Training for Eternity

Creation Science Conference this week

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

http://ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/CreationExpo.htm

I have not posted in forever and the format here has changed so much. Today I wanted to share with you about a Creation Science conference online. It is put on by my friend Felice Gerwitz from Meda Angels.

Here is the link to the tickets and it is only $19.97 up until today. Online classes with this country's top Creation Science folks.

http://ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/CreationExpo.htm Please skip on over to this link to see what its all about!

Julie

Missing Your Loved One at This Time of Year

2011-11-23T10:24:00.000-05:00

During the holiday season is a fun time for most people. Those however who have lost someone very close to them in the past few years may not think so. It is a hard time as we remember what that loved one like to do over Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.

Our middle son Brendon loved Christmas. (He's in the stripy shirt). Thanksgiving was a holiday he never really enjoyed as the food was not to his liking. He spent most of the Thanksgivings he can actually remember in the hospital or unable to eat. I guess that was only two really. For me not being born in America, it kind of still has not sunk in but I am trying to celebrate the freedom that we have to live here and worship the Lord freely. I am conveying that to the boys. I think my husband does realize this too.

All I can say is 3 years and 1 month today a precious part of my heart disappeared to heaven and is missed every day, and more during these 'happy' times of year. Reach out and touch someone physically or with a phone call this week who has lost a precious loved one, or even those who have lost a job or home. They need to know they are important. Don't try to tell them everything will be okay, as sometimes it is not. Sometimes it takes a very long time for life to turn around and be okay.

Thanks for hearing my heart today. Brendon we miss you and we love you darling. Your smile will live in my heart forever.

Ultimate Homeschool Special Needs Expo.

2011-09-12T16:41:00.002-04:00

Hello my friends,

Life has been busy for our family. Once again I wanted to share about the Ultimate Homeschool Expo but this time there is an Expo for those with Special Needs. I do not advocate any of my children as having an abnormal learning ability but I must admit there are some challenges for me weekly.

I am learning from this Expo that I need to be teaching my Right Brained child a little differently. This Expo is introducing me to people who are trained in this area. I am learning how to challenge my children in their school days without them being bored any longer.

Click on over and take a look please. The price for the Expo at the moment is $19.97. After you have a ticket you will have access to at least 50 audios and other information included in the price. When you attend live you can enter for prizes too.

You can listen live during the Conference and chat with other Moms in the Chat room on the homepage. Come and join me in the mornings or afternoons this week for the Special Needs expo.

Click the title to this post to link through for more information.

Living in the US of A

2011-08-07T15:39:00.000-04:00

When I first moved here I thought it would be awesome to live in this free country which is so full of things I am able to get. I now say so many years later that most days I wish I could raise up our family in the 'freedom of Africa.' Do not get me wrong I am happy in the USA but there are so many simple things of life that are not here that are in Africa.

My children would be reasonably free to run around a huge yard, be it fenced for security reasons, but not too fearful of strangers. My children would be playing out in the sunshine and running through the bush with tackies on their feet and probably digging up chongololos (big black centipedes) with their fingers. Yes they can do that here but sometimes touching bugs eeks them out, not me. How did that happen? My children would be full of more questions about their world than just watching a DVD or video or looking it up on the Internet. They would grab a book and use it.

My children pester me to go online or to watch TV. I don't remember doing that too much in Africa. It was a major privilege to watch TV and even a movie every now and then. I grew up without Color TV too.

What would happen if you had to revert back to no TV, no computer, no Internet and computer? What would I do or you do? Would you know what to do, would you know how to survive? It is so easy to become sucked into this world's frame of thinking that you need all these things, and stuff and food etc. No you don't. How would your children learn? How could you contact someone? Have you ever thought of writing a letter? Do you know what kind of impact a card can make on someone's day across the country or world?

The Lord has been teaching me that what is most important is Him, and how He can change our world, our every moment, every day and He is watching, He is longing to be with us all someday. Yes I have made many bad decisions in my life. He is bringing me back to my first love with Him from when I was a little girl sitting in a garage listening to Uncle Lynne tell me Jesus loves me so much, and am I willing to give my heart to Him. Yes I did.

The books of James and Galatians have been my focus lately and through some teaching from those books I see I do not really 'need' all these things to build the world for our family. I need Him. I need to love Him more than anything. He should be my Ultimate friend on a moment by moment basis. Am I there yet? No way. This is just the new beginning for my heart?

Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

I have lost much in this life and been through much affliction, BUT GOD held me in the palm of His Hand and nourished my spirit and soul even when I did not want it. Some days I still do not want to walk the way He has shown me. I do look around me and see hurting people who just won't choose Him as they know they will have to change. Change is a way of life. I have lived in 3 different countries, I have moved countless times in those places and all through these 'moves' and 'changes' the Lord has been right there. Staying in contact with my friends has been a priority since living in the USA. I do use Facebook as it is easier and cheaper but also depend on staying in touch by phone and snail mail to those places without such luxuries as Internet.

Do people know you really care? Have you sat down and written to them after thinking about what they really mean to you? I am preaching just as much to me as I am to whoever may read this through. The people I am sending this to have made an impact on my life for a short or long time. I do love you too. Please hear me - I'm just sharing this so you know how I am doing. So many of you ask me from time to time.

I am determined to make this life one that is full of fun, laughter and love for my Saviour and Redeemer, as well as to share His love for me and His creation with others.

I have quoted this before on Facebook and will do this again:

"The only option confronting the contemporary Christian today is you either master the culture, or the culture master's you." Moody Radio, Chicago, IL

I love my dear sweet husband Walt and my precious boys - all 3 of them. Thank you Lord for all the trials and afflictions and for working out my salvation through them. I'm sure there will be more during the years to come.

I am on the road to discovering more of the Mission God has for my life as I don't want to end up Somewhere without a Purpose. I came to the US of A to serve Jesus and I will continue to do that wherever the road takes me.

Ultimate Homeschool Convention Online!

2011-04-28T12:16:00.000-04:00

You need to be there. You can stay home and be there! check it out. If you are busy then you can purchase a ticket and download the audios and articles at your leisure!

http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/UHSE2011.htm

Sincerely
Julie

THE LORD WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE WAY YOU LIVE AND HOMESCHOOL EVEN AFTER ONE SESSION!

Fresh Local Foods and it's Growers! :)

2011-04-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

My dear sweet Indiana friends. Please visit the Showcase below especially if you live on the East side of the city.

Hancock Harvest Council
802 N Apple Street
Greenfield, IN 46140
Phone 317-462-1113
Fax 317-462-2424

http://www.hancockharvestcouncil.com/ Contact: Earl Smith
Phone: 317-727-0113
Press Release

Buy Fresh Buy Local® Membership Showcase

Greenfield, IN, April 12, 2011: Hancock Harvest Council is sponsoring a Buy Fresh Buy Local Membership Showcase on April 30, 2011 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Hancock County 4H Fairgrounds, 620 N Apple Street, Greenfield, Indiana. The event will be held in the 4H Exhibit Hall and will include 8 speakers and members available to answer questions about their operations and most will have products for purchase or will take orders. The event will also include, Doug Addison of Rusty Truck Catering, who will be preparing some local foods for lunch as well as some samples. Hancock Harvest Council is using this event to kick off the market season and allow people to get to know our members and what products are available locally. There will also be several activities for younger participants. Young participants will be able to plant a flower to take home; participate in corn hole and a scavenger hunt and other fun activities.

The schedule of events for the day includes the following speakers and topics:
10:00 am - Growing Christmas Trees Hillcrest Tree Farm
10:40 am - CSA’s – Are they right for you? Weaver Produce
11:20 am - Alpacas – Uses and Products Hoosier Homestead Alpacas
12:00 pm - Beekeeping J & T Honey Farm
12:40 pm- Buying Local – Making informed decisions Earl Smith, President HHC
1:20 pm - Gardening – plant tips Mitthoefer Produce
2:00 pm - Berry Production Hidden Acres Fruit Farm
2:40 pm - Canning and Food Preservation Extension Homemakers
3:20 pm - Poultry Production Brushwood Farm
Come enjoy the day, sign-up for a CSA if interested. Place orders for your Thanksgiving Turkey and much more. Additional information can be found at, http://www.hancockharvestcouncil.com/ , the Harvest Council Facebook page or by calling Earl Smith at 317-727-0113.

Spring and School

2011-03-31T10:46:00.000-04:00

We are only 11 weeks into our curriculum as we started schooling from January to December. I am proud to say my 3 almost 4 year old is writing, yes writing his whole entire alphabet out in Uppercase letters. He is amazing me. I just sit and watch as he dives into his 'schoolboxes' each day with enthusiasm I have not seen in a long time. I am praying for my spirit to be renewed to devour God's Word like that each day.

We just took a 2 week self imposed Spring Break. We needed time to organize, take care of some family business, and refresh our relationships too. Chicago was busy and cold and lots of time spent in the van listening to the Melendy family on Spiderweb for Two. This is part of an audio series we have been listening to for 2 years on our vacations. Google it and find it on sale. It is a marvellously entertaining series of audio books.

My 9 year old and I are travelling on the Eastern Frontier in history and learning about Franklin, Washington and Lincoln, the great names of American history. I am loving this history and geography woven together and am learning so much about this adopted country of mine. I look forward to next year and learning Biblical history with him too. I studied in Africa at my Bible school but the knowledge needs to be refreshed. 20 years ago it was new to me but not now....

Science experiments with the added help of learning bird calls off the Internet have been eye opening and fun for both of us. God is revealing His creation to my son in a new way, and not just through Mum taking us all out in the cold for a Nature Walk. I recently downloaded a wonderful resource off of Homeschool Freebie of the Day from Homeschool Radio Shows website : Handbook Of Nature Study. This book is amazing. I am still longing for a paper copy and added it to my list of 'likes' on my book list. We are using this book as a supplemental resource for our nature studies on a weekly basis.

Old books, classic books are still my favourite and remain a stable in my reading diet for both myself and my children.

I will also be attending the Ultimate Homeschool Expo Conference online in a few weeks time: http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/ . This is an online conference for homeschoolers and other parents who would like to attend and it's online. You don't have to leave home. All the action takes place online and one you've bought your ticket you have access after the conference to over 100 audios, many articles from the speakers and freebies from the organizers and speakers. The ticket is $24.95 per person or if you order with a friend $37.95(+- $19.00 each). I attended a session on Tuesday night in my PJ's and it was fun. There was also a Twitter party after the audio session and folks won lots of neat prizes - books, e-books and such like. You can try the conference out for free by visiting the website and maybe attending one of the live open sessions coming up in April. Click on over and find out. If you want to team up with me for a ticket - Please email me.

Spring is Surely Coming

2011-03-31T10:15:00.000-04:00

This is the season of new things. I look around our city and see the daffodils and tulips popping out of the ground. It makes me so thankful for seasons. When I lived in Africa there was 2 seasons - summer and winter(only 3 months long and not really cold). The Lord created the harshness and coldness of winter to temporarily silence plants and animals. Sometimes humans too. During the ice storm this year there was lots of time for reflection. God provides these resting times i nour lives so our spirits can be renewed.

Did we use the winter season wisely? Did we spend more time in His presence and Word? I certainly did not. I became caught up in the 'things' that needed to be done so we could have more time to enjoy the nice seasons.

Did you snuggle with your children in front of a log fire and just read for the entire day! Mmmm. I read lots of books but they were scheduled ones msotly. When I did stop and read the fun and exicting, mysterious ones I had my family's attention totally. These are my favourite times during the day. I can hold the attention of 2 wriggly boys who would rather be making noises galore with their cars, trucks and trains.

Are you wondering if I am healing from my grief in the past 3 years. Well yes and no. I do not get sad every day, just occasional moments during each week. I am blessed to realize that. Mourning is so exhausting. Grief can envelope your brain, spirit and soul, and eventually your physical health. My health is gradually improving. Praise the Lord.

Gluten Free, Sugar free and additive free has done wonders for my physical awareness, and my spirit too. You see the Lord is healing me both inside and out.

The photo above is our precious Brendon taking at a photo shoot in spring time before he got cancer!

Nourishing Traditions/New Ways of Eating Healthy

2011-02-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

It has long been on my heart to share with folks about healthier ways of eating and have neglected to put information or links on this blog. I recently was reading a blog I follow http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/ and she linked to one of my favourite sites through this post ( http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/02/free-ebook-healthy-4-life-from-the-weston-price-foundation.html ) . The link is placed here below for those who are interested in reading a version of "Nourishing Traditions" but it is smaller and in PDF format and able to be read on your desktop. Once you have read this little book you may then see why it is better for you to eat this way! Then you can save up to buy the thick book called "Nourishing Traditions" which guides you into all the reasons why we should be eating soaked grains, bone broths, grass fed meat, chicken and eggs, raw milk and so on.

http://www.westonaprice.org/images/pdfs/healthy4life2011.pdf

I just briefly glanced through this book this morning and it gives you an excellent outline on how to change over to this way of eating. You do not have to buy all organic everything either. That gets expensive as our family knows all too well.

For the health of you and your family take a peek. The download is free for you to have anyway. Most libraries have copies of the "Nourishing Traditions" Book too.

Keep our family in your prayers please as we have a case of regular flu, stomach flu, arthritis and knee pain, as well as some extended winter blues going on here.

Thanks - Julie

Be Innocent of Evil

2011-02-15T18:57:00.001-05:00

Romans 16:19 says "Be excellent at what is good, be innocent of evil" "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet" (Taken from a song I used to sing in Africa. )

Are you watching things on TV/Internet or listening to music or looking at books/magazines that are innocent of evil? God can not crush the enemy on your behalf if you are participating in evil. Strive to be excellent at what is good.

Don't let your children follow the likes of TV/movie stars or famous sportspersons if you don't really know who those people are in real life! The Lord is convicting me today - can you tell?

He sure has got me thinking. Praise the Lord!

Time Goes By

2011-01-17T21:08:00.002-05:00

This is the title of one of my favourite British TV shows that I used to watch in Zimbabwe. It is also an expression of what our lives have been like since October. We have been so crazy and so busy that time just went by. I have looked at my blog but did not have the heart to update as it has been a busy, sad, festive time all at once.

Some friends who read this may know what I am talking about, others not. Well when you have lost a member of your family who used to be a part of your everyday life for so long, and especially of your family celebrations it is hard to adjust to those times without them.

Christmas does not have the same allure for me as it once did. Besides not being the real actual time of year that Christ was born, and the outlandish publicity of it all, our last Christmas with our son Brendon was so special and we had no idea it would be our last. We decorated all out with our 7 foot Christmas tree and lots of presents, decorations all over the living room, and special treats to eat. Each year Christmas has come upon our family way too quickly, but my husband and I are glad to see it go.

If you are wondering if we celebrated. Yes we did that. I will say though that as the years go by we notice the gap between the boys more and more. Our oldest tries to be more understanding to his three year old brother but some days it just drives him crazy! He does like to take over and 'guide' him wisely into how to do and play certain things. This makes the parents nutso too. Can anyone understand this?

We celebrated by decorating a very small tree we purchased last year for the boys room. We moved it to our living room and had a nativity scene set up as well. We read Christmas books during the month of December. I even conceded to "The Night Before Christmas" story on Christmas Eve as we were snowed in and unable to attend church. We do not celebrate Santa/Father Christmas. Our personal feeling is not to introduce something that we have to tell them to forget about getting gifts from in the future. I may switch to celebrating St Nicolas earlier in December this year though. He was a real person who blessed others during the winter months.

We had a quiet day at home with family coming over for dessert in the evening. However I did notice that not everyone was content with what they received. I need to remind my children a little more often that there are others who would appreciate just a portion of what they have once a year. Thankfulness and Gratefulness are so hard to teach young children some days when they focus so much on themselves and pleasing their will.

Scriptures we are learning in our homeschool are about Character this year, not just relating to the Bible characters, but those in our history, adventure and story books too. Who, what, and why did the characters act and say the things they did? It is a challenging one for any parent or child to learn this way.

I will post pictures of Christmas in the next post. I wanted to ask you to continue to lift our family in prayer as we may have found a church home we want to stay at. It just so happens to be the church my friend Mrs Keller attends. It was a surprise to find out this very sick little chap recently diagnosed with cancer (same kind as my son had) does go to the same church we had been visiting for a few weeks. Is it coincidence - I don't know. We shall find out!

2011 is full of new things for our family. We are still dealing daily with the past. Brendon will always be a part of every day. I know of a family in TN whose son died 10 years ago, and they still think about him daily, and what an impact he left on the world.

Don't Give Up would be on Brendon's lips if he were on earth to say it, but he whispers it in my heart most days!

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-11-03T14:27:00.003-04:00

More photographs today - :)

2010-10-24T14:23:00.008-04:00

The photos are in the reverse order of age development - the youngest pic is at the bottom here. All 3 boys are just so cute!

Brendon's "Angel" Anniversary Day

2010-10-23T11:57:00.007-04:00

It was exactly two years at 1245 am this morning when our dear little 5 year old passed across to the heavenly realms. It has been a challenging week full of memories and tears. Today I woke up feeling refreshed a little and with a little smile.

I have put some new pictures on this blog for those who have never seen his younger days before. They are up above this writing.

We miss you darling Brendon. We know you are okay and with all your friends who had cancer and many other children too who left earth way too early. Thank you sweetie for 5 1/4 wonderful years in our family. Your brothers talk about you often and so do we.
Lots of love
Mummy and Daddy, Daniel and Andrew.

Obedience to Christ

2010-10-07T21:52:00.002-04:00

Our Bible Study Devotion for school today out of "Morning Bells." Does this speak to you - share with me!

John 2:5

"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."

How are you to know what He says to you? Ah, it is so easy to know if we are really willing to know, and willing to obey when we do know! He has spoken so plainly to us in His Word in that He tells us, tells even little children, exactly what to do. It is most wonderful how He has said every thing there for for us, told us every thing we ought to do. When you read a chapter or hear one read, listen and watch to see what He saith unto you in it. There is another way in which He tells us what to do. Do you not hear a little voice inside that always tells you to do the right thing and not to do the wrong thing? That is conscience, and He speaks to you by it.

Another way is by those whom He has set over You. he has told you once for all to "obey your parents," and to "obey them that have the rule over you." so, when they tell you to do something, it is the Lord Jesus himself that you have to obey in obeying them.

Now "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!" Yes, "whatsoever," dear little one, whether easy or hard, do it because He tells you; do it for love of Him, and it will be a thousand times better and happier to obey your King than to please yourself. And He himself will help you to do it; only look up to Him for grace to obey, and He will give it.

"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." Do not just thing about doing it, or talk about doing it, but do it! "Do it!" Do the exact thing He would have you do, not something a little bit different, or something which you think will be very nearly the same, but "do it."

And "do it" at once. It is so true that "the very first moment is the easiest for obedience." Every minute that you put off doing the right thing makes it harder. Do not let your King have to "speak twice" to you. "Whatsoever" He saith unto you, do it cheerfully, exactly, and instantly.

I need to continue writing about Brendon and his legacy, to share what the Lord has done, can do and continues to do through a small 5 year old boy.

"DON'T GIVE UP!"

National Museum of the United States Air Force

2010-10-07T21:35:00.005-04:00

Wow this was an amazing place for boys - especially those who are interested in flying machines, war and such things. Of course that does not really include myself but I still went anyway. My favorite part of this museum was the humongous planes outside on an old runway/parking lot. As the day was about 90 degrees in the shade this was a warm venture to visit.

The museum inside has air conditioning and is enjoyable and HUGE. There are many different parts to this museum and a gift shop for those knick-knacks and reminders or just to purchase postcards because your camera can't do it justice.

The stories that are told through the history of the aircraft is amazing. We even saw Kennedy's Air force One. Fancy that. Yes it was interesting and good to go back to again in a few years when perhaps my little guy is not so tired!

The galleries are filled with places, gliders, the Wind tunnel example that the Wright brothers used to work out how to fly/build their plane. One of their planes is on display too - exciting to see especially once you have studied flying! there are the Cold War and Missile Galleries too - not to be missed. Mannequins and other props are used to make this museum more friendly to visit.

The boys and their Dad paid to ride in the the Cockpit of a 'bomber' I think. They 'flew' over the mountains, down the valleys and had a 5 minute ride of fun. My oldest could not stop talking about it afterwards and the little guy said they nearly crashed into the mountains! He thought it was real!

We had an enjoyable time there and as it is not too far of a drive from home can be visited from here in one day too. It is free with a huge parking lot. During school times I am sure there are plenty of school tours but you can pick to get there later in the morning to avoid the crowds I think. This museum is open 7 days a week and is staffed mostly by volunteers which is amazing too.

I hope you enjoyed walking through our vacation to Ohio with us this year and some of our memories for years to come. I like sharing them with you too.

Here is a link for their website:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum

Ohio Caverns

2010-09-29T16:45:00.008-04:00

On the morning of our fourth day of vacation we ventured Northwest of Columbus to where Ohio Caverns is situated. It is 4 miles west of a small town called West Liberty. I assure you it is long, windy, cool and our group of about 20 people took at least an hour to venture through here. There is time to take photographs during the tour but it is better if you have a professional camera or photographer with you to use them instead. I found that a lot of flash photography with regular digital cameras in the semi dark is definitely not good quality.

Our boys loved this cave experience and think it is a pretty cool thing to be 100 feet underground and see this rock formation in different colors. they have one stalactite and stalagmite formation that have joined together to form the shape of a water pump. Another humongous formation looks like a baseball bat and still other larger ones like pillars holding up buildings. The original owner of the land preserved these caves haphazardly until someone bought the land from him and then the next owner begun to stop visitors from touching the stalactites and stalagmites to prevent deterioration. I'm glad this happened as we probably would not have this natural wonder to enjoy if someone had not taken the care to preserve the natural history on this farm. Andy is above pictured next to a big icicle shaped stalactite.

We came out of the caverns at the end of our tour and had thoroughly cooled off with the temperature underground about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, to a whopping 95 degrees outside. It was a dramatic change! We picnicked on the grounds and there are shelters available to do that under too.

We later drove through the countryside on our way to an Amish restaurant (Family style) to partake of a late lunch early dinner in their buffet section. That was probably a mistake for two of us as the food did not entirely agree with us almost immediately. We are also not used to so many additives in what we eat. We will not be doing that for a while either. Photo above of the boys in the Amish wagon!

We drove slowly back to Columbus, OH for to tumble everyone into a bath as they were filthy from the caves. (Tip: wear old clothes) The fresh country air makes one weary too. So ended the fourth day of our mini-vacation.

COSI Museum and Historic Roscoe village

2010-09-12T18:24:00.007-04:00

On waking up on our second day we ventured downtown Columbus to the phenomenal and kind of big COSI Museum (http://www.cosi.org/ ). This Museum is definitely geared towards children of all ages but after visiting all the levels, and most of the museum, except the 3D movie theatres it was worth the visit. We were blessed to not have to pay admission due to being members of the Indiana State Museum. There is a link between some state museums called the Passport Program (link here: http://www.cosi.org/files/File/ASTCPassportProgram.pdf ) . This sure helped us out. There were 2 3D movies at the time of our visit but we did not have the time in our 8 hour day to watch either of them. One was on Whales and Dolphins and the other on The Titanic. We hope to visit the Titanic exhibit when it comes to the Indiana State Museum.

COSI Museum had a special area for the toddlers and no child over 3 was allowed to visit. There were lots of interactive things for Andy to participate in in this area. When about an hour had passed and it came time to move to the next exhibit we had a few tantrums to get through.

