Lance is so sweet! Every time he goes down for a nap he gives me kisses. He starts by giving me one kiss on each cheek, then my nose and last my forehead. 

It's been a busy morning. I have done three spelling lessons. One with Annette using SWR, one with Caleb & Brent using Phonics Road and one with Ethan, he did his first SWR lesson.

Ethan did his first Spell to Write and Read lesson. Some words were hot, all, but, and etc. He had ten words. First I would say the word, use it in a sentence, finger spell it and let him write it in his Primary Learning Log (PL). He new most of the words so I had to slow him down so we could do all the steps. I new with 'all' he would get stuck. We did the finer spelling and I asked him what 'o' sound are we going to use for the first sound in 'all'. Of course his first thought was using an O I gave him a hint. I asked him what letter says /a/, A, /o/. After a while he figured it out but still wrote "oll" instead of "all". I asked him to help my pencil write out 'all' and when he compared my word to his he realized that he made an O instead of an A.

Ethan, wrote with some capital letters too. I am teaching him cursive but for now he is going to write manuscript in his PL until we finish learning how to write all the letters in cursive or almost all. He is still learning how to form the letter 'a'.

When I first introduce him to a letter we start using the 'salt box', trace the sandpaper letter or finger trace the enlarged clock. Then I have him practice tracing a stamp of the clock face using his SmartPal. I insert the paper and he using a dry erase market. Lastly I give him a copy of Cursive First for the letter we are practicing. We don't do all this in one day, so it has been taking us a while.

We are doing the clock face letters first; a, c, o, b, d etc. any letter that goes around the clock  I'll add pictures soon.

We started using Math Mammoth Complete Curriculum Light Blue Series this past June (2009).

Joshua used 3A and is almost finished with 3B. Annette is almost done with 3A and will start 3B in January. Brent is using 2A and Ethan 1A.

So far so good.The children aren't jumping for joy to do math but they do like Math Mammoth.

Pros:

• You can download and print as many copies as needed
• Inexpensive. You pay about $30.00 for a full grade/year. This includes the student text, answer keys, test and review pages.
• There is no need for a Teacher's Manual per say; everything is written in the student text.
• Step-by-step instructions for both mom/teacher & student (in student text)
• Starts a new concept using illustrations then moves away from until there is only problems with no pictures etc.
• There is an end of chapter review and then a test. You can file these away instead of keeping a whole workbook. You do have to print the test off separately (same download though)

Cons:

• The answer key is sometimes hard to follow. It takes me a few minutes to find the page in the answer key that I need, to quickly correct a students page.
• In the 3rd grade Answer key some of the pages are off. For instance to correct lets say page 92 of the student page it's not the same in the Answer key. Minor error and I have penciled in the correct pages.

Other then answer keys I haven't really found any cons for us. It would be nice if the answer key was set up with the problems and the answers, but I can see where that would be a lot of printing for the customer.

The Complete Light Blue package is a full years worth of math. There is also a Blue Series. You would use the Blue Series if you are using another math program but your child needs review or you want to supplement your current math.

Click HERE to see how the author of Math Mammoth compares MM to other math programs (MUS, Saxon, Singapore etc.)

I have bought many math programs, R&S, Right Start, Singapore, MUS, Miquon, Saxon, Rays and I'm sure a few more that I have forgotten . For me I have narrowed it down to two that I   have found works great for my children and I. I say "I" because it has to make sense to mom too . The two are Math Mammoth and Christian Light Math.

Caleb has used CLE Math 2 & 3. Brent 1 & 2. I'll post about Christian Light math another time.

I do want to add that I REALLY am trying NOT to combine math programs but it has happened again. Caleb is currently using CLE 3 but wants to do Math Mammoth also. What we are doing is one week he works with MM and the next week he does CLE. We work through the summer so we'll see if he can finish both in 12 months. Samething is happening with Brent. He is using MM and Schoolaid. I started Brent with Math Mammoth level 2 but he wants to complete his Schoolaid math too, so again he is combining also . Annette, I started her off with Math Mammoth (MM) she is almost done with 3A BUT she wants to use Christian Light Math. Aaack! She said she would prefer to use Christian Light math because almost all her other subjects are from Christian Light Education. So, we'll see how that goes. I ordered CLE math level 4.

Blessings,

Linda<><

I'm not up for writing much, but couldn't let this day slip by without writing a little something.  My life is forever changed because of knowing you Eliana.  You have opened my eyes, broadened my dreams and given more laughter and joy than I thought possible.  There is more love in the world because of you!  I'm so thankful that you are my daughter!

Your wonderful big sister made this slideshow of and for you.  She posted it on her blog and I wanted to share it here too.  Didn't she do an awesome job? 

