Posted in In the kitchen
 As the end of winter rolls around, my meal planning loses its steam. Fortunately, some ladies from church and I got together to discuss meal planning, and new ideas are always a motivator! I realized that my biggest struggle is not setting down and making the menu! When I can’t scrounge up a good dinner for the current day I start making a grocery list from a half-hearted menu. So, I decided to post my meal plan for the week to help my family and anyone who happens to need some ideas, too. You can find some great menu planning forms at DonnaYoung.org.
Monday: Grilled pork (marinated in Worcestershire sauce),
Tuesday: Pasta with Alfredo sauce, steamed fresh broccoli &
Wednesday: Beef and noodles – I’ll cook a roast in the crock pot all day; I’ll pour the broth out in a pan and cook the (store-bought) egg noodles in it right before dinner; Peas
Thursday: Taco salad (red leaf lettuce, spinach, hamburger with onion and spices, cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, salsa & ranch dressing)
Visit Abi at lighter side to see the Thinking Spring Edition of THC which is full of gardening and food ideas!
If you'd like to contribute to the next Homesteading Carnival, click on the rooster icon at the top!
Be blessed, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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We’ve tried a new spelling program that is unique and quite versatile called SpellQuizzer. I must say that it is unique for me, as I’ve never seen or used a software spelling program. This program is versatile because you can input the words your child needs to learn from a spelling book, unit study or foreign language. And this isn’t just for spelling; it works for vocabulary, too! You enter your child’s words by simply typing them in and also by saying them into a microphone, included in many computers today or purchased inexpensively from a department store. You can also type in a description or definition, which makes a great vocabulary test!
I like that the child gets immediate feedback: if the word is correct, they pass on to the next word; if incorrect, both the correct and incorrect spelling are shown to the child. At the end of that list, the child is asked if they’d like to try the missed words again. I had no problems with downloading this program. I like that you do not have to be online for the student to practice. You purchase the program for $29.95, 100% satisfaction guaranteed, and you own it for life, also receiving free upgrades when available. The website is full of information. There are downloadable spelling lists available with more to come in the future; there are holiday themed lists, sample lists for each grade, and frequently misspelled words by grade. They also offer links to other educational sites. I did feel that this program is aimed at public school kids more than homeschoolers and would like to see more positive examples on their homepage instead of “end the nightly spelling practice battles” and that typing your spellings words is less of a chore than writing them out by hand. This really goes against how I’m teaching my children to respond to work. I like the versatility of SpellQuizzer, and I know we’ll come back to it for vocabulary practice if not for regular spelling quizzes. Download the free 30-day trial to see if this spelling program works for your family. Check out what other reviewers think about SpellQuizzer at TOS Homeschool Crew. Thanks for stopping by, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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For those of you who’ve never taken an art class I may have the curriculum to equip you to teach your kids.Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
 Has everyone out there heard of Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert? Had everyone but me used Five in a Row in their homeschool? I have good friends who have used Five in a Row, and I had even borrowed their books, but I had never implemented this unit study into our homeschool. After receiving Five in a Row, Volume 3 to review and checking out their website, I am now seeing how Five in a Row is a great fit for our family! In case you don’t know what Five in a Row “is” I’ll explain briefly. First, I’ll let you know that whenever you see FIAR in homeschool circles, they’re talking about Five in a Row. I’ve been confused many times trying to figure out which curriculum people are talking about! So, FIAR suggests a “storybook” that you read to your child for five days in a row, thus the name. I know this sounded strange to me when I first heard of it; must be because I get bored easily – LOL! Then they turn that book inside out, taking the information and categorizing it for you to learn about with your child. The categories include: Social Studies (i.e., relationships, Geography, culture), Language Arts (i.e., vocabulary, literary devices), Art, Math, and Science. Of course, they cover these topics at the age-appropriate levels, and there are so many topics available for each story that you get to choose five for the week. FIAR now has their literature-based studies for preK through Junior High. As I mentioned above, we received Five in a Row, Volume 3, which is for ages 4-8. I am also currently reviewing Tapestry of Grace with my 8 and 10 year-olds, studying the Middle Ages, so I looked to see if Volume 3 had a book that would fit in with that time frame, and it did! We chose The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl for our FIAR unit study to include our 3 and 6 year-olds in our study of the Middle Ages. We had so much fun! We talked about problem solving and consequences, poetry and alliteration, synonyms, plot, foreshadowing and covered the vocabulary! The kids went around saying “I’m going to bake a lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake!” And we discussed why the duchess’ cake wouldn’t have been any of those! Since I’ve been reviewing for TOS Crew I have been learning about the convenience and money savings of digital formats, e-books and audios, and FIAR is providing their resources in this manner. Actually, they are bringing back previously discontinued items (Cookbook!) and they offer new resources, including a planner, timeline, fold-n-learns (similar to lapbooks), nature studies and audio downloads to help you in your parenting and teaching. FIAR offers digital “units” where you can purchase one book study at a time including the cookbook pages and the Bible study supplement pages. This is such a great idea for me, as it will help me include the littles in the older kids’ studies, and I don’t have to buy an entire volume for one or two lessons! I am privileged to have this opportunity to examine Five in a Row more closely. I appreciate the online forum where users can receive help and offer advice, plus I just love the new digital site. I feel the Lamberts are trying to provide us with information and products to help us succeed. Another great homeschooling vendor on our side! |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
 We’ve tried a few math curriculum around here (A Beka, Miquon, Saxon), but I was unsure of how to review a math curriculum. I thought about what homeschoolers look for in a math program. The main concern I’ve heard parents express is if a program has enough drill, or practice. And cost also seems to be a consideration for most of us, especially if you have several children. So, I think I’ve found a great program that addresses both of these concerns! Math mammoth caught my attention awhile back because of its catchy name! Math mammoth is authored by Maria Miller who wants our children to really understand math. Maria explains why she has organized the curriculum the way she has, and she has comparisons of Math Mammoth to other popular homeschool math curriculum. Math Mammoth offers online placement tests for your student to take and free curriculum samples. At first I thought the category choices of curriculum by color were confusing, but once I examined it more closely, it’s actually logical! Who knew! There is the Light Blue series which is a complete curriculum for grades 1-5; the Blue Series for grades 1-5, organized by topic which contains both explanations and problems, needing little parent assistance; the Golden Series for grades 3-8, organized by grade, containing problems only; and the Green Series for grades 3-8, organized by topic, containg problems only. We received the Light Blue Series, full grade-level curriculum, for first, second, and third grade to review. For the first grade level, my 7 y.o. was struggling with problems like 4+_=5; she would write in “9” instead of “1.” Math Mammoth uses pictures of dice to teach basic addition. This made sense to her since we’ve played board games and she’s familiar with dice. Using blocks and rods with other math programs was just an additional thing for her to learn; they did not help her. And for the first grade study of currency, We did discover a few errors where there was supposed to be an addition sign and there was a subtraction sign instead. Also, there was a story problem with borrowing over zero tens that wasn’t taught until a lesson or two later in the third grade level. After the reviews from TOS Crew are in, I’m sure Maria will be addressing such issues. Depending on how many children are in your home to use Math Mammoth with, it may be the cheapest curriculum out there. You have several purchasing options: Download, CD, CD & printed, or Printed copies alone. I think the Download or CD option is the best value because it is yours “forever” for as many children as you have. If you purchase all of the available grade levels from the LightBlue Series, 1st – 5A, you pay $89 for the download or $94 for the CD. That’s pretty inexpensive for five and half years of math! Each level is divided into Part A and Part B, so if you can’t afford that much at once, you can purchase everything separately. I really feel Math Mammoth is obtainable in price and accessible in the format that works best for your family! Math Mammoth curriculum includes additional practice worksheets. We already took advantage of it with my 7 year-old because she just wasn’t “getting it,” and we needed some more examples since I’d already done so many for her trying to explain the concept! We are seriously considering switching everyone to Math Mammoth. I am so glad, again, to have an opportunity to review this product. I know a lesson I have learned is to take the time and use the free samples so many companies offer us. It would have been worth it this time, and I’ll be checking out more companies this way in the future. Thanks for stopping by, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
My first thought when I received these reading/visual aids from Heads Up! was “I don’t have a special needs child.” But once I read a little more about the company and these aids/frames/filters I realized they just might help my 8 y.o. son stay a bit more focused. And they did!
