Eviliptical: Is that a real word? UPDATE

Well June first has come and gone! I made my workout goal and had set another one. I wanted to do 30 minutes on the Evilliptical (Elliptical machine) and 4 miles on the bike. Well today I went for the gold but fell slightly short. I ran out of time before the health club closed, I fell short by .25 of a mile. I know that I had the strength and energy to do the rest, but not the time. So Monday July 1 I plan to hit it again and reach my goal.

My new goal is to add 2 miles on to my biking. So 30 min on the Elliptical and 6 miles on the bike by Aug 1.  After I reach that goal I am thinking of staying the same time/distance, but upping the resistance on each machine. Boy does it ever feel good to be back in the saddle!

Now if I would ever get my newest Mayo Clinic results I would be THRILLED!

Enjoy your weekend.
1 Corinthians 9:24

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

 

A cute little blessing

This was something that really perked my day up! Look how his left foot is resting up on the bench...lol.

 

 

I bought this cute little picnic bench corn cob holder at the local farm supply store, it was a Father's Day gift for hubby.

 

 

Look at this guy...lol. He has Dunlap's Disease, his belly has done lapped over his belt...lol.

 

Hope this blessed your day as much as it has mine.

 

Worried About Socialization In Your Homeschool?

Thinking of homeschooling your only child? Or many you have more than 1 and you worry about socialization, read on....
When we first started home educating 6 years ago (has it REALLY been that long?) I worried and worried about socialization. Now as my dear homeschooling friend Christine says "My kids don't know a stranger!" I would totally agree. Even with our son being an only child, he is chatty, bubbly and full of all sorts of chatter. He is able to converse with toddlers, little kids, elementary & junior high kids, high school & college students, grown adults, the elderly and so many more types of people. His pediatrician and him discuss gardening and their love of sauteed zucchini, garlic and olive oil...lol. Yes, my son and his doctor sit around and discuss the finer things in life during his well checkups. He gets lot of comments on his phone etiquette and how he handles himself in various social situations. I think that comes from him being in many different situations throughout the day.

He does struggle to understand how other kids around him that are in the "school" setting are embarrassed to answer questions, say "I don't know" & "I dunno" all the time, are embarrassed to get up and speak or afraid to speak up about things. So he does see a difference in himself and other kids, but is this really a bad thing? Our son has been interviewed on radio & TV, he has written newspaper articles as well as being interviewed by newspapers. He has given many different types of speeches to a variety of audience ages, he has done piano recitals and played piano at church. Yes he has flopped at times, but has used those as learning experiences. He figures that he is young and learning. What a blessing to not be bummed out, but to think on "How can I do this better next time, what would I change or how can I use this experience to further my learning?"
HipHomeSchoolMoms has a pretty HIP article on socialization and the only child. Check it out before the new school year starts.

Have you socialized your child today?

 

Homeschool Mom Treat

I like to find myself some sort of small treat to perk me up through the school year. Last month while in Indiana I found the perfect back to school goody for myself.  We were at the container store when I found these little gems.

They are called Magnetic Dry Erase Talk Bubbles and they retail for $6.99. You can get them right here Magnetic Dry Erase Talk Bubbles. So very cute!! LOVE THEM! I have been writing chores on them for our son. They have perked up my day. See what they can do for you.

Homeschool High School Freedom

Stop on over for some great ideas from Jamie's blog at http://simplehomeschool.net. A wonderfully written article by contributor Cheryl of the 2:1 conference and CherylPitt.com about letting your teens have more freedom. Click here to read the entire article High School Freedom. It was a real eye opener and has helped me to see where I am doing well and what I need to work on.

What are some ways that you have let go of your teens? What are some ways you have pulled back on your teens?

I would love to hear from you.

READY OR NOT, HERE IT COMES!

THE TEEN YEARS ARE ALMOST HERE!

