Would you like to have an organizer, but don't want to spend the money for one? Well, you can have one for free by going to OrganizedHome.com.
You can print a household notebook that has printable forms that include: daily to-do lists, weekly to-do lists, weekly schedules, monthly calendars, freezer and pantry inventories, monthly menus, weekly menus, pary planner forms and so much more! There are even forms for organizing your scrapbook and getting organized for Christmas.
Happy printing!
-Sheri
Are you organizationally challenged? I know I am! I've found some sites to help and over the next few days I'll share them with you.
This weekend I saw a company that sells packaged mixes to make it easier for you to cook. For example, you can get a mix for enchiladas, pancakes, cookies, bread, etc. The goal of this company is to sell these packages to busy families so they can eat together at home instead of picking up dinner at the nearest fast food restaurant. There is a shopping list for each meal so you know exactly what to buy and you have everything you need to make a meal for your family in no time.
That sounds great, but I'm really trying to be more frugal. So I thought, why can't I make my own mixes and shopping lists and make it easier to cook my meals? If I could just take the time to plan out my meals, I could make up mixes for my family. My friend told me about a book that has make your own mixes, but that would mean I would have to buy it. I need FREE!
The Internet to the rescue! There are a couple of websites called Kitchen Mixesand Make Your Own Mixes, that have some different recipes to try.
Here's a great gift idea: put the mixes in baskets! You can not only use the food mixes, but also kid craft mixes. Put the dry ingredients for playdough in a bag along with instructions on how to make it, and put it in a sand bucket with small plastic cookie cutters! Or try a sidewalk chalk mix. Food mixes in a basket would be a great gift idea for a new mom or someone who needs a little extra help.
Happy mixing!
-Sheri
One of the very "interesting" parts of launching a new web site is trying to get noticed. Back in 1996 when I started Heartlight.org with Phil Ware, we faced the challenge of just explaining what the Internet was.
As we launch DenimJumpers.com in 2003, we face an entirely different problem. Millions upon millions of people are on the web reading billions of web pages. With so much competition, how do we get our voice to rise above the din? We can only shout so loud...
We're what we can to get added to search engines and directories, we're sending out emails, we're sending out press releases... AND we're asking you to tell a friend or two. Could you take 1 minute right now and tell some homeschooling friends about DenimJumpers? We've set up a very easy-to-use page to Tell a Friend.
Thanks for helping to spread the word, and God bless.
--Paul
Homeschool Forms has some neat craft recipes to print. They are already in the shape of a recipe card, so you can print them out on card stock and cut out the recipe card. I did this and punched a hole in each of them and put them on a key ring that I keep handy. There are 19 recipes, some of which include playdough, bubbles, sticker glue, paste, funny putty, salty map dough, sidewalk chalk and lots more. I love having all the recipes together so I don't have to go search for a recipe when I really need it. Click on the craft recipe cards at this page on Homeschool Forms.
I was talking to a new homeschooler yesterday and she told me about a conversation she had with a "concerned friend," about her decision to homeschool her son. This friend was very concerned that her son would be behind academically and socially. She also told her that a teacher she knew only saw homeschooled kids who were failing. OK, right. Anyway, I told her, "Welcome to the world of homeschooling."
It's sad but true that we all have had at least one conversation like that. I understand where the "concerned friends" are coming from, because I'm what you would call a converted homeschooler. I used to be that "concerned friend." When I first heard about homeschooling around 12 years ago, I just knew that my friend was going to ruin her children. After all, they need to be socialized by the public school. I admit it, I asked about socialization.
I used to say that I would never (and I mean never) homeschool my children. I've learned in life that you can never say never. God might have other plans and I'm so glad that he had other plans for my family!
-Sheri
Are you trying to find teaching ideas, lesson plans, or worksheets on a particular subject? Don't feel like wading through piles of irrelevant Google results? Go to our Ready, Set, Teach! category and click on the button that searches just that category. You'll get a search that's focused on just what you need.
I don't know if I've ever seen a simpler, more effective scripture project for kids and families. HomeWord's Pocket Scriptures is a simple page of short scriptures you print and then cut apart. Place the scriptures in a bowl or jar in your home, and then before you leave, put a scripture in your pocket. All day, you carry God's word with you. It's a great tool for memorization, and it brings the blessing of scripture to you and your family. You can go directly to the Pocket Scriptures page, or visit HomeWord for more coloring pages and activities.
I thought I would try to have our first tea party with my children today. I got out the tea pot and the china while my oldest daughter prepared the food. Not wanting to leave out my 5 year old son, I let him participate with us. What I discovered is that we have a long way to go in the manners department.
When my son saw the sugar bowl on the table he yelled, "Can I have some sugar?" He didn't just want to put sugar in his tea, he wanted to stick his finger in it and eat it. We all sat down to have our tea and as I was pouring the apple cinnamon tea, my son informed us that it was blood. Meanwhile, my two year old saw the strawberries on the plate and kept saying, "Gimme, gimmee!" As we were eating my oldest daughter told me that it was not polite of me to lick my fingers! Did I really do that?
Tea time made me aware of how much my family needs to learn about manners, including myself.
