mom and kids at home

Geography Resource Update

2009-05-05T14:00:00.003-05:00

We've recently found WorldAtlas.com, and have been using it with our geography studies. There are tons of maps ranging from simple line maps to landform maps, and for most of them, the amount of data shown on the map is adjustable. There's even a tab for a printable quiz for each one. The site is, of course, free. We've been using this site for reference and the Sheppard Software site for practicing capitals and countries.

For more map resources, check out the suggestions from the July 2008 post.

Howdy!

2009-02-09T07:29:00.002-06:00

This site has gone static for awhile. Having plenty to do and being fairly settled into schoolwork, I simply am not trolling for sites with my usual ferocity. No neat stuff, no new post. I don't pretend to be that talented a writer. If I find something else new and wonderful, or have an update on previously discussed stuff, I'll put it in. Until then, please enjoy the links and dailies hanging around on this page (we're using some of them every day!)

Bonjour, ça va?

2009-01-13T07:32:00.006-06:00

Everyone who has asked me about foreign languages knows that I am a huge Rosetta Stone fan. This year however, when I wanted to have some dedicated geography time, the easiest way to make room for it in the schedule was to temporarily drop our formal Spanish studies. Some friends of ours recently went to France though, and the kids' interest was piqued, so I decided to throw in a little daily French lesson. I did take French for four years, no sense putting that to waste. I just didn't know the best way to organize what I introduced. I found this lovely list at about.com (a favorite portal): Learn French - Self-Study Checklist. There are no buzzers or bells, but it definitely gets the job done as far as organizing information and giving complete explanations. Hope this helps you. Bonne chance!

Trying something different for dinner?

2008-12-30T07:38:00.003-06:00

Did you ever make a dish that you hoped would get "Ooh"s and "Ahh"s, but instead got "Ew"s and "Argh"s? I've gotten pretty bored with the steamed veggie routine. I thought, "Broccoli and cheese rice sounds great, sounds different." It actually turned out quite well. The oldest was brave enough to taste it. When the squirt next to him asked how it was, he replied,"Surprisingly, quite good." He polished off his share, but he was the only kid who dared.

Thank you for that bit of affirmation, son.

Needless to say, I won't be posting the recipe.

What are YOU doing?

2008-12-19T07:28:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmas! I've been sucked into Facebook by several friends at once, and what always pops up is that silly old question..."What are you doing right now?" Here's my story.

Over here we've been enjoying Christmas vacation. I've abandoned all school related internet surfing for the occasion, and quite frankly, that's why my little blog has been so neglected. Instead, we've enjoyed a ridiculously fun and unexpected snowfall (BTW we live in LOUISIANA), sung and played a lot of Christmas carols on the piano (free sheet music), actually sent out the Christmas cards this year (most of them), and mainly done as little as possible on our break. Say that lovely word again, "BREAK." Yes, I love that word.

I haven't even been baking since I finished my cookie and brownie obligations for the Christmas party earlier this month, although I was intrigued by an author I heard in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered (yes, I listen to NPR all the time-it's my grown up radio indulgence). She's a chemist, and her book not only tells you how to solve common baking problems, but (wonder of wonders!) also why they happen, and why the fix works. It's like science and home ec all in one. You can get her recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies here. I actually have had a renewed interest in baking since I heard it. BTW I might like to have this book for Christmas.

That's what's going on over here. So, what are YOU doing? I hope you're having a lovely Christmas season as well. Happy Baking, and God bless you.

And the results are:

2008-12-10T08:17:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the latest TIMSS scores were due out on December 8. Well, that day has come and gone, and you can hear a summary of the U.S. result at NPR's All Thing's Considered. We've shown slight improvement in math, it's true. If you take a look at the summary reports, though, you'll see that we're still positively average; and that's not average based on the most powerful countries. That's average based on all kinds of big and little countries.

From 2007 TIMSS
Table 1. Average mathematics scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students, by country: 2007
Table 3. Average science scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students, by country: 2007

Perhaps more significantly, some countries, like New Zealand and Australia, whose results were lower than the US in this measure, surpassed the US appreciably in the last PISA (a standardized test encompassing more countries) test. That would seem to mean that those countries are stronger in some areas (content gets divided up as a measure of fact knowledge, "explaining phenomena", or using scientific knowledge), and weaker in others, while the US is . . . average.

People homeschool for lots of different reasons, but I'm willing to make a bet that most of them aren't doing it with the idea of "average" as the outcome. I also know lots of moms and dads feel a little intimidated by science or math, but few of them would argue their importance. Next time you sit down to evaluate your science and math curricula, take some extra time to make sure that they measure up to something better than AVERAGE.

Do you want to see what's on these tests? Check out this page at Ediformatics to take a sample version.

Online Timeline

2008-12-04T08:44:00.003-06:00

I was poking through my Favorites links (unfortunately, it's very big), when I came across this gem: Hyper History Online. I spent way too much playing with this one. It's an online timeline, but it's very well organized, and has breakdowns by region and topic, and it's loaded with hyperlinks. There's even an accompanying "Book Text" if you want a little more info (I have not, however, read this part for content so look that over before you set the kiddoes free on it). This would make a great visual reference for any history studies. You can also buy a hard copy of the timeline there, but all of that lovely history interaction is free. That's a nice word to hear this time of year, isn't it?

Good Jesse Tree Printables

2008-12-01T06:42:00.003-06:00

To give credit where credit is due, I found this information on create-kids-crafts.com after googling a bit. There is a nice explanation of what a Jesse tree is, if you don't already know, and she links up to the seasonal resources section of http://www.rca.org/ (not a Catholic organization). RCA.org has done a lovely job with simple artwork for the kids to color and kid-friendly devotions for each day of Advent. If you have some free time, browse around at the crafts site. If not, here's the quick and painless method to get to the Jesse tree stuff in two links: Symbol and Shape Patterns and Jesse Tree Family Devotions : Advent 2008.

A Realistic Meal Plan for Busy Families

2008-11-26T07:35:00.002-06:00

I know we're not supposed to eat fast food or eat out as much, but honestly I don't really have the quiet time I need to wrap my mind around planning meals for the week, especially since I'm at the bottom of the learning curve on it. I'm trying again, since I came across this lovely guide at the Menus4Moms.com site on Secrets of a Busy Cook. It comes complete with visual aids!

Searching for a New Science Curriculum

2008-11-21T10:26:00.004-06:00

I haven't been posting as much lately. Most of my computer time has been poring over textbook websites in search of a new science curriculum for my oldest. The series we use now only goes up to 6th grade. The next series available from Singapore, i-Science, looks rigorous, but not very engaging. Since my hubby and I both graduated with engineering backgrounds, I am a bit picky about the rigor of the science and math programs I choose. Since my oldest enjoys science as well, I want something that's not going to squash that enjoyment; and since unit studies are tough for me personally to organize and conduct, textbook and labwork are going to be the way we go. Basically, I'd love something as engaging and organized as SOS, but Catholic or secular, and content intensive. (Would someone please make this for me?)

I haven't found it in the regular homeschool places, and when I look at reviews about the books the US public and private schools are using, it's depressing. "Loaded with errors" is the phrase that keeps popping up. Even if they weren't, something is not right with the curriculum, because despite the loads of money we put into the educational system, the US is way behind in science and math. (These are from the 2003 Trends in Math and Science Survey. The results from the latest TIMSS are due out December 8). If you check out the The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 2006 here , in which more countries participate, it looks even worse (see page 22/23 of the pdf file). Apparently we start off on an even keel (in 4th grade we're still in doing okay) and go downhill from there.

Armed with this ridiculous amount of trivial knowledge, I've decided to go hunting for a curriculum from some other English speaking country who's doing better in science than the US. If you check out those tables, you'll see that I have a few to choose from. It has taken me a little while to get past the differences in acronyms and professional terms, but at this point I've come across a few promising options. I'll let you know what I find when I find it. It may interest you to know, for now, that Amazon.com (that's the US one) has a lot of curriculum imports on hand, and they are much less expensive than the US textbook counterparts. Go figure. In the meantime, if you know of a great science curriculum for junior high (or Year 8, Key Stage 3) from Canada, Australia, or UK that I can get my hands on without sacrificing a limb for shipping, please, please let me know. Leave a comment about it and I will gladly check it out and think lovely thoughts about you all week.

My Big Broom

2008-11-19T04:30:00.002-06:00

Most of my home is laminate flooring. There's other stuff too, but I have some pretty big expanses of non-carpeted area. When I looked at my little old broom, I always knew it would take a while to get all that area done. I had what you would call an a-ha moment watching my husband handle the cleaning in the dining room one morning. Lucky reader, you get a trifecta here.

Number 1: Why bother cleaning up with that little old broom when I am as perfectly capable as anyone of acquiring a large one? This is what I use to clean my non-carpeted floors. I picked it up at Lowe's, and it has been well worth what I paid for it. I still use the little one for corners and edges, but this makes cleaning up sooo much faster, especially when I combine it with this next strategy.

Number 2: Instead of picking up all the stuff off of the ground before sweeping, I use my honey's method of just sweeping it all up into a pile: toys, papers, socks, and dirt. I do the kids the courtesy of announcing that they need to remove anything they plan on keeping. Yeah, it's a little gross, but they left it on the floor, and it does get the job done much faster. I've been assured by other moms (who shall remain anonymous) that they use this technique too. It's gonna' happen when my husband happens to clean up anyway. And that leads me to the last little benefit you're going to get here today. . .

Number 3: If your house gets that messy, you have the benefit of knowing you're not alone. If it doesn't, consider this a gentle reminder to be ever so grateful! Head on over to Works-for-Me-Wednesday for more helpful tips.

Big Issues in Education

2008-11-17T08:12:00.006-06:00

While I was waiting for hot cocoa at one of those ubiquitous bookstores, I happened to notice this book:

You should know that Sparx is a super bright 11 year old who has tremendous difficulty sitting still for lessons, can't keep track of his papers, and still hates the physical process of writing. These traits have been stumbling blocks to his schoolwork (and my sanity) for some time. In an effort to find strategies for coping with these "attention deficits" and for encouraging better work habits, I've looked at ADHD sites, learning-style sites, and various and sundry mommy blogs for guidance. Having attended coed elementary school and girls-only college prep school, I've long suspected that the dynamics that girls learn best under are not exactly the same for boys. I did not see Sparx characteristics as necessarily a deficit, but more of a personality that I just did not know how teach to effectively. Naturally, I was interested in this book.

Apparently, I am not the only mom/teacher facing these difficulty. Test scores and interviews from across this country (and several others) show that, on the whole, boys are falling behind in school; and in "chicken or the egg" fashion, are having an increasingly poor outlook on school and learning in general. Check out Five Powerful Strategies for Connecting Boys to Schools by Judith Kleinfeld for a shorthand version of the relevant topics.

If you have sons who are struggling, or girls who are fine, but not excited about school, then you should definitely pick up this book. The author is reflective and fair, and her writing style makes is an easy read. The issues touched on in it affect our sons and daughters, even those who don't seem to have difficulty (see Chapter 19, College for a real eye-opener). It seems to be the case that although boys scores are the ones suffering, many of the strategies that help them succeed also benefit our lovely girls in their enjoyment of and ease of learning. As the academic expectations have increased to meet the needs of a technological society, the teaching methods have not evolved everywhere to accommodate the steep rise in the learning curve. How much better can all of our kids do when the research on learning and the wisdom of our best teachers come together to solve that one?

This book is not a how-to guide, although it does discuss some strategies that have been adopted by schools to help bridge the learning gap between boys and girls. If you son is struggling, I'd definitely suggest looking into some of those ADHD strategies (not medications) that focus on organization and breaking down tasks into manageable size. These are helpful for everyone. If you're looking for some teaching ideas, the UK has been working on the "boy" issue for some time. Here are some links with schooling strategies:

Boys Can Do Better… Boys & Girls Different and Equal,
Boys' Achievement in Secondary Schools, and
Did teachers adopt different teaching and learning strategies for boys and girls? from a digest at The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS)related to gender issues (including one about girls called Making the Grade but Feeling Distressed)

And won't Sparx be relieved?

Silly lines this week

2008-11-14T07:22:00.007-06:00

My 3-year-old keeps fussing that it's his turn for the "pooter."

Despite what you may think, he does not need the restroom. It kills me to correct him on this one, especially since it makes me blush and giggle everytime he says it, but I have indeed told him that it's called a "com-puter."

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I was popping around online this morning and came across this little batch of sayings that made me grin. It's called Good Christian One-Liners and it was compiled by Irene Lagan. I hope you enjoy it.

Graph paper in a pinch

2008-11-13T08:25:00.002-06:00

We don't keep graph paper around here. It ends up creased, scrunched, or just on the floor. I don't know how, it just happens. I think it's because it's seldom used and looks so neat. Now when I need graph paper (unless I need a lot of it!), I go to this neat little site: Incompetech.com (I'm absolutely serious). They have been kind enough to make pdf files for graph papers, grids, handwriting papers, musical notation sheets, even looseleaf paper freely available. This means you can turn your plain old white print paper into any kind of paper you want. Check it out just to see all the stuff that's available there.

Math in a Box

2008-11-11T08:34:00.007-06:00

When I returned home last night, there was a delivery box waiting for me and my oldest. I've been excitedly awaiting the delivery for about a week, and waiting to order it for about 1 1/2 weeks before. I haven't mentioned this before, because I thought I needed to wait until I had seen it in my hands before I reported on it. What is it? Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra.

