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Showing posts from May, 2015

Friday’s Random Thoughts {On Saturday}

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I know it’s Saturday so I’ve edited the subject line.  Sometimes I’m very good at getting Random Five on Friday up on a Friday but not this week.  1.  When it rains it pours, right?  That’s how the saying goes? The weather though has been warm and beautiful and not raining at all but I wasn’t talking about the weather. In the course of 24 hours three things happened: 2. (Yes I am cheating. I am going to count each thing as a separate item so I can get to 5!) I discovered that my favorite blogging editor LiveWriter will no longer publish posts to blogger/blogspot blogs because Google updated log in protocols. It’s a good thing that the protocols are updated to be more secure but it is a bad thing for me that Microsoft has not updated LiveWriter to include those protocols.  It doesn’t look like like Microsoft will be updating LiveWriter.  That stinks. 3. The dryer has decided to go on the fritz. It’s 17 years old. This isn’t the first time we’ve had issues and I am sure tha

Random Five on Friday ~ May 22nd Edition

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It's been a week and these random thoughts center on Supergirl and Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. 1.  Supergirl had her routine follow up for neurology about two weeks ago. She's still being treated primarily for "partial seizure disorder."  While we haven't witnessed an episode as severe as some we've seen in the past, we are still nowhere near the goal of seizure free for two years.  We are still on anti-seizure meds and no changes in doses. At least not yet. 2.  This week she had her regular follow up with her cardiologist. Glory to God for all things, she is still very stable cardiac wise.  She's growing too.  That's got to be in part to the meds her Endocrinologist has her on for thyroid. She's over 60 lbs. now and 4 feet tall.  I am really hoping she can grow another 6-10 inches.  Her genetics and her alphabet soup list of medical issues all contribute to being on the short side. We've always known this.  It's still tough thou

Diving into the Middle Ages with Knights & Nobles {Crew Review}

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A few years ago I had the opportunity to review a Once-A-Week Unit study from Homeschool Legacy . I used it with all four girls and we loved it so when I saw Homeschool Legacy on the upcoming vendor list I got very very excited. They offered several choices but I knew that Supergirl would enjoy diving into the Middle Ages with the Knights & Nobles the most so I begged for that one.  You’ll want to be sure to check out all the Schoolhouse Review Crew posts to see all the different options we crew members had! Sharon Gibson , a veteran homeschool mom, founded Homeschool Legacy to provide Biblically centered educational materials. These materials provide fun and creative hands-on assignments and activities. On the Welcome page of the Study Guide she states “Once-a-Week Unit Studies are designed to help you inject fun and creative learning activities into your homeschool lifestyle.” The Once-a-Week Unit Studies are very flexible and at the same time very comprehensive so you can us

Memories, Stories and Books Random Five on Friday

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1.  This past Sunday was Mother's Day.  I didn't make it to church but my daughters' brought home a rose corsage for me.  It was beautiful.  I also got to talk to my mom for quite a while on the phone.  I miss her. 2.  May is a time of remembering for me.  Daddy's birthday was May 5th.   His Daddy's birthday would be tomorrow May 16th and Grandma passed from this life to the next in May a few years ago.  She was an amazing lady with a gift for story telling.  I was missing her on Mother's Day and wanting to hear just one more story. 3.   According to GoodReads I got behind on my Reading Challenge.  It says “you are three books behind schedule.”  Oops!  I was ahead of schedule going into April and I was reading but I just never finished a book.  Perhaps I was reading too many. 4. So speaking of reading books.  I plan to finish Incriminating Evidence by Sheldon Siegel this weekend. I might even be able to finish another book or two.  I just have to be disc

