Homeschool Library Builder is helping Haiti in February!
Posted on 2010-Feb-4 at 07:19 PM
I've got a serious book addiction, and I love shopping for new educational books for our homeschool. Even more than shopping for books, I love saving money on books. Homeschool Library Builder helps you save money on books all the time, but this month they're saving you even more money, and donating to Haiti relief, as well.
10% ofall Homeschool Library Builder's profits in February will go to help Haiti. In addition, all their books are 20% off in February! So you save money, and they donate to Haiti!!
There is even more savings in store for you on Superbowl Sunday if you make a donation to Heartline Ministries. Go to the Heartline Ministries website and donate. Then email HSLB to let them know you donated. They'll give you a coupon to save an additional 15% (totaling 35% off) which is valid on Sunday, February 7, 2010 only! Simple as that!
But who is Homeschool Library Builder?
Homeschool Library Builder is a website created by two women, both homeschool moms of four children (ages 8-20). They love great books, and want to help us find the books we need at a savings! They stock new and used, hardcover and softcover books. Their books are rated by condition, and priced accordingly. Some books are as low as 92% off.
Some of the things I like about their website include:
They have great membership benefits which include a points system for earning discounts on future purchases.
You can search their inventory by subject, age, geographic region, or by the curriculum it's used in. I love the curriculum search feature, since we've used both Five In A Row, and Tapestry of Grace.
All books are shipped with complimentary delivery confirmation, via USPS media mail or priority mail.
Add Homeschool Library Builder to your bookmarks, so you can start your book shopping there. Save yourself some money, and help Haiti relief in the month of February at Homeschool Library Builder!
This review was assigned to us as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no compensation for this review. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this company by other Homeschool Crew members.
Young Minds: Numbers and Counting by Math Tutor DVD
Posted on 2010-Jan-15 at 03:15 PM
click image to visit website
Last year, as members of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we were able to review two different DVDs from Math Tutor DVD. I was looking forward to reviewing a different tutoring DVD this year, but instead we were sent a wonderful new product for preschool children. My 3 youngest children love this DVD!
click image to view product details
Young Minds: Numbers and Counting DVD is a bright and charming DVD which teaches numbers to preschool children. Colorful images (and videos) of animals, nature, and objects are displayed on the screen, while classical music plays in the background. A child's voice counts the objects, and the corresponding sound for the objects is also heard. Several different images are shown for each number (1 - 10) , and they are counted each time to reinforce the concept.
The Details:
The Numbers & Counting feature runs for 35 minutes, and the DVD also includes 15 minutes of bonus material counting puzzle pieces, connect the dots, and a guess the animal game. The classical music pieces are from the following composers:
Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Chopin
Brahms
Vivaldi
You can view a sample excerpt of the Young Minds: Numbers and Counting DVD here. The DVD can be purchased for $19.99 at the Math Tutor website, which is $5.00 off the list price.
The ElCloud Opinion:
I am very pleased with the quality of this DVD. The images used are bright, colorful, close-up pictures, and the music selections are so pleasant and soothing to hear. It doesn't get annoying to listen to at all. My youngest three children are right in the target age range for this product (ages 1, 3, and 5), and they enjoy watching it. The 5 year old (nearly 6) enjoys it less than the other two, but it is definitely a hit in our home.
Our favorite images were the nature images, which is what the DVD begins with. Our kids laughed as they counted the number of times a lizard stuck out his tongue. We all went "awww" when we saw the ducklings following their mother. The clear close-up photo of a tree frog spawned more conversation.
While we have enjoyed this DVD during our play time, it can also be used as a fun school activity for preschool children. I think it would also be a good choice for nap time. I've had a few children who reached an age that the only way I could get them to nap was to have them lay down with a blanket in a darkened living room, while watching a carefully selected movie that would interest them without exciting them. THIS is the perfect choice for that. The DVD even includes a Repeat Play option that would work perfectly for nap times.
We had viewed the DVD several times before we clicked on the bonus features. Shh ... don't tell anyone, but my 8 and 10 year old kids were also enjoying the bonus features. The first feature captured their attention as puzzles were pieced together (counting as you go of course) revealing a photo. The second feature completes dot-to-dot drawings, counting all the way. The third feature focuses very closely on parts of an animal, moving around slowly and giving hints, before zooming out so you can see what the animal was. Two more fun ways to teach counting, and one way to engage the mind in a guessing game.
We love the Young Minds: Numbers and Counting DVD! I can't think of a single negative thing about it. I hope Math Tutor DVD creates more Young Minds DVDs in the future.
This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
I'll be hosting the Homesteading Carnival at HSB next Monday.
Posted on 2010-Jan-7 at 08:09 AM
It is a weekly carnival, about anything that relates to gardening (like your garden planning posts), natural living, homesteading, raising animals, cooking, sewing, or even keeping the home! You don't have to live in the country or have goats to participate.
I'd love it if some of you would contribute, or even just promote it on your blog. It will be hosted on my ElCloud Homeschool blog rather than this one. I'll post a reminder and link here next Monday.
If you go to the link below, you can submit your blog post when it's ready. All submissions need to be turned in by Sunday at 9 pm EST. The carnival will post on Monday Jan. 11.
I'm sorry. I'll be honest. I started a cattery blog for our business this year, and have found it too hard to maintain 3 blogs. In addition to the cattery blog, there is my homeschoolblogger blog, and this homesteadblogger blog.
This Fall, my 14 year old suddenly became interested in playing the guitar. She pulled the guitar out of the closet, and began searching the internet for information. She taught herself a few chords, and we took the guitar in to be re-strung. We knew that Jean Welles' Worship Guitar Class was on the review list for TOS Homeschool Crew this year, so we waited to see if we would receive it before investing in lessons or materials. We were hoping we'd be selected to review the course, and were thrilled when we were chosen.
We received volume 1 of the Worship Guitar Class DVD lessons. Our DVD came with a DVD and the accompanying book. The DVD course includes:
an introduction
a lesson on the parts of the guitar
a lesson on tuning a guitar
7 lessons that teach chords, how to change between chords, and how to play 7 different worship songs
7 practice lessons with more tips and a slower paced walk-through of the song in the lesson
a booklet in the DVD case with just the song lyrics and guitar chords
a lesson book that includes the guitar chord charts, written tips from the lessons, and sheet music for each song.
lessons in either Spanish or English
The Worship Guitar Class DVD sells for $24.95 per volume. Each volume contains 7 lessons. The entire set would include 28 lessons, for the combined cost of $99.80, with additional e-books given free. When Jean Welles gave private lessons, she charged $50 per lesson ... so the cost of these four DVDs would have only been 2 private lessons with Jean Welles. The Worship Guitar Class has the added benefit of being a reusable, non-consumable product that can teach multiple students.
You can view samples of the first lesson HERE. She also has a free newsletter with tips, chord charts, and encouragement. You can sign up for the newsletter in the right top corner of the Worship Guitar Class homepage. Jean Welles also has courses for piano, drums, and voice.
The ElCloud Opinion?
I think this is an affordable introduction to guitar for yourself or your older children. The $24.95 volume 1 DVD would provide a simple beginning for someone interested in learning to play the guitar. Rather than jumping right into private lessons, it allows parents to really see how interested and motivated their student is. They can practice with the DVD, learn to play several songs, and decide if they can continue to teach themselves ... or if private lessons would be beneficial. Or they might discover (as many parents do) that it is just a passing phase, and the student isn't really interested in working to learn to play the instrument. Purchasing the 4 volume set would be a wise investment before considering private lessons.
With that stated, my 14 year old found the DVD lessons frustrating, although more for personal reasons than actual problems with the product. She didn't want to learn the songs on the DVD, but wanted to jump ahead to learning songs that interested her more. She was frustrated that her guitar didn't sound as nice as Jean Welles' guitar. She struggled to learn to tune her 12 string guitar, when the DVD course only teaches you how to tune a 6 string guitar. She didn't like that she could not pause the DVD on our DVD player ... she could only stop it, restarting it in the same place.
In reality, none of those were problems with the Worship Guitar Class itself. But, you should consider whether your child is likely to balk at learning worship songs when they'd rather be playing something else before purchasing this course. I reasoned with my daughter that these songs are just a tool to learn the chords ... that will allow her to play lots of other songs with the skills she learns. I'm still working to overcome her bias, however.
After my daughter began to balk, I viewed the DVD lessons myself. Although each lesson is short and moves quickly, they can be replayed, paused, and the additional practice sessions can be viewed, as well. As with any lesson, most of the learning will occur separately in practice time. Where this DVD course will be lacking is in the supervision of an experienced guitar player. I can't look at my daughter playing and point out things she needs to improve. I can't move her hands into the correct chord position. Jean Welles does a good job of trying to point out these things on the DVD, but she isn't standing next to the student in real life. That is why private lessons cost more than DVD lessons ... the human element.
Although the Worship Guitar Class lacks the human supervision, it does provide ease of use. Lessons and tutorials are immediately available, rather than searching the internet for appropriate tutorials. The DVD lessons also provide a visual demonstration and audio for comparison, which a book alone can not provide. And lastly, the teacher's tutorials can be viewed whenever you desire, rather than waiting for your once a week lesson time.
For the beginning guitar student, the DVD course provides a good foundation to build upon. I highly recommend the Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class DVD course!
This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
My kids love board games! They especially love board games involving money, although they have been known to start making up their own rules after awhile, and playing the game ElCloud style. I enjoy board games, because I know they are engaging my children's minds and teaching them things like strategy and math.
We were very happy to have a chance to review the Life On The Farm board game by We R Fun, Inc. It had been on our children's wish list for several months. This is a high-quality, well-designed board game with a colorful playing board. We received the original version, for players age 8 and up, but there is also a preschool version available which doesn't require any reading.
Life On The Farm was designed by Keith Gohl and his sister Ev Johnson, to help others understand what life on a farm is really like ... from a family business perspective. Each player rolls a dice, moves forward that number of spaces, and then follows the directions on the board. Players draw income cards and expense cards which require them to pay vet bills, taxes, or collect sale income. It's a game of chance, as my 12 year old daughter discovered last night. She was poised to win, until she had to pay taxes four times, when no one else paid taxes at all that game.
