Homeschool Crew: EDUPDS ~ Write with the Best

Another selection from Educational Diagnostic Prescriptive Services that I thought we would like to try is Writing with the Best.   I went with Volume I, since we had never heard of this before and my kiddos ages.
Writing With The Best is a great program. It covers grades 3-12 and the slogan in the front says "Modeling Writing After Great Works of Literature" 
We started off at Lesson 1, and we spent a little over 2 weeks on this, and then I realized that we have some personal issues that need to be dealt with in order to get the full benefit from this program.  We have had to back up and are in the process of getting Samantha tested for some speech and reading issues. So, I didn't feel this was the best fit for us at the time.
All of that to say, however, once we get to the bottom of Samantha's problems and get on the track to being taken care of - we will start right back on this.  I have skimmed through the entire book and I am loving the way it looks and the selections that they are reading.  I can't wait until we can get back to this!

Homeschool Crew: EDUPDS ~ Roots and Fruits

With Educational Diagnostic Prescriptive Services, we were able to pick a couple of things that we wanted to check out.  One of my choices was Roots and Fruits.  I was a little cautious about it at first, because I wasn't sure what exactly it was and I wasn't sure if it was something that my kiddos were ready for. 

Let me just say - they were ready for it!  We have LOVED using Roots and Fruits.  In fact, Roots and Fruits has become part of our daily school routine and I can see it being part of the school year for a while to come. 
When we first started, our first couple of days, the kiddos were like - what is this?  Now, they ask to do that FIRST! They love learning the new roots and they have a blast playing the games each day!  I have even noticed them 'making up new words' while playing.  They are being nothing but SILLY, but I can tell that they are loving this program!  I mean, do you think they would be making the stuffed animals take an 'octocycle' to work had we not started this program? 
Roots and Fruits is quite possibly our favorite of all the review products so far!  Even over silly ol Hank!
If you are interested in what others had to say, please visit the CREW link above!

Homeschool Crew: Growing Healthy Homes ~ Nutrition 101

Science? A possibility...
Health? Definitely a choice!
Doesn't matter which subject you want to use this one under, it will be a great choice! 

 Check out Growing Healthy Homes!  They have a wonderful ebook download called Nutriton 101: Choose Life that is an awesome curriculum for any age!
When I first started reading thru it, all 400+ pages of it! I was thinking, Oh, we could use this as Health. But the more I explored, I realized that this could also be used as a great Science curriculum!  It has the body and it's system and functions broke into different units and it is full of explanation on the parts!
I am using it with my 4th graders this year, but it could very well work with all levels and be done as together time with the entire family.  Since the kiddos are loving their science choice for this year, we just picked this up and are using it for our health!
For more reader's reviews, please click the Crew Banner at the top of the page!

Still completely drained...

WOW...I know I said it already, but yesterday was a really long day.  I am still dragging from it...
Rog went to help out at my sister's office, and the kiddos and I managed to do school for the day.  But that was it...no chores got done around here.  Of course, that may have been different had we picked up some groceries when we were out on Wednesday.  But, since we didn't, I had to get out again today to pick some things up.  Wouldn't ya know it, we waited until it started raining...
Somewhere in the middle of today, I made a call to the local school and left a message for the principal to give me a call back....we shall see how long that takes!
Rog was home when we got home, and he took over and made dinner...I think I just vegged... Dinner was YUMMY!  One of my favorites (because it is super-simple as well as yummy).  We had chicken-alfredo bow-ties with garlic cheese biscuits!
Samantha and I headed out to scouts...the girls worked on their things for their carnival booth that is coming soon!  We are having a pirates treasure chest game and they painted the treasure chests and made signs for our booth.  Will post pictures after the event!  Something 'super cool' about scouts tonight~ the solider that we had sent a goodie box over seas for ~ HE CAME TO VISIT!!  The girls were super excited!  I was too...pretty neat, considering we do not personally know anyone that is overseas!
Rog and Ry waited on us to get home to watch Survivor, so I am outta here to join them!

