A Super-Mommy Kind of Day

A lot of nights I get ready for bed and mentally think through all of the things that I wished I had done that day. A lot of times I think about our homeschool days and wish I was doing more.

Today was a Super-Mommy Kind of Day. I'm going to celebrate all that we did today and hope that we have more awesome days to come.

Lauren needed to have labs drawn this morning. We were running a little late, but we still got there before the lab tech did. I even had the right color bandaid with me.

When we came home, Brennan had already started on his schoolwork. Apparently the new assignment form encouraged him to get some of it done.

Lauren did some preschool math activity sheets that I had printed out.

Brennan and I read some of his science book together, and then we googled to find out what the earthquake in Haiti registered on the Richter scale.

Lauren worked on Reading Kingdom on the computer for a while. She learned enough typing skills to move on past the letter part, and now she's working on words. She can now type kid and is working on girl.

Brennan worked on the computer for a while, covering various subjects.

Addison and Lauren fixed lunch. Addison made pasta with alfredo sauce, and Lauren cut up fruit (bananas, grapes, and clementines) to make fruit salad.

After lunch, Addison and Brennan helped Lauren with a music lesson online. Imagine that -- a homeschool day that includes extras like music. We also did a lesson of Latin together this afternoon.

During rest time, I snuck outside to enjoy some fresh air and to read my day's Bible assignment. I'm almost caught up.

The weather was so nice outside that I made the kids go outside and enjoy it. Lauren rode her scooter down the street and jumped on the trampoline. Addison and Brennan were playing basketball for a while, and then they started begging to do a science experiment.

What kind of homeschool mom would I be if I didn't let them do science experiments? Yes, I let them climb on top of the roof so that Addison could use her new physics knowledge. She dropped a baseball, and I ended up working the stop watch. She used the time it took the ball to drop to calculate how tall the roof was. She was actually pretty close, especially considering that we were trying to use my iPod to time a drop that only took eight-tenths of a second.

And, of course, the highlight of Tim's day was coming home to a good dinner. I cooked corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot. The cabbage-haters in our family requested lima beans as an additional side. I served it with hot crash potatoes and cheese-garlic biscuits.

For a special Valentine's Day treat, I made one of Tim's favorite desserts -- Red Velvet Cake.

So there you have it... one awesome day. I've definitely earned my "Mrs. Incredible" title tonight.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 4

In my life this week...
I never finished last week's journal entry, so I guess I should catch up on two weeks. (I'm tempted to just skip over a week, but it all sort of fits together.)

Two weeks ago, Lauren spiked a fever on Wednesday. The peds clinic didn't see anything wrong. I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of a fever without a cause. I talked to her transplant team on Thursday, and they checked her out from top to bottom. All the x-rays, labs, cultures, etc. came back clear, and she hadn't run a fever since Wednesday afternoon.

On Sunday Lauren ran a fever again and that night she was up a lot during the night complaining that her ear hurt. On Monday afternoon, I took her to the peds clinic. The pediatrician saw a raging ear infection. One of the transplant cardiologists and a nurse practitioner came down from their clinic and agreed that it was probably just the ear infection causing her ear ache. She got an antibiotic shot in the office, and we left with a prescription for more antibiotics. Unfortunately, she looked sicker shortly after we got home. She was breathing really fast so I took her back to the ER. After waiting in the ER for most of the night, Lauren was eventually admitted to the CVICU with pneumonia. She perked up after a day or two of IV antibiotics, and on Friday she looked good enough for us to come home.

Needless to say, I'm hoping for a little peace and quiet this week.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Nowhere. Nobody. Seriously. The transplant team basically grounded Lauren for pulling her little pneumonia trick. She's not allowed to go to therapy, to church, or anywhere else for the next two weeks. I'll probably take the big kids to the library one afternoon and just wait in the car with Lauren. Otherwise, we'll all be entertaining ourselves at home.

