Living History

Have you ever been to a bridal shower and had to wrap somebody in toilet paper to create a dress?  Me too!  So, when I read about making mummies, this is what I pictured.  Well, when you are dealing with 7 & 8 year olds, it doesn't alway turn out the way you have pictured in your mind.  LOL!  But you know what?  We had fun, no matter what!

I love to make history come to life.  I don't remember doing this in school, EVER!  I remember history being B-O-R-I-N-G!  But, when you bring it to life it embeds history in your mind and you don't forget it (like I did).

So, off we went into the boys room and they picked out the stuffed animal they wanted to mummify.  The first animal my youngest boy wanted to mummify was a whale.  I was like, ummmm no.  That would take all of the toilet paper we have in the house.  LOL!  They then chose small animals to mummify.  Shphew!

Here are the result of the mummification of stuffed animals.

Yes, I have a mess in our office/classroom.  I'm getting ready for a yard sale, but its has rained every weekend this summer, so this stuff is just sitting there.....

Yes, it is 90 degrees outside and my youngest has on long sleeves.  I'm allowing them to pick out their own clothes these days and so we are experimenting with what matched and what doesn't.

Yes, we used A LOT of toilet paper.  But you know what?  The frugal mom in me made them pick it all up and put it in a basket and they had to use it every time the went to the bathroom until it was all gone.  LOL! 

Back to history, I LOVE how Mystery of History has an activity after every lesson.  It really brings history to life for everybody!

I hope this gives you some ideas as to how to bring history to life for your kids!

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

How Is This Comfortable?????

I mean really????  I am not complaining though.  Do you see what he is doing?  HE'S READING!!!!!  My little guy hates anything school, so when he stops and reads on his own, I am ecstatic!

To make it fair, here is my Big guy being studious! 

I love how different they are.  They may only be 13 months apart, but they are like night and day in every aspect of life.

Have a great day!
Sherie

Classroom update!

Classroom update!

 

Well, it’s been a week or so since I wrote about our classroom.  We haven’t done a ton of changes, but we have added new chairs.  Office Depot had these cool chairs on sale for $59.99 each, so we hopped on that sale and got 2.  We got the same color, so there would be NO fighting.  Ha-ha!  Yea, I know I am wishfully thinking.

 

 

I just want everybody out there to know, you don’t have to go out and spend a fortune to set up a “classroom”.  Honestly, I had planned on doing just that.  I had a picture in my head that our school was going to look like a school.  Then, I kept putting things off and putting things off until finally the Lord made it clear in my head how things should REALLY be set up.  We moved desks that we already owned into my office.  I mean, I have a huge room that I was using for my office and only had 1 desk in the room.  I had plenty of room to share with my kids.  And why not show them that sharing is good.  Because I am sharing my office, they will get to keep their playroom.  And why do my walls have to be filled with bulletin boards and chalkboards, and whiteboards like a school room?  They don’t!  We have made the conscious decision to school at HOME, so let’s keep it looking like a home!

 

I hope this encourages some new homeschoolers and maybe even some practiced homeschoolers in the realms of your “classroom”.  As long as they have a place to do their work, that is all you need. 

Before I had this epiphany, we were holding school in the kitchen.  And actually, I kind of miss that…… kind of.  I was able to do dishes while the boys were doing their worksheets.  I was able to plan dinner while they were doing their busy work.  I was able to wash clothes and dry them as soon as the washer or dryer went off.

But, you know what?  Even though I was able to do all that stuff, we needed a place to be able to leave out our books and such.  I had to pack up all of our school books and “stuff” every afternoon, just so I could cook dinner.  Lunch was a nightmare.  I would have to prepare lunch on the dinner table, instead of the island.  I mean, we were making it.  But, this is much more comfortable.

I’m still in the process of organizing the room like I want, so stay tuned and see where God leads us!

 

God Bless You ALL!

Sherie

A Classroom in progress

And so it begins...........................................

I have been asking (ok, nagging) my husband for a few weeks to change out the playroom and make it into a school room.  Then, I read somewhere that one of the reasons we chose to school at home because we didn't want our kids to be stuck in a schoolroom all day. 

After that, I had an epiphany.  Why do I need an office all to myself?  I can share, right?  I mean, I teach my boys to share...... well, I try to teach my boys to share, they are 7 & 8.  I mean, sharing to them is once they get in trouble for not sharing, they throw whatever it might be at the other brother.  OK, that is sharing to them.  So, I need to share myself and be a good example.

So, last week, I moved my desk to the front corner of my office (I'm not showing a picture of my desk because it is a disaster!)

And, yesterday we absolutely tore my office up AND the playroom and moved two more desks into my office and created a "schoolroom" and office all in one.  I could not do school in the kitchen one more day.  I had ran out of counter space to do any prepare things to cook.  Well, the desks look good, but the rest of the room is a disaster and the playroom is still a disaster. 

Slowly, but surely, I will get it all put back together. 

I have a bunch of decorating stuff on the floor of my office.  I need to have a yard sale to get rid of all of it.  But, that will have to wait.  It seems I live in Florida, the state that USED to be known as The Sunshine State.  Yea, it should now be known as the wet, rainy state.  You only THOUGHT that was Washington State.  NOPE!  if you want rain, thunder, lightening, wind, we've got you covered.

And about the cooking, I actually slow cooked a ham in one crockpot and slow cooked dinner in another.  Something, I could not do last week with all of the school books piled up on my counters.  YAY! 

God Bless you!
Sherie