The goal of the game is to be the first to retire with 60 cows and the money you began farming with. As We R Fun states on their how to play page: "Life on the Farm is not about running other players out of business - it’s about managing money and making the most out of what happens to you - what life is really about on a family farm! It is a classic board game, fast-moving, easy to understand and fun to play, and it truly appeals to all ages."
While I agree that this game appeals to all ages, and the family can enjoy playing it together ... we didn't find it very fast-moving. Well, I suppose the plays happen quickly, but the process of playing the game itself can be long. The instructions do include a shorter version, and that is the only way we have played it so far. It's just the nature of this type of board game to take awhile.
My kids have enjoyed playing the game twice since we received it. They wanted to play it many more times, but we didn't always have enough time to fit a game in. In our opinion, Life On The Farm is a great board game, with educational entertainment value for the entire family. It's an excellent way to spend quality family time on a winter evening.
The original version of Life On The Farm (ages 8 - 108) retails for $25.00, and the preschool version retails for $20.00. The game can be bought from We R Fun, Inc, The Old Schoolhouse Store, Amazon.com, and also on Kmart.com.
This would make an excellent educational (and FUN!) Christmas gift for any children age 7 and up, or a family gift for those you love!
This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
Proverbs states that gray hair is a crown of splendor, or glory in the King James Version.
"The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old." Proverbs 20:29
"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life. " Proverbs 16:31
I admit I always thought that was a poetic and figurative way of saying we should honor those who are old.
Until I realized that some of my silver hairs sparkle in the light. I've got one in particular right at the top of my bangs that just shines under the light above my mirror. And then there is that one at my temple that winks at me from time to time. I have more than one gray hair, but these two sparkle!
I have my own tiara!! I've never been one to wear a tiara, but I can live with this one. And I confess my vanity is thankful my gray hairs are silvery white ones instead of flat gray ones.
My crown is going to be beautiful and white! But for now I have a sparkling tiara.
The leaves are half off the trees this week, but I wanted to share some Fall photos I took last week, when the leaves had just finished turning. It was one of those days where I just went, "Oh! Wow! Everything's yellow!" It may have been that way for a few days but it suddenly hit me, and I had to take photos. I'm so glad I took the time to do it since the tree is half-bare now.
A yellow carpet across the lawn ...
The sweet little tree ...
My kids wanted to know why I took this picture ... I just liked it.
The canopy ...
Our friendly scarecrow, guarding the back door ...
The cute little tree from the side, looks a little different from here. I truly had not noticed its tilt before.
The scarecrow guarding our driveway ...
Just a couple of our pumpkins in the rain ...
That's what Fall has looked like at our house this year. Every now and then we just have to take a moment to enjoy (and capture) the beauty of a season.
Last July we brought home a 2 year old dog we found on freecycle. She's a large Sheltie, really large ... more like a Collie. She looks like Lassie and is, for the most part, a good dog. She has a bad habit of pawing you when she wants attention, has occasionally jumped on the kids which scratched them, has a bad habit of cleaning the kids plates every chance she can get, and a worse habit of chasing chickens. But she's a sweet dog, and mostly gentle.
The first day we had her she sniffed around our burn pit, and out crawled a kitten. It looked to be about 2 months old, and we didn't see any mother or other kittens. We named her Silver since she was a pretty dilute tortie -- gray and cream. We were glad to have Silver, because we didn't have any outdoor cats. There had been a black cat who hunted the property the winter before, but we hadn't seen him lately and he didn't come near us. Someone else had offered us barn kittens in early summer, but we could never reach her to go pick out some kittens. We tried several times and repeatedly failed.
Silver, our female "barn cat" although she's more of a garage or porch cat. My sisters teased us that even our outside cats have long fur, but she really only has a medium length fur.
Later that year, in late August I believe, we found a litter of kittens in the ceiling of our barn, peering down at us. They appeared to be 2 weeks old, crawling around with open eyes, peering down at us from the ledge above. We worried they'd fall, so we got them all down. Unfortunately, the Mom decided not to return to care for them after we'd handled them, so we bottle fed the 5 kittens. The children named them after famous Revolutionary heroes like Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, and Thomas Jefferson since we were studying that period of history. Two survived, but one was hit by a car. That left only Thomas.
Thomas is the striped cat keeping the three kittens warm. He was a rather weird looking kitten who walked funny, but he outgrew that and is a handsome guy now.
We've had other cats that came around from time to time, but they never stay long. Silver and Thomas are always here. They sleep on the porch, along the house foundation, or in the garage. We feed them cat food, and they catch mice ... and moles ... and birds ... and baby bunnies. Not enough to de-populate Steve's garage of packrats, unfortunately. They're friendly and love to be petted, but they love being fed even more. They're obnoxious when they aren't fed.
Silver had two earlier litters this year, but she was a young Mom. Both those sets of kittens died within a week. She gave birth again 3 weeks ago and we were worried we'd have another dead set of kittens. This time she gave birth in a basement window well along the house foundation, instead of in the garage. It seemed stupid at first, but it hasn't been. The kittens are safe, and Silver and Thomas keep them warm. I started feeding them IN that window well, to encourage her not to wander away from them.
The family. Silver sitting up, Thomas lying down with the gray kitten, black kitten, and tabby kitten. We've looked and it appears that the black kitten is female, and the other two are male.
The two previous litters seemed to have been fathered by a couple orange cats, whom I haven't seen around lately. They weren't very friendly, but we knew there were two distinct cats and one was braver than the other. These three appear to have Thomas for a father, based on color and markings. The kittens are walking, trying to climb the cement wall around them, and starting to eat the cat food. Soon they'll all climb out and move into the garage for the winter.
May they live long and catch many mice and moles ... but leave the baby bunnies alone.
Pictures of our Milkbarn Converted into a Chicken Coop
Posted on 2009-Oct-26 at 09:57 AM
Last Summer we fixed the fencing around this old dog pen, and put a chicken wire roof over it. We moved our guinea keets into it. The guineas lived in it through the winter. We hoped they'd use the doghouse for shelter, but they didn't. Um, three of them froze to death, the dog caught one once, and we had one surviving guinea hen.
This Spring we moved our chickens into the same pen with the surviving guinea once they were big enough to leave the basement. We've spent the rest of the summer trying to decide where to move them. I wanted them near the house as they had been, so I could easily watch them and hear them. So we considered converting part of a nearby outbuilding and adding a fence. But, that was going to take almost as much work as building a new coop.
The chickens were happy here and they laid their eggs inside the doghouse, and also between the doghouse and the fence. We could access some of the eggs by moving a brick and reaching under the fence, but we also had to go inside and check inside the doghouse daily. We put a metal pan in the dog house finally, because it was too deep to reach to the far corner. We were using a stick to roll eggs out of it each day, and cracked several. After we put the pan in, we'd just use the stick to pull the pan forward, retrieve the eggs, and push the pan back inside again.
Cold weather came early this year, and we still hadn't decided what to do. Finally, we agreed to move them to the old milking barn, even though it meant I could no longer watch or hear them from the kitchen.
The milk barn has thick stone walls, but only one window. That window was boarded up, but Steve and I put a sheet of plexi-glass in place. It has a few gaps around the edges we couldn't completely caulk, but it still stops most of the cold wind. (The chickens are enjoying one of our watermelons that didn't get fully ripe, and some other veggie scraps from the garden.)
We thought they might roost over on these milking stanchions, but they never do. Our feeder is meant to hang, but we just set it on bricks and put a pan on top to protect the food. It's fairly dark in this barn, and we haven' t yet made the fence outside chicken-proof. So they are stuck in here, but they're still laying.
We were able to create roosts easily, by re-purposing farm clutter left by Steve's grandparents. The metal gate is sitting in a brick with a groove, and leaning against the stone wall. Several chickens usually roost on the top of this, and sometimes they lay their eggs under it.
More chickens actually roost on the old ladder we laid over two old sawhorses that were already here in the barn. And some of them roost in the window, even though we clipped one wing before moving them in here.
We re-purposed these old tires that were lying around to be their nesting boxes. They haven't laid a single egg in them. Although they have laid a few between them or behind them.
Speaking of re-purposing items ... there isn't any running water out by the barn anymore. So we have to haul water to them. Our first few attempts were messy, using a wagon to move their waterers back and forth, or carrying pitchers to the barn. Then I realized if we used an empty gallon milk jug, it wouldn't spill. We just take out a gallon of water in a milk jug each day and fill one or more of the waterers. If we do this once a day (sometimes twice) we are able to always keep their waterers filled.
They like to lay their eggs in this corner, and we often find 3 or 4 here. Of course, they also like to lay them in other places, and it's a bit of an Easter egg hunt each day, to find the chosen spots of the day. Sometimes we have to watch where we walk, because one will be lying in the middle of the room.
Happy chickens and happy rooster in their new WARM winter home. There isn't any electricity out here, so it's dark and they're going to have to make their own heat, but it will be fine. It's more than enough room for 1 rooster, 23 hens, and 1 guinea hen.
Next Spring we'll move our new chickens into the pen next to the house again, but these older ones are staying put in the barn for now. If we ever decide we need the barn for some other larger animals, we'll have to build a new coop for the chickens.
Last year Steve gave himself a GPS (Global Positioning System) for Christmas. It was one of those Black Friday specials that he couldn't pass up. And then it sat in its box for 8 months. We didn't use it until we took our big vacation this summer. We named it Gertrude Penelope Smith and called her "Gertie", which was appropriate since she spoke to us in a female voice. It didn't take long before we all fell in love with Gertie, and we began talking to her, as well.
Gertie was a hit with the kids. They loved her, and argued over the chance to hold her and play with her features. It started a family feud when my 14 year old secretly changed the language from American English to British English. Gertie was replaced with Guinevere (Guinnie), and the kids revolted! We let Guinnie visit for awhile, but we were all glad when Gertie returned. She was a good traveling companion and helped break up the monotony of a long trip.
Jason Hubbard, the author of Educaching knows that children love technology. He knows that GPS fascinates kids, and he wants to help parents and teachers capture that interest and use it in the classroom. His goal is to make learning more fun and meaningful to children, by involving the technology they love in their education.
