Popcorn Fun

Yes, that is Carmel Popcorn!  We are having a lot of fun with the Hoppin Popcorn DNG this week.  I made a deal with my children that we would make something with popcorn every other day this week.  Today was caramel popcorn.  While there are many recipes that involve cooking up your own caramel, we went the easy route.  After air popping some popcorn we melted these caramel bits with a little water in the microwave:  Spread the popcorn on a cookie sheet and drizzle the caramel over top, then let it cool (we put it in the refrigerator to expedite the process).  It was a sticky, delicious snack after family scripture study tonight!

What is your favorite popcorn recipe? ? ?

Updating Chorepacks

With summer coming, a new school year started, and a pregnant mommy it was time to tweak our Chorepacks.  We also officially chose meal helpers.  It has been a long time since I’ve talked about Chorepacks, mostly because they have been working so smoothly that I rarely think about it. 

Managers of Their Chores has been a wonderful tool to equip my children from a young age to be active and competent helpers at home.  Even a 3 year old can gain independence with this system.  While the system looks simple, the theory and thought put into distributing chores in a family is all laid out in the book, I wholeheartedly recommend it!

What changes have we made for summer? 
Our children now have 3 Chorepacks in a day, though only one is focused exclusively on chores (if you do not consider personal hygiene a chore).  I use the handy pages pictured at the top of this post to keep them in one place, changing out cards as each child turns in their chorepack.  I do use the Choreware online software to create our cards, which is how I get the handy pictures to go with chores.

Morning Chorepacks
These are done upon waking in the morning and contain personal hygiene tasks like brush hair and get dressed, as well as spiritual hygiene like reading scriptures and saying their prayers.  When they come downstairs in the morning to deliver completed chorepacks they are ready for the day.

Breakfast Helper and Assistant
Joseph asked to be my Breakfast Helper.  That works well because he is one of my early birds, out of bed cheerfully without prompting.  Daniel really wanted to help with breakfast too, so he is Joseph’s Assistant.  They are responsible for getting breakfast ready, emptying the dishwasher if it needs done, and wiping down the table after everyone’s eaten.

Lunch Helper
Emma is my lunch helper.  She likes helping in the kitchen but is always asking if we can bake something.  I think I need to set a baking day where she can help me…LOL.  She unloads the dishwasher if needed and wipes the table.

Afternoon Chorepacks
The older four children’s chorepacks are as follows -

• Makayla – Pick up floors, Sweep dining room and kitchen, Empty bathroom trash (both bathrooms).
• Joseph – Pick up floors, Clean bathroom sink (both bathrooms), Laundry helper.
• Emma – Pick up floors, Hand vacuum bathroom floors, Laundry helper with Joseph.
• Daniel – Pick up floors.

Everyone has pick up floors in the afternoon because they are to do the whole house.  It is so important right now with Caleb beginning to move around on the floors that we keep little toys picked up.  The laundry helpers do whatever I need done at that point.  Some days they toss in a load of laundry or switch loads, others have them sorting clean laundry and delivering it to each family member’s bed.  Once a week they will wipe down the washer and dryer too.

Dinner Helper
This one was easy to choose because Makayla is the one who really is ready to learn to cook and dinner is usually the most cooking intensive meal.  She’s able to chop, measure, stir things on the stove, put things in the oven, and so on.

Bedtime Chorepacks
We are still trying to work out just when to do these time-wise.  Some children take longer to get ready for bed, especially if they are writing in a journal.  Depending on age this chorepack includes items like:

• Pick up floors
• Put on pajamas
• Brush teeth
• Go potty and put on a diaper
• Write in your journal
• Pray

There is also a shower card that is put in on nights they are to shower.  Sometimes showers happen at other times of day, so this is not always in there.

I have to let you in on a secret. 

If you had asked my children two weeks ago if we were still doing chorepacks they would have said no.  You see, the original chores had become so automatic that they no longer used the cards, they just did their chores.  Everything was routine.  I love this aspect of chorepacks!  After weeks or months of using the cards their jobs become automatic.    That is one reason why we put their personal hygiene and spiritual hygiene into chorepacks – we want those habits firmly built for life. 

My next project is a deep cleaning or weekly chorepack for those things we usually do once a week.  I’m not sure yet just how to divide out those tasks, like cleaning out the microwave, straightening the shoes on the porch, and cleaning out the van.  I’ll try to post about it when I get them figured out – I’m going to re-read Managers of Their Chores first.

Do you have any questions about chorepacks or chores in general?  Leave me a comment!

Let’s Feast Upon the Words of Christ this Summer!

. . . Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. – 2 Nephi 32:3

This scripture has been on my mind and heart for a few days now so when Caleb discovered someone’s scriptures on the floor this morning I sat him on the couch to see if I could get a cute picture to go with the verse.  He was rather cooperative - he loves to chew on books.  I rescued the scriptures shortly afterward, in case you were wondering.  Summer is nearly here and many people are talking about their plans for the summer months. 

