Never forgotten 9-11-2001

My children aren't old enough to remember the events of 9-11, so we decided to spend some time learning about it on the anniversary. I will never forget the events of that day, the way our nation was gripped with fear, and I will  never forget how was all rose hand in hand to support each other in the days following. I know this is a tragedy that had a huge impact on our nation and  I wanted my children to understand that.

I thought it would be nice to share the tools we used. First I found these awesome notebook pages. We journal once a week at our house and the anniversary just so happened to fall on journal day. I printed a couple pages and pasted them inside the big kids journals.

We also read great articles from Scholastic News. These were great because all their content was kid friendly and didn't contain anything they couldn't handle emotionally. Scholastic is a fantastic resource. 

Lastly we watched some wonderful videos using one of my favorite internet resources...Youtube. (To make sure all our "searches" are safe on this site I do all the searching and try to preview what we are going to watch.) I found the first video by searching "what happened on 9-11 for kids. The second was shared by a friend on facebook.  

Both videos were wonderful resources in helping Jesse and Duece understand what happened on that day 13 years ago. I know they were moved by what happened to the people who lost their lives. I also know they were in awe of how people bonded together to help their neighbor. 

We ended by writing about what we learned about this day in history and about how it makes us feel. 

I hope the lessons we had today help the kids better understand the tragedy and the impact it had on our nation. I also wanted them to understand that their freedom is and was never free. I hope they have found a new respect for the country they call home. 

5 Ways We Homeschool On A Budget

If you have known me any amount of time you know I am straight shooter. I don't sugar coat anything. So I can't lie when people ask me if homeschooling is expensive. My first answer would be yes then I would say but...there are lots of ways to keep it in check. I wouldn't want anyone to shy away from homeschooling out of fear it was going to break the bank. Today I am going to share 5 ways our family saves money on supplies/curriculum then I am going to link you up! That leads me to number 1....

1. Internet! If you have internet (and a printer see number 2) you have unlimited access to many free or low cost educational tools. 

2. Printer! Plain and simple. If you have a printer the possibilities are endless. If there was one thing I would say every homeschooler needs I would say make sure you have a printer!

3. Buy used and/or borrow! You never know what your friends are holding onto for a younger child that they might be willing to loan you during the time their family isn't going to be able to use it. I lucked up our first year and someone loaned me our science, then the next year someone loaned me a math, and this year someone loaned us pre-algebra. Also, buy used. There are tons of sites and facebook groups out there that cater just to this. I can not begin to tell you all the wonderful deals I have gotten buying used. The best place to start when buying used would be to ask your friends. 

4. Library! Several of the curriculum choices I made included lots of "readers" and living books. These can be expensive. But most of the time your local library will have the titles. If they don't ask about inter-library exchange. At my library all you had to do was pay the return shipping and they would help you find books and borrow from their "sister" libraries. 

5. Pinterest! I love pintrest for school. It has endless possibilities. If you are homeschooling "little's" I would go out on a limb and say you could mostly school for free using resources you find on pinterest. (Just remember to have that printer ;) )

Homeschooling doesn't have to cost a lot to be done right. Today we have resources at our finger tips thanks to the world wide web. Take advantage of it.  For me this is the number 1 way we save money on homeschooling so I have put together a huge link list for those of you who are just getting your feet wet. (Click on the blue words to follow the links.)

The biggest list of freebies for homeschoolers. This has to be my favorite list of freebies. Plus I love her blog and pinterest boards.

Be sure to check out the Affording The Homeschool Lifestyle fb page.

Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool all inclusive curriculum wrote for homeschoolers by a homeschooling mom.

Homeschool for free resource lists here and here

Free typing lessons 

There are also tons of resources on pinterest. You can take a look at my homeschool related boards.
Teaching Tools, Season Teaching and Cooper School

Five Points Academy

This year we decided to name our home school. I know in a lot of states each family is asked to do this for reporting purposes. But, here in Alabama that is not a requirement. Actually we home school under a cover school so technically you operate under that school name. It was after picking our theme verse and sharing it on facebook that a friend shared the idea for our school name. I thought that it would be super fun to name our school. You know so when people ask where we go to school we can have a quick answer.

This is the verse we picked to be our theme or the year....
1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
The verse covers 5 points that we should exhibit to be a good example: speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. So that is how we became "Five Points Academy". Our goal is to cover each of the points this year and with any luck "master" those so we can be a good example to the world.

I think we are going to make a couple different posters for our school room with our school name and each of the points on it. The kids love the idea of having a school name and even suggested we get some t-shirts made (or have mom who sews whip us up some ;) ). Since I love when family can keep up with what we have going on in the classroom and around our home I even created a instagram hashtag #fivepointsacademyhomeschool.

I really can't wait to see what all we discover this year at "Five Points Academy". One thing is for sure. It will never be short on excitement, learning and fun. Praying blessings on not only our school year but on all students both home school and other wise as they embark on this year.

First Day Of School 2014-2015

Yesterday was our official first day of school for the 2014-2015 school year. We are so excited about our 4th year homeschooling. It has been such an amazing journey and we are so blessed God called us to this. Of course we were extra laid back but who can have a first day of school without snapping a couple pics.
I am hoping to finish pulling together our school room and get some pictures up. Also I can't wait to share our school name and verse for the year.

First Day Of School At "Five Points Academy"

Everyone around the school table working on a new "about me" poster. We do this every first day of school it is neat to see how much they change from year to year. 

Cooper is so excited to be joining us! I am kind of nervous about homeschooling a kindergartner since the other two went to public school in K but I know God gives me all the grace I need to make it work.

It is hard to believe Jesse will be in the 8th grade. It honestly seems like just yesterday I was snapping her first day of K picture. 

Duece was kind of the "reason" we started homeschooling. He was in the 2nd grade the year we started. WOW. A lot has changed since those first days but it has all been for the good. 

This is our attempt at a "nice" group photo....

This however is reality...

This neat bell is in our yard. The kids said it could be our school bell like on Little House On The Prairie so I can call them back in after breaks!