~11 more days until my baby boy turns 13~

 

~I am not exactly sure how this has transpired, but alas it has.~

 

~He is starting Freshman year, lol,
he wants to call it 9th grade.
Think back to your growing up years,
you wanted to be a FRESHMAN!! Right?I mean you had waited all those years
to get to high school and now
you had that COOL title.~

 ~Got to love our homeschooled kids, they don't
need a title, they don't care to keep up with the
Jones' (no offense to my readers or my family
member with the last name of Jones).~

~So what is it in your homeschool?9th grade or Freshman?~

~I plan to post some articles talking about homeschooling teens and high schoolers
 in the coming days.~
 

 

Who is eagerly awaiting the teen years, slightly fearful, a bit unsure, excited, thrilled and a lot of other things...lol. Earnestly praying for my future daughter-in-law, where ever she may be, as well as praying for her parents. I pray that they are raising her in "the fear and admonition of the Lord".

Memoria Press Review

As reviewers for The Old Schoolhouse Magazines Review Crew we were fortunate to receive the Geogoraphy I set set from Memoria Press. My son was very excited when the box arrived, geography is his thing! Here is what we got in our box.
Geography I: Middle East, North Africa, and Europe $14.95
Geography I: Middle East, North Africa, and Europe Student Workbook $11.95
Geography I: Middle East, North Africa, and Europe Teacher Guide $12.95
United States Student Workbook $5.00
United States Teacher Key, Quizzes, and Tests $7.95
You can purchase these as a set for just $48.00.
Here are some sample pages from the Geography I lesson materials that are geared towards 4th-8th grade students.

What this homeschool Momma liked about the Memoria Press Geography I.

1. I like the full size maps to write on for easy labeling of counties, states, capitals, and other areas.
2. Nice thick workbook pages, these are great for boys that have to erase a lot...lol...keeps paper from tearing.
3. Nice sturdy book covers that don't seem to rip easily.
4. Nice large spaces to write information in, boys don't much like to try to write answers on short lines.
5. Material was VERY easy to move through.
6.The teacher answer key was VERY easy to read, no small print and the maps were easy to read too. With homeschool Momma eyes (you tend to get these after your first few years in home education...lol) I like to be able to see just exactly where that dot is on the map for Brussels while making sure that my student is not pointing towards Antwerp or the Scheide River...lol.
7. Love how the student pages remind the student to practice good spelling habits. Sometimes it's hard to get it across to our children that spelling is one of those subjects that needs to be worked on across the entire curriculum and not just in "spelling class."
8. I like how the United States & Capitals Review teaches the states by regions, it makes a lot of sense to teach them this way. I have seen other curriculum teach states in alphabetical order.

What this homeschool Momma did not like about the Memoria Press Geography I.

1. I did not see a daily guide and I like things totally laid out for me, but it does say in the teacher information section that you will do 2-3 countries each week as you study each section for 8 weeks at a time.
2. I also did not see a grading scale for quizzes or tests. I like to know what each is worth for giving grades.
3. The books do not have colored pages in them, I like my textbooks/workbooks to have color and flair. If I had just picked up the Geography I set at a curriculum fair or convention table and just flipped through it, I probably would have put it back since I did not see color in the book. I will note that on the Memoria Press Geography I set webpage there are links to click on that show the color pictures that are in the student textbook. I don't think I would want to rabbit trail over to the computer to find color pictures each day.

What this homeschool student liked about the Memoria Press Geography I.

1. I like how it gave the meanings of the flags for each country.
2. I really like the Fast Facts, history and geography are my two favorite subjects.
3. I liked how you got to color in the flags with the outline instead of drawing them. I don't much care to draw unless it's Star Wars or something ;-)
4. I liked how the states and capitals were a review to go along with the geography.
5. I liked how it reminds me to watch for spelling, it's easy to forget this when you are not in "spelling class."
6. I liked how the activities built on each other such as match the states and capitals, then identifying them.

What this homeschool student did not like about the Memoria Press Geography I.

1. Wished that I did not have to go to the website to see the pictures in color.

This was a fun review to do since it was my students favorite subject. Memoria Press also offers subject matter in the following areas they are not just about geography. They also offer Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, and Special-Needs links on their website.



