~ Nov. 11, 2009
Tutor Vista Math Tutoring

Most of us are now about half way through the second quarter of this school year. How are your children doing? How are their math grades? Do they need math help? TutorVista offers online math tutoring for students in grades K-12. Tutoring is available to students 24 houes a day, 7 days a week.

Tutor Vista offers a free online math tutoring session for first time customers, so you can try it before you buy it. So, whether you need online math help in addition or Algebra II, you can find  your online math tutor at TutorVista. Sign up today to get your free online math help when you check them out.

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~ Apr. 22, 2009
Chipo's Gift Book & Lesson Review & Giveaway

Here is a brief trailer video for the book.
To enhance the book Troehler has written some lesson plans that could very easily be used in a unit study about Africa or metamorphosis. Some of the lessons are listening comprehension exercises, 1-to-1 correspondence, art-symmetry and science comparing and contrasting insect species. All of the Lesson plans can be found here.
You can purchase the book at Amazon.com by clicking this ad.
and leave me a comment letting me know you did.
2. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway.http://twitter.com/MomMaven
leave me a comment with the URL of your tweet in it.
3. Stumble Up this post with a review, and leave me a comment.
4. Add this blog to your Technorati Favorites and leave me a comment.

This giveaway is for US residents only and a winner will be chosen Monday 4/27/09 at 10:00pm

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~ Mar. 9, 2009
Dolphin Bubbles

Sea World is reaching out through a new blog. If you love dolphins or are just curious about these beautiful creatures, than Dolphin Bubbles is for you. The blog includes videos, pictures, blog posts about the sea creatures and Sea World as well as a place to submit questions about dolphins to be answered by the Sea World experts. This is a great interactive site where comments are welcomed and encouraged. If you would like to visit this blog-click on the Dolphin Bubbles button on my sidebar. 

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~ Nov. 25, 2008
Educational Toy Discount

I am having trouble believing that next week is Thanksgiving. I'm having even more trouble realizing that I have done no Christmas shopping yet, honestly I've barely even thought about what to buy. Well, if you need to by presents for kids, and who doesn't, and if you like to give fun, educational gifts, I have the answer for you.

I came across a great website Small World Toys. They offer tons of great, affordable educational and imaginitive play toys from top brands like-IQ Baby, Ryan's Room, Puzzibilities, The World of Eric Carle and more. Small World Toys offers great prices too. Most of the items on their website are under $20. They also offer free shipping on orders over $100. I have worked with Small World Toys to get a 20% discount for all of my readers! Visit their website, pick your gifts and at checkout use code 143 to receive 20% off your entire order. This offer is good through December 13th. I am so excited to work with Small World Toys to offer you this amazing deal. Happy shopping.

Cindy

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~ Oct. 23, 2008
John McCain Rally

Today was one of those days homeschoolers live for.  A day when we could go and be a part of an event that could have historical significance. The fact that we are studying American History this year was just icing on the cake.  Early this morning online, I got 4 tickets to the McCain rally in Sarasota, FL. Before leaving for work at 7:45 am I informed the family about getting the tickets and that we would be leaving at 2:15pm so be ready.

We actually left at about 2:25pm. We arrived at Robarts Arena at about 2:45.  We had no real problem parking.  Then as we approached the arena, we saw the line.


We had to walk about 2/10 mile down the road to get to the end of the line (later it would be almost a 1/2 mile).  The doors were scheduled to open at 3:00pm and no one new what time Senator McCain would be speaking. We stood in line basically without moving until 3:30.  That is when we moved about 30 yards.  At about 4:00 we moved up significantly, about 1/10 of a mile.  We stood there for a while.  At about 4:15 we noticed that people were gathering on both sides of the entry driveway so we sent Jordan up to investigate.  He came back to tell us they were expecting the motorcade soon.  Aaron took the camera, and both boys headed up towards the driveway.  At 4:26pm Aaron took this photo.


The boys said Senator McCain was riding in the front of this bus waving at the crowd.  The motorcade parked behind the fence at the fairgrounds, right by where we were standing.  As the doors to the bus opened I quietly walked up to the fence with my camera in hand.  About 6 feet from the fence, I caught the eye of a secret Service Agent who wagged his finger at me and said "No, no, no". I said "Please, but he shook his head.  I stepped back about 15 feet from the fence and now 2 dozen others had joined me.  Senator & Mrs McCain waved at us as the got off the bus as did Governor Charlie Christ.  After they walked away the lined started moving more quickly.  One of the police officers we talked to while waiting on line said that a lot of people won't get in because they gave out 1,200 tickets for a venue that has a capacity of 3,200. Some people were disappointed and left but we stayed the course.  At 5:30pm we entered Robarts arena.  We had to let the Secret Service go through our purses and bagthen walk through a metal detector and some of us, me included, had to be wanded by yet another Secret Serviceman.

