National Poetry Month

One of the tools that I found for helping me put together my children’s curriculum each year is the Educator’s Calendar! I love looking at the different months to see what happened on a day in history or what might be month long events or holidays that I might be able to work into my children’s curriculum. Instead of always doing whatever is in the textbooks, it makes for a fun time of research. 

According to the calendar, I found that April is National Poetry Month!(click on the link or the image below to find out about the history of National Poetry Month)

To find some resources to use with your children during this month of poetry, head over to the rest of my article over at Happy to Be at Home!!

Writing Prompts: A Jar of Possibilities

Imagine the following scene with me:

Mom: “You need to write a story today.”

Child(with a blank stare): “ A story!?!”

Mom: “Yes a story!”

Child: “But I don’t know what to write about!”

Mom:“Well use your imagination! I am sure that you can figure out something!”

[Mom leaves the child to their thoughts! An hour later Mom goes to check the child’s paper, only to find there is nothing on the paper!]

Mom:“Why don’t you have your story written like I said for you to?”

Child: “I told you that I didn’t know what to write about!”

Mom: “Well you need to write a story!”

[Mom leaves the child alone and a bit frustrated!]

Do you have this happen with your child? Do you want to put an end to this scene happening in your home school adventure? If so, I have the solution to this problem!

To find out the solution go read the rest of my article over at Happy To Be At Home!

Why Do I Love Homeschooling??

Can you feel it???  Can you feel the love that is in the air?  This is the week of the year where everyone is thinking about love!  The love they have for their sweetheart, the love they have for God, the love they have for their family, the love they have for their children(if they have any) and the love they have for homeschooling!  Well okay, maybe not everyone loves homeschooling but you can love it!! 

Go over to Happy To Be at Home and read my article where I have taken the words “Love Homeschooling” to create an acrostic of the positives to homeschooling and why you can love homeschooling. 

Homeschooling the Preschool Years

Do you have a preschooler??  Are you thinking about homeschooling your preschooler??  Are you wondering if you should get a pre-packaged curriculum to do with your preschool child?

Don't stress over getting a pre-packaged curriculum.  Relax and let them imagine, interact and explore their world!  Want to read more encouragement in how you can do that??  

Head over to Happy to be At Home and read more of my post Homeschooling the Preschool Years!

Flexible Scheduling in Homeschooling

As parents, we should be raising and training our children every day,and for my family that also includes making sure that they are learning the 3 R’s. So when I am asked about my yearly school schedule, my reply is that homeschooling occurs every day of the year, whether we are using curriculum books or not.

Want to read more of how I developed and came to a workable schedule for my family??  Head over to Happy to Be at Home today where I talk about it.

Enhancing Your Reading Program

Out of my five children, I have two children that love to read, and it is very difficult to keep good books in their hands. A couple of years ago it got to the point that going to the library was a long, drawn out process! Not that I don’t like going to the library with my children, but when you try to look for good books for one child but have a screaming infant or an impatient toddler disrupting your concentration — all while everyone around you is staring at you…well, it makes for a rough visit!

Can you identify??  

To read more and find out what resources I use to help cut down on that long drawn out process at the library, read my article, "How to Enhance Your Reading Program" over at Happy to be at Home

Taming Those Stacks of Schoolwork

Do you have stacks of schoolwork papers like this around your home?? It is getting to that time of year where we need to start thinking about what we need to keep of that stack of papers from our school year. If you are like me you have saved every paper so far that your child has done over the course of the year, hence having the huge stacks of papers! Well I am here to tell you that you do not need to save every paper!

Read my article with some steps on how to conquer those piles, over at Happy to be at Home.

Math Around the House

Are you finding the kids (and maybe you for that matter!) are still not wanting to crack open the school books just yet? Instead of fretting or getting frustrated over them not wanting to hit the books yet, use it to your advantage and involve them in tasks around the house that involve math concepts!

Looking for some ideas as to what tasks you could do with your kids, head over to Happy to be at Home and read the rest of my article, Teaching Math Around the House!  

Also take the time to check out some of the other articles that were written by a couple of the other contributing writers.

Its Official!

Along with it officially being 2009...

The 3 Moms have Happy To Be at Home relaunched!!

Take the time to go over there and check the new digs out, including reading my article about writing thank-you notes! 

And while you are over there, let them know what you think of the new design and leave them a comment!

A New Endeavor in 2009 for Me!

Well just in case you haven't heard the news that is going around the blogosphere...I have an announcement to make regarding a new endeavor that I am going to be doing in the new year!

My friends Toni, Joy, and Kate who started Happy To Be At Home are in the process of relaunching the site with a whole new look but the same great content and more!  Starting tomorrow(January 1st) you will be able to cruise around the new site and read posts not only from the "3 Moms" but also from FOURTEEN other moms!!  

So you are probably wondering what this has to do with me!?! Well...Yours truly is one of the 14 Moms that will be a writing contributor on the site!  I will be writing posts about homeschooling while the other Moms will be writing about different things. Below is a list of the other contributing writers and their topics...

Erin from $5 Dinners--Kitchen topics
Lisa from Crazy Adventures In Parenting--Mothering & Military life
Rachel from Keep It Simple--frugality
Carri from The Peterson Clan--Large-family mothering
Sherry from Lamp Unto My Feet--Recipes/Kitchen
Susan from Susie’s Homemade--Crafty, D.I.Y stuff
Shannan from Chubbie Chica--Weight loss
Niki from Free 2 Be Frugal--Weekly freebies & coupons round-up
Author Tricia Goyer from Triciagoyer.com--Inspiration & Parenting
Niki from Organizing Connection--organizing & simple living
Amy from The Finer Things in Life--MommyhoodJenna from Food With Kid Appeal--healthy food for kids
Amy from Mom’s Toolbox--travel

OH and just so you know...I am not going anywhere from here!  My blog will still be going full throttle in the new year with more posts on my parenting series, more deals and savings shopping, more recipes, more frugal tips, and even more homeschooling links!  So stick around here and enjoy me here along with coming over and visiting me at Happy To Be At Home!

Check it out!!

I did another guest post over at Happy to be at Home!!!

Go take the time to read about A Sonshine Thanksgiving!!

There is a yummy recipe!!