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Showing posts from February, 2013

X is for eXciting, eXhilarating, eXperience

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It’s time, ok it’s way past time, for another Blogging Through the Alphabet Post.  Last night our family, especially 17 year old BooBear eXperienced an eXciting and eXhilarating moment.  Just before dinner the phone rang.  The caller id surprised me.  Was it spam?  Was it a prank?  Why would *they* be calling and why at this time of night? Who was it?  My daughter’s first choice for college.  But before I share more let me back up a few months or longer.  When BooBear entered high school as a freshman she wasn’t really planning on attending college.  At least not a formal brick and mortar building with regular classes.  Somewhere around the end 10th grade she decided that maybe, just maybe she would like to go off to a university. She knew she wanted to study music.  The playing and practicing of the piano consumes much of her time.  The instrument owns her heart and she wants to share that love with others.  She began to research colleges, universities and schools of music.  She ne

{Crew Review} College Common Sense

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My husband and I are teetering on the edge of a new season in our lives: College Age Children.  Our oldest daughter is a senior in our home school. She’s planning on attending college in the fall.  We figured out the “taking the SAT” part and stumbled through the “looking at our college options”aspect but we know our daughter will need financial aid because we cannot afford to pay for college. We’re clueless though.  When do you fill out the FAFSA?  What do those initials mean?  How do I get that information to the college?  Where do I get information on scholarships, grants, and loans? How do we find scholarships? Denise Ames with her College Common Sense website seeks to assist parents and students with their goal of attending college.  We’ve been using the Going to College and Paying For It Online Video and Workbook program . Description of Going to College and Paying for It Online Video and Workbook College Common Sense grants access to the Online Version of the program thr

{Recipe} CREAMY “Hungarian” Goulash

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I know I’ve posted a “ Hungarian Goulash ” recipe in the recent past but this one is different.  Years and Years and Years ago in time BC (Before Children.  Well actually Before Marriage but I didn’t like the sound of those letters together) I had a boss who made this incredibly tasty and yummy hamburger hotdish thingy for lunch.  He called it “Hungarian Goulash”.  Since I always think of a tomato based sauce when I think of goulash I’ve put the word “Hungarian” in quote marks and added the word creamy. My daddy used to make something very similar but it wasn’t creamy (or tomatoey (yes I know that is not a word.) He called his “hash”.  Neither of them however, used the crock pot.  This recipe combines the green pepper and onions  my dad added with the creaminess my boss, Rick, used  and added the convenience of the slow cooker.  I include green beans giving this dish a flavor that resembles the Minnesota favorite “Tator Tot Hotdish”.  For those of you not from the upper Midwest a hotd

{Crew Review} A+ Interactive Math Online

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I had never head of A+ Tutorsoft, Inc before becoming part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. The idea of multimedia presentations with interactive teaching sessions intrigued me.  Supergirl and I have been using the A+ Interactive MATH   program. The Interactive MATH program is available as software on a CD for $99.99 or the Premium Software for $124.99. I received a one year subscription to Online Homeschool edition which retails for $124.99 for one parent account and one student account. ( See below for a special coupon offer from A+ TutorSoft, Inc .) For the online program I created a username and password for myself, the parent/teacher.  I was then able to go to my dashboard and add my student.  I created a username and password for her as well.  I had no problems with creating accounts at all.  In order to use the program though you will need to disable pop ups on your browser.  The actual program will launch in a separate window.  The student and parent tabs look almost iden

{Crew Review} Handwriting Without Tears 1st Grade

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Even in this modern era of technology, I still believe good penmanship is an essential part of early elementary education. It’s important to learn to print clearly and to be able to read and write cursive.  I’ve heard many the home school mom lament over the crying about handwriting lessons though I’m not sure who was doing the crying, mom or student.  Handwriting Without Tears, developed and created by an occupational therapist, provides a solid foundation for both printing and cursive. Supergirl and I were blessed to be able to review the newly revised 1st Grade program.   I found the Teacher’s Guide to be so helpful that I want to talk about it first. Like many home school families we survive on one income and like many other home school moms I don’t want to purchase a teacher guide if it really isn’t necessary.  How hard can it be to teach 1st grade printing, right? Not hard really, but this teacher’s guide makes it easier to teach. I believe the heart of the Handwriting Witho

