Through the Calm and Through the Storm

A long overdue update

2012-02-13T15:26:00.002-06:00

A few years ago, my blog entries were heavily focused on Lauren's health issues. Thank you to all of the readers that have journeyed along with us for all these years. Over the past year, we've had less medical crisises, but perhaps just as many medical issues.

Lauren's new, strong heart continues to do well, and the cardiac transplant team couldn't be more pleased. Our only issue from a cardiac standpoint lately has been the annoying early morning blood draws to check her blood levels when our mail-order pharmacy switches between generic and name-brand transplant medicines.

From an overall standpoint, however, Lauren hasn't been doing as well lately. We've suspected for some time that she has some sort of GI condition that's keeping her from properly absorbing her foods. After not gaining anything for more than 9 months, she finally gained weight last summer after needing a dose of steroids to get her asthma under control. Unfortunately, she's been steadily losing weight since then. According to our home scales, she dropped from a little over 22 kg (48.5 lbs) down to less than 17 kg (37.5 lbs).

Her energy level has been suffering, too. If we go anywhere that requires walking, she rides in her stroller/wheelchair. When we went to Disney World in October, she only got out of the stroller long enough to take the few steps to get on a ride.

In December, we took Lauren to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD for a series of appointments with her old neuromuscular doctor. He found that her muscles actually look better on ultrasound than they used to. His only explanation for her worsening endurance is that she's not absorbing enough food to give her the energy she needs to play or walk or do therapy. We returned to Arkansas more determined than ever to find the cause of her GI issues.

At this point, her GI doctor suspects that she's dealing with eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). Basically, she has eosinophils (rogue white blood cells) in her esophagus that keep her from properly absorbing foods. We're not sure if they're related to her transplant medicines or to foods. There's often an allergic component to eosinophilic conditions. Her local doctor recommends that we look into getting an appointment for her at Cincinnati Children's Hospital because they are highly regarded as some of the experts in this field.

While we wait for an appointment there, we're pressing forward with a food elimination diet to see if it'll help. Our hope is that Lauren can start to regain some of the lost weight and perhaps more importantly regain some of the energy that she hasn't had lately. As of a week ago, she's on a diet that eliminates all milk, eggs, wheat, soy, nuts, and fish.

It's too soon to tell whether the diet is making a difference weight-wise and energy-wise, but Lauren's doing a good job dealing with the restrictions so far.

Review: Math Rider

2012-02-09T21:23:00.000-06:00

As a homeschooler I can make a lot of subjects fun. My son sometimes reads while lying upside down on the couch, I use various toys around the house to demonstrate math concepts, and we use a large marker board for spelling tests. As my kids memorized math facts, I've looked for ways to make the math drill fun. I needed a fun math facts game so that practicing the basic math facts would be fun.

Math Rider is "The Intelligent Math Facts Game." It covers all four basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In addition, the program keeps track of which specific facts that your child needs additional practice on. I noticed that every time Lauren missed a question, that specific math fact was repeated at least a few more times in the course of her ride.

The Math Rider Program is set up so that the student rides a horse on a quest to find a mystical flower. Math problems are shown periodically along the ride. If the student answers correctly, the horse will automatically jump over the obstacle. (The picture below shows a ride where the horse jumps over flowers.) After twenty questions, the total score is shown by seeing how far the student has moved along the path for that quest.

Addison and Brennan block out so much of the background that they hardly noticed the gorgeous scenery while they are riding. They are simply focused on answering the problems correctly so that they can tell me that they've finished with Math Rider. After talking with both of them, they admitted that there really isn't anything that would make math drills more enjoyable for them. They would rather just practice with something simple so that they didn't waste time watching a horse ride or seeing how far they had gotten on a quest.

Now that Lauren has learned some basic addition facts, she was excited to get to use Math Rider like her older brother and sister. Unfortunately, the program was still a bit too difficult for her. She wanted to watch the horse jump over the obstacles and not move on to answering the next question. As you can see in the example, the problem for the flowers on the left of the screen has already been answered. The answer space under the horse is for the question that just appeared on the right of the screen. By the time Lauren watched the horse jump, there often wasn't enough time for her to answer the next problem. I hope that she'll get to a point where she doesn't watch the horse as much, but so far I haven't been able to convince her to only pay attention to the math problems.

Math Rider might work well for a child that wants something with more bells and whistles than just basic math fact drills. It currently costs $37 to download, but the company has said that there will be a $10 increase on February 15th. They offer both a seven day free trial and a 30 day risk free guarantee.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Math Rider, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received Math Rider as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Celestial Almanack

2012-02-08T12:50:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while, when my family is out camping, I look up at the sky and wish that I could identify at least a constellation or two. Perhaps it's part of the Super Homeschool Mom myth -- I should be able to teach my kids something when it's a night clear enough to see the stars. Instead I usually just point at a few starts and try to convince the kids that it's the Big Dipper.

Celestial Almanack from Fourth Day Press transformed me from a Astronomer Wannabe to a Novice Astronomer. I actually didn't realize how little I knew about astronomy until I started reading. For instance, I always believed the saying, "The sun sets in the west." I learned that the sun only sets directly to the west on certain days of the year. I shared this information with my husband, and we had an ah-ha moment. That's the reason why the sun was sometimes directly in our eyes when we were traveling from Washington DC to Philadelphia. When we assumed the sunset was directly to the west, we couldn't figure out how the road ran to the west. It makes much more sense now that I realize that the setting sun could be in the northwest.

After reading much of the information, I took my nook outside to see if I could use the star charts. Sure enough, I found Orion. Not just three random stars that I could convince myself were Orion's belt. I found the actual constellation -- the three stars for the belt and the four others. I can even name two of the stars. (For the record, the Almanack labels this an easy one-star activity, but I thought it was pretty cool.) Some of the other features of the night sky are a bit more difficult to see from our neighborhood, but I'm certain I could find them when I wasn't surrounded by trees.

In March, Jupiter and Venus will draw near to one another in the sky. I'm sure I'll see FB statuses telling me what specific night to go out and see this rare event. Thanks to Celestial Almanack I'll be even more prepared. By watching the planets draw near to each other throughout the month of February, we'll be more amazed when they actually meet. We'll also be able to witness the lead-up to the event even if it's too cloudy to see them on the night they finally meet.

I found the information in Celestial Almanack to be thorough but very understandable. I would consider it very appropriate for high school students, but my younger children will be able to grasp much of what I can now show them in the sky. Fourth Day Press offers Signs and Seasons, a full classical astronomy course for high schooler students ($39).

Celestial Almanack is a true bargain. You can download all of the information and charts for a month from CurrClick for only $3. Even if I can't keep up with the changes in the sky every month, I will never again go on a camping trip without a current version of the Almanack.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Celestial Almanack, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received Celestial Almanack (February as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Goal Planning Monday, February 6th

2012-02-06T20:10:00.001-06:00

Somewhere around the beginning of December, life sort of exploded on me. In the midst of all the busy activities that go along with Christmas, most of our family made a whirlwind trip to DC so that Lauren could have a few days of doctors' appointments at NIH. When January rolled around, I planned to get back into more organized days. Unfortunately, a stubborn virus plowed over three members of the family (including me) and not as much got done as I had hoped.

I'm determined to get back on track this week.

Goals for this week:

1. Get back into the habit of cleaning the kitchen (including the peninsula) and preparing school assignments before going to bed at a reasonable time.

2. Write a long overdue blog update about Lauren and her latest appointments.

3. I also hope to do several small organizing projects. First on my list is to find a storage spot for all of my diabetic supplies and get them all neatly put away. I probably shouldn't admit that some of it is still piled in the boxes it came in a few weeks ago.

If you'd like to join me in setting some goals, be sure to visit Mama Manuscript's Goal Planning Monday here. I found last fall that I accomplished a lot more done when I set goals for myself (and make them public) than if I just make mental lists of things that I'd like to accomplish. I'm hoping the same will hold true now as I start back with my weekly goal planning.

Review: Kinderbach

2012-02-01T00:33:00.000-06:00

Last year, we were blessed to receive a trial subscription to Kinderbach so that I could write a review. You can hear how much Lauren loved the program here. I was excited to hear that I was chosen to write one of this year's Crew reviews about Kinderbach.

Kinderbach is a series of online videos and printable lesson materials designed to teach young children musical skills, including how to play piano. I am still very much amazed at the quality of the Kinderbach materials. I am impressed that it teaches so much musical vocabulary and theory as it teaches the basics of piano playing.

Unfortunately, Lauren wasn't nearly as interested in watching the Kinderbach lessons online this year. The videos are appropriate for the intended 3-7 year old audience, and they do not seem babyish. I think in our case, Lauren objects to watching videos on the computer because all of the rest of her computer experiences are interactive. Kinderbach is mostly watching and occasionally working along on a printed page. For instance, in one of the earlier lessons, the child is discriminating between high and low notes. Lauren would prefer to click something on the computer to show high or low than to sit at the computer and color high or low apples on a piece of paper.

Lauren does enjoy taking a printed sheets of music from her Kinderbach lessons and playing them on the piano. Perhaps she would benefit more from Kinderbach if we spent more time doing the printable pages, more time playing the piano, and less time watching the online videos.

Kinderbach has several free lessons available online, and they offer a 30 day money back guarantee when you purchase a subscription. Online lessons cost $19.99 per month or $95.88 for a year's subscription. The same lessons are also available on DVDs with packages starting at $40.45 (plus shipping/handling).

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Kinderbach, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here or click on the banner below.

I received a trial subscription to Kinderbach as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review and Giveaway: "I Love Your Presence" Worship CD

2012-01-30T14:36:00.000-06:00

One of the fun things about doing product reviews is when I get to hear new music. I love listening to Christian music -- the radio in my van is usually tuned to our Christian station, the CD changer is usually full of Christian CDs, and my iPod plays Christian music when I run. The new I Love Your Presence album by Vineyard music is a great new addition to my collection.

About the CD:
I Love Your Presence was recorded live at the Burn Bright: Worship and The Kingdom Of God conference, hosted by Vineyard Worship. Several hundred worship leaders and worshippers gathered in the Arizona desert to explore the nature of God’s kingdom through music and teaching with some of the Vineyard’s most gifted communicators and musicians. This inspiring collection of songs recorded live at the The Vineyard Church North Phoenix will immerse listeners in the powerful worship that was the highlight of the event.

What we thought:
I was a bit surprised when I first heard this album because it didn't exactly fit my preconceived notion of a worship album. The majority of the songs were more upbeat and had more of a rock-feel than I what I expected. My husband, one of the music experts in my family, compares their style to that of Casting Crowns.

Earlier today I managed to steal the CD out of my husband's car, and I found myself singing along as I drove home from an appointment. (For those that want to know, it was the line in "One Thing Remains" that goes "Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me.) I have a feeling that this album will earn a permanent spot in the rotation of CDs in my van and some of the songs will end up on the playlist I set up for times when I need an extra boost of encouragement.

More information:
I Love Your Presence was released on iTunes on January 10th and will be released as a physical CD on February 7th. Please visit Vineyard music at their website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Giveaway:
In addition to the review copy that I downloaded, I am also able to offer a download of the album to one of my readers. Please follow the Rafflecopter directions to enter.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: We Choose Virtues

2012-01-22T20:13:00.002-06:00

About this time last year, I learned that Lauren need more specific directions than just, "Be good." For instance, when we go to a doctor's appointment, I need to tell her my specific expectations. "Be good" at a doctor's office means: let Mommy have a turn to talk to the doctor, let the doctor do the exam, and don't talk in silly voices. It's a lot harder to define "be good" on regular days though. What virtues does the simple phrase "be good" include?

We Choose Virtues gave our whole family words a lot more specific than "be good" to use and tangible goals to work towards. Instead of just talking about how we should do good on our schoolwork, I can encourage my kids to work diligently or to be attentive.

I've been using the Virtue Clues cards to teach my kids about virtues. Each of the twelve small cards shows a Virtue Kid, defines the virtue, and then gives a few examples of what that virtue is not. For instance, the content card read, "I am content. I have my 'wanter' under control. I am NOT... bored, greedy, always wanting more, and I don't beg or whine."

I like the way each virtue card includes both what it is and what it is not. All too often I know what I'd like my kids (or myself) not to do, but I don't look hard enough to figure out why it is a problem. Whining means you are not being content, rowdy means you are not being self-controlled, etc. Framing these virtues in a positive way gives a goal to work towards not just a misbehavior to avoid.

I introduced one virtue card per week, posting them on our refrigerator for easy reference.

The clue cards gave my family a nice introduction to the virtues, and my kids learned quite a bit. One day after I had introduced the Diligent card, Lauren's dictated this journal entry: "Yesterday we learned a new word. Diligent means start fast, work hard, and finish strong. This morning we started fast. We were not slow camels in the desert. I am going to work hard and finish strong today." Another day, she wrote, "I am going to be diligent and helpful today."

For Lauren, I reinforced my initial virtue teaching with pages from the Kids of VirtueVille coloring book that I downloaded.

