Mountaineer Country

Parent Teacher Conferences

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 01:24:00 +0000

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to my daughter’s school and meet her teachers for parent-teacher conferences. It was a super-huge, proud-momma evening.

For her core classes, the teachers were all in a room together. (It was supposed to save time but I’m skeptical if it worked as well as they hoped.) Her history, science, and English teachers all spoke very highly of her. When the teacher that didn’t have her in class mentioned that her math teacher has even spoken highly of her on their commute into work; well, I became a little choked up. It’s one thing to have the proverbial smoke blown ~~up your butt~~ into your face during a face-to-face meeting, but to have one of her teachers speak often to another teacher about how highly she thinks of Morgan (on their “off” time) is a little different. I was just so proud of her.

Then, I headed to her special classes, a computer class and a consumer math class. She’ll have these classes for a 6-week term. Mostly, I wanted to ensure that her new teachers, were on the same page as everyone else regarding her diabetes. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

We have actual doctor’s orders and a 504 Plan in place at the school so that Morgan has a standard care plan that everyone follows. They didn’t even have a packet for emergency low blood sugars in their rooms, which all of her teachers have, so that she can start getting some glucose in her during the walk down to the wellness center. I spoke to the principal before I left the school and I will be in contact with the nurse to make sure that this is quickly rectified.

While this was all going on, Morgan kept herself busy with a few of the other kids greeting conference attendees and assisting them at the hospitality table. I ended up taking her out to dinner afterward to show her just how proud I was of her and share some of the things that I learned while I was in the various meetings. It was a very good night which ended with some great mother-daughter dialogue.

You Don’t Have to Be Good at it . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 02:32:00 +0000

As I mentioned, Morgan is playing on the golf team this season. She’s had a great time and the season is almost ready to come to a close. It was a very busy 6 weeks.

At today’s practice, some of the moms and I were talking about the upcoming sport’s season. The only thing that the school offers in the winter is basketball. They asked if Morgan would be playing.

I said she doesn’t particularly like basketball or have any interest in it. However, playing basketball is better than sitting at home watching tv or playing the Wii or the Xbox. Of course, they all agreed.

Then, one of the other moms said, “She doesn’t have to be good at it, it is good for her.”

Well, how perfect is that, and not just with basketball, either. I think I’m going to be using that line again and again. It may even find its way to a prominent spot in the house. I think it is a great reminder for all of us.

Pondering the Opening Episode of Grey’s Anatomy

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Holy Moly! The Season 9 opening episode of Grey’s Anatomy was such an emotional rollercoaster for me. Wow!

Sloan-*sniff*-I just wanted him to wake up so badly. But, I can see how it would have been a horrible storyline had he survived with Lexi dead. His whole after-crash character would have been about depression and missed opportunities. Rather, his death makes their story much more Romeo-and-Juliet-esque. I was surprised that Addison didn’t make an appearance for the death vigil. All-in-all, kudos to the writer’s for humanizing his death and not making it all about his womanizing.

Did anyone else think it was weird that Meredith just took off and said tell Derek I’m going to Minnesota? When she freaked on the plane, that just wasn’t realistic. Both scenes just felt “forced.”

I thought “Booty-Call Bailey” was so freaking funny. I laughed . . . hard. I was surprised to see Ben show up at all because I read somewhere that he had a new show.

I was also shocked, like everyone else I suppose, to see Arizona in the end. Honestly, I wish her storyline was just done. She’s my least favorite character.

What did you think? Please, let me know in the comments.

Train Photojournal for 9/28/12

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:00:00 +0000

As you may or may not know, my husband is a signal worker for CSX. I thought it would be fun to share some of his pictures. I know some of them offer unique, behind-the-scenes perspectives.

This next one is a lousy picture with the door in the way, but it’s a picture of the Tropicana Juice Train. This is one train that needs to be on time for the country to move normally every day.

I hope you enjoy this week’s selection.

Mission Possible: Overcoming Blogger Constipation

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, I mentioned my horrible case of writer’s block. It lasted for months, definitely the entire summer. (It would have been so much easier just to take a blogger’s laxative.) When it came to writing anything, I was just empty. To top that off, the emptiness was pretty darn painful. I wanted to pop in and say “Hi” but, for whatever reason, I just couldn’t find the right time or the right words.

So, I wanted to share what I did to overcome my blogging “affliction”.

