TOS CREW: How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachael Carman

I am going to be honest, when I saw the review form for How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachael Carman, I did not sign up for it.  I really didn't think I needed to read this book.  BUT God, in all His wisdom must have felt that I needed it because I ended up being one of the reviewers.

The very day that I received the book I sat down to check it out, and 49 pages later I finally put it down.  It was around that time that I said "Thank you Lord for sending this book my way."  Even though I didn't think this was a book for me, it very much was!!  If time would have permitted I would have read the whole book right then and there. 

I had never heard of Rachael Carman before, but once I started reading her book I knew that I liked her.  She writes in such a way that really draws you in, like I said I didn't want to put the book down.  Besides this was some good stuff I was reading!  I was very impressed with her complete openness, how she shared her struggles and her true feelings.

It was a few weeks after I started Rachael's book that I learned who she was.  Rachael and her husband, Davis, are the family that purchased Apologia (you know, the science company that is now much more than a science company).  I learned this one afternoon while having lunch with Rachael and a few other wonderful ladies from Apologia.  I also learned about how Rachael had a tremendous heart for moms, especially those of the homeschooling variety. 

Ok, now back to the book.  H.E.A.R.T. is actually an acronym that stands for:

H - Have a Heart for the things of God
E - Enrich your marriage
A - Accept your kids
R - Release them to God
T - Teach them truth

I loved hearing Rachael's story and how she had NO plans of homeschooling her kids.  Several years, 7 kids and a homeschool resource company later, we see that it obviously was God's plan!  It really is an inspirational story.

Rachael is very honest about how she was excited to send her kids off on the yellow school bus, so she could have me time.  When that didn't work out she and her husband decided they would try homeschooling, but Rachael was adamant that it was only for one year.  Don't you just love how God's ways are not our ways.  : )
 
I just really felt that this book was a breath of fresh air for me.  It was something that I didn't even know I needed until I read it.  The Holy Spirit convicted me on several things and really just opened my eyes to some major areas that are lacking here at the LSG House.  
 
I especially loved the Accept your Kids and Release them to God chapters.  They were both very good and encouraging to me.  It was a joy to hear the wisdom that the Lord has given Rachael and that she is now passing on to other moms.
 
How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. would be a wonderful read for new moms as well as veterans, homeschoolers or not.  I think that no matter what season of motherhood you are in, you would appreciate the wisdom and encouragement that Rachael has to share. 
 
You can actually read a sample chapter of the book online before you buy it.
 
You can purchase a copy of the How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. book by Rachael Carman directly through Apologia for $13.00.

I received How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions expressed here are mine and I was not compensated in any way from the TOS Crew or Apologia Press.

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, Who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of peace, Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to Whom is given the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.

Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.


I have included all the verses to this song, although I don't think most people sing all 9 verses.  This is a very good hymn and you can listen to it here.

Weekly Wrap Up! 8/22/11 - 8/26/11

This is our 4 week back to school.  We still aren't back to doing all subjects but I feel like we have a pretty good start. 

This week all the kids and I have been learning about How the Bible Came to Us.  Which has been pretty interesting so far.  We have gone over all the different books of the Bible and who wrote them.  Read an overview of the Old and New Testaments (these pages were pretty cool, the kids want to copy them and make it a board game out of them).

We have kept up with Keys for Kids and our memory verse this week.  Our verse this week is...
1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Computer Girl is playing with Little Bits while I was working with Alpha Boy and The Lil' Chef was doing hereindependent studies.

For history I have been using MFW - Rome to Reformation as a guideline but have still been tweaking it a bit.  We have been reading mostly from Mystery of History this week, we have read about the Punic Wars, Spartacus and Julius Caesar.  I also included What in the World by Diana Waring, we listened to the Punic Wars, Roman Republic and Julius Caesar (I am going to be reviewing this soon).

THe Lil' Chef is reading to the boys while I am working with Computer Girl.  You don't see alpha Boy because he is in the "tent" under the coffee table.

MFW has Augustus Caesar's World as a read a loud for the next 9 weeks (or so) but after looking at this book I have decided to shelf it.  I have to tell you, this book, well the decision whether to read it or not read it really stressed me out a little.  I guess because I am type a like that : )  As I previewed the book I just felt there was a little too much astrology and false gods for my taste.  I know that many people have read this book and loved it but for us and the ages of my kids I am passing.  At least for now. 

