Dec. 24, 2009 - Merry Christmas!

No, if you’re one that usually receives a Christmas card via snail mail you didn’t blink and miss it.  We decided to go with a New Years card this year so you can watch for it to come next week.  This is however the picture we’re using.   But I did want to wish all my blog friends a Merry Christmas!  We’re looking forward to the next few days seeing family and had fun seeing most of our homeschool friends at our Happy Birthday Jesus Party a few days ago.  It’s just a wonderful time of the year to enjoy the many blessings we’ve been given.   I don’t know that I can top last years Christmas blog story so I’ll reprint it below the picture in case you missed it last year or if you need a good laugh this year.   This year I have pulled things from the freezer and we are expecting an ice storm but hopefully it will turn out a bit different then it did last year.  Oh, and the undercounter TV did die, it just took awhile for it to burn out apparently so it was quite an expensive Christmas Eve last year. Dec. 26, 2008 - A funny thing happened on the way to Christmas...    Christmas Eve did not start out as a day of peace and joy to usher in our festive day so here is my attempt to give you a little laugh.  You either have to laugh or cry right?  Let’s chose laughter.   We had a pleasant morning.  I started by making the cheese cake for dinner after church.  That done and in the fridge I cut out Ariel’s nightgown from material she’d picked out on the 23rd.  I had finished Lexie’s the night before and luckily I made no sewing mistakes so in about an hour had that done.  Now, to just tidy up the house before my husband came home at one, oh, and I better pull food from the freezer.   I looked in my well stocked freezer and chose ham and potato soup for lunch on Christmas Eve, Chuck roast for dinner, Sausage balls and Egg Sonata for Christmas morning.  So far everything is going well.  I put the freezer bag with the soup in the microwave to defrost, the roast in the crock pot and added a few potato’s (it’s froze with the onion and carrots already), and left the breakfast items on the table to thaw a little before thawing the rest of the way in the fridge.   Now in tidying up I noticed I forgot to make the clock for my Mom and Dad, no big deal I can do that real quick.  I just pulled out my supplies to the school table, chose some pictures and embellishments, stamped some numbers and had it done.  Next, I wrapped in up real quick and then I was just starting to pick up my mess when Chris came home from work….   So far we’ve got…   Twas the morning before Christmas and all through the home much was accomplished before we had to roam The presents were all wrapped and made with much care in hopes that they please everyone there   The children were bouncing and excited that day They couldn’t wait to open gifts so they could play   And mama was pleased her pantry was full just choosing the meals made her heart glow   When at the door came a bustling in a wonderful husband who had worked without end,   Okay, so here our story resumes…   Apparently he’d been home for awhile but in the melting mush of our driveway he’d been stuck.  The boys got coats and boots to go help dig him out.  While they were doing that he put on the kitchen table gifts and goodies he’d received from friends at work.  While in the kitchen I figured I better get the soup to cooking .  I had transferred it from the freezer bag to a large microwavable bowl a short time ago while continuing to defrost.  But upon looking at the microwave something was amiss.    The time on the microwave was out and the light on my under the cabinet tv/radio underneath the microwave shelf was not glowing either.  As I started to move all the Tupperware containers of cookies I had stacked under I found liquid, lots of liquid.  It was all over the containers, dripping from the TV and dripping from the shelf.  The bottom of the cookbooks which live next to the microwave on the shelf were wet too.  It must be coming from the microwave yet when I open the door I see no liquid until I lift the dry glass plate.  It’s FULL of liquid!    I still have no idea how it happened?  Must have been a leak in the bag, but how it got only under the glass plate I have no idea!  A fluke event if there ever was one!   So at this point while I’m cleaning up the mess, removing the microwave from the shelf, trying to dry the TV, which I can’t get unmounted, Chris goes outside to work on getting the car unstuck.   So far the outlet’s are not working, the microwave’s not working and the TV’s not working.  Guess we should have asked for a microwave for Christmas!  We still have to have lunch so I now take out a pan and put the still partially frozen soup in a pan on the stove on low.   First, I unplug the damaged stuff and trip the breaker.  Outlets are now working, yeah!  Oh, and yes the crock pot with our roast for dinner was plugged in there too but it was not all the way cold so dinner’s still okay!  Try the TV, yes, it now seems to be working too!  Thank you Lord!  Now the microwave, nope, trips the outlet again, ugh.    At this point I figure maybe I better go check on the boys and see if they need me to drive while they push.  I thought by this time they’d have made some progress.   I do try and drive.  We make it a couple feet and get stuck again.  The slush is so thick and they’ve shoveled some but this is going to take hours.  After a couple tries Daddy goes in the house.  The boys and I continue working.   He comes back out after a bit.  What were you cooking he asks?  The house smelled all smoky the minute he walked in, oh, no the soup!  The girls were in the house they did stir it once but didn’t know they were supposed to keep stirring it.  I hadn’t planed on being out that long and totally forgot!  Great, Christmas Eve lunch is now ruined and no microwave to defrost anything else fast!   Well we got the car up the driveway (we have a long driveway) and we did eat the soup anyway.  Because it wasn’t stirred most of the scorch was on the bottom.  It was just slightly smoky.  I told the girls some people buy smoke flavoring, we got ours free!  The bread from the bread maker was still good.  So the only long term damage was the microwave, it’s still out.   I’m happy to report the rest of the day went better we made it to and from church Christmas Eve safely.  The roast and cheesecake were great for dinner and driving to mom’s on Christmas day went well too!  I had pulled the breakfast things for Christmas in plenty of time so we didn’t even need the microwave to defrost.  Now I do have to admit we did miss the microwave this morning for reheating the Christmas morning leftovers for today!   So the rest of the story…   At his side I came for a kiss only to find out something was amiss   The window showed the old mini-van stuck in the driveway, which was not in the plan   With the mush and the slush I knew in an instance, it would require pushing of some great distance, so more rapid than phoning I called them by name   Now Logan, Now Taylor, go help your Dad! You better go quick before he gets mad!   So out to the driveway they flew like a flash, (okay, maybe flew is not really what happened!) They went to work shoveling without a clash.   And then, in a twinkling, a cry from the door Something was burning, our soup was no more As I went in the house the smell greeted my nose I must light some candles to make the smell rose   How the dead microwave twinkled, how the TV looked Merry How the cookies were saved even the chocolate cherry   Our mouths ate the soup as white as the snow and later untied all the bows   We sprang to our mini van now freed and gave a cheer and we all proclaimed Christmas is here    As we went to bed that night we exclaimed, “Happy Christmas to all and to all a good-night!”

