A Fishy Craft

Wednesday was the last session of summer Story Time at our library. 

Make a Splash at the Library! was the theme.

I love our library.  Our librarians are so lenient.  The summer program is for school aged children who are going into Kindergarten or older.   YET..... they gladly let younger sibs sit in on the story reading and on occasion let them participate in the craft activities.

Now, I personally LOVE crafts.  BUT... I REALLY HATE doing crafts with my kids.  I am meticulous, organized, neat and purposeful.  If ANYONE has done art or crafts with a barely 6 year old and 3.5 year you KNOW that doing crafts and art is NOT any of the adjectives above!

So one reason why I REALLY LOVE story time is that I can count their programing as school in both the language arts AND art categories!  LOVE THAT!

This past Wednesday they finished up 5 weeks of learning about all things water by reading Swimmy and The Rainbow Fish.  THEN.... there was a special librarian visitor from a nearby metro who brought A TON of crafting supplies.  I saw the table when we got there and drooled.  Sparkly crinkle shreds, tons of tissue paper in every color under the sun, paint brushes, staplers, modge podge and more!

WHAT WAS THE CRAFT GOING TO BE??  AND how was I going manage an overly tired 20 month old girl with a 3 year old in a 4 year old's body as he would surely throw a fit when I told him that the craft was ONLY for the big kids.

They made fish!

AND...... they let the kids make 2 and 3 fish 

and younger sibs were welcome to craft as well.  :)

Hooray!!!

It is so hard to see these pictures, I'm sorry. 

But they were SO easy and fun to make I wanted to talk you through it.

I unfortunately do not have pictures of the assembly process, nor do I have the supplies at home in order to take new pictures but the supplies are easy to come by (I would think a grocery store with a florist would GLADLY donate a few bags and sticks).  They are SO CUTE.  I hope you will be able to figure out my directions.

The body of the fish was made out of a small triangular florist bag like the one shown here.

You then take 3 or 4 single sheets of tissue paper and wad them up loosely.  

You decide which one you want at the tail and you put that in the bag first.

Then you put the rest in loosely.

Now the creative part happens.  You grab ribbons and streamers and crinkle shreds and anything else that will make the inside of the fish pretty and you stick your hand inside the fish, along the sides and place the pretties so that they can be seen in front of the tissue paper along the sides of the fish.

Now it is time to close the head of the fish.  Grab a stapler and tuck the ends into the center and staple.  Keep tucking and stapling (like a seam) until the entire wide end is closed.

On the top picture above you can actually see my seam.  It almost looks white in this picture.  In reality it is still kind of see through.

Next, you grab ribbons and tie the tail.  So you push the tissue paper INTO the fish a bit.  Grab the pointed end so you have a little tail, then tie the ribbons around the area you have grabbed.

Sorry for the blur!

Now your fish is securely closed.  It is now time to put the outside fins on.

So you grab a small wad of tissue paper or foil paper or whatever you find and you staple it onto the top and bottom edges.

The fish on the left has YELLOW eyes and a pink fin on the bottom with one lonely green foil fin on top.  It is Otto's and I am no longer able to micromanage his work to make it more exciting.  LOL

The other fish has blue eyes (both fish are looking left).  It has pink and blue fins on top and a fin on the bottom that I can't see here and I can't remember what color it is (green maybe?).

Then this really cool librarian had taken some of this streamer stuff and had cut it into 1 inch pieces!  These are what the fish have for side fins!

At Story Time she had the kids use Modge Podge to do the side fins and eyes.

I found that clear packing tape worked quite nicely.

So, if you have closed the fish, tied a tail, attached eyes, fins on top and bottom, side fins then you are ready for the last step.

Turning it into a puppet (or tying it to a carrying stick).

She had plastic balloon sticks like what you see in this link.

She took a LONG ribbon.  Stapled it to the fish then tied it to the bouncy plastic stick.  This allowed the kids to make the fish swim.  (I found a little piece of clear tape over the ribbon secured it to the stick, other wise the knot falls down toward the hand holding it.)

Please note: the girlie INSISTED upon wearing big brother's muscle shirt.  

The Girl shirt below it is SUPER CUTE.

I took Girlie's off the stick, wrapped a paper clip around the ribbon a couple of times and wedged the paper clip in between some wood above her closet. 

She points it out to me every time I go to get her from her crib!

Pink eye...and obviously I did not staple the top ribbon in the center as this fish will always swim down.  :)

The boys have not yet destroyed theirs yet....but I am expecting it to happen soon.

That's just what they do.

B

Big yellow eye.