Sparks is an 11-year-old 6th grader, and is about to polish off the 6th grade Primary Mathematics (Singapore) book. If you've looked up the series, or read about it in a previous post, you know that the Primary Mathematics series only goes up to 6th grade. There is another Singapore series that takes over at that point, but I've been looking for a subject that Sparx can do more independently, and this series change seems like the natural time to transition. Although the Singapore stuff is wonderful in so many ways, at the 6th grade level, Sparx was requiring much more explanation than he had in previous levels. To my knowledge, there is no online site, or dvd program to go with the the New Elementary Mathematics Series, so I went looking for something else.

Naturally, Saxon was my first thought, and there is a DIVE program available. I checked this out online, but to put it kindly, I didn't think the DIVE thing would hold his attention. I also checked out SOS, and finally a lovely homeschooling friend mentioned that she had heard good things about Teaching Textbooks. I hopped right over to the sight, and decided quite quickly that we had to try this. In my little world, it's expensive (~$180 for books and discs, but only the test booklet would need to be replaced for the next child--by comparison, ABeka DVDs run hundreds/course). Quite frankly, I need the time this will afford me with the other children, and after working through several of the sample lessons, Sparx thought it would accommodate him well. For us, if it works, it is well worth the investment.

So now the lovely box of goodies has arrived, and I've looked at it and I'm still excited and hopeful. I know that it is not reported to be as challenging as Singapore or Saxon, but I know it will cover the basics and let my son have some success independently. Did I mention he tested into Pre-Algebra, the TT 8th grade level ? Yes, he's excited about that because he thinks it validates all of his hard work. I'm excited because as a 6th grader, he has plenty of time to get through the Teaching Textbook series and still have time left over to shore up any areas we think need extra coverage.

He should begin it in about a week, and I'll keep you updated about how the series is working for us. Cross your fingers.

Why Will Oil Remain Important?

2008-11-06T06:30:00.003-06:00

Oil. Everybody's talking about it. "Let's reduce energy dependence by drilling for more oil." "Let's get rid of oil and go renewable all the way. And while you're at it stop looking for more." Am I exaggerating? Only a little. You get my meaning. Two sides, two very different views. Here are the best reasons I know that insure oil will be important for a long time:

Do you like your car? Do you think I'm talking about fuel here? I'm not. Your tires contain something called carbon black. It's a relatively inexpensive thing made basically by burning crude oil, and it helps to give your tire many of the properties that you count on. It's also a component in almost every product you own that's black. All those black picture frames, yeah it's in there. You could burn trees to get the same colorant, but black's a fashionable color for many products, and I'd rather keep the trees. Are there any plastic parts in your vehicle? Plastics of all kinds are made up of polymers (that's chains made from a lot of the same molecule) derived from hydrocarbons, which come mainly from oil and gas production. You can bet your vehicle is full of these. Your dashboard, the armrests on your doors, the light casings, even the rubber hoses and belts. These won't be easily replaced by sugarcane bagasse. I haven't even heard of anyone considering how to replace this technology.

While you're at it, think of your world without plastic. It is in everything, including, but not limited to, your hospital equipment (think dialysis tubing and iv bags), shower curtains, food containers, dishes?, toys, appliances, carpets, clothes. You don't have to like the idea of plastic everywhere (I don't), but you can't deny it's value for so many important applications. Polyethylene (a plastic) is essentially a string of ethylene molecules. Ethylene is produced mainly from petrochemicals. That's oil. Are there alternatives? Probably. I'd like to hear about them. Vegetable oil comes to mind, but then you run into the same problems as with corn based ethanol.

Non-fuel usage of oil and gas derivatives is reason number one why drilling will remain important for a long, long time.

Reason number two: with all the environmental policies suggested by candidates, and now Presidents, and EU agreements for climate change abatement, none have yet suggested a way to do away completely with hydrocarbons as fuel anytime in the near future. President Obama's plan calls for only 25% of energy to come from renewable resources by the year 2025. Many ethanol burning vehicles are still using a fuel with ~85% ethanol. Biodiesel is produced from crops, but according to "What is biodiesel," "Biodiesel costs two to three times as much to make as it costs to produce fossil diesel."

Does this mean we won't ever be fossil fuel free? No, but technology limits and costs mean that it will take a long time to do it.

In the meantime, consider that the best path is still to use every means we currently have to reduce our dependence on drilling for fuel. It's good for reducing greenhouse gases and it's good for national security. Besides, we need to save what oil we have for all the other stuff.

High School Level (and Up) Science Sites

2008-11-04T07:24:00.004-06:00

It's sometimes hard to come by stuff geared towards teenagers in the homeschool department. Just so you know I'm thinking of them, here are a few interactive science sites I've come across which are pretty neat, but definitely over the heads of their younger brothers and sisters.

Dr. Saul's Biology in Motion
ice-albedo feedback, part of a site called Arctic Coastal Ice Processes
BioInteractive Howard Hughes Medical Institute Tons of advanced biology topics. Be sure you visit the Virtual Labs tab while you're there.
Computer Programming for Homeschool Students and Other Beginners
Windows to the Universe (advanced tab)This site is heavy on astronomy and the solar system, but has added areas in "life and diversity," geology, and physics. It also levels information according to your selection of beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels, so you can use it with most age groups.
Understanding Genetics from The Tech Museum of Innovation. This site includes some neat things likeUnderstanding Genetics-What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have? in the Online Exhibits area, and some at home experiments in the At Home Experiments tab. Genetics is riddled with moral questions however, so be aware that you may see some sticky topics listed on the home page. As a parent, I'd check it out first before setting the teenagers loose on this one."
Illuminating Photosynthesis This is from Nova Online, and is associated with The Methuselah Tree
The World's Biomes presented by the University of California Museum of Paleontology
Interactive Physics Simulations and Biology, and Chemistry, and Math, and Earth Science. This is part of a site called Physics Education Technology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Blast a Buick out of a cannon. You pick the angle, initial speed, etc. Definitely an enhancement to your science reading.

You are bound to find something here to make science class more interesting and more involving. Science class isn't fun for everyone, but it should be!

Here's a Neat Interactive Map You Bought

2008-10-30T07:46:00.004-05:00

I didn't intend on posting today, but I was poking around online and came across this neat interactive map put together by the National Renewable Energy Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy. I think that means we all paid for it, so we might as well take a look at it, eh? It's called the United States Atlas of Renewable Resources. Here is a screenshot:

I found it a bit slow at the startup, but after a bit the response time sped up. It's an interesting compilation of some of our country's natural resources. I wonder if the DOE will actually do anything with it.

Bigger Kid Read-Alouds

2008-10-29T06:00:00.002-05:00

As promised yesterday, here is a list of books I've read aloud to my older two. It is by no means complete. My memory only stretches back so far, and many things we've read were as simple as beautifully illustrated and well retold fairy tales.

You'll see a couple of duplicates from yesterday (I told you I had read most of them); and if you see a box set of something, we've read the whole thing. I've read a couple of those famous JKRowling titles, too, but stopped early in the series. I wanted the younger one to be able to enjoy those for herself when she was a bit older. It's surprisingly difficult to mum a 10-year-old big brother.

We've thoroughly enjoyed the Mark Twain titles especially. The story is especially entertaining when you give Huck Finn an appropriate accent, and the historical context is priceless. If you have hidden them away because of the derogatory terms, you might want to dig it up again as a read-aloud. I simply left out the objectionable language and substituted it with words that were not so offensive. When my kids questioned my hesitation anywhere, I told them truthfully that in those days people said ugly things that I would never repeat.

I hope you see some new things to try, or are reminded of some things you may have read as a youngster. Happy reading!

Offerings from Literature Group

2008-10-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

We're always looking for more good reads over here, and I enjoy especially hearing about books from other people. It gives me and my kids a chance to read something that we probably wouldn't have picked out for ourselves. Since we've participated in our homeschool group's literature group for several years now, I thought I'd share with you some of the novels that the 4th-6th grade level have read.

The copy of

A Chrismas Carol is shown in the hardback version (it's illustrated), since I wanted it to be something special for Sparks around Christmas time. The genres are not what we typically would choose, and still we have been pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed some of them. This is especially so with

The Great Turkey Walk (takes place during the Westward expansion),

The Door in the Wall (historical fiction), and

Treasures in the Snow (Christian fiction).

I think the only one which you may find questionable is

Hatchet. It tells the survival story of a boy stranded in the Canadian wilderness. This is one of the few that I have not read myself, but it does include profanity, some discussion or allusion to marital infidelity, and killing animals for food. It is supposed to be an enthralling adventure read. You can see a review for it here at CommonSense Media and judge for yourself if you think it will be suitable. All of the others would be considered rated "G" if they went by the current movie scale.

I hope you find something interesting and unexpected in this list for your kiddoes to enjoy. Next time I'll post about the books that I've read aloud to my two oldest. I think you'll see we slant a little to the fantasy genre.

Faith and Good Works

2008-10-27T13:53:00.007-05:00

I'm putting my own two cents in here. I am not a big fan of John McCain, but I will vote for him as many times as ACORN will let me. Although I disagree with some of his policies, and I find his rhetoric less than inspiring, I do respect him and his background of public service. Frankly, he could be much worse and I'd still vote for him simply because he is the only pro-life candidate in the election.

Regardless of what I think about Obama (I think he's a sweet talker and will say whatever need be to get elected, whether it's right or wrong or different in the morning. I'd also love to have him as a speech coach!), the one thing he has not swayed in is his pro-abortion stance. For me, this is the most egregious flaw in reasoning for anyone who claims to support civil rights. It's kind of like saying it's okay to kill someone because they stand in the way of your happiness. How many of us would be goners if that were legal? Who is qualified to decide if one person is more important than another? For anyone who wants to use the Supreme Court's past rulings to support his arguments, I say it has been horribly wrong before (think Dread Scott), and thank God that it has the capability of correcting itself.

Indeed this is the main reason why so many of my Christian friends are participating in prayer vigils with regards to the upcoming election. Protecting the value and dignity of all human life (youngest and oldest) is the deciding factor for this sector of the electorate.

I'll be joining them in prayer. But I say faith and good works. I've gotten about 15 different emails reminding me to vote according to my values. I wonder how many of them were sent to people who were "sitting on the fence," or voting with some other issue in mind. This then, is my official "good works" act of the day. I'm writing this in an effort to remind as many people as I can that the right to life needs to be defended. How would you defend your motives if you chose to let someone die for the price of a tank of gas? How could you seriously say civil rights have advanced if you devalue the most defenseless in our society? This issue must be our priority. Go out and do your own good work. Vote for your pro-life candidates.

Let's Start with Ethanol, or Not

2008-10-24T06:00:00.004-05:00

Let's start the environmental discussion with ethanol. Ethanol has been in the news for some time now. Since the 70's, it's been toyed around with as an alternative to gasoline. In recent years it has been the pet project of well-meaning environmentalists, and it was pushed along as viable by the corn growers and auto manufacturers and the government officials they lobbied.

Why? Number one, ethanol is an efficient, clean burner. Good for everyone. Number two, it can go right into existing vehicles with very little modification. Good for everyone; very good for car manufacturers, who would be able to move away from petrochemicals with very little effort or expense. Number three, if you were a struggling farmer, wouldn't you love to have your product used by every automobile owner in America? So here we are with ethanol ready vehicles (notice E85 on the back of all those cars).

But lately you may have heard or read a little back-pedalling on the wisdom of corn based fuel. Have you noticed how much corn on the cob costs now? The pocketbook is probably what will keep corn-based ethanol from becoming the latest and greatest thing, but it's not the best reason to dump it. How do you think all that corn gets harvested? Have you heard of ethanol ready farm equipment? Me either. Did you know that every time the soil gets tilled and worked tons of carbon dioxide gets released into the atmosphere? It's worse when woodlands are cut down to make way for farm land.

The corn we eat right now generally comes from land that has been cultivated for decades. If we use corn for fuel, more land needs to be allocated to compensate for the increased demand for corn, and more gas needs to be produced to make all of this happen. According to that Frontline episode I mentioned last post, it is generous to say corn based fuel gives a 15% improvement in the "carbon footprint."

The newest buzzword is "switchgrass." You may have heard it in connection with a term "cellulosic ethanol" or ceetol; which is ethanol that comes from cellulose like wood chips, grass, or waste products of corn or sugarcane. The idea is that it grows without all of the equipment or fertilizer. Unfortunately, this is still not the way to go. There's a brief commentary on that in the episode too (watch it). Here's a technical overview of cellulosic ethanol considerations (really technical).

Let's get back to our "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy, which, as I said before, is "right on." Brazil has led the way on this. You heard me, Brazil. The tech isn't mainstream yet, but it's coming. Basically, they treat the slop left over from sugarcane production with enzymes and make ethanol from that. If only we had industries here that had waste products. If only we used sugar in the United States. Oh wait, we do. Basically this is recycling at it's finest. It requires a huge front end investment, but should pay off quickly in the end. Imagine putting a little fancy stuff in your trash, then being able to sell almost all of it. The best part is that we already have those E85 vehicle waiting to use it.

What we don't have are the enzymes needed to make that happen. Different kinds of plant's cellulose need different enzymes to help change them to ethanol. It is my contention that this is where the industrial muscle and government subsidies need to go. There are some upstarts in the states. Interestingly, I've heard mainly of it being done with corn by-products (close a window, open a door). Sugar cane does seem like the most obvious choice here in Louisiana, though. There is really no good reason why a state that thrives on chemical plants and purports to be a biomedical mecca can't come up with an appropriate enzyme to work with it's biggest cash crop.

The truth is, we don't know what drawbacks will show up with this technology in the future. At this time however, it is our best auto fuel alternative. It is not the solution to all of our energy needs. The bulk of that must go to "clean" energy sources, which I will talk about in a later post.

