About Honey

Honey is a homeschooling mama of five amazing children. She and her husband Jonah run Sunflower Schoolhouse together. She provides the content and he provides the technical support. Please see the About for more information.

Homeschool Mother’s Journal

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Honey

It is time for another edition of the Homeschool Mother's Journal over at The Homeschool Chick.

In my life this week...

I am still sick. First they said it was tonsillitis. Second they said it was strep. Third they said it was strep again. I am on my third round of antibiotics. This time they gave me a different prescription for a longer time.

In our homeschool this week...

We have been spending time in the kitchen baking all kinds of yummy treats and the kids are having a blast. Now, if I can just get them to clean their rooms.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We have been hanging around the house trying to get me healthy again, but the weather is nice and I think we need to go for a walk soon.

My favorite thing this week was...

snuggling with the twins this week and baking with the big boys.

What's working/not working for us...

The new workbox setup is working very well for us.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Is there an art video series for kids? Moses loves Mister Maker and I would love to be able to find a video series like this television series for him to watch.

What are your favorite educational dvd's?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

I want to share a link to the Handbook of Nature Study. Now that the weather is nicer, I can't wait to explore this inspiring site more fully.

Handbook Of Nature Study

I am linking up to the Homeschool Mother's Journal.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Helpful Homeschool Hints – Chronicles Of Narnia Podcasts

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Honey

I was so excited to discover the complete Chronicles of Narnia book series available as a series of podcasts online. My oldest son, Elisha, has read the series and was really excited to be able to listen to it online as he is heading to bed each night. Since my son is enjoying them, I thought I would pass along the link for your family to enjoy as well.

~ Chronicles Of Narnia Podcasts ~

I am linking up to Helpful Homeschool Hints.

Helpful Homeschool Hints

Please share any great resources that you have found in the comments below.

Working Our Workboxes

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Honey

This year we are using our workboxes for our various subjects and it is working well. We are using Bob Jones for most of our subjects and we are loving it. It is way more work than we are used to, but the layout is good and it is nice to have a stopping and starting point each day. I like having a teacher's manual with more information (than I could ever need) and all the answers for those days when my brain is feeling old and tired.

Most of the workboxes have:

at least one student workbook
a teacher's manual
answer keys (for mama)
and any other pieces needed

The children grab the workboxes off the shelf and bring them to me. We work on our subject and then they replace the box on the shelf. We moved the workboxes up to a bookshelf in my bedroom and we do school sitting on my bed (one child at a time). It is nice one on one time. We were doing our work in the living room, but that meant keeping everyone else out of our main living space while we were doing school, which just wasn't practical.

I am trying to help the kids to work more independently, but they all have their issues:

Elisha has ADHD and autism and needs help with staying focused and also with scribing (due to muscle fatigue during printing).
We suspect that Moses has dysgraphia, but we know for sure that he has trouble following directions (he reads them, but can't remember them to execute them).
Malachi is not reading fluently yet so all of his instructions need to be read to him.

I have been thinking about including more fun back into our homeschool day. Does anyone have any great links or ideas?

How are you organizing your workboxes these days?

Monday was a blur

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Honey

You probably don't need to know all this stuff, but I wanted to catch you up with my life and a point form post was the easiest for me.

My mom went on an errand for me and picked up some things that I had found on UsedVictoria before we got snowed in last week. The lady was gracious enough to hold them for me until the streets were cleared. Oh, I can't wait to write a post about them and show you a picture.
Last week was our grocery week and we were snowed in. We didn't make it to our monthly grocery shop until Monday.
Grandma watched the kidlets while Jonah and I went to the local warehouse store and loaded up on all the necessities.
Jonah and grandpa and the kids unloaded all the groceries into the house.
Jonah put the potatoes and the corn on and threw the pork roast in the oven. (Well, he probably didn't throw it. He did have to cut it into four large chunks to get it into the roasting pan and put some seasonings on it.)
My mom took me to the clinic. I finished my antibiotics on Thursday and should have headed right back into the clinic, but had to wait until Monday due to the wonderful weather that we have been having.
The wait at the clinic was almost two hours.
The doctor pulled up the records of my last two visits.
He did a throat swab and ordered some blood work (which I still have to get done).
When I called to check in with Jonah he told me that the roast was taking a million years to cook and the littles were getting super hungry.
I stopped and grabbed some cooked chickens on the way back.
I grabbed a box of frozen chicken breasts and bulk hamburger that was on sale and I added a loaf of yummy artisan bread to my cart (and some grapes).
I also remembered the vanilla that I had forgotten at the other store, but I forgot the cocoa and flax even though I was staring right at them. UGH
I messed up this time with the grocery shopping because we usually purchase a take and bake pizza to eat after our monthly grocery shop and I forgot. (Thankfully, no one was too upset with me).
Dinner was very late and I was very tired by the time we finally got home.
Everything was all ready to eat and we ended up having a yummy meal.
Did I mention that the weather was weird while we were out? Pouring rain, huge chunks of snow, and freezing cold.
Winter, be gone, you.

What do you do when your days are a blur?

Menu Plan Monday

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Honey

This week's menu is a bit ambitious and may not all come together as planned, but I am going to give it a good go. Everything will be made from scratch and I am hoping to enlist the kids with some of the baking this week. I can't wait to try out some new recipes and see if they will work for our family.

Tuesday

Breakfast - Sausage gravy and biscuits with fruit
Lunch - Soup and dinner rolls with veggies
Dinner - Roast pork dinner with mashed potatoes and veggies

Wednesday

Breakfast - Muffins with fruit
Lunch - Soup and rolls with veggies
Dinner - Macaroni casserole with veggies

Thursday

Breakfast - Sausage gravy and biscuits with fruit
Lunch - Soup and dinner rolls with veggies
Dinner - Chicken and rice with veggies

Friday

Breakfast - Muffins with fruit
Lunch - Soup and sandwich with veggies
Dinner - Homemade Pizza

Saturday

Breakfast - Pancakes with fruit
Lunch - Pizza biscuits with veggies
Dinner - Chicken pot pie

Sunday

Breakfast - Pancakes with fruit
Lunch - Pizza biscuits with veggies
Dinner - Spaghetti with garlic toast

Monday

Breakfast - Sausage gravy and biscuits with fruit
Lunch - Soup and dinner rolls with veggies
Dinner - Chili with rice and veggies