The Homeschool Mother’s Journal- Week 3

Do you need some encouragement? Check out my giveaway.

In my life this week…

I’ve been busy learning the art of couponing.  After watching an episode of Extreme Couponing, my husband is convinced that I should be able to acquire all of our groceries and personal care items at little to no out of pocket cost. Clearly, couponing is not as easy as that or everyone would do it. However, I have couponed in the past and was doing really well when we began traveling with my husbands job. Let me say that stocking up when you live in a motor home is easier said than done.

In our homeschool this week…

We’ve not been very diligent. My boys each worked together two full days which left just my daughter and I at home. It doesn’t take long for her to complete her assigned work, so we spent our afternoons visiting some of the thrift stores in our area. We found some amazing quilt pieces so we are beginning  a quilting project. Sewing is not my thing so I’m really hoping that I can be a good example and see this project through to completion.

Since our visit to Narnia: The Exhibit, we’ve been fascinated with the works of C.S. Lewis once again. I rented a movie from Netflix, The Life and Faith of C.S. Lewis, that we watched and enjoyed. It also discussed his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien. I’d found a book called The Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler which I presented to my oldest son and he’s been reading it every spare moment.

My 15- year old is still focused on training for boot camp and has visited the gym every day this week and is thrilled with his progress.      

Places we’re going & people we’re seeing…

My parent’s will be visiting from Ohio next weekend and I’m busy planning some sight seeing excursions while they’re here. We’re all looking forward to showing them around Alabama- we just hope that the snow lets up in Ohio so they can actually drive here!

What’s working/not working for us…

I received two products this week to review that I am absolutely thrilled with, a bible/worldview curriculum  and an art program. You’ll hear more about these products in the weeks to come. 

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

Now that my boys are working more, I’m trying to figure out how to schedule our days. It’s been a challenge since they don’t really have a set work schedule. They work for my husband and he doesn’t typically know too far in advance when he will need them. So far we kind of take it day by day. 

A photo to share…

Check out my newest adventure….I’m planning to open an Etsy store next week featuring my unique penny jewelry. I’m also hosting a contest until Sunday night - if you’d like to help me choose a name, you can win any one item in the store when it launches.  

Hope you’ve had a great week! Happy Homeschooling!

Join The Homeschool Chick to see how the week has been for other homeschool moms.  

The Creation Museum: Field Trip Friday

I wrote this post last month, had it ready to go and somehow lost it. It’s nowhere to be found! Ughh…So bear with me. There is much more that I wanted to share with you, but until I find my notes, it’s just not going to happen.

My husband and I have longed to visit The Creation Museum with our family for years. Our regular trips to and from Ohio nearly take us right past it, and yet we’ve never found the time to stop. With our frequent trips up North coming less and less often, my husband decided that just after Christmas, on our way home to Alabama, we would finally make that visit.

I wish I could tell you that it was a great day from the start- but this was one of those stops that almost didn’t happen. We’d planned to arrive early. We overslept and after a nearly 3 hour drive, we arrived later than anticipated.

It was the middle of Christmas break and it was very crowded. Have I ever mentioned that we don’t like crowds? I know, that sounds entirely selfish to show up and expect to have the place to ourselves, but we are so used to off season travel, that we’ve just kind of gotten accustomed to the lack of people. So we stood in line and waited to purchase our tickets.

I’d really wanted to visit the planetarium but since we were already behind schedule, my husband said no. That made me unhappy because I’ve heard that the planetarium shows at The Creation Museum are incredible. I’m ashamed to admit that it wasn’t the kids or my husband that were being difficult- it was me.

Finally we paid for our tickets and proceeded along our self guided tour through the Walk Through Biblical History. The bulk of our time was spent exploring this exhibit which featured the 7 C’s of History. For those unfamiliar with The Creation Museum or Answers in Genesis, the 7 C’s stand for Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation- all showing Christ’s plan for redemption.       

The video below shows a very brief view of what we saw inside the museum.

