5 Days 90 Bloggers = 450 Articles

 Starting next Monday

5 August at 6AM  USA EST (for my Aussie friends that will be 8 pm Australian EST).

The Schoolhouse Review Crew will be bringing you a 5 day blog hop covering all things Home school.

2013/14 Schoolhouse Planners now available

It's that time of the year again when my blog friends in the Northern hemisphere are trying to organise themselves for the new year.  This year when I joined the TOS Crew my very first assignment and review product was Schoolhouse Teachers. This week I discovered that they have designed specific planners for home school families.

Their are five planners available. You can purchase them individually or receive them FREE as a part of your Schoolhouse Teachers membership by joining for $3 for the first month, $12.95 per month thereafter. You will gain access to the Planners immediately upon joining ST.com

High School Schoolhouse Planner $29

• Encouraging articles
• Calendar 
• Planning pages
• Planning guide for high school
• College Checklist
• Logs
• and more

 Intermediate Schoolhouse Planner $19

• Articles 
• Planning sheet
• Calendar
• Forms to formulate goals and objectives
• Bible reading schedule
• Address Book

 Primary Schoolhouse Planner $9.95

• Engaging articles for primary students
• Information lists (grammar rules, story starters, math tables etc)
• Calendar
• Planning pages
• Field trip report pages
• Recipes

 

 Special Learners Schoolhouse Planner $29

• Encouraging Articles
• Interactive Calendar
• Planning Pages
• Medical forms
• Therapy Forms
• Task analysis cards
• Teach life skills
• and more

And this one is for Mom: The Schoolhouse Planner

• 800+ pages
• Helpful articles
• Interactive calendars
• Planning pages
• Trip logs
• Bible reading plans
• Transcripts
• Household forms
• and more . . .

I have not used any of these yet I have just downloaded them.  I am still in the process of exploring them to find out what is inside them and how they work.  For those of you who would like to know more there is a list on the Schoolhouse Teachers site about each planner.
Blessings
Chareen

Homeschool Giveaway Share

Do you like to enter giveaways ? Win free homeschooling products ? Would like to have them all in one place ? I have the solution for you it's called Homeschool Giveaway Share on Facebook.

It's as easy as pressing "Like" on the Facebook page and you will start to receive notifications on the giveaways happening around the globe, or you can visit the page each week to see what's new.

If you are not on Facebook and Twitter is your game you can find them tweeting about the giveaways.

Pop on over to Ben and Me for more information on Homeschool Giveaway Share where you will find a button for your blog as an easy reminder of where to find this weeks featured giveaways.

Last but not least if you have something to giveaway on your website / blog visit the Homeschool Giveaway Share page on Facebook click on the form to have your giveaway added.

Blessings
Chareen

Homeschooling Around the World - Australia

Would you like to know more about homeschooling in Australia ?  Pop on over the The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog and read more.

Blessings
Chareen

Homeschooling Around the World

Have you ever been curious about homeschooling in different parts of the world ?  I have.  I would love to homeschool overseas and explore new places.  This week the Schoolhouse Review Crew are showcasing homeschooling around the world.

Read about these countries

• China by  Carey Jane Clark who blogs over at enCouragement.
• Germany by Heather find her blog at Only Passionate Curiosity.
• Canada Ontario by Patience blogging over at Savvy Homeschool.
• Australia by Chareen who blogs over here :-D
• United Kingdom by Sarah who shares her journey over at Delivering Grace.
• Philippines by Mary who blogs over at My Tropical Home.

Blessings

Twelve Days of Homeschool

A friend recently shared this with me and I really enjoyed it.  Be encouraged and make sure you watch it all the way to the end.



Blessings

iHomeschool Omnibus is here ...

Click here to get your bundle before time runs out!

To find out more head on over to Confessions of a Homeschooler for a full list of the titles included in this set.

Blessings
Chareen

NBTS Week 4 - {A Day in our life}

Welcome to Week 4 of the Aussie NBTS Blog Hop.  This week we are sharing a Day in our Lives.