Just in case you wanted to see the "tent" and what my house can look like while we are schooling : )

To replace it we are reading Detectives in Toga's.  We are 4 or 5 chapters in so far and the kids are hooked.  There is a few things in this book that I could do with out also but I think for me it is easier to modify as I am reading.  It does mention astrology, which I know was very common in Rome and they stay stuff like dumbell and stupid.  I did read dumbell a few times because of the story but the other potty mouth words I just left out.

Alpha Boy working on his letters with Sing, Spell, Read and Write.

We did a few lessons in The Human Body for Every Kid.  My kids enjoyed doing a little "experiment" on cell membrane break through which involved a colander, pinto beans and salt.  This little project really made the idea click in their heads. 


Computer Girl with our experiment on cell membrane breakthrough.

I decided to add something to our year that I didn't plan on adding.  We have all 3 of the Apologia Zoology science books and haven't used them yet.  I know, shame, shame!  I am POSITIVE that my kids will love this, possibly more than anything else we are doing this year and that my friend is why I am adding it.  We are going to do it very s-l-o-w-l-y because technically we are already doing science.  This is really more for fun.



Computer Girl working on her grammar.  Not sure if she is not really happy to be doing grammar or if she is still half a sleep.

To keep track of all that they are learning they have a drawing or coloring page that they place in their history and science notebooks.  I would LOVE to include lapbooks for them but it seems that I always print out all this stuff and they are just not into it.  For some reason my kids are just not into lapbooks.  It really does baffle me, what kid doesn't like to color, cut and paste?!  
I am always looking for fun things to add to our schooling, so last year when I stumbled upon The Story Keepers videos I was on a mission.  The Story Keepers videos are animated historical fiction videos about Christians that lived in Rome around the time of Nero.  An excellent addition to the time period we are studying!  I found the whole set last year on eBay and tucked them away, until now.  The kids watched the first one and it was a hit. 
 
Oh, before I forget.  One more thing the kids and I did this week was experience an EARTHQUAKE!!  Holy Toledo that freaked me out!  I will share more about this experience tomorrow.  But I will say that the kids got a Bible, science and geography lesson out of it.

Alpha Boy worked in his Sing, Spell, Read and Write workbook, completing the letters T and U.  He also played online at Starfall.com, mostly with the letter games.  He continued in his Abeka Arithmetic K book as well as watched his Mathtacular video. 
 
Computer Girl and The Lil' Chef have both been reviewing the math facts that they seemed to have forgotten over the summer (note to self remember to least keep up math facts a few times a week next summer and ACTUALLY DO IT!)  They have both been working on their spelling lists, Easy Grammar books, memorizing prepositions and their personal reading. 
 
Little Bits has been mostly playing near by or with one of the girls when I am working with someone else.  I read an article yesterday that reminded me of the idea to work with the todler first before everyone else.  This way the don't feel pushed to the side but they have had their one on one time like everyone else. I am going to start that next week.  I am going to do like 20 minutes of "school time" with him before I start with the other kids.  I am also shooting for a reading time with just the boys before lunch, the girls of course are welcome to listen but the reading will be directed to the boys level. 
 
Even though we are schooling I am not as structured as I plan to be next month.  I am still trying to leave a little wiggle room for stuff.  Like this morning, I took the kids to the library.  The girls browsed for books and read while the boys and I went into a reading time for kids ages 3-5.  The boys really enjoyed it and I plan to include it into our schedule at least once or twice a month. 
 
We usually don't school on Fridays, which amy be changing, {gasp} so today we plan on cleaning, catching up on laundry and baking. 

Are you back to school yet?  If so you can link up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers too!

 

2011- 2012 TOS Crew Blog Hop

Join us for the 2011-2012 TOS Crew Blog Hop! 

Go ahead and hop around, lots of great homeschool blogs to be found....

Menu Plan 8/24/11

I know it's not Monday.  But I figured my crew might not be so happy if I waitied until next Monday to make a list and buy food.  Just sayin'!

I have recently tried to start shopping for two weeks at a time, at least for lunch and dinners.  I know that fresh fruit and veggies is usually a weekly thing, but some of the other stuff I can get away with doing once every two weeks.

