Here’s a fun little survey…aka blog filler. I took out one question that made no sense and added two more to make an even 20.)

1. Any nickname? Mom, Mommy

2. Mother’s name? Linda

3. What’s your middle name? Beth

4. Favorite drink? Iced tea in the morning and Sunkist in the evening

5. Body Piercing? Both my ears are double pierced, but I haven’t worn earrings in several years. I doubt I could get anything into the holes now.

6. Birthplace? Charleston, WV

7. Favorite vacation spot? a warm and quiet beach

8. Favorite movie? Sense & Sensibility

9. Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving

10. Favorite dessert? Warm brownies with peanut butter chips, maybe.

11. Favorite food? Pizza

12. Favorite day of the week? Saturday, I guess

13. Favorite brand of body soap? My new favorite is Coconut Lemongrass by Virginia Soaps & Scents.

14. Favorite toothpaste? Tom’s of Maine, though I’ve been too poor to buy it for the last few years. Aim, anyone?

15. Favorite smell? A gentle cinnamon.

16. Best vacation you’ve ever had? Camping with my family at Virginia Beach.

17. How do you relax? Browse the internet, play a computer game, or go lay in my bed.

18. How do you see yourself in ten years? THE MOTHER OF THREE TEENAGE BOYS

I love board games! As a kid, I would sit and play Life or Clue by myself if no one else was available. We try to have a game night once a week now, though I’ll admit that it doesn’t always happen. We enjoy inviting friends over for a big game night every once in a while too.

It can be difficult to find games that are fun for the whole family, especially when toddlers and preschoolers are involved. Some of the preschooler games … well, I just can’t handle playing them. After once or twice, I’m ready to chunk the game in favor of a nap. Happily, I have recently discovered a game that my entire family enjoys–from my ollllllddd husband right down to my toddler son.

We R Fun very kindly send me a complimentary copy of Life on the Farm: Preschool Edition. The premise is simple – fill up your barn with animals. Each player (up to four) receives his own barn with seven empty spots, one each for the horse, cow, pig, chicken, duck, goat, and sheep. A stack of cards show either one or two squares of a certain color or one of the animals. (If your family has ever played Candyland, the cards and movement around the board is very similar.)

Players don’t need to know how to read or recognize numbers, and they barely need to be able to count. If a card shows one blue square, the player’s piece is moved to the next blue square on the board. If the card shows two red squares, the player moves to the second red square. And, lastly, if the card shows an animal – a horse, for example – the player moves to that animal no matter how far away it is and is then able to place that animal in the barn.

I was impressed with Life on the Farm before we even opened the box. Have you bought any board games or puzzles lately? Have you noticed how the bottoms and sides of the boxes are very thin cardboard with a little flimsy tape at each corner? As soon as I touched Life on the Farm, I knew this game was different. The box is made from a heavy, coated, glossy cardboard and the corners are sealed together in a way that looks like it would take a lot of abuse before falling apart.

The game board and pieces are all equally well-made and sturdy. The game board, each barn, and the animal pieces are made from thick, heavy foam that could not be easily torn. Of course, we have to make sure that Robert doesn’t chew on them, but otherwise I have no fear of them getting torn up. The player pieces are plastic, about two inches high, and large enough that they won’t be easily lost.

Five-year-old James is about the age that Life on the Farm is intended for, and he has enjoyed playing it very much, but eight-year-old Nick has enjoyed it just as much. We let Robert, who isn’t yet two, play with any extra animal pieces and that keeps him happily occupied while the rest of the family plays. One evening, we had a few friends over and their seven-year-old son liked playing Life on the Farm with Nick and James too. I love it because we adults can enjoy playing it, but it’s simple enough that the kids can play on their own sometimes.

Life on the Farm contains a number of educational elements that add to the fun. Of course, the squares on the board and on the cards teach color recognition as well as the concept of counting. Each animal piece is a different shape – circle, square, heart, rectangle, triangle, oval, and hexagon – and will teach shape recognition as well as sorting and matching.

I honestly have no complaints and couldn’t ask for a better game for families with preschoolers. We R Fun also makes another version of Life on the Farm and a game called Minus Thirteen, both geared toward players age eight and above.

The Preschool Version of Life on the Farm can be purchased for $20 directly from the We R Fun website.

Thank you to We R Fun and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.

