Happy Fathers Day!

I just wanted to give thanks to my childrens daddy! He has 4 children, 2 are biological, one is adopted and one is step. You cant tell can you? Take your best guess!! This man has been dad to my son since he was 7 months old! He is my sons best friend! <3 Happy Fathers day Lee!! We love you!
He is my best friend, my lover and my childrens father. There is no one id rather be with & I am so happy that we got together, i feel like the luckiest woman in the world!!! Thanks for all you do!!

Fathers day craft/idea

Fathers day is Sunday!! Here are some easy and cheap ideas!!

• Card of course a homemade card!! Print off some free ones online, have your little ones color it and there ya go!
• Handprint card- This is what we are doing for my father in law/my dad and my husband..I am going to use paint to make their handprints on a piece of paper then for the little ones I will add a piece of cut poster board around it in the shape of their hand and make it big enough for them to make a picture..ill make sure they write their names and let them color a picture of their daddy and them doing their favorite thing and I will use clear packing tape all over it to make sure that it stays in good condition (-= - for my father im doing it with my hand print and ill add the kids in there also & ill write a poem, for my father in the ill do the kids and hubbys and have him write a little note (-=
• You can make his fav dinner and then u can give him some love/sex coupons (-=

Homeschool money saving tip

Homeschool doesn't have to be expensive! Join swap groups on facebook for homeschooling materials, check the dollar tree where everything really is $1 or LESS!! Use EBay and craigslist~ And always take advantage of your local library!!

Fun lunch and snack ideas for children

Do you have a problem with your children eating good? You can always just hold them down and force them to eat...OR you can try these ideas (-=

• Kabobs- Get the little wooden sticks and put grapes/pineapple pieces/watermelon/peaches etc.. on them or let them create their own fruit kabobs (-=
• Lets face it, kids like to dip~ try carrots and ranch, celery & peanut butter, toast and jelly (make your own! (-=) Yogurt and fruit is nice also!!
• Make it into a freeze! Get frozen fruits and blend it w/ice- added bonus since its summer here is the extra water from the ice!
• Alphabet soup- Try to have them "eat" their name or certain letters
• Use cucumbers/celery or other fresh fruits/veges to make pictures like flowers/grass and houses etc..
• Pizza rolls- they are EASY throw in the microwave or oven and also good after cooked to put in a bowl or baggie to take with you in the car if your in a hurry!!
• Spray cheese and crackers! You can make shapes/letters etc !!
• Build your own taco/sandwich! If kids can cook it or make it they are more likely to eat it in our house!
• Pizzas you can use whole wheat crust & add tomatoes on top with lowfat cheeses (-=
• Spaghetti is always a hit in our house!
• Hamburgers and fries & fish sticks and fries are fun!
• Try the vege chips w/ ranch dip...yummy! 

Homeschool on a budget-ways to cut costs/save money

Don't let lack of money be a reason not to homeschool your child!

There are so many resources out there for that excuse-

• You can use the internet to research find and print many things out that your child needs, of course its not really free because you might have to invest in a computer/printer/paper/ink but ill bet you its a heck of a lot cheaper then buying curriculums because A/your probably not going to drop $500 or more at once and you generally use everything that you print. When you buy a curriculum your child may have already mastered some of the thiwithngs in it and other parts could be way to advanced and your stuck with something that is only 1/2 useable or even less!

• Check with friends or family that may have homeschooling books (make sure its not to old in terms of like the history books because times have changed but older history books could be helpful still) 

• Craigslist has tons of ads out and you can even post "wanted" ads or find stuff for a discount. Just be safe when meeting people you don't know meet in daylight hours in public preferably somewhere with cameras and always let someone know you are going and try to get another adult with you to go!

• Facebook groups-So where I live I can type in "Homeschool Indianapolis" and find quite a few groups where people either give tips/share thoughts and reviews and sell/trade homeschool items! Also you can probably type in "Indianapolis buy" "Indianapolis Sale" Indianapolis garage" or other buy/sale/trade groups from your area and of course substitute Indianapolis with your city/county/state and find tons of sites.

