Homeschoolers Helping Homeschoolers

Christmas. Love. Joy. Hope. The heart of Christmas is giving. It beats in a rhythm that begs to be heard. The call for compassion, to prepare an offering for the hurting, is answered by hearts who desire to fill the cracks of the broken. Despair. Sadness. Exhaustion. The brokenhearted are blinded by despair. It comes with the territory when traveling through difficult trials. They cannot see the shining star on the top of the tree and wander lost. Sugar plums no longer dance in their dreams for nightmares do not share a stage. A family hurts. Hands hold an exhausted … Continue reading →

No! Not the Educational Gift!

Todd Wilson from Familyman Ministries is a homeschool dad. He is also a guy who captures the daily homeschool life through humor that makes you laugh so hard you spit the red pen out of your mouth. I like to think Todd and I have a professional connection since we both write for Homeschool Mosaics. We don’t. He doesn’t know I exist. I almost met him when he came to my homeschool co-op to speak. We didn’t. Sick child. Todd still doesn’t know I exist. But we are colleagues just the same. In a sense, from a distance, if you … Continue reading →

Winter Craft: Terracotta Pot Snowman

Craft: Terracotta Pot Snowman Ornament Age Recommendation: 5 and up Supervision: Moderate Prep Time: Minimal to Moderate Difficulty: Easy Expense: Under $5.00 per ornament Supplies: terracotta pot (a size small enough to hang on your tree or a size fit for a mantle or other display area of choice) White acrylic paint Black acrylic paint Orange acrylic paint Acrylic paint in your choice of colors for scarf Pipe cleaner in color of your choice (2) pom poms in color of your choice Scissors Hot glue gun Optional Supplies: Google eyes (instead of black paint for eyes, but you will still need … Continue reading →

7 Things to do for the Christmas Season in your Homeschool

Study the history of Christmas. Engage your children with the history of Christmas such as a look into the background of Christmas carols, the history of the candy cane, history of Santa, the biblical story of Christ’s birth. Study Christmas celebrations around the world. Start with the country of your family and move on from there depending on interest. Perhaps you could enjoy a traditional meal of a particular country? Practice giving. There are so many ways to share the Christmas spirit with your children and those around you. The best way is to demonstrate giving. Donate toys to a children’s … Continue reading →

Creating Thankful Traditions All Year Round

We often think of the Christmas season as a time to celebrate family. Thanksgiving is our time to be thankful. Valentine’s Day is a day to show love. Of course, while it’s good to have particular seasons and special days to celebrate these things, you can feel and show all of these emotions all year round! Whether you follow a particular religion or not, creating traditions of thankfulness is important. As many of us head off to sales, it’s a good time to stop and remember all that we have. The economy can be tight, and finding a job can … Continue reading →

Ice is Nice

How many times during the winter season do you have a fight with ice? You sprinkle salt on the pathway and the driveway, hack at the ice under the snow to get it off the sidewalk, and quietly mutter at the black ice that you and your car slide around on during the winter months. But ice can be beautiful too. If you’re blessed with cool weather this winter, enjoy it a bit! Create ice sculptures and explore the properties of this glass-like material. Young children enjoy exploring the different ways that ice moves and shatters. The shattering part is … Continue reading →

Craft: Christmas Tea Wreath

Last month I posted directions to making an advent candy wreath. A fun idea for children of all ages. Today, I want to share another idea based on the same concept. However, this wreath will hold tea bags and would be perfect for the tea lover in your life. I posted my wreath picture on my Facebook blog page and everyone wanted directions. So here they are! Christmas Tea Wreath Supplies: Cardboard Scrapbook printed paper or Christmas themed wrapping paper. Close pins Ribbon Tacky Glue Box of Tea Scissors Tape Exacto Knife Directions: Trace a circle on to a heavy … Continue reading →

Confession: I Love Christmas Creep

I love Christmas Creep. You know what it is. It’s the Christmas carols playing on the radio since before Thanksgiving. It’s the lights that have been up since Halloween. It’s the house that I walked by the other day in the dark. I fell in love with the owners right away. You see, they had their Halloween spiderwebs up with Christmas lights underneath. Pure joy. I also love the baking. I mean, come on, who doesn’t like baking? I have type 1 diabetes and eat a gluten free diet that incorporate large quantities of veggies and fruits, and I still … Continue reading →

Christmas Birthday Celebration for Jesus

In my home we not only celebrate Christmas we celebrate a birthday. No, none of my kids were born on Christmas day nor were me or my husband. We are a Christian home and when we celebrate Christmas we essentially are celebrating the birth of Christ. In today’s world of tinsel and reindeer it can be hard to distinguish a Christmas celebration with a birthday celebration. So we are going to put a traditional birthday touch on our holiday this year. I have wanted to do this for quite some time but my daughter suggested baking a birthday cake so … Continue reading →

Do You Believe in Santa?

I grew up in a home where Santa was completely taboo. My mother hated him so much that we didn’t even have a single Santa decoration, we didn’t sing any Santa Christmas songs … I mean, it got a little intense sometimes. Now, as a mother, I can see her point – I don’t teach my children that Santa is real, either, but I ‘m not quite so fanatical about it. I actually have some Santa ornaments on my tree, we sing about “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” and we enjoy doing Secret Santas for people. The “S” word is not … Continue reading →