My teenager thought that the illustrations were a bit childish, but agreed that the lessons were equally valuable for both younger and older kids.

I am strongly considering purchasing more of the We Choose Virtues, especially the Parenting Cards. These cards take the basic information I saw on the Clue Card and expand it to include a Bible verse, a users challenge, an inspiring story, and a section that teaches "What to say after 'I'm sorry'".

We Choose Virtues offers a Complete Homeschool Kit in either regular or faith-based options for $99.99, the Parenting Cards (faith based) for $34.99, a Kids Virtue Poster for $11.99, the Virtue Clues cards for $5.99, and many other products. If you'd like to make a purchase, you can use either the promotional code VIRTUE15 for 15% off your order OR the code SHIPFREE for free worldwide shipping. They recently added a few clearance items that may be worth checking out.

Although I used We Choose Virtues with my homeschooled children, it is also appropriate for use by a family, in a classroom setting or for Bible classes.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about We Choose Virtues, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received multiple We Choose Virtues products (Virtue Clues cards, VirtueVille Coloring book, and the Teacher's Handbook) as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Zeezok's Z-Guides to the Movies

2012-01-10T21:08:00.000-06:00

My family loves watching movies, but I rarely think to show a movie that will correlate or enhance our school studies. If I do show a relevant movie, we might discuss the film a bit, but I don't take the time to dwell on the lessons that a good movie can teach.

Zeezok publishing has developed their Z-Guides to the Movies so that teachers (and parents) can more easily incorporate good movies into their curriculum.

Each Z-Guide contains a topic overview for the corresponding period in history and a movie synopsis. It also includes ten activities to build on the educational content of the movie. Zeezok suggests completing two activities per day so that you spend an entire week working with the movie.

I chose to review the Z-Guide to the movies that corresponds to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I remember watching the movie when I was in school, and I was eager to show my children a bit more about the inner workings of Congress. It's been a while since we discussed American government, and I knew we could use the review. This particular guide is available in both an Elementary/Junior High level and a High School level.

I have mixed feelings about how this product worked for our family. My older daughter (8th grade) enjoyed the movie and did well with the activities that I chose to assign. My son (5th grade) struggled with the movie. When I picked this movie, I did not anticipate that he would have a hard time following along with a movie that relied more on dialogue than it did on action. He required quite a bit of help to complete the activities.

From a teacher standpoint, I found that the Z-Guide activities included more composition activities than our family could handle. Out of ten activities, five of them were writing assignments -- two one paragraph assignments, a newspaper article, a letter to our Senator, and a page with four questions that each required several sentences to answer. We chose to complete some of the assignments orally and eliminated a few of the others. Typically, I only assign one or two writing assignments per week.

Zeezok's Z-Guides to the movies would be a good fit for families that enjoy movies and that would appreciate learning activities to correspond with them. My oldest daughter thinks that several of the writing assignments would have been good to assign as extra credit for a High Schooler.

Zeezok Publishing has an information sheet about the Z-Guides to the Movies on their website here, if you'd like to read more about them. There are about 36 different titles, some appropriate for elementary or junior-high students and others more appropriate for high schoolers. Each Z-Guide costs $12.99 (for either an ebook or the digital file on CD), and Zeezok also sells many of the corresponding movies.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about the Z-Guides to the Movies, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a Z-Guide to the Movies for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Real Homeschool Spanish

2012-01-03T20:48:00.000-06:00

My family seems to have a love-hate relationship with learning languages. We love the idea of learning languages. We don't necessarily mind doing the work. My kids are fairly good at picking up new words and phrases. On the other hand, none of us like flash cards and vocabulary drill.

As I though about how we have learned some foreign phrases and how we struggle with others, I realized that the phrases we know are all ones that we've slowly incorporated into our daily lives. For instance, all three of the kids say "Bless you" in Russian after learning it a few years ago. Occasionally, my husband will ask me something in German, and they'll understand. It's just a few phrases here and there, but they've stuck. Perhaps it's because the phrases are common (and therefore repeated often) that they've stuck. They're just part of our family now.

Recently we've been exploring REAL Homeschool Spanish, a Spanish program that focuses on teaching common phrases and words first. All of the vocabulary is easy to incorporate into our lives for easy and frequent practice.

I printed out the first week's vocabulary and posted it on the refrigerator for easy reference. I glance at the sheet in the mornings and we use a few phrases at breakfast time. I sometimes also grab the sheet and discuss a few more words at lunchtime. My hope is that short bursts of Spanish will stick with us longer than the words I've written on stacks of index cards in the past.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is intended for the whole family to learn and practice together, but it could be used by a single (motivated) student. In addition to the weekly list of vocaulary, there are three to four activity sheets that correspond with each set of vocabulary.

The materials start off with basic vocabulary and simple sentences, but by the end of the materials it has covered most of what I can remember covering in 3 years of high school Spanish. By starting with easy phrases, it should be easy to build Spanish practice into your everyday activities instead of having to find a time that you can dedicate to study and memorization.

There are 10 units in the materials, divided into 33 groups of vocabulary words. Older students might be able to master all of it in a school year, but it would easily last over a year if you're using it with younger students. I suspect that my students will be able to catch on to the grammar concepts in the book fairly quickly but it takes us at least a week to really master each set of vocabulary words.

The REAL Homeschool Spanish materials include the book (105 pages), the activity book (179 pages), an answer book, and corresponding audio files. It costs $49.95 for an electronic version to download or $89.97 for a hardcopy. For an additional $10, they also offer a daily curriculum guide that breaks the materials up into daily assignments so that you can cover the materials in 48 weeks.

You can find sample pages of the materials on their website here. If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Real Homeschool Spanish, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received an electronic version of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: World's Greatest Stories

2011-12-20T17:05:00.002-06:00

My kids are big audio book lovers. When we lived in an area with longer driving times, we always had audio books to listen to when we were in the car. Now Lauren and Brennan listen to audio books nearly every night when they go to bed.

We recently had the opportunity to hear some amazing Bible stories produced by The World's Greatest Stories. I hesitate to label them audiobooks; they are far more entertaining and enthralling than any audiobook I've ever heard. These stories are not merely someone reading verses from the Bible. George W. Sarris memorizes the scriptures and then retells the story so that it comes alive. It's truly a dramatic presentation. When I listened to the story of Daniel, I could imagine the scenes in Babylon when Daniel heard "the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music" and chose not to bow down to the image of gold. (After hearing the story a time or two, the entire phrase about the music was stuck in my head.)

I love the way that the stories came alive on these CDs. I also love the way that my children will learn the words of the actual scriptures as they listen. I really wish I had ordered The Life of Christ earlier so that we could all hear "The Real Story of Christmas" this week.

The World's Greatest Stories offers six different audiobook volumes: The Prophets, The Life of Christ, Beginnings, Joshua & Esther, Joseph & His Brothers, Defeating Giants. Each one is approximately one hour long, costs only $7.95, and is available with the scriptures in either NIV or KJV. There are multiple audio clips available on the website if you'd like to hear a sample before you purchase one.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about The World's Greatest Stories CDs, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received CDs from The World's Greatest Stories as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Read Aloud Challenge -- December 8

2011-12-08T20:33:00.000-06:00

I've neglected to check in with Debra's weekly Read Aloud Challenge for the past few weeks. Honestly, I got a bit bored with simply posting the picture of Rifles for Watie. It was a lot more satisfying to post weekly updates when we were reading shorter books.

We finally finished Rifles for Watie around Thanksgiving and set aside the history based read-alouds for the time being.

Earlier today we finished our traditional holiday read-aloud -- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. "Hey! Unto you a child is born!" If you've never read Barbara Robinson's tale of how the Herdman's changed a church's traditional Christmas pageant, you absolutely must share it with your children this year.

I'm not sure what we'll start next. I know that the next week or so is going to be crazy, and I may just have to put read-alouds on hold for a while.

After our holiday craziness is over, we'll likely start back with history read-alouds. I think we've sufficiently covered the Civil War. I need to hunt for a book that covers the Reconstruction or other late 1800s events. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump all the way to World War 1 yet.

Lately Lauren's been listening to the Julie series of books from American Girl. I find it funny that Julie is one of their historical dolls -- the books are set all the way back in the 1970s. Actually, it's quite interesting to see all the historical details that are woven into the stories. We're nearly finished with the second one in the set of six books. Lauren also has the audiobooks checked out of the library, but she doesn't mind if I read the book during the day and then she listens to the exact same thing at bedtime on her CD player.

If you'd like to see what other parents are reading to their children or if you'd like to share what you've been reading, please join all of us that check-in at Footprints in the Butter.

Cooper and Me Review (and Giveaway)

2011-12-07T21:12:00.000-06:00

Lauren checks certain shelves of the library every time we go. She's drawn to certain characters and wants to reread those same books over and over.

I recently found new characters that might earn a coveted spot on Lauren's favorites list.

The Cooper and Me books are written by thirteen-year-old Alexa Peters and her mother Monique. They use the stories of an adventurous Labrador Retriever named Cooper to teach real-life lessons in a fun picture-book format.

In Cooper and Me and the Winter Adventure!, Cooper and his friend Bella wander too far from home and find themselves lost in a snowstorm. The story has a happy ending, though, and everyone learns what to do when you can't find your way home.

Lauren and I both enjoyed the story. She even requested an immediate encore presentation. I liked the added learning activities, especially the way that they reinforced the lessons of what to do if you ever get lost.

You can order Cooper and Me books (all four of them) and other merchandise at CooperAndMe.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter. Make any purchase of $25 or more at CooperandMe.com and get FREE Shipping now through December 15th. Use the code COOPERBLOG when you check out.

In addition to getting to review a copy of this darling book, I have another copy to give to one of my readers. The giveaway ends at midnight on December 14th.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Review: Pitsco Education

2011-12-06T21:51:00.000-06:00

Pitsco Education provides hands-on projects for both classroom teachers and home educators. They are a leader in STEM-oriented materials -- ones that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The About Us page on their website talks about how they strive to create tools that "engage and inspire learners." In my mind, they just make learning fun.

Recently Addison and Brennan built seige machines (a catapult and a trebuchet) using the Siege Machines kit.

Addison followed the clear directions in the kit and easily built the catapult by herself. After firing clay balls across the kitchen, she then spied the huge bowl of Halloween candy. We didn't graph all of the results, but we do know that M&M's were the clear winners in terms of how far they traveled.

I helped Brennan with a few steps to assemble the trebuchet because it was a little more difficult to build than the catapult. It was still fairly easy to build and worked well. Unfortunately, we were only able to fire clay balls; the Halloween candy didn't work well with the fabric sling.

The Siege Machines book included with the kit gave ideas, charts, and graphs so that we could compare the effect of different variables (the amount of washers used as the counterweight, mass of the clay ball, etc) on the distance fired.

Pitsco Education's Siege Machines kit would be a perfect addition to a study of medieval times, but it's also just a fun project to build scientific investigation skills.

Brennan and Addison give the catapult and trebuchet high marks for fun! Who wouldn't love the opportunity to fire clay balls or leftover candy across the room?

The Siege Machines kit is available to order from Pitsco Education and costs $21.95. They offers hundreds of other products that will add hand-on science fun to your days, regardless of what curriculum you use. You don't even have to be a homeschooler to enjoy their products!

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Pitsco products, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a Medieval Machines kIt to build as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 30

2011-12-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

I know, I'm a day late. I'd rather be a day late for my last Gratitude challenge post than to leave it unfinished.

I'm thankful that there are so many, many things left that I could write about.

I'm thankful for this month where I've looked intentionally at my life and tried to notice all of the rich blessings God has showered upon me and my family.

Now that November is over, the temptation is to fast forward through December with my eyes set only on surviving all the hustle and bustle of the season. I pray that I continue to cultivate a thankful spirit in the midst of all the upcoming stress.

During November, I blogged nearly every day about something specific that I was thankful for. Brenda is going to continue the challenge at Garden of Learning. Instead of daily posts, she'll be hosting a weekly meme called Thankful Thursdays. I'm not sure I'll post every week, but I look forward to sharing more of the blessings I see in my everyday life.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 30 and 31

2011-12-01T20:00:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 30: 7-9

"Two things I ask of You; don't deny them to me before I die. Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, "Who is the Lord?" or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God. "

Proverbs 31: 10, 27-28

"Who can find a capable wife? She is far more precious than jewels. ... She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. Her sons rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 29

2011-11-29T21:47:00.001-06:00

This afternoon I was thankful for a homeschool project that interested both big kids.

We even enlisted Tim's help this evening:

I'm pretty sure that they both realize that they're learning something. Hopefully they are thankful that I didn't just settle for a boring way of teaching them circuits and electronics.

I'm also thankful for The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew who plays such a huge part in making school so fun.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 29

2011-11-29T15:57:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 29:11
"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check."