From their website: Heads Up! is a company designed to provide expert information and products for special needs children. Our items have been selected to accommodate various learning styles and strengths, regardless of curriculum used. These special needs products have been found to be especially helpful for children who are distractible or hyperactive. My 10 y.o. daughter just had to try them, too, because they looked fun and made a good bookmark – LOL! My son tends to lose track of where he’s at with reading and to look ahead in math instead of finishing the page he’s on, and these aids helped us. I contacted two speech pathologists I know to share with them and get their feedback, but neither of them accepted my offer :-( I received a catalog from Heads Up! full of wonderful quotes and information on their products. I’ve checked out their website, and they offer a lot of information in the form of books, articles and resources. They offer unique materials and gadgets that would help children who are mildly fidgety, like mine, onto children with Asperger’s and other diagnoses. Products are listed in categories including time management, fine motor, and speech & oral sensory. There is truly something for everyone from this Christian company. Check them out! |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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Do you ever have trouble explaining a math concept to your child? Do you struggle with showing them how to work a problem without doing all their problems for them? Well, Math Tutor DVD is the answer to many math woes. This is not a math curriculum but an actual math tutor explaining concepts and working example problems for you. The DVD’s have the instructor talking to you, explaining and working example problems at a white board; he explains and uses math terminology, and with Word Problems he gives the key words to look for in order to know what the problem was asking you to do and what unit of measure to use. My kids really enjoyed it, sometimes getting carried away with wanting to guess the answer and not really listening to the problems. It was repetitive at points, but I think that is helpful if the child is just beginning with that concept. From the website: - #1 Best Selling tutorial DVDs in their respective subjects! - All DVD courses Guaranteed to raise grades or your money back! These DVD’s are simply done, which after reviewing some online game-type programs is fine by me. There is no objectionable material this way ;-) Technically, the DVD’s are set up that you can skip to and from each problem with your remote, which I found helpful. Each lesson you order contains 2 DVD’s running from Please visit Math Tutor DVD to view sample videos and hear testimonials. If you make a purchase you receive one hour of live online tutoring free, a $35 value. And the instructor has included his academic and career information, which was quite interesting! Thanks for stopping by, |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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We’ve enjoyed reviewing curriculum we’ve received, but it is always a special treat to review a fun item. Getting the word out about new and unique Christian products and companies has been a privilege for me as a member of TOS Crew. Be blessed, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
WriteShop began when two homeschool moms needed the perfect writing program for struggling Junior high students. Little did they know they would eventually publish a curriculum which now includes the primary level along with supplemental programs. We received World of People and World of Sports StoryBuilders e-books, which sell for $7.95, to review for WriteShop. I know I have struggled with teaching writing in the past. I expected too much at one time, which caused my oldest to dislike writing, then I would say “Write whatever you want,” and that wasn’t enough direction. I haven’t been consistent since then and haven’t integrated a writing curriculum. There are a lot of writing programs out there, and I like how WriteShop builds on each skill previously taught. Some people aren’t natural writers or natural teachers of writing, and I think WriteShop offers a great program. Please check out their website for yourself, whether you need a full writing curriculum, creative writing springboard or other supplemental materials.
