Homeschooling for 3

According to www.dictionary.com , the word “divorce” can mean a few things. Of course the dissolution of a marriage between husband and wife is the first to come to mind. But in my case, Definition #6 works best: to separate; cut off. Yep, that’s exactly what’s going on with me and the “Big Guy.” When you’ve been wronged, as I have been, sometimes there is just no going back. Last year I purchased a copy of Microsoft Small Business Office 2007. I used one of the many OEM companies so that I could save some money on my purchase. I got my License Key and Product Number. The installation went great. And although the interface was different from Office 2003, I got used to it, and even began to like it. Everything was going smoothly … until my computer needed to be have the hard drive wiped clean and have everything reinstalled. I thought that I had all the bases covered. I checked my Microsoft Office information that I had and copied down the serial numbers that I had been given at the tim

Has the new school year started with gusto at your house? Or guesses? “I guess we’ll use this curriculum. I guess we’ll start on Monday. I guess we’ll use this folder, and I guess we could try unit studies this year.” Does any of this sound familiar? Time for a change? Get ready to plan a year of enthusiastic homeschool learning with consistent input from the Lord! Take the guesswork out of your planning, systematically organizing your homeschool this year with the E-Book: The New School Year: Planning Your Course and Letting the Lord Determine Your Steps The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine offers The New School Year . . . FREE! Now’s a good time—get your free E-Book!

How would you like to get 4 issues of a magazine for the price of 1? That's what it is like when you order a one-year print subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine (US only). Use coupon code FB795 before midnight PST September 22, and  you'll receive a full year for only $7.95. Get a full year of homeschooling encouragement, advice, and ideas. Remember use C oupon Code FB795 . This is also a great time to buy a gift for a friend. But, this offer ends tonight at midnight PST--September 22.

If you're looking for some light, but entertaining reading then you've come to the right place. Mr. Philip Done does an excellent job of describing the trials and titillations of educating third graders in the public forum.  Being a school teacher definitely is not for the faint of heart (or stomach!) The author has done an excellent job of evoking word pictures to make you laugh and begin your memories of being a third grader again. I had forgotten about the "invisible" balls that we would toss back and forth at recess. And his vivid portrayal of a third grade boy stirs memories of why I despised them so much when I was in the third grade -- arm farts, bad, bad jokes about bodily functions and the need to stick things up their nose during lunchtime, just to name a few.  And to think we grow up to marry these "interesting" boys later on in life -- go figure! One thing that I really enjoyed about the book is its layout. For example, the chapters are

Raising healthy and athletic kids can be challenging in this age of computers, television and video games. Coupled with busy extracurricular activities, daily exercise is easily lost in the mix. So, what's the answer? Make sure that you kids get a dose of Fit Factor each day. What is Fit Factor? It's a DVD concept hosted by two accomplished young people, Lizzy (15 years old) and Dean (12 old). The exercises are broken into ten minute segments which makes it great for my family of homeschoolers. Although my girls are in dance class and do go outside to play, with winter coming there's not a lot of formal exercise going on at home. We've tried my yoga DVDs, but the adult formats can be a bit much for their attention span and my patience.  Yoga's supposed to be relaxing and not peppered with: "Move over." "Give Jade more space."  "Move over and give Alaya more space" "Michael stop climbing on me!" While breakfast is bei

Hi everyone. The Old Schoolhouse is a offering this free ebook as a source of encouragement to homeschooling families. Written by a veteran homeschooler it addresses "curriculum confusion", self-doubt and the myriad of other emotions most of us go through each school year. I don't know how long it's going to be available, so you should grab it as soon as possible. Here's the link: The New School Year ( http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/The-New-School-Year/index_TheNewSchoolYear.htm )

Who would have thought that an innocent looking little package would cause such an uproar in my household?  I opened it up and was immediately enchanted by this simple, yet elegant solution for my many book reading endeavors. But then I went and got the children's opinions -- boy was that a mistake! ----------------------------- At first glance it looks like a small hard-covered book. When you open it up there are two areas where you can store pencils, pens and other small items. There are two wire page holders attached which fold easily into the casing. You simply open the wire holders and add your book of choice. Now the really cool thing about the Study Pod is that it can hold books of all sizes. I experimented with oversized books (i.e., 100 Lessons to Reading), cookbooks, paperback books (i.e., children's books, adult mysteries, etc.)  and the Study Pod had no problem handling the varying page sizes and page counts. And it easily stood up with the smaller books even

Just wanted to take a minute to let you know about a great sale at The Old Schoolhouse! Homeschooling is a Labor of Love, and The Old Schoolhouse™ Magazine is celebrating your hard work as a parent by putting their one-year print subscriptions on sale! For a very limited time, you can subscribe or renew for $7.95! (US only). International customers can subscribe to the digital edition for only 7.95! You can buy a gift sub for friends, too! To gift a subscription: 1. Go to the one-year subscription page (US only) 2. Scroll to the bottom of the page. 3. Enter the name, address, email, and phone information for each recipient 4. click "Add this to my cart". 5. The information will display in your cart and simply proceed to check out. There are only 2000 of these available, and they are going quickly! Your subscription begins with their Fall Issue. P.S. If you live in an international location, you can subscribe to their digital edition for only $7.95! It's the s

