When you have only one child in a sea of families with many children, how do you cope? How do you adjust the lesson plans? Donna C, author of Homeschooling Only One shows you how to adjust and adapt in the homeschooling world.

Most women believe that in order to lose weight the first thing they need to do is eat less and move more. In a way this is true, but there really is more science behind that. What typically happens is women eat maybe 1 or 2 meals a day, drastically reducing their caloric intake and then adding a walk in for exercise. They may see the scale move but what are they really losing? I bet you’ll be surprised. Read on… Your body’s metabolism is the key to losing unwanted body fat. When working with women, I am not concerned about their weight as much as the level of body fat they are carrying around. A healthy bodyfat level to be at is between 19-25%. Most women who have dieted for years will find themselves at 30% or more. Those are dangerous levels that invite disease into their bodies. Although they may have lost 50 lbs. of body weight, they may still be at 30% body fat and at risk for heart disease, Type II diabetes and other ailments. How can they be at risk when they wear a size 8 dress pant? Because they never lost bodyfat while dieting. They lost body water and precious lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is the main manipulator of your metabolism. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you burn at rest. When your metabolism is humming along at a strong rate, it does not need to use bodyfat for energy. It’s alive and functioning at optimum levels. Fat that is stored on your body for energy is not needed and your body lets it go. You continue to build strong, lean muscles and your metabolism gets stronger and faster, you indeed get leaner, stronger, toned and full of energy. This is the picture of health and vitality. Now take the woman who is dieting. She is eating 3 meals a day and not focused on the right type of exercises. She’ll go for a walk around the block. It works for about 1 month. She’s dropped 5 pounds. She’s excited! Month 2 rolls around and the scale has stopped moving, she cuts her 3 meals into smaller portions and adds another block to her walk. The scale finally drops again. She’s excited! Month 3 rolls around and the scale has not moved or has gone up. Yikes! She drops to 2 meals a day, adds another block to her walk and an exercise video. Month 4 comes too quickly. She sees the scale move again so she cuts calories even more and increases her walk for a full 2 hours every day. She’s tired, frustrated and wondering why this is not working? I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The only way for her to keep the scale moving is to continue to decrease calories and increase the amount of time spent on low, steady state exercise. Is she really losing fat? No, she is losing water and precious metabolic boosting muscle that is why she has to continue decreasing calories to see change. If she continues on this path, she will lower her metabolic rate to such a level that her body will go into panic mode and begin conserving every morsel of food that enters as bodyfat so it will have the energy just to function. The result is a cranky, tired, moody, flabby, and frustrated woman. I know, I’ve been there. Ladies, I want you to know the truth. The scale is not your friend. You have been lied to for years. There’s even a tv show dedicated to keeping these lies alive (Biggest Loser Challenge) where your worth is determined by a number on the scale! How have we as a society allowed this to happen? Satan has been at work! God made you in His image. You are a beautiful, strong, and vibrant woman. Don’t allow Satan to get a foothold in your mind. Oh how I wish I could give you all hugs right now! Here is the picture of a woman on the right path: She determines why she wants to accomplish this goal of being healthy and full of energy. She enlists the help of her husband and children. She puts together a plan of action including how to deal with obstacles that will be thrown her way. Her plan does include strength and interval training as the core of the program. She also determines her caloric intake and creates meal plans for the week. She cleans out her cupboard of all manmade, adulterated foods and buys food in their original God created package. She gets connected with other women who are doing the same steps (this site of course!) and stays accountable no matter what happens to try and bump her off course. All her workouts are scheduled in for each week just like math and english class. She sticks to her workouts because she is full of determination. Each week she discovers how much better she feels. Her clothes are getting loser, she is getting more flexible and full of energy. She finds herself hungry more often because her metabolism is on fire. She has more lean mass so she can eat more food, quite the opposite of the dieting woman. She does not suffer from mood swings, turbulent hormone levels or bloating due to eating whole foods. Does she know how much she weighs? Does it really matter if she is feeling this strong and vibrant? This is what I want for you. I will elaborate more on how to stop dieting for life in another post. This one ended up way longer than I intended. Hugs~~ Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I can’t wait until Friday! We will be headed to Indianapolis at 6am to attend the IAHE Convention! I need to sit down and plan my curriculum agenda so I can navigate the vendor hall confidently. If I’ve learned anything over the last 12 years about conventions, is to have a plan before you get there. You can so easily become overwhelmed with all the books, videos and curriculum choices. I thought I would share with you our meal plans while we are there so you can see that eating whole foods is still possible even though you are away from home. I am using protein bars from Precision Nutrition’s original cookbook Precision Nutrition and their newest cookbook, Gourmet Nutrition Since we are leaving really early in the morning on Friday (not early for me, but for everyone else), I will be making boiled eggs the night before. After peeling them I will store them in the fridge for the next morning’s breakfast. All the protein bars will be made Wednesday since I have no boot camps that day and can get a lot of cooking done. We also have a cooler that can be plugged into the car adapter or a regular outlet. So we will be taking this with us for some of the things that need to stay cold. Our hotel may or may not have a fridge so I am planning ahead. We also plan on eating out for dinner after we pick up the babies on Friday and Saturday. Here’s the plan for both days: 6 am: Boiled Eggs and Fruit (on the road food) 9 am: Banana Nut Squares (Gourmet Nutrition) for snacks until lunch time. Noon: In Hotel Room - Grilled Chicken Salads/Nuts/Fruit OR All Natural turkey breast deli meat wrapped up in cheese slices/Nuts/Fruit 3 pm: Granola Bars (Gourmet Nutrition) for snacks until dinner 6 pm: Pick up little ones and head out to a restaurant for dinner Our hotel has a workout room, but as usual, it is all cardio equipment (gag me!). So, I will bring along a trusty kettlebell and do a workout in the hotel room. I’ll try and get one of the kids to video tape it so you can see what can be done even though your away from home. That’s the plan. I’m excited! Can you tell? Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

