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TOS Review: Greek 'n' Stuff

Greek? For elementary school students? Seriously?

I admit that I was a bit surprised. Maybe a bit concerned. I mean, my kids don't fully understand English and then I'm gonna throw another language at 'em?

Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek is a curriculum for elementary homeschool students designed as a basic introduction to biblical Greek. The workbooks are packed full of fun activities and information and gives kids a good basis for the beginnings of biblical Greek. First up is learning the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. They learn the names and how to write them. Included in the worktext are flashcards that help solidify their knowledge of the alphabet.

My kids now know the Greek alphabet and can even sing an adorable little Greek Alphabet Song just like they learned their ABCs in English! (Mom knows the Greek Alphabet Song too - it's rather catchy!!)

For additional  learning (and to keep up over the summer with what was learned this year,) a supplemental ebook, Biblical Greek Alphabet Practice Pages is available for immediate download for only $12.95. (I LOVE this since I am planning to continue our Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! studies next year!)

What To Teach When

Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!

• The Reader - primary (preschool) introduces the alphabet
• Level 1 - recognizing, reading and writing the Greek Alphabet
• Level 2 - vocabulary
• Level 3 - introduces grammar

Each of the upper levels (through Level 8) review and build on the level before.

According to the website, by Level 3, it is recommended that students spend some time each day in an Greek Interlinear New Testament starting with the Gospel of John. I am seriously excited about my kids reading a Greek Bible before their daddy even begins his Greek studies in seminary.

Other Products by Greek 'n' Stuff

Latin's Not So Tough! A Classical Latin Curriculum

Alone With God Bible Studies 

What's It Gonna Cost Me?

Greek Reader
$11.95

Greek Student Workbooks
$14.95 - 28.95 per level 

Greek  "Flashcards on a Ring"
$6.00-$8.00 per level

Pronunciation CD
$10.00 (per 2 levels) 

Supplemental eBook
$12.95

Bible Copybook - The Gospel of John $25.95 (Level 3 and above) 

Each level is also available in two different sets.

Check out all the Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! products or download some samples! 

Greek? For elementary school students? Seriously?

YEP.

And it rocks!!

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received "Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!" free of charge from Greek N Stuff for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

How I Got My Life Back - Part 1

I've been held hostage for four days out of the month over the last seven years. I would have to cancel plans, give the kids some days off from school (there is no way to call a sub when you homeschool!) and basically hibernate during "that time of the month."

For those of you who know me personally, you will either be thrilled with what you are about to read or horrified I would actually write about this. But when something so miraculous happens, you really wanna share it with the world! And when that miracle could help someone else, you want to shout it from the mountaintops!!!

So here we go! I'm shouting!!!

Like I said, I've been held hostage. My periods were horrid. Pain, weakness, fatigue, headaches, grouchiness, cravings. I could go on and on attempting to describe what I go through each month.

Doctors would say, well, get used to it. It will probably get worse until menopause. (Thanks so much for the sympathy there! Did I really just pay to have you say that to me??)

My dear sweet husband had no clue until recently since usually he would be gone to work while I suffered. The last two years since we moved back to GA he saw more months of the agony than he didn't.

So enter my new friend who right now will remain anonymous since I didn't tell her I was blogging about her. I met her at our new church.

Our conversation went from elderberry syrup to her telling me about her cure from endometosis and fibroids. She was scheduled for surgery but didn't want to have it so she started looking for a cure for her symptoms which were very much like mine. Over three months time she basically cured her symptoms through natural vitamins, minerals and herbs. She quickly began writing down some things for me and well, it worked!!

I have not implemented everything yet. But I am going to share what I did.

• Nature's Way Red Raspberry Leaves - two pills twice a day (every 12 hours)
• Nature's Way Magnesium Complex - one pill twice a day (every 12 hours)

Easy huh??

I couldn't believe it myself.

There are a few other things I haven't implemented yet but I will tell you about those next month after I do.

Let me tell ya folks - this is huge for me. Otherwise I wouldn't be discussing this most private thing on my blog.

Normally I would spend these fours days captive in my home. Being a homebody, I love to be home, but not when I am forced beyond my control, ya know? 

