Carnival of Homeschooling: Top 10 School Supplies Edition

Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling! This edition of the carnival is dedicated to one of my favorite things: school supplies.

Narrowing down my top ten favorites required some thought. What does my family use frequently? What do I wish I purchased earlier? What would I miss the most? Items we take for granted have probably been skipped, so consider this a sample.

I hope you find helpful ideas and inspiration in the articles submitted this week. If you enjoy a post, please leave a comment and let the blogger know.

Renae’s Top 10 School Supplies

photo: Stewart

Bookshelves- I haven’t heard of a homeschooler who doesn’t need a few bookshelves. We have a total of ten scattered throughout the house, and I still dream of a room full of shelves.

• Percival Blakeney Academy alerts us to Books Under Seige.
• Home is where you start from shares The Odyssey of Homer- several different approaches.
• Recession Depression Therapy lists Essential Cookbooks for Kids.
• The Expanding Life reminds us reading to our children is important, but we also need to Talk to Them.

photo: MGShelton

Library Card- Even with ten bookshelves we don’t have material for every subject and lesson. One card equals books galore. The library is also the perfect place to find picture books and fiction I don’t necessarily want to buy.

• Homeschool Confidential shares her opinion of Discovering Great Artists in her March is for Art, Giveaway.
• Ramblings from the Crazy House announces I’m Running a New Contest! Win the E-book Turning Points!
• A Pondering Heart presents a review and giveaway of The Auto Upkeep Kit. (Giveaway ends March 10th at 11:59 p.m. PST)
• Homeschool Bytes has helpful ideas for Teaching On a Budget: For Teachers, Homeschoolers, and Moms with Kids.

photo: Orin Optiglot

Craft Table- For years, we did our crafts on the kitchen table. That works, but I enjoy having a place we can leave works in progress. Creative pursuits glittered with paint and glue.

• Fine Craft Guild presents Free St Patricks Day Crafts Templates: Prancing Leprechauns.
• A High and Noble Calling has Resources for Celebrating Purim.
• Teaching Your Children is teaching her family about Pi Day.
• Once Upon a Family shares Salt Dough and Creations.
• Song in My Heart encourages us to make stuff even if it’s messy in Colonial Life/American Revolution Part 3: Candles and No Running Water.

photo: BeccaG

Electric Pencil Sharpener- I wish I had purchased this sooner. Now it only takes seconds to sharpen pencils, and we get to the business of writing.

• Inklings shares a simple tip to impact your children’s writing in There Is Always a Better Verb.
• Adventures on Beck’s Bounty wonders where this unique homeschool lesson fits in For The Record.
• The Reluctant Homeschooler shares how her children take notes and give Oral reports.
• New Beginnings explains Toastmasters is a Great Speaking Group for Graduated Homeschoolers.

photo: Luza

Colored Pencils- Crayons end up in pieces. We still have a box or two, but colored pencils last longer. Some of our pencils were mine from childhood. (Yes, they are ancient.) Amazing things happen when we let our children color what interests them.

• The Thinking Mother makes a good point about trying to turn everything into a lesson in A Self-Directed Learning Moment.
• Barbara Frank used her daughter’s interest in paychecks to discuss The IRS and the Tax Project from Life Prep
• Sometimes I’m Actually Coherent says By All Means, Leave Your Books Out In The Open.
• Reading Circle Books shares how to open the door for our children to learn in Teach Them to Read and Let Them Go!

photo: niseago03

Hole Punch- Before we started homeschooling, I asked my dad for his old paper punch. I planned to fill binders with paintings, timelines, and notes. We use our 3-hole-punch almost every day.

• The Creative Homeschool presents 25 Creative Notebooking Ideas.
• Virtuous Children teaches children about percentages in the article Coupons and Math.
• The Tie that Binds Us enjoyed a week of school with her little ones. She shares it in Limbourg Brothers or the Limburger Cheese Touch?
• Ms. Julie’s Place explains a unit study about knights and castles based on an art lesson in And the Winner Is…

photo: DRB62

Storage Containers- My favorite containers are plastic bins with drawers and square baskets. We store stamps and craft supplies in the drawers and files and math manipulatives in the baskets. Since I enjoy organizing, it’s just another good reason to homeschool.

