The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 14

In my life this week...

The past weekend, Sarah and I, went to Mother/Daughter Camp and had a great time with a pretty scary adventure as we headed home.  On our way home we were surrounded by tornadoes everywhere.  Eastern NC had 87 tornadoes touch down all around us.  We made it home safely obviously and we were so blessed not to have any damage.  But others in our area have suffered major losses and our hearts and prayers go out to them.

In our homeschool this week...

Stephen is enjoying "The Secret Garden".

Sarah is really starting to love playing the piano.

Jonathan loves Time4Learning but we can't continue it.  We are on the last days :(.  

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Next week we will be celebrating an anniversary and a birthday!  No special trips planned.

My favorite thing this week was...

Our field trip to the local theatre.  It was very interesting to see how things have changed from 35mm to digital set up.  We topped it off by watching Rio.

What's working/not working for us...

Smooth sailing right now although I'm nervous about our upcoming schedule!  May is looking crazy!!!!!!!!!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

I love homeschooling!!!!!!!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Sunflowers growing

Chrysalis forming

Stop by The Homeschool Chick for more Homeschool Mothers' Journals.

TOS Review: Growing Healthy Homes

One of my favorite things about being a reviewer on the crew is being blessed with the knowledge of new products.  I have never heard of the Nutrition 101: Choose Life book before and was excited to see what it was about!

At first glance, my eyes were loving the colorful pages.  As I examined the book further, I could not believe the wealth of information in this book. Our family was just about to embark on a healthier lifestyle with baby steps and this was just the book to get us started!  It has 448 pages broken down into 6 units covering the 12 main body systems. 

The units are.......

1. The Brain and Nervous System
2. Digestion and Elimination
3. Respiration and Olfactory
4. Muscular and Skeletal Systems
5. Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
6. Endocrine System and Emotions.

Each unit includes 4 chapters, additional recipes, activity guide, and appendix.  Each chapter per unit includes discussion questions, recipes, additional resources, and activities.

This is a complete health and nutrition unit study for all ages.  There are so many ways that you could use this book.  It would be wonderful to do with a group in a co-op setting, absolutely wonderful for a homeschool classroom setting, or even as a family!  Chapters are structured to be completed in a week but as we homeschoolers know - that is a guideline, not a must!  If you do complete a chapter a week, you would complete all 6 units in a year.  For us, we started out with a chapter a week but felt too rushed so we slowed down to a chapter every 2 weeks.  

We are just beginning to really dig into the wealth of information included in this book but so far it is a resource that we love.  As you go through your study, you will take an in depth look at how we eat, what we eat, how the body works, and how these food affect the body. 

If you purchase the CD-ROM version, I would highly recommend you print it out.  I find that it is so much easier for me to work with if I have a printed copy in front of me.  I printed out a unit at time to begin with.  That is just my personal preference though.

You can purchase Nutrition 101:Choose Life here in CD-ROM for $79.95, in hardback book form for $99.95, or in a combo of both for $129.95.  Personally, I would choose the combo option if I could afford the extra money because it is worth it to be able to have the book in front of you and then also have the option of printing additional pages when you want to.

You can see a beautiful 27 page excerpt to help you decide.  Also, just by reading my review, you will be able to get a 15% off discount by using code TOScrew11.

Would our family purchase Nutrition 101:Choose Life?  At first look, the price seems to be costly.  Can you put a price on choosing life even?  Also, I can use the study with all three of my children and really this is one of those bookshelf resources that you refer back to time and time again after you've completed the study so our answer is YES! 

Growing Healthy Homes also has other products available here that you may want to check out also.

Don't forget to check out what my fellow crewmates thought of Nutrition 101:Choose Life.  Last year's crew voted Nutrition 101:Choose Life as the best e-product of the year!


**Disclaimer:  I received a free digital download of the book in exchange for my review.  The opinions here are my honest and true evaluation!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 13

In my life this week...

Temperatures in the 70's - again! This was my opening remark last week.  A lot of times in the south we skip spring weather so we are loving it!

In our homeschool this week...

With God's help, we are growing things :)  Corn, sunflowers, and butterflies

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Sarah and I are preparing right now to leave for mother/daughter camp!  The forecast unfortunately is calling for rain!

My favorite thing this week was...

Even though my quiet time first thing challenge was over, I kept it up this week and it has been so awesome!! 

