I am so excited for today’s tour as I have been wondering how other moms began their homeschool year this last week. I think you’ll be just as excited as I am when you take this tour!

First of all, I am so happy to see how Mandy made their First Day Extra Special. Wish I would have done the same!

Miss Monica June had a very special first week of school. She created a craft for the little ones and guides you step by step in her article.

Next let’s give a very warm welcome to a new homeschooling mom who has just begun her very first year. She’s an army wife of two and is thrilled to be her son’s teacher this year.

Now Nikowa shares a very fun lesson that they learned in their everyday living. That’s just how life ought to be. Every moment should be seen as a teaching time.

If you’re wondering about a center piece for your education table then come by and see what Laurie made for hers.

Are you like Sophia in wondering where your books are? Have they not arrived yet? Come see how she improvised for her first day of school.

Discouraged about your child’s interest in learning? Be patient. See what a homeschool miracle Kelly has to share about her son not wanting to read.

First day of homeschooling end in a shambles? Get a pick me up lesson from Finally Living Deliberately.

Afraid to begin the year thinking you’ll be alone? Start a homeschool group! The Homeschool Classroom’s Veronica Maria(The Pixelated Mum), shares their tips on how to get one started.

Thanks for joining us on our Tuesday Tour! If you have a ‘First Day of School’ post you’d like to share, simply share your link in the comment box below. :O)

Recently my family was in a room of people when a person we adore stood up and said that a mom should not be educating her own children at home. He said that that if we don’t properly teach them that they might as well teach them from the back of a cereal box. He acclaimed himself to have gone through eight years of college to learn to educate children and that if a mom is going to homeschool that she should go back to school first.

I can’t tell you how that hit the pit of my stomach. My sixteen year old daughter had tears in her eyes as she looked over to another homeschool girl we know, and she was also crying. After this meeting, these two girls joined together in prayer and asked the Lord to help them be a beacon of light as homeschoolers so that these people can see what good homeschooling does for a child’s life and for the family as a whole.

These girls had much more grace and love in their response than I did.

Sigh*

I just really wanted to get up and walk out, but they’re right. We do need to take those critical opportunities and rise to the occasion of being a great example of a homeschooling family. Let’s not get bent out of shape because someone has a bad taste in their mouths about homeschooling. Let’s show them by our example, that homeschooling is the best choice for us!

Moms: Titus chapter two talks about the women teaching other women. How else is a mom going to know how to home educate than to learn how. Who will teach her? The local community colleges and universities don’t offer classes on how to home educate. It’s not the same as teaching en entire class the same subjects. We have multiple aged children with varying interests and strengths. Homeschooling moms don’t just ‘wing it’ when it comes to educating our children. We study, pray, and research every possible way to get a topic to sink into the minds of our little ones.

We have less support than most traditional educators and yet we do all we can to encourage ourselves in the Lord, as King David did. Not everyone is going to support your homeschooling efforts. We need to find ways to encourage ourselves and really dig into the homeschooling community across this world. We do have a voice, but our voices won’t speak as loud as our actions can.

Reach out to other moms and teach them how to homeschool. We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel, and being a mother who takes on the education of her children should not be something we need to be embarrassed of.

Teens: Be proud of the heritage that your family is handing down to your generation. Take in everything your parents are giving you and seek to do the same for your future children. Show by example that you can be gracious when dealing with negative comments and be a beacon of homeschooling to your community. Support your fellow homeschool friends and pray that the homeschooling community can show by their actions that what you’re doing at home is worth it all.

We need to pass down this heritage of homeschooling to the future generations.

An online homeschooling publication for ladies who desire to please the Lord in what they write. Stop by today and submit an article for Growing in Grace Magazine.

Today I’m interviewing last year’s Best Artistic Content winner, Breezy Tulip @ A Bowl Of Moss & Pebbles. Since the awards, I’ve personally had the pleasure of meeting Miss Breezy and getting to know what a sweet, kind, artistic young lady she is! I hope you will stay awhile to get to know her and then check out her fabulous blog!

Tell us a little bit about your family. Share a photo of your family.

We started homeschooling eleven years ago, after my mom and dad pulled me out of the first grade. Neither of my parents were raised in Christian families, but when God saved both of them there were some big changes in their lives, including being called to homeschool Emily (my younger sister) and I. My Dad is a carpenter and my Mom is a passionate homemaker. We attend a small family-integrated Reformed Baptist church and like to have large cookouts in our back yard.

