Posted in Homeschool

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

The Everlasting Jack-o-Lantern

If your family likes carving gourds and pumpkins in the fall (I know some families that do not celebrate Halloween that do this with a Christian poem), I got a nifty idea from a crafty friend that would be a great craft and homeschool project that can be preserved for years to come. This is an idea that will also work exceptionally well, for those tracking the projects over the years for families who traditionally do this project.

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Posted in Homeschool

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Let’s Go Fly A Kite!

Autumn can make the perfect weather for flying kites, due to the wonderful breezes it brings. We have tried a series of cheap plastic kites that have worked, to a certain degree. However, they do crash and break easily. I often feel guilty about throwing them away, and then am reluctant to purchase more, knowing we will be adding to the rubbish. This led me to look for simple kite making methods. Ones, which would re-use materials I may already have on hand, or require little cost to acquire, were where my attention was drawn. It seems that those that are more elaborate, are not only more difficult for children to assemble, but are costly as well, and almost always are constructed of materials we don’t have around the house.

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Mom, I’m Bored!

Leaf Art PART IV

This is the last installment of Leaf Art, but I have saved one of the most activities for last! This activity is not just a FUN project, but it is also a wonderful time to have your children begin making gifts for Christmas. For this project you will need to have your children collect leaves. Try to collect leaves with a variety of shapes, sizes and textures. You will also need paint and some larger rocks, aluminum cans, or cardstock, depending on what type of gift you would like to create.

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Mom, I’m Bored!

Leaf Art PART III

Here’s a very silly and FUN way to use those leaves your children gather up from outside! We are looking forward to this one, for the autumn, because the littletons are ready for something VERY silly!

Use your leaves to make little people! You can use items such as pipe cleaners, glitter, yarn, googly eyes, straws, scrap paper, scrap fabric, card stock, and popsicle sticks (if you want to turn them into puppets). Whatever odds and ends you have on hand (a GREAT way to use them up).

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Leaf Art PART II

This week we I have another CREATIVE and FUN activity to use those God created beautifious leaves that will soon be decorating many of your yards! You can make the most beautiful homemade cards with little money and LOTS of creativity, using the following process. Friends and family will adore these mementos created with love!!!

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Leaf Crafts PART I

Autumn is fast approaching. Much of the country will be experiencing the beautiful painting of the leaves, which will eventually fall upon the ground. Over the next few weeks, I will post a few crafts that we have enjoyed, and are not your typical projects. Gather these up and watch the leaves. When the time is right you will be prepared with lots of FUN for the kids!

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Mom, I’m Bored!

Encourage Your Children to Express their Creative Side

Oh how I love art and crafting. Although all my kids have their own favorite activities, I am a watercolor fan. I truly wish I had a bit more time to develop my drawing and painting skills. When I lived up north I would take the littletons to art museums often. The true beginning of this activity began for me the first time I was taken to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is my most fond museum memory, and will likely always be my favorite museum for that reason. However, living close to the city, I had the ability to visit museums often.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Help Kids Learn to Keep Track of Their Stuff AND have FUN!

Every once in a while, a cog falls out of my head, rolls across the floor, is batted by the cat (who thinks it is a toy), which is then picked up by littleton to be used as a dinner plate in her dollhouse, and then hidden from me. It is during those times that I come up with some of the wackiest, yet most FUN activities!

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Rice Trays

Sand tables are a wonderful activity for littletons, but they can be a hassle. Cleaning up those sand granules seems a never ending job. No matter how many times you use your vacuum and broom, traces of sand are always left behind. Not to mention the fact that those little granules can get under finger nails and cause havoc when littletons rub their eyes, nose, or stick their fingers in their mouths. But your children can have this same type of fun with an inexpensive little thing called rice.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Toothpick Fun

One day I was busy with my own brain spinnings, when I discovered something amazing to occupy the littletons…toothpicks. It happened quite by accident. I had left a box of toothpicks out on the counter. One of the littletons had picked up the box and transported it to another remote location in our home. The siren of silence (when the children are too quiet) rung loud in my ears and I began moving around my home to discover what was amiss. I was completely surprised to find that my littletons were playing with toothpicks! They each had a little pile of toothpicks and were taking turns making a picture out of their stash. Once the picture was made the other littleton tried to copy it. Imagine when my shock and almost disappointment that there was no mess to clean up.

