|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EARTH WEEK! Even at a young age, there are lots of things your kids can do to be more eco friendly. Click Ways Your Kids Can Help to get some ideas! And reduce that carbon footprint!
UNIT STUDY
 Recycle Box
Start a recycle box! It's amazing all the stuff that can be recycled that normally gets thrown away. Make sure you find out your city's recycling rules, they often vary from area to area. We found putting a list of recyclables on the refrigerator helps. Also posting signs up have a visual reminder about paper, plastic and glass. Kiley has been such a big help taking the recyclables down to the box and keeping us on our toes. I like saving glass jars and bottles when we've used up the contents inside. They are good for storing our dehydrated fruit, leftovers, utensils, art supplies and etc. I've made homemade goodies and salsa, put it inside the glass jar and given them as gifts too!
Make A Compost Bin
If you're family eats as many fruits and veggies as we do then a compost bin would be great to start! Especially if you're into gardening. I was surprised to find out how much you can compost that isn't food. Like wine corks, latex balloons, receipts and the dust crud inside the vacuum cleaner! Visit TLC 75 Things You Can Compost for a list. Since we live in a townhouse and have a small backyard we opted for a compost bin instead of a pile. Now when I'm making dinner, I'll save food for compost and Kiley will take it out for me when I'm done. Visit to Green Sprouts learn how to build a composter.
  Melt Crayons
There's almost always broken and leftover unused crayons in Kiley's art desk. We have found a fun way to make them reusable instead of trash! First you'll want to remove any wrapper that's left on them. Second, find an old muffin pan and set the oven to 300 degrees. Put crayons in the muffin pan. You can do like colors or throw in an assortment to make a rainbow crayon! The crayons don't take long to melt so watch closely. Last, when they have fully melted, take out and let them cool all the way. Then pop them out and you have cookie colors! They color pretty well in small spaces for being such big crayons. But are great for quickly coloring large pages. *I would like to find a mold so we can melt fun shaped crayons!
Read the rest at:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/recycling-earth-week-unit-study.html
|
|
|
|
Do Feminists Hate Little Girls?
 As if feminists weren't already completely irrelevant, they are going all out to attack Lego for daring to build a line of Lego's that is more appealing to little girls than the traditional lines have been. In a world where women are objectified in every movie, on every billboard, on every magazine isle, where clothing manufacturers push little girls' clothing that would be skimpy on the girls' toy dolls, let alone themselves, and where porn has saturated every nook and cranny of our society, how dare those chauvinist pigs at Lego headquarters make pink Lego's!
When I first heard about the new "girly Lego's," I thought, "Great, it is about time." Lego's are one of my favorite toys for kids. They encourage kids to build and create. The problem was, in the past girls have been less interested in Lego's because all the themes were more appealing to boys - dragons, castles, soldiers, pirates, and spaceships. Girls often overlooked Lego's in favor of more "girly" toys, like Barbies, and in doing so missed out on the benefits of creating and building that Lego's encourage.
So, why are the feminists outraged over the new Lego line?
|
|
ClickNKids is having a sale!
Receive 15% off using the following coupon codes:
ClickN READ
Save 15% on ClickN READ Code:15PERCNR (4/27/12 - 5/03/12)
Save 15% on ClickN READ Code:15PERCNR15 (5/04/12 - 5/10/12)
ClickN SPELL
Save 15% on ClickN SPELL Code:15PERCNS (4/27/12 - 5/03/12)
Save 15% on ClickN SPELL Code:15PERCNS15 (5/04/12 - 5/10/12)
ClickN KIDS Teaching Kids to READ and SPELL One Click at a Time!
|
|
|
|
|
10 months ago we started using cloth napkins in our home instead of paper napkins. And not long after that we started using old cloth towels to clean with instead of paper towels. There is a big debate as to whether cloth or paper is better to use. And each has it's own pro's and con's for household use and mass majority use. But in this blog I'll be discussing household use since that's what I am personally are familiar with.