Well this weekend, I baked a birthday cake and iced it. Then attended a family function worth five hours. And then went to church on Easter and spent the day with my family. None of this would have been possible had it been a month ago. I would have been in the bed all those days.

If you suffer during your monthly time, please try this. It costs very little and you could be changing your life.

I did.

Could You Take a Look for Me?

I know I'm asking a lot when I ask this of you. This blog is not about pregnancy loss. But pregnancy loss is a big part of my life. Someone you know has been affected by if (whether they have told you or not.) If you know anything about me (or have at least read a little about me) you know that I lost a child between Music Man and Farm Boy. It had a huge impact on my life as it does for anyone who has been through it. This July marks ten years.

Each year as the anniversary of Sammie's birth and death approach, I attempt to do "something" for him. This year I am working to revamp the website that I built just after he was born. We eventually created an organization to help others experiencing pregnancy loss. Unfortunately I had to put the daily work on hold a few years ago when we began homeschooling. It is a passion of mine, but that work will always be there after my kids don't need me as much anymore.

So here is what I need. I rebuilt the Remembering Your baby website using Weebly. I really only cut-and-pasted the information and didn't change much about it except the format. Would you take a look and let me know what you think? Feel free to comment here or to send me an email through our contact page.

Here is the current website: Remembering Your Baby and the new design for Remembering Your Baby. The new design has not incorporated the very neglected blog. It points directly to the blog on blogger.

Would you take a look and let me know what you think?

TOS Review: Art Class by See The Light

Farm Boy has been drawing stick figures since he could work a pencil and has recently grown increasingly interested in drawing. When See the Light's Art Class arrived, he immediately began preparing for what we were going to be taught by gathering his supplies, counting his spending money for real art pencils and eraser and sneaking handfuls of copy paper out of my printer. With supplies in tow, we soon sat down to view the first lesson. 

 

The Art Class DVD Series is divided into nine volumes that each build on the next. We began with Volume 1 - The Basics for this review and had four lessons which included Tools of the Trade, It All Starts With a Line, Contours and Composition and Draw What You See. A Bonus Lesson, Chalk-It-Easy Chalk Art Lesson with artist Gloria Kohlman was also included in Volume 1!

Sprinkled with "art history and biblical truth," Art Class is more than just drawing lessons. I loved how Master Artist Pat Knepley was friendly and open with the audience telling us exactly what to do and how to do. She was very encouraging throughout the lessons and made us want to practice when we finished each lesson!

One thing that was a huge bonus for me was that there is nothing else to buy! You need basic supplies throughout the series. I love how Ms. Knepley told us in the first lesson (and throughout) that we use use a regular pencil and plain paper. This is a great thing for families with multiple kids who can all watch and draw together without investing too much more than the DVDs themselves. (We chose to invest in a set of drawing pencils and an artist eraser from a craft store - on sale with a coupon!) The softer lead of the drawing pencil and white artist eraser were better than we had been using - a plain ol' No.2 lead pencil and pink eraser! She did make it clear that we could continue using those, but that the softer lead and white artist eraser made things easier. And they did!

The entire Art Class series is available as a nine volume set for $99.99. You may also choose an online subscription for $9.99 per month. 

Art Class Series

Vol 1 The Basics (Get Vol 1 FREE!!)

Vol 2 Shape and Space 

Vol 3 Value and Color

Vol 4 Color Blending Techniques

Vol 5 Proportion for Composition

Vol 6 Texture and Form

Vol 7 Perspective for Landscape

Vol 8 Balance and Foreshortening

Vol 9 The Portrait

 

Other items by See the Light include The CrossMaker (Easter Story and art lessons) and The Gift of Love (Christmas Story and art lessons) available at $14.99 each. Demos and samples of these are available on the website as well.

Get Vol 1 FREE by requesting it online! You can also view them free lessons online.

Pricing Info 
The CrossMaker and The Gift of Love Individual DVD $14.99
Art Class Series 9 Vol Set $99.99  (Get Vol 1 FREE!!)
Online Subscription $10.00/month

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received Art Class Vol. 1 free of charge from See the Light for the purpose of review. 