I used to do this back in the day and I am not quite sure why I stopped.  I know that grocery shopping is a necessity and I am thankful to be able to shop BUT if I can reduce the amount of trips too the grocery store, I am ALL FOR IT!

I also typed up my list a little different this week.  So here goes...

Breakfasts
• JUICE, JUICE, JUICE!!! (*Because I have gotten too FAT, FAT, FAT and I need to reduce my calorie intake to help lose some poundage : )
• Waffles
• Pancakes
• Smoothies & Bagels
• Cereal
• French Toast
• Fruit & Yogurt
• Eggs and Toast
• Muffins & Fruit

Lunches
• SALAD, SALAD, SALAD!!! - (*see above) 
• Chicken Nuggets
• Egg Salad Sandwiches
• Ham or Turkey Sandwiches
• PB& J’s
• Mac & Cheese
• Grilled Cheese
• Quesadillas
• Hot Dogs & Fries

Dinners
• Beef Stroganoff w/ Green Beans
• Chicken Burritos w/ Corn and Cantaloupe
• Shepherd’s Pie
• Breakfast Night – Oven Scrambled Eggs, Bacon & Oven Pancake
• Pizza (2)
• Taco Soup (Dinner’s Ready! Page 132) w/ Corn & Chips
• Sweet & Sour Chicken (Dinner’s Ready! Page 144) w/ Rice
• Crockpot - Chili Macaroni & Cheese (More, Make it Fast and Cook it Slow Page 180)
• Crockpot - Lemon Pepper Chicken w/ Rice & Veggie
• BLT’s, Fruit and Chips
• Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup & Broccoli
• Hot Dog Casserole

Things to Make This Week:
Granola, Bread, Blueberry Muffins, Rice Crispy Treats

Our New School Room {LINKY}

I have fallen in love.  The Hubs let me splurge a few months ago on these shelves from Ikea.  You see we have purchased several of the cheapy type bookcases that have been, well, duds.  When I would load them up with books, because there are bookcases, they break. 

I have been eye balling these Expedit Ikea shelves for a LONG TIME.  I had even been scoping out Craigslist looking for used ones but never found the right ones.  Finally, I asked The Hubs if we could just invest in these and not have to keep buying junkie ones.  He said YES!   I love how sturdy these shelves are, we can load these babies up and guess what,  they DON'T BREAK!  Can I get an AMEN!

Two other additions to the play/school room are the train table and the art center.  Both of which were acquired at Good Will one sunny afternoon.  My mother in law got both of them for the kids. 
We had a train table but the top was pretty jacked up, so when we saw this one for such a deal we scooped it up.  I think the train table was a whooping $10. 

The large plastic drawers make up our Art Center.  The chalkboard was given to us.  I know that it looks cheeeezzy leaning up again the table BUT I don't have anymore wall space because of all the windows and this spot is perfect for the little people. 
These shelves hold all our books plus any educational games that we have.

The art center was filled will all kinds of artsie stuff like scuplty clay, ribbon, buttons, ribbon, and oh yeah, more ribbon.  I think it was $10 or $15.  Not only does it keep the kids busy, it keeps them out of my craft stuff.  Thanks again Mom!!



This is the opposite site of our play/school room.  We use this side mostly for games and toy storage.

 We still have our workboxes, mostly to just house our school stuff.  They don't go thru all the workboxes everyday.   Little Bits got his very own workbox this year.  I actually like the 3 larger drawers because a lot of the stuff I have for him to do wouldn't fit in the Joann's 10 Drawer Cart. 

This is  the view of from our kitchen. 

If you want to see what our play/school room used to look like you can check it out here.

I love to look at other peoples playrooms and school room, it is a great way to get new ideas.  If anyone would like to Link Up their playrooms please do.

A Quest for Shark's Teeth - An Educational Outing

It all started a few weeks ago when I bought the kids some shark books from a yardsale.  Alpha Boy immediately claimed them for his personal book box. 

The LSG Kids, my niece and nephew, on an anchor outside of the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland.

One day Alpha Boy was looking at the shark books and we were discussing facts about them.  I had told him that they are always losing their teeth and that there was a place nearby (well about an hour away) that we could go and find some.  And keep them. 

You how you can tell your kids something and then you see a certain light in their eyes and total excitement?  This was one of those moments.  I knew that really wanted to make this happen. 