{Recipe} Chunky Beef Veggie Soupstew

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I would like to say *I* made this for dinner but really I think the credit needs to go to my 17 and 15 year old daughters who did the grunt work. I gave suggestions and direction.  I supervised but they did the peeling and the chopping and the combing. It all started with sending BooBear to the freezer to “find some meat.  Cubed beef or chicken or something that we can make for dinner tonight”  She went freezer diving and found some cubed round steak.  Then we had to decide what to DO with said beef cut into beautiful cubes. (Yes beautiful.  It was beautiful to find that I had thought ahead and cubed the meat BEFORE we froze it!) Beef Tips? Beef Stroganoff?  Hungarian Goulash? Did I want to serve it with rice or egg noodles? Oh wait no egg noodles. I assigned BooBear the task of hunting through the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook for inspiration.  She found the uninspiring title of “Absent Cook Beef Stew.”   We made a few changes and when the meal was ready we named it: “Chunky Beef

{Crew Review} Song School Spanish

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Supergirl has fallen in love with Spanish.  She has begged to learn Spanish.  Sometimes I’ll find her watching her favorite DVD’s with the audio language setting set to Spanish. So knowing how much she would enjoy this program I jumped at the chance to review Song School Spanish from Classical Academic Press . Classical Academic Press provided us with a Student edition (with CD) and a Teacher Edition copy of Song School Spanish.  This is the same format as their Song School Latin program that we reviewed (and LOVED)in a past crew year. Song School Spanish Student Edition With CD:   According to the introduction of Song School Spanish (pg 5): “Song School is a place for you and your students to have fun acquiring Spanish vocabulary and learning the basics of language acquisition.  This book is designed to lay the foundation of a strong vocabulary in Spanish, taking advantage of young children’s incredible capacity for memorization and the fun they can have singing and chantin

When School Subjects Collide

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If you regularly read my blog or if you know me then you know that I am part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  It is such a blessing to receive some great home school products to use with my children.  Some days ALL the school we do seems to be related to the Crew. Today is Friday and Friday for Supergirl means hands on exploring with math manipulatives.  We’re using this amazing math program called TouchMath and in addition to the the downloadable “Green” PDF curriculum they sent us some really fun “extras”. (Look for my review of TouchMath in Mid-March) Friday is also the day we, generally speaking, wrap up our weekly lesson in Spanish.  (Look for my review of Song School Spanish early next week) We finish up any work in the workbook and listen to the songs again and sometimes we have a fun activity to do.  Today it was “put on a play.” But today something unusual happened.  Today two subjects collided.  Math and Spanish came together as a musical.  I was trying to get some work d

Cream Cheese & Bacon Scrambled Eggs

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Not a very creative title but it does describe exactly what makes these eggs so yummy.  Cream cheese, butter, and milk are blended with eggs.  Add some bacon and bake until done.  These are fattening and dirty more dishes than I usually like to use but oh they are so worth it! I first discovered this recipe when I was 12 or 13 years old.  It was the early 80’s and microwave cooking was a new technology.  The department store where my mom purchased our microwave offered free cooking classes to new microwave owners.  I got to attend class with her.  It was during the class that we made these scrambled eggs.  The original recipe only used 4 eggs and made 2 servings.  I’ve adjusted the ratio of ingredients so that I can serve 5-6.  If Daddy’s home (and I don’t usually make them when he’s home) we have to have some fruit or something besides just the eggs and toast or I’m going to have to try adding in a couple more eggs .   I also changed the recipe so that it is baked in the oven instea