Today I want to encourage you to feast upon the scriptures this summer, both individually and as a family. 

It does not matter to me how you do it.  You can choose a specific amount to read each day, a length of time to read each day, or just wing it.  It doesn’t matter to me which scriptures you choose to read.  All that matters is that you read every day from June 1st to August 15th as a family and as individuals.

“Never let a day go by without holding family prayer and family scripture study. Put this, the Lord’s program, to the test; and see if it does not bless your home with greater peace, hope, love, and faith.” – Elder L. Tom Perry

Our Family Plan 
We are focusing on the Book of Mormon this summer.  You’re welcome to download and use any of the charts I’ve created, one is even blank so you can use it with any scriptures you choose.

Makayla, Mommy, and Daddy will be reading the entire Book of Mormon. We’ll need to read 7 pages a day to finish in the 76 days from June 1st to August 15th.  I made this Book of Mormon Summer Reading Chart to keep track of readings:

BOM Summer Reading

Joseph, Emma, Daniel, Oliver, and Caleb will be reading the Book of Mormon Stories reader with a family member each day for personal scripture study.  They can choose anyone old enough to read with them as a helper each day.  There are only 54 chapters, so when they finish this they will be able to choose what scriptures they wish to read next for personal scripture study.  The Book of Mormon Stories reader is free online.  Here is the Book of Mormon Stories Summer Reading Chart:

BOM Stories Summer Reading

As a whole family we will be reading from the Book of Mormon each day.  This will be the hardest for us because of the span in our family’s ages.  Just picture getting six little ones in one place and relatively quiet…LOL.  For this we will focus on reading and discussing a few verses or a story each day.  I created a Blank Summer Reading Chart so we can mark of each day we read, probably recording what we read in each box as we go along: 

Blank Summer Reading

  I hope that you will join our family in our summer scripture adventure!  Of all the possible activities to do this summer I know that feasting upon the words of Christ will bless my family (and yours!) the most. 

Are you hungry?

Week in Review #4–We’re still here!

The week is a blur mostly.  I remember math meltdowns that had me sending out an S.O.S., I was given so much advice and we’re trying a few different things.  It is already making a difference! 

We’ve dived into the time of the Vikings in history.  I really appreciate the Family Handbook from Simply Charlotte Mason for planning all our readings out for me.  Currently we read a chapter in Famous Men of the Middle Ages as a family (this sometimes loses Joseph and Emma’s attention, it’s a bit challenging).  Then I read to Joseph, Emma, and the younger three boys from their current book – Leif the Lucky – and they narrate to me.  Makayla reads her own book, The Vikings by Janeway, and narrates what she read to me.

We read more in Five Little Peppers and How they Grew (sweet and fun book!).   I’m not sure we will quite finish it before book club next week but we will be a good way through it.  Which reminds me, I need to see what our next book title is.  

In science Joseph finished Rocking Robots and he, Emma, and Daniel will being Hoppin Popcorn next week.  In that title they will study the corn plant, Pueblo indians, corn mazes, five states that produce corn, nutrition, the science behind why popcorn pops, and more.  Makayla took a botany break to start Handsome Horses and is really enjoying that.  She’ll go back to botany when she finishes up horses. (Those are affiliate links by the way.) 

I’m 6 weeks along (approximately) and the morning sickness lasts all day already.  I’ve not thrown up yet, which is nice.  Every time I feel really yucky I just praise God for another life growing, which puts me in a grateful attitude instead of a whiny one.  I have found a new exercise system I’m beginning that I am very excited about.  I’ll share more next week hopefully. 

I also decided that I shop from Amazon.com so much that it was time for me to become an affiliate.  That means I get a small credit for any purchases made through my links.  If you’ve got some shopping to do on Amazon and want to help my budget feel free to click through the banner in my right sidebar.  It doesn’t cost you anything more, Amazon just gives me credit for sending you their direction to shop.  My budget thanks you – and so does my husband!

That’s all for our report – how was your week?

 

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap-Up.

CitiBlocs for Creative Play

My children, especially my boys, love to build things.  We’ve got many different types of building blocks at our house.  However, when we were given the opportunity to try out CitiBlocs I couldn’t wait to see what my children would do with them.  CitiBlocs are different from all our other building systems in two ways:

1. All Wood - They are made from sustainably grown pine.
2. One Size – Every piece, called a plank, is exactly the same size, 1" x 4 1/2" x 1/4".

I love wooden blocks, especially the smell.  It certainly beats the scent of plastic for plain old enjoyment.  Having all the planks exactly the same has been a surprisingly wonderful idea.  My children’s imagination is required to create with CitiBlocs.  There are no “window” pieces, cars, or characters to direct my children into a play rut.  A play rut is where they always play the same way with the item because it is static, fixed in the child’s perception.  A window shaped block is always a window.  Give a child basic planks and they can create windows, castles, race tracks, bridges, trees, or anything they can imagine.  There is no predetermined role for CitiBlocs to play. 