In the meantime, get wise about your fuel consumption. Oil will always be important (I'll remind you about that later too) so we shouldn't waste it just because fuel alternatives are on the horizon. Don't buy cars and trucks that only have a 26 miles to the gallon rating, no matter what kind of technology they boast. 26 mpg for a standard vehicle is using the exact same amount of gasoline as a 26 mpg hybrid. Right now buying a hybrid because you wanted a fuel efficient car is like buying a rooster instead of a chicken to lay eggs. It's close, but it doesn't get the job done. You should be able to get hybrid vehicles with much better ratings. You can get regular vehicles with much better ratings. They just probably won't be as big.

Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?

2008-10-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

I caught parts of Frontline: Heat night before last. It reminded me of how unsettled I am about how much is not publicized in this country with regards to the whole environment situation. Green is a big buzzword, but the parties' decisions with regards to the environment often leave many of us scratching our heads. As a general rule, our society's best efforts at educating the populace consist of public service announcements for reduce, reuse, recycle campaigns; and celebrities, claiming to be so savvy, trying to set the example for social responsibility as they ride around in hybrid cars and tout handbags that should have fed a small country. We see advertisements on TV that talk about "24 miles to the gallon" like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. That's ridiculous! My minivan said 29 mpg on the tag, and it's not a hybrid.

Don't get me wrong, "reduce, reuse, recycle" is right on. But if our government (that's us BTW, the people) is so all for it, why is curbside recycling so woefully unavailable in so many parts of the country? If everyone stopped to think about where they would want to put their parish or county's next landfill when the current one is overflowing, maybe local governments might be more proactive in making recycling convenient.

Because these things distress me so, and because I tend to be vocal about things that most people just don't feel compelled to bring up (it's an annoying habit of mine, ask my husband); I'll be filling you in on what I've learned so far about environmental issues. Look for it from time to time. I'll probably top it off with what I think needs to happen (you are absolutely welcome to disagree), and what I expect will happen in the near future (which is usually different from the former).

I'll start today by telling you that the entire Frontline episode is available at this link. It was remarkably succinct in its discussion of alternative fuels, where we stand with respect to other nation's policies, and what's around the bend. Refreshingly, it was not a guilt fest. I thought it was fairly balanced: as it discussed other nation's advances, it also reported the factors that led them there. Let's lump them all under enlightened economical self-interest.

Mostly, I'd remind all you lovely homeschooling families to include environmental issues and the accompanying technologies with your other studies (or discussions at least). What you teach your child today will be the background for everything he or she does as a scientist, teacher, engineer, lawyer, plumber (Hi Joe!), architect, doctor, policy maker: as a citizen. It's not about global warming or "going green." It's about being good stewards of the gifts that we have, and it's about doing what's best for the people of the world. The planet will not care if it's oceans are dirty or it's temperature goes up or if fossil fuels are exhausted. We might though.

Clean-as-new Ballet Tights

2008-10-22T05:31:00.007-05:00

Well, I've found it. The answer to my most disquieting question, "Can I ever get stockings or tights good-as-new clean?" I thought I had left this question behind in my mid-twenties, when wearing tights or stockings at all became futile. Small children ripped them almost instantly; $7-$9 a pair down the drain. I just stopped wearing them. As my Mo is in her 4th or 5th year of ballet, however, I am back to asking that question once again. Those tights are so nice right out of the package, but one wearing and those pesky grey marks around the feet just ruin them.

I've tried the little lingerie bags in the washing machine, detergent for delicates, soaking in the sink. I get passable, not great, results. Finally, I took to googling. I did find one suggestion for Hosiery Mate, which I did not try; and one suggestion for soaking in dish soap, which I did try. What actually worked?

I soaked the tights in Dawn and warm water (everything I read said hot water will break down the elastic) for about 30 minutes, and scrubbed the feet as best I could. That got better than average results, but they didn't look close to new. I followed this up however by lathering up the feet with plain old bathtub soap (Dove unscented). This made the difference between passable and angels-singing-the-Hallelujah-Chorus-in-your-head clean. I've included a shot of the tights I washed. One pair has been in use since last April, and the other has been used 3 times a week since the beginning of September.

I've also included the song I heard when I finished.

You Have Got to See This!

2008-10-20T06:39:00.000-05:00

While trying to find the best way to clean ballet tights (if I find that I'll pass it on), I stumbled across this gem, "40 clever uses for household objects." It has an A to Z list of household items with uses I've never heard of. You will undoubtedly find a few on the list that you think are hokey, and a few you think are indispensable. I love, love, love B for bicarbonate of soda, C for crayons, D, E, G, I, . . . oh my gosh, a whole alphabet of wonders. You should know that peanut butter for gum in hair really does work. I've used that one 3 times. Baby oil also works if PB is not available, but not quite as well.

Autumn Story/Craft Time Combo

2008-10-17T05:43:00.005-05:00

My clever and crafty friend paired this book:

with "Foliage Friends," a leaf craft at FamilyFun.com, for a delightful story time this past week.

All you need are paper or construction paper, leaves, glue, and crayons or markers. Do not be deterred when you see that the time required listing is 2-3 hours. As long as you already have the leaves, you can spend as much or as little time as you need. For 2 moms assisting 6 little ones, it took us all of about 15 minutes to create Pre-K masterpieces. Your first or second grader might want to spend a little more time on his or her chef d'oevre, however.

I'd show you my little one's project, but it's been loved past the point of presentation.

A Nice Place to Put All Those Sites

2008-10-16T07:32:00.004-05:00

Here's an idea for all you homeschoolers who use a lot of web resources. Make your own homepage. No, not to publish, but just to keep on your desktop to make all those sites you use easily accessible. Here's a screenshot of the one I've set up for my squirts. If you're not sure how to go about doing this, head on over to about.com's Make an Internet Games Page for Your Child. It shows you how to put one together using Microsoft Word. I put mine together mostly using stuff I learned at Lissa Explains It All-HTML Help for Kids (yeah, I'm not a kid, but there's no easier way to learn something than from a kid's guide; and this applies to most stuff, including crocheting, programming vbasic, and braiding hair!).

If you like the idea of compiling all your goodies into one place, but don't have the time to put an official "page" together, try this quick and dirty method with your IE favorites list (I run on IE7, no hecklers please).

First you need to have saved all the sites you want access to on your favorites list.
Click on the File menu, then Import and Export.
Select Export Favorites, and click on the Next button.
Select the favorites folder you want to include on your page, then Next. Now, find the file you want to save your stuff in, and give the new document a name. Click Next. Click Finish. Click OK.
Now, wherever you saved this file, find it and open it. It opens as a web page with "Bookmarks" at the top, and all of your clickable links in front of you.

Do you want to make it prettier? In your documents folder, instead of double-clicking on your file to open it, right-click once, and select "Open With," and choose your word processor. Now you can go ahead and decorate to your heart's content. Just remember to save it when you're done! Go ahead and give it a shortcut on your desktop too, just for good measure. Have fun!

Mom, I need batteries for the PS2 controller!

2008-10-15T07:38:00.003-05:00

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this. It seems the squirts cannot remember to turn the switch off when they are done. After (literally) 2 years of losing this battle, I finally got wise. I first noticed that the battery recharging stations had gotten much more convenient, and purchased a recharger and "AA" package. One controller down. Every month or so, or when we pick up an item that needs batteries, I pick up one more package of rechargeables.

Yes, they are more expensive than regular batteries, but I don't ever have to toss any of these in the trash. You can pick them up at whatever pace is economically appropriate for your family (this was the same approach I took with the fluorescent bulb thing about 9 years ago, and boy was I feeling pretty pleased with myself when I replaced that last incandescent bulb). I now have all the tv/dvd etc. remotes covered as well as the PS2 controllers, remote control cars, and even a couple of flashlights. Now when they say "Mom, the controller's out of batteries," I don't have that flash of annoyance or guilt; I just pull out the batteries from the charger and I get to be the hero.

BTW, I just love WFMW!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-10-14T09:23:00.003-05:00

Happy Anniversary to my Wonderful Husband!

In celebration of this event, my better half and I went out to dinner last night. After picking up the children from the granny's, Mo asked what I had for dinner. "Pears and Gorgonzola salad with cane vinaigrette," I replied.

"What's that?" volleyed Mo.

"You know, pears and blue cheese salad," I answered.

"OOOH gross!" she yelled. "Hairs and blue cheese salad!"
At this point there are rampant giggles, but Mo is not abashed. "What kind of hairs?" she asks.

Where is that rim-shot when you need it?

Add This to Your Christmas List!

2008-10-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

My squirt received the most fabulous game for his birthday. I played it yesterday morning with my three oldest while the youngest one helped put the puzzle pieces together. It's called Planet Earth: The Interactive DVD Game, and yes, you guessed it, it's based on the much lauded BBC/Discovery Channel series.

All of the questions, in fact, are posed on the dvd, and are accompanied by footage from the series. The game is for 2-6 players and the recommended ages were 6 and up. I found this age suggestion to be right on target, since the 6-year-old was able to answer his own fair share of questions. The level of challenge, however, kept it competitive for everyone; and the footage on the dvd for questions held everyone's attention.

As a self-proclaimed science junky, I was taken aback by the range of animals on the game that I had never heard of. The questions ranged from biological diversity to geographical features, and of course, covered the globe. The multiple choice format was actually engaging, and since everyone can see the questions and answers, the facts are reinforced visually. We had lots of fun and learned tons. If you like this stuff at all, or if you want to pull in an informal science session for your homeschool, GET THIS GAME!

From the Mouths of Babes (or butterflies)

2008-10-09T07:01:00.003-05:00

After a particularly scrumptious brownie dessert, my 3-year-old informed me that next time, I need to add a little "woo-woo." This was a previously unknown utterance to me, so I had to ask. Just in case you want to add a little "woo-woo" to your next recipe, you should probably start hunting for the ingredients now. What is it? Apparently it's the burp of a butterfly found in the woods. It's blue and surprisingly dry, and lest you try to substitute something for it like blue sprinkles, you should know that you can not buy this from the store! You can, however, stretch it a little by substituting the burp of a bird. Happy hunting.

My Favorite Resources

2008-10-07T06:44:00.007-05:00

We all have lovely people in our lives, besides our families, who make each day a little brighter: your phone buddy, who giggles with you or lends a sympathetic ear (you know who you are), or that wonderful friend down the road who says, "Sure, I can watch all of the kids while you take care of ..." Yes, we appreciate them so much, but sometimes we are reminded of just how blessed we really are.

Our birthday parties have gotten unmanageably large over the last few years. Our extended family is (wonderfully) loaded with children, and most of our best friends have 3 or 4 kids each. After a week of stressing out over the logistics of 20+ kids and parents, I took the suggestion of one of these lovely moms and decided to have a party on a weekday at the park with our buddies. Our family event would be saved for the weekend, since most of the cousins attend traditional school.

All of my wonderful mommy friends were kind enough to come to our spur-of-the-moment birthday party at the park. They were so gracious to me despite the last minute call, and they made my squirt's day wonderful. I'd like to thank them for their generosity of spirit and time.

Take a minute today to remember all of the wonderful people in your life and maybe let them know how much you appreciate their friendship next time you visit!

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P.S. Hi there! There's a new link in the sidebar for Homeschooling Programs offering complete curricula. Check it out now if you're thinking about homeschooling, or save it for next year's shopping if you're a veteran.

Where is that soapbox when you need it?

2008-10-06T07:56:00.012-05:00

As the political season enters the home stretch, it's not uncommon for ads and attitudes to get nasty. The nicest of people mutter profanities at the television commentators (you know who you are). Arguments are rarely instructive or constructive, and attacks seem to get personal. In our bipartisan society, it's important to remember why our two-party system has been successful for so many decades. At the core of it, we are all Americans who basically have the same goals with radically different ideas about accomplishing them. If we at least respect others' intentions, we stand a much better chance of arriving at solutions instead of band-aid legislation.

I'm going to use an old adage here to illustrate my point.

"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

I kind of see the democratic side as giving the man a fish, and the conservative side as teaching the man to fish. The liberal sees a hungry man and wants to help him now. Our republican friend gets nothing but grief as he walks off; but he's not heartless, he's going to buy that man a fishing pole. Everyone wants to help the fellow. If our liberal friend doesn't feed the poor man, he may not have the strength for the longer haul. If conservative Jo doesn't get the fishing pole, the poor man goes hungry again tomorrow. Not always, but usually, our ideas don't have to conflict.

When we remember to love our neighbors as ourselves, and do our best to understand another's motivations before we begin the debate, we remember to argue instead of attack. We'll start to take the best ideas from either side, instead of the most mediocre from both.

O¹B³S¹E¹S¹S¹I¹O¹N¹

2008-10-03T07:36:00.009-05:00

Here's the dish. The Activities Coordinator over at Life on the Planet and I are old Scrabble buddies. The rivalry is intense. Suffice it to say that I win only on a rare occasion, but the board is always rife with words that would enhance any 12th graders vocabulary. Alas, my friend is in another state now, and our kitchen table games are few and far between. Undeterred by this, I set out to find a site to play Scrabble online. To borrow a Scrabble phrase: Bingo! I present to you my latest obsession, the Internet Scrabble Club.

Do not be fooled by the laim-o (not an official Scrabble word) graphics on the entrance page, my friend. On this site you can add buddies to play with while you chat online real time à la text messaging. The site has an international membership, and you are welcome to select your language of choice. You can even watch high-level players slug it out while you whisper comments to the other spectators. I have personally seen the U.S. National Champion play and I am embarrassed and humbled not only by his mastery of the Scrabble dictionary, but also by his strategies (double double word tiles?).

I prefer to play with the folks ranked around 500. It's still challenging, but at least I stand a chance of winning. Did I mention you get a ranking? And yeah, you know it's got to be free. Check it out.

