Dec. 4, 2008 - Thanksgiving with the folks
Thank goodness they have a camera 'cause mine was on the fritz that day! (And to be perfectly honest, Dad's a better photographer anyway!)
Biruk with his well-traveled and amazing uncle.
Biruk is trying to teach Uncle James how the fashion-concious dress these days. For some reason Uncle James just wants to stick with boring khakis and preppy sweaters. Must be because he's so old. 
Uhhh, wrong way guys!!
Wheeeeeeee!
Slides Rule!
They both look very determined, but about what I cannot guess!
There's his inner-Olympic-Runner trying to get out again.
Short rest before we get to the real work of eating the turkey.
CIAO!
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Dec. 4, 2008 - The Parental Units
Josiah can multitask--he can rest and teach math at the same time
And oh, look! There's me! With 2 out of 3 goobers
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Dec. 4, 2008 - The Three Amigos
Extreme Co-Sleeping
Sunday Best - Here we see Mr. Attitude (AKA: Mr. Getsintofightsinsundayschool), Mr. Bellybutton, and Mr. Smiley
What big brothers are really useful for: Personal Transportation Service
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Dec. 4, 2008 - What we do on dreary winter days...
Gebre helps me make bread--and he makes sure it stays put in the oven!
Asrat teaches Biruk:
A little music is a good diversion:
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Dec. 4, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: All About Spelling
It’s been difficult for me incorporating full curriculums to review into our homeschooling as we already have an established curriculum. And more difficult that I have two early language arts learning curricula to review. Different things are going to work for different families, of course.
Although Asrat is already reading fairly fluently at the first grade level, I did go through Level 1 of All About Spelling with him, and in some cases used the AAS lesson in place of his Calvert lesson, if they were on the same subject. I also did some of the first lessons with Gebre, just to see how he would respond to it. He loved it. I'm not sure he quite knows what he's saying, but he goes around chanting letter sounds out "c-ah-t spewes CAT!".
Getting the program set up was the most work. We don’t have a paper-cutter, and all the cards and letter tiles had to be cut out. That will soon be ending as AAS has decided to switch to having the card sheets perfortated so that separating them will be easy. You will need a box to organize the cards, some method of storage for the letter tiles, and a large-ish magnetic board of some kind. A sturdy cookie sheet would work in a pinch. We used a 12x24 inch magnetic blackboard that we already had. A larger board is recommended, though, in order to have space to fit all the letter tiles and make words.
Each level from All About Spelling comes with it’s lesson book and a packet of materials. The materials include the set of cards-letter tiles, phonograms, letter/combination sounds, key concepts, and words-index card dividers, and whatever charts, tags (for the magnetic board), wordbanks, and activities that will be needed to complete the level. You don’t even need to find your own magnets-they come with the first lesson, just the right size to stick on the back of the letter tiles. There is also a phogram sounds CD-ROM to use in conjunction with the books. In other words, this is a self-contained curriculum. You don’t need to do anything except the initial cutting of the cards and tiles, and then opening your book and teaching. More good news about AAS: two more levels will be added in 2009, bringing the student all the way up to highschool spelling level.
I do think this is something that our family will find useful. Both Asrat and Gebre respond very well to visual and tactile learning, and the letter tiles feed right into that, as do the little plastic markers used to help children separate the sounds in words. I have used the tiles and the phonogram cards to help Gebre cement in his mind the shapes and sounds of the letters and the most common letter combinations (th, sh, ch, ck). For Asrat, we have used the Key Cards as we work through his phonics lessons from Calvert. As we move into higher level spelling, and spelling rules, this is definitely going to come in handy as a supplement to his Calvert curriculum. This is another program that I wish was around when I was a kid, because I well remember the Monday-morning spelling list, the frantic studying and memorization, and the Friday-morning spelling test which was the routine for all my years in elementary school. I have definitely become a fan of multisensory learning for retention, rather than rote learning and memorization where the student forgets what he “learned” the second he’s finished his test.
