All posts by NerdMom

Great Homeschool Magazine

You may all remember that back in August I reviewed The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Digital Version. Well, I still love the Digital version but sometimes you do want a paper version of The Old Schoolhouse. But looking back I realized that I didn’t talk much about the actual magazine.

I like this magazine a lot. It is great to have this great resource. It offers advice in teach methods, life management and even product reviews. There are apple contest that reward readers. There is even a Natural Schoolhouse feature. Recently this feature was a sweet peace tying in eternal lessons with new lambs. It is also refreshing to see and hear from moms that are where I am but further along. So why am I mentioning all this now?

I wanted to tell you all about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Fall Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical gifts (no downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that is full of ideas for the new school year, so you start receiving your magazine in a flash!

It really is one of their best deals ever and you don’t want to miss out. In fact, they’ve got a really cute Homeschooling with Heart tote bag (valued at $13.95) for the first 1000 to subscribe. About half of them are gone, but you should still be able to get one if you hurry!
(They will remove the info from the subscription page when the bags are all gone.) The total value is over $212, but you receive it all for only $39 – 50% off of cover price! Plus subscribers get their online monthly Teacher’s Toolbox which focuses on a different topic each month, giving you words of encouragement, hands-on teaching ideas, book recommendations, field trip ideas, and a bonus download item.

So go run get this great deal!

Things I Learned Homeschooling

No one will deny that homeschooling is a learning experience. What I think that many people don’t realize is that no one really learns more that the homeschooling parent. Now I was very prepared to what homeschooling was and some of the lessons I would learn. I would gain knowledge that was left out of my conventional education. I would learn to have patience and how to schedule better. Already I see those lesson taking form in me. But there are some lessons I didn’t foresee and I am sure that there are more to come.

The big lesson I didn’t foresee was sometimes you need to leave them the heck alone. It started when I was trying to teach my oldest how to use scissors. I couldn’t figure out how to communicate to him on how to make the scissors work and cut on the line. So I went to a woman at church who works in our children’s department and asked for advice. She said hand him the scissors and paper, then leave him alone. Well, she was right.

Same child a couple of years later we are working on first grade math. Now I tutored math for years so I felt like I had a handle on this situation. Well, I may have been wrong;). The fact that I was making sure that he had a handle on the concepts before I gave him the work to do was really exasperating him. I found that he worked so much better if I gave him his workbook and when he stumbled (more than once or twice) then I would pull out the textbook and go over the lesson.

Now this isn’t always the approach for all my children but it was something I wasn’t prepared for. I just wonder what unexpected lesson I will be learning next;).

Phenomenal Cookware Deal at Amazon!!!

I was checking out the Amazon Friday Sale (as I have a habit of doing) and saw this great deal. This is normally over $500 and it qualifies for free shipping. I paid more for a similar set from Pampered Chef with a hostess discount and everything.

If you read the reviews you will see that it is a real quality set and I love everything from Kitchen Aid.

Silicone Muffin Cups


I was trying to come up with something I own that truly makes my life work better and I came up with Silicone Muffin Cups. I know that seems indulgent and silly but they have improved my life greatly. If you optimize your oven with large sheet pans you can put all of the muffin cups free standing them. I make 48 at a time (24 on each sheet pan). This works great for my Sweet Corn Muffins. I just multiply the recipe by 4 and cook them at once. This way I get everything dirty at once and yet I just have to go through one cooking cycle. Everything cools very quickly in the silicone so I just pop them out. Nothing sticks and I am not pulling paper off either. I even use these for Individual Egg Quiches. When I did this will the old fashion tins everything stuck:(. Then I just stack them up in a small little pile and don’t have to figure out where to store clunky muffin pans. You do have to wash them by hand but you get a 99 cent toothbrush and just scrub on them a little (the brush is more to get in the crevices than for scrubbing) and you are done! So there is one of my favorite things!

Frugal Homeschooler: Election Resources

Since we are right in the middle of the Presidential election it is the prefect time to introduce your kids the the election process.

NARA has the Electoral College site. It has teacher resource, electoral calculator, and more. The teachers resources seem to have great things for kids of all ages.

VA Joe’s has an issues calculator that helps you figure out which candidate matches up your views best.

Pocantico Hills
has a presentation for kids on the President.

Lastly, don’t count out Wikipedia. They have a pretty complete piece on the electoral college that even includes a map with the votes broken out.