Posted in Curriculum Review
We have been studying music composers this year through our use of An Introduction to the Clasics by Vox Music Masters. I was so excited when I received in the mail from Zeezok Publishing copies of Handel at the Court of Kings and Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff, both books and study guides part of the Great Musician Series from Zeezok Publishing. This set retails for $35.80, also included is a companion CD for free. These books, written by Opal Wheeler are very engaging stories of the composer's lives beginning at their boyhood and continuing on into their late adult lives. In the story of Handel, we learn of his strange boyhood, which was clouded by the fact that his father did not want him to become a musician, and the later years when, thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, his music was played before the greatest music lovers of Europe. In the story of Robert Schumann, we learn that from the time he was a little boy, playing with his beloved cat, Ziff, in his home village in Saxony, he lived happily and pleasantly. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he had few major problems to overcome. His work, his family life, all brought him the reward of renown and joy. The girls and I would snuggle up in the afternoon and read a chapter out of these books each week. It was so enjoyable being transported back in time to these composer's lives. The stories are so well written and concise that it even held my 4 yro's attention. The study guides are a great addition to the reading because the questions go on to reinforce what has been read. Another neat thing I enjoyed seeing was the sheet music from several of their compositions interspersed throughout the book. While my 11 yro wouldn't play for us then, someday she may play these for us. The companion CD included contains the composers musical pieces. I fully intend on ordering the other composer book sets from Zeezok. These are a nice alternative instead of always listening to an audio CD. For more reviews on Zeezok Publishing, visit my crewmates blogs here. |
Posted in Simple Living
Not one of the girls is liking to go out to the garage to check the chickens after we had another 6.0 earthquake the other day, but once they get out in the garage to check them, the lovin' begins. They are so cute right now, they are hard to resist. The baby chicks do not like when we have to change their shavings at night - these babies poop more than humans, or when the girls fight over who is going to hold which one. We've also had a few water mishaps and will probably have to move them into another more permanent "water proof" home. They like to perch on the side of their water containers - silly birds and they are eating like we starve them or something. This whole experience is building character in each of the girls and is requiring them to reach inside of themselves for perseverance to continue on the task of taking care of these birds. They are quickly learning that these birds depend on them for their daily needs, just as we depend on God for our daily needs. Psalm 18 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
This little brown one we have nicknamed "Forest Gump" because he was just that way when we first got him in the box . . . . . We were not sure he was going to make it, but he is doing well so far after one week.
This light yellow one with the brown line on her head is named "Daisy" but she should have been named "Poopy Butt" because she has the most trouble in this area. . . . .
Little Bear loves to hold her "babies."
Gotta love the toothless grin!
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Posted in Curriculum Review
Facts First is an online math program that helps the student become more proficient in basic facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Children are engaged with fun, interactive scenarios that make math more meaningful to learn. So, here is how you get started. First you have to make your Facts First character.
Facts First then introduces a new "fact" and allows the student to master that fact before moving them onto the next one to learn. There are over 360 activities to engage the student.
After the review test, Facts First allows the student to access the arcade in which there are five games to play. The student is only allowed a certain amount of time and then is taken back to the lessons.
The math facts matrix provides an overview of the students progress in each level, showing what they have mastered and what they still need to work on.
Here is how we used the program: I asked my 6 yro to get on to try the program and pretty soon, everyone had migrated to the computer for a little "facts first" time. It was fun to watch them all work together, even down to my 4 yro who is just learning her addition facts. They all said that they enjoyed the program and they especially enjoyed trying to make "me" as the character - I think I look pretty good in cartoon form.