• Why Homeschool shares Some of the Things I Love about Homeschooling.
• Learning at Home reminds us that we don’t have to face The worst day ever to be a teacher.
• On Wisdom’s Path discusses Qualifications For The Parent-Teacher.
• Home Spun Juggling answers the question, “What about college?” in Home Spun comic strip #328.

photo: Tanya Ryno

Computer and Internet- Lesson plans, educational videos, audio adventures, printable crafts, important ideas discovered. Friendships made.

• Dad’s Homeschool Blog found a tool with a plethora of resources Find Home School Info on the Web You Never Even Knew To Look For- Use StumbleUpon!
• Petticoat Government wonders if Teaching to the Middle = Discrimination Against Boys.
• Corn and Oil wonders What do Illinois Education Lawyers do?
• Principled Discovery discusses An undergraduate research group’s report to lawmakers on homeschooling.

photo: timsamoff

Digital Camera- A camera isn’t something I purchased for school, but we use it to photograph all our adventures. In school they are called field trips. We call them memories.

• Our Curious Home had a wonderful trip to the Boston Children’s Museum.
• Carolina Mama ponders the joy and challenge of the The Homeschool Hustle and a Winner.
• This Side of Eternity shares what her children learn when they don’t sit at a desk in her post Heart of the Matter.
• PrincipledMom looks at all the plans and decides Finishing Is Where It’s At.

photo: anselm

Tent- An item from my first years of marriage finds new life in our backyard. My children haul stacks of books outside and read all afternoon pretending they are in the forest listening to the wolves. Nature gives flight to their imaginations.

• Hayes Happenings takes lessons outside in Spelling Hopscotch.
• HowToMe presents How To Make Toilet Paper Roll Seed Starter Pots.
• Wonderland Academy shares a craft and project in Lenten Ember Days~Trees.

Thank you for visiting the Top 10 School Supplies Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. Next week’s carnival will be hosted at The Homeschool Cafe. Here is how you can submit a post.

What are your favorite school supplies?

The Simple Pleasures of Homeschooling

I tried to pick my favorite quote from the Carnival of Homeschooling to share with you, but they are all so poignant. I encourage you to read them yourself.

And while you’re at Simple Pleasures, enjoy a post or two or more.

Linking Encouragement

Reading blogs throughout the week, I find many encouraging articles and creative ideas. I often think of sharing them with you, but, unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, thoughts can’t be published without clicking a keyboard.

Organizing is therapy to me, so my bookmarks are sorted by subject. I will share them the same way. Today I’m digging in my encouragement folder, because I’ve been teetering along a dry ditch recently.

Encouragement from real homeschoolers

• Cindy Rushton lets us in on her secret, Psst! A Secret to Scheduling Success! (Thanks for pointing this article out, Shannon.)
• I’ve revisited Lisa’s article a number of time. She deals with feeling inadequate and overwhelmed in Garlic and Leeks.
• April shares what she ought to do and makes me laugh.
• This soul searching article by Jen examines Expectations and Contentment.
• Sunniemom reminds us to stop Looking for the Magic Wand.
• Jeannie Fulbright addresses “Academics Attack” in Training the Heart.

Since our goal is to reach the heart of our children, I also wanted to share this monthly prayer guide Anna-Marie sent me: Praying for our Children.

I hope you enjoy these articles. Some of them are from last year, but true words don’t fade with time.

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For more encouraging articles, visit the Carnival of Homeschooling hosted by the Nerd Family, and The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival at Simply Charlotte Mason.

139th Carnival of Homeschooling- Women’s Independence Day Edition

Texas House Bill 67 calls for August 26th to be celebrated as Women’s Independence Day. It was on this day in 1920 that the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution became a law, which guaranteed women the right to vote.

Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling- Women’s Independence Day edition! Please join those of us in Texas as we remember the dedication and sacrifice made to advance the liberty of women.

