Our Favorite Photos - Linking Up With The Homeschool Village

The topic today at The Homeschool Village is "Yearbook" - sharing our favorite homeschool photos. I take pictures of EVERYTHING, so it's hard to narrow it down to a few of my favorites, but I will try!

The very first lapbook Miss B. completed!

Miss B and I at a fabulous butterfly house at the Margaret Strong Museum in Rochester, NY... our whole trip to NY was one huge educational field trip!

Our favorite science experiment - color changing milk!

Gman working on his journal on our mock Lewis & Clarke Expedition

Brother and sister enjoying time together. I love that homeschooling has brought them closer.

My favorite craft we have done.... our Easter flowerpot with flowers representing devotions we did on the days leading up to Easter. It was so meaningful for all of us.

I love looking through all of the photos we've taken. It makes me see how much the children are learning, and how (even on the hardest of days) homeschooling is SO WORTH IT!

Homeschooling and Online Communities

The topic today at The Homeschool Village is online communities and why we are thankful for them. I guess the biggest online community I am a part of is Facebook... I remember thinking my husband was silly for joining FB a few years ago - little did I know how much I would gain from joining, as well.

For me, the online community of Facebook allows me to keep in touch with siblings, nieces, nephews, old high school and college friends, former co-workers, church friends, and new friends as well. Yes, there are times when I've had to limit my time spent on Facebook, but for the most part I see it as a wonderful tool for me to keep in touch with people that have been or are a part of my life. (And, if you want to join "like" Homeschool Success just click on the link on my sideabar! ) ;-)

I am a part of Twitter, but I must say I haven't quite understood the whole concept - or rather I don't feel that I have the time to devote to figuring it all out! My Twitter link is also on my sidebar. I am "marymakesmusic" on Twitter.

When I was first researching homeschooling I stumbled upon the Ambleside Online community. I think delving into the community and joining the Yahoo Group sold me on homeschooling and helped me get my start. If you are looking for a completely free Charlotte Mason curriculum, this is the place to go!

More recently, I have been a part of The Homeschool Lounge and The Homeschool Village. At The Homeschool Lounge I made my initial online connections, learned the basic of blogging, and just felt moral and educational support when I first started homeschooling my children. Then, after hearing about The Homeschool Village, I found further support. The weekly link-ups have opened my eyes to new ideas, methods, and friends. It has been a blessing to sit on The Homeschool Village's panel for the past couple of months as well.

I appreciate that The Homeschool Village has recently gone to a day a week where they are post-free. I did find that my online activities were taking away from my jobs of mother, wife, and teacher. Yes, my online life does enrich me and provide me with wonderful ideas for our homeschool, but I can never let me get behind in my large tasks at this point in my life.

I don't quite know how to feel about our society's increasing reliance on social media. I clearly see the benefits, but there is always a little voice in my head which points out the pitfalls. For today, I am thankful for the online communities I am a part of, and thankful that many bloggers and leaders of these online communities are addressing ways to keep computer time in check.

If you want to see what other homeschoolers are saying about this topic, go to The Homeschool Village!

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Our Thankful Craft/Thanksgiving Present

A few years ago I made bookmarks for a family Thanksgiving. The dinner was at my father-in-law's house, and I originally told him I would make place cards and set his table. Well, I found Bible verses which specifically dealt with thankfulness and used my scrapbooking supplies to make bookmarks. Each guest that year received a bookmark, and our blessing was done by everyone taking turns reading their bookmarks. Each time I go to my sweet father-in-law's house he has his bookmark laid out, so I know it meant something to him. We keep our bookmark from that year in our Bible.

This year we are having a crowd here for Thanskgiving, and I'd like to do the same thing again. We will be starting next week, because it will take some time to assemble all of the bookmarks. I'd also like to turn this into a craft project for my nine year old - she loves scrapbooking and this will give her something to sink her teeth into and really share in the Thanksgiving planning.

Here is the only bookmark I have left from that year -- and to me it looks very plain! I'd like to jazz them up this year, but at least you can get the basic idea:

You will need:

• cardstock (whatever color you have or like)
• patterned scrapbook paper
• paper cutter (or a child who cuts very straight!)
  
• Thanksgiving stamps, stickers, embellishments, ribbon (if you want to punch a hole and put a ribbon on the top of the bookmarks)
  
• scrapbooking tape runner (or whatever adhesive you like to use)
• laminator (optional -- but I LOVE mine and got it at BJs for just $20!)
• Bible verses about thankfulness

I plan to have the Bible verses typed out ahead of time and cut into strips. I will give my daughter some patterned cardstock and background (solid) cardstock so she can choose what she really wants the bookmarks to look like. It may take some extra time, but I will show her how to measure the paper on our paper cutter and let her cut the bookmarks and patterned paper.

This is such an open-ended project which allows for a lot of creativity - just go for it! I can't wait to do this next week, and I'll post pictures when we are finished... just wanted to get the idea out there early in case any readers want to try it as well.

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