Now Boarding Gate 3

New Year...or...New Attempt at This Blog Thing

2012-01-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

My kids have been asking me for quite some time now to , "Please update the bog." and "It's time for a new post, Mom!"

So, in keeping with my New Year's Resolution: Do a better job of keeping in touch with our fiends far and wide, this is my first official post of 2012.

It is currently -4F outside my window. It's cold here in the wicked north but lovely to look upon! Dinner is simmering on the stove (Thanks to the Professor) and I am slowing crawling my way out of a stack of Christmas decorations that have been collecting for far too many years. I'm weeding out as I sort. It hurts to part with things that were given with love. But, in keeping with another resolution: Simplify my Life!, I am forging ahead. Wish me luck!

If I survive, I'll be back again tomorrow.

Busy, Busy, Busy (and a Rosetta Stone Giveaway)

2010-12-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

The move to Alaska has put a crimp in my blogging. Those who know me personally have been following along on Facebook. But, I'll be back soon to post here too. _After the holidays....I promise. In the meantime take a look at this chance to win Rosetta Stone"

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Now is the perfect time to give your child (or yourself!) the gift of possibilities for the holidays with Rosetta Stone Homeschool — and you can WIN a Level 1 Homeschool program, language of your choice (valued at $249)!

Right now Rosetta Stone is having a special Holiday promotion on our Homeschool Edition program and we’d like you to help spread the word! Everyone can save up to $150 on Rosetta Stone Homeschool by visiting our website at http://www.RosettaStone.com/hsw1110.

By helping us spread the word you can win a Rosetta Stone Homeschool Edition Level 1 program, language of your choice, valued at $249.

This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever!

Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this program, copy these paragraphs (in between the ***'s) and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR post about this contest on your facebook page. Then go to the original page at

http://www.othersuchhappenings.com/2010/12/rosetta-stone-giveaway-yay.html

and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post, and good luck!

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More Geeky Goodness

2010-08-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Today, I came down the stairs to find the four 'at-home' children all sitting in the living room. Three of the 4 children were each sitting in front of a laptop while Jack, the 4th was lounging on the sofa eating a piece of pie. As I walked by, laughing at them, I said, "You guys look like the biggest bunch of techno-geeks!" Bella pointed to Jack, the only one without a computer, and said, "What about him?", implying that he did not qualify for 'techno-geek' status. Not wanting to be left out of the geekfest, without missing a beat, he said, "I'm trying to find the end of pi."

What Geeks Do For Fun...

2010-07-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

Today, July 22, I made a pineapple upside down cake to celebrate a particularly 'geeky' holiday. Then, I challenged the kids to figure out what the occasion was and why I was making cake. It took a little while (and some mighty quick Goggling ) but someone finally figured it out.

(The artist, of all people. Go figure.)

So what's the occasion?

July 22 or 22/7 is Pi Approximation Day.

Why cake?

It's an approximation of Pi (Pie)

And to finish the event is fitting style, how about a geeky pi joke:

Mathematician to Baker: Pi r squared

Baker to Mathematician: No, pie are round. Cake are squared!

Excellence isn't about Skill...It's about ATTITUDE!

2010-03-22T04:07:00.000-07:00

And, today, the youngest had it in spades!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Hawaii's Level 5 State Gymnastics All Around Champion!Hard work (and I do mean HARD work) paid off for this little boy and today he brought everything to the plate and did a spectacular job.

Of course, I love to see him win. What mom wouldn't? But, most of all, I love to see his hard work, faithful practice, and hours of dedication result in success. In the grand scheme of life, gymnastics isn't important. But, the things he is learning about perseverance and determination are things that will be so important later in life. I have watched this child work to the point of tears and still manage to smile. He takes every suggestion made by his coach to heart and give 110% to every task.

Congratulation, sweet boy. I am blessed to be your mother!

Final tally for the day:

1st place:

All Around

High Bar

Floor

Pommel

Rings

3rd Place:

Vault

P Bars

A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler

2010-03-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Homeschoolers have long said that EVERYTHING is 'school' depending on how you look at it. If you are one of those unfortunate people who has to justify hours to your State, you may be wondering just how to utilize those 'teachable moments' to receive appropriate credit. Let's take an example from our day, shall we...

LITERATURE:

Tammi Jo took a walk

With her darling daughter.

She fell down

And she did roll

Poor Ann could only watch her!

(Side note: You could spend a few moments discussing genealogy here and marvel at the fact that someone would actually name their kid Tammi Jo... but I digress.)

BOTANY: Certain species of native ornamental trees introduce their genetic material by way of seed pods which drop to the ground to further ripen and ultimately open.

SCIENCE: Spherical objects of sufficient size are effective at reducing the coefficient of friction between the ground and the rubber sole of a walking shoe.

Further, gravity is a given.

FIRST AID: Gentle washing of skin abrasions with mild soap and warm water will remove surface dirt. Apply antibiotic ointment and a dry dressing as needed. Apply ice to areas of swelling. Tylenol may be given as needed for pain.

And Finally:

HOME ECONOMICS: While a cotton skirt and blouse has aesthetic appeal on a beautiful spring day, it is better to plan you wardrobe around your activities so that you may remain modest in all circumstances.

So, there you have it. How was YOUR homeschool day?

I Told You My Kids Were Weird!

2010-03-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Random bits of conversation from the living room:
Kid 1: Come on, hit me!................ Mom, he won't hit me!
Kid 2: Stop it. I'm NOT going to hit you.
Kid 1: Why? I have absolutely NO problem hitting YOU!!!!
*********************************
Don't think I'm impervious to pain just because I have a muscular body!
********************************
Hey, I was the one who kissed your foot!
(I'm still trying to figure this one out)

I Thought She'd Be An Engineer

2010-03-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I find myself looking at my children and thinking about the hopes I had/have for their futures and realize that all of my dreams and visions for them are just that - MY dreams and visions. It's not that I think their plans are less significant than my own. In fact, I love seeing how their futures are taking a course so different from what I envisioned. It's just interesting to see them growing so much and realizing that their path isn't up to me in a way it once was.

Sometimes, it's the littlest things - the simplest conversations that take you to someplace you didn't expect – let you into a corner of their minds to see how they view the world. Oh, sometimes it the fruit of slow, cultivated conversation; but, sometimes, it's born out of a little chat when she's feeling just a bit snarly after a painful dental procedure.

I really didn't think the conversation would be anything to remember...to hold on to... I just wanted to know how her mouth felt. But, one topic led to another and we chatted for a while longer sitting there in the kitchen - just she and I .

This one, this girl child of mine, wasn't always the easiest in oh so many ways. Probably because, although neither of us likes to admit it, we are way too much alike – fiery, determined, and dare I say it, bull headed. Anyway, she's not always been easy.

She revealed early on that she thought the world should run on her agenda. After all, it wasn't my idea to say hello to her for the very first time in a parking lot somewhere in Germany in the wee morning hours. Looking back, it's ironic that the first words she heard aloud, unmuffled, undamped by the walls that protected her for nine months, were from the panicked woman looking down and saying, “Oh mein Gott!” and running off in haste to bring some help. (Goodness knows, the Lord would be hearing me mutter this same benediction on her behalf many times over the next many years .)

This one, this precocious one of mine, wasn't content to wait for things to come her way. No, not her. If her big sister was doing it, by darn, she was going to do it, too! This one, crawling at five months, walking at eight, and singing well the little tunes she heard, talking my ear off at age one ….stomping her size 1.5 StrideRites into the kitchen on the morning of her first birthday and demanding, “I want cookies, I want juice. Give to me now!” (Yeah, we DID address the attitude! But, attitude aside, did you note the pronouns? She used them correctly from the very beginning. Always in the right person, the right tense....from the very beginning.)

This one, lightning quick one of mine, who would pick put little tunes on the piano to amuse herself, could work her mind at warp speed to answer math questions posed to the first born. Long ago, a drive to the nursery to pick up plants lead to a discussion about how many plants, placed 2 feet apart, in a 25 foot row, were needed. The six year old grumbled and slowly calculated. This one, just barely four, piped up an instant after I stopped speaking, “You would need twelve because the answer is 12 ½ and you can't buy a half plant.”

This one, this stubborn one of mine, who convinced her sister's piano teacher to let her start, too, by playing Mary Had a Little Lamb, with both hands....behind her back..., would leave her piano scales until the last minute in hopes that climbing into the car to go see fireworks would be enough to get her released from the chore. This one didn't know that Momma loved her just a tad more (and at that moment, just barely a tad more) than the fireworks and was determined to stay behind to insist she finish.

This one, this determined one of mine, who once taught herself to play the cello in a matter of a few hours, adapted to the countless moves we've made over the years, always asking her to readjust, re-establish herself and settle into new schools, new learning environments, which she did with gusto always scoring high grades.

This one, this brilliant one of mine, Mensa worthy, IQ high enough to ensure that she could comfortably tackle anything she chooses to tackle, was drawn to the technical fields much like her equally left-handed engineering father. And, like him, she, and I always felt her future would lay in the precision of numbers and calculated facts. Her academic success attested to the fact that she could conquer most any subject to which she put her mind.

Yet, this one, passionate one of mine, is the same one who, just a few nights ago, played for me the most lovely piece by Schubert. Her fingers danced and soared and I watched in awe as she found patterns and mysteries in the black and white keys, her face a study in concentration as she worked through this new piece. To me the piano is just an instrument, yet beneath her fingers it sang.

And, so, sitting in the kitchen with this talented, brilliant, beautiful almost grown one of mine, discussing her plans to finish school soon, serve in an overseas mission for a year or two before hopefully heading to her beloved France to teach music, I asked her, “Do you ever look back and regret that you didn't choose to do something with your intellect....something like science or engineering....something that lets you show the world your intelligence? Do you ever think that if you had chosen a career like that it would have been easier....easier to get recognition, find a job, support yourself....?

She thought about it for a minute and finally said, “You know, I always thought I would be an engineer like Dad. I thought it would be so interesting to do the kind of things he does. But, when I look at my friends who chose those paths, I see them taking their classes. I see the struggle and their stress and their frustration.

“But me,” she sighed and smiled, “ …... I don't have to deal with any of that. I have MUSIC!”

Today Is Someone's Birthday!!!

2010-02-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

Nine years ago today the littlest Kay made his way into the world and we have been moving to keep up with him ever since. To say he has an abundance of energy would be an understatement. But his energy and enthusiasm are contagious so we just roll right along with him.

With the Inspector off on an exotic Asian island for the week, and just a handful of kids at home, we decided that today would be a 'fun' day and Sunday would be presents day. (Sunday is also meet number three for the season. So, if he does great, presents are a huge bonus. And, if he has a rotten day, presents are a huge consolation. So, it's win / win for the Bot!)

In honor of fun day, we went to a local restaurant / ice cream store and had lunch followed by a birthday sundae proceeded by banging of drums, flashing of lights and a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from the patrons.

Then it was off to the arcade for some good natured competition.

He caught stuff...

Whacked Stuff

and Shot Stuff

Overall, a fun day was had by all.

Feelin' Old

2010-02-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

Baby boy's birthday brought on a fit of nostalgia and I found myself looking through old photos and reliving the 'good old days.' In the box with the pictures I found my old driver's license from 1984. This was issued before my first child was even born. Time flies.

We're Hitting the Road...

2010-02-22T00:33:00.000-08:00

(Subtly is not my strong suit!)

Crew's Quarters: Zeezok Publishing Presidential Penmanship BJ Style

2010-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

One of the commitments I made when I agreed to be a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew was to try in my home the various products we receive over the year. For the most part, that is what I have done. But, in the latter half of this school year, I've found that I can't use everything. It's just not possible. It doesn't mean the products aren't good. It just means that even without trying them, I know they aren't what we need.

So, with that in mind, consider this post for the information it provides if not for the endorsement it brings.

Zeezok Presidental Penmanship BJ Style ($39.99 Complete program K-12)

From the Publisher:

This Complete Program eBook contains downloadable pdf files of handwriting practice pages, in a font similar to that of a home school publisher located in Greenville, NC, for first grade through senior high. Using presidential quotes and speeches along with famous documents from American history, Presidential Penmanship seeks to enlighten students on the principles of our nation's founding and history while reinforcing character qualities of good citizenship. Great for memorization or discussion as well as penmanship practice.

What It Includes:

This program, available as an instant download or on CD, is a collection of handwriting practice books designed to allow practice of handwriting skills. Early years have a passage followed by a faint passage to trace and finally space to write the passage on your own.

In Our Home:

Well, this was easy. BJ Style is not the writing style we use and I had could think of no reason for my kids to learn it. The youngest are 3rd and 6th grade so their writing is well established. I'm also not a fan of handwriting practice books in general. I think learning to write should be just that. Learn to correctly and neatly form letters and space words. After that, writing is about communicating and as long as it's neat, I don't care what style is used.

If your children need additional practice in penmanship, this program will give you interesting historical information to practice for a large number of year with minimal cost. I looked it over and I can't see any negatives. For me, it is just like having skis in Hawaii. They might be great for someone but they aren't doing me any good.

'Nuff said. Fellow reviewers share their opinions HERE. Take a look.

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was provided.

You Learn Something New Every Day

2010-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

I learned that I don't have brown eyes.

I alway thought my eyes were 'weird'. You know, when you fill out your application for your license or for a passport and you get to the spot that says eye color, most people say Blue, Green, or Brown, right? I mean, really, this is NOT a hard question.

Except when your eyes look like this:

So, what do you write in that little box? Green doesn't seem 100% accurate. Brown doesn't really sum it up either. Green on the edges with Brown in the center just doesn't fit in that little box. It's even harder when you consider that in dim light, when my pupils dilate, my eyes look almost all green. But, in bright light, when my pupils constrict, they look a lot more brown. So, what do you do?

Well, I've always defaulted to Brown. I guess that's because what I was a kid my mom always said I had brown eyes. Really, if your mom says you have brown eyes, you believe her, right? What kind of kid argues with their mother about eye color when there are so many other things to argue about.

But, guess what I learned. First of all, my weirdness has a name. Apparently this coloration is called Central Heterochromia. I also learned that my mother was wrong. The 'true' eye color is the color that lies in the outer ring. So, after almost half a century of telling the world I had Brown eyes, I learned that I can fill in the box with Green.

See, you learn something new every day!

An Ode to The Gray Hair I Found Today

2010-02-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

This is The Inspector.

He is an Engineer...and Electrical Engineer. He knows about electricity and magnets and all geeky stuff like that. He plays with computers and other electronic stuff every day. He even gets paid to do it. I hear he is very good at his job. ( I also hear his desk is always a mess. This, I Believe!)

This is Jack.

He does not know about electricity...and stuff. However, if he had a desk, it would be very clean because Jack is neat and tidy like that. In this way he is very different from his father. Jack does knows lots about playing with computers. If I have a question about how to make something happen on my computer, Jack is my go-to guy. This is because Jack likes to try things. Things that a normal, thinking person would probably not try. Sometimes he gets lucky. In this way he is not at all different from his father.

These are Buckey Balls.

