Women of Faith Conference 2010 - Duluth, GA

This will be the first year I'm able to go. I'll be heading in with a group of fantastic ladies from my church. I hope to see YOU there!

Blessings,

Dana

How To Get a 5-Year Old To Clean Their Room

I admit it....my 5-year old daughter's room is usually a complete mess! I'm not the type of person who likes to live with a messy room, but I just don't always have the time to make sure the kids are cleaning their rooms. Sometimes I don't have time to clean my own room. I'm not necessarily a neat freak but I do function better when things are put in their place and everything is nice and clean.

I recently discovered a great way to get my child to clean her room without a lot of tears and tantrums. And believe me, she has them! It's called "Baby Steps"!

See this room? It's a complete mess! Actually, this is not bad compared to what it was before I took the picture. I couldn't even see the floor!

You've heard the saying "you can't eat the elephant all at once"? You have to tackle any big chore in small steps and it's certainly no different for the kids. Seeing her room in complete chaos and being faced with the chore of cleaning it up is quite intimidating to her.

So, we start small.



First, I tell her to pick up all the little bitty toys and put them in the red bucket. She has to let me know when she's finished.


Next, I tell her to hang her purses on the hooks behind her door. Let me know when she's finished.

Next put the dress up clothes in the bucket in the closet.

Then, put the stuffed animals in the bucket in the closet.

Put the shoes in the shoe hanger.

Put dirty clothes in the hamper.

Last, put the rest of the toys on the floor in the bucket in the closet.

We try to make it fun, too. Sometimes we do it to music. Sometimes we time her and see how long it takes her. Sometimes we use bribery - ice cream usually works well for us.
And after a few minutes....a clean room! Wow! Wish I'd have thought of this when my other four were growing up. Better late than never, I guess!

I'd love to hear how you motivate your little ones to clean.

Happy Day!

Dana

Comment Luv

So, I just joined up with Harriet B and a bunch of other bloggers for some February Comment Luv. I luv comments, but I don't get them often enough! I'm not an everyday blogger but I do try to get on here once or twice a week. With my schedule it's nearly impossible for me to post something every single day. I guess I need to have a theme or a purpose for my blog, I don't know.

I do love to visit other blogs. I love to see who's out there and what they are doing. I guess that's why the blogosphere is so wildly popular. We all have a curiousity about what strangers are doing.

I hope you'll come along with me, Harriet, and the others and join in on a little comment luv this month! :) I'm sure you won't be sorry!

A Little Bloggy Love

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. But instead of focusing on the traditional form of it, I'd like to see who everyone in the blogosphere loves - meaning, what blogs are your faves. Ok - I admit I have an ulterior motive. I love to read blogs and am always surfing to see who's out there. I thought this would be a great way to get others involved, too.

So, do you like to read blogs? What are your favorite blogs? Post at least three including the links and make sure you tell your faves that you posted about them. Sign up below with Mr. Linky.

My faves are:

1. Critical Mass: Rae Ann is so sweet and talented. Her posts just tickle my funny bone! And I love the updates to her blog.

2. The LPM Blog: This is Beth Moore's blog. I love the Beth Moore bible studies. I learned about them not too long ago when I joined one at my church. I love that her daughter's post on this blog too!



3. Homeschool Creations: I just recently came across and started following this blog. Wow! She has a ton of great ideas, product reviews, and giveaways. I absolutely love it, and so do a lot of other people! She has over 500 followers.




And I'd like to mention a brand new blog, Well-Watered Garden. This is the blog of my ex-husband's wife. She just started it last week and I thought I would help her gain some followers. (I know...some may think it's a little strange considering the relationship, but God teaches us to love our neighbors, right? In any case, I actually like her! She's a spunky, Christian woman and she's good to my daughter! ;) LOL)

And now, let's hear who you love to read!

Homeschool Day

In our house, just about everyday is homeschool day. After all, we ARE homeschoolers. It's my goal to add more of what we do every week. I always love seeing what others homeschoolers are doing, so maybe you'll be interested to see how we do things, too.

First, though, I wanted to show you a couple of books that we are really getting a lot out of. The first one is Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We LOVE this book! I admit, I was skeptical at first. There's a little bit of preparation on your part, first, but it's not bad. It's worth taking the time, though, to read through all the prep work. It makes a big difference. For me, it's hard to stop to take the time...I want to just rush right through it and get to the bottom line! I'm one of those "just-tell-me-how-to-do-I-don't-want-to-read-the-instruction-manual" type of people. But, I DID take the time, grudgingly, and read it.

We're only on lesson 16, but already I see great progress in Ainsley! She's reading, y'all! With only 16 lessons. I highly recommend this if your child is just starting to read or needs extra help.

Here's another book we love. I've had this one for years and years. We used it a lot when the four older ones were younger. We set aside Fridays as Fun Friday and did art projects all day. The kids loved it. Our favorite was a "stained glass" project made out of colored tissue paper. It was so pretty! The projects take anywhere from an hour to a week to do.

This month we're learning about the body. We found all of these printouts at homeschoolshare.com. They have a fabulous website and you can find a ton of stuff on there for just about any project.

One neat thing we did (I forgot to take a photo of it!) was a tracing of her entire body. I didn't have butcher paper that was big enough so we taped a bunch of printer paper together until it was big enough for her to lay on. Then, I traced all around her. We hung it in our hallway (the only empty wall space!) and as she learns new things about her body, she draws it on her outline. We just finished with her teeth - she drew ALL pointy teeth on the mouth. Kinda scary!

Next week, we'll do eyes.

What are you doing this week?

Happy Homeschooling!

Allermates

Got this idea from Alyssa over at Bloggin 2 Noggin! Thanks, Alyssa.

We have a couple of family members who are allergic to certain foods and pollen. When I read about this on Alyssa's blog, I knew I had to share with you, too.

Allermates is a new company that makes necklaces and wristbands for kids who have allergies. The little characters are fun and colorful. Kids would love to wear these tags. Hey, even adults would love to wear them.

First Day of College

Wow! Two more off to college! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were starting our homeschool journey. How time flies!

Technically, we're not finished with their high school years though. After the first two jumped the next we decided to go a slightly different route with the next two entering high school. Their ninth grade year was spend in hard study on a semester system. We completed two full years in one school year with this method.

Now, as they complete their college courses they will also earn the rest of their high school credits. By the time they're 18 they will have graduated high school with college level courses AND have an associate degree from a technical college!

They grow up so fast, don't they? I'm pretty sure I was MUCH more excited than they were. Of course, being homeschool most of their school career, I'm certain they were a little unsure of what to expect. But, seeing as how their father works for the college, they've spent lots of time there already and know their way around. Lucky girls to have that advantage!

And now, there's just one left at home. Well, the college girls still live at home, of course, but I'm down to teaching only one. It's only been a couple of days but I'm already finding I have a little more time to spend with her. I'm trying a new approach with this last child - lapbooking. We did a Cinderella lapbook in the fall and she really loved the hands-on experience. So, we're about to embark on a Human Body lapbook. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Happy Homeschooling!

Dana