No other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Growing Healthy Homes Nutrition 101

 

I was so excited when I saw Growing Healthy Homes in our queue for review. I have been slowly changing the way I feed my family and this was a great boost in making even more changes.  

Growing Healthy Homes Nutrition 101 is a 3-in-1 health and wellness program, biology curriculum and cookbook designed for the homeschool family. Don't let the name fool you. This is not your ordinary health class. It is comprised of six Biblically-based units that teach nutrition, biology and life wellness through hands-on activities, amazing full color diagrams and scrumptious recipes.

On a personal note, my boys are finally getting of the age that they are asking about Music Man's challenges and health issues. Nutrition 101 not only tells you "the what" of nutrition but also about why we need to feed our bodies certain things. The different systems of the body are explained in their own chapter. It has been a challenge for me to explain some of Music Man's issues to him and his brother but with this complete curriculum, he's gotten biology and health/wellness all wrapped into one! We had no idea that bananas were bad for the respiratory tract and that is his absolute favorite food! Music Man is also beginning to understand more about how the body systems work together and how when one system is not healthy, it affects the whole body.

Another perk for me personally, is that it is one thing for Mama to say we don't need to eat that. Now my boys are taking on their own reasons as to why we don't need to eat that. They understand the why and choose a healthier option. That really helps this Mama when it comes time to makes decisions on eating away from home!

Nutrition 101 is such a complete curriculum that we were not able to complete it in its entirety for the review. I am excited that we can continue to use it throughout the rest of school year. It is actually designed to be used over several years, adding some challenging activities as your children age. (You all know I love a curriculum that can be used with multiple ages over the course of several years!)


Other titles from Growing Healthy Homes include The Raw Food Feast and Gentle Babies: Essential Oils and Natural Remedies for Pregnancy, Childbirth, Infants and Young Children. 


There are also some free MP3 downloads of recorded conference calls!

Read a sample of Nutrition 101!

Nutrition 101 is available in several formats.

Printed Book $99.95

CD ROM $79.95

Printed Book and CD ROM $129.95
Use code  TOScrew1 for a 15% DISCOUNT! 

Right now Growing Healthy Homes is offering a 15% discount using the code TOScrew1!! 

 There is a LIVE WEBINAR TOMORROW, Thursday, April 21, at 4 to 5:30 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT.) (Even after using and reviewing it, I plan to be there!)

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received Nutrition101 free of charge from Growing Healthy Homes for the purpose of review and exchange for my honest opinion. 

No other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Science Weekly

Science Weekly is a newsletter-style full color science supplement for elementary aged kids. It is available for six different grade levels from kindergarten to fifth/sixth grade. There are 20 issues per year on different science and math topics ranging from fractions to green buildings to the moon. Science Weekly is full of information on that particular topic and activities that kids can do on their own and a few things they need supervision for such as the Weekly Lab project.

We reviewed the issue on composting, which was very timely for us since we were beginning the preparation for our garden. Farm Boy was super excited to begin gathering items for the Weekly Lab which was designed to show whether or not water was needed to make compost.


The Teacher's Notes, which are included for homeschools upon request, are the lesson plans and background info for the topic. 

There are also several interactive issues available on the website including Pyramids, Living in Space, Kites, Hurricanes and Dams! The last page includes a link to download the PDF.

PRICING
15 issues for $19.95 per student per year The bulk rate is starts at 20 issues for $4.95 each so it would be great for co-ops or homeschool groups to group buy!


CHECK IT OUT
For a free sample issue download on Coral Reefs. The Sport Science issue is available from the order page.The interactive issues are also available for download.


FINAL WORD
Science Weekly is a fun supplemental tool but could be cost prohibitive for larger families unless the subscriptions were part of a group buy. With two kids, it isn't something that I would necessarily put on the "must buy" list for our curriculum at $19.95 but would love to have it at $4.95 per kid. I love the interactive part of the site too and those are available free for download to print at home. Science Weekly would make a great addition to our Workboxes.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received a sample set of Science Weekly free of charge for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Ultimate Blog Party '11

If you are visiting from the Ultimate Blog Party, WELCOME!! I'm Dawn aka cookfromscratch on most websites that I visit. 