 

I hope my instructions make some sort of sense.  It is so hard to take pictures of these since they reflect so much light from the flash.  They are SO CUTE and super easy with just a little bit of supplies.

I bet you could use a large clear plastic bag (the corner) to do the same.  

You also could use ANY supplies to stuff and decorate with.  Any stick would do as well.  I am very tempted to dig into my supply box and put google eyes on the fish..... but as quickly as I think they will be destroyed, I think this time I will pass on this one.

Happy crafting.

Duck Duck Goose

I often get offended when people question the socialization of my homeschooled children. I find homeschooled kids often are often able to socialize across the generations and sometimes better than their peers. HOWEVER.... sometimes the play of my children shows me that we need to do more group games (instead of free play) when we are with other children.... Here is their improvised DUCK DUCK GOOSE! I do give them an "A" for creativity though!

Blog Walk! Blog Walk!

(Thanks to Debbie, over at Debbie's Digest for the great picture)

Blog Walking is a great way to meet new people and read about their experiences homeschooling.  You might find someone who schools or thinks like you.  You might find great information on a new resource, curriculum or teaching technique. Blog Walking is a great way to learn more about the world of home education.

Please click around on the links below and feel free to leave a message or two if you feel led.  We bloggers like to see that other homeschoolers have found us and like what they have read.

This week's Blog Walk List:

1. Closing Time
2. One Blessed Mamma
3. El Cloud Homeschool: Busy Minds, Busy Hands, Busy Feet
4. Alive in Spirit
5. Ozark Rumblings
6. Army of 5
7. Fenced In Family
8. Debbie's Digest
9. Footprints in the Butter
10. Got Chai?

Happy Walking! 

Wednesday Wonderment

Here's your chance to wonder.

I think we adults sometimes get bogged down in the seriousness of life we forget to let our imagination just wonder things.

So here is your chance.  Your chance to wonder......

I wonder why every batch of pickles I pre-soak turns out differently....

I wonder how the bodies of baby chicks know when to transition from cute yellow chick fuzz into the awkward 1/2 fuzz and 1/2 feathery ugly state.....

I wonder what the exact combination of factors is to make a bad thunderstorm turn into that tornado...

I wonder if my house being built into a hillside actually DOES make it safer or if I just tell myself that to comfort my nerves....

I wonder if I will actually go ahead with some organizational changes to this blog or if I will let it be because of time.....

I wonder if I will EVER get the quiet, concentration time to sit and organize school or if I will just pull the books I have chosen off the shelf on whatever day we decide to begin and roll with it......

I wonder.......

What do YOU wonder???
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HEY everyone for more wonderment check out Mona Lisa's site:
http://homeschoolblogger.com/amaneh/2010/07/28/wednesdaywonderment/

IT'S REUSABLE!!!

I'm singing Tina Turner's "I'm so excited" because I not only figured out how to make my Multicolored Weekly chart reusable........BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS!!!

Yesterday I made this on my spread sheet program and printed it off on cardstock.  I will be writing chores or other weekly things on it for myself and my kids, tossing it in a sheet protector and magnetizing it for my fridge.... but....

I was REALLY worried about how to make this reusable and INEXPENSIVELY reusable.  Colored ink is SUPER EXPENSIVE.  My cartridges are NOT refillable and if I am going to use my super precious colored ink I want it to be on something a bit more "worth it" to me. 

SO...................  I pulled out my favorite exacto knife 

and began cutting out the white areas. 

And now I will simply place a sheet of graph paper or white paper behind my now holey cardstock (I already have lots of both).  I can write on the bottom paper and simply remove it and replace it when I am finished.  Actually, I will likely start by placing numerous graph papers behind this chart.

Here is a close up of the first few days.

For some reason the word "Sunday" came out white.  At first it REALLY bothered me, afterall it is not uniform!!!  **GASP**  But then it began to stand out and I began to realize that it could be a fabulous subtle reminder to me that Sunday, for our family, is a day for family and for rest and for God.  I think I'll keep it.  :)

So now my question is this:  is anyone else out there as big of a hoarder as I am?

I can't seem to make myself throw these away.

I mean come on!!!  1 inch by 6.25 inch strips of perfectly white card stock!!

Dreamy!

YEP!  I know I have issues, but seriously they could be book markers or cut into smaller pieces for games or letter cards or....

the possibilities are endless!  :)

And now I must get on to my REAL to do list!

I love my exacto's

Some time ago I asked Hubby to pick up an exacto knife at the farm store for a project I needed to work on.

This is what he came home with.

 I laughed REALLY loud and said "What on earth do you think I will be working on?"  In the presence of his mother he said "Oh, over the years I am sure we will find a way to use them."

