My Cool HomeschoolHomeschooling Resources

This summer, some of my girls’ friends decided it would be fun to have a club – an American Girl club. The plan was to meet once a week for a few hours of fun activities: making crafts for their dolls, watching some of the American Girl movies, or discussing one of the books. The group of 7-12 year olds was going to plan and conduct the meetings themselves, and the club was going to be their own, without any moms being involved.

The first meeting began with the election of officers, and some of the girls had their feelings hurt in the process. The next two meetings resulted in even more disagreements, and friendships were becoming strained. Last week the girls came to a cross roads:  should the club continue as is, or should the parents become more involved? 

Perhaps the girls should be allowed to work out the problems themselves, since figuring out relationships is a part of life. But these are young girls, many of whom haven’t had to deal with these types of issues. Because homeschooling allows us to choose who our children socialize with, we’ve been able to find friends who share the same values, and consequently they haven’t had very much to work out — that is, until the club started. 

But I’m convinced they need direction. They need a parent to sit in on the meetings and monitor what is said and how it is said. The girls can still come up with their own ideas – they just need someone there to teach them how to conduct a meeting, how to respond kindly to each other, and how to compromise when necessary.    

The moms are now working out a plan so the club will benefit all involved. Hopefully the girls will learn more than leadership; they’ll learn a lot about friendship as well.

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we went to the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee for a camping trip/family reunion. Late Saturday and Sunday nights, we saw a most amazing sight: the blue ghost fireflies. 

I had first seen these fireflies last year when a friend told me about them. A gentleman in our community, Mr. Don Lewis, has acreage out in the country that is heavily wooded, and each May he invites people to his land to watch the fireflies. We went on Mother’s Day, a good time to go since it wasn’t crowded, and witnessed these beautiful insects. 

The blue ghost fireflies don’t blink – they just glow – and fly low near the ground. If you catch one and shine a light on it, you can see that it’s dark in color and only about as big as a grain of rice. But when you let it go again, it will fly and glow a beautiful luminescent blue color. There were quite a few of these fireflies in Tennessee this year, glowing back in the woods, much like little blue fairies. 

Mr. Lewis has found other types of fireflies on his land as well. Besides those that blink intermittently, he’s also discovered some that blink at exactly the same time, as if they were synchronized. 

Though we’ve learned a lot about fireflies from Mr. Lewis, he taught us another lesson as well. He encouraged us to go out and watch the fireflies in our own yard and woods, to sit in the dark and just see what appeared. What amazing wonders of nature we could observe if we just took the time to slow down, sit down, and see what comes into view, both during the day – and at night.

 About half-way through the summer, when the initial thrill of summertime wears off, my children will come to me and say, “There’s nothing to do!” Now, deep down they know that’s a mistake, because they can always work on schoolwork – practicing their math facts, writing essays, etc. But because I love summer too, I give them a few fun options to choose from:

 1. Read a book by themselves, or read to their little brother.

 2. Make a wordless book. Draw the whole story – no words allowed.

3. Play with play dough. For less than $1 a can (off-brands are even cheaper), it’s an inexpensive way to entertain little ones.

4. Paint their faces (older children can paint their own if they have a mirror). Craft acrylics work well for face paint. Have the children put on old clothes (the paint doesn’t come out of clothing) and give them a couple of colors to choose from. Be sure not to paint around their eyes or mouth.

5.  Play in the sprinkler or hose.

6. Use the hose to make mud pies. Decorate the mud pies with twigs and flowers.

7. Play with bubbles outside. I like to use the large container of bubbles from Wal-Mart and flyswatters. Pour some of the bubbles into a bowl. Give each child a flyswatter to stick into the bubbles. As they wave the flyswatter around, hundreds of tiny bubbles will appear.

8. Make a robot. Use empty boxes, paper towel tubes, and toilet paper tubes. Pull out all of your craft supplies – markers, glue, popsicle sticks, sequins, paper, pom-poms, and see what the kids come up with.

If none of these ideas interest them, they could also:

9. Clean the bathroom.

10. Fold laundry.

11. Sweep outside.

12. Do the dishes.

With these options in the mix, they suddenly find something to do, and the summer fun continues.

A couple of years ago, a friend introduced us to God’s World News. There was a group of us who had placed orders, so we received a bit of a discount. Even at full price, this supplement is well-worth it.

God’s World News is a full-color magazine featuring current world events designed for students from preschool through high school. Each issue of God’s World News contains age-appropriate articles from a Biblical worldview.

The first four magazines are monthly publications. Early Edition is designed for the youngest beginning readers, with each issue including lots of pictures and large text. Preschoolers through first graders will not only find articles and maps, but also activities and puzzles designed to help build number and sequence skills. 

Taking Off is the magazine for children in grades 2 -3. These also include news stories, maps, and puzzles. While you may find the same story in Early Edition as you do in Taking Off, each is written with the age of the audience in mind.

News Current is for students in grades 4-5. Besides the regular features found in Early Edition and Taking Off, News Current also includes editorials to encourage critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and quizzes for reading comprehension. 