In week one you met my three children Mr T, Miss J and Sir N who have all been homeschooled.
In week two I shared the curriculum choices I have made for the year ahead with Sir N.  This inspired me to share a Time Line of my homeschool journey with you.
Week three saw us looking at our learning spaces.

Well the last week had no typical days in our lives because in between it all I got sick and spent the days sleeping and calling in Paul to step in so I thought I would give you an approximation of a typical day in our lives.

An Average Day in Our lives goes something like this:

So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90: 12

5 AM	I get up Do my Cover to Cover bible study. Blog at One Year Through The Word. ***********************************************
6 AM	Exercise Walk or do a programme using a DVD or do a session on Wii Active. ***********************************************
7 AM	Shower ***********************************************
7:30 AM	Cup of tea with Paul ***********************************************
7:40 AM	IF it's a work day I drive with Miss J and Paul to drop Paul at work. ***********************************************
8 AM	Take Miss J who is on her L plates and let her drive herself to work She is currently working full time since her graduation. ***********************************************
8:30 AM	Home Breakfast Clean the kitchen Touch base with my Mom Sir N to do his morning Five Fingers Chart. ***********************************************
9 AM	School written work Go for the Code Abeka Arithmetic 1 Developing the Early Learner. A Reason for Handwriting 1 ***********************************************
11 AM	Play Time House Work Laundry ***********************************************
12 PM	Lunch
1 PM	School Read Alouds ***********************************************  Core A Science A ***********************************************
2 PM	Play Time ***********************************************
3 PM	Room Time Sir N will either listen to an audio book or Classical Kids CD or Hide em in Your Heart ***********************************************
4 PM	Chores ***********************************************
4:30 PM	Fetch Paul from work (Pick Him up at 5) ***********************************************
5:30 PM	Fetch Miss J from work ***********************************************
6:00 PM	Dinner Time ***********************************************
6:30 PM	Bath Time Sir N Evening Sir N Five Fingers Chart.
7:30 PM	Bed Time Sir N ***********************************************  Read bible Sing Along time with Paul ***********************************************
8:00 PM	DVD / blogging time for me ***********************************************
10 - 12 pm	Bed Time ***********************************************

This list is what I aspire to but by no means is it always done but it's a good outline for us to work to.

I have a rough schedule or else I waste the time I have each day and do not accomplish much.

So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90: 12
 
We are very flexible and will stop what we are doing if visitors arrive.  Some mornings and afternoons contain extra Murial activities and we adjust our schedule for that.  For example we have swimming lessons on a Friday morning.  We have a weekly play date etc.
 
Paul works on a rotation roster and will often be home during a weekday meaning we can go for day trips such as: { Sustainability Expo, Fishing, Ballet, Hanging Rock, Australia Post}

Don't forget to pop on over to  Our World Wide Classroom and read about other Australian Homeschoolers and what they do each day.

Blessings
Chareen

NBTS Week 3 - {Learning Spaces}

Welcome to Week 3 of the Aussie NBTS Blog Hop.  This week we are sharing our Learning Spaces for 2012!

In week one you met my three children Mr T, Miss J and Sir N who have all been homeschooled.
In week two I shared the curriculum choices I have made for the year ahead with Sir N.  This inspired me to share a Time Line of my homeschool journey with you.

I have a confession to make (blushing) I had been avoiding this post.  I had popped on over to Our World Wide Classroom and had a look at some of the dedicated learning spaces that  Our Aussie Homeschool, Pumpkin Patch, Our little Homeschool and Educating April had shared and got cold feet showing our space as we do not have dedicated space for homeschooling. Over the weekend I popped back over and had a look at Doves Rest, Home School Dreaming, Defying Gravity, Herding Hobbits!, Acres of Learning, Mansted Family Project and Seven Little Australians and was inspired to tidy up and invite you on in to see where we learn.

Welcome to our Learning Spaces
Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them for a better view.

Sir N's drawing of where he learns.

This picture means a lot to me.  Sir N did not know about this blog hop. He asked me for a piece of paper yesterday to draw.  Quietly sat down and drew me a picture.  He brought it to me and said "This is where I learn ! "

This is a panorama of our living area where 80 % of our learning takes place. The balance is outside and in the community {e.g. Sustainability Expo, Fishing, Ballet, Hanging Rock, Australia Post}

Our lounge is currently occupied with Sir N's Farm !