This is a great program for lower level students because the instructions are given printed on the screen, but also in auditory form, so when they see "1 + 4 = 5" they also hear, "one plus four equals five." This makes it very preschool friendly. The graphics are colorful and lively, and held the littles attention. This program retails for $49.99 and includes a license for four unique student profiles for one full year. The only cons that I saw was that it was a little slow for my older daughter and that in comparison to other math cd's it might be on the high end of the cost spectrum. You can also access a FREE addition demo here to see if it is a good fit for your family. For more reviews of Facts First, please see my crew mates reviews. |
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Posted in Curriculum Review
Have you ever wondered how the pioneer children were educated in our country and with what resources? Well, take a step back in time with Dollar Homeschool and you'll find out. We on the TOS Homeschool Crew were supplied with ebooks for part of the Eclectic Education Series called Ray's Arithmetic. The Eclectic Education Series (EES) is a set of textbooks which from roughly 1865 to 1915 was education in the United States, almost exclusively. They were the standard textbooks in many states and were chosen independently by over 10,000 school boards as their standard textbooks. Ray's Arithmetic is a complete K-12 math curriculum.
I received from the TOS Crew, what would be included on Ray's CD. How we used the program: I began with my 4 yro and started with Intellectual Arithmetic which is basic addition and subtraction. There are no frills to this education as the pictures are dull and faded, but the core elements are present which is what math is all about. She hasn't been impressed with the fancy pictures in the other workbooks that we've been using, but rather has been more of a hands-on type learner and she loved pulling out the counting sticks to work on addition facts. I pretended that I could stump her on the problems and she got so tickled when I wasn't stumped that it boosted her to try more problems. This program doesn't miss any aspects of learning all facets of math. It is complete as it says from K - 12th grade. There is so much information that it is overwhelming. I could use this curriculum for the rest of her education and probably not even crack the surface of what is contained on this disk. There are no fancy pictures but the child will learn math and there is enough repetition for the child to grasp the concepts. I fully intend on continuing this curriculum with her to see where it takes her. It by far outsurpasses the short, incomplete lessons that we've been accustomed to in her current workbooks, and it is far more economical that the hundreds of dollars I've spent on other math curriculum. Ray's CD is available now for $59 and free shipping. If you are not satisfied, they offer a money back guarantee. For other crew member reviews, please see here. |
Posted in Family Life
No, I'm not pregnant! We received our twenty-six chickens early this morning - 3 a.m. to be exact, when the post office called to inform us that they had just been delivered. Dear Daddy drove into town while Juggler and I got the water, food and box heated for their arrival. They were extremely stressed when they got home, so we quickly pulled them out of the shipping box. We dipped each of their beaks in the sugar water to help them realize where their water and food source was coming from. What precious little creatures of God. They knew precisely what to do after that and began a food/water frenzy! When the girls woke up in the morning they each took turns holding one and loving on them - even Little Bear was gentle with them. She keeps talking about the "babies" and when can she see the "babies." Here are their first pictures in their new (temporary) home until the chicken coop is finished and they are old enough to venture outside.  
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Posted in Curriculum Review
Learning to type brings back fond memories of my teacher, Ms. Christen whom I had in high school. We of course were not learning to type on computers then, but rather on typewriters, but at least they were electronic. Typing class was one of my favorite classes, only because I could zone off into my own competitive world and type to my heart's content until I beat my speed from the previous timed test.
1) Easy to follow - the directions were laid out simply and the lessons were short without a lot of mundane repetition. 2) Scripture was used as the primary resource for typing practice. I appreciate any curriculum that incorporates scripture into the learning process. 3) Easy to receive - it's in the form of an ebook that is downloadable. Once you've downloaded it, it's easy to print off the lesson that you are working on, or better yet, keep up that screen while opening a Word document to be able to work with both screens at the same time. 4)Freebies - I love freebies and this way you can preview some of the lessons before buying the ebook.