Buckey Balls are a collection of 216 tiny, spherical neodymium magnets. You can do really fun things with Buckey Balls. You can form them into interesting sculptures. You make make long strings and wind them into Chinese finger traps. You can even attach them to both sides of your ears to make clever earrings. In case you are not a science geek, I will point out that even though they are small, neodymium magnets have quite a lot of pull. They are strong little suckers.

This is my credit card.

(Okay, it is not actually MY credit card because, let's face it, showing you MY credit card would just be silly!) But, it is almost exactly like mine - except mine has different numbers and comes from a different bank and mine is green and it doesn't say Visa. But, otherwise, it is exactly the same.

So, you ask, "What is the connection?" And, "Why are you furrowing your brow and shaking your head?"

I will tell you:

Backstory: Target opened its first store on the Island a few months ago. For some reason, my debit card would not work in all of their scanners. It was an occasional problem – some days/some registers. Never any other stores – just Target. Inconvenient but not a major issue.

So, last Friday was The Inspector's birthday. The kids and I went out early to pick up some balloons and decorations at Pricebusters. Then we headed to Target to grab a few things. When I tried to pay, I got a Card Read Error. No problem...it happens at these registers some times. Key it in manually and it works just fine. Off to the Fountain area for Icees. (I was racking up some “Good Mom” brownie points!) Dang! Card Read Error again. Well, that happens at Target sometimes.....Just pay cash for the Icees and off we go.

We spent the day cleaning and preparing for a little celebration that evening. Later I took B-Bot to gymnastics and stopped at Party City on the way home to pick up some candles. Darn if that silly debit card didn't work there, either!

So, after using a different account, I paid and made my way home. By the time I got home, The Inspector was home from work.

I said, “Hello” and was greeted with a sheepish, “Uhhhh, Hi.”

“Uhhhhh, what's up?”, I asked. (now, let me tell you, when you have been married for 25 plus years, you KNOW when something is up!)

“Well, a funny thing just happened”, he replied. “I was looking at the Buckey Balls and commenting to Jack that it's hard to separate them without crushing the cube. He said he figured out that it's easy to do using a credit card. Since it's plastic and wouldn't attach to the magnets, I thought that sounded like a really good idea so I took out my card to try it. He's right. It worked great.......”

He was really getting rolling here when I interjected, “Wait... You used a CREDIT CARD to separate MAGNETS?”

“Ummmm, yeah well, just as the card slid through the balls, I caught sight of the back of my card and saw the magnetic strip and suddenly thought....Magnetic strip and magnets.....maybe not such a good idea.”

“Ya think!” (I am nothing if not gently supportive!) “What made you think of such a clever idea, darling?" I asked (Except when I said it, I suspect it sounded more like "What the heck made you think of such a stupid idea?" )

“Well, Jack said it worked really well when he tried it. So, I thought I would give it a shot. I mean, a credit card is good for opening locks, scrapping ice,... lots of things. So, I thought it might work really well. Anyway, he was right. It worked great.”

Now, some of you are seeing where this is going, right? I turned to Jack and said, “Just how did you KNOW a credit card works well to separate the magnets?”

He said, “It worked really well when I tried it.”

Okay, wait for it. You won't be disappointed...“Ummmmm, just what credit card did you use to try it?”

“Yours”, he said.

“Which one?” (Did I really need to ask?)

“The one you tried to use at Target today.”

Yeah, so yesterday I called the bank. My new card is on its way.

There is probably a good reason why the package of Buckey Balls says :

Keep Away From Children.

But, honestly, I do not suspect THIS is what they imagined.

The Quote of the Day!

2010-02-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

comes from our very own Bella.

"Hey.......I used a big word.....

AND

I got it right!

Wow, this homeschool stuff really works!"

Crew's Quarters: Kinderbach

2010-02-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC

(I apologize in advance if this is longer than you would like. But, bear with me. I think my perspective is a bit different from the norm. )

We are all about music in this house! Our current cacophonic arsenal include a piano, two full size keyboards, a handful of violins, a bunch of guitars, a piccolo, a flute, a couple of kazoos, a half dozen or so recorders, and almost as many iPods. Throughout the years, one or another of our children have sung in the Peabody Children's Chorus, sung in The Woden Valley Youth Choir, an Australian children's choir, performed for royalty (The Queen of England) and political figures (Nelson Mandela - He spoke to them and shook their hands...How cool is that!) , sung at Sydney Australia's Carols in the Domain and Canberra's Carols by Candlelight, performed in the Sydney Opera House, performed on stage with the Wiggles, sung with the Hawaii Symphony, learned violin via the Suzuki method, majored in music at a collegiate level, played at church functions, and make music on their own for pleasure.

I mention this, not to boast, - and please believe me, if you knew my kids you would know I have NOTHING to boast about . They are a typical, normal bunch of fruitcakes- but to show you that I THINK MUSIC IS IMPORTANT! It has opened a WORLD of opportunity for our children that would not have been theirs if they did not have that exposure. I would go so far as to say I think music is VITAL for a well rounded education. As such, I applaud all attempts to make music accessible to young children. (Okay, now, I'll lay off the CAPS. I just wanted to let you know that I really feel strongly about this!)

So, let's look at what Kinderbach has to offer.

Kinderbach is designed for children ages 2-7 as an on-line, program to teach the basics of music in a fun way. It uses your computer and a keyboard to present interactive lessons and then follows up with worksheet games and puzzles. Kinderbach is colorful, fun, and lively. You can even try a few lessons to decide if it is right for you. If you decide to subscribe it is $19.95/month or $95.88/year.

(Sample screen shot and activity pages)

So, what do I think of the program? Well, that's harder to say. It's hard to be the one who goes against the norm - and believe me, lots of people love this program. But, in my home, I look at music a bit differently.

I look at music as a language- a vocabulary of sound, if you will. And children are able to absorb and process vast amounts of linguistic information solely through exposure. They do not need instruction in the rules at a young age. They intuit the rules. (Did you need to TEACH you child the intricacies of the verbs of being? Probably not. But, I doubt that they pepper their conversation with gems like He did goed to the store.) I've seen it with my own children. Several of them have perfect or near perfect pitch and neither their father nor I are particularly musical so I know it isn't genetic! It's exposure, Exposure, EXPOSURE.

When the oldest three were little we lived in Germany. Not speaking fluent German, we didn't bother with television so musical videos became the fare of choice. My children listened to just about every Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Gilbert and Sullivan musical on VHS. They also constantly heard classical works as well as Raffi, The Donut Man, and various other kids friendly performers. Music played constantly throughout the day. We sung rounds and canons in the car when we drove somewhere. We made a lot of noise.

Then, when they each were about 2nd grade we asked them to choose an instrument. We gave them opportunity to 'fiddle around' with several instruments and finally select their choice. At that time, formal lessons began. That's where B-bot, our youngest, is now. He started piano about a year ago at age 8.

Now, here's what I've found. All of my beginner pianist mastered the material covered by

Kinderbach in about 2-3 months. And, in addition, they have a vast internal musical library via exposure from their early years.

So, should you try Kinderbach? Well, there are free lessons to try, so why not if it interests you. But, understand that it is a basic exposure program. It is a fun exposure to basic music concepts that can be learned in a few months if you wait a bit. But, if your kiddo is chomping at the bit and wants music like the big kid, I certainly see no harm in it . Click HERE to see what my fellow reviewers have to say about their experience.

Disclaimer: A subscription to this product was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was provided.t

Crew's Quarters: Christian Keyboarding

2010-01-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Wanna' know a secret? I can't type. Never learned. I took nerdy courses like Calculus, Physics, and Latin. Typing didn't fit into the schedule so I never took it. So, over the years, I've become pretty proficient at hunt-n-peck and I count on the spell check to catch typos. (Never spelling errors - I can spell. I just can't type!)

My kids - they can type. Unfortunately, they type like this: G2CU H&K TTYL because they are children of the 21st Century. Unfortunately, Calculus, Physics, and Latin did not prepare me to live in the 21st century. So, in order to preserve the sacred communication between mother and child, I felt that perhaps they should learn to type in a style I can read. My children beg to differ. Apparently, they are more than happy limiting their conversation with other children of this millennia.

I am attempting to convince them that their future college professors will thank us both if they bend to the whim of academic convention and learn to communicate the old fashioned way. And so, the battle continues.

If you want a shot at teaching your children to type, here's a nifty little program that might fit the bill.

Keyboarding for the Christian School Elementary($$12.95) or High School($15.95) version. Together, both sell for $22.00

These two book are available in e-book form and cover all of the basics of any good typing course in 30+ easy to follow lessons. Each lesson introduces a few new letters and then offers opportunity to practice the new along with the review. Bible passages are used for practice. The high school course also covers MLA, business letters, cover letters, and a variety of other types of correspondence. This is a nice, no frills program with minimal bells and whistles available at a reasonable price. If you want to see some actual pages, you can access sample lessons HERE.

If your kids are the type that can get it done with a low tech approach, this might be they program for you. Until Feb 28, 2010, you can get a $5.00 discount by using the code NewYear5.

Take a look here to see what my fellow reviewers are saying.

Disclaimer: I received this program free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was provided.

Crew's Quarters: Bertie's War

2010-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

I love books! Really! If you look through my many bookshelves, you'll find something from almost every genre. When my kids were little, I always heard that the best way to make your kids readers is to model reading for them. The Inspector and I always joked that my kids would HATE reading because Mom always had her nose in a book and ignored them! Fortunately, that didn't happen and we've managed to create a bunch of book lovers. (Bunch of video game lovers, too.... but that would be a different post!)

So, when I had an opportunity to review Bertie's War I was pretty happy to accept.

Genre: Tween Fiction

$7.99

From the Publisher:

Everything has been going wrong for Bertie lately. No matter how hard she tries to do and say the right thing, Bertie keeps tumbling into embarrassing--and sometimes dangerous--situations. Her stern father has too many rules, her know-it-all sister won't stop teasing her, and her mischievous younger brother keeps getting into trouble. But what makes her really afraid are those Communist missiles pointed right at the U.S. As Bertie starts seventh grade in the fall of 1962, news of these missiles throws the nation into a panic and Bertie suddenly feels completely out of control. Can Bertie confront an ugly truth about herself and face her fears--once and for all?

About the Author:

Barbara Blakey is the author of the literature based language arts program Total Language Plus. Bertie's War is her first work of fiction.

My Opinion:

The book was well written from a technical standpoint. I think that Ms Blakey did a fine job telling her story. Unfortunately, I wasn't comfortable with the story. I know that I was supposed to see a scared pre-teen coming to grips with growing up in a tension filled world. But, as I read the story, I couldn't help seeing a seriously troubled girl living in fear of her abusive father in a dysfunctional family. Far into the book, it is revealed that all is not as grim as it appears but by that point I was already troubled by what I read. I have to say that overall, this was not a book I enjoyed. Although there are not many fiction books set in the cold war era, this is probably not a book I will have Bella read.

Literature is one of those things that moves everyone a bit differently. Feel free to have click here to have a look at what my fellow reviews have to say.

Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge for review purposes. No other compensation was provided. My opinion is entirely my own.

Crew's Quarters: Bright Ideas Press- Illuminations

2010-01-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, we get an item to review that defies summary in a few paragraphs. Illuminations by Bright Ideas Press is one such product.

The reason it is difficult to be concise is the vast scope of the product. Using Mystery of History as the History spine, Illuminations weaves it along with several other Bright Ideas Press publications with additional curriculum to create a complete and multi-level program for the entire family.
When I say complete, I mean complete! Illuminations covers:
Bible
History
Literature
Grammar
Spelling
Copy Work
Geography
and
Science

Illuminations is a full, rich program but, as such, requires a bit of work to get up to speed. There is a great deal of material included. Fortunately, it has a friendly interface to make getting underway as quick as possible. Once installed on the computer, the teacher can access plans by subject or by week. Everything is laid out in an easy to use manner. Schedule grids are available to help with planning. I would prefer to actually have bound books to hold rather than have to access manuals on the computer. However, I did find that the computer interface was easy to navigate with some practice.

Illuminations is a thorough and well laid out program that is well geared for grades 3-8. This is a bonus for large families. Illuminations 2 has just been made available. Illuminations 1 is available in CD ($185) or Download ($165). There is an additional charge for extra components (Literature and Read Aloud selections, for instance.) Fellow reviewers share their thoughts here. Pop in and see what they have to say.

Disclaimer: This product was provided free of charge for review purposes. No other compensation is provided.

Crew's Quarters: Math Tutor

2010-01-12T02:08:00.000-08:00

So, what we have here is a basic review for a basic product. I do not mean to imply that basic is bad. In this case, it is actually quite good.

What it is a two DVD collection covering math word problems involving addition, subtraction multiplication, and division of whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and sections on percentages and ratios. Jason Gibson, dressed casually in jeans and shirt, looking very approachable, uses a white board and marker to walk students step by step through a variety of math word problems just like a personal tutor would. He frequently adds little drawings or diagrams to clarify the intent of the math problem. Then, he carefully explains how to solve the problem.

Considering his use of vocabulary and syntax, I think this DVD is probably geared to middle school students. Although bright elementary students would be equally comfortable with the math concepts, I don't think the presentation is engaging enough to keep young ones interested.

I had initially assumed that this would be a good program for Bella, gr. 6, considering she is not exactly enamored with math. But, the funny thing was that I found it was really helpful for B-Bot for a reason I did not expect.

B-Bot, currently grade 3, is quite advanced in math and working about 2 years ahead of grade level. He has a real innate understanding of numbers. Consequently, when I give him a selection of word problems to do, he frequently comes back with answers and no work. When I ask him about it he says, "I just knew it in my head." Generally, this works well for him and I don't press for an explanation. But, in the event that he makes an error, it is difficult for him to verbalize his thought process to get to the correct answer. The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor helped B-Bot see the problem in a way that helps him verbalize the process.

Basic Math Word Problem Tutor sells for $26.99. Also available are quite a few more video courses that cover everything from basic math to Calculus and Physics. If your child needs no frills help to understand math, this is a reasonably priced program that offers good, solid instruction. A 30 day guarantee means you can feel confident in giving it a try.

Click HERE to see what my fellow reviewers have to say.

Disclaimer: I received this product for review purposes in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was provided.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

2010-01-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

Baby Girl is flying in tonight to spend two weeks with us and everyone is excited. I've been tracking her flight on FlightTrac and I shared with the kids that she is just about to fly beyond the continent and over the vast Pacific. Of course, we had the requisite discussion about whether it is more prudent to have a crash landing BEFORE she hit the open water or AFTER. The issue is still unresolved. Opinions are split. (My kids are not just weird; they're morbid, too.)

Anyway, the artist pipes up: "Does she have a landover?" Seeing our really confused looks, she says, "I mean does she have a hangover?"

Ummmmm, I really hope not. And, sweetie, it's called a LAY-OVER

Crew's Quarters: Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class

2010-01-07T02:06:00.000-08:00

I think there are two kinds of guitar players in the world. There are those who buy a guitar, take lessons and practice and there are those who pick up a friend's guitar, play around and figure it out. Several of my kids were the 'figure it out' type. The three oldest can play around to various degrees ranging from very comfortable to just having fun.

