A year in blogging review

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It’s been a blessed year! The Lt. completed his 4th deployment in 4 years (come on February-SHORE DUTY here we come!!!), McKenzie had her eye surgery, each of the girls made great strides in school and sports, and we all lived to see another birthday.
I saw this great way to reflect on my year of blogging posted over at Tracy's and knew I wanted to participate.  Simply post the title or first sentence of your first blog post from each month. Add a favorite picture from each month, even if it doesn’t match up with post. In my case because of my sometimes sporadic posting I did the first post of the month.
Here I go…

My year in blogging review

January ~ 365 ~001

February ~Sleeping baby

March ~ Life

April ~ WannaBe 

May ~ Hi!

June ~Chosen

July ~ Happy 4th of July

August ~ Wordless Wednesday-almost

September ~ I eat books

October ~ A new fiscal year

November ~ Candy Day recap-full of pictures

December ~Wordless Wednesday

From the fullness of His grace

we have all received one blessing after another.

~John 1:16

Here’s to blogging more regularly in 2011.

Happy New Year!!!

Bible in 90 days

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I am starting my journey to get closer to God and taking another shot at reading the Bible in 90 days. Yep, I started out really strong earlier this year Jan. 2010), but by day 30ish I was falling behind. The Lt. was recently deployed and I was feeling the pressure of being a single mom for the next 6 months with 5 kids and everything that comes with that. So, I fell off. But I am dusting myself off and starting anew Jan. 3rd.

This is part of my word for 2011…to GRoW in my walk with my Savior. To have that close intimate relationship with Him.  I plan on getting back into the routine of having my daily quiet time at 5 AM. By rising at this time I can spend time with the Lt. before he leaves for work and also have complete quietness until 7AM when the girls awake.

Have you ever wanted to read the entire Bible? Well, here’s your chance. 90 days…1 hour a day…Are you game???

Hop on over to Amy’s from Mom’s Toolbox there’s still time to sign up.

my word ~ 2011

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It's that time again…a time to look back at the past year and evaluate our progress. Our successes and our short comings.  A time to look forward to a clean slate of the New Year.

I have spent the last few days thinking of one word that will describe what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year of 2011.  I wanted to find the perfect word that would summarize my whole theme. Yet, I kept coming back to four areas of my life that I want to improve on. I wrote them down and pondered on them for some time.  Then, in the middle of a sleepless night I realized that my theme word was right before my eyes all along.

simpLify

grOw

serVe

lEarn

image credit: smashingapps.com

1 John 4:19 ~ We love because He first loved us.

All of these words are strong, tangible, action words that I will go into more depth on within the coming weeks as I start to put my goals into action.

What’s your word for 2011?

Merry CHRISTmas 2010

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from our HOME to yours

from our HEART to yours

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

TOS Review~ Tiny Planets

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Tiny Planets is the award-winning educational computer program set in space exploration and discovery, geared towards getting the creative and critical thinking juices flowing in kids aged 4 to 12. 

“Tiny Planets features the cosmic adventures of Bing and Bong, two whimsical aliens who travel the Universe of Tiny Planets together on their gadget-loaded plush sofa. With Bing and Bong, children are encouraged to think for themselves, assume social responsibility, take care of our planet and learn about the mysteries of space.  Inspire your child to take care of our planet!”

To get started on your adventure you need to sign up for a free Cadet account for your child. This account allows you access all the wonders Tiny Planets universe has to offer.

Tiny Planets Home is the central location to access the Tiny Planets web sites. Online content from Tiny Planets has won two BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards Interactive Best Entertainment Website and Best Children’s Interactive).

On Tiny Planets TV you can watch any of the Tiny Planets television episodes. Co-created with Sesame Workshop and emphasizing science education and early learning goals this series promotes:

• language and literacy
• social and emotional development
• knowledge and understanding of our world,
• problem-solving and reasoning
• creative development

Planet sites offer oodles of fun! And an important thing to mention is that Tiny Planets  have designed there sites to be add-free.  If your child is leafing through an interactive book  or watching an episode on Tiny Planets TV, they can safely navigate on there own.  There’s no need to worry about small hands navigating to scary content.   