Goal Planning Monday: November 28th

2011-11-28T22:08:00.001-06:00

In the all of the busyness of Thanksgiving preparations, I neglected to check in last week. I did have a scribbled to-do list and managed to get most of my little projects done. Our big accomplishment was finishing all of the photo gift projects that we wanted to order for Christmas gifts -- no easy undertaking.

Goals for this week:

1. Continue the habit of cleaning the kitchen (including the peninsula) and preparing school assignments before going to bed at a reasonable time. I need to work on the "reasonable" part of this goal.

2. Christmas preparations: address Christmas card envelopes, order the last few things that I want to buy, and start wrapping presents

3. Blog: continue my thankfulness posts and write three reviews

4. Print out the December 2011 and some of the 2012 pages for my planner so that I can make sure I'm not mixing up too many commitments.

5. Go get a flu shot (and drag the two big kids with me).

If you'd like to join me in setting some goals, be sure to visit Mama Manuscript's Goal Planning Monday here. I find that I get a lot more done if I set goals for myself (and make them public) than if I just make mental lists of things that I'd like to accomplish.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 28

2011-11-28T21:44:00.001-06:00

While I was rushing to cook dinner this evening, I accidentally knocked a salt shaker out of the cabinet. Unfortunately it landed on top of one of our polish pottery soup bowls. One of the ones we bought in Poland about 12 years ago when we were living in Germany.

I had already had a frustrating day, and I was upset about breaking something that isn't easily replaced.

I'm thankful that my husband didn't say anything. He understood that accidents happen and wasn't mad at all.

I'm even more thankful that my husband searched online until he found an exact replacement for the broken one.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 28

2011-11-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 28:13
"The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 27

2011-11-27T21:43:00.001-06:00

I'm thankful for meaningful worship services today.

I'm thankful for my husband who carefully selected songs that would focus our minds during our time of prayer together as a church this morning.

I'm also thankful for the lesson tonight, a lesson packed with practical useful tips on strengthening our own personal prayer lives.

If you'd like to share something (or lots of somethings) that you are thankful for, you're invited to join Brenda's linky at Garden of Learning.

Gratitude Challenge --- Day 26

2011-11-27T21:42:00.001-06:00

I am thankful for the long weekend that we got to spend with family.

We had lots of fun playing games, shopping, shooting hoops, hanging out, and watching a movie.

We also managed to get a lot of little chores done around the house. Tim fixed the cabinet door in the kitchen, took some parts leftover from another project back to Lowe's, and even fertilized the yard. My mom took pity on me and sewed all of the patches onto both Brennan and Tim's scout uniforms. Tim and I spent several long evenings organizing and creating photo gifts for Christmas. We also managed to put up the Christmas tree, a stressful event that included two trips to a store to buy more replacement strands of lights.

It was fun to relax, but it's also a great feeling to see all that we accomplished over the past few days.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 27

2011-11-27T19:25:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 27:1
"Don't boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what a day might bring."

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 25 and 26

2011-11-26T06:39:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 25:11
"A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples on a silver tray."

Proverbs 26:4
"Don't answer a fool according to his foolishness or you'll be like him yourself."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 25

2011-11-25T21:39:00.000-06:00

Today I'm thankful for laughter, at least three specific instances today.

1. While heading out shopping this morning, my mom requested that we go through the McD's drive-thru to get her a cup of tea. I ordered 2 senior sweet teas, but the order accuracy screen said unsweet. I double-checked that they were sweet when I paid and then again when I picked them up at the next window. The guy at that window said that they were sweet tea, and I replied that it was a good thing because the crazy people in the car would make me go back through if their drinks weren't right. He said if that was the case his name was Nicole.

2. While leaving the mall, I heard a lady talking (rather loudly) to the security guard. Apparently he asked her if she had found everything. She said she was mad about the whole thing. "I couldn't find anything for myself. I had to start shopping for my husband, and I'd much rather be finding stuff for me." She went on and on. We laughed all the way to the car.

3. This afternoon Brennan was playing basketball with my dad and Tim. At one point Tim made a shot, turned around, and said, "Who's yo daddy?" A few minutes later Brennan piped up with, "Who's yo son?" Not to be outdone, yes, my dad said, "Who's yo granddaddy?" Maybe you had to be here to appreciate the three of them trying to talk smack while they played horse.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 24

2011-11-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

All month I've been posting about the things I'm thankful for.

Today I'm thankful for a day set aside in our country so that we can count our blessings. I pray that today's Thanksgiving holiday is not overshadowed by the hustle and bustle of shopping for the upcoming Christmas season. I pray that everyone took time to thank God for all the blessings He has showered upon us.

As we sat around the table this afternoon, we all took turns sharing what we were thankful for. (Note: we did let Addison eat some of the Thanksgiving dinner -- she was taking the picture and didn't get in it herself.)

Among the things we mentioned: health, family, food, friends, trees, the great people that Tim works with, and much more.

If you'd like to share a Thanksgiving post, you can join the link Brenda has at Garden of Learning. (You can easily get to it by clicking on the button in my sidebar too.)

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 23

2011-11-24T21:06:00.001-06:00

I'm thankful that my parents came to visit this week. While Mom and I went shopping one morning, Dad stayed home to play with his grandkids. I'm not sure who had the most fun.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 23 and 24

2011-11-24T16:13:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 23:12
"Apply yourself to discipline and listen to the words of knowledge."

Proverbs 24:3
"A house is built by wisdom and it is established by understanding; by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 22

2011-11-22T22:03:00.000-06:00

This morning I was thankful for Betty, or as Lauren calls her, "the nice lab lady." An eight o'clock blood draw is a lot easier when Lauren and I know that she gets to go to the outpatient lab. Lauren asked me this morning why Betty can't do all the labs for children in the hospital because she always gets all the blood she needs on the first try.

We're also thankful for Buzzy. About a year ago, a special friend sent Buzzy to Lauren because she knows how often Lauren needs blood drawn for labs. The idea behind Buzzy is that as his body vibrates against the skin, the nerves get confused and can't figure out how to transmit pain signals. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes in terms of feeling the pain, but it makes a huge difference in terms of how it gives Lauren control over the situation.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 22

2011-11-22T21:14:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 22:17
"Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge."

Family Movie Night: Game of Your Life

2011-11-22T21:08:00.000-06:00

Every few weeks Brennan will ask if we can have a movie night. If the calendar is relatively clear, we consent and the movie negotiations begin -- negotiations about who picked the movie last time, what new movie is out that's appropriate to watch, etc.

I'm marking next Friday night, December 2nd, on my calendar for a movie night -- no movie negotiations required.

Walmart and PG have teamed up to present Family Movie Night, a night where family movies are broadcast on network TV. Family Movie Night promises great quality movies, good for the whole family, teachable moments, and even family friendly commercials. Game of Your Life premieres Friday, December 2nd at 8/7c on NBC.

Game of Your Life synopsis (taken from the website):

When industrious high school gamer Zach Taylor lands a prized scholarship to the prestigious Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD), his future breaks wide open. The opportunity to study under gaming legend Marcus Bentton and alongside the country’s most creative minds will certainly propel him into a successful career as a video game designer. That is, if he can pass the infamous freshman project that eliminates more than half of the class within the first three months.

Paired with brilliant yet socially awkward teammates Phillip and Donald, the trio persuades Sara Ramirez – a determined and striking team leader with whom Zach has a history (and possibly a future) – to join their team. Working off-campus in the teched-out Lincoln Alley loft, the four set out to involve the entire campus in a quirky new social interactive game. But as the group becomes entrenched in the project, Zach learns that his father Billy, a widower, is facing growing financial woes at home. To help out, Zach accepts an opportunity to work directly with Marcus Bentton on a secretive side project that seems too good to be true. The effort requires nearly all of Zach’s time and energy, which he should be devoting to the project. Struggling to keep it together, Zach is torn between his responsibility to his team, his admiration for Bentton and a chance to help his father.

Everything comes to a breaking point when Zach’s team threatens to remove him from the group and the deceptive truth behind Bentton’s project comes to light. With the guidance of Professor Abbie Lambert, Zach must make a decision that not only affects his future, but the lives and livelihoods of the people around him as well. It’s a revealing story that recognizes the magnitude behind the choices we make and the importance loyalty plays in making good decisions.

We've already seen the movie, and I can assure you that it does live up to the Family Movie Night promises. It was a hit with all of the movie-watchers in our house. (Lauren still isn't interested in watching full-length, non-animated movies.) It is a great quality movie, not necessarily packed with action scenes but exciting none-the-less. It is good for the whole family -- no drinking, no partying, no profanity, etc. The teachable moments were real, not faked. It gets thumbs ups from all of us, and we'll definitely be watching it again when it shows next Friday night.

You can see the Game of Your Life trailer here and find more information on the Family Movie Night website. If you'd like you can like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Disclaimer: I received online access to view this movie prior to its premiere so that I could share this review. I was not required to post a positive review, and I received no other compensation.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 21

2011-11-21T23:24:00.001-06:00

Tonight, like so many nights, I'm thankful for the special treat I have stashed on the very top shelf of the pantry.

Yes, peanut butter -- white chocolate peanut butter. A dear friend sent me my first jar when Lauren was in the hospital waiting for her new heart.

Because of Brennan's life-threatening peanut allergy, we don't normally have any peanuts or peanut products in the house. I make candy with sunbutter and have come to enjoy a good sunbutter sandwich. Nothing comes close to the creamy goodness of my white chocolate peanut butter, though. I wait until after the kids are in bed before carefully pulling down the jar. In order to keep from contaminating any surfaces in the house, I don't make a sandwich or even spread it on crackers. I just scoop it out by the spoonful, being careful to clean the spoon afterwards.

I'm not sure I could count how many jars I've been through over the past two year, one spoonful at a time.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 21

2011-11-21T15:54:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 21:3
"Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice."

Review: The Reading Game

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Although I strongly believe in teaching phonics when a child learns to read, I also recognize the need for children to recognize the most common sight words in our language. By learning to read sight words, a child can get a jump start on reading and improve their reading fluency.

The Reading Game uses a series of fun matching games to teach children to quickly recognize or read common words. It teaches 88% of the 25 most commonly used words in our language and 63% of the top 100 words; 54% of the words on the PK, K, and 1st Dolch sight words list are included in these games.

Even if you aren't a homeschool family, this product would definitely make the sight word practice that your child does at home more fun.

The Reading Game consists of six decks of cards used to introduce 30 new words. The cards are dealt out ten at a time to form a small memory game. When two cards are flipped over, the player reads them and determines if they match. At first, the parent (or older student) will help the beginning reader identify the words. Eventually the child will know all ten words and move on to the next set of cards. After every ten new words, there are test sentences so that the parent can tell if the child truly knows the words. After learning all thirty words in a deck, the child is ready to read the corresponding book. The decks and books move in a progressive manner from easiest to harder.

Lauren loved playing the memory games. Even before we started using The Reading Game, she loved playing memory games with her sight word flash cards. We both liked that the games were short; it only takes a few minutes to match up the 10 cards in each mini-deck. A part of me, however, wishes that the games had a even set of matches so that more of our games ended as ties, instead of always having a winner and a loser.

I was quite impressed with the books. I'm not sure I've ever seen beginning reading books that didn't look babyish and that didn't have overly simplified stories. I would have no problem introducing these books to an older child who is struggling to read. The stories were much more than simple sentences that describe the picture. For instance, in the first book, a skunk without a stripe is sad because the other skunks refuse to play with them. He finds a group of cats to play with and later saves the cats by spraying the dog who tries to chase the cats away.

My only objection to the books is that the sentences don't use any punctuation or capitalization. The lack of the punctuation marks Lauren has learned to expect sometimes made it difficult for her to read the stories.

Although the Reading Game is not a complete reading program, it does do a fantastic job of teaching children to identify by sight some of the most common words in the English language. It also gives beginning readers an easily achievable mark of success when they can read whole books by themselves -- books that have interesting story lines and don't look babyish. Later, once a child has experienced reading success, phonics rules can be introduced so that the child is able to decode unfamiliar words.

The Reading Game is available on their website for $24.95. If you do purchase The Reading Game, be sure to visit the educator part of the website to download worksheets with the test sentences for each book and before/after assessment sheets for the individual words.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about The Reading Game, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received The Reading Game as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 20

2011-11-20T21:40:00.001-06:00

This weekend I'm thankful that the kids had a fun weekend visiting with Nana and Papa. As a military family, we don't often get to live near our extended family. It's a special treat to only be two-and-a-half hours away from them.

As for what I did with my free weekend... traveled over the river and around the mountain, ate out with a bunch of people from the squadron, cheered Tim on during the half-marathon, took a nap, bought groceries, ate at another one of my favorite restaurants, did some kid-free shopping, watched part of the OU game, went to bed early, wrote a review for my blog, went to church, and ran another errand. What more could a tired mom ask for?

I'd love it if you joined me in counting your blessings during the month of November. If you blog, you can add your link to all of the ones that Brenda is collecting at Garden of Learning. You can also find her blog by clicking on the button in my sidebar.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 20

2011-11-20T20:54:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 20:11
"Even a young man is known by his actions -- if his behavior is pure and upright."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 19

2011-11-19T19:31:00.000-06:00

This weekend I'm thankful for the great people Tim works with and their families.

