I love breakfast – it’s my favorite meal of the day. Maybe it’s because so many bread items make wonderfully acceptable breakfast foods, and I have an unending love affair with bread. Whatever the case, I eat breakfast everyday – can’t imagine going without – and never get tired of the yummy variety.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about breakfast since it’s 4:15 pm and I’m not even hungry, but I am. My favorites…
Pancakes – Homemade, either from a mix (Hungry Jack and Aunt Jemima are my favorites) or from scratch, which I actually haven’t done in a few years. I love butter on my pancakes and eat syrup on them if we go to Cracker Barrel, but I actually don’t like syrup on them at home or at McDonalds, Bob Evans, or IHOP.
Waffles – Homemade or frozen, I’m not too particular. I have been making more homemade waffles lately, though I do find it time consuming since each waffle-pair has to cook for 3-4 minutes – it takes a while to make eight or ten for my family! I usually end up eating mine while I keep cooking more. I also like Kroger brand waffles and especially their Belgian waffles, yum! Again, I put butter on waffles but very rarely use syrup on them.
Biscuits – I always liked biscuits, but I don’t think I began to truly love them until Jon and I got married. Jon makes home biscuits from scratch, and they are so delicious. Maybe I’ll try to post a recipe sometime, but the measurements aren’t really exact…we’ll see. Anyway, I like homemade biscuits and can eat Bisquick biscuits when we’re in a hurry (but prefer not to eat canned biscuits). I also love biscuits from Bob Evans, Cracker Barrel, and KFC. I always butter my biscuits and sometimes put honey on them too. That’s a good enough dessert for me!
Cinnamon Rolls – Yummy, yummy. A rare treat since I don’t think eating pure sugar for breakfast is the best idea, we usually get Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. A can doesn’t take long for the five of us to finish off, so we ordinarily have something else to go with them. I’ve tried making homemade cinnamon rolls but have never really been pleased with the result.
French Toast – I can remember my mom cooking French toast fairly often, but I probably make it only a few times a year. What a tasty way to get the egg-avoiders (myself and James) to eat eggs. We use our regular whole wheat bread and top the French toast with powdered sugar. Oh boy, now I want some!
Toast – Some days just aren’t conducive to cooking pancakes or biscuits. That’s when I turn to toast or some other quick food. I like buttered toast (are you surprised?) and peanut butter toast. I always put the peanut buttered sides together so that the heat melts the peanut butter – it seems to make the toast that much more yummy.
Oatmeal – A quick and healthy food that I don’t eat often enough. My favorite flavor is Cinnamon and Spice. That’s Nick’s favorite too, while James prefers Cinnamon Roll or Maple and Brown Sugar. Robert will eat any flavor, and I usually give him Apples and Cinnamon or Raisins and Spice … it’s nice to get a little fruit in there, after all.
Cereal – I go through phases where I want to eat cereal, but usually I’d rather have something else. My favorite cereal, though, is Rice Chex. We also get Cheerios, Wheaties, Rice Krispies. Nick really likes Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds – I can eat them dry but not with milk. We try to stay away from the sugary cereals except at Christmas when we buy the kids Cocoa Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and other treats. Kix and Crispix make good dry snacks too, in my opinion.
Every once in a while, maybe two or three times a year, we’ll have bacon with breakfast. It’s too expensive an unhealthy for us to eat all the time. (Not to mention that we get bacon almost every time we go to Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel, which is pretty often…!) Jon, Nick, and Robert like eggs too, but James and me? Bread heads all the way.
Online math practice programs are quite popular, and different services offer various features to set themselves apart from the competition. My family has had the opportunity to try a complimentary 90-day subscription to FactsFirst, an online math program produced by the makers of Saxon Math. I must say that I’m very pleased with FactsFirst’s setup, features, and interface.
FactsFirst offers practice drill in the four main math topics – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Parents set up a family account and then set up “sub-accounts” for each child. The child’s name is entered into the system but not the grade level. Children can choose any one of the four topics and will begin with a “Welcome” session in that topic.
When Nick started FactsFirst, he chose multiplication and was given a pretest on multiplying by 0 and 1. The system used his answers to decide where he should begin practice drills. After the pretest, FactsFirst showed a report with Nick’s answers divided into three categories:
Answered correctly and quickly
Answered correctly but slowly
Answered incorrectly
I personally like that feature very much since quick answers indicate better mastery than slow answers. Of course, I did notice that Nick didn’t use the keyboard’s numeric keypad very efficiently, and I’m sure that slowed down some of his answers. (The system allows the parent to change the amount of time in which a student is expected to answer. This would be beneficial for a child who hasn’t neared mastery yet or for one who is slow using the keyboard.)