Three hours after leaving home we entered the arena, finally.  Even though our feet were very sore we chose to stand on the main floor-the majority of the seats left were located behind the press corps risers and had little to no view of the stage.  As we walked in someone was singing "America". Eric Robinson, the Chairman of the Sarasota Republican Party spoke briefly thanking everyone for coming and expressing the need for workers during the next 2 weeks to help spread the word.  Then there was about 20 minutes of recorded country music that played. Between each song the capacity crowd chanted John McCain, John McCain!

At 6:00pm Senator and Mrs. McCain, Governor Charlie Christ and Bob Long entered the arena to the "Theme from Rocky" and raucous cheers by the crowd.  Gov. Christ spoke first. He reminded us that we have 12  days to get our families, friends and neighbors out to vote for McCain and Palin.  Gov. Christ introduced Bob Long.

 
Bob said he was Bob the Boat Builder, owner of Marine Concepts in Pt. Charlotte and Sarasota, Florida.  He let us know that he, like Joe the Plumber, is a businessman concerned about what the Obama tax plan has in store for small business.  He also said that unlike Joe the Plumber, he has already experienced what similar tax plans have done to the small businesses.  He is the former president of Wellcraft (a boat building company that used to call Sarasota home).  Due to the Luxury Tax that was imposed by the democrats in the early 1990's, Wellcraft went out of business.  Mr Long stated, "Obama's 'spreading the wealth' smacks of socialism," which received a huge response.

Then Senator McCain was introduced to more chants of "John McCain, John McCain!" He then introduced his wife Cindy, who also received a lot of cheers. 


Then he asked, "How about Sarah Palin?" to which the crowds cheeres were almost deafening. Sen. McCain stated "She is a lot more qualified than Joe the Biden!." To which he received a huge laugh.  Sen. McCain paid honor to the veterans and military families in the crowd and also to the small business owners.  He talked about how important the small business men and women were to the American economy, and how Obama wants to punish the hardworking small business men/women with his tax plan.  Obama wants to increase taxes on the rich, which he has said is everyone who makes $42,000 a year or more, (hey, I'm still not rich by those standards).


Next Sen. McCain spoke about how 13 days ago Obama changed his tax plan to include a work requirement because many of his own supporters didn't agree with giving lazy, non-working people government money.  Another proof of how Obama will say anything to get elected. McCain stated that he plans to help families by doubling the child tax credit, cutting the capital gains tax and woking to keep American businesses in America, which got thunderous applause.



Senator McCain talked about how, especially in a post 9-11 world, there is no time for on-the-job leadership training for the next president. We don't when the next crisis will come but John McCain stated, "I don't need to be tested, I have been tested."  While talking about Obama's opposition of the troop surge and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan he said, "I will bring our troops home; but I will bring them home with victory and honor."  This was greeted with chants of U-S-A!


On the topic of change Sen. McCain stated, "We have to act, we need a new direction and we need to fight for it my friend.  I've been fighting for this country since I was 17 and I will continue. I'm not afraid of the fight. I'm ready for the fight."

While speaking about federal spending he plans on freezing spending, except in necessary areas which include defense, social security and veterans affairs to name a few.  McCain mentioned that he would veto any pork filled bills that come across his desk and that "I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do." Continually throughout his speech the Senator said, "If I'm elected." This time though, he caught himself and changed to "When I'm elected," for the rest of his speech. Senator McCain also spoke about keeping jobs in the US and re-training workers whose jobs have gone oversees so they can find a new job. 

He also spoke about drilling for oil and how states, like Florida, should receive more of the profits from that drilling which is off its shores.  He also pledged to stop sending $700 billion a year to buy oil from countries that don't like us too much.

Senator McCain closed his 30 minute speech with a rousing wrap-up which I videotaped and is here McCain Rally Video.  At the end of his speech the Senator and his wife made their way into the crowd to shake hands.


We got to our car at 7:00pm and made it out of the parking lot and to dinner at 7:45, 5 hours and 20 minutes after leaving. At dinner we discussed  what we learned about Senator McCain and the campaign process.  One of my sons also mentioned that this was a very long history class.  We are tired and our feet and legs are sore but we had a good day.  Praise God the weather was cool, mid 80's, and overcast with a nice breeze. Praise God we have a man running for president who really is passionate about our country and our Constitution.  Please pray and then do YOUR part and vote on November 4th.

