The kids really like to hang around the pond, doing all sorts of things. I have always loved it myself! I was a girl when my family moved in next door, and back then, the pond was a lot bigger and deeper – and just gorgeous. Since then, it’s had muskrat damage, causing leaking through

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Whatever Floats Your Boat

The kids really like to hang around the pond, doing all sorts of things. I have always loved it myself! I was a girl when my family moved in next door, and back then, the pond was a lot bigger and deeper – and just gorgeous. Since then, it’s had muskrat damage, causing leaking through the pond dam. It’s been a challenge to keep it full all through the heat of our summer times. Nonetheless, it’s still lovely to have. So the children will skip rocks on it, watch the ducks swim, dream about swimming in it themselves [I've actually never let them because it has cooters in it. Know what those are?]. Lately we have been talking a lot about boats and what causes them to float in the water. ‘Tis a lovely lesson on buoyancy.

Things to discuss with your kiddos: buoyancy, displacement,wind and sailing, boat materials, construction, stable equilibrium

Experiment: build boats made out of various household materials [food containers, cups, etc.] and see which ones float/sail the best and worst; Try adding different weights [coins, pine combs, wood blocks, etc.] in the boats and see how they fare; Make sails from different materials and in different shapes to see if there is any difference in the boat’s function

We are still experimenting with our boats. We’ve had successes and failures, and I want the kids to be able to determine on their own what works and what doesn’t, and to be able to explain why.

For the youngest, it’s all pure fun! For the older ones, it’s fun science! For the ducks, well – we were just in their way~!

To get some ideas on making your own boats, visit the tutorials here at Create-Kids-Crafts!

The boys were playing with a soft baby toy. It’s a smiley happy turkey

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Teaching Boys to Sew I recently shared this online via Twitter/FB and wanted to expound a teeny bit more here. Our oldest son, Ethan, just turned 10 back in January. So, I gave him the gift of sewing by hand. Here’s how it all came about:

The boys were playing with a soft baby toy. It’s a smiley happy turkey leg that I bought from an Etsy seller a couple of years ago when Sarie was teeny. Ain’t it cute? It’s uber soft – and has jingle bells in the end of it. A smiling turkey leg that jingles is the perfect gift for a baby. Do you not agree?

It was probably a year ago that the boys last had out this same toy – playing with it the same way – and split the seam on one side. I sewed it back up then, but warned them that if they ever messed it up again, they would be the ones making the proper repairs. So here we are. Deja vu. Ethan was bopping Nolan on the head with it furiously [but seriously, how violent can you be with a soft turkey leg?] – and I saw the ripped seam. “Let’s go, buddy! Me and you – to the sewing room!”

I can not sit here and tell you that he was excited to learn how to hand sew. I refuse to tell you about any grumbly, mumbly stuff or poochy lip diseases. But I WILL tell you that in the end, he had a huge smile on his face – excited to have learned something new – something useful – to have repaired his damage – and to have done a pretty decent job well done! It’s in times like these that I remind him that he needs to know this stuff. Sewing is a basic life skill that many people do not possess, so he will be several steps ahead of the game. Also, his future wife will get a kick out of having a hubby that knows how to do all KINDS of stuff when it needs to be done! Who wouldn’t love to be married to man that can sew when he needs or wants to? Or cook? Or clean house? Or – <gasp!> – fold a FITTED SHEET neatly??? Seriously essential to survival. And Ethan is collecting all these things under his belt [so will the other kiddos!].

By the way, Ethan did a good job of hand sewing, but he IS still a boy! So…take a look at this picture he had to doodle real quick of the whole thing afterwards.

Apparently, it was an epic battle…but he prevailed~!!

As a young girl, I taught myself how to play the piano by ear.

My Uncle Danny had bought me a Little Tikes tinker tot piano for a Christmas gift. Obviously, it was very basic. There were only one octave of keys and each one was a different color. It came with a book that had

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] And Ye Shall Teach the Childrens Music

As a young girl, I taught myself how to play the piano by ear.

My Uncle Danny had bought me a Little Tikes tinker tot piano for a Christmas gift. Obviously, it was very basic. There were only one octave of keys and each one was a different color. It came with a book that had the music of everyday children’s songs…at least, children’s songs from back then. I’m not talking about today’s “children’s songs” that are basically adult songs but with children singing them [WHY do we want our kids singing that stuff again??]…I’m talking about “Mary Had a Little Lamb” – “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, etc. You know…the INNOCENT stuff.

I remember flipping through the book and picking out songs to play, following along with the colored notes and keys. Before long, I wanted to play MORE songs that I knew that were not in the book…so I began to pick through the notes, figuring out different tunes that I knew by heart. That was the beginning of my learning to play by ear.

Fast forward to today, and I really want to give my own children the gift of music. They each show that they have rhythm with dancing and singing, so I know that it’s in them. And lately, Nolan (just turned 6) is especially interested in learning the piano. We have a baby grand piano in our living room and he loves to sit down at it and gently play his own songs. However, it’s a bit overwhelming for him to learn on it, I’ve noticed. That’s why I decided to come up with something where I can teach piano at his level and it not overwhelm him.

So you wanna teach your kids music – but don’t know where to begin? If you have even a little bit of musical knowledge, then head over to to Making Music Fun and check out their Homeschool Music Resources. The index page is pretty neat and you can go through all the basics with your kiddos.

It’s a pretty durn cool website. There are lots of free printables, including sheet music and worksheets. They also have nifty music related games that help reinforce this whole music idea to the kiddos. I also like the Meet the Composers page, where you can print out nifty info on composers as far back as the 1600′s. – - Because did YOU know that Johann Sebastian Bach had the Duggar family beat? Yeah, boy. He had 20 babies during his lifetime.

