Teaching Kids About Money

Somewhere around 9 years ago I was wandering around my favorite local library and I came across several books about money education.  I remember very vividly thinking the books looked really good.  I even thought about checking them out then, but figured I didn't really need them with only a 2 year old running around.  I'd find them later.  You know, when I needed them.

I've been thinking about those books (and of course, I can't remember their titles) that I was so sure would be perfect for a year or so now.  Thinking I should really try and find something like them at my library.  Unfortunately, I'm occasionally a bit of a procrastinator.  Thankfully, technology often steps in to nudge me/help me get headed back in the right direction.

A few days ago, I came across a fantastic idea on Pinterest.  Laurel from the blog Ducks in a Row and I already agree on many things.  First, we also give our kids an allowance that is not tied to chores.  I'm a firm believer in not paying them for the chores that I feel are a part being a member of our family (although, I'm not opposed to paying them set fees to do extra chores).  Second, we also pay our kids $1 for every year of their age.  Unlike Laurel, we don't start their allowance until our kids turn 8, but after that it's just the same.

What I really love, something I've wanted to do, but wasn't sure how is her family bank.  She has a notebook with a register in it for her kids (along with their spending money).  A register!  That's such a GREAT IDEA!  Why is it that the super great ideas I never think up on my own are always also super simple?  I always think things need to be complicated.  Well, they don't!

 

My kids keep their money at the bank (it's a ton easier for me to just set up an automatic transfer every month), but it's hard for them to wrap their head around or keep track of exactly what they have and how they're really spending it. 

 

Right now during homeschool, we do real life math on Fridays.  We talk about how the math they're learning (or will learn) can be used in other areas of life and this will fit in perfect.  Every month we can sit down and go over what money they have and see what they're doing with it. 



 

I'm going to get started on this over the weekend and am looking for other ideas.  Do you know any great websites?  Good books?  Fun (and informative) curricula for teaching kids about money?

Homeschooling Journey - 1

Recently I came up with a fantastic way to describe how I deal with change to my husband.  I am like an old GPS unit.  Have you used one of those?  The really cool ones that freeze up when you make a wrong turn (or don't turn when you should)?  Not only does ours freeze up, but it slowly and with an awesome monotone says, "Recalculating....Recalculating...Recalculating."  It's totally me.

When my plans get changed (aka: life happens), I always have a recalculating moment.  Sometimes it's short and I'm off on my way with my newly acquired plans, but other times it takes just a "smidge" longer.

This is one of the biggest reasons I can't believe I'm homeschooling today.  It was completely and totally not in my plans.  I was counting down the years until my youngest was in kindergarten (I actually figured out which year while I was pregnant with him, it would have been 2014) when I was going to finish my degree and get a job.  I was going to find something I could be passionate about, something I loved where I could make a difference.  You know, I'm laughing right now because that is exactly what I'm doing today...and it's not even close to what I thought would give me those feelings.

Somewhere around 2 to 3 years ago I was reading a magazine (for the life of me I can't remember exactly which one it was now, but that's not the important part) and in that elusive magazine was an article (or ad) about Bakerella.  Have you heard of her?  She's pretty awesome.  Her cake pops are adorable and so are her posts.  I quickly bacame an avid reader and while on her blog one day, I read about another blogger who'd named herself the Pioneer Woman.  Huh, I thought, interesting name, who's that?  So, I clicked myself over to PW's blog and took a look around.

Okay, I'll confess, I didn't do too much looking around that first day.  I looked at her blog with all her tabs and information and I thought something along the lines of, "Holy Cow!"  And then I closed down the internet and moved on to other things.  But, another day, when I was feeling a little braver (remember, new things take a little getting used to...yes, I know I can be silly), I got back on and started to look over her site.  Did you know PW has a homeschooling section?  It's fantastic!  I've never met Heather (a contributer) but I love her anyway.  She's been instrumental in my homeschooling story.

Looking through posts one day I came across one by Heather where she talks about a book she loves called The Well-Trained Mind (which teaches how to provide a classical education at home) and as I am a lover of books myself, I decided to see if my library had it and they did.  Yipeee!  If you've never happened across it before, it's GIGANTIC!  Sort of overwhelmingly large, but thankfully easily broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks. 

The first section shows you how to homeschool kindergarten through 4th grades.  The second is 5th through 8th grades and the third is, you guessed it, 9th through 12th grades.  I skipped right over those sections the first time I checked it out (yes, I did just say first time) and only read the fourth and last section which is all about homeschooling and why you might want to (or not want to).

After I finished reading it, I returned the book and that was it.  Pretty much.  I didn't read any other books on homeschooling, I didn't really get on PW's blog much at all (not like my current daily stalking...shoot, did I type that out loud?) and the thought of ME homeschooling never crossed my mind.  It was interesting, sure, but SO not a part of my plans. 

Stay tuned for part 2 to see how masterfully my life and plans were changed a little recalculation at a time.

The Spiral Jetty

Steve has been wanting to go out and see the Spiral Jetty for a while now and we finally made the trek out yesterday. 

It was a little hazy yesterday, so you can't quite tell where the lake stops and the sky starts.