YEP.   Yesterday I managed to once again squander a perfectly good (but warm) afternoon trying to craft my way through life instead of purchasing what others can buy.

A friend purchased this for $1 at Target.

The plan is to use it for FlyLady lists.

My IMMEDIATE thought was that it would be PERFECT to track chores for the kids.  Cover with a page protector or laminate and it is erasable!!

BUT I NEVER get to Target and the gas it would take me to go there would be more than the cost of this remarkable device. (wiping drool)

SO!!! Images of cardstock and my exacto knives popped into my head....

and I started to cut....

 and I was on a roll....

and then..............

and then...............................

and then.......................... I realized it would be wider than my fridge!!

So.... like any very sound minded mother who is obsessed with organization....
I........ put it away.... and started cleaning something.......
NOT!!

So, since the exacto project bombed and since I am INCAPABLE of announcing defeat.......

I sat down on my computer and whipped up this little number.

You can link to it here.

I printed it on white cardstock, threw it in a page protector (Back to School special = packet of 10 for 39 CENTS!!) and will throw some magnets on the back. 

I will write the chores onto the days I want them done and then the kids can take a washable marker and mark them off when they are done.

BRILLIANT.... Now I am pretending I did not waste an entire afternoon on it.  :)

Here are the chicks, day 3.

Just needed the collective internet sighs of "aaaawwwww" to continue.

Hubby announced to Otto (6) that these would be his very first, very own animals.

He has trained him how to feed, water and check on these cute critters.  

(They are in our garage)

They went on a car ride to the feed shop today and Hubby trained Otto how to ask for Chick Starter Feed.... and had the very loud, gregarious feed shop owner not scared him half to death I really think he WOULD have done it.

He did get extra suckers out the attempt as the feed shop owner announced to Otto that he thought this would be the beginning of a very long life-long business relationship.  OY 

Hubby also began teaching our young farm lad that responsibilities of farm animals go far beyond responsibilities of pet care taking.

Hubby created a little book for Otto to record important facts about the livestock's lives.  Date born and how much was spent on feed.  They chose a safe place to keep it and will update it as important events take place.  

I love when Hubby does my schooling for me.  :)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Coffee Cake

Our church plant only meets the first and third Sunday's of the month, as of now.  So our family spends the other Sundays at home trying not to do much other than be with each other. 

Yesterday Hubby was given some blueberries from our neighbors who picked them that morning.  YUM.  His favorite breakfast food is coffee cake.  I found this recipe and thought I would share it with you.  

WARNING:  IT IS VERY VERY VERY DANGEROUS!!!!

WHOLE WHEAT BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

taken from:
Recipes from the Old Mill: Baking with Whole Grains
by Sarah E Myers and Mary Beth Lind

Notes: I doubled the recipe, baked in a 9x11 pan, added 5-10 minutes to the bake time.

Ingredients
Cake:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained

Topping:
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup nuts (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs margarine

1. Mix together all ingredients for the cake except blueberries. Blend until smooth
2. Pour into greased 8 " square pan
3. Sprinkle batter with the blueberries (I folded mine throughout the dough)
4. Mix dry topping ingredients. Cut in the margarine
5. Sprinkle topping over blueberries
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min.

** Just realized I baked mine at 350!! **

Here a chick, there a chick....

everywhere a chick, chick.

We have new life on the farm.  We have a clutch of Bantam chicks hatching out.  Now, we would have preferred to have the Bantam Hen hatching out Buff Orphington chicks.... but life on the farm gets busy and apparently we miss things from time to time.  This Bantam hen has been such a great hen to hatch out broods that we are hoping for some girls in this batch that might take after their mama.  It would be nice to have a few extra hens around with genetics for sitting and hatching out broods.  (We then take their eggs away and place a dozen or so Buff Orphington eggs under the Bantam hen sitting.)

Normally we let the hen sit and then raise her own chicks.   However, last night when hubby found the clutch he saw a little helpless chick had rolled down hill from  the clutch.  The mom did not go after it (which is kind of strange for her) and it would have died had we not warmed it with our hands.  He set up the heat lamp and it thrived in the warmth overnight.  This morning he found the same thing, so he rescued the second one as well.  After thinking about it he realized with the heat lamp already burning we might as well move them all and perhaps give her a new clutch.   So right now we have 3 chicks and 4 PEEPING cracked eggs.  :)

 YEP!! I thought I would hear a collective "AAAAaaaaawwwwww!!!" from you all.
(FYI: the two chicks  in the background were born early this morning.  The one on the right was only minutes old with this picture.  They look sad but will be fine.  The cute one looking at us looked just like them just last night as I had it in my hands blowing on it to keep it warm.)