See what others are saying about All About Spelling at the TOS Crew Review Blog!
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Dec. 4, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: Core Learning
We have been having fabulous fun with the Core Learning demos we received, and especially with the Crayola Art Studio they sent as a bonus. Asrat’s cyber school already provided two different art and photo programs but we found the Crayola program to be soooo much more user-friendly, and more importantly, child-friendly. This has been particularly fun to use with our new toy-the wireless mouse and pen that came with Asrat’s school computer. I think what I find the best about the Crayola Studio is the sheer simplicity. The drawing tools are on the left, with all their colors already displayed, with arrows to click through the options. The “color picker” for different colors is small and unobtrusive but easy to find. Most of the tools and functions are readily available in toolbars, with symbols so that younger users can easily find what they want. One of the neat things about the Crayola studio is that the cyber-drawing tools behave much like their real-life counterparts. Watercolors bleed and blend together. Oil paints blend in interesting ways. Crayon marks look like crayon marks. I'm slightly embarassed to admit that Asrat will often ask to use the program, and I'll say "Sure hon, let me get it up on the screen for you" and then myself get so engrossed in playing around with it that he has to remind me that it's for him!
Generally, I haven’t found demos to be very interesting but we were blown away by the software demos Core sent us. Although the math and English grammar were well above Asrat’s level and standard text-book style teaching, he had a wonderful time with the Health series. We were pleasantly surprised to find quirky cartoon characters waiting to take us on a trip through the human body. I did have to help with the quizzes, as they weren’t narrated and Asrat isn’t that fluent in reading, but on the whole it was great, and he begged for more. CORE has a whole series on health and fitness, both for families and for kids
Our favorite was the Art and Creativity demo, with a full lesson. Both Asrat and Gebre eagerly followed two cute penguins and a polar bear through stories and activities designed to teach them about value and scales of value in art. The Art and Creativity program is a complete art curriculum which will capture the interest of students of all ages.
The Math and Language Arts demo we could not test on Asrat, as it was too advanced for him, but Josiah and I both went through it and found it to be of interest. Rather text-book-y, though, so keep that in mind.
Core Learning is an award winning program which publishes teaching software for elementary and middle school levels in the areas of math, English language arts, health, art, and technology. If you are interested in technology-based learning, or if your children seem to learn better with technology rather than traditional teaching, Core Learning would definitely be a company to look into.
More reviews to come at the TOS Crew Blog!
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Dec. 2, 2008 - Help! I'm Trapped in a Living Game of "Memory"!
Instead of giant chess pieces moving around, moving has made me feel like I’m playing with giant memory cards, always looking for a match and never quite finding it. Instead of trying to remember which card the second purple bunny was on, I’m trying to remember which of the umpteen boxes in the basement contains the item I need right now.
Of course, when I need it, I can’t find it. I’ll turn it over two weeks from now when the immediate need is past, but I won’t find it now. I will, however, find things I’ve been missing for two years. The perversity of this game is that things which I deliberately put in what I thought would be easy to find places cannot be found. I remember specifically putting our new advent calendar somewhere I was sure I could easily find it. But now I cannot find that “somewhere”. Did I put it in a box? On top of the baby bassinett? Is it already in a closet somewhere? In one of the dresser drawers? What was I thinking? I should have put it in the bottom of one of the book boxes and I’d have run across it weeks ago.
There is an upside to this game as well though. I had put Asrat’s school printer away, thinking it was just a printer, and we didn’t really need it. After the move, as I was looking for some place to store the thing, I noticed “copy” and “scan” on the box. Lo and behold, the cyber school had sent us a print-copy-scan combination (your tax dollars at work!). That gave me a good two days of joy and happy feelings in the middle of this mess, as I hooked it up and tested it out.
I’d venture a guess though, that the advent calendar card will remain hidden until mid-January, when I’ll be looking for something else and turn over that card instead of the one I need for a match!
