Free Educational Websites I Actually Use

Spelling –

Spelling City   www.spellingcity.com

Missed words from their writing and spelling journals into Spelling City. I put them straight into here and send them to work on those words when we have a small block of time to fill.

Writing-

Kidblog   www.kidblog.org

Set up a private classroom blog. Editing is allowed. We put in Grandma and Grandpa from out of town and they LOVE it. It’s also great for keeping members of our family who sometimes “miss” things “in” on things.  If our children ever leave home (and I’m in no hurry), I hope they’ll still post their stories for us.

Math-

Xtra Math  www.xtramath.org

This is great for fact practice. They practice each day for a very short time. They log in by clicking their name.  It tells them when they’re done. I get an email report of progress once a week, and a notification email if they don’t log in and do their practice. The student tries to get the facts in 3 seconds for a smiley face, but it gives him 10 seconds before giving the answer. It’s just what I’ve always wanted and it’s free.

Reading –

Book Adventure   www.bookadventure.com

Five to Ten Question Quizzes on lots and lots of books. Brian found this for me when I asked for something similar to Accelerated Reader. We don’t use it a lot, but it gives me an extra record of a few of the books they’ve read and reminds them to read carefully. I have started writing on my own books if there is a book adventure quiz to go along with them.

I know there are LOTS of other really cool websites – but there is only so much I can use! LOL!  

*I use BJU Press as my "core" for all these subjects. These are great little extras in less than 10 minutes and fit well with BJU Press.
Spelling words from their own writing mistakes. I mostly use their journal entries from spelling, but if I've noticed another word from another subject I'll add it as well.
Xtra Math instead of (or in addtion to depending on the child) fact practice printoffs from the Teacher CD
Book Adventure - as a quick report of all that extra reading their reading teachers have encouraged
KidBlog - to tell about their projects, to publish their writing, to tell how much they love school (yes - they've done this), but mostly to tell their stories. :-)

Isaac's School Plan

School Planning: High School

That would be Isaac. He’s in 10^th grade this year. Several of his courses are technically Grade 11. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a year ahead. He’s doing ALL his core courses with BJU Press Online Distance Learning. I’ve come to the place where I technically could teach these subjects, but I have difficulty doing them justice with the time in my day. I did feel a little bad when I found an old note from Isaac that said, “I’m glad I have a mom who can teach me algebra.”  We got lost in Saxon Algebra 2 and with its spiraling style I couldn’t figure out where we got off track. No biggie – he’s a 10^th grader. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

Here’s the short version:

American History

Algebra 2

Chemistry

Spanish 1

Writing and Grammar 10

Literature 10

For Bible, I’m combining Isaac and Hannah and teaching the Bible Truths C. (A BJU Press book – but not the one used for distance learning.) He’ll continue working in Balancing the Sword and watch a lot of online sermons.

Other extras – a little bit of Rosetta Stone, a little bit of music theory & piano & maybe guitar, continue photography, Haiti trip, lead some P.E. days with the younger children, and spend some time at the gym.

I’d love to do Spanish 1 with him “just for fun” – I can probably do it through the first couple of weeks. LOL!  Ja, Ja, Ja!

I chose Online because of online grading. I’ll admit it. I have a very difficult time keeping up with the grading of high school subjects. I’ll still have “homework” grading to do and test essay questions and wrting assignments– but they tell me what things to spot check. J 

Getting Ready for School

This morning with an online Bible study group, a friend posted this status:

Matthew 12:34b "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." This is so neat. It's a really easy way for us to evaluate our own hearts and our kids' hearts. No wondering what is really in the heart. Do our words primarily build up? Complain? Argue? Thank? Express Joy? Love? Anger? Spite? Pride? Love? Judgment? etc. It's easy to look at other's words and know their heart, but sometimes it's easy to deceive ourselves. Maybe you/we could ask a close friend, child or husband what primarily comes out of your/my mouth? (If you truly want the truth). =)

I read it rather quickly, and decided I'd watch things I say today. (This is much easier than asking someone you love for the truth.)

A little later in the morning, I was making some last-minute phone calls to try to book fundraisers with the local schools. I have a dozen last-minute things I (notice the capital I) want to get done before our school year starts. Calling principals was top on my list. 

I like to read the principal's message on the school's website before I call. It gives me a little reminder of what they are like. This morning I read this principal's message. Here's the last part:

I can't wait to get started. When we get down to mere days before the start of school I get a huge surge of excitement. That is one of the many great parts of my job. It is just like being a kid again and getting excited for the first day of school. I will get to see all of my friends again. I usually buy new pens and notebooks, and even think about what I will wear for the "first day of school," just like I did when I was ten. I hope that all of our teachers, staff, students and families are just as excited and pumped for the new year. I know it will be a great one!!!

It really convicted me.

She’s excited about the upcoming school year.

Really excited.

Have I been that excited about our school year?

Um. No.

I don’t think I’ve been actually complaining out loud, but I’m afraid to ask.

Either way, I also haven’t been expressing abundant joy about the task.

That’s because I forgot to be thankful.

Ladies, it is a tremendous blessing to be able to homeschool our own children. My mother worked as her children got older. My grandmother worked when her children got older. We’re getting to spend some precious years WITH our children. MORE time than our grandparents had. We get to share both the gospel and the wonders of God’s creation. We have no constraints. We have no testing. We have no meetings we have to attend. We have no standards to meet but God’s and our own.

We should smile – a lot. We should tell the children how thankful we are that we can home school them this year. We should let them know that we are so excited to see them in the morning and to spend the day with them. We should set a high standard in the Lord and cheer with great joy as we watch them reach it. I’m getting pumped as I type!

Hmmm. . . what to wear?

Conservative pajamas?

Homeschool-mom skirt/blouse and a matching pen behind my ear?

Mad scientist outfit with a lab coat and crazy eye-brow glasses?

Wildflowers and tie-dye?

The kids would think I’m crazy, but they’d probably smile. ;-)

Why 4 Year Olds Need to “Do School”

                For today’s lesson, we counted 100 pennies in groups of 10 and traded them for a dollar bill.

Me: Justin, can you remember what metal is in pennies?

Justin: Copperheads.

Me: A copperhead is a snake. When we talk about a metal, we just say “copper.”

Perhaps he’s heard that verse about the love of money being the root of all evil and associated it with snakes?

Me: Justin, do you remember whose picture is on the penny?

Justin: Abraham Lincoln

Me: Very good.

Justin: “Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham.”

Me: Different Abraham. This one was a president. Ok, Justin all those pennies in your hand are really heavy and it would be hard to get them all in the store without dropping them so we can trade them for this one dollar bill that will buy the same thing.

Me: Now this one dollar bill also has a picture of a president on it. His name is George Washington.

I lay the one dollar bill on the table perhaps with a bit of flair.

Justin: Slap George Washington.

Too much Slap Jack perhaps?

So there’s a reason to “do school” with your four year old. . . It’s just too funny to skip.

Oh, and certain four year olds need refinement.  

He Still Sings Even When We Pluck Strings - by Isaac Moore

He Still Sings, Even When We Pluck Strings

By Isaac Moore

                Have you ever studied poetry?  If so, how often are you hearing it? In our culture, you probably hear it every day at least once. You may possibly already know that music is another form of poetry, but have you ever searched it for meaning or encouragement? I know it is easy to ignore the words in a song when you listen to it while you work, but why not take some time to listen and judge our hearts. “Am I worshipping God with my life like he’s talking about?” God speaks to us often through brothers and sisters in “songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.”

                Jesus said in Matthew 7:8, “Everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” When we ask God for a word of encouragement or wisdom, He gives it to us. When we look for that word, we will find it, and if we want to know the meaning of the words, we should ask Him. Then He will tell us the mystery.

                Okay, do you know of a lyricist who was a prophet? How about David? We know about him, but check this out.

1Ch 25:1  Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:

1Ch 25:2  Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.

1Ch 25:3  Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.

1Ch 25:4  Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth:

1Ch 25:5  All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

1Ch 25:6  All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.

1Ch 25:7  So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.

                This and other passages lead me to believe that many anointed songs are truly prophetic messages in disguise. Of course, like prophecy, we must still judge them by The Word no matter how true they sound.

                God says that His mercies are new every morning. I believe that His encouragement through brethren is also new. Musicians, when they want to encourage, will often use music to get the message across. Though they are always fresh, certain words of knowledge or encouragement may stick with us the rest of our lives.

                But we must remember this, the most important use of music is to worship and glorify God, just as the most important use of everything else in our lives is to worship and glorify God. The last six lines of a song I wrote, The Psalmists’  Cry, is meant to sum up this subject.

The psamists’ cry goes out across the land,

O and the psalmists cry goes out again.

This, the psalmists’ cry, will speak His words,

Following His will, glorifying Him.

Glorifying him, following His will,

Will speak His words, the psalmists’ cry.

*By the way, the Hebrew word for prophesy in this verse actually means prophecy. =)

Naba

Naw-baw’

A primitive root: to prophesy, that is, speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse) – prophecy (-ing) make self a prophet

-from Strong’s Concordance of the Bible (KJV), phrases in parentheses mine

Baby Reflections

      On this day last year, we held a graveside service for our little Klarissa. I wanted to post this picture of her memorial stone.

 

         The lines coming down reminded me of light. Klarissa's name means clear light. The verse is about the Lord's understanding being infinite. (Mine isn't.)   

        I also wanted to share with you the last last page from our family scrapbook and something I was thinking about today.             

I arranged the scrapbook with a page of what I wrote about Klarissa the night we came home from the hospital with the above page, and then two pages with the notes Brian used to speak at the graveside service. The next page says, “The Snow Came . . .”

                It describes an especially hard day for me.

We had explained to Justin the whole pregnancy that Klarissa would be here “when the snow comes.” When the “snow came” on Christmas Eve, I ached and cried so much knowing there would be no baby to hold. I knew Justin (age 3) would ask about Klarissa, too. By my calculations, the baby was due on Christmas Day.

                The next day I tried so hard to enjoy my family playing in the snow. But sure enough, Justin asked about Klarissa, and -- It was just a really tough day.

                Do you see the picture of the empty manger? That’s actually a manger that we have for Hannah’s horse. It’s a real manger the kids made – not just made up to be sweet for Christmas. During my pregnancy, I’d wondered if the kids would get the idea we’d need a picture of our baby in the manger. I was thinking I probably wouldn’t let them take my newborn out in the cold and put her in the horse’s homemade feeding trough. (Even if Mary did – and I bet she was even thankful for that manger!)

                Seeing that empty manger made the day even harder for me. “Christmas is not about an empty manger!” I moaned. “Especially not this Christmas. This Christmas was supposed to come with the gift of a Christmas baby all wrapped up for me. I should  be telling the kids today that a wrapped up doll will have to do for the manger scene while I adore my little baby.”

                By the end of the day, brothers and sisters in the Lord had picked me up and God gave me grace to walk away from the bitterness. By the end of the year (as in yesterday), God gave me some new things to think about.

                Did you know the word manger in French means “to eat”?  Isn’t it fitting that the Bread of Life would be placed in a manger? Did you know he’s the one who said we must “eat his flesh” and many disciples left saying, “This is a hard saying,” and others continued to follow him even though they didn’t understand.

To say, “I’m so glad that manger wasn’t empty,” had become cliché to me. My thought was always, “But I’m so glad the tomb was!”

When Jesus came, he didn’t just die for us. He also lived for us . . . beginning in a manger . . .where sheep eat.

And when we sheep go to Him, he still feeds us.

And when HE feeds us, we live on.

So, I no longer see an empty manger.

I see a manger with a baby for us. God Himself is not barren. He has a SON. His name is Jesus, and He placed Him in a manger so that we might have nourishment and ultimately . . . life. He has given us a wonderful gift.

 “I have COME so that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

The Snow Came . . . but so did Jesus . . . and we can always hold on to Him.

A Tribute to Little Klarissa

We had a stillborn baby in November of 2010. The following words are the best way I know how to describe how it has affected me over the past year. Many of you will be able to relate.

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day.

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It is a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

                                -From  The VelveteenRabbit

Young people often have the desire to “find themselves.” Circumstances and trials haven’t yet come their way, and they aren’t sure yet what they will do and who they will be. They’re often frustrated because they don’t feel “real” yet. They have lots of half-cooked ideas with no life experiences to go with them.

I don’t feel that way anymore.

Losing a child has really made me feel old, but not in a bad way.

Loving . .  .and losing . . .  a child you don’t even know. . .makes you more real.

Having five children to love makes you more resilient, softens your edges, and keeps you messy. J

It gives you gray hair, tearful eyes, and makes you loose all over.

It helps you see Truth as more about being real with people than being “right.”

Becoming “Real” hurts.

I still mind being hurt. I must have some more “becoming real” to do.

But it’s happening bit by bit.

Thank you for reading this. May your life be wrapped in Love.

Beloved, Let us love one another. For Love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. But he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.