Homeschool Review

Reposting: "Why Homeschool Moms Don't Exercise"

2026-05-06T17:09:00.001-04:00

I was looking at some of my old blog posts, and this one was so good that I decided to share it again. It is actually a post from 20 years ago. Some of the device names have changed, but I still think this might bless some of the newer homeschool moms who might read it. Leave me a comment, please, and let me know what you think!

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Let's see, how shall I begin?

I hope to make this humerous, while bringing truth to light about the real life of a home school mom!

At about 9:30 a.m., the mom decides it is time to get ready to exercise. The house has two levels; the treadmill is on the lower level. Mom plugs her 6 year old into a computer phonics game on the kitchen computer (upper level) and goes to put on exercise clothes.

She sees the queen-sized bed and remembers that she was planning to strip the sheets on her bed and get them washed. She strips the sheets.

She goes to use the bathroom, so that the old, saggy female plumbing won't give her trouble while she is exercising, and she gets sidetracked with an app on her cell phone. She finally gets up and gets dressed.

She heads downstairs to the treadmill, but halfway there remembers the sheets sitting on the bed that need to go in the wash, so she goes back and gets them. On her way, she sees the tissues that her allergy-prone child has discarded on the carpet, and picks them up and throws them away.

She gets the sheets and goes down and sticks them in the washing machine. While she is at it, she folds the stuff in the dryer and takes it up and puts it on her bed. Since she is upstairs again, she goes into dear son's room and strips his bed as well. While she is in there she puts away his toys, throws away stray tissues, and puts away clean clothes that are sitting on his dresser. She takes his sheets downstairs, and makes sure that she has her hair clip, her ear buds, her cell phone, and her water jug. She dumps the sheets at the washer and then goes to the treadmill.

She turns the treadmill on and sets it to run Program 1. Seems easy enough. It's for 30 minutes, and that's what she wants. She starts out the warm up and walks for 3 minutes, and then she sees her dear son poking his head around the corner. She stops the treadmill and asks him what's up. He says the computer locked up. He rebooted it but needs help getting back into the phonics program.

She walks upstairs and shows him how to get back into the program, and gets him into it. While she is in the kitchen, she empties the dishwasher and loads the things that are in the sink. She goes back downstairs to the treadmill. She sees part of a sewing project has fallen behind the treadmill, and she squats and squeezes and gets to where it is and picks it up. It is the sleeve to a size 6 months sweatshirt project she had started for her son. Her son is now six. ::sigh:: She turns the treadmill back on.

The crazy treadmill does not seem to understand what she wants to do (remember, she selected a pre-set program). The crazy thing keeps changing pace, changing to an inclined ramp, no matter how many times she reduces the speed and puts the ramp back to level. It seems convinced that she should go 6.0 miles per hour. She knows that she will get an inflamed knee if she goes that fast, but it speeds up every 60 seconds anyway.

Dear son is back again. He says big sister (age 16) kicked him off the kitchen computer. Mom turns the treadmill off again and sets him up at the downstairs computer, by the treadmill, to do the phonics program there instead. She turns the treadmill on again and is finally able to finish her time on it, with her son resting his foot against it the whole time, giggling because it tickles his bare foot as the treadmill turns.

She turns the treadmill off and closes it (so dear son won't play with it), and goes to check the washer. There is very little time left on the cycle by this time, so she goes into the sewing room to do some pick up while it finishes. She picks up the construction paper that is all over the floor from dear daughter's birthday card project last week. She also picks up pins from daughter's sewing project, but to decides ignore the mouse droppings from whoever had the pet mouse out last.

The washer turns off, and she transfers the sheets to the dryer and starts the next load. She goes upstairs to shower, but since she is still sweating, she puts away the clothes that she brought upstairs earlier. As she reaches the bottom of the pile, she is glad she put them away, because her shower towels were in this load, and she is going to need them.

She goes into the bathroom to shower, and resists the urge to clean the bathroom first. She turns on the water and hops in. She shampoos, conditions, and starts to shave limbs. By this time the water is no longer hot. Remember, she just started the second load of sheets in hot water – necessary to kill dust mites in an allergy home. By the time she finishes shaving the water is truly 70 degrees–not her idea of a good time.

She gets out of the shower and gets dried and dressed. She starts to dry her hair, and daughter comes in to remind her that she needs a ride to work. Hair finished, it is now 1:05 p.m. Daughter is supposed to be at work at 1:00, and it took 3 and 1/2 hours to exercise and shower.

She packs up the kids into the van so she can take daughter to work, and realizes she and dear son have not had lunch. She is strongly tempted to insert a trip to the coffee shop into her day, but resists and heads home.

No matter how hard she tries, how many lists she writes, how well she schedules things in her school lesson planner, the fact is that her life is constantly directed by the tyranny of the urgent. That's why homeschool moms don't usually bother trying to exercise.

Life Years Later

2026-04-15T21:39:00.002-04:00

I finished my homeschool with my son in 2018 so... I think it might be about eight years since I last posted an entry here. During those years:

hubby and I "retired" (I mean... I homeschooled 27 years and worked for 10 before that, so I count that as retired)
hubby and I have become serious pickleball players
hubby and I have moved to a more southern state to be near my daughter's family
my #2 kiddo and her hubby have made me a grandma many times over.

My daughter is homeschooling them! And now, for two years, I have been homeschooling the oldest one day per week most of the school year. Next year child #2 will join #1 and I, and the family photo will have another family member in it!

So grand #1 and I have been working on calendar skills (months of the year, days per month, days of the week, holidays), writing letters, numbers, learning some cursive, reading the Little House series (so far Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie and Farmer Boy), and Justin Morgan Had a Horse. We've done animal studies, bird studies, art work, crafts, and having so much fun! Yesterday grand #2 asked to join us instead of going with his mom to Bible study! I'm still waiting to hear from his mom if he says he liked it or not...

So grand #1 is 7, and grand #2 is turning 5 in a couple of weeks. Grand #3 is going on 4, and grand #4 is soon turning 2. Grand #5 is due in August.

Grand #2 is all boy. I'm not sure how I'll integrate him into our Tuesdays. First, he's a typical almost 5-year-old boy. He did pretty well doing some school work, and then playing quietly while #1 and I worked on math, and then joined us again for some art. I know we'll figure it out.

I'm missing some of the books I said goodbye to when I decluttered to move. And I am getting a twinge remembering the ten years I was on The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew, getting great free products to use and review. Seriously, does anyone have an Artistic Pursuits Highschool book #2? I so enjoyed the water color lessons!

If so, please comment! I got rid of mine and I want it back!...

Well, that's a brief glimpse into my life now. I'm going to try to reactivate this blog and make regular entries. Couldn't before. It's been two computers and a phone ago, and I had trouble locating my log in information. As you can see, I figured it out!

I'd love it if you'd leave a comment and let me know you saw my post and tell me if you've missed my old content. Thanks for considering.

Spring: A Time for New Beginnings

2021-03-08T17:32:00.003-05:00

The groundhog was right -- Spring has been late in coming this year. I always look for my snowdrops blooming as a sign of spring.

They usually bloom in February, and here it is the 8th of March and they are just finally thinking about blooming. Yes, the groundhog was right -- a late spring.

So spring is a time of change. We let go of winter and begin to experience a little bit of warmer weather. We go through our clothes and put the warm clothes away, bring out the lighter outfits. (Well, not just yet where I live, but it is supposed to hit 70 tomorrow, anyway...)

