Our Favourites and the 2013 Blue Ribbon Awards

Wow it's the end of my first year on the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  It has been a steep learning curve but at the same time a most enjoyable adventure.   This year the crew had the wonderful opportunity of reviewing items for 86 companies.  Two weeks ago we were asked to vote and nominate our favourites in 38 Blue Ribbon nominations for 2013.  A total of 28 companies were awarded ribbons this year.

My personal top three items are

• I am super impressed with Children's Music Journey and the richness it has blessed our family with.
• See The Light has been one of the best things that could have happened to our art classes.
• For encouragement from one homeschool mom to another nothing beats my Homeschool Mothers Bible

Sir N's Top 3 

• He loved doing math and science on Time 4 Learning.
• Sir N enjoyed his Journey Through Learning Astronomy & Space
• See The Light he enjoyed creating glow in the dark pictures.

The Crew voted too

You can read what others on the crew are saying over at Announcing — The 2013 Blue Ribbon Awards! A total of 28 companies were awarded ribbons this year.

What are some of the new curriculum things you have used and enjoyed this year ?
Blessings
Chareen

HSMJ Being sick is no fun ...

 In my life this week…
It always amazes me how being really sick gives you a better appreciation for your health and well being.  At present Sir N and I are both really sick with the flu :(  So I'm afraid this weeks blogging and HSMJ took a back seat to DVD marathons and sleeping.  Together we have watched Season 4 of Mythbusters.  Had to get some school in right ? 


In our home school this week…

• We concentrated on Maths.
• Together we began reading Macbethwhich is part of the Young Readers Shakespeare serries.  We are both very impressed and Sir N has been begging me to read more or read before we do school writing which a sure sign of a living book!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Homeschool Blindspots by Joshua Harris
• '10 big brain benefits of playing chess'  
• Chess Improves Academic Performance 
• Welcome to the 412th edition of the Carnival of  Homeschooling

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

• We attended Kelly Sports but nothing else due to illness.  :p

My favourite thing this week was…

• Seeing these AMAZING photographs taken by an armature photographer of snowflakes. They are absolutely stunning Photographer Uses Cheap Home-Made Camera Rig To Take Stunning Close-Ups of Snowflakes. I was so taken by these I found his blog Snowflakes, night city and other things. Here is a sample of the beautiful photo's.

Source

Questions/thoughts I have…

• What will you be doing to celebrate Advent this year ?
• I found a new laundry powder and am excited about!  Have you hear of or used Euca Laundry products ?

Things I’m working on…

• Stalking my email in box ... Yes I got an invite to be on the Schoolhouse Review Crew for 2014!  Looking forward to another year of living and learning with the crew.
• Carnival of Homeschooling {Edition # 412}
• Homeschool Burnout
• Getting better.  Gosh we've been really sick this week 
• We had our annual planning meeting for CHEF homeschool.  Feels so good to have the new year planned.  We are even planning our very FIRST homeschool Camp!  Can't wait.

In Bloggy world I’m reading…

• Advent Simplicity {a few thoughts, and a plan} over at Amongst Lovely Things.

  

  Source

• This is an amazing story of being reconnected and showing His hand in our lives in the most unimaginable way possible  Her Own Child Her Own Child
• The Wildlife Year { Nature Studies } over at The Paper Maid
• I am in the process of learning to use my camera so really enjoyed some of these photographs 19 Incredible Once in a Lifetime Shots
• God Called Them to Adopt. And Adopt. And Adopt.
• This Is the Perfect Pinterest Picture, According to Science
• Gay teen activist honoured by Obama charged with sex crimes against a 14-yr-old boy sigh ...
• I was really saddened by this story and pray that some judge will use wisdom and return this child to her parents. ‘It’s Kidnapping’: Hospital Takes Custody of Teen Because Her Parents Were ‘Too Active in Pursuing’ Her Care
• I felt so very blessed and inspired reading Not Afraid to Love. I think I would really like to do this one day :)
• 11 Indispensable Life Lessons Every Woman Can Learn From 'Anne Of Green Gables'
• Family's Christmas Wish: Give us More Time with Alex my heart goes out to this family.  Thinking of practical ways to be a blessing.
• If This Doesn’t Make You Want To Be A Parent, Absolutely Nothing Ever Will. This Is GREAT
• Dinosaurs come to life check this photo story of what one family does each November !  This is amazing and so easy to do.
• 5 "Fuel Pull" Cakes over at Sheri Graham
• Stevia: Good or Bad?  over at Gwen's Nest

I’m cooking…

• I was radically and outrageously blessed this week.  Paul bought me a Thermomix.  What's your favourite recipe to use with a Thermomix ?