Be blessed, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
 I can still remember learning about homophones with Mrs. Widman in the second grade. We had a paper tree on the wall with leaves that we wrote the homophone pairs on. Since then I have always liked spelling and grammar, then linguistics and phonetics, so this review was right up my alley, and I was excited to receive All About Homophones.
I received All About Homophones in E-book format ($27.95), but it is also available as a 250 page print book for $29.95, plus $4.95 for priority shipping (see deal below). Parents are free to make copies for in-home use. In this “tool kit” for Grades 1-8 you will find: Games to teach homonyms, crossword puzzles, worksheets, great lesson ideas, activity cards, and puns, jokes, and riddles. The book is organized by grade level, beginning with the simpler words, and I found it easy to use with different age/grade levels, plus the littles can even join in with the card games, which makes my life a little easier. The only negative I see is the ink intensive design of the worksheet pages. Ms. Rippel is very generous with the sample pages we can view, so please go to All About Homophones to see this jam-packed “tool kit.” The website is informative and interactive. There’s a Homophone machine I played with; My sentence was “I think it is almost time for dinner, but everything isn't ready yet,” and was converted to “Eye think it is almost thyme four dinner, butt everything isn't ready yet.” That’s an aspect the book offers, too: “Fun games and activity challenges to easily motivate students.” I recommend All About Homophones as fun extension to your spelling and language program. Thanks for stopping by, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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The Digest is scattered with great quotes, and this issue had a history lesson about the Great Depression and discussed how the women of that time survived while living frugally. “On sale this month” tells what’s on sale now – for February – with Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day and end of winter; she also includes all holidays, common and not-so-common, plus monthly acknowledgements, like Black History Month. “Pull Up a Chair” features recipes and ideas for entertaining. I enjoyed the tips for garden planning and making frugal, natural cleaning products with your friends. I’m always looking for a way to get together with friends, yet not feel as if I’ve ignored my home. Molly provides us with a list of online seed stores, how to start your seeds, plus information on different types of gardens. The article on natural cleaners was by Lisa of Homestead Originals and quite informative.
There’s a great article about raising your own chickens with a resource list to help you get started. Doesn’t this digest just include everything?! The “Goal-Getter Spotlight” was something we personally needed at our home. We would like to move out to the country, and this article was one family’s story of having a dream, making a plan and saving to accomplish their goal of homesteading. It was an informative, motivating article by Carolyn Henderson. I really appreciated her note that while you’re saving, make sure you’re generous with your giving. You don’t want to reach your goal as a stingy, discontent person. The bonus was that I learned a new word: Ascetics: n. A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion. Oh, the author was saying they were not ascetics, by the way ;-) This digest was larger than normal and a great read. Yes, Molly’s Money-Saving Digest taught me a few things, especially since we still haven’t started gardening, and I think it’s worth the e-book price of $4.95. Since this month’s digest is larger it would be a great one to try. Get your copy today at The Old Schoolhouse Store.