Because the blocks do not fasten together my children are learning so much about balance, force, and how to build something to withstand the effects of gravity(or the effects of a sibling).  They are finding ways to make a creation more stable, as well as the many ways to break something apart.

In case you’re wondering, I’m not nearly as flexible as my children when handed such an open-ended building material.  That’s why I was thrilled to discover two free downloadable resources CitiBlocs offers:

• Building Ideas and Instructions Manual – this booklet has photographs of creations with the number of planks used to create it beside each photo.  On other pages in the booklet are line drawings to show a few steps to create items using different techniques.  It’s great for a visual learner!
• Education Manual with Lesson Plans – Here is the real treasure for me as a homeschool mother.  In these 30 pages I was able to learn basic building principles first.  Then there were lesson plans for activities in math, science, social studies, art, and architecture.

What We Think
CitiBlocs have found a permanent place in our home.  Someone asks to build with them at least once a day and if one person get the blocks out it does not take long before the others join in.  My children have been learning teamwork as they try to complete challenges like building the tallest structure they can:

We received the 300 piece natural color package from CitiBlocs.  They offer sets in smaller and greater amounts and also offer a few colored sets, including cool colors, warm colors, and the newly released camo colors.  You can purchase CitiBlocs on their website, on Amazon(affiliate link), and at other national retailers.

{Disclaimer: We received this product for free to review.  We received no other compensation and all opinions presented herein are ours.}

Finding Kindle Books, Preferably Free!

I’m still a fairly new Kindle user (read my Kindle Fairy Tale) but  wanted to share a little of what I’ve learned so far about where to find books - especially free books.  If you’ve had a Kindle for long you’ll probably already know these ideas, but it never hurts to share!  Remember, if you do not own a Kindle you can download the free Kindle app on Amazon for a computer or other device.

The first place I find Kindle books is obviously on Amazon.com in the Kindle Store.  They offer a lot of them and so far I’ve purchased only a few.  For my birthday I bought one of my favorite book series on Kindle – the Twilight Saga.  I also purchased Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness by Candace Cameron Bure.  I’m about halfway through that book and it’s pretty good so far!

The next place I go every week is the Bestseller in Kindle E-books list.  While it lists the top 100 Kindle books for sale, it also lists the top 100 free Kindle books.  This list changes (updated hourly) and I try to check it at least once a week, sometimes twice.  I have found lots of books through this page. 

The Kindle Limited-Time Offers page is worth checking out too.  Here you’ll find a mix of free and paid books at great prices.  You never know what you’ll find.

The Kindle Popular Classics page is a gold mine of free books.  Currently there are more than 15,000 results on this page.  Yes, really.  Have at it!

My next stop for free books for my Kindle is Project Gutenberg, a site with over 33,000 free ebooks.  I usually start by browsing their bookshelf collections.  On this site the files you want will be labeled Kindle or MOBI format.  I download them to my computer and then plug in my Kindle with the USB cord.  Find the files and drag and drop them into the Kindle drive’s Documents folder and you’re all set!  

Archive.org is another place filled with public domain books to download.  You can search the site or browse collections like the Children’s Library.  When you click on a title to learn more about it you will see a box on the left of the screen with the many formats available to download, including Kindle.  Download the file to your computer and then plug in a Kindle with the USB cord.  Find the files and drag and drop them into the Kindle drive Documents Folder and you’re all set!  My most recent download from here is The Story of Doctor Doolittle.

There are also blogs on the web all about using a Kindle and finding the free or specially priced e-books as they appear.  One easy place to find listings of those blogs is this Kindle Wiki page.

Where do you find books for your Kindle?  What are your favorite ways or places to use a Kindle?  Have you tried the audio book feature yet?

A Change of Place–Math Helps

I’m truly overwhelmed and humbled by the many responses I’ve received in the comments and through email to my S.O.S. post about math.  Thank you!  It is great to see the possibilities through so many different eyes and we’ll be using some of the ideas in the near future.

Today after a chat with Makayla I found that one of the hardest things to her is simply staying focused on math when there are things going on around her with the other family members.  It might be someone talking, playing, or even just walking past her that draws her attention.  It really didn’t surprise me too much, she’s a lot like her daddy in this area.  We decided to try an experiment.  For the next week or two she’s going to test out new places/ways to do her math. 

Day 1 (today) found her upstairs in her bedroom with a fan turned up for white noise, curtains shut, and earplugs in.  Her worksheet was on a clipboard, she had the Math U See blocks available, and if she needed help on a problem she was to go on and do the rest before we worked together on trouble problems.  The other children stayed downstairs working with mommy on their own math, reading, and other activities.

