Multiplication Wheel {free printable}

I first saw this idea on Pinterest, but it was one of those pins that has been copied so often, the original source seems non-existent. I finally traced it down to a blog post by Robinsunne which came up with an error message.

Since I really wanted to do this activity with my girls, and it looked like a bit too much measuring and designing for a 7 &  8 year old to accomplish, I created a notebook page with a pattern. There are lines to help with the number placement, but they are light enough that they are barely visible after the wheel is colored. (The wheel pictured above is the sample I did to show them.) 

I tried once more to trace down the source before writing this blog post and came up with Robinsunne's Flickr page  showing a picture of the multiplication clock that started it all. You can download my Multiplication Wheel Printable if you'd like to try it with your own children, or do it freestyle (as the original was done) by following the instructions linked below.

* (You can read Robinsunne's original instructions by typing the URL into The Wayback Machine.) 

6 Things You Can Do Now To Save Money Next Christmas

1. Shop the back to school sales. I know, telling a homeschooler to shop the back to school sales is like telling you to breath. But while you are drooling over those piles of fresh white notepaper, new crayons, and gluesticks, try to imagine a home where every closet is not packed with colored paper, markers, and paintboxes. Yes, such places do exist. And in homes such as those, a box full of art supplies will be welcomed with shrieks of joy. The recipients will be amazed at your generosity, since such items cost a great deal more in December, never suspecting that you were clever enough to stock up when prices were ridiculously low. Don’t forget those homes with preschoolers. Preschoolers LOVE a new box of crayons.

2. Visit the dollar stores. There are two reasons you should be shopping now. First, you will find a lot nicer merchandise than you will at Christmas. Second, the crowds are smaller. Be sure to look for some coloring books to go with those crayons.

3. Yard sales, Goodwill, and other second hand or discount stores are a great place for Christmas shopping. Baskets and jars can be purchased cheeply for creative packaging. Also look for craft supplies and get statred making a few gifts. Toys can often be found in very good condition. Even if you don’t feel comfortable giving a second hand gift to someone else, your own children probably won’t mind. My children enjoy buying affordable gifts for each other.

4. Hit the clearance racks on November 1. Halloween clearance items make great gifts. Also, look for clearance candy that you can use in your holiday baking. Put it in the freezer to keep it fresh.

5. Take advantage of the bounty of nature. Keep an eye out for plants and flowers you can dry which would make nice additions to your holiday decore.

6. FOR NEXT YEAR: Stock up on Christmas clearance items for next year. If you don’t want to store things that long, at least look for stuff you can use for other holidays. Red for Valentines and Fourth of July, green for Easter and Saint Patrick's Day.

Use What You Have

This is the first part of what (I hope) will be a series sharing how I, as a mother of nine living in a one-income family, keep bellies full when the wallet is empty. If you have blogged on this topic, please leave a comment with a link to your post. 

Theoretically, I make a 2 week menu and go shopping every other week. In reality, the nature of my self-employed husband's occupation doesn't always allow for that. Sometimes he has unexpected gaps between jobs due to schedules being rearranged (he is a trim carpenter and can't trim until other phases of construction have been completed) or he hasn't gotten paid because the job isn't completed. In fact, there are often times when I need to stretch "two weeks" worth of groceries into three or four weeks. Once we even went six weeks without money for groceries. What does a mother of nine do when she has hungry mouths to feed, and "nothing" in the house to feed them?

The best way to make grocery money go farther is to not spend any of it. It is truly amazing how many meals I have been able to make when I have "nothing in the house" by using what was found in the cupboards, fridge, and freezer. This take a little bit of skill in knowing what types of foods taste good together and creativity in coming up with a substitute for a missing ingredient. But it really isn't that hard once you've had a little practice. I like to make a game of it, and sometimes I am (slightly) disappointed when the paycheck comes before I completely run out of food.

If you are used to being able to buy groceries whenever you need to, you might find it easy to over look the obvious when considering what you have on hand. For instance, I spent years throwing away perfectly good broth created by roasting chicken. Now I never take any of those cooking 'by products" for granted. Much of the time I will cook meats before adding sauces and seasonings so I can save the broth for other recipes. This broth is put into a container so the fat can harden and be skimmed off. Often I will use this grease for cooking purposes. (Hamburger grease from high quality beef is much healthier for frying eggs than chemical laden margarine.) If I de-bone meat, I save the bones for soup stock. If we have bits of leftover vegetables, I put them in a container in the freezer to make vegetable soup. I also save the water off canned vegetables for this purpose. I even save the water from canned tuna! It makes a great addition to seafood chowders.

Also, do your best to use food before it spoils. This is the greatest benefit of using what you have on hand. Not only does it keep you from spending more money, but it ensures that the money you've already spent has not been wasted.

For more budget stretching ideas, check out this article by my friend, Jimmie, on How To Skip Buying Groceries For a Week. She has done a great job of outlining a step-by-step process for creating a menu based on what's in your home. It is almost exactly the same method I use when cooking "from the pantry."

