WE HAVE MOVED

Feature Friday

I have decided that I want to share the blog love with the world!  I am going to start picking blogs that I know and love and share them with you on Friday's for you to check out.  Make sure you check out the Pinterest Board where the features will be pinned.  Did you miss last week?  Find it HERE

This week I would like to feature a blog with you that I had a hand in designing!  I worked with Heather at UpsideDown Homeschooling to create her blog design.  I am thrilled that she loves it and has continued her working relationship with me.  I love reading her blog and gain wisdom and insight from it regularly.  She is great for networking and just a sweet person.  Go check out her blog and tell her hello!

WE ARE MOVING!!!

WE ARE MOVING!!!  Keep your eyes peeled for some changes!  xoxo

Inspired Wednesday 3/13

Welcome back to Washed Up Inspired Wednesday!  If you missed last week find it HERE and HERE.

Let me inspire you:

Last week I featured a blog post on math fact memorization.  You can find it HERE.  I had been thinking for a long time that the memorization of math facts is essential to learning advanced math like multiplication and division.  The math program we use (and do love) does not really teach memorization.  It is basically the same kind of work each day leaving S very bored.  So I decided to set it to the side and focus on memorization.  Here is what I did -

I gathered her fact cards that came with the Saxon Math 2

I got the first 3 sets out

I made 2 small post it spots on the table.  One labeled 'Know' the other 'Don't Know'

She went through each card and we sorted them in piles as we went.  She knows all of her 0's, plus 1's and doubles!  WOO HOO!!!

Next I printed out a skip counting drill sheet for her to circled all of the 2's. Then I had her recite them to me.

Tomorrow we will work on her adding 2's cards and work on those until she knows them by heart.  From there we will go to 3's, 4's, etc... until she knows them all.  

I will also have her practice skip counting 2's, 3's, 4's, etc... until she knows them by heart (Isn't that basically multiplication anyway?!) mixed in with the addition memorization.

Then we will move on to subtraction and counting backward.

Featured post from 3/6:

Diamonds in the Rough - The Hard Journey of the Cross: Forgiveness

Forgiveness is HARD!  It is something that I wasn't really taught much about.  I love this post because she gets real about forgiveness.  Go check it out yourself.  I think you will enjoy it!

Giveaway this week:

Custom Blog/Email Siggie from Tatorbug Creations 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link Up:

3in30 - March update

I am not a morning person.  I have never been a morning person.  I love staying up late and sleeping in.  With that said, last week I did not get up early every day like I had hoped.  This time change is also killing my early morning wake up.  I am going to get it though.  I know I will!!!

The sink has been free of dirty dishes for over 2 weeks now!  WOO HOO!!  This is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  I am no fan of washing dishes but I am making myself clean the kitchen before sitting down each night.  Hubby is very impressed!  ;)

Reading!  YES!  Now, that is one that I have accomplished.  I read 2 books over the weekend.  I am in the middle of a series.  It isn't the typical stuff I read but this has more of a Twilight(ish) feel but with different kinds of characters than vampires.  Let me know if you want to know more about that and I will link you to the books.

Now, I may not be where I want to be but I am on the right track.  I am praying more, cleaning more, and spending more time with my family.  Not too shabby, eh?!

How are you doing with your goals?

Create Your Own Story - Free Download

It is no secret that S loves horses.  It is also no secret that S hates writing. But she does like to come up with short stories.  So I created this for her to come up with her own short story about a horse.  She dictated and I wrote it for her.  She had a great time with this.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

I would love to hear how you use this!  

Feature Friday

I have decided that I want to share the blog love with the world!  I am going to start picking blogs that I know and love and share them with you on Friday's for you to check out.  Make sure you check out the Pinterest Board where the features will be pinned.

The very first blog I want to feature is A Nest in the Rocks.  I am choosing this blog because Amy has become a dear friend and supporter of mine.  I enjoy working with her on Wednesdays for our Inspired Wednesdays Blog Hop.

A Nest in the Rocks is a great place to find homeschool resources, book reviews, recipes and so much more.  I urge you to check out her blog and follow along with her and her homeschool journey.

Wishing on Willows - GIVEAWAY!

You can find my full review of the book HERE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given this advanced reading copy to giveaway as I chose.  

Time for Learning

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. This online curriculum can be useful for those wanting homeschool materials or for those seeking help with topics such as homeschool record keeping. Find out how to write your own review!

Inspired Wednesday 3/6

Welcome back to Washed Up Inspired Wednesday!  If you missed last week find it HERE and HERE.

Let me inspire you:

My daughter is 7.  When she was big enough to pick up a pencil she started drawing.  She hasn't put that pencil down since.  She is very creative and has a great eye for detail.  To keep her love of art and the creative juices flowing I try to keep a few things handy.

Some of her paint supplies.

