One of my family's favorite quick meals involves three things. Canned meat (we prefer chicken or tuna), a box of mac-n-cheese, and vegetables. Our girls like it because they can help with a lot of it. Make up your mac-n-cheese just like the box calls for. We add frozed vegetables to the water at the same time the noodles go in to cut down on time. Drain your tuna or chicken well. I use a fine strainer and spoon to make sure I get all the extra water out of the tuna. The chicken I use a fork on to break up the pieces smaller. Once all of your vegetable and mac-n-cheese are together you can add your meat in and dinner is ready. Now if you use canned vegetables make sure to heat them up and strain them well before adding them to the mac-n-cheese. There have been a couple of nights when the tuna didn't get drained well that it was a little watery. I simply put it on the stove and warmed it on low for a bit until the water evaporated, or because absorbed to the consistancy we like.
Something else you can do with the same ingrediants and some butter crackers is follow the same procedure as above. Throw it all into a casserole dish and top with crushed butter crackers. Bake on the top rack at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the crackers are nice and golden. We'll be trying that with SPAM this weekend. Our oldest's idea. I'll probably be having PB&J since I'm not a fan of the SPAM. I think I ate way to much of it as a kid. Those and orange circus peanuts. >.<
Even the smallest kid can help try turning the can opener, picking the vegetable, or crush crackers in a zip lock bag. Yes, you can do it faster and probably make sure that all the chicken makes it in the pan. But just as I've learned, sometimes it just won't do to be done the way you thought it should have been done. The little smile is better!
Wednesday, August 19
Monday, August 17
Discovery Streaming Saved!
Discovery Streaming has been saved, at least for three more years in South Carolina. For those of you who don't happen to know about it, it's where you can find an immense amount of video to help with lessons. There are even lesson plans, tests, notes, and many other things for some programs. Ever wonder where to find some of the Discovery shows to add to lessons? This is the perfect place! Okay yeah I know I sound like a commercial. But we love it! We use it all the time. So far I've never had a problem of not being able to find something. The biggest problem I have is choosing what to use. There are all grade level videos, clips, sound bytes, and more.
The only other problem that I really have is that it is NOT available to everyone. In South Carolina homeschoolers are able to use it due to the laws allowing us to use school labs, and other programs. Unfortunately not all states are that way. As for the Discovery Streaming each state or even district sometimes decides whether or not their schools can use the program. Individuals can purchase a subscription also.
There are now some free things available at the site. I recommend at least giving those a look at! Check them out at least. There are some free things for the classroom, and for at home, as well as some Projects and Programs you can check out too. Follow the Discovery Streaming link and the free resources are are about halfway down on the right side of the page. Enjoy!
The only other problem that I really have is that it is NOT available to everyone. In South Carolina homeschoolers are able to use it due to the laws allowing us to use school labs, and other programs. Unfortunately not all states are that way. As for the Discovery Streaming each state or even district sometimes decides whether or not their schools can use the program. Individuals can purchase a subscription also.
There are now some free things available at the site. I recommend at least giving those a look at! Check them out at least. There are some free things for the classroom, and for at home, as well as some Projects and Programs you can check out too. Follow the Discovery Streaming link and the free resources are are about halfway down on the right side of the page. Enjoy!
Friday, August 14
Yes, I'm on the box!
"What about their socialization skills?"
"They just won't be able to fit in later."
"How will they know what they want to do later in life?"
"They need to know that not everyone likes them."
"How will they learn to make friends?"
"How will they learn to work with other people?"
"What about sports?"
"If only you teach them, how will they learn to take tests?"
"What do you mean you only use encyclopedias? What about text books? How are they suppose to learn about the real world with only encyclopedias?"
Okay so I could go on further, but I won't. I've personally heard these and more. Many of you share some of the questions you get. For us in the home schooling community the answers are a bit obvious. Many times I wonder why it is I have to be the one to educate people on the realities of home schooling. Is it easy? Sometimes, sometimes not. Is it fun? Sometimes, sometimes not. I don't mind answering these. Don't mind sharing what we use or what we do. I do mind the negative questions, and the questions that weren't even thought about before they were asked. Why can't people pick up a book, look online, join a chat or any other way that we (homeschoolers) if they're really that curious? Or at least think about what comes out of their mouths? I do it all the time. When working on animal reproduction in science I read the encyclopedias to make sure that it would be appropriate for a 6 and 8 year old. I read books for three weeks to find ones that would allow for the girls to learn animal reproduction that was appropriate for their ages and learning levels. Then had to reread it all over again when we actually did the lessons. It's what you do especially if you choose to do classical education like we have. And yet for some reason there are people out there that can't seem to pick up a book to simply learn actual facts for themselves.