Top Story is the publication for students in grades 6-9. In Top Story, students will find age-appropriate articles, editorials, word derivation, and reading comprehension quizzes.

WORLD magazine for high schoolers arrives bi-weekly and includes national and international news articles; editorials and commentaries; political cartoons; movie, television, music, and book reviews; and detailed coverage of issues relevant to Christians today.   

If you’d like to try God’s World News, I’d encourage you to get an age-appropriate issue for each of your children. The company offers large discounts when multiple orders are placed, so if you have friends who are interested as well, that’s even better. It’s a resource I know we’re going to sign up for again this year.

Many homeschool curriculums are literature-based, and lists of good literature are available online and at the library. Most people are familiar with the classics, such as the books by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, or Jane Austen.  While we use the classics in our studies, we like to read more contemporary books together during lunchtime (I read aloud while the children eat), some of our favorites being the Junie B. Jones series and the Trailblazer missionary stories. New books are being published every year, and we like to try those out too. Some are good, some not-so-good. We usually don’t finish the not-so-good ones, but Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest is one I would definitely recommend.  

The story is about ten-year-old Andy Parker who goes to spend the summer with his grandmother in the country. His dad has passed away, and now his best friend is moving — things are changing, and he suspects a new chapter in his life is going to begin. Set in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York, Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest describes Andy’s activities with his mother’s friend John, his grandmother, and the neighbor, Mrs. Sackets. 

Written in first person, the story softly conveys Andy’s feelings and reactions to his changing world. Through Andy’s voice, author Karen Pavlicin, who lost her own husband to cancer, leads the reader gently through the changes as Andy realizes that even as he experiences loss, life is still full of hope. 

Since we began homeschooling eight years ago, I’ve known of several families in the area who have lost parents or children because of automobile accidents or illness. Even though I  lost my own father twelve years ago, I can still only imagine what they are experiencing. But for those families, I think Ms. Pavlicin’s book carries a timeless message: “With a little bit of faith, we’ll make it through a lifetime of changes.”

Earlier this year, my husband made it quite clear he preferred to go through the spring and summer seasons without chicks in our spare bathtub. You see, for the past few years the children and I had been succumbing to the cuteness of the new baby chicks we saw in the feed store. I would purchase at least two chicks per child, just in case one of them was killed by a predator after we put them outside. For weeks our extra bathroom was noisy, dusty, and virtually unusable while the chicks were growing. 

So this year I agreed. The kids’ interest was waning, and I was extra busy. No chicks in the tub was fine with me. In fact, I would have been content not to have any chicks at all this year. 

But two of our hens were setting. One hatched out eleven chicks, and they were doing well following their mom around the pen. The children kept watching the other hen, wondering when her eggs would hatch. Finally, last week they did. 

Lillie, my eight-year-old, came running in the house. She had checked on the hen and saw two little heads peeking out from underneath the bird. The hen was setting in a laying box about two feet off the ground; I went out that night with a piece of wood to make a ramp so the chicks could just walk down after they had all hatched. 

The next day, Lillie went out to check again.  

“She’s gone!” Lillie shouted. “The’re all gone!” 

We went out to investigate. The mother was indeed gone, and the gate had been closed. Had something gotten in and eaten the hen and her chicks in the night? 

“Wait! Here’s a chick!” my daughter Cassie shouted. 

“Here’s another!” said John. 

We looked around and found two more. We took them inside and put them in a large box, far away from the dog and cats. 

A little bit later, Lillie found the mother – she was fine, and had three more chicks running along behind her. Apparently she had gotten out of the pen somehow and a few of the chicks were able to follow; the rest were left behind.

We wondered what to do. They had been without their mother for a while, and I wasn’t sure they would know to follow her. Besides, we told my husband, she had abandoned them – we couldn’t just set them out again. We needed to take care of them. 

And so, here we are, with more chicks in the house. They’re still in the box right now, peeping and scratching and getting bigger every day. I suppose we’ll need to move them into the bathtub in a week or so, as it’s deeper and harder to escape from. We’ll have to find somewhere else to put Luke’s turtles, though.

Last fall, Suzanna, one of the teens we know, said to my friend Heidi, “Miss Heidi, we need to have a Star Wars marathon, and watch all six movies in one day.”

This suggestion from a teenager with a lot of stamina was well-received by my friend. Though Heidi couldn’t quite bring herself to watch all six in one day, she did break them up into pairs and invited families to her home to watch the double feature. They began watching the first movie on a large-screen television set up in her livingroom. The group broke for dinner and snacks, then watched the second film.

My oldest son was the only one in our family to go, as the Star Wars series is a bit too intense and violent for my younger ones. He enjoyed going each time, though, so when a more family-oriented movie was presented, we all went.

This past Saturday, moms, dads, and children gathered in Heidi’s home for supper and The Tale of Despereaux. She made a huge pot of chili and another pot of soup, and guests brought drinks, chips, and dessert. It was good to eat and talk with other parents while the kids laughed and joked with their friends. After supper, we all settled in to watch the film.

