Friday, February 06, 2009

Homeschool: Free Christian Girl's Book, The Orange Seed

A gentle Christian girl's tale roughly for ages 9-12.

This is a nicely written, pleasant storyline for children, teaching them the morality of living through your soul rather than through the flesh. The story is free of any obvious(or at least blatant) denominational theology.

See how eight year old Helen fares as a stranger comes to stay with the family. Helen is an only children, a bit spoiled, but big hearted in a self pleasing sort of way. When Ally, a more reserved older girl comes to stay with Helen's family while her mother recovers from an illness, the two meet spiritual obstacles with their personalities. Both grow in Christ as a result of their experiences, and more opportunities present themselves.

Click here.

Main page
The Orange Seed
By Sarah Schoonmaker Baker
Published by A.D.F. Randolph, 1863
103 pages

Free and in public domain. Downloadable or readable online. If you have a slow dial-up, use a free download helper. I use this with great success, otherwise the download is corrupted with my slow dial-up.

Thrifty Homemade Tea Cup Candles


This project over at Dollar Store Crafts recycles pillar candles by melting them down into thrifted tea cups. To make them a little healthier, I'd use clean burning soy candles. That would bump up the cost a bit, but soy wax apparently lasts longer than regular paraffin wax.

Scented candles found at a thrift store would preclude having to purchase a scent, and would be the least expensive route. I often see bags of old scented candles at our thrift stores for under a dollar.

If all you have are white candles and you want to change the color, Heather recommends melting a crayon with the candles. How clever! I do love the way the white looks inside these shabby tea cups.

Candle wicks can be made by recycling the old wick from the melted down candle, or purchased new at a craft store, or better yet, simply make your own.

The Dollar Store Crafts link above leads to a tutorial for this tea cup candle project, or this is a good general tutorial as well. If you have any questions or concerns, ask at the tutorial site because I have not personally tried this specific craft yet.

Rebatched candles and soap are some of my favorite crafts because they are inexpensive, fairly simple, and leave a lot of room for creativity. The results are amazing custom soaps and candles.

Safety Issues: Any container can crack. Be sure that you choose a sturdy wide mouthed container, and never leave a candle unsupervised. Candles should be placed on a heat safe surface well away from drapes and other flammable surfaces. Never burn a container candle all the way down. See State Farm's Candles and Fire Safety tips.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

A very simple recipe over at Frugal Granola, a great way to stretch a bar of soap. I've rebatched soap using a similar method.

Homemade Kitty Litter Facial Mask

Unscented pure 100% clay kitty litter makes an excellent facial mask! It's not gross when you think that it is simply bentonite clay, used by many high priced spas.

Take a few tablespoons of clay(litter), mix with water(or rose water), and add a bit of your favorite essential oil. I've added a bit of aloe vera gel as well for a soothing winter mask.

If this grosses you out, or you worry about the purity of commercial clay litter, you can purchase organic bentonite clay inexpensively. Mountain Rose Herbs(my favorite) has a variety of organic clays for sale.

Also see Beauty from Nature.

See more tips at Works for Me Wednesdays.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

The Medieval History Quiz


An interesting quiz and fun tool for homeschool. I did pretty well - missed one about English history regarding which was the only king to have the title of "Great". Looks like it's time to read and assign Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall(free) - see reviews.

There are more advanced quizzes and medieval history tidbits as well.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Don't Throw it Out, Recycle it! Recycling Underwear

See Let's Talk Underwear (giggle)

Making a Little Extra Money: Freelance Writing Gigs

Milehimama from Mama says... was generous enough to share her detailed knowledge of how to make a little extra money with freelance writing. Freelancing can be as simple as submitting your blog posts for pay. Check it out.

Saving Money with a Wringer Washer


And just when you thought there wasn't anything more that you could cut back on in your budget. Don't laugh, but supposedly these old washers save time and money! See this article by Pat Veretto over at the Dollar Stretcher.

Pat reports that wringer washers use much less water, less detergent, and take half the time of a modern washer to clean the clothes.

Check ebay, craigslist, and Google for reconditioned or working wringer washers. Lehman's sells new wringer washers if you don't mind the expense.

Something to consider: A few commenters mentioned that some of these old wringer washers can be dangerous, especially for children in that the wringer can pull your hand through if you are not careful. Lehman's sells a "safe" wringer. They don't mention how it is safer than other wringers, but they do answer questions.

And there is always this option.