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Dec. 19, 2009 - Food is always a welcome gift!

This year I dried some blueberries and cherries with the thought that they would make great “bread” mixes for Christmas.  Well, we’ve tried out the blueberry so far and it works great!   Here’s what we put together for some “teacher” type gifts.  We made Lemon Zest Blueberry Muffins.   The muffins were excellent.  I adapted a recipe from the Muskegon Symphony cookbook into a mix.  You can find the recipe here and the template for the topper to staple on here.  We printed ours on red cardstock.  Just cut it to size, fold and staple but be sure to only staple on the plastic above the “zip lock” and not into the bag itself.   When I tested them at home I tried these wax paper liners.  I say them in a cooking catalog at my moms and they made the foods look so great so we made our own (they called them tulip papers or something like that and were selling them for a lot!)  My mom had some deli wax paper wraps she buys in big boxes and Sam’s club that I cut in fours and placed in my muffin cups.  It worked great!  They look good and clean up is amazing!   If you do try to eat them warm the muffins did stick a bit but when cool they peel off fabulously!   Hope you’ll try some!  Enjoy!

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Dec. 18, 2009 - Maestro Classics, The Tortoise and the Hare

The best way I can describe Maestro Classics The Tortoise and the Hare is a story mixed with orchestra wrapped up in a unit study.  Let me explain.   First it’s a CD with the London Philharmonic orchestra playing fantastic dramatic music to accompany the classic story of the Tortoise and the Hare.  Anyone using a Charlotte Mason approach or wanting to highlight classical music and composers will appreciate how the story helps to engage younger ones.   Next, it’s a storybook and unit study.  Self contained in the CD sleeve is a booklet that contains the story as well as orchestra information,  a little music theory, information on tortoises and hares and the music and lyrics for a highlighted song, “Pretzel Vendor of Paris.”  Also in the booklet you’ll find “kid interesting” information on the conductor, produce and narrator.  By kid interesting I mean things like the conductor Stephen Simon conducted in New York city at the age of four, “ his first orchestra was a record player!”  I also appreciated on a section of the CD where they explain the sounds of each animal.  They go through why they chose the instruments or type of music to represent each animal and event.  For instance on the hare, the legs of the animal are uneven so the music respresents that with very "irregular" music.  We found these to be very well done and a great way to introduce younger kids to the classics.   My daughter Lexie age 9 (almost 10!) enjoyed the Tortoise and the Hare but did find it a bit young for her.  It certainly could be enjoyed by all ages but probably the age that would listen over and over is a bit younger.  We’ve done composer studies and she plays musical instruments so the information on music theory and orchestra’s was not as new to her as it might be for some kids her age that haven’t had as much exposure.   If you’re looking for a way to introduce your younger children to classical music this might be your ticket.  It sells for $16.98 and there are other titles available like Swan Lake, Sorcerers Apprentice, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and more.  The site is also offering a special of 3 CD’s for $45 (see coupon code on their site.)  *This product was provided to me free as part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew in exchange for my opinions in this review.

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Dec. 18, 2009 - Super easy "sandstone" Coasters to make

Looking for something quick and easy for some last minute gifts?  You may need to run to the tile store but you probably have the other things you need or have a friend you could borrow them from.   You need the tiles from the tile store.  Our tile store refers to them as “tumbled”, they are also available at a Lowe’s type store too. You want to make sure you have a tile that doesn’t have a glaze finish.   We did these 3 or 4 years ago for gifts and at that time I think I got the tiles for .78 cents each.    Use an outline type stamp (we like the clear acrylic type from Close to My heart best) with either black or brown ink.  Stamp your image unto your tile.  We’ve done outdoor scenes like pine trees and deer as well as medallions and Christmas images.     Next take a blender or water pen (shown in the picture), if you don’t have one of these you can use a damp fine paint brush but you will have to dampen, blot and re-ink more often, and color.  The pens also give you a bit more control.  To color I squeeze my ink pad (whatever color you chose) to get the ink on the lid and then dip my pen from there.  Once you have it “colored” let it dry and spray with a spray sealer.  If you don’t already have some they are in the paint aisle in spray cans for about $1-2.   To finish you can put the felt dots on the bottom of your coaster if you want.  Tie up four together with twine for a cute and probably less than $5 gift that pretty much anyone can use.  We still use ours I did 3-4 years ago.  I will say that after a year or two you may want to re-spray the sealer again.

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Dec. 14, 2009 - Is it Christmas break yet?