When we were first offered the chance to review Educaching as part of the Homeschool Crew, I had to check to see if "Gertie", our GPS unit, could be used for geocaching. After an internet search, I concluded that although it wasn't ideal, it could be used for geocaching. Our family was excited and looking forward to educaching.
When I downloaded the Educaching e-book, I read through the e-book. The concept sounded great -- making learning active and hands-on. I was glad the e-book included lots of ideas of HOW to use it, because that is often the most frustrating part of applying a new idea to your homeschool.
The Educaching curriculum is designed for a classroom setting, but it can be adapted for use in homeschools or homeschool groups, as well. The book explains what educaching is, gives introductory lesson ideas, field sheets, as well as suggestions on how to use educaching across the curriculum. Since it is written by a public school teacher for that setting, there are sections on winning over a school board or principal, and applying for grants to buy GPS systems that don't apply to homeschoolers. Although my husband wished we could get a grant to buy a few hand-held GPS units, I doubt that would work. It might work for a homeschool group or co-op.
As I stated earlier, this is a very interesting way to take your lessons outside, and make them active and hands-on for the kinesthetic learners. But, it is a very time-consuming process. You have to plan your lesson, go out and hide the educaches, set your coordinates in your unit, and then complete the lesson with your students. Allow extra time for unforeseen problems to arise. A family that is already geocaching will find this a breeze to implement in their education plan.
It will help if you make yourself very comfortable with your GPS unit and its instructions in advance. I was comfortable using ours in the car for driving, but had not attempted to use it in a geocaching capacity before. We've never geocached, so this was all new to us. Unfortunately, we've had the coldest first half of October on record, so we hadn't tested this yet. We had a few days of warm weather this week before rain and cool weather was expected to return, so I knew this was my last chance.
We live on 7 acres, and I figured we had plenty of space to educache on our own property. I improvised cache containers using gallon-sized freezer bags with small cans of soup inside to weigh them down. I hid my caches, which included math questions and trivia questions to solve before advancing, setting coordinates as I went. I made two mistakes. I didn't make a list of my locations in order to refer back to, and I didn't mark the caches with their number. You'll see why this is important in a minute.
After I had set the coordinates in my favorites, I tried to find them and be led back to them. It took me awhile to figure out the correct settings to use in this capacity. It also took me awhile to figure out how to know which way to walk. (I guess my third mistake was not reading my GPS manual more carefully.) The little marker didn't always point the direction we needed to head, so we'd start walking and find out we were going the wrong way, then try to correct our path. This was hard to do on our GPS unit, with only two streets to use as reference points. They were also far enough away that they didn't show up all the time. I finally thought I had it figured out and brought the kids outside.
I put my 12 year old in charge of "Gertie", and we followed her. Unfortunately, we discovered then that the GPS couldn't factor in buildings in our way, or other obstacles like barbwire fences. It tried to take us on a direct path to the next hiding location, which wasn't always possible. We also realized it wasn't as accurate as I'd hoped in leading us to the exact location. (Now this could be my 12 year old's issue, but she walked past the location a few times and I had to stop her.)
Then things got even more crazy ... I am not sure if our GPS unit is just not set up to work in this capacity, if it was user error, or if the trees were interfering with the satellite system ... but we found the wrong caches at times. I thought they were far enough apart, but apparently not. Since they weren't marked and I didn't have a list, I just went with the flow ... having this vague sense that we were out of order. It wasn't until later that we realized we had definitely messed up. This confusion only lengthened our educaching hunt, and by the time we found caches 10, 11, and 12 my 8 year old had completely lost his ability to focus on the puzzles inside.
Important notes to remember:
Read your GPS instruction manual in advance.
Test out its ability to locate coordinates and lead them to you on foot in advance (or else buy one designed for use in the wilderness instead of on roads)
Number your cache containers
Keep a list of the order of your hiding spots (Having a teacher map was included in the Educaching curriculum, but I skipped that step. My fault!)
Don't make your hunt too long
After all that, what do I think?
I like the concept of educaching, although the preparation time involved will keep us from doing it very often. I will be re-reading my GPS manual, and I will head out to the nearby pasture for my next attempt, where there aren't trees, fences, and buildings to interfere with the process. I definitely think the Educaching e-book is a helpful resource to show teachers how to utilize this method of education in their classroom, and is easily adapted for homeschool use. My children did enjoy the hunt, and are looking forward to future hunts if we can figure out the problems we were having with our GPS unit. Hopefully future educaching experiences will take less time.
The Nitty-Gritty Details:
The Educaching e-book is sold as a PDF download for $32.00. You can also buy a printed version for $32.00 plus $6.95 shipping/handling in the USA. This book contains all the instructions you will need for beginning to educache with your students, but it does NOT include a GPS unit or cache containers. They also sell a variety of kits, which do include GPS units.
If you're curious to see what educaching is about, or would like the chance to try before you buy, you can view a few sample lessons.
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, the Educaching e-book was given to me free, in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
Virginia Soaps & Scents -- a homeschool family's business
Posted on 2009-Oct-16 at 02:10 PM
Last year we jokingly told the Homeschool Crew leaders we needed to review some luxurious, pampering spa items to give us a break from some of our heavier reviews. Then we started offering suggestions like chocolate, teas, candles, soaps, and lotions. You can imagine how pleased we were this year when we saw Virginia Soaps & Scents on the list. Ahh, hand made all-natural soaps! Everyone was excited -- on the Crew and in my home.
click to visit Virginia Soaps & Scents
First, let me tell you aboutVirginia Soaps and Scents. It is the family business of the Spargur family. Roy and Richelle Spargur didn't set out to create a family business. Their soap-making ventures began as part of a homeschool unit study they explored with their children. It soon became a hobby, and then a business. Roy and Richelle have 9 children, although from their brochure it appears that only 8 of their "cheerful unpaid staff" are still living in the home. (I like that phrase. My unpaid staff need to work on the cheerful part a bit more.)
As part of the Homeschool Crew, we received 3 items to review from Virginia Soaps and Scents:
a sample of three of their soaps (fresh orange, coconut lemongrass, and oatmeal milk & honey)
Virginia Soaps & Scents Soaps
I love hand-made natural soaps. I love how pretty they are with their colors and swirls, I love how they smell, and I especially love the way they clean without drying out my skin. The Virginia Soaps and Scents website has an explanation of how soap differs from detergents and why most of what is sold as "soap" is really detergent. One simple difference is that soap includes glycerin and detergent does not. If you're wondering what that means, WiseGeek states that glycerin is a humectant that "attracts moisture to your skin."
When we first received the soaps, I was glad to notice that the scent was not too heavy. I get headaches from really strong scents, but these didn't bother me. The scent was pleasant and light, although they do have an unscented line for those with sensitivities. The second thing I noticed was the unique shape of their bed and breakfast sample size, which resembled a mountain on top. I quickly placed a soap bar in the shower, and one at each of our sinks. I wanted to see how my family's hands and body reacted to the natural soap.
We have minor skin sensitivities in our family. My face leans toward oily, but the skin also dries out easily if I use anything too harsh on it. This is even more of a problem in cold weather. My husband's body gets dry and very itchy if he uses harsh detergent-soaps rather than true soaps. Lastly, my children get dermatitis on their hands from many "hand soaps" (really detergents), especially in cold weather.
No one in our family had any reactions to the VSS soaps at all. My husband used it in the shower, and didn't get itchy. I used it on my face without drying out my skin, but I still needed a light moisturizer afterward. The whole family used it on their hands without problems -- and we always came away smelling great. The other plus is that the glycerin in the soaps is great for shaving, as well. You soap up your leg, and the razor slides smoothly over the area you need to shave.
Virginia Soaps & Scents soap bars are 4.5 ounces in size, and are sold for $4.50 each. You can save money by buying 3 for $12.00, buy 4 get 1 Free, or buy 10 for $35.00. There are also gourmet soaps, Christmas soaps,and the All-in-One body bar available.
Virginia Soaps & Scents Shampoo Bar
I've tried a commercially-produced shampoo bar before, as well as several natural shampoos. I could only use them a couple times before I needed to use a regular shampoo on my hair. I confess that I was hoping to fall in love with the Virginia Soaps & Scents shampoo bar ... and I did! I knew that there is often a transition phase to get through when switching to a shampoo bar, so I didn't expect much from my first few attempts at using the shampoo bar.
That was a good thing, because my first two washes weren't that great. My hair seemed heavy and was oily very fast. Then I read the instructions. Oops! Rub the shampoo bar ON YOUR HAIR ... not your hands. My third wash made all the difference, when I rubbed it directly onto my hair instead of trying to suds up my hands and transfer it to my hair. Finally, I got out of the shower with clean-feeling, light bouncy hair ... and a new appreciation for reading directions first. After doing it correctly, there wasn't a transition phase at all.
I have fine, thin hair. It gets weighed down easily with products, and it's fragile. Once I started using the shampoo bar correctly, my hair wasn't weighed down. I was also able to use it without a conditioner, although I occasionally used a vinegar or lemon juice rinse after shampooing my hair. I suppose one caution of switching to a VSS shampoo bar should be that you might end up cutting 4-5 inches off your long hair as I did when you finally see it CLEAN and not coated in plastics from your conditioner. Once mine was truly clean, I saw so much damage and split-ends that I decided to trim it.
My hair also tends toward oily, but my scalp gets dry and flaky easily. I thought I might have to shampoo more frequently with the shampoo bar, but I didn't. In this Fall season, I am still able to skip a day washing my hair. My scalp flakiness hasn't totally improved yet, but an occasional vinegar rinse helps. I suspect that continued use of the moisturizing shampoo bars will help, but that I may get soap build-up occasionally instead. Vinegar rinses, lemon juice rinses, or baking soda scrubs should easily resolve soap build-up if it occurs -- or a wash with a commercial liquid shampoo instead.
The biggest surprise is that I really am able to go without conditioner. I didn't imagine that would ever be possible, but it is. One day I tried using conditioner, but it didn't seem to cling to my hair very well, because the natural oils in the soap were already conditioning my hair. A couple times I took a very tiny dab of 100% shea butter, rubbed it on the palms of my hands, and scrunched it into the ends of my wet hair like gel. It provided the prettiest waves for the rest of the day, until I brushed it that night. (Of course, overdoing the shea butter can cause an oily look, so be careful.)