After the pretest, FactsFirst takes the student through all the facts that he needs to work on and then gives a post test to gauge mastery. The entire FactsFirst interface is very colorful, which is definitely appealing for most children. Two other child-friendly features are games and a customizable avatar.
After a series of practices have been completed, the student is given five minutes of game time. Games are full color and help reinforce math skills in a fun way. Before the child begins any math drill for the first time, he’s prompted to create his avatar. Nick and James had a blast picking out features, hats, glasses, and clothing for the head-to-toe avatar. I think they spent a half hour working on it – I probably should have stopped them, but they were having so much fun.
Nick has definitely enjoyed his time using FactsFirst, and I can see its benefit in increasing memorization and speed. A FactsFirst subscription costs $49.99 per year, which includes up to four student accounts. Demos of the different features are available at the website.
Math is a subject that proves difficult for many students. Once the concepts are understood, children need to memorize/master dozens of facts. After all, it doesn’t do any good to understand what addition is if you have to set up four Cheerios and three M&Ms every time you want to know what four plus three equals. During the elementary years especially, drilling math facts almost daily is necessary to get this important information to “stick.”
I recently had the opportunity to try a complimentary subscription to MathScore, an online math program that provides timed drills and assignments to help students achieve math mastery. MathScore lessons begin with basic math for first graders and extend through Algebra I.
When a student’s name and grade level are entered, the website will suggest topics that are usually studied at that age. The parent or student can choose from topics in any grade level, however. This is especially beneficial for students who may need extra practice in an earlier subject (addition or subtraction, for example) or for those who are ready to tackle a more challenging topic.
MathScore uses a basic interface without any distracting graphics or sound effects. Some students, including my oldest son Nick, are easily distracted by any extras and will probably do well with the ‘bare bones’ interface. The font used is large enough to be easily (and quickly) seen, and students can use a numeric keypad or the number row to input answers.
The drills and assignments in MathScore are intended to be used as a supplement to a complete math curriculum. The assignments do include text-based instruction and can help teach a new concept to students but are not likely to be sufficient without another curriculum or teacher instruction.
During the entire length of a family’s MathScore membership, a weekly report will be emailed to the parent. The report will detail any drills or assignments completed by each student that week. These reports make an excellent way for parents to keep track of their children’s progress and accomplishments. If the student(s) don’t complete any activities during a week, the email will still arrive and state that ‘no activities were completed.’
A subscription to MathScore costs $14.95 per month for the first child and less for each additional child. To ‘try before you buy,’ MathScore offers a free two week trial. You may begin the free trial by going here.
Typing is a vital skill in today’s world. I can’t imagine any child of the 21st century growing up without learning how to type. In an effort to provide a typing course that includes Biblical references, Leanne Beitel created Keyboarding for the Christian School, which is used in private Christian schools and homeschools alike. I received complimentary PDF copies of the original Keyboarding for the Christian School and the Elementary Version. Since my sons are young, I’ll share the elementary level with you today.
Keyboarding for the Christian School’s format is very simple. Instead of an interactive software to teach typing skills, this program provides approximately 80 pages of printable typing exercises. Starting with a color-coded diagram of a standard QWERTY keyboard with an explanation of where to place the fingers on the “home row,” as well as a description of proper body posture while typing, the curriculum then moves into practice typing home row keys.
The order of teaching the different keys is very similar to other typing programs I have seen – F and J first, followed by D and K, S and L, etc. The pages are printed out and displayed to the right of the student as he sits at the computer. Instructions are printed on each page, along with the exact letters or words to be typed.
I can only assume that the teacher or parent would need to manually check each page to see how well the student is able to type the keys indicated (i.e. how many errors are made). I couldn’t find any direct instructions to the teacher that explained how to check the students’ progress. A teacher/parent may want to have their students print out each lesson as it’s completed, or they could check the typing on the screen.
The elementary program doesn’t discuss using the backspace key during the early lessons. Whether it’s appropriate or allowed for the student to backspace and correct errors as he goes along would be up to each individual teacher. Unless the teacher is watching during the whole lesson, this would have to be done on the ‘honor system,’ of course.
Once the student has learned quite a few keys, the program begins using Bible verses from the New International Version for lesson practice. (These would be easier to check for accuracy than those pages filled with dfk jsj lss a;a.)