About a half-dozen people from his squadron all ran in a half-marathon this morning. The whole group of us went out to dinner last night and cheered each other along as they ran.

I'm also thankful for the other wife that was waiting near the finish line. Just as I was wishing that I had brought a camp chair to sit in, she offered to let me wait with her family in the warmth of their van.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 18

2011-11-19T18:37:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for a lunch outing with a friend. We had a wonderful time visiting and laughing (with no kids underfoot or interrupting).

I'm also thankful that we now have a Chipotle in town. I'm sure everyone that heard me grumble over the past year about living more than four hours away from the nearest one is grateful too.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 19

2011-11-19T13:30:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 18:21
"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the Lord's decree will prevail."

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 18

2011-11-18T06:54:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 18:21
"A man's spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?"

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 17

2011-11-17T22:44:00.001-06:00

Earlier today, I shared about World Prematurity Day.

I'm obviously thankful for a special little girl that proves that God still works miracles.

Tonight I'm also thankful for all of the friends and loved ones that have supported us when we started on a journey that began with a sick little baby in the NICU.

And thank you to everyone who wore purple today and thought of Lauren.
(Isn't my niece just the cutest thing ever?)

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 17

2011-11-17T22:01:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 17:22
"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."

I'm wearing purple!

2011-11-17T12:34:00.000-06:00

I sometimes forget that some of the first steps in our journey with Lauren were nearly six years ago when a young NICU resident talked to me about pre-term labor and the likelihood that our baby would be in the NICU.

We knew 33 weeks was far too early for Lauren to be born, but we didn't know how sick Lauren was.

Lauren was perhaps the biggest and sickest baby in our NICU that day. Due to heart failure, she had swollen to 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth. She was somewhere around five pounds when she came home six weeks later.

I will forever be thankful for all of the doctors and nurses that took such good care of our not-so-little girl.

Today we're wearing purple to show support for World Prematurity Day. I'm praying for all of the preemies who are spending today in a NICU, for all of the preemies who still spend part of every day dealing with lifelong health conditions, and for all of the families that miss their preemies in heaven.

I'm also rejoicing for all of the preemies who prove every day that miracles do still happen.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 16

2011-11-16T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today I'm thankful for books.

Lots and lots of books.

Recently, Addison challenged herself to read all of the books in our house. Yes, every book. One of her friends asked how many we have, and so she counted them all.

All the books in the living room:

All the books in the schoolroom:

All the books in my bedroom:

All the books in her bedroom:

All the books in her brother's closet:

And all the books found in other various places around the house.

One thousand, ninety seven.

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

Review: Math Mammoth, Make It Real Learning

2011-11-16T09:19:00.000-06:00

During all of the upper-level math courses I took in both high school and college, I often wondered how any of the abstract theorems and formulas I learned would apply to life. It's fairly easy to figure out why you need to know how to add or multiply. It's also fairly easy to understand how you'd use percents in your daily life. It's quite a bit harder to grasp how you'll use linear functions, other than to complete your math homework. Thankfully, Math Mammoth has stepped up to help answer those sorts of questions.

Math Mammoth offers other math materials for all ages, including supplemental materials to fit specific needs and complete curriculum packages for elementary grades. I was especially interested in the Make It Real Learning workbooks. The goal for these materials is to answer the question, "When am I ever going to use this?"

Addison is about half-way through Algebra 1, and she recently took a break from her regular lessons to work through the ten lessons in the Linear Functions 1 workbook (suitable for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 students).

Both of us were impressed with this workbook.

I liked that these were real problems. All of the data was taken from actual situations; it wasn't just pretend numbers included to make sure that the math worked out nicely. I also liked that these were real situations that a student can believe that they'll encounter in real life. Two of the lessons dealt with choosing a cell phone plan, and another one dealt with pricing plans for music downloads -- not only real situations, but real situations that are of interest to my children.

Addison really liked the way the lessons were real statistics and not made up like in her regular math workbooks. She had to skip one of the lessons because it was a little advanced for her, but she thought she would have understood it if she had already finished Algebra 1. In the end, she decided it would be a great product to use for review at the end of the year.

The Linear Functions 1 eworkbook contained 10 lessons, each two pages long and containing 6-10 questions. Addison easily worked through them at a pace of one lesson per day. Each lesson was followed by several pages of explanations showing exactly how to work out the problems.

There are eleven options in the Make It Real Learning set, including Arithmetic; Fractions, Decimals, and Percents (two different difficulty levels); Quadratic Functions; and even Calculus 1. I'm quite impressed with the extensive offering for upper grade math; seven of the books are for students working at an Algebra 1 level or higher.

As Addison continues to move through higher level math courses, I'll definitely be purchasing more Make It Real Learning materials for her to use. I will probably also purchase the Fractions, Decimals, and Percents workbook for Brennan to use in conjunction with his regular math program later this year.

Each Make It Real Learning workbook is available to download for only $4.99. There's also an option to purchase the complete set of workbooks for $39.99.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Math Mammoth products (at all different levels), please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received Making It Real Learning: Linear Functions 1 in an eworkbook format as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 16

2011-11-16T06:25:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 16:3
"Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved."

Proverbs 16:9
"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 15

2011-11-15T22:11:00.000-06:00

On a rainy day like today, we are all thankful for our garage.

We're thankful for a new swing and thankful for our Occupational Therapist that found some extra chains when she heard ours weren't quite long enough.

We're thankful for the old swing, the place where Addison prefers to do her schoolwork and Brennan likes to hang out.

And, of course, we're thankful for a large empty space when the van is pulled out into the driveway.

I'm adding my thankfulness list to Brenda's post at Garden of Learning. Please join us in counting our blessings this month.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 15

2011-11-15T21:50:00.003-06:00

Proverbs 15:1
"A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath."

Proverbs 15:9
"The Lord Detests the way of the wicked, but He loves the one who pursues righteousness."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 14

2011-11-14T22:38:00.001-06:00

I was looking through my iPhoto library this evening in the hopes of finding a good picture to share on my thankfulness post today, and I realized how thankful I am for photos so that we can remember all the crazy times, a good camera, and a daughter who's willing to take pictures for me.

Goofing off on a Civil War Battlefield

Picture taken on 11/11/2011 at approximately 11:11 am
(we kept resetting the clock when it took too long to get the camera settings the way we wanted them)

Birthday dinner
I'm thankful for Chipotle, too.

Goal Planning Monday -- November 14

2011-11-14T21:53:00.000-06:00

I'll start with an update on last week's goals:

1. Get up half-an-hour before Lauren does (which means I need to go to bed at a reasonable time).

SUCCESS

2. Check school assignments and set out new ones every evening.

SUCCESS (except for the night I was really sick)

3. Clean kitchen (including the island/peninsula that collects junk) before bed.

SUCCESS (and I found I like waking up to a clean start)

4. Clean my closet.

SUCCESS (it looks even better than the pictures show)

5. Clean off my computer desk, file papers, etc.

SUCCESS (and still mostly successful three days later)

6. Get photos ready for Christmas gift projects.

NOT YET

7. Return the stuff in my "take back to the store" pile.

SUCCESS (only one left)

8. Figure out chore assignments and schedule.

NOT YET

This week's goals:

1. Continue cleaning the kitchen and preparing schoolwork before bed.

2. Go to bed at a reasonable time.

3. Start doing knee exercises so that I can get back to running instead of just grumbling about how I can't run anymore.

4. Gather Christmas card addresses. If I'm really on the ball, I'll go ahead and address the envelopes.

5. Make time in my days to read for at least thirty minutes each day.

6. Continue working on Christmas projects.

If you'd like to join me in setting some goals and seeing your progress, be sure to visit Mama Manuscript's Goal Planning Monday here.

Review: College Prep Genius

2011-11-14T21:38:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while, I think about how Addison is almost a high schooler and think back to my own high school days. I remember mornings spent taking the SAT and the ACT, and I remember being thankful that I naturally had good test-taking skills.

Recently I was given the opportunity to review the College Prep Genius "Master the SAT Class" DVD set, a product designed to teach high school students how to improve their scores on either the SAT or the PSAT.

The 12 video lessons in this set are designed to help students master the strategies behind the test and learn how to get the correct answers. I found it interesting that the focus isn't on knowing the correct answers; instead the idea is to find patterns for correct answers and to know some SAT traps to avoid.

Each lesson takes a section of the SAT and teaches the student specific strategies for it. The key points of the lesson are presented in an acronym which the student is encouraged to memorize. For instance, in the passage-based reading section, the student is taught to avoid SON answers: ones that are Strong, Opinion, or Negative. Other wrong answers have Completely irrelevant, Obscure, Additional, or Totally contradictory information (COAT). The College Prep Genius DVDs recommend that the student memorizes all of these acronyms and jots them down in the margins of their test booklet as a reminder on test day.

I was quite impressed with this set of preparation materials. I liked the way these lessons taught the student how to take the test, what to look for in a correct answer, and how to eliminate answers that are likely to be incorrect.

Addison thought the materials were well done. She did wish for more example problems so that she could fully understand the acronyms and practice using them. College Prep Genius recommends using materials from The College Board and The Educational Testing Service for further practice because it uses materials drawn from actual SAT tests.

The "Master the SAT Class" DVD set is available for $99.00 (includes textbook, workbooks, and the set of four DVDs). College Prep Genius also offers SAT materials that focus primarily on building vocabulary.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about the SAT preparation materials from College Prep Genius, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received College Prep Genius's Master the SAT Class DVD set as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 14

2011-11-14T06:51:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 14:1
"Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 13

2011-11-13T21:54:00.001-06:00

Tonight I'm thankful for the day God set aside each week to honor and worship him.

I'm thankful for an uplifting worship service this morning. I'll share the chorus from one of the songs that touched me:

I call You Maker. I call You Savior.
I call You Mighty. I call You God.
I call You Father. I call You Faithful.
I call You Everything that I’ve got.
I call You Jesus. I call You Healer.
I call You Mercy. I call You mine.
I call You one who always will come through.
You are the Lord who captures my heart.

I'm thankful for an afternoon of service with the youth (4th through 12th graders). What a blessing it is to see young people that freely gave of their free time to serve others. I know that there are two families in our church that are thankful that their lawns are no longer covered in leaves.

Finally, I'm thankful for the food and fellowship shared in our home this evening. There was perhaps no better way to end our day.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 13

2011-11-13T21:48:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 13:4
"Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied."
(New Living Translation)

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 12

2011-11-12T21:20:00.001-06:00

Tonight I'm thankful for a mug of hot chocolate. I'm also thankful for a shot of insulin so that I can enjoy it.

Note to self: Add mini marshmallows to next week's grocery list.

If you'd like to share what you're thankful for today (or any day this month), please visit Brenda at Garden of Learning or just click the Gratitude Challenge button on the right side of this page.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 11 and 12

2011-11-12T21:09:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 11:27
"The one who searches for what is good finds favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him."

Proverbs 12:25
"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up."

Review: Keyboard Town Pals

2011-11-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

Keyboard Town Pals claims to teach children to type in about an hour, without using boring drills or endless exercises.

After using the program with two of my children, I think it would be a great introduction to where the letters are located on a keyboard. The letter positions are taught using a memorable videos and appealing puppet characters. For instance, Amy (the puppet living in the letter A key on the home row) goes downtown to feed the zebras. Then she goes uptown to visit someone that asked a lot of questions. After learning all three of the keys that are typed using the pinky finger on the left hand, the video moves on to the next finger.

I like the approach that teaches the letters for one finger at a time. I also like the way that they have created fun stories to help the child remember the locations.

Unfortunately, Brennan (my ten-year-old) thought the puppet characters and music were "babyish." He also noticed that the video continued to play even if he was simply typing gibberish instead of what he was supposed to be practicing.

Lauren, my five year old, was more entertained by the puppets on the video. As she watched, I made sure that she understood which finger was supposed to be pushing the keys. I'm not sure if the video didn't make the finger positions clear enough for her or if she wasn't paying close enough attention to it.

I think both of my kids need a lot more typing practice than what is provided with Keyboard Town Pals. After the eight Keyboard Town Pals lessons, they are able to find all of the keys on the keyboard, but I'm not sure that they will be able to consistently (and quickly) type the letters using the correct fingers.

Keyboard Time Pals costs $39.95 to access the web based program for one year and is also available as a CD-Rom for the same cost. They also produce Spanish and French versions of the program.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Keyboard Town Pals, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a six-week subscription to Keyboard Town Pals as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 9 and 10

2011-11-11T21:57:00.001-06:00

I'm playing catch-up a little after spending more than a day in bed with a stomach virus earlier this week.

Proverbs 9:10-11
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by Wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life."

Proverbs 10:11a
"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 11

2011-11-11T21:32:00.001-06:00

On November 11, 2011, I'm thankful for all of the veterans that have served our country so that my family and I can enjoy the freedom and prosperity that we do.