On Pinterest I found...

• Sayings

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Watch A Teenager Bring His Class To Tears Just By Saying A Few Words


Blessings

Chareen

Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor

Carnival of Homeschooling {Edition # 412}

Welcome to the 412th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling where home school families share their homeschool wisdom with us from all over the world via their blogs.

Carnival of Homeschooling was started by the Cate Family over at Why Homeschool and has been a tremendous source of home school support and information.

This Week . . .


Marcy from over at Ben and Me shares E is for Everyday Epistles. . You too can become a walking epistle! Memorize the entire book of Philippians in 28 weeks!



How We Use Stuffed Animals In Our Homeschool over at A Slice of Homeschool Pie. Read about how this family use stuffed animal toys to create a happy learning environment in their day to day school activities.  Yes Mom plays too :)

 3rd and 4th Grade Grammar and Spelling---How We Do It for Free! Susan from over at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds explains how she is doing 3rd and 4th grade language arts for free, the philosophy behind it, and links to free resources so others can follow a similar path.

 Lisa Marie from over at The Canadian Homeschooler is sharing some thoughts on Bullying Awareness Week. A full list of resources and information for you can be found here.

Cristi from over at Through the Calm and Through the Storm is sharing This Year's Favorite Crew Review Items. Christi has a show and tell of their families top ten products and why they are still using them.

52 Homeschool Tips for Every Homeschooler – #27 Use Bath Time as Learning Time Tawnee is doing a series on Homeschool Tips for Every Homeschooler over at Adventures in Homeschooling and todays tips covers Bath time learning.

Crystal shares all about her families Our Sugar Cube Castle! Homeschool Fun! over at Crystal Starr Blog. See the process and adventures to be had building a Sugar Cube Castle.

Homeschooling and the What If game by Janine Cate over at Why Homeschool. She shares because we, as homeschoolers, have a nearly endless supply of educational options, it can be very hard to be satisfied with our choices.

Annie Kate from over at Tea time with Annie Kate shares Delight-Directed Learning, Part 1: Pitfalls We have been learning in a delight-directed way for over a decade and a half, and we've been fallen into some common pitfalls. Once you know what they are, you can more easily avoid them.

Barbara from over at Barbara Frank online shares some thoughts this week One response to the question, "How many hours a day do you homeschool your kids?" in her post  How Many Hours?



Julie from over at Highhill Education shares some great resources for a Rome Unit Study - Government and Military. Please join us each week as we continue to learn about Ancient Rome through books, videos and activities. At Highhill Education we believe kids learn best when they are having fun. We do lots of entertaining and education activities which support this philosophy.

Knowing what the Bill of Rights guarantees us and fighting to not let those rights be taken away will keep our country strong. Do your children know what those rights represent? Chris from over at Homeschool vs Public School is working his way through the Bill of Rights with a short post each day covering a different aspect. This week he shares on Bill of Rights 7th, 8th,9th &10th Amendments. 


Sarah over at Mustard Seed Mommy shares An Introduction to Tot School this week. This post is an intro on how Mustard Seed Mommy's family has introduced tot school into their day to day life.

Katherine from over at No Fighting, No Biting shares some thoughts on children learn at their own paceand what to do with extra-curricular activities when a child is in multiple grades?

Suzie from over at Suzie's Home Education Ideas shares about the different learning activities her son has been doing to learn about fractions. 10+ ways to play with Fractions contains links to FREE printable resources to help your children learn fractions.

Kate from over at The Alternative Family introduces us to …The ‘Grow-Learn-Go’ Series   a free book for your Kindle.





Bernadette over at the Barefoot Hippie Girl shares some thoughts on What to Do When You Run Out of Fuel 





 Lucinda from over at Navigating By Joy shares some great resources on Hands-On Russian History

 


Thank you for visiting the carnival this week may you be as encouraged as I have been reading what has been shared.

Blessings

Chareen 

Next weeks Carnival will be hosted at Petticoat Government

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