You have only one sister… tell us about your relationship with her.

Emily and I are best friends. Since we are only 22 mo apart, much of our school subjects are done together. We enjoy hand sewing, decoupaging, embroidery, and many other things. She’s also a great graphic designer, knows all about the computer and html, etc. And I’m into art, drawing, and painting, so there’s a lot we can collaborate on together outside of “school.”

Tell us about your homestead. Where is your favourite place to relax?

We own five acres of land, right outside the city limits. We have the convenience of being close to everything, but also have the country feeling, being surrounded by fields and fields of corn and soybeans. In our back yard there’s an enormous pin oak that we all like to sit under. Sitting on the swings under the oak while facing the vast fields with the wind on my face is the most delightfully relaxing place on our homestead.

You won Best Artistic Content Blog for your artistic drawing skills. How long have you been drawing? Were you always good at it? Did you ever take art lessons?

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing. For a while (when I was about 7 to 10 years old) I was sure I was going to be a cartoonist. I lacked many skills, and when I decided on illustrating books, I realized how miserably I fell short.

I have taken some drawing lessons and watercolor lessons. The librarians at our local library know me as the girl who is always checking out art books.

Can you share your favourite drawing?

I don’t know if I have one! Well, there was one I drew last winter while I was trying to come up with a story about a little boy who goes on an adventure. He meets a creature, an old forest-dweller named Grunimy Sneed. I ended up liking the picture more than the story.

Has being homeschooled allowed you to spend more time drawing?

When I was in the first grade (in public school) my teacher was concerned about the fact that I was constantly doodling. Now I can doodle all the time - while Mom is reading out loud, if I want to embellish History notes, etc. It also comes in handy when I can’t figure out or memorize a concept in science. I’ll draw it out over and over until I get it. And no one looks at me weird! My teacher sees it as very healthy.

What do you want to do with your talents and do you feel God is leading you in any certain directions with them?

I strongly feel God calling me to illustrate children’s books. It’s been a passion of mine for quite some time, and He’s been opening doors for me. It’s a job most people do from home, so I would be able to be a homemaker and illustrator.

What does a typical day look like in your home? Is there a routine you follow daily?

Emily and I get up before Dad leaves for work so he can pray with us at the beginning of our day. Showers, quiet time and breakfast follow, and when we’re “in school,” various subjects fall before lunch and after lunch, including History, geometry, science, and English. And Art. Plenty of time for that. And then blogging. Then in the evenings after dinner we have family worship.

Do you have a separate room where you draw or where you keep your supplies? Care to share a photo?
Most of my drawing supplies are in the dining room, along with two computers, two china cabinets, lots of book cases, and a huge table. My drawing table faces the east window where I can get lots of natural light.

How long have you been blogging?

It’s been a year and a half now. The first six months Emily and I shared a Blogspot blog. Last July Mom and Dad let us get our own HSB accounts.

What are your favourite topics to blog about?

I enjoy blogging about what I’ve learned lately. I don’t do that often enough, but it’s easiest to squeeze my humor into it. And then if I’ve drawn something nice, I like to share it.

How much time would you guess you spend on blogging during a typical week?

That varies. In a typical week, perhaps 2-5 hours.

What are some good things that blogging has brought into your life?

I have met many like-minded people that I wasn’t sure were out there. I’ve been able to record some of the going-ons in my life, as well as display some of my work. Actually, that’s how I “met” Mrs. Novak. When she saw some of my work she asked me to do a two-page for her magazine. Those are only a few of the blessings that I’ve discovered.

Have there been pitfalls?

Oh, yes! Too many times I’ll find myself reading blogs and blog-hopping for hours on end, wasting time that I was supposed to spend on studying. And I’m very bad at returning comments. But it’s been an overall good experience.

Do you have a place on the web where people can find your drawings or learn how to draw themselves?

I recently started a blog called “The Drawing Blog.” Just about every weekend I post a drawing lesson. I also post my drawings on both “A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles” and “The Drawing Blog.” You can find “The Drawing Blog” here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/thedrawingblog

Thank you Miss Breezy for sharing a little about yourself! I know I enjoyed it and I hope others did too! May God bless you as you follow his leading. I’m sure we’ll be seeing children’s books by Miss BreezyTulips in bookstores soon! You have a wonderful talent!