I can not honestly remember all the different things that we saw in there, although there was a special exhibit that only teachers who attended that day got to see. As I had registered for the teacher conference that day we got the opportunity to visit the Valley of the Unknown. Inside here we were given a map and clues to find, and tried to solve each part of the ancient language message on our map. At the end we entered the Temple and found the treasure. My son Dan was in his element as he searched for the clues, and eagerly looked for anything else we needed to know. He had fun. This exhibit was a trial run that was officially being opened to the public later this year.

Our day at the Museum was so fun and over too soon. We will go back on another mini vacation and see what they have changed and enjoy what has not!

Roscoe Village, Coshocton, Ohio

We travelled a few hours NorthEast from Columbus to Roscoe Village ( http://www.roscoevillage.com/ ). Here is a small colonial town which dates back to the 1800's. There are Living History Exhibit Buildings all over the tiny town but we did not have time to purchase the tour through all the buildings that they visit. Our toddler would not have done very well with all the walking too. The buildings look interesting but are only opened with a tour guide especially during out of season times. The main tourist office for the village does have a small shop attached to it , as well as an educational center inside. The children tried on hats and clothes from the 1800's and played with some of the toys that would have been popular in that day and time.

We walked across a park area to the place where we boarded our Canal boat for an hour's ride on a restored boat from the 1800's. This ride was quite a treat for my son and I as we had studied the Erie Canal last fall and enjoyed reading about the families and businessmen that had built and used the canal. It cemented a lot of the information that we had read about. the walk between the Visitor's Center and the Canal Boat Ride is far so it is advised to drive especially if you have small children.

Once we had returned to the Visitors Center a storm was brewing and we had to walk back to our vehicle. This entailed more walking as we were parked at the other end of the village. Of course we took it in turns to carry an extremely tired 3 year old. He then started eating his lunch in the van and promptly fell fast asleep in the middle of his third bite of food, and no sooner was he asleep than the heavens opened, and we were all rocked around in our van by thunder, lightning and rain. We were reasonably safe but on driving out of the village realized how severe the straight line winds had been in that storm. Giant trees, medium sized trees and debris were everywhere on the roads - it was amazing what power the winds had that day!

Roscoe Village is somewhere to visit if your children are studying Colonial America, the Erie Canal, or life in the 1800's. We wished we had more time to visit but glad that we saw what we did!

Ok the pic at the top of the post is me all dressed up in Colonial clothing - whew it was hot!

On the way home we stopped by an amazing Ice Cream shop. Velvet Ice Cream (http://velveticecream.com/ ) make their own ice cream on site, with a viewing window to see into the processing room, as well as a cafe to sample some of their wares and they ship all over the USA too.

It was a fun and exciting day filled with learning experiences and some fun ones to fill our bellies with!

Vacation Highlights August 2010

2010-09-12T17:44:00.006-04:00

We decided to stay at a Homewood Suites Hotel in Columbus located on the Northwest side of the city. It was fairly central to all the places we had planned to visit. We like these hotels as there is a light evening meal provided between 4-7pm, especially for the businessman or family I presume. Breakfast is a full breakfast with a cooked selection as well as the usual cereals and breads. We figure that the cost of eating dinner out with 4 of us ordering plus a cheaper hotel and dingy Continental breakfast, equals or or is more than staying at Homewood Suites. The evening meals I must say are only Monday through Thursday. The breakfasts are great no matter what and definitely fresh fruit is a big draw for our family. We had a King Suite with sofa bed. The suites are ideal for a small family like ours, we could fit nicely and could utilize the kitchen that they provide in the rooms too.

Our first day we drove down to "The Wilds" situated near Cumberland, Ohio. We had visited this game park before when Daniel and Brendon were much smaller. It is a touch of Africa in the middle of Ohio for me. Hopefully we can go back every few years. The Wilds has a wide range of animals, insects, amphibians and birds to see. No two days are the same say the bus and game truck drivers. One can tour on an air conditioned bus, an open-air safari or an individual jeep ride, depending on your level of comfort and pocket book!

There are animals from Africa, China, other Asian countries, and others found in the United States that have become endangered. I love to see my favourites like giraffes, zebras and rhino in the wild. I do not like seeing them caged in a zoo. At The Wilds you can view them in a natural setting with trees, grasses, birds, and insects all around them! It is an awesome place to visit.

There are camping experiences that you can have there too, stay in a yurt, or perhaps next summer book your child in for a really educational week to stay at The Wilds in a tent, and help them gather data on their animals and birds. We have found the day visit is a good start and really educational. We hope next time to be able to ride in an open air jeep to give our children more of the feel of being in the wild. I am not sure if I will ever get them back to my wonderful Africa. There are Family and Adult Camps available too throughout the year

Here is a link to their website if you want to go on over and peruse it http://thewilds.org/ . I put a picture at the top of my boys with the overlook and view behind them.

This is the first day and there is more to come!

Vacation Summer 2010

2010-09-12T17:36:00.002-04:00

I decided it has been forever since I updated everyone on our lives. It has been a busy summer with us continuing to homeschool throughout only taking breaks for our week of vacation during August and a week in June for VBS.

Our vacation/holiday this year was overshadowed by a very sad event. My husband's stepmom passed away on our first day that we were away. We knew she was very ill as her cancer had progressed substantially this summer, but thought she would fight a little longer. She declined quickly the week before we left and somehow the Lord prompted or warned me that she was not going to make it. We decided to take our family away even though we did not know when she would pass away.

On arrival at our hotel in Columbus I checked my email briefly after taking our oldest son out to dinner for his birthday. The dreaded message we had been waiting for was right there in front of my eyes to see. I wished I had had no access to the email that week at all because we were in the land of should we/shouldn't we go back for the funeral. This funeral was in Monroe, Wisconsin jsut a few days later which would have been a 14 hour drive for us with 2 young children!

We heard when the funeral was the day before and decided we would not have time to drive all the way and be exhausted. We think it was a good decision and we are blessed to know that even though we were missed, no-one was mad at us!

I will post about our vacation spots in the next post so keep on reading if you are interested.

How Much Time Did you Give Him Today?

2010-07-30T20:25:00.002-04:00

James 4:17 was the scripture I read a few weeks back probably 2 months ago. It prompted me to do some soul searching, thinking and challenging myself.

I found these notes that I had written out of my daily QT reader.

Reprioritize how you use your time, bringing new life to yourself and those around you.

EVERY DAY, YOU TOO LEAVE BEHIND LASTING FOOTPRINTS ALONG THE PATH OF YOUR LIFE. WHAT DO OTHERS SEE IN THEM? MANAGE WELL THE TIME YOU HAVE; DON'T LET TIME MANAGE YOU.

God has placed you in this earthly realm for a brief season, and you need to use the knowledge that you have to deliberately order your steps. make them count in the lives of others daily.

If you have difficult circumstances Seek the Lord - then Worship Him in unwavering trust that He will rescue you! He does know, He can see you all the time. He can touch your heart, and life right where you are now, whether it be at work, in your home, in a coffee shop, or sitting in your car. He loves you, He needs you to love Him back.

UNWAVERING WORSHIP FOR YOUR GOD AND KING! That is all He asks you to do....

I hope the above Word from the Lord blesses you as much as it did me.

Thank you God for the wonderful gift of your son Jesus Christ.

Rhema Marvann

2010-07-29T13:33:00.003-04:00

I just listened to the most awesome little girl on You Tube. I was referred by a friend of mine's post. It is so beautiful to hear a young child praise the Lord with a pure heart and not because she is told to do it.

http://www.rhemamarvann.com/

There are some songs on her website and some on You Tube as well. She blessed my heart today to hear her singing. Be Blessed!

Farmers Markets

2010-07-24T11:18:00.003-04:00

Hi there,

We are homeschooling, playing in the pool and are done with VBS as well as all our tennis and swimming lessons too. It has been a busy June and July. We are leaving for vacation soon for a week but I would like to post about some things I love best.

The month of August is known nation wide as the harvest month, and bumper crops of zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes and corn are coming in by the droves. When selecting at the farmers markets be sure to get the least bruised looking items. Sometimes the vendors if I know them well will give me a reduced price for the produce if it is damaged and then I just blend it up into fruit or veggie rollups. I have a dehydrator so after the produce or fruit is blended I put it in the dehydrator and about 6 hours later I have a preserved harvest. Of course it usually gets wrapped in plastic wrap(yes I do use it occasionally), and stored in the freezer. When we leave on a day trip I have a handy snack which is nutritious and healthy and yummy for the boys.

Our local farmers market in Cumberland, IN is having a Arts Festival in August. Here is a link to the page where you can find the information.

http://cumberlandfbc.org/Cumberland%20Arts%20goes%20to%20Market%202010.htm

Our family attended last year. We found some neat deals on Christmas gifts, as well as did our usual shopping at the Farmers Market at the same time. The boys and I listened to some neat classical and jazz music in the big tent whilst snacking on our lunch. It does not have to cost anything to attend just don't buy too many things when you are there. You will get an idea of the local vendors in and around Cumberland and Greenfield, IN and enjoy some time with your family.

No I don't get paid for this but just would like you to have an enjoyable day! I met some wonderful people who had exhibits up last year and the boys had a fun and exhausting day.

I will put a button somewhere on here on the blog soon.

Change, change and More Change

2010-07-11T13:01:00.003-04:00

It has been a very busy month for us. We have experienced lots of running around to swimming and tennis lessons, park dates with our Homeschool friends, a fabulous ride on Thomas the Tank Engine in Connersville, In and also some changes.

The church that we were attending is now closed. The pastor felt led to close the church down for various reasons. It has been a difficult two weeks adjusting to the thought of not seeing folks who we have become friends with over the last 3 years. This church is also the last place where Brendon attended services before he passed away. The thought of not being in touch regularly is difficult as that is a way for us to remember Brendon. People say they will never forget him but I do know from experience that does not last.

My husband and I are on a new journey now to find a church home which is a family orientated church. To us, that means a place where the children are in the service with us and not separated. I believe the children are supposed to be with their parents as their teachers and monitor what they are receiving from others. That is hard to do if you are not in the same room as the child!

We have been a family that is careful what our children watch on TV, Video and DVD, and where they go on the Internet. I have noticed my children are aware of more of the sin that is around them than I thought. My oldest has pointed out that David and Bathsheba definitely did the wrong thing before getting married. Now it looks like I am going to have to look into some early adolescence counselling and training.

My grief journey is very slow at the moment. I go over one hump and back over two. I know I am progressing but ever so slowly and then I get frustrated with that. I have made a start on the book that I am writing, its on paper for right now and will transfer to the computer sometime. Yes I do know that heaven is going to be manifested soon and so will be the opportunity to see my child there, but I am living every day with a huge gap in my home that I am still getting used to.

We are due to have a family vacation sometime soon, whilst also praying in anticipation for Walt's step-mom who is going through the final stages of fighting ovarian cancer. We do not know when she will pass on but we are thinking it may be sooner than we thought. I do not like attending funerals at the moment but at least we have talked a few times on the phone and she seems to be okay. Some days are harder for her than others. She does live on her own. Please pray for Pat that she would not have pain but that when it comes time she would recognize the Lord's angel sent for her.

All these changes are taking place during a very hot and sweltering summer through which we continue to homeschool and enjoy the outdoor activities later in the day or earlier in the morning. I miss my work with the Homeschool crew but know that is was for a season, just like our church, and we are moving into a new stage of our lives.

My desire for the rest of this year is to not get caught up in the necessary evil of everyday tasks but to enjoy each day for itself. My boys would love it if I would not be so sticky to the schedule...especially on those cool summer days we could play outside all day. We look forward to a week of VBS with friends coming up and no school for those days. Thank you for your continued prayers over our family and our ever changing hearts.

B and Andrew

2010-06-05T21:43:00.005-04:00

This photo above was taken 3 years ago when I had 3 living sons. Hope you like the old photos of my boys.

Tomorrow will also be about 12 years since my own Daddy passed away from Pneumonia. I loved him very much and still miss his wisdom and wit!

Hold your children and your family close.

My ride with TOS Crew is done!

2010-05-31T12:35:00.004-04:00

Wow it has been an amazing, taxing year riding with the TOS Homeschool Crew of 2009/10. It has been exhausting at times and yet fun at others. Deadlines to meet have made me think back to the days when I used to have to study for exams with 'swot' cards (index cards with facts written out on them) and cramming late at night and early in the morning.

I have been able to use some products at pleasure and others in a fast period of time. Products that we received at the beginning of the year and that we are still using are All About Spelling, Mammoth Math, Rays CD of Math, Critical Thinking, Quarter Mile Math, Math Galaxy, Children's Bible Hour Books, Nutrition 101, Sue Gregg Cooking Breakfast Foods Cookbook, StudyPod, Super Star Speech, and Guardian Angel Publishing. Most of the online subscription websites we had access too the time has now expired for us to have access.

I have many things to use and work with for the next Homeschool year that in essence will be free. Being on the crew has enabled me to 'meet' many wonderful women and men across the country and to see how their homeschool works and their families mix their school and family life together. many of us have experienced crisis in our lives and even during this past year. We have had the chance to pray for each other and support each other during those times. There are of course those days when our children or programs just aren't working right (Do children ever work just right?). We have been able to assist others through computer glitches as some crew members were more computer savvy than others like myself. Thank you to my fellow Crew Members and all the best to those who are staying on as leaders and guides for the new crew that begins in June.

If you keep tabs on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine then you will see the ads early in January/February next year come up for try-outs for the next crew for 2011/12. if you wish to try out for that then keep your eyes open. It is an enjoyable experience that I will value for years to come. It has shown me the tremendous variety of curriculum available out there and even some products that are only for personal use too.

Thanks to Heidi and Brenda for their encouragement and especially for all of their hard work. I know that each of them has had a difficult year in their personal supplies but it has not really slowed them down from doing their Crew work. Thank you Ladies.

Yes I will end by saying that I am going to start work during the summer on a book about my transfer to the USA to live and work, as well as Brendon's life and death, the grief process, and how to live through all of those changes it entails whilst homeschooling. Thank you my friends for encouraging me through this process as it will entail some difficult days and nights.

I just love writing so here goes for the summer! Oh yeah we will still be homeschooling most of the summer as well as doing swim lessons, tennis lessons, and some fun and vacation in between. Talk to you soon.

Thanks to all the soldiers I know personally who are serving today and in the past in the military. I think of Jim right now who is in his last month, and Matt who served a few years ago overseas.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Review: Cerebellum DVD's : US Gov and Politics

2010-05-30T16:14:00.011-04:00

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the very last review I am doing for TOS Crew for 2009/10 and it has proved to be a rather intriguing and perplexing one too. I received a DVD and CD ROM package giving you a crash course on the U.S. Gov & Politics for the AP Exam. Now I have done tests on the US Government and it's structure before so that I could become a citizen of the USA , but this is intense. I am glad that I did not have to learn all this information for my US Immigration test.

The DVD covers the Headline information that you need to know for the Test as well as how to work through the actual test on the day you take it. The information for the US Gov and Politics test is presented on the DVD is a very efficient and entertaining manner. The students that present this information are dressed well and definitely not sloppy and are representatives of all nationalities I noticed. They are reading off of a teletype I presume but they seem to know what they are talking about. This does help the non-student enjoy this DVD a little more I would say.

The 30 major questions that you will be asked in the US Gov and Politics exam are covered in basically 30 answers in about 30-45 minutes. The detail is presented on the screen as the presenter is reading it, and it can also be found on the CD Rom which may be in your computer at the same time as you view the DVD. The origins of our government, constitution, civil liberties, courts, Congress (including House of Representatives and Senate), Special groups, and much much more is all covered in this presentation and its notes.

I did enjoy watching this. My husband did watch with me and we both realized how far this country and it's government have moved from how the government is supposed to be run - no matter who is in power. We did observe that more than one of these procedures that is supposed to be how the government is formed and supported does not really happen. How sad for the USA.

After having reviewed this product I am certain it would be of some help to a high schooler who needs to take this exam whether they are homeschooled, private or public schooled. I only have an elementary child and a pre-schooling toddler who were both not very eager to watch this show! The easy going manner of the presenters does make it an enjoyable watch even for perhaps a middle schooler who is just learning about the Government and politics. This DVD/CD ROM set from http://www.cerebellum.com/ (Cerebellum Corporation) is an effective tool and can be purchased for $14.98. The prices are running about 20% less expensive than normal at this current time. The other titles in this series are Chemistry, History and English Language and Writing, AP Exam Prep. They are all priced the same.

The link to the reviews for the remainder of the TOS Crew who did receive a variety of the above DVD's is as follows:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782672/

I have reviewed this product as a member of the TOS Homeschool crew for 2009/10 school year. This is my own opinion of this product and I have not been paid for this review.

Review: Lobster Network

2010-05-29T16:04:00.010-04:00

LobsterNetwork makes it easy to share your stuff.
Do you have extra school stuff to sell or possibly loan out for a while over the summer? Do you have too many books weighing down your shelves. perhaps your friends are waiting to read something that is on your shelf but they are living in another state and don't know what you have! You can change that with Lobster Network and their fairly interesting site or unique if you think so. The statement below is from their website (http://www.lobsternetwork.com/ ):

Share your videos, books, video games, audio, tools or anything else.
Let your friends see what you have to share. Find out what they have to share.

Lend it. Borrow it. Trade it. Sell it. Give it away.
All with the click of a button and only with whom you choose.

How LobsterNetwork works:
It's simple. Create a personal library of your stuff.

It's easy. Create friendships with the people you know.

It's fast. Browse your friend’s stuff and request to borrow something.

It's flexible. Approve or reject any request for your stuff.

It's controlled. Decide who sees your stuff. Even create "communities" of friends that only share stuff with each other.

It's helpful. It tracks your stuff on loan and automatically reminds your friends when to return your stuff.

It's secure. Keep a private inventory of your stuff online for insurance purposes. Include pictures too.

It's free. Best of all it's free.

This is a fun site and also practical from what I have seen. The Crew were able to try out their services, which are also free to the public, for a few months. I am still signed up and perhaps am going to put an inventory of our homeschool books in there over the summer. This is one way of checking that you never buy two of the same book again unless it's on purpose.

I would also think that if you know far enough in advance that you are moving house or having to move to a smaller home that you can use this website as well. The TOS Crew have signed up and are now looking at what each other has posted in their items for lending or selling, and then possibly looking over what each other may/may not for the coming school year.

I did research some children's books on here too and have not found anything yet except curriculum. You may start your own community with your Homeschool group, your family or even your neighbors perhaps. You can then enter all the items you wish to trade, borrow, sell or just give away. once you have done that you can send a note out to your friend's email addresses and invite them to join, as well as at the same time, once they have joined they can see what you have to sell.

I know the owners of the site have had fun setting this up, and their son has earned some Wii games with some of the things he has sold or traded through their site. I will end with just a little ad from their site too which is attractive and great to add to your blog. OK the ad saved at the top of the blog post and not down here. Oh well, do you see how fun this all looks. During the summer instead of garage saling then why don't you sell some of your used stuff in good condition through Lobster Network's system. This way you know that trusted friends in your network are going to be grateful for your things. Of course if you sell or loan them junk then they may never visit or talk to you again!

I have reviewed this internet product for my opinion as expressed above in this blog post. I am part of the 2009/10 TOS Homeschool Crew. Please link to Lobster Network's site or to the Crew blog where my fellow crewmates have expressed their opinions too:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/779750/

There are even a few video links on the Crew site and on Lobster Network. Just one more post and I am done with the Crew!

Review: Ideal Curriculum

2010-05-26T20:42:00.010-04:00

For a few weeks I have been looking over Month 1 of the "Ideal Curriculum" package I was sent to review as part of the crew. This is a curriculum geared towards the new homeschooler and one that is perhaps a little fearful of what to teach their Pre-K students. I have seen some things that would work for our family and some that would not. As this curriculum is definitely cheaper if you purchase the download version that is what I would advise. With the download of a product you do not need to print every file or folder or book.

Month 1 of this Curriculum consisted of some Reading, Music, Teacher Guidance and Printing files. The curriculum is sold in a one month at a time package or a full year package. Month one files included the early teaching of the sounds and shapes of words using both the printed out letters, sounds in the 2 different ABC songs heard from MP3's and various fun games that the children play to familiarize themselves with the way words and letters look. It focuses on how the letters are shaped with horizontal, vertical, and curved lines with practice pages in the student manual for those lines.

I found that my Preschooler who only just turned 3 was really only interested in the reading books. He is already recognizing letters and doing sounds/phonics all on his own by listening to his older brother. For a new homeschooler though this method may help you teach your child a methodical way of learning the sounds.

The Teacher Manuals are very thorough about why you are teaching the child the concept of letters and sounds in different ways in order to capture the child's many different learning ways and keeping them active at the same time. Jumping forward one jump at a time when sounding out the letters in the alphabet, or taking a giant step for each letter perhaps.

For Math they use Picture cards and actions to learn the concept of time (fast and slow), about following directions, comparing between two different objects at how fast or slow they move etc.

For Science the Month 1 Curriculum also involved looking at different modes of transportation and comparing them again. the student is encouraged to act out and/or retell the stories that you are reading to them either from the fiction or non fiction books that connect with the subject they are learning. They practice making cars go faster or slower by building ramps. They make collages and other art projects too. There is a book list at the end of the Science Manual on other books that can be borrowed from the library to help reinforce the concept of transportation. The students would definitely have a fun time with all the experimentation on this one I think.

As I mentioned earlier this curriculum can be purchased individually by months or as a whole. the themes of the units are as follows : Transportation, Color, Weather, About Me, A Healthy Life, Animals, People in my community, Traditions in our Country and The World Around Us. That is a broad spectrum of subjects in the Science/Social Studies section. The most positive aspect of this curriculum is that you do not have to print out or do every activity. You may leave out a few if they are too much for your student/s.

There is a one week trial of the Week 1 Month 1 Curriculum available on the site if you sign up for it and you can decide whether this will help you teach your preschooler or not.

A One Year complete Preschool Curriculum costs $526.00. The various curriculum's for Literacy is $270.00 or a Math Program for $60.00. The monthly kits are for Printable $55 per month and $30 for downloadable. The Printable ones will be shipped to you at the correct time of the year depending on when you begin the program. The downloadable product for 9 months is priced at $240.00 if purchased per month (I think that is what it says). More details of all the different packages can be found at http://www.idealcurriculum.com/.

I was given this product to review and my colleagues at the TOS Homeschool blog have posted their reviews too. Click on over there to see who wrote what and compare it with mine I guess too:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782452/

I have reviewed this product after receiving a one month curriculum for Ideal Curriculum so that I could blog about it here. I have received no payment for this review.

Review: Kregel Publications

2010-05-22T15:45:00.008-04:00

I read this wonderful, exciting, fantastic and thrilling book published by Kregel Publications last week. Of course when it got to Sunday afternoon I usually take a nap, but last weekend I had my eyes glued to this book. The title of the book I read is “Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure.”

This book has a cute couple of teenagers on the front looking at a treasure map. I also had read the back of the book for a description of the story. I was curious even though I have not read a book like this for years. “Trouble with Treasure” is part of a series of 4 books about a young lady called Andrea Carter and her adventures. She gets herself into some sticky situations. The author of these novels is Susan Marlow.

