Homeschooling for under $210

I wrote  a post on how to homeschool for free. I realized if you have these items, it's a lot easier. And for $210 or thereabouts you can get the. You can also spend less if you have them or if you can find them cheaper (from friends etc)Supplies that HELP a lot-
ereader
printer
lots of printer ink and printer paper

If you have any of these supplies you can cut costs. But this is assuming you don't have any of these.


Are these absolutely necessary? No, but since may people have smart phone you can down load the kindle app or other reading apps.  But If I had $210 to start up homeschooling, I would get a cheap old school kindle(not the fire and I would pay for no ads) and a printer and ink for that printer.
This is what I would choose if no one I knew had an old kindle, or I couldn't get one of ebay or craigslist. I loved the keyboard kindle, but they don't make those anymore.

We have a canon MX850 and my folks have an MX 920. I found this awesome deal on the MX450. It doess dupex printing, copying, fax and scanning- plus this one has google cloud and compatible with apple products for printing- allf or $66 Pretty awesome.
I would then buy ink from Simplyink.com or Amazon. At Amazon this is the what fits for ours. And it's pretty cheap for 2 sets of ink for $16
So for $210 I would buy
Printer $66
Printer ink- $15
kindle $100
case of paper- costco $29

Hope that helps you on your homeschooling journey. It realis IS possible to do homeschooling cheaply!

Willow

Book Review: An Unlikely Love by Brianna Kesler

I am an avid reader and just finished "An Unlikely Love"by Brianna Kesler for the second time. First time I picked it for pleasure and an less than $10 LDS fiction book. I really enjoyed it. It was fun flirty and held some deep thoughts. The second time I read it I read it as part of the

2013 Summer Book Trek Reading Challenge held by http://www.newldsfiction.com/ .

I loved it even more. I really enjoyed the characters. They are deep and brought a lot of thought. There is an element of truth and unabashed honesty to the characters that endeared me to them. Vanessa is a smart honest witty sarcastic girl who has hidden pain, while Xander is a fresh faced smart, though somewhat naive, guy who is trying to keep his job wile wanting true love at the same time submitting to the contract he signed to be married by age 25.

I laughed out loud so much that i couldn't read it unless my husband was completely asleep- otherwise he would want to know what was so funny and I would have to STOP READING and tell him. It was better to wait until he was completely asleep and then I could keep reading ;)

I was pleasantly surprised when I read the authors bio at the end and realized that this was written by a young mom and recently married gal who had been homeschooled. I hope that at the same age my girls that I homeschool can be so well spoken and understand the workings of the marriage!
I would definitely recommend this book as a fun, and thought provoking summer read.

Willow

Summer Book Trek Reading Challenge

I was on the search for a good LDS fiction book and found the Summer Book trek! It is put on by http://www.newldsfiction.com/summer-book-trek/

Quite simply for the rest of July, read LDS books :) There are prizes for reading and commenting on others blogs.
 I am always up for reading, and a challenge that just helps me do one of my favorite things is always welcome! So heres my reading list:

Read in July:
Winter Fire  — Rachel Nunes
Framed for Love — Rachel Nunes
An Unlikely Love  — Brianna Kesler
Do Over by Shannon Guymon
Tangled Hearts by Roseanne Wilkins
Millstone City by S.P. Bailey
Above Rubies by Jaclyn Hawkes
The Frozen trail by Lisa Dyley
Royal Target  — Traci Abramson

To Read:
Glimmer of Hope — Sarah Eden
Orchard, The — Krista Lynne Jensen 

Of Grace and Chocolate — Krista Lynne Jensen 

Longing for Home: A Proper Romance — Sarah Eden 

Edenbrooke  — Julianne Donaldson

Penumbras  — by Braden Bell

Drops of Gold: A Regency Romance — Sarah Eden

The Kiss of a Stranger: A Regency Romance — Sarah Eden

The Road to Grace — Richard Paul Evans

Step of Faith  — Richard Paul Evans

I am hoping to add some more, but considering I have about 12 days I will see what time I REALLY have ;) I have been enjoying gardening and cleaning while listening to books, so perhaps I'll be able to read this list!

LDS homeschooling conference

I'm looking forward to attending one day of a homeschooling conference. I have never been to one and am grateful that the LDS Eastern Home Educators conference is being held an hour from my house this year instead of the 3-4 hours away that it usually is. I'm also grateful to be able to hear Susan Wise Bauer speak and fill up my bucket with ideas tools and strategies. Have you been to a homeschool convention? What tips do you have for newbies? I'd love to hear!!
I hope you can find a way to fill your bucket, whether attending a homeschool conference or reading some motivating books, or getting together with some other homeschool moms and seeing what works for them. It's important to put ourselves in the list of people for whom we are caring. As mothers in general and especially stay at home homeschooling moms burn out is a real issue and by putting our own needs on the list to be cared for we help to avoid burn out. What do you do in your life to avoid the burn out that can so often occur when we are wearing so many hats??

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