Soy Recipe Substitute

2008-10-01T08:31:00.006-05:00

For us, living with a soy allergy has not been that bad. My son's symptoms are severe enough to be messy, but not alarming (I know that is not always the case). Mostly, we just can't eat many convenience foods. That's alright too since we probably eat a little healthier because of it. For the longest time however, I'd get a bit whiny when I'd think of all the recipes that called for cream of whatever soup that we could not have. I fancy myself a bit of a gourmand (no, I did not mean gourmet), and I missed quick chicken enchilada casserole and my grams' tortilla casserole and wow did I miss green bean casserole. Why, do you ask? All soy allergy family cooks know that the cream soups down the aisle all have soy flour. Drat!

Well, no more cooking lamentations. This Cream of Anything Soup recipe from cdkitchen makes the yummiest cream soups ever. You will never miss the canned version. You might even find your kids eating it all before you can use it for a recipe. The only drawback is that the recipe is for the soup, not the condensed version. To compensate for this, I leave the chicken broth out of the recipe and add the equivalent in bouillon cubes (we tolerate msg, and there is one brand down our aisle that does not have soy protein). Don't boil the soup, just let it thicken, then refrigerate or freeze it until you need it. If you do decide to use it as a soup later, just add the 2 cups water to complete the recipe!

Three things of note

There is no listing of celery cream soup, but that hasn't stopped me. For the 4 serving version of the recipe: I add about a stalk and a half of celery finely chopped and the onion to the butter, and cook that until the vegetables gets a little tender. Then I add the flour for the roux and continue as the recipe says.
If you can't tolerate the msg, you might use homemade stock instead for the soup (this is dastardly good stuff!) or for the condensed version, use the homemade stock, leave out the milk, but add the dried milk powder necessary for 1 1/2 c. milk. Several recipes I read up on used this substitute.
Tomato Bisque and Golden Mushroom Soup by a famous maker don't have soy protein listed in the ingredients. We take advantage of that.

Happy Birthday to my Squirt!

2008-09-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

We love you!!!

Glitter Graphics & Comments

Have you heard this one?

2008-09-30T05:30:00.002-05:00

One of the first questions that almost always pops up when I meet a new homeschooling mom is, "What curriculum do I use?" What doesn't show up on the screen is the slightly desperate sound with which the question is uttered.

This question, obviously, can only be answered for each family by each family, but here are a few tips and resources to finding and narrowing down the possibilities.

Always ask that question when you meet someone else who homeschools, "What curriculum do you use?" There is no easier way to find out about what's available, get insight into the pros and cons of the materials, and see it first-hand. In all my years of homeschooling, I've never met any mom who said no when I asked if I could take a look at the books they were using.

Check out review sites like Cathy Duffy's Homeschool Reviews, and homeschooling blogs (all types). Although many don't specifically review books, almost all of them list what they are using. If you run across something new, you can google the specific title, or email the blogger for her or his take on the benefits of that program.

Rainbow Resource Catalog, enough said.

Find out if you have a local consignment shop for homeschooling. They are popping up these days. Not only are the ladies very informative, but you get a chance to flip through the books and see for yourself what they're like. If you already have materials that aren't working out, you might want to sell your previous program here!

Finally, you can search the phrase "elementary education textbook" with whatever subject you're looking for. Be prepared to do a bit of digging here. As a minimum, try searching for sample pages on different distributor's websites.

The most important thing to remember selecting your schoolbooks: don't let fear of making a mistake paralyze you. You can always order something else later if your first choice doesn't work out.

Something's not quite right here. . .

2008-09-29T08:29:00.003-05:00

I spoke with a mom a few days ago who said she wasn't happy with her math program, but didn't see how she could change it. It had been quite expensive, and she didn't want to spend more money on a program that she was not familiar with. I think this is something that happens fairly frequently. Many homeschooling families get by financially with this economic conservativism. It's usually a very good thing.

In this case however, the money you're saving by not trying out a new program is just not worth it. The course may be highly praised and great for many people, but if you know it's not working out for you and your family, then it's just not going to do. You'll save a year full of frustration for you and your child if you get something new and put the old one aside.

Don't let that old program fester though. If you have younger children, you can try it out again with one of them. It may be a perfect fit for your other darling. If it clashes with your teaching style, however, you might consider selling the non-consumeable portions (textbook, software, accessories, etc). If the program tempted you to buy it in the first place, it is probably a solid program even if it is not quite right for your family. You can always sell it at a consignment shop, or even advertise it for sale within your homeschool group to recoup some of your losses. That next frugal mom will also appreciate the discount she gets from buying a used text.

Start looking for that new math or language or history book right now. Your time and your child's education are most precious resources.

Tomorrow, I'll remind you of some of those places to look for your new stuff.

Mommy shuffle!

2008-09-24T09:14:00.003-05:00

Apologies for the absence. For the past week and a half my internet connection was down and my cell phone has been missing. Joyfully, my honey has braved the customer service calls to get the internet up and running again, and I have found my cell phone. It was on silent, behind the computer screen!

In the interim, our homeschool life has been hectic. Our school days this year seem to last way too long, and it's running into our soccer, ballet, play time afternoons. The topic has come up in casual conversations with other homeschooling moms, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a sixth grade kind of thing. The extra work load at that level seems to have thrown off our not-so-perfect balance.

Here's the sitch: the first 4 assignments (dailygrams, religion, penmanship, varied reading assignment) go by swimmingly, and are followed by a well-earned break. After this, every little bit of schoolwork accomplishment seems to be followed by a a self-determined bathroom break, water break, snack-break or break-break of some kind. This goes for all three doing schoolwork. By the time I rope the first one back to the table, one of the others has snuck off. This has been quite detrimental to our actual quality free time. I'm sure we'll figure this out eventually, but if you have any wisdom that would speed up the adjustment, I would love for you to fill me in!

From the Mouths of Babes

2008-09-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Earlier

"Mom, are we going to evacuate for Hurricane Ick?"

Later

Shorty: "Mom, why does God make bad things happen?"
Mom: "God doesn't make bad things happen, evil is in the world because of Adam and Eve's original sin."
Shorty: "Is that why it's called Eve-l?"

The child is too punny.

Homemade Warm Compress

2008-09-10T06:00:00.007-05:00

My lovely cousin passed this trick on to me a couple of weeks ago when my littlest developed an abcess (YUCK!) She says is was told to her by her lovely friend, etc.

Find a clean sock. Use one of those lonely ones you can't find the match to. Fill it with uncooked rice (white or brown is okay). Tie it off and put it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove it carefully. This time is perfect on my 1000 Watt oven, but yours might be more or less powerful. If it's too hot, let it cool (stating the obvious). If it seems perfect, you still want to shake it a bit to distribute the heat evenly.

This provides a "moist heat" for a good while. It's perfect for earaches, sore muscles, or even the nasty old abcess. In that last case, however, you still probably want to put it in a ziploc.

Home sweet home!

2008-09-04T09:02:00.003-05:00

Well, we're home and the power is back on. Our home didn't sustain any damages from the wind, but the power outage and the fridge defrost drainpipe did quite a number on our floor. The good news is, our refrigerators haven't looked this clean in ages. Sparkling and shiny even!

We generally get our power back pretty quickly compared to others in our area, so there are still quite a few people in our parish who are without power. Even so, the gas and ice lines are shrinking dramatically (weehoo), and yards are getting cleaned up. Most schools start back up on Monday. Even though Gustav wasn't a very strong hurricane category wise, it's biggest strength seemed to be the frequency and sustainability of its top wind gusts. It was quite impressive even for some hurricane veterans in our area. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

As an aside, I just want to illustrate to those of you who are not from Louisiana or Mississippi exactly what the word "humidity" really means. Imagine a 5 lb. bag of free flowing white sugar. What would you have to do to it to turn it into a solid block of sugar? In Louisiana, all you have to do is leave it in the pantry without running the air conditioning for 5 days.

Southern Hospitality!

2008-08-29T09:39:00.004-05:00

Well, I would say that our house is fairly safe from the worst of the hurricane. It's a brick home, we're well out of the flood zone, and as they say down here, "We're north of Interstate 10." However, with 4 kids, we're not hanging around. It just so happens we were off for a long Labor Day weekend anyway. That doesn't mean we don't have hurricane preparations though. Not only do we have to pull in everything outside that might fly off, but we also have to stock up the house with all the standard power outage supplies. All of the batteries have been charged and the flashlights refreshed. We're putting away lots of water, the battery operated radio has been pulled out, and I guess I'm going to have to give the bathrooms a once (or twice!) over.

Why, do you say? That would be because our house is fairly safe from the worst of the hurricane. Our family and friends who cannot say the same have an open invitation to ride out the storm at our home while we are gone. There's a key box with a combination lock outside just in case they want to head over at the last minute. My lovely cousin had somewhere upwards of 25 people in her slightly more northerly home for Rita. Under the circumstances, hospitality doesn't even need to include enough guest bedrooms. If you are blessed enough to have a safe place for a big storm, remember that there are many who can't leave for whatever reason, and consider making it available to them.

What exactly is that? Environmental Science Terms

2008-08-28T10:30:00.007-05:00

It's funny how sometimes you think you know something, until you try to explain it to a child. Here's a great place to bone up on some of those "Earth Friendly" terms you hear about on the news all the time: The BBC Guide to Climate Change. The site includes an animated guide to the greenhouse effect, and illustrations showing carbon cycle and ice albedo effects. You and your kids can learn about how The Carbon Cycle has changed at the cite. This is a French science site, but it's translated for you and it has plenty of good stuff. If you happen across a click that says "en savoir plus," go ahead and click it. It means "to know more." If you want a little more info on ice albedo effects,Scientific American Frontiers has a little more info for you.

Old Phonebook Shuffle

2008-08-27T09:04:00.004-05:00

We recently received our updated phonebook, and I was quite pleased this year. Why on earth, would you ask? It's because I have absolutely worn out my old one. No, not the pristine one sitting in the cabinet by the phone, but the one in my van. I put the new one in its spot by the phone, then pulled out last year's edition to swap out with the tattered one in the van.

So if you're old hat with the directory in the vehicle idea, take a moment to refresh your stash, but if this idea is foreign to you, let me expound for a moment. Having a directory in your vehicle can save you hours of shopping time and frustration when that "need to have" item wasn't at the store you thought it would be. Do not waste gas or, heaven forbid, drag the kiddoes around town looking for it. Pull out the directory and the cell and let your fingers do the walking before you even leave the parking lot. This is also great if you're riding with your honey and think of a call you forgot to make. The number one, greatest, all-time, use for that directory: look up the number to the movie theater on the way there and buy your tickets ahead of time to avoid the line, and get good seats.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"

2008-08-26T09:06:00.002-05:00

Did someone besides Mary Poppins ever say that? Over here, we're more into the dance and music side of fine arts, but if you're interested in using art history or art appreciation in your studies, or if you just want to see some really neat sites, here are few of the best.

Check out ArtEdventures. Here you get interactive content about techniques, tools, and some history of art. A glossary of terms, introduction to artists, and timeline are available under the "Study" header. Lesson plans for different art projects are also included for grades K- 8.

Maybe you liked one of the artists you saw there. Do you just want to see more of what Leonardo da Vinci painted? Hop over to CGFA for an index of artwork sorted by the artists. It's like a ton of art museums at your fingertips. Short biographies of the artists are also included.

If you want to take a look at life and art in the Renaissance (why were those Medici's so into art anyway?), click to The Renaissance Connection . The content and interactivity are great. If you like that site, you might enjoy taking a glance at the whole portfolio of websites done by it's creators at eduweb's portfolio. It's a user-friendly site full of their educational designs.

UPDATE: My ever so resourceful cousin has recommended these books as a kid friendly way to learn about art. Cuddle on the couch with your kiddos as you solve mysteries and learn about great works of art.

Big ol' field trip idea list

2008-08-25T08:27:00.004-05:00

Every year about this time we start thinking of ideas for field trips for the school year. After 5 years of homeschooling, the new ideas start to run a little dry, but the old ideas will still be great for all of the smaller children who haven't seen them yet. Here's a list of places we've been and are planning to go, and a few reminders about helpful sources in your area.

All about town

Fire station
Town or city hall
State capital
Bakery (Our kids each prepared their own small loaves for baking.)
Pizza parlor (A local pizza restaurant and delivery place was kind enough to show us how they keep up with orders, then we treated ourselves to pizza and some visiting time in the restaurant.)
Local food manufacturers will often give tours, especially if it is a favorite regional product.
Bottling facilities used to give tours in our area. Check to see if your local ones still do.
Water treatment plant. Some offer tours, some do not. Preparation for this tour could include performing their own "jar tests" for water clarity, gravity filtration through sand, or flocculation with muddy water in the classroom or home beforehand.

Animals and Farming

Dairy, or your local university agriculture department may sponsor and Ag Day. Be on the lookout.
Aviary
Orchard or pick it yourself farm
*Corn maze-This one was fun! You can usually find a pumpkin patch around this time too!
4-H livestock or horse show
Rice mill
Crawfish/rice farmer - What crops are specific to your region?
Aquaculture facility

Cultural

Your local or regional museum will typically have a rotating exhibit. Keep in touch with these to find out when exhibits appropriate for your kids or group will be in town.
Does your area have a children's museum?
Your nearest college or university drama department (sometimes high schools) probably has productions throughout the year, as does the nearest theatre. Check out their schedule for the season to see if there are any performances intended for school audiences. Often, one performance of an age appropriate production is dedicated solely to attendance by schools or groups.
If your nearest college or university has special research facilities, or is well known for some department, call and ask if they have a tour program or special event. Many engineering departments, for instance, sponsor an "Engineering Day" for local high school students.
Your local historic sites or cultural centers. Check the front of your largest local phone book. They often have lists of these in a special section for tourism.
In our area, an Indian reservation offers a yearly event for visitors to learn about their culture, and Renaissance festivals offer days especially for schools and homeschool groups. Check out your areas local calendar, again this might even be at the beginning of your phonebook.