Today was the day.  I took my kids, my niece and nephew and off we went.  An hour away, 5000 punch buggies, 2 million yellow cars (you had to be there) and 2 quiet game winners later we were there. 

Arrr matey!

Our first stop was the Calvert Marine Museum (which is very inexpensive BTW).  I thought we'd be in and out in 30 minutes tops.  Boy was I wrong, the kids loved it here plus there was lots of stuff to do. 

Looking at the sting rays and skates up close.

We started off looking at the sting rays and skates.  There are very cool.  I got to tell the kids how I caught a skate years ago when I was fishing in the bay with friends.  : )  We got to see skate eggs, which was REALLY cool! 

The boys playing with an interactive trivia game screen.

Lots to see and learn!

The life cycle of a skate egg.

Real live skate eggs.  This picture doesn't do this exhibit justice.  It was really neat how you could actually see the babies moving inside the eggs.  Have you ever seen an egg like this?

 They had an awesome mural which captured Little Bit's attention.

Next we went to the discovery room.  I think we were in there like an hour or so.  There were sea hermit crabs, star fish, turtles and other cool critters.  There was a light house and a really cool boat the kids could go in.  The very best part of that room was the Dig Area where the kids could look for fossils and teeth.  And keep them.  One per kid to be exact.  Alpha Boy hardly left this spot other than running back and forth to ask the lady at the desk "Hey, what is this?" 

The Lil' Chef checking out a small diamond back turtle.

One of the tanks in the discovery room, that contains star fish, sea hermit crabs and several other critters.

Alphaboy was so content to stay at the Dig Area and dig and dig and dig!  The kids could keep one fossil of their choosing.  After finding several things worth to keep he finally settled on a Tiger Shark's tooth.

We got to walk thru the rest of the museum looking the different exhibits, including the many aquariums.  We got to see blue crabs, sea horses, lots of fish and my personal favorite, the jellyfish.  I was asking my little peeps, "How can anyone look at these jellyfish and wonder if there is a God?"  God is just such an awesome Creator! 

Just one of the neat exhibits we saw.

This was a HUGE case full of different fossils, sharks teeth and such.

  

At the museum they have an open window to one of the labs. The kids learned ALOT.  She showed us how to tell the age of a whale by looking at parts of it's spine.
This women reminded me of my grandma because of her accent.  Come to find out they were both from Munich, Germany.  I told her, "I knew I recognized that accent anywhere."



How can one look at this thing and not KNOW there is a Creator.  I mean, REALLY??

Maryland is know for it's Blue Crabs (and Old Bay).

nce we walked outside we were greeted by two ADORABLE otters!  I contemplaited how I could take one home with me. I could have just sat there forever and watched these playful little guys. 

I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the otters.

We also enjoyed the view from the lower level of the light house that is at the museum.  The top was closed for lunch and we didn't get to make it back.  After the light house, we got to check out lots of really neat boats, some old and some really really old. 


This was a neat little light house, I really wish we could have gone all the way up.

Checking out some old boat.  One of the boats was a two log canoe from the mid 1800's.

Before we left I asked a lady that worked at the museum how far it was to one of the state parks that we were going to go to for sharks teeth.  I also inquired about how far of a walk it was from the car to the actual beach (one place was like 2 miles!!).  This super kind lady told us just to go to her beach.  she offered for us to just park in her driveway so we wouldn't get towed.  Her beach was free and about a 3 minute walk from her house.  She was SO nice.  She even offered for us to just go inside her porch and grab some shark's teeth that they had if we didn't find any.  I really couldn't believe how nice this lady was. 

We were all having so much fun, nobody wanted to leave. 

We really enjoyed the beach, other than a kind older man that helped us find shark's teeth we had the beach to ourselves.  None of us wanted to leave, myself included.  It was so peaceful and relaxing.

On the way home we stopped for sundae's.  It was supposed to be the prize for the quiet game winners but instead everyone got one.  Well except for Little Bits, he had already drifted blissfully off to sleep. 



I really just thought we'd go and dig in the sand for a bit.  I never imagined how cool the museum would be or how much we would learn.  I thought we were just taking the day off but actually it turned into quite the little science lesson.

It was a good day!

This post is linked up over at Let's Hit the Road - Field Trip Blog Hop!  Great blog for the field trip enthusiast!