Now Bunked!

The plan was for the boys to go on a camping trip and come home to a nice clean room, their beds bunked and a few less toys.

The reality is that:

1. The camping trip might not happen and if it does it will be more than a month away.
2. If I have to pick up legos off my kitchen floor again before I sweep at night I might go postal.
3. The toys are reproducing and need to be harnessed. 
4. Hubby was stuck inside yesterday because of rain and wanted to be helpful by moving furniture and lifting a bed in the air, *I* did not want to let go of the control and had my cleaning plan in place a week ago.  When he kept going into the room to look and measure I knew that for this room to get a good deep cleaning I would need to jump in RIGHT AWAY.

I took advantage of children playing nicely yesterday morning and managed to work out how many lessons I will need to work through Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World Vol. 1.  (BTW: I found the writing in this book to be CAPTIVATING, informative yet down to earth enough that my 6 year old will certainly understand most of it and my 3 year old might as well!!  Highly Recommend!!)

When I finished I worked on lunch, dished up the food and deserted my family (with their father) for the horror of their bedroom.  I nearly lost it in the first 20 minutes as every time I exited the room with toys (temporarily placed in my bedroom) the 3 year asked me the same questions OVER AND OVER.  "Mommy, are you giving that toy away?"  "Mommy are you putting those toys in your bedroom." "Mommy..what are you doing?"

Then I took mattresses off and moved the beds to find mold spores covering nearly every surface of their bed and mildew growing up the wall from two moist corners.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, in my scream I forgot to mention the pet fur trapped under the bed along the walls that was nearly 1/4 inch thick.  I vacuumed the floor, vacuumed the beds, vacuumed the spiderwebs off the wall, vacuumed the furniture.  THEN began spraying the bleach water and scrubbing.

At first when I saw the walls I envisioned ripping out carpet and drywall.  I envisioned severe medical issues in our children. I was in near tears.  Then I sprayed the first blast of bleach water and wiped and realized.....ahhhhh, not as big of a deal as I first thought!  It all easily wiped off.  It was not under the carpet in the corners.  There were areas that I had to work at but it ALL came off and I sprayed everything with at least 2 follow up layers of assault.

SEVEN hours later we let the boys into their new bedroom.  The room is so clean and so nice I, MYSELF, want to just go in there and retreat!!!

The toys are STILL in my room and I need to sort them out.

I am a hoarder.  It saddens me to get rid of toys that my children have loved....BUT TODAY looking at how beautifully clean this room is..... I want them all to be given away so that the room can STAY CLEAN!!!

Later today we will work at sorting and giving toys away.  We have a GREAT cause to give them to once they are sorted.

I also woke up to a HUGE mess in my school room (kitchen corner) that I did not get to yesterday.  We moved a desk from the kitchen to the newly expanded bedroom and I have some KILLER DUST BUNNIES in the fall out of that region.  It is amazing how many things a homeschooler with little space can cram underneath and beside a desk!!

I didn't deal with the schoolroom fallout but since I was covered in bleach water I decided to scrub the bathrooms yesterday.  It is so nice to have my most disgusting areas of the house clean.

RANDOM QUESTION TIME!
Do you think there is an opposite to Santa Clause??  You know: Santa comes once a year to bring toys.  Do you think there is a special character that might come tonight while I am sleeping and take all these toys away (or at least the ones we don't need??)  Wouldn't that be nice?

Here's a picture off my masterpiece.  I SO don't want to give my children their toys back!!

7 hrs to create this MASTERPIECE . . .

and look at how happy the king of the roost is!!

 He who can't wait until HE is 6 isn't all that bummed either.    :)

A Bee-utiful Experience

Hubby is a bee rancher.  We giggle at that term that someone gave him.  It fits!  After all, bees outnumber any other livestock we have here on the homestead!!

He has purchased bee hats for the boys and likes to teach them along the way.  His wifey listens closely as the kids are being taught for she too is learning all about the very different world of bees.

I took some very cute pictures of a recent educational session with Otto and Gracie (Abram was napping).

Please be aware that no one was at any risk during the taking of the following pictures.  The wildlife the children are exploring in these pictures has no stinger.  It is a drone bee.  It's sole purpose in life is to hang around the hive waiting for a new queen bee to emerge (which only happens if the old queen is gone) so that it may "meet up with her" (**wink, wink**) on her first flight out of the hive called her "Nuptial Flight."  He (these are the only males in the hive) will then die in that flight.  BELIEVE ME........ had his been any other type of bee this session would NOT have taken place in my home!!!