Some questions are on my mind this morning. I tried posting to my Facebook status, but it kept telling me I was exceeding the character limit. That’s what I have a blog for, right?

Will skipping two whole weeks of school in November make my kids forever stupid? My intentions are good, but my dad used to tell me that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

If Nick doesn’t finish the 3rd level math book by the middle of his 4th grade year, am I a horrible homeschooler? Our goal was to finish this book by the end of December, but we’re only around lesson 10 of about 30. It’s not going to happen now.

Does being sick one week and traveling for Thanksgiving the next count as a valid reason for two weeks of no school? There’s no way we could have had any lessons the first half of last week. On Thursday and Friday, we were still just laying around feeling yucky so I didn’t even attempt anything. This week, I figured we’d get back to normal school-wise for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Because we’re going out of town for Thanksgiving, though, the house needed a major cleaning before we leave. The boys helped me all day yesterday, and we basically got everything except a couple loads of laundry finished. I clean our church each week and need to take care of that before we leave tomorrow evening. I’m probably going to take the boys over there and work on that cleaning today, so there goes another day of school.

Will I ever manage to stay on schedule for more than five weeks in a row? I think that’s my record, seriously. I often wonder if other homeschoolers have the same issues/problems with staying on track for long periods at a stretch. I know the public schools work breaks and days off into the schedule. I don’t do that because I like the wiggle room to take a day or two off when we need it. But two weeks off? In November?

We have math lessons in our homeschool, of course, and the boys play outside or run around the house or wrestle everyday. I’m confident that they get plenty of exercise, but I know that exercise is something many kids lack. With televisions, computers, and video game systems being used hours on end, some kids (and adults) rarely do anything but sit. The founders of Exploramania came up with an interesting idea to combine math education and practice with exercise, and thus was created the Gymathics DVD.

Not long ago, I received a complimentary copy of Gymathics for review. While the exercises are appropriate for kids and adults of any age, the math facts are intended mainly for second to fifth graders. Lasting for 30 minutes total, Gymathics covers four types of exercises with math facts:

• Shape Stretches Warm Up – Stretch your mind and body with line, circle, and polygon stretches.
• Counting Calisthenics – Aerobic movements work your heart as fun counting concepts work your brain.
• Pattern Power – Growing and repeating pattern exercise combinations challenge minds and strengthen muscles.
• Well-Being Wind Down – Relaxing stretches cool down the body and open the mind to think about healthy lifestyle choices.

We’ve watched Gymathics several times, and my boys really love it. They get into the exercises, doing the best they can to keep up and match the movements of the people on screen. The lady leading the exercises gives high fives to the others after each set, and Nick especially enjoys giving me a high five each time.

The length of the DVD is long enough to really get our blood pumping but short enough that the boys don’t get bored or too tired before it’s over with. (We won’t say what Mommy does during the second half, however.)

While Gymathics is not intended to be a complete math curriculum, it makes a good supplement. Some of the concepts will probably be confusing to kids who haven’t learned those subjects in their regular math lessons yet. At first, especially with the section on polygons, I thought, “What is the point?” As we’ve watched the DVD more than once, though, I see how the repetition will instill the different ideas, concepts, and facts into the kids’ minds.

Overall, I like Gymathics and will keep having the boys watch it about once a week. It’s a fun, quick way to add some exercise into a day when they can’t be going outside to play. (It’s very cute to watch little Robert try to do the exercises with us too!) If you have wanted a way to help your kids get exercise or a fun way for them to practice math concepts, check out Gymathics or the new Gymathics 2.0.

Gymathics can be purchased for $24.99 directly from Exploramania, from a few retailers in Florida and Michigan, and from online merchants like Amazon.com.

Thank you to Exploramania and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.

My mom sent me this list a few days ago, and I thought it would be fun to share here. I’ve put each thing I’ve done in bold, and I also added a few things to the list so that my “done” portion wouldn’t look so bare.