Maybe it's because we just found out that once again around Christmas time we will be moving. I don't really know but at the moment the million common sense questions seem to be frying my nerves. Thankfully though I have family who are understanding and don't ask the questions because they've managed to pickup books all on their own. Some like my brother and sister-in-law have chosen to home school themselves. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. Normally I'm one of those that really just doesn't give a flying flip what someone thinks about me. I'm happy and so is my family, so to me that's what counts. The change in my children has been wonderful since we choose to do their education ourselves. It could be that my littlest one is wanting to go back to school again, and I quote her here, "So I can play more instead of all the work." I think most of it is she can't simply hide in the middle of a class anymore. We've been struggling to unlearn pictorial reading that was taught to her in the classroom and learn the phonics that she needs to know. I know that I won't go back to having a little girl come home crying anymore because she's been told to quit asking so many questions and to sit and be quiet. Maybe one day they will go back to public school, maybe they won't. We take it one day at a time, and one year at a time. Nothing is set in stone. What we feel is the best option for our children is how we make our decisions regarding school, food, socialization, and every other facet of their lives. The same as every other parent on the planet. Are we perfect? I certainly hope not! I hope that my children see that we love them and are trying to make the best decisions we can, so that they can learn to do the same.
With us moving I've been trying to find out the laws in the new state that we'll be going to and trying to prepare for that. But in doing so I found a study that HSLDA asked Dr. Brian Ray to do in 2003. Dr. Brian Ray is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute. This study was to see what happens to homeschoolers after "school". Did they continue their education? Did they work? Did they fit in to society like public school children? Like most studies I remind you to take into account that the individuals involved probably started out with a bias as to the hopes of it's outcome. Simply add it to what you already know and draw you're own conclusions. I prefer to look at the actual data found and not the results written by those who do the study. In the hopes of not clouding my own opinions. I do hope that you find it enlightening though.
Okay thank you for listening to my vent. I'll be happy to pass of the soap box now.
"They just won't be able to fit in later."
"How will they know what they want to do later in life?"
"They need to know that not everyone likes them."
"How will they learn to make friends?"
"How will they learn to work with other people?"
"What about sports?"
"If only you teach them, how will they learn to take tests?"
"What do you mean you only use encyclopedias? What about text books? How are they suppose to learn about the real world with only encyclopedias?"
Okay so I could go on further, but I won't. I've personally heard these and more. Many of you share some of the questions you get. For us in the home schooling community the answers are a bit obvious. Many times I wonder why it is I have to be the one to educate people on the realities of home schooling. Is it easy? Sometimes, sometimes not. Is it fun? Sometimes, sometimes not. I don't mind answering these. Don't mind sharing what we use or what we do. I do mind the negative questions, and the questions that weren't even thought about before they were asked. Why can't people pick up a book, look online, join a chat or any other way that we (homeschoolers) if they're really that curious? Or at least think about what comes out of their mouths? I do it all the time. When working on animal reproduction in science I read the encyclopedias to make sure that it would be appropriate for a 6 and 8 year old. I read books for three weeks to find ones that would allow for the girls to learn animal reproduction that was appropriate for their ages and learning levels. Then had to reread it all over again when we actually did the lessons. It's what you do especially if you choose to do classical education like we have. And yet for some reason there are people out there that can't seem to pick up a book to simply learn actual facts for themselves.
Maybe it's because we just found out that once again around Christmas time we will be moving. I don't really know but at the moment the million common sense questions seem to be frying my nerves. Thankfully though I have family who are understanding and don't ask the questions because they've managed to pickup books all on their own. Some like my brother and sister-in-law have chosen to home school themselves. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. Normally I'm one of those that really just doesn't give a flying flip what someone thinks about me. I'm happy and so is my family, so to me that's what counts. The change in my children has been wonderful since we choose to do their education ourselves. It could be that my littlest one is wanting to go back to school again, and I quote her here, "So I can play more instead of all the work." I think most of it is she can't simply hide in the middle of a class anymore. We've been struggling to unlearn pictorial reading that was taught to her in the classroom and learn the phonics that she needs to know. I know that I won't go back to having a little girl come home crying anymore because she's been told to quit asking so many questions and to sit and be quiet. Maybe one day they will go back to public school, maybe they won't. We take it one day at a time, and one year at a time. Nothing is set in stone. What we feel is the best option for our children is how we make our decisions regarding school, food, socialization, and every other facet of their lives. The same as every other parent on the planet. Are we perfect? I certainly hope not! I hope that my children see that we love them and are trying to make the best decisions we can, so that they can learn to do the same.
With us moving I've been trying to find out the laws in the new state that we'll be going to and trying to prepare for that. But in doing so I found a study that HSLDA asked Dr. Brian Ray to do in 2003. Dr. Brian Ray is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute. This study was to see what happens to homeschoolers after "school". Did they continue their education? Did they work? Did they fit in to society like public school children? Like most studies I remind you to take into account that the individuals involved probably started out with a bias as to the hopes of it's outcome. Simply add it to what you already know and draw you're own conclusions. I prefer to look at the actual data found and not the results written by those who do the study. In the hopes of not clouding my own opinions. I do hope that you find it enlightening though.
Okay thank you for listening to my vent. I'll be happy to pass of the soap box now.
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