Right now Christian Keyboarding is offering the following specials. Type NewYear5 in the Discount Code section for $5 off of your purchase of $12.95 or more available until February 28, 2010! For more reviews, check out my Crew Mates here. |
We received a copy for review of the ebooks, 
I found a few things that might be a problem for some learning styles. The lessons had to be administered by a teacher. Since it is not a software, the teacher must direct each lesson. It's also not interactive like a software program would be, but that could be a plus or minus for some kids. My daughter did enjoy the lessons, and it was a good thing they were short, because she lost interest in typing fairly quickly. Overall, I'm not sure that I'd spend the money on these ebooks - my children who have learned keyboarding enjoyed the interactive benefits of a software program. Posted in Family Life
Retiring is an uncertain thing that you can't plan perfectly how it will turn out. We knew for years before that eventually my husband's career with the Air Force would come to an end and we would have to figure a new direction to travel. We just didn't plan on it happening to coinside with a major economic downturn. But with every door or chapter in your life that God shuts, he opens a window of new opportunity. We felt a strong calling several years prior to him retiring to move back to Northern California to be closer to family and to help my Dad retire from running his John Deere dealership that he's run for the last 40 plus years. When things fell into place for this calling to become reality, we followed God's direction. . . . . Deuteronomy 5:33 Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. . . . Little did we know that the economy had other trials in store for us. Originally, when we put the wheels in motion for this move to transpire it was agreed upon that my Dad would be able to pay my husband the same salary that he was leaving the military with, but with the economic downturn, he has taken a 50% cut in salary. To make matters worse, being in the military for the last 24 years has left us with no equity in a home, which caused us to take on a mortage two times what we had normally been paying, only because of how expensive California realty is. So, here is how my title "Leap of Faith" came about. We took the leap anyway, knowing what God was providing for us - we were going to make the best of things and do our best to scrimp. God in His infinite grace and mercy, opened a window for us. My sister got involved in a Wellness company that direct markets goods to consumers. They have over 350 household products, from household cleaners to toothpaste, cosmetics, and body care. The products are eco-friendly, containing no chemicals and are concentrated so that you save money while switching your home to safer, better products. We were skeptical about the company when she introduced us to it, but it was my father who said, without a doubt that we needed to get involved in this company - it was that worth it. How could I not honor my father's wishes??? She went on to explain that once you pay your membership fee, you simply shop online each month, committing $50 of what you are already spending on household goods and "Switch stores." The best part of the company, besides the fact that I am not the distributor of the products, the company takes care of that, is that I receive a check each month (residual income from my referral's orders), paid back to me, the consumer for referring this wonderful company to all of my friends whom I care about their health and wellness. This is why I'm sharing this story with you, because I care about all of you, my readers and my friends and I want this window of opportunity to be opened up to you. Currently, we've been involved in this company for two months and already they have paid me $58 for referring two friends. After referring eight of my friends, they guarantee that I will receive no less than $120 each month in residual income, essentially paying for my products. At this point, I've now saved my husband a whole line item in our budget dedicated to household goods. Thank you for keeping up with our family and for all of the wonderful comments you leave. Please let me know if I can share this wonderful company with you, my friends. Blessings, Michelle |
Posted in Curriculum Review
For all the moms who tell me 'I could never teach my child math, because even I struggled in school," here comes Math Tutor DVD's. As part of the Homeschool Crew, we were asked to review these two DVD's; The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor and Young Minds, Numbers and Counting. The Basic Math Word Problem DVD was very thorough in enabling the struggling student or apprehensive teacher to understand how to solve word problems. Each of the 15 sections included on the DVD, contain many problems, complete with a step by step teaching to the solution. There is 8 hours of instruction on two DVDs. The DVD sells for $26.99. Some online sample videos can be seen here.
For more reviews from my fellow crewmates, see here. |
Math is probably one of the most talked about subjects with homeschool moms. I always hear the whole spectrum, from the frustrations of children not getting "it" to the joy when the "light bulb" clicks on. In our house, the conversation is no different because with each child comes a new set of learning styles to deal with.