As I was reading in 1 Samuel chapter 13 the LORD revealed one way I could eliminate a good sized chunk of stress in my life. Saul was waiting on the prophet Samuel. The prophet was to offer a sacrifice before Saul could proceed with his battle plans. Things were looking rather [...]

T8ermomma, owner of Shiver Academy (Shiver is a penguin who is the school mascot, in case you are wondering), has put together a 992 page unit study based on the Book of Virtues and has made it available for download at no charge. This enormous resource is full of printables, lesson plans, worksheets, planning sheets and much more. It's obvious that many hours went into planning this great unit and T8ermomma is gracious enough to share it at no charge. You can see all of the details at her blog, and look in the right column about halfway down the page for the download links (under the Book of Virtues heading). There are a few other downloads available below the Book of Virtues section. The unit is available as both one large file and several smaller files for those who might be on a slow connection. Thanks to Homeschooler's Notebook for bringing this resource to my attention!

When you have only one child in a sea of families with many children, how do you cope? How do you adjust the lesson plans? Donna C, author of Homeschooling Only One shows you how to adjust and adapt in the homeschooling world.

Homeschool websites, lesson plans, and activities to go along with current and historical events for August

This 3 credit, upper level history exam is exactly what it claims to be, upper level and specific to the Civil war and Reconstruction. If your college requires a certain number of upper level exams, you are a student of the Civil War already or if you are an advanced student 17 or older this is an enjoyable study of a difficult period in US History. The materials are plentiful and interesting, the study guide is wonderfully accurate and what you learn will stay with you. Get ready for a powerful topic.Finding materials for this test is not difficult as the library and bookstore shelves are full of biographies and literature from or about this period. Here are the materials we found most helpful or enjoyable: The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Civil War, 2nd Edition (a good read) Sparks Notes Civil War and Sparks Notes Reconstruction (Small, concise, inexpensive and including short tests in the back) InstantCert Wikipedia - The American Civil War (we used Wikipedia more for this exam than any so far) The Dantes Official Fact Sheet (more on this great source later) Civil War Flash Cards Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) (optional, but so helpful to put the pieces of this battle together) Gods & Generals (optional but wonderful, Lee and Jackson are must knows as are their impacts) Our method for this exam was new. As we had few official practice tests to gauge readiness we created a question sheet from the InstantCert forum feedback and started researching. Daily we searched for answers to questions from causes of the war to reconstruction policies. The students watched the Ken Burns Videos 2-5 times to get the most out of the visuals. Daily they used the InstantCert flashcards and did assignments from me based on the DSST Fact sheet. If a student knows the what, who, where and why of the DSST fact sheet they should be able to do well on this one. I broke the sections into 6 or so assignments with them filling in the outline percentage sections with research and answers. We spent evenings with Gettysburg and Gods and Generals DVDs.What you must know:Andersonville Battles, major and secondary (outcomes, stats, first, last, bloodiest, political and tactical impacts, Generals of each side) Government structure on each side, weakness of each Lifestyles of each side (women, poor, slaves, soldiers, POWs) Foreign affairs Slavery (conditions, abolitionists, emancipation) Literature of the time (Uncle Tom's Cabin and more)Weapons and their impacts Political Parties Reconstruction plans and failures Dred Scott decision, impact and implication A detailed exam description can be found here.My students recommend this test for an older student as it is very deep and detailed. Not many years are covered so each takes on more importance. This one is a challenge but my students were able to concentrate on this one subject (day and night some days) and do quite well. The 4 option multiple choice of a DSST exam is another blessing. If you choose this one we are sure you will discover much about a difficult time in our nation's history.

