2011 Tree

Each year, we decorate our tree in a different theme. We try to choose a theme that reflects our lives and what is important to us as a family. You can see our 2010 tree theme here, and our 2009 tree here. For this year, we chose the theme, "The Written Word." We made ornaments mostly of paper. The littles used a tag punch to punch our tag shapes and then affixed letter die cuts to them with double sided tape. Ky and Bugaloo made small books, circular paper ornaments and Ky helped me make the "snowflakes". We also typed out each of the versus of the Christmas story, from the book of Luke, and taped them to coordinating paper and hung them around the tree.

It looks great! It is fun to see visitors stop and READ from our tree. We spent two afternoons making the ornaments and decorating. It was a lot of fun.

Hello there, Do I dare try this again?

Hello all,

I know, I know, it has been an extremely long time since my last posts. Life. That's all I can say about that. Things here at Our Home's School have been very interesting and busy. We have made a few changes regarding our learning and I hope to get things changed here to reflect that.

For the most part, I have been loving on the beautiful angels that I get the opportunity to be with on this earth. I have been reading a lot more, but the sort of books that have really added to my soul and helped me realize that kind of Mama I need to be.

I have to say, that when we first started our new journey of home education, I researched and studied every method and curriculum out there to find the one that we best fit into. Now, I have come to the conclusion that there is no need to try to fit into something. We need to find what works for us and for the eternal goals that we have as a family and as individuals.

I have come to an important conclusion, for me and my role here on this earth; it is my opportunity, privilege, and responsibility to teach my children the things they need in order to have the tools necessary to make it through this life and live with our Heavenly Father again. I used to see this as a heavy load, and truthfully, I still have days that the load seems heavy, but now I am thankful for this opportunity; so grateful.

So, I hope to reflect those feelings here as well as share the things that we experience. Here's to new beginnings!

Enjoy,

GG

IMPORTANT INFO !! for Area Home Educators

Just a quick note to all those home educators in our area (you know who you are). Follow this link to the HSLDA site and read the info regarding possible changes to your local choices as home educators.

http://www.hslda.org/elert/archive/2011/10/20111013164028.asp

I'm Still Here !!

Hello All!

I just wanted to write a quick post to say that I am still around. For some reason, life has been insanely busy and consuming the last few months and blogging has been one of the things put on the back-burner.

I still have a lot of ideas in the works and am hopeful that I can get some things posted soon. Here is a bit of what I have:

• An update of our learning, laughing and growing the last few months. So many fun things!
• A review of the Charlotte Mason series I have been working through.
• Some more ideas and info about a possible Eastern Idaho Home Education Conference.

So, there it is. I am confidant that things will shape up and I can get back to posting. Enjoy!

2011 TJEd Forum . . .

WHAT & HOW . . . influence . . .way of being . . . HEROES . . . knights . . .statesman . . . genius' . . . MISSION . . . goal . . . outlook . . . hopes & dreams . . . mothers . . . fathers . . . mentors . . . educators . . . children . . . youth . . . thirst . . . health . . .LIFE . . . slow & steady . . . moderation . . .VISION . . .

These are all words that I would use to describe the amazing day at the 2011 TJEd Forum that I attended on Saturday, the 19th. Like last year, the morning began with an inspiring keynote address. This year it was given by James L. Ferrell, CEO of The Arbinger Institute and author. Inspiring, uplifting, and also self examining.

This was followed by five sessions of classes. There were ten classes in each session and we could attend only one. It was very hard deciding which ones to attend, but I think that made the right choices. I came home feeling rejuvinated and excited to continue learning and actually applying the things I learned.

An added bonus was spending time with some amazing ladies! You know who your are, THANKS!!! Enjoy!

Charlotte Mason Series . . .

I received these beauties in the mail last week. I am so, SO excited to delve into the information and knowledge in them. I started the first book, Home Education. A lot of the information are things that I already know or have read in other books about Charlotte Mason. But there are other, more in depth things that I am excited to try.

I would like to do a series of posts as I read the books and discuss many of the topics that I come across. I will call the post series, "A Study of Charlotte". I already have a couple of posts in the process and am very excited at the opportunities that await us.

How many of you have read this series? What did you think?

It's Puzzling . . .

We LOVE puzzles in our house. At least once a day, you will find someone in the house working on some sort of puzzle. We have board puzzles, wooden puzzles, cube puzzles, almost any kinds of puzzle you can think of.



The older kid-lings are great at helping the littles with puzzles. For some reason, it is hard to pass up a puzzle in progress and not help in some way.


I picked up some new "jewels" at our local Costco. I think they are our favorites. Everyday since we have gotten them, the littles have asked to work on them.

Each box contains four different puzzle sets. I paid $15 for each box. The box that says for 1 to 3 year olds I would maybe rate for 2 to 3 year olds. It would be fun and entertaining for a 1 year old, but Mom or Dad would be doing the work. The concepts that the puzzles reinforce are age appropriate and done in a perfect way.

This box contains the following puzzles:

-Colors and Shapes Puzzle
-Matching Colors and Textures Puzzle
-My First Puzzles
-Puzzles, Spin and Match


The box that is labeled for 3 to 6 year olds is age appropriate. JJ (he is 3) could put the puzzles in this box together and with my help could incorporate some of the learning. Peaches (she is 5) did a great job with the puzzles as well and I especially love the word puzzles for her. This will help to reinforce her reading skills.

This box contains the following:

-20 Word Picture puzzles
-A Day at the Fair puzzle
-Build a Town puzzle
-3D Word Puzzle Set

Some of the puzzles are "3D". Some of the pieces connect in a vertical manner to the puzzles. This is fun and I think it helps to incorporate an extra bit of understanding to the task. I would reccommend these puzzles to ANYONE with children or grandchildren between the ages of 1 to 6.

** a side note: Ky and Bugaloo ( ages 11 and 9 1/2) also liked to do the more difficult 3D Fair puzzle. Something for everyone!**


When I searched for the puzzles online, I found them sold separately ( only 1 puzzle) for about $10 each. Each of these boxes comes with 4 puzzles, a much better deal. I couldn't find them online in these sets.