Music, Flowers, Life ~ Random Five on Friday May 8th

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Let’s just jump in shall we? 1. It’s been a busy musical week for BooBear.  Of course I don’t have pictures. That would mean that I actually was organized enough to make sure we had the camera and cornered her before she changed.  On Tuesday she performed in the Keyboarding Student’s Recital.  It’s called Keyboarding because it includes more than just the piano.  This time it was about half piano and half organ. 2. BooBear performed yesterday as part of the Piano Ensemble. Earlier in the term her partner had to drop out so her partner was the director. There were 15 students involved.  Most were duets but there was one quartet.  I had never seen a piano quartet before.  4 students, 8 hands, two pianos and they played an arrangement of the Brandenburg Concerto.  It looked so fun to play and it was so fun to listen and watch.  I love the Brandenburg Concertos. 3. The last piece of the Piano Ensemble involved all 15 students. I am not sure how to do it justice in words. Two pianos wit

Lapbooking Made Simple ~ {A Crew Review}

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As a home schooling parent I had heard the name Heidi St. John before but I wasn’t familiar with her or her materials. I’ve heard of lapbooking. I’ve even done some lapbooking with the girls though we never completed a lapbook “from scratch.” Supergirl loves lapbooking so I asked to review Lapbooking Made Simple by Heidi St. John and published by Real Life Press . At first, as I skimmed through this short eBook, I found myself thinking, yeah, yeah I know all that already. It’s not like we haven’t created lapbooks before, but in the past I had always purchased a pre-planned lapbook.  When I slowed down to really read this little gem, I realized that I really could use help in creating our own lapbooks based on our current studies or interests. This fifty-four page digital resource includes a preface, six chapters and an extras section where readers will find lapbook photos and mini-book templates.  The chapters cover: What Is Lapbooking Unit Studies and Lapbooking Getting St

Missing my Daddy

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Grief is strange.  It’s been just over 12 years since my father died.  Some years, I make it through the anniversary of his death with little difficulty.  Sometimes it hits me all over again that he’s gone and I grieve as if the wound was fresh and new. Same thing with his birthday which is today. I always think of him on his birthday.  It’s a date engraved on my heart forever.  May 5th ~  Daddy’s birthday.  May 16th was Poppy’s birthday.  I always wondered if Poppy thought of his son as an early birthday present. I am nearly certain that my father thought of his niece as his birthday present when she was born on his birthday. He could be such a difficult man to live with.  I’m not sure how Mom managed it, but she did.  They were married for 37 1/2 years before he died.   Last month would have been their 50th wedding anniversary.  I know Dad would have attempted some sort of huge party to honor Mom.  They did have a big to do for their 17th anniversary.  It was a big deal for my sis

A+ Interactive Math Adaptive Placement Test {A Crew Review}

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A few years ago I had the opportunity to review the 1st Grade program from A+ Interactive Math with Supergirl. I know that she has learning gaps with her math skills and so I was intrigued by the idea of the Adaptive Placement Test and Individualized Lesson Plan that I could use with her. I chose to get the three student plan which allowed me to add both Turtlegirl and Tailorbear to my account along with Supergirl. What is the Adaptive Placement Test? The Adaptive Placement Test is a grade specific series of mini comprehensive unit tests covering a general concept area.  For example, I assigned First Grade to Supergirl and her mini-tests included the concept areas: number sense, addition, subtraction, geometry, time, and money. I assigned both Tailorbear and Turtlegirl to the highest test currently available, Pre-Algebra. Tailorbear has been working through an Algebra program but I knew she struggled with fractions and scientific notation. Turtlegirl has been working through Geome

Random Five on Friday ~ May 1st Edition

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It’s May, already?  It’s the first day of May and it’s a Friday!  Here’s Five Random Thoughts for this first Friday of the month. 1. Last week we had an interesting storm. It rains frequently here in the PNW but usually it is a constant drizzly kind of rain, but last week it was torrential downpours.  It rained so hard that when I was in my room, it sounded like someone was taking a shower in the bathroom.  I do not remember ever hearing the rain like that before.  2. The storm didn’t just have a torrential downpour though.  It hailed as well. It hailed enough to make it look like a layer of snow on the trampoline. 3. Despite the rain that day, we’ve had some gorgeous days and the rhododendron bushes in my front yard are blooming. I love these bushes. I wish the blooms lasted longer. 4. This week I reviewed La La Logic Curriculum which is a brain training program based on the idea of brain plasticity research.  The Brain Challenge mode uses activities modeled after childhood IQ t