This is our read aloud space.  If it's cold we hop into bed with a warm doona and read there.  In summer we read here and if the day is not too hot we will hop onto the trampoline or a picnic blanket in the garden. To the left of the chair I have a bookshelf with most of the years Core books and some extra research books.

To the right of the read aloud chair I keep two boxes.  The blue one contains the current read alouds.  The basket contains our library books.

This is our dining room where Sir N sits and does his writing work. The draws to the right of the freezer contain all his pens, pencils and books we are working through. On top of these draws is a terrarium where what ever we have caught in the garden temporarily lives for us to study. We also have some rather unique pets in our home. Being married to a Zoo Keeper means that we get to look at and touch many interesting types of wildlife and get to go to the zoo as often as we like.  Last year we enjoyed Night Zoo.

This is our kitchen where we cook together.  A few months ago I moved the microscope to the kitchen bench. It used to live next to my computer but never got used because we forgot we had it.  It now gets used quite regularly. An example of one of the things we looked at last year is a flea we found on our cat.

I have this wonderful corner display cabinet we keep our treasures and memories and talk about.  It is also a perfect spot for our world globe.

This is our rumpus room which contains five of my seven book shelves.  I am truly blessed. One word of warning to homeschool Mums you do NOT need or have to own this many books to effectively homeschool.  I have this many books because I LOVE books and my husband graciously indulges my delight.
The three identical book shelves on the right are special to me.  My Dad hand made these when we immigrated to Australia.  I was in need of book shelves as the last house we rented had built in book shelves.  I was frustrated over the expense and design of book shelves.  We purchased the wood and my Dad spent hours making these for me. The tallest one contains mainly novels. 

Thank you to all of you who shared your spaces and inspired me to share mine.

Blessings
Chareen

Be True to Yourself.

This weekend while spending time with my sister she encouraged me saying: “Be true to yourself.”   

I have really been struggling with feelings of insecurity, yes even after 14 years of homeschooling! 

As I went through my week my heart kept reaching for His.  “Lord why do I feel this way ?” 

and His reply kept echoing.  “Be True To YOURSELF”  

Click here to read the entire post at Princess Warrior Lessons  

While over at Jo's place take a look around.  Her blog is full of rich lessons learned from the King.  

Lessons that will inspire and encourage you.

Blessings

To Register or not To Register ???

It's that time of the year again.  The envelope has arrived from Victorian Registration & Qualifications Authority with the requirement to notify the VRQA on continuation of home schooling. This got me thinking about a a few of the home schoolers who have not registered and those that I have spoken to who are fence sitting at the moment.

For me personally the answer is fairly straight forward:  YES we should if its a requirement in your country/state to do so.

The scriptures are a definite plumb line in regards to these sorts of questions.

[Submission to Governing Authorities] Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. — Romans 13:1 (NIV)

When I read this verse I see no clause exempting home schoolers from obeying the law in their country.  Do you ?  The thing that really baffles me is that there are christian home school leaders who are encouraging home schoolers not to register and there are christian home schoolers who choose not to. I wonder why? Especially when scripture is quite direct in stating that we need to be subject to the governing authorities....

There are christian home schoolers out there who drive the not registering your children wagon and it's main engine is fear.  Remember that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real.  We are not called to live in fear .

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. - 1 John 4:18

I feel there are a few advantages to being registered here in Victoria.

• You are able to claim the school start bonus if you are on concession.
• You are able to claim the Education Tax Refund. It is illegal to claim this refund if you are not registered.  Heavy fines and penalties apply to those not registered and claiming.
• You can stay informed
• You are given letters stating the requirements for your students.
• You have a voice that counts when lobbying the government that you should use.

To find out more about the registration requirements take a look at

• Australia take a look at Home Education Association.
• New Zealand take a look at Home Education Foundation.
• America take a look at Home School Legal Defence Association and choose your state.
• South Africa take a look at Association for Home Schooling, and Pestalozzi Trust and  Legal Issues
• Other Countries take a look at the HSLDA International page and click on your country.

