Ramblings...

The other night The Spouse and I were clicking around Youtube when we came across the video below by Jefferson Lab. About twenty minutes into checking out their channel I had marked them on our favorites and we were wondering about all the other cool things we could do with liquid nitrogen. Their videos don’t just focus on liquid nitrogen, although those are hands down probably the coolest ones, they also have videos on thunder & lighting, lunar eclipses, and butterflies! Jefferson Lab puts together short,informative, and most importantly FUN videos that would be a great addition to any science lesson(we’ve added them to our list of favorite science videos on Youtube!).

Mix equal parts cornstarch and water *it took 2cups of each to make the amounts I have here*, then add in the food coloring. I used about 10 drops for all the colors except the red paint. I started with ten, but it looked like Pepto-Bismol so I put in about another five to six squirts. It still looked a little pinkish to me, but I was out of liquid red food coloring by that point. Plus it didn’t look like Pepto-Bismol anymore so I was content with it. Mix well, and Voila! Easy, Non-Toxic, Earth friendly sidewalk paint.

Our walls are concerte and all the doors are metal so we can use the paint anywhere outside!

Once done with your outdoor fun, you can store it in an airtight container *just add water if it begins to dry out*.

Plan this activity to coincide with an upcoming rainy day, and Mother Nature will clean off your sidewalk/patio for you!

Copyright(c)2011 Rayven Holmes

Yesterday I posted a link on my FB page to HLN’s section of Free Unit Studies. Well not only do they have free unit studies but get this, they are also having a sale on their regular unit studies as well! From now until September 30th if you go in and order regular priced Unit Studies then enter 1buck in the coupon code area during checkout each Unit Study is only A BUCK! How awesome is that? These Unit Studies are downloads, so no shipping and handling. If you aren’t sure that you would like their Unit Studies, check out the free ones you have until the 30th to take advantage of the one buck offer.

I love free/discounted resources, they make schooling on a budget possible. Yes ladies and gentlemen I really am that easy to please.

Since we are knee deep in ancient Egyptian history I figured this Friday’s post should feature some fun freebies. Of course I found way to many to actually post in a status message on FB, so instead I will present them here. This will allow me to just post one link on FB, which is much easier, and a heck of a lot quicker. *Click the description to get to the link.*


Takes you through the history of Egyptian life , also walks you through how to play Senet *an Egyptian board game* and allows you to play the game as well.

Free eight page coloring book. Site also features history of Egypt and an index of terms with definitions. As well as recommended videos, games, and books on ancient Egypt.

Interactive game where you seek out clues to figure out which mummy is buried in the tomb.


Tour an ancient Egyptian museum exhibit.


Learn how to write with ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs.


Another Egyptian coloring book.


Ancient Egyptian alphabet and numbers.

Tons of useful links *to many to list everything they cover*.

Visit your local library and take a friend with you, it’s Library Card Sign-Up month!

Copyright(c) 2010 Rayven Holmes

I recently started a fan page on Facebook for this blog. This will allow folks interested in discussing homeschooling to reach me while keeping my personal Facebook page private. I figured what better way to spread fun, useful, affordable homeschooling info then by using that fan page. So every Friday *unless I forget or something comes up* I will post an educational freebie on that page. I’ll post other cool things I come across as well, but the free stuff will be on Fridays.

So head on over and see what freebie I have found to share!

All homeschoolers are accustomed to DIY *Do-It-Yourself* projects at some point in time. They tend to be cheaper, easier, and just as affective.

Well this week I did a little DIY project, which was very successful. All I needed was a piece of printer paper, some crayons, and our Sweet Treats Counters.

I took the paper and made patterns in some of the colors represented in our Sweet Treats Counters.

Then I let Child #2 at it. First by sorting the colors, then having fun with his patterns.

Quick, Easy, and Free. What more could a homeschooler ask for?!

We are a month into our new “school” year and things are going fairly well. I’ve made a few more changes *which I shall share later*, finally received some items I had been waiting for, and I am still trying to find that balance between wife/mother/teacher/self. Hopefully by the end of this month I will have worked out the balance issue *it would help if I actually sat down and wrote out my commitments and when they will get my time…so I‘m not working on them during the day…note to self do that later!*.