Then there are people like me. When I was a teen, I wanted to learn to play the guitar, so my grandmother bought me one for my birthday and set me up with lessons. My teacher had me picking out melodies of pithy little songs like Twinkle, Twinkle and Lightly Row. That was not exactly what I was hoping for so eventually my guitar ended up in the garage. I always wanted to learn but never seemed to take the time to actually do it.

What I needed was simple, easy to understand instruction on how to play songs (real songs!) that I enjoyed. But, I never quite found the right combo. Then, as part of the TOS Crew, I was asked to review Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class. (Unfortunately, my shipment got seriously delayed in the mail and didn't arrive until a week before Christmas, so as you can imagine, not much learning took place then. But, since we've started back to school, I've had a week to look over it so I'll give you my thoughts.)

Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4 are availabe separately in DVD format for $24.95 each, $99.80 all four. Each volume contains about a dozen new chords, half a dozen strum patterns, and 7 worship songs. Each DVD includes a small booklet that provides lyrics, chord notations, and guitar tabs. Available separately are Books for Vol 1-4. ($5.95) They contain all the info as the booklet but have additional notes and helps as well.

Starting a lesson is as easy as popping the DVD into a player. Ms Welles starts off by teaching the student the parts of the guitar and then explains how to tune it. Then it's off to Lesson 1. Within a few minutes, you've learned to play the two cords necessary for playing He's Got the Whole World In His Hands. From there, Ms Welles plays and sings the song inviting you to play along. For those who need more time to become comfortable with the song, there are additional practice sections where Jean plays the songs s-l-o-w-l-y and talks you through it so you can get the hang of the chord changes at a reduced pace.

Subsequent lessons follow the same format. Jean teaches you new cords, explains strumming or fingerpicking patterns and then play through the song. Generally, the first time through the camera focuses on the left hand. The second time through it's the right. This way you get good close-ups of what your fingers are supposed to be doing.

So, is this a good way to learn to play the guitar? Well, if you are willing to practice, I can't see why it wouldn't work. Honestly, I don't mean that in a flippant or rude way. Some people don't need lessons. They pick up a guitar, fiddle around for awhile, look up some guitar tabs on the internet and off they go. Some people need more than that. If you want someone to teach you, well, then, Jean presents the material in a clear and concise manner. All you need to do is practice.( Ahh, there is the rub.) If you're not prepared to practice, there is NO method that will teach you to play. If you're not sure you'll stick with it, you'll be happy to note that there is a one year 100% money back guarantee on the books and DVDs.

One of the most noticeable differences between this course and many others available is Jean's obvious love for the Lord. She strongly encourages her students to start each lesson with prayer asking the Lord to bless our efforts and use our skill to bring glory to His name.

The videos are professionally done with excellent video and sound quality throughout. Ms Welles has a pleasant voice and sings well. There is one thing that I found slightly disturbing. I'm not really even sure how to describe it. During the songs, the closed eyes and dreamy facial expressions of Ms Welles strike me as just a bit too intimate. I found myself looking away at those points. It's not enough to keep me from the lessons but I do find that after I no longer need to watch during the play along, I don't. I'll chalk it up to my weirdness.

To take a look at the first lesson, click here.
To take a look at what my fellow reviewers are saying, click here.

Disclaimer: I received Vol 1 DVD and Book free of charge for review purposes. No other compensation was provided. My opinions are my own.

My Kids Are So Very Weird!

2010-01-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

Sweet... but really, really weird.

So, it's Sunday night. The kids just got home from church. I stayed home because I have a miserable cough and I felt that this was one of those things better kept selfishly to myself rather than shared among friends. Anyway, everyone was helping themselves to something for a light dinner. The younger ones asked to have bagels. I was working on a project so asked them to leave the bagels out so I could make one later and I went off to the school room to finish working.
A few minutes later, Jack called to me and asked if I wanted cream cheese on my bagel. I told him not to bother, I would do it. But, them I realized that he had already toasted it. So, I answered that I would like cream cheese. Just a few seconds later I heard Jack say, "Bella, can I use some of your jelly beans?"

Ummmm, guys, I don't want jelly beans on my bagel! Guys? Hey...no jelly beans. Do you guys hear me?"

A few minutes later, they came marching in singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, candle glowing, and presented me with this:

It was described to me as such:

"Presenting one cream cheese bagel complete with jelly beans, stale carmel corn, and a lollipop for later. Accompanied by a cold coke with candy cane and plastic straw. Sorry mom, we didn't have any really neat crazy straws but we did take the paper off the plastic one!"

Thanks guys. For the record, I ate the bagel and the jelly beans and gave the popcorn to the dog. I'll slip the lollipop and candy cane back into the pantry later. Oh yeah, and I drank the cola. This giving up cola is proving to be harder than I thought.

A Homemade Christmas

2009-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

The excitement of the holidays is finally winding down (and I've finally found my living room floor under all of the mess!) so I thought I would take a few minute to share some of our homemade holiday fun.
When the older kids were little, I always used the few months proceeding Christmas to sew little doll dress, knit sweaters or scarves, or create handmade ornaments. But, the little girls got older and the boys didn't exactly appreciate doll dresses. So, we had a few years where the majority of our gifts came from the local *Mart. But, lately, we've been working to encourage the kids to share their talents and gifts.
Some of the fun things the kids have done have been Scavenger Hunts and Surprise Outings. The First Born has created a storybook for B-Bot that she adds to every year using pictures of him to create various adventures. The last two years The Music Major has arranged a Jeopardy type game complete with prizes. (I won a movie date with Bella. She was just as surprised as I was. I'm still not sure who is supposed to pay. But, I'm pretty sure The Music Major wasn't planning to spring for the event.)

Here are some of the handmade gifts making the rounds this year.

The Artist created this watercolor for the Music Major. (She had a last minute change of mind and gave it for her birthday but that was just a few days before Christmas so I'll include it since she planned it for Christmas first.)

B-Bot used the sewing machine (with some backseat advise from Mom) to create this pillow for Bella - She's a wolf fanatic.)

Bella used the sewing machine to change a little tote bag into a pillow for Grandma Dottie.

The kids from Church helped me make this cute sweatshirt for our dearly loved Grandma Dottie. For many years, she was part of our church's Patch the Pirate Club ( a Bible memory program) She moved back to the mainland in March. We all miss her very much! The kids had a great time putting their foot prints on the shirt. Then I added a scripture verse (3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.) and their names on their foot prints.

This was my big project this year. I plan to make each child a quilt over the next few years. Last year I made one for the First Born. This year I made one for The Artist. I went out of order and did hers before the Music Major's. (I'm on the naughty list for that decision!)

The center motifs and several of the fabrics were created with her art work.

The label from the back

Oh, yeah, there were a few homemade Christmas Cards this year, too.

(I so totally stole this picture from Lainie's blog because I forgot to take pictures of the coconut before I sent it to her.... Forgive me, Lainie?)

I hope you had a happy, handmade Christmas at your house!

Crew's Quarters: Plan and Explore

2009-12-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

More from Act Inc. This time it's Plan and Explore. (We did not use this product so this review is for information purposes only.)

Let's look at Explore first. Explore is designed for 8th and 9th graders to discover areas of strength and weaknesses in academic skill areas. Explore is available here.

Now, let's take a look at Plan. This is a pre-ACT test designed for 10th graders to assess the degree of preparedness for the ACT college exam. Plan tests the areas of math, reading, English, and science. Plan can be ordered here.

You can read reviews from my fellow Crew Mates here.

Disclaimer: I received the above products for review purposes. I received no other compensation for this review. My opinions are my own. Not every product is right for eery family for a variety of reasons. Our family did not choose to use these products. This review is for informational purposes only.

Christmas Eve Youth Play Rehearsal

2009-12-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

High School Guy came down the stairs in his 'costume' to give us a peek. All I can say is:

Who is this guy and what did he do with my little boy?

Crew's Quarters: Maestro Classics: The Tortoise and the Hare

2009-12-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

When our oldest were toddlers, we lived in Germany where our grasp of the language enabled us to function but wasn't fluent enough to watch television with any sense of enjoyment. (I do NOT regard that as a bad thing! I still rarely watch television with any sense of enjoyment.) As a result, our children grew up viewing videos and listening to music. If it was a music video, so much better. Consequently, our little ones were as familiar with Mozart as they were with Gilbert and Sullivan or Rogers and Hammerstein.

For reasons I can't exactly explain, the younger children didn't seem to get the same exposure to music in general and to the classics specifically. I suspect that was in part to moving to an English speaking country. However, over the last few years, we've sought to rectify that and provide opportunities for them to hear and interact with great music. For this reason, I was excited to be offered an opportunity to review Maestro Classics: The Tortise and the Hare.

$16.98 + s/h

So, let's see what we have here. Enclosed in the CD case is both a CD (Total Playing Time 53:57) and a small booklet. The CD contains 7 tracks including the story of The Tortoise and the Hare cleverly enhanced with music to convey the story, information about the story and Aesop, information about the music, and an additional song to learn and sing. Inside the booklet, aside from the typical credits and liner notes there are a few little surprise and extras. A nice explanation of notes and measures, time signatures, and instruments of the orchestra. A concise comparison of rabbit/ hare and turtle/tortoise clarify any question about why this story isn't called The Turtle and the Rabbit! A few pencil games round out the booklet.

This CD is not a crash course in understanding the classics. Nor is it a full music appreciation course. However, it is a sweet introduction to classical music through traditional stories that is likely to appeal to children in the elementary years, especially those with little experience with classical or orchestral music. I love the idea of teaching children to slow down and develop their listening skills. This series is pleasant encouragement.

There are several additional CD's available including:

Peter and the Wolf
The Story of Swan Lake
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Casey at the Bat
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Juanita the Spanish Lobster
Juanita la longosta espanola

I will likely add a few additional CDs to our collection. I would love to hear what they do with Casey at the Bat.

Have a peek here to see what my fellow reviewers are saying.

Disclaimer:

This CD was provided free of charge for review purposes. No other compensation was provided.

Crew's Quarters: Mathletics

2009-12-16T00:30:00.000-08:00

Math review unlike any others I've seen (and believe me, we've seen a lot this year.)

Mathletics in an online math review program ($59/child/year although you can get a discount if you know the Human Calculator's favorite number - shhhh it's nine!) that engages your children with a math drill, virtual prizes, and international competition.

To begin, each student designs an avatar by choosing from assorted faces, features, and accessories. Then they begin playing.

The program is broad in scope. At level four B-Bot was able to practice:

Add/Subtract/ Multiply/Divide Whole Numbers
Decimals
Number Theory
Geometry
Measurement
Fractions
And More

Under each section there are many subtopics. The student can open each section and complete a drill composed of 10 questions. Each successful answer results in points and a completed section is marked on a progress barometer. Successful completion also gives gold bars which can be used to purchase virtual prizes in the form of accessories and backgrounds to decorate your avatar.

A truly unique feature is that students are able to compete against other students from all around the world in a head to head competition. B-Bot really loved this feature although it took him a bit of time to enter his answers because the laptop doesn't have a number pad. But, still, beating kids from Australia (where he was born) was a big hit.

I really liked this review program although I did find two negatives. At $59/year, it is steep unless you plan to use it frequently. And, there in lies the other negative. There is a real tendency for kids who like competition to spend WAY TOO MUCH time in this program. One of our reviewer's kids attained 7th place in world rank. Her mother said she worked for over 6 hours of play time to reach this goal.

I really believe that this is just too long for a child to spend playing on the computer even for as worthwhile a cause as math drill. I think their time is just too valuable to be seduced into sitting in front of a glowing screen.

If you need a drill program and your child likes competition AND you can be vigilant to monitor the time online, this might be a good match. You can go here to see what fellow reviewers have to say. (Many of them really like it!)

Disclaimer: I was given a free 45 day subscription for review purposes. No other compensation was provided and my opinions are my own.

Crew's Quarters: Tektoma - Game Tutorial for Kids

2009-12-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Want to create your own video games? Think Tektoma.

What a great idea! Take free game making software ( available on-line) and create tutorials to make it easy to use. Gear it to children or geeky, computer nerd husbands (Honey, I love you!), provide a member's forum for questions and sharing and place it in a safe family-friendly environment and you've got a winner.

Since I left the hard work to the guys, I'll let them give you their first hand impressions. I'll give you the Joe Friday version. (Just the facts, Ma'am.)

From the website:

Do you want to learn how to make video games?

Tektoma offers you this:

Engaging video tutorials for ages 7-17
Tutorials of varying skill levels and topics
Learn at your own pace in the comfort of your home
Natural progression helps develop technical skills
Customize your learning experience
Low monthly membership fee gives access to all our resources
New curriculums available monthly

Technical Requirements:

• Currently, the tutorials are for computers running Windows XP or Vista only. Macintosh versions coming in the future.
• Broadband internet connection
• Any browser should work, but make sure it is a current version
o For GameMaker tutorials, you need a copy of GameMaker installed and the GameMaker resources folder.

Instructions for downloading these files can be found on the GameMaker Tutorials page. GameMaker requires 128mb of RAM, DirectX 8 with at least 32mb of video memory, and a screen resolution of at least 800×600.

Access: $14.95/mo. or $140/yr.

I all fairness, I must point out that you do not NEED Tektoma to use GameMaker. But, you will see from Jack's review that it is a great help!

From the Guys:

B-Bot (age 8, no previous programming experience) : I made an arcade game. I did it by myself with some help from my Dad. It's (Tektoma) good but a little too complicated for kids. Unless Dad was there I wouldn't have been able to do it because I made some mistakes he needed to help me fix. But, I really like the game and I think the person who is teaching is a really good teacher because he explains things really well.

Jack (age 16, some previous programming experience including Web Design for Kids reviewed previously) : Some time ago, I discovered GameMaker but I found it utterly confusing. I tried using YouTube tutorials but I didn't find them helpful. I was really glad to get to try Tektoma. The tutorials are really well explained. I feel like I learned a lot. I could now make my own games based on what I learned. I'm not sure that everything I want in a game was explained in the tutorials but it certainly was a great jump-start.

The Inspector (Age irrelevant. Let's just say he old! he has the wisdom of the ages. Oh, yeah, he earns our daily bread by playing around with creating hardware and software for computers. So, generally, he knows what he's talking about.) :

I really liked the tutorials. The quality of the audio and video was excellent. The speaker was very good. He made the material accessible to younger children but I never felt as if he was speaking down to older people. I really like that the tutorial was more than a 'cookbook approach'. Whenever there is an instruction to complete a step, a reason is provided so the programer learns how and why things work.

There were a few things that could have been explained just a bit better. Advanced Mode is a necessary selection but I didn't find that explained. I stumbled upon it when trying to make things work. "Precision Collision" is the same... no explanation. Also, I personally think it is better programming practice to always put commands following the If-else statement inside the begin and end block delimiters. It's not necessary for single statements but it makes the code easier to follow, especially for less experienced programmers. Overall, I was pleased with the quality of the tutorials.