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Dec. 1, 2008 - Post-Thanksgiving Stew
Assuming you saved your turkey drippings and cooked the carcass down to get some nice turkey stock, you might enjoy this recipe. If you didn't, remember this for next year!
1 lb leftover turkey, chopped
1 onion, finelychopped
1-2 tsp garlic powder or chopped garlic
1Tbls butter
1/2 c turkey drippings
dash worchestershire sauce
2 tsp. mustard
3 c turkey broth
1 c water
1 c brown rice or 1/2 c barley
leftover sweet potato, chopped
leftover peas, beans, carrots, corn OR 1 bag frozen mixed veggies
salt and pepper to taste.
Saute turkey, onion, garlic, and butter in a small pan. Add turkey drippings, worchestershire sauce, and mustard. Cook some of the liquid off. Put turkey broth and water into a large soup pot. Add turkey from the small pan. Bring to a boil, add rice and simmer 20 min. Add salt and pepper, sweet potato, and other vegies. Simmer another 15-20 min. This made a fabulous rich stew that got rave reviews from Josiah. You could also dump it in the crockpot using fresh vegetables if you like.
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Dec. 1, 2008 - A different kind of blog tour--Hands of Hope Christmas Cards
Hands of Hope, a charity of Women Helping Women A World Away, is announcing that their Holiday Gift Cards are available for purchase. These cards provide food, income and water for impoverished women and children in Zambia , Uganda , and Southern Sudan. They can be purchased on the Hands of Hope website for $15.00, $30.00 and $50.00. Purchasing these cards will provide goats, chickens or wells to help change lives. What could be a more meaningful gift for holiday giving for family, friends, and customer appreciation?
Hands of Hope helps mobilize communities to respond to the needs of women and children around the world. With an ever-expanding support base in the Chicago area, Hands of Hope works to raise community awareness regarding poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa and its relevance globally. We are confident in the integrity of the channels we have established so that contributions provide the highest possible impact for the most critical needs.
A Chicken Card will purchase a gift of twelve chicks and be given to an impoverished family in Africa. As the flock multiplies, a struggling family will be given the hope to survive. Your gift will help those in need for generations to come.
A Goat Card represents an actual goat being purchased for a needy family. Beyond providing much needed milk, a few goats can quickly become a herd, providing sustenance and additional income that can make the difference between whether a child goes to school or not.
A Well Card will go toward funding a well in the Western Province of Zambia. Statistics show that nearly half of all people in developing countries suffer from health related problems caused by unsafe water. In addition, African women and children spend several hours every day collecting
Links
The cards
Purchase cards
How HOH got their start
Current Projects
Contact at Hands of Hope:
VickyWauterlek, Hands of Hope
VWAU@aol.com, 847-381-7367
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Nov. 29, 2008 - My Mother's Wish--one winner, and one more chance to win!
Hmph. Y'all are slacking. I only got one comment for the book giveaway, and I have two books to give away!
Martha is the lone commenter, so she wins a book.
I'll give the rest of you another chance. Post a comment and I'll pick another winner. Otherwise, I'm just goign to take it with me on my next errand day and hand it to a random stranger.
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Nov. 26, 2008 - Why I'm thankful for our new house
When you buy an older house that "needs a little work", it's easy to get stuck on all the yucky stuff. Old windows, ugly cupboards, snot-green carpets, faux marble wallboard in the bathroom and so on.
In spite of all that, I am so thankful for the house we're in now, and here is my list of reasons, in no particular order.
It's bigger! Much, much bigger. We have room for everything here, even a guest bed (so come and visit!). We also have elbow room, and room to run around without knocking into corners of furniture. (On a side note, for a perspective on "elbow room" and living space, see how some of the other half lives HERE. Suddenly 1,000 sq feet doesn't seem that small)
It's warmer. Oddly enough, this older house doesn't feel nearly so chilly as the previous (newer) house, even with the thermostat at 65.
