I'd love to say I'll take the time to write more later, but I since I seem to be keeping busy (sometimes busy doing nothing) lately, I can't.  So here's a quick recommendation anyway.

I am reading The Practice of Godliness and really enjoying it.  The book has served as a reminder of where I am headed and provided useful tips on how to get there more effectively.  I have really enjoyed reading the Scriptural selections mentioned in the book and have found them to be very inspiring.  My only "complaint" is that in the second portion of the book where the development of specific godly traits is discussed, the author sometimes fails to actually provide the Scriptural citation for his references.  For instance, the author makes a reference to Paul indicating that he can do something because God strengthens him but doesn't provide the book, chapter and verse citation for me to read the referenced passage.  This is a small issue and most of the non-cited references are ones that I recognized well enough to know that they really did exist (somewhere).  This is a very small issue with what is otherwise a very useful book. 

The author did an excellent job of explaining and supporting his explanation for what our true motivations should be and how we should behave toward our God.  I am taking notes as I read through the book and plan to re-read the text and accompanying Scripture to my DH and my children as well.  Some books I read and get a little from and I'm OK with that, as there's always some wisdom to be gleaned if only from reading the reference Scriptures alone.  But I often find myself counting how many pages I have left until I can put a particular book aside and move on to something more inspiring.  I recommend this book because it's one that actually made my heart "sing." 

I hope that you each find something this week that can inspire you and make your heart sing.  God has given us lots to sing about. 

Use code: STARSANDSTRIPES

By the way, I have tried out a new game called PictoWords that you might want to give a try.  Remember, you can download the game for a free 1 hour trial.  If you have a visual learner who is just starting to get into reading compound words, this game might be a good tool for you.  In the game you are given three image tiles plus 3 letters and you must use these in combination to create words and reach your goal.  For instance, you might receive an image representing "thin" plus the letter "K" in your set and you would combine them to create the word "Think." 

The game can become complicated because often changing the letter combinations changes the sound of the initial word.  Also some of the words used are unfamiliar and some are actually abbreviations or slang such as "reb" or "EKG."   To help the player, a list of "blank" options is provided.  So the game board will indicate what specific sets of combinations  particular set of images and letters will produce.  HInts are also available.    The game also provides a dictionary that the player can click on to read the definition of a word.    

I am planning to purchase it myself at some point.  Right now, my son can watch me play a see how the individual words combine to make new words, later I think it's something he'll be able to do on his own.  I think I've mentioned before that we have a Game Club membership so we aren't paying "full price" for the games we select (though we do buy a lot over a year's time), but simply for the value of being able to show my son how words go together this on is worth the purchase to me.  I could almost see those little cogs in his brain turning. LOL!  Again, the trial is free so take a look if you think it would be a good complement to your child's reading program.  And, take advantage of that 40% so you don't have to pay full price either. 

This is only going to be available for  a few more days so hurry over to get the download while you can. :-)

http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

A new site has started up offering daily free downloads M-F.  To get the freebie you do usually have to enter your name and e-mail address to subscribe to the participating vendors' newsletter AND the download if available for just one day.  To take full advantage you have to check the site daily. 

Here's the website:

http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

 From Trigger Memory Systems:

Use code FREELAUNDRY to receive
a FREE Laundry Clean 'N' Flip with
the purchase of a Zone or Zone/Bedroom
Combo. Add both to cart and use code
for a $7.95 credit off your order!
Limited time offer!!

If you have an interest in riding, try out this game by Big Fish Games:

RIDE!

In the initial free trial (one hour of game play) you'll learn the basics of turning and leaping with your horse.  Of course, you are just using the arrow keys on your keyboard to perform the jumps, but it was still pretty interesting to my horse-loving 4 year old.  

Finally, in case you missed it, this week's freebie from Currclick is a copy book featuring the Declaration of Independence.  Just in time for Independence Day!

Also this week Currclick has this Father's Day e-book on sale for $2.00:

Have a great weekend!

I *think* these may only work for CBD discount members, but give 'em a try if you are ordering!

Free Standard Shipping on purchases of $35 or more now through May 16th.

282035AEAETE

282035AXQPTQ

Search: Title Author/Artist ISBN CBD Stock # Keywords Publisher

This week's freebie is a collection of quotations from Shakespeare's plays.  There are also a few new freebies on the site including several of the "Easter Egg" freebies, plus some phonics and math games.  If the link below doesn't take you to the freebies, just do an advanced search and set your criteria to be items priced between $0.00 and $0.10.

Happy Browsing!

