It is Spring! Why Not Begin a Science Notebook?

Article excerpts from Cindy’s books, Notebooking! YES! You Can be a Binder Queen Too! and Nature Study the Easy Way. BOTH are on sale with our SPRING SALE! Check out our sale here: CLICK HERE
Today being inside just tortures me! It is STUNNING outside! Even the little birds are begging us to go outside.

Are you like me, dying from “cabin fever” and ready for spring? This is the perfect time to begin Nature Notebooks! Not only will you have an abundance of treasures awaiting your exploration, but these are perfect days to try something fresh. Ready? Let me help…

Chances are you already have many things that could be included in a Science Notebook around your home. Look for those “goodies” that do not have their own special place and add them to your Science Notebooks. This is the perfect opportunity to develop “a place” for those “goodies” while developing a nice product for displaying all the growing knowledge of nature all while your children are keeping special memorabilia! One of the things that I like about using supplies intended for scrapbooking is that there are so many products that enable us to keep bulky materials safely inside of our notebooks. Not to mention, scrapbooking makes EVERY notebook so much cuter! And…to imagine that we call this “school!” Read more

It Might Only Take a Notebook… by Cindy Rushton

It was a normal day, just like so many others, but my life was changed. In fact, it was a conversation similar to so many throughout my life…just girl talk in the kitchen over meal preparation. Who would imagine that it would change my life and lead me toward my life call? Who would imagine that it would put together all of the pieces to my jumbled-up life?

Mamaw Alma Lee Rushton was my husband’s grandmother. I remember the first day I met her. We had an instant bond. It was amazing. Not long after Harold and I became officially “connected at the hip” as my dad called it, I remember one conversation with her where she shared that I was everything that she had prayed Harold would marry. Those words of vision touched me to the depths of my soul. Oh! He was everything that I had prayed to marry. He was my Prince Charming. He was my Knight in Shining Armor…or Izod, who is particular about those details in HOT Mississippi? ha!

When Mamaw spoke, she spoke vision…instruction…inspiration…and a deep passion for Godly womanhood. Her opinions meant so much to me. Her insight was always biblical. Her instruction was patient and kind. I clung to her words. They were steeped in a love for God, a love for family, and a deep love for me. Read more

Take Time to Write EVERYTHING Down!

What do you want for this year? Think for a moment with me… Next year, this time, what do you want to see different in your life? What would you like to see finished? What would you like to see accomplished this year?

Dear friend, this year is the year of fullness. I have committed to make this year a year of commitment, accomplishment, and productivity. Want to make this year the very best ever too? Let’s find some keys to productivity. Let’s dig in and get moving strong. Ready? Well, today let’s look at one of my biggest keys to productivity…

Take time to write EVERYTHING down!

Talk about a key to productivity! If there were one thing that I really believe makes the difference in my own productivity, it is this one discipline. I know, I know what you may be thinking… Read more

Actually Reaching Your New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions are made every year by millions of people.  Unfortunately, many if not most of them are never completed.  If you plan to make a resolution, you may want to set a New Year goal that is not beyond your reach.

Your ultimate New Year’s resolution may be to learn a new language or how to dance all forms of ballroom dance.  However, an unreasonable goal is to assume you could do either of those in a short period of time.  Some goals are possible within a month, such as losing five pounds, but learning how to speak fluent Chinese in that amount of time absolutely is not.

It is important for us to plan for the future so we’re not aimlessly wandering through life.  Sometimes setting long-range goals can be overwhelming because they’re so far out in the future that we doubt if we’ll ever meet them.  If there aren’t intermediate goals along the way to your ultimate goal, it will be too easy for you to lose focus and give up. Read more

Teaching Your Kids to be Thankful

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to teach your kids about being thankful. Here are some ideas to teach your children how to appreciate the blessings in their lives.

Giving Thanks Placemats
The goal of this craft is to create a collage filled with drawings and pictures of all the things your children are thankful for. Cut photos from magazines, or print some photos from your computer. Older children can write captions under the photos or draw their own. Be sure to put the child’s name and the year on it.