Part Two: Three More Ways To Save Money On the Grocery Bill

Garden Starting Update

Our indoor "garden" is coming along nicely. The sweet potato has some good root growth, though no sprouts have appeared yet. We've also added an avacado pit, but it hasn't shown any signs of life yet. I was afraid our celery experiment was going to turn out to be a failure. Our first snowstorm of the season (in February??) hit the night we put the celery in the water to soak and there was no way to get any dirt from the garden to plant it. So, we kept it in the bowl of water and waited for the weather to warm up. It started wilting and turning brown, and I was thinking we would have to throw it out. But then . . . leaves started peaking out of the center and after about a week, we finally had growth!

This morning I noticed that the new growth had a little bit of brown on the edges, so I sent my son to the garden to get some dirt. While he was digging, he found a flint arrow head! It's funny how you can mix history into a botany lesson.



Indian arrow head

Here is our celery plant in its new home, waiting for the time when it can be transplanted to its summer garden home.

Re-grown celery in a fancy Modge-Podged pot

Getting Ready For Spring Planting

I've recently joined the Pinterest fad and while I was poking around over there, I found a couple of neat things to try out in the garden this year. I decided last fall that I wanted to grow sweet potatoes, so I was thrilled to find a link to an article explaining how to start your own sweet potato slips. It seemed like a good project for an 11 year old boy. 



starting sweet potato slips

 Then I came across another pin to an article telling how to re-grow celery from the end of a store-bought stalk. My grandpa grew up on a celery farm, and I grew listening to his stories. I've tried (and failed) growing celery from seed, so I'm excited to see if this will work. {Edited to say: despite what is claimed by the author of the post I linked to, re-growing celery does NOT produce more celery. However, if you want celery seed, you may decide to try it anyway.}

a garden on our window sill



My favorite part about homeschooling is teaching my children that education doesn't have to stop once you graduate. You can continue to learn new things all your life. Really cool things like how to start a garden on your window sill. I'll try to post an update in a week or two showing how our plants are growing.

Giving Your Kids The Credit They Are Due

fresh home canned beans

I am currently homeschooling three highschoolers and, as if the high level courses weren't enough to keep up with, I am spending a significant amount of time putting together transcripts for my two college-bound sons. One of the most exciting dicoveries I've made through this process is that many public highschools have their course descriptions posted online. It's exciting because I've come to see how many of the things my children are learning outside of their normal studies are being taught for credit in the classrooms of these highschools.

Now, let me clarify that I am not one of those mothers who tries to count every normal childhood experience as a "learning experience." I do believe that they are learning experiences, but I'm not writing them all down on their transcripts. But if students in the public schools are earning credit for classes in agricultural science, carpentry, and food prep, I think it is fair for my children to also get credit if they are doing the same work.


onions drying on the sidewalk

My children have planted and cared for two HUGE gardens in the past two years. And, due to pregnancies and births, I haven't been able to give them much help. They have learned about insect pests, plant diseases, and how to improve the soil. And they have also done quite a bit of canning, freezing, and drying. They have all been helping with meal preparation from a young age and are accomplished bakers and cooks.

My husband grew up in a family that hunted and raised their own meat and he has passed this knowledge on to his children. They have all participated in the butchering and processing of deer, cows, and pigs. They've hunted and skinned small game, and cooked things that I was too squeemish to prepare. They have butchered chickens for our own family and they have helped friends butcher for their commercial enterprises. They have seen calves being birthed, they have bottle fed goats, and they have helped castrate calves and pigs. The older boys even researched tanning and attempted to produce their own leather.

My husband is a trim carpenter by trade (one of the best!) and he has also passed those skills on to his children. The older ones have helped him with various projects and know more about wood, stain, and joinery than some adults who make their living in construction. They've completed projects which were far more complex than what is taught in a highschool shop class, and they've had a wider variety of experiences than could be offered in a classroom.

In researching how to transfer this experience to their transcripts, I came across a simple formula for determining how much credit to award. (I wish I could credit a source, but I've lost track of where I saw it.)

1 credit= approximately 120-180 hours of work

Lab science courses are usually closer to 180 hours, while English and history classes average 150 hours for a year-long class. 120 hours is usually considered sufficient for an elective class (art, music, sewing, carpentry, web page design, etc.)

I would also recommend that in planning "classes" for your child, you mix hands on learning with research (assign books or articles to read) and at least one written project to demonstrate mastery of the material covered.

Credit Log Sheets {free printable}

Edited 2/6/12 to add: Cindy Downes of Oaklaholma Homeschool also has some good information on  transcripts and giving credit for extracurricular activities.

Who Owns Your Image?

Innocent fun or free photo op?

In this age of digital media, it is easy to get confused about things like copyrights and rights to privacy. For instance, imagine you're out in public and someone snaps a picture of you or one of your adorable little offspring. In the space of one click your image became someone else's property, which they can post all over the web or turn into marketable merchandise without your consent. Or can they? Before you start cutting eye holes in paper bags, check out this article on The Rights of Publicity and Privacy. It may not keep Uncle Herb from posting snapshots to Facebook, but can keep your child from becoming "Mr. May" in the Cutest Kids Wall Calendar.