How did it go?
It went pretty well, actually.  She completed the work and only made three mistakes, all of which she was able to look at the problem and tell me where she went wrong without any hints.  She was still cheerful by the end of math.  In Makayla’s words, “It really helped to not have all the noise around me.  I like doing math there.”  The one thing she didn’t like is the earplugs, which ‘felt too big’.  She used them about half the time today.  I need to see if they make some for children so they fit better for her, as blocking the noise seems to be important for her.

It looks like we’ve found a good place to do math, now our focus is going to switch to finding the best setup in her room.  She’ll try working on her bed, on the floor, and we’ll move a desk upstairs to try as well.  She has climate control with her fans and blankets so she feels comfortable temperature-wise.  There is a bathroom just outside her door.  She can even stand and do math at her dresser if she wants to. 

There are more changes in the works in an effort to make math more enjoyable, which I’ll share after we try them.

S.O.S. - I Need Help!

What is that one subject your child just loathes?  The one that brings tears and frustration - yours and theirs.  I have blogged before about Makayla’s math struggles.  She did her math today and took over an hour for 18 problems.  If she had worked steadily it should have taken probably a half an hour.  After I graded the paper she had missed eight of those problems making mostly simple mistakes. 

Her reaction was beyond ridiculous when I told her we were going to sit together to work the problems she had missed to figure out where things went wrong.  She’s an emotional, stubborn, defiant child when it comes to math and it’s not been pretty at my house today.  It stinks.  I’m the meanest mom in the world, according to her, and math is awful, she’s never going to do math again, blah blah blah.

The thing that really drives me crazy is she will do math just fine for a few days, though it takes a while, and then we hit a day where it’s World War III again.  I don’t get it.  I really don’t.   How do you get across to that child that some subjects are just non-negotiable?  

Honestly it is not just the math that needs addressed.  She’s grasping it okay when she’s calm.  It’s her reactions.  She’s over-reacting to everything math related and then her obedience and respectfulness goes right out the window.  She is literally crying, wailing, yelling, and flat out refusing to do things.  My solution so far works (she sits in the chair until the assignment it done), but it is not really addressing the heart of the problem.  How do you handle a child who suddenly turns into a monster over an assignment?

Seriously, I need some ideas because too many more days like today and I will win the meanest mom of the year award.  Help!

Two Quick Things

I just wanted to share two things really quickly before my day gets going.  First, I’ve got a new post up today over at Latter-Day Homeschooling about my summer challenge to you.  Go read it and be sure to leave a comment while you’re there!

Second, many people ask how to homeschool inexpensively, and while there are literally hundreds of things to do, one way we save money is watching for unbelievable sales on curriculum.  From now until Memorial Day Scholastic’s Teacher Express is offering over 550 e-books for $1.00 each in their Dollar Deals sale.  I just finished downloading my purchases, a mix of items for math, grammar, science, and phonics from Preschool through about a 6th grade level.  This is the third time they’ve had a dollar sale and each time I’ve found at least a few e-books our family could use.  

A Journey to Simplify–Part 3

After my last post lamenting the books that have invaded every place in our home I received lots of good advice in the comments.  Thank You!  It is so encouraging to know I’m not the only one on this journey to simplify.  

I decided to spend time working on one shelf that I knew held books I no longer needed in print because they were free to download to my Kindle.  Once I got rolling it was pretty fun.  While we still have plenty of books, I was able to pass all of these to my local Goodwill store: Want to know what was even better?  Some of those crates were filled willingly by my children from their very own bookshelves in their bedrooms.  I was so proud of them!

What will be the next thing to go? 

You can read through my past posts on A Journey to Simplify here.

A Journey to Simplify–Part 2

Last week I posted about the beginnings of our journey to simplify beginning with the attic and toys.  Like most things this will be an ongoing process and today I’m going to share a few more thoughts.  You’ll probably notice along the way that I’m a little conflicted about this.  Agreeing with an idea and implementing it myself are often two different matters all together!

Our house abounds with shelves, drawers, a few cabinets, and even piles here and there.  We have more shelves of books than we have children – a bit of an accomplishment in this family.  There are a lot of good and great books there, but also some I will probably never read again.  I have come to the sad realization that I have too many books. 

Just one example of our book shelves.

I was thinking about this earlier in the week because right now I have several books sitting on my desk that I am reading.  I am becoming more selective - willing to put a book down if it is not a compelling read.  Even with that I do not have enough time to read everything I would like to.  Then I look at my bookshelves and see several books I want to re-read, books I need to re-read, like The No-Cry Sleep Solution books by Elizabeth Pantley (both the one for babies and the one for toddlers/preschoolers).

I look at another shelf and discover a book or resource I had hoped to use with my children when we were studying something, but that I forgot about.  I see books I’m sure my younger children would love me to read to them if only they could see them on the shelves.