Been to Canada
Been to Mexico
Been to Florida
Been to Hawaii
Visited All 50 States
Been to Europe
Been to South America
Been to Central America
Been to Asia
Been to Australia

Been on a plane (but only “exhibit” airplanes that weren’t moving…I have never actually flown.)
Been on a helicopter (same as with the airplane…)
Been in a hot air balloon
Been sky diving
Been on a Cruise
Been to Washington, DC
Been on the opposite side of the country
Driven across the United States
Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
Been deep sea fishing

Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
Seen the Statue of Liberty
Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
Swam in the ocean
Swam in the Mediterranean

Gone on a blind date
Watched someone die
Been lost in a neighborhood
Cried yourself to sleep

Played cops and robbers
Recently colored with crayons
Written a letter to Santa Claus
Sang Karaoke
Paid for a meal with coins only
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
Made prank phone calls
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue
Danced in the rain

Watched the sunrise with someone
Blown bubbles
Been kissed under the mistletoe
Been skinny dipping outdoors
Gone ice-skating
Gone to the movies
Gone snorkeling
Skipped school
Gone snowmobiling
Lived in more than one country

Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
Seen a falling star and made a wish
Truly believe in the power of prayer
Seen whales in the ocean
Ridden on an elephant
Ridden on a camel
Swam with dolphins
Saw and heard a glacier calf

Traveled by train
Traveled by motorcycle
Traveled by subway
Been horseback riding
Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
Been to Disneyland or Disneyworld
Been in a rain forest
Been to Niagara Falls
Walked on the Great Wall of China

Been to the Olympics
Been spinnaker flying
Been water-skiing
Been snow-skiing
Been to Westminster Abbey
Been to the Louvre
Been to a Major League Baseball game
Been to a National Football League game

So much that I haven’t done, but I don’t really feel like I’ve missed anything. Some of the things I would like to do (like visit another country or see whales in the ocean), and other things I probably wouldn’t do even if I had the opportunity (like going to an NFL game). How about you?

AVKO is one of those companies that doesn’t reveal its “offerings” in its company name – though their most popular program, Sequential Spelling, gives an easier clue to what the company offers homeschoolers and other educators. I remember looking at ads for Sequential Spelling a little over a year ago and being very intrigued by the program’s way of teaching. Though we didn’t end up purchasing it, I still think the methodology makes sense. Beginning with a base word, students can build up to spelling increasingly longer and more difficult words. For example:

all
tall
stall
install
installment

Through The Old Schoolhouse Crew, I received a complimentary membership to the AVKO website and was able to learn more about the company’s founding and mission. AVKO stands for Audio Visual Kinesthetic Oral, and the company is dedicated to teaching every student to read and spell regardless of any difficulties or learning disabilities. Founder Don McCabe is still AVKO’s Research Director and is on the Board of Trustees.

McCabe’s book To Teach a Dyslexic is available online as part of the AVKO membership along with over $400 worth of other e-books. According to the website, benefits to a Basic Membership are:

• Discounts on AVKO printed materials (25% off)
• Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books (PDF)
• The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context
• To Teach a Dyslexic
• Starting at Square One
• The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.
• The Reading Teacher’s List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
• Access to the Member Only section
• AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
• Access to Don McCabe’s most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
• Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more!
• Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
• Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

A Deluxe Membership comes with all of the above as well as:

• Read-only access to ALL AVKO curriculum materials (except for Sequential Spelling and Engaging Language Kits)
• Access to AVKO’s newest e-books:
• Word Family Supplements 1-7 for Sequential Spelling
• Spelling Remediation Test Kit

I found the member site overwhelming at first – there is so much information, and I honestly didn’t know what I should be looking for. Neither of my children struggle with reading, spelling, or learning disabilities, and I didn’t feel that I needed the ‘helps’ on the AVKO member site. If I were searching for information on these difficulties, though, I doubt I would have any trouble finding what I need at AVKO’s site.

Some of the files are in “document” format, which means they will open using Microsoft Word, Open Writer, or another word processing program instead of in your web browser. I found a number of ‘humorous’ documents under the “Readings for Comprehension” section whose purpose on the site I don’t quite understand. They were very similar to items people forward on email with titles like “Top 8 Morons” and “Southern Speech.” Maybe the AVKO authors have included these for a little comic relief in the school day…

It would be a good idea, in my opinion, for anyone using the AVKO member site to read each document before using it with children. I found one that I thought seemed great at first – “Fun Quotations for Spelling Dictation” – but contained quotes that I would definitely not give my children as part of their school lessons. A few examples:

“It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me; it’s the parts that I do understand.” (Mark Twain)
“If the headache would only come before the drinking, drinking would be a virtue.” (Samuel Butler)
“The only really happy folk are married women and single men.” (H. L. Mencken)

Aside from the immoral slant, isn’t it a little foolish to ask a child to spell “ain’t” during his spelling lesson?