What a wonderful idea, the group movie night! We have a movie night every week at our house, where we get a movie from Netflix, Redbox, or the library, cook up come frozen pizzas, and watch it together. This movie night was extra special, though — a time for friends to come together, for moms to reconnect, and for dads to get to know one another.

In this way, Heidi’s Movie Night is a great example of the different dynamic that occurs in relationships among homeschoolers. These teenagers didn’t gather at a friend’s house by themselves, with their parents out of the way; they went with their parents and siblings to meet in a home where the host family was present and involved. Parents knew where their children were and what they were doing. It wasn’t strange, it wasn’t awkward; no one’s “style” was “cramped.” Everyone enjoyed hanging out with their friends while still being part of the group.

So if you have a large television and living area, give the group movie night a try. It’s a good, safe way to get the kids together.

When I was growing up, my mom stayed home and took charge of the household. We rarely ate out, as there were eight kids; she cooked all the suppers, which always included a main dish with one or two side dishes. You would think that somehow, some of that knack for creating tasty things would have rubbed off on me.

Well, I’ve worked at it for years, even taking cooking lessons from some friends, and I have to say, cooking is still a bit of a struggle for me. I can follow a recipe, I can even make up recipes — I just don’t like to do it. It makes suppertime a bit tricky, since we don’t eat out much either.

Several years ago, however, my sister-in-law passed on a recipe that has become one of my all-time favorites. It’s a cookie recipe, and although we don’t eat dessert every night, I do whip up these cookies any time we go to a picnic, covered dish dinner, or church supper. They are SO EASY to make, and they taste so good. Here’s what you do:

Gather together:

1 Box of Cake Mix (any kind you like — I usually use yellow, white, or chocolate, but I’ve also used german chocolate, strawberry, and lemon)

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup of Oil

Anything else you want to throw in there, i.e. chocolate chips (6 oz. will do), M & M’s, peanut butter chips, nuts, etc.

In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs, and oil. Add chips, etc.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are starting to turn golden brown. It’s a little harder to tell when the chocolate ones are done, since they’re so dark already.

That’s it!  This recipe makes about 2 dozen smaller cookies, about 18 larger ones. It’s a simple recipe my kids can make all by themselves, creating cookies that are a hit everywhere we take them.

About six years ago, my sister told me about a gift her children gave to their dad on father’s day. It was such a good idea, we tried it the next year, and we’ve been doing it ever since. Each year, my children write a story for their father.

The characters and plot of the story is the child’s own creation, and it’s fun to see what they come up with. We’ve had stories that range from mysteries to wildlife to a bee in the trash can.

The story is as short or as long as the child wants it to be, although I’ve found that even with younger children, it can be quite long as their adventures goes on and on with many (often unrelated) twists and turns. For my little ones, I type up the story as they dictate it to me; they’ll pause every so often so I can catch up. I like to write it down exactly how they say it – I don’t correct the grammar or word choice.

My older children type up their own stories, and when everyone is done we go back and make it even fancier. I let them choose the font and color they want to use for their stories, and we print them out. But the gift’s not quite done yet.

I purchase a folder for each story (preferably white), and the children draw the covers for their stories on the front of their folders. Then we type up an author’s biography and glue it inside the back cover. The biography states the child’s full name, his age, what his interests are, and what he want to be when he grows up. Above the biography, I include a recent photo of the child.

These stories have been so much fun!  On Father’s Day, we wrap them up individually, and each child gives Dad his or her story. He reads them out loud, and we all enjoy them. Even more fun is pulling out the stories from years past and reading them again. What a great idea my sister had: a low-cost, enjoyable gift that will be treasured by Dad in the years to come.

Our camping trip in Tennessee over Memorial Day was a fun time of visiting with family members. It was also the first time I had ever eaten rattlesnake. 

On the last full day of the trip, most of the children and a few of the adults decided to take a short hike to a deeper place in the river known as the Swimming Hole. The hike involved following a path through the woods; a large group of children went on ahead and my brother, his grown son, and two of his son’s friend brought up the rear. It was on this path that my nephew nearly stepped on a rattlesnake. 

Thankfully, all the younger children had already gone by. My nephew and one of his friends went into action and quickly killed the snake. They brought it back to the campsite among the excited shouts of the kids. 

My niece’s husband, a true southern boy from Alabama, knew just what to do. Surrounded by a host of curious children, he skinned and gutted the snake. They saw the two mice it had eaten recently along with its heart and entrails. Quite nauseating to me, but great science for the kids. 

My nephew then sautéed the snake in salad dressing and put it on a grill over the campfire. When it was well-done, he cut it up and passed it around. Now I’m not an adventurous eater at all, but how often do you eat rattlesnake fresh out of the woods? Everyone took a small piece, including me. And you know, it wasn’t bad — sort of a mix between fish and chicken in flavor. Even my peanut-butter and jelly eating five-year-old gave it a try. 

Camping is always an adventure, and this trip was no exception. Next time we eat rattlesnake, though, I’d prefer it to be in a restaurant. I’d rather avoid the snakes on the path.