For my family, this spring marks a big change. We will move from the only home my son has ever known and relocate south by one state to set up residence in a new home. The lad is away at college and will not see his childhood home again. He will come "home" to a different house (but at least we're telling him where we moved to, right?).

I was going to insert photos of houses, old and new, but my technology is not cooperating so I will have to do that later. Thanks for reading.

Comments welcome for folks who have done relocating. Tell me your stories. The new house is wonderful, but like any house is not perfect. We had hoped for a main level master bedroom, but it was not meant to be.

Menu Monday for 12-3-18

2018-12-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

Here is my meal plan for this week. To say I feel like I am in a food-planning rut would be an understatement. Nevertheless, it needs to be done. I am beginning to make some meals that I can save a portion as a freezer meal to take to my daughter when the baby is born. The chili is one of these meals.

Saturday (12/1): baked chicken thighs, carrots, orzo (this was originally planned for last week got bumped to this week)

Sunday (12/2): spaghetti, meatballs, salad

Monday (12/3): tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips

Tuesday (12/4): Beef stew, salad, rolls

Wednesday (12/5) (AWANA): Lloyd’s barbecue sandwiches, coleslaw

Thursday (12/6): leftovers

Friday (12/7): Date Night – dinner out

Menu Monday for 11-26-18

2018-11-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

Here is my menu plan for the week after Thankgiving:

Saturday (11/24): Turkey tetrazzini over spaghetti noodles, green beans

Sunday (11/25): hot turkey sandwiches with gravy, salad

Monday (11/26): spaghetti, salad, Texas toast

Tuesday (11/27) (CAP): grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Wednesday (11/28) (AWANA): baked chicken thighs, rice, broccoli

Thursday (11/29): chili, salad, corn bread

Friday (11/30): Date night -- dinner out

Menu Monday for 11-19-18

2018-11-19T14:25:00.000-05:00

Menu Monday for Thanksgiving week:

Saturday (11/17): leftovers

Sunday (11/18): rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Monday (11/19): grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Tuesday (11/20): pork chops, noodles, green beans

Wednesday (11/21): ravioli, salad, TX toast

Thursday (11/22)(Thanksgiving): turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls

Friday (11/23): leftovers

Guitar 360 - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-11-15T13:58:00.001-05:00

In October I learned we had a new vendor opportunity: Guitar 360 Method

In exchange for our honest review, Crew Members received online access to the Semester 1 Bundle (including 5 weeks of Absolute Beginner bonus content + the 13 weeks of Semester 1), taught by Krisz Simonfali.

I taught myself how to play guitar when I was 14. Back then the available methods were to either pay for classes or learn from a book. I taught myself chords from books. I became proficient enough to play with another guitar player to lead the music for our school's Young Life Club meetings. So I started with the notion that I am not a beginner.

Nevertheless, I figured I would start with the Absolute Beginner course.

I really expected I would be giving a quick overview of the beginner's course and then be moving on to the 13-week course. I was very wrong. Clearly there is a lot to learn about guitar that I did not learn from a chord book starting at age 14. From Lesson 1, I was scrambling to remember all the new information that was being introduced.

In Lesson 1, day 1, I learned the names of the parts of the guitar and the strings that are on the guitar. So, I had previously learned high E and low E, but I had never learned the strings in between. I didn't need them to play the chords C, G, A, Em and D, so I didn't bother. Here is the content in Week 1:

Then the instructor began introducing chords. I immediately learned that my fingernails were too long. They grow fast, and I have had to cut and file constantly during this review!

Not one chord that has been introduced so far is a chord I already knew (or that I hadn't forgotten)! So... I'm not even done with the introductory course for Absolute Beginners, but I couldn't finish! There was so much to learn! (In the photos below I would tell you what the chords are if I could, but I'm still struggling to remember how to play them, let alone which chord each one is.)

The first chord was introduced in Week 2:

The rest of the chords, progression, strumming, etc. for the song were introduced in Week 3, as well as how the chords all go together with someone singing the song:

After learning many chords which are played up and down the neck of the guitar, on frets up to frets 7 to 9, a song was introduced using all the chords. I wanted to finish Practice levels 2 and 3, but I wanted to be able to do the song well, and I just don't have it yet. There are strumming techniques that have been introduced that I just don't have down yet, and chords that I just can't play (and make sound good) yet.

Don't let me scare you away -- I am actually just trying to say, "Don't dismiss this "Beginner" course. It is not just for beginners! Check it out!"

The course is taught on an acoustic guitar. I only have a classical guitar, so that is what I had to use. I suspect that some of the problems I am having with some of the chords may be because of the guitar I am using. I think the neck is wider. I envy the instructor for his long fingers -- he makes things look easy, but I struggle to do the same chords with my shorter fingers and just... can't... make them sound right! It may, however, just be that I need more practice. This brings me to the beauty of a self-paced video course. 1) I can go at my own pace. 2) I can repeat the video as many times as I want, playing along with the video. This differs from paying an instructor for in-person lessons once or twice a week. When you walk away, if you aren't able to remember what was covered it is difficult to practice until the next lesson. You might be practicing something incorrectly, cementing improper information into the brain and improper chord holds into muscle memory. With video lessons you can repeat and repeat and repeat until you completely grasp it and are ready to move on.

To recap, this Semester 1 Bundle comes with the 3-Week Absolute Beginner Bonus Content, the 13-week Semester 1 course, and Bonus Songs Lessons 1 & 2. The beginner course teaches parts of the guitar, strings on the guitar, tuning, a series of fret chords that are used in a song that is taught, strumming techniques and some picking.

The Semester 1 course covers:

Fundamental chord shapes;
A textural 16th note approach to strumming;
Basic Chord Vocabulary;
Sharps, Flats, Chord names
Finding all A's, B's and E's on the guitar
Solfege
The Major scale
The Minor scale
Minor Pentatonic scale

This is in just the first five weeks, and there is so much there that I am not listing! This course is so amazing! I am really looking forward to going through it. There is so much I have yet to learn! I'm going to continue working on this program, because I hope to impress my son when he comes back from college for his winter break. Or, if he is not impressed yet in December, when he comes back from college after his spring semester I am hoping he will be so impressed that he will also go through the course! He also taught himself to play guitar, as I did, but with the advantage of learning from YouTube videos. His playing is so much more advanced than mine, but I still think there is a lot he could learn from this course!

The folks at Guitar 360 Method want my readers to know that they are offering a 20% discount on this course to my readers during this Product Review campaign with the Homeschool Review Crew. To get the discount, go to Guitar 360 Method, click on "Purchase the Course", and in the checkout process enter the HOMESCHOOL20 Coupon Code. The regular price is $149, which includes the 3-week Beginners' Course, Semester 1 (13 weeks long), and the 2 Bonus Song mini-courses. With the Coupon Code, their investment will be only $119.20 for 10+ hours of video content!

Other members of The Old Schoolhouse Homschool Review Crew also reviewed this product. To read more reviews and get other perspectives, please click the link button below to go to the page where all the linkies are listed.

Menu Monday for 11/5/18

2018-11-05T17:23:00.003-05:00

Time for another week's menu plan. Can't swear I'll stick to it -- I don't always feel the love...