Wildlife and Parks

Zoo
Aquarium
Arboretum or nature station (hey, see them both)
Local state parks. Most can be located by googling "state parks .gov" with the name of your state. This is also a good way to get supplemental materials on the park. Also try to get a calendar, as there are sometimes special events at facilities throughout the year.
Visit http://www.nps.gov/ for National parks and find out what's in your area. This site also has an abundance of teaching materials, although the scope of each varies with the park.

If you have any other great ideas for field trips, leave a comment and share them with everyone.

Wacky things I heard this week

2008-08-22T07:01:00.004-05:00

When studying American history, one usually starts off the school year learning about all the explorers who... you know, explored. I myself remember having a bit of trouble matching up the explorer to the accomplishment. My daughter, however, has taken the cake. While eating dinner at our map-covered table, I thought I'd take an impromptu moment to review with her. Tracing the route from Portugal, around Africa, all the way to the Indian Ocean with my finger, I asked her, "Which explorer is famous for finding this route?" Her reply, "Carmen Sandiego!"

Here's a great place to see how those crazy explorers found their ways around.
European Voyages of Exploration It illustrates quite clearly how these wonderful discoveries came about. When you look at these maps, it seems like these discoveries were building on one another, and bound to happen sooner or later, but isn't that the way of so many advances in technology and science?

Protect those baby blues...or browns...or greens

2008-08-21T11:22:00.003-05:00

A friend or ours has recently discovered that their tweenage child is legally blind in one eye. The most crushing thing was to find out that if they had discovered this earlier, much of his vision could have been saved. You might be surprised to find out that their child had never before complained of vision trouble. They discovered this on their first vision checkup at the optometrist's. You might be really surprised to find out that their child had been through yearly screenings at his elementary school.

Apparently this happens more often than we'd think. The problem is not necessarily with the people doing the screenings. They are literally checking scores of kids at a time. The problem is mainly that children don't necessarily know that they aren't supposed to have to squint or peek with the opposite eye to see the "E" on the board.

What can you do as a parent? If your child fails the screening, see an eye doctor immediately. Do not, however, rely on an in-school screening to protect your child's vision. Our friends have informed us that correction and/or therapy for several vision problems is most effective before the age of 8, and that it's effectiveness drops off drastically after that point. So make sure your pediatrician does formal checks of your childrens' vision at the 3 year old checkup, and make sure you get regular vision checkups for your child with an optometrist or ophthalmologist early enough to head off any potential problems.

If you're interested in reading about some of the big vision things your child should be screened for, or want to know a little more about the subject, check out

Vision Screening for Kids: A discussion of Pediatric vision screening at about.com

BTW, don't forget to get UVA/UVB protective sunglasses for the kiddos. You put sunscreen on them before they spend time in the sun. Protect those little retinas too!

Gilgamesh for the Younger Crowd

2008-08-20T10:11:00.008-05:00

I spoke with a friend of mine who will be doing a unit study on Mesopotamia later this year. I mentioned a great trilogy of books retelling the story of Gilgamesh in a kid-appropriate manner, so this post is for her.

The series of books is beautifully illustrated, and the kids and I got a kick out of finding illustrations of archaeological items we had actually seen at the British Museum's Mesopotamia site. Although the older kids enjoyed and appreciated the books, I am continually surprised at how often my smallest one asks to reread them.

These award winning books are a great way to introduce your young'uns to this most ancient of epics.

Homeschool mom's guide to a really bad day. . .

2008-08-18T07:12:00.005-05:00

I have four lovely children at home every day. Two are well into elementary school, one is starting first grade, and one just likes puzzles, blocks, and toys. When my kids are having a good day, it's a pretty good day. When they are having a bad day... well, let's just say that mom's day could very well go south too. Days like this will happen, and when I'm 100%, I know exactly what things to try to get our day back on track. Unfortunately, I'm not always 100% either.

I've written down a bit of a cheat sheet, here. This is what my 100% self would do, or what my best friend/homeschooling goddess would tell me to do when I called absolutely frustrated. Thank goodness I can still read even on the worst of days.

Homeschool Mom’s Guide to a Really Bad Day
If the Big Kids Are Useless for Schoolwork (if They're Tired, Sick, or Distracted):

Take a 15 Minute Break (Yes, even if they haven't gotten anything done in the last 15 minutes)
-No phone or screens
-Go outside if it's possible

Send the Big Kids to Their Desks for an Individual Assignment
-This will give the little kids more time devoted to them and separating the older two often helps the rest of an off day go by more smoothly.

Change the Subject, Literally
-Try something less challenging on the list. Save the troublesome stuff for last.

Ditch the Subject for the Day (Especially for math, or a spelling test)
-Let him double up on the trouble spot tomorrow. Remember, you aren't just letting your child loaf here. This is a really bad day for him or her too.
-Have your child do tomorrow’s assignments in less challenging subjects today, to make time for the extra load in that more challenging subject.

Schedule a Friday or Weekend School Day
-No sense pulling your hair out now, and you're still letting the kiddos know that the school work must be done.

Get in the Van and Drive
-Yeah, this costs a bit more these days, but having the kids buckled in and anticipating something just gives my nerves a chance to rest.

Drive thru somewhere.
-If this seems like rewarding poor behavior, just get a pop or fries and call it “a snack to adjust your blood sugar and get a little caffeine in.” Low blood sugar or tiredness are usually the culprits anyway. Get yourself something too.

***2 Subject Van Rule (This applies to good days too)
-If you must do an errand and have schoolwork to finish, bring only two subjects, one for the van ride and one for the destination. (Thank you Activities Coordinator from Life on the Planet). More than that will not get done and will clutter the van. Also, a natural consequence is the reward of accomplishment of a task. If they are really having a bad day, do not run any errands. Make arrangements with your honey or someone else to avoid putting them in that situation.

If the Smaller Kids are Too Distracting (They Need Attention, or They are Tired, Irritable):

Let Them Watch Some TV
-Only if they haven’t had much today.

Don’t Forget Their Schoolwork
-This might be a good time to do their schoolwork. Don’t push this and make it worse though. Helping them calm down now will make schoolwork easier for you to accomplish later in the day.

Have some Circle Time (yeah, that fun singing, dancing, finger play, parachute playing stuff)
-Again, only if they want to. . .
-Do it outside if you can.
-Make a production of getting ready to go outside and go. Big kids can do individual assignments or read literature or Bible.

Storytime?
-My littlest one always loves this. Sometimes the Gameboy does too. Try it.

Feed the Squirts
-The little ones often need a snack to optimize blood sugar. This and tiredness often lead to the same behavior. If necessary, get in the van and drive thru somewhere.

***If all else fails, Put Them Down for a Nap
-At our house, this will probably be a futile effort, but even laying down quietly is still better in the long run. A glass of water and a story might make this more palatable. If your kids are not all out anti-nappers, you might try this one first!

Two Beautifully Done Literature Sites

2008-08-15T07:25:00.004-05:00

I ran across this first website while researching castles for a literature group class. It's called The Knight with the Lion. It "comes from a poem written around the year 1177 A.D. by a Frenchman named Chrétien de Troyes" (quote from the intro to the site) and it retells stories based on King Arthur and his knights. Not only are the stories interesting on its own, but the pages are beautifully illustrated, and there are links all over the place that help you to understand what's being described in a historical context. What do they mean by chivalry? What part of the castle is that? I'd say this site would be best suited to junior high or high schoolers, since it's pretty big, but I'm sure younger students would also enjoy the story. It is a wonderful resource for literature or history studies of that time frame.

I was so impressed, I dug around for anything else that might be similar. The same team had also created a site for that World Literature staple, Beowulf. Granted, if you've got a good translation of it, the story is already enjoyable, but this site not only has a translation, it's got photos. Yes, you read me right. What does an Anglo-Saxon burial look like? What about armor? The adventures are peppered with links to archaeological photos, a glossary (thank you), illustrations, and even recordings. Check these out now for an interesting read, and bookmark them for later with your homeschool studies.

Have a great weekend!

Green on the Roof, Green left in your Pocket

2008-08-14T06:19:00.003-05:00

Just a little something about my background, for the purposes of full disclosure. I'm a homeschooling mom with a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering. I'm a pro-life republican nature-lover who is concerned about the environment. I am pro-industry, pragmatic, and I still think we should all do what we can to be wise stewards of our natural world. That being said, I'm always excited about opportunities to conserve resources without blowing our most practical one, the bucks in our bank accounts. Here's a video on a company called Nanosolar and it's product:

I don't have stock in the company, but maybe I should. I've had my eye on it since a 2006/2007? issue of National Geographic mentioned them in a photo caption (I do notice the weirdest things). If it piques your interest, check them out at Nanosolar.com. They were also cited as Innovation of the Year in Popular Science's Best of What's New 2007.

To summarize, they are producing solar panels on a system something like a printing press. It's a lot faster and less expensive to make since there's no silicon in it. It's also on a film, so it is not brittle like traditional solar panels. For now they are releasing their product to energy companies overseas, but look for this product and stuff like it in the near future for your home. It's an opportunity to drastically (green, like the environment) reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons, it's just about the cleanest fuel alternative we have (BTW the whole corn thing stinks, byproduct processing a la South America is a much more efficient alternative), and this product is made to be affordable (green, like cash).

Need a good reason to be thinking about alternative resources? Check out this report on ocean acidification:

Thinking about the repercussions is not for the feint of heart.

Just in case you need a little good news after thinking about that, if you like science, bookmark KQED Quest and browse a bit. It's loaded with wondrous stuff, nice footage and more in-depth reporting than we're used to seeing on the regular big name news spots.

Kitchen Grease Disposal

2008-08-13T07:29:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know WFMW is on hiatus, but I'm sort of in the habit of tipping on Wednesday. I am not sure how to categorize this tip. I guess it's a kitchen help. When I'm browning ground beef or any other greasy item, I always drain off the grease. It's pretty yucky, and it's too hot and messy to throw away immediately. To make cleanup a little easier, I put a few cubes of ice in with the drained liquid. By the time I'm done cooking the meal, the grease has solidified and I can just throw it into the regular trash.

Practice, practice, practice

2008-08-12T06:43:00.005-05:00

If your kids are a little rusty on the language arts basics, or they just need some practice to reinforce what they are learning, http://www.iknowthat.com/ has a great game for punctuation practice called Punctuation Paintball. Basically an unpunctuated and uncapitalized sentence pops up on the screen and you have to choose the correct punctuation and shoot it at the sentence to correct it. There are 3 levels of difficulty, depending on how many punctuation elements you wish to include (Capitalization, periods, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and quotation marks for the advanced level). You are led to a free registration screen, but you can proceed without registering.

The other gem on the site is Leon's Math Dojo, which is a fast-paced drill for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. The lowest level of multiplication drill (what we use it for) is factors through 12, but the answers are multiple choice. I like this drill better than the others I've found because there's no typing involved here. Why is this important? The drills can proceed as quickly as your child knows the answer, not as quickly as your child can type.

Of course you can upgrade to premium content, but the basics here are pretty good, and you can register for free to keep track of scores. Dig around by grade level on the main page. I stumbled upon a preposition drill that was quite addictive. Definitely worth checking out!

Painless U.S. Geography

2008-08-11T12:26:00.002-05:00

It's our first day of school and this year we'll be working on U.S. Geography. Mo will be learning it for the first time, and the older one will get a quick review of those old states and capitals. That pretty much means we'll be visiting this site: Sheppard Software. I've linked you up to the page we use most. This was far and away the best site I found for learning where our states are when Sparx' curriculum called for it. He actually enjoyed practicing it (of course, he just enjoys any excuse to get on the computer). You can work on states, capitals, or geographical features for the U. S. and they have lots available for World Geography studies too.

Here's another way to sneak in the geography. I put a world map on our dining room table and covered it with a vinyl tablecloth. No, it's not elegant, although you could probably muster something a little nicer. The good thing about it is the kids are examining it all the time. Geography was something that we NEVER discussed outside of schooltime, and now they're asking questions about different places all the time. When the little ones pretend to fly in a plane, they head to Lilongwe. Yeah, it's really a place. Get the world map out and find it.

Busy, Busy

2008-08-05T07:37:00.003-05:00

I'll be away most (or all) of this week taking care of upset stomachs and household tedium. Wish me luck and enjoy the last weeks of your summer vacation!

Make some time to take in the sites ;)

2008-08-01T21:38:00.004-05:00

If you're a homeschooler or an educator of any kind, or you're just a little geaky with the cool stuff online, you have to check out skoool, Learning and Teaching Technology. Yes it's mispelled. I don't know why they do that. It's an Intel project that's been implemented in countries all over the world in several different languages. It's done in conjunction with each countries Ministry of Education but it's accessible worldwide for free. For some reason, there's no portal in the U.S., but we can still use it (insert a smiley face here).

Most sites are Science and Math based tutorials and interactive content. The best places to check it out are through the Irish portal at http://www.skoool.ie/, where it has the most available content for "junior cycle" or "senior cycle", that's the same as "key stage 2 and key stage 3" at the UK portal http://lgfl.skoool.co.uk/index.aspx and what we would call junior and senior high. If you head over to the Australian website, the presentation is not nearly as cool, but there is interactive content of the same caliber available for students as young as 4-9 (Hey that's the range they give). About 5 new portals have popped up since I first came across this stuff last year, so check it out now, then check back later at http://www.skoool.com/ to see how it's grown. This kind of content and availability is what I think the web is really all about.

