DIY Clamp-on Pallet Forks for Loader
8 years ago
man cold!
crack me right up. chris has been 'sick' and our house all knows about it
im sick and nothing changes....
hummmmmmm............
enjoy! 4 comments
home schooling in the know!
my friend jodie shared this linky on f/b today, i love it so much i wanted to share it
the linky loo
http://www.hsclassroom.net/10-things-every-new-homeschooler-needs-to-know/
or the copy paste 10 things every new homeschooler needs to know
1. There is no perfect curriculum – Don’t spend your every waking moment searching for the perfect curriculum, it’s not out there. You will find methods that work better than others, but nothing is absolutely perfect and will probably take a bit of tweaking here and there.
2. Relationships are more important than books – Sometimes it’s necessary to put aside the books and work on relationships. Homeschooling is a family lifestyle, not just another form of school.
3. Do what works for your family – Keep your eyes on your own work and don’t fall into the comparison trap.
4. Be willing to let some things go – It’s challenging to have a perfectly decorated home, a spotlessly clean home, laundry caught up and a gourmet meal on the table every single day. It’s okay to let one (or more!) of those things go. You haven’t failed as a wife, mom, or teacher.
5. Be flexible – Be willing to put the books away if a friend calls and invites you on a picnic. Be willing to be spontaneous and flexible; it can be some of the best learning days.
6. Set goals – How do you know how far you’ve come if you don’t know where you started?
7. Write a mission statement – Write down your “why” so you can refer to it on those crazy “why am I doing this?” days
8. Expect criticism – Not everyone is going to agree with your decision to homeschool. Be confident you are making the right choice for your family.
9. Everyone feels like quitting at some point – It’s true. Everyone feels like throwing in the towel at some point. Really.
10. Have fun learning together as a family, but every lesson doesn’t need to be fun! – Some things in life just have to be done whether we find them fun or not. Same is true of school. Sometimes we have to buckle down and do hard things.
1 comments
http://www.hsclassroom.net/10-things-every-new-homeschooler-needs-to-know/
or the copy paste 10 things every new homeschooler needs to know
1. There is no perfect curriculum – Don’t spend your every waking moment searching for the perfect curriculum, it’s not out there. You will find methods that work better than others, but nothing is absolutely perfect and will probably take a bit of tweaking here and there.
2. Relationships are more important than books – Sometimes it’s necessary to put aside the books and work on relationships. Homeschooling is a family lifestyle, not just another form of school.
3. Do what works for your family – Keep your eyes on your own work and don’t fall into the comparison trap.
4. Be willing to let some things go – It’s challenging to have a perfectly decorated home, a spotlessly clean home, laundry caught up and a gourmet meal on the table every single day. It’s okay to let one (or more!) of those things go. You haven’t failed as a wife, mom, or teacher.
5. Be flexible – Be willing to put the books away if a friend calls and invites you on a picnic. Be willing to be spontaneous and flexible; it can be some of the best learning days.
6. Set goals – How do you know how far you’ve come if you don’t know where you started?
7. Write a mission statement – Write down your “why” so you can refer to it on those crazy “why am I doing this?” days
8. Expect criticism – Not everyone is going to agree with your decision to homeschool. Be confident you are making the right choice for your family.
9. Everyone feels like quitting at some point – It’s true. Everyone feels like throwing in the towel at some point. Really.
10. Have fun learning together as a family, but every lesson doesn’t need to be fun! – Some things in life just have to be done whether we find them fun or not. Same is true of school. Sometimes we have to buckle down and do hard things.
1 comments
the past few days
nap time!!!
so, ellie has this trick she's started about a week ago. around 11:30ish she tells me she wants a nap, climbs the stairs, goes to her room, turns hr music on, takes her blanket and sookie and climbs (or tries to) in the chair....it's so funny!
she does it at night too when she's tired and wants to sleep....around 6. ha
my heart
i asked nate what they were doing and he said he was telling her a story
i am mixing up his curriculum choices for this semester. i am sticking to the 3 main courses, reading, math and writing/spelling. i was going to do science and geography with him but after going through the books over the break i realized that i would have to sit with him to help him read the bigger words...this is not something i want to do (forced to sit with him through his lessons) and because i am the teacher it's important that i am happy too. haha. so ive decided to spend this winter boosting his reading to the point that next year he would be able to do most of it himself....leaving me to do other things....
nate works about 80% of the time alone. i am there to facilitate, check his work and help him with larger words but for the most part i've laid the lessons out that all he does is get his books and start with out me. now that we are in the kitchen, he sits at the table and i am free to make supper, bake something, do laundry, check emails etc...but i do enjoy sitting beside him...and i do teach him his lessons, but have him do the work book alone
that's us in a nut shell! how are you? 3 comments
can you see me?
i dropped out of bed, got ellie dressed, headed down for breaky, took nate's breakfast order (egg mcmuffin) and ellie's (oatmeal) i popped my coffee cup in the machine, brewed my java. finished nate's muffin, fed ellie.
as i went to clear the table, ellie my darling girl grabbed nate's bowl of cherrios (his before breaky snack) and dropped them on the floor. i got ellie down, cleaned her up, turned on the vacuum and cleaned up the mess...during this routine process i looked up and saw ellie clap her hands with delight and wonder as the vacuum sucked up the cherrio's.
after clearing the table, i got my now cold coffee and nuked it. there is nothing like cold, nuked coffee. made my own breaky and ate as fast as i could...knowing the quiet won't last long.