The secret benefit of the shampoo bar that I'm sure the Spargurs weren't expecting is that it also cuts through deoderant buildup in your underarms for easier shaving. I know I get frustrated often when trying to shave my armpits and the razor has to scrape off the deoderant the "soap" left behind before it can cut the hair. I'm not sure what possessed me to try my shampoo bar on my armpit one day, but I was surprised at how easy it was to shave afterward. So if you use the shampoo bar for a couple weeks, and then decide it isn't for you, save it for your underarms ... although I strongly recommend giving it 3 or 4 weeks before giving up.
Both myself and my 14 year old daughter feel that we have more body and wave in our hair when we use the VSS shampoo bar. I have even used it on my 12 month old son and his little baby fluff hair. (Virginia Soaps & Scents does sell an Oily/Clarifying shampoo bar for those who need deeper cleansing.) I am so glad that I have finally found a natural shampoo, free of harsh chemicals, that actually WORKS for my hair!!
Virginia Soaps & Scents shampoo bars sell for $5.50 for a 5.5 ounce bar, or 2 for $10.00. It is larger than the soap bars, and square. A shampoo bar should last as long as a 24-30 ounce bottle of shampoo, and many people are also able to quit using conditioner. The All-in-One body bar is a soap/shampoo bar to simplify things when you travel.
Virginia Soaps & Scents Laundry Soap Kit
I've made my own laundry soap before, but it's been several years. When we used to make our own, we often had to buy our ingredients from 3 different stores. The actual process of making the laundry soap was easier than finding the ingredients. I know others have had the same experience I had trying to find the ingredients for many of the online recipes. Virginia Soaps & Scents is making it easier.
Not only are they providing a natural and gentle soap bar to use in the kit, they are also providing the other ingredients, so you don't have to track them down in 3 different stores yourself. The sample kit that we received had the soap pre-grated. All I had to do was follow directions, measure some water, and stir!
This is a low-sudsing soap, so it's great to use in front-loading high efficiency washing machines. We have a top-loading washing machine, with hard water, but it's also working well for us. The laundry soap gelled up nicely, smells fresh without a heavy scent, and is cleaning our clothes well. It's inspired me to start making my own laundry soap again.
Note -- if you use pocket cloth diapers with a fleece or suede-cloth inner lining, you should NOT use a soap based laundry product. It will coat the fleece or suede-cloth and keep it from wicking away moisture. In our home, we buy a detergent for our diapers when we are making our own laundry soap for our clothes.
The laundry soap kit is sold with pre-measured ingredients and instructions for you to make it yourself. It will make a 2 gallon batch of laundry soap, which should wash 64-72 loads of laundry. The kit sells for $4.95, which costs less than 7 CENTS per load. You can buy 6 kits for $25.00 to save money, or you can buy the 9 oz. cleaning bar alone for $3.95 if you'd rather buy your other ingredients locally. The soap bar will make two batches of laundry soap.
Do we recommend Virginia Soaps & Scents? YES! I enjoyed everything we reviewed for Virginia Soaps & Scents, and they worked well for our family. My favorite item was the shampoo bar, because it was the first success I've had at using a natural shampoo with my hair. Virginia Soaps & Scents is a great family company selling wonderful products. They even have lotions, lip balms, shaving soaps, and pet shampoos. Their prices are reasonable, and they have a variety of samplers and gift sets for Christmas gift shopping!
In addition to their great products, they're very friendly people. They had a great response to my silly posting earlier this month about my children's reaction to their company logo. When I admitted I was embarrassed they found my remarks, they even emailed me to tell me not to be embarrassed. It was nice to interact with them personally.
Our family gives Virginia Soaps & Scents a big "thumbs-up"!
This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew review. As a member of the Homeschool Crew, we are given homeschool-related items and asked to write honest reviews. The items are provided to us by the companies, but we are not paid for our reviews. There are over 125 Homeschool Crew members, with different homeschool methods and family situations -- providing different opinions about the products. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
When I first decided to grow spaghetti squash three years ago, I hadn't ever eaten one before. But we decided to give it a try. I had to learn when to harvest them, and how to prepare them. I googled and asked around, and started preparing them by cutting them in half, placing olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic on the halves. Then I baked them with the cut side facing up. I had also read of baking them upside down in water, but I don't recall trying it that way.
This year, we decided to grow them again, and I had to remind myself of the cooking details. This time, I looked in my Betty Crocker cookbook and saw that she recommended cooking them with the cut side up, but sitting in water, and covered with foil. I tried that and it worked fairly well, but it was hard to do more than one spaghetti squash and have water in the pan. I used a bar pan and sloshed water everywhere when I put four halves into the oven.
We were giving away spaghetti squashes this weekend -- well, my husband was because I was home with some sick kids. Anyway, he was informed of two other ways to cook them. One lady said she microwaves hers. I haven't researched that option yet, but the other lady said she boils hers and it's faster and easier.
So we tried that last night. I washed the spaghetti squash, searched around until I found a stock pot large enough for it to fit in with water, and boiled it. Once the water reached boiling, I set the timer for 25 minutes. I checked it out when the timer went off, and saw that the shell had cracked open in several places. I pressed it with a wooden spoon and it dented in. I've never done this before, so I let it cook awhile longer, just to be safe.
When we took it out of the boiling water (we poured the water into the sink first) we were able to cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and peel the shell right off. It was easier and more tender than when I've baked them. We had to season it AFTER it was cooked, but that's no big deal.
We also tried a second spaghetti squash with butter, cinnamon and sugar, in the oven ... per another friend's suggestion. Most of the kids disliked that, so Steve and I have lots of leftovers to nibble on in the next few days. At least it's healthy.
Last week started with one very sick baby, and ended with the Great Chicken Round-Up ... chicken rodeo at its finest. Say what?
Well, late Saturday night last week, 1 yo G started running a high fever. That continued through Monday -- we called the Dr. and all agreed it was probably the flu since he also had a stuffed up nose. I held him most of Sunday and Monday while he slept the days away.
Tuesday his fever was lower, but he was super cranky. Wednesday he was fever free, but had a rash. (Sounds like roseola, right? Except his rash was driving him crazy with itching ... and roseola isn't supposed to itch.) Thursday he woke up with crusty eyes, an even worse rash, and a snotty nose. Friday the rash began to fade away and Saturday it was gone. He still has a cough and stuff nose, though, so I'm home from church with him today.
To make the week even more fun, 1 yo G was cutting molars through all of that. My kids like to cut teeth in the middle of some terrible virus. 5 yo M cut his first teeth while dealing with the Hand Foot & Mouth virus. That was a terrible week, too.
Now, we've got a few kids with minor cold symptoms, but no signs of fever or flu. Which is good ... because we needed everyone's help yesterday. I spent the morning outside helping Steve and 8 yo J ready the old milk barn for our chickens. Up until now, our chickens have been living in an outdoor chicken yard with no shelter other than a doghouse that they were using for nesting. At night they roosted huddled on a wood pile. We have been vacillating on where to move them for months now.
Should we build a new coop right near their current yard? Should we build a new yard around the old kennel and create a chicken coop in one end of the kennel? Should we create a hoop house chicken tractor for them? Would that old wooden building in the trees work for a coop? We knew that anywhere we moved them would need a new fence.
Finally, as cool weather came on faster than we had thought it would, we realized we were running out of time. A week of nights in the 40s meant we had to do something fast. Last weekend we decided that we'd prepare the barn and move them this weekend. So 8 yo J helped Steve by spreading straw around in the milk barn and fetching things for him. Steve and I set up a metal gate thing that was lying around at an angle as one roost. Then we laid an old wooden ladder across two old saw horses for another roost. There were several old tires that we laid down and filled with straw to be nesting boxes. (One benefit of buying family property is the stuff left behind that you can recycle.) Steve also oiled the door so it would slide open easily -- all of that was the easy part.
The harder part of preparing the barn was fixing the lone window in the barn. It was boarded up and glassless. We removed the wood, used "crack fill" to replace some missing mortar, caulked all around the wooden window frame, and then cut a piece of plexi-glass to fit the window. We pre-drilled the holes and then screwed that onto the wooden window frame. It's not the best, and we had a few cracks start in the plexi-glass but it lets in light and blocks most of the wind. Just covering that window warmed up the barn considerably.
And then the fun began.
After we ate a late lunch, we headed out to the chicken yard. It was cold, in the 30s, with tiny snowflakes fluttering down occasionally. We knew the chickens had to be moved THAT day because Saturday night was forecast to be 27*. Our plan was to catch each chicken, clip one wing, and then let them out of the coop. Their clipped wing was their ticket into the yard. Once they were all out, we thought we'd spread out in a U shape and herd them to the barn.
We kenneled our dog (because she thinks chickens are fun play-things) and the neighbor's dog, as well. The poor things thought they were going to die as they watched all the fun -- they really wanted to chase chickens with us.
Our chicken yard is about 4 feet high, with a chicken wire roof. So anything you do inside the fence is done bent over and crouching. We had 24 birds in there: 22 chicken hens, one rooster, and 1 guinea hen.
I tried catching the chickens, but I wasn't succeeding. So Steve and 8 yo J took over. They got in a groove and started catching them. 3 yo L and 5 yo M thought they were helping, but not really. I clipped the wings of each one and then released it outside the fence. After they caught 8, I traded places with Steve. It was my turn to catch them. J and I soon had our own rhythm flowing and it went fairly fast ... I guess. I told Steve that I could feel "the burn" in my thighs, and we might have discovered a new workout method to market.
Then we were down to the last 5 birds, which included the rooster and the guinea hen. It took more time and effort to catch them, and we were laughing over all the lunges and missed catches. We finally had them all outside the fence. We took a little break to watch them, and move their waterers and feeder up to the barn. They were delighted to be out in the GRASS free-ranging. They destroyed their own grass ages ago.
And then the REAL FUN began.
We tried to form a U and shoo them toward the barn, with 5 kids, Steve and myself. (14 yo A was in the house watching 1 yo G through all of this.) We tried again and again to herd the chicken to the barn. We finally decided that we'd ignore the stragglers and come back for them. But then our main group repeatedly splintered. It was soon apparent that they would not shoo toward the barn. They kept looping back to the grass beside their old chicken yard. They also wouldn't stay in one group like the guineas we had last Spring would do.