After learning all of the letter and number keys, how to use the shift key, and how to type the special characters ($%^, for example), and how to type on a numeric keypad, the students will begin to learn how to center text both horizontally and vertically, how to created bullet lists, and other functions of a word processing program. The screen shots show Microsoft Word, and I assume the instructions are specific to that program as well. If your family uses a different word processing software, the method of completing different tasks may be a bit different and would require more input from the teacher/parent.
Keyboarding for the Christian School Elementary Edition also includes timed drills near the end of the book. This is accomplished by having the student type a series of words or Bible verses again and again for one minute. A separate timer, stopwatch, or someone watching the clock would need to be used.
As far as the order in which Keyboarding for the Christian School teaches each key, I think it is laid out well and would be effective. For my family, however, using a printed typing course is not a good fit. I prefer using a dedicated software program that can monitor the boys’ capabilities, progress, and speed.
Keyboarding for the Christian School Elementary Version, designed for grades K to five, is available for $12.95. The original version, for sixth graders and up, costs $15.95. Both products can be purchased together or separately from Christian Keyboarding.
Every once in a while, I hit on a really fantastic shopping trip at CVS, and today I set a new personal record. See the picture below? I paid 36 cents for those items!
I received a survey from the CVS Advisor Panel a week or two ago and received $5 in ExtraCare Bucks for completing it.
This week, CVS had Dove Ultimate deodorant on sale 2/$7 … well, I would never pay $3.50 for a thing of deodorant. I’d rather stink!
When I found, via The “Cent”sible Sawyer, that Dove is currently offering a printable $2 coupon for Dove Ultimate, the price started to sound a lot better. (The website where you print the coupon seems to indicate that it’s only valid on the new “Visibly Smooth” deodorant, but the coupon itself states that it’s valid for any variety of Dove Ultimate or Clinical Protection.) I printed two of the $2 off coupons, grabbed my $5 ExtraCare Bucks, and headed to CVS.
Kleenex tissues and Palmolive dish liquid were also on sale at CVS this week – 99 cents each. Not only was the Dove deodorant 2/$7, but they’re giving $2 ExtraCare Bucks when you purchase two. So I formed a plan…
Transaction #1:
2 Dove Ultimate deodorants @ 2/$7
used two $2 off coupons
2 boxes Kleenex tissue @ .99/each total: $4.98
paid with $5 ExtraCare Bucks out of pocket: 24 cents (tax)
received: $2 ExtraCare Bucks (for buying 2 Dove deodorant)
Transaction #2:
2 Palmolive dish liquid @ .99/each total: $1.98
paid with $2 ExtraCare Bucks out of pocket: 12 cents (tax)
Yea! I love that! Jon says, “I have the smartest wife in the world.” Awww.
One of the biggest questions directed at homeschooling families in general is “What about socialization?” with the implication being, “Aren’t your children horribly isolated and won’t they grow up to be backwards and unable to function in normal society?”
Honestly, I’ve been asked this type of question only once or twice over the years since I seem to run into people who are positive about homeschooling for the most part. Even so, it is something that I’ve thought about. My friend Kristen posts a weekly Q&A to The Old Schoolhouse Crew’s Facebook page. This week, she’s asked other bloggers to help her answer the “Socialization Question.” Quite a few Crew members are participating, and you can read all of their answers by visiting the Crew Fan Page. So without further ado…
I Don’t Want Your Socialization.
I went to public school. I remember the little boy in Kindergarten who raised his shirt and told us all that he had chocolate nipples. I remember the little girl in second grade who sat on the teacher’s lap and cried day after day. I remember the boy in fourth grade who wiped his boogers in the hair of the girl who sat in front of him (everyday). I remember the boy in fifth grade who told us that he liked to stick scissors (use your imagination). I remember the boy in sixth grade who was laying in the floor away from the rest of the class and, when questioned by the teacher about what he was doing, said, “Playing with myself.” All of this was in elementary school! … when kids are supposed to be relatively innocent.
In junior high, I remember a girl being punched in the face again and again and again by another girl. I remember the day when a friend of mine ‘mooned’ everyone during lunch. I remember having my purse taken, being called ugly, being asked if I liked a certain boy and then being teased mercilessly about it. I remember two boys rolling down the bleachers during an assembly as they punched each other. (They were “best friends.”)
I remember a “lock down” because of a chemical leak that kept the students and teachers locked in the auditorium until after 4pm. I remember the vice principal telling me to “pee in the trashcan” when I told him that I needed to go to the bathroom. I remember the teacher whose daughter and granddaughter would come visit a couple times each week – and no teaching would occur on those days. I remember the day she left the classroom with her daughter, and one of the students stood up, paced in front of the class, and talked about how “f***** bad” her life was for the rest of the class period.