Regarding price, I think that $14.95/month is a bit high. It would make me think twice about keeping it. ( as a year long subscription) I would suggest getting it and using it for a month or so at a time. Although, I know that people easily pay that much for software. I suppose it would depend on your budget and how often you would use it.

There you have it folks. The K Men speak their minds. If you want to see what my fellow reviewers are saying click here. Get a first hand feel for the program with a 14 day free trial by clicking here.

Disclaimer: A 3 month subscription was provided free of charge in exchange for this product review. No other compensation was provided.

Crew's Quarters: All About Spelling

2009-12-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

I am in awe of the human brain. I mean, really, I am. For instance, take a baby. (I mean, don't actually take one 'cause someone is bound to notice. Just consider one, okay?) Babies arrive here like little aliens. They don't know the customs or speak the language. but, within months, they have figured out how to decode any language on the planet to which they've been exposed. Chinese kids learn Chinese in less than a year. German kids, Romanian kids, kids everywhere, are the same. The brain is just hardwired to decode language. Encoding (speech) follows right behind.

Then a few years later we expose them to print and ask them to figure out a whole new code. And, with a few lessons , more or less depending on the kid, they crack the code and begin reading. Cool, huh. But, then things get tricky. Suddenly, we ask them to encode the written word. And, that is far more complex. Oh, not because the brain can't handle it but because we've decided not to follow the rules. Spelling, yikes!

Many of us who are of a certain age, remember weekly spelling tests. The teacher gives a list of words. You copy them, write a sentence using them, take a test on them mid-week , and if you score well, you're off the hook until next Monday. If you didn't do well, you try again on Friday. If you still didn't do well, don't worry. You move on to a new list next week. For some kids it works. They manage to figure out the rules and the exceptions and apply them. For other kids, it isn't quite as easy.

I have one ( or more) of those kids. Spelling didn't come easily. Consequently, I've looked at several spelling programs over the years. While I have a program that is working quite well, I was asked to review All About Spelling. So, here you have it:

All About Spelling is a logically sequenced, mastery based, multi-sensory program that uses scripted lessons to teach spelling rules in a clear direct manner.

Each level contains a Teacher's manual and Student Materials packet. ($29.95 Level 1, $39.95 Levels 2-5; Also required a Starter Kit containing letter tiles, magnets, and a phonogram CD. $26.95. A magnetic white board or similar surface is also required.

Being a mastery based program, levels do not reflect grade but skill level and the student continues in a given lesson until the material is mastered. Students learn phonograms as needed to complete each step.

Overall, I was pleased with the program. The tiles provided my pencil-phobic son an opportunity to spell the words in a 'non-permanent' way. Mistakes were easily 'erased' and no record remained. For some kids, that may not be an issue. But, for B-Bot, it is a major stumbling block. He hates to make mistakes and if he isn't sure of an answer he stresses about committing it to paper.

All ABout Spelling has been well received in our house. I will continue using it throughout the year. To see a list of frequently asked questions, click here. To see what my fellow reviewers have to say, take a look here.

Disclaimer: Levels 1 and 2 of All About Spelling were sent to me for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was provided. My opinions are entirely my own.

Crew's Quarters: Professor in a Box- Financial Accounting

2009-11-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've been homeschooling for a lot of years. But, despite all of these years, the last two years are our first for teaching a high schooler. Now, we have a core program that is working well for Jack. But, finding electives to round out the curriculum is up to us. So, I was interested to see what Professor in a Box ($134.95 free s/h) had to offer.

Designed by a college professor of 24 years and a home school father to boot, Michael Licata presents a viable choice in the form of an accounting course. No textbooks for this course! Everything is contained on the enclosed DVDs which present the material in the form of a Flash Lecture. For homework assignments the students are sometimes directed to specific internet sites.

One of the bonuses of this course is that the instructor feels confident that students who successfully complete this course will be well prepared to succeed in gaining CLEP credit. College credit at a discount price is never a bad idea, as far as I'm concerned!

So, how did it go? Well, Jack wasn't a fan. I have to admit that going into the program he made it quite clear that he really had no interest in accounting and was just doing it because I wanted him to. I wasn't as diligent in checking his progress as I should have been and the stinker didn't do very much at all. (Yes, he was dealt with quite sternly!) Since time was growing short, mom had to work through this one on her own.

I worked through the first few lessons completely and listened to many more. (No, I DIDN'T do my homework for those!) Overall, I found the instruction to be competent and thorough. It wasn't exciting or flashy. But, it did do a good job of imparting the material in an understandable manner.

Samples of the program are available here. Fellow reviewers comments can be found here.
If your high school student is interested in accounting, I would recommend that you take a look at this program. A money back guarantee (Try the first 3 chapters and if you're not satisfied send it back for a full refund.) makes it a no risk offer.

A Little More Music (Part 2)

2009-11-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

Back for more? You must love us a lot.

Jack was the final last of the K's to perform last Saturday. He chose a theme song called Desktop from .hack//G.U., a video game. He worked hard and had it perfect Unfortunately, nerves got the better of him and he didn't play as well as he wanted to. He told me later, he wished he could have started over. I hate to see the kids stressed but I really do think that there is as much to be learned by working through an uncomfortable situation as there is in playing it perfectly. Overall, he did a very good job for someone who hasn't even been learning for 6 months.

A Little More Music (Part 1)

2009-11-21T20:58:00.001-08:00

When our oldest children were young we decided that, after a few years of homeschool with just Mom and Dad, we wanted them to have an activity that required them to be prepared for and directed by something outside our home. The Inspector and I felt that music was a good activity for all children so we gave them a choice of an instrument to play. Ultimately, they both choses the piano and played for many years.

In 1998 we moved to Australia and enrolled the kids in school where music was an extensive part of the curriculum. The older girls continued with piano as well. But, the younger children didn't start lessons outside of what school offered.

Flash forward to 2009, and here we are in Hawaii with a beautiful Yamaha piano sitting in our living room and, with First Born living in New York and The Music Major off at school, no one here to play it. The I learned that our pastor's wife teaches piano - for the unheard of price of $10.00 an hour. (Yes, you read that right! Quite the bargain, huh?) So, we decided that the time was now for the remaining three to make some noise learn to play. Bella and B-Bot started their lessons in late spring. Jack followed about six weeks later.

When they were asked to choose a piece for their upcoming recital, B-Bot said he wanted to play Fur Elise. Ms. Kathy pulled out a simple version and played it for him. That was NOT Fur Elise! He wanted the real version. So, she pulled out a more advanced arrangement and played that for him. That also was NOT Fur Elise. He wanted the REAL thing, Thank You Very Much. Ms Kathy patiently explained that little boys who have only played piano for 6 months can not play the REAL version; they should, perhaps, try to play the simple version. However, B-Bot, by this point in tears, insisted thet he COULD play the real one and further more he would like very much to try, If You Please. What's a piano teacher to do?

Look at that face. Could you say NO to that face?

Just last week they had their first recital. Mr B-Bot DID manage to learn to play the real piece! And, he was happy as a lark with the opportunity. For your listening pleasure (I use that phrase loosely unless you are a family member - then you are obligated to be delighted.) here is B-Bot, after 6 months of piano lessons, playing Beethoven's Fur Elise.

And, in case you are wondering, No, I DID NOT know he had gum in his mouth! I didn't realize it until I watched the video after the recital was over.

Bella chose to be a bit more conservative in her selection. Here is her rendition of Minuet in G by Bach.

This picture cracks my up. Everyone was all dressed up, looking fine and spiffy. However, in keeping with Hawaiian tradition, all shoes were left at the door. Were else do you see a recital with so many little piggies in attendance?

Check out A Little More Music Part 2 to see Jack's performance.

Who Says Chores Aren't Fun?

2009-11-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Just mention Saturday chores around this place and the children just go crazy. They are wild with enthusiasm - eager to jump right in a do their part. Ummmm, yeah, something like that.

Anyway, today when they were doing their chores, I heard an unexpected amount of laughter coming from the living room. Now, I like to encourage a cheerful attitude but this was going a bit beyond cheerful and was downright giggly.

I grabbed my camera and this is what I caught:

Crew' s Quarters: AVKO Organization

2009-11-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

Twenty-five years ago I married an engineer who works for Defense. Consequently, there has been an interest in all sorts of really cool spy gadgets and code books throughout the years. Several of the kids really like codes and are good at solving them. Some of the other kids have neither interest nor real ability to see the patterns involved and they do not enjoy codes. Coding and encoding requires a lot of effort. It involves perceiving patterns, understanding phonetics or mathematics,and frequency of letters/sounds/words. Not everyone enjoys such a mental challenge.

For dyslexics the simple act of reading a page in a book is tantamount to cracking a code - page after page of code breaking. I suspect that is when code breaking stops being fun and just becomes a lot of hard work.

Don McCabe would know about such things. Himself a dyslexic, while employed as a teacher for tough-to-teach non-readers, he set out to discover how they differed from other students who learned to read without effort. From this beginning developed what is now AVKO Educational Research Foundation.

From the AVKO Site:
AVKO is a non-profit, 501(C)3 membership organization that focuses on the development and production of materials and especially techniques to teach reading and spelling, handwriting (manuscript and cursive), andkeyboarding. AVKO is dedicated to the teaching everyone how to read and spell, regardless of their mild to moderate learning disabilities, dyslexia, poverty, or opportunity.

As a reviewer for TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a one year membership to the AVKO website. ( $25/year ) There I found a wealth of materials to help teach both reading and spelling to struggling readers. But, not only will teachers of struggling readers benefit. There is much good information for teaching typical readers as well.

As a member you receive access to free many free downloads, including the following:
The Patterns of English Spelling
To Teach a Dyslexic
Starting at Square One
The Teaching of Reading and Spelling: A Continuum from Kindergarten thru College

In addition there are many, many pages of comprehension material including inspirational stories, puns a,word plays, (Some pages contain humor that may not be suitable for all families or all ages.) and teaching aids. Members also receive a 25% discount of AVKO curriculum including the popular Sequential Spelling.

My current students all have mastered the decoding required for reading. (Encoding is a different matter. Thank goodness for spell-check!) However, I found lots of information on the site that is worth reading. I would suggest that you hop over and take a look at the free offerings on AVKO. There is a lot of good material there. While you're there, if you have a struggling reader, you just might want to take a look at the benefits offered through the membership.

Want to learn more before you visit. Click here to see what my fellow reviewers have to say.

Disclaimer: I received a free one year membership to this site as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew for review purposes. No other compensation was provided. My opinions are my own.

A Little Song and Dance

2009-11-19T20:47:00.001-08:00

It has been a very musical week for us. Last Saturday the three youngest had their first piano recital. (Video coming soon!) Then on Sunday, the Music Major did her practice recital before our evening church service. Wednesday gave us a Broadway Review courtesy of her Music Theatre class. And, today was her junior piano recital. It has been one busy week.

For as much as my kids love music, I don't have a lot of their performances on tape. So, last night I took my video camera in hopes of getting her performance on film. Well, let me just say,
I am NOT happy with my camera! Apparently, I was asking it to do one little thing that it decided it didn't want to do. Unfortunately, that thing was focusing. So, while it is pretty clear as far a sound, the video is a blurry mess. But, since this is the only way for family and friends to see it at all, blurry will have to do. So, here in all it's glory, is her excerpt from
Annie Get Your Gun. (Lyrics are HERE in case your asking yourself "Whudid they say?")

And, just so you don't think she actually is just a blurry little figment, here is a much clearer picture of her and her partner, Chad.

Way to go, guys. You were great.

Crew's Quarters: Exploramania "GyMathtics"

2009-11-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Too much television? Not enough exercise?... That's the combination that got mother Carrie Scheiner thinking that maybe there was a way to incorporate both television and exercise into a product that would appeal to kids. With that GyMathtics ($24.99 includes free shipping) was born. (Okay, so there was a little bit more to it than that. This is the condensed version. You can read all about it here.)

GyMathtics is a 30 minute children's excercise video, designed in cooperation with a doctor, that incorporates math facts in a rather clever way. The exercise routine is lead by mom, Carrie, and five children ranging in age from preschool to teen. It is divided into four parts including:

Shape Stretches Warm Up- Stretches your mind and body with line, circle, and polygon stretches.

Counting Calisthentics- Aerobic movements work your heart as fun counting concepts stretch your brain.

Pattern Power- Growing and repeating pattern exercise combination challenge minds and streghten muscles.

Well-Being Wind Down- Relaxing stretches cool down the body and open the mind to think about healthy lifestyle choices including Nice Wave Stretch and BIG DREAM Stretch.

How it worked in our family:

I asked the two youngest (almost 12, and 8) to watch and participate. They played along for a few minutes when one of them asked if we could turn the sound off. It seems Miss Carrie is a bit overly perky for my bunch and they found her "yelling" to be disconcerting. (Anyone familiar with Billy Mays) Unfortunately, if you turn off the sound you loose quite a bit of the math presentation. Continual high-5s and "Isn't exercising fun?" got to be way to annoying for their taste. Both kids are well beyond this in math understanding.
The Counting Calisthenics and Pattern Power were interesting for the first time through due to the novelty. Both of my children are well beyond these concepts in math, as well. I suspect they would lose interest in this section once the presentation is familiar.
The Well Being Warm Down was not enjoyed by either child. Frequent comments such as, "Try to get a good night sleep every night." or "Good health and well being are important for a fantastic life." are voiced over this section. Frankly, it was annoying to me, too.

Is This A Product We Would Use?

In my house the television is not turned on frequently. If it is on too long, I tend to say, "Go find something worthwhile to do." We also live in perpetually sunny Hawaii so we don't have rainy or snowy days to contend with. B-Bot also has gymnastics practice 16 hours a week, so there is no worry in my mind that the kid will become a couch potato anytime soon. This video is a nice idea and I can see it being helpful in some homes or elementary schools for a focused recess. However, it isn't something that will get a lot of air time in our home.

Every family is different and many reviewers had different results. Please click here to see what they had to say.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this DVD for review purposes. No other compensation was provided. Any comments made reflect my personal opinions.

Music, Music, Music

2009-11-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

The Musician is getting ready for her junior recital in just a few days. She asked if I would make the poster. Her recital is on Thursday. She asked me last night.
I think someone has a problem with procrastination. What do you think?
Anyway, I used my very basic photoshop skills to pull something together. What do you think about the style? Is it clear and readable? (Of course, the real one actually has her name on it. I blocked it out here for privacy.) Any suggestions?

She played for us last night at church. She did beautifully. Prayers for a successful Thursday afternoon would be gratefully appreciated.

Chillin' on the North Shore

2009-11-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

Just so you all know that there is more to my life than reviews, I give you:

Chillin' on the North Shore

starring:

B-Bot

Bella

And Co-Starring:

With an Assorted Cast of Extras:

And, with a Cameo Appearance by:

Currently showing on an island near you.

Crew's Quarters: American Heritage Education Foundation

2009-11-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

When Jack was a little guy of four, we moved to Australia. Every time we drove past Parliament House, he would look up and announce, "Look, Mommy! The American flag!"
Unfortunately, I had to point out to him that it wasn't the American flag. It was the Australia flag. (In his defense, the flags are the same color and, after all, he was only 4)
Day after day, I pointed out to him the Australian flag. Then, one day we we were heading into the American embassy to pick up our mail, the little guy looked up at the flag pole on announced with pride and conviction, "Look Mommy, the Australian flag."