Here is a fuzzy shot of the drone which is larger than the other bees in the hive, with the exception of the queen.

And here are shots of the exploratory session.

HEY, look!

AND I can touch it!!

Hee heee!! It tickles my hand.

Hee Hee, it tickles my arm too!

Future Bee Ranchers INDEED!

Blog Walk! Blog Walk!

(Thanks to Debbie, over at Debbie's Digest for the great picture)

Blog Walking is a great way to meet new people and read about their experiences homeschooling.  You might find someone who schools or thinks like you.  You might find great information on a new resource, curriculum or teaching technique. Blog Walking is a great way to learn more about the world of home education.

Please click around on the links below and feel free to leave a message or two if you feel led.  We bloggers like to see that other homeschoolers have found us and like what they have read.

This week's Blog Walk List:

1. Deanna’s Corner
2. Light, Liberty, and Learning
3. Bunny Trails
4. Flowers N Plaid Homeschool
5. Gadow Ohana
6. His Wonderful Works
7. Expand
8. Confessions of a Homeschooler
9. The Sojourner
10. A Full Heart

Happy Walking!   Do you think that if you move your feet in place while you Blog Walk you can count it for your steps for the day?

Tidying up

Here are some random musings that I will not take the time to organize.  I think my very intelligent readers will be able to handle it.

1)  Miss Mini is DRIVING ME NUTS!!!  I can not tell for sure if it is just the defective keyboard that needs to be replaced or if it is something different (like Mozilla acting up) but not having a computer do what you need it to do right away is really challenging my patience and levels of sanity!

2) Hubby brought me a keyboard to connect to my mini with a USB cord.  It is bigger than Miss Mini and has all the keys in the right place.  I am struggling to adapt to LARGE and also where to put it.  It's really weird to have a netbook keyboard below the mouse box that you have to reach over the top in order to scroll.  Oh and so far I have noticed the following keys must be SLAMMED in order to make they type:  G, M, Y, T, B.  I am guessing there are more.   I am one who feels you should not torture your fingers OR your keyboard by pounding the keys so my light little taps are not working (slam!).  OY.

3)  The cloth helmets to the Halloween Buzz Light Year costumes are missing!!!! GASP!!!!  If you find them PLEASE notify my sons!

4)  I REALLY wanted to (slam!) Get a bunch of school planning done today.... I am no longer very hopeful.

5) Has anyone ever typed on a laptop or netbook where the keyboard is not attached to the scrolling pad??  It's super weird!  Also, just for the record... this keyboard is not arranged correctly either!  But it is differently arranged from my netbook so I will need to be leaving soon before my head gets so twisted and turned around that fear of it not returning to the normal state of nuttyness sets in.

6) Whew, that was a sentence!

7) Today for school we finished the last of Travel the World (last copy work and gluing the lapbook together!)  Here's my cute kiddo holding his new *book*!  He's so proud!  Perhaps I might have to change my mind on how much I like Labbooks... oh wait this is the same whiney kid who complained that cutting these pieces out and glueing them to was too hard.  Also note: nothing is colored.  Maybe I WON'T change my mind on lapbooking.

Please note the toe socks!!!  Yesterday a friend dropped a TON of clothing off at my house.  I looked through the boxes for stuff I wanted to keep and stuff I wanted to give away.  The boys found these socks.  Abram had me put them on him yesterday and he slept with them.  I think he would have kept them on forever.  This morning big brother Otto wanted his turn so I pulled them off Abram, tried not to let my brain register the moisture of the socks, put them on Otto and he is now acting as if he will never take them off.  I think I either need a second pair so I can have my very own Lollypop Guild OR they need to get lost in the laundry!

Please also note those eyes and the smirk.  I LOVE this face.  I pity the foolish girl who runs across these eyes and that grin!!  Her heart will have no chance.

Finally, WHY ON EARTH is the delete button next to the left arrow key!! AND the "end" key is to the right of the up arrow!!  OY OY  Do you ever wish God could just be finished with the character building already?

Travel The World: A Review

As a member of the 2010-2011 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew (TOS CREW),  I received (without charge for purposes of review), 

The June Module of the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner:

TRAVEL THE WORLD.

This e-book curriculum is very easy to use, is fun, is educational, requires little preparation and only a minimal amount of printing.  My 3 and 6 year olds were intrigued with the new information this curriculum introduced to them. 

One reason I love homeschooling is the freedom and ability to introduce topics (such as map/globe reading) that others say are way out of their range of understanding.  My boys LOVED to explore the world with this curriculum and only after a few days working with the curriculum my 3 year old announced to his daddy "Here is North America and here is the Indian Ocean and this (Antarctica) is the REALLY, REALLY cold place!"