What's working/not working for us...

We are wrapping up a few things right now.  May is turning out to be a busy month already for us so it's a good thing we are!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Where is your favorite online resource for purchasing used curriculum?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Isn't it gorgeous?  :)


Stop by The Homeschool Chick for more Homeschool Mothers' Journals.

For Sale

All books used in our homeschool and in good condition.  All items include shipping media mail - US only.  Prefer to be paid by paypal.  Thanks for looking!


1.  Abeka Readers ($50ppd - want to keep set together)

• Handbook for Reading
• Story Tree
• Treasure Chest
• Hidden Treasure
• No Longer A Nobody
• Paths of Gold
• Sunshine Meadows
• Silver Sails
• Growing Up Where Jesus Lived
• Primary Bible Reader
• All Kinds of Animals
• Older Extra Book - All Things - Even Frisky

2. Learning Grammar Through Writing - $6ppd

3. Positive Action for Christ - Growing with God TM and Chorus CD - $25ppd

• Teacher Manual has a few coffee stains and is in a binder. You know a mom must have her coffee :).   Hymn and Chorus Cd case has a crack but Cd works fine.  

4. The Greenleaf Guide to Famous Men of the Middle Ages and Textbook (pb) - $15ppd

• 1997 edition

5. Painless Grammar - $7ppd

6. Writing With Ease - Strong Fundamentals - Hardback Book - 
$15ppd

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 12

In my life this week...

Temperatures in the 70's!  Oh what gorgeous days we are having!!  We have enjoyed the outdoors this week and took a little break from book work.

In our homeschool this week...

We finished our last week of Classical Conversations (CC).  We took a field trip to Bentonville Battleground and we enjoyed the great outdoors!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

This week we will have our end of year CC party.  We also have a skating party and a field trip scheduled to the Renaissance Fair.

My favorite thing this week was...

The gorgeous weather!!!  And enjoying quiet time first thing with my Lord!

What's working/not working for us...

Everything is going smooth right now!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Do you school year round?  Please share your schedule with me! 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...


We have worms - or larval at least!  I've always wanted to do this!  Painted Lady Butterflies will hopefully be coming up soon!

Homemaker's Challenge - Schedule Rebellion

This weeks challenge:

Choose one item from your schedule to implement.

The item I chose from our schedule was for me to have my quiet time FIRST thing in the morning.  I manage to get in my quiet time everyday but I really want it to be the first thing I do.  I want to start my day with my God and have Him fill me with His Spirit to tackle the day that lies ahead.  In order to accomplish this goal, I must/had to get up earlier than I have been.  My habit lately has been sleeping in and then rushing to get school started instead of having my nice relaxing morning.  


So, here's how the week went for me.


Day 1 - Monday - A very hard day to do this.  My husband is off on Monday's and Sunday's are FULL around here so it's hard to get up and get going.  I did not not meet my goal this day.


Day 2 - Tuesday - This is our Classical Conversations day and the day after Zumba.  So, dragging out of bed is even harder than on Monday.  Do you see a pattern of excuses here?  I do!!  But, I did it and felt so refreshed and ready to go even if my legs and hips were not wanting to cooperate with those feelings!


Day 3 - Wednesday - No excuses!  Up and quiet time done!  Hooray!


Day 4&5 - Thursday & Friday - Again, up and quiet time done!


Honestly, the accountability factor helped me immensely.  I'm finding that in all areas of my life.  I need accountability so thank you Christin for the challenge!  


Go see how others tamed their schedule rebellion this week or did they............

New Website Launch - Win Free Curriculum!

There is a new homeschool website getting ready to launch that will be centered around giving homeschool curriculum away for FREE. The grand opening giveaways have some great products like a complete Mystery of History set, Horizons Pre-Algebra Set, Picture Smart Bible, and a whole set of early learning currriculum for 2yrs - K. There are also several other things set to be given away such as gift certificates.


To get notified of the giveaways, all you have to do is sign up for the "Giveaway Blast". Please be sure to put in my email address: smjlangley@gmail.com. There is a pre-launch giveaway right now for a beautiful Well Planned Day Planner that I can win for referring the most subscribers. You can enter too after you sign up! Just copy and paste this and send it out to your friends!

Here is the website: www.homeschoolgiveaways.com

This is my all time favorite planner!!  I already have one ordered   so I'd be glad to do a giveaway for it if I win!