It has lots and lots and lots of natural light. All the rooms except for the kitchen and the boys room have huge picture windows. The kitchen door is half glass, and lets in lots of light.
It's carpeted. This means it's warmer on our feet in the winter, and that I don't see dirt every time I look down. Or feel the grime on my feet. And vacuuming is more fun than sweeping.
It has a nice backyard, surrounded and gated with 4 ft mesh fence.
It's in a safe neighborhood. This morning the boys and I had a riotous snowball fight in our front yard and I realized that I didn't have to worry that the neighborhood drug dealer or the neighborhood pit-bull puppy-mill owner were peering at us from their windows.
The kitchen is bigger than our other house and is designed better, and has more counter space.
It has a basement entrance that is carpeted and once cleared of all our other stuff can serve as a perfect "mudroom" and keep my living room and front door clear of jackets, stray mittens, and dirty boots.
It's going to be super fun to decorate for Christmas!
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Nov. 25, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: Spears Art Studio
When I first looked at this curriculum I was a little overwhelmed. There is, simply, so much to it that at first glance it short-circuited my already fried brains a bit. However, as I looked through the curriculum in smaller sections, I recovered and started to see how this could really work for us.
I have been looking for projects to do with the children, but always find myself a little overwhelmed and lacking direction. I’m not a “craft-y” kind of person, don’t have an file of art projects and patterns, and quite honestly I really don’t like a lot of mess. Spear’s Art Studio’s Christian Art Curriculum is expansive, extensive, well-organized, and easy to use. Everything is all laid out for you, first by month of the year, and then by age/grade. Each grade’s project has a page with the materials you need, the Scripture theme for the project, and how-to’s for teaching the lesson. The lessons teach the basic principles and elements of art, as well as hand-eye coordination, art history connections, and Scripture connections. Any time a pattern is needed, it is provided. The projects are organized around seasonal themes, but it’s much more than a few paper cut outs for each holiday. Every theme has it’s own project for each grade level (K-8), and I have to say, some of them are so cool I can’t wait until my kids are older so we can do some of the neater painting and collage ideas. The November and December themes are fairly obvious, with their respective holidays. March, though, starts with a water theme, and the water of the Spirit. Then it moves into the fifth and sixth days of creation so you will have animals everywhere.
Click HERE for samples and free lessons. For myself I am particularly interested in the Calligraphy lessons. I took calligraphy as a teen and I believe that it promotes many important skills like hand-eye-coordination, slow and careful work, a steady hand, design, and “eyeballing” (figuring out by just looking at something where letters and images should be placed). Calligraphy dramatically improved my regular handwriting, which until those lessons had been the typically smudgy scrawl of an incorrigible leftie.
We will probably end up using this as a supplementary program, as we already have a curriculum that includes some art (but not nearly as much fun as the Spear’s curriculum). As I have gone through this curriculum I’ve noticed that many of the projects, could easily be simplified for use for Sunday School lessons. Some of the themes could work very well for Vacation Bible School as well. Since each month, week, and project can stand alone or be part of the whole, there are a great many ways this curriculum could be used.
See what the rest of the Crew has to say about the Spears Art Studio Curriculum at the TOS Crew Blog!
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Nov. 25, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: Trigger Memory Systems
We have had a lot of fun with the products provided by Trigger Memory Systems to the TOS Homeschool Crew.
Since it’s school-related, I’ll start with the Times Tales. At first I really didn’t get it. And that’s what both the letter and the teacher’s instruction book warned me would happen. Asrat is a bit young for times tables and although I have showed him in several different was the basics of multiplication, I could tell it wasn’t clicking, so I didn’t push it. However, he and Gebre both did enjoy listening to the stories and answering the questions for each picture. Although they remained clueless, it finally dawned on me what was going on in Times Tales, and I started wishing my math teachers had used something like this. It took me forever to learn my times tables, and on top of that, I always found math to be a total drag. Times Tales uses pictorial symbols for numbers, picture stories, flash cards, and pointed questions to help youngsters fix in their minds multiplication and division problems and how they work. Best of all, you only have to buy this once, no matter how many children you have--these are non-consumable products.