So we brought a rabbit cage up from the barn and set out to catch them ... again. We caught the first 6 fairly easily, and then we headed to the barn with the cage to set them loose. J followed behind carrying a 7th one shortly after that. We headed back for the second batch of them, and soon discovered that the fence was a great wall to try to pin them against. Two or three people working together to corner a batch of chickens in one area against the fence could often lead to one of the 4 chickens being caught.
But it wasn't easy, and there were way more misses than catches. The more chickens that were caught, the harder it became to catch the rest. Again, the final 5 birds were the hardest to catch. The rooster and the guinea hen were the very last ones caught, after running around the house several times and all the way out near the wheat field, too.
It took four hours to catch them all once, clip their wings, catch them all a second time, and move them to the barn. Four hours of running, squatting, lunging ... and laughing. I was limping yesterday evening, but am feeling much better today. The children were afraid of the rooster before yesterday, but they're less afraid now. 8 yo J was determined that HE would be the one to catch the rooster ... and he did, with Steve's help.
We still plan to use that chicken yard next spring and summer for our next batch of chicks. But next year, we'll catch them, clip their wing, and move them directly into the cages. We know better than to think we can herd them to the barn ... now.
Unfortunately, we discovered that even with their wings clipped, the chickens can still fly about 4 feet high!! Some of them flew up to roost in the barn window last night. So our fence around the barn (which isn't yet complete) will have to be higher than we thought, or we'll have to build a chicken-wire roof on it, as well. Until the fence is complete, the poor things are stuck in the barn.
If we didn't have Molly the Chicken Hunter for a dog, we wouldn't worry about it so much. But, we have Molly. It's tempting at times to get rid of her so our chickens can free-range, but that doesn't seem fair to her.
People often tell us we sure keep busy with the kids, homeschooling, and living in the country. I usually reply we certainly aren't bored. Thankfully, most of our weeks do NOT look like this past week. This week was a little too crazy -- even for my tastes.
Nature Friend -- Helping Families Explore the Wonder of God's Creation
Posted on 2009-Oct-6 at 10:29 AM
Click a magazine cover to visit Nature Friend magazine.
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we were sent two free issues of Nature Friend magazine with the supplemental Study Guide to review. I've never had a chance to read Nature Friend magazine before, so my children and I were thrilled to be included in this review opportunity.
The first thing I noticed about Nature Friend when it arrived was the wonderful nature photography on the cover. Then my kids took it and ran off with it -- I had to ask for it back later that week. We have seen other nature magazines, and although my children enjoy the photographs, only my oldest daughter ever reads the articles. Nature Friend is written for the entire family, and the articles are small enough not to intimidate them. The children can (and do) read the articles.
Magazine Features include:
Pictures and Poems from the readers
You Can Draw art lessons from nature
Invisibles -- hidden picture puzzles
Stories to learn more about creation and build character
Puzzles from readers
Scavenger hunts
Learning By Doing
Creation Close-Ups -- nature photos taken by readers
The Story Behind The Photo (how those stunning photos are captured)
Nature Trails for each month
Caption This contests
One of my children's favorite features was the You Can Draw tutorials. When each issue arrived, they all gathered their supplies and sat down to try drawing the black bear and the sunflower. They studied the examples of children's artwork from previous tutorials, rating them and pointing out the ones they liked best. They hoped to get their own art included in the magazine, as well.
Although the magazine has fun features itself, there is even more in the supplemental Study Guide. The study guide included two more puzzles, a writing lesson, a true-false quiz, ideas to research further, instructions for a guided nature discovery walk, and a great photography lesson. The September study guide also had an additional art challenge. Parents can use these lesson ideas in their homeschool each month.
I didn't incorporate the study guide into my lessons. I just considered them as more opportunities for delight-directed, discovery-based learning. My children enjoyed the magazine enough that I didn't feel the need to assign it. It wasn't an educational magazine to them ... it was a fun magazine on a subject they enjoyed learning more about. Delight-directed learning at its best!
Nature Friend is a Christian magazine. The cover of each magazine says "Helping Families Explore the Wonder of God's Creation" under the title. God is proclaimed as the Creator, and the magazine praises His awesome design and plan for the animals. It's a relief to not have to correct or teach-over a more worldly viewpoint of mother nature, improbable chance, and even evolution.
As a Charlotte Mason style home educator, I am alwaysencouraging the exploration and study of nature. I encourage my children to take nature walks, notice the changes around them, and to keep nature journals. I collect nature guides and identification books so we can learn more about what we see around us. We are not perfect and I'm afraid our nature journal entries are rather infrequent, but that is our goal and my heart for our homeschool. Nature Friend magazine fits so nicely into that goal and our educational philosophy.
Several of my children have become interested in photography, and the nature shots in Nature Friend are inspiring and challenging to them. The tutorials in the Study Guide would be helpful for furthering their skills in photography. Each month, they include photos that children have sent in, and they critique them -- offering tips and suggestions for improving the shot. I can see my older daughters looking for just the right nature shot to enter in The Photo Critique each month.
Nature Friend subscriptions cost $36.00 for 12 issues (1-year subscription) or $68 for a 2-year subscription. The supplemental Study Guide costs an additional $24.00 for 12 issues. The Study Guide sells for $2 an issue, and you can choose how many Study Guides you want to buy with your subscription. There is a coupon code for $3 off a NEW subscription. The code is BLOG93 and it expires November 30, 2009.
At first glance, I find myself thinking that $36 is high for this little magazine, and $60 for it with the study guide is really high. But when I break it down into monthly issues, it's only $3 an issue ($5 with the study guide). It isn't a quarterly magazine, but a monthly one! When I divide that $60 out between the number of children I have, it seems like an even greater value. I have 7 children, 6 who are preschool-aged or higher. That's only $6 per child for a year of Christian education on God's creation ($10 per child with the study guide).
I hope we can subscribe to the magazine for our family soon. If all my children were younger, I'd probably skip the study guide. But with my older children I think it extends the educational value of the magazine -- encouraging their writing, their study of nature, and their interests in photography and art.
We love Nature Friend magazine and I do recommend it! Because money is tight for many families, I suggest buying it as a Christmas gift to all your children, or making room for it in the curriculum budget. It would also make a great family-gift idea from Grandma or other extended family members. I personally don't feel guilty about buying educational items for gifts, as long as it is fun or encourages an interest. I don't gift-wrap math workbooks -- but art supplies, educational magazines, or quality books are fair game, as far as I'm concerned.
Don't just take our word for it ... you can read some of Nature Friend'sarticles at the website, as well as view sample issues of the magazine, and sample issues of the study guide to see what a great family magazine it is. You can also see samples of some of their featured articles and art lessons HERE.
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Growing Healthy Homes -- Nutrition 101: Choose Life!
Posted on 2009-Sep-24 at 11:47 PM
Growing Healthy Homes has created an amazing resource in their Nutrition 101: Choose Life! curriculum. We received this curriculum in their e-book format, and IT IS HUGE! This is a 448 page book!! The first 283 pages are the textbook, which includes recipes and activities. After that, there is the answer key, and 31 appendices which are a wealth of additional information for the entire family!
Nutrition 101 includes six different units, with four chapters in each unit:
The Brain and Nervous System
Digestion and Elimination
Respiration and Olfactory
Muscular and Skeletal Systems
Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
Endocrine System and Emotions
I set out to use Nutrition 101: Choose Life! with all of my children. As I read aloud, I found myself simplifying information for the younger children, which meant my older daughters were missing out on the depth of this study. Rather than continue to simplify the material, I chose to assign it to my 9th grade daughter as a nutrition/health course instead. In a situation like mine, with a wider age-span between children, a mother could teach a simplified version to the younger children and assign the older students to work through it independently.
My 14 year old daughter, worked through the material in Nutrition 101 on her own. She enjoyed learning more about the human body, its systems, and how to keep them healthy with good nutrition. Several times she heard me talking about a health issue or concern and she'd voluntarily share something beneficial she'd learned in her nutrition course. I intend to continue using this course with her as either her health credit, or as part of a nutrition and cooking elective credit.
What I like best about this book, though, is the appendices. There is so much information in there: how to select properly ripe and fresh veggies, kitchen safety rules, fiber-rich foods, protein-rich plant and animal sources, calcium-rich foods, sugar alternatives, and common household toxins. Those are just a few of the topics covered in the back of this book. It makes an excellent reference for the Mom as well as a text for our students. I love the charts that list food sources for different vitamins and minerals! This is not your typical health textbook!
PROS
versatile curriculum -- can serve as Jr./Sr. High health class or be adapted to include elementary students
Christian curriculum
hands-on activities
healthy recipes
science experiments
re-usable and non-consumable
colorful, attractive, and well-designed book
CONS
some people may not agree with the authors' views on health, diet, and safe products
some people may not agree with her Choose Life! food pyramid which differs from the standard FDA food pyramid
very large book to print for your family's use (although there are ways to make this more manageable)
I'm thankful we received this curriculum to review. It will be a blessing to our family as we bring our children up through high school, and as we teach them about healthy nutrition and lifestyles.
Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is available as an e-book on a CD-ROM for $79.95. The printed book can be bought for $99.95, and the book and CD-ROM can be purchased together for $129.95.
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I tried to sneak this latest TOS Crew review item into the house. I knew that it would be something the children fought over, and I wanted to try it out first. I failed. It arrived as we were heading out of town, so I looked it over and slipped it into my review basket. Within 5 minutes my oldest daughter had snagged it, looked it over, and set it up in her school area. She's had it ever since, although the other children keep asking for a chance to try it out.
If you're wondering what item held so much appeal to her, it was the STUDYPOD book holder by Genio, LLC. The STUDYPOD is a plastic book stand that folds up to the size of a book so you can slip it into your tote bag and take it with you. When you are ready to use it, you turn the back support to the side, open the folded stand, lock it open, flip down the book rests, and adjust the page-holders. It's really fast and simple to use.
But the best part is that it works. It holds your book at a nearly upright angle, making it easier to work. You aren't hunching over a book, or trying to look at a flat page far away from you. In our home, we love that it saves table space. It allows the 3 older girls to have a little more room when working from textbooks around the same table. I'd love to borrow it and use it in the kitchen with my cookbooks, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get it away from my girls.