We love our break at Christmas and always try to take what some would think a little “extra” time.  I need the break even if the kids don’t!   Instead of just having “time off” (although some of that is good too), we try to plan some things for our break.  This year we’ll be making cookies and candies, baked goods, sewing some gifts, caroling, having the kids do their shopping for one another and throwing a Happy Birthday Jesus party.  Other years we’ve also done music concerts, plays, made gingerbread houses, went looking at decorations, did present wrapping at nursing homes, made ornaments and other crafts for gifts and more I’m sure but you have to pick and chose for each year or you’ll stress yourself out, so chose wisely!    I’m also giving the kids a little Christmas “homework”, nothing too taxing but something that they need to get done on their own.  The older boys are working on essay’s and studying for their final in history.  The girls are going to be working on a colonial craft of their choice.  All of them will be memorizing the original 13 colonies and how to spell them.  I may throw in memorizing a quote, song or poem too, we’ll see. This helps when they say, “I’m bored”, we can easily remind them of their homework!   So whatever you do I hope you’ll schedule in those things you want to do or you KNOW what happens; they don’t get done!  Try to leave “blank” days too!  These are great for listening to Christmas music or practicing Christmas music on instruments.  Don’t forget the days after Christmas are available for things you may want to do too.  These are often much less stressful and more fun!   So what are you going to do over your break?

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Dec. 11, 2009 - Christmas 4 patch pillows

This week we did a class for our homeschool group at our house teaching basic sewing skills while making a cute little Christmas pillow.  My oldest daughter made the sample in the picture and I made the one that we embellished slightly more with a picture.  That one is a gift for Grandma Pitts, shh don’t tell!   The girls had a lot of fun and it’s a real basic project that true beginners can do, so why not get a little home economics in this week and make a few gifts.  I put the complete step by step instructions into a pdf document for the class you can download here.   We’ve also been working on corn bags and coasters which I need to get the pictures downloaded for  so watch for those ideas in the next few days.   If you need more ideas on decorating, crafts, foods, traditions etc… for Christmas check out the Christmas Party hosted by a blogging friend of mine.  I’ll be posting this entry there as well as more probably but there are many creative ideas there already so check it out (and add some too!)

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Dec. 10, 2009 - Why does God continue to bless America?

You know as the “World” and even the church around us accepts more and more I’ve often pondered as others have just why God continues to show mercy.   As I study history with my children it is so overtly apparent that God’s hand and provision was all over the early years and plans for this country yet at every turn we now seem to not only exclude but abandon Him.   We’re reminded of Lot as we think of how much we’ve grown to tolerate and wonder if we’ll ever offer our own daughters as he did, unthinkable as that may seem?  What do we allow already that God is appalled by?   These are just some thoughts that have been going around here lately.   This morning as I was reading I “found” a verse that seemed to not only speak to the “why” but also give a call to action.   Isaiah 48:9 “But for my own sake I will be patient.  People will praise me for not becoming angry and destroying you.” (NCV)   In the New King James it reads, “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and for my praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off.”   Hmm…   So we should be praising Him for not becoming angry.  Are we?  It’s for HIS PRAISE that he withholds his anger…   Just something to think about…. Maybe it should be a call to action, a priority in our prayers even?  What do you think?

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Dec. 4, 2009 - All About Spelling

This is one I've been looking to recommend!  For many years now many people have asked me what to do with their younger children for Language Arts.  I have really searched and not found anything that was entirely pleasing.  In fact after three children I wrote my own Language Arts curriculum for second grade for my last child. All About Spelling has helped with this dilema!  Actually this is much more than "spelling".  I think it's great for spelling, phonics, reading and more!  All About Spelling sent us level two which we used with our 4th grader who is a little behind in reading.    But let me start with what I think makes it stand apart and what we particularly appreciated: 1. It prepares younger students for dictations.  I’ve not seen another program that does this and this is such a crucial skill for teaching and reinforcing grammar as they get older.  We use dictations in our Language Arts program (Total Language Plus) that starts at about 3rd grade and starts using dictations at about 4th or 5th grade.  No other program I’ve found prepares  the K-3 students for this skill like All About Spelling.  Bravo! 2. The review method helps you identify those “holes” and reinforces what you need to work on.  With my older children we ended up doing a lot of workbooks for these early phonics skills which was usually overkill and gave them in many cases more then they needed.  With All About Spelling the review system lets you see exactly where they need to focus and reviews until they get it!  For instance when we reviewed the book 1 cards I found a few basic sounds that my daughter had forgotten or wasn’t sounding quite right.  I know she knew them correctly at one time but somehow she’d forgotten.  With their card system I was able to find where the “holes” were so we can fix them.  3. This system is multi-sensory which helps to cement learning.  I know my now 9th grader would have taken to this as he’s one of those busy learners and making the words with tiles would have appealed to him.  My daughter seems to like uses the tiles to figure out spellings, somehow it seems to help her to visually “see” it.  A few times when she’s been doing dictations I see her stop and pull the tiles letter tiles to help her figure out a word.  She’s asked when we’re done with them if she can move the tiles to the refrigerator to make words. 4. While the site recommends buying extra student sets if you’re using it with multiple children it can certainly be used over and over again years apart for younger siblings, another great plus for larger homeschool families! 5.  It’s affordable!  Many phonics type programs with these hands on features are pricey.  We find the price of $39.95 for level two to be quite reasonable.  The letter tiles set is extra if you don’t have them, $26.95, but you only get them once for all 5 levels.  Level one set is only $29.95.  Personally, I would use this and add literature and handwriting, that’s it!    How does it work? You get a set with lots of cards that are easy to punch out.  They are phonogram cards, sound cards, key cards, and word cards.  The guide tells you how to set these up in a card file box.         With the starter set you get letter tiles which the guide also tells you how to set up and where to place them on a table or magnet board.  We just used a table to start, hopefully we’ll get a magnet board soon.  I don’t think it’s necessary but helpful. The teachers guide is scripted and tells you step by step what to do.  Now I have to say usually I steer away from curriculums that are “scripted” as I prefer to go my own way and don’t want to “read” from a script but I have to say it actually is pretty nice.  I don’t exactly read it and I sometimes skip spots or add more reinforcement as tips in the margin suggest depending on if I feel she’s got the concept or not. It’s a total of 25 well thought out lessons which have a lot of flexibility.  We definitely  want to continue to finish book two and may purchase book three.  I’m thinking once a week but if I had planned from the beginning of the year I might schedule it more depending on how quickly you want to get through and where your child is at. Now I realize I didn’t even say much about the “spelling”.  Yes, they do spell both with the tiles and on paper but the understanding of the why’s and learning the in's and outs of phonics and language makes it easy so that the spelling part of it is no big deal. I will definitely recommend this one and will probably have more to say in future blogs this year as we get closer to finishing so stay connected if you’d like to hear more about our experience with All About Spelling.  If you’re looking for something like this be sure to check out the sample lessons available on their site to see if this might be right for you. *All About Spelling provided me with free materials in exchange for my opinions in this review.