7
comments
it didn't. in between poopy diapers, tossing laundry in the washer, cleaning scary things off the wall, taking/collecting the garbage, smelling another nasty diaper and fixing that, returning a few emails, reading some more books, listening to nate share his excitement about how he made it to the next level of mindcraft...etc....etc.....etc....
i realized that although i am working my tired butt off this am, it will never been seen or noticed. no one will write a article about how awesome i am at diaper changes, while talking on the phone. at the same time. no one will come to my house and declare "mel! your new shower liner looks awesome against the clean tub and cotton shower curtain! great job! and look at that toilet! it's amazing! you go girl!"
as i pause my typing to watch ellie climb up the slide all by herself and clap "ellie! you go girl! great job!!!" i realized that there is nothing else i'd rather do than be exactly where i am right now. home with my kids.
so as you go about your regular, mundane job remember "whatever you do, do it with enthusiasm and wholeheartedly not for man but for god" col 3:23
i know god sees how awesome i am at diapers and late night cuddles.
happy stormy friday!
blocks/new years projects!
the kids love playing with them and i am finding them all over the house to prove that. haha
nate's new years book
i printed a bunch of different questions/printable from a bunch of different sites (all for home school/personal use copy write) and made my own book for him
chris and i had a wonderful night last night. i planned a surprised in house date for him, i put the kids to bed and we spent the evening doing adult things bawahhhhh it was so nice. quiet. what a great way to start the new year
i wonder what this year will bring us? ................... 2 comments
home school rambles!
with a yr under my belt and 15+ yrs left ahead, i have
learnt, discovered and enjoyed my journey through this crazy world of home
education! and i wanna share them with you! cause, that's what i do...im an open
book, i wear my emotions on my sleeves so you can see. ha
starting out last yr was rough. not gonna lie about it. i was alone, felt alone and cried a lot. i was also adjusting to a new born, healing
from the pregnancy and learning to live with chris being around more (he was on
pat leave) i joked a few months back at
home school get together that i quit every friday from sept-dec. i wish it was
a joke, i did quit in my mind. i even looked up and got the contact info for
the school nate would have been going to; more than once. ha. i
got his bus route and teacher's name but for some reason, each monday morning i couldn't make
the call
one wkend in late nov. i was crying on chri's shoulders
again about how miserable and alone i was.
all my friends and i mean all of them had sent their kids to school that
past fall. i didn't. i was scared. i felt the weight of nate's education rest
completely on my shoulders. most days it
got to the point that i didn't even like my own kid! i lost my patience time
after time and got jealous when i missed out on another social gathering of the
mom's that don't have kids at home...i felt that their invites was rubbing
(gloating?) their freedom in my face, while i struggled on. alone. that night, as i snotted over chris's
shoulder...he asked me why i was h/s...i was very evasive about
answering...finally he said something along the lines of "mel i will
support you no matter what. if you want nate in public school im ok
with that. if you want to keep h/s im ok
with that too but what is the main reason why you are doing this?" and he threw the one dreaded question at me "what
has god called you to do?"
with a sob and fear.
a fear so strong it kept me pinned to his chest while i mumbled along the
lines of "what does it matter about god?
h/s is too hard and i want out"
chris,knowing me so well asked me a question that changed
everything. he asked if he could take the weight and the burden of the responsibility
of nate's and ellie's education and carry it for me. he asked if he could be the one that would
carry the burden of it for me, so i could be free to be me." kinda like god wants us to do right? hahahaha
i kept my head on his shoulders for a few more minutes and
with snot on my face, hair messed up i put on my big girl pants and said
"god has called me to home educate our kids"
and that was that. i haven't looked back. i don't compare myself to anyone else. what
they do for school (or don't)
i have however observed a few thing about home schooling in
general i thought i'd share....
-if i had .01 for every. single. time. i have heard "you are so lucky, i don't
have the patience to do it" i'd be in florida right now. no, i do NOT have patience for it. but anyone can
home school!
-socialization- im not even touching this. it's so out to
lunch and a waste of my quite typing time to elaborate on this outdate and narrow minded view towards home education
-grade levels....ummm what are those? h/s usually work at their kids pace, public
schools make grade levels for the kids....nate is in grade what ever he's working
at!
-ive seen with my own eyes and heard from the teachers that
h/s kids play/work/socialize well with all age levels. there is nothing like watching a 10 yr old
stop and help a 5 yr old during gym class
-there is little, if any concept of "cool". so clothing, games, t.v, materialistic things
are not labeled as anything
-close family relationships.
i have seen this over and over. the families are close and tight and
opposite to that is 'normal' teens actually grow closer to their parents as
they age, not separate
-we don't understand home work, what is that? or snow days.
or tests/exams/report cards (at least for the lower levels)
-the kids wear what they want. no one tells them it's not
cool. or silly. personally, i love
seeing the kids wear their fun clothing choices....no one can have too many spider-mans at science class
-one last thought before i get ellie up from her nap. ha. the stereotype that home schooled are weird or socially unaware is simply not true....i have met many, many public schooled kids that are quite odd.....cough......
so there you go. an off the cuff blog on home education ramblings and such!
happy new years eve eve!
snow day!
nate did some practice slides in front of the house while chris chipped away at the ice on the driveway
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