School has ended for almost everyone and summer has begun! It may seem that since you don’t have school anymore, you will have plenty of free time… yeah right! I don’t know that there is plenty of free time for homeschool moms. During the summer months you don’t want your children to stop learning because they are out of school. Our homeschool schools through the summer. Although we don’t get our workbooks out, we still use everyday lessons to learn and gain understanding or a new concept. One thing that we absolutely love to do is reading!

So let’s talk about summer reading. Summer is a great time to get a list of books you want to read. I have 7 younger siblings of all ages, so I get quite a few different books from the library for them.
Some of the ones that the 11yo and 8yo are going to read are:

The Little House on the Prairie Series
The Kingdom Series

We also have a 14yo and she is going to read:

Anne of Green Gables

Our 17yo is not a big reader, but she has just finished:

The Bridge to Terabithia

I am the avid reader here, and my list is pretty long, but the specific ones I am looking forward to reading are:

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (almost finished with)
Rosa of Linden Castle by Christoph von Schmid
The Cross and The Switchblade by Dave Wilkerson
Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz
The Infinite Day by Chris Walley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss (for the fourth time)

There are a few reading programs online that I have found that you can join for the summer.
TOS’s Summer Reading Splash . TOS wants to help make reading fun this summer! Splish the Frog will be around too. The site says:

“Each week, here on our blog, we will be posting a new topic question.  We’d like you to think about these and then e-mail your answers to us by clicking here.  E-mailing your answers is much safer than leaving a comment.  If you have your own e-mail address, that’s fine;  if not, have your mom or dad e-mail your answer to us.  Each Friday we will have a drawing and we’ll be giving away some fantastic books (and series of books)!  Also, we may pick YOUR answer to post here on our blog- just for fun! You’ll want to check out our Summer Reading Splash webpage also- here you’ll have access to downloading our log sheets.  We will have one for younger children and one for older children available.  Please, please, please keep track of ALL the books you read.  At the end of the program, we’ll have a special prize for those of you who turn in your reading logs (more details to come!)”

HSB Literary Club is also continuing reading through the summer. Currently we have just started reading Rosa of Linden Castle by Christoph von Schmid and are very behind on our schedule because the moderators went on vacation! Now they are back and ready to get started again.

Don’t let summer put learning on hold! That’s why we homeschool. To have freedom to learn the way we want. Reading is an excellent way to learn about everything.
Another thing you can do after you read the book is blog about. Write a review and blog about it. Blogging is a great way not only to share books with other homeschoolers, but also to never let the learning stop!

What are some of the books you are reading? What about your children? Have they made up lists of books they want to read?

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The NBA is preparing to hold their Draft Pick on June 26th in New York City. Many teen guys and their dads, even some girls and their mothers, place the Draft date on their calendars in the excitement of seeing who their favorite team will be choosing. The Coaches need to select players that can help meet the needs of the entire team. In Basketball they may need to draft a ’shooter’ like Sasha Vujacic for their offensive team so they can score points. On the other hand, the coaches may decide to strategically select a defensive player like Ronny Turiaf, who can prevent the other team from scoring points.

As parents, we have the responsibility of drafting in key players in our teens lives in order to help train them to be a balanced individual with skill, character, and academic excellence. These players are designed to support the morals and high standards that God would want our children to have. Each person in the lives of our children help to form them into the adult they will some day be. Our teens thoughts, opinions, and philosophies are formed in their minds and souls by the people they are around, the books and blogs that they read, and even the music they listen to.

If Sasha Vujacic choses to fill his body with unhealthy foods, never exercise, and spend time in the bars, he isn’t going to be much good to his team members. However, if he eats right, works out each day, and spends his time wisely studying the play book, he will be more equipped when it comes to game day. We can view the moves our opponent makes, but spending too much time studying their moves and not enough time studying our own plan, we can easily become distracted from the main objective. We can learn how not to play the game, but if we invested more time in the fundamentals of the game and work hard at improving our skills and memorizing that play book, then we’ll all end up being the best player we can be.