My favorite thing this week was hearing what a great job Addison and Brennan did helping out around the house while I was at the hospital with Lauren. I'm so proud of them!


Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...
This morning I realized that Addison is getting dangerously close to high school. I was thinking about ideas for next year and figured out that we need to at least start thinking about high school classes before we finalize our eighth grade plans. Am I ready for this?

A photo to share...
The other day I pulled an old Usborne book off the shelf and threw it in my tote bag as I ran out the door to an appointment. It was 1001 Things to Find on the Farm. Lauren and I had spent many hours hunting and counting our way through the book. I might need some of the others from that series.

Project 365 (Week Six)

Another week when I still haven't managed to get one picture for each day. I may not be perfect, but I'm not giving up yet.

Monday, February 7: Lauren was looking pretty sick that afternoon. I ended up taking her to the ER, and she was admitted with pneumonia. We camped out there until Friday afternoon.

Wednesday, February 9: Meanwhile, back at the hall of justice... We got approximately four-and-a-half inches of snow at our house. Arkansas doesn't normally get much snow so it doesn't take very much to shut everything down. I was happy to be warm and dry in Lauren's hospital room

Thursday, February 10th: Lauren was feeling much better and started to take advantage of all the benefits of hospital living. One of her favorite things was playing online games (NickJr, Playhouse Disney) using the computer touch-screen.

Friday, February 11th: Cub Scout Wear Your Uniform to School day

TOS Review: Curiosity Files

Recently, I've seen a lot of homeschool moms blogging about homeschool burnout or about how to survive the winter doldrums. I'm not sure we were approaching burnout, but I do know that recently we all enjoyed a short break from our regular school assignments.

Brennan and I worked through The Curiosity Files: Zombie Fire Ants, a new unit study ebook from The Old Schoolhouse. Please don't tell him how much he actually learned that week -- he thinks he got off easy.

That week I saw how Brennan does with reading comprehension and narration. He actually did quite a bit better than I thought he would. I think the high-interest level of the materials made it easier for him to pay attention and pick up new facts. At one point, I had to stop listening to him read so that I could answer a phone call. He continued reading on by himself and then excitedly told me what he had learned. Another reading comprehension activity was disguised as an art project. I'm not sure it was his best effort in terms of art, but he did follow all of the directions correctly.

For math, we explored great real-life applications for the skills he's been learning in his other math programs. For instance, he calculated travel costs, read flight schedules, and even adjusted for time-zone changes. Some of the other math activities dealt with measurements, averages, perimeters, and more.

I was a bit tickled at the way this unit study covered grammar. It was just perfect -- zombie sentences. Those are the ones that wander aimlessly and go on and on. My teachers would have called them run-on sentences, but zombie sentences makes much more sense. I have a feeling Brennan will remember the concept a whole lot better this way.

If I listed every subject we covered using this study, I'd probably end up writing an awful zombie sentence myself. Perhaps I'll just say that Bible study, science experiments, geography, art, copywork, and even snack time were fully covered.

All told, the Zombie Fire Ants study contained 91 pages of activities. We easily divided it up so that it was completed in about a week. There are lots of internet links included, but we were able to complete nearly all of the activities without having to look things up online. It is a big help for me if we can work offline because we often carry schoolwork along with us to doctors' appointments or on long road trips.

These studies were created for 8 to 13 year olds, and I agree that they'd be perfect for upper elementary and middle school students. Some of the activities included both both an elementary option and a junior high/high school option.

I've already purchased a few other Curiosity Files studies to have on hand. They'll be perfect for a week that's packed with outside activities, a week when we're all in need of a short break from the normal routine, or perhaps even a week when the big kids need to work more independently than usual because I'm busy taking care of Lauren. I'm perhaps most interested in the MRSA one, but I have a feeling that Brennan will vote for doing either Cicada-Killing Wasps or Dung Beetles first.