Seriously- I just read about this company in the Wall Street Journal.  The company is called ChaCha and it provides answers to cell phone users via text message.  According to the WSJ article, guides are paid $.20 per answer.  Here's the company's link if you want to investigate this opportunity further:

http://info.chacha.com/Careers/BecomeaGuide/tabid/74/Default.aspx

There are some new (or renewed) offers of note available to Co-op members that I wanted to share:

Members can save 10% on DaveRamsey.com for Teens and 25% from Christian Liberty Press (I've really enjoyed their K level materials for history and science). 

Explode the Code Online is now available as a Group Buy.  The final savings amount isn't set yet but it will be between 33% and 50% off.  The Click N Read Group Buy expires on May 31st. 

There are several other discounts currently available plus more stuff in the "pipeline" but the ones above were the most interesting to me.  You might want to take a look at the website for yourself if you have older students as a lot of the offerings would be great for a middle or high school student, I'm just not there yet.  LOL! 

Homeschool Buyers Co-Op

I was going to mention how much fun we were having with Click N Read phonics, but hesitated because I bought it for a really low price and didn't think that price was still available.  There's a big difference (to me anyway) between recommending a $30 learning game and suggesting one that costs closer to $70.

The previous offer that I took advantage of through Homeschool Buyers Co-op had closed out on April 1st and that's when my online access activated so I couldn't review the product before the deadline.  But, (here's the purchase tip) the offer has been reopened and now you have until May 31st to place your order. 

Here's a sample lesson from the Click N Read website, if you'd like to take a look.  The first 10 lessons, which I'll say more about in a moment cover the letter sounds.  The information on the website recommends that you skip these if your child already knows the letter sounds.  Thus, the sample lesson number 15 thus is actually not very far into the program.  So it should give you a pretty good idea of how the lessons progress. 

I initially purchased this program for my 7 year old who knows his letter sounds and phonics rules, but just has no zest for reading yet.  I was able to acquire Study Dog when it was free a few years ago so we had been using that program, but I thought the rocket ships of Click N Read might appeal more to my son.  Also, the introductions to each lesson in Study Dog (where the "story" is set up) tend to get a bit tedious after awhile.  Click N Read tends to get to the lesson quickly, whereas Study Dog lesson needed to be set up with a story explaining why you were performing a certain task (i.e. sort the pillows to clean the room, match the words to unlock the code...).  

Anyway, it was my 4 year old who first took an interest in trying the program, so I reset my starting point to Lesson 1 and began.  Lessons 1-10 introduce the letter sounds and also do some ear training exercises.  In addition, these lessons also teach your child to locate the letter for each sound on the keyboard.  We have only completed 3 lessons so keep in mind that my observations are limited.  The lessons start with an introduction to the primary sound the letter makes.  The dog character hosting the lesson "says" the sound for each letter and then the child is taken through a series of review steps where she is asked to click on the correct letter after hearing the sound. 

Next an image of a keyboard is displayed and the location of the letter is pointed out to the child.  The child is asked to locate the letter on the keyboard (either by clicking on the vitual keyboard displayed or typing on the real keyboard), identifying the letter by it's sound. 

For ear training, the "dog" says a word slowly, separating each sound, and then speeds up the word to blend the sounds.  Once a few letter sounds have been learned, the child is asked to listen to each word the dog says and identify the starting letter.  For instance, the dog may say "am" and the child must then select between an "a," "m," or "s" as the starting sound. 

Within the first three lessons the program was already taking the next step and teaching the child to put those letter sounds together to locate a word or read a word.  The first words taught were "am" and "Sam."  In Lesson 3 the student is taken to a virtual reading room where these words and others using additional letter sounnds are put together into a short sentence that the child is encouraged to read aloud. 

I think even these initial lessons will be great for my 7 year old (if I can get him to read the words aloud) but it was over my 4 year old's ability to do comfortably.  She knows many of her letter sounds and the program is a good introduction for her to demonstrate what to do with those letter sounds, but she was not always able to accurately select the correct words by initial letter sound or read the sentence.  Study Dog in comparison teaches all the letter sounds and names first, then moves to identify initial sounds, then rhymes before moving to distinguishing between two non-rhyming words.

Fortunately, my 4 year old doesn't realize that the program actually keeps track of how many answers she gets "wrong" and I am choosing to work with her and provide "hints" rather than use the program as a stand alone lesson for her.  She really enjoys the program though and asks to do the lessons.  So for whatever reasons, she seems to like the program.  I'm not sure how she will fare on the more advanced lessons but hopefully I can convince her to just watch while her big brother works on those. 

