Skip to main content

a little trip (part 1)…

Written by Joy
4 Comments
a little trip (part 1)…

The last week of May, my husband and I were blessed to have been able to go on a little trip.  Just the 2 of us.  In the 20 years (Oct.3rd), that we have been married, we have never taken a trip with just the two of us.  We have always had the kids with us.  Our youngest two have never even stayed away with others, without one of us always being their with them.  So when this opportunity arrived, we took it and said this would be our anniversary trip.  It was also the first time that I had ever flown.  I have always been afraid of heights, but I truly loved flying in a plane and look forward to doing it again.   We were blessed to have been able to take a trip west to Golden, CO.  This is a beautiful little town at the foot of the Rockies.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel called The Golden Hotel.  The view from the room was amazing.  I couldn’t wait to get to exploring around the area. One of the first places we went was to the Buffalo Bill’s Museum and Grave.  I love history, especially that of the Old West.  So to be able to go see where Buffalo Bill and his family were buried and to see a place dedicated to his life, was awesome!

Once we left Buffalo Bill’s Museum, we just rode around looking at the different views.  It is so amazing how the Rocky mountains are so different than the Appalachian Mountains. We rode to the Red Rocks Amphitheater.   While we didn’t get to go into the amphitheater seating area (they were having a graduation), we did get to see the visitor center and walk around the outside of it.  It is gorgeous there!  I would LOVE to go back and walk the trails around the area, as well as see a concert in the amphitheater.  The pictures I took with my phone does not do this place any justice.

Another cool place that my husband and I went to was The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.  It is one of the largest urban refuges in the United States.  It has over 330 different species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians.  The story about how this refuge came about is truly amazing.  The U.S. Army had built this area as a chemical weapons manufacturing facility after japan bombed Pearl Harbor, to support the war effort.  After the war was over, the land was then leased to the Shell Chemical Company for agricultural chemicals. Then the Arsenal was then used for Cold War weapons production and demilitarization.  For the rest of the story of who started cleaning up and how they did it, go to the Arsenal’s site.

While we were at the visitor center at the Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, we saw prairie dogs!  I had never seen one before and we saw close to 100 or more running across the plains.  God’s creations are amazing!  I wish we could have gotten a good picture of live ones close up, but they were too quick for us.

This picture was taken at their museum they have set up.  One day, I am hoping to go back so I can take my kids.  They have tours of the who area and you can see the mule deer and bison roaming on the prairie.  I know they will love seeing this!

I thought I had better split this up into two posts.  It was like we were on a field trip.  I took around 700 pictures and can’t wait to tell you about the trip to Mt. Evans and show you the views from 14,000 ft.

Until then… 🙂

 

2012, family, homeschooling, , ,

tips for shopping used curriculum sales…

Written by Joy
2 Comments
tips for shopping used curriculum sales…

The homeschool group I am leader of, has been hosting a used curriculum sale for the last several years.  I always enjoy helping out during this sale.   I love talking with new and veteran homeschoolers.  Most of all though, I love SHOPPING at the used curriculum sale.  I love books of all kinds and to have so many to browse through, I truly get giddy!  I do try to be careful with what I purchase.  I always try to purchase what we will use for the upcoming year.  However, I have gotten carried away and have bought books that we didn’t use.  Not only did we not use them, but it was a loss of money.

With saying that, I thought I would give you a few tips to help you out when you attend a used curriculum sale.

First thing you need to do is make a list of the books that you will be needing for the upcoming year.  Look over what you have been using to see if you can still use any of the books from the previous school year.  There have been occasions that I have been able to use readers and textbooks for a couple of years.  Also, check your bookshelves.  You could have possibly purchased a book the year or two before not even knowing that you would be needing it in the future.  It could have been one of those impulse buys! {grin}

When you have checked your bookshelves, and still do not see what you need, ask around!  We have a wonderful homeschool support group that will let others borrow books if they are not using them.  Ask your homeschooling friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media.  This past year, I made a comment that I was looking for books for Tapestry of Grace, Year 1 and had a friend send me all she had for that year!   She saved me a lot of money just by me making a passing comment!