Saturday: Lasagne, salad, garlic toast, brownies

Sunday: Leftovers

Monday: Minnesota Wild Rice Soup, salad, rolls

Tuesday: chili, corn bread, salad

Wednesday: Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches

Thursday: pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Balancing Diapers and Deadlines - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-10-31T20:09:00.000-04:00

In September I learned of an upcoming product for review by Lisa Tanner Writing.
The product is called Balancing Diapers and Deadlines.
Balancing Diapers and Deadlines was created by a mom of many blessings. I think she has nine children. (One was born during this review period!) She had to come up with a system to manage her family well and still run her home business. Once she created her system, she decided to make it available so that other moms could also benefit from it!

At first glance you might think this product is not a good fit for you, or that it is not something you need. After all, maybe you do not have nine children, but only two or three, Maybe you do not have a home business.

In my own situation, you might have thought it silly for me to volunteer for this review. In my situation -- all children now adults and out of the home, and no home business -- it might seem an unnecessary course to consider.

In actuality, though, in my situation time seemed to be slipping through my fingers. No diapers, no children, few deadlines... time seemed to be slipping through my fingers. I volunteered for this review -- asked for it, actually! -- because I wanted help redeeming my time. I actually have a lot of things I want to get done, need to get done, should get done... but without deadlines, time just kept slipping by and very little was getting done. I was anxious to get started!

My goal during the review period was to work on the course at least three days per week. I wanted to actually work on the course more days per week, but I think I averaged three days per week once I got started. When I first logged into the course I was actually out of town, visiting my son's college for Parent Weekend. Once I got back I did my best to get started quickly. Once I got going, I realized I could either cover sections of the course daily or read a section and then try to apply it, but I could not go at a fast pace if I was also trying to implement the course work.

I'm sure you would find it helpful to see an outline of the course. Here is the outline:

Unit 1: Welcome to Balancing Diapers and Deadlines

Unit 2: Building Your Foundation With the Basics:

Get Your Family On Board with Your Business;
Flexible Routines;
Making a Plan-of-the-Day;
Plan-of-the-Day Part 2

Unit 3: Minimize Your Decisions:

A Day For Each Child;
Keeping the House in Order;
Let's Talk About Laundry...;
The 15-Minute Quick-Clean;
Morning Chores;
Table Chores;
Afternoon Chores;
Ensuring Chores Get Done: The Marble Jar System

Unit 4: Minimize Your Decisions: The Annual Meal Plan

Planning Breakfast;
Planning Lunch;
Planning Dinner With Themes;
Don't Forget About Snacks!;
Making Your Shopping List

Unit 5: Sustainable Growth:

You Need Sleep!
You Need Some Free Time!
Getting Creative with Your Time;
Setting Boundaries;
Sometimes it's Worth Paying for Time-Saving Services

Unit 6: Growing a Business with Your Kids Around

Growing a Business with Little Ones (0-5);
Growing Your Business with Middles (5-10);
Growing Your Business with Bigs (11-18);
Growing a Business with a Child with Special Needs;
Integrating Your Kids Into Your Business;
Family Brainstorming Time;
Getting Started with Family Writing Time

Unit 7: Boosting Your Productivity

Mornings Matter;
Ending Your Days Well;
Use Think Time When You Can't Sit Down to Work;
Improve Your Typing Speed;
Make Your Spare Minutes Count

Unit 8: Closing Thoughts

You Have to Fail at Some Tasks;
Any Questions?

The first item from the course that totally benefited me was a plan that might seem obvious to some, but it was something I was not doing. The program recommends having a daily family meeting, going over the schedule and the things that need to be done, and assign tasks to family members. For me that meant meeting with my family of one every day over breakfast, making sure I had a "To Do" list, prioritizing it, and start tackling my list.

Such a simple task, yet it has really helped me to get things done. I didn't do it perfectly, but I did my best, and here is what I found:
1) I got more done when I wrote things down so that I had a list to follow;
2) When I wrote things down, it made it easier to make sure I got important things done, that I didn't forget to do important things; and
3) When I did things from a list I had a better sense of accomplishment. For instance, yesterday I had a list "in my head", but at the end of the day I felt like I had only gotten three significant things done. When my husband got home and asked me what I'd done that day, I was like, "Dog to and from his shampoo, and two packages to the post office." Then I felt like I'd been a real slug! When I finally thought back on my day more thoroughly I realized I had actually:

cleaned the master bathroom
folded and put away the clean laundry
made the bed
pulled out my bin of winter wardrobe and completely transitioned my wardrobe from summer clothes to winter clothes
dropped the dog off at the pet store to get his shampoo, nails and teeth done
prepared a package I needed to mail to my neighbor who is currently out of state
prepared a package I needed to mail to my son out of state at college
picked my dog up from the pet store
took the two packages to the post office
prepared and ate a healthy breakfast and lunch for myself and also prepared and ate dinner with my husband
reviewed information from college advisor concerning my son's coursework for next semester
worked on Balancing Diapers and Deadlines
worked on Guitar360 course

That gives you an idea.

Another really amazing section of Balancing Diapers and Deadlines is the section where Lisa Tanner covers her meal planning system and how she prepares an Excel spreadsheet that becomes her shopping list. Lisa Tanner actually shops for her family only once a month. Eleven people, and a shopping trip only once a month -- I can't even imagine! Anyway, I really look forward to spending more time learning her method of using the Excel spreadsheet. I have a lot to learn there, and she explains the use of Excel very well.

Lisa Tanner has a method of meal planning that plans the entire year's meals for an entire year! She integrates into this meal planning system a day of the week per child (of an age that matters, so not the newborn, and she doubles up the second child with the oldest child). The child of the day helps plan the menu plan for the year, selecting meals that will be served on that child's days of the week, breakfast, lunch, dinner and shack. The child then has a vested interest in the day's meals, and that child works with mom that day to get the selected foods ready at each meal. It's a great system!

There is still so much for me to cover in this course. I can hardly wait! But I am breathing a sigh of relief now that I will have written the review, because I can slow down my pace. I really want to get into the information about using the Excel spreadsheet for the meal plan / shopping list system. I am not likely to shop once a month (I live one mile from the grocery store), and I am not likely to plan my menu for an entire year (my husband likes a little more flexibility than that), but I am looking forward to figuring out what I will use from Lisa Tanner's systems!

Other members of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed Balancing Diapers and Deadlines. To read more reviews please click the button below:

Menu Monday for 10/29/18

2018-10-29T01:30:00.000-04:00

Time to talk about this week's meals. Here we go:

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Ratatouille baked penne

Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup, Tostitos, salad

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff over wide noodles, green beans

Wednesday: Bean enchiladas, salad

Thursday: Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus

Friday: Date night: Eating out

What are your dinner plans? I'm already thinking of next week. I think I want to make Once a Month "Grandma's Chili" again. The weather's getting perfect for chili!

St. Bartholomew's Eve - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-10-16T17:03:00.000-04:00

In late August I learned there was a new Heirloom Audio adventure for us to review!

Shortly thereafter I received in the mail a small package that contained a two-CD set of the adventure entitled St. Bartholomew's Eve.

Heirloom Audio is a company that creates high quality audio adventures based on historical novels by G.A. Henty, an author of children's historical novels in the early 1900's. The story of St. Bartholomew's Eve is set in France in the 1570's.

