Testing ...at No Cost to You

I recently wanted just to "check in" on how my kids would do on a test, how much they could recall from just "general knowledge" but having spent weeks in public school prepping kids for standardized tests and watching them slink their way through, I didn't want that for my kids.

So I went in and goggled "Saxon placement tests" and viola--a great set of tests and instructions for administering and grading. Here is that link: http://www.learningthings.com/articles/saxon-math.aspx (near the bottom of the page under placement tests).

And I also wanted to check their reading vocabulary and comprehension since we do a lot of reading trade books and narrating. I found a good source here from k12: https://eprcontent.k12.com/placement/placement/placement_langarts_2.html

As far as science and history go, I decided not even to try in primary grades. There's such a great amount of info out there and such a varied idea of what kids need to know AND the info is always changing especially in science. I figure that I "test" my kids all the time on those subjects because we are always reading books, watching videos and looking around us.

The Thrill of E. B. White for a Little Boy's Heart

We picked up Charlotte's Web early on in Isaiah's homeschool career. I think it was second semester of his Kindergarten year when I realized that he was perfectly capable of listening to chapter books and even liked them...and so did his siblings. Guess I just always figured that picture books were best. Now I wonder what I was thinking because though picture books are wonderful, there is something just as wonderful about the pictures and movies a child plays in his head as he listens. We loved Charlotte's Web though the death of Charlotte was very sad. When the movies came out, the kids watched, but the comment was that the book was better came often. (Thrill of a mommy/teacher's heart.)

We listened to Stuart Little (and Mrs. Piggly Wiggly) on a trip to Louisiana later that same spring. What fun we had! Despite a little 5 person car crammed with, well, 5 people and enough stuff and food for a week's trip to Ft. Polk, it was a very enjoyable trip. And on the way home, the kids did so well, that we drove straight through. (OK, that last 2 hours was not so good, but the rest was great!) Why? Mr.E.B. White, in part, that's why. Don't you just love the idea of having a little mouse brother who acts like a little person?

Finally, Trumpet of the Swan has been on my teacher library shelf since my teaching days. I had to reread it recently, having forgotten most of the story. What a fun story of a swan who overcomes obstacles...lots and lots of obstacles. I gave it to Isaiah to read for "literature". That is the distinction I make between "good brain growing books" and "junk food books" like Hank the Cowdog (current favorite). Not bad, just not as good. He LOVED it. In fact, he read it in 3 days (all 210 pages of it). He declared several days as"reading days" when he tries to get me to just let him read and not do anything else. It didn't work his way, but I did let him read for an hour, do the rest of his schoolwork, and then keep reading, and I let him read quite awhile at night. Always nice when they can do that and not get up early the next morning.

So, E. B. White is a great author of wonderful stories that are: fun, adventurous, appeal to inner goodness, well written and employ superb storytelling. These will be "rereads" many times I'm sure. They just don't write many like this anymore.

Ways We Manage to Live on a Tight Budget

Since we've decided to home school our other priorities have had to change. One of the main effects is that we will not ever have much of a second income (since homeschooling is like a job for me). Living on one income gets to be quite a challenge given our current economic situation. Here are a few things we've learned as we take this journey.

Food: Yes, we need it. It needs to be healthy, whole food if we want to not spend a lot of money on doctor bills. Prevention is worth a pound of cure. I cook at home every evening meal during the week.

• If we go out, it's for a quick sub or burger after church on Sunday or a quick run between errands during the week. We try to spend less than $10 if possible on those 'treats'. Which means, we keep water bottles handy for the most part.
• I have found the places in town that have the 50 cent Diet Cokes because that habit has not yet bit the dust.
• We order off the dollar menu and share fries or we go to places that have specials like $5 subs.
• We don't eat at sit down restaurants much because we have to tip and we have to sit. ;)

As far as cutting grocery bills go, here's what keeps our bills low.

