Why I Love Highway Noise

I wake up at 6am and tiptoe out of my bedroom as to not wake my sleeping toddler. I open up my bedroom door slowly as it squeaks pretty loudly. I'm holding my breath now just praying my toddler doesn't wake up. Once I cross the threshold into the hallway I sigh a breath of victory because she is still sleeping. I make my way to the kitchen to start making coffee. I don't know why I just don't set this up the night prior, I always ask myself this as I fumble around for the things I need.

Finally, the coffee is done brewing and I reach for my current favorite mug and coffee creamer. I pour everything into my mug and take in all the morning aroma. The fresh morning air coming in from the kitchen window and the coffee scent that reminds me of my childhood. I make my way to my living room and sit down while blowing on my coffee to cool it down.

As I begin to sip on my coffee I allow myself to enjoy the sweet stillness in my house. Everything is quiet, I can hear my son breathing and the birds outside chirping. 6:30am begins to roll around and the chirping birds are starting to get less noticeable as a new noise starts to emerge. The highway. The noise from the morning commuters as they all make their way to work or school. Now that school is back in session I also hear the buses on the highway. My husband hates the noise from the traffic, he finds it annoying. Myself, on the other hand, I love it.

The highway noise can sometimes resemble waves crashing on the beach but that's not why I love the sound. I love the sound because it reminds me of how blessed I am to have the opportunity to be home and enjoy the slow mornings. I'm not rushed to get myself ready for work or to get the kids packed up for school. I get to slowly sip down my coffee and check my emails. The traffic noise reminds me of this blessing every morning and I am thankful for that reminder every day

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Laser Maze for Logic

I like to have some kind of hands-on logic activity for my kids to do. Sometimes finding logic activities for older kids can be hard. My older kids think so many of them are babyish, their words not mine. Today I am excited to show you this fun Laser Maze that got the stamp of approval by both my teen girls.

Beam Bending Logic Game

This game can be used by 3rd graders and up. My son hasn't used this yet but my girls who are in 8th and 10th grade have and they love it. There is little set up time to this game. All you do is select a challenge card and place the tokens as shown on the card. Next, you need to figure out where to place the other tokens in order for the laser to hit the target. When you think you've figured it all out you can then turn on the laser to see if it hits the target.  Everything you need is included and there are 60 different challenge cards from beginner to expert.

My Thoughts

I love this game and plan to use it a lot this coming school year. This is great to have on hand for when kids are waiting to use the computer or have finished their lessons early for the day. This doesn't just have to be something homeschoolers use, any kid would love this game. Both the girls agree that this is fun, interactive, and can be challenging. This game has become one of the favorite games in the house to play.
You can find this game on the Timberdoodle website. This game is included in the 7th-grade curriculum kit.

Thank You

Thank you Timberdoodle for sending us this fun game in exchange for a review. We absolutely love it and know so many of you will love it too. 

What Are Family Subjects

If you've been following me for any amount of time you know that I have 5 kids. This year I have an 10th, 8th, 4th, and Kindergarten. I also have a 2yr old. I'm a busy lady and need to find ways to save time. This is why I started to teach subjects as a family. It saves so much time and I know what all the kids are learning. It also gives us a great opportunity to learn with each other.

What Are Family Subject

Family subjects are any subjects that you can teach to all the kids as a group. In our home, these subjects include history, science, bible, and enrichment. My 10th and 8th grader do their own science curriculums but my 4th grader and Kindergartener will do their science together. All the other subjects I mentioned include all of the kids. Thankfully companies like The Good and The Beautiful have made it easier to teach multiple grade levels using 1 curriculum. Because of that, we use their materials for science and history. I did a video explaining more about the history curriculum and you can find that here.

Enrichment Studies

This year I am taking more of a Charlotte Mason approach and adding in enrichment studies. This will include studying different artists, poets, composers, and nature. These topics are perfect for the family to do together and it can be done in sorts of different ways. I plan to share more on how we do our studies in the coming weeks.

Things To Come

I'm excited to share our family subject curriculum choices with you in the next few weeks. I plan to have a back to school week. During that week I will be sharing our curriculum choices for each grade and our family subjects. These videos will be shared on my blog, YouTube, and Instagram accounts. You can follow any of these accounts for updates so you don't miss when these go live. If there's anything you'd like to specifically see, feel free to comment below.