I remember helping to make fun of one of my friends just because the other kids were doing it. I remember that I stopped being her friend after I realized the other kids didn’t like her.
In high school, I remember a classroom that was virtually out of control where the students socialized during the entire hour. I remember the irreverent shirts many students wore, with messages that mocked authority, glorified ‘free’ sex, and denied God. I remember that I was wearing some of those shirts. I remember the vulgar speaking and the way sex pervaded almost every conversation. I remember things I wish I didn’t remember.
No, I don’t want public school socialization.
How Homeschoolers Socialize
Of course, every family is different and our own experiences change every year, but overall I think my sons have more than adequate socialization with people outside our immediate family. They meet kids their own age at church, in our neighborhood, and through their participation in sports. Nick and James are currently playing Upward basketball and will likely play Little League baseball again this spring.
Our local homeschool group is fairly active, and the boys have met other children during the meetings and at skating parties, bowling days, and other events. With the homeschool group, our whole family went to a local nursing home in December to sing Christmas carols to the residents. The boys got exposure to people much older than themselves, some in very good health, some wheelchair bound, and some in between. With our guidance, they learned to smile and shake hands with these people, instead of staring or being uncomfortable. They even had a chance to spend a few minutes talking with some of the residents. I personally think that kind of socialization is far more valuable than spending hours in a room with other kids and basically no adult supervision.
Instead of being kept separated from their little brother for the majority of the day, Nick and James spend their days in the same home with him. They have learned that sometimes other activities need to stop to meet the needs of a baby or toddler. They are learning to help him when he needs it, to show him how to do the things that they can do, and to be patient with him when he ‘interferes’ with their play.
Instead of being around and communicating only with a group of children their own age, each of my children is learning to cooperate and communicate with people both older and younger than themselves. I believe that will serve them better in the long run than having same-age-friends could ever do.
Historical fiction – my all-time favorite genre. I love losing myself in the lives of characters from other time periods. Queens during the Middle Ages, soldiers during the Revolutionary War, Jews hiding from the Nazis during World War II – I never thought I’d read about a young American girl during the Cold War Era, though … until I received a complimentary copy of Bertie’s War from Kregel Publications.
To some of you, I’m a young whipper-snapper and was born well after the Cold War fearfulness ended. I remember when the Berlin Wall was torn down, but I don’t remember President Reagan telling Mr. Gorbachev to tear it down. No one was afraid of the Russians by the time I came along … at least, not that I ever knew about.
After reading Bertie’s War, though, I feel that I have a better grasp on the events and emotions in America during the early part of the 1960s. I’ve seen those “Fallout Shelter” signs in various places, but I never realized before that many people thought the shelters would really be used … or that some children were terrified of the possibility of nuclear attack.
Written by Barbara Tifft Blakey, Bertie’s War tells the story of 12-year-old Roberta who spends most of her time in a make-believe world where everything is wonderful and she is in complete control. In the real world, Bertie dreads hearing the nightly news reports about Russian missiles in Cuba. When her father reads newspaper articles about nuclear testing aloud at the dinner table, Bertie struggles to fill her mind with enough pleasant thoughts that her ears won’t hear the words.
I could identify with Bertie’s make-believe world because I was a storyteller myself as a kid. I was constantly making up new scenarios and adventures in my mind. Some of Bertie’s world was hard for me to understand or even to accept, though. Her family basically never talks to one another, even when a family member dies or when Bertie “flips out” (to use the modern phrase) during a news program. I know some families are more reserved than others, but some of the situations seemed less-than-realistic.
After months of thinking her father cares nothing about the family’s safety, Bertie finally realizes that he has been working hard all of this time to build and stock a shelter for them. Her relief is palpable, and I could rejoice and relax along with her.
Even with the newly found safety, however, Bertie is still afraid of so many things. In a strange turn of events, her father finally begins to communicate with her and helps her to see that much of her fear comes, not from any outward danger, but from within.
I enjoyed reading Bertie’s War, though I felt that the ending/climax between Bertie and her father was quite modernized. I won’t give anything away, but it was implied that her father consistently used a very modern “teaching” technique with his three children – not something I can believe for a 1962 American family. I also felt that Bertie’s “amazing transformation” after the single conversation with her father was a little far fetched.
