Favorite FREE Learning Sites

As a single income family, we are always looking for ways to save a buck (or a penny), so I was thrilled when I stumbled upon these two sites before our homeschool year started. 

Teach Your Monster to Read is the perfect site for "ready to read" or beginning readers. Completely free, you can register as many children under your account as you like. There are 3 levels: First Steps, Fun with Words, and Champion Reader. You can set your students at any level and the game will automatically move them up as they complete all the skills. Emerson is working through First Steps and Eli just moved up from Fun with Words to Champion Reader. They LOVE playing because the games and the monsters are a blast...I usually have to drag them away from the computer when their time's up. And I love it because they are learning a lot. There aren't any "fluff" games that don't really teach them anything...something I often find on other free sites. It's all learning, but they're too busy having fun to notice! Click on the graphic to visit the site and check it out for yourself!

NOTE: There is a phone app available for this site that you can download for a fee.

We have used Keyboarding Without Tears (highly recommend it!) for typing practice the last few years, but when our subscription ran out right before school started I searched for a free typing program to use instead. Typing.com doesn't have all the pretty graphics or typing games that are incorporated into KWT, but as a former keyboarding teacher I can tell you that it's a solid typing practice program. The lessons are a bit long - at least for how much time I want to devote to keyboarding during our homeschool day - so sometimes we break them up over two days. Like Teach Your Monster to Read, this program is also completely free. You can register as many students as you wish under your account and have them start at whatever level you choose. The kids haven't had any trouble transitioning to the new program and I am thrilled to have saved our family a few more dollars!

What are your favorite FREE learning sites? I would love to have some more resources in my school bag! 😊

Homeschoolers are Always Learning

Since we started homeschooling, we've found that there are infinite opportunities for learning even in the most everyday situations. Even better, we've found that we really LOVE learning and that it can be fun and not a chore. One of my favorite things to do is to teach the kids life skills. It helps them prepare to live on their own one day...and it helps me now to have many hands working to run our home. No big surprise, one of their favorite things to do is help in the kitchen...they're not as fond of cleaning the bathrooms. 😄 Today's lesson was making homemade pizza dough for pizza night! It was really fun and a job that the older ones could handle on their own in the future! WIN!!!

 Eli takes kitchen duty VERY seriously. He was verbally checking off the steps as we went.

Yes, our boys are only partially dressed because...well...they're boys. Let's all just be grateful they have anything on at all! :)

 The Finished Products...they were SO yummy! And we made 2 batches of dough so we have enough to freeze for another meal!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor!

I Choose Joy



I have been very blessed in my life to have wonderful Christian women (my mom especially) who have been examples of trusting God, being thankful, and walking in love, but it has been in just the last year, as I began to rearrange my priorities, first in my heart, and then by taking a leap and pulling my girls out of public school and jumping headfirst into homeschool with a renewed focus on God first, family second, that I have really begun to understand what those character qualities mean and how deeply they impact your life when you choose to demonstrate them.

I started contemplating homeschooling for selfish reasons...I missed my girls, they were growing up so fast, and I was missing it. I also was sick of the rush, rush, rush of the school, homework, dinner, bed routine that left little time to truly connect with them. It seemed that most of my interactions with them were during our nightly homework battles. Surely, I thought, we could do this better.

So we did it. We started homeschooling. And the experience of being with all my children day in and day out, educating them, playing with them, attempting to teach them life skills has encouraged growth in my own heart and character that I was not expecting. I began to hear Michelle Duggar's words ringing in my head, "There are lots of little eyes watching to see how you will react," and I began to feel a heightened awareness of my actions and reactions and began to seriously consider what behavior I wanted to demonstrate. Did I want to fly off the handle or did I want to show my children how to have a cool, calm head in a difficult situation?