If you make this collage from two standard letter size pieces of construction paper taped side-by-side, you can take the completed collage to a copy shop when you’re done and have it laminated. It then becomes a placemat that you can use every Thanksgiving for years to come.
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Thanksgiving Crafts to Do With Kids

Spending time creating Thanksgiving crafts with your kids can turn a holiday that isn’t quite as exciting as getting Halloween candy or Christmas gifts into a fun kid’s day!

Turkey Apple
Turkey apples are a fun craft to make with the kids as well as a healthy snack. You will need an apple, 6 toothpicks, 1 large and 5 miniature marshmallows as well as some raisins and one piece of candy corn for each turkey.
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The Importance of Routine by Cindy Rushton

Good morning dearies! I just got an email from Mary Beth asking me to share this article. She remembered reading it before, but couldn’t remember where to find it. She asked if I could post it here. YES! Hope all of you enjoy! This is an oldie. Fun to read now that my crew are grown and graduated. I could not recommend better tips today. This one is timeless. Enjoy….

Homeschools come packaged in all sorts and types.  Homes all have their own atmosphere…their own discipline…and their own life.  What will make for happy homeschool days?  My vote goes to routine!

As we look at different homes, we find that many people use many instruments to establish discipline.  In our home, we have used primarily two tools–instruction and routine!  You can probably see the need and benefits for instruction but why routine?  Routine is the means by which we lay down the tracks of discipline.  In our family routines, we take away much of the pain of who does what, when they are to do whatever, and how much they are to do.  It has become part of our character to do all that we do with excellence…diligence…and of course, speed!  So, what are some ideas for bringing routine into the home?  The following thoughts are a hodgepodge of my thoughts on routine and form that I have jotted down as I studied this month… Read more

Notebooking! Easy as A, B, C! by Cindy Rushton

Heard your buddies talking about Notebooking? Intrigued? Want to know more? OR…have you been Notebooking for years? Just need a bit of encouragement? Some fresh new ideas?

Well, wherever you are…however you prefer to teach your children…regardless of your children’s abilities, or even disabilities, you will find that Notebooking is EASY as A, B, C!

There is something precious about Notebooking that can transform any writer into an “addicted writer,” especially when they see that their work is precious to those they love the most. Notebooking can help us all to document those almost impossible studies that we really need to document. In fact, Notebooking is one idea that can revolutionize your homeschool. It has ours! This one idea can take your most reluctant writer and turn him into a researcher, who loves to write.

Want to know more? Let’s take a closer look at some Notebooking ABC’s…

A…Anybody Can Notebook!

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The Formation of Habit by Cindy Rushton

“The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; on the other hand, she who lets habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction.” “If we fail to ease life by laying down habits of right thinking and right doing, habits of wrong thinking and wrong doing fix themselves on their own accord.” ~Charlotte Mason

We all come into homeschooling bringing our own personality…our beliefs of what school should be like and how children learn best…and of course, these little ones in which God assigns for us to teach. We find immediately that homeschooling is so much more than just teaching subjects. It requires so much more of us! As I look back at the over the past years of homeschooling, I find that a large majority of my efforts have not changed much since we began that spring of 1991. I am still battling the to-do’s of homemaking, the pull of all the extras out of my home, and even more so, the formation of habit.

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Fall! Don’t Miss Nature Studies! by Cindy Rushton

Fall is here!

Anybody else having “fall fever?” Ready to get outside to soak up the beauty and fresh air? Oh! I LOVE the fall! This is the perfect time to make up any excuse to get outside. But, what if we call it “school” as we enjoy this gorgeous fall?

Yep! It is fall and and time for fall themed nature studies. Yep! Time for that weekly nature walk! Time to pull out those nature notebooks and begin a fresh new study. NO pressure. Just with atmosphere of fun and delight!

Want some ideas that are EASY? How about some of our favorites? Let’s dig in… Read more

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