• My garden (and the freezing of it) has been a cost cutter, though one might wonder after all the hours spent there. I think having the kids learn gardening and see God's provision right there growing for us is worth it though.
• We also buy 1/4 side of beef at a time and that will last about 9 months. We have a freezer that we got off craigslist in the basement.
• I also shop the discount bread stores. Eventually, I want to teach Elly to bake bread, but that chore is not one we're up for right now.
• We each lots and lots of fresh fruits and veggies (probably 2-3times as many as cooked, canned or frozen depending on the time of year). It is costly, but I buy what's on sale and ALDI seems to always have good sales for produce and dairy.
• I have cut coupons in the past...and think I might in the future when the kids are a little more "on their own" with school.

Clothing: Man, those kids grow so fast! They need a new wardrobe every year unless you want to buy things that hang on them for a year. I "excourage" my kids from caring too much about clothing or brands. We concentrate on pretty colors and modest styles.

• I am blessed to have family and friends that hand-me-down and we pass along ours too. I am blessed that so far, Gabe can wear Isaiah's clothes even though he's a little thicker than Isaiah was because of those blessed adjustable waistbands! Our clothes go from Isaiah through 2 cousins before they hit Gabe, but everyone seems to contribute so while some things wear out, others are added and he's never in need of clothes.
• I also love Goodwill and thrift stores.
• I always hit garage sales in the summer.
• I only buy things on clearance unless it's an emergency...and find that Target and Old Navy have great clearance if you can hit it.
• I keep a tote in the closet for "too big" clothes and when I see something for a steal, I get it.
• I also have consigned newer clothes (mostly Elly's) but found that it's not worth the time for as much as I have. My uncle does garage sales so sometimes I sell on that and get a little back to add to the clothing budget.
• I also am not above having Elly wear Isaiah's clothes. She's currently wearing a gray winter coat of his, but she has purple snow pants, mittens and hat and she looks just fine. Unfortunately it rarely goes the other way...though I try to buy plain clothing as much as I can, my daughter loves bling!

Fun: You need it. It's the stuff that makes memories. But we've found that fun can look alot different than a movie or an expensive trip to some kids fun place.

• We have fun biking...a lot! It's free and if you take a few snacks and nature notebooks, counts for school.
• We enjoy our backyard and try to invite others to our house so our rules stand and I can see what's going on.
• We have dates with the kids.Here are some: a treat at DQ ($5), a ride on the ferris wheel at Scheels ($2), a netflix movie night (free), a Lowe's build and grow class (free), a trip to the cheap theater ($4), a fishing trip ($2 for bait if you don't want to dig worms or treats if you do).... There are plenty of inexpensive fun things to do.

As far as family get aways:

• We camp a lot or do day trips to state parks (cost of parking).
• We have a zoo trip. (We buy a yearly pass and use it liberally.)
• We go to museums and such when they are free and reduced (usually during the school day).
• We go see family and drive it even if it is halfway across the country. (A minivan is helpful here.) When we go on day or longer trips, we pack a cooler and have water bottles for picnics along the way. If we stop, it's for an ice cream cone. We see a few sights that cost admission but otherwise we do all the free stuff.

Other cost cutters:

• We wash our cars and detail them except in the coldest of winter.
• We do our own projects on the house. (It does help that we can call my brother who is a builder.)
• We buy and keep our cars and make sure they get regular oil changes. Kevin tries to work on the cars himself if possible.
• We buy a lot of things used off craigslist, garage sales, etc.
• We don't buy the latest and best electronics (though my husband has wanted a flat screen tv for some time).
• We don't have cable tv. (Netflix for $9 a month is good and so is the library.)
• We cut our own grass, water our own lawn and garden (God bless timers.) and clean our own house. We figure the kids need to learn to work and meaningful work is best.
• Our school curriculum is hand-me-down or used if possible. I try to get things that are not consumable. We use the Charlotte Mason method and borrow most of our books from the library.
• We've stopped signing the kids up for sports but try to teach them skills ourselves and put them in less expensive general classes for group learning that are among the homeschool community. We work on fitness with them...doing exercise every day, having a movement oriented lifestyle.
• We limit gifts especially within our immediate family. We have birthday parties at home with family and I make the cake. We try to make as many things as we can rather than buy them.