See the manipulatives and games?

All that does not even begin to address the drawers and shelves of art materials, games, puzzles, and manipulatives.  We even have some books and materials packed in the attic for later, though these mostly are ones like American History books we’ll come back to when we cycle back around in our studies. 

So what do I do?  How do I move out some of the books we don’t need and won’t use?  How do I organize the other materials to make it easier for the children to access them at will?  If I’m being really honest with myself I’m just a wee bit attached to most of these things.  I even feel guilty getting rid of them, even when I take them to Goodwill.  I think for now I’m going to start one shelf at a time.  I’m still looking for motivation but maybe I’ll find it along the way!

How do you keep books and homeschool materials from taking over the house?  What steps can I take to simplify my shelves?  I’m open to some ideas.

Easy Lunchboxes Winner

The winner for the Easy Lunchboxes giveaway was chosen using Random.org:  Congratulations ChristinaB!

ChristinaB said...

On the website they bring out several good points.Its so much healthier to pack a lunch.I dont work outside the home but I do find we tend to buy unhealthy foods while we are out and about and kiddos get hungry.These would be great for packing snacks!

May 15, 2011 8:57 PM

It’s neat when someone I know wins, and this time it’s even someone I’m related to, how often does that happen?!?!

Thanks for entering everyone!  If you missed the giveaway be sure to read my post about Easy Lunchboxes and see what the fuss is all about.

Week in Review #3–Consistent yet Flexible

Life here are Our Busy Homeschool is never boring.  With Mommy already beginning to feel the joys of morning sickness we’re working on consistency in the basics and flexibility for everything else.  This week’s homeschool happened at all hours of the day or evening, which is very unusual for us, but we just have to do it when I’m not trying to throw up.  Here are the highlights:

We’ve been using a new building set this week as a family called CitiBlocs and having a great time.  Watch for my review next week!  Five Little Peppers and How They Grew is our family read aloud for Book Club.  I had never read it and so far we are all enjoying it.  The older children have also written, practiced, and performed a new play every night at dinner.  They’ve ranged from originals like Rat Attack to their own interpretation of Hercules and the Monster.

Makayla pushed through another week in Math U See Gamma and is so ready for things to get easy again with the next book.  She’s doing great though, as long as she keeps her attitude in check.  Her botany has been waiting around for one of our flowers to bloom in the backyard for an experiment.  It finally bloomed today, so we’re heading out back this afternoon to get to work while we enjoy the sunshine.  She’s enjoying Vikings in history.

Joseph still finds math easy and likes it.  Can all my children be like this please?  He’s read several readers to me this week.  His favorite subject has been science though.  He’s still working through Rocking Robots and bravely writing in most of the answers himself – something that is quite a challenge for a 6 year old boy. 

Emma’s big accomplishment is she finished her Bees lapbook this week! She worked hard on it and I’m so proud of her.  It makes me a bit teary-eyed because she’s the same age Makayla was when we first discovered lapbooking.  Time flies!  She’s also keeping up in math and history just fine.

Daniel has not wanted to do anything this week but play.  Guess what – that’s fine with me!  He’s 3 and playing is hard work.  He read a few books with mommy, but mostly he has been busy with toys.

Oliver’s favorite thing this week is catch.  We have to keep an eye out because you just never know what he’s going to throw at you next. 

Caleb is 6 months old today.  I can hardly believe it, he’s growing so fast.  He was sitting at dinner last night snacking his lips and trying to get everyone’s food so we finally let him try solids.

He wasn’t too impressed with peas.    That’s enough highlights from our week – how was yours?

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap-Up.

A Kid’s Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the USA–A Timberdoodle Review

The whole series.

One of the things we love about unit studies is the opportunity to combine subjects under one topic.  When Timberdoodle offered to let my family review one book in the “A Kid’s Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the USA” series we jumped on the chance.   Combining history  and art curriculum in one, the series of 42 volumes will take your family through the life, times, and key events from George Washington to George W. Bush’s presidencies.  Originally over a thousand dollars for the set, Timberdoodle has a limited supply of these sets for only $195.00.  A few titles are available individually for $9.95 as well, including the one we received: How to Draw the Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln.  It was rather convenient to receive this volume as my children had studied the Civil War in the fall and were already familiar with good old Abe.  We snuggled up on the couch and read about Lincoln.  The book covers his life from childhood through death by first beginning with two sections that give you an overview of life before and during his presidency.  There is a timeline, glossary, and website list in the back of the book for more information. 

The rest of the book is laid out like this:

On the left is a photograph of an item related to Abraham Lincoln with the story, while on the right page you see step-by-step instructions to help you draw the item yourself.   Each step is explained in text AND shown by red lines.  On subsequent steps the newest lines to add are red, while the previous lines drawn are shown in black. 