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we begin each day with prayer and reading the bible together. I - probably even more than the children - am learning (or relearning) such important truths from God's Word. Before Christmas we were reading about the children of Israel who were in captivity in Egypt. God does all of these amazing things to get Pharaoh to let them go, they leave Egypt with all sorts of riches, God protects them, parts the Red Sea...you know the story. But what kept smacking me in the face over and over as I read was the Israelites' lack of trust, thankfulness, and appreciation for what God had done for them. When things were going well, they were thankful and praised God, but as soon as something went wrong or another challenge arose, they completely forgot about all God had done for them and what He had promised he would do for them. They started complaining and whining and blaming Moses (who was speaking for God) and several times they said they wanted to go back to Egypt...to SLAVERY!!! It seems completely crazy when you read the records and the kids even realized how foolish the Israelites were being, but unfortunately we could also pinpoint instances in our own lives where we had behaved in the very same manner. We had remembered to be thankful, praise, and trust God when things were going well, but had allowed negative thoughts of doubt, worry, fear, and self-pity take over when faced with life's challenges.

It should be easy to trust God. In addition to all the wonderful records in God's Word, I know from personal experience that God is going to take care of me, that He will do "exceedingly abundantly above" all I could ask or think. Why should I ever have reason to doubt? But as Christians we still have that "old man" worldly nature that we have to continually put off as we put on the mind of Christ. And it's that old man nature that I am fighting against when I'm trying to make dinner, half the kids are melting down, the baby just put a scratch on my freshly painted wall, I just spent my entire day getting ready for our 5th house showing of the week (which involved cleaning a house with 5 kids in it, then packing up those kids, along with food, diaper bags, and school work and leaving home for the remainder of the day) and then the feedback from the showing indicates that the buyers didn't like the neighborhood so they didn't even come in the house. It takes effort (sometimes minute-to-minute effort) to control my thinking and renew my mind to what the bible says, to choose to be thankful, to choose to praise God, and to choose to trust Him as my sufficiency when life makes me want to run away screaming (or hide under my covers in the fetal position).

Challenging situations are always going to arise because we live in an imperfect world, but in the last 6 months I have seen that when I choose peace, love, kindness, thankfulness, praise, and trust, the outcomes are overwhelmingly more positive - even blessings - for me and my family. It is true that the woman sets the tone for her household and I see that as a living reality in my own life. A 3 1/2 hour traffic jam in the snow could have been a nightmare, but I resolved to stay light, positive, fun, and thankful. I kept professing those things to the kids and tried my best to make it a "fun adventure" rather than a scary or frustrating situation. The result? The kids played with what little we had in the car, entertained each other, imagined that we were on the Mayflower...and a couple of days later Cassidy asked if we could go on another car adventure! Amazing. God blessed us as we chose to serve Him to the best of our ability with our hearts, attitudes, and actions. God never fails...even in the little things.

That is what I have learned - and am still learning - this school year. I don't have control over much in this world, but I can control my thoughts, my heart, my attitude, and my behavior. And I choose JOY.

On New Year's Eve our family sits around the kitchen table, drinks sparkling grape juice and chooses a bible verse that represents our resolution for the coming year. Psalm 100 is mine:

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and we not ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy and truth is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

Homeschooling: A 3-Week Review

We wrapped up our 3rd week of homeschooling today and I gratefully sent my three oldest off with my parents to spend a few hours at Lake Johnson Pool. They were in the driveway waiting when my parents pulled up...I think they were excited. Perhaps we all needed a little break from this monumental life change and its huge learning curve.

Homeschool thus far has been a bit of a roller coaster...some breathtaking highs combined with some serious lows. The "what am I doing?" and "WHY am I doing this???" kind of lows that make you feel like - just for a moment - that you've made a huge mistake. But, all that's to be expected as you try to figure out HOW this homeschool thing is going to work best for your family, as you all adjust to a school that happens in your office in spurts throughout the day with kids of all ages and babies who occasionally throw balls at you while you work, and as you try to figure out a new balance between school, family time, extracurricular activities, and playtime with friends. We're adjusting, we're figuring it out...it just takes time. And some serious growing pains sometimes.