Interestingly, I did a bit of research regarding Veterans Day earlier this week. (Confession: I was double-checking the truth of a facebook post.)

According to the US Department of Veteran Affairs website (here), "Veterans Days is largely intended to thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty."

Therefore, I'm going to share a few pictures of the veterans in my life that I'm proud of. I still think that I should be able to find a single picture of all three of them together, but I haven't uncovered it yet. Instead, I'll just dig through the archives and find some old ones that would be fun to share.

My Dad and Tim, April 1996 (Tim's graduation/commissioning)

My father-in-law, also an Air Force veteran

I am thankful for all the veterans that have served our country for the past 235 years, and I continue to be thankful for the men and women that serve today. I'm blessed to be able to see so many of these loyal veterans every day. Some are veterans that have served for dozens of years and some that have perhaps only served a year or two, but all are proud to defend our country.

I'm proud to live where we can hear the Star Spangled Banner play at 4:30 every afternoon and where everyone stops to show respect for our country. I'm proud to be part of a military community where we don't just say we're proud to be an American -- we are proud to be Americans.

Thank you seems like so little to offer, but I offer it from my heart.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 10

2011-11-10T22:51:00.001-06:00

Tonight I'm thankful for food, friends, and fellowship.

For lunch today, we all went to a Thanksgiving potluck lunch with everyone at Tim's squadron. I could not look at the huge spread of food and hear all the joking conversations without thinking about how blessed all of us are.

Then tonight, we had a more informal gathering with some of the other squadron commanders and their families. It was another great time of just playing a few games, eating, sitting around, chatting, and laughing. Even the kids had a great time.

We are truly blessed to be surrounded by people that we enjoy spending time with.

Gratitude Challenge -- November 9

2011-11-09T20:02:00.003-06:00

Tonight I am thankful for responsible children that took care of themselves, picked up the house, and even did their schoolwork today. I'm thankful that I could rest on the couch most of the day in the hopes of recovering from the nasty stomach bug that attacked me in the middle of the night.

Thanks guys! You are awesome!

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 8

2011-11-08T16:47:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, I'm thankful for a "Slushy Day."

Nearly every afternoon I pass Sonic during Happy Hour. Occasionally, if all has been going well at our house, I'll declare it a "Slushy Day" and pick up half-price slushies for everyone. Today was one of those good days:

a day when all the schoolwork got done,

a day when we actually read a whole chapter of our read-aloud (it took nearly an hour),

a day when there weren't too many fights over who was breathing too loudly,

a day when the grilled cheese sandwiches weren't burned,

a day when there weren't too many messes to clean up,

a day when the laundry getes washed and put away,

a day when I actually rested during rest time,

a day when I'm proud to be the parent of three wonderful children.

I like celebrating the days when everything goes as planned. It gives me hope that there will be more good days in the future.

If you're having a good day (or even just a slightly-better-than-horrible day), you can share what you're thankful for at Brenda's Gratitude Challenge.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 8

2011-11-08T10:24:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 8:10-11
"Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For wisdom is better than jewels, and nothing desirable can compare with it."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 7

2011-11-07T22:47:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for Tricare.

I'm especially thankful that the receipt from Walgreens this afternoon said, "Your Insurance Saved You: $510.99".

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 7

2011-11-07T22:22:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 7:1-3
"My son, obey my words, and treasure my commands. Keep my commands and live; protect my teachings as the pupil of your eye. Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart."

Goal Planning Monday -- November 7

2011-11-07T11:26:00.000-06:00

I really do get more done if I have a goal in mind -- whether it's running or cleaning my house. I can't believe the progress I made, especially in terms of cleaning up my room.

Here are the goals I set last week:

1. Finish putting away all of the stuff from vacation. FINISHED

2. Re-organize medicines and medical supplies. FINISHED

3. Clean off my dresser and put all the jewelry where it belongs. FINISHED

4. Finish making a meal plan for this month, hopefully with recipes and shopping lists. (Yay for e-mealz.) MOSTLY FINISHED (I have meal plans, but not future shopping lists.)

5. Clean kitchen before bed each night. MOSTLY

6. Plan and set out school assignments each evening. MAYBE HALF THE TIME

7. Christmas projects -- I have a coupon code that expires November 6th. DIDN'T MAKE THE COUPON DEADLINE :(

8. Take stuff to Goodwill (aka move huge pile out of the floor of my bedroom). FINISHED

9. Find a new pediatrician for Lauren. FINISHED

10. Work on new chore assignments and a schedule. HAVE SOME IDEAS, BUT NOTHING SET

And now this week's goals:

1. Get up half-an-hour before Lauren does (which means I need to go to bed at a reasonable time).

2. Check school assignments and set out new ones every evening.

3. Clean kitchen (including the island/peninsula that collects junk) before bed.

4. Clean my closet.

5. Clean off my computer desk, file papers, etc.

6. Get photos ready for Christmas gift projects.

7. Return the stuff in my "take back to the store" pile.

8. Figure out chore assignments and schedule.

If you'd like to join me in setting some goals and seeing your progress, be sure to visit Mama Manuscript's Goal Planning Monday here.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 6

2011-11-06T21:59:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for Christian music.

The songs that will forever be known as "Lauren's songs" -- Blessed Be Your Name and Never Let Go

The song that we hear on the radio and say, "That's the puppet song" -- More by Matthew West

The white-gloves song -- Who am I?

A new favorite -- Blessings by Laura Story

The one I heard tonight that reminded me of a current Bible study -- Steven Curtis Chapman's Do Everything

The one we sang together as a family in the recent production -- Mighty to Save

The one that always cheers me up -- This is the Stuff by Francesca Batistelli

and many, many more.

Review: Ooka Island

2011-11-06T21:37:00.000-06:00

Ooka Island is a computerized reading program that far exceeds my expectations in terms of kid appeal and educational quality.

Lauren loves it!

Lauren's actually quite fussy about what she does on the computer, and this is perhaps the first game in a long time that she'll choose to play without my encouragement (or more accurately, without me forcing her to play it). Even better, this program is set up so that a child follows Zobot through guided learning activities first, and then gets a chance to choose their own activity. Lauren willing plays 20 minutes of Zobot-directed games in order to earn free time to change her avatar's clothes or to play in the pencil playground. Several times over the past month, Lauren has played Ooka Island for an hour or more.

I love Ooka Island too!

Ooka Island has wonderfully designed activities that approach learning to read from both a phonics and a whole-word method. According to their online information, "The OokaMethod combines phonological development and language-rich text with comprehension activities so that children have the opportunity to achieve effortless reading." (If you are interested in a further explanation of the way OokaIsland approached reading, you can find it in a download here.)

When Lauren is in the Popcorn Library, she listens to a book, answers comprehension questions about it, and then completes a few simple vocabulary activities.

The other games provide extensive phonics practice. She is learning to pronounce all 44 sounds in the English language, to blend those sounds into words, to identify initial and final consonants in words, to identify rhymes, and much more.

Lauren and I highly recommend Ooka Island! She's never had more fun playing an educational computer game, and I've never been this impressed with the quality of instructional activities in a game.

A subscription to Ooka Island costs $12.95 a month for one child or $19.95 for up to four children in your family. There are discounts if you purchase a six month or a one-year subscription. Right now, Ooka Island is offering a 30% discount if you use the code LAUNCHSPECIAL30.

If you'd like to what the other members of the review crew thought about Ooka Island, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a six-month subscription to Ooka Island as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 6

2011-11-06T19:24:00.003-06:00

Proverbs 6:6
"Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise."

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 5

2011-11-05T21:28:00.002-05:00

Today I am thankful for groceries and great deals at the Commissary. (I don't know when we're going to have ham, but I couldn't pass up the $7 off coupon.)

I'm also thankful for my one of my favorite meals for favorite dinner -- ginger chicken and tempura.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 5

2011-11-05T15:41:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 5:21
"For a man's ways are before the Lord's eyes"

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 4

2011-11-04T17:16:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful for a few little things:

all of the laundry being clean and folded (and now put away),

Christmas shopping via mail order,

homeschool science,

and the weekend.

If you'd like to count your blessings along with me (and a bunch of other bloggers), be sure to visit Brenda's Garden of Learning blog here or click the Grattitude Challenge button on the right of this page.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 4

2011-11-04T15:20:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 4:23
"Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life."

Review: First Start Reading and Classical Phonics

2011-11-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

At the risk of sounding like another one of this month's gratitude posts, I'm thankful for all of the choices when it comes to selecting homeschool materials.

When we started homeschooling, Addison had already taught herself to read. A few years later, I started experimenting with reading curriculums to teach Brennan how to read. Now, another few years later, I'm amazed at all of the beginning reading programs that a parent can choose from.

Memoria Press offers First Start Reading, a complete reading program that is available either as part of their Classical Kindergarten Curriculum or to purchase separately. It consists of three student workbooks and a teacher's manual. Memoria Press also sells Classical Phonics for additional practice.

Since there are so many reading options available to parents, I feel it necessary to detail what makes First Start Reading unique.

First Start Reading is primarily a phonics program. Although it includes 45 common words that don't follow standard phonics rules, its primary focus is on blending sounds to read the words. As Lauren worked through some of the lessons in First Start Reading, I noticed that something clicked. She already knew a lot of phonics rules and sight words, but she now pays more attention to the letters within the words and can sometimes sound-out unfamiliar words.

These workbooks move at a gentle pace, introducing one letter at a time. As letter sounds are learned, the student then blends them to make simple words. For instance, the first letter taught is m and the second is a. In the third lesson, the student reads the word am and learns the sight word I. By lesson five, the student learns to read and to trace the sentence, "I am Sam."

In these materials, only the short vowel sounds are introduced, and the student gets extensive practice in sounding out consonant-vowel-consonant words. At the end of the third workbook, the student is reading stories that are 10-12 sentences long, but nearly all of the words have short vowels and follow the c-v-c pattern. This approach may be appropriate for some children, but other children may quickly catch on to the phonics rules and fly through these short vowel concepts quite quickly.

Memoria Press believes in teaching a child to print at the same time that they learn to read. While I agree with the concept that printing will help reinforce the reading/phonics rules, I also realize that not all children are ready to do that much handwriting at the same time that they are ready to learn to read. In terms of the specific handwriting instruction, the workbook pages include both tracing exercises and copywork.

The materials would definitely appeal to a child that loves coloring books and workbook style learning. Unfortunately, Lauren wasn't impressed with the coloring and found the printing pages to be a bit overwhelming. She's also not a big fan of the pages that asked her to draw her own illustrations for a story.

Although Memoria Press sells Classical Phonics: A Child's Guide to Word Mastery as a supplement to First Start Reading, I believe it's far more than just a supplement to that specific program. It's a real treasure! It looks like such a simple book, but the real beauty is the way it organizes word lists so that the child can practice decoding words according to the phonics rules.

The first section covers short vowel sounds and introduces them in the same order that they are presented in the First Start Reading workbooks. With each new letter, more words are created. Lauren and I worked through the pages at a pace of about one page per day, and she is getting pretty good at sounding out new words. The review pages in this book group the words by word family (at, cat, bat, hat) and then by beginning letter (bat, bad, bag, bed, big) for additional reading practice. Continued practice of reading these word lists will help increase the speech at which she can decode words and read for understanding.

Even after studying all of the consonant-vowel-consonant words, there's still two-thirds of the book left to go. The other 9 units cover silent e words, consonant teams, consonant blends, long vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, silent letters, unusual spellings, and more. This is a book that would be helpful throughout the elementary years -- both for reading and for spelling instruction.

I think every parent teaching a child to read should have (and use) Classical Phonics: A Child's Guide to Word Mastery. It cost $14.95 and is worth far more than that. If you have a child who loves workbooks and needs a gentle approach to reading instruction, I'd recommend First Start Reading, too. It sells for $29.95 for the teacher's manual and all three student workbooks.

If you'd like to hear what other members of the review crew thought about First Start Reading program and the Classical Phonics book, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received First Start Reading and Classical Phonics as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 3

2011-11-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for ...

a routine check-up,

an echo showing a perfect heart,

schoolwork on the go,

and, perhaps best of all, the cardiology nurse that wished us the first "Merry Christmas" of the year. They don't need to see Lauren until January.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 3

2011-11-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 3:27
"When it is in your power, don't withhold good from the one it belongs to."

Read-Aloud Challenge -- November 3

2011-11-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

Is it lame to do a Wordless post on a Thursday and to count it as my weekly read-aloud check-in with Debra at Footprints in the Butter?

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 2

2011-11-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my children.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 2

2011-11-02T15:50:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 2:4-6
"If you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

Review: Excellence in Literature

2011-11-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

It's obvious that I love to read to my children. Unfortunately, we don't always take the time to really discuss the books that we read aloud. If we do discuss the materials, I usually stick to fact-based questions. Sometimes I take the easy way and ask them to tell Daddy what we read. In the end, we get the basic story-line, but I rarely take the time to analyze the literature.