Home Schooling in Victoria Australia

• Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
• Victorian Registration & Qualifications Authority
• Home Schooling Application for Registration for Home Schooling.
• Home Education Network

Legal information

1. Queensland
2. Northern Territories
3. Western Australia
4. South Australia
5. Victoria
6. Australian Capital Territory
7. New South Wales
8. Tasmania

Blessings my friends

Homeschooling Pre-Schoolers

I have a few friends that are starting homeschooling and some of them have children 5 years old and younger who would like to start and others have pre-schoolers who want to do school. I have been thinking about them all for a while and have been surfing the web and found some really great blogs offering wonderful free things for them to use at home.

Some of my friends ask what do you do with preschoolers when homeschooling older ones ?  To be honest I am not really qualified to answer this as I only had one preschooler when homeschooling older children and so I simply did school when he was sleeping.  I would be very keen to hear what you do with your preschoolers / tiny tots while you school your older children.

 Here is a list of what I have found so far 
(Click on the graphic or any blue links to have a look).

Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers 

Workbox Activities for Toddlers

Activities for your Toddler

Keeping your Toddler busy during School time.

TOT School sorted by age ranges 10 - 24 months

Progressing to Pre- School

From Wonder to Wisdom Blog

Kindy Level

Fun things to do together that cost next to nothing or with what you have at home:

What did I use ?

I didn't do any formal work with Sir N I simply enjoyed good books.  We have not read all the books in each of these packages and in fact I have them on the shelf and we are reading them this year as extra's for fun.  There are a few we have read over and over again.

Sonlight Core P 3/4

Sonlight Core P 4/5

What do you use with your preschoolers / Kindy age children ?  More importantly what do you do with the youngest children when homeschooling the older ones ?

Blessings

Homeschool Meme

Imagine my surprise and delight when Erin from Seven Little Australians tagged me for a meme.  I was so honoured to read she was interested to hear from me!  So... 

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed
I  need to cheat with the answer to this one!  I have a large number that I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy.  I find the longer I homeschool the more I need to keep going back to the places I have received encouragement from before.
Here are some of my favourites in no particular order: Educating the WholeHearted Child by Sally and Clay Clarkson, Things We Wish We'd Known by Bill and Diana Waring, A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, and Beyond Survival by Diana Waring.

2. One resource you wouldn't be without
My personal home library.  I must confess though you do not need to own a library at home to successfully home educate.  I have been blessed with a wonderful library of books that has grown over the last fourteen years.  I have gathered books from many different places such as: Sonlight, opp shopping, friends hand me downs, Children's Books, Christian Books, The Book Depository, Christchurch Library Sales, Christian Value Books to name but a few.

3. One resource you wish you had never bought
 ATI (Advanced Training Institute from IBLP)  In hindsight I wish we had stayed with what was working well for us and not moved to this.  We did this for two years before reverting back to what fit our family best. There wasn't one bad thing in particular and as a Mom I learned a lot but for my children it didn't work at all.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year
Geography Matters.  Geography is sometimes one of the most neglected areas in homeschool circles and was very impressed when I came accross this website.  The books are available for purchase in book form or e-book format. Cindy Wiggers has done a fantastic job with putting this resource together. I have Trail Guide to World Geography.  Samples available are: Trail Guide to World Geography-SampleLesson.pdf and Table of Contents to World Geography. It comes in three levels. Junior school, middle school and high school.  Over the space of three seperate years your students will receive a comprehensive coverage and understanding of world geography.

5. One resource you will be using next year
 This year we made a Time Line to use with Sir N.  I will be using Time Line Figures from Sonlight as well as Time Line Figures from Amy Pak at Homeschool in the Woods.

6. One resource you would like to buy
 I would really love to buy some premade slides to use with our microscope.  I am currently looking at two sets and still trying to make up my mind which one and then will have to save to buy. The best buy so far that I have found is from Science Education Online the sets I am considering are 100 prepared slides and The Wonderful World of a drop of water slide set.

