And Then There Was One...

One little girl left to homeschool, and she's taken off with online school, so I'm not left with much to share in the homeschool department.

The fourth grader is working on Khan Academy and Time For Learning for her core homeschool. She does a lot of self directed learning where I help her with books and materials in her spare time.

I'll be signing her up for art class soon, and we've been taking day trips to museums, parks, and historical areas.

For some reason, it's not as exciting with the second child, and even a bit exhausting, but that might be my age. I think I miss the challenge which was invigorating. Homeschooling is old hat now, and the homeschooling community has grown and matured. We are no longer pioneers piecing together creative homeschool curricula and researching learning approaches. What was a homey grassroots endeavor is now big business, and educational materials are much easier to find. The internet has matured over the past 15+ years. Everything you need for school, almost everything, is accessible with a search. There's no longer the need for consulting and brainstorming with other homeschoolers. The ubiquitous tight knit communities have scattered. Those blog communities is what I miss.

Homeschool Graduate!

My oldest officially graduated earlier this week. Wahoooo! I won't miss accounting for his progress to the state. It is so pleasant to be out from under the education regulations. Not much has changed other than the legalities; he still continues to learn and work toward a career.

New short term goals are CLEPing out of Algebra, Calculus, and English Composition.  We take a tour of the local community college campus in April. He's leaning toward an Associate's in Computer Science with a transfer across town to the four year college to finish up with a Bachelor's degree. The community college is very liberal with accepting CLEP credits. He could CLEP out of as many as are available for his degree.

This link is super for finding free college classes online, then there's Khan Academy, and official CLEP study guides. All appear to be helpful for acing the CLEP.

All about the CLEP, only $80.00! This beats the cost of a class.

I'll be sure to update here with the CLEP experiences and results.

Free Saint Patrick's Day Old time Radio Shows

Check it out here.

Free Homeschool Video Lessons, TED Talks by Subject and Grades

See here

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Free Homeschool Stuff: 54 Videos Living History Greece

Ancient Greece For Kids

Free Printable Coloring Page Bookmarks

See here
More here.

Preparing for the Spring Garden

Our dollar store has seeds out!  I picked up veggie and wildflower seeds, and I'm preparing the beds with leaf and twig mulch, kitchen scraps, Starbucks used coffee grounds, and wood ash.

Pinning gardening ideas at Pinterest. Check it out here.

Our small pond sprung a leak, so I'm turning it into a veggie garden in the spring.  I've been prepping it with aquarium prunnings, leaves, sticks, and kitchen scraps. In the spring I'll add a few bags of soil.  Source.

 The idea of this layering method is from this book:  

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

Etsy Store Experiment

I started selling on Etsy in April, and it's been slow going since that time. My expectations were to sell at least four items a week, but that has not happened. I'm lucky to sell two a week.  You can make slightly more per item over ebay, but sales are much slower.  So, I'll be closing shop in April at the latest.

My next venture will be clothing on ebay. I may fare better with these items. Although access to quality items in my area is limited, there may be a better return at ebay with the clothing. If so, I'll need to stock less at home - always a good thing. Etsy is great if you sell upscale sought after collectibles, or are talented with handmade. I find ebay easier to figure out as far as learning what sells, and it casts a wider net with the non-vintage sales. There's more opportunity for me there.

The remaining books in my Etsy store will be kept for our homeschool, and the other items will go to a yard sale and/or charity.

I'll probably list a few thing on Etsy in the future, but only unusual highly sought after items. I do find these a few times a year.

3D Geography Ideas

See here.

Make Some Cash: Online Consignment Store

I haven't tried Swap.com yet, but I heard that they accept consignments through the mail with prepaid shipping. Might be a great way to easily turn your gently used clothing into some cash.
Quick guide to selling.

They are taking spring and summer clothing until May. If I try this, I'll report back with my experience. I might have some items that didn't fit my daughter stored away.

100 Ways to Save Money

I've exhausted all these options! Life is still expensive, but these ideas help. See here.

Random rant:

What's with all the hidden medical costs even when paying through the nose for insurance?! Such a ripoff.

Etsy Book Sale: Any Three Books for $15.00 Free Shipping

See here

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Paper Cutting Art Snowman From Above Art Perspective Project for Young Children

https://youtu.be/Yo88CbDhrF8

Free Printable Woodland Picture Collage

From the Graphics Fairy here

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Children's Books Pre-K Through Eighth Grade .49 Cents Shipped

This looks interesting! Supposedly .49 cents a book shipped. I haven't tried them, but it looked like a good deal for children's contemporary best sellers. See here. I'd love to visit this place. The store in located in a North Carolina.

DIY Rustic Pedestal

Saw this over at Pinterest. I am going to try this! Link is here. I will share it when it's done. I have a candlestick like this, but I'm not sure the top is wide enough. I'm working on some upcycling distressed pieces now for Etsy, so this would be an easy project to work in.

Free Printable Christmas Village

So cute! See here 

for pdf download.