1.) When I realized what was happening, because it didn’t dawn on me right away, I Googled “overcoming writer’s block”. Really. This started me on a path to reading. I started reading everything from the town newspaper, to US Magazine, to quite a few books. I started participating a bit over at Goodreads and lately, I started checking out the NY Times Booklists for new titles to add to my want-to-read list.

2.) There was one type of reading I stopped altogether, and that was reading other people’s blogs. I still read blogs on the technical aspects of blogging and marketing, but I stopped reading the blogs of my virtual “friends”. I needed to step back and evaluate my blog’s direction and my goals. I couldn’t do that comparing myself to other people. I’m sure that I’ll be able to visit them again in the future, but I needed to find MY voice.

3.) I started carrying a pad of paper and a pen in my purse to keep track of lists and ideas. Did you know, that if I write down that I need ketchup, sugar, aluminum foil, and batteries the next time I go to the store, it frees up space? Major Light Bulb Moment! My sister would have at one time called this the “Kelly Bundy Theory to Memorization.” The premise is that there is only so much space in your head. If you remember something new, something else must obviously leave and who knows what that evicted morsel is going to be? By the way, reading helps it grow to make more room.

4.) I started a major de-clutter and cleaning job. If I didn’t love it or it didn’t serve a purpose, it was outta here! I needed to carve out “me time” and the best way to do that was to simplify my life and space around me. Normally, I would have put everything into storage to have a yard sale. However, “yard sale” and “simplify” are not synonymous terms. Was the gamble of $10 to $100 worth the many hours getting ready for a sale and then sitting there? I didn’t think so. We had a lot of trash the past few weeks.

5.) My de-clutter also followed me to my personal Facebook page. Let’s just say, there were more than a few people that didn’t make the cut.

6.) Finally, I started keeping a journal. Whatever I want to say, think about, and ponder goes in here. Again, it made room in the old noggin. Plus, it let me write about some more personal issues that I don’t need to discuss with the world. It turned out to be my own Blogger’s Prozac.

I will be continuing my newly formed habits so that I can continue to blog regularly. What have you done to overcome writer’s block?

A New Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post just for the sake of writing a post. I’ve had a horrible case of writer’s block and I just couldn’t do it. I would sit down at my computer and, for the most part, just stare. After trying all of the prescribed writer’s block remedies, I think I finally have things to say again. Yay, me!

So, to catch you all up . . .

The biggest change in our lives recently has been that my daughter has gone back to public school. It was a tremendously difficult decision. However, I do feel like it was the right decision for our family.

I have to admit that when I first put her in school, I was extremely worried about how she would transition. She knew very few people. We did not use a “traditional” curriculum. We also were also were very relaxed homeschoolers.

Well, so far, I’m happy to report that school is a smashing success.

Her grades are all stellar.
Her teachers communicate well with me.
We’re having phenomenal school support with her diabetes.
She’s joined the golf team and will be going out for the basketball team next month.
She’s met so many people and making new friends.
She’s LOVING it!

In fact, I’m not unhappy with the situation one bit.

This is not to say that this will be a “forever choice.” However, I do feel that it is the right choice for us in this moment.

Christian Liberty Press: Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:14:00 +0000

We recently had the opportunity to review Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers from Christian Liberty Press. This 242-page book, targeting students in 7th –10th grade, is only available as an eBook. It retails for $8.79.

Book Description: This first book in the series by Douglas Bond tells the story of two teens who, while on vacation in England, are befriended by an elderly English gentlemen called Mr. Pipes. Through this relationship they learn about famous British hymn writers. They also learn about the value of traditional worship and praise.

Through the course of the book students are introduced to the biographical sketches and hymns of:

Thomas Ken
Isaac Watts
Charles Wesley
William Williams
John Newton
William Cowper
Augustus Toplady and Thomas Kelly
Scottish Hymn Writers
Anglican Hymn Writers
Women Hymn Writers
John Bunyan

Click here to read the complete first chapter of Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers.

What I thought:
I honestly did not expect Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers to hold my daughter’s interest, let alone be enjoyable reading for her. She especially liked that the chapters were followed by the music. We are able to print these pages off and play them on the piano. There were about 25 in all.