If I tried to be a Sprittibee or a Jacque Dixon, I’ll never be any better than second best. But I can be the best Sisterlisa I can be as I spend time in my own play book. Each homeschool family has a different set of needs, goals, and desires, so some of the strategies won’t be the same. Yet, as we use the same play book, we can learn the basic fundamentals needed to insure that each of our team members gets the best guidance in making decisions for their game day.

Here are the top 5 plays our family makes in our game.

1. Pray. In order to have an open relationship with the Lord, we need to talk to Him everyday. Schedule time to pray as individuals and as a family.

2. We read the Bible. Even children as young as 3 can read the Bible. Even if they can’t pronounce words yet, they can identify letters. Each child should have a Bible reading

schedule suited to their abilities.

3. Meet with other believers. It’s important to meet regularly with other believers who will support your values and your relationship with the Lord. Some people have good solid churches they can be a member of, while others may have a small country home church. Wherever you meet with fellow believers, be faithful and help to meet the needs of the entire team.

4. Share your faith. If you don’t have a church, you can still reach souls for Christ. Many Christian book stores have Gospel tracts that you can invest in and are very affordable. Hand them out to people you come in contact with each day. The cashier at the store, the bank teller, even mailing them in when you pay bills helps to reach a lost soul.

5. Apply what we know. It’s one thing to just become knowledgeable in a subject, but it’s a whole other ball of wax to be able to apply it. We know that we should read our Bible, so be sure to read it. We know that we should go to church, so be sure to go. We need to reach the lost, so reach out. Be sure that you spend time in communication with God, and He will give you His power to live each day as a vessel that will bring Glory the Most High God.

These are the basic fundamentals that each game player should not only know how to do, but is in practice using these fundamentals each and every day. Be wise when you seek players that help you to meet these needs in the lives of your team. Be sure you’re selecting the best in the draft!

Photography is such a fun hobby and in our home we consider this digital visual art. We use a digital camera and spend a few days a week walking through our neighborhood and local parks taking advantage of the beautiful world God gave us. I used to make photo invitations and announcements for friends and family, but I kept running into the copyright law with some of my clients photographers. That’s when I decided it was time for me to learn on my own.

I found BetterPhoto.com and started reading through their message board to learn more about how to get my shots to look more professional. Then I became a bit more brave and decided it was time to attempt their free contest. I began uploading and entering one photo a day into their contest, which has several categories to choose from.

It was so encouraging to see people commenting on my photos! The support and encouragement from the other photographers was awesome. Some are professionals, others simply hobbyists having fun like I was. My daughter, Moni, became interested as well and we opened her an account so she could enter her work as well. We were both so excited when we both received several Editor’s Picks and even placed in the next round as Finalists.

When we began to homeschool, we incorporated photography into our ‘art studies’ and I saw Moni soar in her talent! We decided to open our own Homeschool Photography Club at BetterPhoto.com so that parents and children together can explore photography in a safe environment. We’d love to have you join us at Home School Photo, so come on by and open your free account at BetterPhoto.com and request to join us.

Now on to my Foto for this Friday, I took this shot last summer as we were enjoying a drive through the orchard neighborhoods just outside of town.

I used the standard setting on my digital camera with a flash at a distance and I was even sitting in the driver’s seat when I took this shot out the passenger window.

Tips:

-Read your camera’s owners manual. If you lost it you can try your camera brand’s website to see if it’s available online or call their 1-800 number to get one.

-Take shots of the same subjects in morning light and sunset light. For ex: a flower in your yard. You’ll get different effects from the different times of day.

Vocabulary:

Aperature: an opening, usually circular, that limits the quantity of light that can enter an optical instrument.

Focus: the position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an optical device necessary to produce a clear image.

Macro: excessively developed.

Fun Assignment:

Some cameras have a macro setting which is usually indicated by a small tulip or flower icon. When you use this setting you can focus in on an object and while the object becomes crisp, the background will be out of focus. Practice using this setting and use your zoom to come in and out on the object until you get your desired effect. Then try the same shot on your standard setting, without using macro or zoom. Compare your photos and you’ll see the difference.

We’d love to see what your findings so be sure and come back to let us know. You can post your assignment on your blog and bring us the link.

You can view some of our fun photos here:

Dawn

Sprittibee

Sisterlisa

Miss Amanda

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