Easter 2011

This Easter we wanted to do more things that symbolized the reason for the holiday. We decided to visit The Stations of the Cross & I made Resurrection Eggs. Stations of the Cross was very powerful! Definately going to be added as a yearly tradition for Good Friday! Also, (thanks to my sweet friend A) I made Resurrection Eggs! It was a fun project. Although, it did take longer than I had anticipated because finding all of the things without spending any money was a little challenging, but the end result turned out good. This will also be added as a yearly tradition. Here are how they turned out & what I put with them:

Command Central Binder! I am so excited about this:)

After a super busy weekend of planting our garden (will post pics at a later time), I came across this website by accident-(I just love when that happens:)  http://www.simplify101.com/

It is an organizing website & if you sign-up they will send you instructions on how to make a "Command Central Binder".  "What is that?" you might ask. It is a genius way to organize all of that paper we have lying on our table, or counters. It is brilliant, yet, when I think about it, the concept is simple. I don't know about you, but I have had a hard time figuring out what to do with all the paper. Whether it was mail, brochures, calendars...etc. I have a bulletin board & magazine holders & the trusty fridge, but it just wasn't helping with the paper clutter. Thanks to this wonderful website, I was inspired to make my own binder today & got all of the paper clutter up off of the surfaces!:) Yay:)
Here's how it turned out

I love this because it is one central place the whole family can go to get all the info they need.
You can customize it to fit your families needs & add to it & update it when needed. I printed off a monthly calendar for 2011 & filled in appointments, holidays, fieldtrips, & anything else I know is coming up. My categories are Calendar/Events (which includes the monthly calendars I printed & any brochures on upcoming plays, or events which I put in page protectors), Health (which includes karate stuff, health tips, doctor info...etc.), Financial (which includes money management articles or websites & budget worksheets, Homeschool (which includes fieldtrip info/brochures, classes & activities related to homeschool), Christian (which includes family devotions, inspiring articles, favorite local charities...etc.)

I have a feeling this will make our lives so much easier:) I hope this blesses you as much as it has blessed me:)

Curriculum we are using, or that we love

Classical Conversations-Core curriculum for History, Geography, Science
(We are not doing a co-op, we have the songs & the memory cards & I made a binder with maps, pictures of historical characters & science diagrams to use with the program)

SIPPS-Core curriculum for Reading/phonics/polysyllabic decoding

Singapore & Right Start Math -Both good programs, however I am currently looking at some others to supplement with.

These are the main ones we use. Since I am an eclectic homeschooler, I like to try out different things to see which is a good fit for us. These are some other programs that we use or have used:

Explode the Code - We have never tried it online, although I would like to try it, but we do use the workbooks.


Story of the World- I felt it was a little too advanced for my kids ages. But I enjoyed the stories & will probably revisit it at a later time.

Our Father's World Science- (Different than My Father's World) I really like the song in the beginning. It really helped with learning the days of creation. I got creative & even made little foam cut-out puppets on popsicle sticks to hold up when we sing it, to give a visual.

Handwriting Without Tears-Simple enough that my 6 year old squiggler can do it, & consistent & challenging enough so my 2nd grader doesn't get bored.

Art in Action-An online art program that gives a little background on the artist & shows you step-by-step how to paint their masterpieces. We like this program:)

We have a lot more things we do. I try to switch it up everyday so that they don't get bored (& so I don't get bored:) We also read A LOT. We want to raise kids who love to read & love to learn & expose them to all kinds of different things so that they will be well-rounded & so that it can open doors for them in the future.