The purchase I made through the co-op provides me with a "lifetime" subscription for one student.  That means that one student's progress may be tracked at any given time.  But once that student has completed the program, their records can be deleted and a new name added.  You will also have the option to add extra students for an additional fee.  One negative for the program is that it is internet-based, I don't have a CD of the software.  So if the company goes out of business or offline or I lose my internet connection- no Click N Read.  Also, I have a fast internet connection so I'm not sure how a dial-up connection would handle the interactivity.  But, in comparison to what our household spends in any given year on non-educational (or marginally educational) computer games, I consider this to be a pretty good deal.  I'll consider it to be a great deal if I can get my 7 year old to take an interest in it.  But even if he passes on it, I've still got a 2 year old that can make use of that lifetime subscription.  Besides, if it really does last a lifetime, there's always the grandkids. 

Hmmm.... I wonder what the internet and computers will be like for our grandkids. 

If you've not made a decision yet on a phonics program, the Homeschool Buyers Co-op newsletter announed that a deal may be forthcoming for access to Explode the Code online.  So, keep your eyes open if you are still in search of that "perfect" phonics curriculum. 

From a e-mail alert I just received:

In appreciation of teachers everywhere, Learning A-Z will open one of its six password-protected websites each day of Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5-9, PLUS on May 12, so teachers can download and print differentiated teaching materials.

The websites will be open on the days indicated below from midnight to midnight EST.

May   5:   ReadingA-Z.com: Thousands of printable books and lessons
May   6:   Raz-Kids.com: Interactive leveled reading library
May   7:   WritingA-Z.com: Leveled writing lessons
May  8:    VocabularyA-Z.com: Customized vocabulary lessons
May  9:    Reading-Tutors.com: Reading skills packets
May  12:  ScienceA-Z.com: Multi-leveled science units

Tell your co-workers, friends, neighbors, or even put a posting on your website about Teacher Appreciation Week at LearningA-Z.com.

I don't recall visiting the Science website last year, so that one may be new.  Happy browsing!

So here's what I couldn't give the details about earlier:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Marguerite Copel
(214) 721-1273


ALLERGY ALERT ON UNDECLARED DAIRY IN 11-OUNCE SINGLE SERVE SILK SOYMILK CHOCOLATE FLAVOR IN PLASTIC BOTTLES

Mount Crawford, Virginia (April 23, 2008) - WhiteWave Foods Company is voluntarily recalling 11-ounce plastic single serve bottles of Silk Soymilk Chocolate Flavor because it may contain undeclared milk protein. The individual bottles are printed with both a "use by" date of May 7, 2008 (printed as 05 07 08) and a Universal Product Code (UPC) of 2529360028. Consumers can find this information on the back of the individual bottle.

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk protein run the risk of a health problem or illness if they consume this product. Some reactions have been reported.

This affected product was distributed nationwide and reached consumers through retail and foodservice outlets. WhiteWave's sales team is working with distributors to actively recover any affected product remaining on store shelves.


HOW TO IDENTIFY THE RECALLED PRODUCT

This recall includes only 11-ounce single serve plastic bottles of Silk Soymilk Chocolate Flavor with both a "use by" date of May 7, 2008 (printed as 05 07 08) and a UPC code of 2529360028. Consumers should look for this information on the back of the bottle.

The Company apologizes for any inconvenience to its customers. Consumers who purchased the product may return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or exchange. Consumers with questions can contact the Company at 1-800-587-2259.

The Food and Drug Administration has been notified of this recall.

Stay safe!

T.

Gas and groceries have already hit some very high prices and many families are struggling.  Unfortunately, the news isn’t going to get better just yet.  Meat prices are going up.  I had suspected this already but now the WSJ is predicting it as well. Because of the recent droughts and the steep increase in the cost of grains, many farmers have been reducing their livestock ranks through early slaughter.  This of course flooded the market with meat and brought prices down or at least kept them from increasing at the same rate as we’ve seen other food prices rise.  I’ve been able to consistently find meat for less than $2 per pound during the last year.  However, now that the stocks have been reduced, the price restraints are over.

By the end of the year analysts are predicting a rise in meat costs similar to that which has been seen in other foods.  If you’re like me and know how to reduce your dependency on meats but just haven’t bothered, now’s the time to get back into those good money saving habits.  If you don’t know how to stretch those grocery dollars yet, you might want to start researching now as things are going to get worse. 

For those of you who are already struggling, be sure to find out of there is an Angel Food Ministry in your area or consider asking your church to start one.  There are also lots of websites online where you can find tips on frugal living and making the most out of the foods you can purchase.  May each of us be encouraged to do what we can to help one another.