Review ~ Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler

I have to admit that the title alone, Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler, totally sold me.  Next year we will have a HIGH SCHOOLER!  Of course, my dh and I have been pondering and discussing what we truly want our childrens High School years to consist of and how we are going to approach it.  We truly want to guide and assist our children in their God-given gifts and prepare them for adulthood in a Godly manner.  What we don’t want is to provide them with a traditional education with lots of textbooks and classes just for the sake of making their High School School transcript look equipped.  On the other hand,  we want to prepare them for college if that’s where God is leading them.

This ebook, is exactly want many others and I need to feel secure with our homeschool methods.  It includes over a dozen testimonies from families who have already walked the High School journey. It includes several unusual homeschool scenarios, as well as many diverse approaches.  But one thing all these families have in common…..They all seek God for direction.  GOD IS FAITHFUL AND HE IS A REWARDED OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM. A quote from this ebook, “No matter what you choose to teach for the High School years, what curriculum you choose to use, or what path your child chooses to follow, your reward will be great as you seek the One Who created your child for His glory and to fulfill His purpose.”  A light bulb went off in my head.

Nuts and Bolts:

~ can be purchased at TOS Magazine Schoolhouse Store.   For more products from this publisher click here

~ The cost is 12.45

~ comes solely in ebook form

What sold me:

~ Instantly download – comes in ebook form

~ All testimonies are written from  Godly seasoned homeschool families that have successfully graduated their children from  High School

~ Loads of scripture references

~Do’s and don’t s  for each family

~ An enormous amount of suggestions from a non-traditional approach of schooling

~  a little biography at the end of each story about the homeschool  mom

~  Authors’ Recommended Resources List ~ This includes books, magazines, CD’s, web sites, bible scriptures, as well as many other general helps to assist you in the High School years

One improvement that I would like to see about this product is that it would be made available in print or CD format for those challenged by the file size.   122 pages to be exact

Please note: This ebook does not include a list of curriculum per se.  So if you are looking for a planned scheduled curricula for the high schooler, you will not find this in this particular ebook.

This ebook is an immense blessing for me as I continue to approach the High School years.  It encourages me to follow God’s will and to concentrate on the gifts God gives my children.  Is it worth the $12.45 ? Absolutely!  It is worth every penny and then some for the encouragement these families provide me as  I continue our homeschool journey throughout the High School years.  I CAN DO THIS with God’s help!

Not sure if this ebook is for you.  Then take a peek. (Scroll down a bit on the page)

School Year 2010-2011

We have begun our new school year.  We have decided to home school all year and take breaks whenever our heart desires.  If we need a break, we will just Do IT!  I absolutely go insane when we stop our routine.  It is great for a few days, but as always things get crazy.  Fights and bickering hammers our days, mommy gets irritable, and no one is happy.  So that is our current plan.  During the summer, school will be short, but sweet. Our curriculum choices for the school year 2010-2011 is the following….

My Father’s World ~ Creation to Greek My Father’s World ~

Kindergarten.  He will be finished in a few months because he is breezing through it, and we will start First Grade soon.

Singapore Math

RightStart Math Games

Saxon 8/7 with Dive CD

Phonetic Zoo

Intermediate Language Lessons

All – in – One English

Pathway Reader and Workbook – Grade 4 ~ using very loosely.  He will be completing only 1 or 2 lessons on comprehension a week.  The rest of the time he will be reading “real Living”books.

Christian Light  Literature – Grade 7 & 8 ~ using very loosely.  I have to admit that I am not thrilled with this choice.  I was looking for more of reading comprehension type thing. They will be completing 2 lessons per week.  The stories are good, but there is too much other stuff than comprehension that I wasn’t looking for.

And lots of Nature Reading books to browse during Book Basket Time daily.

Our journey to China…..

This week for school we traveled to China.  The boys really enjoyed this week.  We hit several different topics this week pertaining to the interesting China ethnics.  Very different from our culture the boys discovered.

First, we found  China on the big wall map of the world.  We each had our own map of China.  We labeled the capital,  the Yangtze River, and The Great Wall of China.  They also colored the China flag.

We read The Story of Ping and looked at several videos on YouTube describing the Yangtze River.  We also wrote down in our illustrated dictionary the term for river.

We also studied Pandas. We read about pandas in Magnificent Mammals and The Zoo Guide. In addition, we looked at several videos of Pandas on Youtube.  The boys all did a notebook page.  Doobie completed the page on Pandas in DWN #7 .  It was really fun to watch the little ones dance to Kung Fu Fighting.   The younger boys want a panda now instead of goats.  LOL!

We read about Hudson Taylor in Heaven Heroes.  Each child completed a notebook page and placed under their history pipeline.

We read on the net about the history of the Great Wall of China. We enjoyed watching videos on this magnificent structure here.  My ds4 was intrigued and built the Great Wall of China with his cardboard blocks.

The older boys chose to make an origami from the book, Geography Through Art.  While the younger ones made a dragon mask.

We are currently reading, Homesick for read a loud with the older ones.  We really enjoyed the book, The Empty Pot.  A great story that I want to have on our bookshelf.