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Nov. 30, 2009 - Financial Accounting from Professor in a Box

This high school course on Financial Accounting from Professor in a Box would be a great investment for anyone with high school students.  It can be used as a college level class or to prepare to take the accounting CLEP exam.  We found it to be quite extensive in scope.   The program consists of 4 computer DVD disks; 3 with lesson and student problem content and one instructors CD which has exams, quizzes, syllabus and the lessons in printable form.  Any homeschool mom will appreciate the lesson plans being all laid out including estimated time needed per lesson.  There are a total of 28 lessons which you can chose to do in one semester or a whole school year.  Personally, I feel like it would be more do-able for the average high schooler over the whole year.  This of course would depend on their other coursework load.   On their site they allow you to download the entire syllabus  so you can see for yourself what it covers. They also make a sample chapter available.    I encourage you to check it out for yourself.   The course is set up as a series of slides with a lecture going with the slides.  As you go through the slides the content is not just read but also additional information is given.  It’s not flashy, just plain slides with words or portions of spreadsheets.  The voice isn’t polished and has a bit of scratchiness to it.  It’s not hard to listen to but rather it makes me feel as if I’m listening to a college professor rather than a “canned” tape.  I would recommend taking notes as you go through the slides (just as if you were in a class).  It’s not that you can’t go back and look at the slides again for the information but it helps keep you occupied while listening and helps place it in your mind.  There is a lot of information!   One of the big pluses for many high school students will be that there is not a “textbook”.  You simply listen to the “lecture” while watching the slides, study the concepts a bit then do the problems.  I think if you pay attention it’s not too difficult.   We ended up trying this out with our most “active” child and I have to say it was difficult for him to pay attention.  I do believe we will have him do this for coursework in the future and I will require note taking which I think will help.  He’s in 9th grade and I think it will fit better for him in 11th or 12th.  It’s not that he’s too young, I think it will just be more relevant.  Also, I might point out even though he had trouble staying focused and sitting still he scored very well on the problems.   I’m sure we will use it for our now 11th grader who is actually very interested but is a little overwhelmed this year with coursework.  He does get bogged down with heavy reading so this style of learning will be a nice break for him.  The coursework talks about why you’d want to know accounting and I think the closer the kids are to getting out there in the real business world the more relevance it may have (at least for my kids!)   We are studying economics this year and it really does have a lot of overlap (at least in the beginning chapters we looked at) so that was nice.   Bottom line, I think this is an excellent course for any homeschooler interested in accounting. It sells for $134.99.  The cost could be a problem for some but if you’re looking at a community college class this would be a nice (and affordable) alternative where you could still keep them home and use it again for future siblings!   *Professor in a Box provided this material free to me for the purpose of my opinions in this review.

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Nov. 25, 2009 - Cranberry Bread and Sweet Potatoes!

Is everyone cooking today?  I always have certain things I do the day before Thanksgiving so I don’t have so much mess on Thanksgiving day.  It’s not the cooking that would bother me, it would be the dishes!   This morning we made 4 loaves of cranberry bread (two for breakfast/snacking tomorrow morning) and one for the freezer.  It was supposed to be two for the freezer but who can resist warm bread?  I just found this recipe this year and it’s awesome!  It’s the right balance of the tart cranberries and the sweetness of the bread!  Don’t forget to buy extra cranberries for your freezer now because they’re hard to get after Christmas.   The Cranberry bread is so pretty I think it would make fabulous Christmas gifts.  I saw small porcelain bread pans with holiday designs for only $1 at The Christmas Tree shop which would be great to bake them in and give away or you could just pull it out of your own pan and wrap in cellophane.   This is originally a vegan recipe so I’ll give you the regular diet substitutions.   Cranberry Quick Bread 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you could use another cup of all purpose instead) 1 cup chopped cranberries ¾ cup sugar ½ cup pecan meal (optional) 2 t. baking powder ½ t. salt 1 t. flax seed meal whipped with ¼ cup water (or 1 egg) 1 T. frozen orange juice concentrate mixed with ½ cup water ½ cup vegetable oil (I used a little less, probably 1/3 and it worked fine) Preheat oven to 350.  Mix liquid ingredients together in bowl (I used my kitchen aid).  Stir in dry ingredients.  Don’t over mix.  Pour into loaf pan sprayed with non-stick spray and bake 50 minutes.  Cool 5-10 minutes in pan before removing to rack to cool completely.    My daughter and I also do the Sweet Potatoes ahead (which we did this morning.)  I don’t think I’ve ever shared our Sweet Potato recipe on the blog but I’ve been asked for it quite often when I serve it so here goes.  We think it’s the best ever!   Praline Sweet Potatoes 4 medium sweet potato’s peeled, chunked and boiled till tender, drain. ½ cup sugar ¼ cup butter ¼ t. salt ½ cup evaporated milk 2 eggs Again I use my kitchen aid and mix the above ingredient until smooth.  We like to do ours in the microwave because on Thanksgiving day the oven is occupied so we pour into a microwave safe casserole.  For the topping mix ¼ brown sugar, 2T. flour, 1T. melted butter and ¼ cup chopped pecans and crumble over the top.  Microwave about 15-20 minutes from the refrigerator.  If you are serving right after making it may take less time because it won’t be “chilled”.  I’m sure it would work in the oven too but I’m not sure of time.  I’d guess 350 for 30-40 minutes?   Well Happy Thanksgiving and Happy cooking!