Tiny Planets Learning is our site for parents, homeschoolers, and educators. Here you’ll find lesson plans that include educational activities and science experiments to do at home.

Some of the interactive learning in this section include:

*Children can adopt and care for their own planet

*Solve galactic missions with Bing and Bong

*Sharpen their wits with fast-paced mini-games

*Navigate their spaceships and avoid wormholes

*Nurture exotic plants in a biodome

*Recycle and collect water during rainstorms

* Help keep neighboring planets clean

All the while your children will be earning achievements and special badges for their accomplishments in learning.

Tiny Planets Labs is the playground for things to come!  When new games are created they are put into the labs site for you to test them out.

On Tiny Planets Fun your child can take a few moments to enjoy brainy puzzle games (like fractions, sound and seek, and symmetry), as well as coloring books and comics.

Tiny Planets Books offers interactive story books for younger children featuring Bing and Bong. Read these books with your child, or teach your child to read on her own!

 Tiny Planets is essentially a free site with the option to purchase KEYS, which allow you to purchase more TV shows and extra things for your planets. This program was an O.K. fit for our family. I do however, recommend you check it out for yourself and see if it fits for your family. It peaked Madison’s interest right away as she is all about space. She had a good time surfing around the site and exploring all it has to offer.  Check out what my fellow crewmates had to say!

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I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received a subscription to Tiny Planets in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

TOS Review~ ALEKS

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When we first started looking at homeschooling the girls, I was blown away at how many choices there were for math curriculum.  We have been lucky that it didn't take us a long time to find a program that works for us. I love to supplement here and there just to give a new approach to teaching/learning different concepts.  As a ember of the Old Schoolhouse crew I received a month subscription to ALEKS to try out.
 

What is ALEKS???  That is the same thing I asked myself when I first heard of the company. ALEKS is an acronym for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces. 

ALEKS is a Research-Based Online Program:

• Complete Curriculum Solution for Math with Access to Full Course Library
• No Textbook Required
• Artificial Intelligence Targets Gaps in Student Knowledge
• Assessment and Individualized Learning for Grades 3-12
• Master Account Includes Quizzing and Automated Reports to Monitor Learning Progress
• Unlimited Online Access - PC and Mac Compatible
• QuickTables - Complimentary Math Fact Mastery Program for Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction

From the beginning each student is initially assessed and then placed in the appropriate math level. As the student moves through the level they are continually assessed and challenged, moving forward toward completion of each math level.  Periodic assessments keep track of topics learned, and when the student is ready to move to the next level, ALEKS notifies the parent or teacher. If your child already has a firm grasp on a topic, they don't have to work on it; they can move on. No need to “master” a topic over again.

Each of your registered students has their own account and when they log in, any concepts that need to be reviewed will be the first thing they work on.  The student can then look at their "pie" ~ which is the major tool the ALEKS math program uses to motivate students to continue on in their work. The "pie" is a simple pie chart that clearly displays the student's progress. At any time the student or  mom/dad can quickly see what has been learned, what has yet to be learned, and which math topic needs the most focus.

ALEKS offers math courses for students in grades 3-12, as well as higher education classes such as college algebra, business math, accounting, statistics, chemistry, and more. Math facts drills – Quick Tables are included with the elementary-level courses. ALEKS is a subscription based program that ranges in price from $19.99 a month, to $99.95 for 6 months and $179.95 for 12 full months service. Have you got more than one student? Well, click here to view multi-student pricing.

We found ALEKS to be a great supplement to our current math program. I loved the way that the girls could get that extra reinforcement when needed and see material presented in a different way. I would recommend this program hands down if you are looking for a stand alone math program or as a supplement.  Check out what my crewmates had to say about the ALEKS program here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received a subscription to ALEKS in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

9 days!

