AHHHHH....It Feels So Good To Be HOME!

We are back from vacation and boy does it feel GREAT!  Our family had a wonderfully fantastic time while we were away but there is just something so special that I love about coming home.

Funny thing is, as soon as we are in the van driving back the honey and the kiddos start telling me all of the yummy things they would like to eat when we get home.  After a week that included a lot of cheeseburgers and pizza they were asking for vegetables and salads and such.  Our first night home I made (by request) Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, and biscuits.  Now if that doesn't say home cooking, what does?    

On Saturday night we were treated to an amazing meal/birthday party at the home of very dear friends.  I brought along my cheesy potatoes and remembered as I was making them that I had never shared this recipe on the ol' blog.  Today is the perfect day to do just that.

This recipe is a FA-VO-RITE here and well loved anywhere I carry it.  You will not only love how goooood it tastes but also how easy it is to make!

Cheesy Potatoes

• 2 lb pkg frozen hash browns
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup sour cream
• 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
• 3 cups of shredded cheddar
• butter
• salt and pepper

Place hash browns in a greased 9x13.  Salt and pepper to taste.

In a mixing bowl, combine onion, sour cream, and soup. 

Pour over potatoes.

Sprinkle with cheese, then dot with butter.   Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Super Duper Delicious!

Relaxed Homeschooling - Tailor Made

If you have more than one child then I am sure you know children have different learning styles.  No two children are alike!  We've been blessed with a half dozen and they are all different.  Children have different abilities, personalities, strengths and weaknesses.  If you desire to make your home school more relaxing, try to tailor each child's learning to him.  There is no cookie-cutter way to teach every child.  The classroom model is not the only way to teach.

If your child excels in math, give him work that will challenge him and move him on at the appropriate pace so that boredom won't set in.  If your child struggles with reading, slow down and move forward as progress is made.  You control the learning environment so make it fit each of your learners just right.  Don't worry about the "age" a child should be able to do something.  Definitely don't do things just because everyone else does.  Just because things have always been done a certain way does not mean that is how God wants you to do them.  Listen to His voice and follow Him, not others.

When a child has a great interest in something, say for example, BUGS, you can do a unit study on insects and learn all about them.  You can pack a ton of science into this study as well as give reading assignments from library books on insects and develop a spelling list of insect/science words, and even plan a field trip to look at an insect display at a zoo, or museum, or college.  Use what your child is already very interested in and teach from there.   

Over the years our children have learned a great deal while eating. 

They usually eat breakfast with these place mats.  They've learned the state capitals and where each state is located, counting money, names of Presidents, books of the Bible, names of planets and more, all from using the same place mats each morning for breakfast time.

Whenever I can find things for snack time I can use for learning activities I snatch them up.  I love these Scrabble crackers.  We give each child (the younger ones) a pile of crackers and see who can spell the most words.  They can only eat the words so they try very hard.

At night when we are giving the younger children their baths, my husband and I will practice with them their multiplication facts, or spelling words, or any other thing they might be learning.  We spend time going over these things when they would normally be soaking in the tub anyway.  While I'm washing their hair I will ask questions about that day's lessons, going over what was taught during "school time". 

I've given children the assignment of making the family grocery list and made their spelling words from that.  When a child is learning to count money I will give them money and have them pay for everything we buy each time we shop.  I teach fractions in the kitchen, while making food for my young math students.  Almost all of our science is done hands on until the children are in high school.  We read aloud as a family daily and cover most of their History that way.  When we travel we listen to books on tape.  We also use holidays as teaching times.  Martin Luther King Jr. day we read and study about Civil Rights, on St. Patrick's day we will read a book on him.  On President's Day we read about a President or two.  When possible I arrange for field trips to go along with what we are reading.

Don't allow yourself to get twisted in a knot about workbooks and tests and report cards.  If you are working with your child, your child is learning!  The more you tailor a child's education to him and his learning style and abilities the more relaxing your school will become.

My Newest Projects

Over the weekend I made these

Mickey Mouse flip flops for my little 6 year old gal.

and a pony tail holder to match.

I also made these

Flip Flops for me.

and these.

Princess Belle sneakers for my gal.

Want some?  I can do any color combination/style.  Email me for pricing. 
7morans@comcast.net

Relaxed Homeschooling - Why Are You Teaching Your Children at Home?

 
 When it comes to homeschooling, I'm learning to relax.  Learning this one thing has helped me the most as a home school mom.

God has given us everything we need to teach our children and to do the job well.

Women say to me all the time, " I could never home school my children".  Whether they know it or not they already are!  All moms are teaching moms.  It is you, the mom, who teaches your child to eat with a fork and spoon.  You are the one who teaches your child to talk, and you teach them to use the potty.  Parents teach their children from the very minute they are born.  When it comes time to teach that baby to read and write you can do that too.  You just need to pray... and relax!  Children, (and moms too), do best when the home school is a relaxing learning environment.  That is why I want to share with you some steps to developing a relaxed home school.