Or how about that Beethoven and Jack Black are related? Just kidding. Actually, no, I dunno. Maybe they are? But the pic of Beethoven on Making Music Fun sure made me think of Black. Is it just me or do you see it, too? I must also take this moment to state that I’ve never seen Jack Black in anything except for Yo Gabba Gabba. And THAT was awesome.

We pulled out the keyboard (mine from about 20 years ago) and put scrapbooking sticker letters on them to label each note. Then I printed out some songs on Making Music Fun at the easiest level – and added the letters by each corresponding note. Both of our boys have sat down and played songs now. It takes some getting used to, but they are kickin’ it. I want them to see the notes on the paper – with the letter beside it – and put it all together in their lil’ heads, at least subconsciously for now. Before we go on to the next level, I will spend more time teaching them to read the notes without the letters beside them. For us, though, this is a great ‘n easy start!

But for now, Nolan is happy as a lark to be playing “Happy Birthday” – matching the letters up – one key at a time!

Are you teaching your kiddos music – and what is your system?

These photos were taken last year of our oldest daughter, Gianna, 2 years old. She knows how to sort these shapes…big spoons together and little spoons together…forks…butter knives…and cute lil baby spoons. (She sometimes gets the big spoons and little spoons mixed up, but mostly she has it nailed).

There are different approaches to homeschooling, but

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Schooling through LIFE: Shape Sorting

These photos were taken last year of our oldest daughter, Gianna, 2 years old. She knows how to sort these shapes…big spoons together and little spoons together…forks…butter knives…and cute lil baby spoons. (She sometimes gets the big spoons and little spoons mixed up, but mostly she has it nailed).

There are different approaches to homeschooling, but my approach has always been simple: teach them through living life together. For a long time now, Gianna has been able to correctly put away all of the silverware from the disherwasher basket. It brings her joy because – even at this age – she recognizes that she is contributing to the family and it brings her a sense of accomplishment (as seen above). =-) There is no…”Now you go run along while mommy stresses like crazy trying to do ALL these dishes by myself! Why don’t you go play with your toys or something?” Instead, I opt to include them in everything (as much as possible). And they love learning it all and being involved.

When I am first teaching them something, does it take longer to get the job done? Of course! And there ARE times every now and then when I do need to zip through something very quick in order to have it done. Usually the kids are okay with that, though, because it is not the norm. Even though it takes longer for us to get jobs accomplished at times, it is worth every minute because I am building memories with my children that they will never forget, I am helping them learn valuable concepts and life skills.  Through moments like these I am boosting their self esteem. And specifically, this is something that Gianna will be able to use (many, many times) all through her life.

If you look closely at Gianna’s shirt, you would see patches of flour dusted on here and there. That’s because she also helped me with dinner that night. She is very good at mixing up ingredients in bowls and kneading out bread dough by hand (she always gets to make her own miniature loaf). Any toddler can do this.

This is not to say that she doesn’t play with toys, because she certainly does. However, we do allow and encourage each of our children to participate in life like this.

There are still things that we, as parents, are figuring out how to do that works best for our family. Our oldest child is about to turn 9 years old (help me!), and I’m having to reevaluate how we will be homeschooling him now that he’s getting older. Yes, he has textbooks and we site down together wherever and read through them, work on problems, etc. Honestly, I am just not as keen on that type of learning if it’s not something that our child WANTS to learn at that given moment. I don’t care what your age is – you just don’t learn as well if you don’t want to. Whenever I say to Ethan “Let’s get out the math book and work through some probs together, K?” – - it just doesn’t do anything for him. You remember what it was like to do math like that in school, right? (I am talking to all of the non-math-lovers out there). I want to hone in on all the areas that he wants to learn in, when he wants to learn it. But my gracious – that means I’d actually have to be tuned in to each one of my children, right? Well, that IS one of the main reasons that hubby and myself decided long ago that one of us would always be home with the children and that we would teach them at home.

The term for this method of homeschooling is simply called: Unschooling and the idea of it all scares the living CRAP outta some people. I hope to talk more about it in the future!

I’ve recently acquired some wonderful things from a childhood friend.

Her mother was ridding her bedroom of many, many beautiful books. I was personally invited to take a look and take whatever caught my eye.

The room was slam FULL of beauties just as you see here! I just love how the hardbacks are well loved and

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Books Galore!

I’ve recently acquired some wonderful things from a childhood friend.

Her mother was ridding her bedroom of many, many beautiful books. I was personally invited to take a look and take whatever caught my eye.

The room was slam FULL of beauties just as you see here! I just love how the hardbacks are well loved and worn. They have great texture! I love the distressed pages! I promised myself to be careful with their delicate covers and interiors.

She had soooo many cookbooks – and beautiful books about farming, practical living, herbal knowledge, self sustained lifestyles and the like.

I was loving it ALL. Unfortunately, hubby wasn’t as in love as I was, though he DID admit that he doesn’t mind me getting so many books – even though we don’t have anywhere to put them all right now. “Our family will definitely benefit from all the extra good cooking coming from the kitchen as a result of this!”, he said heartily.

I am sure that I will be able to talk him into reading through some of these about farming and learning more homesteading skillz. We need all the help we can get! I will definitely have my children read through these for nifty homeschooling assignments, too. They will learn a lot – and learn it young, so it’s all the better!

I wonder how long it will take me to go through them all?

Even if I never cooked a single dish from these books, I think that stacks of these make an interesting focal point on the reading table.

But nevermind that! You can COUNT on me cooking from these! I am excited to learn new things!

…And I’m just about ready to go back for more books!