For many years Protestants in France, known as Huguenots, had been fleeing from persecution, going to Switzerland, Holland or England. The story of St. Bartholomew's Eve begins with 16-year-old Philip Fletcher, born in England to Huguenot emigrants, travels to France to stay with his aunt Emilie and cousin Francois, Huguenots still living in France.

Philip stays with his extended family for many years. The Protestant believers have to worship in secret -- it is a very dangerous time to be a Protestant in France. It was intriguing some of the methods used to determine whether the family was practicing Catholicism or Protestantism, such as asking a child in the family to sing Ave Maria (which the Huguenot children were not being taught by their parents). How scary!

The story builds gradually. Initially you come to know the individual characters -- Philip, with his British accent; Francois, and his family members. As Philip and Francois mature, they are also learning fighting tactics, becoming strong young men, and meet new people.

They begin engaging in battles to defend the Huguenot people. At other times, though, the Catholics are hunting them. Sometimes they hide. Sometimes they flee. Eventually, though, the conflict is unavoidable. The ultimate battle that occurs in the story is known, historically, as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The battles and preparations leading up to this last stand of the Protestants is engaging, and the final battle is compelling and sobering.

I never like to covey enough information that the reader feels I've given spoilers, so I will stop there. Suffice it to say that I encourage you to consider investing in this audio drama.

What I love about materials by G.A. Henty is the way he focuses on historical events that have become obscure and isolated to us through the passage of time, and by creating an engaging narrative he draws us into an adventure that we care about and learn from. The plight of the French Huguenots of the 16th Century is something we should not allow to be forgotten in obscurity any more than we would want the plight of the Jews in World War II to be forgotten. Remember the saying, "Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it."

Heirloom Audio creates dramatizations of G.A. Henty adventures, featuring talented actors, such as those shown below:

Sound effects combined with skilled acting draws the listener into the gripping adventure. I loved St. Bartholomew's Eve, as I have loved the other Heirloom Audio adventures I have listened to. Filled with realism, historic events are conveyed that can be upsetting. In this adventure Philip befriends a young lad who later loses his leg while doing his part as the Huguenots defend themselves against the Catholic attackers. Later the one-legged lad is still fighting in conflicts, endangering himself for the cause. This type of story content is realistic but upsetting to my daughter, who has a tender heart. Because these adventures contain content that can be upsetting to some, I do encourage you to listen to the story first, without your children, so that you can determine which of your children you want to have listen to the adventure and at what age.

Other adventures by G.A. Henty that have been dramatized by Heirloom Audio that I have had the opportunity to hear:

St. Bartholomew's Eve, produced by Heirloom Audio, once again upholds the high standards that Heirloom seeks to maintain in each of their audio adventure productions. I highly recommend this adventure to you.

But don't take just my word for it. Other members of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed St. Bartholomew's Eve, and you can read their reviews and see what other homeschool mom's think by clicking on the link below:

NAU Parent Weekend

2018-10-12T11:58:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, the first weekend in October, was Parent Weekend at Northern Arizona University where my son is attending college. We were looking forward to visiting him, seeing how he is doing, and spending some time with him.

We live on the east coast, and right now the time is three hours later than the time in Arizona. We were leaving on a 7 a.m. flight. It is a one hour drive to the airport, and we aimed to arrive 2 hours early so we could park in a satellite lot, get through security, eat breakfast, etc. That meant we needed to leave our house at 4 a.m., so I got up between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m., which is midnight of the night before, Arizona time!

We flew for 4-1/2 hours, direct flight, and did our best to sleep some on the way there. We had a nice flight on Southwest Airlines, but upon our arrival it still took an hour to exit the plane (25 minutes), walk to baggage pick-up and get our bags, ride a shuttle to the car rental place and get our car, and get on the road. We were hungry for lunch by this time, 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, so we found a subway as soon as we could (1/2 hour) and ate lunch at 10 a.m. Arizona time! An interesting point, we left 82 degrees with 97% humidity and flew to 82 degrees and 37% humidity.

The plane flies in to Phoenix, and the drive to Flagstaff is another two hours, which was next on our agenda. Dry in Arizona, we were already slogging down loads of water! Arriving in Flagstaff at about 12:30 Arizona time to a temperature of about 42 degrees, we were now adding a layer over our T-shirts for warmth. We contacted our son, but he was too busy with homework to see us right away. We needed to check in with the University's Parent Weekend people, so we did that first. Then our Airbnb allowed us to check in early, so we went there and took a nap for a couple of hours.

Our son was still not available when we wanted to eat dinner, so we went on our own. After we had eaten he was finally available for the evening. NAU had a Casino Night planned, which we all attended, and it was a lot of fun. We all played a little poker (Texas hold'em), but for the most part we all preferred playing Black Jack. The student really cleaned up! But it was not for cash -- it was for raffle tickets for prizes, and we didn't win any of the raffles.

The proceeds of the evening went to scholarship funds for students on the Hotel Management field at the college.

The next day we woke to snow! No big deal -- a couple of inches that melted quickly except for on the mountains.

We invited our son to join us for dinner but he wanted to sleep in. We dined at Denny's, which is a treat for us since our local Denny's went out of business some time ago. Later in the day he did join us for a barbecue hosted by NAU Air Force ROTC. This lunch was followed by a football game, NAU vs. Weber State University, which our student again bowed out of to do more school work. It was an exciting game, filled with turnovers by both teams, and NAU won. I didn't take photos, and the ones I can find on line are protected by copywrite.

We wanted the student to join us for dinner, his choice, and we dined at a steakhouse, Sizzler. I was feeling more like shrimp, which they also had! They had a killer salad bar that came with my meal, with veteran's discount and senior's discount. Very nice!

On Sunday a brunch was planned, but once again our student did not join us, so we dined alone. It showed us yet again that NAU offers the students a huge selection at meals, everything from donuts and muffins to really healthy choices, as well as some very gourmet choices. After our meal our student allowed us to spend some time with him in his dorm. He had been looking forward to some of dad's back scratching time. After a while we went to a movie, at his request - Venom. It's not a movie his dad or I would normally go to, but we didn't mind going to see it with our son since it was the movie he wanted to see. I ate way too much popcorn.

After the movie we offered our son dinner again, but he was again feeling pressure from his assignments, so we took him back to his dorm. We decided to eat dinner at a small local restaurant, and we found a real good one called Salsa Brava. We shared a chimichanga. I highly recommend this restaurant. We especially appreciated their wall honoring the military and their MIA/POW table for the one(s) who won't make it for dinner (kinda like the Air Force's Missing Man formation).

The next morning we again dined at Denny's before beginning our drive back to Phoenix for our 1:30 flight. We made one stop on the way there, and I was happy to get some more photos of Arizona plants. Here are some of those photos:

Barrel cactus:

Cholla cactus:

with a bird's nest found on closer inspection:

And I didn't walk all the way up the hill, but saguaro cactus. Hubby was concerned there might be rattle snakes.

We got to Phoenix, turned in our rental car, rode a shuttle to the airport, checked our bags, went through security, and got to our gate around 12:30. We got ourselves a sandwich, which we shared, since we figured it would be an early dinner when we got back east (5:00 on our body clock, 8:00 EST).

Then they announced the flight was delayed. Two hours. ::sigh::

By the time we actually landed, picked up our bags, rode the shuttle to satellite parking and got underway in our car, it was actually about 11:00 p.m. We had gone from an "early" dinner to being concerned that there would be no restaurants open to get a bit other than fast food restaurants (which we don't like to do, particularly for dinner). Thanks to the G**gle machine, we found a barbecue spot on the way that was open since it was a sports bar and there were people there watching Monday Night Football.

