Top Ten Must Have Homeschooling Items

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

Please be sure to subscribe by email or follow Blog, She Wrote using the sidebar buttons, so you don't miss any of my Top Ten Favorites!

Today's topic is Top Ten Must Haves for Homeschooling. In no particular order, here goes:

Table for schooling- where all the kids can sit together. They may be working separately, but can still interact together at the table. Ours is an old kitchen table with legs custom made by Dan.

Printer/Copier- this one is indispensable for me as I use resources from the bookshelf and computer. Make sure it's a good one with modest ink costs! We have the Canon MX700 which is an older model now and still works wonderfully.


Synonym Finder/Dictionary- there is a lot you can do with a good dictionary and thesaurus that reaches far beyond just a quick reference. I love those tools in our homeschool!


Atlas/Maps/Google Earth- we always want to know where we are! 

Books- If all I had were good books, my kids would have an excellent education!


Good stash of craft supplies- a good closet-ful at the ready make things easy.


Watercolor paper and watercolors- I like Prang brand in the trays and tube watercolors and we always use watercolor paper. It's way more fun!


GBC ProClick Binder- this is new in our homeschool as of last summer, but I wish I'd gotten it years ago! We can bind anything and time and still add pages, etc. LUV my ProClick!

Loose Leaf Paper- this is a must at our house. So simple and yet it goes along way in our world of notebooking. Nothing helps the job to get done more than grabbing a sheet of paper and creating a notebook page!

Computers- We use these for all of our favorite websites and research galore. We have two desktops for the kids at a table side by side in our school room.

On Books and Reading

Twice a year we like to hit the Friends of the Library sale in May and October. So, a few weeks ago we took the time to search the endless stacks of donated books. We always find some treasures. I've noticed in lately that I'm focusing on finding some different sorts of books than I did in the past. I no longer comb through the picture books much since I have most of the FIAR titles. Now I'm more interested in books for my almost high schooler and the students that are following behind him in middle school. Here are the results:

I hit the jackpot on field guides! I was so excited to see the "finder" books. These are dichotomous keys and will take some time to teach the kids how to use.

I found some great birding books along with some books on raptors. Keeping the passion for falconry alive through stories of other falconers.

I picked up a few classics. This will be on E's list of things to read in 9th grade.

I try not to pass up the chance to own Newbury books- Carry On Mr. Bowditch is one of our all time favorites! These are already added to the bins in our cubbies where we keep the others.

One early American History book and some Janice VanCleave. We had a great haul this time around!

For the first time, I went back to the sale on ten cent day and I scored 11 more books for $1.10. I'm going to share those as I post about E13's plans for next year. I was able to find some really nice living books on the topic of early America and our founding fathers. Stay tuned!

Passed: One Falconry Exam!

In case you are not following Blog, She Wrote on facebook or Twitter (but I'd love it if you did!), E13 and I received the news yesterday that we passed the New York State Falconry Exam! Two stuffed envelopes arrived to give us the news and the paperwork for the next steps. It's only given locally once a year and we took the exam with three other people (other folks were in the room taking different licensee exams). We're excited! He triumphed with one point over my 93% and I'm glad since he'd been studying for much longer!

Harris Hawk - native to the American southwest. If you go there, look for the birds stacked by 3s on the shoulders of each other on a saguaro cactus. For real...we didn't get an A on the exam for nothing! This one we saw at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at the Migration Celebration.

What is the next step? Well we need to move the people in our house to the new house (we are moving in July) and get settled there. Then we can think about building the mews to house the raptor. Once the mews is built and we have it and our equipment inspected by a DEC staff person and E13 turns 14, we can get our permit to trap and catch ourselves a red tail hawk or an American kestrel as apprentice falconers.

In the meantime, I need to take my hunter safety class and we both need to get our small game hunting license. We'll do that closer to when we build the mews because then things will be coming together. Our main obstacle at this point is the hawkhouse.

For now, E13 has a stack of books to read about birds of prey that I picked up at the book sale last weekend. I'll come back and share those soon. Books are the thing! And we'll be doing plenty of reading this summer and on into high school. High school!

Homeschooling with an eReader

I'm sure lots of you have been using Kindles and Nooks forever now, but we are rather new to the scene within the last six months or so and I thought I'd bring up the topic. I don't have much to report here other than the great list of classics my daughter has tapped into for free. She also has some favorite books that she's purchased. And then there are the word games she enjoys. I use a Kindle app on my Android phone and I love it.

One of my goals for our homeschool for next year is to get another Kindle the boys can share. I think it's great that we can cut down on some of the book clutter and take our books on the go.

R11 has quite a collection to choose from- she's read an unbelievable number of classic books for her age.

The Lord of the Rings is one of her favorites. Don't be fooled by the size of the font...that is a serious read!

So, I have a poll of sorts and I'd love for you to answer some questions for me in the comments.So, tell me....

• How do you use an eReader in your homeschool? 
• How many do you have for the number of kids you have? 
• Are you successful sharing it around or is it best to have their own?
• How old are your kids when they first start using the eReader?
• Can you share resources around within the same family?
• What are your favorite books for schooling using an eReader?