Although not a large site, the resources found on Innovative Classroom are quality and in depth. There are a few unit studies, several lesson plans, teacher tips, activities and reproducibles.

US Constitution Day lesson plans, websites, and activities

Thank you for subscribing to our email bulletin services! We value your interest in the Library’s programs and services and appreciate this opportunity to connect with you.As you finalize your year-end giving plans, please take one more opportunity to connect and consider a tax-deductible donation to the Library of Congress. You will become an inaugural member of Friends of the Library of Congress.As a Friend of the Library, you will join a growing philanthropic community that helps protect, preserve and diversify our nation's cultural record. And you will have unique, member-only opportunities to engage virtually and in person with the collections, curators and other Friends during the coming New Year.If you’ve joined our new Friends program, thank you very much! And if you haven’t, here’s how you can learn more about Friends of the Library of Congress and join today!?

Over the past year, like you, the Library of Congress has adjusted, recalibrated and learned. We want to continue to learn from you about what more we can do. As a friend of the Library of Congress, your feedback is critical to us as we look to the future. The Library of Congress is your library and we want to build plans based on YOU.Please take a moment to complete the survey and share more about how you’ve engaged with the Library, what we can do better, and what more you want to see from us. No matter where you are in the country (or world!), or how you’ve connected with the Library before – we want your feedback.Take the survey: https://wh.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=162090351735&src=1The survey will close in 10 days, so please take 10 minutes to complete it now. We look forward to sharing the insights we learn and, most importantly, using your feedback to chart the path forward.Thanks for your time!Carla HaydenLibrarian of Congress

The Library of Congress’ Labs team wants to learn more about new segments of users who aren’t yet connected to our digital collections and services.? We are specifically seeking people who use digital resources like history photos, books, documents, newspapers, music, video, maps, data or websites but don't use Library of Congress materials for the following activities.? Formal and informal education -? K-12 teachers, guides or tutors that might use digital resources to build activities, ? lesson plans, or educational games or experiences.? ? Activism and community leadership - People, clergy, organizers or activists who might use digital library-like resources to inform awareness of a community, or cause, its history and relationships.Data journalism, communications or media work -These people might use digital library-like resources and data to produce articles, visualizations, or media for general audience. People who produce data-driven stories are of particular interest.Undergraduate creative / art studies - These people might use digital library-like resources as inspirational material or as content or material that they may re-mix or re-make through their creative work.With the selected participants, we will carry out 1-on-1 interviews (not to exceed an hour). All work will be conducted remotely over video chat. The schedule for the interviews will be based on what works best for the participants.? Can you connect us with anyone in your network who may want to participate? Feel free to forward this message or direct folks to this sign up form: via the online application (https://forms.gle/xiaB8Swp9VR9xL1j8). Any questions can be sent directly to me, Abbey Potter at abpo@loc.gov.? ? Thank you very much for helping us make this connection! We will share the outcomes of this research publicly and it will help shape future directions of our work.?

Thank you for subscribing to our email bulletin services! We value your interest in the Library’s programs and services and appreciate this opportunity to connect with you.As you finalize your year-end giving plans, please take one more opportunity to connect and consider a tax-deductible donation to the Library of Congress. You will become an inaugural member of Friends of the Library of Congress.As a Friend of the Library, you will join a growing philanthropic community that helps protect, preserve and diversify our nation's cultural record. And you will have unique, member-only opportunities to engage virtually and in person with the collections, curators and other Friends during the coming New Year.If you’ve joined our new Friends program, thank you very much! And if you haven’t, here’s how you can learn more about Friends of the Library of Congress and join today!?

Over the past year, like you, the Library of Congress has adjusted, recalibrated and learned. We want to continue to learn from you about what more we can do. As a friend of the Library of Congress, your feedback is critical to us as we look to the future. The Library of Congress is your library and we want to build plans based on YOU.Please take a moment to complete the survey and share more about how you’ve engaged with the Library, what we can do better, and what more you want to see from us. No matter where you are in the country (or world!), or how you’ve connected with the Library before – we want your feedback.Take the survey: https://wh.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=162090351735&src=1The survey will close in 10 days, so please take 10 minutes to complete it now. We look forward to sharing the insights we learn and, most importantly, using your feedback to chart the path forward.Thanks for your time!Carla HaydenLibrarian of Congress

Erin Condren offers a homeschool planner that I like. The size is like their regular teacher’s planner, it is the 8.5″ x 11″. There is plenty of room to write plans and activities out. The months are undated so you … [continue reading] The post Erin Condren Homeschool Planner appeared first on Homeschooling on a Shoestring.

Erin Condren offers a homeschool planner that I like. The size is like their regular teacher’s planner, it is the 8.5″ x 11″. There is plenty of room to write plans and activities out. The months are undated so you … [continue reading] The post Erin Condren Homeschool Planner appeared first on Homeschooling on a Shoestring.