I have been blogging since before blogging was blogging. :) I started my first webpage back in 2001 when we moved from north GA to south FL to keep our friends and family up-to-date on the goings on with our firstborn, Music Man. I wrote my all code back then since blogging was not born yet but eventually landed on Blogger in '07. My archives are still on my hard drive and may eventually be reformatted to my blog but I haven't gotten around to do it yet. :) 

Now I blog about simple living, special needs, chemical free eating and traditional foods cooking, and homeschooling. I was blessed this year to be on the 2010-2011 Homeschool Review Crew for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

I am a Christian homeschooling mom from Georgia. Married to my college sweetheart since 1997. I LOVE to cook. I LOVE photography and you will often find me hiding behind a camera. I LOVE my family and I LOVE living in the country.

Let me introduce you to my boys. They keep me busy! Music Man is my oldest. He always has a smile on his face (as long as he isn't hungry or tired!) and loves anything to do with music and dancing. Music Man has what is called FG Syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder characterized by heart defects, low muscle tone and developmental delay. He also has ADHD which we combat with diet. We started on the Feingold Program in 2006 and never looked back. Now we stay away from almost all processed foods and eat even healthier! You may have heard about the recent FDA hearings on artificial flavors and colors in foods. It is a huge passion of mine to get the word out on the junk in the foods we eat. But I digress. :) 

Our middle son, Samuel, died at birth due to multiple congenial abnormalities including FG Syndrome and possibly ARPKD (Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease). I created a non-profit organization, Remembering Your Baby, in his memory to help other parents who lose a baby at birth. Remembering Your Baby has taken a backseat lately due to homeschooling. The mission is to provide support to other bereaved parents and give them something tangible to remember their babies by. But the organization has to be put on hold so I may focus on my boys for now. I would love to find some volunteers who have a heart for it and the time to put into developing the organization further.

Our youngest, Farm Boy, is totally typical and all boy! He loves living in the country, all living creatures -especially those that live outside and brings a great deal of energy to our family. He began taekwondo last January at the Athens Taekwondo Center and just earned his Purple Belt.

We live in the country in a farmhouse that belongs to my husband's grandparents. Years ago it was a dairy farm but now houses beef cattle. There are goats on the other side of us (currently with four sets of twins!!) They are so much fun to watch!

My husband is currently in grad school finishing his MDiv in Military Chaplaincy. He has about two more years and then plans to GO NAVY! We have been in ministry since before we were married and look forward to this new chapter in our lives! 

In my spare time (ha ha) I have been working on a new blog template - teaching myself the ins and outs of web design again, this time on a blog. It's a whole new ballgame than it was when I started on Geocities with HTML so many years ago. 

So that's enough about me. Take a look around. I'm so glad you stopped by!

Getting The Word Out: Kirill's Story

This is the story of a friend of my husband's cousin in Tuscaloosa, AL.  As the proud parent of a special needs child, I could not believe this story. I could not believe that Kirill was denied adoption because of his special needs. I ask you, dear readers, to open your heart to this story. Pray for this family. Pray for Kirill.

Kirill's Story

http://oureyesopened.blogspot.com/2011/03/kirills-story.html

Please feel free to share the following on your blogs. It is a summary of our adoption journey so far. Please help us spread the word. We are hoping somehow someone will be able to help us.

Two years ago Greg and I began praying for God to do whatever he wanted with our lives. We handed him a “blank check” so to speak, and told him to cash it. He opened our eyes to children with disabilities wasting away across the ocean in Eastern Europe. We joined God and started our adoption journey.

Our family is more than equipped to handle a child with special needs. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am a member of the Board of Directors of Best Buddies of Alabama. I have volunteered for RISE and Eagles’ Wings. All of these organizations serve individuals with special needs. My husband I have close friends and family who have special needs and we are a big part of each other’s lives. Our wedding party included some of these special people. Our involvement with individuals with special needs led us to adopt a child with special needs; specifically, we chose Down Syndrome.