We have two littles in our crew that I wanted to watch this next video. Little did I know that my middle ones would like it too. It reminds me of the Baby Einstein videos, but better. The graphics were absolutely beautiful and the music is done to classical composers, such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Chopin. I even found myself memorized. We highly recommend this video for any child close to the age of two and up. It teaches not only numbers and counting, but it also contains bonus features like puzzles, guess the animals and connect the dots. Posted in Simple Living
Outside my window… still raining and looks like it will continue until Saturday. From the Learning Room … *Middles: less bickering and whining. Need to work on more JOY (Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself Last) *Older: more work on Math skills and writing One of my favorite things……when my children make me laugh with the funniest things that they say.. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Keep on purging. Finish laundry and work on my quilt for my bed and continue my reading of the Bible (suppose to be in 90 days, but I think it'll end up being more like 180 days).
A picture to share:.. the famous hat from the dollar store Abby with Toby (we'll cherish these last pictures with him) |
Posted in Cleaning
We have so much stuff. So much of my time is wasted in managing clutter, disorganization and the shear amount of stuff that a family of eight can generate. I have seen it wearing thin on my dear hubby. I have been lacking in taking care of removing this overly grown pile of stuff each day and blaming it on the fact that Tractor Boy is little and he takes up most of my day. While he does, that is no excuse for me. I need to get this mismanagement under control because it is affecting the entire household. So, how do you take care of simplifying? What types of things do you do to make your life easier and more simple? How do you work around the schedule of demanding littles? As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
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Posted in Curriculum Review
Lately, I've been questioning whether our math curriculum is a good fit for our 6th grader. She seems to be struggling with getting the answers correct with her math problems. We received a two week trial to Mathscore and I was impressed with the overall thoroughness of this program. Mathscore can be used as a full online stand alone math curriculum or simply as an enhancement to your current program. Students use the math practice program to learn simple and complex math skills from elementary school grade 2 through Algebra I.
Mathscore offers a two-week trial, so what do you have to lose in trying this program??? A Mathscore subscription costs $9.95 for the first child and an additional $3.95 for every other child that you enroll. They also have a special feature where you can suspend your subscription during school breaks or vacation so that you are not paying for unused time - what an awesome benefit for those of us on a not so traditional school schedule! For other reviews on Mathscore, check out my crew mates here. |
Posted in Family Life
Most of you know that we recently moved to California after my hubby retired from the Air Force. We moved to a little town in Northern California called Ferndale. Well, last night we made the news with a 6.5 earthquake that shook our little Victorian town. What you may not have known is that none of my children have ever experienced an earthquake before and no amount of preparation beforehand can ever make you prepared for the experience! My husband and I lived in California most of our childhood years, not making us experts, but at least we had each had a couple of big quakes under our belts. The last one that I occurred here in Ferndale was in 1992, when three 6.5 and above quakes rocked our area within a 12 hour period. It managed to knock most of the Victorian houses right off of their foundations. Last night around 4:30 Anne, George and I had come into the house to go upstairs to get ready to go to our friends house for dinner, while the little girls and Dad were outside the house. The little girls happened to be in the breezeway between the house and the garage when the quake started. It felt like someone lifted our house right off of the foundation. I grabbed George from on the floor and began running towards Anne's room to find her. It dropped us back down and then shook us back and forth for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a matter of seconds, while we waited it out in the doorway. When we got outside the little girls were in the middle of the yard with their Dad. We later found out the water softener unit broke away from the wall in the breezeway, fell on the 2 yro, while Hannah our 6 yro grabbed her, pushed the unit back up and told her and Lindsay to get out in the yard (I was so proud of her calmness in this situation). Dad said that it was skin tingling just to think about how he watched