Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten "Must Have" Homeschool Items

NOTE:  I had every intention of posting this yesterday afternoon, once I finished up editing. The problem is that we had a pretty bad thunderstorm and we lost power for hours and hours. The electricity did come back on overnight, but then I had to find time to finish the post!

I thought it sounded like fun to participate in this week's Top Ten Tuesday link-up at Many Little Blessings, which is a coordinated effort with the iHomeschool Network's 10 in 10 Blog Hop.  The topic this week is "your top 10 must have items".  So, here goes...

Our top ten must have items are:

Our public library:  besides being the place I work part-time, the library is a wealth of resources!  I wrote a guest post at Interest-Led Learning about the reasons to use your library, and how to take advantage of the library.

A love of reading and learning: for us, this is very important. A primary way that we gain information is by reading...we are all huge readers!

Internet access: what more can I say about this...I think everyone would agree that the internet is an amazing resource...just check out our Favorite Resources page or our Kid-Friendly Sites page to see some of our favorites.

Support and shared resources of the homeschool blogging community: the homeschool community where we live is relatively small (although growing in number!), so it's wonderful to have the online support of the homeschool blogging community

Trust in my girls and their ability to learn: super important, in my opinion!

A supportive husband and Daddy...I wrote about David's role in our homeschool last summer

Netflix: we've been members for many years now, and I LOVE the selection!  Unfortunately, due to the quality of our internet access (we live out in the country), we can't yet do the streaming option, but we make out just fine with the DVD option. Did you know that you can search for "educational" options on Netflix? You can go to browse DVDs-->genres-->special interest-->homework help and find lots of ideas.

Amazon: I use Amazon all the time! ... for books that we just HAVE to have, for games, for whatever. I get used books whenever I can find them for the best price.

Pinterest: this is another one where I hardly need to say more!  Such a wealth of ideas!! My girls love to scroll through things I've pinned to find new projects and recipes  :)

We love BrainPOP! I know this isn't for everyone...the price can be prohibitive, but if you do the family subscription option, you can find discounts online sometimes. We don't regret paying for our subscription. If you don't want to pay for a subscription, though, there are free movies everyday, plus some that are free all the time. There is a BrainPOP app for iPhones as well.



What would be on your list??

Remembering Gratitude #36: Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I am grateful:

for my front porch...the best place in the world to sit and read, play games, or do some blogging :)

for lilies-of-the-valley in bloom

for a beautiful, lazy afternoon, although a bit hot for my taste

that the orthodontists' office got us in quickly when Lauren was having a lot of pain in her mouth, and that they didn't downplay our concerns

for green everywhere outside!

for a husband who listens to me when I'm angry and frustrated, or at least when I'm angry and frustrated with other people ;)

for productive, but easy-going, kinds of days

for wild phlox blooming on the roadsides and for irises blooming in our yard

we have a few irises inside, on our dining room table...
we have cups and vases of various kinds of flowers all over, actually!

for my newspaper reading girl  :)

Lauren was taking a turn reading Daddy's farm newspaper...she was really into it!

for doing art journals together with my girls

for science museums and fun programs, planetariums, and that David went with us this time

for the hen who lost her life to a gray fox :( and for neighbors who come over to give a hand (David was away taking care of some fire company business at the time, so he called a neighbor to come by and check out the situation for us)

that we can take an experience like this and turn it into a learning opportunity by learning more about gray foxes (there is a mated pair with a litter of kits right in our area, plus a bobcat roaming around, we also learned)

for being able to work in a library and that my girls can go to work with me

for the girls willingly clearing out toys that they have outgrown and donating them to our local thrift store, and for how happy some other child will be to get the toys :)

we got rid of huge amounts of Polly Pocket stuff, My Little Ponies, and various other items

for Jenna's excitement over her Painted Lady butterflies emerging, and for the loving care with which she talks to and tends to them

for a husband who is working hard this weekend, and for the overtime pay he has the opportunity to earn


for the lovely feeling of getting lost in a story and not wanting to do anything else {although it can be frustrating when you do actually have to stop reading and do other things  ;) }

What are you grateful for?

From my first Remembering Gratitude post:

For many years, starting back when I was in grad school through when the girls were small, I kept a gratitude journal. I loved the practice of remembering to be grateful for the little things and taking note of it all. It was an important process for me, and it helped to change my overall perspective of the world from a negative one to a much more positive view. I have gotten out of the habit of writing regularly in a physical journal, although it does still exist on my bedside stand. I have decided that I want to try keeping a gratitude journal on a weekly basis on our blog. I firmly believe that remembering to keep an attitude of gratitude is vitally important to happiness!

Linking with Theresa, at Red Oak Lane:

Favorite Resources: May 25, 2012

Welcome to "Favorite Resource This Week", a weekly link-up hosted here on our blog. All of us have so many wonderful resources that we come across and use every week, and it's great to link up and share our favorites! **Resources of any type are fair game...books, videos/DVDs, websites, favorite television programs, computer games, field trip ideas, ideas for using old materials in a different way...anything that has worked well for your family.** Feel free to use a post you've already written that's applicable and link it up! If you don't have a post, it's fine to just leave a comment...and remember to check back and see what others are sharing!

I post "Favorite Resources" on Fridays, but the link-up remains open through the following Thursday, so you can link any time. You can link your post below. Please include our blog button (HTML code is on our sidebar), or a text link back here, in your post. Thanks so much for linking up and sharing...I am looking forward to reading everyone's posts!!

***

Yesterday, we went to a science museum that we've been to several times before so that the girls could participate in a Fetch! Lab program. This one was called "Blow It Away!" and the project was to engineer a wind-powered vehicle from common household items like index cards, straws, Life Savers candies, tape, and various other items. Once the program participants constructed their vehicles, they could test them out in front of a fan to see if they'd work  :)  It was fun to see the kids at work!  Jenna and Lauren worked hard on their vehicles. David was able to go with us, so he helped, too.

for a link to see the directions, click HERE

For more Fetch! activities, check out this link: Fetch! Activities & More -- this includes downloadable, step-by-step directions for an array of kid-friendly science activities. 

Another great place to find science activities for kids is the PBS ZOOM site: ZOOM Activities

Plus, the woman guiding today's program at the museum recommended this site: Scientific American: Bring Science Home

We just love hands-on science!!


If you're looking for some good resources, check our Favorite Resources page and our Kid-Friendly Sites page.  Other places to look for ideas are my Pinterest boards, and the Look! What We Did! link-up website that Theresa and I maintain.


Did you check out the posts linked up here last week? There were some great ideas!



What is your favorite resource this week?