Some of the things you’ll draw with this book are:

• A log cabin.
• Lincoln’s desk when he was a lawyer.
• A banner used during his campaign for presidency.
• Abraham Lincoln himself.

After reading a few pages to my oldest four children (ages 9, 6, 5, 3) we gathered at our table to draw.  We chose to draw Lincoln’s desk when he was a lawyer.  To make this work for a group of children I used a small dry-erase board to illustrate each step, keeping the book in front of me.  I read the explanation and then demonstrated it.  My oldest would have easily been able to do this on her own with just the book, but we like working as a group as much as possible at our house.My children worked at their own level, following my demonstration or playing with their pencil (my 3 year old, who insisted he wanted to draw while his younger two brothers were napping).  Want to see the finished products?

Makayla’s drawing – she’s 9.

Joseph’s drawing – he’s 6.

Emma’s drawing – she’s 5.

What We Thought
The information pages themselves are well-written and worked in a read aloud situation easily.  My children loved seeing photos, especially of the items they were going to draw.  The art portion of the book works well with the combination of instructions and new lines shown in red.  Our only complaint -  In trying to keep the books at a certain number of pages the publisher kept each art project to one page.  This makes the illustrated instructions rather small, with too many lines added at once for the more detailed drawings.  It would have been better to give the more detailed drawings two pages of space with more steps to break down the drawing even more.  If you’re looking for a fun addition to your American history studies then check out this and other history curriculum available through Timberdoodle.

{Disclaimer: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

I Know Something They Don’t . . .

“You can see their eyes sorta bug out,” says Emma,
“Like this!” 

Sometimes I wonder what people think.  You know, those moments when you can see their eyes sorta bug out as you walk past with a baby in arms and five little ones trailing behind you at the doctor’s office or the grocery store.  Then I start laughing like a crazy woman because I know something they don’t . . .

. . . there’s another baby growing in my tummy due to arrive in January!

God has decided to bless us with another baby and we’re thrilled!  While parenting is more challenging than any paid job I’ve ever done it comes with the best benefits:  Sleepy snuggles, slobbery kisses, and sticky fingers sneaking the last cookie off your plate.  

God says children are a blessing – He’s right!

The Unit Study Sale of the Year!

I wanted to let everyone know about a great sale going on right now for some of our favorite unit studies.  Until May 31, 2011 Amanda Bennett is offering 41 Download N Go Unit Studies on CD as a package for only $130.00.  We own these and love love love them!  Written for K-4, they have everything in one spot, from notebook pages, videos, and articles to lapbooking pieces and even optional booklists.  We never finish one in a week, there is just so much good stuff in each unit.  Right now Joseph is working through Rocking Robots and it is so nice to just be able to open the file and learn. 

Amanda Bennett is also offering her 19 Unit Study Adventures on CD(for K-12) for $120.00.  These are four week studies, so you’re getting 76 weeks of learning. 

You can even get both sets together for $230.00 right now.  I am positive there is something for everyone in these units – more topics than you can imagine.  Be sure to check out the available titles on each item’s page, there are simply too many to list here.

Remember, I’m an affiliate so any purchases you make will put a small percentage of the sale in our own homeschool budget – thank you.  I chose to be an affiliate because I really use and really love Amanda Bennett’s Unit Studies!

Favorite Crew Reviews This Year (and Last!)

Our family has been so blessed the last two years reviewing products with the TOS Homeschool Crew!  Our time on board ship has finally come to an end and so I thought it was only right to share a list of our favorites in no particular order.  Click the links to read our original review for each product. 

This Year’s Favorite Products

• Dig It Roman Town – This game has given my children an interest in ancient history and archeology. 
• Speekee Spanish – We loved Speekee so much that we now own it on DVD and still use it every week. 
• Schleich Toys – Realistic, durable, and oh so fun to play with!
• Brill Kids: Little Reader Software – Daniel and Oliver both still enjoy this program and I think it has been wonderful for vocabulary and helping them speak too.
• Zeezok Movie Guide – We reviewed one for Kit Kitteridge and I loved that it was all there and ready to go.  The kids still talk about this unit.
• All About Reading – Daniel and Ziggy the Zebra are enjoying the alphabet together to this day.
• Yesterday’s Classics – We’re still reading books from this review, with others lined up for nature studies and history over the summer.
• Maestro Classics – We reviewed Peter and the Wolf this year, The Tortoise and the Hare last year, and loved them so much we’ve bought a third CD – The Story of Swan Lake.

Just in case you’re curious, you can read our favorites from year one on the Crew right here.  Some of those are still favorite products, while a few have been replaced or put away for a later child’s use. 

It’s been an adventure.  I’ve found my sea legs in this blogging and reviewing world and now it’s time to disembark.  We’ll still do some reviews independently because we really enjoy it, so stay tuned! 

