10 Favorite Spring and Summer Pictures Books

Today I'm blogging over at The Homeschool Classroom about our favorite Spring and Summer Picture Books.  Click over and let me know what you think, what are your favorites?

Carnival of Homeschooling :: If I Had a Million Dollars

I'm excited to be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling this week.  As always a great selection of homeschool encouragement, new ideas, and tips to make your days more productive and enjoyable.

There's nothing like a few days away from the normal hustle and bustle of family life to get some perspective.  While we were away last week enjoying the sun and some quiet time by the pool, we had time for many good conversations.  Normally when we are talking "career", we are talking about my husband's career, not my career of stay-at-home, homeschooling mom.  

During one of our many conversations, I mentioned that a few friends had recently re-entered the work force after being home and caring for young children for several years.  I made the comment that it just didn't seem appealing to me, going back to work, and that even if I didn't homeschool I wouldn't be putting together my resume any time soon.  My husband responded that's because I was born to do exactly what I was doing, and that if I won a million dollars I wouldn't stop doing what we were doing.  He is absolutely correct.

Certainly everyday is not perfect, we have our share of rotten days when nothing goes right, everyone is mis-behaving {even the teacher!}, but if I was suddenly gifted a great sum of money life really wouldn't be all that different.  Oh, I would definitely hire a cleaning service and maybe a math tutor, and our field trips would most definitely become a bit more extravagant - shall we follow the route of Lewis and Clark for a few weeks? - but all in all we would keep on keeping on with this wonderful gift of home education.

Enjoy this week's carnival!

Nuts and Bolts

Mary finds a way to make fractions fun at Homegrown Learners, chocolate anyone?

A great wrap up of a busy homeschool day at A Net in Time

Virtually Tour the Sistine Chapel with Annie Kate's Homeschool Reviews, someday I'd like to see the real thing!

A Pilgrim's Heart has a blog post with many resources for British History: From William Rufus to the Magna Carta

Nancy presents some excellent reasons for making poetry part of the day  Intellectual Culture - Poetry posted at Sage Parnassus  

A great example of how to use picture study in your day with Artist and Picture Study - Grandma Moses at Harvest Moon by Hand

Home School vs Public School


The Economic Impact of Homeschooling and Public School, how moving can impact your child, is discussed at Homeschool vs Public School 


An interview with homschooled kids about public school at Homeschooling Atheist Momma Blog

Alasandra presents Liberals please homeschool your kids posted at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog Awards.


Henry, at Why Homeschool, shares some thoughts about a Canadian bill which will control what homeschooling parents can teach their own children, with The Nose into the Tent.


Linda Dobson presents Entering the Fray: The Homeschooling Is Undemocratic Myth posted at PARENT AT THE HELM


Family Life


Barbara, at Barbara Frank Online, gives some excellent reasons we should be sure to teach our children basic skills like cooking and gardening, along with algebra and diagraming sentences.


Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents Librarian's Picks - The Organic Family Cookbook: Growing, Greening and Cooking Together - this one is going on my wish list!


The Legacy of Home has a great post about Building a Strong Work Ethic in Children


An ode to single parent homeschoolers at Home Spun Juggling, not a task for the faint of heart for sure.

Kat at No Fighting, No Biting writes about a mid winter break leading to Renewed Energy in her homeschool.

Pamela Jorrick presents A Moment To Yourself posted at Blah, Blah, Blog, 

Charles Chua C K presents All About Living With Life: 7 Psychological Needs of Children posted at All About Living with Life.

Laura Grace Weldon presents The Boy With No Toys posted at Laura Grace Weldon, saying, "Is a childhood richer and more full of direct learning when a child grows up without toys?"

Carol J. Alexander presents 11 Year Old Builds Chicken Run posted at Lessons from the Homestead.

Science

Katie Hellerman presents A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Forensic Science: What Happens at a Crime Scene? posted atForensic Science Degree.


Tiger's Mum presents Cosmetic Chemistry posted at The Tiger Chronicle.

On the lighter side...

A very cute post about Psalm 23 for Homeschoolers at 7 Sisters Homeschool

A cute Valentine's Day craft at A Little Homeschool Blog, but would work equally well as a Mother's Day craft too.


Dewey's Treehouse has a cute video clip from the old tv show Bewitched.  Thankfully we've come a long way!  Would you let this woman in your living room?


Irene Beckerr presents 25 Fascinating Facts About Former U.S. Presidents posted at Masters in History.

WUTW :: Back in the Groove ~ 2/24/2012

I’m linking up with the Homeschool Mother’s Journal

 

In my life this week…life is getting back to normal  

In our homeschool this week…we finally got back to the books on Wednesday.  We are thoroughly enjoying the Paths of Exploration unit on Lewis & Clark.  I really had no idea that their exploration involved so much natural history discovery.  

We have also added Latin and an Introduction to Classical Studies to our day.  I have to say the kids are really loving Latin so far, as in it’s their “favorite part of the day” at dinner.  I’m extremely impressed with the offerings at Memoria Press.  So impressed that I think we are going to go with the whole kit and caboodle for some of the kids for next year.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…Next Tuesday I’m hosting the Homeschool Carnival on my blog.  Please consider submitting a post { carnival of homeschooling @ gmail.com }for the carnival and be sure to come back and have a read.  Lots of great ideas and encouragement.

 

I am inspired by…other homeschooling moms

My favorite thing this week was…Lent always seems to arrive at just the right time.  

Lenten Calendar is from Catholic Icing

Questions/thoughts I have…we are planning a trip to Florida next winter, specifically to see Lego Land.  Any tips or suggestions for Lego Land?  We are renting a home on the beach, which sounds very extravagant, but when you have more than a couple of kids it really is the most economical and efficient way to travel.  We can eat a majority of our meals at home and still take advantage of all the fun that vacation has to offer.

I’m reading…I read Life of Pi on vacation and started The Forgotten Garden, both are very different books, but very interesting.  For Lent I’m reading The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is free right now for the Kindle edition.

I’m cooking…no desserts!  At least not this week.  We’re trying to get back into the healthy eating groove after a week of indulging.

I’m grateful for…an awesome vacation.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…a few vacation photos...

at our favorite place to eat, RC Otter's on Captiva Island

back at our favorite spot for breakfast before we left!

at our hotel

it was an extremely relaxing trip and we were so appreciative of the time together.

Lenten Resources

Okay, today is the day you can read my post over at The Homeschool Village!  I had my dates mixed up, I fully blame it on vacation brain.

I wrote about Lent being a great time to de-clutter, both physically and spiritually.  If you are looking for more motivation to get rid of clutter during Lent, head over to My Little Flower, where Gardenia shares a great article to follow for each day of Lent.

Here are some other Lenten resources from some of my favorite bloggers:

Reasons for Chocolate

Family at the Foot of the Cross {I ordered Amon's Adventure to read with the kids, there is a Kindle verson!}

Catholic Baby Steps

Catholic Cuisine - Lots of delicious looking meatless recipes as well as other meals

Three Sided Wheel - Printable for 40 bags in 40 days

Do you do anything special on Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday?  We are eating Paczki this morning - calories don't count on Fat Tuesday right??!

I will post a bit about our Lenten plans later in the week, we are using this Lent to focus on Random Acts of Kindness in our family.  Have a blessed Lent!