We also received the Zone Cleaning for Kids flip chart and the flip books for bedroom and laundry flip books. I had been noticing other people’s chore charts (Wendy has a great one!) and wondering what I was going to do with my kids, so these came at a great time. I gave Asrat the kitchen/dining room zone, and Gebre got the living room. They both jumped right in with vigor, begging to clean so that they could check the boxes as they finished. Mine are still so young that they need lots of supervision with each job, and some help from me, but the flip charts were a great introduction to chores. They’re also great because there is no reading, only pictures, so even a non-reader can easily follow what specific part of the chore they need to do next.
The only thing I would change if I were in charge (which I’m not) is to have some sort of hole punched in each page, or a hanging mechanism in the binding for easy storage. I don’t know about anyone else but in my kitchen and dining room, counter space is at a premium, and books and papers left lying around either get buried or spilled on.
See what the rest of the TOS Crew has to say at the Crew Blog!
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Nov. 24, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: One2Believe.com
It’s starting to feel like Christmas at our house, with packages arriving every week. It truly started to feel like Christmas when a giant box found it’s way to our doorstep, enclosing a child-friendly nativity set from One2believe.com.
I do have a wonderful wooden set (thanks mom!) that we use as an Advent calendar, but the pieces are tiny and I don’t like the kids to play with it much-someone’s sure to drop a shepherd down a heat vent, or slip a camel into his pocket.
This new set we received is perfect for the kind of play my boys like to do. The pieces are nicely sized for small hands (not for little one’s under three, though). They are sturdy plastic and well made. (Side-note: I understand some families have concerns about using plastic toys, and if you're one of them, obviously this isn't a toy for you!) They have survived multiple flights across the room--Biruk has a strong arm. They are all one piece, so no finicky clothes or small pieces for kids to remove and parents to have to try to put back on. My boys have already spent hours playing with the set, and I’m sure that as we move into Advent and start talking about the Christmas story this will be a great hands-on thing to help them remember. And I have to say, the figures are just the tiniest little bit quirky. I like quirky.
One2Believe provides many such sets, all sorts of Biblical figures for hands-on play and pretend. I had actually seen some of them in our church’s Sunday School classrooms, but never knew where they came from.
From the website: “one2believe's passion is to help children learn important Bible lessons and to have them come to faith in Jesus. Our goal is to provide fun ways of teaching children about the greatest people who ever lived. Through the toys that we design children will learn and play out exciting stories about real people. Our toys teach children that there are real superheroes they can believe in!”
You can read what others in the TOS Crew have said about One2believe.com over at the TOS Crew Blog.
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Nov. 24, 2008 - How We Do Family Time
We take a hike. Up a steep hill. In the rain.
Then we go shopping at the thrift store. Then shopping at Dollar General. We buy two pairs of shoes, a set of flannel sheets, and a gourmet cookbook (mostly for Gebre to look at).
Then we look outside the window and see that it's pouring rain. Josiah tells us to wait, and he will get the car. The cashier pipes up "Wow, that's nice of him!", and then his jaw drops when I say "It sure is. He has to walk about a mile to get it."
So, we accomplished exercise, family togetherness, expenditure of boyish energy, deal-hunting, and stunning an stranger, in only two hours!
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Nov. 20, 2008 - Reason #758 to Love Raising Boys:
They exercise their little egos by doing "manly" things.