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Have you ever heard of 3CKs*? Global Nomads? Well, I've got a bunch of them. As a matter of fact, it was only March of this year that we reached a point where each of our kids had finally lived more of their lives IN American rather than out of it. Raising kids who are more familiar with the anthem of a foreign country than of their own, is not really something I expected would ever be a situation we faced. But, the Lord lead us in ways and to places I could only dream about.

Now that we're back on American soil, I want my children to not only appreciate this country we are fortunate enough to call home, but I want them to understand it and see God's power revealed in its very foundation.

When I received a CD from American Heritage Education Foundation I was anxious to see if this might be something useful for our family.

From their website:

Our Mission

AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.

What I found was a collection of lesson plans for grades k-12. Since my current student are in grade school I looked at the Elementary Section. There are 14 units including: Colonial America, Thanksgiving, National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, Statue of Liberty, and quite a few others. The units include lesson plans, worksheets, games, read aloud selections, dramas, in addition to many activities designed for the classroom. There is such a wide variety of ideas available that most parent should be able to find something suitable even if they disregard the classroom type activities. This is a secular program and a supplemental one at that. It doesn't meet my desires to show my children God's awesome hand in our history, but it does provide some nice resources that will compliment many curriculums.

Here's the very best part. You can go directly to their site and get the entire thing for FREE. Yep, it doesn't cost one penny. So, this is one time I will give my whole hearted endorsement to the See-For-Yourself school of thought. But, if you're still not sure, click here to see what my fellow reviewers are saying.

Disclaimer: I received this product in CD form free of charge in exchange for my review. No other compensation was provided.

*3CK - Third Culture Kids

Crew's Quarters: ACT, Inc Discover

2009-11-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

When I grow up I want to be:

A tree climber,

A tricycle rider,

and

A rhymer.

-by the musician, age 3

That's what she told me and I was so impressed that I wrote it down in the quote book. Today, she prefers hiking and climbing rock faces to climbing trees, she progressed to a bicycle and then a moped, and she prefers music to words. But, she certainly had some pretty good ideas regarding what she wanted to do when she grew-up.

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Here to answer the age old question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" is the current review on deck: Discover by ACT.

According to their website:

DISCOVER, ACT's comprehensive career planning program, combines the power of our research-based developmental guidance model with the convenience of multiple delivery options.

Discover guides students through an on-line process of:

Assessing Interests

Exploring Occupations

Building a Plan (including necessary education)

Improving Job Seeking Potential through developing Interview Skills and Resume Writing

Since my oldest three children are already in college, I asked Jack, my 16 year old, to put this product through its paces. He started by taking three separate tests designed to assess his interests and abilities. The tests were generally easy to answer questions based on interest and preferences. While he did not object to completing the tests, he found that most every suggestion for career potential was either not in line with his interest (medicine, science) or not at all suitable for his ability (dancer, professional athlete - just because you like something doesn't mean you can make a career of it.)

The thing that he specifically commented on was the fact that at no point did it ask questions regarding faith based interests. I understand that it is a secular company but I was sorry to see that possibility was not addressed at all. Currently, Jack's interest lies in missionary work in Asia but there was nothing that helped him with such a career plan.

There are many interesting areas of the site that make fun browsing. But, in addition to the less than spot-on results for Jack, I found their intended audience to be a bit broad. It's designed to appeal to everyone from middle-schoolers to college graduate job seekers. The problem is that with a subscription of either 3 or 6 months, there is no way for anyone to benefit from all aspects of the site with a single subscription.

Jack summed up the experience by saying, "It didn't tell me anything about myself that I didn't already know." I'm sure there are teens who are struggling with career choices and they may find this site helpful. You can read what my fellow reviewers have to say by clicking here.

ACT Discover is available with a 3 month or six month license ($19.95 or $24.95 respectively).

Disclaimer: Access to this product was provided free of charge for the purpose of this review. No other compensation is provided.

Crew's Quarters: abc teach

2009-11-03T01:03:00.000-08:00

When I lived in Australia, a new store opened in our town. It was called Bunnings and was dedicated to the DIY crowd. It was actually a pretty interesting store - huge and packed full of interesting things. In addition to the full array of plumbing, hardware, and houseware items, there was a cafe and a play area for the kids. Sometimes, if we were in the area, we would stop in to pick up light bulbs or some other small item and let the kids have a romp in the play area.
I remember being really pleased that we could buy a pint of color matched paint to touch up a repair to the hole in the wall caused by the door knob that punched through during an all too enthusiastic sock fight the kids had with our exchange student. Sometimes, we even went there for project specific purposes but mostly it was just a fun place to browse. You see, while we lived in Australia we lived in a rented house (Your tax dollars at work. Btw - thanks!) so we really had little to no need for extensive DIY materials. But, if we did, Bunnings would sure be the place to shop!
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I recently reviewed abc teach, a subscription site for educators. Let me tell you, it is the Bunnings of the teacher supply cyber world. If you're looking for worksheets, folder games, and ????????, they have it.
Here, take a quick look at their video introduction.

See what I mean? They've got it.
According to their website they offer 5,000+ free printable documents and over 35,000+ documents available in their members section. What kind of documents, you ask. How about theme units, handwriting sheets, math sheets, custom made crossword puzzles, learning centers, flash cards, and clip art, just to name a few.

I found the site easy to use. However, like any large site, there is a lot of territory to navigate. To simplify things, many of the features have video tutorials available to make creating your worksheets easy.

Really, if you are a worksheet kind of gal (or guy) you can't help but find something on this site. Everything is available for $40.00/ 1 year or $70.00/ 2 years. Members also receive a newsletter every week detailing any current additions to the site.

How it worked in our home:
When I first logged on, I was amazed by the number of things to print out and hand to the kiddos. However, after I took a minute to breath, I realized that most if the things I planned to print weren't what I would call essential. I'm just not a worksheet type of person. I love crossword puzzles but I think of them as fun not school. I think beautiful handwriting is important but I prefer copy work to worksheets. I think most learning centers are best utilized by classroom teachers who need to occupy 30 students simultaneously.
Just like my favorite hardware store, abc teach carries many items I might enjoy but there was really nothing I needed or couldn't find somewhere else for free. It was a fun site to visit but I'm not going to extend my membership. It just wasn't a fit for this no-worksheet kind of mom.

Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received access to this product for the purpose of reviewing it for this blog. My opinion's are my own and may or many not be shared by fellow reviewers. Please look here to see what others have to say.

Trouble Makers

2009-11-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

Remember the kids making irreverent faces in McDonalds? Such a bunch of trouble makers. First they harass the poor patrons at the local fast food place. Then, later, they're harassing the old folks.

Our pastor ministers at a local elderly home once a month. The kids like to go along to sing and help transport the patients. Some of the people get very few visitors so having young people come is a real blessing to them. Silly faces and sweet hearts. I can live with that combination!

Faces Only a Mother Could Love

2009-11-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when your friend asks to treat your kids to McDonalds one Sunday morning before church. While Mom, Dad, and the big brother are home having an extra hour to get ready themselves, the kiddos are getting hyped on caffeine. (Friend to B-bot: Are you sure your Mom would let you drink root beer soda for breakfast?)
Of course, this is the only outcome you can expect. Faces only a mother could love:

Now, I'm wondering, is it still politically incorrect to make slanty eyes if one of the girls doing it happens to actually be Chinese?

Crew's Quarters: My Access Home Edition

2009-10-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

I remember when I first started homeschooling my oldest back in 1990. Homeschooling was no longer a hidden secret but it certainly wasn't mainstream, if you know what I mean. Consequently, resources weren't exactly abundant. Innovative and entertaining resources of the high-tech variety were pretty much limited to Reader Rabbit and a few of his friends.
My goodness, times have changed. With all of the prolific use of technology available to parents today, you can find the elements needed to give your child a kindergarden through 12th grade education without ever opening a book or picking up a pencil. The computer is a marvelous tool. I'm so glad I have mine, But, I wonder if we don't depend on it too much sometimes.

*************************************

I recently completed another review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. This time it was an on-line writing program, Vantage Learning's My Access Home Edition. From their website:

The course is fully utilized on-line. There is no software to purcahse or install. The program allows for a full year of access for up to three children for $99.95. To begin the course, each child is assigned a user name and a password. The parent then sets up each student account by choosing a level and allowing specific pre-selected writing topics or assigning their own. Students can log in and attempt an instructional activity or jump straight into writing on a variety of topics.

After completing an assignment, the student submits it and within minutes it is graded and returned for revision. The student is given a plan to guide the revision through areas of content, language usage, etc. Along the way, students earn 'points'. These points can be used as the parent sees fit. (Some parents choose to set a specific amount of points for a prize or reward.) After completing an assignment and polishing it into final form, the student is given options to publish their piece.

So, just how did this work in my house?

I decided to set up the program for my 8 year old son. He is an excellent reader but he hates to write. His handwriting is slow, he's not a confident speller, and he hates to make mistakes. I thought maybe writing would be less threatening if there was no one breathing over his shoulder.

I gave him a user name and password and let him loose to play around a bit. Well, play around is what he did. It seems that one of the early activities take you through a Reporter-in-Training scenario. As a reporter you have a desk complete with all the odds and ends on the desk - including paper clips that spin, pencils that spin in a cup, calendar pages that flip, and a pack of gum that offered a slice when you moused over it. Entertaining... yes. Educational... not so much.

The lesson itself consisted of material to read and then questions to answer. B-bot is an excellent reader but found this to be too confusing to handle on his own. The material and presentation seems a bit above the level of a typical 8-10 year old. I allowed him to 'play around' with it on his own for a few days but discovered that he wasn't making any progress.
I have to say that so many fellow reviewers were loving this so I suspected he was just not focusing. It was time for Mom to sit in for a session. I have to tell you, I was lost. The interface just didn't feel intuitive to me. I helped him through a few sessions and reluctantly decided to put it aside for awhile.

In preparing to write this review, I took another look. On thing that concerned me was that several fellow reviewers were commenting that their student's initial submission scores were low. I decided to see if this was a function of the writing or of the program. So here's what I did. Putting on my best 8 yr old boy persona, I chose one of the topics, wrote and submitted my piece. I chose an assignment titled An Uncomfortable Piece of Clothing. The assignment was to think about a time you wore an uncomfortable peice of clothing. Describe what it felt like and what you did. Here's what I submitted:
One day last year, I was ready to compete for the first time in a gymnastics meet. I was really excited. We had brand new uniforms to wear. But, when I put on my uniform it felt really funny. It was stretchy but really tight. I told my coach that I didn't want to wear it because it made me look siily.

My coach said he understood. The first time he wore a gymnastic unitard and pants, he felt funny, too. He said I should follow him and he showed me pictures of great gymnasts all dressed like me. He said my uniform would help me perform better because my body could move freely. I really like my coach and I trust him. So, I decided to wear my uniform for my competition.

My coach was right. My body was free to move on all of my events. I did really well and won All-Around for the meet.

Folks, I got a 63%. Yes, having my writing evaluated as an 8 year old, I got a 63%. Now, to be fair, I did have a spelling typo (siily) . However, I lost points for using unitard because it wasn't in their dictionary not because it was misspelled. And, I admit, as they suggested, really is a weak modifier and I should have used very. But, there were several suggestions to label my beginning, middle, and end and varying the length of my sentences as well as developing the sequence and create a well developed plot.

screen shot of proficiency report

I admit the piece I submitted isn't a great literary work. However, if my son had written something similar I would have been thrilled. It included the content I would feel comfortable accepting from an 8 year old. It had a clear progression of order and it addressed the topic. Yet all of these things were found to be lacking by the program.

Overall, this isn't a program we will continue using, I found it very difficult to navigate and not appropriate as a teaching tool for younger students. Telling my grammar age student to write about well developed characters is a bit beyond his reach. Also, since the program requires extensive typing, well developed keyboard skills are essential. Hunt and Peck will just not cut it unless you have hours to spend on the computer.

I think that perhaps an older student (high school age) might do well with this type of interface if they need help with structure and grammar. But, for younger students or reluctant writes, I think they need guidance and encouragement along the way that this program just can't give.

Artificial Intelligence is a fine thing and computers are a marvelous tool. But, some things just need teacher to student interaction. I think writing is one of them.

Additional reviews are available here.

Disclaimer:

I received access to this product free of charge for review purposes as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew in exchange for my opinion. No other compensation was provided.

Crew's Quarters: Virginia Soaps & Scents

2009-10-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

B-bot is my handy helper. As soon as he hears the mail truck he is out of the door like a shot. (I think he likes to flirt with the mail lady.) Being on the Homeschool Crew we frequently get packages of curriculum to use for our reviews and he loves to carry them inside. Now, as you might imagine, packages are fun to open but opening them to find school work is just a little less fun. It's sort of like opening your Christmas present to find you got a box of socks. Socks are good. You need socks. They keep your feet warm. But, they're not FUN. KWIM?

So, when we get a package that isn't school stuff, that means it might be fun.

And, when the package that isn't school work smells good, that makes it even better.

And, when we open the package and it is filled with soap, that makes for a pretty good mail run for the little guy.

Now, lest you think I exaggerate when I say my boy is excited about soap let me point out that right now, on the edge of my bathtub, there is, in addition to the remainders of the recently delivered product samples herein described, a block of clear soap encasing a plastic goldfish and a multi-colored soap bar on stick that looks like a popsicle. There are also several different bottles of shampoo and conditioner. (Mom, they ALL smell different.) I swear that kid makes taking a shower a bit like making a gourmet meal. There must be just the right balance of coconut, with just a hint of green apple. .... But, I digress.

Anyway, the package - it contained soap. Really good smelling soap. Specifically, it contained a sample pack of three soaps, one shampoo bar, and a mini kit to make laundry detergent all from Virginia Soap & Scents. The soaps are real, handmade soaps, made with loads of coconut oil for great lather and lightly scented with essential oils. I generally don't like heavy scents but I found these to be quite pleasing. (Apparently, so did the kids. That is why there are only remnants beside my tub!)

The shampoo bar was a new experience for me. The instructions were to simply rub the bar across wet hair and wash as usual. I have to admit, I wasn't a fan. It left my hair feeling different. I have sensory issues and for me different is, well, not comfortable. So, don't take that as a reflection of the product just assume it is indicative of my general weirdness. It's okay, you can laugh. I've come to embrace my weirdness and it's all good. Hope over here to see what my fellow, probably un-weird, Crew Mates say about this and the other products.

The laundry soap mini kit was a neat treat. I've read about making my own laundry soap but I haven't been able to find the necessary ingredients. (Have I mentioned lately that I live on a rock?) So, it was fun to receive a sample package to try. Following the simple direction, you melt the soap in package one(grated soap) , add the contents of package two (washing soda and borax), dissolve, dilute, and cool and you are blessed with a gel which washes load after load of laundry to a fresh smelling clean. A full batch washes clothes for about $0.07 load.

