tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-162257142011-11-27T16:14:20.016-08:00Choosing to homeschool our children was a big decision that required lots of prayer and support from others. In this blog, I hope to journal all my accomplishments and frustrations. Hopefully, I can get an idea of how to make things better.Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-50521125053111359482008-08-22T13:31:00.001-07:002008-08-22T14:11:00.605-07:00

Well, here we go again! Everyone advances to the next grade.With my web design business keeping me busy, and making sure that our boys get a proper education, blogging has not been the first thing on my mind.However, since I am pushing my boys to blog as a daily routine, I figure I should do a little too.This year I have a 9th grader and a 7th grader. Yikes! They grow up so fast. Do you ever do

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-49059144510981123732008-02-06T02:15:00.000-08:002008-02-06T02:24:07.764-08:00

This past week has been a struggle for the whole family. The latter part of last week brought on a couple of snow days. The weekend was supposed to be Boy Scout Klondike… but we’ve had a lot of snow. We have almost two feet of snow in our yard. On Thursday night, our oldest started feeling sick. By Friday morning, his temperature spiked 102 degrees. By Friday night, maybe Saturday morning, it’s

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-32815227875539531612008-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:002008-01-30T17:42:31.474-08:00

There is nothing like going to bed hoping to sleep for 8 hours only to awaken 4 hours later with an explosive sound and cussing in the kitchen. I jump out of bed all blurry eyed, run to the kitchen, only to find a puddle Maple Syrup on the floor.All hell seemed to break out… not only from the person who caused the catastrophe, but from me because I know my 8 hours is interrupted indefinitely

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-17784584274534867722007-11-13T23:31:00.000-08:002008-01-30T17:41:18.181-08:00

Last year and again this year our boys have been enrolled in a public school band. They also take private lessons for the instruments they play. In September, my oldest was a part of a Scottish Pipes & Drums band for one concert. He was so excited to have played in that band. He is hoping that the band will invite him again to play in January. For this concert, Matthew played the floor tom and

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-12855547394838713102007-09-19T16:25:00.000-07:002007-09-20T23:38:11.734-07:00

Today, my son and I tried something different in his science experiment. We decided to video record it. He was so thrilled to get the attention... He performed well... Hopefully you will think so too.You might say this was an experiment on more than one level... you see, I had to record it and put it together. We had some goofy moments while working on this project...but I think I edited

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-15186935572606993792007-09-10T13:37:00.000-07:002007-09-15T15:01:15.096-07:00

First let me say that this blog is not just for science experiments. However, we have had so much fun with these experiments that I wanted to write about them.On this experiment, we were to learn about atmospheric pressure. My son grabbed two soda cans and put just a little water into them both... Only enough to cover the bottoms. Then heated them both up on the stove. Now, one thing that is VERY

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-13731878609894818722007-08-24T22:33:00.000-07:002007-09-15T15:01:37.303-07:00

Scary thought was my first impression... teach an 8th grader how to make fire... Hmm...Actually, we had fun with this one... in the end.The purpose of this test was to show the effect of adding and removing oxygen from fire. We're hoping that we'll understand how to quench or feed fire. Simple, right?HAHA!First off, teach your student to read through the instructions before proceeding with the

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-48264329741155069632007-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:002007-09-15T15:02:21.893-07:00

So, now we are to accomplish another science experiment. The goal is to see how a Tums tablet can neutralize vinegar... Pretty cool. First you take 3-jars. In the first, you put 1-cup vinegar, the second, 1/2-cup vinegar, and the third, 1/4-cup vinegar... then drop a Tums into each jar. The chemical reaction causes the Tums to begin fizzing... Doesn't sound interesting? Well, it actually is...

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-84296069625167301462007-08-20T23:20:00.000-07:002007-09-04T23:34:05.783-07:00

So the saga continues... School begins again... 2007-2008 Yeah! Well, this year "seems" to be off to a great start. I don't mean to sound negative, not even to the smallest degree... It is really easy for me to get all gloomy when the new year starts, however this year feels different. Both of my boys have an excitement about this school year that is so different than before. My oldest son is now

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-75011360192457263742007-08-20T21:25:00.000-07:002007-09-15T14:57:54.293-07:00

So, my 8th grade son now has Physical Science in his scheduled curriculum. He's lovin' it!The other day, we did an experiment that involved mixing water with baking soda and then taking two copper insulated wires and attaching each wire onto the positive and negative posts of a 9 volt battery. We all know what happens to copper when it is allowed to be outside in the elements. It turns green. The

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1162104615606063592006-10-28T22:46:00.000-07:002007-09-15T15:00:03.810-07:00

Our home school has been exciting. We have recently been studying Time, Space, and the Solar System. However, before we got to this unit, we studied the Brain.This was an exciting unit for all of us. We got to dissect a brain and study the various parts of the brain. Here are some pictures of our experience. Obviously this is not a human brain! This is a sheep's brain. Our curriculum called for

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1153717873703512672006-07-23T22:11:00.000-07:002006-07-23T22:11:13.723-07:00

I started this blog for two reasons. One was to journal all my home schooling successes or failures and the other was journal things that I have learned in web design.You see, I am a home school mom and I teach a 10 and a 12 year old… both are boys. This in itself is a challenge. You see, when it comes to planning school, I could use some pointers. You don’t realize how much a student has to

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1153115423986143052006-07-16T22:50:00.000-07:002006-07-16T22:50:24.010-07:00

Well, we finally did it. We finally took a vacation. It has been 6 years since our last vacation to California... It is such a long drive to go to CA... Now, since we live so far north, it is a 3 day trip to drive.Let me ask this...Is it still a vacation if you can't really afford it? This has been our dilemma for 6 years. There just has been no extra cash to make the trip. Then when Marty lost

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1141415957073635032006-03-03T11:59:00.000-08:002006-03-03T12:04:27.190-08:00

It has been a very long time since I have blogged. So much has happened… Since my last post, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita released their fury on the Gulf Coast. Many have had to recover from all this tragedy. Luckily, as I see it, the hurricane region doesn’t snow much… Here we are in Northern Idaho experiencing, what I have heard to be, the earliest winter in a while.Hurricane Rita reunited me

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1126064011559328772005-09-06T20:33:00.000-07:002005-09-06T20:43:24.120-07:00

Do you remember when you were a kid and you just had a vacation day or week? Do you remember what it was like to go back to school? Oh man, do I ever remember! I hated it.Well, it is the same here, today. Neither my boys nor I really wanted to start school after having 3 days off for Labor Day. Oh the drudgery. However, like every other school day, we started. It was s-l-o-w. Time ticked as we

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1125726240647361272005-09-02T22:42:00.000-07:002005-09-03T14:26:03.096-07:00

After making our decision to homeschool, we were now faced with the big decision of what curriculum to use. I have found this to be the dilemma of every homeschool family. We had a lot to think about. We had some questions that we needed to face, such as: Why did we start homeschooling? What do we want the boys to learn? We almost had to ask, what do we want them to be when they grow up?I have

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16225714.post-1125698117515883262005-09-02T14:55:00.000-07:002005-09-02T17:26:05.386-07:00

I am the proud mother of two very special boys. First there is Matthew, whose name means "Gift of God." Let me tell you, he is a Gift of God to us. Secondly, there is Nikolas, whose name means "Victorious Spirit." He too, is a gift from God, but with an extra ounce of "spirit."I have always wanted children and dreamt of staying home to raise them. I expected to be the "Block Mom" where my kids

Heidi Hafnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13145369468622518677noreply@blogger.com0