Top 10 Homeschooling Websites!

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

Please be sure to subscribe by email or follow Blog, She Wrote using the sidebar buttons, so you don't miss any of my Top Ten Favorites!

Today's topic is Top Ten Websites to Use for Homeschooling. In no particular order, here goes:

Web Elements- My favorite site for perusing the Periodic Table of the Elements! You can see pictures of the elements and it includes lots of information about each one.

Handbook of Nature Study Blog- Great site for encouragement on studying nature with your children and Barb provides a lot of resources in using her blog's namesake- The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock.

Yummy Math- fantastic website for challenging applied math related to the day's headlines. You can't miss this site for serious math!

The Problem Site- this one is a fun math puzzle site. There is something for all ages here and I like to have my kids try something new each time even if they return to old favorites as well.

All About Birds- when you need to know about a bird or here a bird call, this is the place to visit. I actually spoke to one of the audiologists recently about how they do the recordings. The Macauley Library at Cornell Lab of Ornithology has the largest library of bird calls in the world.

Google Earth- what is not to love? Have you ever flown from one place to another? The virtual globe and navigator. Love this tool.

Google Earth Lessons- site on how to teach using Google Earth. Don't miss this one...there are some great lesson ideas here.

Art Projects for Kids- fun art ideas for elementary art. I get ideas from here all the time.

Harmony Art Mom- Barb makes the list again with her helpful Charlotte Mason encouragement, particularly for high school homeschoolers!

The Learning Network- a blog for teaching and learning with the New York Times. We like our oldest to read about current events and this blog is a helpful tool.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my favorite homeschooling helper websites. Feel free to share your favorites by leaving a comment. Thanks!

Artist of the Month: Garth Williams

In keeping with our new tradition, we celebrated an artist's birthday in April. Garth Williams was a beloved children's book author, born on April 16th. This was another great way to incorporate all of our Charlotte's Web festivities- by studying the book's illustrator.

I found a few sources about Garth Williams including his publisher's page and the wiki page- not great for really important stuff, but just fine for what we wanted. I made some fact cards about him.

For our personal use, I made some prints of his book illustrations and laminated them.

I also made up some questions about him and placed those on a card.

On the library shelf I laid out some of the books he illustrated. This is a great place to "strew" some things you want kids to discover!

I couldn't resist another peek at our library shelf- which is home to our library books, our Fred collection that isn't being used and the horizontal books at the bottom are helping to press flowers. There are a few others we own on there too.

We've enjoyed getting to know Garth Williams since April. It'll be time to switch out to another artist. Right now I'm trying to picture where our library shelf will go in our new house (the one we don't have yet though our house is under contract!) and where the pencil tree will call home there. We might have to take a break on the artist tree displays until these items (and us!) find a new place to call home.

Cornell Lab of O & a Special Visitor!

Yesterday we had a chance to visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the second time in a few days. This time it was to host a special blogging friend and her family.

The under story in Sapsucker Woods is particularly green right now. We had a great walk.

We saw some trillium and R11 and our Special Guest had a lot of conversation over wildflowers.

Heather and Barb (and J6)!

I have to tell all of you how delightful it was to meet Barb along with her husband and two boys. We had a fabulous time walking through Sapsucker Woods and identifying bunches of birds and would you believe that as we were watching a chipmunk and a small toad, the chipmunk ate the toad? Just jumped out of a tree hole and grabbed it!

Barb had not been to a forest in our area so she learned some new things on Monday. I'm so excited she took the time to contact me and it was a privilege to have a chance to go on a nature walk with Barb!

Barb it was fantastic! Let's sit over lunch again sometime! This time I want to see some sequoias!

Ball Gown Part 4

Here we go...the final unveiling! R11 looked beautiful. Enjoy the results!

We decided that the flower would do well over the zipper. Beautiful!

The shape of the dress turned out so well.

I just love the back and I do love that flower to match the ruffles! Not sure I mentioned before that a second button was added to the bustle.

The length was brought up to a walking length which I think worked very well for the dancing. The "gloves" were a nice touch.

We had talked about using a cameo, but mine are not quite the right color for her dress. The black ribbon was a bonus!

The vertical gathers helped to pull the underskirt up under the skirt and it helped to add more bulk to the dress.

These were all across the front of the underskirt- perhaps next time we'll go for a more full hoop under the dress to keep that under skirt fluffed out more fully under the top tier.

R11 loved the addition of the lace mantilla to use as a shawl.

Enter goofy 13 year old brother doing a C3PO pose as his blog shot.

His outfit is a vest with a white shirt that has a man's ribbon tie and a "gold" pocket watch R made for him when he played Phileas Fogg at the costume party back at Halloween. Thanks Grandma for that great hat! He wears is a lot actually.

All three (Dan, E13, and R11) looked ready for an evening at the Civil Ball and they had a grand time. Dan ran the music for the evening and did some dancing, of course. The girls loved the dresses and R11 was so excited it was finally her turn to go!

