Saturday, March 30, 2013

Soapbox Saturday–Homeschooling

I don’t remember who shared this on Facebook, but I read this article, 18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children. It’s really great, be sure to read the whole thing yourself. It’s written by a doctor who after many years of public and private school, finally turned to homeschooling to meet her family’s educational needs.

Here are a few of the highlights:

1) “We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving.”
Oh boy, I can only imagine. I have several friends who have their kids in different magnet schools here in Las Vegas. I can definitely see how this could add up and I personally wouldn’t choose this, but even then sometimes it just happens with kids of different ages. Then all the time spent waiting in a pickup line, running the car in summer, and getting home to have to do homework and other activities. Phew, makes me tired just thinking about it.

3) “Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers.”
The author says that by homeschooling they are able to “enrich our children’s strengths and supplement their weaknesses.” That’s so important to teach to your kid’s understanding and not to go too fast or too slow for them. I imagine a lot of behavior issues in the classroom stem from this, a child frustrated with the fast pace or bored with the material being covered.

7) “Our family spends our best hours of each day together.”
I thought this was interesting because I hadn’t considered this when thinking of homeschooling, but you get to spend the best hours of the day with your kids, not just the tired cranky hours.

10) “We are able to work on the kids’ behavior and work ethic throughout the day.”
With the size of classes ever growing, teachers don’t always have time to focus on one student and help them work to their full potential. Through homeschooling, you’re able to bring the best out of your child and show them how to work to their best everyday.

13)  Younger children learn from older siblings.”
That’s a great bonus and I think a very valuable one. Often children listen better to siblings than parents and at the same time the older sibling has the opportunity to learn to be patient and to learn to be a teacher. A very practical skill that will benefit them throughout their lives.

18)   “Teach kids your own values.”
The author states that 36% of homeschoolers choose this route to teach their own morals and values.  I think that’s great in this ever changing world, kids are taught untrue and unkind things from peers. Especially girls and the things that media, society, and peers teach about body image and ‘beauty’. The author also points out that you get to control how holidays are celebrated and the minor holidays can stay minor. (Like I talked about last week) She’s able to do a small Halloween celebration and then focus on Easter for a week to suit her family’s beliefs.

Overall I really liked this article and it got me thinking. Since becoming a mom I had always written homeschooling off as something other moms with an educational background can do. I’ve always thought how my kid needs structure and a patient teacher. I never thought I could be those things. Now – I don’t know. Maybe I could. I guess it comes down to what is best for our family and our kids.

Only time will tell.

What are your thoughts? Do you/are you going to homeschool? What benefits do you see in homeschooling/public school?

Have a great weekend!!

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Friday, March 29, 2013

On My Wish List

This bad boy is on my wish list. I borrowed it from a friends and it is AWESOME!

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Using this tutorial I found on Pinterest, I dismantled a pallet in no time, with little effort. Love it!
Just thought you should know! Open-mouthed smile


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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Homemade Breadcrumbs

I ran out of breadcrumbs the other day and figured, no big deal I’ll make my own. Lucky me, I also stumbled across this loaf of bread at Fresh & Easy on clearance. $.87, not bad!!
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So you wanna make your own too? So easy! Lay your bread out on a baking sheet and preheat your oven. I was already baking something at 375 so I just went with that Open-mouthed smile

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Let toast for about 10-12 minutes until crispy.
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Let the bread cool then put it in your food processer. I have a super mini food processor so I had to break them up first, then pulse.
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I got about 4 cups of breadcrumbs from this loaf. I put them in a freezer bag, labeled it, and put it in the freezer to keep them as fresh as possible.
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That’s it. That’s all you have to do. So easy, cheap, and no extra junk!

Hope you're having a great week!!

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

How to Clean Rust and Sediment Toilet Rings

Did you miss my New House Tour – the Gross part and the Clean part?

After all that cleaning, I still couldn’t get this hard water ring out of the boy’s toilet. That is until a wonderful reader (thank you Deborah!) told me her trick – a pumice stone!!

EDIT *** A WET PUMICE STONE**** (if you start with a dry one - you risk scratching the bowl- thank you Mary Alice for letting me know!)

GENIUS!
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I picked this one up at the dollar store and got to work.

Here’s what it looked like before-it's clean I promise! It's just hard water/rust stuff I couldn't clean with a toilet brush.
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It didn’t take long at all and it came out perfect!
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Great results! This is why I love hearing from readers, thank you Deborah!! I never would have thought about using a pumice stone, thank you thank you thank you!!
Toilet ring before and after


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TDC Before and After
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