WonderMaps Review

My final review for the TOS Homeschool Crew has arrived and it comes from Bright Ideas Press.  I received a free download of WonderMaps ($49.95) and we have been using them for our history studies.  WonderMaps consists of over 350 maps with the details built into layers.  Why is that important?  Because you can choose which layers appear on a map as you use them in your studies (and they’re printable!). 

What are these layers?  I’ll try to explain, then show you a video.  Each map has a variety of layers that you can turn on or off with a simple checkbox.  Some possible layers include:

• Country or State names
• Political borders
• Rivers and other physical features.
• Names for those physical features.
• Topography
• Outlines
• Colors
• Shading
• Historical boundaries
• Historical markers for battles, events, invasions, or routes taken.

With both world and US maps, country and region maps, and more than 125 historical maps, this program offers a variety of options. If you happen to use the popular programs The Mystery of History vols. I–III or All American History vols. I & II you will find that Wonder Maps has complete sets of the maps needed for those programs, with their own menus to navigate.  Speaking of navigation, the program was easy to find my way around, especially when I simply knew I wanted a map in a certain time period but had no idea exactly what I was looking for. 

Are you a visual person?  Maybe this video from Bright Ideas Press will help you to see how the program works:

We’ve been using WonderMaps recently to print outline maps of Europe for our map drills each week.  I like being able to print just the features I want.  Right now, for example, I do not want physical features like rivers and mountains on our outline map.  After we’ve learned where each country is we will add in those items – without the name labels – and begin learning which is which.  Each map in the program is really more like 10 different maps (or more!) depending upon which layers you choose to display onscreen or print out.  I love the versatility! 

My oldest daughter has a fascination with maps.  She has been playing with WonderMaps, exploring the layers and finding places that are relevant to things she has learned.  Of course, she also is asking to print the maps, and was a bit disappointed that we only have a black and while printer.  I was able to show her how to use the Black and White and Outline possibilities.  I have to say I understand – the possibilities with WonderMaps really do call out to be printed in color sometimes.

One last feature of WonderMaps is the Teacher’s Guide section in the program.  While it contains the user’s manual, it also has articles such as “50 Bright Ideas for Outline Maps” and “16 Easy Mapping Projects” to give you many fun ways to incorporate geography and maps into your homeschool.

I like WonderMaps and think it will be a great resource to use for many years to come in homeschooling my children.  I like the versatility and the ability not only to just look at the maps on the computer but to print them as well. 

You can read my Crewmates’ reviews to learn how they used WonderMaps in their homeschool.

{Disclaimer:  I received a free download of WonderMaps to review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions presented herein are my own.}

ABCmouse.com–A Review

We live in the computer age, and I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future.  It is important that our children learn their way around a computer, but we prefer that they spend time productively when doing so.  Our family has been able to try out a neat educational website that gave our children purposeful learning opportunities while using a computer.   ABCmouse.com is for children ages 2-6 and has a broad range of activities and content for young learners in one place.  While it is not intended to replace formal learning lessons, ABCmouse.com offers a fun way to learn and practice concepts for preschool and kindergarten ages presented through books, puzzles, games, songs, and art activities.  Here is an example of a puzzle: As you can see, there are 10 levels a child can do for every puzzle.  The easiest levels simply require a child to click on the puzzle piece and it will go to the proper spot.  Later difficulty levels remove the light background image and replace it with just puzzle piece outlines as a guide.This is an example of the books found in the content areas and library.  Some are animation, drawings, or real photographs as in this example.  Each book can play on it’s own, read aloud to the child while highlighting the words (if desired), or a child can read it on their own.  They come in many levels.

Subjects covered in ABCmouse.com:

• Reading – Vocabulary, recognizing sounds in words, knowing letters and their sounds, sight words, reading comprehension.
• World Around Us - Home, community, Earth, and space.
• Math – Numbers, shapes, measurements, patterns.
• Arts/Colors – visual art, colors.
• Music & Songs – songs that reinforce the things being taught, as well as learning about music and instruments.
• Library – More than 150 books from classics and original stories to nonfiction, which have a read aloud option for non-readers.
• Puzzles – Over 300 puzzles at varying difficulty levels that both support content and improve visual-spatial skills.
• Games – 180 games make learning in each content area interactive.