I'm sure Mrs. R and R11 will begin dreaming of next year's dress not too long from now. They already have plans of how to wear this dress at different occasions during the year. When I questioned about saving the gown to wear again, Mrs. R gasped and said, "Well there will be a new gown for next year! Of course!"

Let the dreaming begin!

Ball Gown Part 3

I know the suspense has been killing everyone! Today's pictures are from the third fitting so that Mrs. R could set the zipper. Then the bottom few pictures are of the final fitting and after the hem was reset as determined needed to happen last time and the crinoline as gathered vertically in the front to be under the skirt. Instead of breaking it up into two posts, I'll just do the pre-ball pictures tomorrow!

The bodice is made from a red cotton type cloth and the sleeves and peplum are from the original dress. Under that is the top tier skirt, but you can't see the bottom layer yet.

As you can see the hem is still too long and the bodice isn't fitted yet because this was the measurement for the zipper to be set. You can see the extra peplum ruffle just hanging on the back. The sleeves are perfect!

Another view of the back...we're getting there!

Ok so the color is better seen in those other photos. The dress is still a maroon color! But here you can see Mrs. R added a flower to the sleeve- to match the ruffles.

This flower is movable, but we may use it right there to cover the zipper. The zipper is a separating zipper so it's easy to get in and out of the gown.

The top tier with the extra ruffle...we have yards of it, but I'm not sure if R11 has plans for it or not.

A peek at the final design! Notice we have some accessories starting to appear, but I won't ruin any more surprises. Again, the color is not that shocking orangy red!

Isn't it amazing?

A shout out to the creative, fun, and adoring Mrs. R for such a labor of love for Miss Bliss! Stay tuned for the final pictures with will include all the accessories- so more surprises coming! I'll make sure to take some nice detailed pictures of the final design with accessories on the big night! Along with a handsome young E13 and their father Dan who will also be in Civil War attire for the evening.

Ball Gown Part 2

Just a report on the Civil War Ball Gown progress. We stopped in for some fittings and R11 did some work at home. Here are the results.

As you can see the length was cut off of the original skirt and Mrs. R decided to add another button for the bustle. We decided the length could stand to come up some more after R11 tried it on.

So, where do you think the second tier of the skirt came from? It's made from the length of the gown that we agreed to cut off after the first fitting! It has a velcro elastic waist band and comes off separately from the first tier. Simply beautiful!

The pinned on ruffle was made with a ruffle attachment and serged edges made with black thread. Exquisite!

R11 attached the ribbon to the waistline as a way to tie it on and off under the gown. It also provides the lift under the skirts to give a hoop effect. It's really quite something when you see the final phase.

R11 used her serger to secure the edge of the underskirt and she put some pleats in it to reduce the waist size- then added the ribbon for a tie. After she tried it on, we determined it could use more pleats and she added them.

The crinoline was taken from an adult sized Laura Ashley gown. Remember Laura Ashley? Oh man...I had a closet full at one time.

The ball is Saturday evening and I'm excited to share the rest of the progress on the bodice as well as the final design. Stay tuned!

The Civil War Ball Gown...The Beginning

I've eluded to the creation of a Civil War Ball gown recently and it's time for some unveiling of the details! The ball is on Saturday evening and we have one very excited 6th grade girl at our house. E13 will be attending for the third time as will Dan since boys are in high demand, Dads are also invited. 6th graders are the youngest guest so this is the first time for Miss R.

We asked our sewing pal Mrs. R if she would help us make a gown for the ball. The first thing we did was to gather at Mrs. R's house (she has four daughters) to check out her gown stash. She's acquired many through the years and lots of them are still around begging to be refashioned!

We started by checking out some of the fashions of the day. This dress is from the 1850s and the double tiered skirt was all the rage.

At first, we were going to try and use this fabulous gown as our base. Just look at that fabric!

Then we started adding some other possibilities...

A former bridesmaid's dress bought second hand turned prom gown turned...yes! Civil War Ball gown.

Then we gave thought to some embellishments.

Then we had R11 try on the skirt to the gown. Mrs. R ripped a hole at the waist seam casing and pulled tightly and made a knot. Voila! A gown skirt is born!

Ok...how cool is the bustle? Can you imagine a hoop under there?

Now for the bodice...if we take it in we can make a peplum!

(Noun

1.

peplum - a flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse)

(Noun

1.

peplum - a flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse)

It's fun to dress up and dream! Maybe we'll have lace trim.

We had no shortages of dress ideas...but we stuck to those in the time frame of the Civil War (1850s and 1860s roughly since a lot of women probably didn't change up their fashion as soon as 1860 began!).

Do we keep the train? How much of the skirt do we cut?

R11 loves visits to Mrs. R's sewing room! Their two creative, dreamy minds can think up a lot of fun. I was busy offering some opinions and studying closely the fashions of the day.

R11 was given one task for her dress and that was to secure the waistline on the underskirt/lined crinoline and attach a ribbon to the waistband so she could tie it on under the gown. Her mission was completed over a week ago and I'll share that work next time.

Stay tuned for the next phase of the dress making/refashioning which will show the midway progress and some of the final decisions we made on dress design.