So, midnight found us getting home and eating dinner. What a way to eat an "early" dinner! So we're back. I did not get a menu plan posted. We limped through on some standard quick meals.

How was your week?

Brinkman Adventures Season 6: Underground Rising - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-10-11T15:36:00.000-04:00

My family has been enjoying Brinkman Adventures for years,
so I was delighted when I learned we would be receiving Season 6: Underground Rising to review!

Brinkman Adventures are audio adventures that center around the Brinkman family - a missionary family. The stories in Brinkman Adventures are based on real people, and are often based on actual events, although literary license is taken to add to the excitement.

In Season 6 there are six episodes, which gives your family over two hours of listening pleasure. Previous seasons had 12 adventures, which was amazing! However I was not disappointed with the content of the six episodes in this set! The six episodes included are:

Dutch Underground, Part 1
Dutch Underground, Part 2
Twice Born Fly
I Wonder Why
Free Burma Rangers, Part 1, and
Free Burma Rangers, Part 2

Dutch Underground, Parts 1 and 2, tell the story of the Brinkman children's Oma (grandmother) and Opa (grandfather, no longer alive). The children are visiting Oma, and she relates to the kids how she met and married their grandfather in Holland right during the war, World War II. Oma and Opa lived in Holland when it was overthrown by the Germans. The religious freedoms of the Dutch were being squashed, and Oma and Opa were part of a group of Dutch who were resisting the oppression brought by German rule. There were many close calls, some imprisonment, and a lot of excitement in this story!

Twice Born Fly begins with Charlie watching a fly hatch from a pupa. He is so excited when it happens that he gasps in surprise, ...and with his inhale swallows the fly! That makes for a fun start to the story (but it may not have really happened). His father is able, later in the story, to use the fly's "second birth" as an allegory to explain Christian rebirth to Charlie.

I Wonder Why is a story that focuses on a different missionary family that the Brinkmans know, and how this family came to relocate to India. The children in the family have some difficulty adapting to this move, particularly as the orphanage they are ministering to is filled with (28) children who seem to be particularly mean and disobedient. As the story unfolds, God reveals the answers to "I wonder why..." that one of the missionary children was asking at the beginning of the episode.

Free Burma Rangers is a particularly gripping adventure. It begins with a missionary kid, who as a child attending boarding school is focused on wanting to grow up to be a soldier, and after that a missionary. The young man finishes boarding school, where he was not acting "like a missionary kid". He confesses to his dad that he has not been living the way he should, and he commits to change. He attends college at MIT, where he participates in Army ROTC, and after graduation joins "special ops", The Green Berets. After serving in this capacity for many years, he has met a woman that he wants to marry. She is not in agreement, and he continues to pursue her. He leaves the military and studies for the seminary, after which he goes into the ministry as a missionary, just like he said he would at one time as a child. Before he goes, though, the young woman, Karen, does come around and they get married. The story continues with his adventures as a missionary, and the group he is a part of called the Free Burma Rangers. The adventure eventually includes the Brinkmans, and the situations get very intense!

Some of the episodes in Season 6 suggest that children under the age of 10 should listen with their parents. I know that when my youngest was under the age of 10 it would not have been good for him to be listening to these alone. Some children have very tender hearts and need their parent(s) present to reassure them or to answer questions. These stories, based on real events, can be frightening. It is wise to be there to assure your children that they are not in this type of danger living where they do. (I say this assuming it is true. I guess I might actually have readers who live in places and situations that are just as dangerous. If this is your situation, then I guess you want to assure your child that we do not need to fear death if we are born again.)

I love Brinkman adventures! I received this product as a digital download. I was going to then burn the adventures to a CD, but it turned out I really wasn't going to be near a CD/MP3 player much during this review period. I thought I would load it to my cell phone, which involves iTunes, but I really haven't figured out how to use iTunes with my cell phone. (I know -- that's really sad. But it is true.) My husband made a suggestion that is what I finally ended up doing -- I emailed the digital product to myself, then opening the email on my phone I was able to listen to the episodes. They went to a Google drive or something, and then I could listen. I really need to get my daughter to teach me how to use iTunes...

If you love audio adventures, I really think you will like Brinkman Adventures, Season 6. I also learned recently that there is a radio station in Texas that airs Brinkman Adventures as a weekly show on their station. I'm going to try to figure out when it plans (EST), because I think I can tune into the station using Alexa or on my computer. I'd love to hear more episodes! I do not own them all.

The folks from Brinkman Adventures want to offer you, my reader, a 10% discount for anything on their site. The code is FALL10 and is good for 10% off any of their products and is in effect from October 10th to October 31st. Go order now before you forget!

Other members of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed this set of Brinkman Adventures. If you would like to read more reviews of Brinkman Adventures, Season 6, please click on the link below.

Books of the Bible At-a-Glance - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-10-04T15:44:00.000-04:00

At the end of the summer I learned I would have the opportunity to review an amazing product by a company called Teach Sunday School.
The product I received is Books of the Bible At-a-Glance.

I received this as a digital product. It includes 74 pages, which includes one page for each of the 66 books of the bible, with a cover page and introductory pages at the beginning.

When I received Bible At-a-Glance, my personal studies were in the book of John. Thinking it through, "Matthew", "Mark", "Luke", "John", I decided to print the first four books of the New Testament using double-sided print. I also needed a look at 3 John, so I printed that as well. I tried using color print, but my printer wasn't up to snuff, so I switched to black and white. I figured I would 3-hole punch the paper and start a 3-ring binder for my Books of the Bible At-A-Glance.

So that you can see what the printouts should look like, here is a snapshot of the John page from the PDF:

See how vibrant the colors should be? My printer is disappointing me greatly.

So now that you see the page for John, let me zoom in and highlight it for you section by section (larger, easier to see).

At the top of each page, the name of the Bible book is at the top. Next you see what number book it is in the Old or New Testament,

who the author is thought to be, when it is thought to have been written, and the time period it covers. John is thought to have been written 80-90 AD, but it is a history of the period from approximately 7 to 26 AD.

The next line reminds you that there are 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books, with a numeral 4 reminding you that John is book 4 in the New Testament. Each book has a "Claims to Fame" section. There is a reminder of famous stories included in the book, as well as the books "most famous verses".

The bottom of each page lists important points about the Bible book.

After working with John and 3 John, I worked in Philippians. I was getting into a groove. Then I was reading in Psalms, and I had forgotten Bible At-a-Glance was the entire Bible! I got excited all over again.

Not liking how my printer was working I decided to put my document PDF onto a thumb drive and head to Kinko's to get an estimate on printing and binding the product as a spiral.

Boy was I surprised at the price they wanted to charge. I scrapped the idea and headed home. I discussed it with my hubby. I'll just print out pages as I need them and go with my initial plan of having a printout in a 3-ring notebook that I build as I go along.

I can also just work from the PDF document, but I'm a real paper-in-hand (book-in-hand) kind of girl, so I like to have a print out. Eventually I will probably be highlighting sections and taking notes like I do in my Bible. That's hard to do on a PDF.

