Search Results for: topic tag directions

Homeschool Field Trip: Peachy Keen

Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of Mother Nature’s bounty and look beyond the walls of your home for some fantastic homeschool lessons. For clans with students of varying ages, a field trip to a u-pick farm can be a real treat.  Most states feature fields, orchards and sprawling acreage designed to give city folk a taste of country life.  These green spaces are bursting with seasonal produce including corn, strawberries, tomatoes and my daughter’s favorite—peaches. Picking sweet, juicy, tree-ripened peaches lends itself to a slew of hands-on lessons.  For starters, a field trip to a peach orchard … Continue reading →

Summer Fun for Kids of All Ages

A friend of mine has eight children ranging in age from 11 months (her adorable twin boys) to 11 years (her equally adorable daughter). Needless to say, finding a single activity that will please the entire lot of them at the same time is not an easy task. You can imagine what she goes through during the summer when they’re all home together. To her credit she has come up with a few creative ways to keep them all content despite their difference in age. Here are some of her favorite sanity savers: FOR TODDLERS: Purchase some plastic bins and … Continue reading →

Fun Halloween Games for Kids

If you are hosting a Halloween party for kids this year you don’t want your young guests to be stuck playing musical chairs all afternoon. Instead, get creative and use the holiday theme to your advantage. The following are tried and true party games (courtesy of the folks at Hershey’s) that were a hit at a Halloween playgroup party my daughter attended last year. They are simple, fun, and you can tailor them to suit the age range of the party participants. MUMMY HANDS Object of the Game: Mummified players need to transport goodies out of a crypt (a decorated … Continue reading →

Introducing Technique Tuesday – a New Column on the Scrapbooking Blog

Scrapbooking has grown so much in the past five years, let alone the past ten years. As new products are introduced daily, and scrapbooker’s find new ways to use products and do different techniques, there is no end is sight to the endless possibilities available to the creative person. With the vast amount of scrapbooking information available in all sorts of locations, it can get overwhelming and difficult to learn. The problem is, it is scattered all over and it would be much easier to find it if it was all in one place. The Scrapbooking Blog here at families.com … Continue reading →

The Don’ts of Swap Participation

We have been talking about swap participation and the rules, guidelines and etiquette that goes with it. Specifically I am speaking about scrapbooking swaps, but these guidelines could be used with most any type of swap. Here are some don’ts of swap participation. Don’t: DON’T: Lose the guidelines or do your own thing unless that is part of the swap. Be sure and follow the instructions closely so that everyone is happy with the outcome of the swap. DON’T: Forget the due date. You don’t want to be the one holding up the swap, or feel like you’re going to … Continue reading →

Using Paper Flowers on Your Scrapbook Layouts

Flowers have exploded around us, not just outside in the beautiful Spring weather, but also on our scrapbooking layouts, cards and other craft projects. Flowers seem to have no limits, in that they are also being used on masculine pages, which I also really enjoy seeing. Are you having trouble seeing how to use these wonderful items on your pages? Let me show you how. First you need to choose the size of the paper flower that you would like for any particular layout. You will also need to decide whether you want to add a little more dimension by … Continue reading →

Multitasking

Multitasking. Doing more than one thing at a time. Even if you have another name for it, you likely find yourself doing it often. It isn’t any different when it comes to cleaning house, and in fact, you can get the cleaning out of the way more quickly if you do it efficiently. So, take down your shower curtain and throw it in the washer (you can do the liner too, if you do it on gentle if you hang it back up to dry). Do window treatments or other like items with it. Toss them in and start the … Continue reading →

Homeschooling and Public Teaching Comparison: Choosing a Curriculum

I really enjoy checking over in the homeschooling section to see what new topic or idea Valorie is discussing. As a teacher and as a parent, homeschooling has always been an interest to me. I have never really considered doing it but I find it intriguing and I am always up for learning more about it. One of Valorie’s more recent articles discusses how homeschooling parents can find a curriculum that meets their children’s educational needs. I think that this is one aspect of homeschooling that I would definitely enjoy more than public school teaching. When teaching in a school, … Continue reading →