This lead me to think if this would work with other simple projects. Amazingly the answer is YES! We have used toothpicks as embossing, scratch art, paint brushes, construction materials, pin prick art, and word building. Try one or more of these activities with your littletons and you too will find a great way to keep them occupied, while you take on little tasks!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored

Sidewalk Paint

A few weeks ago I posted about a great outdoor activity, chalk drawing. Recently, I discovered actually the littletons discovered) a FABULOUS new way to use chalk.

This happened quite by accident. You see it’s the rainy season here in SW FL. This means it rains almost every afternoon. One day, the kids had forgotten to bring their bucket of chalk inside. When it rained that afternoon, the bucket filled with water. The next day we went out for some drawing, only to discover the marinated chalk. I was about to dump the water out and lay the chalk on the driveway to dry in the sun, when Tessa asked if she could draw with the wet chalk. Although I thought this was going to be messy, I allowed her to try. What she produced was AMAZING!

The wet chalk sticks were not mushy or messy. But the chalk was able to be used like paint on the cement. She created drawings that were FULL of color and more elaborate than those drawn with dry chalk.

So, if you don’t have rain, consider putting some water in your chalk bucket and let it sit overnight. The next day have the kids experiment with the wet chalk on the dry cement. Your budding artists will have FUN and you will cherish the drawings!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Break Boredom AND Get Your Kids Ready for School

School time is coming for all. Whether your children attend traditional school or you are a homeschooling family you are likely getting ready to get back into education. It can be a struggle for any mom to get their children’s minds back into the academic game. Here’s an idea to break those end of summer doldrums AND get their minds back in shape for school.

Consider Legos. They are so much fun, but did you know they can be used for educational purposes?

• Legos can be used for reviewing multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division.
• Use them to make patterns.
• Anything you would normally use Cuisenaire rods for can be done with Legos because they come in blocks that have a variety of pegs on them.
• Practice sorting skills. You can sort by shape, color, or number.
• Build shapes.
• Try constructing different types of buildings such as pyramids, skyscrapers, stilt homes, etc. Ask questions that will allow your child’s attention to be drawn to the different concepts that need to be taken into account for the construction of each structure.

Want a little inspiration? Check out http://www.weirdrichard.com/unitlist.html for activities and lessons using Legos!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Do I Have a Story for You!

We are mid-summer now. The kids are getting bored if they are taking a break from school. Mom is trying to get tasks accomplished, but the kids want her attention. A great way to bridge the gap is to have a story telling time. I am not talking about reading a story. This involved the usage of the brain and your own storytelling voice.

Have the kids take turns telling (or retelling) a story that they know, created, or is from a life experience while you are working on a task that doesn’t require a lot of thinking. You will be amazed at how much fun and how quickly you get those kitchen cupboards cleaned out and re-organized while your 5 year old is telling stories. Don’t listen rotely! Interact with your kids. Ask questions. Comment on the creative parts. Have appropriate reactions, i.e. laughter, sucking in your breath during a spooky part, sighing during a frustrating scene, the ever popular, “Awww!” for those oh so adorable parts of a story, etc. You can get so much done, and your children get to practice an invaluable skill all while having TONS OF FUN! Reconnect with your kids using storytelling, and you will be creating the sweetest memories!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Hopscotch & Chalk

Have I mentioned lately how hot it is in SW Florida right now? Well, we do a lot of schooling in the summer months so we can enjoy the outside in the cooler months, because mostly we don’t like to go outside when it is so hot and humid.

One activity that we do like to go outside and partake in is drawing an playing games on the sidewalk and driveway with chalk. We play hopscotch, four squares, and draw all types of pictures, as well as obstacle courses. Why is this a great activity for us in the summer? Well it gets us outside breathing the fresh air, but it is a short time activity. We can spend a half hour outside with chalk and cement and come in feeling very refreshed at having gotten out of the house.

Take time to use short time consuming outdoor activities to break boredom for mom and kids and you will all find the inside a little less boring.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep it Together Girl!

Homeschool Organization

Homeschooling requires organization! We all know it. Some of us dream we were more organized. We have all experienced those times when we have had the opportunity to really get organized; noting how smoothly things run when we do. But how can we possibly get organized for the year without driving ourselves crazy?

Well, I am really excited to let you know the Cindy Rushton is hosting her Let's Get Organized for the New School Year seminar set!!! Even though I have been homeschooling for years, I took this seminar last year and it was THE best homeschool organizational thing I have ever done for myself. Obviously, I try to keep my life organized, as I share here with you each week simple ways to do that. But we all need refreshment, and this sure did it for me!