T-Shirt Ideas

2008-07-31T09:05:00.005-05:00

I have a lovely friend with a large family. When we go on a field trip or to a family function, her kids are always wearing T-shirts the same color. She says it makes keeping track of the kids easier. I see the beauty of the idea, but I've rarely been able to accumulate that many T-shirts in the same color in the sizes I need. I found Hobby Lobby's T-shirt department this week. BTW, the Ts were on sale this week, 50% off. I got my kids' shirts for $1.50 each. Even at full price that's a steal. There was a rainbow of colors from which to choose. Adult sizes were ~$2 a piece on sale. The best part, however, was the Inkjet Tranfer Paper I picked up with it.

If you haven't heard of Inkjet Transfer Paper (I only heard about it recently), it lets you print an image or lettering onto the special paper using your printer, and then you can iron it onto your fabric item to make a custom T-shirt, pillowcase, etc. The package even comes with a software download to make designing your design pretty easy (You can go straight to the free download of the "Lite" version of Hanes T-shirt Maker but it requires a free login). The paper runs about $10.50 for 7 sheets, so make sure you get the right paper for your printer and T-shirt (light or dark color), and that you test out your image on regular paper before you start printing it on the paper.

I made 4 shirts yesterday (matching colors!) with pictures and writing that my kids requested. We all had fun with designing them, the kids each got exactly what they wanted, and now we have matching colors to wear for crowded functions. All of us are itching to make another batch.

Soy Allergy Substitute for Bread Crumbs

2008-07-30T06:04:00.005-05:00

We have a little one here with a soy allergy, and that makes convenience foods a bit less convenient. One of the toughest foods to find at the grocery store in a soy free brand is bread. Most companies use soy flour as an emulsifier and/or preservative (whatever that means). The same holds true for bread crumbs. My neighborhood grocer carries only 1 variety of bread without it (when he's out so are we), and no bread crumbs without it. Homemade bread crumbs from wheat bread do not taste so good.

My grocer does, however, carry the big name stuff, like Ritz crackers and other popular crackers. I open up one of the sealed stacks of Ritz crackers and run those babies through the food processor. Add whatever herbs you like. When I use it for coating chicken legs to bake, I add pepper, paprika, and sage. I used them plain for tuna patties, and when I do stuffed artichokes, I'll add Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. It's not exactly the same, but it is a pretty good substitute, and it's readily available (you can get them at a gas station for goodness sake).

Ritz crackers will not work for people with severe allergies as it contains soybean oil and soy lecithin, but for those who simply have to avoid soy protein and soy flour, it opens up a few more recipes. If these crackers don't work for you, you may find another cracker substitute that does. I am officially reminding you to check your labels, although I know that all moms and dads with food allergies in their families already do that. Happy cooking!

Indoors and Outdoors

2008-07-29T07:41:00.002-05:00

Are you and your kiddos running out of boredom busting ideas? Pull out that Lego box and rebuild some of those cool models you bought the set for. If you are not perfect, and have not neatly organized each and every instruction manual, don't stress. Someone out there has, and here is how you find your copy of the original. Go here (Lugnet.com)to figure out the model number of your darling's set. Choose what kind of set it is, then look for the picture of the package or built item. It's not very tough. Write that number down, then head over to the brickery. Select the range in which your number falls, then find your number and click to find and/or print the building directions. Last week I pulled up the directions for a set I know is from the previous century (we inherited it from my little brothers). I like knowing that I never have to keep another LEGO instruction manual again!

Maybe it's time someone in your brood picked up a few more skills on the skateboard he or she got for Christmas. Dust off the helmet and head over here for some insight: Skateboarding help, tricks, FAQs, etc. (by Steve Cave at About.com Guide to Skateboarding). If your child is just starting out skateboarding, check out the sequence by the same name: Just Starting Out Skateboarding (well hello?!).

Now, no more excuses. Get up and do something (BTW, that little bit of motivation was directed at myself;).

The best things in life are FREE!

2008-07-28T09:48:00.004-05:00

When we bought our computer, it came with Microsoft Works, not the lovely and ubiquitous Office. How much does it cost to upgrade to Office, or even Word? A lot. Do you want to teach your kids how to make spreadsheets or presentations? I'm in charge of a directory for my homeschool group. How do you think that goes without Microsoft Access? Not so well. How much to get that? A lot.

It's all okay though, because there are lovely people out there in the world who don't think you should have to pay a lot for access to these things either (people are nice that way, you know?). OpenOffice.org provides a robust word processor/spreadsheet/database/presentation software package for free! It's what's called an open source project.

If you are used to the comparable Microsoft products, you'll have no problem with the word processor and spreadsheet. The programs can absolutely work with the files you have from any other application, and you can still save your file back to whatever format you want.

What's the catch? You have to download it. There's not much clipart preloaded in it. There are currently support manuals, which are sometimes tricky to find. I've got the link to the chapter index for the best ones here. Do you want Quick Reference Guides? A site called Burningsuit has great ones here (Pring them all!). The formatting capabilities in the database reports are weak. If you need something more like Access, you need to download an extension for that here.

The bottom line is, if you want good quality software, and can't or don't want to spend the money on Microsoft, you have to put in a little more effort, but the result is still great. And I love the idea of people helping each other on a project like this. Check them out. If it's not for you, pass the information along to a college student you like who might need it.

Scheduling Two-fer!

2008-07-25T08:01:00.002-05:00

At our home, summer is just too hot to enjoy much time outside. Fall, that's the most incredible time down here. Even with hurricanes, it's still hands down the best weather we get all year. Even though there's a lot of flexibility with homeschooling, my kids wouldn't stand for trading in summers off with their buddies for more time to play in the autumn. I've come up with a compromise. This year, we are starting one week early. Instead of taking off that extra week in the October, I've scheduled 2 light weeks. 1 week of half the subjects, 1 week with the other half. This way, we don't get behind in any particular subject, we don't lose momentum with the schooling, but we still get to feel like we're taking a break, and we still get more time to enjoy that glorious cool weather. If this works well for us, I'll pull a day or two off of a springtime holiday and distribute it in a similar fashion. Do you have any ideas for scheduling that have worked well for your family? Leave a comment to share with everyone about it.

Music Anyone?

2008-07-24T08:13:00.006-05:00

In all sincerity, there are no serious musicians over here, but we all love music. We all like to play around with our instruments. Here are some of the best resources we've found, and they are all at your fingertips.

You need a Metronome?

Maybe you want to tune your guitar and you've misplaced your Guitar Tuner (tuning by ear)...

See if you can pick up a new chord from this Guitar Chord Finder!

And finally, if you've got the music in your head, and you've just got to share it with everyone, download Finale Notepad, the free version of Finale, a music composition program. Put those notes on the page, and it will play your tune back for you in almost any instrument. If you like it, add some words, print it out and share it with your friends. It requires a login, but is otherwise free to put on your home pc. My princess Mo has created some lovely (and quite long) whimsical tunes, and has quite literally spent hours on the application.

So pick up an instument and add a soundtrack to your summer!

WFMW Great way to cool off outside

2008-07-23T10:38:00.010-05:00

If it's oppressively hot where you live too, why not pick up a mister for you or your honey to install outside. You've probably stood under them before when you were trying to cool off at a theme park. They are also sometimes put out at soccer tournaments and such. They put out a cool mist without getting the place very wet. Mine is installed along the patio, and the kids and I enjoy it immensely. It claims to lower the temperature in the area by up to 20 degrees F. I don't know about the actual measurement, but it does cool the place off quite a bit. Here are a few reasonable ones I've found:

Orbit 3/8 In. Professional Outdoor Cooling / Misting System from Home Depot (~$40)

and

Cool Patio 12-Nozzle Misting System (~$22) or the Arizona Mist Outdoor Cooling System (~$40) from Walmart.

Now head on back to Rocks in My Dryer, but don't forget to come back and visit!

Make someone smile!

2008-07-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Before she got her Nintendo DS (insert raspberry here!), my dear princess was known to send a note or an ecard to a friend or relative almost every day. I thought it was an absolutely charming thing. Today the inbox is almost just like the mailbox: cluttered with junkmail and business too often, and correspondance from loved ones too seldom by comparison. My little girl was sending a note to let her friends, and sometimes me, know she was thinking about them.
Summertime is as good a time as any to send a smile to someone that way. Check out these sites to find some family safe and free ecards for your kiddos to send to their buddies.

Crosscards

Yahoo! Kids ECards

Monterey Bay Aquarium ECards

American Girl ECard Central (currently closed, but hopefully opening again soon)

or visit your favorite kids site (there's a list here) and type ecards in its search tab.

While your checking them out, why don't you send one to your kiddo!

More on Catholic Texts-Religion Books

2008-07-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

When you first start out trying to put together your curriculum, it can be a bit overwhelming. A great place to start out is with one that's already put together for you. Unfortunately, the curriculum you love for language and math is often not the one you would choose for religion. When I was looking for our religion program, I had difficulty locating any at all, since they seem to be spread out over an abundance of smaller publishing houses. I looked at the books of as many friends as I could, and seemed to keep seeing the same two over and over again, namely Faith and Life and We Believe. One had beautiful old world master paintings in it and a page full of text on the facing page. Boring and snoring for my hyper 1st grade boy at the time. The other had lots of fun pictures, but was more fluff and less meat than I was looking for. I saw Image of God in a Catholic press catalog, but couldn't get my hands on a copy to really examine it before buying it.

Finally a dear friend showed me her copy of The Treasure of My Catholic Faith, from Circle Press. I was impressed by the content and how much information about our faith it covered, but was absolutely thrilled by the abundance of illustrations and fill in the blank, matching, kid-friendly kind of exercises. In other words, it was the best marriage of content and accessibility that I had seen. I still learn things reading through it with my kids. Too bad it only goes through 6th grade.

However, I have finally found a whole slew of texts to investigate for next year, and I can rest assured that their content at least is all in line with Catholic teachings. Apparently the USCCB (that's United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) publishes a list of "texts and series [that] have been found to be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church," and keeps it updated here. Who knew that USCCB would have so much useful stuff? And wait until you get a look at all those books on the list. I feel a google coming on.

Time for a haircut?

2008-07-18T07:20:00.004-05:00

At our house, this elicits a lot of different responses. The littlest one is a great customer. He sits perfectly still and looks wherever the stylist tells him to. The gameboy is just starting to cave into the "longer hair" mentality, but usually ends up with the "Daddy Do" (very short). Hubby can't wait to get a haircut for himself, and enjoys torturing the tween by threatening a buzzcut. His teasing is especially successful when coupled with remarks about putting barrettes and bows in his hair. Yes, the latest trend in tween to teen boys' haircuts is long, and my young man has embraced that. Unfortunately for him, the one thing his parents won't stand for is hair longer than his collar. I've tried to compromise a bit by letting him keep it longer at the top and sides, but then we run into two problems: it's impossible to find someone around here who doesn't cut it all off when we ask for a trim (don't these people watch the Disney channel?) and it requires frequent trims.

Since I'm a bit frugal (in my case that also means cheap), since the kiddos and I all prefer not to approach a retail center of any kind together, and since no matter what we ask for, my son always ends up with the same short haircut, I've started cutting the boys hair at home. Let me just say, this is not one of my natural talents (my oldest is still more satisfied with this haircut than the one he gets at the haircut place). After a lot of digging around, I've found a spot which gave me one of those lovely "aha" moments. It's at the Wahl Clipper Tips and Techniques page. Here for the basics with pictures, or here for a more detailed explanation. But, in addition to the usual short haircut info in the clipper package, it also gives hints for medium to longer hair. Yeah! I hope this helps you (or your sons) out a bit. Have a great weekend!

If you've just happened here because you were looking for boys' haircut pictures, this blogger site should give you a ton of "guy" haircuts. Beware that you will have to look at way too many pictures of Zac Effron(?sp) and Tom Cruise (weird combo, eh?), but there are tons of pictures to print out for your tween to choose from.

Hands-on science, kind of..

2008-07-17T07:18:00.007-05:00

There are lots of places on the net where you can read up on science topics. If you're looking for a science site that's engaging, well, those are few and far between. I've come across a couple of great sites that don't just tell you what's going on, they show you.

This site popped up on the BBC Science ticker a couple of days ago. Periodic Table of Videos from the University of Nottingham. It's a periodic table, but for every element you click on, you get a video explaining unique properties of the elements (okay that parts a little boring, but really the meat of the info), and then showing you cool experiments to illustrate those properties. This new project (there are still about 30 elements left to finish) really makes the elements memorable. Really, who would have thought Sodium (Na) could be such a big hit? Why else would my 5yo ask "Can you put it on Helium again, please?!"

Next is Aspire (it's an acronym). It's provided by University of Utah Physics Department (thank you) and is billed as "Interactive, Web-based Science Labs for 8th & 9th Grade Students", but it is actually quite cool. I came across it looking for a demo on simple machines, and let the kiddoes use it to experiment with the mechanical advantages of levers and pulleys. Sure they could do this a-la-real world, but these experiments work the way they're supposed to 100% of the time (I can't say that about mine). So, if you're not science minded, you could run through the experiments here first before you do your kitchen table version and then you'll know what to expect. How do pressure and temperature affect volume? You can see it at this site. Don't worry about the grade level thing. If you have younger ones, just bring them to the experiments after they cover the info in their own curriculum and skip the lab report forms.

This one's for the younger kids. It's a weather maker. Yes, mess with the temperature and pressure and see what happens here: Scholastic Interactive Weather Maker.

Have some fun with science!

Clean Walls Faster!