Follow along daily with Molly and her adventures in fiscally responsible homemaking at Econobusters. Danielle
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Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
 This is a family story brought to us with creativity and love. The website for ee Publishing, Laugh Friendly, gives you a look into their lives, influences and causes they support, many of them Christian groups. We received the Nana Star doll and hardcover book with CD; I flipped through it, then hubby sat down to read the book to our 6-year-old daughter. We felt the book was a bit New Age-y to be honest. God isn't mentioned, and I feel the Moonman is taking God's place in this story, such as "the Moonman, guiding them on their way." Along with these concerns, this storybook "ends" as a cliffhanger! The Dove Foundation has awarded this book its Family Approval Seal, and I think you should check out some other Crewmates' reviews. Julieanne gives a thorough review plus her opinion at Loving Learning at Home and received a comment from one of the author-owners. Shanna at Learning at His Feet received and reviewed the Moonman story and "lovey." Another review, another blessing of products to study and/or play with! Thanks for stopping by! Danielle |
Posted in In the kitchen
  I’ve noticed a few online comments about people being cold recently, so I thought I would share what I’ve been using when my feet are cold at the computer or when I go to bed. I wish I had a picture of this for you, but we don’t have a digital camera; hopefully my directions will be good enough! Large, colored men’s tube sock, new 2 ½-3 cups rice (something aromatic) Nylon rope, 3/16 or 1/4”diameter, 12 inches in length (2 pieces, optional) (You could probably use heavy twine or cotton rope.) Sewing machine or heavy needle & thread or yarn Fill the sock with the rice. You’ll want the piece of nylon rope in a circle with the ends melted together. Fold the open end of the sock over the rope and stitch closed. The option is to add another piece of rope to the other end, which you could always do later if you find the need. To use: Microwave for 1½ to 2 minutes then place around your neck or feet! Cozy and aromatic! Do not overheat, or you’ll cook the rice ;-)
Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to tell us about your family, farm, kitchen or crafts, click on the rooster above! Visit ElCloud Homeschool to see the entire Homesteading Carnival this week. |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
 We have been enjoying Kinderbach at our house! This online music program has provided a lot of fun and learning for our 3- and 6-year-old daughters. Hubby and I have no music knowledge at all, and we appreciated the opportunity to sample this program, and it is on our school list for the Fall! Kinderbach provides an introduction to music for 2-7 year olds. The online class consists of four 15-minute lessons per week and costs approximately $10/month, which is comparable to one week of a traditional piano lesson. Kinderbach also offers DVD programs to purchase, which might be more cost-effective for a larger family. Our 6-year-old was able to do several lessons at one sitting, while the 3-year-old could attend to the scheduled one lesson, maybe two; if your goal is to begin formal piano lessons, realize that an older child could work through Kinderbach more quickly and be ready sooner than you thought. We feel Kinderbach is a good purchase for us, as it is cheaper and more convenient than out-of-home lessons, though it will prepare our children for those in the future. The program is kid-friendly, as in entertaining and easy to understand. There are stories with characters associated with the keyboard, yet they include the appropriate musical terms, so the child learns to play notes and understand terminology apart from the Kinderbach characters. There are PDF work/color sheets to reinforce ideas that the girls also liked. They often asked to "do Kinderbachs" and would be singing the songs around the house! Check out some samples of Kinderbach at YouTube, and you can have two weeks of free lessons at Kinderbach. Also, sign up for their newsletter e-mails for specials. I know I can't tell you about our girls' results from Kinderbach with such a short review period, but I can tell you that we're "sold" on it and will be purchasing it for the following school year. I am partial to the online program but will compare costs with the DVDs to see which is more beneficial. Please check out their information if piano lessons are a part of your plan for the future. |
Posted in In the kitchen