Virginia Soaps & Scents also sells body lotions, lip balm, and body powder. All are made with the same attention to quality ingredients. I enjoy supporting small family businesses when I can. I really like to support fellow homeschoolers who make their business a family affair. If you are in the market for a little pampering or if you are looking for lovely, handmade gifts for Christmas pop over to their web site and have a look at what they offer. Right, now there are some special offers just in time for Christmas.

Virginia Soaps and Scents bath bars: 4.5 oz $4.50 bar, 3/ $12.00, 10/ $3.50

Shampoo Bars: 5.5 oz $5.50

Laundry Soap Kits: $4.95, 6/ $25.00

Disclaimer: The products reviewed above were provided free of charge for the purpose of my honest opinion in this review. No other compensation was provided. (Except, of course, clean kids and fresh smelling laundry.)

Crew's Quarters: Sue Patrick's Workboxes

2009-10-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

When my oldest children were little we played a game called That's Good... No, That's Bad. Here's an example:
I just moved into a beautiful, huge house and have all the room I need to homeschool.
That's good!
No, that's bad because I just found out I have to move.
Oh, that's bad.
No, that's good because I get to move to Hawaii!
Oh, that's good.
No, that's bad because I have to move into a really small house.
Oh, that's bad.

We would go on and on with this game as long as we could. But, this scenario isn't just a game, it really happened to us. A job relocation from PA to HI mover our family of 8 from a 3,700 sq ft house into one less than half that size. That meant some major adjustments in many, many areas. I no longer had the privilege of a large room to devote just to school. I had to find a way to corral all of our material and yet keep it accessible for the kids every day.
I tried a variety of things to stay organized. First, I used expandable files.

That worked if I took pages out of books but whole books wouldn't fit. But, we used that system for awhile anyway.

Then, I found some plastic containers with snap lids that were bigger and stackable. I could organize work in file folders and add workbooks and things like crayons and such. That worked...but it was too small to hold extras like puzzles or learning games. So, those things stayed in the closet and I forgot to get them out for my children to use.

I was using this system but I still wanted a better system - one that kept everything together and allowed me room to add in the extra things I want offer my kids but kept forgetting to pull out of the closet.

Then, two things happened. Several of our older children moved out of the house and opened up a space to devote to 'school' and I stumbled upon a blog about a system called 'workboxes.' Apparently, workboxes were the new rage that was all the talk at several homeschool conferences - a system of plastic containers that organized school work and motivated scholars to finish a day's work in a day's time.

Intrigued, I surfed the web to learn more. It didn't take long until I found a number of blogs showing their new workbox system. Someone even set up a yahoo group to talk about workboxes. I joined and gleaned from all of the wonderful ideas presented there. With enthusiasm, I set about making a workable system with the features I desired to fit the space I had.

Essentially, the 'workbox system' is a series of numbered containers set on a shelf with each container holding one specific element of the school work for the day. A schedule strip lists the box number along with any extras (read a book, have a snack, practice piano) and guide the children along the way. As each box is emptied, it becomes a visual indicator to the child that progress is being made and the day's work is nearing completion.

As I continued to read and learn more, I found that the name Sue Patrick continued to come up often. Several people suggested that I purchase her book if I really wanted to know all the intricacies of the system. By this time, I had a system that was working for me and I was happy with how the boxes were helping to keep my children on track with the work I wanted them to complete each day. But, wanting to see if there was anything I was missing, I visited Sue's site and purchased the e-book version of Sue Patrick's Workbox System User Guide.
Then, a few months ago, I learned that I would be reviewing this product as part of the Homeschool Crew. (Note: When Ms Patrick learned that I received this product to review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, she refunded my purchase price. ) So, with the authentic source in hand, I set out to find the true meaning of "workboxes" the Sue Partick way.

Sue Patrick, learning that her first born child, then a toddler, was autistic, set about looking for a way to help him focus and achieve the skills he would need to function independently. Using ideas from Division TEACH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-Handicapped Children) developed by UNC Dept. of Psychology, Sue implemented a system of workboxes, each containing a discreet task, for her son to complete. Eventually, buoyed by her son's success she refined her system and expanded it to include academic skills as well. This system is what she currently shares in her book, Sue Patrick's Workbox System User's Guide.
The first thing I noticed when reading her book is that Ms. Patrick has STRONG convictions about the whys and hows of using her system. She is convinced that her way is the best and books no room for experimentation. In fact, in a recent interview, she says, I have consulted with so many families over the years, that I know the alterations are not as beneficial as using the actual workboxes. I never hear of anyone who uses the workboxes who wanted to find another way after experiencing the benefits. (To read more from this recent interview, click here.) From her book: While your day may look very different from this example, you must finish what you begin, and follow the “rules” of the system as I have outlined. I have spent 11 years changing and fine tuning, problem solving and improving the smallest of details. I have worked with such a cross-section of families, that I know what works. There really are specific reasons for the rules and methods I have in place. (pg. 47-48) What I find interesting is that her system is actually an adaption of the TEACH system so at some point she 'tweaked' it to work in her home. Why should I be able to do any less?

Now, I'll be frank, I don't respond well to being told what to do. But, if the method has merit, even I have been know to put aside my stubborn streak and listen. Unfortunately, in this case, I also don't respond well to Sue's idea of homeschool in general.
Reading her book, I get the impression that she is attempting to translate a public school classroom into a home setting. Requiring children to turn in cards to request an audience with the teacher, expecting student's to work silently (and reminding them to be silent by pointing to a "Quite" card on their desk), and expecting Mom to refrain from any non-school tasks during school hours is just not going to fly in my home.

I also was annoyed by the inconsistencies in her book. For example, she insists that ALL required material (for instance - a pencil) be included in each box yet she also suggests breaking up long reading selections by placing a note and book in a box and then later a note telling the child to go back and read more of the same book. Now, in my house, if I can expect my child to have the wherewithal to find a book the second time around, I sure as shootin' expect him/her to know where the pencils are kept!

I also take extreme exception to some of her general educational ideas as well. Regarding her ideas for teaching reading to young children, she states, "I find that it is much easier for children to learn to read after they master approximately 1000 sight words. Without first having a good number of sight words, it is difficult to present the concept of phonics or its purpose." (pg.84) Easier for whom? My kiddos sure didn't need 1000 sight words to take off and run with the idea of reading.

There are so many little things scattered throughout the book that I took exception to that my husband asked if I "could please just not read the book. Please?" Poor man. Good thing I was almost finished. I read the rest after he went to bed. I'm all about peace and harmony in the home! :)
I think part of the difficulty here is that Sue Patrick began this system with one special little boy in mind. Her system addressed his weaknesses. She found the system worked well for her daughter, too. Therefore, she surmises that it will work well for everyone -if it is done her way. But, my children are not her children. My children have different needs and different strengths. My home is different and I have different constraints on my space and probably my time. For now, our adapted system is working well. I will continue to use it...my way.

I'm not using schedule strips. I tried them but we don't need them. I'm not using dedicated desks for school work. I don't have the space. I'm not using the same type of plastic boxes because the ones she uses let the books flop over the edge and frankly, it drives me nutty. (Yeah, I know. I have issues.)

So, given all this, should you buy the book? You're probably thinking I'll say no. But, actually, here is what I think. If you are:

* a new homeschooler looking to understand a different approach to the homeschool day,

*a current homeschooler who needs structure or change in structure to enhance your day,

*a homeschooler who likes to support fellow homeschoolers in developing their products,

*a homeschooler who is looking for ideas to reinforce learning in a unique way,

*not comfortable piecing together a system from material gleaned on the net,

this book my be what you are looking for. Sue's strong opinions aside, she does have many interesting ideas for presenting curriculum in a clear and interesting way.

If you're still with me, I suggest you check out some of the following:

A recent interview with Sue explaining her system.

An excerpt from her book

Her website

Reviews from fellow crew mates

E-book $19.00

Starter Pack including E-book, Starter System for 2 children, Log Book, Cotton Tote Bag $55.00

Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge for review purposes.No other compensation is provided. It is my intention to review this product and share my feelings and experiences in an honest manner.

Awana Fancy Costume Night

2009-10-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

I admit it...I hate theme nights. They seem silly to me. So, tonight I dressed-up as ...An Awana Leader. Original, huh? But, I did try to do a bit better for the kids.
Since both my kids won a prize I guess we did an okay job. First, in the "Most Original" category was Miss Bella.

Isn't she a charmer... snake charmer that is!

Then Mr. B-bot pulled out in front with "Best Homemade Costume" in this ensemble:

It's hard to read the name tag. It says:

Wats A Matta University

Dr. I. M. Buggy

Dept. of Entomology

The Inspector took one look at him and said, "That's my boy!"

Finally, here is a totally gratuitous picture, just for Kait, because I know how much you love this kid:

I'm not sure if she won a prize.

But, if there was one for absolutely melt you heart,

just can't love her enough,

I'd take her in a minute,

cutest little bean,

she would win it.

Crew's Quarters: Sarah Books

2009-10-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

You know, I think writing good literature is a lot like driving a car. To drive, you need to know how to operate the vehicle and you need to navigate the roadways. To write a good book, you need to master the art of word play and you need to have a worthwhile message to convey. If one or the other is lacking, the journey isn't all it could be. But, if you manage to get it together, you can have a pretty enjoyable ride.

*************************************************

I am a voracious reader. Sadly, my kids.....not so much.

They CAN read. They WILL read (if I tell then to). But, they don't LOVE it. So, I try to be careful to choose books that are worth reading so that at the very least they feel their time is validated. I especially love to find good historical fiction books that help them understand events of the past in a way that brings an era to life. I hope it goes without saying that I also don't want it to convey language and behavior that I find inappropriate. When I find books like that, they're usually keepers.

I think Jim Baumgardner, author of Sarah's Wish, feels that way, too. A lover of stories and a proud grandpa to boot, Mr. Baumgardner undertook the task of writing the adventures of 12 year old Sarah Smith for his grandchildren. Desiring to give them quality stories free of objectionable language, the Sarah stories were born.

Set in Ohio, in 1858, we discover Sarah, daughter of a brave woman dedicated to moving 'packages' along the underground railroad, who finds her life turned upside down when she is suddenly orphaned by a freak buggy accident. Her promise to her mother to protect her 'packages' spurs her on to a life she hadn't imagined. Along with Dr. Baumgardener and Granny, Sarah experiences trials, heartaches, and triumphs which all pave the way in helping Sarah grown and mature in her faith. Written with a Christian perspective, Sarah's Wish is not preachy nor does it attempt to proselytize. Yet, it does show Sarah as a young girl with a heart for the Lord attempting to do what it good and right.

While the protagonist is a 12 year old girl, don't discount these books as a good read for your boys, too. The subject matter and setting provides a fine backdrop for good fiction and Jim has a knack for keeping a story moving . Want to see for yourself, take a peek here to read an excerpt.

I must admit, there are a few spots where I felt the internal or mental dialogue pushed a bit too hard.

Huh? What does that mean?.....Just that there were a few spots throughout the book where I felt the in the head dialogue was not as genuine or authentic as it might have been. Revealing what someone is thinking in a way that doesn't sound contrite or too forced is an skill that I think is just a bit too obvious throughout the book. (ex. I wonder why she said that?) I don't think that it affects the overall quality of the book. And, honestly, I'm not sure it is something most readers in the intended audience would even notice. After all, my husband's car muffler rattles a bit when he drives; but, he still gets where he's going and the noise doesn't both him a bit. It's just one of those things that I noticed and thought I would mention. (The book...not the muffler.)

Mr. Baumgardener's books are available through on-line sellers or visit his website where you can order your copy for $9.99 which will arrived with a personal autograph from Jim himself. You can also purchase the sequels, Sarah's Promise and Sarah's Escape. I haven't read those yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Feel free to hope over here to see what the rest of the Review Crew has to say.

Disclaimer: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this book, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Crew's Quarters: Guardian Angel Publishing

2009-10-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

I love books. I have to admit that any review that involves reading a bunch of books is up my alley. So, reviewing a selection of children's books from Guardian Angel Publishing wasn't exactly a hardship. Arriving in e-book format, I received the following:

Hamster Holidays (ages 5-12)
A troupe of energetic hamsters traipse through the calendar presenting nouns and adjectives in a color coded story. The book ends with several pages of reinforcement grammar activities for age 5-12. It's a cute little book that gives practice in identifying parts of speech. 'Monster Day' in October and snowflakes in December mark this as a book more geared to those in the northern hemisphere (or those who avoid mention of Halloween.)

Maybe We Are Flamingos
by Safari Sue Thurman
When baby Flora and Fernando Flamingo arrive with grey feathers they begin to question just what they are. Perhaps ostriches or maybe giraffes? Soon, they learn it's what's inside that counts.

Rainbow Sheep by Kim Chatel (ages 4-10)
Genevieve is the shepherdess of a flock of rain-wearied sheep who happens to notice that the rainbow is a bit gloomy, too. In an attempt to make the rainbow smile, Genevieve moves the rainbow to happy tears which color her flock a bright hue.
The beautiful fiber art illustrations are a lovely. I love to needle felt and was so impressed with Kim's work. As a bonus, you will find several pages of needle felting instruction included at the end of the book.

No Bones About It:
The Sum of Our Parts (ages 8-13)
by Bill Kirk
Using text like this to describe the ribs:
They cover your innards,
From sternum to back,
And keep your heart safe
In it's cardiac sac.
who couldn't learn the bones of the body? Silly ink line drawings add a touch perfect for little boys (and a few little girls I know.) I've heard others say that their children found the drawings a bit off-putting. My crew must be made of sterner stuff. They thought they were a hoot.

Gifts From God by Cynthis Reeg
with photo art by Mary Sue Roberts
Bible verses backed by beautiful photographic art work mixed with pictures of sweet children and affirming statements, this is a sweet little book for toddlers. My best suggestion would be 2-6 yr. olds.

Prices for all publications above are:
E-book download- $5.00
Print version: $10.95 + $6.95 s/h

I haven't seen the print books so can't attest to their quality. All the books I recieved were in e-book format. I must admit, that is not the format I would prefer for snuggling up and reading sweet children's books. However, for the factual books, or for my older kids, it worked just fine to put a link on the computer desk top and let the kids access them from there. None of the books provided were books I would rush out to purchase. On the other hand, I don't feel that they were a poor use of my time either. As with any selection of books, there's bound to be something that strikes your fancy and probably something that doesn't sit well.

Guardian Angel Press has a wide variety of books in both print and e-book versions with titles ranging from Christian to secular. If books are what you're looking for, they 'got 'um. I find their site hard to navigate as there is no search feature. But, I've direct linked the books if you want to find them.

Hope on over here to see what fellow reviewers are saying.

Disclaimer:
The five books reviewed above were provided free of charge by Guardian Angel Publishing for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was provided. My opinions are my own.