7. One resource you wish existed
I have a confession I wish there were two:

• Firstly I wish there was one downloadable history/geography curriculum for Australia along the lines of Road Trip USA by Erica at Confessions of a HomeSchooler.
• I really wish there was a French Language Programme for young primary school age children along the lines of the Rosetta Stone Method but without the reading.

8. One homeschool catalogue you enjoy reading
Over the years I have enjoyed a variety of different catalogues.  Some that I have read a few times and kept copies of are: Rainbow Resources, Diana Waring History Alive, I really enjoy reading the Sonlight Catalogue and eagerly await it's arrival in the mail each April.

9. One homeschooling website you use regularly

To be honest there isn't just one there are a few. They are listed in the blogs I follow as well as a few of the bling links on the right. I must confess I am more of a book girl and prefer to see a resource or search out help on my friends bookshelves or have a chat over a cup of tea. I am new to the blogging world and have just over the last few months being surfing blogs for answers to my most pressing questions. There are also links in Every Bed of Roses Links Page.

10 Tag six other homeschoolers
I'm particularly keen to hear from;

• Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler
• Karen Andreola at Moments with Mother Culture
• Diana Waring at Diana Presents
• Chelle at Last in Line Chelle posted her meme on 13 September 2011
• Mrs. June Fuentes at A Wise Woman Builds her Home and The Homeschool Corner
• Jimmie at Jimmie's Collage Jimmie posted her meme on 20 September 2011

Blessings

Updated: 21 September 2011

My Two Add-on Homeschool Questions by Jimmie

This meme is called Homeschooling in Ten Easy Questions, but Pam’s post had only eight questions. To fix the discrepancy without renaming the meme, I’ve chosen to create two of my own questions. Sorry to end on a negative note, but the struggles are where we learn the most, so I don’t want to discount them.

9. What homeschool subject gives you the most frustration or anxiety?
At the moment with Sir N it is a second language !

10. What is your greatest challenge in homeschooling right now?
Finding my daily routine.   It's been over 12 years since I home schooled a six year old.  Right now I am trying to juggle home school time, household time and paly time with Sir N.

Now it’s your turn! Go ahead. Copy the questions and do the homeschooling in 10 easy questions meme. It’s fun.

A week in review

This past week we did week 3 in Sonlight Core A.  I was worried that I would be a little bored with the work as this is my second journey through this particular core with Sonlight.  I am pleased to announce that no I am not bored and yes I have been learning alongside my six year old. Together we have been exploring Ancient Egyptian culture, weather, poetry and The Boxcar children.  In fact Sir N so enjoyed The Boxcar Children so much he wanted me to read it out loud to him again.

Last week we read Tadpoles and Frogs in Science and when Paul was gardening this week he found a frog, he captured it for us so we could have a good look.

It always amazes me how these things just "happen" at the right time.  Our God is so amazing and knows just what we need and when we need it.  He supplies above and beyond our job is to open our eyes and see what He has provided.  It's all a matter of perspective I have come to realise.

We also started on our Abeka Arithmatic 1. I love the colour and simplicity of this book along with it's biblical perspective.

We also have a dove family living in one of our flower hanging baskets outside the kitchen window. The mom has hatched her eggs this week and we got to look at her babies.

Aren't they beautiful ? . 

We also started a crystal growing experiment.  This I am learning is a patience growing experience. 

One of the extras with Sonlight this week was practicing how to cut.  This is a skill that Sir N has not had much practice in so I dug out the Abeka Art Projects K4 book I had and we did some cutting out.  This was our first project on Monday.

And of course Sir N learned how to skip

I did not miss out this week.  I had a mini box day from The Book Depository.

Last year we read Jotham's Journey for Advent but I felt this book was a little difficult for Sir N and decided to put it away till he is older.  I have been surfing the book sites in hopes of finding a book for this years Advent season and discoverd the Advent Storybook and decided to give it a try.  I will let you know at Christmas how it is going.  We start this particular book on 1 December.  I know this is not strictly the first day of Advent but this little book is geared up to begin on December first.

So what adventures have you been up to this week with your homeschool ?

Blessings