Homeschool Supplies

Today I am excited to share with you my homeschooling clean up at Target.  I was able to pick up all 22 of these items for $1 per item.  As you can see I picked up 4 workbooks 3 dry erase writing boards 2 set of dry erase sentence strips 10 box of flash cards and 2 games and 1 clock.

I saw another homeschooler had mentioned Target dollar items in their blog but did not really think I would find this many useful things.  A great blessing indeed.  These are all early elementary items.

I proceeded to Walmart where I picked up 17 cent notebooks, 20 count pencil packs for 97 cents. Markers for 97 cents , Elmer's glue for 50 cents, 24 pack crayons for 50 cents and composition notebooks for 50 cents.

I save extra money out of my budget all year to hit these deals when they come up before school.  This is the earliest I have ever seen them out.  They go fast so if you live near any of these stores you may want to act fast.

Need help with inexpensive grade school curriculum?  Check out this website: http://allinonehomeschool.com/
Easy Peasy All in one home-school curriculum.  The outlines are free to access and have lots of great links to videos and worksheets to reinforce taught concepts.  You will just need your basic supplies.

I hope you have a super year teaching at home.

Blessings.

Peace of God be with you all!  I love it when Paul says things like this in the New Testament.

Today I wanted to Praise and Thank God for some blessings in our lives.

Children!  Amanda turned 19 yesterday and is on her path in college to try to become a nurse.  I will be an exciting time to watch how God works her path in his plan.

Noah turns 11 today.  Our focus has shifted in our home to really raising up Godly young men since we have 3 of them and they are all still in the home.  Noah has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year and I do believe he will be baptized soon as he has started to talk more about it.  Understand I had all my children baptized as infants when we were within the Lutheran Church.  I now have a more complete understanding of this and the meaning and look forward to a new baptism made by choice and knowledge and growth on his part.  How exciting!

Joshua will be 7 in 2 months.  School has not been easy with him.  Some days it is all I can do to get him to sit for 5 minutes.  He is starting to take more initiative and has shown fabulous progress.  I have prayed over this a lot and even though I don't mind delaying learning for a child who is not quite ready the Lord has had to work on my heart knowing that I want him to do it all now.  He is always smiling and brings such laughter and energy to our home.

Micah will be 5 in 2 months.  We are still struggling with potty issues with him and ask for prayer.  Micah is such a smart young boy and even though we have tough days he is such a cuddle bug.  He loves to sit up with you and snuggle and what could be better than that.

Twila has been gone almost 8 years now.  Having her here for such a short time is a reminder of how fragile life is and that we must accept God's calling when it is time for us to go home.

I have so much more I want to say about provisions and blessings but I will leave that for another day.

Living Like no one else?

Dave Ramsey fans understand this phrase... Live like no one else so that eventually you can live like no one else.

Lots of people are talking about this and it is great but are we really doing it. Do we still have to have the $50 jeans? I have heard a thousand excuses on why we can't bring our budget totally in line because some one will say I have to have this or that. Really? Will you die without it. Probably not.

Are you teaching it to your children? Are they financially responsible and ready to handle themselves by the time they are 18. Did they buy their car? Do they provide for some of their clothing. Are they responsible for college? If not my guess is we missed the mark. In wanting to bless our children we enable them to still be children rather then letting them stand on their own two feet.

I think in the end whatever excuse we have is made up to justify what we want, is to make us not feel bad instead of admitting I don't want to do it. I am not willing to give it up. With our children it is just the same. Things are so much harder for kids these days is a common excuse. If we teach our children to have a real job the 2 years prior to graduation they will be better equipped for life. If we make them pay for all or a significant portion of their college they are more likely to chose a job set that will result in a payoff rather than an "underwater basket weaving degree" as my husband likes to call it. If we make them pay for their car insurance won't they attempt to be more careful with that car they had to purchase.

It is all about teaching responsibility and we cannot complain when they are not making progress in their life because they have not been taught to do so. We can not send them into the world or out to be married if they are not fully understanding of all the financial responsibilities that go with it. We will have our children and their spouses and their children living in our basement otherwise. Teach them, guide them and make them responsible and they will thank you one day.