Even with the somewhat less-than-ideal ending (and what book does end 100% to my satisfaction? Only the Bible, of course…!), I liked Bertie’s War and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical or contemporary fiction. It was very well-written, the characters are fleshed out pretty well, and it drew me in from the first chapter. If a book is boring or dry in the first chapter, I really struggle with continuing to read it. Bertie’s War is good from the get-go.
Kregel Publications publishes a variety of books to interest readers from preteen to adult. Bertie’s War is available in paperback for just $7.99.
Thank you to Kregel Publications and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.
It’s been snowing here for about a week or more now. We seem to be getting anywhere from one to three inches each day and each night, and I love it! The road crews are keeping the roads relatively clear, so driving is not too bad.
All the yards, fences, and trees are so white and sparkly. Because it’s been so cold (20°F and lower), the snow is powdery and dusty and looks like crystals or glitter has been spilled all over it.
Yesterday, Nick said he could see “the pokey part” of the snow on the deck. I started telling him how each snowflake is actually like a six pointed star with its own details. I told him how each one is unique and that people say no two snowflakes have ever looked exactly alike. (I actually assumed that he already knew all of that and was surprised when he said he didn’t think he’d ever seen a photo of a magnified snowflake.)
We brought up Google and did an image search for “real snowflake,” and he and James were amazed by the variety and beauty of each snowflake. That evening, we went to James’ basketball practice and it was snowing quite a bit when we came out to the van.
When we got in the van, I noticed that little snowflakes on my coat sleeve hadn’t melted. They had landed individually, not in clumps, and when the light reflected off of each, you could see every single detail. I’ve never seen anything like it.
It was a wonderful gift from God – like He was showing Nick, “See? This is what they look like.” We sat for a few minutes while I turned my arm in the light so we could see different flakes. It was very, very neat.
We then stopped by the grocery store, and while the boys and I waited in the car, I realized that the snowflakes landing on the windshield weren’t melting. Again, we could see every detail of these teeny-tiny masterpieces. Knowing that all the thousands, millions of flakes we were seeing in the air also had the same details was an amazing thought.
According to Wikipedia, “The most common snow particles are visibly irregular, although near-perfect snowflakes may be more common in pictures because they are more visually appealing.” The ones we saw on my coat and on the windshield were perfect, just like the photographs you’ve seen. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. They were just slightly larger than the head of a pin, and were perfect in shape/design. They were most similar to the flake in the middle column of the third row in the photograph above.
Here are a few sites with instructions for making paper snowflakes:
For as long as I can remember, my mom and I would make peanut butter balls from time to time. If I recall correctly, she had originally seen the recipe in the local newspaper before I was born. It’s a quick, easy, high-protein snack that almost everyone enjoys. (Everyone except my husband, Jon, who has an aversion to anything he didn’t eat as a child. )
Nick is at a special basketball practice this afternoon, so James, Robert, and I had a couple hours to fill. We made peanut butter balls for the first time in a couple years. Yummy!
Peanut Butter Balls
1 cup peanut butter (We use creamy.)
1 cup non-fat, instant dry milk
1 cup honey
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pinch off small sections and roll into balls. Eat! Enjoy! Refrigerate any peanut butter balls that aren’t eaten right away.
That’s all there is to it. If your dry milk is very coarse, which mine usually is, it’s a good idea to sift it before stirring it into the other ingredients. It’s easy to make less or more depending on how much your family likes to eat it – just use equal amounts of each ingredient. I usually use two cups of each, which makes about 50 peanut butter balls.
You can store them in an airtight container or on a plate covered with foil in the refrigerator. I figure they’d keep well for at least a week or two, but we always eat ours up within two or three days.
Robert, who just turned two on the 14th, is at that stage where he wants to stop taking naps but isn’t fully ready for a whole day without sleep. On days when he doesn’t nap, he gets very sleepy by around 7 or 8 o’clock. Recently, his sleepiness hit just when it was time to eat dinner.
He was eating well, but I realized that he was weaving strangely – on close examination, I saw that his eyes were closed and he was dozing while continuing to eat and drink. Happily, I was able to capture it with my laptop’s web cam. It cracks me up every time I watch!
And, yes, you do hear me tell one of the other kids to “Shh, be quiet!” during the video. I didn’t want them talking so much that it woke him up completely.
Keyboarding for the Christian School’s format is very simple. Instead of an interactive software to teach typing skills, this program provides approximately 80 pages of printable typing exercises. Starting with a color-coded diagram of a standard QWERTY keyboard with an explanation of where to place the fingers on the “home row,” as well as a description of proper body posture while typing, the curriculum then moves into practice typing home row keys.
