Raising Rebels (in a good way)

Confession time....I don't need anything other than a book to make history fun. I'm one of those people who thinks history is a hoot and a half. Give me a big ol' book on the ups and downs of the British monarchy or a massive encyclopedia of everything that has ever happened anywhere in the world and I'll curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and read until my eyes fall out. But sometimes you need a little help to make stuff that happened 200 years ago fun for an 8 year old. Ella is studying the Revolutionary War right now and she's really getting into it. When we read together, she cheers the minutemen and boos the British which is downright amusing.

So, when in the course of preparing a lesson on the Declaration on Independence (how's that for a reference) I found something really cool. The website for the National Archives in Washington, DC has a fun activity here where you can sign your name on the Declaration of Independence. Not the real one of course, I'm pretty sure you'd go to jail for that, but you can sign a copy and print it out. Come on...that's cool!

So yesterday we went online and Ella got to choose her quill (aka, font style), type her name and then she got to print out her own copy of the Declaration with her signature on it. She's right under George Walton. They even have an "are you sure you want to sign this?" warning telling potential signers that if they lived during 1776 they would be branded a rebel and a traitor by the King of England for signing the Declaration.

Now Ella has her own copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging by her desk. It's a little too small to actually read most of the text, but it's got a pretty nifty parchment look and Ella loves seeing her name on it. See...making history fun! Right? Right? Please tell me I'm right...

And welcome Hoppers! I hope you'll come back again!

I Don't Believe in Paying Retail

One of the big benefits for us when we decided to homeschool was the fact that we would be saving a bundle of money in tuition bills. Ella was in a private Christian school before we started homeschooling and it was a good size bill every month. Money wasn't the biggest factor in our decision to homeschool, but it was definitely an x in the equation.

However, once we decided to jump in to the homeschooling pool, I quickly discovered that you can spend a lot of money on homeschool stuff. A lot. The good news with the growing homeschool movement is that there is a huge choice of homeschooling resources available. In a whole range of prices. So, being the cheap...uh, I mean...budget-conscious mom that I am, I immediately started looking for discounts, freebies and ways to save money on homeschool curriculum, resources and manipulatives.

These are some of the sites that I have found to be very helpful. There are certainly many, many more thrifty resources out there, so feel free to send some suggestions in the comments.

Christian Book Distributors I love this site. Their prices are usually the lowest to be found for new books, curriculum or dvd's. And they carry a lot of things amazon.com doesn't carry. Their shipping can be pricey so it's worth it to sign up for their catalog because they will occasionally include free shipping coupons in the catalogs.

Homeschool Classifieds Love, love, LOVE this site. Did I mention that I love it? Cause I do. This is a site where homeschoolers can post new or used curriculum or supplies for sale. They have an excellent search feature so you can easily find just what you need. The prices for used items are usually really good, but some of the new items can be found cheaper at Christian Book Distributors so you want to compare prices. And most of the sellers include shipping in their prices so that's a bonus. I've bought numerous used books and curriculum through sellers listed here and every transaction has been great. I've even sold some used items and that was great too.

ABC Teach has a ridiculous amount of resources for just about anything you can think of. This is a paid site so you have to become a member to get access to everything.

There are a ton of free resource websites too. I get a lot of Ella's math worksheets from The Teacher's Cafe. They have a large selection of free games, resources, worksheets and more in a wide range of subjects from Preschool all the way to High School.

So that's just a snippet of money saving options. Please, please, please send me your best money saving tips and resources in the comments.

Presenting (drum roll).....Our Curriculum

By popular demand (ok, two people asked me) here's the post that reveals all my homeschool secrets. Well, not my secrets so much as the curriculum that we're using this semester. But honestly, I give a lot of credit for the success of our homeschool adventure to the curriculum we use. God gets the glory first, my children next and these books third.

I've done some trial and error in the past year to find the right fit for Ella. Some curriculum didn't make it past the first two lessons. But that's part of what makes homeschooling amazing. You can change what doesn't work as soon as you know it doesn't work.

So, here's what Ella's doing this semester:

Bible: Bob Jones Grade 3

Language: Easy Grammar 3, Daily Grams Grade 3, Horizons Spelling 3. Love the Easy Grammar series & Daily Grams. The spelling is a little on the easy side for Ella but she likes the colorful pages and the activities.

Math: Horizons Math 3. Love it! Seriously, it is awesome...but just so you know, it is spiral (which works great for Ella).

Science: Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology 3, Land Animals of the 6th Day. Great series. The notebooking is at times a little hard for Ella, but the text is fabulous.

Penmanship: Horizons 3. I like that the copywork uses Scripture passages.

Spanish: Switched on Schoolhouse Elementary Spanish. Ella loves being able to work on her own on the computer. She seems to be picking up a lot of vocabulary but there are some of the on-going story elements that bore her.

History: Sonlight Core 3 Intro to American History. This also covers Ella's reading...she has to read everyday and she really likes the books. I have loved this curriculum and we'll be doing it again next year.

Fun stuff: Lifepac Drawing Basics with Thomas Kinkade. It's pretty good. The dvds are very helpful but I think we'll be doing something different for art next year.

And Jack...well, Jack is a little less structured. He's doing pre-k work and these are the best resources I'm using with him:

Leapfrog dvds. He loves them and I'm convinced he learned all his letter sounds from the "Letter Factory."

Teaching Tiles: Math Readiness Center. This one is a little hard to explain. It involves matching, pattern recognition and counting. It has a card with pictures on it and Jack uses the corresponding tiles to either match the card, fill in the pattern or show how many somethings are in the picture.

Backyard Bugs Counters. Don't laugh, he loves to sort, count and stack these little rubber bugs.

Number Puzzle, Board & Pegs. He likes to assemble everything (which he mastered really quickly) and then stack them all like building blocks.

Books. Lots and lots of books. I think if I read Hunches in Bunches one more time...oh, who am I kidding if Jack wants me to read it, I'll read it.

And the best things...a white board and markers. He loves to write his letters, copy simple words and do very basic math. Ella likes to play teacher and give him work assignments.

I have the Hooked on Phonics series, but I haven't cracked the code on how to use it in a way that works for Jack yet. We used the flashcards until he learned all his letter names and sounds, but the books and the transition to reading haven't appealed to him yet.

Later this week (cause I hope you'll come back) I'll share some of my avoid-paying-full-price secrets.

"Gonna Get my Independence On"

Ok, here's my new favorite homeschool resource. Liberty's Kids. Seriously, have you seen it? It's a PBS show that was canceled, syndicated out and then canceled again. We get it through Netflix and my kids love it. Like, crazy love it. I mean they hear the theme song and come running like I said it was raining candy. Toys are dropped, all fighting ceases and they sit enraptured for an entire episode and then beg to watch another one.

And I'll admit it, I like it too. It's entertaining and chock full of educational goodness. Although it took some doing for me to get on board with listening to Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Paul Revere. "Yo, Adrienne the British is comin'!" (Ok, that wasn't actually in the show...but it's funny, right?)

So if you haven't seen it, here's the surprisingly catchy theme song complete with Aaron Carter rapping "Gonna get my independence on...red, white & blue don't give up, you represent America!" Don't blame me if your foot starts tapping. But it's ok, I won't tell.