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~ Aug. 28, 2008
School has Started

Wow, I haven't been here much since school started.  Our school has started pretty well.  We still don't have math or Spanish-I hope to order them in the next week or so.  History is going well we are using Truthquest American history but I am accelerating the pace since I have a 9th and 11th grader.  So far we are using the Truthquest guide and The Light and the Glory for Children. We have thrown in a few library books (though our library was closed for the last 3 weeks for remodeling!!!), also some videos and a lot of internet resources.  Oh, that reminds me I was supposed to type something up for tomorrow...Anyway we are notebooking for history.  The boys don't really like it but they are doing it.  For science both boys are doing SOS at their grade level.  Aaron is doing well.  Jordan is already having problems Ron took about an hour out of his work day today to help him understand the concepts better-what a great dad!! Literature is going well Aaron is doing the Progeny Press Scarlet Letter and Jordan is doing Johnny Tremain. Jordan is also doing a video based drawing class we got on ebay and he loves it. For devotions we are doing the "Faith Comes by Hearing" 40 days of listening to the New Testament for 30 minutes a day.  Our entire church is doing this right now.  For Bible we will start next Tuesday with the Old Testament Survey study guide I am writing. For grammar we are doing Easy Grammar plus.  This is an area both boys do well in so we are using this together to make sure we have covered more than just the basics of grammar.
Next week piano lessons and drama class start back up.  I teach these on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at our church.  I still need 6 more kids to register or we won't have a drama class this year. Hopefully that will happen between now and Wednesday.
Well I've got to get to bed.  Be Blessed!! 

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~ Aug. 13, 2008
More Changes

Well, I worked through my Managers of Their Homes book the other week.  I planned our schedules and felt we were ready.  I've been buying and selling on Ebay and have everything I need to get started, except for math.  I was excited to be home schooling from home this year.  I was only planning on teaching piano 2 afternoons a week.
 My husband is in limbo waiting to start his new job, they said they would call in 4-6 weeks.  All of my music students took the month of August off so our income is very low this month. I had 2 job interviews lined up this week (though I really didn't want either job), one was tutoring and one was retail.  Then Sunday morning our pastor announced that our church secretary was resigning so she could got back to school and get her Masters degree.  Hmmmmm.
Monday I approached  the Pastor about hiring me part time (4 hours a day). I have worked in the office on and off for the past 7 years so this was a good fit for me.  Tuesday I got an e-mail with an offer and I accepted. So,,, now our schedule is changing...again.  We won't be home much.  I'm really praying for a laptop so my boys can do their math and science while we are at church.
God provided a job that is open to my homeschooling, I chose my hours and I am being paid what I asked for.  God is so great. This job will be a blessing financially to both my family and the church.
Thank you, Jesus!!

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~ Jul. 30, 2008
Plans Change

I have known for weeks what curriculum I would be purchasing for our upcoming school year.  I am a planner-that is what I do- plan school.  Unfortunately I haven't been a buyer.  My bank account hasn't allowed the purchasing to take place.  I have purchased 3 items on E-bay, and I have sold 4 items and have more listed as we speak. I totally missed an auction I had been watching for a week because I was planning our school schedule.  Ugh!  I was so frustrated.

I woke up today in a really bad funk.  It was raining, again and DH was working out of town for most of the day.  I wanted to roll over and just sleep all day.  The DH to vent because I knew he hadn't arrived at his destination yet.  He said to relax and take it easy. Sure, that's easy for him to say.  The boys are in the next room supposedly cleaning but all I hear are things bouncing off the walls and the door.  Anyway, I get up, check on the boys and go to the kitchen to take my medicine (here is the problem with sleeping in-I have to take my medicine 1 hour before eating).  Then I sit on the couch with my laptop and check my e-mail.  There in my inbox is an email from Notebookingpages.com (12 years of homeschooling and I have just discovered notebooking and lapbooking in the last 2 weeks-I sure was in a rut).  In this introductory e-mail is info about other notebooking resources.  I click on the link for Cindy Rushton.  My day started looking up.

On her website there was a podcast about planning for the new year and I decided to move to my bedroom and listen.  WOW!  Did I need her words today.  I only got through 1/2 the podcast but she spoke to my heart.  When I finished listening I prayed for God's wisdom for our homeschool this year.  God's provision for curriculum.  The Bible tells us to ask for wisdom just ask and boy does He give it.

I spent the next few hours researching other plans for our language arts (I had already decided to add notebooking/lapbooking to our history curriculum).  I found Easy Grammar plus that I can do with both boys and save about $50 on language arts curriculum.  I researched other science options but really felt that what was planned was still our best option.  Now it was 5pm, where had the day gone??