Andi and her friend Jenny decide to ride along with Andi’s older brother and a friend for a few days whilst he goes to visit a logging camp in the mountains. Their first day begins with a freak accident with a snake involved and it caused different problems through out the rest of the trip. One exciting adventure after another happens on the riding trip, during their panning for gold in the rivers along the way, eating fresh fish out of the river, and of course just enjoying the scenery. They bump into some really mean people along the journey and you have to read the book to find out exactly what those mean guys did and did not do! The book is also set in the late 1880’s so sheriffs and villains abound!

I was literally glued to my book and loved it. If you have a pre-teen or teenager who likes these adventure kind of stories then I would say this series of 6 books is for him/her. The “Circle C” Adventures have a website in which you can visit to see Andi’s blog and hear about what she and her friends are up to next. Here is the link: http://www.circlecadventures.com/ .With each book a literature unit study is available and there is a link in the back of each book for this.

This series of books are being sold at http://www.circlecadventures.com/ and click on over to Andi’s adventures when you get there and click the Order books button. A brief description of each book is on the site, as well as some information on some Early Reader books coming out in the series during 2010. This will make it easier for your younger readers to join in on the adventure. I just noticed that there are Lapbooks available for some of these titles too. (see above Picture of the Lapbook for this particular adventure!)

The cost of one Circle C Adventure book is $8.00 but the set of Books 1-5 in the series will cost only $30.00 plus shipping and handling. I think this is a decent price for 5 paperback books that will also provide a learning experience for your children. The age level recommended for Circle C Adventure books is 9-14 years. This could even be a book that can go on a Christmas wish list now so you can save money to purchase it later in the year.

The other TOS Crew members have their reviews at this link:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782677/

I am a member of the Homeschool Crew for The Old Schoolhouse magazine for 2009/10 and have reviewed this product in exchange for my opinion. I have received no payment for this review.

Review: BeeYoutiful

2010-05-20T15:20:00.009-04:00

Yeah - Yeah Yeah, I shouted when I was selected to be one of the members of the TOS Crew to try out the BeeYoutiful products. The reason I was excited was because I know what an awesome company this is. Their ethics and work standards are great and their products, in my opinion are excellent.

The product that I was sent in the mail is called Tummy Tuneup. This is a supplement that I have not yet tried but of course after using a few times on both myself and my son I am content to promote it. Tummy Tuneup is full of Lactobacillus acidophilus (and 2 other types), as well as Bifid bacterium (3 types). If you are questioning those big words well don’t. these are healthy bacteria that re-boost your stomach and the your intestinal system. They are probiotic and anti yeast V-caps that can be taken, or the powder from the capsule mixed up with applesauce or liquid for children. The bottle does indicate to take before eating. This definitely does help in the case of if you are about to indulge in rich fatty foods of any kind like Pizza, Spaghetti, and probably cheesecake to avoid the effects that may happen after this kind of meal. One thing I do need to point out is that you can take this product with you anywhere, but do not leave in a hot vehicle or anywhere that it may get overheated at any time.

I have used this for my oldest son particularly as he is partial to getting virus bugs from other children and it has been phenomenal in preventing them. If the digestive system is in good working order then the body can fight back against virus’ of this kind easier. Tummy Tuneup restores the environment to the intestines where it is needed before it is upset. In this country and overseas in 1st world nations it is easy to get a disrupted stomach from rich food when eating out, or even when traveling from a different water supply. I know this from experience. When I was younger I used to get cramps from the hotel tap water whenever we traveled. I do not experience that any longer.

From testimonies on the BeeYoutiful website and from other crew members they have used this when their children have had the diarrhea and vomiting bug during this past winter. It has worked like a charm. I would recommend this product to be something you do not travel without this summer if you are taking a vacation. It would also be handy to have on hand in your home during a long snowy winter where viruses abound.

I love BeeYoutiful products and currently our family is using SuperMom and SuperDad tablets/capsules, Cod Liver Oil capsules, different essential oils like Peppermint and Lavender (for headaches and peaceful sleeping), Ultra Immune and Berry Well. Ultra Immune is an amazing product and is taken between meals to help support the Immune system and keep it functioning. Some key ingredients in it are Elderberry, Oregano Oil and Allisure (Garlic). These 3 are important in preventing your body in catching those colds and chest infections. I take this due to the stress level in my life being extremely high. It certainly helps to keep the stress loads down to a minimum. BerryWell is a Herbal Dietary Supplement for people 1 and over (contains raw honey) to help build up a strong immune system. It has been very effective in keeping colds to a minimum this winter in our home - recovery time from a fever or cold is now down to 2-3 days instead of a week. My toddler has no qualms about taking a teaspoon of this every day if I want him too. I call that a successful product.

I could talk for a long time about how wonderful BeeYoutiful products are. They are all tested in a safe environment, and do not come from a manufacturer that is bent on destroying your body, or world in the process. I do feel that during this current minor depression of mine I would not be feeling as well as I do if it were not for BeeYoutiful supplements and oils.

The cost for a bottle of Tummy Tuneup is $18.00 and has 60 capsules. If you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome or a sensitivity to spicy or rich food I would suggest trying it out. If your children are susceptible to infections or getting colds when exposed to other children think about adding this to your medical aid kit and tossing out some store bought stuff! It is definitely healthier.

Some of my fellow crew mates enjoyed other beauty and/or health products from BeeYoutiful and their review links can be found here:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/781123/

If you want to skip the crew stuff then click on over to BeeYoutiful directly and enjoy their site with articles and heaps of information. They have a catalog that comes out quarterly too. Here is the link:

http://www.beeyoutiful.com/

I have received this product in exchange for my review, as I am part of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10.

Review: Lesson Planet

2010-05-19T16:07:00.010-04:00

During the month of March 2010 our family received a subscription for 6 weeks to an online Teacher’s lesson Planning and worksheet website called Lesson Planet. (http://www.lessonplanet.com/ . ) This website gives the teacher access to over 225,000 lesson plans and/or worksheets as well as information on the standards of education for grade levels in each state within the USA. I did not see anything on the site about International States for countries outside of the United States.

A teacher has the ability to pick a theme/subject or math concept and choose the grade and rating level as well as whether you need an advanced lesson or not. Once this is selected the search mode clicks on and finds lessons from websites and/or individual educators from across the United States. These can be detailed Lesson Plans for anything from 1 lesson to 3-4 weeks worth of lessons for the subject.

The home page features some of the major lesson plans by subject as follows: Art/Music; Health and Nutrition; Math; Geography; Science and Technology; Language Arts and a few more. For example, in Geography there are over 11 000 different lessons available for browsing but when you choose the grade level and difficulty rating then the amount narrows down fast. I did find that a lot of these Lesson Plans that I searched were definitely geared towards a regular school setting. I of course did not like that so found them difficult to adapt to a child that does not sit still for long. To find applications that would work for my child who is not a sit down, be quiet kind of child was more challenging.

Many of the books used in the lessons were ‘school’ type books that are usually available only through companies like Scholastic books. I do not have access to this type of book at the current time. There is also a Curriculum calendar with important dates listed on virtually every day - you can click on a date and do a lesson about the important item listed on that day.

There is an extremely wide variety of topics and themes covered. I found it hard to narrow down exactly what I needed from so many choices and was also disappointed that many of these sites are government school programs. I do not like using programs like this but once in a while. I have saved some word searchs and poems to use at a later time.

The cost per year for using Lesson Planet is $39.95. This is a reasonable cost for access to the many thousands of lesson plans and worksheets. I personally will not be using this but am thankful to have had a chance to see what the website is all about. There is a 10 day Full Access Trial of the website available if you would like to see what they have to offer. If you cancel before the 10 days is up then your credit card will not be billed.

Here are 2 links for you to visit from Lesson Planet:

lesson plans

worksheets

My other Crew members this year have experienced using Lesson Planet with their families and you can visit the Homeschool Crew Blog at this link:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/779692/

I have been able to access the above website as a member of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew for 2009/2010.

Review: Sue Gregg Cookbooks

2010-05-16T20:26:00.010-04:00

The last 6 months that I have been on the crew I have been using a really neat cookbook which is also a nutritional diary of sorts. Of course this is right up my alley as it were. I love, love, love dealing with books and products that teach or help you learn how to eat, live and exercise correctly to get the best nutrition and life possible.

I have known about Sue Gregg and her cookbook series for many years and have applied many of her methods over time. The recipes that I did get to try from the “Breakfasts….with Blender Batter Baking & Allergy Alternatives” book were different and new to me. On the website there are a few trial recipes for you to try out. As part of the Crew we went to the site and picked a recipe, made it and did a review and then requested which book we would like to try. I picked the above one. Breakfast is my favorite meal.

I have always loved, and am known to serve a good and healthy breakfast. Eggs, Grains, fruits and vegetables can be used in this meal. It can be balanced and it can be healthy. Yes it takes more work to make a good meal than just pulling out a box of cereal. Last night I placed a cup of oatmeal, and a cup of warm water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and some whey from the yogurt in a saucepan, 12 hours later I added more water and a little milk and cooked the oatmeal. It was so yummy with added raisins, and chopped up apple. Train your children to like cooked cereals for breakfasts and not to always want the store bought stuff.

The first 40 pages of this book are detailed information for ‘Planning for Breakfast’ on different kinds of milk to make or buy, eggs, dairy alternatives, fats and oils uses of nuts, different sweeteners, and methods of making breakfast foods. Sue also does provide some sources for the ingredients that you may not be used to but, the Internet has a vast array of stores selling these items. There are menu planning helps, recipes galore with alternative for grain and milk allergies included in many of them, as well as biblical truths and folk remedies scattered throughout the book.

I have been a promoter and user of the “soaking grains” method for making breads, muffins and pancakes for some time now and Sue outlines this method clearly in this “Breakfasts” book. Sue does have at least 5-6 other recipe books available on her website and even a Children’s Cooking Curriculum for the “Lunches and Snacks” book with a CD ( book not included )full of photos demonstrating the processes she uses. I do think that teaching your children to cook and care for themselves at a young age is a bonus as they will take care of you when they are older. They could even cook 2-3 dinners per week whilst you take care of the younger children.

The “Breakfasts” cookbook sells for a price of $23.00. I also do own the “Soups and Muffins” book, which has been an incredible help over the years and that sells for $8.00. I found sometimes that starting with a less complicated recipe of making muffins and then move on to making bread integrates you into changing your diet for the better. Making small changes really does make a difference in your health and eventually you will find yourself much healthier and happier than the previous year, perhaps there will be even less of you too!

Some of the recipes we tried were Build-an-Omelet, Oatmeal Surprise, Hot Oatmeal, Mango Smoothie, Blueberry Shake, Wake up Carrot Shake, Blender Molasses Muffins (wonderful), Good Morning Muffins, Sunshine Muffins, Blender Banana Muffins, and homemade English Muffins (so soft and yummy.) I have been using her waffle and pancake blender recipe for 6 plus years and it always succeeds unless I mess with the ingredients too much. Pineapple Coffee Cake, Cowboy Coffee Cake and Almond Coffee Cake have become some of my favorites to serve for Sunday morning breakfast as they can be made the night before and reheated in the morning and served with fruit. We all go out the door full to the brim and last all through church without snacking!

I can not say enough about Sue Gregg and her way of using grains. I have yet to discover her “Meals in Minutes” cookbook or the “Lunches and Snacks”, but will do so in the near future. For those who read this and know me personally I can recommend these cookbooks as becoming a part of your weekly menu planning if you are willing to give these a try. We have even used some alternative grains with surprising results that they do not taste much different from regular grain. Please do go over to the TOS Homeschool Crew site to find out what other Crew members tried out and read their reviews too - don’t just take my word for it.

*I also just noticed on the website there is a link to download a PDF of some of this “Breakfasts” book in the new version. It will give you some idea of what you will find.* I also spied there a try out recipe for “Taco Chip Ole.” It is a great nutrition filled recipe made with tortilla chips and other yummy things like sour cream, avocado and of course some salsa and lettuce. Check it out please!!!!

Please link through this way directly to Sue Gregg’s site for some sample recipes to try out at http://www.suegregg.com/.

The Crew link is here : http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/718575/

This is my opinion that I have done for the above product and have not been paid for this review.

Happy Birthday Bubby Boo- Andrew!

2010-05-05T17:34:00.007-04:00

It is my dear sweet little guys birthday. He is three today and was born rather quickly or slowly. We went into labor after being side swiped in a hit and run accident on the main raod home from the hospital. Our sweet second son was in there for his stem cell transplant. We knew that the baby would be born close to the stem cell transplant time but not in the way he was. Some of you who read this blog know our story and some don't.

I went into labor as a result of the accident and then Andrew was born about 20 hours later. it was a very long night. He was due a few days later though. Thankfully I was almost 9 months along. He has been a wonderful blessing to our family. Some days we just wonder what life was like without him. He is so like his brother "B" that has passed away. He also just inherited all of B's Thomas Train set, and all his little cars. We have kept these up and put away for at least a year and now are ready to see them used again. I think Andrew is truly blessed by all that his brother left behind for him. Even days before he died Brendon was giving away his stuffed animals and toys to his two brothers, almost like he did know he was not staying on earth but graduating to heaven.

That is a hard thing to imagine that a 5 year old knows that kind of stuff. I will never understand but as I read today in my little Grief book " We are never promised freedom from flood and fire, from any kind of disaster, or freedom from death. What god is promising here is that we do not walk through these terrors alonge and that, diffiult as they are , they will not destroy us."

The Lord sent us a blessing ahead of time and he is so precious. Hold your little ones just a little bit longer each night.

Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2010

2010-05-02T22:18:00.002-04:00

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE !

The above Expo is here - It begins May 3rd through May 7th. It is online. The tickets cost $39.95 but even whilst you are waiting for the ticket to be processed you can be a part of the daily classes and chats. The Expo has many new teachers and Homeschool Moms sharing their stories and they accomplish their daily lives, chores and living! Click on over!

http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/

Join us please - we would love to have you. ( and so would Cindy!) Last year over 300 people 'attended'.

Julie

Review: Super Star Speech

2010-05-02T15:20:00.013-04:00

Do you see these two pictures? On the left is the front cover of the

fun and wonderful Speech therapy book that I was sent to review. On the right side of the page is one of the games download that I was asked to review as well.

Our youngest child Andy is almost three and I thought he was having some serious problems learning how to talk correctly. Well it seems that after receiving this book that he seems to be doing better.

Andy was barely putting words in sentences at age two and I was questioning my ability as a Mom in teaching him to talk. My first two children did not have any problems in this area. When the opportunity to choose which curriculum for review out of the Speech Therapy products offered, I chose "Super Star Speech - Speech Therapy Made Simple". This book gave me finally some insight into the development of a child's speech patterns.

I read the introduction a few times and glanced through the rest of the manual before checking exactly what words Andy knew, and what he did not. It is not really about words, but more about sounds and what their tongue is doing when they make those sounds. I wanted Andrew to be able to be understood by someone other than his parents and his brother.

To begin with the parent does an Articulation Test on the child. During this test you mark off on a response sheet whether the 'target' sound has been made correctly or not. The sounds are either at the beginning of word, in the middle of the word, or at the word ending. Once you have completed this analysis you would circle your check marks with whether it was a totally correct sound, an omitted sound, substituted sound or just distorted. I was in the middle of this test and it was beginning to make sense in my head. Andy could handle the p and b sound, but not the n sound which was normal for a 3 year old. When I started testing him he was still only about 2 3/4 years old. Many beginning sounds for t, d, k, g, ch, sh and s were clear but many of these same sounds in the middle and end of words was fuzzy.

I started working with him on individual letters. This was accomplished by making the words with magnets on a board (my idea now) and then working through them one letter at a time giving him the correct sound. He caught on quickly. Now he wants to practice his words every night looking at the pictures in the manual. It is fun for him too to look at the pictures whilst he is learning and the more we repeat the actions the better he will get at saying the individual sounds. Then he will progress to the whole words and perhaps other folk outside the family circle will understand him more.

As he is unable to read yet, only some letters he knows by heart, we will make this a fun exercise. He is putting 5-6 words together in sentences since we started with the Therapy exercises. I notice he listens more for the sounds of words that we say to him. He has picked up on the therapy and correction in his speech quickly. We still have a long way to go I'm sure but I am glad that we are not lost in the fog of not knowing what to do, and figuring out if we should/should not get him professional speech therapy classes. I am sure that now due to this book we will not have to resort to that method. I have begun to read to Andy more and more and he loves it when he gets the sound of the word correct. There are games in the manual to encourage some fun during all of this learning process, and Deborah gives you further instruction on how to work on the child's tongue position to improve their speech.

The "Silly Snail" game is one of the language games I was giving to use and critique too. This game has cards with sentences written on them. One word on the card is in bold print. The first player draws a card and names the part of speech that is the bold word. If correct, they move their game piece along to the first part of the snail's shell stopping at relevant noun, adverb, pronoun or verb section of the snail. It has been fun to see what my older child knows about these words - noun, adverb, verbs, pronouns etc as we have not focused on these too much in our English Language schooling. The first player to get to the snail's tail wins. My son is competitive and loves games even if he has to think more than he wants to. We shall keep using this and adding more of our own homemade cards with our sentences on.

Deborah Lott has other products available on her site or through Currclick. There is a Super Science Bundle which consists of various science games that can be downloaded and printed out. These can also be be purchased individually. Super Star Speech costs $18.95 for a spiral bound Manual. One can also obtain a download of this product for 40% off that price for $12.95 at the Currclick site. (http://www.currclick.com/ ) Deborah's website is http://www.superstarspeech.com/. Deborah Lott also has a blog which can be linked to from her website and there are a variety of questions and lots of information available on both her website and blog. I would check out this manual first before reverting to the regular form of speech therapy for a child which may cost a lot more out-of-pocket for you.

I have found this review both challenging and exciting as well as fun to do. I had a need and the Lord fulfilled it in a supernatural and practical way. Thank you to Deborah Lott for sharing this product with the crew to review and I hope that many people benefit in the future from all of your hard work. My apologies to you that the review is late due to family commitments that had to be completed first.

If you think this is a product that you may be needing for your little ones or older children who are having speech issues then browse on over to Deborah's site and take a look, to see other reviews written by my fellow crew members at the TOS Homeschool crew blog. Here is the link for that page: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/768114/

Deborah Lott's is also offering our blog readers a 20% discount code on any readers off her site http://www.superstarspeech.com/ until June 30th. The discount code is TOS. Please contact me if you are having problems with ordering and I will try to help out if possible.

I have reviewed these products for the TOS Homeschool Crew 2009/10 and have not been paid for this review.

Spring is Welcome Here!

2010-05-02T14:37:00.005-04:00

The month of April has been a nutty one. Of course it is spring and in the Midwest we have had some fantastic weather. There have also been some pretty soggy days and nights mixed into that month.

As far as reviews are concerned I am running about two weeks behind on them and still have Super Star Speech, Lesson Planet, Sue Gregg cooking and a few more to complete. My journey with the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review team for 2009/10 comes to an end during May. I am sad in some respects as it tested my ability to meet deadlines and work for someone else again, but I am also relieved that I will be able to dig into what I have received in more detail other than just skimming the surface. I could probably do with a few weeks off in the summer to do just that. Not quite sure that will happen.

Yesterday we travelled to French Lick, Indiana to visit the Indiana Railway Museum and French Lick Scenic Railway(http://www.indianarailwaymuseum.org/ ). This is a trip we have done before with Daniel and Brendon when they were younger and before Brendon was diagnosed with cancer. It is 5 years since we visited there. It did bring back some sweet and some bitter memories. The countryside is beautiful and the train goes through a 2200 foot tunnel which makes it really dark for about a whole minute. Children hold their breath and the adults make it almost impossible to believe the darkness will go away, and then whoosh we are in the light again. Andrew loved the ride and slept well most of the way home! The picture up above was Brendon travelling on this train in September 2005.

No I am not getting paid to showcase them either but if you live close to this spot, the train does go more often in the summer and children love the ride. It is not too long and even fun. Be prepared for them to try to sell some snacks and drinks on board to raise money for a purchase of a new steam engine though for the railway.

It was terrific to have a family day together in spite of the rain, and you know what, Daniel prayed for the rain to only continue once our train ride was over. As we drove out the parking lot it started to rain! Thank you Lord for honoring my child's simple honest prayer from heart.

The Lord does honor our prayers even as adults. Sometimes we do not like the way He answers. Why did my child not get healed and another across the country seems to be doing okay. I do not know all of that. I don't think I could love my Lord if He was just like me. He is all powerful, all consuming and all loving. We can not 'not' question Him about things but He does not choose to answer all of our questions.

The Lord is also teaching me to "Judge not, lest you be judged." I do not want to get to the gates of heaven and be turned away because of a bitter and contrite heart. I have a few heart issues I am working on, and unfortunately they are not weekly or monthly things, but daily confrontations. Forgiveness is so hard for humans and we have to be willing to humble ourselves and basically 'suck it up." I do not understand either why friends, family, neighbors or associates make decisions that they do but it is not for me to interfere, talk about or judge. Biting my tongue has become a frequent thing to do. That hurts.

I am giving you my heart today which I do not do often if you know me well. I am praying for more children to be welcomed in our home, I do not think it is possible at this age, but for God who knows what is in store for tomorrow!

I have journeyed here from Zimbabwe, Africa and He has been a constant companion in my life whether I was single, married and now a Mom. He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother and I sure do need Him on a minute by minute basis.

We get to celebrate our little guy Andy's 3rd birthday this week and we are so blessed by his life. He is learning to talk better daily and is excited to get all the 'Thomas' stuff that he is hoping for. We will see what the Birthday 'man' brings for him to unwrap!

Now I have to another review so will post that later today. May the Lord bring you peace and joy for the rest of today.

"The joy of the Lord is my strength."

Review: Time 4 Learning

2010-04-29T22:28:00.006-04:00

Time 4 Learning is an online curriculum using a combination of multimedia lessons, interactive activities and reinforcing worksheets. We were given access to their website for 6 weeks to test out what they have to offer.

The curriculum covers children from Pre K through to 8th grade. The subjects covered are Language Arts, Math Science and Social Studies. There are Math and Algebra tutorials and printable worksheets available for every subject. The online activities are very varied and on their website is a Lesson Planning grid. On this grid you are able to see a breakdown of each chapter and what it entails.

I also noticed a list of Frequently Asked Questions which will be able to help out any curious future customer of Time 4 Learning. I do understand from the information on the website that you can use this program for one subject, or all the subjects needed, but the price is still $19.95 per month for the first child and $14.95 per month for each additional child. Email help is there for 24/7 and phone support is available 8.30 am to 5.30 pm EST Monday through Friday.
When your child does exercises it puts a time and a date on when he accomplished that task and as a parent when you log in you can see where your child is at.

I do limit the time that my children are on the computer to a minimum of 1-2 hours per week so I would say that I could not fully utilize this program as a full curriculum personally. My toddler who is almost 3 did like the exercises that I asked him to participate in and he was very involved with selecting the answers whilst I moved the mouse. He was intrigued to do something that the Big children get to do too.

My oldest is 8 and as we only had access to the Pre-K area of the site that is what we had to sign him up for. He did enjoy the time earned to play games in the Playground area of the website. There is a facility to set the time allowed for the children to do lessons and then the time for them to ‘visit’ the playground to practice what they have learned.

I personally would not purchase this product as it is not financially viable for me to do so. We also limit computer time and I find it can be better utilized with other activities we already have on our home computer. Perhaps your children or child like this kind of product and benefit from lots of visual and auditory activities, and you allow them more time to work on the computer. This would be a good fit for you. Time 4 Learning has many different options on their site for you to decide if this product is right for you. Here is their website link : http://www.time4learning.com/index.htm

I do know that some of my Crew mates did enjoy this program and will continue to use it. Please flip over to our TOS Homeschool Crew blog to find out who they are by reading their reviews - there are at least 70 of them there! Here is the link:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/776070/

I had access to this online curriculum as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10. I have written this review as a result of receiving the product and received no payment for it.

