Happily married for 12 years. Rog is a fulltime FireFighter, as well as the training officer for the volunteer department in our community. Firefighting is not just a job, it is a way of life - for the firefighter, as well as the family of one. It is an adjustment, an attitude you have to have. You have to be ready to let him go at a moments notice, without knowing when to expect him back home. You have to let go of your 'what-if' fears and stand proud of who he is.
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Greater love hath no man than this, a man that lay his life down for his friends. John 15:13
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as a homeschool mom...
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Being a homeschooling mom to 9 year old girl/boy twins is not much easier than being the wife of a Firefighter, but God placed me here for some reason, so I might as well enjoy the ride! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Please forgive this first post. I have been out of town and am returning to some issues here. I will have everything linked ASAP.
As part of the Homeschool Crew, we were given a membership to AVKO's website. AVKO approach is multi-sensory and the initials stand for Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, Oral.
When I first got signed on, I was overwhelmed. There is A LOT of information on this site. Once I started reading, I knew that I had been given a gold mine. The main thing I have focused on was To Teach A Dyslexic by Don McCabe. It come free with membership. I have been dealing with some learning issues with Samantha, so reading this book has been an eye opener for me.
Another thing that I found on this site was Sequential Spelling. I was able to download the first lesson free. For the first time all year, we didn't fight about spelling! They are loving it! In fact, so much, that I actually BOUGHT Level One for our spelling for the rest of the year. (And if you have been reading my blog for very long, you know I don't buy much!)
In placing my order thru the web, I actually started on a contact us page. I filled it out and waited. Nothing. Time passed and I realized that I never heard from them, so I filled it out again. And waited. Still nothing. Well, customer service is important to me, and I knew that I was going to have to write this review, and didn't want that to cloud my feelings for the product, so I called. The lady I spoke with was the most wonderful and helpful person ever! She helped me figure out what I needed, placed my order and then we still talked for another 30 minutes. (One of the great reasons to do business with a small, family owned company!).
So, if you struggle with some sort of learning issue at your house, you may want to come up with the extra cash (not much - just $25) and check out this website! It is one that I will keep in my top ten list!
We received a CD from American Heritage Education in the mail. I popped it in the computer and scrolled thru it all to see what it was about. I liked what I saw! However, it does not currently 'fit' with our history studies. So, we did print out the section about Thanksgiving and are going to hit on that this next week.
This CD, American Heritage:An Adventure in Liberty, is offered free on their website, but if I wouldn't have been doing this review, I probably wouldn't have found it. Our history plans for the coming up years include an in-depth study of the United States and I think that we have found the backbone for our lessons!
Please, go to their website and check it out! I am excited about planning out our United States study and will be using this site!
*Disclaimer~ This CD was sent to me free of charge in exchange for my review. To see more reviews of this product, please visit the Crew link above.
As a homeschool mom, I know that all of us like the word free! I know that I search for free 'extras' and 'go-along' type stuff all the time. One place I can usually find something that goes along with what we are working on is abcteach. They have tons of freebies!! Anything you can think of, want or need - it's possible they have it free.
As part of the Crew, we were given a free one month membership. This membership gave us access to so much more that I seriously did not have time to take it all in!! My initial thought was, there is so much for free on here, what else could there possibly be? Oh My! I could not believe what all was available!! I am not one that would normally want or use a membership like this, but let me just say, this one is going on my 'want list'!
As I mentioned before, there really was so many neat things that we had access to and I hope that one day very soon it is in my budget to purchase a full year membership. One thing I do want to share - the kiddos and I really actually enjoyed spelling for this few weeks, because there were so many different word puzzles that we were able to plug our spelling list into and print out. They seem to be more worksheet oriented, and they had a lot of fun with the sheets from abcteach.
I can see where this membership would benefit many types of homeschool families. There were worksheets, printables that can be used for notebooking and lapbooking, holiday related items, and I can see where this could be used as a main part of *some* families curriculum- with the handwriting sheets, spelling word pages and many more that would be suffice for a mom who can really pull things together!
Disclaimer: As part of The Homeschool Crew, I was given a free one month membership in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation for this. For more reviews and opinions about ABC Teach, please visit the Crew linked above.
One of the boxes that came in the mail from the Crew was smelling pretty good! We couldn't wait to open this one! We received a box of variety from Virginia Soaps and Scents. Inside our box was several yummy smelling bars of soap (Orange, Milk and Honey, something lime (my fave!)) along with a shampoo bar and a laundry soap starter kit! What fun!
I am truly not a fan of bar soap, however with these, we all love them. They are placed at various sinks and tubs throughout the house. (And don't tell, but some people may be getting them for Christmas! These products will make great gifts!) The reason I don't generally care for bars - lack of lather - but these bars seem to lather up really well, which makes me happy - something about seeing the bubbles that makes you feel cleaner!
Next, I tried the shampoo bar. The first day I tried it, I didn't care for it, so I stopped using it. Then when I got 17+ inches cut off my hair and made it a little easier to manage, I gave it another try. I did like using the bar, it lathers really well, and I will continue to use this bar. Now, as far as buying more...I am unsure about that. It gave my hair a sticky feel when it is wet and I am not crazy about that. Now, when I am done washing it and is is dry, I really love the way it feels - but once I get back in the water, feels sticky again. Normally I wouldn't think to much of that, but when I went swimming last week, my hair was pretty sticky feeling and I didn't care for that. Even though it wasn't my favorite, I did appreciate the opportunity to try it, and I wish it would work for me....
Our last goody from Virginia Soap and Scents was a laundry soap kit. I have made homemade powdered laundry soap before but never tried the gel. The kit that was sent made right at a gallon and lasted an incredibly long time. The smell of the soap wasn't over powering in the laundry room, but the clothes smelled clean when they came out of the wash. I would continue to use the laundry soap, but there is one thing that I didn't care for - lack of bubbles! When my washing machine is filling with water and I add the laundry soap, I want to see bubbles! There were very few bubbles with this kit and that is something that is important to me - I am sure it is all in my head, but I feel like if there are bubbles, then it's doing it's job in cleaning!
Disclaimer: Being part of The Homeschool Crew, these products were sent to me free of charge in order for an honest review on my blog. For more reviews and opinions, please visit the Crew through the button above.