CtG: Week 5

2009-10-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

If you stopped in earlier, thanks for stopping back. This was one of those weekends that seemed to be over way too soon. I didn't get finished a fraction of what I wanted to finish. Then there was the problem with this post.
I'm still working out the kinks of learning a new computer operating system. I'm really enjoying my Mac but there are times when I just simply forget how to do something I did just a few days ago and then I drive myself crazy until I figure it out.
Last week my photos were to large to upload. So, I learned to export them to my desktop in a reduced size and then upload them. Problem was...I couldn't remember how to do it. Did I use iPhoto or Photoshop?????? Someone suggested it (Lainie - was that you) but, again, I couldn't remember who. My learning curve is more like an unpaved road!
So, finally, here I am. I think I've got it.
School-wise, we didn't accomplish as much as I would have like this week. We had a few unexpected things come up. Fortunately, it was nothing major (or bad) - just things that changed our plans a bit. This week will be a little light. I'll try to catch up next week. Until then, here are the highlights:
We learned more about Egypt. We began the process of creating our own mummy, Pharaoh Fruitenkahmen. It was a lot of fun. See:

His faces crack me up!

This is what we did:

1. Washed our "Dearly Departed"

2. Removed the Organs
3. Arranged our "DD's" face in a pleasing fashion
4. Mixed our natron (Baking Soda and Salt)
5. Tasted our natron (Their idea - not mine! Yuck)
6. Washed with 'wine' to preserve
7. Stuffed the cavity with natron
8. Anointed our soon to be mummy with spices.

It amazes me how my kids manage to turn every opportunity for learning into snack time. Last week is was blueberries. Here they are eating the apple peelings from Pharaoh Fruitenkahmen's face.

Here's our guy after a few days of drying. He looks gross but he actually smells pretty good.

Science this week had us exploring the physics behind the pyramid consturction. Just how did the Egyptians move such heavy rocks? We tried to move a load across the counter top by adding weight to a container hanging from a string.

Here's what we observed:

It took 430g of mass to move the book on the plain counter top.

It took 320g of mass to move the book over top of rice. (The instructions said to use sand. But we didn't have any and I couldn't figure out where to get any. I mean, it's not like we live near the ocean or anything, right!)

It took 37g of mass to move it across rollers.

Here's what we learned:

We learned that the block moves much more easily over the rollers than over the bare table. We also learned that our container of rice has bugs in it - which lead to an interesting discussion about just how much foreign protein is allowed in our food and whether we should dispose of the rice or just freeze it to kill the bu.....never mind. I'll spare you the rest of the discussion. Let me just say, bugs in Hawaii are a fact of life.

That's about it for this week except to leave you with this parting shot.

B-bot can down stairs arrayed like this:

I asked if he was trying to be a mummy.

No, he said, his brother just wanted to wrap him up.

Well, now that you look like a mummy, how does it feel?

He thought for a moment and said,

"My armpits are sweaty!"

Crew's Quarters: Amazing Bible Timeline

2009-10-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

We were at DisneyWorld a few years ago and we were eating dinner at the 'Ohana in the Polynesian Hotel. We ordered the family style grilled meat selection that includes a variety of dipping sauces. As I was eating, I began to feel 'funny'. My lips felt tight, my tongue felt thick and I was beginning to itch. The feeling was a familiar one so I asked the waiter if there might be wine in one of the dipping sauces. He said he was sure there wasn't but he would check with the chef. Well, sure enough, there was.

See, I don't consume wine. I don't do so primarily because I get a sweaty, hivey, anaphalactic allergic reaction to many kinds of wine. It's not fun. And I don't want to die yet. So, I avoid wine.

But, don't worry about offending me if you want to drink it. I certainly don't expect you to avoid wine. And, you can even invite me to dinner. I certainly won't expect you to alter your menu for me. However, if you do invite me to dine with you, and you do use wine, please let me know because neither of us would be pleased with the outcome of the meal otherwise. All I'm saying is that I like to know what I being exposed to so I can take precautions.

***********************

Last month I received the Amazing Bible Timeline from Bible Charts and Maps. What an impressive looking chart this is. Measuring at almost 3'x 4', this is a durable, heavyweight varnished timeline selling for $29.95. ($49.97 for 2; shipping $6.00)

Here's what the publishers say:

How does all this information fit on a 38" x 46" poster - compared to the 15 or 20 feet of a straight timeline? The time line is in a compact circular format. It works like a clock. Adam is at the top. Christ's birth divides the circle in half. Facing the chart, the years up to Christ's life (B.C.) are on your right. The years after Christ lived until today (A.D) are on your left.

close-up view of timeline

I like that the publishers offer a disclaimer on the accuracy of the dates they use. Variations in interpretation do exist and I am pleased that they point it out. I also like that they list the bibliography for the sources they site.

Overall, a timeline like this could be a useful tool and would be a product that I would be interested in using in my home except for one thing. While studying the map, I was finding a few things that didn't make sense to me. There were some entries that just didn't line-up with my expectations. I learned that I was not the only person who had some concerns. Now, I am not a biblical scholar so I will just say that I deferred to the opinions of those better educated in this area than me.

Unfortunately, then, I noticed this:

This is not something I can overlook.

Looking over the map and web-site I saw no indication that this was a product produced for those who hold to the faith of the Mormon church. So, I found it surprising to see the Book of Mormon referenced. Well, I assume it was the Book of Mormon they are sourcing. Looking at the bibliography, I can find neither listing for The Book of Mormon or for something similarly titled where this entry could be found.

An internet search of the reference Mormon 6:6 reveals several key words to lead me to believe that The Book of Mormon is indeed being sourced here. (Mormon doctrine is in many areas in direct conflict with our fundamental Christian views and as parents I believe my husband and I are solely responsible before the Lord for the material to which we expose our children. This is something that we CAN NOT in good faith use to educate our children.)

Please understand, I respect the publishers right to publish as they chooses. I just wish I had been told that there may be conflict. I suspect that publishers of Mormon material are well aware that many conservative Christians would feel as I do. Perhaps, too, this was an innocent oversight. But, further internet searches found that this: (pics are clickable links)

One one site you can read:
Bill came across the Bible World History Timeline thirty five years ago and liked it because he could see so much information at a glance. He had it printed on high quality paper and started selling it to his friends, then in the Christianity Today magazine.

and on the other:

Bill came across the World History Timeline a few years ago and liked it because he could see so much information at a glance. He had it printed on high quality paper, added Book of Mormon references to a special LDS version, and started selling it to his friends, then in the Christian History magazine.
Honestly, I don't know if this is an oversight, an error, a slip-up, or a direct attempt to deceive. But, I don't think it matters. My difficulty here is that there can not be two versions of the same events. It is not just a matter of adding extra dates to one or the other. Two histories cannot exist simultaneously.

For me, wine is a very dangerous thing. The nature of allergies is that it doesn't have to be a lot of the allergen to trigger a fatal reaction - just a touch can do it. One reference from the Book of Mormon may not necessarily seem like a big deal. But, scriptural error can be just a deadly as wine with far more long-reaching consequences. I don't have the time or energy to second guess every other entry on the timeline. This is one product we won't be recommending.
Please click here to see what my fellow Crew reviewers are saying.
Disclaimer:

As part of the TOS Crew I will be reviewing various homeschool related products during the 2009/2010 school year. Each vendor provides their product free of charge for review purposes. For this review, I received a free copy of the Amazing Bible Timeline. There is no other consideration or incentive provided. My opinions are my own. My desire is to highlight the beneficial aspects of each product. However, I will not hesitate to express my concern about a product if I feel concern is warranted.

Crew's Quarters: Nature Friend Magazine

2009-10-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

Stuff bugs me! Usually it's weird stuff that other people don't even notice - at least that's what my husband tells me. (I just read that line out-loud and before I got to the end my husband interjected, "That's what I always tell you!")

Did you ever watch a commercial and know, with 100% certainty, that the information you were being feed was completely and without a doubt incorrect. Perhaps, you could even be so bold as to say that it was a lie? That bugs me! I'm not stupid! I see through the lies.

Something else bugs me, too. Do you remember Billy Mays? He was a pitchman who hawked products on television informercials. Now, there were many, many reasons I did not deliberately watch him on television but I have seen him in action on occasion and something always bothered me. It seemed that no matter how low I turned the volume on the television, he was always shouting. It was one of those things that drove me a bit crazy.

Nature magazines often bug me. They bug me because they usually fit into one of the two categories above. Either they lie or they shout. Generally, the typical kid's fare is so full of evolutionary junk that by the time I've finished de-briefing the kids on what they should and shouldn't believe, I (and they) have lost interest. On the other hand, there are publications that are printed for the Creation/Christian market that shout the anti-evolution position so loudly that they sound silly. I'm not naive. I see through the bravado.

I once read an article in a Christian publication that said the way a giraffe gives birth shows the magnificent, awesome power of a wonderful God because He designed the giraffe to be born in such a way that the legs are folded under the giraffe so it hits feet first to cushion the fall and cradle the head. The biggest problem here is the giraffes are generally born front feet first and then they fall on their heads. (Actually, to be technically correct, it's more like they fall on the back of the head and 'unroll' along the length of the neck.) Yes, God is magnificent and awesome. He created an animal that can survive a 5 foot fall onto it's head before it even takes it's first breath. But, come on, if you're going to try to convince people, get your facts straight. Sometimes creation magazines spend so much time 'preaching to the choir' that they sound silly. See, more 'stuff' that bugs me.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: I am an unashamed believer in a literal six 24-hour day creation. However, I see a huge difference between a publication that is pro-creation and one that is anti-evolution. Sometimes you can spend so much time yelling about how things aren't that you miss how lovely they really are. That's all I'm sayin'.)

So, what does this have to do with Nature Friend. Well, friends, I found it! It is the magazine I have been looking for. It is a magazine that neither lies to my children with secular propaganda nor screams anti-evolution so loudly that they can't hear anything else. Take a look at their position:

Since the doctrine of Divine Creation is the first and foundational one of Scripture, our children must be able to stand on it securely to withstand the undermining influences of our culture. Nature Friend has chosen not to be controversial or militantly confrontational about creation vs evolution. Our policy has been to simply stand on the truth of God's word and to present as an enjoyable fact while learning about the creatures God has created.

Now, this is music to my ears- no lies, and also, no hype. But, did the kids like the magazine?

Oh my, yes! First, the pictures are STUNNING. I addition, each issue includes a feature called The Story Behind the Photo which give insight into one of the photos in the magazine - a nice touch. The sample issue I received had an in-depth explanation of how they photographed the cover shot of an owl in mid-air about to catch his prey.

There are a variety of other features as well. Each month a Scavenger Hunt has the reader searching the issue for hidden pictures throughout the magazine. My son is a huge fan! Each issue also features Invisibles, a single page hidden picture hunt, as well as word searches or crossword puzzles and many other articles. A big hit with my kids was the "You Can Draw" section that teaches in step by step fashion how to draw lovely nature pictures. Every other issue contains a slightly longer, more detailed drawing lesson. This is not your basic 'copy just like this' instruction. It's real art with instruction on how to paint, color, and highlight your creation. After completing their pictures, children are encouraged to submit their pictures for possible future publication.

The nature articles are informative and varied. Once or twice a year, the entire magazine is devoted to articles and photos sent in by the reader. Nice! While geared for children 8-16, this is by all means a magazine that every member of your family will enjoy reading. (Well, among those old enough to read, of course! Everyone else can enjoy the pictures.)

Nature Friend, published 12 times a year, contains NO advertising. Single issue price is $5.00 for back issues or $36.00 for the year. An optional study guide is available for $2.00 an issue and it is sent stapled inside the magazine. Until Nov 30, use this code to get $3.00 off your subscription: BLOG93. This is one product I have no hesitation about using and heartily recommend.

There is no way my description will do this magazine justice. Please go to the site and look at the sample issues. You can also see samples of the study guides. Click here to see what other members of the review team have to say.

Disclaimer:

As part of the TOS Crew I will be reviewing various homeschool related products during the 2009/2010 school year. Each vendor provides their product free of charge for review purposes. There is no other consideration or incentive provided. My opinions are my own. My desire is to highlight the beneficial aspects of each product. However, I will not hesitate to express my concern about a product if I feel concern is warranted.

The Unification of Egypt

2009-10-05T01:49:00.000-07:00

I'm learning something new every day. Thanks, Lainie!
Here it is in all it's award winning glory. No...well maybe it's good for a chuckle.

CtG: Week 4 Video - Let There Be Light

2009-10-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Let's see if this will work. Fingers crossed, okay?
From my end it looks like it is working on Firefox but not Safari. I'm not sure how to fix it. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

CtG: Week 4

2009-10-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

We've had a very busy week in My Father's World. This was one of those weeks where it didn't fell like we got a lot done. But, them I looked back at the pictures and I was surprised by what we accomplished.

Monday morning found us looking at pyramids. Our goal was to construct both a pyramid and a cube out of straws and modeling clay. I was out of straws and, since this is Hawaii, there are an abundance of chopsticks lying around. So, that became the material of choice. We found that the pyramid was much sturdier – so much so that we had a really hard time just getting the cube to stay upright.

B-bot decided that maybe blueberries and toothpicks would work better. So, we gave that a shot. Later we also tried marshmallows. The structures held together much better.* And, we found we could multi-task. School and snack combined.

We were also looking at comparing the volumes of cubes and square pyramids with 'congruent bases.' (B-bot's current math word) Press-n-Seal wrapped around the outside of the structures gave us a framework to allow us to fill them (can I say here, I am NOT a big user of brand names...but I LOVE that stuff!) We than compared by quantity and weight. We were told that the volume of a pyramid is 1/3 of a cube with the same size base. Let's see.

By weight, our pyramid marshmallows were exactly 33% of the weight of the cube marshmallows! However, our blueberries were off by both weight and quantity. I asked the kids if they knew why. I expected to have to do some more illustrations with various other objects. But, without missing a beat, B-bot said, “Well, I guess it was probably that the blueberries are all different sizes." Ummmm, well yeah. That's what I was going to say!

He's right. The ones we poured into the cube straight from the package were bigger than the ones we dropped by hand into the pyramid. (Drat that kid. Soon, he'll be smarter than me.)

We spent Monday afternoon at the water-park with some friends. It's amazing how quickly the kids finish their school work when they know a trip to the water-park is waiting. We ought to go more often! By the way, they say, “Hi!”

During the remainder of the week, we learned about life along the Nile River. For our notebooks we added maps of the Nile. We're using Mapping the World with Art by Ellen McHenry. What a great program. She give a detailed drawing lesson on DVD and the kids follow along. They did beautiful work.

We did some reading.

We finished up an experiment from last week. We created a little video of this little adventure. I've posted it here. Check it out if you have time. It's my first attempt at creating something with iMovie.

And, we worked on creating a video to dramatize the uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt. It isn't quite ready to share. We still have to edit. But, I'll leave you with this photo teaser to whet your appetite. Check back in a few days and it should be posted. UPDATE: It's HERE.

*Bella wishes to tell you that no children were harmed in the making of our toothpick structures. However, the blueberries did not fare so well.

Bella said, "Ewwwww." However, after the initial squish, the blueberry was mysteriously quiet.