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As I was looking through the cookbooks this week, I came across a few recipes that reminded me of my aunt, Priscilla, who everyone called "Pete." As a young girl, I just couldn't bring myself to call her "Pete," as I really don't like nicknames, yet I never called her "Aunt" either! I called her Priscilla, until I was in my 20's. "Pete" taught me how to cross-stitch, buying me my first little kit; she loved to read and bought me my first Trixie Belden mysteries, which was the beginning of my reading the entire series; and she loved to sew. Pete died about a year and a half ago of cancer, so I'm dedicating this post to her and her love of sewing, cooking and food, in general  .Pete brought these to a get-together once; we're having them tomorrow: Water Chestnut-Bacon Wraps 1½ 8 oz. - cans water chestnuts 1 lb. lean bacon strips, cut into thirds ½ cup ketchup 6 T brown sugar 2 T vinegar 2 T prepared mustard Cut whole water chestnuts in half, no smaller than a marble. Wrap 1/3 slice of bacon around each chestnut half and fasten with a toothpick. Place on rack in broiler pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until bacon is cooked. Remove and place in a shallow casserole. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard. Pour mixture over bacon-wrapped chestnuts. Return to 350° oven and bake 30 minutes. Sauce should be thick but not browned. Serves 8 to 12. Years ago I gave this recipe to Pete, misplaced it, called her to get it, and I now have that hand-written copy from her. Mini-quiches 1 15 oz. pie crust 1 cup broccoli - chopped fine 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped fine 1/4 cup bacon bits, or fresh bacon, diced and fried 1/2 cup green onion, sliced or chopped fine 1/2 cup milk 2 eggs 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed ground pepper Okay, I don't have official directions! You bake these in a mini-muffin pan; cut the pie crust in 3" circles and press into each muffin cup. Mix the remaining ingredients then use a small scoop to fill the pie crusts with mixture. Bake on 375° for 12-15 minutes. I think it makes 24 mini-quiches. Southwestern Savory Muffins 10 bacon strips, cooked until crisp then crumbled (I do not like this recipe with bacon bits!) 1/3 cup oil (plus 1-2 T bacon drippings) 2 cups flour (I usually use 1 cup wheat, 1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup cornmeal) 1/4 cup sugar 1 T baking powder 3/4 cup milk 1 egg 1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese 1/4 cup diced green chilies In large bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. In a mixing bowl, beat milk, egg, oil and drippings; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the cheese, chilies and bacon. Fill greased muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  If you'd like to share homemaking ideas or homesteading tips at your blog click on the rooster icon at the top of this post. Be blessed, Danielle |
Posted in In the kitchen
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Welcome to The 76th Homesteading Carnival "Making a Plan" edition for December 29, 2008. With the new year quickly approaching, it is time to make some plans for the future. I thought I would check out the Bible to see what God has to say about plans. In Genesis, Chapter 11, the Tower of Babel has begun being built. In verse 6 the Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." I would say that God acknowledges how communicating a plan can produce powerful results! Wow! What does this say about Making a Plan today with your spouse for your family? Our first plan is from Cindy S. She presents Gift to My Readers: Garden Planner Spreadsheet posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, "If you are like me, determining when and how much to plant is always a challenge. These automated spreadsheets will tell you which dates to plant each vegetable and how much seed to buy and plant." Abi presents Recipe for the New Year posted at The Treasure Box -; scroll down a bit to find, "A different recipe for all to see." There's definitely some great insight here that you won't want to leave out of your plan! Carole DeJarnatt presents Gifts for the Backyard Chicken Keeper or Birding Lover in Your Family posted at Fowl Visions, but you can also use this post to plan what you will need if you're considering a venture of raising chickens or beginning birdwatching. Carole shares much great information at her site! How about making a plan to keep a few gifts on hand? HowToMe presents How To Make an "Angelic" Kitchen Towel Set posted at HowToMe. Now maybe we can Make a Plan to learn a new hobby or try some new recipes. Sam presents Enjoy a Home Aquarium, the Tropical Fish Hobby posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, "Home aquariums look like living pictures. They are relaxing and soothing to watch, and they bring living nature into your home. Raising fish in the home aquarium teaches children the importance of ocean conservation. Fish will thrive in your home aquarium, if you provide them with natural living conditions, take care of them properly and give them the right food." Miss Amanda at SuperAngels Blog has some recipes for Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood. While you're there, you'll have to look around a bit and find many of her other yummy recipes. Check out Walking Therein where Jacque has shared Recipes for Seasonal Beverages and make yourself a warm mug of your favorite while you write out your plan for the new year! I encourage you, even challenge you, to set aside a time to make a written plan for your home and your life. If you need some guidance with your general planning, visit Cindy Rushton who says "Live Life on Purpose" and view her article that encouraged my hubby and I to set goals, or download Purposeful Planning with Phyllis Sather, who has many helpful ideas.