One Hundred Years Towards Suffrage will serve as a partial outline. It gives a glimpse of the long, watchful fight of individuals longing for equality and freedom for themselves and their neighbors.

1776- While John Adams attends the Constitutional Congress, his wife writes to ask him to “remember the ladies.”

Many parents are remembering the first days of school.

• At Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood, The Kids Are Ready.
• However, not all the mothers are. Sprittibee shares a poem written The Night Before School Starts…
• On Wisdom’s Path says, “Welcome Back Class!“
• Why Homeschool presents Sorta Kinda the First Day of School.
• Professor Mom gives advice for aligning the reality of homeschooling with your vision of a peaceful home in Your Year in Preview: Starting the School Year Off Right.

1821- Emma Willard founds the Troy Female Seminary in New York, the first endowed school for girls.

Reading is foundational to education.

• The Expanding Life tells us about a wonderful way to read a poem a day: 180 Poems
• Works in Progress shares how reading in the evenings has solved two problems in Family Reading Time.
• Homeschooling Kiwi Style has a simliar idea and includes a list of books they are Reading Aloud.

1839- Mississippi passes the first Married Woman’s Property Act.

The computer is a piece of property that can be helpful in education.

• ChoosyHomeschooler Blog tells about an amazing free tool for children to learn 3D computer programming. It’s called Adventures with Alice.
• Day by Day Discoveries found a computer game for Canadian history and shares her excitement in History Doesn’t Get Much Cooler Than This…
• At The Homeschool Blog Awards, Dawn reminds homeschoolers that they can receive discounts for educational software in her post Better Blogging: Educational Discount Software.
• Home Educate in the Sunshine State shares 5 Reasons Homeschoolers Should Switch to Macs.

1852- Lucretia Mott writes Discourse on Woman, arguing that the apparent inferiority of women can be attributed to their inferior educational opportunities.

Today educational opportunities abound.

• The Earthly Paradise found iTunes U to be a free, high quality source for educational materials.
• Little Acorn’s Treehouse shares another online resource Waiting to Be Discovered: Primary Level Artist Appreciation- A Free 36 Week Art Curriculum. 
• The Sojourner has been Watching and Learning from the Olympics.
• Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat uses physics to find a person’s weight on each planet in the post Planet of Youth.
• Barbara Frank shares her thoughts on the plethora of choices offered to homeschoolers now in Cacophony of Curricula. 
• Maybe her ideas will help answer Cyberschool Kids Are Cool question, “How do you do it all?” asked in Trying to Get it All Done.

1866- Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of universal suffrage.

Homeschoolers have goals in lessons and life.

• Living Life Between the Trees expounds on the goal of using Leading Ideas in lessons.
• A Simple Walk shares Homeschooling “Preschool” Plans.
• While Homeschooler Savvy is working on plans for The Classical High Schooler.
• Mama says…. writes her Obligatory School Planning Post.
• The time that has elapsed shares plans for the new school year, too.
• My Home Sweet Home shares lots of good ideas in the post Keepers at Home planning meeting.
• Dr Mommy Home School Tips has advice on Homeschooling Children of Different Ages.

1872- Susan B. Anthony is arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York, for attempting to vote for Ulysses S. Grant. At the same time, Sojourner Truth appears at a polling booth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, demanding a ballot; she is turned away.

Homeschoolers have reason to continue.

• Learning at Home wonders why parenting isn’t in the Olympics? It is certainly rigorous enough. Parenting, Olympic Style has its rewards.
• Principled Discovery examines Homeschool Stereotypes vs. Public School Realities.
• The HomeSpun Life also looks at public school in 3 Degrees of Education: Part 1.
• Nerd Family was surprised by what the words of Adam Smith on Public School.
• Another surprise awaited at the library. It left the brew*crew adventure Livid in the Library.
• Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers shares tips on measuring a child’s academic process in How Do You Know?
• Garden Goose loves to see self-motivated learning: Learning “outside the box”…musings about Home Schooling.