As we prayed over the faces of thousands of orphaned children with Down Syndrome, we ultimately chose a little boy named Sergey from Russia. Eight months later, as we neared the finish line of our adoption, one of Sergey’s family members in Russia stepped forward to adopt him. We were heartbroken for our loss, but God showed us that we were following him, and his ways are perfect. We knew we still wanted to adopt, so the way we saw it, two children would find homes because of our journey…Sergey went to his family and now we would choose another child to come into our family. We took great comfort in knowing that God could see this when we first committed to Sergey! We were honored to be a part of his plan.

Shortly after losing Sergey, we received a new referral with a grainy photo of a four-year-old blond-haired boy wearing pink glasses named Kirill. We were instantly in love with him. We had to re-file a lot of our paperwork because of the change in referrals and regions of Russia, but we were fast and we thought we were looking at three more months at the most until we would have Kirill home.

That was well over a year ago.

Since then so many things have happened. A tragic story of an adoptive mother sending her child back to his country alone on a plane with a note pinned to his shirt rocked our world…he was from Russia. Adoptions in Russia came to a screeching halt. Kirill’s region stopped processing adoptions for eight long months. The judge refused to accept any Amercian adoption cases until an official treaty was signed between the United States and Russia.

Even though we wouldn’t be able to finalize the adoption in court until the treaty was signed, we were allowed to go visit Kirill and sign our official petition to adopt him in August 2010. We fell more deeply in love with him. This was our son.

During that time, we found out that Kirill is the first child from his region EVER to be adopted with Down Syndrome. A birth mother keeping her child with Down Syndrome is unheard of in this area of the world. Adoptions of children with Down Syndrome just don’t happen there, these children are literally hidden away from society in orphanages and mental institutions. As our process continued, it became apparent that Kirill would be a pioneer. If our adoption was approved, it would pave the way for other children with special needs to be adopted from this region.

Then, a miracle happened around Christmas and the judge in this region suddenly changed her mind and began processing American adoptions again. We were elated.  Could this be the light at the end of a very long tunnel? I was somewhat nervous about Kirill being the first child adopted with Down Syndrome from his region, but our agency was very confident that if we got a court date, our adoption would be approved. In seventeen years, they had never had a case rejected IF the family was issued a court date. We were told not to worry, so I didn’t. After meeting the judge’s requests for several supporting court documents, we were finally granted a court date-March 17, 2011. St. Patrick’s Day…I was thrilled. This would be our new favorite holiday! Our son was coming home!

Our other son, Clayton, who had just turned three when we started this adoption process, has prayed fervently for his brother. He is now almost five. When we told him Kirill was coming home, oh my…we had an excited big brother on our hands! At one point he even went to his room, dumped out his toy cars and divided them into two stacks…one for him and one for Kirill.

Last week, as we sat in the courtroom and suffered through five agonizing hours of difficult questioning, we were not prepared for anything but an approval of our case. Two doctors, two social workers, and the Minister of Children’s Services all made very strong statements on our behalf. They fought for us. Hard.

But when the ruling was read, the judge said, “Your application to adopt is rejected.” The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family. As the judge read her ruling, she stated several times that we were a good family, that we met all the criteria to adopt a child, but that she would not approve our adoption because Kirill has Down Syndrome. She told us that we could adopt another child, because legally our application had no problems according to Russian adoption law. She said she would approve our adoption for a “typical” child, but not this child. Why? The only reason? Because he has Down Syndrome. Even though we were approved by our home study and by the USCIS to adopt a child with special needs. It makes no sense whatsoever. Denying a child a family because he has Down Syndrome is a violation of human rights at its most basic level!

It was like a terrible dream. We were so unprepared for this outcome. As we left the courthouse in a mental fog, the doctors and social workers that had testified came to us and said, “If you appeal, we will fight for you. Appeal. Fight this decision.” Of course we were going to appeal…I could no more walk away from our biological son, Clayton, at this point. Kirill is just as much my son.

So here we are, asking God to move the mountain that is standing between Kirill and us as we appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow. There are also three other families who are in various stages of adopting children with Down Syndrome from Kirill’s region; one of the families has a court hearing set for next week.

We are hoping that someone will hear our outcry and help us bring our son and these other waiting children home. His adoption will set the precedent for many other children in his region. There are 98 children in his orphanage with special needs alone. It is one of many orphanages in this region that houses children with special needs. This is about more than just one child, the lives of hundreds of children with special need are at stake.  Please help us.