Ever since we started moving all three boys have been literally begging for work to do. And what mother doesn't love to hear "Mama, do you have a job for me to do now?". Even Biruk will fuss and cry if I don't give him something to carry when I give the other boys boxes or bags. Asrat has been wanting to move furniture and yesterday he finally got his chance. I was surprised at how strong that wirey little 5 year old body actually is. There was a bookshelf in our basement that needed to go all the way up two flights of stairs. I probably could have sweated and strained and moved it myself, and Josiah was busy trying to fix our washer and I didn't want to disturb that (I need to get the laundry done!!). So when Asrat asked if he could help, I thought I'd let him try. He turned out to be invaluable. Since the whole place is carpeted, the bookshelf could easily be slid up the stairs, but with it being so long, it got stuck at every stair. Asrat lifted the top end of that thing over the edge of each stair, while I pushed it onwards and upwards from the bottom. He helped me navigate the tight corners, lifting and pulling as needed, and even helped me flip it upright when one corner was too tight. He was so proud of himself.
He's also proud of himself for overcoming his dread of loud noises in order to be The Vacuumer. This is a child who got the shakes just thinking about the electric hair clippers, and now he courageously wrangles our great clumsy incredibly noisy vacuum cleaner.
And while it may not last long, I am reveling in the fact that my three little boys will come to fisticuffs (there's that manly thing again) over who gets to vacuum the dining room floor.
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Nov. 18, 2008 - My Mother's Wish--Blog Tour and Contest!!!
I am really excited about this blog tour for two reasons. First, I think My Mother’s Wish (by Jerry Camery-Hoggatt) is a beautiful tale, and second, I have two copies to give away!
My dad used to read to us kids. He read all sorts of classics out loud, starting from when we were very young. But he read short stories and newer books as well, and I couldn’t help remembering that as I read My Mother’s Wish. It would have been the perfect book to hear Dad reading, with all of us curled up on the couch, wrapped in blankets, occasionally surruptitiously kicking a sibling.
In My Mother's Wish, Ellee is just a little bit of a contrarian. She’s that way by nature, but of course, the world around her-even her family-won’t let her be. There are rules, after all, like writing on the lines instead of across them. And going by one’s given name, Eleanor Crumb McCutcheon. So Ellee takes a little leave of absence, and learns a little something about love and acceptance along the way.
I was quite taken with this story and already passed my copy along to my family to enjoy. I need to get it back though, because I intend to read this one aloud to my kids closer to Christmas.
If you’d like a copy, post a comment with your most favorite memory of Christmas and your email address. I’ll randomly pick two winners next week!
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Nov. 18, 2008 - New House!
As promised, pictures! More later.
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Nov. 17, 2008 - Don't go away!
I know I have a lot of reviews up, but do stick around because I have a book to give away this week (two copies!!) and I will eventually get pictures up of our new house, and some other things.
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Nov. 17, 2008 - TOS Crew Review: Media Angels
One thing we are always on the lookout for is good read-aloud books. Media Angels sent us a very interesting book, written by a homeschooled girl (Christine Gerwitz) with her mother (Felice Gerwitz). It is clearly a first novel (the authors freely admit that they knew nothing about novel writing when they started) but we enjoyed it nonetheless. As with other reviewers, we found a few editing errors, but nothing serious.
I started reading it aloud to our older children but soon found that their ages (5 and 3) were a little young for the book. They liked the adventurous parts (helicopters and guns, hooray!) but I could tell they had no clue what was going on. So I finished it myself and put it on the shelf for them to read in a few years. Where else am I going to find fiction for kids that has adventure, Creation science apologetics, and Christian values all in one place? Particularly for young teens, even homeschooled ones, this series will help combat the constant deluge of humanistic science that comes from every direction. Missing Link: FOUND follows a family (large-ish, Christian, and homeschooling!) through and exciting archeological adventure. The plot line introduces common arguments for and against Creation science, helping young people work through the issue while they think they are just enjoying an adventure novel.
Media Angels has a wonderful website (contest on the front page!!) with all kinds of great resources, including free downloads. The whole series, plus literature guides, is available there, as well as many other books, dvds, and guides. If you have been looking for alternatives to secular science resources, Media Angels is a site you need to visit!