I am not a major theologian. I did not attend seminary. When I read my Bible and am curious about who wrote what or when it was written, I am not majorly concerned about exact accuracy, so I was not looking at that type of question as I was reviewing my Bible At-a-Glance, so I cannot speak to accuracy. All I can say is that for a lay-reader of the Bible this is a wonderful product. I found it incredibly helpful. I love it.

So consider adding this product to your collection of personal Bible study tools. Or, before you do that, maybe you want to read a few more reviews and see what other reviewers thought. Maybe someone else was/is "more objective" than I am or saw different perspectives that they brought out that might interest you. To read additional reviews of this product, click on the button below.

Homeschooling One - Art

2018-10-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

As I homeschooled my son, I came to realize there was much more to the label "Art" than I had previously thought. Using the Ambleside Online curriculum, much of the "Art" that we covered was more Art History, in the form of artist study and studying an artist's specific works.

This suited me just fine, because as an older mom, I no longer enjoyed cleaning up messes after art projects were completed.

However, it became clear that the student likes to do hands-on stuff, too! So sometimes he got to do that at Home Depot workshops. Sometimes art projects took place as part of 4-H.

and sometimes we worked on art curriculum where he was learning specific things such as primary/secondary colors, shading and depth, etc. Often he just tackled projects because the County Fair was coming and he wanted to have art projects to enter.

One of the girls in our 4-H Club was taking art classes and learning wonderful techniques. I wanted to sign my son up for classes, but he didn't want anything to do with it. He did not want group classes, and he did not want to be taught or be required to do a certain type of project at a certain time. He wanted to continue his art "free style".

As he got older, the line became fuzzy between "art" and "craft". He no longer does paintings, seldom does drawings (although occasionally he comes up with an amazing drawing).

Now, though, he is a craftsman of whips made out of paracord -- bullwhips, snakewhips, and I don't know all the names of the types of whips he makes. He got a blue ribbon and a champion ribbon on the bullwhip he entered at the county fair.

He has started his own business selling his whips on line (Eagle Whips on Instagram). And he loves making them!

So what I learned about art while home schooling my lonely only is to let the student lead. I don't expect him to have a career in Art when he picks his career, so what does it matter if he ever learns how to draw a picture with depth, or create a landscape with pastels, or that red paint mixed with blue makes purple? My goal as the teacher, in addition to directing my son in ways that he can learn about art, should be to introduce art in ways that help him love the art! And my son was able to pursue what interested him and then specialize in what he loved. And that is why we home school!

Homeschooling One - "Socialization"

2018-10-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

Following my theme of home schooling with only one student, today I will focus on "socialization".

For many home schoolers, however in my home school a day arrived when we began to see a need for changes in this area. Through no fault of the student, there had been a season of less-focused parenting. One day, when he was six, I received a call that my dad had died.

That same year my step-dad had been in and out of hospital, nursing home, hospital, and ultimately hospice. Six months after my dad died, my step-dad died.

I was struggling to home school, with a senior in a private school (using my car), and I was now responsible for my dad's estate, selling house, condo, collections, stocks, properties out of state -- I was over my head. I assumed my mom would handle my step-dad's estate. She did not. And six months later we learned she was terminal with lung cancer, and seven months after my step-dad, my mom died.

I'm not making excuses, but I wasn't doing well, and I needed some sort of help, some group activities for my son. I had done 4-H with my older (now adult) children, so I started my son in 4-H Clovers, and then 4-H as he got older.

In spite of the fact that I knew how to "do" 4-H, it was never a good fit for my son. For years we continued with 4-H, but we made efforts to branch out in other ways as well. We tried going roller skating with other home schoolers every Friday afternoon. That, it turns out, is still a rather solitary activity. We joined a home school field trip group, where we went on a group field trip twice a month, but it was also not a good fit.

We tried home school co-op classes. Not a good fit. Look at that face!

We finally found a groove in Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts.

We finally had some constructive activity to help us shape his character, direct his activity and energy level, and something he enjoyed doing.

But as the years passed, he came to enjoy it less. To a degree it still came down to some difficulty dealing with others (boys). There was even some bullying going on (our son was short for his age, and for a time he was stout), and there was difficulty with adults and scouts thinking he was younger than he was.

He was also not happy with the disrespect the boys showed to other scouts and to the adult leaders. When the Senior Patrol Leader said, "Line up!" my son wanted the other scouts to line up at attention and quietly listen for instructions. They didn't.

Seeing this aspect of my son's personality (what he wanted seemed to be military discipline), and knowing Boy Scouts was not supposed to be a military organization, I started brain storming again. When I was a kid my brother was in Civil Air Patrol, and I'd seen blogs of others whose kids were in Civil Air Patrol, so I told my son about it and we checked it out. My son loved it and joined.

By this time, though, he had a lot invested in Boy Scouts and wanted to finish to Eagle. It was a tough go of it, with ups and downs in his motivation, but he finally did finish to the rank of Eagle.

The Boy Scouts program ends at age 18, unless you go into leadership from there. My son turned 18 during his senior year and was so busy he did not go into a leadership position from there. He has been working on his education, and is also working to achieve a similar honor awarded to Civil Air Patrol cadets, the Billy Mitchell Award. He can do this because Civil Air Patrol permits cadets to continue until age 21.

In addition, he is considering a career in the military. In college he will be participating in Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps).

My point in walking you through my experience is to encourage you to consider socialization, particularly if you are home schooling a lonely only. Maybe you don't need to, but we sure did. If you brainstorm and research you will find there are many activities available for you to consider. If you don't know where to start, you can try to find other home schoolers by posting a 3"X5" card on a bulletin board at your local grocery store! My area has home school groups for chess club, 4-H, Boy Scouts, field trips, co-ops, classes, and on and on. Find out what is available to you!

Homeschooling One - Nature Study

2018-10-01T15:53:00.002-04:00

When you are homeschooling only one student, there can be challenges. To name a few:

you can feel like there is no one you are accountable to on any given day, so you can slide into a loosey-goosey attitude where your plans are not concrete and the urge to change your plans can win at a moment's notice;
these whimsical changes in result in you not getting as much done as you had hoped;
when your student argues to not do something, it is hard to stand firm since you often feel like it really doesn't matter overall;
there is not "competition" between students, so it can be hard for a student to be motivated to do their best or to do a better job -- it can become an attitude of just getting it done because mom assigned it.

Some methods I employed over the years to combat these tendencies toward malaise:

Make plans to do group activities so that there are set plans, a set time and date, and other students so that there is good peer pressure for the student to do a good job.
Blog, and join blog rings where you post certain blog posts on certain days.

Overall, though, most of our days did just slide into slogging through it, just my student and I. So my friend became my daily lesson planner. If I planned it, I tried to make it happen.

For our Nature Study efforts, in the style of Charlotte Mason method studies, we were using the Ambleside Online curriculum. I discovered another blogger, Barb, over at Handbook of Nature Study, and she had a weekly Outdoor Hour Challenge (with a free subscription), and that kept me going for a long time. I loved being able to complete the challenge, write a blog post about it and link up on her blog. And Barb would comment on my blog posts -- a small thing, but it kept me going.

It is fun to look over my nature study posts. My student isn't in every post, but he is in many. It is fun to see his growth through the years. You can visit my nature study posts here:

Menu Monday for 10-1-18

2018-10-01T01:00:00.000-04:00

Here are our menu plans for the upcoming week:
Saturday - Baked stuffed potatoes (potato, broccoli, chili, cheddar cheese, sour cream)
Sunday - Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Monday - lasagne roll-ups, salad, garlic knots
Tuesday - cheeseburgers, veggies
Wednesday - chicken Caesar salad, rolls
Thursday - lentil soup, salad, bread
Friday - date night - dinner out

What are you eating for dinner this week?