Reviews: All About Reading- "What Am I"

2010-04-14T16:14:00.010-04:00

Earlier in the year I reviewed a book called the Beehive Reader 1 for a preschooler. The company All About Reading (http://www.all-about-reading.com/ ) has come out with a second book for sale with effect from April 1st 2010 called "What Am I." This is a Level 2 reader in the All About Spelling program, but can be used in any homeschool or as a reader for a young child learning how to read.

I received this book in the mail about 6 weeks ago and both my son and I read it through in about 30 minutes. It was awesome. My son's favorite story in this reader or collection of short stories is called "The Bake Sale." Some children are making cupcakes to raise money for buying a red bike. They set up a bake sale stand outside their home. Whilst they are selling cupcakes they decide to send the money to one of the children's pen pals from China who has just lost her mother. The children change their goal and decide to bless someone far away instead of pleasing themselves. The children decide to run a bike fix-it shop and raise more money to send to China too. This story definitely has a principle to it that is so obvious. The children learn to care for others more than themselves.

Other titles in this book are:

The Bench

An Elf in the Alps

Broken Robot

Matt the Musk Ox

Skunk Hotel

Champ

Pine Tree Pet Shop

Just for You: Poems for Fun

What Am I

Yes, these are interesting stories throughout the whole book. My son enjoyed the book and has read it at least 3 more times since we received it. It does use words that he has learned in his 'All About Spelling' series. The illustrations are enjoyable once again. The artists have produced such character and perfection in every picture. I do think we will be reading this again and again. I have included a copy of one of the pages in the "Skunk Hotel" story.

I like the 'Poems' at the end of the book which are very descriptive and original. I will be using this book for our homeschool in the future as my little guy grows up and then probably will give it away once we are done with it.

The cost of this hardback reader is $19.95 and well worth it in my opinion. I have just checked the link to their website and hope the reader will be up on their site soon. At the moment it does not seem to be there. Please keep checking if you are interested.

The TOS Homeschool blog has the other crew members reviews of this same book. You can view other's opinions that probably will differ from mine and from other moms that have lots of children or even just one. Here is the link to that:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/772308/

I have reviewed this product as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10 and have not been paid for this review.

Review: Critical Thinking : Language Smarts C

2010-04-08T16:28:00.004-04:00

I had never even heard of the company Critical Thinking until I joined the 2009/10 Crew. I then started flipping over to their website periodically to check out what products they sold. They looked interesting and challenging too but did not realize how well planned out and clever they are.

The book that I was sent to review is called Language Smarts Level C. this is for a 2nd grade level student. At first when my 8 year old son opened this and looked through it he was anti because of it being another writing book, until he discovered all the fun stuff it entailed. Sequencing and/or Syllables turned out to be his favorite pages.

Language Smarts covers some of these subjects required for Language Arts Education:
Rhymes and Riddles; Nouns, Pronouns, Synonyms, Antonyms; Compare and Contrast; Deductive Reasoning; Number -Word Expressions; Root words; Prefixes and Suffixes; Sentences; Capitalization and Punctuation; Friendly Letters (the art of Letter Writing no doubt lost in this day and age virtually!);Writing and Editing; Cause and Effect; Real and Make Believe; Poems; and many more ideas. For a full look at what it entails please log on to their site at http://www.criticalthinking.com/ and under Language Smarts C you will find more detail. This Language Smarts Level C book costs $39.99.

Critical Thinking has books that cover Language, Math, Phonics, Science and Logical Thinking. I noticed a book on Teaching Baby Sign too, which would have been useful when my children were younger. Mind Benders seems to be a popular series, especially in some of the other crew members, as it contains tricky logic puzzles for Pre K - 12+ and high school level students to present real life situations and problems that require solving.

As this is my first introduction to this company I will look at using Mind Benders in the future. My son likes to tackle things that challenge his mind and I think it would be perfectly good for him to try too. We have enjoyed this product and will definitely recommend this as a back-up to a basic Language Arts program or it can even be the Core Program that you use.

I would like for you to look into it even if you don’t have the money to purchase it for this year’s curriculum. The site is interesting to browse around too. There are articles on their methods, video clips for children to watch, samples of the products for you to look at. The company has won more than 100 National Awards -winners.

Please do link to the Homeschool Crew page to find out what my crew mates have discovered about all the products they were reviewing with their families this year. Thank you. The link is below:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/772075/

I have been sent this product to review and it is my own opinion on the product we have used in our homeschool. I have not been paid for this review.

Resurrection Sunday - Happy Easter

2010-04-04T14:31:00.007-04:00

Jesus is alive and we worship a living Lord. He is not in the grave. He is not there but He is in heaven, and living in our hearts. I am so glad to be His child.

Some of the things we have been up to was we took off a few days from our regular schedule to put together a new Lapbook for Easter. This one is very scripturally balanced and enjoyable. D has done most of the writing and reading and answering questions. He is getting better at that. I have enclosed a photo of it. Of course Friday could not go by this year without making Hot Cross Buns. I am not sure of the origin of them but the cross on the bun is enough to represent Christ's death. I have been reading about the original time of Christ's crucifixion being on a Wednesday in the middle of Passover week, and how three days later on the Sabbath (Saturday) he rose from the dead. I guess over the years the Church has changed the days we celebrate because it is more convenient perhaps. I am not sure.

Enjoy the photos I put in and be ready for a few more reviews this week as I am finishing out my Cruise with TOS Crew for 2009/10 from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I have not been reselected which is a good thing as it will give me time to use some of the things I have received in the last year more extensively. It will also help me to get offline a bit more and focused on the family needs around here, cleaning and de-cluttering our home and hearts. There is lots of healing to be done in our hearts, minds and lives and 2010/11 may be the turning point in my life. At least I hope that it is.

Thats all for now!

Review: FamilyMint

2010-04-01T12:38:00.005-04:00

"Helping Kids Appreciate Money” are the words on the website under the main title of the site. The principle for this website is that your children give their physically earned money to you as a parent, which you keep, and then once they have withdrawn from their bank account online you can physically give them the cash. I do think this is a good idea especially as this gives the child the will and way of what to do with their own earnings.

As a parent you can set up your children’s account and then allow them to control their money. However you can put goals into your child’s account that they need to abide by in order to save or work towards week by week. The child can set up goals for themselves too in the form of items they may want to purchase over time.

When a child opens up their account for the first time, there is a really easy video available to view to explain how their goals buttons work and how to save/withdraw money, and/or transfer money between goals and the standard account. For a child who is motivated by pictures this website is very helpful. My son has to be motivated by the actual feel of the money in his hand so he takes a little work. When the child hit’s the ‘Transactions’ tab on his account he can see a complete history of all the transfers that he has made over time. It almost looks like a bank statement in a way or a Paypal account information. These are between his goals or a general withdraw/deposit in his account.

The Parent controls can set are on interest rates , allowance amount, and whether they want to match deposits to encourage the child to set certain savings goals. The graphics are simple and easy to understand probably for a child as young as 6 or 7 who is able to read too. The website recommends some children as young as 5 years old can use it.

Parents can put all of the children’s accounts in the same bank and they can monitor these all in one place instead of having to sign in to multiple accounts to keep track of the money. I did note that the parent can set a rate of interest up in their child’s accounts and increase or reduce it to encourage your child to save more, in order to earn more perhaps.

Our son does not earn an allowance at this time as he has not been willing to do the things required of him to get that allowance. He only earns money currently for extra jobs he does around the home, and through gifts at birthdays and holidays. He likes to have control of his own money and has purchased his own ATM for his room. This met with much negativity from us his parents and so we are trying to change his view of earning, spending and saving. He tends to be very frivolous with his money. He almost spends it as soon as it hits his hands. I can see from some of the testimonials on the website that this has been accomplished by other families.
I have not seriously tried this http://www.familymint.com/ seriously so perhaps in the near future during the summer I will set up the account with a view to changing the way he manages his money.

FamilyMint is a company set up by a parent who was trying to help his wife control their 5 children’s various expenses and manage their own money. He was frustrated that he could not find anything on the market that would meet this need. FamilyMint’s founders and advisors want children to be educated in how to manage money before they hit the world after high school years. There are very few skills taught in public and private schools to enable children and teenagers to handle money in a responsible way.

The link to their website is http://www.familymint.com/ and the TOS Crew members opinions are to be found at
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/768112/
　
　
The above opinion is completed after receiving access to the website in exchange for this review. I have not been paid for this review.

Review: Galaxy of Education/ Math Galaxy

2010-03-29T22:11:00.006-04:00

Well at first this product did not catch my eye very well, due to its flashy pictures and bright colors. I guess I am not a child so did not look at the intensity or power behind those colors, My son did not like the step by step learning pages with the explanations. He does not like getting things wrong and does not like having things explained over and over when he is corrected. I tend to think this program does do that.

More recently when we were looking the products over that we had been sent we discovered some more video games that looked more challenging than just regular math equations, addition and subtraction, identifying information from a graph etc.

My 8 year old son liked the “Math Galaxy Whole Numbers riddle e-book” as well as some of the samples available online at the website that he tried out. These use both additions, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve a phrase. The child has to work out the math equation and the answer is related to a letter that can then be inserted into the phrase. Once all the math problems are solved so is the phrase! It is a challenging way to get them to think and not too boring because the child is intrigued to find out the phrase.

I did notice the more answers you get correct the harder the next problem becomes. This did annoy my son too. He wanted to stay at the same level before moving to the next higher level. I guess he needs to step it up a notch in being challenged in that area.

The main product we reviewed was the “Math Galaxy Whole Numbers Fun” CD. This obviously has a difficulty level from about Grade 1 to Grade 4 most likely. I certainly could not do some of the higher levels of multiplication and division myself. Mind you I am definitely not a whiz mathematician. I do like the tutorial as a parent because there are some concepts in math I just do not know how to explain and the formula is set out in a thorough manner. The variety of problems in each CD that you can purchase from Galaxy of Education is tremendous. On this one CD alone you can do the following types of exercises and problems:

Addition, Subtraction, Multiplying, Division, Place Value, Rounding and Estimating, Patterns and Sequences, Word Problems, Time, Money, Length, Area, Volume, Pictographs, Bar Graphs, Probability, Math riddles, Word Jumbles, and some games called Bridge the Swamp and Labyrinth.

Galaxy of Education or Math Galaxy sells each CD for $29.95 each. Other CDs incorporate fractions and decimals practice. This would entail an enormous amount of practice for your child if he/she likes the program. I personally think it is a more applicable program for an older child perhaps Grade 4 and up. I am saying this as I am reducing the amount of time my student does spend on the computer each day due to health issues. I would not like my kindergartner being in front of the computer for hours on end 'practicing' their math. My son would use that excuse in a heartbeat. The "Math Galaxy Whole Numbers e-book" we looked over does cost $14.95. There are printable worksheets on each CD disk too.

This product is nice for those that like it or need to use this kind of reinforcement for their student. I am not totally decided on that yet even after using it for 40 days or so. The website for Galaxy of Education is here: http://www.mathgalaxy.com/

There are of course my fellow crew members opinions on this too and that is available at the following link on the Old Schoolhouse's Crew website:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/773387/

I have been sent this product to use in our homeschool and review for the above company, as part of the TOS 2009/10 Homeschool crew. I have not been paid for this review.

Review: Children's Bible Hour

2010-03-24T22:07:00.010-04:00

During the month of February I was sent a neat box of goodies from the ministry of Children’s Bible Hour. Inside were four books titled as follows:

Seventy Times Seven
You Can’t Come In
Braving the Storm
Race with Midnight

These books are from the Season of Life series. Two of the books were quite timely in their arrival in our home. I’m sure some of the crew would agree with me. “Braving the Storm” and “Race with Midnight” are the two I am talking about.

These four books all have a great lesson wrapped in each one. I like reading them as well as listening to the CD that is enclosed in the back flap of each book. In “Brave with Midnight” two children are out riding on their horses when suddenly one of the horses takes off on its own, and the girls chase it, get lost, and have to rely on the horse to getting home. The moral in this story is that Becky, who normally lives in the city teaches her cousin to trust in the Lord instead of in animals and her own self confidence.

The “Braving the Storm” book focuses on a family who are going through extremely difficult times. The father of the family has lost his job, the family have to move to stay with their grandparents and live in a much smaller home. They are far away from their friends and what they are used to. To add complications to the story one of the children in the family is ill and unable to be like a normal child. This touched my heart as our dear sweet son who was so sick for a long time took a lot of care and time. Our son was able to relate to the lonely feelings that the older brother and sister had when their Mum did not have much time to spend with them as she was caring for the youngest child who was ill. As the story develops an ice storm comes on their farm and the trailer they live in is not very safe. The family run to the main house where the grandparents live and eat and spend time with them until the storm is over. The story does relate to the storms of our lives coming and going and how we learn to live with them and how God is in control of them always, even though sometimes we question why.

Can you see why I liked this one? Our family seems to be going through storm after storm after storm since Brendon our 5 year old was sick, died, and still it continues. Things happen and break but we still have to get back up and carry on with life. This is so hard. The books really did help my son a little more to understand.

The books I believe can help children understand through reading about others misfortunes or naughty antics on how to deal with a problem. When children move with their parents to a different town and leave everything behind it can be overwhelming for them to make new friends and start afresh, and perhaps if you have a child in this dilemma the book “You Can’t Come In” can help.

The illustrations in the books are interesting and do hold the eye of the reader or listener. The pace at which the CD’s are read aloud is pleasant and seems just right. I like the voice of Uncle Charlie as he reads as it is soft and comforting too. He uses great expression when he is reading.
All of the books do finish with a form of the sinners prayer and scripture in the back to explain to the child how to pray and accept Christ as their Savior. This leaves the challenge up to the child to read or listen to, and act on.

The above 4 books are currently priced at $10 each. The CBH Ministries is having a special for anyone who reads this blog for these books and offering them free standard shipping. You need to use the following code: FREESHIPAPR15. The free standard shipping offer is valid until April 15th. Please see their website offers here: http://www.cbhministries.org/home.php

There are other reviews on the Old Schoolhouse TOS Crew Blog at the following link:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/771757/

　
　
I was sent the above products to review and write my opinion of them on this blog, for the TOS Crew for the 2009/10 school year. I have not been paid for this review.

Review: Artistic Pursuits

2010-03-15T21:28:00.008-04:00

It has been a few days since I have been on here and now it is time for me to update once again on another interesting product our family was privileged to review.

On the left hand side of this page is the cover for the Art Book that I chose to review as it was simple and looked easy to accomplish for this non-artistic Mum and student. I guess I was right.

Inside these pages is a very detailed look at paintings done through the years, sketches, crafts, and a bunch of questions for each chapter. I would say this Art curriculum was for a student was really interested in using art deeply in their homeschool education or as a side interest outside of a regular school. I know that art is not focused on too much any longer in public school in the United States.

I only managed to get through 3-4 chapters of this book with my son as his face droops as soon as he sees a painting or a sketch book in my hands to share with him.

This Book One is an Introduction to the Visual Arts for Grades K-3. It is an introduction to all kinds of art including painting, sketches using different pencils, markers and watercolor crayons. The second kind of art I noticed in this book was learning how to use the paint brushes on top of the crayons you have already colored with. The third angle I was interested in was the basic pottery or art of how to use clay and paint it. This is a wonderful resource for the child who loves to mold and shape things with their hands in that respect, or to blend a bunch of colors together with watercolor crayons and then blend them even more with the water paints.

The basic materials required for this first book are Ebony pencils, watercolor crayons, pastel sticks, clay and construction paper. We elected not to purchase any extra supplies and just use what we had at the time.

Whilst we were doing our sketches with pencils and then crayons I would ask my son questions about the paintings that we had just viewed in the book, as well as about interests of his own. It gave us a chance to get to know each other just a little more whilst doing the exercises and learning a little art history in the process. I did notice that my son was challenged to 'think outside of his box' as it were, when he had to draw himself, or other members of his family as he is not used to doing that.

There are 3 books in this series for Grades K-3rd grade. They are as follows:

Book 1, An Introduction to the Visual Arts (Ancient - 1300's)

Book 2, Stories of Artists and Their Art (1200's - 1800's)

Book 3, Modern Painting and Sculpture (1850's - today )

The cost for each of these books is $42.95. The books are written basically to the student and involves no teacher preparation at all, other than providing the materials needed for each project or craft. The website http://http://www.artisticpursuits.com/ does have supply lists to recommend what materials are needed for each book, and they are available for sale there too. We could not afford at this current time to purchase everything required so we did the lessons that we had supplies on hand for.

There are Grade 4-12 Books as follows:

Book 1 at each grade level covers Drawing Basics

Book 2 at each grade level covers Color Theory.

I did break the lessons up into one per week as they are different from what we are used to. If you had an artist on your hands then they would be able to do more than that as the book is easy to follow with it's self guiding instructions as mentioned earlier.

At this current time I will not be ordering any of this curriculum due to us already being in the middle of one we begun last year and are working slowly through. For some other opinions on the different levels of Artistic Pursuits curriculum please click this link to read them:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/771766/

You may of course go straight to http://artisticpursuits.com/ and read the many articles, reviews, and parents comments right there.

I have been sent this product from Artistic Pursuits to review and write my opinion for the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10. I have not been paid for this review.

2010-03-12T21:51:00.006-05:00

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Review: Homeschool Library Builder

2010-03-12T20:39:00.005-05:00

I have been looking over the above website for the past couple weeks every few days and have recently found some books that we are needing to purchase for our school year. We began a new curriculum in February, published by Heart of Dakota, and so have been searching for some books to buy at an inexpensive price to keep in our home library. Well what do you know as part of the TOS Crew we were asked to look at Homeschool Library Builder and review their site and what is available for members.

I have read through some information on the site first to see who/what/where/when and why this library site is even around, and is offering a better service than perhaps buying through Craigs List or e-Bay for instance.

The site is owned by 2 homeschool moms who between them have 8 children. They love 'living books' which is right up my alley, and they wanted to share their finds with others in the homeschool world and whoever was interested too. I began to notice immediately they have things that I have been on the lookout for recently. They provide a service to the customers who are interested in purchasing books that are either new, used or rare and out of print finds.

They stock titles from literature based curricula like Sonlight; Tapestry of Grace; Ambleside (online free Charlotte Mason based curriculum); Five in a Row; Beautiful Feet and Heart of Dakota for example. There are many other interesting books on the site right now that can be used for unit studies or lapbook information at all grade levels too.

When you purchase books on Homeschool Library Builder (http://www.hslibrarybuilder.com/index.php ) though you can earn points. These points add up and turn into dollars once you have enough of them. One book point is earned for every dollar spent on books, and every 15 points is worth $1.00 in your account. These points can then be used for purchasing more books, or on shipping for other products too. By referring friends to Homeschool Library Builder and linking them to their website you can earn points too.

During the month of February they also raised money for Haiti by doing promotions and being a "Helping Hand" for that country. They have different "Helping Hand" projects they have done in the past and continue to sell books to support that. Currently the books listed under "Helping Hand" are being sold and the money will go towards sponsorship for a Compassion International Child.

I do believe if you are looking for a certain book you can email the owners Julie or Gayla, and ask them to help you out. As a Crew we are reviewing the site and hoping to help them out with advertising as this is pretty costly these days too. This is a homegrown company like a lot of the ones I have reviewed products for this year, but they are not so big that they have lost their personal touch which is neat to see. The website is easy to move around, and book titles can be found in several different categories. Books are listed in alphabetical order in each category.

I have enjoyed cruising this site, before I dive in and become a member. I needed to get a good feel of what they had to offer. If you are looking for books at an inexpensive and not ridiculous price then pop on over to their site at : http://www.hslibrarybuilder.com/index.php and check them out.

The link to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog with other reviews for Homeschool Library Builder is right here: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/763769/

I have reviewed this product for TOS Crew for 2009/10 school year and the above information is my opinion. I have not been paid for this review.

Healing of the Heart and Questions for the Lord

2010-03-11T14:20:00.007-05:00

This is just something the Lord shared with me today. I was reading Job Chapter 38 and He started talking to me. Perhaps it will help you a little on your journey with Him.

In Job 38 the Lord starts to answer or ask Job questions about what kind of authority does he have to question God on why his family, livestock and body had to die or suffer. God answered in the form of lots of questions. After all God was the one who made the heavens and the earth, the creation and man and so He has divine authority of ALL.

"When you create your own world Job, get back to me with your questions!"

Now God is God, and we are not. But though He's is the all-powerful Creator, He also has compassion. Unlike Job's assumption, God did not crush him or multiply his wounds. Rather, He restored his wealth and relationships. Even in the darkest trial, He is still full of compassion (see Lamentations 3:22).

We cannot command God to stoop to our demands and give an account of Himself. But we can bring Him our pain and problems before Him in submission to His perfect plan. God doesn't promise us answers, but He does promise His unending love, compassion, faithfulness, and salvation. To remind yourself (and myself) of our great and good God, sing the beautiful hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" as part of your devotional or after dinner devotions today.

Even in our darkest sorrow, "morning by morning, new mercies" we see from His loving hand.

(above from Moody Bible Church's devotional "Today in the Word").

Even through the last year and especially through the last few months our family continues to question the whys and what ifs of Brendon's sickness and death. God has it all ultimately in control and it is in His hands. This is a tough concept to handle for me as I am a fixer of the problems and I could not fix this one. I really need the above passage and reading of Job today. Thanks Lord for the reminder.

After reading this we went and had breakfast at Panera - then did our math and spelling at the restaurant, just for a refreshing change. The Lord showed me to have more fun and unplanned outings to increase our joy and fun times together! I did that and was obedient and was rewarded with fun and laughter too.

Have a good rest of your day too.

Review: Graphics Toolbox

2010-03-08T14:57:00.013-05:00

You see before you on your left side of this screen a fascinating and interesting box that looks like an artist's haven for drawing and painting and what not. I do believe it is the beginning of new way of painting, drawing, writing, designing and whatever else 'arty' you can think of on the Internet and your website perhaps.

During the month of February I was given access to a very complex, full and detailed website and software called Graphics Toolbox (http://www.graphics-toolbox.com/.) As it says on the box to your left 'Graphic Software for Daily Life' that is exactly what is available. With the boom of the Internet business' and websites and children using computer software in the classroom, this is definitely a site to be interested in or take a first and second look at.

I personally am technologically challenged in this area and barely know how to keep this blog loading correctly, never mind setting up a website and putting all kinds of fancy things on it. I did have access to this software but was unable to download it as my computer is over 5 years old and just could not handle the file as they are huge.

Graphics Tool box is this in just a few points: (and oh so much more.)

Graphics-Toolbox is the new fun and easy graphics software that is perfect for all computer users. Click on the applications below to see how you can use Graphics-Toolbox to color your life.
Embellish Photos with Ribbons & Text
Fast & Easy Scrapbook Pages
Custom Invitations
Fashion Illustrations
Logos for Printing and Embroidery
Professional Posters
Cropping & Manipulating Photos
Students’ School Projects
Personalized Announcements
Embroidery Patterns
Stunning Photo Collages
Whimsical Photo-Graphics

The links to the applications have copied too so perhaps you can go there and see what each one is about when you are finished reading the blog note. On Graphics Toolbox website there are Video clips, slide shows , tutorials to help you understand the software, and personalized training for a fee to assist you in using the software too. I was only able to watch a few of these but found them intriguing and definitely useful for the amateur that I am in the blogging and website orientated world. Children are able to pick up very quickly the concepts that Graphics Toolbox teaches and there are examples of children's project reports, field trip reports, flyers, business cards, photography touch-ups etc on the website.