Eggs for Education

Our photo for "Eggs for Education" program. Thought we should start saving for college by selling eggs. Here is one of our pretty girls relaxing in the cool of the afternoon with her leg kicked out. She likes to lay like this...lol.  I just love to see her in the sunshine, the gold in her feathers is so pretty, it shines and sparkles. We've got tons of farm fresh brown eggs for sale.

 

We've got tons of farm fresh brown eggs for sale. Got to laugh, hubby says that he is going to fix up the yard this year, well the chickens are unfixing it up for him by making dust bathing holes.

Apologia Year-End Round-Up Blog Roll

This was our first year doing Apologia. We did the Anatomy and Physiology. We had been using Abeka since the very beginning and it was just not working for our son. He thrived with Apologia and learned so much. We bought a lapbook and used that along with the Anatomy Notebook Journal and LOVED it! We started it late in the year and it was no trouble working in the summer with it. It seems like recreational reading instead of school book reading.

 I had to have surgery during this review and ended up with a post-op infection, and was hospitalized for 13 days. I spent many months of laying and doing nothing but sleeping and eating pain meds. My son was able to move forward all by himself in the material, that was a huge blessing and he learned a lot. I was very impressed with his drawings of the human cell, normally he hates drawing in science and would whine and carry on if he had to draw anything besides a Star Wars action guy! lol. But he really had a fun time with the Anatomy Notebooking Journal.

Looking back at our years of struggling with science, I wish we had decided to use Apologia Educational Ministries, INC long ago!! Our 7^th grader would like to go back and do the other Apologia science books: Zoology, Astronomy, Botany, Flying Creation and Swimming Creation. So I think we will be spending our summers under a shade tree or at the beach with some new Apologia science books.

Next school year we are starting with Apologia Physical Science and have everything ready to go and are very excited about starting!

Let's Make a Web Page Review

We were blessed to receive a 60 page Ebook from Motherboard Books called Let's Make a Webpage!. Let's Make a Webpage is designed for kids 8-12 years old. We did have to download a copy of the free trial version of The Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer software (you can get a FREE 30 day download, but after that it costs $49.00 in addition to the cost of the Let's Make a Webpage! Ebook) to make the web page. We had no issues with downloading this product, in the past we have had a few computer glitches when we have gotten download version of computer programs. BUT NOT with MotherboardBooks.com! This was simple to use. This was a super easy process for our 12 year old. I did nothing but tell him where to find the links in the Crew Review email, he did the rest. He made a very cute web page to surprise his dad. I think kids around 9 and under would need some adult supervision with this.

Let's Make a Webpage! software is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and later (sorry this does not work with Mac). Purchase price is $19.95.

Let's Make a Webpage! Ebook includes the following:

interview a person
download and set up the program
add text to a web page
create a table
put pictures on
how to add animations from the Internet
check browser, background and photos
add sound
add links
Post work
Upload to the Internet

 

What this homeschool Momma liked about Let's Make a Webpage!
taught independence (working alone, figuring things out)
taught creativity (coming up with backgrounds, sounds, pictures)
taught life skills (interviewing, talking, asking questions)
was a fun learning tool for learning as well as creativity

What this homeschool Momma did not like about Let's Make a Webpage!
It was pretty short, wish it had more to it. I do think it was worth the price. You have to use The Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer software (you can get a FREE 30 day download, but after that it costs $49.00 in addition to the  Let's Make a Webpage! Ebook).

What this homeschool student liked about Let's Make a Webpage!
I liked how it told me how to do something, but not exactly what to do (I had to think it through myself).
I liked how I could make it my homepage (I surprised my dad with it when he got on the computer).
I thought it was pretty cool to design my own web page.
I did have fun with this review.

What this homeschool student did not like about Let's Make a Webpage!
I am at the upper age limits for this product, so it was pretty easy for me, but I think it would take some effort on the part of younger kids to use. Mom or Dad would definitely need to help the younger student.
I did not like how you had to buy other software to keep making more web pages. Mom talks about that software above.

So here you have it! A great way for your child to learn how to design their own webpage!