Note: There is a slight learning curve involved in turning pages without tearing them. But the STUDYPOD comes with instructions on two different methods for turning the pages, as well as instructions on setting up the STUDYPOD. It just takes a little time to practice and adjust, but I wouldn't recommend using this as a music stand where you'll be turning pages quickly and frequently.
The STUDYPOD is sturdily built, compact, and lightweight -- although I wouldn't recommend letting your youngest ones mess with it much. I'm sure given enough time my 3 year old and 5 year old could find some way to break it.
As a book support and study aid, it works wonderfully. My 14 year old daughter said, "It's WICKED COOL! We each need one, Mom! They're only $20!!" (Actually they're less than that if you buy more than one at a time.)
The STUDYPOD is available in blue, black, and pink. The BOOKPOD (same product, different colors) is available in black, gray and beige. They retail for $19.95 each, although if you buy two or more, there is a discounted price of $16.95 each (you can mix STUDYPODS and BOOKPODS for the discount).
In addition, the STUDYPOD company is offering a $5.00 discount for a limited time. To use the $5.00 coupon, you must order from the STUDYPOD website, and enter the code TOSBLOG5 when you check out.
Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
I am sorry I haven't been posting personal updates here. I try not to let it become review after review after review, but that is what has happened. We've been struggling to keep up with the garden, the new cats in our cattery (it's been a messy transition), and our own laundry and other chores. Last week we had to throw out 2 buckets of green beans we had picked but not processed quickly enough. Chicken food!
I admit that my preferred garden veggies are things like onions, potatoes, zucchini, and cantaloupes. They don't have to be cleaned, snapped, blanched, cold-dipped, and frozen within a certain time frame. The peas and green beans are not my favorite. We need to pick green beans this week to finish off the two rows we first planted. The burgundy green beans are "coming on" now and we re-planted a row of green beans that will hopefully be ready before frost.
We also replanted several rows of peas, a row of lettuce, and a row of spinach. We planted crook neck squash, as well. I am hoping that these produce for us, but we know we were pushing it with timing.
Our cucumber plants gave us over a dozen cucumbers, but were dead after 2 harvests of cucumber. I didn't expect them to die so soon. I'm still getting lots of zucchinis, though. The cantalopes are just ripening. We've harvested 3 so far ... yummy! The spaghetti squash is growing, but not ripe yet ... and there are baby pumpkins out there! I need to look up when to harvest the sweet potatoes, but the plants on top look really good.
Unfortunately, the tomatoes are not ripening! They just stay green forever and ever. I also haven't seen any bell peppers yet.
This is our first year with a double-planted garden, or such a large garden. It's been a learning process!
Some of these crops are new to us
pumpkins
lima beans
burgundy beans
sweet potatoes
watermelon
crook neck squash
spinach
Some we've planted only once before
green beans
zucchini
spaghetti squash
leaf lettuce
Some we've never had success with before
peas
cucumber
And then our standards aren't all faring well this year
tomatoes -- planted late, not ripening
bell peppers -- planted late, no peppers yet
onions -- did great, better than ever
potatoes -- did great, better than ever
cantaloupe -- the ones we planted intentionally are late, but the volunteer plants are doing great
We've made some mistakes and are still learning the optimal harvest size for the peas and green beans. I'm still learning ways to cook zucchini and enjoy it other than in baked goods. I haven't learned how to can yet, but I am learning different ways to freeze the veggies.
We thought with all our new-found space that we were giving everything plenty of room, but we've decided next year we'll give the pumpkins and spaghetti squash even more room. We only planted in 3/4 of our space, so we do have room to spread out better next year. The cantalopes probably need more room next year, especially if we get them planted in a timely fashion.
It has been great to work in the garden when there is room for Steve to till between rows. We've never had such a weed-free garden. I realize Steve looks at it and sees the weeds, but it's nothing like wading into knee-deep weeds to find your garden plants as often happened when we lived in town. At least here we can see the rows and easily distinguish them!
I did mention the chickens in my title ... we're up to as many as 9 eggs a day now. We still have hens not yet laying, so there will be more to come. The kids are loving that I can boil 2 dozen eggs for them 1-2 times a week. It is such an easy and healthy snack! We still need to get them a home ready before frosts come ... their temporary home has been good for summer, but not for late fall and winter.
We still enjoy hearing our rooster crow, and listening to the chickens cluck and chirp. We love tossing out scraps to them, watching them rush for the scraps, fight over the scraps, and devour them. Watching one run around with a bread crust while others chase her is just funny. It's amazing how fast they can eat an old tomato or clean up the cantaloupe skins. The green and blue eggs are fun from our 13 Ameraucanas, but some of them do lay brown eggs. The guinea is laying her tan eggs again, and the remaining 9 hens will be brown egg-layers, as well. We've had 3 double-yoked eggs, and those are fun to show the children!
Living in the country keeps us busy with mowing, tilling, weeding, harvesting, processing veggies, feeding chickens, watering chickens (we need a better water system), collecting eggs, and doing laundry for 7 children (4 of whom get very dirty outside). But we are enjoying it immensely. We know we still don't have the chores that many other homesteaders have, but we're still adjusting to the additional work.
We returned to our old town this weekend, stayed with my sister in our old house, and most of us attended our old church. It isn't home anymore. It's familiar, and full of good memories, but it isn't home. We were all glad to return to our little bit of land in the country, surrounded by farms, with our chickens, our garden, and our yard ... room to breathe.
Last December, I reviewed Aleks online math program, and how it worked for my 13 year old daughter. (You can read that review HERE.) As a member of the Homeschool Crew, I was asked to take a look at the changes Aleks has made to their master account system and how parents can use that in homeschooling. I didn't really cover the master account at all in my last review, so this follow-up will focus solely on the master account.
In the master account, you can change your student's course levels, create quizzes for them, and view their quiz results. The quiz feature is a new option that allows you to either create a customized quiz where you select each type of problem that will be included, or let Aleks create a quiz from recently learned material. You can set a date for the quiz, edit the questions, and choose how many problems will be on the quiz. After your student takes the quiz, you can view their results.
There are progress reports you can view (and print) that show the hours per week your student is spending on Aleks, the items they are learning per hour, and the hours or weeks expected before they reach their goal. You can also receive your student's progress report by email. Printing the progress report provides proof of the grade your student is earning, their progress, and their completion of the math course.
The master account also allows you to view their pie chart which shows the topics they should be learning and what percentage of each topic they have mastered. It also shows what percentage of the total course they have mastered, and how many hours they have spent on the course. This is the same pie chart that your students can view while they're working in Aleks. My daughter loved seeing her progress on her pie chart!
The attendance chart is great for tracking the time spent working on Aleks each day, the topics they've attempted that day, and the topics they've mastered. For those who are required to track hours or days of school, and especially for those required to turn in paperwork -- this is a helpful feature. You can print a monthly attendance sheet for each child.
The Quick Tables feature is a great resource for students in grades 3 and up. It is a tool for basic math facts mastery: addition facts, subtraction facts, multiplication facts, and division facts. When students master another 20% of their table, they earn an interactive math game to play. Parents can set the level of facts they want presented to their child, and assign a new assessment or worksheet. The Quick Tables chart shows you the hours they spend on each section of math facts, and their progress.
The costs of an Aleks subscription vary, based on subscription length, and the number of students. The cost for one student is $19.95/month, or $99.95 for 6 months (one month free), or $179.95 for 12 months (saves the most money). There arefamily discounts available if you have more than one student.
If you'd like to try out Aleks with your student, or see how the master account works for you, you can sign up for a one-month free trial of Aleks. While my daughter enjoys Aleks, and I'm impressed with the new features they've given to the parents in the master account, it is still not an affordable option for our family.
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Grapevine Studies: Old Testament Basics Catechism Course
Posted on 2009-Aug-27 at 08:31 AM
My kids and I love to doodle and draw, so I was looking forward to trying one of Grapevine Studies Bible studies with my kids. After all, their motto is "Stick figuring through the Bible!" They have a large variety of Bible studies for all ages of children and even adults. I wanted a multi-level study that would allow us all to work together, so I chose the Old Testament Basics catechism-style course.
The Old Testament Basics Bible Study covers 225 questions (and answers) to review the Old Testament facts and truths about God. Each page contains two questions, and students both draw and write the answer into their workbook. After each question, a Bible reference is given to locate the answer. The teacher's manual includes the written answer, as well as an example of what the students should draw. The teacher is to draw the stick figure drawing on a chalkboard or white board for the students to copy into their workbook.
Grapevine Bible studies encourage the use of colors and symbols to represent different things. For instance, a purple triangle represents God ... purple for royalty and a triangle for the Triune Godhead. So children will need colored pencils or crayons in addition to their workbooks. If you want to draw a demonstration stick-figure picture for your children, you will need colored dry-erase markers, colored chalk, or even just a large pad of paper and colored pencils or markers.
Since each child is to draw the answer in their workbook, you will need a workbook for each child. In our case, we used the student e-book so we could print as many copies of the workbook as our family needed. We can even return to the study at a later time, printing new student books.
In our home, I allowed the younger kids to just draw the answer into the workbook. Waiting on them to copy the written answer from someone else or spelling it out to them word by word was just too tedious ... for them and us. Since I don't have a chalkboard or white board, I usually just showed the children what they were to draw straight from the book ... covering the other three pictures on the two-page spread. In hindsight, I wish I had drawn it onto paper, setting an example that I was also willing to stick figure my way through the Bible.
Old Testament Basics was designed to be a simplified study that can be used in a church setting or in the home. The lessons are intentionally doctrine-free, so parents can teach their own doctrine to their children. Since our children have attended Sunday School regularly, and we have studied the Old Testament history in our curriculum, they felt the material was too "familiar" and "simple" at first. We had to remind them to wait until after we read the Scripture to answer, even if they thought they knew the answer. This eliminated all the guessing and brought it back to a more focused Bible study.
One of the other Grapevine Studies would have probably been a better choice for us than this catechism-style course. We enjoyed the Old Testament Basics study, we just felt it worked better for our family to tweak the lessons a bit. Rather than just beginning to ask questions about the life of Joseph, our family would prefer to study the Scriptures first and then complete the questions together. It seemed to flow better when the questions were asked after the Scripture was read. It will work very well as a supplement when we return to Old Testament history in our curriculum.
