My Top 7 Homeschool Supplies

Well summer is slowly coming to an end over here and we are all a little sad. I will slowly begin homeschooling on Monday. Since I entered a photo challenge on Instagram and today's prompt was supplies, I thought I'd blog a long overdue post. Today I'm listing my favorite supplies.

1. Printer/Scanner/Copier

Really not sure I could survive homeschooling without our Epson XP-400. On top of all the forms I have to print out for our homeschool group, there are all the copies I make, documents I scan, and myriads of papers I print out from emails, etc. It's safe to say that I use our printer every single day.

2. Laminator

The day I bought our laminator, is the day I felt like a true homeschooling mama! I use this laminator a ton and if you don't have one I'd wait until the Amazon Prime Black Friday Sale to get one. This one was super cheap!

3. Globe

I plan to use this baby a lot this year! Have you seen this Jimmy Kimmel video about people who couldn't even point out one country on a world map? If you haven't seen it yet head over to the link and watch it. You'll be mortified. I mean, these people couldn't even point out the USA! After watching this video I thought that we just really needed to sharpen our Geography skills.

4. MacBook Pro

What can I say but we use our MacBook a ton! This year both boys will be taking computer classes so I know it will get used a ton by them. Josiah will also be using it to watch his Algebra lessons. In the morning the boys watch CNN 10 News on it to stay updated on currents events. We use it for a myriad of reason.

5. iPad

The latest generation iPad is amazing and I am in love with it. I only got it because I had unused airline miles and since we don't travel anymore, I used the miles to replace my ancient iPad. This year I am using Google Calendar for lesson planning since my favorite homeschooling app is no longer available (tragic news for me...I cried).

6. Notebooks

Don't tell anyone but I may have a notebook addiction! SHHHHHH!!! I already have like 20 unused ones. I use notebooks to write notes for my lessons, Nathan uses a notebook for Spelling, the graph notebooks will be used for Math this year, and well I just like owning notebooks. It's a notebook and journal addiction to be more accurate.

7. 3 - Ring Hole Puncher

Truth be told, I stole this from my husband. It's a real nice one and has replaced the cheapy one I owned. This baby gets used a ton also. I highly suggest investing in a nice one like this!!

I could probably post a bunch more of supplies that I love using but these are my absolute favorites!

Homeschool Fair

Our homeschool group's annual fair was a couple of weeks ago. The boys love to participate in the fair...it's one of their favorite events. This year's fair theme was the Creator's Hand.

Josiah won first place in photography for his age group and also took 2nd place for overall theme usage.

He took second place for his whoopie pies....they were a lot of work!

Josiah then took first place for video presentation with his short called "President Junior". Quite a funny little movie about a young boy who dreams about becoming president.

Nathan loves entering the tablet setting category. This year he took second.

He also entered the photography category getting second place.

Lately Nathan's been pretty artsy....he's been drawing and painting a lot. He even entered the drawing category and got third place!

We're so thankful for our homeschool group and all the fun activities the boys get to participate in! Makes homeschooling a lot of fun.

Joni and Friends

Not too long ago we had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Joni and Friends. Do you know who Joni is? This is from her bio on her website:

"Joni Eareckson Tada, the Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quad­riplegic in a wheelchair, without the use of her hands. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations."

It was really such an educational tour for us. Growing up at Grace Community Church, I've always known about Joni. She actually used to attend our church when I was younger so I would see her there a lot. I just didn't realize all that her ministry does for people with disabilities. It is exciting to see how the Lord has used her and her testimony to help so many people around the world.

 Before we went on the tour the kids explored an interactive center where they tried different activities but had a "disability". In this center Jojo was trying to read but the glasses made it real difficult for him to read simulating a person with a vision disability.

We then toured the facility. Here the kids are in a recording studio where Joni broadcasts her podcasts! She will record about 60 4 minute podcasts in one day...she's an extremely hard worker!

After her accident Joni learned how to hold a paintbrush in her mouth and paint. She painted the above picture!! Absolutely amazing! I can't even paint that well with my hands! What a gifted lady and she uses her gifts to glorify the Lord!

We were so blessed to have Joni come and visit us at the end of our tour. She encouraged all the kids and just shared her heart with us. She also shared the following: "God permits what He hates, to accomplish something that He loves!"

If you want to learn more about Joni and her amazing ministry you can visit her site at Joni and Friends

The Endeavour at the California Science Center

I remember when we lived in Russia and the Endeavour was coming to it's final resting place at the California Science Center. There was a ton of footage of the special flyovers and I remember thinking how I wished I could be there to see the Endeavour fly over my head. Then there was the almost impossible task of getting the shuttle to the museum. It was so cool seeing the engineering that took place to get that huge shuttle to DTLA. I also remember wanting to be in that crowd as the Endeavour was painfully and slowly wheeled down the streets of Los Angeles.

I was super excited to see the Endeavour as were the boys. It was pretty breathtaking walking into that huge hall and seeing it for the first time.

Before you walk  into the hall where the Endeavour is there are smaller exhibits to look at! We especially liked the mission control. They also were showing video of the astronauts in the Endeavour while it was on a mission! They even had the toilet from the Endeavour...so funny!

I was a little surprised how "rough" looking the shuttle was but I suppose it's been up in space several times! I have to tell you though that the boys were not so impressed once we walked into the hall. They thought we'd be able to go inside the actual shuttle! Probably should have told them beforehand!

California Science Center: Pixar Exhibit

I don't know if I've ever been to the Science Center in Downtown Los Angeles...maybe as a kid? Not sure. Either way, the kids have never been there and this week we got to go on a field trip there with our homeschool group.

The big highlight of course was the Pixar Exhibit and we spent quite a bit of time in there. It's really amazing all the details that go into putting an animated film together. I'll never look at a Pixar film again quite the same.

     For the boys of course field trips are a blast simply because they get to hang out with their friends!

The hall is loaded with so many hands on exhibits! It was so much fun for the boys to explore. They loved trying to figure things out and watching all the short videos on how certain parts of a film come
together.

We all felt like going home and watching Pixar movies!

Moorpark Zoo

In December we finally got to visit the Moorpark Zoo with our homeschool group. I've been meaning to get over there and check it out but have not had the opportunity to do so yet. Moorpark Junior College is one of two colleges/universities in the USA that has a teaching zoo on campus. It's actually quite difficult to get in to the program at Moorpark College. It's based off a lottery system and students wait years before getting in.

The day started off with a show of various animals from birds to reptiles. The students do a pretty good job but as I mentioned before it's a training zoo so they are learning as they go.

We then walked around the zoo and visited all the different exhibits. I am not a fan of animals to say the least but I often feel sorry to see these animals caged up. In this case though many of these creatures have been injured and are at the zoo because they wouldn't survive in the wild. They also have several animals which were confiscated from people who had them as pets. The zoo also gets transfers from other zoos. It was a fun little field trip and it was also nice to be on the campus of Moorpark College. It's a beautiful campus...who knows maybe one day I'll attend there and get my AA degree! I guarantee you though I will not be applying for the zoo program!!

Advancement Night

Well I officially have a Junior Higher and in the summer he'll become an official teenager! Someone please stop time.

We had our advancement night at the end of May. So much work goes into putting this night together but it's all worth it.

Nathan also advanced...into 4th grade!

The boys have made some great friends the past two years and so have I.

And of course it's always great to have family come and celebrate.