Why I Don't Coupon - Part 1

I'm frugal but I don't coupon. Or at least not very often.

 photo by teamjtx on Flickr.

Coupons are for people who buy processed foods. Or stuff with junk in them. 

And we don't want no junk around here.

The only coupons available in Sunday circulars are those for products by big food companies that put all kinds of stuff in them I don't wanna eat. Or bathe with. Or clean my clothes with. Or ..... 

Do you see my trend here? 

Occasionally, I will find a coupon in my local heath food store for a product I might buy. Or a treat for the kids. But for the most part I don't use 'em. And I've tried. Believe me I have tried. 

There are only a few things left that I actually buy that I can use a coupon for: coffee, some bagged teas, hubby's toiletries that I can't get him to let go of. That's about it.

So what do I buy without coupons, you ask? Well we'll be talking about that this week.

RECIPE: The Lucky Smoothie

In honor of St Patrick's Day, I wanted to share something we have been doing in our house lately.  Music Man has always had trouble with constipation since Day 1 (literally in the hospital!!) This is due to extreme low muscle tone which affects not only the face muscles making it difficult to eat and talk, the leg muscles which challenge mobility but also the gut where he would have trouble "going," to put it nicely. We have worked through several several awful medicine routines and gone back and forth with different ways of dealing with it. Last year at the advice of another mom dealing with the same thing, we tried a daily smoothie. Our basic recipe was

Gotta Go Smoothie
1 c liquid (I use whole milk yogurt, kefir, pear juice or even whole milk, in a pinch)
1/4 of a frozen banana

1 T natural peanut butter (I eyeball it.)

1T homemade prune butter (Again, eyeball it - no measuring just a spoonful.)

handful of ice

The ingredients are interchangeable and measurements are approximate (except I stick to the 1/4 banana.) Music Man loves prune butter thank goodness, but the peanut butter and banana are his faves thanks to visiting Whole Foods after orthodontics visits. They hide the flavor of drinking prune butter. It isn't very appetizing to me but he loves it.

So we did this for a good while - every afternoon during snacktime he had a Gotta Go Smoothie. It worked beautifully! I was amazed. Really. No meds. No crying at potty time. If you have ever dealt with a kid who couldn't go you know what I mean. It was literally God-sent!

Now before I introduce the "lucky" ingredient, let me deal with another issue. I concede that bananas are known to be binding. The simple answer is that bananas are his fave fruit. Actually the banana is the only fruit he eats. He used to eat a whole one daily (until I realized how binding they were for him.) Now he gets part of one banana in a smoothie daily. The peanut butter probably doesn't help either. Again, it is a small amount. It is to cover the taste. He loves it and I just have to deal with it. The yogurt is also dairy which is also binding but his gut needs the good stuff in yogurt. I was blessed by a friend a few weeks ago who gave me some kefir and I have been using that ever since. (Not sure what in the world I am talking about? Well, I am still learning all about kefir myself. All I can honestly tell ya right now is that it is supposed to be better for ya than yogurt with good bacterias and it is sure easier - and cheaper!! More on kefir later, but you can visit The Kefir Lady for more info if you so desire.)

Now we come to the lucky part. I have been, over the course of the last few months, trying to change some of our eating habits. We have followed the Feingold Program for five years to combat the symptoms of Music Man's ADHD. The Feingold Program is a great for folks who buy a lot of processed foods and want to buy processed foods without all the junk in them. The Feingold Program eliminates artificial flavors, colors and petroleum based preservatives. It was a great transition program (or set-down from the way we were eating to where I am trying to go. I am so thankful, so grateful that they exist and fully support their mission. Lately though I have begun making steps towards more whole foods eating. I don't necessarily mean Whole Foods Market (the grocery store,) though I love them and shop there monthly. I mean unprocessed foods as close to their natural state as possible - fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, healthy nuts. (More on all that later - it is a whole post or posts in and of itself.)

Well, since I have boys who are picky eaters, each in their own quirky way, I have to get creative occasionally. I couldn't just change up his smoothie (i.e. make it healthier) and hand it to him. I had to come up with something cute that my oral aversion kid would latch on to. So The Lucky Smoothie was born.