We ended the week of by watching Mulan.

This coming week we will learning about South Korea.  Hopefully they will be as entertained as their journey to China entailed.

Our school year began….

We started our new school year yesterday.  For those seasoned homeschoolers, we all know that the first day never goes as planned.  It is so hard to get back in the routine of things, wake up at a decent hour, and not to mention have the patience we all need to be successful homeschoolers.  I asked myself yesterday, “And why do we chose to educate our children at home?’  It would be so much easier to send them on the yellow school bus each day, but this song came to my mind…..

What a blessing and a privilege it is to teach this very thing to our children each and everyday.

Our God saves!

Truly Enjoying my days …..

For a long time, I have really wanted to enjoy and treat each day as a true blessing with my 5 almost perfect sons.  I have struggled with the “doing enough school” thing for years now.  I do admit, that I am so much more relaxed than I used to be.  However, improvement is still needed.  I recently have been intrigued with the Moore Formula.  I love the idea of spending an equal amount of time doing the following…

school

chores

service

This past week I have read The Successful Homeschool  Family Handbook and Home-Spun Homeschool.  Lots of good information and encouragement.   I encourage all home school parents to get a hold of a few of Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s books.  Of course, there a few things I disagree with, but for the most part, I believe they are right on target on how to successfully fill you calling as a home educator.

Bird Watching E-book ~ Free

This free resource looks excellent for any family who loves to study nature.  Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!  It’s free today only.  Enjoy!

Birdwatching for Beginners: A Guide for Homeschoolers (PDF ebook) — Today’s freebie is this excellent starter guide on birdwatching… How to get started, what resources and equipment you need, where to find birds and how to identify them, how to keep records of your sightings, “etiquette” for watchers, how to attract birds to your own back yard, and much more! An educational and fun hobby that is perfect for these glorious summer days!

Take a Tour Tuesday ~ March 24

Today I am participating in my friend, Amy’s fun Take a Tour Tuesday.  Below I will include some of the links that I found of interest this past week.

Spiritual

Animated Christ’s Death

Daily Devotionals for Couples

Christian Easter Egg Coloring

Homemaking

Apron Theme Party ~ this looks like so much fun

Country decorating ideas

Spring Basket

Homeschool

Literature to supplement History

Passover Lapbook

Creation Science Curriculum

Family

The Duggar Family website ~ I am currently reading their book

Easter Fun at Peggy’s Place

Easter Crafts

The Principle Approach

We have started implementing the principle approach in our homeschool just about a year ago. It has been a true blessing to our family as a whole. We have grown spiritual, as well as, becoming a loving family. I adore learning as a  family and training my boys in a biblical worldview in every subject and area of life.

Here are some sites that have been an encouragement to me pertaining to the fascinating principle approach. I have to admit I was overwhelmed at first, but learning a little here and there has grown tremendously over the course of the year. It is a whole new thinking process, but how rewarding it is to see your childrens fruit blossom.

FACE

PrincipleApproach.org

American Christian Government

Homeschoolworld

Curriculum Connection

The Pilgrim Institute

Philomath Foundation

BFS ~ Easy Button

I would be so blessed if I had some prayer warriors praying for me this week.

First, I would like my thoughts be nothing but wonderful in His eyes.  My memory verse for this week is

Second, my dh and I have committed to God and to one another to implement the Dave Ramseys’ financial plan.  In order for this to happen, we must sell our house.  I love my house!  But I know God is calling us to do this in order to pay off debt.  Please help me be motivated and cheerful in preparation getting the house ready for showings.  Please pray that we will find a comfortable house in the country that meets our financial needs.  I don’t want to move back to the city.  I know this is only temporary, but the end of the road seems so far away.  BTW ~ I hate change.

Thank you in advance for your prayers.  I know God is capable of changing my heart.  But I need a little push……  I would be honored if you would leave your hearts callings for me to share with God this week.  Have a beautiful week.

WFMW ~ Lent Season

I have always wanted my children to really understand the true meaning of Easter, but time always seems to slip by and it’s Easter Sunday and my children are eating all those healthy chocolate Easter bunnies.  This is year I decided to make this Lent season a true spiritual memory for all of us.  I came across this free Lent activities a few days ago.  It has lots of creative and meaningful activities to do as a family during the 40 days of Lent.  Very simple and not burdensome.

Also, I plan on putting together an Easter Unit Study or Lapbook by implementing some of these links….

Homeschool Helper

EasyFunschool ~ A Passover Unit Study

Lapbook Lessons

Easter Story

Resurrection Egg Lapbook

Resurrection Eggs

Easter Ideas

Jelly Bean Poem

Bible Coloring Sheets

Annie’s Easter Page ~ lots of good history

Dying Easter Eggs ~ lots of creative ways

Hot Cross Buns ~ recipe

Easter Scripture

Celebrating Passover

And More Easter activities

I’m sure there are plenty more great ideas.  Please feel free to leave any links or ideas that will help us all recognize the true significance of this Holy holiday.

Have a blessed Lent Season!