Homeschool Math Help(s)

I am no expert here, it is likely to be a short post but here are a few links to the places I go for math help. Most of this would be for the 5th grade and under crowd.

The Math Worksheet Site it is a great site where you can generate your own worksheets. It has a free side, I used that for a long time, we used the 5 minute drills everyday, still do. But last year I paid for a subscription and I was really pleased with the range of items I could print and how customizable they were. #1 Math resource for me.

Educational Card Games to Teach Math here is an article by Mary Peterson that helps make math fun...for free. After years of math torture with "I" I have taken an easier approach with "A" she is enjoying math games with a simple deck of cards and it seems to be taking. Reading this article has given me some ideas for "I" too.

A Complete List Here is a great list of resources...

Well I told you it would be a short! As I think of more I will post them I know there are more!

consenting and committed

I have received a complaint that my last post was a little, shall we say, shallow? I will refer back to the cold medicine and move on. I am feeling better by the way, thanks.

I read something this week from Pastor Skip in Albuquerque that has stuck with me all week. Quoting from his blog, he wrote "... there's a difference between one who believes in Christ and one who belongs to Christ's cause; there are many who consent to being a follower of Jesus, but then there are a few who are committed to becoming mature, discipling others and spreading His Kingdom." What am I? What are you? Are we believers, consenting to be His followers? Great, but there is more. There is growth, a "commitment to becoming mature". I know I am following Him, even when I find myself questioning I come back to this statement "where else could we go Lord? You have the very words of life?" There is nothing else for me but to follow Him. Consenting to who He is and what He has done for me implies a decision. Committing to becoming mature implies action. Commitment to spend time with Him daily, in His Word and in prayer. It is a commitment to allow my life to cross with others and tell them about the Father's love and what the Son did to save them. It is also a commitment to pour my life into those believers that also want to keep growing mature (Ephesians 4:14-15) so that we can encourage each other in Him. To me that is the heart of discipleship. I for one am renewing my committment to keep growing and I am looking out for those who want to encourage me and to be encouraged along the way.

Read the rest of Ephesians 4 for a reminder of how far we have to go and the road map to getting there.

google yourself

OK so here is a dumb idea, google yourself! I read someone else doing this on another blog and I thought I would give it a try, kinda funny. You are supposed to google your own name and tell 5 facts that are floating around the Internet about "you" (your name).

1. I am a fabulous purse designer out of Chicago (don't knock it, apparently Drew Barrymore carries one of my bags).
2. I went to Oak Bay High in British Columbia graduating in 1967
3. I have written and produced three of my own plays and hopes to continue doing so within the UCD theatre program, and I played the roll of Shirley in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
4. I am the Football Secretary for South Metro Youth Sports in Littleton, Colorado.
5. Did I mention the handbags, they are really popular, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner each carry one of my personally designed diaper bags.

OK so that was fun. If you are on cold medicine (like me) and have some time to kill, google yourself and tell me what you find out about you!

JUST IN CASE...none of those things are really about me. Just people across the country with whom I share my name...you never know.

What happened

Today, our 3yo daughter, M, was sitting in time out as 3yos will. The rule for time out is she must sit with her hands folded in her lap and her feet in front of her but she managed to get her arms and and knees tucked in to her shirt and rolled head first off the chair. Her head hitting the floor sounded unlike anything I have ever heard. I hope I never hear it again.

She was conscience, and in pain, her scream testified to both. I immediately started imagining brain bleeds and seizures. All my thinking skills went out the window, all I could do was just hold her and pray that "Oh God" prayer. I did not know what to do so I told the kids to get dressed (it was 8am or so), I did not know where to go but as we pulled out of the driveway I knew it would come to me. It did, we headed to the ER. Mia would not stay awake. After a few hysterical phone calls to my sister, H and Yolie we made it to the ER.

We were seen right away and the Dr ordered a CT scan after Mia threw up at the sight of him. We got the scan and by the time we were back down stairs the Dr. said it was normal and she could go home. She has a mild concussion so we have to keep an eye on her for a few days. She is getting better and was a happy girl as soon as she saw her Papa. Lord willing she will be back to normal in a few days.

I learned a few things, first I should really take a CPR class. I spend 24/7 with these kids I should be ready in case of crisis. Secondly, obedience really does keep us from harm. She was disobeying the rules about how to sit in time out. They are not arbitrary, they are good, she did not understand that, until now. I need to model the right kind of obedience to my kids and keep requiring it from them. Thirdly, a knock on the head like that will cause a wicked black eye.

Thank you for your prayers, I am sure they were heard. Our entire trip to the ER was about an hour and an half. That is not quite miraculous but it was close. God is good.

He loves me

"For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,"
Says the LORD who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

At times I place my peace in feeling good, feeling like I am pleasing the Lord. "Bible study? check! Prayer life? check! Laundry done? check! Happy kids? Happy husband? check! check!" Those days feel good, those are the days when I just know that God is looking down on me and smiling! "That's my girl!" And then there are the days when I wake up too late for personal devotion time, the laundry is threatening to eat the children and my husband looks a little relieved to be heading to work. *sigh* Those days do happen, and lately they have happening more often. On those days it is a struggle to not place my peace in feeling good but in the truth of God's word.

I tell my kids all the time, "You can't make God love you anymore or less than he does right now." When we fall he love us, when we are not speaking to Him, He loves us, when there are no clean socks, He loves us.

Even more than that, when I am in sin, denial, or ignoring is clear commands He still loves me. Jesus said, "If you love me keep my commandments" Not "if you want me to love you keep my commandments"! My desire to please Him cannot be to seek His love and approval but in response to the love I already have. Yesterday was "one of those days", I was crying out for His help before I was out of bed. His answer to me was Isaiah 54. Just when I think I have fallen too far, or am disparaging over mistakes made, or my own inability to make things right, He answers with such love and gentleness.

"For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,"
Says the LORD who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

So I will not base my peace in the way I feel, I will trust in the truth of God's word. He looks down from heaven and says "That's my girl." In response I will love Him all the more.


There He sits on heavens heights
Looking down with such delight
She's my child, I've made her my own
With a Father's loving care
He reaches down and draws me near
Always true, I am not alone
-Jennifer Velarde

The Invisible Woman

kill your tv

Why in the world would you want to do that? Check Stupidvison out. The fact that he needed the calculator in the first place is a good reason to spend some of that extra time on honing the math skills. Don't tell me we don't have time to read the word... hurt me.