Here is a picture of the student home page, which is where a child begins, and from this screen they can navigate anywhere they want to go on ABCmouse.com:There are three learning modes on the site.  The Step-by-Step Learning Path consists of six levels with between 40 and 60 lessons in the subjects listed above.  You can place your child in any level you choose, and change it easily.   This is available simply by clicking “Go to the Classroom”.  A child is prompted to click on the white board to continue on the learning path.  When they click this is what they see: Each of those stars were originally green chalkboards like #10.  The icon for the next activity stretches a bit larger to remind the child to click on it.  After an activity is complete it changes to a star.  On the Step-by-Step Learning Path, children are guided from one lesson to the next, earning tickets for each activity and lesson that they complete.  These tickets can be used in the different store areas to buy things for the child’s  avatar, room, or aquarium such as pets, furniture, and new hairstyles or clothing.   In Guided Learning mode parents use ABCmouse.com’s Lesson Builder feature to choose exactly which lessons and activities you want your child to complete.  This is accessed by clicking on the “My Lessons” box in the screen above.  Independent Learning gives your students the freedom to choose their own books and other learning activities in areas of the website such as the Classroom, the Library, and the Zoo. 

What We Thought
Daniel, Emma, and Joseph used this at the various levels and each one loved it.  I loved that there is an auditory option for everything, from instructions for a game to prompts on what to click on next for another activity.  There are wonderful, specific reporting tools in the parent account that tell me what lessons a child has completed and how far they are in each subject area.  There is also a timer feature that I found to be flexible and able to suspend arguments on “she’s been playing too long” or “he got a longer turn”.  A parent can set each child’s access to ABCmouse.com by how long they can play each day (hours and minutes) as well as by what times they are allowed to access the program (between 10:00am and 11:30am for example. 

ABCmouse.com is subscription-based and has no advertising, pop-up ads, or links to other sites, something I find important when little ones are clicking around on the computer.  A subscription gives you one parent account and up to three student accounts.  There are two subscription options:

• $7.95 per month OR
• $79.00 per year (giving you 2 months free)

I think that ABCmouse.com is well done and very child-friendly.  It makes for a safe, fun environment for little ones to work on both computer skills and academic basics.

{Disclaimer:  Our family received free access to ABCmouse.com to do this review.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Easy Lunchboxes–The Eco-Friendly Lunch Box + Giveaway!

One day’s lunch at our house.

There are lots of lunches going on at my house with six children home every day.  We like to take our lunch to the picnic table in the backyard during the nice weather months of the year. We’re a food allergy family so we also need to bring our own food on outings.  One frustration I’ve found in the process is that things get smashed – be it sandwiches or snacks.

Another is the endless line of plastic baggies that it takes to carry food for eight people.  Really, it’s a big mess with all the baggies.  When I found Easy Lunchboxes online I knew I wanted to buy some for my family.  I approached the company about a review opportunity here on Our Busy Homeschool in tandem with a discount for my own purchase and they have been wonderful to work with!  They are even sponsoring a giveaway – keep reading for details on how to enter.

The Easy Lunchbox system of containers look like this: Each container has three sections, one large compartment that holds approximately 2.5 Cups, and two smaller ones holding 3/4 cup and 1/2 cup.  A sturdy BPA-free, FDA-approved, food-safe plastic, these containers have held up to my brood quite well.  They’re even dishwasher safe.  The lids fasten securely but the compartments are not designed to hold liquids without possible leaks (think soup).  You can also purchase lunch bag coolers made specifically to fit the Easy Lunchboxes.  The coolers are vinyl-free and insulated, with enough room for up to three containers, and come in Black, Dark Red, Olive, Purple and Aqua.  We chose Aqua for ours.

We’ve used our eco-friendly lunch boxes many times, including on a recent trip to the zoo.  Here is what we packed that day: All of those fit easily into three coolers, which fit underneath our double stroller while we visited the animals.  A few hours later we stopped at some picnic tables to eat. Thanks to Easy Lunchboxes everyone’s food was ready to go – without baggies flying around in the breeze!  Of course, another great thing about the containers was when Oliver decided playing was more important than eating lunch – all we had to do was put the lid back on and return it to the cooler for later. 

Easy Lunchboxes come as a set of 4 containers (4 lids and 4 bottoms) for $13.95.  The coolers are $7.95 each.  You can see this product in action on their YouTube channel. 

Want to win a set?  Easy Lunchboxes is offering one winner a container set and one lunch bag (winner can choose color). Retail value is $21.90.  This giveaway ends at 6:00am on Saturday, May 21st, 2011.  Please be sure I can contact you via email or another winner will be chosen. 

Mandatory Entry: Visit the Easy Lunchboxes site and leave a comment telling me something you learned.

Extra Entries (please leave a separate comment for each entry!):

• Watch one of their YouTube videos and leave a comment telling me which one you watched.
• Follow Our Busy Homeschool with Google Friend Connect or through email for an entry.
• Tell me what your family’s favorite lunch is in a comment.

This giveaway is offered to US & Canadian residents only. Please do not enter this giveaway if you have won or received free product from EasyLunchboxes within the past 3 months.

{Disclaimer: I received a discount on my purchase in exchange for a review.  All opinions presented herein are my own.} ** I was so happy with Easy Lunchboxes that I am now an affiliate.  If you make a purchase through any of the links in this post or my sidebar I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  My grocery budget thanks you! **