Hearts for Home Blog Hop- January 30

I cannot believe it is already the last HFH Hop of January!  :-)  Wow!

Last week's most viewed post was:

Why We're Ditching Story of the World from Proverbial Homemaker

I did not participate last week because of my 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials series.  Next week I will have my "favorites" to feature again.  :-)

If you were featured, feel free to grab the "I've been featured" button to place on your blog!  :-)

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.upsidedownhomeschooling.com/hearts-for-home/" title="Hearts for Home Blog Hop" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r505/upsidedownhomeschool/HFHFeature_zpse5060e68.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

Are you ready to share your posts this week?  Let's go!  Use the form below to enter your links.  Posts can be anything that shows your heart is for your home: homeschooling, homemaking, parenting, marriage, faith, family, crafts, etc.  Please just kindly link back to this blog or display our Hearts for Home button in your post or on your sidebar.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.upsidedownhomeschooling.com/hearts-for-home/" title="Hearts for Home Blog Hop" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r505/upsidedownhomeschool/HFH150_zpsf22ef64f.jpg" alt="Hearts for Home Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 



Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

Try a New Recipe Tuesday- January 28

It is (almost) Tuesday and that means it's time for Try a New Recipe Tuesday!

My son made an awesome marble cake this past week and you will find it linked in the first spot.  I know he would love if you checked out his delicious recipe.

Here are this week's features:

Zucchini Bread as Cake from Indoor Garden Musings

Danish Puff from Words of Deliciousness

Apple Syrup from Jonesin' For Taste

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

Marble Cake

Kiddo #1 made an awesome marble cake and I would love to share it with you.

Prepare the chocolate batter in one bowl:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare the vanilla batter in another bowl (same as the above except without the cocoa):

1 cup flour (you may need a little more if batter is too thin.  Use your discretion)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Swirl the two batters into a prepared 9x11 baking dish.  Be sure to swirl and not mix, so as to keep the two distinct colors.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and ENJOY!

Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday,NOBH, Claire Justine, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Melt in your Mouth Monday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday,  Mom's Monday Mingle, Monday Mingle, Crafty Spices, Better Mom,Create with Joy, Thursday's Treasures, Tasty Thursdays and Wonderful Food Wednesday and  Tuesday How to Party and the Tried and True Recipe Party and Kids and Mom in the Kitchen and Family Fun Friday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop andAll My Bloggy Friends and Hearts for Home Blog Hop and Foodie Friends Friday and Family Fun Friday and TGIF Linky Party and Food on Friday andHip Homeschool Moms, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home andGood Tastes Tuesday and Thriving Thursday and Friday Flash Blog Hop 

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials- Day 5

This series has been a wonderful one to participate in and I hope that some of the things I have shared have helped, informed or inspired you.  We are not on an easy journey as homeschoolers, but it is a rewarding one and I know that we all feel incredibly blessed to have such an opportunity

On Day 1, I wrote about how hands-on learning is so important.  Day 2 covered field trips and how important they are to real learning.  In Day 3's post, I addressed humor and how it is so necessary for real love of learning to take place.  Yesterday, in Day 4's post, I shared about how to select curriculum that fits a child, not the other way around.

Today, on this last day of the series, I will be sharing about how much we have enjoyed programs in the community and beyond that are geared toward homeschoolers.  There are many quality programs out there.

Our local library offers programs once a month and they have included a myriad of topics, including Chemistry and Native American culture.

We have attended homeschool bowling at our local bowling center.

Museums, such as the Franklin Institute and Philadelphia Art Museum offer science and art classes respectively.

Our local YMCA offered a homeschooler's swim and gym class.

My daughter has been taking homeschool sewing lessons for 3 years now and makes amazing things, like this handbag she made me for Christmas (lined and all!)  :-)

Some of these programs, like the ones at the library are free of charge.  Others, like the bowling alley, are extremely reasonable.  Karate studios and dancing schools advertise frequently in this area that they have classes for homeschoolers.  Even if they are not currently offering something, inquire!  They do not have a lot of business during the day and I'm sure would welcome the interest.

There are so many organizations that are marketing to homeschoolers today.  We are an untapped market!  :-)  You will find something to suit your children's interests and abilities with just a little research.