So three weeks in, here's what's hard and what's awesome about our homeschool.

WHAT'S HARD

• Planning math, science, social studies, reading, writing, grammar, handwriting, reading comprehension, and bible studies every week for 1st and 3rd grade, plus preschool lessons for Finn. We did not purchase traditional curriculum so I spend several hours putting together lessons on the weekends.
• Attitudes that flare up, usually when they don't want to do something...attitudes I know they would have never given their teachers at Rand Road.
• Groans of "this is sooooo boring!" when you've worked really hard to try to make the lesson fun and interesting. Yes, as a former teacher I realize that this happens in every classroom in America on occasion, but it still stings a little.
• Trying to make sure they have plenty of opportunities to play with old friends or make new ones...this is especially hard since we have two babies that nap in the afternoons and many of our homeschool friends prefer to meet up after lunch.
• Being OK with my house being dirty...and messy. I had every intention of incorporating chore time into our daily routine, but so far it has not happened. The kids are still helping with chores, but instead of getting them done during the week we're tackling them on the weekends.
• Being more exhausted than I can remember being in a long time...and keep in mind I just finished breastfeeding a baby for a year who woke in the night to nurse for about 10 months.

WHAT'S AWESOME

• Hearing my 3-year-old recite the definition for our character trait, "Attentive." ("Attentive means listening with your whole being...hands still, mouths quiet, ears listening, eyes watching, heart calm.")
• Hearing lots of little voices sing the "Star Spangled Banner" and say the "Pledge of Allegiance."
• Learning new bible verses as a family.
• Seeing them get energized and excited as we read the bible together every morning.
• Watching them get something new...going from "this is SO hard!" to "I get it! This is easy!"
• Seeing Finn excel at preschool skills like cutting and writing practice...and even some basic addition!
• Perfect scores this week for everyone with their spelling lists on SpellingCity.com. Finn spelled everyone's name in our family. :)
• Seeing in their eyes and hearing in their voices their genuine desire to please me, make me proud, and live up to my expectations.
• The tenderhearted and meek way they ask forgiveness and try with all try with all their might to make things right when they know they have behaved inappropriately.
• The time we have for long heart-to-heart talks, snuggling, and reading just for fun...the way they still yearn to be held in my arms.
• The patience and helpfulness they show to their younger siblings.
• The way they are getting along better even though we are together ALL THE TIME!
• Getting to see them grow and mature in a very intimate way.
• Going to school in our PJs...sometimes. :)
• Being more relaxed than I can remember being in a long time.

It's Friday night so I'm all burned out from the week...I just want to get in my bed and sleep until Sunday. But taking the time to make this list reminds me of all the good that's happening amongst the rough patches every day. It IS good. And it's going to get to be great!

Our Homeschool Room (Alternately titled: Holy @#$%!, We're Homeschooling!)

We are homeschooling. Even as I type that sentence I can hardly believe it. The girls have been officially withdrawn from WCPSS and starting on Monday we will continue their education within the four walls of our home. I am both exhilirated and completely terrified. I SO want to do better than my very best for them...with five kids in the house every day...including two baby/toddlers...and a preschooler. Lord help me, what was I thinking??? Deep breaths. I can do all things, right? (Phil. 4:13) More than conquerers. (Rom. 8:37) Me and God? We've got this. (Mostly God. I'm just the worker bee.) And if I ever need some extra support, I've got 2 super-excited girls, a wonderfully supportive husband, and an amazing new homeschooling family (LOVE MY HOMESCHOOL MOMS!) to help carry the load. I am excited. And I'm thankful for this opportunity to spend more time with the people I love most in the whole wide world.

We made room in our office for some new desks, hung some awesome artwork that the girls did last year in school, and voila! Our homeschool classroom!