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Nov. 24, 2009 - Making "fake" French braid cords

Okay, I don’t really know what to call these but it’s something the girls and I saw at a craft show this summer and decided to copy.  They would make great gifts for girls with long hair and they’re so easy your kids can make them for their friends.   All you need is cording, (about a yard, though you can make them any length depending on how long the person’s hair is) we used a suede type and pony beads.  At the fair they also were selling it with the simple plastic hemp type cording.    Take your length of cording and put the two end together and thread bead through both ends at the same time pulling up to leave a loop at the top.  Continue threading as many beads as you’d like (the more beads and length the more “French braid” look.)  When you have enough separate the ends and put one or more pony beads on the individual strands and tie off.   To put the hair into it first make a high pony with just the front part of your hair (like how you start a French braid) and you can actually use an elastic to hold (this helps keep it from sliding.)  I try to catch the cording in a loop of the elastic so it doesn’t slide.  If your hair is thick enough you may not need to do this.  Pull the hair through the top loop then add hair from either side (again, like French braiding) and put into the next loop, pull the beads tight as you go and continue.  It can take a bit of practice but if you’re familiar with French braiding it will be very easy to get the hang of!   The picture is of my hair that my daughter (who doesn’t know how to French braid) did, it could be a little “tighter” but you get the idea.  It looks really cute in little girls hair with two “braids”.  I had hoped to have more gift ideas up on the blog by now but we've had the plague here.  Not really of course, but it sure feels like it.  I finally feel today the best I've felt in two weeks so with any luck in the next few days look for stone coasters, corn bags and more...

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Nov. 20, 2009 - Gymathics

Today we did a workout with Gymathics by Exploramania.  It’s the next product up for review with the Old Schoohouse Crew.  The creator of  Gymathics states, “I wanted to create products that synthesize education and a healthy lifestyle, beginning with my passion for math education.”  I would describe it as a cross between a kids workout class and a math concept introduction.   The DVD is about 30 minutes of exercise set to some background music with graphics put up on screen showing various math concepts.  They concepts are things like skip counting, prime number, types of triangles and patterns.  It’s recommended for grades 2-5 for the math concepts and the exercise for kids of all ages.  There is a clip on their site so you can get an idea of the format.   For my own kids I could only get my 4th grader to try it out.  My older kids gave me looks like, “You’ve got to be kidding.”       One of the teaching concepts Gymathics is taking advantage of  is multi-sensory learning.  I know from my own research in teaching language arts to younger children that motion is simply more then keeping the kids busy, it’s actually been proven to help make brain connections.  Their web site has a page devoted to the research behind this philosophy.  The basic idea is that kids will retain the knowledge better the more senses they involve to learn it.   Lexie liked it okay but I don’t know if it’s something she’d do more then a few times.  I think younger kids may want to do it over and over more readily.  It sells for $24.99 so I know for our family I would want it to be something we’re going to watch more then once or twice.  My daughter already participates in a fit kids class so the exercise part may not be as novel to her.  The math concepts she didn’t already know she wouldn’t fully get from doing this once or twice but if you had a child who watched it repetitively I think they could gain familiarity if not mastery of some of the concepts.   It’s a great idea especially to get kids active and moving!    One thing I do just have to note is that in one scene the main instructors t-shirt appears a bit too tight (or the room was too cold) which would be bothersome if my teenage boys had been watching.  They have been trained to look away if something like that appears.  I’m sure it was not intentional and my daughter did not notice but it was obvious to me and just want to mention it as it might be offensive to some families. *The DVD Gymathics was provided to me free from Exploramania for the sole purpose of my honest opionions in the review.

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Nov. 18, 2009 - Avko Membership site

We were given a free membership to the Avko site as part of the Old Schoolhouse crew in exchange for our review on the information there.  I have to say I was initially overwhemelmed by the amount of information that I found and quite unsure where to start!   For starters there are five e-books on various spelling and reading issues, along with one on teaching a dyslexic student.  These are not small e-books, but rather lengthy and in depth pieces of work.  For instance the one I downloaded on word families is almost 1500 pages!  It lists words by their patterns (like CVC, homophones or prefix) as well as Greek and Latin roots and so much more.  I don’t even think I can explain everything that’s in it!  It would be useful if you were devising your own spelling lists and wanting to take them from  those groupings.  The first pages of this large e-book goes through their method and philosophy of learning spelling to give you some ideas.   The book on teaching dyslexic students would also be helpful if you are thinking you may have a child who is struggling and either is or may be dyslexic.  I might mention also that there is  an audio file on, “I Think My Child Might be dyslexic, Does it Matter?”   Besides the e-books and audio’s of various convention workshops there are a variety of other stories and articles.  Some seem to be humorous, inspirational, information and some even a little goofy (like one titled, “TOP 8 MORONS.”)    Some of the information on the site could be useful for any homeschool family but I think it would be especially useful for those using their Sequential Spelling program.  I have never used it and much of the site refers to it or is extra evaluations or worksheets to go with it.   If you’re looking for lots of information on spelling and somewhat on reading this might be for you.  For myself personally having not used their program much of the information was not particularly useful to me.  If my children were younger and I was still trying to figure out the spelling/reading thing the reading might have pertained to me more, or if I had a child struggling in that area.   The membership is $25 per year and their site lists ALL the many resources available there.

