucchini bread and Dave's awesome homemade burritos.

The four older kids went to Church Camp in July. They had a blast!!! They are ready to go again next year. I was lost without them here though. I am thankful they had a good time and enjoyed their experience and the stories have still not ended :)

A couple weeks ago, we decided on the spur of the moment to take the family to Sea World in San Diego. We put 2400 miles on our van. We met up with some awesome cyber friends and to finally put a real face to the printed words was great! What a blessing they are and will always be to our family. We also visited a ghost town named Calico located in the Death Valley area of California. We visited a Wild Animal Park in Escondido and the Maritime Museum and the USS Midway, aircraft carrier, in Mission Bay in San Diego. Going to California sure gave us a new appreciation for home :) I know most of those people there know no other lifestyle but I just can't imagine ever living there. They can stay there and we'll keep our little part of the world a secret :)

Better go....lunch break right now. Today is the first day of a full school day. Gotta get back at it.

As always....God's Blessings

Vickie

When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Doctor

Another in the Wanna Be Series: I Want to be.......When I Grow Up! from the Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Like the other ebook we reviewed from this series (I Want to be a Veterinarian), this one fit one of my other daughters, 13-year-old Ashley. She has talked about being a Pediatrician since she was 6-years-old. The spokesman in this ebook (Dr. Atwi) IS a Pediatrician, as was his wife.

Dr. Atwi talks about the busyness of being a doctor. That being a doctor isn't just a 9-5, 5 days a week, type of job. He also talks about the rewards of working nearly 24/7 all the time. Like the other books in the series, this one too, goes into what is entailed into becoming a doctor, first and foremost....graduating high school. He discusses subjects that should be focused on in High School (math and sciences). He mentions getting a BA in something but really really focus on all the math and sciences you can get to be in preparation for the MCAT which is an important four-part test that needs to be taken AND passed with high marks to even get admission into medical school (I didn't know about this one!).

Dr. Atwi and his wife had six biological children and adopted a few more and helped raise a few family members. His wife, Celina, got the calling from God to homeschool their children. Since most of us on here are homeschoolers, this little book is a bit more near and dear to our hearts and adoption is for me too.

This ebook's big example is optometry. There is an great example of comparing the eyeball to a camera lens. Very very fascinating stuff here. Along with questions, answers, puzzles, research, math, science, etc. Even some first aide and safety tips.

I don't know....the more I see these books the more I think, "where have these kinds of books been hiding?" They aren't large and overwhelming, going into great detail about each career BUT they are big enough to get a child's (or an adult's) attention. It asks questions to get one thinking if this is really, truly the career they'd like to take on and even to ask yourself "Why?".

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/ This is THE place to get these ebooks. Right now, several of them are on sale for half off. Generally the price is $8.95. I can't say enough about these wonderful ebooks. Start your collection today. Start with this one and go from there. Remember, as each is published, it'll be put in the store or take advantage of the pre-order special and get 10 for $49.00 which is a $40.00 savings!!! Each of the first 10 will be sent to you as they are published.

God's Blessings and God Bless America.....land of the FREE to be who we want to be.

Vickie