Entering the video world

(I removed this video in 2014 after Google banned us from monetizing on ANY Google-owned properties. Look it up. It's happened to countless people. It'a monopolistic mega company. Beware!)

Well, we've finally done it: made a video and uploaded it on YouTube. Why? Cash. Cold, hard cash!

A distance learning program is offering a cash reward for a video representing "why homeschool is cool." These are the answers my girls came up with at ages 5 and 7. This video represents our first effort at converting files, editing and otherwise creating a video. WHEW! That took a lot more work than I'd expected!

Every view of the video counts as a vote BUT WE ONLY HAVE 'TIL Jan. 7, 2008 to vote! Entries gain additional points for every positive comment left about the video. I'd sure appreciate it if you'd be so kind as to at least watch the video by clicking here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oX1kYH4VsY0

If you like it and want to help us out on our endeavor to win the Grand Prize (cash for college savings), please help spread the word!

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer

Isolated, but not forgotten

Well, now that our preschool friends have entered public or private school, they've gotten really involved with that lifestyle: get up early, pack up kids, drop off at school, head to work, pick up kids, take to soccer/swimming/piano/dance/gymnastics, rush home, make dinner, bathe kids, put kids to bed, repeat.

We're on a bit different schedule with lots of time midday and early afternoon to share with...no one who's available

Feeling a bit isolated at times, but still worth the homeschooling effort. Our girls are thriving, plus we have loads of playtime. Still, is there ever ENOUGH playtime? We thinks not!

Princess Curriculum - following my daughter's obsession

When we started homeschooling, I explored a variety of curriculum (and curriculum-free) options. I finally settled on this one: our own home designed Princess Curriculum. My daughter was OBSESSED with princesses of the Disney-ilk even though she'd never SEEN a Disney movie! She HAD seen the books (and has since been to Disneyland). Well, I'm not a very princessy-kinda gal. I've always been more of a tree-climbin', horseback-ridin', mud-boggin' kinda girl. I decided to create a curriculum based on HER interest. Since I had no background on princesses and their related subjects the development required some research on my part. I used the information I found on the following links as a basis, then built out from there. We started with the British monarchy because we have relatives in England. The lessons for our five-year-old and three-year-old went something like this: * Trace the country on a map. Color it in while I read about the country. * Find your own home on the globe. * Find the country we're discussing on the globe. * Talk about the princess in question, and her relatives. This was particularly interesting because so many of the princesses experience life in so many ways. One even chooses to live as a commoner. * Project - something related to that country, whether it was art or cooking or building our own castles. The Dutch Royal House The Royal Forums - Links Directory Monarchie - Welcome TRH The Crown Prince Couple - Margrethe II The Royal Forums - Links Directory Royal Court News - The Royal Archive The Royal Residences > Buckingham Palace Danes get their first glimpse of newborn prince