The best part is that when you buy a ticket, you get to have the audios to listen to all year long; providing that needed encouragement and refreshment all year long! EVEN BETTER, is that you can join the seminar live for FREE! So if budget is tight, make time to schedule this mommy time, as it will make all the difference in your homeschool year!

Still not sure? Well, then join in live tomorrow 1 pm CST (July 8, 2008) for Let's get Organized!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

1PM CST

F* R* E* E*!

Let's Get Organized for the New School Year!

Cindy Rushton from Http://www.CindyRushton.com

Talk-a-Latte Online Conference Room

(See our complete Summer Preview Chat Schedule here: http://BacktoSchoolBlast.com/)   

Scheduled Start Time:
11:00 AM Pacific Time
12:00 PM Mountain Time
1:00 PM Central Time
2:00 PM Eastern Time

How to Join Us Online in Our Conference Room...

We provide the software download-free. Here is the link:

http://www.cindyrushton.com/Conference.exe

Click to begin download or copy/paste into your internet browser and click ENTER. It will only take a few minutes to download into your computer, but you want to do it ahead of time so you don't miss a minute in the Conference Room. After it is downloaded on your computer, it will set up an icon on your desktop that says CONFERENCE. Then, you will only have to click it to open up the room. Here are your instructions from there:

When you are ready to enter, you will enter your NAME or EMAIL ADDRESS in the first blank.

Add the following information when prompted:

Name of Room: Talk-a-Latte
Password: letschat (password is case sensitive-do not enter any extra characters or spaces-password is only in effect during the actual chat) Remember...your password is different for chats and other classes. It only works for the room when the room is open for the study.

STILL NOT SURE??? Then Consider this...

No time to travel?
No extra money for hotels...parking...
and eating out?
Can't break away from your family?

No crowds!
No makeup!
No parking!
No walking for blocks and blocks!
No expensive trips or hotel stays!
No babysitters!

SO, what are you waiting for?

You can get ALL the information you need by clicking here.

Ready to join for the entire weekend? I AM! The entire set is going live July 11-12th.

I will be there tomorrow, so come hang out and gather some of the BEST info on Homeschool organization. Not only is this seminar great, but the friends I have met through the many Talk A Latte seminars I have participated in are priceless! Don't Miss this opportunity! Jump in on the Fun TODAY!

SEE you in the chat room!!! (Oh and bring a pad and pencil, b/c you ARE going to want to take notes!)

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Bean Germination

Summertime is the perfect time for a little project that is simple, yet will give the kids something to do each day for several days. All that sunlight coming through the windows is the perfect setting for a bean germination project. I am willing to guess you have all the materials you need in your home right now. Let’s check it out.

Materials

·         Zip style plastic bag (one for each child)

·         Beans of choice (one or two for each child)

·         Paper towels

·         Water

·         Tape

·         Stapler

See, I told you had everything you need. Now, let’s look at how to do this simple project.

1.      Soak beans in a small cup with some water for 24 hours.

2.      The next day, dampen paper towel and fold in half. Place bean(s) inside fold of paper towel.

3.      Place paper towel in bag and staple the top, so it doesn’t slip down. Seal bag.

4.      Have child pick a window and tape bag to window pane.

5.      Each day have child observe the changes in the bean(s). Have them write a few words or sentences (or have child dictate while you transcribe) about each day. Take photos each day or have your children draw pictures to note the changes they observe. Once the sprouts begin growing, change the direction of the bag and re-tape to the window pane and observe how the sprout changes.

You can ask some great thinking questions such as:

Why does the sprout grow upward?

Did changing the direction of the bag affect the direction of the sprout?

Why does the bag need to be in the light?

Why is the water an important element?

Does the root change in as it grows?

Have fun with this GREAT summertime activity.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Box O Stuff

Due to the fact that I try to keep the amount of our rubbish down, I find that I save things for something. What that something is, I know not when I save it. But I know I will use it sometime in the future. This is great thinking, except how much stuff can you store that has no intended purpose?

To tackle this issue, I grabbed a box. Nothing fancy, just one of the apple boxes laying around my stuff holding garage. Inside I began placing these gems that had no purpose. About once per week, I place the box out on the craft table, open it, and say, “Have Fun!” This keeps the kids busy for a few hours! They come up with all types of projects. One child inevitably makes art projects, while another leans towards building. Still another devises ways to use the stuff to “add on” to his existing toys.