I did read one comment on the side about a photographer who touches up the background of old photos more efficiently with Graphic Toolbox than any other software that he has used. For the homeschooler and other school age children the ability to make their work more presentable to their teachers and/or parents is a good tool for them. Here is another set of phrases describing what this software will help children be able to achieve.

Foster Academic Excellence:
Kids love technology
Adding customized graphics is fast and easy
Stress the importance of color, balance and design in student presentations
Convey symbolism, mood and image with great graphics
Help hands-on and visual learners succeed
Great grades come from well executed homework assignments
Enjoy exclusive libraries of colors, fancy lines and ribbons
Descriptive icons allow hearing impaired and ESL students to excel too
Expand differentiation learning opportunities
Perfect for yearbooks, newsletters, websites and posters
Powerful, Flexible, Fun

The cost for this software may seem a huge outlay but it can be used for so many different areas of your life. Business and school can both benefit from the investment. The price for 1 user licence is $149.00 and discounts may be obtained if you have more than one user. You do need at least 200MB of free hard disk space to be able to use this program at full potential. That is one reason why I was not able to do this - lack of hard disk space and a very old operating system too.

I do wish I had been able to let my son use this program and perhaps when we invest in a new computer we may be able to. He would have loved all the fancy facilities it has to make his photos look more professional.

If you would like to see some actual examples of what some of my fellow members and their children were able to do with the software in their homeschool projects please link to the following page:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/769911/

I was given the software for Graphics Toolbox in order to do this review for the TOS Crew for 2009/10. I was not paid in any way for this review and it is my opinion of the product.

Obesity in America and the Western World!

2010-03-07T15:33:00.002-05:00

I would like you to ALL click to the following link. This is an awesome man, not sure if he is a Christian or not, but I know he has something important to say and won $100 000 to prove it. Jamie Oliver is a chef in the United Kingdom with 2 children and he is an awesome cook. I used to watch his shows when we had cable.

Jamie Oliver is trying to help American children find a new direction for their eating habits by speaking out about obesity and talking to their parents and family members about the kind of food that this nation eats. Listen to it please!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html

I say Go for It Jamie Oliver and all those who support and agree with him whichi includes me!

Reviews: "The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling"

2010-03-02T10:12:00.004-05:00

I was sent the above book authored by Debra Bell and it is Big and Ultimate in it’s description. I have taken a long time, at least 6 weeks to complete this review due to all the members of my family being ill since Christmas. My apologies to the author for being so late in this review and my fellow Crew mates too.

This book is over 500 pages long but includes a tremendous amount of information for the Homeschooling Parents who are willing to knuckle down and read it, or even just parts of it. I wanted to read the whole thing through thoroughly as I would really like to absorb the information as much as possible to review this item well.

For a new Homeschooler this book may be overwhelming but for someone who has been in the game one or two years it is a good find, and one to keep for reference on the bookshelf. I have 3-4 other books on Homeschooling on my bookshelf that I have hardly looked at since I begun this journey and so will possibly sell those and stick with this one. I do know there are some parts of “The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling” that I will not really use until my son is at least 14 or 15 years old which will be here before I know it. For example like the Chapters on ‘Navigating College Admissions channels’ and ‘College-at-Home.’ I will check on updates of this book before plunging into that arena.

This ‘Ultimate Guide’ is just that, a well rounded book on all aspects of Homeschooling from using the Library resources; the Internet; Homeschooling on a Shoestring; how to navigate the Curriculum Fair; how to avoid Burnout; learning your child’s different learning traits; to being a single Homeschooling parent; and Subject by Subject guidelines. The book is published by Apologia who are an incredible Homeschooling resource company already.

On reading through the chapter on determining your child’s learning styles I was challenged to look deeper into my 8 year olds needs right now. He is an auditory and visual and hands on learner more than anything else. Debra Bell outlined resources on the Internet and in catalogs that I could find that would benefit my son’s learning more than what I am doing right now. I am particularly interested in the resources for Living Books as we move over to a more ’Charlotte Mason’ orientated curriculum. These are there for me to research with the contact websites and/or phone numbers all given in the book.

I realized also that Debra says that Homeschooling is definitely a lifestyle to be taken seriously and if you can not do it all the way then it is hard to do at all. I know there will be sick days and days when you have appointments you can not avoid but these all have to be taken into account in your schedule that you set up. She pointed out that some children need a specific schedule for those days even when you are not schooling but just home and doing chores and errands. I grasped that idea and am working with it. I like the idea she presented of taking time off to plan the school year. I have never had the opportunity to do that. I pray this summer I will take the much needed time to get away and plan the 2010/11 school year so that it is more successful than past years.

The Subject-by-Subject guidelines helped me to see the age appropriate life lessons I need to be focusing on instead of what the government schools teach. There are a couple of chapters in the book with Resource companies included as well as all the contact addresses, phone numbers and websites of the State Homeschooling Organizations. The International Organizations in the United States and Canada are mentioned too. Special Interest, Missionary organizations, special Needs and Worldview Resources are all incorporated into this chapter.

I have enjoyed this read and so delighted to have been blessed with this book to keep in my library. Of course there are at least 90 other reviews on Debra Bell’s book “The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling” found at the Homeschool Crew Blog. Here is the link to that : http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/752857/ .
I will also include the link to Apologia’s website where you can purchase “The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling” for a mere $20.00 plus shipping and handling. ( https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=142 .) Apologia is an amazing site to browse too, and they do send out a catalog of products with minimal reviews in if you would like to not be online to read about the products.

I have reviewed this product on my blog for TOS Crew 2009/10, and received the product for free in exchange for my opinion.

Review: Math Mammoth

2010-02-23T00:24:00.009-05:00

Math Mammoth is compiled and written by Maria Miller. Maria is a math teacher who turned housewife, mom and homeschooler and developed a curriculum for her own children as well as other homeschooled students and their moms. she has over 20 years of experience with both public and private schools and tutoring services.

It is mostly an elementary school series which is written in 2 different ways. The Light Blue Series is a complete curriculum for each level and so I received the Light Blue Second Grade Level Books. The second is called Math Mammoth Blue Series Books. These books focus on a few topics per book. There is the ability with the purchase of these book series to utilize math worksheets on the site for more practice with each topic. There are worksheet collections on the site (http://www.mathmammoth.com/ ) called the Green Series or Gold Series which are a collection of one page worksheets with varying problems. There is as you can tell a wide variety of both full curriculum ideas and supplementary curriculum to view on her site.

I have been using the Light Blue Series Second Grade Curriculum for about 4 weeks now and I am finding it a lot easier to help my 2nd grader stay focused on his math. Ms Miller has the right amount of explanation for each topic before giving examples, and then the actual worksheets for the student to complete. Daniel is doing well and almost scores 100% every time. He does get most upset when he checks his answers and finds he has incorrect answers. This is challenging to him, although he is improving. I chose to review a full curriculum due to all the gaps in our math learning over the past few years, with our crazy adjusting to our new way of life.

Daniel has achieved better results in math than I thought he would. He does do his worksheets and more if needed with enthusiasm. He likes the word problems, the pictures and the examples which teach him the right way to go about doing his next problem on his own. Our previous math curriculum was very demanding of my time and preparation and he needed to concentrate heavily. He did not like that. He is finding out things on his own and learning to read the question twice so that he does not get it wrong! On topics that he is consistent in getting wrong I can link to the site and produce worksheets for him to practice with until he has the concept in his head. Practice does make perfect you know!

There are reviews to complete by the student which are optional after every two chapters. This helps once again to reinforce what they have learned previously. There are links in the books to websites on the Internet that are helpful with particular topics that have been Internet. These range from games, experiments or interactive exercises to practice the math principles once again.

Each full curriculum is split up into 2 parts for e.g Grade 2 A and Grade 2B. You can choose half of one grade and half of another if you need to. The Light Blue Series curriculum is available for download through linking through their website and for Grade Level 2 A and 2B combined it is $29.50. This includes the work text, answer key cumulative reviews, a worksheet maker and SoftPak software to run the program. For Grades 1-5 a Light Blue Series package for download costs $99.00 at a 33 % savings over individual courses. The CD can be sent to you for $104. If you have a number of children this would definitely be a great savings for you over the years, but also even with just two or 3 children. There is a "Frequently Asked Questions" page on the website for you to read and compare which would be the most beneficial topics or curriculum or series to use from Math Mammoth (http://www.mathmammoth.com/faq-lightblue.php#3a ).

I will continue to enjoy using Ms Miller's curriculum this year and will seriously look at possibly continuing with this if the results are good, which so far they seem to be. It is a really easy way to prepare each week for our math lessons, read, printout and review with child.

Please do link to the TOS Crew pages ( for more opinions of this product and read up on what everyone reviewed and what worked for their families and may work for yours. Thanks for reading this.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/767136/

I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10 and received this product free for our family to use in our homeschool and right up this review. The above information is my own opinion.

Reviews: Rays Math/Dollar Homeschool

2010-02-22T22:32:00.003-05:00

I know that all it seems that I do on here is review curriculum, but we have had rather a lot of things to do recently and my children have been ill since Christmas. My youngest is still not himself as he has a dose of shingles, as well as flu.

The above curriculum is a rather interesting and 'old' one. Rays Math on CD is put together by a company called Dollar Homeschool. On this CD is a collection of books now in PDF format which are a Math text book series from the 1800's. On looking at the initial amount of files I was overwhelmed, but then I began to read them and focused on just the first few books that were of use to me at this time in our homeschool journey.

I opened up the Welcome folder which explained how to work out where to start your child in the series and how to move from one book to the other and when. The 'Manual of Methods' book explained each method, how to teach the math and explaining why it is taught this way. On reading this I realized that most of the lessons are taught orally and using manipulative's like balls, buttons, sticks, marbles etc to teach the student the number concepts. A second teachers manual is called 'A Manual of Arithmetic' and presents in detail how to teach these different levels of Math.

The Student series begins with the book called Ray's Primary Arithmetic. I have used many pages from this manual as an alternative math curriculum on days when I did not want my son to do his written math. I had him march around the table reciting the answers to the quick math questions I was asking him. These were basic " What is 6 + 7", what is 7 + 6, what is 6 + 8, what is 8 + 6. The questions are set up like this in order to get the student to be able to learn the reverse equations and not just one directional. Basic addition and subtraction have improved amazingly in my son's math ability. He has had to think fast and as he is moving and not sitting still at a desk his brain has worked better. He is a fidget child. We will progress towards the multiplication level later in this year probably.

The set of books on CD is all in PDF format as I said before but when you open one book you can access all the others through the Bookmarks column on the left side. You can flip from one book to the other easily without having to go back and locate the individual file you need. That is convenient. There are 38 books in the series which is part of the Ecelectic Education Series but can be purchased separately for $59.00. The books on the CD range from Primary level all the way through to 12th Grade and include difficult topics like Algebra and even Bookkeeping. At the end of looking through what was on the CD there is a lot to read and absorb so I could not do all of that but I am impressed. You can find details of this set at the following link:

http://www.dollarhomeschool.com/raysarithmetic/

Once you are used to the language and flow of the books you can adapt the way you teach and see your child benefit more from learning that just using a non-reproducible book. This does save on the cost of your math curriculum for the younger children. I have chosen to use these books as a support to the math I have already chosen for my son and it is helping him grasp concepts faster. It seems that children in the 1800's and early days of America could count better than they can today. Perhaps my son will be different if he learns these basics when he is young.

There is a video on the website that you can watch to give you more ideas on the series and there is always the rest of the TOS Homeschool Crew's reviews to look at. They are individual opinions on the same product or a variation of Rays Arithmetic and/or Eclectic Education Series. See the other reviews here: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/756018/

As a part of the 2009/10 TOS Homeschool Crew I was sent this product free of charge to review and share my opinion on this blog.

TOS Review: Presidential Penmanship: BJ Style Complete Program

2010-02-19T21:16:00.012-05:00

At the beginning of January I received a CD disk in the mail for a handwriting product. Whoa - I thought! My son does not like lots of writing at the best of times so what is going to say when he sees this to do every day for quite a few months.

I presented the idea to him one day and showed him that it is just a little bit a day and then on the 5th day you can do your best handwriting of the week. The "BJ Style Complete Program" CD of Handwriting is a supplemental handwriting skills program for 1st grade through senior high based on writings and quotes from America's founding fathers and presidents. "BJ" is similiar to BJU Press. Through the 4-5 weeks of exposure to these quotes of great men my son has realized that his handwriting can improve and it can be interesting and not boring copy work either. The producer of this product is called Zeezok Publishing or The Book Peddler.

I have included some samples of his handwriting when tracing and copying phrases from George Washington and John Adams. (picture on right side above.) After 4 weeks (we are now in the 4th quote week) his handwriting has improved somewhat and I am sure with continued perseverance on both of our parts, he will have neater and more presentable handwriting by the end of the year.

The student uses this program on a daily basis, tracing over the quote initially and then on Day 5 they are expected to write the quote on their own. The quotes can be printed out weekly or monthly whenever the parent has time to organize their students work. The Week 4 quote I would like to share with you.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."
- John Adams

I think as he is writing these quotes he is thinking more about what is being said, especially if it is repeated. The student may learn these quotes like they learn Bible verses and then can give them at a recital for example.

This CD covers Grade 1 through senior level of school. The quotes will obviously differ in difficulty as the student is more advanced. Grade 1-2 have quotes that are reasonably short. Grade 3-4 students will learn cursive quotes from some of our nation's Chief Executives, as well as passages from speeches by Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln and more. In 3rd -4th grade there are 108 skill-building lessons for practice three times per week for 36 weeks. Fifth graders will be writing longer passages with more content that are giving them a historical and interesting view of our past leaders. The CD's come at a cost of $39.95 for the complete program on CD (1st grade through Senior High), or individual grade level can be purchased on CD for $9.99 each.

The TOS Homeschool Crew has been sent different CD's to what I have reviewed and the reviews are on the TOS Crew Review Blog. You will see them here at this link:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/759249/

The website for Zeezok Publishing/The Book Peddler is here :

http://www.zeezok.com/default.cfm

They have many other historical books and CD's available on their site too. It makes for an interesting hour of browsing around actually. I like this way of learning. Yes it seems like I like all the products that I have reviewed but that is not true. I like products that really work for my family. This supplemental handwriting course is able to be used with many children over and over again and can be printed out on an 'as need' basis. As I said before on the website there are samples to look out and print out to try out on your students whatever age they may be.

I have written the above review as I was sent this product to use in my family homeschool and to give a written opinion on how it worked/did not work for me. I have not received any financial remuneration for this review.

Review: Beehive Reader 1

2010-02-19T15:04:00.010-05:00

I was sent this delightful book to review for the TOS Homsechool Crew and found that I did not really want to put it down once I started. This new book series has been developed to go with the All about Spelling line of products that we reviewed earlier in the year. We have read this book during school time, and our read aloud time and it has been enjoyed by both the older and the younger generation.

I would say this reader is definitely an encouraging, lively and beautifully illustrated reader. The pictures on every page draw one into the variety of stories. My 8 yr old son read the whole book in about 20 minutes. He enjoyed it and did not show signs of boredom in any way. This book does work really great with the All About Spelling Series Book 1, as well as just for a new reader, or even a pre-schooler just learning some words by sight. The following is an excerpt from their website on the content of this book. :

Your beginning reader will delight in finding out what happens when…

…a busy cat lives in a windmill

…a sleepy bear cub takes a nap

…a grumpy duck demands a snack

…a singing bat befriends a lonely king

… a curious boy shrinks from tall to small

… and much more!

The attention to the detail (perhaps you can see in the above picture on the right side of the page) in the illustrations is really what won my heart with this short 155 page book. The test of the book reinforces what the student is learning in in their spelling lesson which is what the company aimed to do. There are more sample pages of the illustrations shown at the TOS Crew blog at the following link:

Beehive Reader 1 is printed by Takeaway Press and the website can be found at http://www.beehivereaders.com/ . There are other reviews of this book at the TOS Homeschool Crew website too. The cost for this reader is $19.95. The link to the product at their website is http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/763935/. The other TOS Crew reviews are shown there too if you need to see someone else's opinion too on this neat book.

I do think when my pre-schooler turns 4 we will be purchasing some of these readers (hope the next 2, 3, and 4 will be out by then) for him to 'read' as he learns his spelling too.I look forward to the years ahead of using this product. To all of you who are considering this product or any from all about Spelling I say Happy reading and Teaching!

As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009-10 I was sent this book to read and write a review. The above review is purely my opinion and we have not been paid in any way.

Ultimate Womens Expo

2010-02-13T17:16:00.005-05:00

I just attended the most amazing seminar this weekend ( http://ultimate-womens-expo.com/ ) by an awesome lady called Cindy Rushton, and the ending session was on how to eat organically and healthy on a budget. In the chat room I was sharing about the chocolate recipes I had learned to make. everyone wanted them so I am puttin them here on my blog for you to read as well, and maybe I will get a few new readers on my blog too. I found these on a website called http://www.bulkherbstore.com/ where lots of neat advice about herbs and using healthy foods are found.

I know lots of my friends both in the USA and abroad are trying to change their eating habits since our beloved Brendon died. Buying a ticket to the above seminar will give you access to a bunch of audio information from at least 10 speakers and lots of freebies in articles or audios from the speaker's websites.

Here we go:

Recipes from Bulk Herb Store at http://www.bulkherbstore.com/

chocolate Icing/Fudge on a spoon

Ingredients:
1 cup raw honey
3/4 cup coconut oil (Cold Pressed) melted
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup toasted pecans (optional)
Peppermint extract or essential oil (to taste)

Stir ingredients well

Option 1: Use on top of a cake for icing
Option2: Grease pan with coconut oil and then fill with mixture. Chill for Fudge on a Spoon. Put it on a spoon and then eat when chilled.

Chocolate Moose Cookies/Moose Icing

Ingredients:

1/3 cup raw coconut oil (do not melt oil)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup raw/regular honey- regular honey is runnier
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Blend on high for 3 mins. Use fork to crush any remaining coconut oil clumps. Blend one minute more. Spoon on to cake or spoon small cookie drops onto wax paper and chill until firm.

Dark Chocolate Coconut Balls/Chocolate Energy Bar

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut flakes (not sweetened)
1 cup Cocoa powder
1 cup raw honey
1/2 cup almond butter
1 pinch of salt

Blend for 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl and blend again for 1 minute. Roll into small balls. rollballs in coconut. Chill.

Energy Bars: Add 1/2 cup more coconut. Press until it is about 1/2 inch thick. chill. Cut into bars.

Review:Math Tutor DVD's

2010-02-10T21:50:00.019-05:00

I recently was sent at the beginning of the year 2 DVD's to review for the TOS Crew. They are so different yet both have been useful to my homeschool.

The first one that I choose to write about today is "Young Minds and Counting." This was a delight for my toddler to watch a few times in the last month. He is just learning to read letters and numbers, although has difficulty saying words. This DVD is full of awesome photography of animals, insects, trees, insects as well as trains, dump trucks and even boats. The young child counts the objects on the screen and then it changes to a different picture with the same number. The Learn to Count from 1-10 is actually a pleasure to let my toddler watch in preference to some of the other popular things that are on television these days. My children's TV and computer time is limited so I make sure they watch reliable shows when they do. If you have a 'little person' in your home from 2-5 years old who is just beginning to talk or learn their numbers and ABC's then this is a wonderful resource for you to use. The music playing along with the numbers and pictures is taken from various famous writers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Brahms and Chopin. I am so thankful that my child is being exposed to this kind of music at a young age. The cost for this DVD currently is $19.99 and well worth it if you have a few little ones coming up in the ranks or you can give it away after you are done with it to bless another family.

The second DVD is called "The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor." This is a set of two DVD's which is an 8 hour video course. The instructor of the course is easily understood as he guides the student through word problems on the screen in an extremely thorough manner. We were able to watch the parts applicable to my second grader which covered adding and subtracting whole numbers. I have viewed parts of the multiplication and dividing whole numbers lessons and they are also covered thoroughly. When my son does get to studying those himself I will allow him to review using this DVD. This 8 hour video course covers the following math requirements in a math word problem format:

adding, subtracting, multiplication and dividing of whole numbers

adding and subtracting decimals

multiplying and dividing decimals

Disk 2 of this set contains this information in word problem format:

Adding and subtracting fractions

multiplying and dividing fractions

Percents, Part 1 and 2

Ratio and Proportion

As you can see from the above I am sure this DVD can be used for review by a student from Grade 2 through to Grade 7. When the instructor is presenting the information on the screen he does not leave anything to chance but he is clear and repeats things once or twice to make sure he is understood. I like this in a teacher even though it annoyed my son who catches on to math very quickly. Your student will not get lost but might be waiting for the instructor to compete the question before he is finished explaining all the details.

On the website http://www.mathtutordvd.com/ there are other DVDs available for calculus, trigonometry, algebra and physics. The DVDs are priced at $26.99 currently and a companion worksheet CD is available for most of the courses for $24.99 each. The companion CD has plenty of practice problems for your students to work on that are presented in PDF format for immediate printing.

I copy this statement from their website to let you know how enthusiastic the instructor is about his product and why he teaches it:

"I personally get a thrill out of making seemingly complex topics suddenly easy to students. I have found over the years that the easy way to do this is to learn by working example problems, beginning with the easier ones and gradually progressing to the harder ones."

This tells me as a parent that he is wanting your student/child to succeed and therefore presenting the problems in every possible way to fully cover the subject and encourage understanding all the way through the problem is a plus in my book. I am not very wise at math and never have been but with help from Tutors like Jason Gibson my sons should be able to understand concepts that I can not clearly explain to them.

I do not like using computers and DVDs a lot for learning because I think boys need more hands on but have found success with this particular product in the case of my 8 year old kinesthetic learner. If you would like to read some more opinions and reviews from my fellow crew mates on this product please hop on over to the crew blog at this address:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/753926/

The above review is my own personal opinion. I was sent this product as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009-10. I have not been paid for this review.

TOS Crew Review: KinderBach

2010-02-09T21:22:00.012-05:00

This review has been a really fun one to do with Daniel, to work together with him and watch how he is learning, as well as allowing him to play around freely with the keyboard whilst learning.

I have always wanted my children to learn the keyboard or piano but just could not honestly afford the lessons. They would probably cost about $20-30 per lesson or less if you have two children. I have never been able to learn to read music as I just don't get it. The following program is intriguing, interesting, exciting, activity based and a great learning tool for children aged 2-10 years of age I think. The program is called KinderBach.

The website reads the following information " KinderBach uses playful characters to teach note reading, rhythm, singing, and composition." The program is an introductory way to using a keyboard or piano. The lessons are simple and easy to follow with four parts to each lesson. The concepts are reinforced by repetition and by using different learning styles in each lesson. This means that no matter how a child learns they will 'click' with the lesson when their learning style is introduced. What I mean by this is that the site uses video, coloring, action and singing/talking to explain each concept.

My son loved to watch Dodi, Frisco, Carla and other characters dance across the screen finding their way to the respective homes or places on the keyboard. He also started to place his fingers on the correct keys with his arms/hands in the correct position after a few lessons. I liked to watch the enthusiasm on his face when he was accomplishing something.