The Lucky Smoothie

1 c liquid (I use whole milk yogurt, kefir, pear juice or even milk in a pinch) My blender has measurements on the side and I have found that 1 c is the best amount in order to make it drinkable for MM)

1/4 of a frozen banana

1 T natural peanut butter (I eyeball it.)

1T homemade prune butter (Again, eyeball it - no measuring just a spoonful.)

handful of ice

handful of fresh spinach

Yep, I put fresh spinach in that baby. No, he doesn't know it is spinach and no, you can't taste it. My husband went shopping for me one afternoon and had to get greenish bananas so that's what Music Man assumed the green was from. I never corrected him and won't for a while. farm Boy has seen me make them and knows I put spinach in them and he is keeping our secret ingredient a secret. :) I have tasted The Lucky Smoothie so I can honestly say that you can't taste the spinach. I'm still not a fan - I just don't care for banana and peanut butter in my smoothies but I do taste everything I give him. But you have to use fresh spinach!! You can taste frozen spinach - I tried once when we were out of fresh. You can use a tiny bit of frozen just for color but it doesn't blend well either and it it isn't pleasant to look at.

So there you have it. The Lucky Smoothie.  Enjoy!

TOS Review: Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?)

When planning out our homeschool year, the thought never occurred to me to use a bible curriculum. I don't know why since my husband and I started our life together (even before we married) working with youth teaching them the about the bible. When we began homeschooling I started the boys memorizing the books of the bible and scriptures and thought that was good enough. Then I started hearing about others teaching bible class and actual curriculums as part of their daily lessons. Christian schools do it- why not homeschools too?

Who Is God? And How Can I Really Know Him? is an amazing bible curriculum designed for families. It makes a perfect homeschool curriculum. Published by Apologia, I immediately trusted that the information presented would be what I wanted my kids to learn. The lessons are straight forward, biblical and easily adaptable across a range of ages from young elementary through middle school. They even designed a sample plan for how to implement the lessons over a two week time period.

True to Apologia format, an important part of the curriculum is notebooking. Notebooking is basically writing what you have learned from a lesson in a notebook. It allows the student to put in their own words what they heard in the lesson and allows the teacher to see what information was retained. It is also great for looking back on the year to see what was discovered. We have not done a whole lot of notebooking before now and loved the format.

Written conversationally to the student, it was easy for my first graders to understand what was being taught. I love that each lesson is full of activities complete with supply list so everything needed for a lesson can be gathered easily. Another thing that was high on the thumbs-up list for our family was that students are encouraged to look up scriptures for themselves. Our boys received bibles for Christmas and are just now beginning to look passages up on their own to read as we memorize them. They loved being able to find the scriptures listed on the lessons in their own bibles and memorize the scriptures from the lessons. Hands-on activities are sprinkled throughout the lessons along (including recipes which are always a big hit in our homeschool!) Vocabulary words are in bold throughout the lessons with the definitions and descriptions following.

There are plenty of questions listed throughout each lesson which really appealed to Farm Boy since he asks questions from the time he wakes until after he is in the bed (and sometimes in the middle of the night!!) The questions challenged us to think about what was being asked and elaborated on the topic as we went deeper into the subject matter.

The table of contents and my favorite, a sample lesson (straight from the book!!) are available on the website if you would like to take a peak inside! Sign up for their free monthly newsletter which includes lesson plans and samples and even a chance to win a free online course for the 2011-2012 school year.

Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?)

Apologia Press

Hardback, $39.00

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received Who Is God And Can I Really know Him? free of charge from Apologia for the purpose of review and exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Math Rider

My boys are in love with learning math facts. They BEG me to work on them everyday. Several times a day. Wondering how I got them to LOVE learning math facts? I sent them on a quest. To save a princess. On horseback. In Mathland.

It was brilliant really. Wish I could take credit for it. But alas, it was not I, but the amazing folks who created the math program for our latest review.