I went out to the living room and spent 30 minutes working out on the Wii Fit.  DH was grilling burgers for dinner and Aaron made fries in his deep fryer so all I had to do was eat YEAH!  While they cleaned up I went to shower.

The shower is my favorite prayer place.  I always hear from God in the shower.  I asked him what I should do about Bible curriculum.  Aaron would be doing Old Testament Survey while Jordan did New Testament Survey. What I had planned was very good but would cost me $106 that I don't have.  God, I want to be a good steward of my time, money and talents.  I want my children to get the Bible education I never had until I went back to college to work on my license to preach.  Show me what to do.  It was then He dropped the plan in my heart-write your own curriculum.  My first thought was, Old Testament is my weakest area and school starts in 3 weeks.  Then He said "Daughter, Let me help you."  I cried.  I said "Where do we start?"  Then He reminded me of a book I had used before going back to college.  It is called something like Learn the Bible in 30 Days.  It is a wonderful overview of the entire Bible with great tools to help you remember the major events, people and places of the Bible. 

I sat on my bed and skimmed the book.  This is perfect it will serve as the outline.  I downloaded all the free Old Testament notebooking pages from Notebookingpages.com and I wrote out the outline before I had to go and do some things with the family.  I am so excited.  I will add more in depth looks at the most important people and events, I will add activities and memory work. I can't wait to sit down and work on it some more.  Praise God for answering my prayers and showing me creative ways to be a good steward.
Cindy

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~ Jul. 22, 2008
A New Chapter

Next month we start a new chapter on our homescooling journey.  I will be teaching 2 high schoolers and we will be doing most of our schooling at home.  For the past 2 years most of our schooling was done at our church-we co-oped 3 subjects, and my boys brought everything else with them (except math which Dad taught), and they worked while I taught music lessons and volunteered in the church office.  This year we are not co-oping so we will only be at the church 2 afternoons a week.  This change meant we had to clean out the den so we could make better use of it for school. 

While we were cleaning, I came across a book I used several years ago to help me organize our schooling.  The books is Managers of Their Homes by Terri Maxwell.  I am a very organized and scheduled person, often to a fault.  My children thrive on a schedule.  What this book did for me was help me organize school and housework, and outside activities so that everything would actually get done on time.  Well, I re-read the book last weekend and I have spent the last 2 days creating our schedule.  I have one step left and that is re-organizing how we assign chores.  Currently we switch chores every 2 months.  This book suggests keeping the same chores for a year-that would drive my boys crazy- so I think I am going to go quarterly.

We are supposed to start school 3 weeks from today.  Problem is...we don't have any curriculum yet.  Actually the real problem is we don't have the money for curriculum yet.  I have made all the decisions of what I want.  I am praying for God's provision.  The plan was to use our stimulus check to by our curriculum but...our tax papers just went to the accountant last week.  I spent hours yesterday loading items onto Ebay to sell.  There are games and curriculum.  If everything sells at it's minimum price I would make almost $200-that is a start. 

This year could hold other new chapters for us.  Ron has another interview tomorrow, this time with a manager.  If he gets this job we will probably be moving in the next 6 months because the 100 mile commute would be expensive.  The last time I moved was 16 1/2 years ago when we bought this house. I am ready to move on if that is what God has for us, but I'm not looking forward to emptying this place out.  Anyway...I'm getting ahead of myself.

Be blessed!!

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~ Jul. 15, 2008
Tying Up Loose Ends

Today we are tying to tie up the loose ends on the 2007-2008 school year.  We have collected all the books, workbooks, papers etc and organized them into the bin to go to storage. I have to grade Jordan's research paper re-write that has been sitting on my desk for 2 weeks now.  Then I can submit this year's grades to our umbrella school.  Aaron was very helpful and filled out the 2nd semester attendance report for me.

It is kind of sad wrapping up this year.  It was a crazy year.  For the last 2 years we have co-oped several classes with my best friend and her sons.  2006-2007 I taught composition using Writeshop 1 and she taught life science.  2007-2008 I taught composition using Writeshop 2 and I taught the middle school boys science (astronomy and geology) and she taught ancient history.  The high school boys took biology at our umbrella school. We met at our church on Tuesday and Thursday and "did school" together from 10-3.  We ate lunch together and our 2 families became 1.  Due to major changes in her life we will not be co-oping next year. We already miss them, we haven't seen them in a month.

Because we aren't co-oping it has changed my focus on choosing next years curriculum but more on that next time.  I have a research paper to grade (ugh!). 

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