With Kinderbach the child learns the sounds as well as how the notes look in printed music, and the parent does not even need to know how to read music in advance. I noticed that Daniel was identifying the keys on the keyboard faster than ever by the 10th lesson. He would also tell me what was a half note and a whole note once he knew them. He loved the reward at the end of a school day of playing the keyboard with the computer as his teacher!

There is a coloring book for each level of lessons. The onscreen teacher guides the child through the lesson step by step and there is nothing left to chance as to what to do next. This is definitely something that I think I will be focusing on using duirng my next year of teaching as it inspired my son so much.

The lessons are available online for a cost of $95.88 per year paid in advance which works out to be about $7.99 a month. If you can only afford a monthly subscription then 12 separate payments of $19.99 per month can be made during the year. An online subscriptions gives you access to all web lessons (240 sessions) as well as accompanying PDF coloring pages which are printed out before starting your lesson.

The alternative is to purchase DVD's Activity Packages of Level 1-6 either individually for $40.45 each or in a bundle of 2-3 levels for a variety of prices. A Level 1-6 DVD package sells for $202.88 currently. KinderBach does offer a free online trial of 2 free lessons before you decide to purchase any product from them. This gives you an opportunity to see if you and your child like learning this way. Their website is here : http://www.kinderbach.com/index.html for you to click through to and sign up for those free lessons.

The Old Schoolhouse Crew Blog does have at least 90 reviews of KinderBach at the link below and I think you will find a few good opinions on there to help you make a decision on whether this program is right for your family. Oh yes I do remember this cost you pay is for the whole family to use either as an online or DVD curriculum and you do not have to pay per child.

When you factor in the cost of private lessons for each child at such a young age and the transportation to/from those lessons you will probably figure out this is a unique opportunity to invest in some great curriculum. Here is the link for the TOS Crew reviews:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/752851/

I was sent this product to review as part of the TOS Crew for 2009-10. I have written the above personal review of the KinderBach product for this blog and have not been paid for any part of this information.

Do you want to join the Crew?

2010-02-09T09:31:00.004-05:00

Are you a Homeschooling Parent or a wannabe homeschooling parent then read on? I ask you this question because I have been on 'The Old Schoolhouse Crew' of 2009/10 season for a little over 9 months now and have received lots of neat products, been exposed to some curriculum that I never thought would have worked.

The TOS Crew is opening up applications for the third season for those who are interested. Here is a link for you to click through to to read more about it.

I personally have benefited from being on the Crew as it has stretched me personally and in the homeschool arena of being a teacher of an elementary student and a preschooler. As a crew member I have access to learning from Moms and Dads who have been homeschooling for years and some who have just been at this a few years like myself. I have learned a lot about myself and what I can accomplish and that one day I will begin writing again too.

Please if you are interested in this journey click on through to the information page right here : http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/homeschool/Homeschool-Crew-2010.htm

Review: Facts First

2010-02-07T18:55:00.014-05:00

This is a hard product for me to talk about but I will do the best I can. The difficulty being that as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Crew I was given a 90 day membership to the Facts First website (http://www.factsfirst.com/login.jsp), but my codes never worked so I am reviewing this product off of what was available to look at and practice on the site.

Facts First is a fun learning environment using real life situations that help to learn basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The two practice games available on the site are using addition and multiplication.

To begin with the students get to create a character (avatar) which will appear on the pages they are using as an indication they are personally involved.

The addition game is shopping at Mathmart buying bread, milk and apples. The child practices two - 3 equations put on the screen in different orders or in the same order as before. The student answers the questions and depending on how quickly and accurately he/she answers you earn time for playing Arcade games after the lesson. The Mathmart screen is shown above in the picture on the left.

The multiplication questions that are for testing on the site are definitely for an upper elementary child to practice on. They do involve the 12 times table. They are using an order of photographs/pictures for example, a certain number of copies of each picture resulting in a total order for a total amount.

Playing at the arcade with the seconds earned during the practice of math equations is a good break from learning, although the facts just learned are used in the arcade time to reinforce the learning process. Above is a picture shown of one of the 4 choices of arcade to play around on. When I played around with it I got a 'find the difference' between the two pictures to use up my free play time.

The incorrect answers are corrected on screen and the student is given a second chance to do that equation again later in the lesson. There is a chart available at the end of playing or during a session to see what answers were incorrect, sometimes correct, always correct and sometimes hit and sometimes hit. This does help the parent to see where the student's weaknesses and strengths are.

I think this would be a good program to use for a child that is motivated by the reward to play the games. My son loved the practice sessions that are available online before you buy. He actually played it over and over again as he liked it so much.

I would like to ask you after reading this review to take a look at my other Crew mates reviews too as they have children in a wide range of ages who have been using the site for about 45 days or so. Here is the link to the page for Facts First at The Old Schoolhouse Crew : http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/758356/

Factsfirst is being distributed by Saxon, but was created by Skills Tutor, a sister company to Saxon. This program will complement any primary math program, and was not created specifically to accompany Saxon Math. It comes at a cost of $49.95 for a whole family usage for one year. Here is a link to their website: http://www.factsfirst.com/login.jsp

I have received the free access to the Facts First website for 90 days due to being a member of the Old Schoolhouse Crew for 2009/10. I have not been paid for this review and it is my own opinion of the product that I have written above.

Review: Keyboarding for the Christian School Elementary Version

2010-01-27T23:08:00.009-05:00

I recall 25 years ago at the tender age of 17 sitting in this huge room full of girls, and everyone tapping away very slowly at their electric typewriters. I was intimidated by those who seemed to catch on faster than myself and they seemed to stay that way the whole way through the 6 months we were together. When I was young I desired to work in the secretarial industry, and so this was the beginning place to start. Goodness I sound like I am talking about The Sound of Music. Well that is what they say in the movie “Lets start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start…..” I love that movie.

No what I am babbling on about is learning how to type. I had 6 months to learn how to type without looking at the letters and getting my speed up and then trying to compete with the rest of the world in getting a job.

I recently received just before Christmas an email with a PDF book attached for me to use as an Old Schoolhouse Crew Reviewer called “Keyboarding for the Christian School - Elementary Version.” I could not believe it. I have recently been praying about how to teach my son to type without the standard 2 finger stuff going on. This book must be a gift from the Lord.
I opened it up and read through it quickly not taking in any detail. On reading this through in January a second time I noticed the attention to simple detail is excellent. This book is written in simple easy to understand language for any child who has learned to read and there are only a few words that may be difficult for them to grasp.

The first focus is to learn where to hold your fingers on the keyboard, how to sit correctly in the typing chair, what letters you will find on the homerow (where your fingers are stationed.) In a sequence the lessons take you through the letters respectively and the order they need to be learned in, so that by the time the course is completed your fingers will automatically know and type the right keys. The efficiency by the end of the lessons is achieved by the constant repetition of various letters in a certain order, and it seems that by the time the student reaches writing sentences he will be not quite perfect but close to it. Touch typing is a skill that will help anyone get a little further in life especially if you are online for a large period of time each day. I see my husband struggle daily with this computer.

Once the student is ‘fluent’ in how to use the letter keys, the number and symbol keys are taught, before moving on to the number keypad. This is where my son is very weak especially when doing his online math games and worksheets as he is not fast enough on the keypad and gets frustrated. I am looking forward to the day he conquers this issue.

When I reached the part about learning to format the document by centering both horizontally and vertically, numbering lists, and the timing exercises my memory was refreshed some more on how to keep my work neat and tidy when writing documents.

There are scriptures to practice with in the centering article as well as dotted throughout the file. At the end of the lessons there is a table outlining what the approximate speeds should be for the student after a certain number of weeks on the course, as well as during the ‘test exercises.’
From watching my son work slowly through a lesson a day he is gaining confidence in his ability to use the keyboard and although I do need to remind him about where his fingers need to rest when typing he is getting the hang of it. (as long as I am not leaning over his shoulder either!!) I am enjoying seeing the change in him even as a result of this small bit of independence.

This program was sent to me as I said before as I am a member of the Old Schoolhouse Crew for doing reviews for 2009/10. I was not paid for this review but received the program complimentary.

I would recommend this being an easy to implement ‘extra’ in your homeschool or during one summer if your children are in public/private school. The program I reviewed sells for $12.95 and is for Grades K-5. There is a version for older children in Grades 6 and up called “Keyboarding for the Christian School Revised Version” priced at $15.95. There are samples available on the website that can be downloaded for you to try before you buy the program. I like that.

On doing this review tonight I noticed the author Leanne Beitel has a special offer 2010 New Year special for two e-books which includes both Keyboarding for the Christian School, Revised Edition and the Elementary Edition for only $22! That is a great deal and will cover you all the way through High School aged children if you are blessed enough to have that wide range!
The TOS Crew ladies and gentlemen have tried this product with their children who are obviously older than my one recruit so their opinions may help you decide whether this product will benefit your family and school or not. Their reviews and links are at the following:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/758784/

This vendor's website is available by clicking the link below:
https://www.christiankeyboarding.com/Home_Page.php

Mathscore Math Review

2010-01-16T16:05:00.014-05:00

I have not been blogging recently due to all the products I am currently reviewing. I am sorry about that as I would like to share my daily life more often but after a bout with illness during the Christmas and New Year holiday season my children are finally healthy. We have been working quite hard since starting our homeschool up again.

Mathscore (http://www.mathscore.com/ ) is a rather intriguing website with a variety of facilities put together to help both student and parent track a child’s abilities to grasp the basics of his math education.

Upon looking at this site initially I was a little apprehensive as there were no funny gimmicks to keep my child entertained and willing to learn through this. After using the site for a few times I realized this is an advantage to someone who is distracted often by the gimmicks of online programs.

The program is basically a teacher in itself with worksheets being generated according to your child’s level or grade of math. This is determined by the parent entering the grade level upon registration. I adjusted my child’s level a few times to see what he could/could not achieve. We practiced with Grade 1, 2 and 3 levels of math.

The child chooses the topics he wishes to do a worksheet on and can review what is expected of him to do by looking at a ‘Mini Lesson’ or a ‘Sample Worksheet’ of the problems and then click on ‘Do Worksheet.’ This will then pop up a sheet of problems which the child has to complete in a certain period of time. The time per question can be adjusted by the parent in advance until your students are better at working the number keyboard. I had to do this as my son was frustrated he never got to finish the worksheet. His fingers are still trying to master the numerical keyboard.

He chose to do topics like Addition; Subtraction; Addition and Subtraction (mixed together in a worksheet); Beginning Multiplication; Missing numbers either in equation or answer; word problems; place value; greater or less than; odds or evens; money addition and subtraction (challenging for a beginner) and some graph and shape worksheets too. I think this is a wide variety for his age and I am pleased with his progress. He scored in the 70=95% range for most of his topics. He was frustrated with the graphs as they began to get more difficult and had less time to answer more complicated questions. Doesn’t life get harder as you get older? I thought this was good for him!

I received an email in my Inbox each day after my son had been working on this site and it gave me his results. I knew how long he had been on the computer and what percentage of time he had spent working on the math. They do say that at least some time is spent looking at the worksheets before the child begins to answer the questions. It is recommended your child begins with just the copying of numbers to get them accustomed with the numbers keyboard. This may have helped my son a little more perhaps but he dived right in to the worksheets.

The difficulty levels I noticed on looking through the site for the math problems range from 1-5 on lover elementary levels and then 1-10 on high school worksheet levels. I did notice that when my son gave an incorrect answer the program gave him the correct answer and explanation of how to get that answer. In my opinion that is helpful for the student to learn right away so he/she does not make that mistake next time. Another advantage of this worksheet orientated website is you do not have all the pieces of paper that are usually involved in a worksheet program lying around! I like that.

The basic cost per month has recently been lowered to $9.95 per month for the first student, 2nd student is $5.00/month, and any other students $3.95/month. This is for using on your home computer or in a homeschool situation. Payments can be made through Paypal or by Credit card automatically each month. A 9 month payment of $89.55 is also available, as well as the ability to pay $100 and earn about $45.00 worth of extra credit/time on your account. There are bonus’ to paying extra and bringing the monthly cost down.

Unfortunately at this time I am unable to afford any of these extras but perhaps may consider this program again in the future and in the higher grade levels for our son. It has boosted his morale a little knowing with practice his scores can get better over time. My son used Mathscore 2-3 days per week during the time we had to review the program.

My Crew mates at the Homeschool crew blog have experienced this program too with their families so don’t hesitate to click on over there and read their reviews too. Here is the link:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/752842/

We received this program for free and have reviewed this program as part of the “Old Schoolhouse Crew.” I have not been paid for this review.

Pilgirm Study, Hasty Pudding and Christmas Tomorrow

2009-12-24T09:16:00.007-05:00

We have recently wound up our studies until January and so completed our study of the Pilgrims. We were using a Pocket Book that a friend had given us and with all the crafty ideas and hands on work my 8 year old has some idea on how these folks struggled. At the end of the study on how the Pilgrims ate we got to make some Hasty Pudding. Well as I was making this I was testing it's texture along the way. some not so fond memories of my high school in Zimbabwe where I boarded I used to eat cornmeal Porridge or as it is called in pilgrim days Hasty Pudding. It consists of cornmeal and water cooked up together and with a sweetener added. We put some Maple Syrup and Agave syrup into our 'pudding' and proceeded to eat. The Hasty Pudding pic is at the top of this post!

The 8 year old student whopped down the first bowl and said how good it was but the second bowl was a struggle. Perhaps he is realizing their food is not so appetizing. Perhaps the sweet potatoes and/or pumpkin dishes done over Christmas will be better for him to stomach.

As far as our family life goes. School some days is extremely hard to accomplish. A toddler in the mix makes for less concentration on the older child's part and so less gets down. I do get really down on myself and him because we don't seem to be accomplishing much in this area and yet he is still learning. Our toddler seems to finally be getting some of his words pronounced better and so I am worrying less about his speech or lack of understandable language.

We miss our dear sweet Brendon so much around this time of year. He loved lights, trees and of course presents too. He loved to sing Christmas carols too. We have some short videos of him in 2007 singing in our children's Christmas production. These bring a smile to our faces. i also found a video taken in 2005 when he was 2 1/2 of the boys singing in front of the Christmas tree which was surrounded by presents, and they were both full of mischief whilst we were trying to photograpgh and film them. I am glad I have these to look back at in the years to come.

I do see on any blogs that folks have moved on in their grief and I am glad for them. We seem to be slower at this but thankfully that is ok. It is alright for us to cry often and remember him with both tears and smiles. He was an inspiration to our whole family and many others. I know my pastor hardly goes through a day without thinking of Brendon and how courageous he was. (and cute too.) Looking at the little guy (now 2 1/2) we are still doing comparisons because they look like each other so much. He is truly a gift sent from heaven even if a challenging one!

We do currently have one runny nos toddler, a sick, feverish 8 year old and an exhausted Daddy due to delivering all those packages and mail before Christmas. Pray for our family to be healthy enough tomorrow to enjoy ourselves a little bit. Thanks.

We do wish you friends and family worldwide a very Merry Christmas and are thankful we get to sing Happy Birthday to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ first. We would not be able to get through a day without His love and grace in our lives.

Review: Maestro Classics

2009-12-18T23:01:00.009-05:00

The above company has come up with a grand idea of using classical music in the background whilst telling old classical stories that will truly delight your heart and your children’s soul probably.

I received this CD “The Tortoise and the Hare” for being part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew and since listening to it the very first time I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing it a few more times. My favorite part is the song where the Pretzel Vendor, who is selling pretzels to the Americans, at the beginning of the race sings. “I love selling Pretzels on the Champs Elysees.” This made me laugh and giggle and of course start to sin.

Okay let me get serious here. I love to hear music put behind stories and so of course I loved this review. The CD audio is broken up into 7 sections. The first is a telling of the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Secondly the producer of the CD Bonnie Ward Simon begins to talk about the music and the actions that go with each part of the story. The third part is a repeat of the song “I love selling Pretzels on the Champs Elysees.”(my favorite section of course.) The next part is the Conductor and Composer Stephen Simon talking about all the different instruments that were used during the story. These range from French horns, Piccolo, Violins, bassoons, tuba, cellos, trumpets and Timpani drums to a few more like oboes and clarinets.

My knowledge of instruments increased just a little here! I have listened to classical music since 6 years old and had never heard of a Contrabasssoon or Timpani Drum! The Composer highlights parts of the story where the individual instruments are used and then plays a few bars of music with that instrument. There are pictures of the instruments in the booklet accompanying the CD. There is a replay of the story for the child to hear again so they can listen more carefully to the way the music makes the story more interesting. My son listened to this all the way through on a ride in the van one day and he was most absorbed in all of it. That does not happen often! He has not tried performing the “Pretzel” song yet as we have to master the French words used in it still. He will have fun with that one though.

The other stories available from Maestro Classics are:
Peter and the Wolf
The Story of Swan Lake
Juanita the Spanish Lobster
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Casey at the Bat

Each set contains a CD, story and activity book, and extra information tracks on the CD. The booklet links the story to the music so not only does the child hear the music but can see music notes in the book and read the words to some of the songs too. They are priced at $16.98 per CD set, or $45 for 3 sets. I know this is pricey but this work is extremely well put together and for those of us who are not musically inclined, sure could put some enthusiasm into your music lessons.
I did like doing this review a lot and will have to try to budget some money for more of these CDs in the next year. Now I will probably go to bed tonight with the “Pretzel” song buzzing in my head and it will make me hungry all night long! The music is catchy, classical and can get your child ‘hooked on classics.’

The company's website is http://www.magicmaestromusic.com/index.html.

The link to the Homeschool Crew site for other Crew members opinions is http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/751523/

The above review has been my opinion of a product that I received directly from Maestro Classics as a member of the Old Schoolhouse Crew tea. I have received no compensation for this review.

Review: 3PLearning/Mathletics

2009-12-17T00:03:00.005-05:00

Mathletics is a Web-based learning program that integrates both home and school learning via the Internet. It is applicable for both homeschoolers and public school students. It is a very well used website and available for people to use from all over the world.

Both the student and the parent are given sign in codes once you have signed up for one year at a cost of $99 per year. There is a discount price of $59.00 per child (valid for US Subscribers only and using a secret code for the Human Calculator of 9 to get it). Other countries pay the normal subscription price. The students basically are online playing all kinds of games or doing exercises that are reinforcing their skills in all areas of Mathematics. Their scores are kept from week to week and the parent then has access to see what those are and can analyze what areas the student is weak or strong in.

My son for example was really weak in fractions and geometry as we have not covered a lot of these in our math curriculum so far. He liked however to see his rewards. The students earns credit and can then build various characters or purchase ‘stuff’ to create and print off to keep as a result of their correct answers. It is not real money and nothing gets sent to you - just feels like it for the child. My son never really earned enough to do much with it. He did not like it when the timer changed to the next question before he was ready. This means he was challenged by having to give an answer in a shorter space of time than I give to him. The child can print out his certificates if he wishes to do so to display his efforts to the whole family (and visitors too).

The Grade 2 level questions for example are along Modeling Numbers-counting in groups, comparing numbers, patterns; Additions and Subtraction- equations, with animal characters helping along the way at times; Measurement and Money, Time, weights, fluids etc; Geometry, Fractions, Multiplication and Division e.g. groups, fractions, shapes and division of groups. The students can work at their own pace and if needed can take activities at a lower or higher skill level.

Mathletics is a really good program to support another Math curriculum. It seems to help students fill in the gaps that they are missing, reinforce concepts already learned and cements them in your child’s brain I guess. There are live Math challenges that can take place between students without the actual students interacting with each other directly. More information on that is available on the site (http://www.mathletics.com/).

The site is attractive to the children as they can see their own progress and actually get rewarded for their work. Each time they return they can speed up their answers and get more rewards that way.

For our family this would be a good assistant to our math curriculum as it would give our son time to practice his thinking skills for math and have access to the computer. He does have limited time to use the computer so of course he would prefer something fun. I do wish that I had given him more time during our trial on this review to practice. He does get addicted to things and then will not get off when he is supposed to and continues to take more liberty online than he should.
This program is available for International students too with special curricula for the following countries: Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, United States and an International section for others. You can custom design courses with a user friendly ‘drag and drop’ Course creator.

In the USA it works out to be about $2.00 per day for the use of this program. I think it will be something I look into for the next school year starting in the fall of 2010. The overall curriculum covers Kindergarten through to Grade 8 in the USA (5-14 years old).
Please do visit the site if you have any more questions. I did like this program rather a lot although have others to review in the future too I am sure. I will make a note of returning to this site in the next few months.

My above review has been purely my personal opinion. I was given a 6 week membership to Mathletics in order to review the program. I was not paid financially or in any other way for this review. The TOS Crew also has other folk’s opinions on this product especially for those with older children. Please click on through and read some of those too when you have a moment. Here are the two links:

http://www.mathletics.com/ and

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/745116/
　

Tektoma - Computer Game Programming

2009-12-14T21:39:00.009-05:00

Tektoma is a new company founded in 2009 by Tom Marx and Matilda O’Connor to provide 24/7 video tutorials to children to teach video game programming. Tom and Matilda have many years of experience with management, engineering and tech stuff.

They have been teaching children for about 9 years now at a summer camp called “Bits, Bytes and Botes” each year. The children have been taught at the camp how to program and build their own video games. As it was costly for parents to send them to the camp they came up with an easier way for children to have access to this technology all the time. Two of their children in their families liked to do this kind of work too.

My curiosity was intrigued when reading some of the above information which is supplied on their website.

Through becoming a member to the Tektoma website for a monthly fee of $14.95 per month or $180.00 per year, one has access to Software to download to your hard drive and to tutorials that help you or your child to design the first game on your computer. On the site there are short examples to see or try out of the various video games you can make. I found the Software easy to download but for some reason my computer would not take the Advanced version which actually makes the game work a million times better.
With a membership comes the following access on the site:
Tektoma offers you this:
Engaging video tutorials for ages 7-17
Tutorials of varying skill levels and topics
Learn at your own pace in the comfort of your home
Natural progression helps develop technical skills
Customize your learning experience
Low monthly membership fee gives access to all our resources
New curriculums available monthly

Examples of Games are as follows:
Racing Game (this is the game made in the Racing Game Tutorial)
Arcade Game (this is the game made in the Arcade Game Tutorial)
Platform Game (this is the game made in the Platform Game Tutorial)
Fantasy Adventure Game (this the game made in the Fantasy Adventure Game Tutorial)
What's New Puzzle Game (this is the game made in the What's New Tutorial)

My 8 year old son listened to the first tutorial and was very confused. He did try the Racing Game online and found it frustrating as using the arrow keys to move the car around it’s racing track did not work well for him. I tried it too and realized you have to be one step ahead of the car’s next move before it getting there and it worked very slowly compared to the other vehicle speeding round the track.

The tutorials are very thorough and fairly lengthy but the process is slow and clear for a child to understand if they desire to learn all the key elements to making this work. I feel that my son is not interested in learning this sort of thing at all, and every time I tried to encourage him to do so he told me that he had something else to do. Perhaps he thought I was working him too hard!
I personally do not like video games very much so am obviously not really keen on learning how to program them. I became annoyed whenever I tried to build my own and could not due to not having the correct gadgets in my directory to work with. I do not like to say this but I think I gave up. The extra load of software on my hard drive made it have to work too hard as well. It requires at least 128 MB of RAM, Direct X with 32 MB of video memory, and a screen resolution of 800 x 600. For those who are 'techie' people you would probably enjoy this site and what they have to offer.

