Those Rebelious Dolch Words!

Have you ever heard of Dolch words? These are a list of 220 words that Edward William Dolch collected in 1936. None of these words can be “sounded out” because they don't follow the basic rules of phonics.

Even if you've never heard of these before, you may be surprised to find that your older kids still need practice with these. I can't count the times during the day that I hear, “Mom, how do you spell...?” I would be willing to guess that 9 times out of 10 the word my child is attempting to spell is a Dolch word.

My husband's standard answer to, “How do you spell...?” is “d-i-c-t-i-o-n-a-r-y”. In other words, “Look it up.” My kids usually groan when they hear this answer, but it really is a great practice for them to get into. In the meantime, I will continue to have my kids use www.spellingcity.com.

Homeschool Portfolios

Did you know that in most states we are required to keep homeschool portfolios? You'll have to check the laws for your particular state. A portfolio is basically just a record of their work. The recommendation is to save a sample from the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the end of the year. You will want to include their best work as well as samples of their not-so-great work. This will help to show progress in your child's learning.


There are lots of different ways to keep a portfolio for your child. In the past I have kept 3 ring binders for each of my children with all their school work in each. Some people simply put the samples into a cardboard box, others are very systematic about setting up the portfolios. One of my dear friends used to scrapbook her son's portfolio. This brings me to another purpose for portfolios! They can be a great way to preserve memories of your homeschool.

Minecraft Spelling

RoboBoy is enthralled with the game "Minecraft". He will play it for hours and hours at a time if we let him. So I decided to turn this fascination to my advantage, by making a spelling list based on his favorite game. I even printed out a wordsearch based on this list. RoboBoy also likes wordsearches so hopefully this will be something that he can get excited about doing. Anything to get them excited about doing school in my book!

Our Favorite Spelling Program

We used to really struggle with what spelling program to use in our house. For some reason my kids have wonderful reading levels but their spelling stinks. Go figure! Then we discovered Spelling City.com. At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I LOVE this program! It frees me up from spending time with each of my kids going over spelling lists and testing them. I can add my own spelling words or use the spelling lists by grade feature. My kids practice their spelling words throughout the week using the games and activities on the site. I can even print out handwriting practice sheets using my kid's spelling words for that week. Then at the end of the week they can take their spelling test right there online. My favorite feature is that with the premium membership, Spelling City will keep records for me. All I have to do is print them off for my kid's profiles. With all this available, perhaps my kid's spelling abilities will eventually match their reading levels!

Our Compound Word Jokes

Every family has it's own personality, if you will. Their own mode of operation and their own sense of humor. Our family has a goofy habit of making up our own wordplay type jokes. For instance we might take a word and add to it another crazy word to make up a really outlandish compound word. We especially like to update normal phrases to make them all goofy and new.


We all get in on the game and elaborate on each other's attempts at the game. It can get really crazy. Anyone listening to us might think we'd all gone absolutely bonkers. But we have fun with it and it's something that makes us each feel like we belong in this family.

I need to Re-boot!

I'm sitting here fighting maybe my 3rd or 4th sinus infection/cold in the past six months or so. My son, ManBoy is also sick. The younger two are as well but not as bad. This time we got it from spending a week with 300+ kids at VBS. It seems lately like we are constantly sick!


MyHero and I watched a documentary last night that was recommended by a friend. It's called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead!" This guy from Australia got fed up with having to take so many pills for his disease and decided to see if he could help his body heal itself. He went on a 60 day juice fast. It worked! The man no longer has to take anything for his condition which basically was one that caused the histamines in his body to go haywire at the slightest provocation. He was on some really strong steroids to control it.


While he was on his fast and touring the US, he found another guy who has the exact same condition. The other guy eventually decided that he needed to make a change and is now also off his meds I believe. Wow!! That's impressive!


Closer to home, I have a dear friend who recently tried this for about 10 days or so. She said that she has never felt so well as she did after the detox period. I'm convinced! Now, I just need to get my hands on a juicer and some fresh organic fruits and veggies! Anyone want to join us for a 15 day juice fast??? We'll let you know when we decide to start!


Be warned, they say the first 3 days are absolutely horrible. But if you can make it past those, you'll feel soooo much better! Also, if you have any kind of medical condition, it's best to consult your doctor before you start something like this. Here's a website to learn more! http://jointhereboot.com/

If you want to check out the documentary, we found it on Netflix, but here is the site for that too. http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

A Sweet, Sweet Sound?

We had a bit of an ugly scene in our house this morning while trying to get everyone out the door for church. Sound familiar in any way?? My attitude wasn't what it needed to be. RoboBoy was having trouble waking up, having been up too late last night. MyHero was at the end of his patience. He finally ended up saying, "Forget it! I'll just bring the other two." My reaction was, "Fine! What EVER!" Like I said, I had an ugly attitude this morning. (head hung in shame)

I sent RoboBoy back to bed and prepared to watch the Live Service on my laptop. The church was playing background music as I waited for the service to start. But the Holy Spirit was already at work on my heart. The old worship song, "I Love You Lord" was being sung by one of the modern bands.

I Love You Lord,

And I lift my voice,

to worship You!

Oh, my soul rejoice!

Take joy my King,

in what You hear!

May it be a sweet, sweet sound

in Your ear.

Wooah!! Wait a minute!!! I've NOT been a very sweet sound in Your ear lately, Lord! I'm so sorry! I want to lift my voice in worship to You, even as I deal with my husband and children. Lord, You just showed me that the way I react to others can be a worship to You and a sweet sound in Your ear, or it can be putrid and not in anyway an act of worship. Please help me to learn to be in worship to You in ALL I do, every moment of my life! By my actions and reactions. Please show me how to act and react as YOU would. Amen.