Now that you have checked your bookshelves and with your friends, double check your list and then make a budget.  Yes, I said a budget.  Even though you are going to a used book sale, you can still spend more money than what you need to.  I often will go online and check out prices on used curriculum websites, just to get an idea how much money the books will cost that I am looking for.  On my list, I will write the price of the book next to the name.

Once I have my budget, I take that amount of cash with me on the day of the used curriculum sale, along with my list.  I also try to get to the sale when it first starts.  Early bird gets the book, I mean worm. {smile}  You are more than likely to get what you need if you do show up when the sale begins.  I will walk around the sale doing a quick glance just to see if I can spot any book on my list and a price.  There have been a couple of times I was looking for a certain curriculum and noticed that two different moms had it.  One was cheaper than the other!  Never hesitate to ask if the mom will be willing to drop the price if you feel like it is too high.  More times than not, the mom will be willing to help you out.

Since I have been homeschooling for 10 years now,  I buy a lot of my books used.  By using these few tips I have been able to save us some money over the years.

Have you bought used curriculum and books for your homeschooling?  Do you have any tips that you could add to the ones above?  I would love for you to share them with us!

2012, homeschooling, , ,

curriculum: what worked and hasn’t worked for us this year…

Written by Joy
6 Comments

We have definitely had one interesting sort of year.  Nothing bad has really happened, but some things never go as you plan them.  This past year was just like that.  However, I do feel like we have accomplished what God wanted us to.  To me, I feel like we have even come closer together as a family.  Sometimes, book work definitely needs to be set aside while we work our our relationship with one another and also with God.  I feel like this year was that big year for us.  We have had a lot of great talks around our table during school time.  Talks that I don’t think would of happened if my kids were in school all day away from me.

So, let’s get started with what did work for us.

Mystery of History, written by Linda Lacour Hobar and published by Bright Ideas Press, has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool this year.  My kids (all three that I am homeschooling) have come to love history again through this wonderful curriculum.  We have enjoyed it so much that we are going to begin Illuminations that is also from Bright Ideas Press.  I am excited about this currciulum as I can adjust it for my 2nd grader so she can do it along with my 3rd grader and 9th grader.

Apologia Science has also been a big hit in our home.  I have used the elementary series with my oldest daughter when she was younger and she loved it.  This year, my younger children and I read through Exploring Creation through Botany.  We have had a wonderful time learning all about plants from our they grow from a seed, to how they get water and food to why some tree leaves change colors and fall off trees.  My oldest daughter has also enjoyed Apologia Physical Science and will be moving on to their Biology course as soon as I can get it ordered!

My younger kids have also used Hooked on Phonics and Bob Jones English this year.  It has worked well and the kids are beginning to read.  This was our first year using Hooked on Phonics and I like the fun little songs and lessons that the kids watched.  They also have workbooks that you can get to follow along with the lessons.  I used Bob Jones English with my oldest daughter when she was in elementary grades and it worked well with her, so I thought I would try it with the kids.  They have done well with it.  I think I will keep using the workbooks for extra practice, but we will be using other curriculum for English, Grammar, Spelling and Writing next year.  (Will explain in another post what that is. ) I will still recommend it for homeschooling families that are just beginning their journey.

My oldest daughter has loved using Teaching Textbook for math.  It has made a big difference in our family.  We no longer have anymore crying breakdowns.  She will be finishing up Pre-Algebra and heading right into Algebra this year.  For myself, I started the younger kids out with Bob Jones math.  I was comfortable with it from using it before and it has worked with our family.  My youngest son does get frustrated at times with math, but I think it is because there is so much repetition with it.  He catches on to a concept very quickly and is ready to move on.  While I think I will look for something else for him, I plan on keeping it for our youngest daughter.