Travel the World is an e-book, published by The Old Schoolhouse,  it can be purchased at The Old Schoolhouse Store for a very reasonable $ 7.95.

TRAVEL THE WORLD is jam packed full of hyperlinks but also contains:

** Great easy to understand explanations of geographical terms such as: axis, latitude, longitude, oceans, bays, continents, peninsulas and more.

** Worksheets to help your student with comprehension.  These include: coloring sheets, copywork in manuscript and cursive, word search, word scramble, crossword puzzles, fill in the blank and directions to make a GEOGRAPHY acrostic poem.

**  Easy lapbooking activities, as well as instructions for those who have not lapbooked before.

** Supplemental activities for your older students including:  an introduction to the history of Matthew Fontaine Maury and his division of geography into three areas (mathematical, physical, and political), more advanced word searching, an entrepreneurial business activity tracking the geography needed for selling a product, research and report writing assignments, as well as mapping of events from history/wars, classical literature and from the biographies of authors. 

In order to utilize this curriculum to it's fullest it would be helpful if the student and teacher could look at a globe, a world map and possibly maps of each continent.  These maps do not have to be highly detailed, nor are they absolutely necessary.  We happened to have plastic world map dinner place mats and a globe already.  My boys really enjoyed touching their way through our lessons.  However, these items would in no way be required to succeed in teaching the basic world geography lessons found in Travel the World.

Look at all these cool pages!!

 Travel the World contains over 50 pages of information, hyperlinks to more information/games, activities, a song, recipes, and lots of scripture showing how the Earth is the stage for God's greatness to take place.

Do you see the page on the bottom row in the middle.   That is part of the lapbooking activities.  It is called "My Travel Book."  The children are supposed to pick some place on Earth they would want to visit, learn about it and then make their own mini-book about the place they chose.  Otto chose Africa and then decided to draw as many animals from the savanna as he could.  Here is a peak at his drawings (OH, and please don't tell him I took his book apart to take this picture......I *think* I got it all back in the right order.)

My 6 and 3 year old boys loved how Travel the World taught them more about our globe and how the globe and a world map show the same things yet look pretty different.  They also loved the introduction to our oceans and continents and I was very impressed with how many of the fill-in-the-blank and crossword puzzle answers they were able to give me after reading just the first 11 pages.

Our first day with this curriculum I spent introducing basic geography.  We then spent some time cutting out our lapbook projects (A matchbook for each continent and The Travel Book shown above).  During the next several days we read through and studied the information and links as we wrote in our Continent Matchbooks.  At the very end my oldest son chose the continent he wanted to know more about, we worked through the information in Travel the World, he created his book and we then created our first ever lapbook with all of the pieces. 

I highly recommend this e-book for ANY child.

It does a great job introducing the basics of map and globe reading in an understandable manner for the newer/younger student.

It would also be a great refresher for those who have already studied the basics of geography.

The activities along the way will challenge the beginner as well as the geography buff and many of these activities utilize links to sites such as National Geographic and World Atlas.com.

I also found the highschool supplemental activities very intriguing.  They made ME want to research Matthew Maury or map out the places that influenced famous people from the past such as Benjamin Franklin or Jane Austin.

There are THREE things that I REALLY like about this product:
1) It is reusable so I will be able to pull it out again and again as my children reach different stages and ages.
2) It is so versatile I really think that Travel the World could be used with the same child(ren) multiple times.  It is jam packed full of information and possibilities.

3) It is not only easy to use but it does not require me to print a TON of pages.  Printer ink and paper are expensive!  So being able to print only a small amount of pages and yet feel fulfilled with the amount of information to study is a very high selling point for this buyer.

Why don't you visit The Old Schoolhouse Store today and check it out for yourself?

For more reviews on this product or other products that have been reviewed by the TOS Crew please visit their website.

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Disclaimer:  I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

What do you do when you ....

find a 1/2 way eaten, open mouse carcass, without head.....

on a REALLY AWESOME educational toy/tool???

It is a multi-colored wooden tangram set with wooden design frame.

Actually what was left of the mouse was only on the frame which had no wooden tangrams on it and it was still resting in a cardboard nesting box.

The cardboard box had blood spots on it.  I wet it down and scraped it off with a scissor.  You can see that area!  :)   Pretty eh?

The frame however I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with soap, water and then rubbing alcohol.  I didn't want it to get too wet because even though the frame is likely pine, the desk part of the frame is made out of pressed board and I didn't want it to warp.