Even though we have been in full school swing for the past month, the rest of American schools are just starting the back to school dance. This has its advantages for us homeschoolers since we can refill our stock piles of supplies at some great discounts. Since we don’t currently live in the states I asked my father to get us some school supply items which were cheaper at his local store than they are here.

While rattling off my list we got into the discussion of what we are doing this year, are the boys headed for traditional school? The answer was of course no, but I didn’t have to endure the stereotypes. In fact my family is far more supportive than most families, I also went to college for education so I know that changes the way they see things. Of course my school experience is also what sends me on a rampage when I hear “parents should have a degree to homeschool” but that is a rambling for another day.

Anyways, what he did say was “make sure you have a way to keep records and stuff, you don’t want to not do that”. Now given the ages of the boys I don’t really do grade keeping, but I do keep track of what they do. We have a two drawer filing cabinet, one drawer for each boy. Each cabinet has folders for grade level and subject. I keep their finished workbooks/worksheets/art projects *that fit* inside this cabinet. Unless it is in one of their binders *we have one for Language Arts/Handwriting/Japanese, Science, and History at the moment*.

Once they get older *probably 4th-5th grade level* I’ll actually keep grades. I don’t see a need to make a big fuss about grade keeping in the lower grade levels, I think it puts way too much stress on a child. I will put a 100 on a math worksheet if Child #1 got all the questions right *as an incentive to keep up the good work*. If he didn’t get them all right I don’t put anything, instead I circle the ones he missed and when he completes them correctly he receives his 100. I think this shows him that he has the power to correct his mistakes and the importance of taking his time and ensuring he always double checks his work.

But what will we do once we reach the level where I should have some grades to appease the school system and family? Well I have already put together a binder that we use *aside from the grade book portion*. In it is a calendar, weekly lesson plan, book list, field trip form *mostly used for planning purposes and to keep track of where we have gone so we can flip through when they are older and reminisce about our time here*.

Everything we use in our Family/Lesson Planner can be found HERE. That is right all you need is a printer in order to keep track of grades and pretty much everything else. And don’t worry because mommy made transcripts are taken by public/private schools as well as colleges, and they will even take a portfolio.

There are also online methods of keeping track of lesson plans, grades, and everything else us homeschoolers do. I’ve used them before but find that I often forget to go back and fill things in. I also didn‘t care for the basic version, so if I go back to this method later down the line it would be when we *The Spouse and I* think it is worth investing in the plus version *probably when we start the middle school years* for now though pen and paper are far my affective for us in this area.

So what method do you use to keep track of everything your little one(s) are doing?

The forth of July is quickly approaching and regardless if you are taking a break by the pool or knee deep in homeschooling I have a deal for you! They Signed For Us is a FREE e-book that covers the struggles the signers of the Declaration of Independence faced as well as what life was like for them after they signed the document. What is really neat is that each chapter starts with a few of the signatures from the document with the name and state of the individual next to the signature. If you think that is cool, it gets even better, at the end of the e-book they have the Declaration of Independence. So once you gobble up this e-book you can read the document that started our country. Once again this is a FREE resource, so start your printers and Enjoy!

*For more FREE resources check out Free K-12 Education.*

Here is another AWESOME freebie site for you all to check out and enjoy. Homeschool Freebie of the Day is a website that features a daily freebie during the week for homeschoolers to enjoy and use. You only have that day to grab it up and then it will be gone!

But you can register *this is also free* and not only get a weekly email on Sunday telling you the planned freebies for the upcoming week *so you can mark your calendar and be ready to pounce on the freebies you want when they are up for grabs*, but you also get freebies they can’t have open to everyone. Since some eBooks or other resources carry various publishing requirements or price tags they are only allowed to share these things to their registered users.

Registering is super easy, all you need to do is plug in your email address and your first name, that is it. In the time it would take you to log into Facebook you can be registered for TONS of weekly freebies.

So head on over to Homeschool Freebie of the Day, get registered, and start enjoying your freebies!

*The family that runs Homeschool Freebie of the Day is taking time off for the summer, but you can still register so you start receiving emails once their school year resumes.*

I have another awesome homeschooling find to share with you all! There is a FREE online homeschooling magazine out there, what makes this magazine special you may ask? Well this magazine is made by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. I don’t mean the parents doing the schooling I mean the ones we are teaching!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, kids make and publish this online magazine, just for their peers! *Yes parents can enjoy the issues as well, but it’s really cool what kids can do when given the freedom to be creative*.

