Woodwater Farmhouse

Happy Halloween Howl are you all today?   I can't believe that October is coming to an end already.  We just started back to school 31 days ago (new grades) and it seems like a week ago.   So much fun last weekend with our Family Halloween Party .  We had 98 of our closest friends (lol) join us for a great cause.  So far we have raised $ 2600 for my friend Danielle to aid her in her financial burdeons her family faces with her cancer treatment.  School has been good this week. We have been laying low on field trips until Zachary gets his cast off - only a week left!   I will admit it's been challenging to find activities for Zachary to do without using his right hand.  He has fallen behind in cursive and math.  He will have a lot to catch up on once he has full use of that hand.  LEGOS are always a part of our school and this week we made some fun Halloween scenes.  Zachary started The Call of the Wild and M...

Homeschooling Moms Create Web-Based Tool to Help Families Eat at Home and Save Money  Eating at Home Leads to More Family Time, Cost Savings and Healthy Meal Options With 11 homeschooled kids between the two of them, ongoing Ministry involvement and jobs, sisters Karee and Lisa created Build a Menu   ( www.buildamenu.com ) as a way to make menu planning and grocery shopping a little easier and healthier. The goal is to help families save time and money. More importantly, using Build a Menu enables families to eat dinner at home and spend quality time together. What is Build a Menu? Build a Menu is a web-based tool that lets busy families choose which meals their family will most enjoy, estimates how much their groceries will cost, and builds a complete, easy to use shopping list. Menus can be linked to grocery stores to take advantage of weekly sales and can be tailored to health needs such as vegetarian, low carb, low fat/sensible portions...

Happy Friday to you!  I am glad you made it through the week and have joined me and other homeschoolers as we recap our busy weeks over at Homegrown Learners - Collage Friday! It's been a quiet week, as far as running around goes, here at The Joys of Home Educating .  Zachary, of course, has been laying low with his broken hand and the weather has been rainy, so really no field trips to speak of this week.  We have been preparing our home and hearts for company this weekend. It's our Annual Family Halloween Party tomorrow and we are expecting over 95 guests with 10 of them staying with us!  This year our "charity" that is attached to our party is for my friend Danielle - who is battling cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant (stem cell).  I am begging you to please pray about it and if God leads you to donate (even $ 10) then please do!  The family has a $ 5000 deductible when she goes in for the transplant and we are doing our best to ...

T.G.I.F. It's been very unseasonably warm this week here in New York.  We don't ever see temps this high in mid October - WE WANT FALL BACK!  I actually had to turn on the air conditioner on Wednesday night because of the heat and humidity in the house, just to sleep!     Was able to get a little sketching in here and there...an activity that calms me but don't spend nearly enough time as I would like to.  Wednesday we made a pit stop at Carvel, they have BOGO on their soft serve sundaes. It's a treat that we partake in about every two months or so, but it's oh so good and the price is right!   The book in the upper corner was from a lecture that I went to at our local library.  The speaker was a "ghost hunter" and it was fascinating listen to what she had to say.  Not being a believer in ghosts myself, she has a passion for it and it's always fun to hear about what other people believe in!  We...

Happy Friday Y'All! Did you see my  review  of  The Rhino Who Swallowed A Storm ? Teaming up with  Reading Rainbow  and LeVar Burton was so much fun to bring this review to you!  School  The fall weather and everything that comes with it is in full swing in New York.  We have started our USA Studies - one state per week and last week was Maine  (Where Are We Wednesdays)  This week - New Hampshire.     On Fridays we review what we learned by playing Jeopardy. The kids love it and are very competitive. They win Tech Tokens that they can use towards their technology time.  Using the board books from  Graham Blanchard  for our Bible character studies has been real fun.   Last weekend was our last camping weekend of the season (boooo) but we got to spend it with our best friends and had a blast. The rain did not dampen our fun  (on Saturday morning)  and the cleari...

I am honored to be able to share this book review with you!   Like most homeschoolers we are hoarders   lovers of books. It's a love affair that only gets more intense as the children get older. The book I am bringing to you today is a special one. It's published by a company that I am sure you are all familiar with, Reading Rainbow .  Who didn't watch Reading Rainbow as a child?  I love their products.  Not only am I excited about working with Reading Rainbow but the author of this children's book is non other than actor, director and educator LeVar Burton.   (Some of you might remember him as Geordi from Star Trek, the Next Generation or as Kunta Kinte in ROOTS - among other things) This is Mr. Burton's 1st children's book but he is no stranger to education. He has been working with Reading Rainbow for years.  Debuting today -  The Rhino Who Swallowed A Storm (taken from the Amazon site) When little Mica Mo...

Happy October!   (don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post!) This is my favorite month!  I love the transition from summer heat to cool fall days.  I love anything and everything pumpkin, apples and UGG boots!   If you missed my post yesterday on FINALIZING our school schedule you can view it here .  Last weekend the girls and I went to their first Girl Scout Camp event . This was for Daisies and Brownies only. It was a fun filled day with many events and teaching opportunities!  Some other happenings this past week....last weekend was so nice we decided to have a bonfire and outdoor movie both Friday and Saturday nights. Very relaxing and fun for all!    The children and I made it to a farm market (last Friday) , one state over, and purchased a few outdoor fall decorations.   Zachary had some fun trying on some costumes...  We were back to our regular full time school schedule as of ...

Back in August when so many homeschoolers were starting their new school year, we were still in summer mode and summer school schedule.  We finally started our new year on Monday!  Happy to be back and HAPPY to have a new feel and schedule to our days... Changes in our home school: I AM A HUGE CONTROL FREAK AND I KNOW IT! sigh..that felt good Trying to keep with some sort of schedule and structure because our children work well that way....but also allowing them to have some control over their school work - I have what I think is a happy medium to our year... We start our mornings with a "family meeting" and prayer time.  Then go over what's happening in the week remaining.  Question and answer time.   Then the kids split up.  I started using a "folder" system this year.  One for Math, Letter of the Week  (cursive for Molly and Zachary) , Geography and a misc folder. For Math  -...

Happy First Birthday   to  Graham Blanchard!   The only publisher specializing in publishing board books for children from infancy,  Graham Blanchard !   Putting on the party hat and blowing up the balloons today! Learn                  Absorb                                 Praise Don't you just love those three little powerful words? These are the categories in which Graham Blanchard' s books fall into.  I encourage you to click on over to the Graham Blanchard website and blog and find out what they are all about.   I am honored to be a small part of this team as a Mom Mentor . Supporting other Christian moms in their walk and struggles.  There are so many resources available to you from Graham Blanchard. Their  Values  are aligned with our parenting va...