Overall, my children enjoyed the process of filling in their workbooks with their stick figure drawings. Even though I showed them the sample drawing, each of their drawings reflected their own personality and creativity. The process of drawing the stick figures helped them remember the answers and understand them. Drawing the stick figures helped my kinesthetic learners remember what we discussed, and it helped my distractible, wiggly kids stay focused. One of my daughters is a visual learner, and this method works great for her, as well.
The Old Testament Basicscatechism courseis available from Grapevine Studies in two formats, printed softcover book or e-book. The teacher's manual is $24.95 for the printed book and $19.95 for the e-book. The student book is $19.95 for both the printed book and the e-book. At the moment they have some "dent and ding" student books for $15.95. You can download a sample of the teacher's book HERE.
Grapevine Studies has Bible studies on Old Testament Overview, New Testament Overview, Esther, Biblical Feasts and Holy Days, Birth of Jesus, New Testament and Old Testament timelines, and more. They also have affordable e-lessons, including a currently FREE e-lesson on Ruth in Moab. You can sign up for their newsletter to receive updates on new studies as they are published.
Although we tweaked the Old Testament Basics catechism course to suit our preferences, we do recommend Grapevine Studies for their multi-sensory and hands-on approach to Bible study.
Edited to add: Grapevine Studies is offering a 30% discount to my readers through September 30, 2009. The discount code is crew9, but remember it expires on September 30, 2009!
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Barnum Software: The Quarter Mile Math -- Standard Level 1,2,3 Bundle
Posted on 2009-Aug-26 at 08:09 AM
My kids love computer games -- so I love educational computer games. If it's on the computer, they're thrilled to do it. A writing assignment is tackled with less complaining if they can type it into a word processor, and reviewing math facts is a drag unless they can do it on the computer.
The Quarter Mile Math is a software that allows kids to review their math facts in a fun game. The best part is that they're not competing against the computer, but against their own previous best scores. They can either choose to "drag race" with cars or watch "riderless horses" run through a meadow. Each time they sit down to play, their current horse or car is on the left side, and their 5 previous best scores are running to the right of them.
We had never used The Quarter Mile Math before, although I've heard about it and have seen ads for it before. We received The Quarter Mile Math Standard - Levels 1,2,3 Bundle as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We asked for the standard version because our kids' computer is currently having internet problems, and the parents' computer is too busy to really let the kids spend time on it. The standard version does not require internet connection to operate.
The Quarter Mile Math software is a supplemental math program for the whole family. It is not a stand-alone curriculum, but is designed to help our children master their math facts and develop greater speed and accuracy. They recommend at least three 15-minute sessions of review per week for each student.
The Quarter Mile Math can benefit Kindergarten students through early high school students. The Level 1, 2, 3 Bundle covers a large range of topics -- basic addition and subtraction, multiplication, fractions, division, squares, means, estimation, pre-algebra, and more. Parents can assign half an hour of fraction review, 15 minutes of estimation review, and 15 minutes of multiplication review for their 6th grader for the week. There is also a Printable Progress Chart in the Homeschool section of the website that parents can utilize in their school reports.
My kids have always resented math facts review and they have especially disliked flash cards. But they enjoy using The Quarter Mile Math computer game to review their math concepts. My kindergartener, 3rd grader, 5th grader and 7th grader have enjoyed spending time on it. With the Levels 1, 2, and 3 bundle, all of my children were able to use the same software for math practice. Not only is The Quarter Mile Math more fun than flashcards ... the kids don't need YOU to take them through the flashcards.
The Quarter Mile Math Standard CD (Levels 1, 2, and 3 Bundle) retails for $89.95. It is a one-time purchase that your children can use for years to come. The standard version is also sold in different levels and combinations of levels. The Deluxe version is available as a download, or a CD (an additional $5), and requires a monthly subscription. The monthly subscription is $2.95/month for an entire family, $19.95/year family subscription, and $34.95 2-year family subscription. You can see the differences between the Standard and Deluxe versions HERE. If you need to stop your subscription to the Deluxe version, you can resume it again at any time.
If you're tired of flashcards stacked on your school shelves, and you keep forgetting to make time for math review in your homeschool ... The Quarter Mile Math may be the solution! While the kids happily review their math, maybe you can find time to read a book, paint your toenails, or just enjoy a quiet cup of cocoa alone.
EDITED FOR SPECIAL SALE PRICE! Barnum Software is offering a special $5 off for TOS Crew Review readers! If readers use the Referral Code 7H7K7, they'll get $5 off any product--Standard or Deluxe. There is a place to input this code on the order forms. This Referral Code will be good until September 30, 2009.
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Web Design For Kids ( ... And Curious Grown-Ups!) DVD
Posted on 2009-Aug-20 at 05:08 PM
One of the fun parts of being on the Homeschool Crew is receiving supplemental products for school electives to review. It wasn't in my year-plan to teach my kids to build a web page, and I wouldn't have known how to teach them, either. Thankfully, we were able to review Web Design For Kids (... And Curious Grown-Ups!) ... and I didn't have to teach it myself.
Web Design For Kids (... And Curious Grown-ups!) is a DVD course created by Brian Richardson, the founder of Click Drag Solutions. In this DVD course, he teaches children (and curious adults) how to create a basic web page using HTML. An internet connection is not required for this class, although it can be helpful for finding images. The web page is built using Notepad and Internet Explorer ... no special software involved.
Brian teaches directly to the student, demonstrating on-screen each step in the process of building their own web page. He doesn't just tell them what to type ... he shows them what each line of code DOES on their web page. Brian also shows them what happens if they make errors in their HTML code, and how to fix the problem.
The DVD is recorded in a class-room setting, with Brian teaching two middle-school aged children how to build their web page. The children ask questions that our children may be wondering, and they make mistakes they have to find and correct. It's not full of complicated technical jargon, and it moves through the process slowly, one baby step at a time.
This DVD is simple to use and implement. My 12 year old daughter walked my 8 year old son through the course, helping him create his own web page. He told her what to type, and she typed it in for him. Then my 12 year old and 14 year old daughters took over, creating several web pages each. They enjoyed playing with the colors and content of their web page. They only asked me for help twice, and one of those times was in setting up their Web Design folder since we were using a different Windows product than the DVD showed.
I've been using HTML to edit my blog template for a couple years now. I've had to figure it out bit by bit, myself ... learning by trial and error largely. I enjoyed watching the DVD and learning some new HTML tricks, like marquees.
My daughters (12 and 14) thought the DVD was "talking down" to them at times -- but they did learn how to build a web page using HTML, and they enjoyed the process. They each built their web page in a couple hours, and then expanded on the lesson to create more web pages. I'd say that's a successful DVD course!
Since this DVD teaches directly to the children, it would be a perfect project to save for a day when Mom is under the weather ... she's present to offer help as needed, but with minimal effort from Mom. HTML lessons weren't on my school year plan, and they may not be on yours at the moment. But computer programming (or coding) is a skill that will be helpful for our children in the future.
Web Design For Kids ( ... And Curious Grown-Ups!) covers the following material:
Ten Basic Lines of Code
Sandwiches and Colors
Making the Subject Stand Out
Stand Alone Tags
Downloading and Saving Images From the Internet
Designing Backgrounds
Fonts and Paragraphs
Including Pictures in Your Web Page
Bonus Segment: Managing Computer Files
This particular DVD does not cover how to upload your web page to the internet, but that information will be included in the second volume when it is released.
Web Design For Kids ( ... And Curious Grown-Ups!) is currently 50% off -- available for $19.99 + $3.99 shipping for a limited time. It also comes with a money back guarantee, and a portion of the sales are donated to five charities. Of course, since it is a DVD course, it is completely re-usable and can be used with each of your children.
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Eight years ago, I was introduced to Hank The Cowdog at a homeschool conference. Diana Waring was talking about how much her family was blessed by reading Hank The Cowdog together, enjoying the laughter and memories it created. If Diana Waring said it was one of the best things that ever happened to HER family, then you KNOW that I was going to read them aloud to MY children, as well.
I quickly bought a couple Hank The Cowdog books and read them to myself. I thought they were hilarious, and sat down to read one to my kids. Except, this was 8 years ago ... and my oldest was 6. The children didn't understand the references to country living, and they certainly didn't catch any of the puns, misused words, or circular logic that Hank and Drover are famous for. I was disappointed and set the Hank books aside.
As my oldest grew older and began looking for new chapter books to read, I handed her a Hank the Cowdog book. She loved it, and read every Hank the Cowdog book we (and our library) owned! She was old enough to appreciate the humor at last, but we still didn't fully understand the country life references. The other children weren't interested in reading them, although we both tried to convince them.
How the Homeschool Crew revived our love of Hank The Cowdog ...
I was pleased to be able to review 3 items from Maverick Books for the Homeschool Crew this summer. Since I was first introduced to Hank The Cowdog I had learned a little bit more about the author. John R. Erickson is a Christian, a former cowboy, and ranch manager. He lives on a ranch in Texas, and the stars of his books (Hank and Drover) were real dogs that he once worked with. I'd been meaning to try reading the books aloud again, and the Homeschool Crew gave me the push I needed.
When our package from Maverick Books arrived, I started reading The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse aloud to the kids right away. I was thrilled to find that I now had an appreciative audience! The 14 year old, 12 year old, 10 year old and 8 year old all enjoyed listening to the book. The 5 year old and 3 year old listened in, but I know they were missing the point of many of the jokes. The children begged me to read "just one more chapter" before bed!
Now that we live in the country, with a family dog, and a neighbor dog, and chickens, and barn cats ... and a septic tank ... there are parts of the story that are so much funnier than they were when we lived in town. I didn't even understand just how nasty it was that Hank enjoys lying in the septic tank leak until we had our septic tank pumped out last year. Now I understand why Sally May dislikes Hank so much!
As we've been enjoying reading about Hank and Drover, our dog and the neighbor's dog have taken on new personalities to me. Now, I admit that MY dog is smarter and classier than Hank ... a bit ... but the neighbor's little dog that follows our dog around all day ... he's Drover for sure! Every time I see them harassing the cats, scaring the chickens, running through my garden, or guarding the road ... I see Hank and Drover.