Menu Monday for 9-24-18

2018-09-26T13:56:00.000-04:00

Late posting this, but better late than never I say! Here are the menu plans for the week of 9/24/18:

Saturday - hubby home from his CAP mission; dinner out (Chinese)
Sunday - leftovers
Monday - French Bread Pizza (bumped from last week); salad
Tuesday - Pan-fried chicken, pasta salad, asparagus
Wednesday - Pork Chops, Stuffing, squash
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - date night, dinner out (Red Robin)

A Time for Crickets...

2018-09-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

Mid-September, and the evenings are beginning to cool down. When I open my window at night I hear that old familiar sound that means Autumn is in the air.

Speaking of... Have you ever studied crickets with your students? Crickets make a great Nature Study for September and/or October.

The first book I think of when I think of a Cricket Nature Study is Comstock's Book of Nature Study.

It has a great section on crickets. Did you know that some cultures keep crickets for pets? If you want a fun way to interest your child in crickets, consider making a unit study out of it. This can be short and sweet, so that you can keep cranking with your previously scheduled plans, or it can be expanded to include everything you want to do for the week.

The first thing to do is to get some picture books to read. I recommend at least one fiction and one non-fiction.

Here are some picture book titles I found:

The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
Chester Cricket's New Home by Garth Williams
Cricket in Time Square by George Selden

Here is a non-fiction book I found about crickets (in addition to the Comstock Handbook of Nature Study):

Crickets by Cheryl Coughlan

You could do your Cricket Unit Study work all in one day, or spread it out over the full week. I recommend you begin by reading the section in Handbook of Nature Study about Crickets.

It is very informative. Pay special attention to information about different types of crickets.

You will want to figure out, later, what type(s) of crickets your child finds on his cricket hunt. We also had fun making a cricket house. Instructions are in the book.

It was doable, in my house, because we have way too much clutter. We were able to come up with a flower pot, soil, sand, moss, and a globe to an oil lamp. Initially, though, we just used a shoe box.

This type of hands-on activity is fun for a little guy. He was having fun learning, and I was still able to write "school" activities down in my school planner (for accountability - I get reviewed every year because of state law).

Here the unit study activities might look like:

Bible: Read Deuteronomy 28 and ask your student to listen for the mention of crickets in the reading. (It is in verse 42)

Math: Send your students on a cricket hunt. Give each one a mason jar with a lid. Send them off to the edge of the house foundation. They can look under leaves behind the shed, or under random tarps under the deck or around the yard. Check the wood pile. (They might want to wear gloves.) Have them round up as many crickets as they can find. Have them count them. Who found more? How many did they each find?

Science: Look at the various crickets. Do they all look like the same species? Within the ones that seem to be the same species, are they all the same? When we did the study, we found we have black crickets in our area. We were actually able to learn that you can tell the difference between the male and female crickets. Who knew?

Art or Science: find a diagram of a cricket online so you know the names of the cricket parts. Print out a blank diagram and have students fill it in. Have student draw their own drawing of a cricket.

Literature: Read picture book/have student read picture book, or begin reading The Cricket in Time Square (a classic!).

See how this works? You could practice handwriting by having them write out one sentence from the book you read. You could work on spelling by creating a list with words you introduced in this study, like "thorax", "cercus", "palps", "spiracles" and "ovipositor". You could work on vocabulary by having them look each word up and write out a definition.

You could include physical education by actually going on a nature walk to try to find crickets, but I guess even hunting for them in the back yard would be fine to count for physical education. You can include "health" by having them wash their hands at the end of the activity and talking about the importance of washing hands when dirty or before eating.

The only subject I didn't include was Social Studies, but you could include that by researching the cultures that keep crickets as pets (I think it is Japan, but I might be wrong).

I hope you have enjoyed by recounting of our cricket study and my brainstorming on how to make a complete unit study of it. Unit studies can be a great way to cover school for grades K-3 in particular. I hope you enjoy!

What's New and Exciting for September 2018

2018-09-20T21:11:00.002-04:00

A post to update folks is long overdue.

We got a family photo taken (above) the day my youngest celebrated high school graduation. I'm on the far left, then Dad, then my youngest, then my oldest, then my son-in-law, then my middle "child". (I don't use names -- want to protect some privacy." Then there are the dogs -- Cody on the left, and the yellow blur on the right is my oldest's dog named Coda.

My high school graduate was not able to find summer work. He spent his summer promoting his home business - Eagle Whips (you can find him on Instagram). And he built up his inventory of whips so they could continue to sell even while he is away at college! (He's not allowed to make them at college. They are considered to be a weapon. Go figure.)

He also finished his requirements to be promoted to Cadet Senior Master Sgt.

August arrived. The college freshman packed his bags, and we flew to Arizona.

We landed in Phoenix to a temperature of 108, then we drove to Flagstaff.

Getting moved into the dorm was such a small part of that week. He had to get his new ID card first...

There was an expo, where he met the Lumberjack...

There were days of orientation. The lad plans to participate in CAP in AZ, working to achieve rank of 1st Lt. He also plans to participate in AF ROTC, but that has been postponed til the Spring semester.

Since launching the lad I've been working to stay motivated. I've got loads to do -- I just need to stay on track. I'm making maternity clothes for the momma of my first grandchild...

I'm quilting...

I'm trying to sell off 27-years-worth of homeschool books...

And there is plenty of decluttering and cleaning to catch up on now that I am done home schooling.

But... I still love reviewing home school products... So right now I have in the hopper:

Teach Sunday School Bible-At-A-Glance

Brinkman Adventures Season 6

and Heirloom Audio Adventures St. Bartholomew's Eve

Can't wait to tell you more!

I will try to give a new update in mid-October. So what is new in your world?

Menu Plan Monday for 9/17/18

2018-09-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

Another week, another plan. Here's what we decided on this week:
Saturday: Date night bumped from Friday this week.
Sunday: Chicken Caesar Salad, rolls
Monday: Lasagne (from freezer, prepared in advance), salad, garlic knots
Tuesday: Pork chops, stuffing, steamed yellow & zucchini squash
Wednesday: French Bread Pizza, salad
Thursday: scallops, noodles, asparagus
Friday: Date night: Dinner out

Well, that was the plan. We followed it Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but then the Civil Air Patrol was activated to go to the Carolinas to shoot photographs of the hurricane damage from Florence. So my hubby, who is trained to do those missions, went to South Carolina and will be there all week. I have too much food in my fridge to make more meals, so I am eating leftovers all week: lentil soup, lasagne, some things my neighbor (who is going out of town) gave me... So, the plan became Caesar Salad, Lasagne, then leftovers, leftovers, leftovers.

Hope you're having a great week!

Picta Dicta - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-09-12T16:25:00.002-04:00

In early August I learned I would get to review a product by Roman Roads Media. I've loved every Roman Roads Media product I've ever tried, so I was delighted!
I received, by email, digital access to Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder.
I received two emails. One instructed me step-by-step on what I needed to do to get going with Picta Dicta. The second email gave me a link to set up my account as well as an Order ID and a Base License Code. As soon as I received these emails I went to the site and set up my account, with two student seats. Once I had done that I started poking around, learning how to use the program.

Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder is a program to build Latin vocabulary. For a high school student it would probably be best as a supplement to a primary Latin curriculum. Without a primary Latin spine, it is still a great educational tool. Picta Dicta can actually be used over a broad spectrum of student ages, from beginning reader to retiree. I was so happy to have this opportunity to review Picta Dicta because I have been working on my Latin on and off for about six years, and I welcomed this opportunity for a new way to increase my vocabulary.

When one logs in to Picta Dicta, Vocabulary Builder, the first page is always the following:

The page you see above shows the program has 36 pages (each page has its own focus, so think of each page across the bottom row as a unit, each number on a page as a chapter). Each page has 6 chapters. If the student is able to keep to a pace of one unit each week, the program can be completed in one school year. (A typical school year is 36 weeks.)

The green stars you see show the student's progress and how well she did. As you can see, I did not do well on Test Forms. I decided to go back into "Test Forms" to see if I could improve my score.

Once you have clicked on a lesson you get an introductory page. To continue you click on the pointing finger-hand in the bottom right corner of the page.

When you click there on the Test Forms lesson, you are taken into the test questions.

Revisiting this page reminded me why I got only one star. I'm not good at this particular section of the program. I haven't been focusing in the genitive case, the dative case, etc. I would need to back up and redo a previous section focusing on these cases to improve my score.

So if you change your mind and want to go to a different lesson, you click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the page. (It is on the "quid" page; I just cut it off of my snap shot above.) When I did this, I had to log in again. This isn't too difficult if you let your computer save your log in ID and your password, but it is still a very good idea to write these down somewhere when you first set up the program.

My progress on this program has been slow. I really want to learn this material well, so when I don't do well on a chapter I go back and do it again. And again if necessary. I find I am really motivated by the stars. I really want four or five stars when I can get it.

I went to Unit 2, where I am currently working, so I could show you how the program works. When you have completed a chapter but want to improve your score, you can go back in and work on it again by clicking on the little blue arrow to the right of the Chapter information:

By doing this on Chapter 7, I can also show you examples from the different chapters in a unit. Unit 2 (or "Page 2") is not the same as Page 1, so maybe these aren't exactly units...

Clicking on the hand again, the student receives a word and hears the pronunciation.

Click the hand and on the next page the student picks which picture/word grouping the vocabulary goes with. Sometimes this is trial and error, but it is a very effective way to help the student learn the vocabulary (when the student repeats chapters with poor scores).

Then when the student gets the answer correct, there is a green check, and the full sentence is heard. If the student gets the answer wrong, there is a red "X" and the full sentence is still heard. The student gets another chance later in the lesson to try again.

I improved my score to four stars!

I opened the next chapter, "Spell".

I liked the advice given in the bottom of the Spell intro page. It reminded me to mention that you can review a word by pressing the info icon on the lower lefthand corner. What I didn't like is that this is a "thumbs down" icon, like "I give up!" And when you press on it, you have gotten the answer wrong and get a red "X". On the other hand, if the student just plans to go through twice, this is no big deal. The first time can be for learning. The student can press the lower lefthand icon on each word, take lots of notes, and when done with all the vocabulary for the chapter the student can go through again and answer the questions accurately. This writing of the vocabulary helps to cement the information into the brain with many learning styles.

I have really enjoyed working with Picta Dicta and plan to continue working on my Latin vocabulary. I strongly encourage you to consider adding this program to your arsenal of curriculum products this year if you are studying Latin.
Other members of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed this and/or other products by Roman Roads. To read more reviews, please click the button below.

Menu Plan Monday for 9/10/18

2018-09-10T01:00:00.000-04:00

Time to post the menu plans for this week. I've had some weeks of less than healthy meals -- I'm finally ready to walk the straight and narrow. This week's meal plans reflect healthier choices -- no sugar, no processed foods, blended with selections my husband will appreciate. Here's the plan:

Saturday (9/8): spaghetti, salad, knots

Sunday (9/9): Leftovers from Friday's dinner out

Monday (9/10): Lentil soup, salad, rolls

Tuesday (9/11) (CAP): steak, brown rice stir-fry, green beans

Wednesday (9/12): shrimp, Thai Buddha Bowl, rice

Thursday (9/13): pan fried chicken, rice, broccoli

Friday (9/14): Creamy vegetable alfredo, salad, rolls

GrammarPlanet - A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

2018-09-07T12:49:00.001-04:00

Over the past many weeks I have had the opportunity to work with a new on-line grammar program called GrammarPlanet.
GrammarPlanet was created by the makers of Analytic Grammar. I have never gotten to try Analytic Grammar, but I have heard good things about it. GrammarPlanet has two ways the program is available to families. You can either use the free version, which includes commercials (I really disliked these -- over-loud commercials at the end of the lesson) or you can pay a one-time (forever) fee of $39 for a student account. (Great price for a lifetime purchase of this program!)

GrammarPlanet goes through the concepts of grammar in a very systematic way. When I was teaching my oldest grammar for the first time, I remember teaching that there are eight basic parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, articles prepositions. However the method of teaching these parts of speech was no where near as clear and easy as the way they are taught in GrammarPlanet.

The method used for each lesson of GrammarPlanet is:
1) Print out and read pages for the lesson; student keeps handy while doing lesson;
2) Watch video for lesson;
3) Do exercises/practice for lesson;
4) Take test for lesson.

If the student misses too many items, the parent needs to reset the lesson for the student using the teacher account so that the student can repeat the material. This method keeps the parent/teacher in the loop so there is no question as to how well the student is doing, and no ability for the student to ignore a lack of understanding and just keep trying to move forward in the lessons.

The grammar material is introduced in a specific, carefully thought out order. It begins with nouns, and explains very well that "Noun" does not only refer to things (the old "person, place or thing"), but also includes concepts.

The lessons work through adjectives, articles, etc. Each lesson carefully introduces and covers the concept of the lesson and reinforces the lesson in the video and the practice.

I worked on the material as a student, and there were some times when the first practice question would immediately stump me as to how to label and diagram the sentence. I decided that for me actually doing the problem examples (and sometimes getting it wrong and having the program tell me the correct answer) was part of what I needed to learn the material. It caused me to realize I would not want to jump on my student too quickly for wrong answers either. That was a new thought...

When the student first logs in, they see the profile page.

I know that is kinda small in that snapshot -- it is easier to read when it is full screen. Next the student clicks the green "Continue Progress" button under their name (which I have wiped off for privacy). The student next sees the following page:

I am displaying Lesson 9 above out of 13 units. The first thing the student is to do is to open the document for the lesson and print it out, and then read it.

Next the student watches the video,

and last the student works on the practice.

During the lesson, practice and test the student is encouraged to keep the printouts handy to refer to. Part of the course work also entails the actual diagramming of sentences, the old-fashioned way (not just labeling the sentences as seen above):

Sorry for all the blotches -- there is writing on the back of the page as well and the ink bled through. The diagrammed sentence says: "According to witnesses in another village, the sky split in two and fire appeared over the forest." I think it is amazing to know how to diagram that sentence!

So, GrammarPlanet is just an amazing product that you can get even for free (with commercials) to help your students learn and understand our English language. I am really pleased with this program. I highly encourage you to give it a try for your students this year.

Other members of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed this product. To read more reviews please click the button below.