What cracks me up is that although all of the below is gross.  I am actually quite thankful because it means a cat ACTUALLY CAUGHT one of them critters and then began working on it.  They are actually earning their keep!  You have NO IDEA how excited this makes me!!  :)

And just an FYI:  I promise that next week I will be posting Part 2 of THE TRACKER.  I just need to get caught up on life and sit down to write out the post.

I promise.....it's coming.

SO is my REVIEW on Travel The World from TOS.  It will be up on Monday!  :)

The Versatile Blogger Award

Vickie at Tumbleweed News awarded little 'ol me the Versatile Blogger award!

Thanks so much Vickie! 

You can check Vickie out at her blog:

Tumbleweed News

Now, after I was gifted with the Award I realized there were rules!  Aren't there always?

Here are the three rules to keep the award going:

1. 
   
   
   Thank the person that gave it to you.
2. 
   
   
   Share 7 things about yourself.
3. 
   
   
   Pass the award along.

So, I have spent nearly 24 hours thinking up things about myself to share.  Here are Seven Things About Me:

1-     I wear so many hats in life that sometimes I feel like my head is a hat rack. (Mother, wife, farmer's wife,  church planter's wife (and all the roles held within), homeschooler, housekeeper, gardener, 4H mom, blogger, homeschool reviewer and on and on. 

2-     I fell in love with my husband before I met him, 17 years ago (See "How We Met").

3-     I have loved the Lord since I was a child, made him Lord of my life in highschool/college, became Mennonite 10 years ago and would never turn back.

4-     I despised the farming life until God gave me contentment at the clothesline.
5-     We nurture 7 kinds of critters on our farm (and unintentionally nurture a few extras to boot).  

6-     People say that I am laid back and make things look easy, for the most part I think I struggle most days with not losing my cool.

7-      I swam like a fish when I was little but now with eyes unable to focus without contacts and with fish up here that have teeth which occasionally bite off toes, I am afraid to swim!

It is now time for me to pass this award along to a few bloggers out there who have influenced my life.   You should go check them out and say hello while you are there.

SO NOW..... I Present TO YOU..............three GREAT bloggers and the new recipents of the Versitile Blogger Award:

Rachel's Blatherings - Rachel chats about her kids, her life and her experience with adoption.

Joy in the Journey - Nikki blogs about family, life, homeschooling, church life and more.

Walking Home...  - Kelly blogs about homeschooling, nature, cake creations and very fun stuff.

Now it’s your turn to pass on The Versatile Blogger award !
Thanks again, Vickie!

If I were a rich man....

I LOVE the song by that title from fiddler.....especially the chicken part cause it's pretty right on and hilarious!

Anyway, the reason I am here is because I want to tell you about this AMAZING site.   I received a "follow" notification on Twitter from the owner of this site.  I went there to check it out and started drooling at all the clothing I now want to purchase.

The site is Unique Homeschool Boutique. 
The site is dedicated to REALLY COOL (up to date) clothing JUST FOR HOMESCHOOLERS who want to wear how proud they are.

I can't seem to get a copy of my favorite, but it is black with pink letters and says:

YES
I am homeschooled

YES
I am socialized

YES
I had class today!


The site is Unique Homeschool Boutique.
Go there and support such lovely apparel.  By the Way:  FREE SHIPPING IN JULY!!!

THE Tracker (chart) - Part One

I have been working on this post ALL DAY LONG in between interruptions from my children who made me wear more hats than I thought I had.  Referee, Police Officer, Judge, Arbitrator, Jailor, Therapist, Teacher, cook, housekeeping supervisor, crowd control.... the list goes on.  I am actually thankful that this post will go live BEFORE midnight (as long as they all stay asleep)!!

THE TRACKER

Actually, once I started typing today I realized I had so much to say that I could either keep you sitting there at your computer as you read for the next 3 months OR I could turn my blog on The Tracker into a two part series.  

Because I like you all and want you to come back time and time again, 

I will do the latter.

Today, I will explain what The Tracker is and how we are currently using it.

Tomorrow I will show you pictures and step by step directions of how to make your very own.

 And now...............Herrrrrrre   Weeeeeeee   GO! 

(Anyone else hear Disney's Peter Pan in that???)

THE TRACKER

The Tracker was going to be called "Whose DVD/Movie Pick" or something, but while making it I came to the brilliant notion that if I put a generic title on it we can then keep the device but change the reason why we use it!  I got so excited!!  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  (Yes, I am the mother of young boys who like Bob the Builder!!!)