Math Rider is an interactive intelligent math game where a player completes certain tasks to earn quest points. The tasks are completed by riding your horse through Mathland. There are hurdles to jump as you make your way through the quest. The stories are cute and players can check their progress on a map after completing part of the journey. Returning a gem and rescuing a princess are much more fun than flashcards. Seriously. ;)

Math Rider adapts to what the child knows and struggles with. More difficult problems are repeated until the child answers them easily. The speed of riding changes as well depending on how fast the problems are answered. Math Rider is great for learning the all the basic math operations. Because the controls are easy (typing the answer and pressing enter) Music Man was able to handle this game easily as well.
 

Then the child (or mom can check the progress at the end of the run and see what was accomplished. I always have my boys call me over to the computer when they finish a run so we can talk about the problems they were struggling with. they also like to show me where they are in the quest by clicking the animated map.

The statistics screen also allows you to see the problem areas.

Practice runs allow a player to choose a specific number or numbers to practice but they do not count towards your quest. Since we started our math facts with the higher numbers rather than the lower numbers, I would have loved the option to choose in the actual quest. There are four difficulty levels with different story lines (quests) to complete.

• Easy (0-5) 
• Medium (0-10)
• Advanced (0-12)
• Master

 We worked hard to try to get to Master but never made it past 22% mastery in addition. (I think that was due to us starting with the 9s instead of the lower numbers when we began learning math facts.) I think I'll be buying this game so he can finish the quest. :) The price is a steal for the joy of watching them learn math facts on their own!!

Want to see it in action??

 From the website::

System Requirements:

MathRider uses the Adobe® AIR™ runtime. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. You will need about 80MB of available hard disk space on your computer and your monitor (and graphics card) need to support at least a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels.

Order Math Rider through instant download for only $37!


And always a big plus in my book: a 30 Day Risk-Free Guarantee!!

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received a two-month download of Math Rider from Sharper Edge Pty Ltd free of charge for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Freebie of the Day

If you haven't heard about Homeschool Freebie of the Day, you really need to take time to check it out! I only heard of them recently and have already downloaded some really great things. Each day a new freebie is posted on the site. You can sign up on their newsletter to receive an email on Sunday evening outlining the week's worth of freebies which is very helpful! You do have to physically go to the site each day for the freebie to download it as they do not email it out. It is a small price to pay (in time!) to do that. I just have it on my toolbar at the top of my browser so I can go first thing every morning.

NOTE: This week they are doing something a little bit different though! The email I usually get telling me what will be posted on what day was a tease about some awesome websites that would be posted. Can't wait to see what that is all about!!

TOS Review: Kid Scoop

Do you have a "Relucant Reader?" I did. Music Man came home from public school at the end of 3rd grade barely memorizing dolch words. We've worked hard to get him reading phonetically but it is still a challenge since he needs constant repetition to learn the "rules." It warms my heart to hear him reading to himself in the living room while I am cooking. Something he has always enjoyed is looking through catalogs and magazines - especially those designed for kids. Well, now he can have his own newspaper, too - one he enjoys reading!! The Reluctant Reader Kid Scoop is a newspaper for kids about topics kids love.


The Reluctant Reader Solution is a fun daily program of 365 newspapers (worksheets) packed full of fun facts, activities and games. They come in PDF format so you can print them when you need them or a week at a time. Farm Boy loves worksheets and these are great for times when he finishes his work before Music Man. I can place one in his workbox and know that he has something to do. They are also great for our car bag for both boys on orthodontics days!

There are two other options available - the Download Edition which is an individual issue centered around a theme and six Download Edition EBooks.

The Kid Scoop News Online Edition, which comes with The Reluctant Reader Solution is available to view, print it or save it for later in PDF!

If you have read my blog at all, you know I love SAMPLES and guarantees! Well, Kid Scoop has both!!! There are plenty of samples to choose from and a 365-Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!! 

The Nitty Gritty
Grades: Upper and Lower Elementary
Reluctant Reader Solution (365 Pages - a whole year of activities and Online Access to Kid Scoop News!!) 97.00 (That's about .25 per day!!)
Download Edition EBooks: 14.99
Download Individual Editions: 2.99


You can also sign up for a month's worth of daily "Make Reading Fun" tips!!


Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew I received The Reluctant Reader Solution free of charge from Kid Scoop for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.