I was astounded by how beautiful everything was. Somehow I’d expected things to be a bit “cheesy” –not at all like the stunning exhibits I saw, heard, smelled and experienced.  The museum was clearly well planned to the tiniest detail.

There were a couple areas that concerned me. The Corruption exhibit is pretty straightforward and clear cut, showing much of the trials, diseases and addictions that are present after the fall in black and white. As a parent, I was glad that my children are older because young children could be scared by the images of death and decay that are flashed before their eyes. 

Also, there was a child in front of us in line that was frightened by some of the dinosaurs, so if you have small children you may want to keep that in mind.

I appreciated that many of the exhibits were interactive. After we’d been there for a couple hours, my brain started to get a little fuzzy. You really need to allow an adequate amount of time to go through the museum and we just weren’t afforded that luxury on this trip.

The museum is clearly geared towards Christians, but I do think that non- believers could visit the museum and enjoy it  - especially if they have read the bible- which many people have, even if they only consider it to be great literature. I believe they would still find some merit in going.

If I could plan this visit over again, I’d allow more time. I’d buy that annual membership so we could pop in at The Creation Museum on all our trips to and from Ohio. I’d visit the planetarium. I’d explore the exhibits outside of the museum- though they were offering the free nativity that evening on the day we visited, we just didn’t have time to stick around. I guess it just boils down to this: There is a lot to see at The Creation Museum, make sure you allow yourself enough time to see it all.

We paid $124.75 in admission- without the planetarium. Would I pay that much again? In a heartbeat! It was so worth it- even if we weren’t able to spend as much time at the museum as possible.         

So, what did I think of The Creation Museum?

All I could think of was “I couldn’t  believe we had waited so long to visit!”  The Creation Museum is truly phenomenal. We loved it! All five of us! LOVED it!  To be honest, it didn’t even bother me that we’d missed the planetarium. My husband on the other hand, was just a wee bit disappointed that we didn’t meet Ken Ham- hmmm… maybe next time? 

Don’t forget, if you’d like to visit The Creation Museum and explore for yourself, they are offering an amazing deal to homeschool families this month.

So, where have you been for Field Trip Friday? You can add your link below and tell us all about it- if you’re unfamiliar with Field Trip Friday go here to read the guidelines.

Word Roots: A Review

We’ve utilized materials from Critical Thinking Press in our home for years. When my children were little they worked through Building Thinking Skills book 1 and 2,  Visual Perception Skill Building Book 1 and 2 and later, we discovered Mind Benders .  So I was thrilled when Timberdoodle offered me the opportunity to use and review yet another of their products. I was even permitted to select which product I’d like to use and chose Word Roots A2, designed for grades 5- 12+,  for my oldest son. Lately he’s expressed an interest in both the Latin and Greek languages so I thought this would be fun for him. Yes, you read that right, I did say fun.

One of the things I really appreciate about the materials from Critical Thinking Press  is that they are pretty basic, self explanatory and offer clear, easy to understand directions. I quickly read the introduction, removed the answer key from the back of the book (no peeking allowed here), offered my son a few simple explanations, handed him the book and he took over from there. 

The 68- page workbook is written to the student to work from independently. Other than a question here and there, I didn’t really hear much from my son unless it was time for me to review his answers. 

After completing several warm-up activities, the student is able to jump right in to the worksheets which each focus on a particular root word. There are also corresponding extension worksheets if you find your child needs additional practice pages or just to use for further reinforcement. The back of the book also contains a dictionary of Greek and Latin prefixes, roots and suffixes, making the workbook completely self-contained. 

Studying Greek and Latin root words are a great place to begin if you want to further your vocabulary- why not consider starting with Word Roots?

Though I was asked only to review the Word Roots workbook, I’d like to add how impressed I am with Timberdoodle as a company. They have been one of my favorite resources for ordering homeschool supplies or homeschool curriculum since we began homeschooling 12 years ago. Even though I received this workbook free to review, it was shipped the same as though I were a paying customer, shrink wrapped on a sturdy piece of cardboard to ensure that my material wasn’t damaged in transit. I appreciate that added touch.