Be blessed, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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I want to begin by telling you where I’m coming from: I began homeschooling for “educational” purposes and used a “boxed” curriculum; that is, I ordered school-type curriculum all from one company, which included spelling. I have learned not to say or even think that it’s okay to spend a lot of money on curriculum because “I’ll use it with all of my kids.” It’s not good for me to use that as an excuse to validate how much I’m (over)spending, plus I’ve discovered it’s not true. We use an eclectic approach now, and I homeschool for reasons much more personal and important than just educational ones, and I wanted to incorporate spelling into an enjoyable learning atmosphere and not just memorize a list. I wasn’t doing a very good job at pulling out words from our reading and misspelled words from my daughter's writing and actually working with the kids on them. At first, All About Spelling seemed a bit time-consuming, but I love words: linguistics, phonetics, literature, you name it! And, I finally realized that there was a lot more to AAS than just spelling. It is organized so well, listing the spelling words by phonetic sounds and spelling rules, that it really creeps into language arts in general. I really like it! Here’s how we used All About Spelling: I have an 8-year-old son who is not reading fluently/confidently yet. We’re over half-way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons but haven’t kept up with it due to using some new products we’re reviewing. What I love about AAS is that it starts with basic phonics sounds! The program makes sure the child has a working knowledge of the basics before expecting the child to spell. Isn’t that a unique approach?! Anyway, it fits right in with what we were already doing with 100 Easy Lessons, so we really like this program. I have a 10-year-old daughter who is an avid reader and I guess what you call a “natural speller.” I didn’t want to bore her to death by starting at the beginning, which is what AAS suggests, so we did play around with the first level, then skipped ahead to really check out the program. I loved how the program uses rules; until the last couple of years I didn’t know there were actually so many spelling rules for the English language, since I thought English was so haphazard! I like how this program actually makes sense. I would encourage you to visit TOS Crew blog and check out some other reviews of All About Spelling. Other reviewers had raves for the program when used with Special Needs kids and others used it more consistently according to the directions. This program is an investment of $30 per level, but I think it’s worth it if you’re looking for a solid spelling program that will really benefit all areas of language and learning! I can’t wait to use All About Homophones! Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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When I first saw that I would get to review a program called puppetools, my first guess was that this site was about making puppets out of different materials, with a lot of different patterns, and maybe there would even be scripts or story ideas. I must say I was a bit disappointed to find that it was a site promoting the idea of creativity and play being the best way to teach children, because I think that’s what homeschoolers already do! The site contains many videos. Actually, there’s very little to read, and you learn about Puppetools by watching these mini-infomercials, often presented by a puppet. There are also many videos of kids and adults with their puppets. So, you should go check them out! The site seemed very focused to school or large group teachers who might not be comfortable or knowledgeable about communicating their information (teaching) in an entertaining, attention-keeping manner. I could see Puppetools being utilized by a larger group, perhaps a group of junior leaders that will use the puppets to teach younger children then allow those children to create their own puppets and stories. I had our children’s church teacher come and check out the site with me, but she felt investing in a couple of large cloth puppets would better suit that ministry. The idea of “the hinge” as the working mouthpiece for the puppets is creative, but I wouldn’t pay $20-100 to learn about it, as we already own puppet-making books, and there is much information on the internet. I actually felt a bit talked down to with the "Cost/Benefits" section listing price comparisons for other “Products & Services Costing $75-$150: After School Program-1 child/month; Pair of Name Brand Sneakers; Couple of Video Games; Trip to Supermarket (family of 4); Nice Dinner Out for 2; Birthday Party @ Laser Tag; Tank of Gas." These items are either necessities or they don’t even happen at our home. Thanks for stopping by, Danielle |
Posted in In the kitchen