The current issue is titled the Summer Fun Issue, and it is jammed pack with awesome ideas, helpful hints, safety tips, recipes, poems by homeschoolers, well the list goes on! So hop over and check out Homeschooling Kids Magazine for yourself, and sign your homeschooler up for this free monthly treat!

This has been an amazing week of savings and freebies on the homeschooling front. First I found out about the amazing savings going on at Hooked on Phonics thanks to my friend Melonie over at One Little Change sharing the MoneySavingMom link with me.

I have been longing to purchase the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Kindergarten to 2nd Grade program, but the $199.95 price tag kept me from actually getting it since it didn‘t vibe with our budget. This week though I was able to take advantage of the sale Hooked on Phonics was *still is* having. The highly coveted item was knocked down from $199.95 to $59.95 and then I got to use a coupon to take another 50% off!!

Grand total *including shipping*: $36.92!! That’s right I got the item for a fraction of it’s original price.

The goodies didn’t stop there though! I also scored an awesome DVD and Educators Guide for FREE. As well as FREE classic records for kids from Kiddie Records Weekly. They offer FREE tunes from the Golden Age, so if you are wanting to share your childhood with your grandchildren, or you are doing a lesson on that time period, Kiddie Records has plenty of FREE records for you to use. I would like to send a big thanks to Freely Educate for the information on Kiddie Records.


Have you scored any awesome homeschooling deals and/or freebies? If so leave a comment so we can toast to your awesome saving skills, and if you blog link up over at MoneySavingMom so they can share in on your find as well.

*Raises hand frantically like a mad woman* I do I do!! I really, really do. As I’ve shared through the last few post, I LOVE free stuff. Free stuff makes learning at home on a budget possible.

Now I have one more awesome freebie potential to share with you as well as a fantastic savings opportunity. Egghead Academics has produced a fabulous e-book titled Liberty: The Founding of a Country and you can win a free copy! All the fabulous details can be a found over at One Little Change, so head over and get in on the giveaway.

Oh but wait…they didn’t stop at the giveaway, oh no they have something else in store for you. A DISCOUNT! *This homeschooler just fainted with excitement*. How much is this discount worth you may be asking yourself…well it’s worth 25% off when you spend $10 or more! We can all easily spend at least $10 on school supplies, especially with this being the time of year that most folks are stocking up for the fall. So what better time to take advantage of a 25% off discount!

It’s super easy to use this discount too, you just click over to the Egghead Academics website, fill your cart up with fabulous goodies, and then type in coupon code HAPPYFOURTH. Simple right?! So head on over and enjoy the savings *because they will only last until the 5th of July*, and don’t forget to head over to One Little Change for all the details on the Egghead Academics giveaway!

I found out about Freely Educate through the same source I found the Free DVD and Educators Guide deal. Freely Educate exist solely for the purpose of helping homeschoolers and educators find freebies. Their archives date back as far as May of 2008, and they post nearly everyday so there are plenty of FREEBIES to be had. Yes freebies, it includes my favorite word FREE!! They even do giveaways, so frequent them often, I sure plan too!

This FREE DVD was brought to my attention through the UU Homeschoolers Yahoo Group.

This is taken directly from the Journey To The Stars website:

Educators and parents: Are you ready to take your students on a Journey to the Stars? The American Museum of Natural History and NASA have joined forces to produce a planetarium show about the amazing variety of stars that dot our cosmos--exploding stars, giant stars, dwarf stars, neutron stars, even our own star! But you don't have to go to a planetarium to experience this mind-blowing journey. NASA will send you a DVD and Educator's Guide, for free!


Yes ladies and gentlemen that is right a DVD and Educator’s Guide for FREE! For those military families living overseas you too can enjoy this offer as well! That’s right they ship to APOs/FPOs! So go on and order yourself one *or get multiple copies for your homeschool group or co-op, yes they even allow you to ask for more than one copy!*. It’s like Christmas in June!

I am extremely excited about this, being that I am:
1) A science geek and
2) A lover of the word FREE in relation to items I need/want.

I can’t wait for our copy to get here and I’m sure you will get just as much use out of it as I know we will.

So order away and enjoy your journey to the stars with your homeschooler!