• I hear a lot of good about homeschool conventions, I have never been and don't really plan to because I make my own curriculum due to im homeschooling an autistic child and I cant really get much use out of a true curriculum because it would be a waste like her writing is about average for kindergarten but her math skills are at a 1st grade level, her reading skills are around a 2nd grader etc.. so its difficult to buy because she can read but cant write. But, from what I have heard they have other things besides curriculums and maybe even a table to rent so you can sell your homeschool things.

• Some sites like the Sonlight curriculum site has a classifieds section where you can resell their curriculum therefore saving money by purchasing from individuals.

• I just recently came acrossed a site called Book Moooch and you offer books (not just for homeschooling so its great for everyone) and you receive books for free. I haven't tried it and I probably will get more information but its seems to be a awesome process.

• For the little ones like kindergarteners and 1st grade there are sites like ABC Mouse that offer free trials to their online curriculum.

• There is lots and I just want to express how much you can get for FREE online! There are worksheets that are printable, coloring pages, arts and crafts ideas from sites like Facebook & Pinterest. I run Facebook  Blessed Mamas & there are freebies, mommy talk and usually we post art projects, lots of contests and fun stuff.

The post after this one I am posting some sites that offer free games and printable pages so be sure to look for it titled "Free Printables List"

Reward/Incentive Chart

Here is an incentive chart/homework chart or you can use as a behavior or brushing teeth/taking bath or chore chart!! The first row is for their checkbox for completed assingments 2nd is for what they need to do third is the date and the last box is their reward, we are doing stickers but you could even put like tv or computer time (-= I hope you enjoy!!!

Danforth Academy Incentives Chart

Free Printable 10 Commandments book

Simple print the book off by clicking the link..then on the right side of the site youll see a download link..click to download when the box pops up asking what to do with it you need to click "OPEN" once it is opened then print it off, let your kids color it then cut it out and tape or staple it, staples work a lot better but bad if little ones get a hold of them. That's up to you what you use (-=

Danforth Academy 10 Commandments Book by Amy N Lee Danforth

Adding with kitties worksheet by Danforth Academy (-=

 

Okay so here is my first Printable worksheet that I am uploading for yall, it takes a lot of time and effort put in transferring everything and saving in different programs and uploading on sites to be able to share with you, please don't edit these in ways to make Danforht Academy look bad or take my copyrights off. Thank you and enjoy!!

Danforth Academy Adding Cat Worksheet by Amy N Lee Danforth

Homeschool tip- Schedule

When scheduling your homeschool times you need to think about what works for you, does a strict time work with each lesson at certain times? Is it more of a whenever you feel like it thing?
Some families have it a set time each day, they may do religious studies at 8am, math at 9am, science at 9:45am etc..
Some children are "unschooled" which in a nutshell means parents don't tell their kids what they need, to me it feels wrong like its not "teaching" but a lot of families do it and it works for them, basically they wait for their children to either give signs or tell them what they want to learn about and then the parents and children figure out the answers together, some parents may be better at this and I just could not understand it completely, (ill do more research and get back to you on that one) but I went to a homeschool blog on a unschooling family and she was talking about how the teenager wanted to learn to build, they made a garage well then she goes on to tell about what they learned from the experience, well that's a good example of using life as a teacher but I was in total disgust when she says he learned how to add! Your probably thinking...adding? Did I read that right..YES you did, the teenage did not know how to add! That is why unschooling doesn't work for us.

Personally, our schedule is that we do 1-3 things in each subject 5 days per week, no certain times whenever the kids are ready and I am ready, usually after lunch we have a snack and get started, it helps with her autism to start out each session with the same..we start with computer time so anything we do on computer comes first then move on to science and spelling and take a break then finish up what needs to be done then its art & gym is last..

Our school week starts on Thursdays and ends on Mondays and it works for us..What works for you?