When I start thinking about what I want Addison's high school studies to include, I often think about how I want to purposefully study books with her. I want her to be able to grasp more than just the basic story line. I want her to be able to think about literature, analyze it, and then articulate a response to the works that she's read. The TOS Review Crew introduced me to a curriculum that will help meet those goals.

Excellence in Literature offers five years of literature study material for eighth through twelfth graders -- Introduction to Literature, Literature and Composition, American Literature, British Literature, and World Literature. Each book consists of nine units, each approximately four weeks long. If you'd like to see a list of literature covered in each book, you can download it here. Of note, each unit focuses on a single text; additional works are studied if you opt to follow the honors track.

Addison started by working through a unit on short stories, and I read through several of the other units. I'm very impressed.

The material is divided into week-long chunks, which teaches time management and also allows for a flexible school schedule. The student must set the pace so that they finish reading the work in the allotted time, and it really doesn't matter if they choose to read it seven days in a row or in just two very long reading sessions.

Each week also has a corresponding writing assignment. For instance, in the unit about Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, the student will write an Author Profile the first week, write an Approach Paper the second week, draft a 500-word essay the third week, and then edit the essay on the fourth week. The essay assignment for this unit asks the student to decide whether Dr. Fogg's valet did more to help or to hinder him on his journey. To complete the assignment, the student needs "to discuss specific events in the story, using appropriate quotes from the text to illustrate your point."

I found the writing assignments to be challenging. For Addison, they weren't overwhelming, but they definitely require her to think. This is a real literature study course. It doesn't simply quiz the student on their recollection of the characters, the setting, or even famous quotes. The author expects the student to think about real literary analysis questions.

Although the materials are written directly to the student, I personally would not feel comfortable using it unless I was familiar with the books and could help Addison along the way. Also, since this program asks analysis questions, there isn't really an answer key to mark objective questions right or wrong. The parent is given some guidance in terms of evaluating the student's essays, but the real evaluation comes from seeing that your student is really thinking about the materials and is learning how to defend their opinions about the it.

Addison and I will take some time to circle back and discuss some of the basics of literary analysis using a different program, and then continue using Excellence in Literature. I believe I have found what we'll use for Addison's literature studies during her high school years. After using these materials for the past few months, I can see how they'll allow her to enter college well-prepared for any literature class that she'll encounter.

Each one-year guide is $29 (or $27 for the ebook) or you can purchase all five years for $139 ($135 ebook). The author also recommends having your own copy of the assigned readings so that you can make notes in the margins, underline, etc.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Excellence in Literature, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received an electronic copy of Excellence in Literature: Reading and Writing Through the Classics as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 1

2011-11-01T18:22:00.000-05:00

I think it was last November that I posted a "I'm thankful for" status update on FB every day until Thanksgiving.
This year instead of using my Facebook profile to share the ways God has blessed me and my family, I'm going to share them here on my blog. This way I can include pictures. I can also join with Brenda at Garden of Learning who has issued a gratitude challenge for this month.
Today, I'm thankful for my family.

Proverbs in 31 Days -- Proverbs 1

2011-11-01T16:17:00.000-05:00

I remember posting a little about reading through the Bible with the B90 program hosted by Mom's Toolbox. I actually read through the Bible twice this year -- once last Spring and the second time finishing about a month ago. Unfortunately, when I reached the goal, I quickly fell out of the habit of reading God's word on a daily basis.

This month, I'm trying to get back into my Bible reading habit with Proverbs in 31 Days. To hold myself accountable, I'll be sharing a scripture or two from each chapter as I read.

Proverbs 1:5
"a wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance"

My Memories Suite Winner!

2011-10-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

Late last night (or rather, I guess it was really early this morning), I used random.org to pick a winner for the My Memories Suite giveaway.

Entry #7 was posted by lifeonahomestead -- October 30, 2011 at 5:22 pm.

Thank you everyone for entering! If you didn't win and would like to order My Memories Suite software, you can use the discount code STMMMS49512 to get a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software (regularly $39.97) and a $10 credit in the MyMemories store.

Goal Planning Monday

2011-10-31T09:45:00.001-05:00

Now that we're back from vacation, I'm setting off in full catch-up and get-ahead for the holidays mode.

I've found that I make more progress if I have a goal in mind so I'm going to join the Mama Manuscripts Goal Planning Monday meme this week. I'll be back next Monday to report my progress.

Here are my goals for this week (in no particular order):

1. Finish putting away all of the stuff from vacation.

2. Re-organize medicines and medical supplies.

3. Clean off my dresser and put all the jewelry where it belongs.

4. Finish making a meal plan for this month, hopefully with recipes and shopping lists. (Yay for e-mealz.)

5. Clean kitchen before bed each night.

6. Plan and set out school assignments each evening.

7. Christmas projects -- I have a coupon code that expires November 6th.

8. Take stuff to Goodwill (aka move huge pile out of the floor of my bedroom).

9. Find a new pediatrician for Lauren.

10. Work on new chore assignments and a schedule.

Moments to Cherish

2011-10-30T23:35:00.000-05:00

I could share hundreds of pictures that we took last week while we were at Disney World. I'm sure I'll share lots more over the next few weeks, but tonight I want to share a few special moments -- a few of those moments that I'll treasure.

I sent this text to a friend shortly after leaving our hotel the first morning: "You can understand a teary eyed mom pushing her princess to Epcot. There were days that I never would've imagined this."

All of us will remember when we walked over to ride the Tea Cups, and Alice in Wonderland asked the kids if she could ride with them. I looked over at one point, and I'm not sure if Brennan or Alice was trying harder to make it spin.

She's a lucky little girl to have two big kids to take such good care of her. She'd often opt to ride beside them on the fast rides (aka rollercoasters) instead of with a parent.

I never ceased to be amazed at the way all of the Disney castmembers went out of their way to say something nice to Lauren, and I don't think she ever got tired of being called Princess. Princess Aurora taught her how to hold her skirt and pose for pictures.

As Lauren met more of the characters and collected more autographs, she would get more excited about meeting them. I loved to see the way her face lit up during the parades and to hear her shout out to all of the characters that came by.

Sleep tight, my tired little princess...

Review: Educating the WholeHearted Child

2011-10-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

How do I tell you about the best homeschool book that I've read in ages? How can I even start to describe the way I was touched and encouraged? How do I convey the way that this book didn't meet my expectations in one way but far exceeded anything I hoped for in so many other ways?

Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson truly is all that and more.

Confession time: When I found out that I would get to review this book, I didn't fully check out the product information page here. If I had, I would have known that the book is nearly 380 pages long. I could've even read the sample chapter and known that this was not a typical education book. This book isn't about teaching your child the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic as I first assumed. It's not about how to stay sane while teaching one child algebra and keeping another child from coloring over her big brother's geography map either.

Instead, Educating the WholeHearted Child is about creating a Christian home and teaching your child to serve God "with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind." (Taken from 1 Chronicles 28:9, the words David spoke to his son Solomon near the end of his life)

Perhaps the best way to let you, the reader, know if this book would touch you the way it touches me is to share a few of the many passages that I've underlined in my now dog-eared copy.

p. 42 "You will never be able to live up to either the real or imagined expectations you place on yourself and your children. Don't even try! Make it your goal to please God in your homeschool, not other people. If you are truly seeking to please God in all that you do at home, that is the reputation that matters to Him and the one that should matter most to you."

p. 75 "The true test of a child's education is not what they know at any one time relative to what other children know (or don't know). It is whether or not the child is growing stronger in all of the most important learning skills -- the skills that enable them to acquire knowledge, insight, and ability and to educate themselves independently."

p. 213 "Reading is much more than simply an academic discipline. It is the doorway between a life of dependence on other people on one side and a life of spiritual and personal freedom on the other."

p. 285 "No one has to remind you that your home domain can quickly get out of control and need to be subdued. That's why you need some principles, priorities, and convictions that will help you bring order and structure to your lifestyle. It's like laying out a garden so you'll know what goes where, when, how much, and what will be needed to keep it all healthy."

p. 310 "Motherhood is not a sentimental journey but a challenging marathon characterized by acts of giving -- giving to, giving over, giving away, giving in, giving out, and occasionally, when not enough is taken in, giving up. And that last one is the real challenge of the homeschooling lifestyle -- how to stay refreshed and replenished as a mother so you can keep giving out, without giving up."

I could share hundreds of other quotes. This definitely isn't a book that I read through quickly. I read a section, went back to underline a few things I wanted to refer back to, thought about it, then thought about it some more, and then read on a bit father. I know that I will be reading through this book many, many times as we continue homeschooling our children. If ever there was a book that was in danger of being read so much that it falls apart, this book is it.

Educating the WholeHearted Child is available from Apologia and can be ordered for only $22. I have also truly enjoyed reviewing a few other books offered by Apologia, including Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson (see my review here) and How to Have a H.E.A.R.T for Your Kids by Rachel Carman (my review here).

If you'd like to hear what the other members of the review crew thought about Educating the WholeHearted Child, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a copy of Educating the WholeHearted Child as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Say Anything Family

2011-10-22T15:48:00.000-05:00

Our family was lucky enough to receive not just one North Star Games product to review this year, but two. I cannot tell you how excited my kids were when they tore open that box and found two new games.

Earlier today I posted a review of Wits and Wagers Family by North Star Games (here). Say Anything Family was just as big a hit with my family, and it perhaps even squeaked ahead to claim the spot as "favoritest" game we've played in a long time.

How to Play:

Each player chooses a color and receives a marker board and two colored tokens. For each round, one person gets a turn to ask the question.The "asker" gets to choose from three question options, all of which are open-ended or opinion questions.

The remaining players write an answer on their marker board and place it face-up in the middle of the playing area. No duplicate answers are allowed; first come, first serve. In our family, that rule sometimes means you have to write (scribble) quickly.

After all the answers are placed, the player that originally asked the question uses the Selectomatic 6000 to record their favorite answer. (The Selectomatic 6000 is simply a cardboard circle with a spinner that you move to your choice. It sounds so much cooler if you call it "The Selectomatic 6000" in your best TV announcer voice.)

After asker picks a favorite, the other players use their tokens to vote according to which answer they thought the question-asker picked. You can see both the answer cards and our tokens above.

Scoring is fairly straight forward. After all tokens are placed, the asker reveals the choice that was selected on the Selectomatic 6000. The person who wrote that answer gets a point. Other players receive points for each of their tokens on the chosen answer. The question-asker/answer-chooser gets up to three points for the number of tokens on the chosen answer board.

After each person has a chance to be the asker two times, the points are tallied and the game is over.

What we loved about Say Anything Family:

* Fun for all ages. We played games with just the kids, kids and parents, and even a few games of kids, parents, and grandparents. All were fun games, and we all had a blast.

Lauren is technically under the 8+ age recommendation, but she is able to play with a little help writing her answers. She loves this game so much that she woke up one morning begging to play, even though she and I were the only ones awake. She persisted, and I found myself playing with Lauren and several imaginary friends before I even had my first sip of coffee. Needless to say I lost. (I suspect that there was some sort of conspiracy amongst Lauren, Lenny, and Jose. I didn't stand a chance.)

* Builds great thinking skills. You have to think about an answer the asker would pick, not just write down a good response. For instance, one question we had asked which TV character would make a good teacher. My dad was the asker that round, and I knew he would be more likely to pick Andy Griffith than a modern day character. The more that you can put yourself in the other players' shoes, the better you will do.

* Doesn't have to be taken seriously. The open-ended questions lend themselves to all sorts of answers -- some serious, and in our family, a whole lot of not-so-serious. For instance, we were once asked, "What two flavors would make the worst ice-cream combination?" Our answers: sardines and caramel, cockroaches and peanuts, earwax and vomit, turnips and liver, spinach and cauliflower. There are definitely times when we say anything.

North Star Games has created several fun games for families, including both Say Anything Family and Wits and Wagers Family. (Note: they also have adult versions of those games, but I haven't seen them and can't vouch for their appropriateness.) According to their website, North Star Games are available at Target, Borders, and most specialty toy stores. They also have an online store finder to locate a store in your area. Say Anything Family retails for $19.99.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew enjoyed Say Anything Family, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a Say Anything Family board game as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Wits and Wagers Family

2011-10-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

One of the fun things about being on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew is the opportunity to review games and other fun educational activities. Most of those would appeal to all families, not just families that homeschool. Wits and Wagers Family by North Star Games is one of the new favorites at our house.

How to Play:
We found that Wits and Wagers Family is best played with at least three players, and more players often meant more fun. When we had more than 6 people wanting to play, a few people simply partnered up and worked as one.

One player reads a question. Some of the examples we heard were:
* On average, how many new dinosaur species are discovered each year?
* What percent of US households have at least 1 pet cat?
* What percent of messages on Twitter are classified as "Pointless Babble"?
* How many stars were on the flag that inspired The Star Spangled Banner?