So, there you go. Our attempt to live within our means. One last thing...we always try to give first, save second and spend third. We spend first on necessities and save up for extras. We try to pay for things out of pocket, not on credit. We pay credit cards off each month. We're very happy. We have plenty and are working hard but live with joy and contentment which we hope will make an impression on our kids. Hebrews 13:5 "Be content with what you have, for God has said, 'I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.'"

A Few Favorite Literature Selections

We recently have read some wonderful books that I thought I would review. It's always great to find OUTSTANDING literature that provide great ideas for your children (and you) in a fun and exciting story. When Isaiah was in Kindergarten I picked up Dr. Doolittle and frankly, from the thickness of the book, really wondered if we would get through it. As it turned out, it was full of adventure after adventure after adventure. What I think really captured Isaiah's interest was the wonderful illustrations and sketches that came at just the right time when he needed a picture to be able to keep up with the story. It certainly was not "candy and junk food" vocabulary. I think it was one of the reasons that Isaiah was so excited about chapter books after that.

Now Ellyanna is in Kindergarten, and it seems that early in the winter, once again, we've found some favorites. I wonder if some of that has to do with the fact that it gets darker sooner so we get into our pj's and read for quite awhile after prayers and before they go to sleep. It's always fun to have enough time to get caught up in a story. Well, Elly was very caught up in Heidi. What a sweet little character, Heidi is. She's a wonderful example to little girls of finding joy in simple things, putting the interests of others' first, and holding on to faith in God even when we don't understand why He isn't answering our prayers right away.


The other book that we came across that even 3 year old Gabe loves is the Raggedy Ann Stories. It's an oldy but a goody. It takes the "Toy Story" idea of dolls that come to life when humans aren't around and adds a sweet little doll (Raggedy) who is considerate and loving and has lots of fun adventures while caring for others. If you're looking for books that emphasize good character and the good results that come to those who have it...this is a great one. I'm sure there will be more. We love books!

Review of Smooth and Easy Days by Sonya Schafer

If you need a little boost in the attempt to teach your children good habits that will also help them to develop strong character, this little free e-book is a great way to begin. It can be found here: http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/smooth-easy-days-with-charlotte-mason/

I have attended some of Sonya Schafer's class on Charlotte Mason's methods at the NICHE homeschool conference in Des Moines last summer. Much of what she said is also part of this little book.

Here are a few things I've taken away from the hearing and reading of her comments which have helped tremendously.

Chapter 1: A mother (father, teacher) should "take pains' to form habits. It's a lot of work, but well worth it. The child will learn habits that will serve him his whole life.

Chapter 2: We help children develop character by training them in healthy and good habits.

Chapter 3: How do we train habits? ONE at a time!

Chapter 4: Before you begin--discuss the importance of the habit with your child so she will take ownership and see the point...and make progress on her own.

Chapter 5&6: Children's brains need to be trained to remember so don't nag and tell them what to do...simply say "I told you I would remind you..." and leave the remembering to them.

Chapter 7: My habits as a Mom are very important to the training of my children...they do what I do not what I say. But make certain to ask for the Lord's help and teach children to do the same.

Chapter 8: Find children living examples of that habit or trait. Children love heroes. (Many found in good books.)

Chapter 9: Employ natural consequences and you will be most effective.

Chapter 10: Use "expectant encouragement" rather than the "evil eye". Be on your child's team.

Chapter 11: When a habit is formed, it is a delight because it will aid the child for his whole life through. But don't "let it go this one time" or you will have to retrain. A habit is a good thing...not something to be "relaxed".

Chapter 12: If the road looks long and hard...we get there one little step at a time. Pull out one weed at a time and watch the flowers grow.

Chapter 13: We all have habits. If we don't train good ones, bad ones will result.

We're working on "cleanliness" right now for about 6 weeks. No nagging only, "I told you I'd remind you." with my eye on the toothbrush drawer, the clothes on the floor or the unmade bed. So far, so good!