I think an AVKO membership would be best for educators who are already using an AVKO curriculum or who need information on teaching children with learning disabilities to read and spell. A Basic Membership costs $25 per year, and a Deluxe Membership is $100 per year. Full details are available at the AVKO website.

Thank you to AVKO and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.

I have been working hard lately, and I need to take time to think about the blessings in my life. Here are thirteen things I am thankful for today, ‘little’ things and ‘big’ things:

1. I was raised by a family who taught me about Jesus’ love and salvation.
2. God brought me out of my darkness to a place where I recognized my need for Him.
3. I have a hard-working and loving husband.
4. I have three healthy, intelligent (and handsome!) sons.
5. I can walk and talk and see and hear and breathe on my own.
6. I have money to pay bills this week – lots of bills, yea!
7. I have a home with working heat. Each one in my family has a bed with plenty of sheets and blankets.
8. I have a working dishwasher, refrigerator, washing machine, and dryer.
9. I am free to read the Bible, go to church, and worship God.
10. I am free to teach my children about Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.
11. I am free to homeschool my children.
12. Robert lost his pacifier a week and a half ago and has done very, very well without it.
13. My house has a coat closet, a linen closet, and a closet in every bedroom. It’s very nice to have plenty of places to store coats, towels, sheets, and clothes.

What is America? What makes America different from other countries? I guess we all have ideas or thoughts about this nation, what makes it great and where it has fallen short of ‘ideal.’

Government is not a subject I have delved into with my boys in our homeschool as yet. Sure, we discuss general things – like the election, political parties, how laws are made and enforced – but we haven’t done any concerted study on American government or on the Constitution. I have figured it would be more beneficial to wait until they are older before we tackle that subject in depth.

After receiving a complementary copy of the American Heritage Education Foundation’s CD – titled America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty – to review, I have changed my mind about the appropriate age to begin teaching American governmental history. Let me say, though, that this CD is not limited to governmental history – the CD contains so much information that I’m having trouble knowing what to tell you.

The lesson plans contained on the American Heritage CD focus on four themes:

• Freedom
• Unity
• Progress
• Responsibility

These four subjects are considered in the context of America’s founding, its history, and its current state of law and government. American Heritage contains lesson plans for elementary, middle school, and high school levels. The elementary level is available in both English and Spanish. Since my boys are 8 and 5, I’ve looked at only the elementary level.

The lesson plans cover months of the school year – September through May – with most months having two units with its own theme/focus. (March, April, and May have just one unit each.) The plans have been written with a public school classroom in mind, but everything is set up and explained in a way that can be easily ‘tweaked’ to accommodate a homeschooling family.

For example, November’s two units are:

• The Great Seal – Unity
• Thanksgiving – Unity

We began with The Great Seal, though the units can be used in any order that you prefer. For that matter, I don’t see any reason that the suggested months can’t be changed around. To my mind, there isn’t any reason that The National Motto must be studied in February. Some units may have a few holiday-specific activities, but I wouldn’t mind talking about Thanksgiving in March or President’s Day in September.

Each unit/theme begins with a page that lists the purpose, objective, theme, materials needed, and what the teacher will need to do to prepare. This page also includes a “time” though I can’t say that our experience has matched the time listed. For The Great Seal, for example, the listed time is 45 minutes but enough activities and lessons are listed to last us at least a week. (Maybe it means 45 minutes a day.)

Another heading is “Core Knowledge,” and I’ll admit that this heading has left me a little confused. Each unit lists a different grade level and what appears to me to be a suggested discussion or teaching for that grade level. On The Star-Spangled Banner unit, the Core Knowledge section says, “Grade 2 – Amer Hist & Geog. Sec II: The War of 1812. Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, the Star-Spangled Banner. Sec VIII: Symbols & Figures, U. S. Flag.” Maybe the information matches up with some kind of resource that public schools use…I don’t know. At any rate, it does provide ‘keywords’ to cover during the unit.

After this introductory page, each unit explains the focus of the lesson and how to relate the theme. A number of activities are then thoroughly explained. These activities include those intended for entire classrooms, small groups, and individuals. As I said before, though, each one can be modified slightly to fit the needs of a homeschooling family. We haven’t had any trouble using all of the suggested activities, though, of course, we haven’t worked through the entire curriculum yet.