I will say that there are words in the Hank stories that I just don't say (gosh, darn, dang) so I skip them as I read aloud. I don't mind my older children reading those words in the chapter books because they know we don't repeat them, but I don't want the younger kids to hear Mom saying them ... even if they are in the book.
The other day our family was out shopping the yard sales on a Saturday, and I put the Tales and Tunes from Hank the Cowdog CD into the car CD player. We enjoyed listening to the story excerpts from 10 of the Hank books, and 9 original songs ... told (and sung) by the author himself. It is hilarious to hear John Erickson telling his own story, with voices that I have tried to replicate, but just can't quite manage. Of course, it leaves you wanting to read the books to find out the rest of the story! Two of the songs on the CD are from the book we've been reading, and it's fun to hear the tune that goes with the printed words in the book. It helps to bring the story alive, and I'm sure when we read the book again we'll be singing the songs instead of just reading them.
The last item we received to review was Hank's Tornado Game. This little board game has a plastic game board which folds shut, with all the pieces tucked inside, so it travels easily. The point of the game is to get all three of your pieces (Hank, Drover, and a buzzard) onto the board, around the board, and into your safety zone. If you land on another person's character, they have to go back to the beginning. This is a cute and fun game, and it comes with a cassette tape that includes excerpts from Hank #25 The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado, including "Drover's Tornado Safety Song".
We first played this game with four children (including two young ones), but it seemed like everyone was getting sent back to the beginning far too often. The younger children had not played a game like that before and found it very frustrating. The solution to that problem was to have two players instead of four, and keep working on character issues like good sportsmanship.
As you can tell, our family enjoys Hank The Cowdog, in all his forms. I know that some families feel the language is not appropriate for their home, and others don't care for the rude name-calling between the animals ... but we enjoy the books for their unique humor. It's just fun to read these light-hearted books aloud as a family, or to yourself. Of course, you do have to be careful ... if you laugh too hard, you might choke on something.
You can find more books, stories on CD, toys and games available at the Hank The Cowdog website. The books are available individually as paperbacks for $4.24, or also in hardcover, and in sets. The Tales and Tunes sampler CD is available for only $3.00, and audio-book CDs are available as 2-book sets for $28.99. The Tornado Game is sold for $12.99.
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Sense & Sensibility Girls Apron E-Pattern and E-Class
Posted on 2009-Aug-19 at 12:26 PM
My girls and I were thrilled to see Sense & Sensibility Patterns on the new Homeschool Crew vendor list, and we were quick to volunteer when they asked who was interested. We've drooled over Jennie's website and patterns for years! But, although I have sewn dresses for my little girls in the past, I'm not the best (or most detailed) seamstress. I've always chosen very simple patterns, and the Sense & Sensibility patterns looked complicated to me.
We received the e-pattern for the Girls Edwardian Apron, and the Girls Edwardian Apron e-class. I've never used an e-pattern before, and I admit that I put off the process of taping it together for awhile. After a couple weeks, I finally got out my card table and started piecing it together. Lining up the pieces went fairly quickly, although I had to work harder in a few areas and not expect a perfect match all the time. Sometimes I would have to tilt one paper a little to line up in multiple places, but in the end it didn't affect the cutting or sewing at all.
The e-class was helpful in walking me through the steps of sewing the apron, although I opted to buy packaged bias tape instead of creating my own. The pattern was actually very simple, and I was able to sew it together over the course of one evening (after the kids went to bed) and a final half hour the next morning (before the kids were up). I was able to surprise 10 year old C with her apron as soon as she woke up.
We had chosen a 100% cotton print fabric from my fabric collection, but I would love to sew another apron from a light denim or twill fabric instead. I am planning to make my 3 year old daughter a matching apron, and I think I have enough fabric left to do so. Next time, I'll use it to teach my daughters more sewing skills.
10 yo C loves her apron. She wore it all day that first day, and she still puts it on before helping to make lunch for herself and her siblings. Although I feared the pattern would be complicated, and I had never used an e-pattern before, it was actually a simple pattern. We love the feminine princess seams and the pockets! I think we're going to have to buy the adult Edwardian Apron pattern so the older girls and I can each have one, too.
If you haven't used an e-pattern there are a few different ways to use them. Once you print them from your computer, you piece together the papers and tape them. At this point, you can either use the pattern as is, cutting to the size you need ... or you can trace the pattern onto interfacing, creating a re-usable pattern like you would buy at the store (folding to the size you need.) I cut the pattern paper to the size 10 for C, and will cut down from there for my younger daughter ... getting two uses from the same printing.
The positive side of e-patterns is that you can print them over and over, and you don't have to store them in a box somewhere in your house. Also, if a pattern starts to wear out, just print a new copy. The downside is the process of piecing the pattern together after you print it.
E-patterns also save you money. The Girls Edwardian Apron e-pattern is $7.95, which is $5 less than the printed pattern and doesn't cost anything additional for shipping. The Apron E-class is available to download for $19.95, or with the e-pattern for $24.95 (saving money on the e-pattern, as well.)
Sense & Sensibility's website declares this is an easy and forgiving pattern, perfect for beginning sewers or teaching daughters to sew ... and it is! I wasn't disappointed at all, and I'm looking forward to trying more Sense & Sensibility patterns (like the Beatrix walking skirt.)
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Molly's $5 dinner cookbook is finally ready for sale! I was excited when I saw the email last week, because several of my family's favorite recipes are included in this e-book. It is really full of recipes for every taste and style, including fast-prep and slow-prep meals.
The price is a great value at $7.95, too. You can read more about it HERE.
A free e-book for you -- E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolution!
Posted on 2009-Aug-11 at 06:56 AM
The Old Schoolhouse magazine is very excited to share the latest TOS E-Book (about E-Books!) with us ... E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolution
Right now this $14.95 value is FREE!
This unique book will help answer the following questions about E-Books and so much more:
Why should I buy E-Books and what are their unique benefits?
How can I use E-Books with homeschooling?
How am I supposed to read them?
Can I get help creating my virtual bookshelf?
What can you tell me about storing E-Books on my computer?
What are some great organizing tips for E-Books?
Can you give me a lot of suggestions and ideas that I can actually use?
What can I learn about the E-Book market and The Old Schoolhouse®?
What do I need to know to publish my own E-Books?
What are some of the legal issues in electronic publishing that I need to know about?
Whether you’ve wondered about E-Books, or are already addicted to them as an incredible resource, or would like more information to even write and publish your own E-Book, you’ll be delighted by the wealth of information provided.
Here’s what Heidi Strawser, E-Book Reviews Specialist and Special Projects Manager for TOS, has to say about it:
“E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolution is the most all-inclusive ‘book about E-Books’ that I have ever seen (and I’m not just saying that because I had a part in writing it)! As the E-Book Reviews Specialist for the Schoolhouse Store, I see a lot of E-Books cross my path each week. Even I was impressed with the ideas and suggestions that are presented here. One of the most valuable aspects of this E-Book, in my opinion, is the legal portion written by TOS’s own legal consultant, Susan Spann. This portion is well-written and informative; and a great place for new E-Book writers to begin. From there, I’d encourage writers to check out my article for all the things we are looking at when screening E-Books for sale in our store. I think you’ll be encouraged to start writing! If not, at least you’ll learn more about E-Books, their value in today’s homeschooling arena, and how you can benefit from them.”
So go ahead and download your FREE copy of E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolutiontoday!!
My rooster is crowing! I have been waiting to hear him crow. I've listened longingly to a rooster crow from a neighboring farm, and I've even crowed at our rooster to see if he'd crow back. I finally heard it this morning! I'll be glad to hear him crow some afternoon, as well.
When we still lived in town, I'd hear a rooster on a nearby block crow while I hung clothes on the line. I kept wishing for my own flock of chickens and just one rooster, but Steve didn't want them in town. Now we're in the country, and we have our chickens ... and the unintentional rooster. So far, he's a good rooster. He's never challenged me, but my 8 year old is afraid of him. I need to see it, but he claims the rooster "comes at him" when he goes into the coop. He's never been aggressive to me, and he's never actually attacked, though.
When we first put him in there, I did see him protect his group of chicks from the older chicks. And he's been doing "his thing" around the chicken yard for several weeks now. The children informed me he was "biting" the other chickens, and having seen it already I knew what they meant. I knew crowing couldn't be too far off, and now it's here.
The Ameraucana hens we got in March have started laying. At least one or two have. We've found 5 eggs, but only one day did we find two of them. Oddly, though, the guinea stopped laying last week when the chickens started. I didn't expect that and I'm not sure what the cause is. It seems premature, but we did have cool weather last week, including two nights in the 50s. Hopefully she'll start laying again soon. And hopefully the second set of hens won't be too far behind the Ameraucana's in laying.
My friend Jolanthe, atHomeschool Creations, is hosting a Curriculum Giveaway Carnival on August 2-15. She'll have a MckLinky up where bloggers can list what curriculum item they want to give away from their shelves.
If you have anything you want to give away, you can read more about The Big Curriculum Clean-Out at Jolanthe's blog. If you want to try to win some free curriculum, check back at Homeschool Creations August 2-15 for the MckLinky with all the giveway links.
We are a Christian homeschooling family with 7 children (ages 13, 12, 10, 8, 5, 3, and 9 months). We love having "room to breathe" in rural Central Kansas, and are working to make the "family homeplace" our own home.
• Steve 37 yo hubby
• April 36 yo SAHM
• A - 14 yo girl
• R - 12 yo girl
• C - 10 yo girl
• J - 8 yo boy
• M - 5 yo boy
• L - 3 yo girl
• G - 1 yo boy
It will be hosted on my 
Silver, our female "barn cat" although she's more of a garage or porch cat. My sisters teased us that even our outside cats have long fur, but she really only has a medium length fur.
Thomas is the striped cat keeping the three kittens warm. He was a rather weird looking kitten who walked funny, but he outgrew that and is a handsome guy now.
The family. Silver sitting up, Thomas lying down with the gray kitten, black kitten, and tabby kitten. We've looked and it appears that the black kitten is female, and the other two are male. 