2008-07-16T05:56:00.002-05:00

If you've read my blog this week, you might have heard me say:

I'm thinking about mopping my walls today.

Well guess what? I did and it was brilliant! Before you think it's just too wacky, let me remind you that I have 4 very active kids, 3 are boys, 2 are small enough to cause a disaster on their own. Remember this crazy info too: When they installed your drywall, the "floaters" were using a sanding sheet on a stick, and when the painters (maybe that was you!) rolled on the paint, they had that roller on a stick too. Why would I not try it? There are a couple of important rules though.

I used a brand new Swiffer pad and a Swiffer. This is not an ad for Swiffer. The Clorox one would work just as well, with a pad or with a microfiber cloth attached. The key here is start with a new clean pad. DO NOT USE A NAPPY OLD STRING OR SPONGE MOP!

Use whatever cleaner you would normally use on that surface. You don't want to have streaks or spots from something too harsh. I used a spray bottle full of soapy water with a little baking soda, but you could use 409 or Mr. Clean or whatever. Spray it on the wall and mop away.

This was really fast. I cleaned the whole room in the time it usually takes me to clean a 6 foot wide area. What a difference! It took off all the drink splashes and dirt and handprints (not so much the pencil and crayons). I also used it on my baseboards. Whee Hoo!

Click on the header to see my other posts, then go on back to Rocks in My Dryer and find something else wacky and wonderful!

Great Catholic Textbooks

2008-07-15T04:48:00.002-05:00

You might have noticed some titles you didn't recognize under the What We Use heading. I thought I'd take a moment to tell you what they are and why I chose them. You or someone you know might be looking for these kinds of books too. First of all, From Sea to Shining Sea: The Story of America, is a Catholic American history text. Apparently it's been around for a few years, but in all honesty, I'd never even heard of it until I asked a friend what history she used this spring.

We had been using the ABeka series, which is kid friendly with colorful pictures, and has all the supporting materials available. It was also nice that there were lots of stories of Protestant missionaries, but we're Catholic, and there were no stories about Catholic missionaries, which I think is important for our religious formation and for the sake of completeness of the American story (especially in Louisiana). Unfortunately, there's not a lot available in the way of newer Catholic history books. Although well written, my kiddoes are used to a bit more in the way of graphics and kid friendliness. We tried History Links, which is a great Catholic unit studies program, with lots of thought provoking questions and references to our catechism, but unit studies were not quite right for our family. Finally, we heard about the books published by the Catholic Textbook Project. You can read all about their goals, etc. at CatholicTextbookProject.com

This is why I love this history book, and the companion world history book, All Ye Lands:

the writing is clear and reflects current information
the graphics are nice, and in color
there is a teacher's manual, although it's listed as a beta version
it's loaded with stories about the role of Catholicism in exploration and of the work of missionaries along the way, without disparaging the good works of other Christians along the way.

For instance, did you know that Jacques Marquette, of Marquette and Joliet, was a priest, and became an expert in Native American languages because of his missionary work? After ten years in Catholic schools I didn't know that. I didn't learn that Christopher Columbus was passionate about spreading his faith either until we visited a replica of one of his ships and picked up a book on him, but that's in here too. Have you heard of the legendary (this is presented as a legend in the book, that is as a story of unknown veracity) voyages of St. Brendan? It's fun to read about, but it was a story that all the explorers of the "age of discovery" would have heard, and probably inspired many.

Anyway, if you're interested in learning a bit more about these books, you can check them out at the above site, and they are available on Amazon.com as well

Great Free Geography Resources

2008-07-14T12:23:00.000-05:00

Still getting your stuff together for the coming school year right? Here's a great place to get those line drawings of maps for whatever regions you'll be studying, all free and printable: Houghton-Mifflin Education Place. It has the cleanest looking maps. If, however, you're looking for something more specific, head on over to About.com maps. You can get a map of almost any country or region from there and that first site is linked from there, too.

While you're out and about on the web, check out Paper Crafts from Cannon. They offer paper projects for famous buildings from around the world. The graphics are nice and the instructions are clear. So after you get a map for your region, you can print out a paper project to go with it!

A little work now, a lot less stress later!

2008-07-11T06:43:00.000-05:00

Today I'm moving forward with my plan to get as much of my school prep done as I can while we're not in school. Keeping three children on track with school and a smaller one occupied is somewhat daunting already, so I don't want to add extra time to my work load by preparing printable stuff like tests and practice sheets. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I've been entering a couple of spelling lists into SpellingCity.com every morning. It only takes of couple of minutes and it's not a lot to bite off at one time. Today, I'll begin making out a few history tests for the older two (I don't like testing on these things, but my kiddos need practice with carefulness and preparedness, and a history test is an easier test to succeed on) on a convenient site I found called EasyTestMaker. It's an online test maker that takes the headache out of formatting (especially those pesky matching questions) and lets you concentrate on getting the information on the page. The basic service is free, and it provides you with multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, matching, and short answer options. Of course you can upgrade your service, but as a homeschooler I think this is all I need. The "plus" version lets you generate alternate versions or download to Word for editing if you want to. This would be great if you often wanted to let your child retest on something. I hope this helps you out.

It is summer time though, and all work and no play . . . well, you know. Here's an extra link to give you and your mid-sized ones something to have fun with outside. It's a whole slew of video clips of soccer moves and fakes. Learn a new one today, and you can show it off on the soccer field this fall!

Wacky things I heard this week...

2008-07-10T08:17:00.000-05:00

I've got 4 kiddos over here and I'm a little silly myself, so I hear some strange things. I just thought I'd share with you the head scratchingest things heard this week.

"I'll be outside in a minute, I just have to get my shoe untied from the couch."
"I wish figs were the only fruit in the whole, wide world."
"I'm thinking about mopping the walls today."

Write a comment and add the wackiest thing your family has said this week (keep it clean!)

WFMW Putty Knife?

2008-07-09T05:11:00.000-05:00

So let's say you're mopping and you come across a stubborn spot. You know, the kind where you let it soak for a minute, then come back to it, and it still won't come out. What do you use then, your fingernail? Gross. I use a plastic putty knife, about 1"-2" wide to scrape the spot right off. When I'm done with an area, I wrap a paper towel around it and use it to clean that crevice next to the baseboards. Ugh. You can pick one up at the hardware store for a buck or two, but if you're a do-it-yourselfer, you probably have one lying around that you can recycle. Make sure it's plastic, so it won't scratch anything. I wouldn't try it on a waxed surface, but it's good for tile, linoleum, and laminate flooring.
While you're here, check out the archives, then head back over to Rocks in My Dryer for more more handy tips.

Get Your School Stuff Organized

2008-07-08T17:59:00.000-05:00

We're almost halfway through the summer vacation, and if you haven't gotten started with planning for the coming school year, now is as good a time as any. If you've got all of your books in, why don't you start by filling out a "Course of Study" for each of your kiddies. If you haven't done this before, you might want to take a look at this form. It's a great "at-your-fingertips" record of what your kids are using, and it might help you sort through what you have and what you need to get. This particular form is at donnayoung.org (index page), a great place to find ready made homeschool and household forms of every variety (check out her grocery list document). To go directly to her homeschool forms, click here: Donna Young's Forms Menu.

Another great site for pre-formatted stuff is The Home School Mom. Go directly to the printables area there at Free Homeschool Planner and Organizer. It's also a great general homeschooling reference site, and includes a nice big list of free online unit studies.

About.com newsletters and your Inbox

2008-07-07T06:52:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope you had a pleasant weekend. Today I want to remind you about a few tools you may or may not use regularly, About.com and the Message Rules function on your Outlook mail program. Generally speaking, when I'm looking up a topic for school, I Google it, then I sift, and finally I see the about.com suffix on a site listing and remember, "Oh, yeah." Then I re-Google and stick "about.com" somewhere in there and get a lot more useful stuff. So, don't forget about that one. I find more relevant info there than at sites like ehow, and diy.

So maybe you already know About.com. Did you know that they'll send you newsletters under most any topic they cover if you want? Don't bother going to the newsletter page, go directly to the topic you're interested in and register from there. For example, if you wanted to receive the newsletter on chemistry, you would go to http://chemistry.about.com/ and click on the Free Chemistry Newsletter! link. You could sign up for the "Element of the Week" e-course, for instance. If you're not sure of the scope of the site, head over to the education area at http://www.about.com/education/ or the parenting area at http://www.about.com/parenting/
for just a sampling.

This section is just for those of you who use Outlook or Outlook Express, although the functionality is probably on most of your email utilities. Maybe you like the idea of a newsletter, but don't want it clogging up your inbox. I, personally want to be able to distinguish between stuff like newsletters and personal emails. This is where the Message Rules function on Outlook or Outlook Express really comes in handy. The easiest way to use the feature is to create a rule from a message you already have. First, let's say you already receive a newsletter or regular mailing. I'll use the About.com Chemistry newsletter for an example. All of the mailings contain "About.com" in the "From" column, so I'll start by clicking on any one of them to highlight it.

Select Message on your top menu

Select Create Rule from Message, you'll get a pop-up window like this:

In the top box, make sure the right sorting criteria is checked off (mine has "Where the from line has people" checked off) and that the blue underlined link has the right info for it to look for (mine says "contains "mail to:'chemistry.guide@about.com'). If that's not how you'd sort it, check a different box or click on the underlined link to change the words.
In the middle box you choose what you want to do with the emails that fit the criteria you chose. I chose "Move it to the specified folder" and another blue link showed up in the third box. Click on it, and select a folder or click "New Folder," give it a name, and OK your way back to the 4-box screen.
In the bottom box, give your rule a name if you want, then click "OK."

Try it with newsletters from your homeschooling group or soccer team emails. It's an easy way to keep your inbox from becoming overwhelming.

I hope you find this handy!

Independence Day

2008-07-04T04:31:00.001-05:00

It's the 4th of July and we're busy relaxing and enjoying our day off. Excuse me, I mean we are busy celebrating our independence. Hey, if you're interested in the history behind the wonderful American holiday, check out Liberty! The American Revolution at PBS.org. If you want to round it out with a little bit of British perspective, hop on over to BBC-History.

Personally, as a homeschooling mom, I think the best way to teach our kids about the meaning of our Independence Day is to share with them modern day examples of people struggling for freedom. What better way of helping them really connect with the spirit of the American Revolution than of telling them about where you were and what you felt when the Berlin Wall came down, or explaining to them why a sham African election is all over the news these days? We often take our freedoms for granted (thank God we can), so helping your children realize that this is not a worldwide experience can give them a new perspective on why people would struggle to attain them.

History really comes to life when you feel a sympathy or even empathy with the people you're learning about. The opportunity to discuss these things is really one of the biggest advantages of homeschooling.

BTW, I'm off for the weekend. Hopefully I'll be back on Monday.

USCCB Movie Ratings and Reviews

2008-07-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

You might have noticed the strange acronym under the Top Clicks heading. This is actually a site I use quite often. The official umbrella site is United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (that's a mouthful), but generally speaking, it's just a great place to get a conservative review of a movie. For instance, let's say Sparks wanted to see Iron Man (which he does). When I look it up on the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting Iron Man review, it says

Nongraphic sexual activity, torture, a graphic medical procedure, sci-fi violence, occasional crude language, a brief profanity, sexual humor and innuendo. A-III -- adults. (PG-13)

I spoke with a friend who saw it and she mentioned at least one scene like this. So basically, the site gives you the rundown on whether it's a violence PG-13, sexual content PG-13, intense drama PG-13 . . .you get the idea. So no, Sparks won't be seeing that one in the theatre. The site assigns its own ratings to movies and tells you what to expect from the content a lot more specifically than the regular G, PG, PG-13, R system.

We'll check out Iron Man later on a Clean Movies version at home.

Happy Fourth of July

Leftover Baked Potato Soup

2008-07-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

This is satisfying, flexible, and stretches leftovers. It's the only soup that all of my kids will eat.

leftover mashed potatoes (or instant mashed potatoes, prepared according to package)

chicken broth to thin (water with chicken bouillon is also okay)

butter to flavor

Plop the potatoes in a pot, stir in the broth and butter, and heat over medium heat until warmed through and through. Try not to let it boil, your mashed potatoes had milk or cream in them. With salt and pepper to taste, you have a basic yummy soup.

If you have any or all of the following, throw them in for a LOADED Baked Potato Soup!

cheese

sour cream

cream cheese (a little of this goes a long way, and tastes a lot like sour cream in the soup)

bacon bits

chives, parsley, green onions

For a whole bunch of other simple, 5-ingredient or less recipes, head over to Rocks in my Dryer for

Singapore Math and Science, eh?

2008-07-01T06:16:00.001-05:00

Have you heard all the crazy buzz about California switching to the Singapore Math series. They've even got their own "Standards Edition." Maybe you've heard of it but aren't sure what it is. Singapore Math simply refers to the math program Singapore used when its students came out first in the world for math skills. Their ministry actually approved a couple of different programs, but generally Singapore Math is Primary Mathematics for grades K-6 and New Elementary Mathematics for 7-12. The advantages of the math program are that they are word problem intensive, and foster "mental math." Math usually comes pretty easily for me, but even I had many aha! moments going through the books with my own children. My kids can add and multiply weird numbers in their heads with little difficulty now. The drawback for many is that they do not use "circular review," although they do include many review lessons in the text and workbooks. If you are interested in a Singapore Math vs. Saxon debate, head over to Homeschooler Savvy.