The individual Curiosity Files ebooks are available at The Old Schoolhouse Store and most of them currently retail for $6.95. The best value is the 9 pack bundle that costs $46 for the download or $49 on CD. I've sometimes seen some of these ebooks available at a discount.

Many other homeschool children have been using Curiosity Files studies over the past month. If you'd like to see what their parents thought about it, please visit The Old Schoolhouse Crew blog. I can't wait to find out what the other families thought about studying Dung Beetles. Maybe it won't be quite as gross as I fear.

I received a free copy of The Curiosity Files: Zombie Fire Ants ebook to download as a member of the 2010 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.

TOS Review: VocabAhead

Once again, I've had the chance to review a product that would appeal to both homeschool parents and to parents who send their children to either a public or private school.

There's a part of me that thinks about studying vocabulary for the SATs and thinks that it's still so far away. There's another part of me that thinks more logically and realizes that it really isn't too early for my seventh grader to be studying vocabulary words, including ones that are likely to be on the SATs (or other standardized tests).

For the past month, Addison has been using VocabAhead SAT Vocabulary: Cartoons, Videos & MP3s. This paperback book ($12.95, available through Amazon.com) covers 300 words that are commonly found on standardized tests. Each entry includes the word, part of speech, definition, a black and white cartoon drawing, a few sentences to illustrate the definition, and a list of synonyms and antonyms. The 300 words are divided into 30 lessons. Each lesson concludes with a matching exercise and ten fill-in-the-blank sentences.

The book is far more, however, than just the words and the review exercises. The real value comes in the downloadable files that can be accessed online after purchasing the book. The MP3 files contain the spoken information: word, definition, and then a few sentences. The video downloads include the spoken information and the corresponding cartoon drawing (in color). The MP3 files and videos can be loaded on a portable device so that you can study anywhere. It appears as if the complete set of videos would take up 500MB of space on your iPod (or other video-capable devise).

Perhaps a sample of a few videos would be appropriate to share:

I really like the audio components because Addison often learns new vocabulary words when she is reading independently. Unfortunately, she doesn't always learn how they are pronounced. I guess this wouldn't be an issue for standardized testing purposes, but it does make for comical conversations at our house sometimes. It also wouldn't be quite as impressive in an interview if she used complex words that were mispronounced. When Brennan begins to study vocabulary at this level, I suspect that he will benefit from both hearing the words and seeing the cartoon picture. He's more of a visual and auditory learner; he doesn't learn as effectively if he is just reading things on his own.

In addition to the printed book, parents may find the VocabAhead website to be quite helpful, especially the Study Room. You can find over 1000 difficult vocabulary words explained using videos. You can also take quizzes or create lists of words to study. I even used the website to choose the videos and create the widget I posted above.

Addison has primarily been working through the word lists in the book so far. I'm interested in VocabAhead's iPod app. This option includes the videos, the cartoons made into flash cards, and quizzes. It will even keep track of which words you've already learned so that you only study the ones you need to practice. I'm seriously considering purchasing the app ($4.99 for 1000 words or only $1.99 for 300) so that she can more easily access the audio and video portions of the program. All too often she'll complete the written exercises without stopping to look up the MP3s on the computer or an iPod.

If you'd like to see what other homeschool families thought about their products from VocabAhead, be sure to check out The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew blog. Some of us received the paperback book, and other families have been using their DVD product. I know that the DVD has MP3s and videos for at least 1000 words, all of which can be easily loaded onto a portable device.

I received VocabAhead SAT Vocabulary for free as a member of the 2010 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.

Project 365, More or Less (Week Five)

Another week that's missing a few pictures. Maybe next year I'll hit exactly 365 pictures, then again, how much fun is it to do something perfectly.

Monday, January 31st: Lauren and Brennan built the Lego castles in the living room. Brennan claimed the larger castle and added some Bionicles to defend it.

Wednesday, February 2nd: Lauren spiked another "mystery" fever. She's been doing this off and on for over a month. Really her only symptom that day was the fever making her feel bad. Two doctor's visits and lots of testing later, we're all reasonably satisfied that we shouldn't be worried.