This activity is a boredom buster because I have new items from the “I’ll Use It Someday Area.” Within a few hours the items are used and the box is empty for the next week. Anything that gets crushed or destroyed does go to the rubbish bin. But art, buildings, toys, and the like hang around and are played with for time to come. My children are aware that they need to be able to put their new creations in an organized place. This helps them keep in mind that they will need to store their new creations after they have been made. Not only that, but my kids are entertained for a good stretch of time, which affords me the opportunity to catch up on tasks, too! Engage your children’s brains, create lovely memories, and accomplish something too!

These are my thoughts.

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Mom, I’m Bored!

Simple Kitchen Math

At our home, cooking is the thing! I do most of the cooking, but I always have helpers. Long ago I learned the blessing of using pizza to teach simple fractions. The only problem with it was that the pizza was gone so quickly, we did not have a lot of opportunity to continually reinforce the concept. This got me thinking of ways I we could use the kitchen for simple math, which could be used time and time again in the same day. The challenge was in finding an element of simplicity, to keep the cooking FUN!

You will want to keep the children who understand fractions adding by doubling, tripling, and quadrupling recipes. However, you can teach a LOT of math in a simple method with a variety of final products from your kitchen. Consider using cookies to begin teaching about fractions. A cookie is easily cut into halves, thirds, and quarters. For this reason, each child can be given 3 cookies to repeat each concept three times. Do this every day for a week at different levels. The first day you will explain what ½ is and cut the cookie in half. Younger children can cut their own cookies with a plastic knife and a bit of supervision. Day 2 have the cookies cut in half on a paper towel before handing them to the children. As anyone if they notice something different. How many halves would they need to make one whole cookie? If they had three cookies (6 halves need to be pushed together to “make” 3 whole cookies) and gave 1 ½ cookies away, how many would be left. Day 3, allow children to cut their cookies in half and have them explain what ½ means. Day 4, explain to children that the fraction ½ also represents the mathematical equation 1 divided by 2 (do this by equally dividing the cookie in two). Day 5 ask the children some thought questions such as, “Can you bake I/2 a cookie?”

One fun thing about this simple form of kitchen math lessons is that you don’t have to stick with round items. You can use whole fruit, slices of bread, brownies, a specific number of raisins or grapes in a bowl, celery sticks, etc. Your options are only limited by your imagination. One of our children self taught himself the concept of addition and subtraction while listening to me give a lesson to another child in the kitchen! Life is too short to miss out on these opportunities that your children will remember forever!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Encourage the Artist and Author in YOUR Kids

One of the most rewarding projects that our littletons enjoy is writing and illustrating their own books. Before you get anxious about the amount of work involved for mom, hang on. This is an idea that combines notebooking, lapbooking, and old fashioned productive free time! Productive Free Time is that time of the day when your children are working on an activity that they can orchestrate on their own and provides learning opportunities at the same time.

You don’t need much to get this started. I would guess you probably have all the supplies you will need in your home RIGHT NOW! Each day ask your kids to “write” a piece of a story. For example, you could have them write a book about Creation. It can be as simple as seven pages, or it can be more complex. Be sure to gear this towards your children’s ability levels. You could have them draw a picture for each day of creation and then let them write their own words. If your children are pre-writers, you will need to take 2 minutes or so to transcribe their words. At the end of the project, have the children design a cover. They can even design and About the Author page! Once all the pages are completed, have the children place their papers in a report cover or in page protectors and a thin binder.

You can use a variety of topics or let the children develop their own topic for stories and information. If you notice that your child leans towards writing fiction, occasionally have him/her write a work of non-fiction; and vice versa. All types of materials can be sued to make these pages: scrap paper, ribbons, fabric, markers, stickers, colored pencils, paint, glitter, etc. Let your child determine what mediums he/she would like to use. It is important that the author & illustrator have creative control over their project. Remember this is your child’s project.

Start with small projects. Once your children begin to complete books, they will be so encouraged at their accomplishments; they will be inspired to continue. Hearing your children say, “I am an author and & illustrator,” will be moms’ reward.

These are my thoughts.

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Posted in Homeschool

Today, I have to post an AWESOME resource for everyone! Homeschool Radio Shows is offering a Freebie EVERYDAY!

There are NO strings attached! Not one! SO, What are you waiting for?

Check Out the Erskine Family's Homeschool Freebie of the Day (http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/)

ENJOY!

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