Why Do It?

Yesterday I was working with Maeyah on her school work. We've been working on sentence structure. She gets it. She knows a sentence begins with a capitol and ends with a period or question mark....etc. I could tell her worksheets were starting to bore her, but I pushed on. The last page was a quiz type worksheet with sentences that were either correct or wrong and Maeyah was supposed to pick the right answer out of three multiple choices. A few questions into it and it struck me that she was able to look at each sentence and tell me exactly what was needed to be correct but the multiple choice answers were making her somewhat doubt herself. So, because we homeschool and I really don't believe in multiple choice questions anyway, we stopped the worksheet and said forget it!
We've been doing a lot of worksheet type learning lately because I've felt too busy and overwhelmed with other things to plan out our other lessons. But, I think we are both done with the worksheets for now and I'm ready to go back to our wonderful Charlotte Mason learning style. All my girls really do well with all the living books and narration. We love nature study! Ah, the beauty of homeschool!


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Go Do Something Interesting

http://youtu.be/sXpbONjV1Jc

This is a great video.

 

Dinner Cupcakes

Have you ever made a dinner that your children asked for two nights in a row? I haven't until now. We call them Dinner Cupcakes!

1 cup gluten free Bisquick baking mix
4 eggs
1 cup milk


Two cans chicken drained
2 cups frozen veggies
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese (optional)

Heat oven to 375. Mix the baking mix, eggs and milk in one bowl. Mix the chicken and veggie mixture in another bowl. Spray two 12 count muffin tins and put about 1 tbs of baking mix in bottoms of muffin cups. Next add 1/4 cup of chicken and veggie mix and then top off with another tbs of baking mix. Bake for about 30 minutes and then let cool for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

The first night we did this exact recipe and everyone loved them! Tonight I made chicken, broccoli and cheese dinner cupcakes and everyone loved them! There are many possibilities with these. Next I want to try a pizza one!


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A Bit On Socialization

We are a homeschooling family. One of the most asked questions we get and one of the biggest criticisms we hear is BUT WHAT ABOUT SOCIALIZATION? It's as if people think the only way kids are going to be social is if they attend the local public school. I've also heard from many people that their child has to go to school because they are so social. This baffles me. Have you seen the local public school? My two oldest kids went to traditional school for a few years before I pulled them out to homeschool. When they attended school their socialization was one of my concerns. They weren't allowed to "socialize" at school. Talking was not allowed in the classroom. Talking was not allowed in the lunch room. Recess was spent doing required laps around the field. There was not much socializing going on there. How do kids socialize or even learn social skills at school? How can a "social" child be happy being quiet all day?

It is my opinion that school hurts a child's socialization. School hurts a social child. Homeschool is great for both! Kids who homeschool get to be very social and learn all kinds of socializing skills by living life and doing things all day. They are not being made to stay at their desk and be quiet all day. They interact with people of all ages in many different settings. I love this about homeschooling.

I have found it funny that some people have told me they were amazed to find out my kids are homeschooled because they are so social and friendly and are able to comfortably talk to kids and adults of all ages.

 

Who Needs Gluten Anyway?

A few years ago when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease I felt like it was the end of the world. It has not exactly been a fun journey, but I'm starting to accept this new way of life and actually enjoy it too. For me it is not a fad diet, it is my life. I also have two of my kids who need to be gluten free and so in our house gluten is just not welcome at all. I am always trying to find new recipes to try so we can eat yummy and safely. Here is one I tried today that turned out better than expected!

 

3 large, ripe bananas mashed

1 1/2 cups oats (I used Bob's Redmill Gluten Free Oats)

2 large, heaping spoons of natural peanut butter

3/4 bag of chocolate chips (I used Enjoy life mini chips)

Mix first 3 ingredients and then stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

They were so easy and tasted great!

 

 

Homemade

I love all things homemade. The more natural the better! So many things are just so easy and fun to make at home that I wonder why I would ever go to the store to buy them! Lately I've been obsessed with making my own lip balm and lip stick. I can whip some up in just a few minutes and am quickly running out of tubes....

 

 

 

Coming Back

Life around here has been rather hectic lately. I'd like to get back into some blogging though. Our computer is down so I've got to figure out how to blog with the iPad!  

 

I'll be thinking of posts to write, but in the meantime, here is Betsy. This years sunflower grown from a tiny seed!