It even looks a little like the mountains in the distance are floating in the air.

The kids had a TON of fun trying (emphasis on TRY) to stay on the rocks and out of the water.

Ben and Makenna made it all the way into the center of the spiral with only a minimal amount of water getting involved.

 

It was beautiful and a lot of fun.  If you're ever in northern Utah, you should check it out!

 



Thanks giving

This past Sunday we sat around as a family and talked about what we're thankful for.  After picking something we tried to think of a way we could SHOW our thanks.  I'm a big believer in setting achievable, mark off-able goals and for the most part, we were able to think of something that fit the bill. 

I didn't write down who said which and I can't quite remember them all, so I'll just list off the thankful item and our goal to show our thanks next to it.

#1. Family: Play together daily
#2. Earth: Pick up trash around our neighborhood and at the park near our home
#3. Books: Donate books we no longer use to a charitable organization
#4. Jesus: Serve Him every day by following His commandments
#5. Trees: Rake leaves and trim our trees to keep our yard and trees looking nice
#6. Learning: Learn how Thanksgiving really started and why we celebrate it today

We've already done a few of these, but still have a few more to go.  I love what happens to my life when I consistently have a thankful heart.  As cheesy as it sounds, while it's not always easy to be thankful, it's always worth it. 

I challenge all of you to find something you're thankful for in your life and then show your thanks.  You'll be happier for it!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love doing crafts with my kids.  To bad you can't tell by how often I do them.  I'm a, "If it isn't on a list, it doesn't get done," sort of girl and I don't have a normal craft time stuck on our daily school charts (or our daily chore charts), so it doesn't happen nearly as consistently as I'd like.  Maybe I should add it to our school charts.  We do have an art day...hmm, something to think about.

This Thanksgiving, I didn't want to not get around to doing any crafts again.  Thankfully, this year I have Pinterest.  Who loves Pinterest?!  I started out with a holiday board and ended up having to make boards for all the major holidays because I was pinning so many amazing ideas.  I went through my Thanksgiving board last weekend and picked out a few projects I wanted to tackle with my kids this week. 

I decided to start with the most involved project and, in hindsight, it's a good thing I did.  It took quite a bit longer than I thought it would.  I was surprised how much the kids loved EVERY SECOND of it.  I have to admit, I have a hard time just letting my kids do their own crafts, but I did my best to sit back and just watch/advise.  I'm so happy with how well it went and how GREAT they turned out!

The original idea is here.  I mostly followed the very well written instructions, but I did adjust a few things because I'm a fan of using what I already have around the house as much as possible.I did go and buy the small paper bowls for the turkey bodies, I couldn't figure a way to use anything I already had (and didn't care if it was destroyed).

Day one involved painting the bowls and toilet paper rolls then setting them aside to dry.  Day two was cutting out the feet (the kids hand prints, so CUTE), feathers, and hats and gluing on the beaks, eyes and gobbler. 

Last, we stuck it all together.  What do you think?  What was your favorite craft/project for Thanksgiving this year?

Happy Thanksgiving, from our turkeys to yours!!!!

Just for fun

I love to read to learn new things.  I'll read anything that has to do with almost any area of my life: cookbooks, budgeting/savings books, parenting books, marriage books, finding happiness/peace/joy books, gardening books, inspirational books, exercise/triathlon/cycling books...and I not only learn a lot, I usually have a lot of fun doing it.

Sometimes though, I need a book that's good for nothing.  Well, not really nothing, but a book where I don't learn anything reading.  A fluff book.  A turn off my brain and sit for hours living in another universe sort of book.

My favorite genre of books for this fluffy-ness has always been fantasy.  Who couldn't use a little more magic in their lives (no, I have never tried to psychically move my remote control closer to me, that would just be crazy)?    One of my very favorite fantasy authors is Mercedes Lackey.  She's written more than 100 books.  Yes, I did just say more than 100.  Is that as crazy to you as it is to me?  Who has that many stories in their heads?!?

 

Okay, okay, they probably weren't all their together clamoring to get out, but it's still an amazing accomplishment.  I've been thinking about Mercedes Lackey today because I got online to update my Amazon wishlist (for Christmas, only 36 more days!  I'm not panicing, nope) and discovered she has several new books out that I haven't read! 

First, that's a travesty, how could I not have known?  Well, not checking and being fairly oblivious to most of life outside my home are probably equally culprits, but still.  And second, I need to rectify this problem immediately.  Starting with the Collegium Chronicles...I thought there was only one book and their are FOUR! I must have missed the s on the end of chronicles.

I've been reading pretty non stop over the last few months and lately I've been feeling the urge to go fluffy (I originally typed brainless where fluffy currently sits, but couldnt' leave it because instantly 10 different sarcastic -yet loving- remarks my husband would make after reading it popped into my head). 

I'm pretty seriously excited.  Library, here I come. 

The Butterfly Circus

If you haven't had a chance to watch the short film The Butterfly Circus on youtube, you should. 

It's about 20 minutes long so plan for more that just a short 5 minute video.

My favorite part?  One line by the circus master (I'm not sure if that's actually his title, but go with me here), "The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph."

Awesome (in the awe inspiring sort of way).