Thursday, February 4th: Dinner time at our house. Lauren was laughing about something (probably a knock-knock joke), and I always find it funny how she covers her mouth when she starts laughing really hard. A minute later I just happened to turn the camera around quickly enough to get a good candid shot of Addison.

Sunday, February 6th: After we cleared up the fever confusion of last week, Lauren came down with a cold this morning. She was coughing too much for church, but she wanted to dress up anyway. She was playing an educational computer game -- you can tell she's really paying attention to what she's supposed to be doing.

TOS Review: Roman Town

Okay, I'll admit it -- I got so enthralled in playing the game that my children were supposed to be reviewing that I stayed up way past my bedtime. I'm not normally a computer game person. I don't do the games on facebook, and I stink at nearly everything on the wii. When I played Roman Town, I kept wanting to do just a little bit more, and then a bit more, and then one more excavation.

Roman Town is an educational computer game created by Dig-It! Games. They advertise it as "all the fun of a real archaeological excavation without getting your hands dirty!"

Perhaps if I show you what I did on the game, you'll understand why I kept saying, "I'll just do one more excavation site and then I'll go to bed."

This is my excavation site. Can you see the little stick figures digging for me? I picked out which tools they should use. The diggers did the bulk of the work and called for me when they uncovered something that I might be interested in.

When they found something, I used my trowel to carefully scrape away the dirt to see what we discovered. Each artifact was explained, and often the program told extra facts about Roman Life. They refer to it as LEARN -- Locate Engrossing And Remarkable Knowledge. For instance, I now know that Romans had mosaics that spelled out "Cave Canum." These roughly equate to our modern day "Beware of Dog" signs.

After uncovering everything in my site, I sorted everything into appropriate categories (pottery versus metal) and moved on to the lab.

Sometimes I needed to piece together the objects that I uncovered. This three dimensional amphorea was more challenging than the two dimensional mosaic I did on another dig.

After completing several activities, I could complete my lab report. The lab report was a fill-in-the-blank paragraph that requires the archaeologist to be familiar with the new aspects of Roman life that were introduced during that excavation. At first Brennan found the lab report to be quite difficult, primarily because he didn't want to slow down and read all of the information given for each object.

Even though Brennan really didn't take the time to read all the information, but he still thought the game was really cool. He liked learning about archeology and using the tools. About a week ago, he told me that he learned a lot about what life was back then -- you know, when the Indians were living in America. That's when I realized that I needed to hover nearby to make sure he was actually doing some of the reading. He was caught the next day when he couldn't complete the lab report and move on to the next dig site.

Addison thought this was a good computer game, even though she'd rather email her friends when she has time to work on the computer. She remembers a lot of the information from our previous Roman studies, and she suggested that this would be an excellent game to play while studying Ancient Rome or Pompeii.

My only complaint about the program is that much of the information needs to be read and that there is no audio captioning. My guess is that it would require a child to be reading at least at a third or fourth grade level. I suspect that's why the program is recommended for 5th through 8th graders. I suspect that Brennan would have learned a lot more about Roman Life if the information was verbal instead of written. Younger students or struggling readers would likely enjoy this game but might need a parent nearby to help do the reading.

Roman Town is available on CD and normally costs $39.95. Right now it is only available for Windows computers, but a MAC version is coming soon. For the next few weeks (until Feb. 21, 2011), Dig It! is offering a special coupon code --- the coupon code TOS2011 allows you to get the game for only $19.96.

As always, you can find more opinions about the Roman Town archeology game on The Old Schoolhouse Crew blog.

If you do decide to play Roman Town, please don't blame me if you get caught up in playing it yourself and don't get enough sleep. I will not feel guilty about sleepy parents, and I will not referee any arguments about who's turn it is to play Roman Town next.

I downloaded the Roman Town computer game for free as a member of the 2010 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the book and how it worked for my homeschool family.