The Tracker is a white chart that is 9 inches by 11 inches.  It keeps track of whatever you want for two weeks.  It looks like a two week calendar but instead of writing in the white squared you insert a "ticket."


One of my goals is to help my children better understand the flow of time and that one week moves into the next.  I have thus labeled the top 7 days as "Last Week" and the bottom 7 days as "This Week."

At the top of the chart is a fancy "Ticket Holder."  The tickets have a nice point on the end to help them slide into the chart holes better.  I also have cut away a little triangle on each day of the chart which helps the point to the ticket slide right into it's pocket for the day.

 

The idea of the chart is that at the beginning of each week the total number of tickets that could be used for that week would go up in this holding area.  Then each day the child whose turn it is to pick would go into this Ticket Holder, grab their ticket and insert it into the right day's spot.  (Ours is a bit more complicated so we actually have extra tickets up there.)

Oh, I was about to stop describing it but then remembered my handy dandy cool thingy on the back (and when I patent it I will request that exact name!).

I had extra tickets and didn't want to toss them out... So I made a handy dandy pocket on the back to store them in.  Tisn't it cute?  The big black rectangles are magnetic strips to hold it onto my fridge.  Can you tell I didn't want it to slide down my fridge??  I truly am an overachiever to the core...even with magnetic strip!


How We Use It:

We have no television in our home.  We allow our boys to watch only one movie a week (usually) and on the other days they get one previously approved "episode" (45 min max of a dvd).  My problem was remembering who chose yesterday, the day before, when the last movie was or who chose it.  It hurt my brain some days to sit and figure this out.

After much thought I remembered a ticket system that was used in the classroom when I was student teaching.  The Tracker is what came out of some manipulation of that system.

In the perfect world there would be 7 tickets (or 14 if you clear both weeks) up in the pocket at the top.  Turns are taken to form a pattern.  On the child's day to choose they pick one of their tickets from the top pocket and insert it into the slot on the chart which then marks their choice for that day.

Eeewwwww!  So sorry about that blurriness!

Now, here's the thing.  I had to make our chart choices all complicated because that is what they were prior to the chart.  So instead of just episode tickets we also have to throw in movie tickets.  BUT.... we only allow one movie a week... SO I have to have one movie ticket for each boy and have to make sure that the boy who chose last week does not get to pick the movie two weeks in a row.  Thus the REAL reason why my chart covers TWO weeks!

Confused yet?  (Then hang on, let me try some more!!)

We also let the boys do videos and games on www.sesamestreet.org.  But I was getting tired of giving them 45 minutes of computer time AND a movie or AND 45 minutes of a dvd............so I also created sesame street tickets too.  To use these there are rules though: Big brother has to help little brother, brothers have to take turns choosing what activity on the site will be viewed/played next and they do not get any movie/dvd time that day!  (It's amazing how this has decreased the whining and begging to do sesamestreet.org!)

SO, here are the tickets that I have at the beginning of the two weeks:

* 2 dark pink sesamestreet.org tickets; each one has a different child's name on it
* 2 yellow movie tickets; each with a different child's name on it.
* 2 white Parent's choice tickets (because sometimes my mental sanity requires a bonus movie that week so I can steal some time by myself --albeit 10 feet away)
* 6 green episode tickets for Otto and
* 6 blue episode tickets for Abram.

In a perfect world there would be no tickets left at the end of the second week but because they do not HAVE to choose a movie (MWAHAHAAA---so sorry!  Should have warned you to swallow your coffee) or to choose the computer site we actually have to have extras to make our system work.

Now about the Parent's choice.  Because we alternate back and forth the Parent's choice merely places that alternation on hold for a day.  But, unlike the past in our house after a Parent's choice day I actually now KNOW who went last and don't have to wonder if my oldest is trying to sneak a quick one on me!  We just pick up the rotation as if we did not have a Parental Day. (Ex: Otto, Abram, Otto, Parent's Choice, Abram)

I am thinking such a chart would work for chores too.  Color coded tickets with each child a different color.  Placing a stack of tickets (one ticket per chore) in each day of the week.  The children could take the tickets out when finished and stash them in a special place (coin purse, pencil box) and at the end of the week cash them in if that is your thing. (We hope to not ever pay for chores.... I don't get paid to do chores, hubby works about 3 jobs and only gets paid for one!  We are hoping that we can pass chores off as just part of life and the care that needs to be done for our animals, the land and our shelter regardless to want, ambition or compensation because God created us to care for those things not because we *ought* to receive a new toy or money ......but you know....our kids are young... who knows.)

Tomorrow (or the next time I have some quiet time so I can think to type):
Part 2:  How I made The Tracker.