Crew's Quarters: College Prep Genius

2009-10-02T21:30:00.001-07:00

With three children currently attending college and another entering in a few years, do you think I would be interested in having my children achieve good SAT scores? You bet I am. My oldest daughter graduated high school and attended her first year of college in Australia and didn't need the SAT for admission. But, with my next two daughters I saw how good SAT scores opened doors for scholarship offers.
Now, both of the older girls are excellent students and carried high grade point averages. They both achieved good solid SAT scores and entered the colleges of their choice. So, we must have been doing something right. My oldest son is the next in line. He has a few years to go, but that seemed to be the perfect time for the arrival of an SAT review program to find our mailbox.

What arrived was College Prep Genius by Jean Burk. Consisting of one handbook, one workbook, and 4 DVDs it promises to help you Read, Believe, and Achieve your way to the top!

(College Prep Genius is available here. It currently is on sale for $79 which represents a 30% discount off the normal price.)

Now, before I share my experience with the product, let me briefly share what I consider in my review.

First I ask myself, "Do I have a need for it?" Obviously, in this case the answer is yes. So, then I ask, "Does it conflict with the student's learning style or my teaching style?" In this case, my son does not like to read so DVDs seem like they might be a good way to go. Then, we move on to trying out the product. After giving it a preview, I share it with my children. We give it a good trial then I assess two things: "Do I feel confident that it does what it says it does?" and "Do I feel good overall in promoting this product?"

That said, let's take a look. On page 8, Ms. Burk spells out her plan for success.

Start with taking a practice SAT test. Good, so far.

Then, read the handbook through two or three times.

Third, learn the acronyms for each section. (What are the acronyms? More on that later.)

4th- Watch DVDs

5th- Take PSAT as a freshman and sophomore (for practice)

6th- Take PSAT in junior year

7th- Schedule several SAT test in a row. (She says you might as well take two or three of then.)

8th- Keep a record of your practice scores

Ms. Burk makes considerable use of acronyms to help students remember the material she presents. In fact these acronyms are essential to her program. As an example, let's look at the acronym to aid in the sentence completion section. The acronym is used her is, logically enough, COMPLETION:

C lassify unknown words

O perate the positive/negative test

M agnify SCOPE words/adjectives

P redict blanks positive or negative

L ip-read the answer choice

E liminate wrong flow answer choices.

I could go on, but I suspect you get the idea. This is just one example of the many, many acronyms students are asked to memorize.

The student then progresses this way through the math and writing section as well - taking practice tests, watching DVDs, and memorizing acronyms to remember hints to solve questions.

It was at about this point that I began to grow concerned. I figured, if you are doing just a few of the steps mentioned above, notably the ones not involving the product, you will still almost certainly increase your test scores. I saw it with my own daughters and many sources encourage repeat test taking for just that reason. At this point, I reviewed my third criteria for recommending a product. I asked myself if this product could do what it says it could. I have to admit, that I am not convinced that this product, if used according to the above outlined plan, will do anything more than would happen without the product.

Let me state, I whole heartedly agree that if you follow the above program to the letter, your SAT scores will most certainly improve. However, I do not believe that can be attributed solely to the use of this program.

I will share that I believe the math portion of this program has many valuable hints and tips in understanding what the questions are asking. The author clearly shows how many SAT math questions are logic questions and she provides valuable strategies for solving them without a calculator. If your child is weak in this area, perhaps you will find this product helpful. I know one of my daughter's would have benefited somewhat from some of this information.

Overall, however, this is not a product I would feel comfortable recommending. The things I mentioned above as well as my concern with the inaccuracies of some of the statistics posted on the product website, make me uncomfortable recommending this product. Please, don't just take my word. I would hate to be responsible for steering you away from a product that might benefit your family. There are many other TOS Crew families who also reviewed College Prep Genius. Click here to see what they have to say as well.

Crew's Quarters: A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks and Unit Studies

2009-09-29T21:33:00.001-07:00

I'm old!

I started homeschooling our oldest back when the dinosaur roamed the earth and Reader Rabbit inhabited the floppy disks we installed on our first 512K hard-drive computer. Back then Christian homeschool parents had two choices. We could use textbooks published for brick and mortar schools or we could chuck it all and go the unschooling route. There wasn't much in-between.
As with the way of things, many years have passed. And, while I can say time has been kind to me, I will note that it has been very, very kind to homeschoolers.
The wealth of resources available today simple overwhelms. One of the neatest things to grace the scene is lapbooks. What a great idea for parents of children who like to create while they learn. Some children just learn better when their hands are busy. And lapbooks fit the bill. Neat little folders made of paper folded into interesting little booklets are glued into folded file folders to make a permanent record of things learned. A Journey through Learning publishes many, many different lapbooks and, luck girl that I am, I was able to review five of them. Since were studying the Old Testament this year, their desert lapbook was a good fit.
The Desert Lapbook with Study Guide ($14.00) is a 62 page book in pdf. form that contains the basics starting with how to fold your booklets (Do you know your hotdog fold from your hamburger fold?) to the prettily colored booklets themselves. But, it doesn't end there. In addition, the study guide give you complete information needed to fill in a booklet. Of course, you can continue your research on your own. Additional resources are suggested for further study.
I was impressed with the quality and variety of of the study material enclosed and topics covered. The Kiddo Kays learned about several different deserts including the Sahara, Gobi, and Arabian. They also discovered facts about interesting plants insects, turtles, and other animals.

Our experience with A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks has been a positive one. This is one company that I will continue to visit as we explore some of their other titles.

Check out A Journey Through Learning. You can also see what my fellow reviewers said by clicking here.

Are those your kids?

2009-09-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

We were at a restaurant last night with some friends who are passing through Hawaii on a brief vacation during their relocation. Although the husbands know one another through occasional work related travel, the women and kids had only met once before. But they are some of those people who you know from the first meeting that they would be good friends. So, when they were on the island this week we took the opportunity to get together again. They joined us for church Sunday evening and afterward we all decided that we should head for dinner somewhere where we could all get reacquainted.
We chose Denny's as a balance of decent food, reasonable prices, and most importantly, a place that was quite enough to chat but not so fancy that we had to worry about the kids being unwelcome.
They sat the 'old people' at a table and put the 4 youngest kids nearby. Orders were taken and we were waiting for our drinks. Everyone was chatting among themselves. Animated conversation came from the kid booth. The waitress delivered the drinks to the kids and then came around to us.
She delivered the drinks to the men and them came around to our side of the table and as she gave us our drinks she said, "Our those your kids?"
Now, I don't know if it is human nature or what, but, when I hear that my heart always skips a beat.
"Um yes, They are."
Then she said, "Well, I just want to tell you that they all have impeccable manners!"
Why, Thank you!

Crew's Quarters: Growing Healthy Homes Nutrition 101

2009-09-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

I was a pretty sickly kid. For many years, it seems like I missed more school days than I attended. Recurrent bouts of tonsillitis, strep throat, and an improperly treated case of rheumatic fever which ultimately landed me in CICU as a preteen plagued my childhood. At some point we got it all under control and I became a pretty typical kid with a rapid fire metabolism existing on a pretty typical American diet. Even with the resulting heart damage, I danced, I took karate, I swam - For years I did everything other kids did.

That all changed a year after my second daughter was born. I had been swimming, life guarding, and teaching swimming for years. But, one evening, while taking a renewal class for my Water Safety Instructor certification, I dove into a pool and tore a muscle in my neck. What started as 'no big deal' spiraled into developing fibromyalgia and later an entire host of autoimmune related conditions. I didn't happen overnight. But, that accident was the beginning of a long decent into some serious health and lifestyle issue that plague me still today.

I KNOW that what I eat frequently has strong bearing on how I feel. But knowing what not to eat is not the same as knowing what to eat. I've read book after book on the subject of how nutrition affects the body. I try to incorporate what I know into how we live but it is so, so hard. We live in a fast food world with a busy life. So, when B-bot emerges from the gym, dripping in sweat and ravenously hungry, asks so sweetly for a $1.00 hamburger as we pass McDonalds, it is all too easy to say, "Yes."

Then one day in August, Nutrition 101 arrived. As a member of the TOS Crew, I was asked to review the e-version of Growing Healthy Homes nutrition book. What a blessing it has been.

A beautiful book, pleasantly illustrated, designed to teach a wide variety of ages, Nutrition 101 can be used for both health and nutrition credit and covers a wide variety of topics. Divided into 6 units of 4 chapters each, the entire book presents 12 body systems. In my opinion, the best part is that in each chapter there is information about a specific body system and then appropriate recipes to support that system. For example, avocados provide plenty of healthy fat. So, guacamole is brain food! (Note: I do not need an excuse to eat avocados!)

In addition to the well presented material in each chapter, the book is loaded with appendices which contain a wealth of additional information including, among many other topics, a not necessarily politically correct (but appears to me to be a well researched) food pyramid, using spices, essential oils, and enzymes. This is hardly an exhaustive list. There is much, much more.
After reviewing the product, I find it a good fit fir the Christian family who wants to understand how the Creator designed us and how to best care for what he gave us. In my opinion:

Pros:
Comprehensive curriculum
Well researched (although, as I mentioned above) it is not necessarily politically correct in its conclusions
Great recipes to coincide with the lesson

Cons:
While designed for all ages, the material is a trifle advanced for the younger set. Mom will probably need to paraphrase text and define hard words.
Some families might balk at the price for what is considered an elective.
Finally, and please note that this does not effect the quality of the information, there are far more typos than I would care to see in a curriculum selling at this price.

I really think that this curriculum has a lot to offer. But, please see for yourself. Check out the sample pages here. And, to see what my fellow reviewers are saying, check here.

Nutrition 101 is available in bound form for $99.95, as a CD e-book for $79.99, or in combo for $129.95

CtG: Week 3

2009-09-26T02:16:00.000-07:00

This week we saw the awesome hand of God move among His people.

In our continuing study of the Book of Genesis, we rode with Noah on the ark, stood shamed and later cursed with Ham as he laughed at his father's nakedness, attempted to exalt ourselves above the creator by building a tower to the heavens, and wandered with Noah's descendant as they dispersed throughout the fertile crescent.

In science we continued to look the intricacies of light. We observed bright bursts of light coming from ordinary wintergreen lifesavers as we crushed them with a pliers. As an aside, I will share that we also learned that you can fit 5 people in a very small bathroom (our only windowless room) if you stand very still – but someone probably will still need to stand on the toilet. We also observed how refraction changes the way we see through liquids.

(I asked the kids to look intrigued, Bella just manages to look slightly scary.)

We drew a map to show the migration of Noah's sons. And we added still more pages to our notebooks.

And, today we did the most fun project of all. We had some friends visiting us today so we looked over some information about early Mesopotamia and then we all practiced writing like early scribes. Unlike the scribes who used clay to record their writing, we used cookie dough. As I was putting the baking sheets into the oven, I heard on young scholar exclaim, “This is the tastiest school work I've ever done!”

After we finished, I was cleaning up the kitchen and I think I understood the reason the ancient civilizations collapsed. Although they were able to record the written word, their ~~cookies~~ writings were too fragile to withstand time and all they were left with was ~~crumbs~~ rubble.

I Love This Little Boy

2009-09-24T01:56:00.001-07:00

What I saw:

What I thought: Ewwwww! Please do not touch me with your sweaty foul body.

What I heard: Hey, Mom! Guess what? I got it....my double back handspring!

Oh Yeah!

Like I said, I love this boy!

The Crew's Quarters: STUDYPOD

2009-09-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, several posts without a single review!

But all play and no work is not good. So, it's time to continue on with the voyage. The current review item is not actually curriculum at all. It's a really neat study aid called STUDYPOD.

About the size of a mass market paperback, this neat little package opens like a book to reveal a pocket to hold pencils, ipods, or other goodies. But, more than that, it becomes a really nifty book holder. Primarily designed by a teacher to hold textbooks, we found lots of uses in a homeschool setting.

High School Guy using it to hold his Bible while he works on a writing project.

Bella finds it helpful to hold a cookbook when preparing a recipe.

B-Bot studies his Awana verses while eating a quick after-gymnastics snack.

Selling for $19.95 or $16.95 each for 2 or more, STUDYPOD is available in black, blue, and pink. It is also available at the same price in black, gray, and beige under the name BOOKPOD. (If you have girls, get the pink! Otherwise, I guarantee the guys will find so many uses for it that you will never see it again.) Right now, Genio is offering my blog readers a $5.00 discount on the order total. Just use the following code: TOSBLOGS5.

Pros: Sturdy support for hands free use of typical books.

Compact storage when not in use.

Holds pencils, pens, etc in handy inside pouch.

Cons: None really. The price is a bit high for my taste but I am happy to have

this one.

Care to see what fellow crew mates think? Take a look here.

CtG: Week 2

2009-09-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

We're moving along with CtG. This week we were looking at the Garden of Eden through Noah and the flood.

We added some more pages to our notebooks. Here's one Bella did on The Fall.

We added more figures to our timeline.

We also went outside to measure the length of the ark. That was one big boat! Our local park wasn't big enough to fit the whole thing so we went out to the street. Unfortunately, our street is curved so it was pretty hard to get a good picture. Also, the zoom on my camera, doesn't really work all the way to 400+ feet . Anyway, we learned that indeed, the ark was a pretty massive vessel.

Science had us looking at light. We observed that light was reflected in the stream of water flowing from a tin can. We went into our windowless bathroom so the effect of the lit water stream was even more impressive. We also learned that a prism will break a beam of light into its many colored components.

After our investigation of light, we took a short rabbit trail and looked at color. In co-op last year I spent a lot of time covering density and associated properties. So, it seemed like a nice progression to start this year with a look at chromatography and how different colored inks and dyes responded when separated. I asked the kids to figure out what chromatography meant. No one knew 'chroma' meant color. But, thanks to English From the Roots Up at least my kids knew 'graphia' meant to write.

As an aside, we also learned that not all plastics are created equal and that acetone is a powerful solvent! (No, I did not accidently allow acetone to eat through a plastic cup in our host's home! I checked it out at my own home first!)

We tried to map the dyes in skittles but they are coated with wax and do not wick very well. However, they do make really pretty patterns if you let the color dissolve in cold water!

Finally, on the music front, we are starting our study of Vivaldi and listening to his Four Seasons. However, that's not exactly an impressive photograph so I'll have to let you use your imagination for that.

That's all for this week in My Father's World.

"Awww, Mom! He's So Adorable!"

2009-09-19T01:17:00.000-07:00

In direct contrast to my post below, I generally do not panic when I hear the quote above. In this case, the quotee was B-bot and the “so adorable” was a very tiny little gecko that he spotted when he was going up the stairs.

Here in Hawaii, it is considered good luck to find a gecko in your home. Catching them is only for the young and quick and B-bot delights in the task. Those little things are fast. They may be tiny but they move at the speed of light.

As far as inside visitors go, this little guy was pretty tiny. Generally they ones that we see in the house are about 4-6”.

They like to hang out in the corner of the living room ceiling but I've seen plenty of 'evidence' to indicate that they like to hang out on the window sills, too. Usually we just leave them alone. I assume they eventually find their way back outside because I've never seen a dead one in the house anywhere. B-bot wanted to rescue this little guy because he didn't want someone to step on him.

It's just another perk of living in Hawaii.