Free Webinar Series: How To Prepare Your Children To Be Influencers Who Can Lead

I got this link today in one of the many homeschool newsletters that come in my inbox and thought I would share this with everyone. There are two speakers on the roster that I always enjoy and that is Doug Philips from Vision Forum and Andrew Pudewa from IEW(Institute for Excellence in Writing). Here is a brief discription of what this webinar series will cover.

5 Christian Leaders. 5 Exclusive Webinars. One Mission: Leadership
Homeschool families know a little something about high expectations. One of the biggest expectations is that your homeschooled children become leaders and culture influencers. Talk about pressure.



But what does true leadership look like? And is there a difference between being in leadership and being an influencer who can lead? A person cannot lead if nobody is willing to follow.



For the first time ever, Doug Phillips, along with trusted Christian leaders like Chuck Bentley (Crown Financial Ministries), Dr. Jeff Myers (Passing the Baton & Summit Ministries), and others, will converge to present a powerful and focused series on children and leadership, from a homeschool perspective.



This webinar series will give these leaders, who understand homeschooling, a platform to cast a vision for what it means to be one who leads. And to give you deep insights, and practical, real-world action steps you can use to lead your children to become people who lead in thought, character and action.



The first webinar, in this series of five, is with Doug Phillips. Doug’s webinar is on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. When you register now, you will get free access to all five webinars in the series.



Space is extremely limited and will fill up fast.



Your time is valuable, and you want the very best for your children. So, if seeing your children emerge from high school or college with the skills and competencies to lead and dynamically impact the culture is your desire, don't miss this unique opportunity.

Back to(Home) School Blog Carnival!

I have decided to particpate in Classic Housewife's Monday Blog Carnival for Back to Homeschool.

The particpants will be sharing curriculum advice, organizing ideas, record keeping tips, etc...

As you guys know I have already done some of those things in the past few weeks so I will just continue to add tips and info to help get folks ready for this coming year. If you get a chance take a hop over to the link and add your own blog if you have something to share as well.

The Super Mom Myth!

After homeschooling for a few years now I notice that I am no longer being hit with the socialization questions anymore. The focus is now on how much of a "Supermom" I am for taking on all that responsibility. So many moms like to say how they could never do what I do cause they are not "Supermom" like me. They tell me how they struggle with what they think are the smallest of task like potty training or cooking meals and they somehow think I have never been where they have been and I have it all together. My response to this is are you kidding me. I am a real life mom I don't play one on T.V. Every mom has her struggles. What I really think folks neglect to realize is that every mom has there strengths as well. We really need to to as women and mothers stop comparing ourselves to others cause the area that I am blessed in might not be the area you are blessed in. But you know what we are all blessed and we can all be a blessing to our husbands and children.

I am a big believer in playing to ones strengths. I am a very analytical thinker and I am good at planning and creating structure. So I have been able to bless our homeschool with this gift to help us reach our goals. But at the same time I struggle with clutter and completing household task in a timely fashion. I may be able to create a homeschool curriculum from scratch for free or make homemade bread but my laundry sits for days before I get around to putting it away. I also struggle with staying consistent with my prayer time as well. But you know that may not be my strong suite but that doesn't mean I can't learn or acquire new skills to help improve on what is already naturally there. I have some sister friends who are good in these areas where I am not and we are able to pick each others brains and lift each other up in encouragement.

I think we all have something to offer and at the same time we need to realize its never too late to learn either. "Supermom" is a myth. Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny we have to let go.

More Used Curriculum Finds!

So I was able to get another used curriculum sale this past week at a local church. I love when I get around to a sale ran by a church that supports its homeschool ministry cause you can find so much great and popular curriculum and low prices. So I just wanted to share with you what I found. I was getting things on my curriculum list that I talked about in other post this year.I was staying withing the boundaries of what I actually needed which felt good. I did find some things that were not exactly what I planned on using but turned out to be a blessing in the end. So a tip is if budget is your decision maker with curriculum shopping always be prepared to substitute an item for something else to save on price. I also go for things that are non consumable verses consumable so I won't have to buy new pieces to it when I get ready to use it for the next child. I paid a total of $58 for items that would have been over $200 if I would have bought new and I would have had to pay the shipping.

Here is the list of what I was able to get:

Five in a Row Christian Character and Bible Supplement by Jane Claire Lambert
Stories About God's People Rod and Staff Reader Series level 2 Teachers Guide
Rod and Staff English Grade 2 teachers guide and student text( got this off the free table)
Rod and Staff English Grade 3 teachers guide and student text
Pathway Readers Grade 4 w/ teachers text
Pathway Readers Grade 1 w/ 1 workbook
Abeka Aesop's for Young Readers
Rod and Staff Music workbooks grades 1,2, and 3
Green Leaf Press Guide to Old Testament History
Life on the Indus River Valley
Rocks and Minerals easy reader
Rocks and Fossils teachers suppliment worksheets
God's Design for Heaven and Earth Our Planet
God's Design for Heaven and Earth Our Weather and Water
Singapore Math 3A textbook
Singapore Math 3 Challenging Word Problems

In all for next years curriculum I have spent $154. It is my goal to keep things under $300 for all three children. This includes school supplies(which I wait for back to school sales) printer ink, and whatever else misc I have to get. I am also considering frugal clothing options for this coming year as well. I was thinking of going to the thrift stores and other outlets to get different color polo shirts for everyone and khaki pants and skirts. Its seems a little uniformish but I think in the long run if will save money and I can have the kids coordinated pretty well on field trips. You can always finds polo shirts and khakis at the thrift stores all the time and I think they go from casual to dressy pretty well.

Steps to Creating Your Own Curriculum!

After many a request and conversation with new and even seasoned homeschooler friends and subscribers I decided to put together some easy to follow comprehensive steps to making your own homeschool curriculum. I also took the liberty of including some instructional videos to go along with the worksheet.
Here are the:

Steps to Creating Your Own Curriculum Worksheet

Methods of Homeschooling

Top Curriculum Choices Elementary Level

Top Curriculum Suppliers and Stores ( the stores are localized to GA but other suppliers are on the web)

Frugal Kitchen: Easy Maple Granola!

Easy Maple Granola

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

2 TSP flax seed

1/3 cup chopped walnuts(optional)

1/3 cup Coconut oil

1/3 cup Maple Syrup

1 TSP Vanilla Extract

Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees. I mix all dry ingredients together then mix all wet ingredients and add them into the dry mix and stir thouroughly. I spread the wet granola mix onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 18- 20 minutes till mixture is dry and golden brown. Stir it a few times during baking to make sure edges dont burn.

For this recipe I double to feed my family of 5.

Variations: After mix comes out the oven I add cinnamon and raisins. You add your favorite spices and dried fruits after it comes out the oven.

Homemade Dairy Free Milk Alternative!

Homemade Rice Milk

With me growing up lactose intollerant and my kids being raised on dairyfree milks I was happy to start finding ways to make them myself. I mean 1 quart of the least expensive Rice or Almond Milk cost me about 1.79 each so when I found this recipe on youtube I knew I hit the jack pot. It came out right too.So I think we areo going to keep this recipe in the family book.

Here is the video I got it from: