Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Apologia's Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition - Review

Apologia Educational Ministries is one of those curricula we have used since the beginning of our homeschool journey.  We have loved everything we've used, so when I saw they were soon to come out with a Health and Nutrition Basic Set I was excited, to say the least.  I already exhausted our homeschool budget for the next few months so I was thinking of all kinds of ways to present this to my husband so that we could get it.  LOL  The Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition by Dr. Laura Chase was released and I was still trying to figure out how to explain this to my husband that we just had to have this.   Well, yall always hear me say how being apart of the Homeschool Review Crew is a blessing, right?  So get this, we were offered the opportunity to review it in exchange for our honest review.  If I knew how to flip I would have!  So after careful reading what the course would cover, talking to my husband and daughter, and praying we jumped on the opportunity.  My 15-year-old daughter and I will be sharing with you our thoughts on this Health and Nutrition Basic Set.



Friday, August 24, 2018

Dear New Homeschool Mama

This year has really run by us.  Can you believe we are already in August?  We are actually, creeping into the month September.  Now, I am not complaining about that because fall is my favorite season!  
In the homeschool community, many of us are either prepping to start a new school year, or we have just recently started our new year.  With that, I know that somewhere out there, there is a mom who has just made the decision to homeschool.  There is also a mom who is relatively new to it and is still trying to figure this thing called homeschool out.  I remember very vividly when I began my journey as a homeschool mom, it was 5 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was so unsure of everything, I didn't know where to start, I didn't know if I could do it, I was excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time.  I kept asking myself the question, "What if I fail them?"  Yes, I've been there before I'm sure every homeschooling mom has.  Trust me you are not alone in this.  I would love to give you some peace by sharing with you some things I wish I would have known before I got started.


Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Are you Ready for the Upcoming Homeschool Year?

When a new school year is approaching for us homeschool moms our minds tend to go at 100 miles per hour.  We have so many awesome ideas for the new year, so many things to get done, so many plans, and in the mist of all that comes a little bit of stress, sometimes.  I think it's because we feel like we need to be like the "have it all together homeschool moms" on Pinterest, Instagram, and other social media accounts.  You know the ones that have the perfect homeschool room, spotless house, they even have their homeschool year all planned out before they finish the current year?!  I always wondered how in the world they did it!  I mean and still be able to keep up with the house, spend time with their husband, spend time with the kids, spend time with friends, etc.  I still have no idea but I do know I am NOT that mom and my children are not those children! You know what else I know?  I know that we all have the same amount of hours in a day and what we decide to do with them is up to us.  I like to spend my hours stress-free and for me trying to perfect everything is stressful.  Who has time for stress?  I know I don't!  If I go into my new school year stressed out we will have a stressful school year.  As a mom, the same way we set the tone for our home also applies to how we set the tone for our children's education.  The kids know when there is something wrong with mama.  I know you don't want to add any extra stress to you or your children, right?   After all, school is supposed to be fun not stressful!!  This post is apart of Andrea's, from All The Homeschool Things, Ready, Set, Homeschool blog party.  That is where you can find the rest of my post and trust me you don't want to miss this.  So head on over to Ready, Set, Homeschool blog and see what I have left you there.  You can find the full article here.

In case you were wondering what the Ready, Set Homeschool blog party is, it is where you will find 15 days of tips and hacks to prepare you for the upcoming school year.  So what are you waiting on, why are you still here?  Hurry and head on over and don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn - Book Review

It is the beginning of the new homeschool year for most homeschooling families or this is the time when they do all their planning and purchasing of their new curriculum.  We homeschool year round with occasional breaks here and there, however, this is the time that I start buying curriculum, planning, and making changes to our homeschool.  In the midst of all of that, we sometimes forget to stop and ask God what He wants for our homeschool.  I have come to realize over the past 5 years that I have been homeschooling that when I try to do it my way it never works!  So I learned early on to pray and seek God help daily.  I don't see that a lot in the homeschool community though.  Most moms, myself included sometimes, are frantic about if we are doing enough, are our children getting it, what will people think of our kids if they are not on a certain level, etc.  This is why I was happy to read and review God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn written by Julie Polanco.  I needed the encouragement before planning out our school year so it was timely. 


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Wordless Wednesday - All White Gala

It was a blessing spending the evening with some amazing like-minded women






All White Gala dress front and back

All White Gala custom dress

All White Gals shoe

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Semetra Vanison for making this beautiful dress just for me!

You can find Semetra on Instagram if you are looking for a special design!

Monday, August 13, 2018

Paddington Bear Unit Study - Review

The Paddington Bear movie was a hit in our home both of them as a matter of fact.  So you can probably imagine my excitement when offered the opportunity to review the Paddington Bear lit-based unit study from Branch Out World.  I already knew which one of my children I wanted to use it with, my youngest son, who requested for us to watch the movie for his 9th birthday.  Although I was thrilled I wanted to be sure he was up for the challenge.   You see the last literature unit study he did he wasn't too fond of it.  He enjoys reading but he doesn't like to do a lot of writing unless it is absolutely necessary.  Well, when I asked him he said, "Ohh yes mama" so it was a go.  I will be sharing with you our feedback on this awesome home education resource.






Thursday, August 9, 2018

Enjoy History with Home School in the Woods - Review

History is a subject that can either be interesting or boring.  I always looked at it as a bunch of books with way too many dates to remember.  However, if presented right History can be very interesting and fun.  My son oldest loves history period, no matter how it is presented, but the rest of the kiddos not so much.  Home School in the Woods does an excellent job at making History not only interesting but fun as well! We are learning about the Roman/Middles Ages time period this year so being able to review the Project Passport World History Studies was right on time for us.  Of course, we chose to try Project Passport: The Middle Ages project first!  This has been the perfect hands-on history add-on to our history lessons.


Home School in the Woods Review