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This is the recipe I made one year for Christmas breakfast that has now become our tradition for Christmas breakfast. I don't think the kids want me to make it any other time. I think holiday breakfasts will be a tradition for our family, as we started a Father's Day menu this year. 10-14 slices (1-inch thick) French bread 1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened; right - I use about 8 ounces!!! 1 can (29 oz.) peach slices, drained 1/4 cup nuts, chopped 1 cup milk 1/3 cup maple syrup 3 eggs 2T butter, melted 1T sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 400°. Spread cream cheese onto both sides of bread slices, then place into 9x13 pan. Prick bread slices so they can soak up milk/egg mixture. Top bread slices with peach halves; sprinkle chopped nuts over peaches. Combine remaining ingredients and whisk together. Pour egg mixture over bread. Bake 20-25 minutes or until egg mixture is set. Serves 6. Options: We've used two cans of peach halves for more "peach per person." The recipe says you can substitute one large apple for the peaches. We have breakfast meat, milk and orange juice, and maybe some fresh fruit. We now double this recipe, and I'm hoping to be adventuresome this year and make the bread from scratch! If you'd like to share homemaking ideas or homesteading tips at your blog click on the rooster icon at the top of this post. You will also be able to find the posts for other Homesteading Carnivals where you can glean much information. Have a blessed Christmas, Danielle |
Posted in Product Reviews for Homeschooling
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I received 4 Cd-ROMs from Core-learning, one full-length program and 3 demos. Crayola Art Studio was the main, full-featured program, and we love it! The kids and I took turns playing with it, and it was hard to just watch and not make suggestions of “try this” or “do that!” Take your basic paint program that comes on your computer and at least triple your options: designs, patterns, images, backgrounds, and many more tools (markers, crayons, paints, even charcoal and spray paint)! I think the only complaint was by dd10 because she wanted to be able to put people into her picture instead of just animals! With the backgrounds and other images provided, you can design your own coloring pages to print. After we played around, I thought I’d actually watch the “Quick Start Tour,” and I found many more activities to do. Another demo I received was "Art and Creativity." There is a sample of Creativity Express, a visual arts curriculum for K-8; I’m not sure this is a program we would use for homeschooling, as I would rather do art together with all of my children vs. one child at a time doing art on the computer. The other demo is corefx, which has animation and photo editing, their site says “graphic design and digital art,” which we’re not quite ready for around here. It the kind of program we may need in the future when my kids are a bit older and putting on plays for mom and dad aren’t enough. Then there was the math and language arts demo; I wasn’t able to access everything, but it seemed to be set up for school systems. Math is arranged by skill instead of grade, which I know is helpful for some homeschoolers. Core-learning is beginning to offer online programs, or you can purchase the programs on disc.
I knew exactly what I was looking for when I checked out the Health Series Demo. I knew it wouldn’t be from a Christian perspective, but I wanted to see if we could use it anyway. I can’t tell you much about the content of the first series, Health for kids, because I never made it that far. My first concern was that there was a lot of reading and the words were moving onto the screen in large font in order to be entertaining. If your child isn’t reading fluently this isn’t going to work. At some points the program or characters talk but not always. And the characters are my other problem at this level: they are junior high age and just seem a bit too mature for the ages 7-10 that the program is geared for. Then comes the Family Health series for grades 5-10; “Becoming an Adult” caught my eye right away. There was a section on “Friends” with the quote “Sometimes you can share things with a friend that you can’t share with anyone else, not even your family!” That just isn’t going to work for our family. Then under “You & Others” is a section on harassment, which discusses sexual harassment, and I did see the term sexual preferences. They also talk about personal identity, which would be from a humanistic world view. In summary, Core-Learning covers a broad range of subjects in order to fulfill their mission of providing “effective learning solutions for the development of fundamental knowledge and skills. Its primary focus of skill development is in areas that both support higher order thinking but also provide important life skills. Products address key elementary and middle school curriculum areas in math, English language arts, health, art, and technology.” We enjoyed the creativity allowed by the Crayola Art Studio, but I wouldn’t use their health program, and I’m not sure I would support this company at all.
Thanks for stopping by, Danielle |