You can link to the Homeschool crew Review site and read what other families who were given this program to try out thought of this. I am not saying it is a bad product but one that I do not understand and no like to be using. Personally I can do better things with my time on the computer and so can my children. Please follow the links below to The Old Schoolhouse Crew review site and also to the Tektoma website too.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/745123/
http://www.tektoma.com/

I received a 3 month subscription to the above company and access to their website. I have written this review to describe my experience with this product. I have received no financial gift for this review. The above review is my own opinion on this product.

Reviews: All About Spelling

2009-12-04T21:11:00.013-05:00

I have not been posting for a while again and I am sorry for that. We are facing some personal issues in our home again to do with the loss of our precious son. I will try to keep up weekly now if possible.

I was at a loss at the beginning of this school year to help my 8 year old to spell. He is an excellent reader but I think he is missing half of the words because he can not totally understand everything he reads. I was wondering what spelling program to use or to just plod along. I then received an email from The Old Schoolhouse Crew informing me of the pending arrival of "All About Spelling" program into my mailbox. On receiving the package and opening it I was interested. The method of spelling took me back to his phonics learning days and also the times we did preschool at home using sounds. However, I did not include all the different sounds each vowel made, or the sound the combination of consonants made in that training. Now in the "All About Spelling" packet there was a possible solution to use.

I was leery at first as my son gets distracted easily but once I began using the system he has started to like it. the first few lessons were boring for him being on about a Grade 2 level student. He then started to catch on when we used the counters and the tiles on the board to help out in spelling the words. We are still only half way through Level 1 but we are enjoying ourselves and it is all laid out so easily in the manual that I just have to pre-read the chapter to make sure I have all the correct review phonogram, sound, key and word cards ready to use. When the student is reviewing the sounds or words or phonograms during the lesson he is aware that if he gets any incorrect he will have to repeat them at the beginning of the next lesson before proceeding on. After spelling out the words with tiles you then test him again by asking him to spell the words once you read them out again. I usually mix them around a bit here.

He decided to quit messing around during spelling and now the learning process is a little faster than at the beginning of the exercise. We still have to work our way through the rest of the Level 1 Book and progress to Level 2 which is more complex spelling words with 2 or 3 phonograms in each word. I am glad we started at the beginning and think we may have found something my son likes to learn with.

The program focuses on Phonograms, Sounds, Words and Key cards (explanation cards). These cards are brightly colored too. The books make it so easy to follow once the kit is assembled and put in a card box for safe keeping. The curriculum uses sight, sound and touch to enable the student to 'get' it. Some children process faster in one way or the other but using all 3 ways it causes the principle to cement in the child's brain and not be easily forgotten. Each lesson builds upon the one before.

There are currently 5 levels available and a Level 6 is being worked on by the authors. If you are not sure at which level to begin at with this program All about Spelling have an article available on their website for you to read and some sample lessons for each Level for you to see. I see from the Testimonials on their site that both Homeschool, Private and Public school teachers have commented on how wonderful the program has been to use. There are also more reviews available at the Homeschool Crew blog : http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/749401/

There is a picture of our Level 1 magnets on the Easel above that we use for this spelling exercise. I do like this program and will continue to use as long as I am able to afford it. The Level 1 Manual and one Student Packet is $29.95. Level 2 is $39.95 for the Teachers Manual and one student packet. The Starter Kit includes the Tiles, magnets, and phonograms CD_Rom is priced at $26.95 but is available for use throughout all levels. Additional student packets for larger families working on more than one level are available for $14.95 in Level 1 and $19.95 in Level 2. The products are of good quality and not easily broken or torn either. Please visit their website at this link for more informatsion that may interest you for this excellent thorough curriculum http://www.all-about-spelling.com/ .

All About Spelling" sent me Level 1 and Level 2 of their curriculum to use as I am part of the 2009-2010 Homeschool Crew and I have done the above review for free with no fees paid to myself. The reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are my own.

Review: Exploracise Gymathtics DVD

2009-11-20T20:47:00.014-05:00

On the right side of the screen is a DVD cover for an exercise DVD that I was given the privilege of reviewing for "Old Schoolhouse Crew" team. I have mixed emotions about this. I have done this exercise routine 2-3 times with my 8 year old son. He does not like to do it as he gets totally wiped out.

I will explain why. During the exercise routine there is a lady guiding you through the exercises but the screen is also made smaller so that Math patterns, shapes, and skip counting can be included in the picture. I found my attention diverted from following the instructor and so did he so he could follow what was being shown instead.

I liked the exercises and find that he needs to be able to do them and they will enable him to participate more in the sports world, but he could not keep up with the instructor. The other children shown on the DVD seem to have some issues with that too. The concept of learning and doing exercise at the same time is a credible one, but for a child who has difficulty focusing on more than one thing at the same time it could be difficult. I told him to ignore the counting and just do the exercises instead.

In my opinion I think the instructor/s should present each exercise slowly before continuing with the group and the music so that the children are able to figure it out first before rushing in to something they do not know how to do. I definitely would advise parents being in the same room or within watching distance as if children are spaced too close together this could cause a problem.

I do notice from their website that the DVD Gymathtics has been voted as one of the 100 best toys for 2009 by Dr Toy. The Math facts are targeted towards Grade 2nd-5th. There is a second DVD being worked on right now. the cost of this fun educational workout is $24.99 with free S&H at the moment. Here is a link to their site: https://www.exploramania.com/Default.aspx .

If you would like some other folks opinions on this DVD for exercise for your children please click on over to the Homeschool Crew website. (http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/745118/ ) I will be using this DVD when my son is older and can grasp the concepts a little more with doing exercise and Math at the same time!

I have been given this product for free to review it as part of the Homeschool Crew. I have written about my opinion of the product and am not being paid for this information.

THANKSGIVING TREE

2009-11-20T20:35:00.005-05:00

It has been a week since doing my last review. I was away on a brief vacation with my husband in Kentucky. We had some time to unwind, some time to hike and some time to eat without worrying about little guys to feed. It was good for us.

Before I left I attended my local MOPS group and shared this unique idea with them about doing a Thanksgiving Tree with your children. There are many ways to do this but I have included a link that you can click through to that explains in more detail what to do. I think this is a cool idea.

Children or adults trace around their hands and/or feet to form the 'leaves' for the tree. You draw a trunk and branches for the tree on a big piece of poster paper or board. Then by cutting out the leaves and sticking or pinning them to the tree you have a memory of each year of what your family was thankful for during that year. The tree may be rolled up and kept safe or the leaves taken off and kept in the family picture album. Oh yes the children and you are supposed to write on those leaves what you are thankful for.

I included one of my husband's hands, two of mine, and three or four of our children. I also managed to trace a handprint from our son B, who passed away last year. I wrote things on it that he would have been thankful for if he was here. We had taken handprints of him on the night he died. It was a special way to include him in our Thanksgiving Holiday this year. Last year it did not mean much to any of us as we were not feeling very thankful.

Please link to their site and see how you can make your own tree in whatever size you want. I know of families that make an enormous one and put it on the back of a door (front door). then everyone who comes to visit over that weekend fills out a leaf or two and sticks it on. This makes an excellent memory of who was there and what they were thankful for too.

Heres the link again and a photo is posted of what ours looks like right now. We still have a few 'leaves' to fill in still. Enjoy.

http://www.familycorner.com/archives/familytime/2.shtml

Review: AVKO Educational Research Foundation

2009-11-17T23:17:00.007-05:00

I have recently been allowed to access the following website as part of the Homeschool Crew 2009-10 and learned some things about the English language that I did not know. It is hard! I can not remember how I learned to read and what method I was taught to read by but always have known that I learned to read at a young age and have loved it ever since.

I am outlining below the Mission Statement presented on the website so that you have a clearer understanding of what the goals of this company are before you read the review.

AVKO Mission Statement

The AVKO Educational Research Foundation, founded in 1974, has as its mission the following:
To determine what makes the learning of reading and spelling so difficult for some and so easy for others.
To determine what it is about our language that good readers learn without being taught that poor readers don't.
To determine whether or not that which poor readers don't learn is ever systematically taught and if it isn't, if it can be.
To devise techniques and materials to enable teachers (or parents) to systematically teach poor readers and/or poor spellers that which schools presently are not teaching.
To widely disseminate its discoveries of techniques and materials that enable dyslexics to learn to read and to spell.

http://www.avko.org/

From what I have determined listening to various MP3 files that I have downloaded and read many different articles during my access time to this site that AVKO is helping those with Dyslexia and/or slow learning students to improve drastically in their spelling, reading, writing and comprehension of the English language.

The website offers two kinds of membership to their site. The Basic Membership allows you access to download hundreds of dollars worth of E-books on Spelling and Reading, How to Teach a Dyslexic, How to teach reading and spelling, 25 % discount on printed materials, MP3 recordings of workshops on this spelling method, some word games, activities nd placement tests too. This is a cost of $25.00 per year.

The Deluxe Membership costs $100.00 per year and gives you access to all of the above, as well as being able to read all of AVKO's Curriculum materials (not including Sequential Spelling which is their most well known item I believe), 25% discount off printed materials, and access to AVKO's newest E-books. This Deluxe Membership is available to co-ops and learning centers too.

I would say this website is a great wealth of information especially for those who are having difficulty teaching a certain child how to read and spell. I have listened to a lot of what I have downloaded but am content with the system I am using now as it is working for my son. I have been able to download and read some of the E-books to use at a later stage. They are very well set out although I personally prefer a book in my hands to be able to flip the pages back and forth, and not be in front of the computer all day long.

The AVKO Website does have free samples of lessons and other teaching aids for you to download and try before making the membership purchase. I would recommend this website and system if you need it. For my situation though I was confused as I am using a curriculum that is useful for my sons Audio, Visual and Kinesthetic needs.

Oh yes by the way AVKO stands for:

A - Audio V - Visual K - Kinesthetic O - Oral

These are all the techniques used in the program "Sequential Spelling." Your child is using all of these 4 ways to learn how to read and spell.

This review is my opinion. I was given free access to this membership for a limited time to be able to write this review. If you think this will work for you and your child please can you take a look at some other Crew reviews at the following link: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/739080/

You may also click through to AVKO's website directly at http://www.avko.org/.

Break time for Mum and Dad

2009-11-17T23:04:00.005-05:00

After a long time of being married, all of 12 years my husband and I took a very short 2 day vacation last week to Kentucky. It was a good break for us in that we only had to think of each other and not what each little person needed every moment of the day. Our children were being well taken care of and loved where they were.

We were very tired ourselves and did a lot of sleeping, some hiking and some reading. I, of course had some Homeschooling books in my lap during this time. I had no access to the Internet so was not able to cruise at all. I am tossing around some ideas on what to teach my 8 year old son, and what I am using does not seem to be going in his head much, or staying there. We are working on a Football Unit Study which we have put together ourselves with a little help from a friend in Florida. It is holding his interest more than any other subjects right now. Doing formal language and grammar just does not spark him at all but when we sit down and talk about Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts, or the Bengals or perhaps the New York Giants he is all ears. He remembers who did what to whom in which game, and sometimes has to go look it up on the Internet under our watchful eye. He loves to watch replays of games over and over. I can't for the life of me understand why but perhaps this is something I will use to get him to do some timelines on each team's history and perhaps players and owners too. History, geography, lots of writing and some research thrown in and he is all for it. I personally still don't understand the game of course!

I am spending quite a few hours these days reviewing alternative curriculums and searching my heart and the Lord's will on which direction to go. A Charlotte Mason attitude with real books and not too many sit down and write lessons are attracting me, as well as finding someone who puts this altogether for me in a package and I just follow it. Our lives are so crazy with grief counselling, toddlers running through the house and a big guy who makes noise wherever he goes I need something simple and easy to follow! Anyone have any ideas for that one - let me know.

Following this post will be a review of another Spelling program and website that I have been looking at over the past 6 weeks.

Review: American Heritage Education Foundation

2009-11-07T14:12:00.009-05:00

A month or two ago I received a CD in the mail from a friend in Florida from the American Heritage Education Foundation. I left it in the packet as it was summer and did not feel like looking at it right then. Well then as part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew Daniel and I received another packet in the mail with one more of these CD's for us to review.

I set to work as it is nearing Thanksgiving season, and as I do not totally 'feel' the vibes this time of year having not been raised in the USA, looked at some lessons in depth. The CD is broken up into about 15 or 16 sections covering subjects from the origin of the US Flag, the Star Spangled Banner, the Constitution, American Revolution, Origins of Thanksgiving, US Presidents, Statue of Liberty, Pledge of Allegiance, America the Beautiful and What is an American. There are a few I may have left out of here.

As I was reading I decided to print out some of the word searches and information for Thanksgiving Holidays, words and pictures for The Star Spangled Banner, Mini books on the United States Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. I printed and cut out the words for the Star Spangled Banner song and then Daniel had to put the words in order on the table. We listened to versions of the song online and kept playing the music over and over so we could sing the entire song with all the verses that one does not normally hear.

I am sure in later years I will probably use this CD and it's information to supplement other curriculums. It is set up to be for a public school or multi student curriculum in my opinion. My son does not like straight bookwork so needs variation other than just writing to remember things. the crosswords helped him out a little with this and that is spelling practice for him too. He does not like comprehension but if I ask the questions, he answers, and then I fill in the answers he tends to go over them later in his spare time. He reads over his old work a lot.

I did use this CD during the last 30 days to supplement what we were already doing for our Thanksgiving Notebook. As I am not a born and bred American I find things like this interesting for me. Perhaps if my son was older he would be looking on the CD for his own information.

The CD contains information at many different Education levels listed in the following order:

Elementary School Level

Elementary School Level Spanish

Middle School Level

High School Level

A version of Acrobat Reader is also available for download off the CD. The cost of the information on the CD is valued at around $150.00. The CD is made available for free and the Foundation relies on donations to enable them to mail out these CDs to educators and parents alike all over the United States.

I enclose the quote from the Foundations website below to reveal to you their mission:

Our Mission
AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation (501.c.3) dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.
AHEF accomplishes this patriotic mission by writing, producing, and distributing FREE K-12 lesson plans to teachers, students, and families in all 50 states and through additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships.
AHEF is inclusive of individuals of every race and creed and every religious or non-religious persuasion.

I think perhaps the goal of educating America's children with the rich history of their country is a good one. There are many immigrants here in the United States including myself who do not know where, when and how some of the traditions were established in this country. The information gives clear unbiased information on the government and US presidents too.

I have received the above educational material for free and have been asked to review it. The above review is therefore my personal opinion on the product. Thank you for reading it. Please go to the following website for more on this product http://americanheritage.org/ or across to the Homeschool Crew website ( http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/739239/ for more opinions on this jam packed informational CD). I do happen to have one or two extra copies in my homeschool basket. Email me if you are interested in one please.

Review: Bright Ideas Press

2009-11-06T21:46:00.009-05:00

"Hands On Geography"

Easy and Fun Activities for Exploring God's World

Have you ever wanted to jump on a plane and leave your home to go explore the world for however long you wish to. I definitely do. I grew up flying to Europe, South Africa, Australia and United Kingdom on planes, learning about the countries and their people. I am not able to financially do that for my children so we are learning through our books.

I had the unique book called "Hands On Geography" sent to be by Bright Ideas Press. One of the main chapters in this book that perked my interest was the 'Passport Fair' and the 'Missionary Geography.'

In the 'Passport Fair' the author Maggie Hogan outlines how to organize a 'visit' to countries you can not physically get to yourself by having a Passport Fair. Participants need to each research a different country that interests them and then write about, draw pictures, find photographs, perhaps postcards, make foods from, and even wear costumes for that country. At the fair there are booths to display all the different information they have collected. Obviously it needs to made interesting to their peers and not just themselves. I loved this idea and am working on doing this with our Field trip coop perhaps.

The second chapter that interested me was Missionary Geography. this will teach your children and you about other countries as well as the culture and people there by studying missionaries who have been there, or perhaps contacting a missionary. The children can put on dramas, try out the different foods the missionaries have to eat, perhaps even start a prayer map for all the different missionary outreaches from your church or ministries they know of. They are learning facts and getting compassion all at the same time.

This Geography book was very basic but has solid biblical principles behind it too. We are in the middle of the 'Joseph's Journey' study too which is making us dig deeper into Joseph's life and the purpose behind it.

I have had to adjust some of the concepts for my son to a lower level of understanding but generally he gets it. We will be using this Activity book for future study and perhaps lap booking too.

Christian Kids Explore Biology

I was also privileged to review the above titled book. This is a thick book with 8 different units with 3-4 lessons in each unit. The book is for Grade 3-8 level Biology. The topics covered are Biology Basics, Plants in God's World, Birds of the Earth, Mammals in the Wild, the Human factor, Reptiles All Around, Insects High and Low, and Water Creatures.

As we were doing a lap book on Fall I decided to use the lesson on Trees in our lap book as an additional subject. We were already tracing the leaves so I added in more detail from this Biology book to teach my son a little more. I benefited from it too re-learning some things I had first read about over 30 years ago.

I had agreed to review this book even though it was not totally age applicable for my son but feel that it will be used in the future to boost our nature studies no matter what other curriculum we may be using. The lesson plans are outlined for the parent and the materials needed are not too costly and are outlined at the beginning of each unit. I fell the author Stephanie Redmond has done a great job of explaining the principles of what you are learning throughout the book. She has used most of the ideas she gives on her own children and is a homeschooling mother herself.

The curriculum does leave room for you to do more research on your own with books you may find at home or in your local library. Science is a difficult subject to teach and the author has done a fine job of presenting the facts. Of course there are lots of other reviews to look at for Bright Ideas Books on the Crew website or at http://www.brightideaspress.com/.

I have been given the opportunity to review these curriculum books for free and have not been paid to do so. These reviews are my opinion and you need to research the company's involved yourself before making a purchase. Please see the following page for more reviews from the Crew.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/724592/

Fall and Grieving

2009-11-06T21:21:00.002-05:00

We have recently passed the one year anniversary of our son's death from Medulloblastoma cancer. After hearing from a friend up in Northern Indiana that her daughter is still doing well and has recurrence of the same cancer, I sit in wonder. I can only ponder on all the what if this and that and then I think that Brendon is doing better than he probably would be on earth. He has a big home and a whole body too. He has lots of friends that are with him all the time and he is allowed to play with whoever he wants, whenever he wants. His life in heaven is spent praising the Lord most likely.

We visited the cemetery on the anniversary of his death even though it was bucketing down rain here in Indy. It sort of reflected the mood that we had been feeling for a few days already. The boys are trying to get along with each other but that is a challenge. My oldest is fighting school every day but does really well when he applies himself to it. I have a natural love of learning but I think some boys have a love for goofing around, and trying to get out of work in every way they can.

Our family is struggling on a daily basis still to develop new normals. Holiday season this year will still be a challenge as we remember our last Christmas with Brendon in 2007 was so much fun! I had better sign off as this is causing me to tear up again. Please continue to pray for our family when you can. We so appreciate that!

Review: ABC Teach Website

2009-11-02T21:47:00.006-05:00

I once again received a fairly interesting product. The above highlighted title is for a HUGE website for any learning related information or documentation. I was given a complimentary subscription for 30 days to this website. ABC Teach does give access on their site to at least 5000 of these printable items. A membership to the site for the cost of $40 per year and will enable you to access at least 35 000 different kinds of documents.

The range and variety is incredible. I was away on vacation for 2 weeks of my 30 day trial so did not really have much time to check out everything I would have liked to delve into. I will list below some of the things that interested me.

- Handwriting practice sheets
- Unit Studies
- Math worksheets for a wide range of skill levels
- Holiday themed studies e.g for Lapbooking
- Different language worksheets
- Ability to create your own template spelling lists from words you use in your own studies
- Being able to create crosswords, word searches and scrambled words from your spelling words
- Cross curriculum
- Comprehension stories and questions (including themed and seasonal ones)

This is just a miniscule amount of the information compared to what is actually on there. Daniel loves word searches, crosswords and fill in the gap stuff. I printed out a bunch of things for him to work on when we travel in the car on errands. I also included some printed comprehension worksheets, crosswords and word searches in our Unit Study on Thanksgiving this month. He likes to do all kinds of different things with the same words, and not straight creative writing. We are adding in some things on the American Flag and the Star Spangled Banner to this Thanksgiving Study we are working on. This allows him to work on his own a little so I can take care of the toddler.

I have heard there are other websites online that have these kinds of worksheets available for free or to pay a minimal fee. The ease of having everything available at one site may definitely work for you and save you time looking all over the place. I do not think I personally will benefit from having access to this many printables because I do not use them on a daily basis. For someone whose child absolutely loves bookwork or copywork then this would be ideal. At this time in our lives it is not beneficial for us to purchase this membership.

I would however say that I have enjoyed digging into so many different kinds of things on ABC Teach that I had never even thought of using before. You can get a taste of this well stocked website by visiting http://www.abcteach.com/ for yourself. I am sure I will be popping back there from time to time to see the different articles that may be added to the '5000 free printables' area.

I am blessed to be a reviewer this year and not have to pay for these products, and when I use them I then write on my experience and opinion with the product, and affirm you to try them out for yourself. Drop by the Crew review site and read what my fellow crew mates say about ABC Teach!

Review: Virginia Soaps and Scents

2009-10-28T21:30:00.011-04:00

As part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew for this year I have been privileged to review some really neat products. I believe that last year the Crew asked if they could review some more personal products and I believe their prayers were answered. Sometimes it is nice to try out some new things especially those with oils in and no nasty additives. Those of you who know how adamant I am about additives and not using them in foods or beauty products please take note of the products I will tell you about below.

The company who sent me the small guesthouse packet of different soaps and laundry detergent is called Virginia Soaps & Scents. Their story is somewhat unique to most of you but not to me. Their new adventure into the soap business started as a result of the loss of something precious to their family. Their youngest granddaughter passed away suddenly as a result of a tragic car accident. They spent a long period of time mourning and grieving whilst ministering to their daughter and grieving themselves. To get back into the homeschooling way of things they started a unit study on Life in the Colonial era in the state of Virginia. During the study they experimented in making lavender soap. They were amazed at what they had done and then experimented some more, and it finally evolved into a home business.

This is an amazing story to me as I continue to work on my feelings of grief over the loss of my son Brendon from cancer. I have not found a way yet that definitely I can use to glorify God and honor our son at the same time. I am still searching for ways to use Brendon's legacy and helping people and our family at the same time.

Anyway in the small packet came 3 soaps Oatmeal Milk and Honey, Coconut Lemongrass, and Fresh Orange. An additional soap called "Shampoo Bar" and a small sandwich bag of "Laundry Soap Kit." I have tried out the Lemongrass and the Fresh Orange soap on a daily basis in the last few weeks and find they are smooth to the touch with a pleasant smell and enough bubbles to get me clean. The Oatmeal and Honey Bar I am waiting to try later when the other two are finished. I have noticed that these soaps do not dissolve into pieces as soon as they get wet which is a plus.

I gave the Shampoo bar to my husband to try first. He used it two or three times, went back to his shampoo, then a few more times and then told me he was done with it. That is because it caused his head to itch and flake. My 8 year old son liked the bar but he said he did not like the feel of it in his hands. Go figure on that one! I guess change is hard for him. I used the bar on my 2 year old and he was fine with putting it on his wet hair and then rubbing with mommy to get his hair nice and clean. He smells fantastic and has had no problems with his skin itching at all. I have tried the Shampoo bar at least 5 times and it seems to work best when I do not put conditioner in my hair afterwards. I have tried to do it both ways and even after 3 days it still feels good and clean. I guess for two of us it is a winner.