The lesson manual contains pages of information and illustrations that can be printed for students to read and save. Some units contain crossword puzzles or charts for the students to complete. American Heritage Education Foundation is supposed to include a list of websites that can be consulted for further information on some of the topics, but I found it difficult (okay, impossible) to locate the websites on the great seal. Admittedly, I only spent about five minutes trying to find them – but, as a busy homeschool mom, I would have appreciated if the sites were categorized and easier to browse.

Thus far, I have been pleased with the information and lessons on the America’s Heritage CD. I can see myself taking an entire year to cover this curriculum with my boys. I believe it will give them an excellent foundation on the principles of America’s founding. I see no better way to make our nation strong than to ensure that our young people grow up knowing what America is, what America should be.

The preface alone – the title page of which reads:

- gives a tremendous amount of background information on America’s founding and was fascinating for me to read. I could take the information in the 11-page preface and teach the boys for at least a month, maybe three. Some of the ‘highlights’ from it include a list of different types of governments and definitions of each (i. e. monarchy, oligarchy, military dictatorship), a discussion on and list of The Bill of Rights, and a chart showing the economic and societal differences between the free-commerce United States and the government-controlled-commerce United Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991.

America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty is available from the American Heritage Education Foundation on CD, in print, or as an electronic download. The cost? Absolutely free. You can go to the AHEF website right now and download the digital edition or request the CD completely free. Because of printing costs, the AHEF does charge $19.50 for the print edition. It can be ordered from the website as well.

Thank you to the American Heritage Education Foundation and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.

I recently had the opportunity to try out abcteach’s member site for one month free as part of The Old Schoolhouse Crew. At first I wasn’t sure what abcteach was all about, but on my first visit to the site, I thought, “Hmm, this looks familiar.”

After browsing around a while, I realized that I have visited abcteach several times in the past when searching for a worksheet or word puzzle to use in our homeschool. They offer over 5,000 completely free worksheets, coloring pages, and other activity sheets that you can download and print at any time. For this review, though, I got to try out the fee-based member site which contains about 35,000 printable pages.

I am not big on using worksheets but do seek them out occasionally – usually to supplement the grammar that I teach Nick. In searching abcteach’s member site, I discovered that they supply worksheets on virtually any topic imaginable. Grammar, math, history, literature, handwriting – it’s all there and more.

Besides the common “fill in the blank” type worksheets, abcteach offers word searches, crossword puzzles, and copy work exercises. One set of worksheets I thought was especially neat was abcteach’s book report forms. These worksheets contain space to write a book’s title, author, and illustrator along with the main characters, setting, and plot (sometimes divided into sections for conflict, climax, and resolution). Some of the book report forms focus on a particular book (Danny and the Dinosaur, for example) with an illustration or two to complement that book. Other forms are generic and can be used for any book.

I haven’t had Nick write book reports yet, but these book report forms from abcteach have inspired me!

The member site also offers the capability to create your own word searches and crossword puzzles based on word lists of your choosing. For the ultimate in flexibility, you can use abcteach’s worksheet generator to create your own completely customizable worksheet on any topic, using any information, in any format – it’s yours to create.

For all members, abcteach provides customer service to help solve any problems or to help you find anything on the site. A one year membership to abcteach costs $40. For a visual picture of how the site works, view this short video on the abcteach site.

Thank you to abcteach and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.

If you are familiar with famous United States Supreme Court cases and with the 1987 movie (or 1973 novel) called The Princess Bride, you will find this incident funny. If you’re not familiar with one (or both) of those things, then you won’t have any idea why this is funny…feel free to skip it!

Last night, my family was sitting around talking after church. I was getting sleepy (that’s going to be my excuse…) but was still participating in the conversation. Nick, our eight year old, said something about having six fingers – which he does not – and Jon said something about the movie The Princess Bride and the six-fingered man. James, our five year old, started talking about the movie’s hero, Westley, and asked, “What was Westley’s other name?”

Since I’ve seen that movie quite a few times, I knew the answer right away: “His other name was the Dread Scott Roberts.”

In response to all the Huh?s that chorused through the room, I actually repeated myself before realizing what I had said.