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Nov. 13, 2009 - Wheel on the School

Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong is one of those books in the Total Language Plus program that we just have never gotten to; there are so many good choices!  We had a little gap in our read aloud schedule so we decided to squeeze it in!   What a delightful and unusual book!  Barbara Blakey, author of our Total Language Plus study guides, has always said it was well written and I must agree.  I was especially impressed with the way the author ties in individual events into one larger event.   Shora is the town that has no Storks on their roofs which is the catalyst for all the action in The Wheel on the School.  At the school, the children and teacher begin discussing this problem and why it exists.  From there thy take action and decide to find a wheel for their school.   In their search they encounter people and experiences they normally would not have.  It’s quite humorous at times and also makes you pause and think of similar people that you have maybe misjudged or need to get to know.  We laughed and I even caught myself with a tear in my eye when Janus tells his story about the boat but I won’t spoil it for you, you’ll just have to read it!   The Total Language Plus study guide has suggestions for projects on writing assignments on things like Storks, reports on being handicapped (Janus one of the main characters is in a wheelchair), mapping of Holland, Africa, fishing and so much more!  My daughter Lexie has decided she definitely wants to do this one!  She’s not quite ready yet, she’s on Whipping Boy right now, maybe next year. (It's suggested for 5th or 6th grade.)   Here’s a map we found online of the Netherlands (Holland) with cities and seas filled in, http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.m%2Dw.com/cgi%2Dbin/nytmaps.pl%3Fnetherlands and here’s an outline one http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.m%2Dw.com/cgi%2Dbin/nytmaps.pl%3Fnetherlands .  We could not locate Shora but you can locate Amsterdam where Janus talks about the man writing the newspaper column and you can of course locate the North Sea.   In the book they talk about sleeping in “cupboard” or “closet” beds.  I found articles from people who had toured and viewed them but no pictures.  We did find these replicas based off illustrations, http://www.remodelista.com/posts/childrens-rooms-bed-cupboard .  I thought they were really cute though they in reality I doubt were that “cute” in favor of more functional.    We also thought there would be a lot of pictures and information on dikes.  I didn’t find a “really” good site though you can search and see vacation pictures of dikes.   Hope you’ll check out Wheel on the School!  We really enjoyed it.

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Nov. 12, 2009 - Christmas Planning

I was in the store this week and the stores are all decorated for Christmas!  Of course they are, Thanksgiving is only two weeks away and they have to be prepared for the rush!  One exciting event near us is that the Christmas Tree Shop is opening!  We love this store and visit it every time we go to Rhode Island so we’re excited about doing some Christmas shopping in our own store coming to Mishawaka IN.  Are you ready for Christmas?  This is about the time I start to take stock of all the gifts, foods, commitments and plans.  I’ve found if I don’t do it now I don’t have time to enjoy the season and fit in the important things.  Here are some things I’m doing and I encourage you to do to take stock before busyness takes over: ·         Revise your gift giving list.  Hopefully you’ve saved last year’s list (I keep mine for years back just for reference) and take a look.  Do you need to add or subtract?  Don’t forget things like gift exchanges, gifts for charity (toys for tots, shoebox  etc…) or gifts for your husband’s employer or employees.  Did you want to have something prepared for neighbors, teachers (like Awana, Sunday School etc…) or family friends? ·         Set some spending limits.  How much you spend isn’t as important as the thought and giving itself.   I always like to give (and receive for that matter) homemade gifts which sometimes can save you a lot.  Be careful however not to stress yourself out making things if time is short (that wisdom is from experience, trust me!)  The other thing is to look for sales.  Sometimes at this point in the year it may be too late for this year but you can plan to start in January watching sales for next year. ·         Take a look at your schedule.  What do you definitely want to do and what might you want to consider trimming.  Sometimes you find you keep doing something just because you’ve always done it but maybe it’s lost the meaning and value for your family?  I try to keep things that help us focus on the real reason for the Season! ·         The last thing I like to do ahead is make some tentative plans for foods both for regular meals, holiday cooking and giving.  It’s great to have your regular meals all set and in the freezer at this busy time of year rather than end up ordering a lot of pizza’s!  Take some time make sure you’re on top of you menu.  Next, take a look at what you need to make for the holidays both in baking and special meals.  If you figure out now how many Turkeys, Hams etc… you’ll need for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years you can shop the sales between now and then and be prepared.  Also, you may want to decide how many cookies and other goodies and which ones you want to do so you can start stocking ingredients.  Keep in mind many cookies freeze well so you can actually start baking now instead of all in one long session.  We often give foods as gifts so I need to figure that as well. From these suggestions here’re some of my ramblings: ·         Got my list made and most of my bought ahead items penciled in, need to check with Chris on things he has hidden away, especially for our kids. ·         Got the wish lists from kids, now Chris and I need to discuss and decide how much and what and split lists to give grandparents ideas or check if they want us to pick up (some do this since we’re long distance.) ·         We for sure want to do our Jesus stockings again so I need to remind the kids to be thinking of about their letters.  Also, need to check with the kids if they want to do a Jesus birthday party again?  Need to get the date for Caroling with our homeschool group to the nursing home.  Don’t think Chris has any parties for work or anything but he usually has a potluck I need to send something for so I need that information as well as how many work gifts he needs this year.  Don’t know if we’ll do a Christmas Eve service this year, we may want to do that night at home as a family? ·         Food wise I do still need a Turkey for Thanksgiving.  We’ll probably do something special for Christmas Eve just us.  Have to ask Chris what he’d like.  Had thought about making Blueberry Muffin mixes for our “teacher” type gifts, I dried extra blueberries this summer with that thought.  Also, need to do the usual Russian teacakes for Grandpa Flick and Turtles for my Dad.  I found Cardamom for the Christmas bread; we’ll probably make a few of those as gifts.  As far as cookies this year we need to revise some recipes to fit with Chris’s new restrictions so he’ll have something he can have at get togethers (better start experimenting, saw a vegan truffle recipe somewhere…) Well those are just some thoughts.  Hope you already have your season all planned but if not maybe there were some good reminders here for you!