We can help raise money for the abandoned and abused children abroad by doing what we do best -- shopping! (smile) By doing our shopping at www.shoponlineforchildren.com . Each purchase will provide money for this charity to rescue these children and place them with adoptive families from around the world. I've included the original information below: A couple days back we announced that we would soon be sharing with you an opportunity to help with a special charity project. Well, today is the day we would like to start involving our Social Media Science family. Don't worry, we're not asking you to buy anything from us. In fact, we'd like to give you something AND as you use this gift you will be helping to save the lives of children who desperately need your assistance, all at the same time. Pretty cool, huh? We've partnered with a company called Dubli and a non-profit organization called www.ReecesRainbow.com to help raise money for abandoned and abused Ch

TOS is hosting a fun "Back-to-Homeschool" organizing contest on their Facebook page. Here is the information: The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine wants to see how you spiff up for the school year! Does your schoolhouse need cleaning? Do you have any ideas for small spaces or decluttering to help you stay organized throughout the year? Inspire others or simply gain valuable insight by sharing your story and photos with us! To participate, visit their Facebook fan page, and if you aren’t already a fan, become one at: http://www.facebook.com/theoldschoolhouse . To enter, simply send in as many photos as you can of your personalized schoolhouse. Include captions for your photos in as few words as you wish, or create a photo essay. Be creative, have fun, and get excited! Staff will choose 5 photos on Sept 3rd, and fans will then have until Sept 8th to choose their favorite of the 5. The winners will receive a 1-year subscription to My Audio School and a $15 gift certificate fo

Grapevine Studies is a wonderful and creative way to teach children (and adults!) about the Bible. I was raised in a strict religion that included reading through the Bible once a year with weekly assignments, I can say without a doubt that this is WAAAAY more fun! (Sorry Mom!) When I received the ebook I was shocked at the size of the Teacher's Manual. I expected a couple of pages, maybe thirty pages on the outside.  Nope. Not even close. The wonderful creators of this curriculum have left nothing to chance. Even if you have never read the Bible before, you'll be able to teach your children with the help of the 322 page instructional book. (And that's no typo!) Even if you are a biblical expert, the Teacher's Manual has enormous value. Not only does it explain the way to use the program and the subject structure they also give you every illustration and every explanation to share with your children. I am not very confident in my art skills and the manual makes it

Web design is one of the skills that I want my children to learn. Not only is it a great creative outlet for writing and drawing (my daughters love the Paint feature on the computer), but it will probably be a standard skill requirement as they enter the job market. Although I’ve been working on my own website the last six months, I’m by no means ready to explain how it all works, especially since some of it is still a mystery for me! But never fear, because Click Drag Solutions has already provided me with the perfect solution. If you’re looking for a great introduction to land of HTML, look no further than “Web Design for Kids (and Curious Grown-Ups!)”. This instructional DVD is about 45 minutes in length and normally retails for $40.00, but is on sale until the end of the summer for $19.99. In my opinion this program is definitely worth the price! One of things I really like about this program is the pacing. The instructor has a relaxed teaching style that allows you to absorb t

When I came across Educating for Success, on the recommendation from another homeschooling friend, I felt as if I had found a long lost sister. Rhea's message has really resonated within me because she has confirmed all that I believed about the current economic situation. It didn't have to happen. As is pointed out in one of my favorite books The Puritan Gift , apprenticeship is a vital, yet horribly neglected component, to help our our children to gain skills to support themselves and their families as adults. Not only does it ensure their self-sufficiency, but from that ability to take care of themselves it frees up future generations to create new products, devise new ways of accomplishing tasks, as well as setting new standards of workmanship. If any of this resonates with you, please take a look at an article that I scooped up about how homeschooling families can ensure their children's financial freedom in the future: Dabbling with home businesses gives young

I am no neophyte to math software. Long before I became a mother I have been using math software to help my myriads of nieces and nephews. One of my favorite math software providers was Davidson and their really cool "Math Blaster" program back in the 1990s. But that was then and this is now. Quarter Mile's Appeal to My Children My children have enjoyed my older Davidson games because it had lots of cute songs and animations. So, although my son is a big fan of horses, I wasn't sure how the girls would feel about The Quarter Mile Math racing game where their only choices are race cars and horses. And at first glance the interface is a lot less flashy than what I've become accustomed to with some of the internet-based math games that they kids have played over the years. So, after installing it on my own computer, I started sharing it with the gang. Now Jade is my up-and-coming diva, so I her reaction was very interesting. When she first saw the splash screen she

VTech, proud parents of the newly launched Bugsby Reading System is hosting Bugsby’s Great Adventures, an interactive contest that allows you and your child to write your own Bugsby story together. Know what’s even cooler? Three stories will be chosen for future publication – your child’s could be one of them! VTech and TwitterMoms wants to make sure you and your child have a chance to get your story published – so we are giving you another chance to win a prize on TwitterMoms. How It Works: To participate, visit http://www.vtechkids.com/bugsby and create your own adventure with your child. Then, write a post about your experience you had with your child while creating you personal Bugsby’s Great Adventure story on your blog – including the link to your personalized story. How did your child use his or her imagination? What was the best or most memorable part of the experience? Why do you think your child’s story should be published? Feel free to upload images, photos or video of you