HOW TO TEACH WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW

Even if you have only home educated for a short time, you have most likely encountered the skeptic who asks, "How are you going to teach (fill in a difficult subject)?” Or, you may even question your own ability to teach a particular subject.

All Things Work Together For Good

I received the call from the doctor's office after having been in the office earlier that day.

"You have to take your baby to the hospital right now," the doctor told me over the phone that Friday afternoon.

Right now? Today?

Family Favorites Friday: Mae Holloway's Chicken and Dumplings

I received this recipe from my friend Cindy's mom during BEST Robotics 'season' one year.  It quickly turned into a family favorite.

Here is the original recipe with notes on how I sometimes modify the recipe to make it quicker.

Landry Academy Mom's Retreat Review

Last week, my friend Nikki and I attended a Landry Academy Homeschool Mom Retreat in southern Missouri. We had registered for the retreat last spring because it sounded like such a good deal - $25 for an all-inclusive 2-night retreat.

We didn't really know what to expect as no schedule was available. Mr. Landry said this was by design to give the retreat a relaxed feel since so many homeschool moms live by a schedule. There was a schedule when we arrived but it mostly consisted of meals are at this time, sessions are at this time.

How to Encourage Reading

While we were out of town for my oldest child’s first birthday, burglars came into our house and helped themselves to our TV, stereo, microwave, jewelry, and my new tennis shoes!  While not an experience I would want to re-live, I think it contributed to my children becoming avid readers.

We became a TV-free family. 

Family Favorites Friday: More Favorite Read Alouds

When I started my blog, I asked all my children to be thinking about favorite books from childhood.  This provoked the questions, " What qualifies as a children's book?  Do chapter books count? Do series count?"

I let them decide the books to include since we did read some chapter books aloud and they did read some chapter books when they were fairly young.

The only stipulation I put on their choices was I wouldn't include the same book twice.  If they all choose the same book as a favorite, I will only include it once, but I might mention at some point that it was everybody's favorite.

Last month I posted a review of favorite books from my oldest child.  This week, I interviewed my youngest, Christina, to share her favorite book memories.  Even though she is 15 years old, she has fond memories of these books.   

Her favorite toys and favorite books included animals.

Brandy Apple Bars

 The Creative Cookie Exchange theme this month is apples.  I don't usually think about apples and cookies together.  Apple pie- yes.  Apple bread- yes.  Apple cake- yes.  Apple cookies -no. 

So, I had to think about this a bit and do some experimenting.  My first experiment was an apple caramel cookie.  I didn't really like it very much.  It was a little bland and the caramel in the middle didn't really work as I had envisioned.

Apple Bars seemed like a do-able project so I experimented with that and came up with this recipe.