Not your average Wednesday

Today's schedule was slightly altered by the fact that we were able to get the appointment with the ENT at Children's.  Her appointment was at 12:30 so we left out of here around 10:30am, because I had a couple of other errands to do.  Once we had been by the Girl Scout office, and two schools for some scout business we headed to the hospital.
After roaming thru the halls and ending up in what seemed like the next county, we got checked in.  Our first apt was with a speech pathologist.  There were actually two of them and they seemed to see everything totally opposite as the SLP from the doctor who referred us.  They said probably no VPI, but a lot of articulation issues.  They didn't do the Arizona or the Frisoe (I think that is it); but they did a couple of other things that showed the VPI issues (or lack of them).  The SLP that worked with us were super great and suggested that we start with the school district and get her tested and in services thru them. 
The Dr., who was a VPI specialist, agreed with the SLP on all accounts - that she didn't think it was VPI and that we should pursue the school district in getting her tested and placed for speech therapy.  She was very much on our side as far as what the school system should do for us and said that they would back us 100% in whatever becomes of us going up against the school district.
We were there at the hospital for 4 hours and when we got our, we were all starving.  We grabbed a frosty on the way home and got ready for church.
Our pastor has started a new series with our adult Bible Study class based on the Purpose Driven Life Book and I have been loving it!  It was a refreshing finish to such a long and draining day.

Homeschool Crew: Studypod

Ok, so I get this 'thing' in the mail.  I wasn't really sure what exactly it was, or how to use it...but we tackled it and guess what!  It's pretty awesome!!
It is called a Studypod Book Holder and it is pretty neat. 

We have put it to good use.  I have used it with schooling, the kiddos have used it with schooling, I have used it in the kitchen with cookbooks, and I have used it here at the computer to hold just one piece of paper up.
As you can see, it come in several different colors. It opens up and has a handy small pouch on the inside to hold your small study needs!
The only problem we have found with the Studypod ~ we only have one and there are three of us!!!
For more reviews and opinions on this product, please click the Crew link above!

The lightbulb!

OK, I know all you mommas are gonna love this!!  I got to see the light today!!!  We were reading our FIAR book 'How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World' and we were talking about the countries that we 'visited' while we read that book.  Well, while coloring the French Flag, Ry looks up at me and says "You know what we should do? While we are visiting in France, we should go check on Madeline and see just how she is feeling."  Isn't that awesome??? We rowed Madeline in May, and he remembered!!!  I was so excited!! 

Rainy Sunday

Woke up to rain this morning, was thinking really hard about staying in bed and skippin out on church, then my sister called and asked if we were going and asked us to come get her!  She doesn't attend with us, and so I was glad she was wanting to go!  We got up and moving (slowly- it was dark and dreary outside) and headed to church.  Service was good- he reminded us that it was Grandparents Day! Oops!
After church, we headed to the store for cards from the kiddos! Chelle treated us to lunch at Mi Burrito ~ kinda yummy!
Chelle took the kiddos took her house and I was able to take me a little nap :)
Dinner and games were at mom and dad's ~ it was the four of us and a friend ~ played a game called Nutsy ~ had a blast!!

Nothing better than...

A van full of girls singing Hannah Montana at the top of their lungs on a 2 hour trip to Lake Dardanelle!! We had a great time today!  We met at the church and loaded up two vehicles and headed to Lake Dardanelle for a Girl Scout event.  The park ranger lady is the best with the girls and the place is very pretty!  They worked hard and earned a badge today!  It started raining on us right before we left ~ I got soaked!  ANd of course, it rained most of the way home as well. 
Rog and Riley went with some friends and played disc golf (their new found favorite).  They had dinner ready when we got home!  Chicken Spaghetti! YUM!
Most of the gang that Rog played disc golf with today came over and we played cards.  Had a fun evening, even though some folks were a little whiny because they were sore! 
We also got a new game for the Wii- some firefighter game - so the kiddos had a blast playing that!

Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Just Between You And Me


Thomas Nelson (September 1, 2009)


by


Jenny B. Jones






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



I write Christian fiction with a few giggles, quite a bit of sass, and lots of crazy. My novels include the Katie Parker Production series and So Not Happening. I would also like to take credit for Twilight , but somewhere I think I read you’re not supposed to lie.



When I’m not typing my heart out (or checking email), I teach at a super-sized high school in Arkansas.



My students are constantly telling me how my teaching changes their lives and turned them away from drugs, gangs, and C-SPAN.



Okay, that’s not exactly true.



Since my current job leaves me with very little free time, I believe in spending my spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits such as:



-watching E!

-updating my status on Facebook

-catching Will Ferrell on YouTube and

-writing my name in the dust on my furniture



I’d love to hear about you, so drop me a note. Or check me out on Facebook.









ABOUT THE BOOK



The only thing scarier than living on the edge is stepping off it.

Maggie Montgomery lives a life of adventure. Her job as a cinematographer takes her from one exotic locale to the next. When Maggie's not working, she loves to rappel off cliffs or go skydiving. Nothing frightens her.