Step one is to take a look at your reasons for teaching your children at home.  Why have you made this education choice?  Write these things down and really look at them.  For example, some of our reasons are we want to spend time with our children, living out our faith in front of them and teaching them to love the Lord Jesus with all their hearts.  We want our children to develop a biblical worldview.  We want our children to be close to their siblings, and to us.  We desire to keep our children innocent of evil.  We want to fill their days with wholesome books and hands on learning and lots and lots of encouragement and love.  Why have you chosen to home school?  Being clear on why you've made this choice is step one.

Once you have determined your own reasons for teaching your children at home you will need to set goals for your children's education.  These goals may be the same for each child, or more likely, you may have different goals for different children depending on their bent.  (More on the bent later!)  Some of our goals for our children are that they would love the Bible and know it well, we want each child to read well, and write well, and be proficient in math.  We want each of our children to be adequately prepared for whatever the Lord calls them to do.  We want the children to learn to serve others.  We want them to know real life skills and we want to develop an entrepreneurial spirit in them. 

Now that you have looked at your reasons and set your goals you need to evaluate each and every subject or activity in light of those reasons and goals.  You simply decide which subjects or activities are going to help you achieve your goals and which will deter you.  By looking at your goals you can decide if a subject should be taught, and if so, how.  Everything you do is based on the reasons you home school and your goals for your children.  Make a reading list for your child based on what will help move your child in the direction of your goals.  His/her reading list may include books on missionaries or Christian martyrs.  In deciding on memorization projects for your children you will again look at your goals.  Is one of your goals for your children to know the Bible well?  Assign memorization of passages of scripture.  Knowing why you are homeschooling and what your goals are will help you to relax.

 Stay tuned.  There's much more to come.  :)

Relaxed Homeschooling

If I could give only one piece of advice to new homeschooling moms it would be this little word...relax.  I've learned a bit since I started homeschooling 12 years ago and one of the most important things I've learned is simply to relax.  Your children ARE going to learn all they need to learn and with the Lord's help you ARE going to get everything done!

 In the early years of our home school I sometimes had the wrong picture of what homeschooling should be.  I found myself trying to replicate a public school classroom in my dining room.  Maybe this was because of my own upbringing in the public school, or a family member's comments about the children not being in "real school" or maybe it was just the feeling of that's how things should be done.  Whatever the reason, I would get so uptight about workbooks and time schedules and "how they do it in a public school" that I developed a wrong picture of home-schooling.  There really is no reason to get stressed out worrying about what students are doing in other schools.  If you liked what the public schools were doing, you probably wouldn't have made the choice to home school to begin with.  Homeschooling is NOT public school in your home.  It is an entirely different way of teaching and learning. 

For the next couple of weeks I am going to write a series on Relaxed Homeschooling.  I will write about the how, the when, and the why.  I will also be answering questions I have received.  If you have a question please email it to me at 7morans@comcast.net or if you would like you can leave it in a comment here on the blog.

Somebunny Loves You - Wreath

I just had to show you this adorable wreath!

      

  I snapped this picture at my neighbor's house.  (The creative one I mentioned before.)  Now if I can just get her to guest-post on my blog!

Don't you just love this bunny wreath? 

What are you putting on your front door this spring?

Our Favorite Potatoes

Our family loves these potatoes and they are simple to throw together in a snap.

Wash and cut up some small red potatoes.

Drizzle this over the potatoes.

Sprinkle with this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until potatoes are done.

One of our favorite meals is Barbecue Chicken, Green Beans and these potatoes.  YUM-O!

Springtime Cuteness

One of my favorite pals, who is also my neighbor, dropped in yesterday to show me her super cute project.  We've been discussing our itch to start decorating for spring and while I've been only dreaming, she has actually gotten started.  I loved her idea and asked to snap a picture to show it off on my blog. 

Just a little background information for you...this gal is super creative, has a house that looks like it came right off the pages of a magazine and she is ALWAYS crafting up something super cool.  I'm hoping as I hang out with her some of her cleverness rubs off on me.

Here's her cute idea...

Don't you just love it?  Jellybeans in the bottom and Peeps...so cute!  (During Christmas she had this same container sitting on the counter filled with peppermints.) 

This might get your mind flowing on spring decorating ideas.  It did mine.  Even an old mason jar filled with jellybeans and tied with ribbon would be a sweet addition to the table or mantle or kitchen counter.  Here in the south, spring has sprung.  We are enjoying temps in the 70's most days.  It is time to re-vamp the house with a little bit of springy-ness and I just can't wait!