Finally this year, thanks to a great friend, I found an art curriculum that we all love!  It is See The Light with Pat Knepley.  This art curriculum uses every day art supplies and really captures a child’s attention.  However, what I love about it most is how they incorporate scripture at the end of each lesson.  I am looking forward to getting the rest of the lessons.  They also have wonderful story dvd’s that are told through their art and give the students lessons after the story has been told.

We really had a lot work for us this year compared to what didn’t work for us.  What didn’t work for us was mostly with my oldest daughter and her curriculum.  At the beginning of the year, we started out with Tapestry of Grace.  I have said before that I love Tapestry of Grace and was excited about using it again.  We had used it two years ago and it worked well for us then.  This year, we just couldn’t get it to work, no matter how hard we tried.  By mid-year, my oldest daughter was listening in on the younger kid’s history and doing lessons suggested for her age.  It worked so well, that she will begin the Illuminations with the younger kids.  Not only am I excited about this change, so is she.  They will all 3 be using the same History and reading a lot of the same books, just at their own levels.

We will begin Illuminations soon and continue schooling through the summer.  It won’t be a very heavy workload, but I am excited to begin this new season with my three children that I still have at home with me.  I am looking forward to sharing with you all soon what new curriculum we will be adding.

Until then, I would love to know what curriculum has worked for you and what hasn’t worked!

 

2012, homeschooling, , , , , , , , , , ,

HSV Garden Link-Up #2

Written by Joy
5 Comments
HSV Garden Link-Up #2

It is time to for the second link-up for The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge link-up.  While I was hoping for more of an update, I really don’t have much of one.  The weather has been teasing us and giving us warm temps.  I was so ready to get out and get seeds planted!  However, my hubby said we needed to wait because we could still get some temps below freezing.  Sure enough, we have had some freezing temps along with snow flurries!  Thankfully, the only plants I think we lost was the pickling cucumbers that I had bought.   I had bought some strawberry roots/plants and asparagus roots (not for sure what they are called) and they never came up.  I am thinking that perhaps they were already dead in the packages that I bought them in.  I know it is too late to plant strawberries, but will check to see about getting more asparagus to plant.

The rest of the plants that we bought are slowly growing.  We still need to plant some in containers and in the planter box, but will get to that as it warms up a little more.

The oregano, thyme, spearmint, chives and onions have taken off!  The oregano is starting to grow outside of our box!

I got a little carried away with the sunflower seeds!  I am hoping to get enough to roast some this year.  Last year’s seeds went to the birds through the winter.

My strawberry plants have come back from last year.  I don’t think I will get any berries from the plants this year, but I am hoping to keep adding more plants to make a small strawberry bed.  We will be adding a couple more planter boxes, so I will be planting them in one of those.

The squash plants survived the last freeze and I really need to get them in the ground or a  container soon.  We also have brussels sprouts that need to get in the ground soon, too!

Our broccoli is growing great!  We have tried growing broccoli before and have never had success with it.  Looks like we might finally have done something right with it this year. Our rosemary bush has continued to grow since we bought it last year.  It is amazing that the cold hasn’t touched it any this year.

My bell pepper plants also survived the cold weather.  They are looking a little yellow, but are actually healthy and have grown since we bought them.

This past week, my husband started some of our tomato seeds.  We have three different types of tomatoes planted below.  We do plan on plating more, but haven’t picked up the seeds yet.  Our goal is to do some canning this year.  We would like to make some spaghetti sauce, soups and just have plan on tomatoes canned.

 

Now that I have written this all out, it looks like we do have a bit going on with the garden, but still so far to go!  I am excited, as the weather is warming up and we are spending more time outside.  The kids and I are still using the Apologia Botany book for science and have looked through the section on how the seeds grow.  It is so fun seeing the kids see the seeds sprout and grow.  Especially when the plants will start bearing fruits and veggies!

Stop by The Homeschool Village and link up for the Garden Challenge.  You will have a chance to win the Botany book from Apologia.  Also be sure to see the others who are linking up as well!

2012, homeschooling, ,