from the yard, the house shake, the trailer fall off the jacks and the cars bounce up and down. We came in and assessed the damage, broken glass everywhere, realizing that it was only stuff and that we all were safe by God's grace. It reminds me of how God teaches us that we are to store up our treasures in heaven, NOT here on earth. Everything that broke can't be replaced, but even that isn't important to me. If I would've lost one of my children or my husband, that would have been far worse. Matthew 6:19 - 20 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: These are just a few of the pictures from some of our lovely shops uptown. They have a mess to clean up. We ended up staying up late too with all of the aftershocks. The girls and George had quite a scare. Later that night we found out Hannah had been praying to experience a small earthquake. I'm thinking she will not be praying for that anymore! |
Posted in Curriculum Review
Anne and I competed as to who could read the book the fastest. She beat me again, but only by a couple of chapters. The reading was compelling enough to keep my interest, but was definitely geared for my 11 year old's reading ability. Bertie is a 12 year old girl, who had an insatiable appetite to please her father and to do things just right for him. Her life is a constant battle inside of her head of never doing or saying the right thing. She continues to find herself drawn into embarassing or sometimes dangerous situations, which is sometimes fueled by her mischievious brother. She starts school during the fall of 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She finds herself constantly living in fear of the unknown and often feels out of control. There are some inferences to God and prayer, but the book is more focused on humanism and the world's perspective on life. Never once does Bertie turn her fears over to God to handle or to remove them from her life. Fear grips all of us at one point or another, but it's whether we turn that fear over to God to deal with that really matters. He is our Proctector and Savior. My daughter enjoyed this book and I did find it interesting. I will most likely add it to our reading list during our study of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The book retails for $7.99. For other reviews, please check out my crew mates here. Kregel Publishing sent me a complimentary copy of “Bertie’s War” to complete this review. All ideas and opinions are my own. |
My first experience with Kregel Publications was a good one. We received Posted in Curriculum Review
Many months ago, our 11 year old decided after a bad experience with a computer game, that she wanted to learn how to build her own computer games. So, when we received a 3 month trial membership to Tektoma, which is an online game tutorial for students, I guessed she would jump at the chance to test it out. She did experiment with it for several days, making sure to notify me that the tutorials were very easy to follow and the instructions were simple, but that they did go over things a little too quickly for her liking. She got started on making the arcade game, but then completely lost interest in the tutorials. She decided that it was more fun playing the game than sitting at a computer making the game. (She'll be a good curriculum reviewer someday- she's the hands on type, wants to try everything) The complete game tutorials include: It's $14.95 per month or $140 per year, which gets you access to all the tutorials as well as online help in their forums. For our crew this was not a good fit. I would imagine this would benefit a family whose children are into learning more about the "behind the scenes" workings of computer games. You might like to read other crew members reviews here for other opinions. |
Posted in Curriculum Review
Just imagine pure, uninterrupted quiet coming from the back seats of my car. Can you envision it, even though it seems next to impossible. Well, whether you believe it or not, when I put in the CD we received from Maestro Classics, "The Tortoise and The Hare," it was unbelievably QUIET in the back seats of my car. They were enchanted with the story and the music. It was lively and entertaining. The story was well read and the varied voices for the characters was charming. The symphony music in the background was not overpowering at all.
We received this CD as part of our reviews for the TOS Homeschool Crew. According to the website their mission statement expresses that they are "the ambassador of great music for both children and adults, helping them experience the art form in new and exciting ways." The beauty of this CD's is that it combines classical stories with great symphony orchestra music. Each CD is $16.98 but they are offering a special of 3 CD's for $45 (enter code MAESTRO45 at checkout). The other CD's available are:
These CD's get two thumbs up from our crew and it beats watching the same movie over and over again in the car during our weekly errands. For more reviews, check out my fellow crewmates here.