For us as a family, going cloth has made a big difference. We are saving a good deal of money not having to buy napkins and paper towels. We would go through napkins pretty quick, even for a small family of 3. If we all used only one napkin for each meal, 3 meals a day, that would be 9 napkins a day. That's not counting extra napkins used for snacks or messy dinners like BBQ and such. 9 napkins a day x 365 days = 3,285 napkins used a year. That's a low end figure. I know we used paper towels like crazy! I would use them to wipe down the counters, table, sinks, bathrooms, mirrors, dust and clean up messes. So there is no telling how many rolls we went through a year.
But doesn't washing cloth napkins cost money and energy? Yes, it does, but it's minimal. I'm already washing clothes at least once a week. So, why not add some cloth napkins in with my regular laundry! That solved that problem. And unlike paper napkins that are thrown away after one use, our cloth napkins are used many times before getting washed. Some people may think that sounds gross, but after looking online I found that many people wait to wash their napkins until they are visibly soiled. Just think, sometimes you hardly get anything on your napkin, but will throw it away at the end of a meal.
CLOTH
Why we like it!
To read what we like about going to cloth napkins/towels and where you can get some cool cloth napkins, visit:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/cloth-napkins-vs-paper-napkins.html
|
|
|
|
Teaching your kids how to recycle is one of the best things you can do when deciding to become an eco friendly family. Kids will hold you responsible. They will call you out on what you teach them if you aren't following it yourself. They will remind you of what you should be doing. I know. Cause when I was young I did it to my parents, I've seen friends children do it and now my own child has done it to me. So, teach your kids about recycling, why we do it and ways to do it. And the next time you go to throw away paper, they will dig it up out of the trash and say, "Hey! That's not where that goes!"
Ways Your Kids Can Help!
.Get a recycle box! Put plastic, paper, glass, cardboard, newspaper and cans inside. Keep a lookout for the recycle symbol on everything you go to throw away. A lot can be recycled!
.Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
.Use both sides of a sheet of paper. Makes for more drawings!
.Plant a garden or a tree.
.Keep your Play-Doh jars and use them to keep small toys, money, hair barrettes, etc in or use it as a crayon/pencil holder!
.Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth to save water.
.Pick up trash, even if it's not yours.
.Donate your old used books, clothes and toys. Many churches take donations and some towns have drop boxes for you to drop off items you don't use anymore.
.Save old broken crayons. Tear off the paper and melt in oven with alike colors in a muffin pan or mold to keep reusing!
To read more ideas and tips visit:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/teaching-your-kids-to-recycle.html
|
|
Don't be turned off by the word "raw." It's just nature's goodness, with no additives or preservatives. It's also easy, quick to make and no baking involved!
When I looked online for a raw coconut cake recipe, I found a couple ones that looked really good. But I ended up making my own recipe for two reasons. 1. I wanted to use what I already had in the house-as few ingredients as possible. 2. We were going to be taking it camping, so I wanted it to be easy to pack and survive the elements. It's inspired by a raw pecan pie recipe and lots O' coconut!
What You Will Need:
Shredded Coconut
Coconut Oil
Coconut Milk
Almonds
Dates-Pitted
Goji Berries
Sea Salt
Raw Honey or Light Agave
Lemon
Blender
To get recipe instructions visit:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/raw-coconut-cake.html
|
|
|
|
|
This weeks unit study was on the book Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss.
The story is about an elephant named Horton who becomes caretaker/protector for a different type of creature from himself, the Who. This is no easy task, for all the animals in the jungle think he is crazy and steal the Who away from him. But Horton stands by his friends no matter what happens.
Horton Hears A Who is an excellent story that teaches it's important to stand up for something you believe in, even if everyone else is against you. I think Horton shows himself to be courageous and a really good friend. It shouldn't matter how different we are,
"A person's a person. No matter how small."
UNIT STUDY
Learning About Other
Cultures
The Who are so small that the whole town lives on a speck of dust! They are much different than the animals that live in the Jungle of Nool.
Kiley and I google imaged different cultures. We were able to see how other countries cultures are different from ours. We learned about how they look, dress, eat, favorite sports and activities. Some countries we googled were:
China
Guatemala
Africa
Japan
Australia
Egypt
Helping
Others
Horton helped the Who because they were much smaller than him and needed help. If no one helped them then they could come to great harm.