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9 days to my 2 year blogoversary, Wowzsers !!!! Thanks for following along everyone. After Wednesday (12/15) I should be grounded again and will be able to post again daily, well at least more frequently than I have been posting in the last two months :-) Stay tuned, I’ve got something for you…

TOS Review~ Apologia Press: Good Morning, God

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If you know me then you know I love a good book. Sometimes it can be so hard to find books that are good and instill Godly values for children. Well, Good Morning, God  written by Davis Carman, from Apologia Press has done just that. This hard-bound book takes you through the week and tells the story of a 4 year-old boy as he wakes up each day and goes to bed each night. What a great story to teach your child to remember God throughout each and every day.

Good Morning, God sells for $14.00 and is recommended for children ages 1-8.  Also included is  a set of questions and activities to answer for each day of the week and to reinforce the reading.  We thoroughly enjoyed this  book and my 4 year-old requested it several nights for her bedtime book! Want a sneak peak? Click HERE and enjoy the first 12 pages!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received Good Morning, God from Apologia Press in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Mommytography 2011

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I am signing up to participate in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! I signed up for this current year too,  but then life got busy and I didn’t finish… so, I am getting serious for the next year and I am going to finish what I started. I want to really concentrate on my photography for 2011 and this will help me do that.

For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

chat later!

Wordless Wednesday

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TOS Review ~ Corps of Re-Discovery

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Has your daughter expressed an interest in sewing? If so, this patchwork quilt is the perfect craft for you from Corps of Re-Discovery.  The company was founded by a  fellow homeschool family’s passion for providing “…high quality, engaging products with directions children can understand”. Corps of Re-Discovery also offers kits that focus on the Pioneers and Colonial, Frontiersmen and the American Indians, all of whom contributed to the early history of the United States.

Corps of Re-Discovery is well named after the Lewis and Clark expedition-the Corps of Discovery.  There products make it  easy to enhance your family’s studies and “Re-Discover” America’s past all the while bridging the gap between the written words found in your studies and by creating hands-on projects.

Young ladies learned early on to sew from their mothers. Sewing a quilt was especially useful during the cold winter months.  With this quilt kit we were able to sew a beautiful Nine Patch doll quilt that is similar to what the  pioneers would have made and used in there homes.  For $11.99 you get all the material, batting, thread and yarn needed to complete the quilt. Piecing the quilt together can be done by hand or by machine. Adult supervision is necessary when using the iron.

When we found out about Corps of Re-Discovery we were super excited to be picked to complete and write a review for the patchwork quilt. Mikayla was so excited to start on it she kept asking me everyday. We finally got the quilt out and started the process of sewing with just the needle and thread, just like the pioneer days; but that took too long so we switched to the sewing machine about 1/4 of the way through.  Madison and Montana joined in too and helped to prepare this quilt. And how great because we just started our Prairie Primer unit study and it corresponds so well with this project. The girls had such a great time with this project that they can't get enough of sewing. They  have big plans to sew more bedding and move on to clothes for their dolls.

Check out what other had to say about Corps of Discovery and their great line-up of projects at the Homeschool Crew blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and as such received the patchwork quilt from Corps of Re-Discovery in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Wordless Wednesday (almost) ~ Halloween past

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Mikayla @ 10 mo ~ 2003

Montana @ 13 mo ~ 2007

 McKenzie @ 14 mo ~ 2010

I am linking this post up with the girls over at SITS who are giving away a Canon Rebel T2i. I don’t know you Tiffany but I am sure you are beautiful inside and out!!!

Candy Day recap~ full of pictures

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My blessings

 

 

McKenzie’s Princess Pumpkin

  

                 black cat                                           bedtime bear

 

              Queen Nefertiti                               50’s poodle skirt  girl

 

              Snow White                                           T-Bone  & I

The haul