The Father's Love

by Joel Sczebel


How has the sinner been forgiven
How has the rebel been made clean
Or blinded eyes been made to see
How have the orphans been adopted
Who hated Your love and ran from grace
Despised and rejected all Your ways

Chorus
How wonderful the Father’s love
The Father’s love for us
That He would send His only Son
To come and rescue us
He has saved us, called us blameless
Guides us now and will sustain us
Oh how wonderful the Father’s love

Your mercy floods our lives with kindness
Your grace has colored all we see
And You have promised not to leave
You freely give Your Spirit to us
So we can be sure we’re sons of God
And rest in the hope of what’s to come

Bridge
Though sufferings may fill our lives
We’re confident we’re heirs with Christ
And so we cry, “Abba, Father”

Top 10 Favorite Homeschool Books

If you have EVER read my blog before you probably know that L.O.V.E. books.  Over the years I have read many a homeschooling how to book.  I have several I have really enjoyed and gleaned a lot from.  I thought I share my Top 10 Favorite Homeschool Books.  So here goes...

Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days: Share a Day With 30 Homeschooling Families by Nancy Lande - I really liked this book.  I am a visual learner and this book really helped me to get a real picture of what everyday homeschool life looks like. 

Homeschool Open House by Nancy Lande - This like part 2 to the book above. 

The Relaxed Homeschooler by Mary Hood - This book is about just what the title implies, how to relax.  I haven't mastered it yet but this book has helped to put me in the right direction.

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Raymond and Dorothy Moore - This is a wonderful how to book.  Another book about stress free homeschooling.  Are you sensing a pattern yet?? : )

So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It  - by Lisa Whelchel - this is one of my absolute favorites.  I love how Lisa writes, I felt like I was having coffee with a friend and chatting about homeschool.  She helps to give you the confidence that us momma sometimes lack.

Educating the WholeHearted Child - by Clay & Sally Clarkson - This is a new favorite of mine.  I love Sally Clarkson, I am reading another book of hers right now.  The wisdom and encouragement that this book gives is invaluable. 

Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring - Anything from Diana Waring is a good read in my opinion.  I have this book as well as the audio, it is one of the first things I listen to when I am discouraged about our homeschool journey.  It is kinda like a battery charge. 

A Charlotte Mason Education  by Catherine Levison - This book is really helping me to get a complete understanding of the how to's of the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling.  This is a short read but full of practical ideas.

The Three R's by Ruth Beechick -


The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell - I haven't had this book long but I can already testify that this book is chock full good info for new homeschoolers as well as veterans.  I have already learned a bunch from this one.  A definite read.


So there you have it, my Top 10.  What are your favorites?Mrs. Beechick does a wonderful job explain how simple it is to educate a young child in the Three R's.  This book is 3 books in one, focusing on reading, writing and arithmetic. 

Homemade Playdoh

A friend of mine from church recently made some homemade playdoh for Little Bit's Sunday school class. 

Yep, all homemade.  The last color was red and then it got mixed with another color.  I could hardly take pictures before they were all over this stuff!

I thought it was a neat idea.  I had heard about making playdoh, just never attempted it myself.  I guess I thought that it wouldn't be the same, that it wouldn't be like real playdoh.  Yes, it is a little different but still quite worthy in my opinion. 

I was hanging out with Little Bits this morning in his Sunday school class and this gave us a chance to play with the playdoh.  This reminded me that I wanted to try my friends playdoh recipe. 

I can't believe that I have 4 kids and I am just now getting around to making my own playdoh.  Shame, shame.  I also can't believe how simple it was.  Here is the recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Food Coloring - adjust according to shade you are trying to achieve

Yes, I dirtied a few pots but it was well worth the effort.  In the larger pot I doubled the recipe and added yellow food coloring.  Once it was all mixed up I pulled half of it out and ten added red to make orange.

Place all ingredients in a medium sized pot. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly.  Dough eventually becomes harder to stir and will gather on spoon. At this point dump the dough onto wax paper, allow to cool somewhat, and knead it until it is smooth. Store in plastic bag or container.

We just added color until we had a shade we liked.



Here computer girl is helping with the stirring.  This is a great recipe for the kids to help out with.

Isn't this just a beautiful picture!!

Just a side note, do not omit the cream of tarter, it keeps the playdoh fresh for about 6 months.



Enjoy!