How to Use a Washboard and How To Wash Clothes On a Washboard

Pictured: Lehman's Washboards and see

The Columbus Washboard Company which "has been making washboards since 1895 and is the only manufacturer still operating in the United States of America today", and they double as musical instruments, Yeehaw! Interesting links at this site. Includes a U.K. link to a soap and washboard site.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Free Printable Milk Bath Gift Envelopes(Sachets) and Easy Recipes


People have been taking milk baths for centuries. The enzymes in the milk soften the skin. Milk bath ingredients are easy to find, just buy powdered milk in packets, and pour about half the packet into your bath. To scent your milk bath, add your favorite essential oil. Rose essential oil is often added to milk baths.

Another simple way to add fragrance to milk powder is to combine it with scented Epsom salt. That way it is all-in-one powder, and you can store it in a container. I buy my Epsom salt inexpensively at Walmart. To scent the salts, spread it out on a pan, and pour a bit of your favorite scented oil* over the Epsom salts. I add just enough to moisten it, and for color, I add a drop or two of red food color(turns pink), and bake on warm-200 degrees for an hour or so. The heat dries up the moisture and infuses the scent. You could try this with baking soda as well, or use both. Baking soda softens the water and Epsom salts sooth sore muscles(and hold scent well).

Mix the scented Epsom salts(and/or baking soda) with the milk powder, and you have a lovely bath powder. You can add more or less scented Epsom salts to the milk powder as desired.

See here for printable bath sachet envelopes.

A lavender bath salt label

Blank packet template













*Another Option for oil: Try olive oil with 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil, and a bit of glycerin(optional softener and binder). Glycerin is very inexpensive and available in most store vitamin aisles, probably next to the witch hazel on the bottom shelves. All natural(except for scent) Africa Best Oil works very well too. It is highly scented and inexpensive at places like Dollar General or Family Dollar in the ethnic hair aisle. A little goes a long way.

Also see recipe for Fizzy Bath Bombs

Free Homeschool Stuff: Online Spelling Program

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Valentine's Day Felt Sewing Crafts


What a great low calorie Valentine's Day cookie gift! Crafted from felt and beads, Candy of Candy's Cottage completed these frosted shortbread cookies for her mother-in-law recently. I would love to made these for my daughter. They could even be made as scented sachets, maybe with a little vanilla.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Free Templates for Felt/Flannel Board Pieces

Felts are creative and fun hands-on learning for preschool - kindergarten. They can be made into story boards to go along with classic stories and popular children's books(language arts), and used for learning the alphabet, counting, shapes, weather, health, learning about community helpers, early math, spelling, early reading/phonics, you name it.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? Farm Theme
Five Green Shamrocks(counting)
Five Little Snowflakes(counting)
Alphabet Templates(I'd size these down)
More here with hints, tips, and directions.

Humpty Dumpty with wall


Felt board tutorial with templates

If you are lazy like me, you can order sets that match many of the books(found at the library) from the Before Five in a Row(homeschool reading list/curriculum for age 2 -4) on ebay. They are are some very crafty ladies selling these complete felt kits for a few dollars a set. I've also got a few counting and food sets, like the pizza pictured above. The sets I have are at least six years old, used when my son was in Preschool/Kindergarten. They seem to last well, but I did have to glue a few googly eyes back on from pieces in the shape set.

If anything, looking at the sets on ebay can give you ideas for making your own. If you bid/buy at ebay, click through Bigcrumbs.com for cash back.

I did make my own flannel board with a large piece of light blue felt wrapped around and stapled onto the back of a very heavy piece of corrugated cardboard. That has lasted at least six years as well. A good and frugal investment for our homeschool.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Free Homeschool Ancient Greece ebooks: Homer's The Odyssey, The Iliad and the Aeneid for Boys and Girls

Free and in public domain. Downloadable and readable online.
Click here.
Main page.
The Odyssey for Boys and Girls
By Alfred John Church
Published by The Macmillan Company, 1906
Original from Harvard University
Digitized Oct 26, 2007
308 pages
Suitable for ages 9-12.

Also see The Iliad for Boys and Girls and The Aeneid for Boys and Girls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now in reprint, published by Yesterday's Classics: The Odyssey for Boys and Girls (Yesterday's Classics), The Iliad for Boys and Girls (Yesterday's Classics), The Aeneid for Boys and Girls (Yesterday's Classics)

Monday, December 29, 2008

Free Homeschool ebook: Golden Numbers: Poems for Children and Young People Compiled by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith


Free and in public domain poetry for children and adults alike, Golden Numbers: Poems for Children and Young People. Compiled by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith. Published by Houghton Mifflin, 1902, 686 pages.

Main page, or begin reading here. Book is fully downloadable and printable.