Have fun with whatever programs you find.  The Kiddos surely enjoy theirs!  :-)

Click to see:
Day 1- Hands-on Learning
Day 2- Field Trips
Day 3- Humor
Day 4- Curriculum that fits your child

Don't forget to enter the iPad Giveaway here.

Here is the link to all of the 89 bloggers who are writing and sharing this week! 

Also, here are 10 of those 89 participating in this series.  Stop by and see what they thought were their essentials.  :-)

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool


Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials- Day 4

So far I have written about:

Day 1- Hands-on Learning
Day 2- Field Trips
Day 3- Humor

Today, I am going to elaborate on another essential in our homeschool- quality, engaging curriculum

There are thousands of curriculum suppliers out there all who want to sell to homeschoolers.  It can be a very daunting and overwhelming task to choose from so many very different options.  One of the blessings of homeschooling is that I can choose a different math book for Kiddo 1 than Kiddo 3.  I believe with all of my heart that the "one size fits all" approach in American schools today is wrong and is failing.  Every child is different and thus learns differently.  Math Curriculum A might be wonderful for one type of learner, but just the wrong approach for another.  Every child should not be given the same exact book and be expected to excel.  Some math books present the material in a sequential manner, leaving one topic completely and introducing another. We use a provider that uses a spiral approach.  There are questions at the end of Chapter 17, for example, that were covered in Chapters 1 or 5.  The topics get continually reinforced throughout. That seems to work well here.  You know your child best.  And, even if a mistake was made in the purchasing of a book or materials, there is nothing wrong with admitting that it just isn't working and move on.  We have that flexibility to keep trying until something works with our children.

First and foremost is to learn the style of the learner.  Are they primarily a visual learner?  Perhaps they are an auditory learner or kinesthetic learner.  They may be a combination of several or all of them.  Knowing how they learn is critical to determing what curriculum approach would be a good fit.

We have used many different types of curricula in the Home to 4 Kiddos.  We love a literature rich approach-- hearing and learning about first hand accounts and experiences in a story, rather than dry textbook descriptions.

Lapbooks are a winner here, as they are engaging and hands-on.  Unit studies bring everything together nicely- having every subject area covering the same particular topic at the same time.

You can find good, quality material at the most interesting of venues.  We were given so many educational units and materials from our recent trip to the Farm Show.  These cover a variety of science topics and have additional resources online to correspond with them.

We have the benefit, as homeschoolers, to choose what materials will work best for our children, not be stuck with a generic choice for hundreds of children.  Get samples if you can, research the company, buy used if available and give it a try.  If not, sell it and begin again until you find what works.  Your children will be successful and happy when their own unique learning style and abilities are challenged by the materials you choose especially for them.  :-)  Works here!

Click to see:
Day 1- Hands-on Learning
Day 2- Field Trips
Day 3- Humor

Don't forget to enter the iPad Giveaway here.

Here is the link to all of the 89 bloggers who are writing and sharing this week! 

Also, here are 10 of those 89 participating in this series.  Stop by and see what they thought were their essentials.  :-)

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials- Day 3

A very overlooked essential in any successful environment, but especially in our homeschool is humor.  Yes, humor.  Doctors have long known of the benefits of smiling and laughter in the medical arena.  Well, I assert that they are just as necessary in the educational arena.

Who ever said that one needs to be miserable and stiff and emotionless in order to learn?  Why does one need to be sitting with a particular posture for hours on end?  If a child smiles or laughs in an educational setting, why is there punishment and not encouragement?

In our homeschool, we laugh, we joke, and even run around.  And we smile, A LOT.  And, behind those smiles, they are learning and LOVING every minute of it.  Their smiles that you see on these pages are genuine.  When you love what you do, you will learn and remember enthusiastically.  And isn't that what education is all about?

I am not saying that education is a joke, but what I am saying is that humor is necessary.  Smiling and laughing are essential, not only to one's successful education, but to life.  It shouldn't, like a child's creativity, be stifled; It should be encouraged.

Laugh much, love much and you will learn much!

Click to see:
Day 1- Hands-on Learning
Day 2- Field Trips

Don't forget to enter the iPad Giveaway here.

Here is the link to all of the 89 bloggers who are writing and sharing this week! 

Also, here are 10 of those 89 participating in this series.  Stop by and see what they thought were their essentials.  :-)

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials- Day 2

Yesterday, I shared that HANDS-ON LEARNING is essential in our homeschool.  You can read all about it here.