As you can tell, all of the questions can (and must) be answered with a number. Each person writes their number on their colored game board, and then the boards are arranged from smallest to largest.

Then everyone uses their colored meeples (pictured at right) to vote for the answer they think is closest to the correct answer without going over. My husband said, "Just like The Price is Right," but we had to explain that reference to our kids.

When the correct answer is revealed, the person that wrote the correct answer gets a point, and every meeple on that card gets points (1 point for the mini-meeple and 2 for the big one).

The score is kept for up to 12 rounds, enough chances for each player to read two questions for the group.

Thing we really liked about Wits and Wagers Family:
* It uses dry erase boards, and therefore we don't need to track down scrap paper to keep score. There's also no chance of running out of specially-designed score sheets.
* We like the fun of using the meeples to vote on the answer you think is correct. I like that you can give one guess more weight than the other. If you're confident that you know the right answer, you can go "all in" and put both of your meeples on the same answer.
* You can score points even if you can't answer correctly on your own.
* Most of the questions aren't common knowledge. It's more about fun guesses than knowing trivia, and nobody felt dumb for not knowing the right answer.

North Star Games has created several other games that would appeal to families. (My review of Say Anything Family is here.) According to their website, North Star Games are available at Target, Borders, and most specialty toy stores. Wits and Wagers Family retails for $19.99, and you can use their online locator to find a store near you.

If you'd like to hear what the other members of the review crew thought about Wits and Wagers, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received a Wits and Wagers board game as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Read-Aloud Challenge -- October 20, 2011

2011-10-20T23:28:00.001-05:00

I'm quite embarrassed. I haven't linked up with the Read-Aloud Challenge at Footprints in the Butter for the past several weeks. Thankfully, I'm better at reading to my children than I am at taking the time to share each week.

Addison, Brennan, and I are still working our way through Rifles for Watie. I love the way that we can really get drawn into a longer book and see the main characters develop as the story progresses.

Lauren and I finished My Father's Dragon. Since we drug our feet through this one, we decided not to move on to the other books in the series. Instead, she noticed the Little House on the Prairie series that I have on the bookshelf and begged me to read it next. In fact, she willingly listened to the end of My Father's Dragon one night because I promised to read Little House in the Big Woods the next morning. So far, we're only two chapters into the book, but she already seems more interested.

Wordless Wednesday with Philip Johnny Bob

2011-10-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

Apparently Philip Johnny Bob has learned a lot by just sitting in the sun room while Lauren and I do her schoolwork. He was able to read all of her word cards last week.

Trivia question: Where did Philip Johnny Bob (the orange elephant) get his name?

My Memories Review and Giveaway

2011-10-17T22:03:00.001-05:00

Some time last month I had a note on my calendar that it was 100 days until Christmas. That reminder was supposed to encourage me to start working on my gift ideas sooner rather than later this year. I'm normally rushing in December to get my calendar and photo books finished so that I won't be late for Christmas. All too often, the gifts get finished, but I know that I could do a better (or fancier) job if I took more time with them. I now know that it might not even take me more time -- I just needed better tools.

My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software makes photo projects so fun and easy that I might just finish all of my gifts before December.

Here's the first page that I tried. It will go into the calendars we make for members of our extended families. I downloaded the program, picked my favorite pictures from last February, and then slid them into a predesigned template. I originally put a simple solid color background on the page, but later I went back and downloaded a free shabby paper back to add a bit of color and texture to the page.

Once I figured out how to download all sorts of extras, I really started having fun. I'm really happy with the way this page turned out, and it probably didn't take more than 15 minutes from start to finish (including deciding which photos were my favorites).

I think this next page would make an awesome gift for my daughter. I'll probably print it out in an 8x8 inch size and frame it so that she can remember her camp days last summer. Or, maybe I'll pull together some of the other camp pictures and make a big collage of all the great pictures. If I did that, I could include all the great snapshots we have of her hanging out with her old friends from DC.

Be sure to spend some time poking around the My Memories website. Not only does it have great online tutorials here, I could spend hours looking at the inspiration section of the website. In fact, if I spent as much time creating my own digital pages as I do looking at all the really cool things other people have done, most of my Christmas projects would be done by now.

I better get working....

If you'd like to use My Memories Suite software to create Christmas gifts for your family, you can order it here. If you use the discount code STMMMS49512, you'll get a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software (regularly $39.97) and a $10 credit in the MyMemories store.

Or, if you're willing to wait a few weeks to find out if you won, you can enter my giveaway to win a copy for free!

I'm going to make this giveaway easy to enter so that you can spend extra time looking at the digital photos you've already taken and thinking about how awesome they'd look scrapbooked into either a photobook or calendar. Simply visit MyMemories and leave me a comment telling me what product you'd most like to use -- either an album template, digital kit, a cute embellishment, or whatever. You could even look at the MyMemories gallery and tell me the cutest page you found.

Contest ends Sunday 10/30/11 at 11:59 pm (CST). The winner will be randomly chosen and will receive a free download of the MyMemories software (a $39.97 value) and a $10 credit in the MyMemories store.

Disclaimer: I received a free download of the MyMemories Suite and a $10 credit in their store so that I could write this digital scrapbooking review. All opinions are my own, and I received no other compensation for this review. I do, however, receive a small monetary compensation for any reader that uses my discount code to purchase their own software.

Review: Visual Latin

2011-10-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, my children do not study Latin simply because I have an evil desire to torture them. In fact, if you saw the Latin program that they've been using for the past several weeks, you'd agree that it was not torture.

Why I am so impressed with Visual Latin:

1. Visual Latin takes an approach that builds understanding first, vocabulary later.

I like their whole approach to teaching Latin -- understanding first, vocabulary later. After learning a sentence, we can substitute in easy vocabulary to make our own sentences instead of just knowing random Latin words. For instance, the first lesson covers being verbs (I am, he is, etc). The worksheet lesson for part A has the student translating basic sentences such as Sumus in Italia. (We are in Italy.) The second worksheet asks the student to fill in the correct form of the verb in simple sentences. Definitions for any unfamiliar words are included on the page.

Addison really likes the third portion of each lesson, the worksheet where you translate a Latin Bible passage into English. Some of the vocabulary is provided, but the student is expected to know some words and how they are being used in the passage. In the first lesson, one of the verses translates into "God is good." The words God and good are listed in the vocabulary box, but the student is expected to understand and translate the Latin word for is. The translation exercise in lesson 10 is nearly 20 sentences taken from the story of creation. A sample sentence from that page translates, "The earth is beautiful and good." At this point, the student is familiar with enough Latin words that a vocabulary section is not necessary.

2. The video lessons are amazing.

At least I think they're amazing. I've watched video lessons for several different subjects. I know that all of the instructors are passionate about what they teach, but it doesn't always seem that way in the videos. In the Visual Latin lessons, you can tell that Dwane Thomas loves teaching Latin.

You can also tell that he likes making Latin enjoyable, even funny at times. My children apparently don't share my sense of humor and often failed to appreciate his somewhat nerdy jokes. I guess that's their loss. I thought his comments about the "confusative case" to be quite funny.

We enjoyed some of the added information that he included, interesting facts that make Latin more real and less academic. For instance, in the fifth lesson, he mentions how Romans didn't have capital letters or punctuation. They also didn't leave spaces between their words. After hearing this, Brennan declared, "I want to write in Roman." He thinks I'd quit fussing about the sloppy state of some of his assignments if he didn't have to worry about those pesky little punctuation and capitalization rules in English.

3. Visual Latin's convenient format is perfect for my family.

We reviewed the Visual Latin lessons in their download format. I loaded the videos onto my iPod, and Brennan was excited to get permission to use it as part of his schoolwork. On a different occasion, we watched the video together on the computer screen. I am able to view iPod movies on our main TV, but it wasn't ever as convenient for us to do Latin that way.

The worksheets that accompany the video lessons are well-done. I found that it provided enough practice with the new concepts, but most pages did not require so much writing that my children complained about it. The translation exercise was sometimes a bit lengthy, and I often took dictation for Brennan on those days.

From a parent perspective, I appreciated that the worksheets were more than just the homework that accompanies the information in the video. Brennan didn't always catch on to the Latin grammar concepts the first time that they were presented, and I was able to use the information included on the worksheet to help review it with him. I also like that the worksheets were pdf files. More than once I reprinted a worksheet that was either lost or that needed to be redone.

Finally, I like that the Visual Latin lessons are sold in sets of 10. As most homeschool families know, there are always programs that sound so great but completely flop when I try to use them with my own kids. There are other products that end up getting pushed to the side when life gets in the way of the best of intentions. For me, I like being able to use 10 lessons and then evaluate whether we should move on to the next 10 lessons.

If you are interested in knowing why (or at least some of the reasons why) I want my children to learn Latin, you'd be interested in seeing Dwane Thomas's short video "Why Study Latin?". It is available as part of the sample Visual Latin lessons that can be downloaded here.

Visual Latin is suitable for older elementary students and can be used for part of a High School Latin course as well. If you'd like all the specifics of how to count it for High School credits, be sure to check out Visual Latin's All the Specs in One Place page. Downloaded lessons cost $25 for each set of 10 lessons; lessons on DVD are slightly higher.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about Visual Latin, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here.

I received the download version of the first ten Visual Latin lessons as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.

Review: E-Mealz

2011-10-14T15:58:00.002-05:00

I was a bit skeptical when I found out that I was chosen to review the E-mealz menu planning resource, but I ended up falling in love with the program.

Planning meals for my family is a difficult task. I eat a completely gluten-free and milk-free diet, and I also watch the carb content of the meals to manage my diabetes. My middle child has a life-threatening peanut allergy which also limits the products we use. Thankfully, all of my kids are fairly adventurous in terms of trying new foods. We all have a few favorite dishes that I fix, but nobody likes repeating a meal very often.

E-mealz advertises that it's as easy as 1, 2, 3...

1. Pick a plan. When I signed up for E-mealz, I chose the gluten-free plan for any store. There are tons of other options, but it seemed like a simple choice given my diet restrictions.

2. Print and go shopping. I made this step a bit harder than it would normally have to be. I knew that we had several outside commitments and therefore I didn't need to cook seven dinner meals that week. I crossed off a few meals, made the easy adjustments to the printed shopping list, and then went shopping.

3. Cook and enjoy. This step was the one that worried me the most. I worried about the size of the meals because I normally serve more side dishes than E-mealz includes. I worried that my family wouldn't like the new recipes. I worried that the meals would be too much effort or take too much time.

The verdict: Lots of thumbs up in our house!

We did indeed have enough food to feed my hungry family. There were some nights when we even had leftovers.

I learned a lot by cooking according to the E-mealz plan. I learned that it's really not that difficult or time-consuming to grill food. I used to always leave those meals for weekend nights when I could delegate the grilling to my husband. I also learned that sometimes simple food is good enough. My family has a favorite hamburger recipe that I sometimes fix, but nobody complained when I made hamburgers according to the easier E-mealz directions.

We all found new favorites. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the way that my husband and all three of the kids loved the Spinach Quiche recipe. I've already fixed it again with one of our old favorite entrees.

E-mealz is a subscription based service that costs $15 for a 3 month subscription. My husband noted that it was quite a bargain if you consider that most cookbooks cost at least that much. Cookbooks don't often come with neatly printed plans and shopping lists, either.

You can find all of the basic facts about E-mealz on their Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you'd like to hear how much the other members of the review crew thought about E-Mealz, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog here. Warning: many of us started taking pictures of the meals we fixed. I assume no responsibility if you start reading other reviews and then drool on your keyboard.

I received a three-month subscription to E-Mealz as a member of the 2011 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the program and how it worked for my homeschool family.

Review: Raising Real Men

2011-10-13T13:39:00.000-05:00

I remember a time when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing when it came time to raise a boy. I know girls -- me, my little sister, several hundred freshman girls that lived in the dorms with me, my oldest child, etc. When Brennan was a baby, I was still doing pretty good.

But then, before I knew it, I had a toddler -- a boy toddler.

Some things I could understand.

Things like chocolate

and playing outside.

I even learned to play with action figures.

But I'm not sure I ever figured out boys. I'm certain I never figured out what was going on the day I took this picture.

I wish I had read Raising Real Men years ago. (It's a new book, but I definitely could've used the information in it years ago.)

Hal and Melanie Young have six boys of their own and understand the challenges of raising boys. I definitely relate to their statement on page 24, "When we look at the foolishness and immaturity of our little boys we have a hard time recognizing the men they will become."

Perhaps that's the most important theme of the whole book. The idea is not to be a parent that survives each day without completely going insane. The idea is to raise Godly men.

The book starts out by talking about manly virtues.

"And what are the manly virtues?

In many cases, they're the same things we complain about in our boys: competitiveness, aggression, a desire for adventure (commonly called recklessness?). We may admire the independent spirit of man but grind our teeth when exhibited by our son. How about messy, scary ideas like heroism, courage, endurance, fortitude? Real men should be protectors, persistent, honorable, and intrepid. There's precious little that's neat and nothing that's quiet about those things." (p. 27)

Our society needs real men, but all too often we discourage the activities that build strong character for our boys.