Last but not least is my adventure into using the Laundry Soap Kit. Our small sample kit made a half gallon of soap which is being kept in a re-used 1 gallon tub I had. This soap does not have any suds so you can not see any bubbles in the washing machine but the laundry (and diapers) come out clean and smell great. I did have doubts about this but am happy with the results. The overall cost of using this laundry soap is between 4-7 cents per load. That is inexpensive in this day and age. I am currently using an organic laundry soap powder to do everything so saving some dollars would make sense in this area of our home!

Virgina Soaps and Scents carries regular sized 4.5 oz bars of soap and the Shampoo bar is 5.5 oz and can last for as long as you would normally use a 32oz bottle of shampoo. Most of the soaps are made from Coconut oils, olive oils, and essential oils. The one thing I did notice was a lack of specific ingredients listed for the bar soaps and shampoo soap. I would like to see that listed on the website or the packaging. The reason being that I have family and friends with allergies to products and I am unable to purchase things for them without knowing what the product contains. I know tha tI can call or email the company but it is easier to be able to look at the site and decide if this product is able to meet our needs. I would also like to know where the ingredients are from as do now wish to support a country or business that is not taking care of our environment at the same time as making money off of it.

The price of the soaps ranges from $4.50 per bar to buying 3 for $12.00 or buying 4 and getting the 5th one for free. The Shampoo Bar costs $5.50 or 2 for $10.00. Shipping and handling is reasonable too. I did notice they have a Shampoo, body and shave or All-in-One Bars for $4.50 too. This is useful for those children going away to camp or for college students, or a husband travelling on business.

I better finish this up and go catch some beauty sleep for another homeschooling, cleaning and fun day tomorrow. I do think you ought to check out these products and maybe even order the Sampler basket and see for yourself how you like these soaps or give some away for Christmas too.

I am a reviewer for the TOS Crew and so what I have said above is my opinion. Please do the research for yourself and some more reviews can be found at the TOS Crew blog at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/735619/.

Thanks for reading and keep reading and learning every day.

Review: Amazing Bible World History Timeline

2009-10-27T21:12:00.007-04:00

As part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew I have received a wide variety of products and this one shown on my left would have to be one of the hardest to review so far.

When I first opened the chart to see what it entailed I was amazed . The only space to view this Timeline would be on my big double bed or the living room carpet. With a toddler running around, the bed won out! I was then able to walk around the chart from each side and read small pieces of text.

As you can see it is shaped in a 3/4 circle format. Most of the information is in very small print and I had to use a magnifying glass to read some of the details listed.

The Timeline covers what happens during the History of the world as we know it through our Bible. The creators used history books, encyclopedias and other historical documents as well as the Bible. The formation of the different nations is noted and compared with what was happening at the same time in different parts of the world. It reveals information on the Pharaoh's of Egypt, the Chinese Empire and some references to Buddhism too. This may be a deterrent to some families who want to purchase this Bible Timeline for their studies. I would not recommend this product be used with younger children as they could easily be distracted by the other cultures instead of just sticking with the Bible facts. One needs to have a good strong faith in Jesus Christ and a good knowledge of the Bible to not be waived by any one thing you may observe on this Timeline.

For me personally this chart is so big and has too much detail for me to absorb. I found that overwhelming. The part I liked was being able to see who else lived at the same time as some of my favorite Bible characters. I also noticed on how people's lives definitely got shorter the more modern the world became. I am not a history fan so my interest was not too deep.

This Bible History Timeline is definitely for a person who loves Theology and history all wrapped up together. My oldest son is only 8 but as I agreed to review items for older students too I have done that with this product. I do know personally a few folks in the ministry who would just love to have a copy of this product. Perhaps they will be borrowing mine in the next few months or years!

I have been able to review this Bible Timeline as part of the 2009/10 TOS Crew and the thoughts expressed above are purely my opinion. This Bible World History Timeline sells for $29.97 plus a small fee of $6.00 for S & H. Currently on their website they are offering some free downloads which includes interactive maps of the Holy Land (valued at $14.97) that can be viewed on your computer, and a file of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Click on over to the Crew website by http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/726414/ and read some of the other reviews written by my fellow bloggers of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. The website for
Amazing Bible World History Timeline is http://bibletimeline.net/index2.html . Enjoy reading.

Remembering my son Brendon Knight

2009-10-23T08:44:00.004-04:00

Dearest Brendon,

Oh my precious darling! How we miss you so very much. Your smile, your hugs, your kisses and your laugh. You are always an inspiration to us all even now that you are not on earth. I am sure you are having fun with all your buddies up there. There are so many who are your age that it will be a good party for you.

Daddy, Daniel and I really miss you sweetheart and we look forward eagerly to the day that we get to see you standing waiting for us to enter heaven too. It will be like a blink of an eye to you but a very long time for us! :) ( ) Love and hugs from us darling boy - Bub!!!

The day here on earth is rainy, wet and windy. Thank you Lord for the rain and the storms in our lives that make us aware that a relationship with You is not just about the good times but about the valleys too. Jesus is the real thing. If you do not have an living, breathing relationship with the Lord Jesus then you need one. Jesus is the only person who really truly believes in you and will stick by you 24/7. Jesus loves you - He really does. You know who you are and please contact us or someone who knows the Lord if you need help getting to know Him.

Thank you for all of your messages from those on Facebook, in the visitors book, and emails. Walt and I are grateful for the love still shown to us. This year has been long and yet gone so fast.

Love Mummy, Daddy, Daniel and Andrew.

Prayer Request for Tiffany

2009-10-19T22:12:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to ask my readers far and wide to please pray for a friend of mine from my MOPS group called Tiffany B (name withheld). She fell down the stairs today and is still unconscious. She was holding one of her children in her arms. Her daughter is ok but Tiffany is still out and not moving much at all. As a MOPS group we are devastated by this. It seems sickness, disease and all kinds of stuff are against our little group that is so strong for each other. We must be doig something right in the spirit. Please lift her family up in prayer and her especially for the Lord to let her gain consciousness. Her husband works and goes to school 2-3 nights a week and they have two partially special needs children.

Thank you so much.
J

Review: Sarah's Wish

2009-10-16T15:21:00.013-04:00

I recently was privileged to sit down and read on my own a marvellous book called "Sarah's Wish." It is written by author Jim Baumgardner and published by Tate Publishing. I took the book with me on our vacation and definitely shut myself up in my room with a view of the mountains and my eyes on the text (mostly). I was hooked from the first few pages of it. No I am not just saying that but really loved this book. I have not read a book (fiction) by myself for about 3 years. that is too long of course.

I am not going to let you know everything that happens but just give you a tast. the story is obviously about Sarah, a young lady who is in a tragic accident with her mother. She is left an orphan. She is taken in by a lady called "Granny' who is so funny and has a character all of her own. The book is set in the early 1800's when states were being set up but also there was a lot of slavery going on in the USA. Granny and Sarah's mother were both involved in the hiding and moving of slaves called the "Underground Railroad" movement.

The book shares some of the adventures of Sarah and Granny and their dealings with the authorities both good and bad and some of the slaves too. There are two other books in the series called Sarah's Promise and Sarah's Escape. They both sound exciting and I guess Mr Baumgardner is still looking into writing more. If I had daughters I would not hesitate to order this for Christmas for them! They are learning history and a little geography and some old American English all at the same time.

Included in the first book Sarah's Wish is a link in the back page to an audio download of the story so you can let younger one's listen to it or copy it onto a disk and play in the vehicle or MP3 player. I am sure that I will be purchasing more of this series in time. Sarah's Wish sells for $9.99, the audio CD's from the website are $16.99, or all three of the above books I mentioned for $39.95. Shipping and handling is free on most products. Here is the link to their website ( http://sarahbooks.net/index.html )or you can link to the Homeschool Crew review site to what other folks are saying about "Sarah's Wish" at
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/726402/

2009-10-16T09:57:00.002-04:00

I have a freebie for my readers, perhaps some of you already have this. It is a Autumn lapbook or workbook for your younger readers or older perhaps. We have already done one of these and used some ideas from this Autumn Treasures book to add to ours too.

I love lapbooks and so does my son. He does a lot more reviewing of his work this way by looking at the pictures and sharing with family what 'he' has put together!

Whether you are home schooling or not this is for you all to share!

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=145&products_id=12934

Review: Guardian Angel Publishing

2009-10-11T17:12:00.005-04:00

I have five books to review from the above Publisher who have an amazing standard of work. These books were all sent to me in eBook format but are available on CD or in print for additional costs.

The first review is for a book titled “Earthquake!” After re-reading this little 30 page book I can see it is an easy to comprehend narrative of the how’s, whys and what to/ what not to do’s of earthquakes. The information provided is brief and to the point. It covers what happens during one; shows areas of the world mostly likely to be in earthquake zones; what to do before, during and after an earthquake in order to stay safe and healthy.
This short eBook sells for $5.00 and downloads easily. Print copies are $11.95 plus $5.95 for S&H. CD format available for $9.95 plus $5.95 S&H.

The second book I read is titled “Gifts From God” authored by Cynthia Reeg. This book is pure pleasure to look at. It is refreshing to see children being talked about as gifts through one of the pages. Photography is exquisite and professionally finished thanks to Photographer Mary Sue Roberts. The Scriptures are set into the photographs and are encouraging to the reader. It sells as a PDF file for $5.00. Once again a CD or Print Book (8.5 in x 11 in) is available for extra.

Thirdly I read “Maybe We Are Flamingo’s”. I liked this colorful and humorous story of 2 flamingo’s born into their flock, but not realizing that they were supposed to be a different color for a year before they turned pink. The story explores their different ways of finding out what they need to eat and how to live before they turn pink. They learn about themselves by asking questions and watching others. They decided to be themselves and not to try to be anybody else. That is something we should all learn!
An eBook format is $5.00 whilst print and CD copies are additional. This book is able to be downloaded to an iPod or iPhone to be read whilst waiting at a doctors office or in line at the store or bank. That is a useful feature for those who are able to utilize it.

My fourth adventure into these books was “No Bones about It - The Sum of Our Parts.” This book is full of light humor and easy to understand facts and explanations, as well as some crazy pictures set up in a rhyme format. The point of the book is to help the student learn about all the bones in their body. By working it ‘s way from the head to the toes the rhymes help the student remember the names of the bones. Once the book is read through a few times it begins to stick in your mind. I wish I had had something like this to help me in biology when I was a teenager!
My son was not interested in this book too much so I will probably reserve it for next year’s curriculum. I intend to print it out anyway and put it in a folder for me to just pick up and read sometime when he is bored! As a PDF download for $5.00 it is an easy addition to any science or Biology curriculum.

“Hamster Holidays” I think was the most enjoyable book out of all the ones I was blessed to receive. This is a delightful read for both young and old alike. The arrival of it in my Inbox was great as my 8 year old and I have just started the journey into Nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns etc. This is a hard road to take for boys I think! The book gives an index with meanings of nouns and adjectives, different kinds of nouns and then places them in the poem format. The different grammar expressions are in different colors to make it clearer to the student to identify the nouns and adjectives. One reads the antics of the Hamsters during all of their holidays whilst learning at the same time. There is a brief study guide at the end of the poems to reinforce what the student has learned with the answers included.

I did happen to have some time today to look over the website for http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/ and see a wide variety of books to help all kinds of learners both classic, eclectic and those that just get it any old how! A few freebies are available too. This is a well organized website with some video clips of most of the PDF books. the other reviews from the rest of the TOS Crew for 2009-10 are on the following link at the Homeschool Crew website :
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/718692/

These products were sent to me as I am part of the TOS Crew for 2009/10 and the above review is my opinion.

Vacation and the Smokies

2009-10-02T14:20:00.001-04:00

Well the weather has been fantastic. the drive down took about 9 hours with stops for stretching and food breaks. We are doing ok. I was sick for 3 days with flu and nausea! It was awful. Our condo is at the top of ski Mountain road which is treacherous with hairpin bends and oh my goodness. We still have to visit the grocery store today and pick up some things. Just wanted to let you know we are doing ok.

Views are great and we did a 3 mile hike today and Andy walked most of the way!

I will update more when I get back to civilization as WE know it.....

Nature Friend Magazine

2009-09-26T14:09:00.006-04:00

　
During the month of August I received my first copy of Nature Friend Magazine to read. I was intrigued right from the start by the photograph on the cover. It was an owl swooping down to catch a rat in the dark of night. I have read other nature magazines but with as much information as this one has to offer.

Nature Friend is a company that upholds the principles of the Word of God and has high Christian family Standards, Divine Creation (no evolution) and practical stewardship of God’s creation. The previous statement is mentioned on the first pages of the magazine.

I have read both of the magazines I received thoroughly at least 2 or 3 times and am amazed at the quality and accuracy of the photographs. The feature article in August was on Owls and was extremely detailed including all the information on how the author and photographer had to set up the stunt to take their pictures. Other articles in the August issue were Animal Footprints, Tree Frogs and the Soft Shelled Turtle.

With the September issue I was introduced to stick insects, a peculiar bird called the Malleefowl from Australia, pictures of star formations at night, photography of fall colors and my favorite was on weaver birds. I grew up overseas in Africa with Weaver birds all around me and it was good to see them again even if only in a nature magazine!

In both issues one had a chance to do a crossword, fill in the blank sentences, pages of drawings done by readers copying the examples of “You can Draw” from other issues of the magazine, and a readers mailbox with photographs included. These are the Study Guide parts to the magazine available at an additional cost. . This is a safe magazine to subscribe to with no advertising in for a yearly cost of $36.00. A 2 year subscription is $68.00. To subscribe from Canada and other international countries is more though. The study guide will only be in your copy of the magazine if you subscribe to it for $24.00 per year or $48.00 for 2 years. It enables the student to see how much of the magazine he/she has comprehended. In my opinion I would say this would be an excellent addition to a science curriculum or even used entirely for a science curriculum, with a little art thrown in to the mix. You could take the major article and expand on the information already given to you, perhaps making a scrapbook or lapbook out of it. It would make a great birthday or Christmas present for the nature minded child. That is my opinion and if you would like some more information on the company and their principles go to http://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/.

I liked this magazine and will definitely look at adding it to our library of information in the future.

Nutrition 101: Choose Life!

2009-09-25T23:23:00.009-04:00

This e-book ‘Nutrition 101! Choose Life’ is a goldmine for me to review. There is so much information in this e-book that has been compiled by Debra Raybern, Sera Johnson, Laura and Karen Hopkins. These authors have learned from life and from studying their favorite topic which is nutrition and how it can benefit our bodies.
The book is divided up into 6 units of 4 chapters each. The main topics cover the Brain; the Digestive System; Respiratory, Olfactory and Visual Systems; Skeletal and Muscular system, Cardiovascular and Immune System; and the Endocrine system and emotions.
We managed to cover 3 chapters in Unit 1 about the Brain, Brain Foods and the Nervous System and how it works. My son was not very interested in me reading out all this information to him that he did not understand. We looked at the pictures and I explained some of the processes of the brain to him in easier terminology. We especially had fun drawing out his nervous system on a large life size body image of him (see pics with this post above and below).
　

After the main body of the e-book where the student has numerous experiments and food activities to participate in and which cement the information they learned, Appendix A through EE reveals information and facts on foods. A Choose Life Food Pyramid is included. I printed this out and placed it on the fridge so my son knows what he is allowed to eat.

Daily menu samples are there to read through; sample shopping lists; alkaline and acidity food lists; how to bake bread; some brief ideas on how to use Essential Oils; Natural Remedy cleaning solutions; the importance of sleep to our bodies; how to counteract cancer before it grows in our bodies; how microwaves affect our food nutrients; the 40 best foods to eat; enzyme supplementation and many, many more.

We tried out 3 recipes Guacamole (Avocado is the brain food), Greek salad(using olive oil and olives for brain food), and Potato Salad (Flax seed Oil -brain food). They were all delicious but our favorite was the Greek Salad. Everything tasted perfect and the olives just gave it the right amount of tartness and spunk to the salad.

This e-book would make an outstanding science, Home Economics, or life skills course for children from ages 10 and upwards. I feel that my son was a little too young to comprehend all the scientific names. He did like the chance to taste the recipes and helped out a little. He is not a willing helper in the kitchen!

When I first received this book I sat reading it for hours and gasping in awe at the amount of information included. This is the kind of help I needed 18 months ago when my son’s brain cancer returned. I am going to have to keep reviewing this book and print it out when I get a chance to.
The selling price for the e-book on CD ROM is currently $79.95. A copy of the printed book is $99.95. A combo price of the printed book and CD-ROM is $129.95. I would highly recommend you start saving now if you want to change the way you and your family eat. Yes you can just start eating more vegetables and fruits, but do you know what kind to eat for what symptoms or health conditions. These ladies have packed the information into this book and done all the hard work for you already. I definitely will be purchasing more of these in the future and teaching as many Moms and Dads as I can with the help of ‘Nutrition 101 Choose Life’. What I have learned from our journey with cancer in our son Brendon’s life, using nutrition and supplements and Essential Oils is all covered in this book.

If anyone you know is facing a life- threatening illness I would suggest they look on the website for more information on this book. Please go to http://www.healthyhomesllc.com/index.html . I can not say enough about this book and curriculum and feel sure I will be utilizing this for many years to come and my son will learn from it what is the absolute correct way to be eating for his future. Please click over to the Homeschool Crew review blog using the button the right side of the page to view other's comments on this fantastic book now on offer.

StudyPod Book Holder

2009-09-22T22:16:00.011-04:00

This unique item arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago for me to try out both in the home, and homeschool environment. It is a StudyPod Book Holder. The item is 6 x 9 inches when closed and looks just like a book. It is unique in that it is a stand to hold books up at the same angle as a computer screen.

I immediately put the StudyPod into action and placed some school papers in it next to the computer. I no longer had to look down to my desk to see what to copy from but instead focused on the papers at my eye level instead. The work got done faster and was easier and less strain on my eyes too.

Once the StudyPod is opened it has two small metal arms to hold the pages in place, especially since some books are bound really tightly and the pages wave about when reading them. There is a third arm at the back of the Pod which supports the holder and prevents it from falling over.

My son used the book holder a few times during his school day these last few weeks. It does not phase him if it is not there. When he is doing more written work he will probably use this tool more. The StudyPod has spent a lot of time in my kitchen on the hutch counter supporting recipe books and has done a splendid job. I would recommend every housewife gets one of these as a cookbook holder as it is so secure.

We tried out atlas’, big huge reading books, board books and even a few thin binders and they worked fine. The inside of the StudyPod has a place to store a few pencils , note cards, calculator and maybe a cell phone if needed in a small net pocket which is installed. When the StudyPod is positioned correctly there is not much danger of it collapsing as the metal rods on the interior are very secure. It takes a few tries to get used to setting it up but my 8 year old son figured it out fast.

The company that produced this product has a website available for more detailed information at http://www.studypodbookholder.com/site/. One unit is $19.95 but for those of you who want one please email me and I will give you a special ordering code for getting $5 off each order. That is a good deal. These will make fantastic gifts for children and adults alike. If you order more than one at a time they discount the price too. Two discounts in one order is awesome. I will be happy with my study pod book holder for quite some time and glad I get to be the beneficiary of this ‘one of a kind’ product this year.

Hop on over to the Old schoolhouse’s review page for this item at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/721260/ and search down for the StudyPod. There will be other reviews there from other members of the Crew.

Chemicals used in farmers fields to avoid at all costs!!

2009-09-19T14:58:00.003-04:00

I have to include this article as I received the links to these from www.Organicvalley.com.
This kind of information is foremost on my mind as the farmer we used to buy 'natural' beef from used this weed killer on his farm too. Brendon was exposed to this through his meat and eggs 2 years before he was diagnosed!. I thought I was buying a natural product. He understands now why I don't buy meat and eggs from him any longer! Please I am warning you of the dangers of buying your meat and eggs from the store, and from some farmers. Look them in the eye and ask if they use soy in their feed or Roundup on their farm in any place! If so avoid their product - it will affect your children's growth and health too. Watch what kind of much corn product is in your cereal, baking powder, cornstarch, and processed meat and grain products. You are exposed every time you eat these especially in restaurants too! the weekkiller may give the farmer a higher yield but it is at your expense!!!

I am trying to help you avoid your child getting sick like mine did and then there is nothing you can do about it!

Thanks Julie

The way we eat is trashing the fragile conditions that make human life possible
www.grist.org work work September 02, 2009
In the ongoing debate about whether sustainable agriculture can “feed the world,” it’s important not to lose sight of what industrial agriculture is doing to ecosystems—both in specific areas and on a grand scale.
Producing and distributing lots and lots of calories, leveraged by fossil fuel and synthetic fertilizers and poisons, may solve certain short-term problems; but the practice also creates long-term ones that won’t be easily solved.
In June, a study emerged showing that so-called inert ingredients in Roundup, Monsanto’s widely used flagship herbicide, can kill human cells even at low levels—“particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells,” reports Scientific American. This is an herbicide that’s used on virtually all of our nation’s corn and soy fields, covering tens of millions of acres of cropland. (It’s also widely used by landscapers and on home lawns.)
Then there was the recent atrazine imbroglio. For years, the EPA has been assuring the public that the highly toxic herbicide, still widely used in the Corn Belt, wasn’t showing up in drinking water in worrisome levels. Turns out that was a lie, as some excellent muckraking by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund revealed. Atrazine exposure has been strongly associated with reproductive health maladies, including a rise in hermaphroditism among frog populations.

Popular herbicide more deadly to liver cells than its active chemical alone
www.environmentalhealthnews.org work work August 20, 2009
Very low doses of some types of the herbicide Roundup can disrupt human liver cell function; the formulations' toxicity may be tied to their "inactive" ingredients rather than the active weed-killing ingredient glyphosate.
French scientists report that a number of Roundup formulations tested at very dilute concentrations can alter hormone actions and cause human liver cells to die within 24 hours of treatment.
The toxicity of some of the formulations was independent of how much glyphosate – the active herbicide in Roundup – they contained, suggesting it is other "inert" ingredients that may alone – or in combination with each other and/or the weedkiller – assault the cells. This study's results are similar to prior studies – as reported in a recent Environmental Health News article – that find human embryo cells are affected more by the Roundup formulations and an inert ingredient than by the active ingredient.

Balloon Release for Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

2009-09-13T07:30:00.002-04:00

Well yesterday went off so well. We gathered at the cemetery where Brendon is buried and after placing an angel on his tombstone and his picture next to it we went about setting up the tags to attach to the balloon strings. this is where the fun began. Well all my dozen balloons had got tangled together in the back of the van on the way there. We spent twenty minutes trying to untangle the mess and attach them together. Moral of the story is make the stings shorter or cut them off and then attach the tags.

A friend of mine who I recently met Justine had the tags made on her home computer. There was a little pic of Brendon and then his website address and some places to send money to support for cancer research for children. On the bottom of the cards were lines with which to write a message to Brendon. She did such a great job and I am so thankful to her and her family who took time out to help us out.

Folks came out for the release I have not seen in person for ages, I was so blessed that at least 6 families and their children came to bless us with their support. I will post pics later today both here and on Caringbridge.

Homeschool is progressing oh so slowly. My oldest never does seem in the mood to learn so we just take it one day at a time. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we could feel your support.