Though my son worked through one of the workbooks geared for students in grades 5 and up,  Word Roots are also available for students in 3-4 grade as well. Prices begin at $14.99.  You may visit their website to place an order or request a free homeschool catalog to view the other products that they carry. I think you’ll find something that you’ll like!  

Critical Thinking Press + Timberdoodle = a win win situation!

 Legal Disclosure:
As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

February is for the Birds, Field Trip Friday and a fun Contest Reminder

 

Today you’ll find me writing at the HSB Company Porch where I shared a few ideas to get you started on a bird study for the month of February. I hope you’ll pop on over and share some ideas of your own.

Just a reminder, Field Trip Friday is back tomorrow and I’ll be sharing our recent visit to The Creation Museum near Cincinnati with my first ever video from the Flip Video my kids bought me at Christmas. Be kind, it is my first attempt and didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped but I was so confident of my abilities that I didn’t take one picture! Boy did I learn my lesson- I’ll be sure to pack my camera next time! :)  Anyway, I hope that you’re planning to link up because I can’t wait to read about all the fun places you’ve been!

Don’t forget, you can help me name my Etsy shop and win any item of your choice when it opens next week. I’ve had so much fun reading the names that have been suggested! Thank you to everyone that has participated so far- you guys are so creative!  You can read more about the contest and how to participate here.   

Help me Name My Etsy Shop and Win a One of a Kind Piece of Jewelry

 

 

Smashed pennies. Squished pennies. Pressed Pennies. Flattened Pennies. Elongated pennies. It doesn’t matter what you call them, they’re all the same thing; souvenir pennies.  Several times, I’ve mentioned my affection for them.  It doesn’t matter where  I go, if there is a penny smashing machine nearby, I know I’m going home with a pocket full of souvenir pennies.

Over the years, my dear family has learned to humor me, because I have to tell you, they’ve not understood my addiction  …until now. 

I love my souvenir pennies. Sometimes I add them to a scrapbook page, or turn them in to a magnet that hangs on the refrigerator but nine times out of ten, they get thrown into our treasure trunk along with all the mementos we collect on our trips, never to be seen again. Okay, well maybe that’s a wee bit dramatic. But the truth is, I’ve been trying to figure out a practical way to display my collection. So, I began thinking- dangerous, I know.  I love souvenir pennies. I love jewelry. Why not combine the two?  So I did . And I love the result. Check out this charm bracelet I made from souvenir pennies.        

Or this necklace.

And here’s another.

   

I’m also working on pieces with Disney souvenir pennies that are going to be super cute…think pirates….ARRRRR…. and Tinkerbell …and … well, you get the picture.

Anyway, my family loves them and I’m having so much fun making them that I’ve decided I’m going to open an Etsy shop. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sell one of the jewelry pieces crafted from souvenir pennies every now and then. But here’s where you come in. I NEED help.

Names and titles are not my strong point. So, I’ve decided to have a contest. Help me chose a name for my Etsy shop and you’ll have a chance to win ANY one item, of any value, pictured above or from my store which I hope to open the end of next week- I’m just waiting on that name! So, what do you say? Are you in?

Here’s what you do. It’s simple. Leave a comment on my blog between now and this Sunday, February 6th and tell me what name you would choose. If you have more than one idea, leave more than one entry. 

I will select a name from the entries and the winner will receive a jewelry item of their choice. If I am unable to use a name for whatever reason, I will randomly draw a winner from all the entries. That’s it! It’s that easy. Just make sure when you leave your comment that you also leave your email address so I’m able to contact you.

I will announce the winner here on Live the Adventure next Monday, February 7th.

Wanna play along? What would you name an Etsy store that sells an eclectic mix of travel related products and one of a kind jewelry made from souvenir pennies?