Another essential in our homeschool is FIELD TRIPS.  Whether it be in our own backyard in historical Philadelphia,

Valley Forge or other Revolutionary War sites, or in Washington, D.C.,

seeing and experiencing is priceless learning!  And, field trips do not have to cost a lot of money.  The sites in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., for example, are owned by the government, so they are free of charge to enter.  So is Valley Forge and other state parks.

The farm show that we visited last week was free of charge to enter and we learned and saw SO much.

I have also found that if you have a membership to a particular museum, other museums around the country offer reciprocal benefits, thus allowing you to enter without charge.  Shop around and see which museum have the least expensive membership fees, purchase a membership there, and then you have access to literally hundreds of facilities across the country.

Field trips are educational for a myriad of reasons.  I believe wholeheartedly that one needs to see, hear and DO in order to truly learn.  So, as often as we are able, we see, hear and DO, whether it is in hands-on experiences like I wrote about yesterday, or with field trips where you walk where Washington walked instead of reading about it in a book.  You can follow up these experiences with your children writing about what they saw and experienced.  We always ask our children to write (one even makes Power Point presentations) about their experiences- what they learned, what they liked most and what they would like to see more of in the future.  Our kids like to take their own photos on our field trips, as well.  it is always fun to put albums together with mementos, stickers or other materials.  These are the experiences they will cherish and remember.  A chapter in a book about an event will fade in their minds.  Being where that event actually took place and what they see, learn and encounter there will not easily be forgotten.

Don't forget to enter the iPad Giveaway here.

Here is the link to all of the 89 bloggers who are writing and sharing this week! 

Also, here are 10 of those 89 participating in this series.  Stop by and see what they thought were their essentials.  :-)

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool



Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

Try a New Recipe Tuesday- January 21

It is Tuesday, and that means it is time for another Try a New Recipe Tuesday!  :-)  I so enjoy seeing (and trying!) your delicious recipes.

I am not sharing a recipe this week, as I have been busy writing (and sharing) the 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials series.  If you would like to read the first post in the series, click here.

Now, for today's features:

Chicken Paninis from Simplicity Breeds Happiness

Oatmeal Pancakes from A Net in Time Schooling

Old-Fashioned Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes from Melding Magic

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!

5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials- Day 1

I am happy to be participating in the 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials Blog Series.  I look forward to seeing what is essential in other homeschools, as well as sharing about our own.

There are SO many factors that go into making a "successful" homeschool, and I am sure that every family, with its own children, with their own interests and abilities, will have a different list.

First and foremost here in the Home to 4 Kiddos is

HANDS-ON LEARNING

Children learn best when seeing, hearing AND doing, so we incorporate a lot of hands-on activities in our homeschool.

Whether it be building a replica of Jamestown

Making posters of our 4H projects

Powerpoint presentations

Science Experiments

 or

Math  and other Games,

there is much hands-on, engaging learning going on.

So, you want to incorporate more hands-on learning in your homeschool?  There are many free activities and printables available on the internet, as well as amazing unit studies for sale.  I also try to make my own educational games, such as the U.S. Landmarks Game or the Punctuation Matching Cards.  Feel free to click on the links and download them for yourself.

And, life is hands-on!  How about cooking and baking with your children?  There is much math in recipes.  Try doubling a recipe and letting your children figure out adding the fractions.  If you make 5 dozen cookies, let them multiply and figure out exactly how many.

Even though the winter is upon us, next month we start thinking about our garden and will plant all of our seeds.  What better way to learn about plant life and biology, than to watch and measure the growth and development of every fruit or vegetable plant?  You can make a scrapbook of photos, measuring the growth and documenting the changes as it grows.  Have your child label the parts of the plant.  Once the weather is warm, transplant them all outside with your children learning how to till the soil and water the garden.  As you see bees coming near your plants, what a way to learn all about pollination!

The possibilities are endless with just a little thought and planning.  And, your children will not only be making memories for a lifetime, but they will be LEARNING a whole lot, too!

Until tomorrow, with the 2nd essential for our homeschool!  :-)

Don't forget to enter the iPad Giveaway here.

Here is the link to all of the 89 bloggers who are writing and sharing this week!

Also, here are 10 of those 89 participating in this series.  Stop by and see what they thought were their essentials.  :-)

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool




Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!