1. Paper - lots and lots of paper -  spiral notebooks, white paper, colored paper, paper in different sizes and shapes.
2. Scissors - regular scissors and fancy scissors
3. Crayons, Marker, Colored Pencils
4. Paints - acrylic, water color, and tempera
5. Extras - oil pastels, sharp pencils, colored ink pens, highlighters

I keep most of these items down low on shelves and in bins for her to be able to use when she wants.  She usually just uses a spiral notebook and mechanical pencil. We have a few instructional books on drawing but she loves to come up with her own thing.  Usually it is horses and barns.

Her drawing of a horse.  She is learning how to shade.

I think that encouraging her love of art and creativity will spark her love of life and living.  I want to keep that spark alive for her and inspire her to achieve anything she wants.  So for now we are encouraging art.

Painting a fish for her daddy's birthday.

Featured post from 2/27:

Hands-On Homeschool: How Important is it to memorize basic math facts?

I chose this link as my feature because we are starting to memorize our addition facts 1-10 and this post hit the nail on the head for me.  I was debating whether or not I felt it was important.  Go read it for yourself and see what you think!  I would love to hear  your thoughts!

Giveaway this week:

A copy of Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Facebook Fan Freebie

I have created a fun freebie for all of my Facebook Fans!  Want to snag it?  Click on the image below to be linked to my page and get it there!  Thanks for being a fan!!!

Reading Eggs

I wrote last week that we were changing up the way we do school around here and that I had purchased something new for S for reading.  She was struggling with some words and blends that I *thought* we had covered.  She was very unhappy with the way we were doing reading and asked me to purchase Reading Eggs for her.  We had a trial version of it last year and it was a hit.  So the hubby and I discussed and decided that it would be a good purchase for her.  I contacted the company and they extended a discount to me!  I was able to get it for 25% off (then noticed it was 50% off on Zulily a week later! ha!).


Reading Eggs is an online reading curriculum.  It offers one-on-one lessons that allow children to progress at their own pace.  It was developed by teachers and focuses on core concepts including phonics and sight words.  It even helps with spelling and some grammar.  As of now there are 120 lessons in Reading Eggs and it is growing!

Reading Eggs offers a FREE 14 Day trial.  You may then purchase your subscription or cancel.  I think it is wise to take advantage of that offer before plunging into this purchase.  Make sure your child will enjoy working on the computer each day.


S and I talked about how she wanted to start the program and we both decided to retest her in.  She didn't test in as well as I had hoped but it was where I had figured she would be *sigh*.  She has not looked back!  Not once!!  Each day she completes a new lesson and is excited to see what is inside of the "egg" that she is working to hatch in that lesson.  The other day it was a horse.  I am sure you can imagine the level of excitement!!!

This is not all that she does for reading each day but it is the bulk of the learning that she does.  We also do read alouds and she has unit study work that includes reading, vocabulary, etc...  I think her reading is improving each day.

I am in no way shape or form affiliated with Reading Eggs.  This review was just for inquiring minds.  I was not compensated or asked to do this review.  I just find this program to be beneficial to my family and wanted to share it with YOU!

3in30 - March 2013

I have been seeing the 3in30 Challenege all over the internet.  So I decided that it would be a great place for me to start some new goals and maybe stick to them.  (You know I am not very good at sticking with it.)

So, here is are my goals for March, 2013

1. Get up with the Hubby each morning and start my day.

2. Keep the kitchen clean (aka wash the dishes!!!)

3. Read at least 2 NEW books this month.

So, those may sound a bit silly but I am starting with those to start small and here is why...
 I do not get up early enough each day and I am hoping that I can start getting up earlier each day to get things going and stay on task, get my vitamins in, and get work done before Hubby comes home in the evening.

I am NOT a fan of doing the dishes.  I don't have a dishwasher so I have to wash by hand.  But I have found that I don't mind doing them so much when I keep them washed and wash them as I go.  I have also found that I LOVE my new dish drying mat.  I threw out the old dish drainer that took up all of my counter space (no joke I only have about a foot and a half) and laid the mat down.  I am able to get the dishes dried faster on the mat, therefor I can put them away faster and have access to my counter top.  That my friends, is a beautiful thing! ;)

I have received a couple of books in the mail recently and I have been hoarding some up on my Kindle app. I want to go through them and get them read. -- So that I can justify buying more! HA!

So, what are your goals for March?

This post is linked up at #3in30 Link Up!

Insta-Fridays - Linking Up

You can find me on Instagram @WhereHeLeads

S and I having a crazy silly hair day!

NEW-ness!  Some new books that I have added to my shelf to read in March.

N working feverishly on his Turtles Lapbook.

Find the Lapbook he was working on HERE.

9PM and I print out a lapbook.  Yep, I am a homeschooling mom!

Color, Cut, Paste, Repeat

My new oh-so-ugly shoes that are oh-so-comfy.  Isn't it the way they feel that counts anyway?!

I caught them!!!  They were snuggled up doing Reading on the PC.  Be still my heart!