Primary Mathematics uses 4 books, that is, a textbook and consumable workbook for each half of the year. They're paperback, lightweight, and reasonably priced at about $8/book. If you want to take a look at its content, the best place I've found for it is at a foreign site (Australian, I think) called HalfMoon Curriculum. Here's the link: Primary Mathematics Samples. SingaporeMath.com and Sonlight Curriculum give great information on the series, offer placement tests, and let you order the textbook, workbook, or Home Instructor's Guide, but that first site lays out the sample pages better. Also, if you decide to use the placement tests, do not be surprised if your child tests into a grade below his usual level. The content is advanced and the methods are different, so you are definitely better off starting at the tested level.

Don't be intimidated by the different editions. Here's the rundown:

3rd Edition: This is the original series first buzzed about here. It's all metric and foreign currency. Okay, but not ideal here.

U.S. Edition: Best bet. Updated for U.S. use, it includes metric and English units, and the currency is U.S. dollars. Also a refresher in fractions is added into one of the grade levels.

Standards Edition: This edition is reformatted to work into California math standards. I haven't seen it, but I wouldn't even consider trading too much of the original Singapore content for California's, unless of course I lived in California.

***If you already love Primary Math, check out ThinkingBlocks.com (FREE). It uses the same block/diagram method that PM uses in 4th-6th grades, and will probably be rewarding for kinesthetic(?) or visual learners.

By the way, Singapore kicked booty in science as well, and is kind and capitalistic enough to offer their curriculum. My Pals Are Here is, in my opinion, the better of the two offered widely. Check out sample pages, also at HalfMoon, at My Pals Are Here Science samples. Three book for each half of the year: a textbook, activity book, and workbook. It's biggest advantages

It's easy to read, but not dumbed down
It relies heavily on hands-on activities
Its corresponding questions require reflection on the activity
It's inexpensive and accessible, with teacher's guides and tests available

Singapore doesn't teach organized science until 3rd grade (Hint,Hint), so the series runs 3rd -6th, although I think they are adding an "Earlybird" series for U.S. consumption. After that, the series used would be interactive Science. You can also order it all in one place from Rainbow Resource Center, or again from Singapore Math.com at its MPH page.

Big Paper

2008-06-30T10:11:00.001-05:00

I hope your weekend was swell! If your kids like arts and crafts, there is no more cost effective item than the long rolls of paper (similar to poster paper from pep rally days) available from most newspaper publishers. If you haven't already checked into it, call up your local paper and ask about their "end rolls." These are the leftover ends of their print paper, and they usually come in large and small rolls, usually for a nominal fee. Our local paper charges 50 cents a roll, and they last forever. Get one for yourself and your buddy. They are also useful for wrapping breakables in a move, or for lining your table before art projects and messy eating adventures.

Camp Rock Rock-a-Long

2008-06-28T06:04:00.000-05:00

We have a five-year-old who has to be the biggest Jonas Brothers fan in the world. He thinks it's great that they have a little brother, and he doesn't understand why we don't just go to visit them at their house. The stock answer is of course, "Honey, we weren't invited."

That being said, you might realize that we missed the premier of Camp Rock while we were on vacation. Never fear, it's on again tonight, and if you want to sing along like my kids, you can click over to the Disney site and print out lyrics to all the songs on the show.

Spelling City

2008-06-27T12:46:00.000-05:00

I hope you're enjoying your summer. We're enjoying the stomach flu. It's probably just a souvenir from our trip. While we are are recovering, you might actually have some time on your hands to be productive. I've found SpellingCity.com and have been entering in a spelling list or two for the coming school year each weekday morning. For each list you enter, the site will pronounce and use it in a sentence for your student, then provide word search, hangman, fill in the blanks, and matching games. You can even print the list out as a handwriting sheet. It will even provide a pretest for your child, and lets you monitor how he's done. It's free, and well done.

Grocery Bags

2008-06-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! We're back from vacation at the lovely SeaWorld. We had a wonderful time and on the way I got to enjoy the latest issue of Discover. There were several terrifying articles on the North Pacific Gyre or the "Trash Vortex" and Ocean acidification. This link tells how trash accumulates in the middle of the oceans, and this one tells why it's so bad: Plastic Waste Threatens Oceans from BBC Sci/Tech. Have you heard of these things? I had not until I read the magazine. There is however a dirth of images from this trash pile. I even found a few sites that expressed a bit of scepticism as to the urgency of the problem. The only question I have about it is this -->How much trash should be in the ocean before it's a problem? If you're not worried about it, maybe you need to take a trip to SeaWorld.

That being said, let me remind everyone to use non-disposable, non-plastic shopping bags. Yeah, yeah, I know they used to be expensive. Now you can get them for a dollar at Wal-mart. They've been in vogue some places for a while now. I need to tell you that is not the case where I live. Where I live, I had only ever seen one other person with a "green" shopping bag before the big "buck a bag" display went up at our local Wal-mart. I am using them at my even more local (that means small) grocery store now. I still don't see other people using them there yet, but I remember that one other person I once saw using her own bag. I hope somebody else sees us and decides to try it out. I hated those plastic bags before I read that article anyway.

"15 Minutes at a Time"

2008-06-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm away right now, but when I come home at least my kitchen will be clean. If you've never heard of Flylady.com and are the least bit homemaker challenged, you should go there right away. She'll guide you in getting your house in order "15 Minutes at a Time" and be your cheerleader as well.

Surprise Vacation

2008-06-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

It's a surprise vacation for the fam! I think we were only able to pull it off since it was so last minute in the first place. I'll be away for a few days, but here's a place to remind you of what to bring on your trip: http://travelwithkids.about.com/od/packinglists/a/packing_list.htm. They adhere to the bring it all philosophy which I myself support wholeheartedly.

My best tip of all though is pack whole outfits for your kids. One spot recommends rolling shorts, socks, and undies into each shirt, and bringing shopping bags to put the dirty stuff in. This works great if you're going for a few days. If you're going for 5-7 days though and you've got a few to pack for, I recommend the ziploc gallon bag method (I named it myself). Stuff each complete outfit folded into a gallon or 2 gallon ziploc (as needed). Then, before you completely close it, sit on it. That's right, sit on it then finish sealing it. Not only do they take up a fraction of the room, you can throw a bag at Dad or to each kid, and still have a great place to put away dirty stuff. You can even recycle them by leaving the plastic bags in your suitcase between trips if it's in good shape. See you in a few days!

Kid's Sites for Summer

2008-06-18T06:55:00.000-05:00

Did I mention it's hot here? My group really likes to play online when it's too hot outside. If you're looking for safe sites for your kids this summer, your best bet is Yahoo!Kids Games. If you're feeling ambitious, set your kid's homepage to it or even to National Geographic Games, where they're sure to get in a few science facts while browsing.

Are you looking for something more specific?
This list might remind you of a few you've forgotten:
Pink is for girl specific sites.
Funbrain Gameboy (5-yr-old) likes "Poptropica" the best
4kidsTV This is the Fox cartoon site
Fun for Girls American Girls site, full of activities
Disney Games, including Club Penguin (a free or upgradeable rpg with moderators and parent adjustable safety settings) and Playhouse Disney for the smaller ones
Starfall for those who want to work on reading (alphabet practice and phonics based stories)
Children's Storybooks Online
PBSKids home of Sesame Street
NickJr.com Diego, Dora, Blues Clues
Clifford the Big Red Dog at Scholastic Games, also home to Magic School Bus
Mancala Snails This is a great way to learn how to play the game.
American Greetings Games Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake
Angelina Ballerina Not extensive, but great for fans
and of course the ubiquitous Webkinz (a 1-yr subscription comes with every Webkinz stuffed animal purchased)

Have fun!

New School Books

2008-06-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

I have finished purchasing all of my school books for next year. Actually, I've been done, although I will probably stumble upon something we need before the August. If you're in the midst of making curriculum decisions, here are a couple of things that might help you out.

The one thing I think every homeschooling mom needs (that word again) is the Rainbow Resource Center, Inc. Catalog If you already have it, I'm sure you'll agree with me, but there are actually veteran homeschoolers who have not heard of it. It is a 1,368 page catalog (tome) of textbooks, programs, manipulatives, kits, how-to books ... You want it, it's probably in there. You've never heard of it, it's probably in there. It is a source for things you want and for ideas for your homeschool. You can request a catalog by calling1-888-841-3456, or by visiting their site at http://www.rainbowresource.com/, where you can also browse their listings. I personally like the hands-on phonebook-size hard copy, but that's just me.

If you already have a catalog, but are overwhelmed by the choices, check out Cathy Duffy's Homeschool Reviews. She gives valuable insight into all the products she reviews as far as learning types, prep time, ease of use, and religious perspective. The only drawback is that her Top 100, although listed on the site, are only reviewed in her book 100 Top Picks for Homeschooling Curriculum, which I have (and recommend). It's a great way to narrow down your list of books to investigate.

If you're done for next year, congratulations! If not, good luck, and happy hunting.

Underwater Archaeology?!!

2008-06-16T06:34:00.000-05:00

Maybe you've noticed in the news the finding of a British shipwreck in the Great Lakes, or seen the image of the Elizabethan cannon on the BBC feed. Have you ever wondered how those wacky scientists go about finding the proverbial "needle in a haystack?" It's all done with sonar, you say. Yeah, that's true, but have you ever tried to interpret a sonar reading? This site is interactive, kid-friendly, and meaty enough for Mom or Dad to get something out of. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology's Children's Introduction to Underwater Archaeology is the place to get a great look at what goes on in the field and to get to try some of it out from the dry comfort of your desktop.

If you enjoy that, you may wonder if there's something comparable for your plain, old, garden variety archaeology. Well, there is. Find it at BBC.com (an old standby over here). It's called Hunt the Ancestor. Click Launch at the link to play a game where you have to find the barrow while staying within budget.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

What are you doing here? Go enjoy your day with Dad.

If on the other hand, Dad's fishing for the day, check out this page: Passwords: Creating and Maintaining a Strong Password It's a good system for maintaining secure passwords that are easy to remember. That's right, no more forgetting your password for important accounts. Special thanks to Louisiana Sue for reminding me how important this information is.

Happy Father's Day to all your Dads!

Summer Reading

2008-06-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

It's summertime, and hopefully you've got plenty of time for relaxing and playing outside. There's also oppressive heat and dangerous levels of sun intensity though, and around here nobody really wants to go outside between 11 and 3. Fortunately my kids enjoy reading, and our library bag comes back full to spilling out with every library visit. We don't have that Advanced Reading, read a minimum of 3 books and take 3 quizzes for points deal here. I don't like summertime reading to be a source of stress for the kids. I do however like the idea of monitoring their reading comprehension, and I love the prize incentives our local library offers for summer reading. For these reasons I was delighted to stumble upon this site: Book Adventure. It's a free site sponsored by Sylvan, and it offers book lists customized by your child's reading level and interests, as well as the opportunity to take quizzes based on the books selected for small prizes (usually printable or downloadable). Parents can monitor progress and approve or reject prizes from their own accounts. Sparks got a whole list of book suggestions that he probably wouldn't have found otherwise. He picked up 3 of them on our last trip to the library. My 8-year-old just won an instruction sheet for making balloon animals. She was really excited about that. Did I mention, it's all free?

Great sites!

2008-06-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my webpage. I did not intend for it to be a blog. Indeed, I have wonderful friends who blog, and I visit their blogs often (Shout out to Life on the Planet and Homeschooler Savvy), but otherwise I mull around finding sites that make homeschooling and motherhood easier for me. I have in fact found a few gems on the web that I think you'd like. As for the bloggy part, it was just the easiest way for me to tell you about them. I don't think I'll be writing every day, but there are some other neat things on this page that will be bright and shiny each day you come to visit.

See those pictures at the top. Each of them represents something personal about me or one of my computer literate kiddos. I'm like the crowded bookshelf...somewhat unorganized, but still very useful. My tweenage son is into soccer, rpgs and music. My daughter likes writing, ecards, girly-girl stuff, and critters--especially the one up there. My little boy likes to play games and listen to music. You'll probably hear about some of their favorite sites as well. There's a shorty-pants too, but he's too little for the computer.

Another little tidbit about me and mine: my kids are easily bored. They get that from me, not my honey. My husband is perfect, and as he says, he's not picky (Ouch!). So here I am, easily bored and picky (I'm told that I also have good qualities, like frugal), and therefore absolutely qualified to throw out all but the best free sites with reckless abandon. Did I mention I'm cheap? If you like, you'll love the British Museum's site on Mesopotamia. It has loads of interactive stuff, and lots of meaty information. If you were so inclined, you could probably get a whole unit study out of it. And when you figure out how much you love this site, you'll be glad to know that there are more sites just like it on Egypt, ancient China, early Imperial China, and Mughal India. And if that weren't informative enough, you can explore these civilizations through themes at Ancient Civilizations. We've thoroughly explored and enjoyed both the Mesopotamia and Egypt sites, especially the games. If you're short on time, start at those.

That's it for today, I hope you come and visit again!

Programs for Complete Curriculum (direct links to program sites)

2008-06-01T06:07:00.001-05:00

Here's a list of homeschooling programs that I've run across in our homeschooling group, or considered using for our family:

Catholic

Catholic Heritage Curricula

Kolbe Academy

Mother of Divine Grace School (Based on recommendations from Designing your Own Classical Curriculum by Linda Berquist)

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy

Seton Home Study School

Mater Amabilis (free online curriculum)

Christian

A Beka Home School

BJU Press Academy of Education(Bob Jones)

Tapestry of Grace (unit studies)

Ambleside Online (free online curriculum)

Secular

Calvert School

K12, K12 Inc.

Oak Meadow Homeschool Curriculum and Resources

For reviews to most of these sites, and a whole bunch more that I've not even heard of, head over to Cathy Duffy's HomeSchoolReviews.com. Generally, there are no direct links to the programs reviewed there though, so when you're done, be ready to do a little more web browsing.