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Posted in Family Life
Who would've thought that it would be cold one day and warm the next here. The girls have been enjoying their winter break from school (as well as mom). So, today they took the camera outside with them to capture some pictures for a friend in Florida. It's amazing to see how well they all play together. So, I thought I would share some pictures with you as to what goes on during our winter break from school. All I know is that I get my camera back and there are about 100 new pictures on it to download. These are just a few of the best.      >  
I hope your New Year's Eve is safe and fun filled and I pray for a blessed New Year for each one of you. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog and take a peek into our lives. Your comments bring joy to my life everyday. . . . |
Posted in Curriculum Review
Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class DVD and Volume One Book arrived in my mailbox one day. It is just one of the many wonderful curriculums that I get to review as part of the TOS homeschool crew. Unfortunately, I have never played a guitar, nor have I ever had a passion to learn. So, I was posed with a first time problem - how do I review something I can't try or that I even know anything about? So, here goes. . . . .
PRICES: So, even after this review, I'm still no closer to wanting to learn to play the guitar. But, I would give this curriculum a try first before investing in expensive in-home lessons, if my family was interested in learning to play the guitar. For more reviews from other crew members, go here. I received this product for free in exchange for my review as a member of the Crew. No further compensation was received and I express my honest opinion of the product.
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Posted in Curriculum Review
We started piano lessons about 2 years ago for our two oldest girls. Believe you me, music lessons do not come cheap. So, the plan was that the older girls would eventually teach the younger girls until they had mastered more than the olders could teach. The best made plans don't always seem to work out for us - who would have thought that learning patience to teach their little sisters wasn't part of the older girls' plans?
Then one day I received a review for Kinderbach through the TOS crew. According to their website, KinderBach is a tried and proven method of teaching very young children to actually PLAY PIANO, read NOTES, learn INTERVALS, RHTHYM & music PATTERNS - the best piano teaching system available anywhere! The lessons are geared for students age 3 - 7. We received access to the online membership for the last three months, so I sat Hannah and Lindsay with the keyboard, in front of the computer for the first lesson.
The lessons are done with lots of lively interaction and fun songs to sing. The girls learned about the "black" keys in their first lesson, sang the "doddie" song and colored a worksheet to reinforce their learning. This type of learning got 2 thumbs up from Mom! It fit really well with our family and soon little Abby was wanting to join her older sisters.
Kinderbach consists of 6 levels, each lasting 10 weeks in length. A one year membership includes access to all web lessons (over 240 sessions) and the downloadable PDF worksheet pages. The cost for the program is To see other crew member reviews, see here. |
Posted in Family Life
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest..., and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:11-14). Many blessings to everyone this Christmas season. May God be with you and your families during this holiday season. |
Posted in Family Life
Last night was the official Ferndale Tractor Parade. Our very own Fernbridge Tractor was in the parade, along with most of my preciouspeas, who were riding on a trailer behind one of the big tractors. Even though the weather was slightly rainy, it was amazingly warm for December 20th.
Every year, Ferndale sponsors the Tractor Parade, in which anyone can enter their tractor lighted appropriately for the holiday season. One of the entries last night had over 42,000 lights and two generators to run the lights. This year my Dad didn't want to enter in a tractor, but my dear hubby convinced him to do so at the last minute. The store got a nice plug for it and they made a big deal to announce my husband as the new General Manager of the store. So, Saturday the girls and their Dad were at the store decorating the trailer and the tractor with as many lights as they could find. While it wasn't elaborate, it did look nice.
All day Sunday the girls were bopping around, anxious to be riding on the trailer. They finally got their wish and went over for tractor judging around 5:30 p.m. My Dad, stepmom, my stepsister and her family and myself with George arrived just as the parade was starting. It's a good thing Dad only lives a block off of main street. The tractors were great - the wish I could remember how old the oldest tractor was that was in the parade - I want to say 1914 or 1918, but I can't remember which.
The man in the black jacket is my Dad; he was rescuing Abby who had had enough riding for one night. I think you can figure out who the man is in the Santa hat - yes, dear hubby. Even though the parade was over in less than an hour, everyone enjoyed the fun time - even my crew on the back of the trailer. They ran out of candy so they told Grandpa he needs to buy more for next year. They have big plans too for next year - something was said about "polar express." |