A Chanted Calendar

Here is the Year's Processional in verse; the story of her hours, her days, her seasons, told as only -poets can, because they see and hear things not revealed to you and me, and are able by their magic to make us sharers in the revelation. Read the first six poems and ask yourself whether you have ever realized the glories of the common day; from the moment when morning from her orient chambers comes, and the lark at heaven's gate sings, to the hour when the moon, unveiling her peerless light, throws her silver mantle o'er the dark, and the firmament glows with living sapphires. It is the task of poetry not only to say noble things, but to say them nobly; having beautiful fancies, to clothe them in beautiful phrases, and if you search these poems you will find some of the most wonderful word- pictures in the English language. How charming Drayton's description of the summer breeze:

" The wind hail no more strength than this,

That leisurely it blew.
To make one leaf the next to kiss
That closely by it grew."

If the day is dreary you need only read Lowell's " June Weather," and like the bird sitting at his door in the sun, atilt like a blossom among the leaves, your " illumined being " will overrun with the " deluge of summer it receives."

Then turn the page ; the picture fades as you read Trow- bridge's " Midwinter.'' The speckled sky is dim,- the light flakes falter and fall slow ; the chickadee sings cheerily, for the magic touch again and the house mates sit as Emerson tells them-,

"Around the radiant fireplace enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm."

There are reprints of this book for sale online for ridiculous prices - $40.00 to $60.00 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble respectively. It would cost much less to print and bind the book yourself with brads! Even better, read it for free online or download it to your PC or laptop.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Free Academic Preschool- Kindergarten Printables



Childcareland.com has many free letter, shapes, numbers, language, and matching hands-on printables which you can cut and paste onto cardboard. You can certainly find free letters and shapes off old food boxes and other print media to cut out on your own(no need for a printer), but if you'd rather have it all laid out for you, this is quick and easy.

By the way, a laser printer rather than an ink jet printer really is the least expensive way to go for low printing costs in the long run. I got an inexpensive rebuilt b/w laser printer online, the one recommended by Robinson Homeschooling. I've had this for almost two years, and still haven't had to purchase a new drum, and I do a moderate amount of printing.

Free paper: My husband brings home recycled paper from work, and I use the blank side for printing. Just place it print side up in the printer tray and it will print on the blank side.

I printed out these free learning printables(pictured above), pasted them on the back of frozen pizza boxes, cut them out, and used recycled bill envelopes for the pockets to hold loose pieces. I had my daughter do some of this in order to help her learn to cut and paste. For the letter matching boards, I pasted and taped pockets on the back and front. The cardboard is difficult to cut with small scissors. Get yourself a pair of heavy duty scissors to cut the glued cardboard pieces, or you'll end up with sore hands.

My favorite is the shape matching game, but my daughter likes matching and sorting the letters. So far I've only done the upper case letters, but they do have lower case printable sheets for file folder learning. I think the letter sheets are suppose to be glued into a manila folder, holed punched and put in a ring binder, but I did it my own way. My three year old action oriented daughter would have just ripped these out, so I modified them into a board game-like presentation.

Here's the template for the elephant(from my picture) which can be printed, cut and pasted together. There are eleven pieces for the child to match together from the picture. This was from First-School Preschool Activities and Crafts. I used this site with my son, many moons ago.

I store all these homemade educational items in recycled dry food boxes which can be decoupaged if you have the time, or if your little ones are so inclined. It's a great way to learn fine motor skills - learning to use scissors can be a real challenge. My daughter has picked it up fast, but my son took forever to learn to use the scissors.

I've also found some printable puzzles online. These are fun to print, color, cut and paste onto cardboard for an instant homemade puzzle. The pieces are really big, so it's not like a jigsaw puzzle. It helps teach visual/spatial thinking skills for the preschoolers - good pre-math skill builder as well. It's not pictured here, but we did a little three piece duck when my daughter was younger. I put a little yarn bow around it's neck - too cute, but she keep pulling it off. Maybe I'll teach her to tie it back on!

So save light cardboard boxes from your dry goods, old envelopes, and paper that is blank on one side, and you've got most of what you'll need for an almost free preschool-kindergarten! Free preschool websites will guide you in content, and you can improvise off of this.

Crafting your own preschool materials is a bit time consuming, but if you have your children help, it does double duty as teaching fine motor skills. I'm all for efficiency, what mom doesn't want the shortest route from A to B, so I do use those big fat $5.00 preschool workbooks(huge value!) for Walmart, and educational hands-on games from the Dollar Tree. They work just as well to teach, but when I make the time, crafting the materials is very satisfying and relaxing. There is nothing like something handmade to personalize the educational experience and make warm memories.

Not all printables but, here is a nice link farm for children's free educational games and activities.