The Secret Reason I Home School

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Every home educating family has a list of reasons for why they home school.  My family is no different.  We home school because we feel it is the best way to meet our educational goals for our daughters.  We home school because being a military family we desired consistency in education.  We even list medical as a reason to home school.  Supergirl has a diminished immune capacity and home schooling means she doesn’t get sick as often. But there is another reason.  The secret reason. Well it’s more of a reason to continue to home school.  It’s what keeps me inspired.  It’s often the highlight of my day.  History.  I love teaching history or rather I love teaching history using a literature approach. In general I like to teach. In 6th grade I was voted most likely to become a teacher.  In high school I briefly entertained the idea of attending a state college to be teacher.  I married a man who holds a teaching degree (though he never sought certification).  There is something special

Reading Goals 2013 ~ February Update

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Wow!  February already.  I promised myself that I would write at least one post a month about the books I am reading or have finished reading.  So this post counts as my February Update to my Reading Goals for 2013. I’m happy to share that I finished both of the novels that I was reading.  The Witness by Dee Henderson and The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan  I finished The Witness ages ago but just finished Labyrinth a few days ago.  I haven’t decided if I truly liked the Witness but I might read a few more Dee Henderson to see if I like the author.  I did like the Rick Riordan book and immediately started the last one in the series: The Last Olympian. I’m only on page 12 of 381.  When I realized it doesn’t pick up immediately where Labyrinth left off, I decided to move the Olympian down on my priority list and I started Randy Singer’s False Witness. Mr. Singer ranks as one of my all time favorite authors but as much as I love Mr. Singer, this book is getting moved down

In Just TWO Days!

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Wow!  It’s February already!  January just flew by.  Maybe January moved so quickly because we stayed busy with school?  Usually we hit the school doldrums, you know the “I want to do anything else even clip my fingernails than do any more school is it summer yet” time.  I think of it as a type of burn out.  Well we’re not experiencing that this year.   Instead January felt like a brand new school year and we had the excitement that goes with the newness of a new year.  You might be wondering “why did January feel like September, you do usually start your new academic year in September, right?”  Well it’s because of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. Yes, I’ve been on the crew for a few “crew runs” now but this is different.  The crew year used to run June through May.  The Crew took kind of a break in the month of June and part of July before vendors would ship us the wonderful products.    But the crew underwent some changes and transitions and  now the crew year runs January-November. 

“Stir Fry” in a Crockpot!

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I love stir fry: fresh veggies cooked in a wok with an Asian style sauce and served over rice.  But right now my nice large front burner isn’t working so well and using the crock pot regularly means more school gets done *and* we eat a hot meal.   I’ve been wanting some stir fry though so I tried this experiment today in my crock pot: “Stir Fry in A Crock Pot, No Really!” Ingredients: Beef ~ about 1 1/2 lbs cut into cubes (or strips).  I used round steak 3 cups of water 3/4 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon granulated garlic frozen stir fry veggies (I used a mix from Costco…maybe 5 cups?  I eyeballed it to be proportional to the meat) What to do: combine beef, water, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in crock pot.  cook on high for 2 hours or about 4 hours on low (I usually use my high setting and 1 hour on high is about equal to 2 hours on low) after the 2 hours on high (or 4 hours on low) add the frozen veggies and continue cooking.  (1 1/2 more hours on

T is for Thankful for the The Schoolhouse Review Crew

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I’ve been meaning to write a gratitude or t hankful post about the T OS Review Crew and this week’s letter ( T ) is just the right motivation to put pen to paper fingers to keyboard. Vendors started shipping products in early January for the 2013 Crew year.  I am so excited that the new crew year is in full swing now.  I’m currently reviewing several products (check out my upcoming reviews list in the right side bar) and I am just so t hankful for the reviews I have been assigned. Supergirl is the busiest at the moment but I know some materials are on the way that haven’t quite made it to my upcoming list yet.  So here’s what Supergirl is reviewing: Handwriting without T ears ~ She’s using the 1st grade book.  And we are really enjoying it!  A+ T utorsoft Math ~  She’s using the 1st Grade online program.  The multimedia lessons are pretty cute. Song School Spanish ~  I think this is the highlight of her school day!  She loves listening to the CD every day.  BooBear is busy