We discourage risk taking and warn our boys to "be careful."

We don't take enough opportunities to let our sons develop their own sense of adventure.

Please don't misunderstand. This book isn't telling parents to let their sons run wild and get away with all sorts of uncivilized behaviors. "Raising manly men doesn't mean raising barbarians. Men can and should be civilized." (p. 126) Some of the best parts of the book talk about how to cultivate manly virtues while also teaching our sons to fit in well with our society.

In this book, the Youngs share how they taught their sons to interact in society, to lead their families, and to serve God. There are so many useful tidbits of information shared in these pages. I'll share one that particularly rang true with me.

"Boys really need a goal, some purpose for the day. She learned that giving them a list can help them see what has to be done and allow them to be in charge of doing it. It also gives them hope that there really is an end to the school day, if they don't prolong it themselves." (p. 152) I figured this out with Brennan a few years ago, after spending several years butting heads and trying to drag him along as we slogged through his school assignments each day. That's why I rarely start a school day with Brennan without either a written schedule or filled workboxes. I wish I could've skipped over the years of arguing and dawdling and started with a schedule from the beginning.

Throughout the book, Hal and Melanie Young talk about the Biblical principal laid out in Luke 16:10: "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." (NIV) As their boys grew up, they'd give them small tasks so that they could develop responsiblity. As they showed themselves worthy of that trust, they were allowed to take on more responsibilities. With greater responsibility, the children were given more freedom. This model allows their children to develop the skills necessary to become an independent (and successful) adult.

Of course, I still have days where I want to pull my head out. I also find myself thinking, "What in the world is going through his head?" I've also learned that moms of boys often say things that I never thought I'd say. Now that I've read Raising Real Men I understand it all a bit better, and I try not to let it get me down. Most importantly, I no longer try to fit my boy into my preconceived notions that were largely based on my experiences with girls..

My bottom line: If you have a son, you need to buy this book. Read it, and then read it again. Turn down the corners of a few pages (or a lot of pages) and highlight your favorite passages. Refer back to it when you're pulling your hair out because your son is acting like... well... I guess acting like a boy, right? Refer to it also on the days when you think about the future and when you pray about the man your son will grow up to be.

The Youngs ended Raising Real Men with the hope, "May we all become the parents of godly heroes." That's my prayer for my son and for all the other boys I know and love.

Raising Real Men can be purchased from Timberdoodle, one of my favorite online stores for educational materials. What I love most about Timberdoodle is that they have found all of the coolest products to make our school days (and entire lives) more fun. In addition to homeschool supplies, you can find parenting helps and boy-friendly products for outdoor learning.

Even if you aren't a homeschooler, you really should stop by Timberdoodle.com and request a free homeschool catalog. Their products make excellent gifts!

Disclaimer: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Raising Real Men in exchange for a frank and unbiased review. You can find other reviews of Raising Real Men on the Because Mom Said blog.

Tasty Tuesday -- Shrimp and Grits

2011-10-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

I've never linked up with a Tasty Tuesday meme before, but I had a request to share my shrimp and grits recipe (see the great tomato debate post from last weekend).

A couple of months ago a dear friend of mine posted of Facebook that she was cooking shrimp and grits and then graciously sent me a recipe when I begged for it. It's become a family favorite. Better still, it's the sort of recipe where I can just keep the ingredients on hand and throw it together without much fuss.

I can no longer find the original stained printout, and I'm sure I've changed the recipe around a bit anyway. I'll just share what I did the other night.

Ingredients:
Grits (quick cooking)
Chicken broth (or water)
Cheddar cheese
Garlic Powder (optional)
Bacon
Shrimp (raw, peeled, tail-off)
Garlic (1-2 cloves)
1 regular sized can of diced tomatoes

I put about a half a pound of bacon slices into a hot skillet to fry. (Yum! Anything that starts with bacon has to be good, right?)

While the bacon cooks, I start the grits. You need Quick grits -- the five minute kind, definitely not instant grits (Ick!). For my family of big-eaters, I used 6 cups of liquid and 2 cups of grits. I usually cook them using chicken broth instead of water, but nobody complained about them when I was out of broth. I think I had a 4 cup container of homemade broth in the freezer the other night, and I added 2 more cups of water. If you are using all water, be sure to add salt when cooking. When the broth boils, add the grits and turn on low for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, back at the frying pan.... When the bacon is crisp, remove from the pan and chop into small pieces (leave them bigger than bacon bits though).

Add the shrimp and let cook for a minute or two until it turns pink. I buy frozen uncooked shrimp, already peeled with the tails off. Once or twice I've picked up the wrong package and had to slip the tails off myself. No big deal. For my family of five big eaters, I use 20 ounces. This is often served on one of our busiest nights and is the only dish on the table. If I made salad or bread or something, we'd need a bit less. I also usually end up with at least one mom-sized serving to have for lunch later in the week.

When the shrimp is done, add a couple of cloves of garlic (minced) and the can of diced tomatoes. I like to use seasoned tomatoes, the kind with basil, garlic, and oregano. Cook until it's all hot, about a minute or two more, and then stir in the bacon.

When the grits are done, add in a handful of grated cheddar cheese. My guess is that a handful is about a quarter to a third of a cup. (Note: precise measurements are very important to this recipe.) You can add a little garlic powder, too.

Serve the shrimp mixture over the garlic-cheese grits.

If you have tomato-haters in the family, let them pick out the large chunks of tomatoes. An artistic arrangement of the undesired tomatoes is completely optional.

I'm linking up this post at A Glimpse of Our Life and with Stay at Home Babe. Come join the fun if you'd like to find new recipes!

The great tomato debate

2011-10-08T21:53:00.004-05:00

We are a family divided. Two of us like tomatoes, but three do not. Because of this disparity, we often discuss the proper type of canned tomatoes to use when cooking. Sometimes I buy the petite-diced variety of tomatoes so that they will be less noticeable. Recently I tried a new dish that we all loved -- shrimp and grits. The tomato-haters in the family did not particularly care for the chunks of yummy tomato pieces found floating amongst their food. Thankfully, they didn't object to the tomato flavor, just to the chunks.

In the case of shrimp and grits, the tomato-haters asked me to just use the regular sized diced tomatoes. It makes them easier to pick out. A few minutes after we said the blessing, this is what three of the plates at our table looked like:

Reaching my goals with the help of PAL

2011-10-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I posted about my goal to teach Lauren to read this year. I'm by no means convinced that all Kindergarteners need to learn to read or are developmentally ready for reading instruction. It does, however, seem like a reasonable goal for Lauren to accomplish this year.

Where she started: At the beginning of the year, Lauren could identify all of the letters (both uppercase and lowercase). She also knew the sounds for a lot of the letters. I remember that she could write her name and the names of a few family members. I think she was writing in all capital letters though.

What we're using: Primary Arts of Language by Institute for Excellence in Writing. I purchased both the Reading (PAL-R) and the Writing (PAL-W) materials.

Where the program began: On the first day, Lauren learned to write c, o, and a. It started with just letter formation; she did not have to space them correctly on the lines until later in the program. Each of the letters was introduced with a short story to help remember its sound. The program continued to introduce approximately three letters per day. We practiced these letters on paper, on her markerboard, in a shallow box filled with salt, and with sidewalk chalk.

During our reading instruction the first day, we played two folder games that reviewed the letter sounds and stories. We also created a folder game to practice color words. The first two color words, green and yellow, were also added to the deck of cards that contain words to practice. Even though these words are introduced as sight words, the materials pointed out that the squeely-e's in green make a long e sound and that ow often makes a long o sound at the end of words like yellow. The stickers we put on the Phonetic Farm display reinforced those two phonics rules.

We also wrote in Lauren's journal, read a poem, and summarized a story ("Goldilocks and the Three Bears" for the first day).

Our favorite part: Lauren loves all of the work and looks in her workboxes every morning to see what she's going to do for the day. She was quite disappointed when I decided to slow down a time or two and didn't put a new handwriting sheet in her assignments.

I especially like the folder games that correspond to the lessons. The folder games are already printed on cardstock and only require a few minutes of my time to glue each one together.

Feeding word cards to the monster

Lauren's favorite game is a memory-style matching game with new words. The PAL version of Memory adds a twist where the cards are placed on top of numbers. When you make a match, you count those numbers as your score. We keep score when we play by adding beads to a necklace.

It took me a little while to grasp the concept of using the games to both teach and review the concepts. I now understand that Lauren learns a bit more every time she plays one of the folder games and that it's okay to continue to help her with them until she completely masters the concept. Some of the curriculum I have used in the past requires mastery before you move on. With PAL, I sometimes move on to the next lesson and trust that she'll learn the words or sounds as we continue to practice the games.

Where she is now: A few weeks ago she received her first reader. Apparently she liked it so much that she took it to bed with her that night.

Every morning, Lauren reads a set of four or five sentences. This morning's sentences included, "No, she cannot go today."

Reading to Col. Opa during a recent visit

We still review the games, and she practices lots of word cards each day.

Each day also has a work page that includes sentences for the student to glue underneath the corresponding illustration. Tomorrow's page includes sentences such as, "One kitten is black and white." In terms of handwriting, Lauren has been practicing copying words this week. You can see some of her recent work in the picture below.

The PAL-Writing program teaches a child to summarize a story using a story chart. Sometimes we use the chart and sometimes we just discuss the elements.

Where she is going: Obviously the reading lessons will continue to introduce phonics skills. When I flip to the end of the book, I can see that she'll be reading words such as exercise, afternoon, stammered, hundreds, and vegetable.

As we move through the writing program, Lauren will eventually be retelling the stories that we read. Later lessons will introduce composition skills, including the dress-ups used in later IEW programs.

The Spelling portion of this language arts program uses All About Spelling, and Lauren will be starting those lessons shortly.

Anything I don't like: These materials are designed for a child that is already quite familiar with letters and letter sounds, and it may move too quickly for some children. On occasion, I've declared a game day and didn't introduce new concepts.

This program can be a bit time intensive. I normally spend about an hour and a half working with Lauren on these materials, and we should be spending an additional 30 minutes playing games. The activity time spent on games could be done with an older sibling.

The verdict: In many ways, we've found this program to be the perfect Kindergarten curriculum for Lauren. It balances written work with hands-on games, incorporates daily poetry reading, and encourages the student to use their knowledge of phonics skills to decipher new words.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any products or compensation for writing this post. I'm simply sharing because it's a product that's working very well for me and my child.

Wordless Wednesday: Best part of our recent field trip

2011-10-05T21:01:00.002-05:00

Moments to Cherish

2011-10-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

I blog about a lot of stuff -- homeschool curriculum, books that we're reading, what my neighbor said while I was running, and what goofy things my kids are up to lately.

I fear that I've neglected to record the special moments in my days -- moments when I slow down and enjoy all that I've been blessed with, moments when I sang with one of my children, and moments when I laugh at the goofy things we're doing.

This week I want to remember a morning when Lauren was riding her bicycle down the hill near our house singing, "Mighty to Save" at the top of her lungs. I love that she has heard so many Christian songs so many times that she sings them spontaneously throughout her days. I also love that her version of "Mighty to Save" talks about how God is the "Arthur of salvation."

I had already run five miles that morning, but nothing felt better than running a bit more to keep up with her. I can't claim credit for taking these pictures, but they're perhaps even more precious to me because Addison did.

In addition to recording these special moments here, I'm sharing them with my friends in the weekly Sweet Little Photo Swap. I hope they'll forgive me for not posting pictures that I took myself.

Homeschool goals my way

2011-10-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

Last year, I never chose to participate in the TOS Blog Cruise, and I think I missed out on a lot of fun. Every two weeks, crew members are given a homeschool related topic that they can choose to write about. I'm not sure if it's more fun to write about the topic or to hop around to see everyone else's thoughts.

And so without further rambling on my part, I'll jump ahead to this week's question:

What are your homeschool related goals for this year?

I started to ignore the question and just skip the cruise again this week. I have lots of pages in my planners to set goals, but those pages always end up blank. I think it's flashbacks to the nights I spent trying to think of specific measurable objectives for my lesson plans in college (elementary and early childhood education major).

I've decided that I can set goals for our homeschool year however I want them, though, and they don't have to be the objectives that I used to dread writing.

Addison: Since Addison will be moving into high school level work next year, we're going to focus on developing composition skills that will meet those demands. We'll also be doing more literature study this year.

Brennan: Most of Brennan's schoolwork will be continuing on with what we've been doing for the past several years. I'd really like to find a way to help him improve his handwriting so that his work will be neater (or at least legible).

Lauren: She eagerly waited for her first day of kindergarten so that she could learn to read, and that's our primary goal this year. She was disappointed that she wasn't reading chapter books at the end of her first day's lessons, but she's making great progress towards that goal.

If you'd like to peek at what other homeschool families have set as their goals for the year, you can click on the blog cruise button to find the list of participating crew members.