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Nov. 10, 2009 - FREE Christmas magazine!

I was so impressed with the Holiday Digital Supplement from Old Schoolhouse that I had to share the link!  They are offering it FREE so check it out! It is really FULL of Holiday ideas!  This isn't a skimmpy download, it's like 160 pages!  Enjoy! http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Digital-Supplement/Thanksgiving&Christmas.html

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Nov. 7, 2009 - American Heritage Education

This curriculum I received on a disk free from American Heritage Education to review for the Old Schoolhouse Crew.  It comes in three levels; elementary, middle school and high school and is subtitled , “An Adventure in Liberty”, which it truly is.  Each level is about 160-180 pages in length.   The content is organized both by theme and date.  Some of theme’s are things like freedom, unity, progress and responsibility.  The dates range from 1776 to 2000.  Topics include many of the things you think of when you study liberty and American; things like the Bill of rights, the flag, the star spangled banner, declaration of independence and more.   Each unit contains a variety of items.  First it contains text teaching the subject matter then it contains discussion questions, activity and game suggestions, definitions and more.  It varies depending on the lesson.  For instance one of the activities is to learn the preamble in sign language!   As a homeschoolers we are used to adapting things made for the classroom for home use, this one will be no exception.  Some of the activities would be difficult to adapt but most could be modified with a little creativity.  This would also be a great resource for anyone who does history co-ops as well.    Looking through the guide I had planned on trying out a game called Monarchy at our last co-op meeting but we ended up rescheduling due to illness so we’ll have to try it out next week.  In the game each student gets assigned a role like King, Queen, Noblemen, Merchant, Peasant etc…  They get pretend cash based on who they are.  As the simulation progresses things like taxes, colonization and war take place.  Money changes hands based on the event and at the end there is a suggestion of discussion and a worksheet to fill out about the role you played and how it felt.  This is in the middle school set but I think it could easily be used in a multi-age setting.   When we were in the medieval period I found something similar on-line and the kids loved it so I’m pretty sure this one will go over well too!   In our history co-op we are “almost” to 1776 so I plan on using a lot of this as supplemental material as we get into that era.  I do think most will find this a welcome addition to whatever they are already using though it could be used alone.   The beauty of this one too is the price, it’s a  Free Cd or FREE download!  It really is an amazing free resource that I believe you will use again and again so please check it out and tell your friends!

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Nov. 6, 2009 - All American History II

I was so excited to get All American History II in the mail to review as part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew.   It’s a complete American history program that covers the Civil War through the 1990’s.  The curriculum contains 32 lessons that are easily adapted to a multi-age environment; I’d say K-12.  I probably would do something like this when your oldest is 5th or 6th and adapt it for younger children.  The publisher states that it’s written at a Jr. High level but adaptable lower and higher. The lessons are easy to read and at the end of each section there are “reviews” that could be graded as well as “further study questions” that also could easily be done in written form and graded.   One of the features that make this curriculum stand out in my opinion is the worksheets that go with each lesson.  They are really more like notebooking then workbooking.  By that I mean it’s not so much a fill in the blank guided answer as spaces to put down the important events, timelines, key figures etc… in your own words.  What I also like about these is that many have maps included right on them!  I get so tired of searching for maps or honestly we often leave them out and not so with this curriculum.  All American makes maps easy! The sheets also tend to keep my kids busy as I read.  There are often photos of key figures and flags of countries to cut out and paste in.  Now I do have to say my daughters age 9 and 11 like this feature more than my boys ages 14 and 16.  The 16 year old tolerates it but I pretty much have to make the 14 year old do it.  I’m not sure if it’s an age or gender issue but I think its great reinforcement so we did/do it. I’m not sure that a short review can really do this curriculum justice as it’s quite comprehensive!  You really do want to get the student activity book, reader and teachers guide.  The teachers guide has all your answer keys as well as suggested additional reading by age level and other recommend added activities by ages.  The student activity book has all the notepages, maps, key figure pictures and reproducibles. There are special pages and suggestions if you want to do a Native American notebook, war battle pages (civil, WWI etc...), and president pages. Please ask questions if there is anything I haven’t answered about this curriculum.  You may want to bookmark the blog as well as we’ll be using All American for much of our history after the 1st of the year and I’ m sure I’ll have blogs to write as we go along! Can I think of any negatives?  This is tough!  I really have a hard time coming up with any.  For some it may seem costly and though it is from a Christian perspective it’s not quite as apparent as for instance Mystery of History curriculum.  That’s not necessarily a negative but something some might want to know. I highly encourage you to check this one out!  It’ available from Bright Ideas Press.   All three are $68 and they are also available priced individually.  On the website they also have sample pages so you can see for yourself.