Nothing, that is, except Ivy, Texas, where a family emergency pulls her back home to a town full of bad memories, painful secrets, and people Maggie left far behind . . . for a reason.



Forced to stay longer than she intended, Maggie finds her family a complete mess, including the niece her sister has abandoned. Ten-year-old Riley is struggling in school and out of control at home. The only person who can really handle the pint-sized troublemaker is Conner, the local vet and Ivy's most eligible bachelor. But Conner and Maggie keep butting heads--he's suspicious of her and, well, she doesn't rely on anyone but herself.



As Maggie humorously fumbles her way from one mishap to another, she realizes she's going to need to ask for help from the one person who scares her the most.



To save one little girl--and herself--can Maggie let go of her fears and just trust God?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Just Between You And Me, go HERE
WHAT I HAVE TO SAY: I just got this book in this week. I am in the process of reading it and so far, so good! Hopefully I will finish it by this weekend and will come back with a better update!

A little progress...

We visited with the doctor for a while today about Samantha's speech issues.  We visited an ENT in July.  Mainly to discuss an ear issue that was going on, but while we were there, I mentioned the nose bleeds. I also mentioned that I was concerned a little about her speech. We have seen a speech therapist and she is referring us to Children's because Samantha has hyper-nasality and VPI - if you search hyper-nasality, VPI will come up with it - some long word I can't pronounce or spell - but it is there to understand what it is.
So, you know how this insurance game works -we had to go BACK to our pcp and ask him to give Children's a call.  We had that appointment this morning and when we left, they were leaving for lunch, but told me that they would get us an appointment scheduled.  Hopefully they will call me back next week, however, I am not sure that we will be getting in to Children's any time soon! But, we are on our way. 
I also talked with the doctor about her possibly having a touch of dyslexia and we discussed what steps I needed to take to get that looked into.  I will let you know what route I go and where we end up with this.
Our original plans from there were to run across town and pick up a keyboard for Samantha - one that was being given to us!  We called and the lady said it was storming horribly there and to not come today, that we would work something out. She called later and said she would bring it out to us tomorrow - yippee!!
We came home, finished school work and just chilled most of the afternoon. 
We had a GREAT girl scout meeting - they are going to have such a great year!! I am excited for them! 
From there we went out to the softball fields to watch the church team play their second game.  They won the first, but lost the second.  We were out late, but we were with friends and having a good time!

Typical day... sort of...

Rog was home today and it was errand day (he hates going with us on errand day but he also hates sitting around the house - he hasn't decided which is worse -LOL)
Anyways, he was going to go meet some friends at the park to play Frisbee golf, so we loaded up our school work and went to.  They headed off into the woods to play some disc golf, and we made ourselves comfy at the picnic tables.  They worked very hard and got their school work done with out any fussing.  The guys were still playing when we had to leave to head to piano.  We stopped at the visitor's center to pick up some information about Arkansas for their upcoming report, then headed to piano.  It was a nice day out, so Riley and I hung out in the car while Samantha went to lessons (if the weather is too hot/too cold, we go inside).
After piano we grabbed some lunch and went to visit my aunt at her store.  While we were there- the BOTTOM FELL OUT!!  It was pouring down rain!! (Remember how we left the guys in the woods playing disc golf - heehee).  Rog found me and he was pretty wet - he went to guitar with us and hung out in the car with Samantha and I.
It was nice having him at the grocery store - made things go much faster!  Home to get ready for church ~kiddos were going to eat there -chili dogs- and Rog and I bought a rotisserie chicken and I had chicken salad on a bagel and he had a salad with some chicken!
We started a new lesson tonight at church. Brother P is going to be teaching from the Purpose Drive Life.  Great lesson to hear - I took tons of notes!  I think I may share some here on my blog...it was really good stuff!

Recycle Field Trip

You may remember back some time ago we visited the dump - that is no longer a dump because that is not PC. SO, some time ago - early springish- we visited the Landfill.  The kiddos all went on a tour of the inside, learned about the layers, then got to go out past the point of being allowed to where they were actually working and watch.  Learned a lot and it was pretty cool. 
So, this morning, we went to the local recycle center - as a follow up from the dump, err.. landfill trip.  We toured the warehouse and watched some of the machines work where they bundled the separated products into huge bales to sell.  He said they sell the bundles all over the place to bigger companies that can do the actual recycling. It was a pretty neat tour.
We came home and after lunch the kiddos worked pretty hard on their school work, and then they were great helpers with the chores.  We spent the evening cleaning - top to bottom, then after that, we just chilled and watched movies.