If you are interested in learning more about tea parties, Denim Jumpers has a Tea Party category with some great links. Have fun, and let us know how it goes!
--Sheri
Are you studying about King Henry VIII of England? I found a site that has paper dolls of King Henry and his six wives that you can print out for free! Plus they have clothes, historical information and more. Back when we were studying about royalty, I bought a book of royalty paper dolls, now you don't have to! http://www.royalpaperdolls.com
My mother-in-law gave me a great recipe for chocolate chip cookies and I thought I would share it with you. These come out soft and gooey, not flat like some chocolate chip cookies. Be prepared, I have lots of requests for these cookies!
The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c of butter
1 c of shortening
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c sugar
3 extra large eggs
1T vanilla
5 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. salt
1 bag of chocolate chips
Cream together the first six ingredients with a mixer. Add flour, soda and salt. My mother-in-law said you have to mix the dry ingredients with your hands for the cookies to turn out right. Mix in the chocolate chips and you're done! Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Makes 5 dozen.
Enjoy!
--Sheri
Last year as I celebrated my 34th birthday, my mother told me my birth story. She did this every year on my birthday and many other times throughout the year. When she told me about my birth story last year, I was a little impatient and thought, "I've heard this story a million times!"
My mother passed away a few months ago, and if I had known it would be the last time that I would hear my mom tell me that story on my birthday, I would have been more patient and even asked questions. Now as I celebrate my 35th birthday, I really miss my mom telling me about the day I was born. I wish I could hear it one more time.
Stories about our heritage are so important; they are our history and our children's history. We need to make sure we tell our kids their stories. Even if they get tired of hearing them, they will treasure them some day.
What a mighty God we serve! After spending most of two days bashing my head against the computer as I tried to get our new search working, we thought it best to take a bit of a break. I needed to get some fresh perspective (not to mention my head was pretty sore!), so I put it on the back burner for a few days. Today I started again, but with some fervent prayer before and during the process.
I can't begin to describe the difference. Things worked smoothly, problems were taken care of as they arose, and things that were inscrutable and confusing a few days ago were clear and understandable. And praise God, our new search program is working!
Now, you can not only search our directory of links, but you can also search the individual web pages of the sites! We'll be adding more and more pages to this index over the next weeks, so your searches will be even more fruitful.
Facing something you can't understand or a challenge you're sure you're not up for? I've got one word for you: prayer. Believe it. Live it. Pray it.
Our goal is to make the most useful homeschool site on the web. Please tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.
--Paul
Wow, it's been a week since we launched Denim Jumpers! We really hope that you have found it to be useful. We started school this week and it is going well. The kids were excited to get back to doing school work and I hope the excitement lasts for a long time!
Do you have any ideas on how to make school more fun? Share them on our Discussion Board! I'd love to hear your ideas.
- Sheri
Hey there, fellow homeschoolers! We're tremendously excited to announce that DenimJumpers.com has officially LAUNCHED! It's been quite a project so far, and it only figures to get better.
The directory has started with about 1000 links, and we know that will grow as you add to it. Together we'll build the world's most useful resource list for homeschoolers.
Our community section is also live, but we need you to join and start talking! Don't be too shy to be the first to post in any forum -- people will read and respond, and that'll get the conversation started.
And of course, there's this weblog, which will feature ramblings from Paul & Sheri Lee, your hosts on this website. We hope and pray that you'll enjoy what you read here, and that in some way it will bless you.
Finally, we pray that God will bless this site, and that through it thousands can be encouraged and equipped.
--Paul
All this summer we've fought a battle against ants in our house. Sometimes they are the fire ants (ouch!), other times they are the tiniest teensiest little black ants. Neither of them are fun to have around, but we can still learn from them.
The other day I woke up to find that someone had left the maple syrup bottle out all night. With the cap off. And the little stopper thing pulled up. Oh my. In the war on ants, this is basically inviting them to pull up a chair and stay awhile - not a good idea.
But as I got closer, I realized the situation wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Sure, there were a few dozen tiny ants crawling all over the cap, but they hadn't found the bottle yet. They were so busy scurrying and crawling over the traces of syrup left on the cap, that they had completely missed the treasure right next to it.
We can draw a few lessons from this little episode. I could talk about our spiritual lives, and how we often settle for far less than what God would love to give us. He doesn't want us to just have the cap, he wants to give us the whole bottle of syrup - metaphorically speaking. That would be a good lesson, but I'm also thinking of how to apply this to our homeschooling, and to DenimJumpers.com in particular.
You see, that little ant observation says a lot about why we started DenimJumpers.com. As homeschoolers, we're only just starting to tap into the resources of the Internet to bless our children. We finding bits and pieces, and it's exciting, but also frustrating at the same time. Surely there is even more, but we just can't figure out where to look or what questions to ask!
That's where DenimJumpers.com comes in. We're trying to build a place where homeschoolers can gather and share stories, links, ideas, humor, prayer and more. We want to be a place that puts you in touch with not just the tantalizing traces of the support and resources you need, but with the treasure that is out there and is beyond your imaginings.
So tap in, but even more importantly, add your own voice. Add your favorite links to the directory, contribute to the discussion forum, and help spread the word that there's good stuff just waiting to be found at DenimJumpers.com.
--Paul