Thank you to all of you who have been and are praying for us.  It is much needed and appreciated.  Thank you also for your notes and words of encouragment and understanding. 

Blessings

Leslie

OK, I know I just said I was not going to post, but this is an emergency!!!  I am a winner!!!  I won a vacuum cleaner over at This Side of Eternity!  I am so excited.  Here is a video that explains what I won.  Oh my!  No more germs!  And this really appeals to my germaphobic side.  (OK, back to my break.)

Merry Christmas to you and yours! 

Not sure how much time there will be for blogging the next week or two with cookies to bake, presents to wrap, cards to make, and other festivities.  I do want to visit some blogs here and there, but posting will have to take a back burner for now.  So, see you again in 2010! 

~Jenn

First let me write that if you have a child near by don't let them read this with you

Almost every Friday we let one of the children pick out a movie and we have movie night. Sometimes Lupe, will pick one out for us to watch later. I saw that Julie & Julia advertised as we pulled up to Blockbuster. I mentioned it to Lupe. Julie & Julia is about Julia Childs the famous cook. I thought it would be interesting and fun to watch.

When Lupe, Josh & Annette got back to the car; I saw that Josh picked out National Treasure and Lupe, rented the Julia movie. Lupe, was really tired so we didn't get to watch our movie that night. After National Treasure I put the children to bed, surfed the net for a while then went to bed myself.

The next day we all sat down to watch Julie & Julia. I didn't bother checking the rating on the back because the movie was about Julia. Innocent. Right? Wrong! The movie had the s,b and sh word and there was a seen with the younger Julie and her husband. Not as bad as some movies but still they were in their under clothes. Even Julia and her husband, although they were under the covers and didn't show much. Also the camera didn't linger (thank goodness) but still it was enough NOT to make it child friendly.

Just thought I would worn you all. It's not a "G" movie. I never did check to see what it was rated. The movie was good but would be so much better if they could leave certain words out and scenes. Lupe and I usually preview movies but this one seemed so innocent by the title

Why do they have to ruin movies. Last week Lupe & I previewed Star Trek the one that came out recently. There was a scene with Kirk in bed with a green woman and too many references to you know what. Another movie that would be just fine IF they would keep all that junk out of the.

I am happy to be getting back to Muffin Tin Monday.  This weeks theme is Christmas books.

We read The Biggest Snowman Ever for our Muffin Tin Monday activity.

I decided that it would be fun for the kids to make marshmallow snowmen for their muffin tin treat.  I only used what we had on hand.  It would have been nicer to use white frosting.  However, my southern children never see enough snow to cover the dirt so all snow gets muddy quick. The "mud" on the snowmen seemed normal to them.  LOL!

Clockwise~Chocolate kisses, big marshmallows, toothpicks, sprinkles, frosting, mini marshmallows.

Blessings,

Dawn

We will school this coming week then take two weeks off. YES! Although we will continue with math. Next week we hope to bake lots of cookies.

We have been so busy. Not only with school but Lupe with the apartments and work. My dad needs some financial help, so if you can keep us in prayer to make some good decisions. We are seeing the effects of the economy pretty close to home now. It's sad seeing people out of work and struggling. I think moving here was a good thing.

On a lighter note, Lupe bought some fun games for the children and us to play. He came home last week with "Sorry" and "Risk". The children love playing Risk on the computer and when they can't play it on the computer the use Legos and make territories. So cute! So, they were so EXCITED when Lupe, brought home a board game of Risk.

Well, the boys' play Risk, Annette and I play sorry.

As for homeschooling, I have been reading a lot about Spell to Write and Read. I'm also waiting for my book The Writing Road to Reading. I know you don't need both books but I would like to read more. Currently I'm using The Phonics Road to Spelling & Reading and I would like to see which book would be best to recommend to those using Phonics Road. We are on week 15 with Phonics Road and I plan to continue using it with Caleb & Brent (will write about this more in another post ) but while reading Spell to Write & Read I am understanding more of the "think to spell" philosophy. SWR is helping me to better use Phonics Road.  Anyway, I would like to help others who are using Phonics Road so I need to educate myself .

I am also using Cursive First with all my children. The older ones are going over it too.

You can purchase Cursive First HERE. Shipping is a little high, so I would recommend adding the SmartPals too ;) You can use SmartPals to with any curriculum. I bought one for each child and the practice their cursive on it. SmartPals is made out of plastic. You can insert any worksheet have them write on the SmartPal and when done wipe off and save the worksheet for another child. Pretty neat!

Regarding cursive, I am having Joshua & Annette go double speed and the rest of the kiddos doing a page a day. Cursive First is reproducable so I don't have to buy 6 cursive books. I'll have to write more about how it's working later. Maybe after the new year.

Merry CHRISTmas,

Linda<><