Using a Curriculum with Homeschooling

Lately I have been thinking a lot about whether or not to use a curriculum with homeschooling. I know a lot of people do, and a lot of people don't, and then there are so many options in between.

I had thought of using Sonlight, but it is mostly based on reading and Im not sure if I want to push that too much, my son likes to read what he likes, not what I want him to.

I have also considered some other curriculums but I love to do the unschooling. So far we have used so many different pieces of schooling that all together have been great. There is one downside though, we have to keep comparing our student with what he is suppose to know. We use http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/kindergarten to see what kids are suppose to know.

For instance, this year, we have focused on kindergarten and we have used hooked on phonics, workbooks we found at target, bob books, and worksheets I find online.

Really I just want to know what others are using, and why they love it? If you see this could you respond and let me know what works for you?

A Cute Forward- Life Explained

There are not many forwards that I even look at, but I figured why not? today. This is cute.

On the first day, God created the dog and said :

'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.'

The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?'

So God agreed.

O n the second day, God created the monkey and said:

'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.'

The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?'

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty

years.'

The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?'

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.'

But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?'

'OKAY,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information. I'm doing it as a public service.

Kolcraft Play Yard Recall- 1 Million of them

I don't plan on listing every recall notice I get, but this one seems pretty big. These were sold over the 8 1/2 years, and it includes the one I used for my babies (they are 3 & 5)

Here is the link:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09265.html

I think it is a good idea for all parents to sign up for the newsletter to receive the updates when something new is recalled. I have never taken something back to the store, but usually throw things out, in this case I registered on the Kolcraft site for the repair kit, it was simple to do.

Donating to ShelterBox & Should You Have One?

I just found this website, ShelterBox http://www.shelterbox.org/index.asp

It is about a box you can buy to donate to others (in other countries, and such) that need help. The whole box has enough in it, like a tent, water, tools, plates, cups, blankets, sheets, malaria nets, pans, children kits with coloring pages and crayons, the box which is a bin to store all of this stuff, and a small stove. Basically it is everything you need to survive.

I love the idea of these boxes, except for one thing. I can't buy one for my family. I know this is all about charity and helping others, but why not up the price tag a bit, and let some of the money from a purchase for one's family go towards helping others. I think it would be great for every family in the world to have one of these boxes, and I want to get one.

What do you think? Would you want a shelter box, for when something happens?

Roller Babies for Evian- Sooo.. Cute

A video a friend showed me this morning...

Ice Age 3- Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Today we took the kids to see ice age 3, because it was just released. We haven't taken them to a movie before and we have been waiting for this one for quite awhile. Ethan is 5 and Kaden is 3. We could not have picked a better movie, or time to go. The kids did great. They kept their glasses (3D) on almost the whole time, and were mostly quiet.

We had popcorn, soda, candy, you know, the goods? And it was a good movie. I got a headache from the 3D, it was just too much for my eyes. But it was such a cute movie, funny too. I think it was more for adults with the humor, but kids obviously love the dinos, so it worked well as a family movie.

If you have gone, what did you think?

Cheap Air Costs & Explanation

I just found this great photo on Flickr, you absolutely have to read it. It compares the more expensive air costs with the cheaper air costs and shows exactly what you give up or gain when you get cheaper tickets. More importantly for me, it showed me where to go to get the cheapest airline tickets. Here is the image.

The cheapest flights for Americans can be found on Southwest. For English Flights, check out the image and google the name. Do you have suggestions for places to find cheap flights? Or tips for saving on flights?