There are things we do as a family to help those in need. Some on a regular basis and some a few times a year. I wanted to find something that Kiley could do on her own and it be something she was passionate about. She has a heart for other little kids and enjoys making pictures for the little girl we sponsor through VistionTrust.
I found a site called Latte Losers. You can read about Latte Losers and what Kiley decided to do to help others by visiting the link: http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/latte-losers.html
Showing A Loved One You Care
This worked out perfect because it's daddy's birthday this week and Kiley wanted to make him a coconut cake. She's been planning the coconut cake & balloons for over a month now. And since my husband loves raw goodies we made him a Raw Coconut Cake. Recipe can be found at this link:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/raw-coconut-cake.html
Hearing & Frequency
Horton is the only animal in the jungle that could hear the Who.
To read the rest of the unit study visit:
http://homeschooljabber.blogspot.com/2012/04/unit-study-on-horton-hears-who.html
|
|
|
|
The Virtue of a Bee Sting
Teaching values early is so important, yet I often by-pass them for the more traditional subjects. There is so much to teach our little ones. First, we teach them to walk, talk, go potty in the toilet, get dressed, brush their teeth and then when we start our "formal teaching" we focus on kindergarten preparatory subjects, like shapes, counting, and ABC's. These subjects take the bulk of my time and at the end of the day there is little left for teaching values.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I became very convicted when we noticed a slight up-tick in the squabbles between our 2-year-old and 4-year-old. We decided to make character development the priority for a change. We still taught the traditional subjects, but we made virtues the priority. We focused the majority of our efforts on Audrey, our 4-year-old. We knew if we could break through to her, she would set the tone for Emma, my 2-year-old. We reminded her that she was the "Big Sister" and told her we expected her to take care of Emma. Then we followed through. Audrey was immediately punished whenever she mistreated her sister and of course, whenever she was extra kind toward her sister we rewarded her. We taught her about love, compassion, honesty, courage and forgiveness. We told her that as a leader, she should expect more of herself and bare a greater portion of the burden. We gave her several examples, including Christ's laying His life down for all of us. "As an older sister, we expect you to love and protect Emma, just as God loves and protects you," we told her.
|
|
|
|
It's Not About Your Union - It's About Our Kids!
I find this story interesting for three reasons.
Reason 1:
These parents are inspiring. They have stepped up to the plate and are fighting to take the reins of their children's education back into their own hands. Not having the time to home school, nor the money for private school, or the luck for a charter school, these courageous parents were forced to face down the behemoth NEA and to demand the unthinkable - that the schools actually teach children something!
Reason 2:
Low income minority parents are the favored whipping-boy of the NEA. When schools fail to meet even the most basic standards they quickly blame the low-income-minority status of their students. It is simply assumed that low-income-minority parents just don't care and so their children are impossible to teach. "These children have bad role models, they come from poor families, and their parents do drugs...therefore we teachers can't really be held accountable for their academic failures," the union complains. It is almost as if these students are destined to fail and so it is excusable when they do. Well, the unions can't have their cake and eat it too. Either the poor minority students can't be educated and therefore school is a waste of funding, or poor minority students can be educated and therefore the school is wasting our funding because they are failing to teach them. Either way, schools that can't educate for whatever reason should be permanently closed - whether the teachers have tenure or not.
That said, while poor income families may be harder to educate for a variety of reasons, clearly these parents do care. They care so much that they have been fighting the school system for nearly two years. In this case, it is the "Union" that doesn't care about the children, not the poor-minority parents.
Reason 3:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join us on
"The Hub"
today!
Click here
Where...Membership, Friendship & Encouragement are always FREE!
----
Download Club Membership requires a small annual fee.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Email Site Founder
Lynda Ackert
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Make Homeschooling Friends today...
Click on a member's name, then click
Add as a Friend
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Last Seen: 31 Minutes Ago  Last Seen: 67 Minutes Ago Last Seen: 70 Minutes Ago Last Seen: 101 Minutes Ago Last Seen: 111 Minutes Ago Last Seen: 112 Minutes Ago 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