1876 to 1879- Lawyer Belva Ann Lockwood is denied permission to practice before the Supreme Court. She spends three years pushing through legislation that enables women to practice before the Court and becomes the first woman to do so in 1879.

Practice and determination are needed to master subjects.

• Nerd Family Things found Frugal Homeschooler: Preschool Printables.
• The Homeschool Classroom says, “Practice Spelling: Yes, It Really Can Be Fun.”
• Frugal Homeschooling shares a Math Caching Game in which students solve mathematical problems to find hidden “boxes” on the Internet. Each box reveals clues to the location of the next one.
• Walker Homeschool Daze also enjoys using Video games.
• Mixing Home Business and Home Schooling discovered that rich people are hiring private tutors to teach their children at home and shares about it in Outsourcing Meets Homeschooling.

1878- A Woman Suffrage Amendment is introduced in the United States Congress. The wording is unchanged in 1919, when the amendment finally passes both houses.

Words and writing capture the homeschool experience.

• Beverly’s Homeschool Blog has a nice idea, Tablecloth Records Mementos of Busy Homeschool Year.
• Happy to be at Home has thought about Naming Your Homeschool.
• Home Spun Juggling wonders,  “What’s in a name? That which we call homeschooling…” in Home Spun comic strip #257.
• Life On The Planet enjoys having a Word of the Week. Find out this week’s word in She’s Back!
• The Daily Planet presents Homeschool Memoirs: All About You!
• Perhaps, you would like to start a blog to record your homeschool memories. Blog Writing Course presents If Your Can Read This, You Might Have Been Homeschooled
• And while your blogging, Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards reminds us If You Want to Share Give the Author Credit.

1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to represent her state in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Many homeschoolers are involved in government.

• Corn and Oil discusses the history of laws regarding vaccinations and registrations in the post Illinois homeschooling makes measly news.
• Spunky Homeschool examines the same issue and asks if the government has the authority to require all parents to immunize their children in Compelled to Immunize.
• My Domestic Church helps homeschoolers prepare the informational outline required in notification regulations with her post, A little Tip for Ohio Homeschoolers.
• Life Without School is starting The Homeschool Grassroots Advocacy Guide to assist individuals in protecting our homeschooling rights.

1917- Women’s suffrage passed in New York State.

Homeschoolers cast their votes for a few books.

• The Thinking Mother reviews But What About Socialization?
• Melissa’s Idea Garden says The Imperfect Homeschooler’s Guide to Homeschooling is excellent.
• Welcome to my brain.net recommends the book No Mirrors.
• Percival Blakeney Academy shares Activity Guides for State Books.

August 26, 1920-  Nineteenth Amendment ratified. Women are allowed to vote in the United States of America.

A century of struggle with the idea that all individuals are created equal resulted in victory. Truth is marching on.

I look for the day…when the only criterion of excellence or position shall be the ability and character of the individual; and this time will come. Susan B. Anthony

Thank you for participating in the carnival. I hope you find helpful information and a bit of inspiration.

The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be at HomeschoolCPA. Please submit your articles via Blog Carnival.

What I’m Reading and Will Be Reading

Thank you for the responses to my questions about motivation. If you haven’t already, please join the conversation. We haven’t solved the issue yet, although I’m not sure we can. I’m realizing motivation is a heart issue not changed with dollars, games, or sticker charts.

I will write more on the topic after I review the series at Principled Discovery, beginning with Motivation Defined. Dana discusses a helpful article by Carole Adams entitled The Christian Idea of the Child. (pdf) My copy will have marginalia after an exciting event.

I’m hosting my first Carnival of Homeschooling on Tuesday! Please consider submitting a post. You may do so by emailing CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com by Monday night at 6 p.m. with the following:

• Title of Post
• URL of Post
• Name of Blog
• URL of Blog
• Brief summary of the post
• (Write “carnival” or “submission” in the subject field of the email.)

Or use the form at Blog Carnival here.

If you haven’t participated in a blog carnival before, Henry Cate has a good introduction. Also, be sure to visit this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling at Janice Campbell’s blog.

I look forward to reading your entries!