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Nov. 5, 2009 - Educaching

Did you ever go Letter boxing or heard of Geocaching?  Well this Educaching is using your GPS for educational purposes.  I'd never heard of this product that was up for review by the Old Schoolhouse Crew.  We were sent free materials from Educaching in exchange for our reviews.   It’s a 128 pages guide which gives you lessons and instructions to use your GPS for education.   There are five sections to this manual; teacher education, lesson plans, field sheets, acquiring GPS and beyond the basics.  I spent quite a bit of time on the teacher education as this was a pretty new concept for me!   This section defines a lot of the lingo like geocaching, waypoints, educache and more.  “Basically” it boils down to using Longitude and Latitute coordinates to have students find hidden things and plot certain points.    Once you figure out how that’s done which requires a little knowledge of your GPS (more on that farther down) you’re on your way to the lessons.   The lessons range from math, science, thought process and more.  Ideas are also given for modifying to fit your own needs.   Honestly we don’t have time for a lot of extra things beyond what we are already studying and some of lessons the kids would all need to have studied the same things so if I were to use this I’d be modifying and making my own lessons a lot.  We did find one on chemical and physical changes which we studied together last year so we decided to test that one.   You could take many of the ideas but exchange your science or history concepts but it would take more teacher preparation.  Some of activities like types of triangle, finding perimeter etc… would obviously be more suited to a group of same age rather then multi-age kids.  It would work very well in a class or co-op setting, even a co-op class specifically on Educaching would be a neat idea.   We did use the field sheet section to print the worksheet that went with the Chemical/Physical change lesson we chose.  It basically was a fill in the blank sheet to write in the coordinates and locations as you found them along with whether they where chemical or physical changes.   For the activity you place things (or I used slips of paper naming the item) that demonstrate a chemical or physical change in container (or I used zip locks.)  The book gives you the suggestions.  Things like a burnt match (chemical), rusty nail (chemical) or popped balloon (physical).  Then you go out with your GPS and find your place and write down the coordinates.    Though this could be a very fun activity it obviously takes a lot of teacher prep time (without kids in tow) to complete.    Well on to our experience…   My 9 year old daughter tried it out with me.  I first got all the coordinates and then I gave them to her to find.  This is where we started having a lot of problems.   Our GPS did not handle this very well.  Apparently our GPS only does street directions and won’t go “through the woods” so to speak.  By coaching her (since I knew where they were) we were able to do the exercise but it obviously wasn’t ideal and not nearly as fun as it could have been.   My recommendation is to definitely check out your GPS and know how it works.  In the manual they go over what to look for in a GPS but having ours already we obviously didn’t follow these guidelines.  We had problems with charging our GPS and keeping it off the charger for very long.  Prior to this we only used it in the car constantly (pretty much) plugged in, so battery life is an issue.    I truly don’t know much about GPS systems but my husband though more expensive models would do the off road that ours wouldn’t.   With the frustration of our GPS aside I think this could be very useful for a homeschool family especially if you take part in co-op’s or classroom situations that could make use of it.  You would also need to consider if you have the teacher prep time.  One option could be to have one of your older children “plan” the event and do all the prep.   The price is very reasonable at $32 so if you've been wanting to check out this technology with your kids this might be your ticket!

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Nov. 4, 2009 - ACT Advantage Discover program

For Old Schoolhouse Crew we received both printed material and access to online functions of the the Discover program from ACT Advantage.  Their site describes it as, “.... (a)career planning process (that) begins with a research-based assessment system that allows students to assess their interests, abilities and values—a critical step to building a career plan based on personal strengths.  Students can then explore multiple career paths using DISCOVER's up-to-date databases of occupations (including military), majors and colleges.”    My daughter who is middle school helped me take a look at these materials though we plugged in some information for our high school boys too.    We first received a lot of printed pdf material which actually looks like it’s free for download from their site here.  This appears to be how to use this in a classroom setting.  As typical for us at home it seems to me anyway that things for the “classroom” take much less time at home so we condensed and did some of the information from these pages orally.  We did some T/F type sheets about preconceived ideas about particular careers and used questions on worksheets to talk about ideas you’ve heard from your family and society about working.  These are obviously geared toward the typical classroom, secular environment but I just adapted as I went.   As we worked through the information (typically condensing and doing 5 or so of the “prepared”  lesson in one setting) we’d come to a point where there would be a worksheet I would print like a sheet to write out what job/chores she liked best least and why or thoughts about 1st job she ever wanted to do and what she wants to do now.  Then it directs you to go online and check out a particular section related to what you just looked at.   Honestly, it was a bit confusing but I think we did get some good discussion and information from it.  We spent a lot of time on the paper information and I’d probably in hind site skip sooner to the information online.  Once she went online it was again a bit confusing at first but the career information was very good.  The paper parts would be a good place to spend some time if your child still needs some thinking about work, careers, values etc…  If they have some solid ideas you might benefit more from exploring specific careers online.   They use a “World-of-Work” map which confuses me a little.  It’s supposed to be a pie wedge graph that breaks up careers into segments and places the results of your interest inventory within the proper “pie”.  Maybe I’m not visual enough to appreciate this but we did better just using the selections in wording that they tell you were the highest areas.   The biggest plus to this program in my opinion is the career information.  When a particular field is recommended you then explore many choices within that area.  What I really liked is they give you extensive information about that particular career.  Often we’ve done career things that give you a list but then if you don’t know or just have vague ideas of what particular careers are you have to do further investigations.  With Discover all your choices and lengthy definitions of what those choices entail and require are just clicks away.   There was only one inventory to complete but the focus here I would say is more on investigating choices.  Once you chose a field/career it gives you majors, classes and even lengthy lists of schools that have what you want.  As you start investigating you can save your favorites to come back to later.   My boys have better ideas of what they want so we played a bit with this feature.  While they do have extensive information on Computer programming (one of my oldest son’s interests) we could not locate specifically computer “game” programming which is what he wants to specialize in.  So if you have a “specialty” it may not give everything you need but it does give a lot on the general major of computer programming.  It lists high school classes recommended for that particular field which pretty much correspond to other lists we have found.    There are also a lot of screens and help on resume building, interviewing and job seeking as well.    Would I go ahead and do it if I wasn’t reviewing?  Yes, I think I would if we needed some direction in that area.  Right now we seem to have been checking into a lot of career’s/majors and the kids are pretty confident of what their doing and the plan they have so at this time I wouldn’t but if you’ve got a Jr. High or High Schooler who needs some direction this may be worth checking out.   The cost is $19.95 for a three month access.  They also have a demo to view on their site. *Free materials and trial of the site were provided me in exchange for my opinions.

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