This book is quality writing and can certainly qualify as a “living book.” Watching the stories of the hymns unfold was nothing less of inspirational.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

Vocab Videos Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 03:56:00 +0000

If you are looking to improve the vocabulary of your high school student or you are interested in brushing up on vocabulary for the SAT and ACT tests, Vocab Videos may be a great supplementary program for your homeschool. Developed by A-List Education, Vocab Videos are humorous video clips used to illustrate the meanings of 500 vocabulary words that have a high frequency of appearing on college entry exams. In essence, they are video mnemonics to help students retain meanings. Here is the company’s demo video.

There are 25 episodes which focus on 20 words each. Each word is introduced written against a black screen with its definition. Then a short clip 30 – 45 minutes long, in most cases, illustrates the word. Finally, the word is again brought up with a voice-over description of the word and illustration. A 47 second clip of how each word and subsequent video is delivered follows.

Vocab Videos offers a one year educator version for up to 20 students for $74.99. Membership includes:

Teacher Dashboard to monitor student progress
Individual student accounts
Access to all videos and study materials
Digital Quizzes, Multi-media Flashcard Maker, Digital Worksheets

They also offer a 6 month and 12 month individual student membership for $24.99 and $39.99, respectively. A companion 170 page Vocab Videos Workbook is sold separately for $11.99.

What I thought:
Unfortunately, this program was not a good fit for our family. Due to some of the content, especially the Jason-meets-Freddy-Kruger-type character and some of the language and “attitudes”, I felt this was for a different audience than my daughter. (She is a little younger than the intended target audience for this program, however.) I highly recommend you look through the material found on the website prior to purchase to see if it will work for your family.

That being said, there were some things that I did enjoy.

I did appreciate The Office parodies. It’s one of our favorite shows and I thought some of the clips were hysterical.
Visual learners can really pick up quite a bit with this program. Mnemonics work well for us.
The teacher dashboard is extremely user friendly. And, for those who still have trouble, there is a simple “User Handbook” to explain away any questions.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of Vocab Videos.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

This Week in History Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 03:56:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to review This Week in History from A Thomas Jefferson Education. This Week in History is a subscription-based web resource that gives you ideas and activities for every day of the week based on different events that happened on those days in history. The subscription costs $9.99 per month and access is granted through a password protected webpage, as well as, being delivered directly to your email once a week.

For any given day, a topic is introduced with a summary paragraph and pictures. Finally, a compiled list of resources is given that goes along with that topic. The list of activities will include hands-on projects and ideas from many various cross-curricular activities to give the student an “adventure in math, science, language skills, geography, current events, the arts and so on.”

What I thought:
I was impressed with the quality of this service. (In fact, it’s one of the best Daily History websites I’ve seen.) The resources were extremely thorough for the different topics. I could tell immediately that this is truly a labor intensive endeavor for the author.

One thing that makes this especially usable for homeschoolers, is that you are not tied into only learning about these topics on the given day. All topics are searchable by date, topic, and key word. This gives you the option to plan ahead which is a great benefit.

Besides working for the “organized, scheduling homeschooler,” This Week in History works very well for the relaxed homeschooler…like me. It is easy to just pick a topic on any given day on what your student is interested in learning. In fact, on their website, one of their quotes is, “So you can inspire, not require.” That is very fitting for our homeschool style.

**Highly recommended**

You can click here to see three weeks of sample issues of This Week in History.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of This Week in History.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a year’s subscription to this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:26:00 +0000

Before I start this review, I just need to be up-front with you all. I work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine which is the parent of SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I also upload content onto the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website. (I beautify the menu pages and I make sure that Kim Kautzer’s Daily Writing is online with a PDF.) I’ve been using the website since before it was live for the public. So, when the opportunity to review SchoolhouseTeachers.com came up, I jumped at the chance, not because I wanted to be exposed to a new product. Rather, I wanted to share this with you because I love it and believe it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a dynamic educational tool for homeschoolers. It’s fluid and constantly changing with new content being added daily. The main content are the lessons brought to you by the “teachers.” And these teachers are big! Some of them are the keynote speakers at major homeschool conventions! They are the authors of the homeschooling “how-to” books and curricula that you buy. They are writing new, multi-grade lessons just for SchoolhouseTeachers and they are fabulous!

So who are some of the homeschooling heavy-hitters that make up SchoolhouseTeachers.com?

Kim Kautzer – Writing – Creator of WriteShop curriculum
Terri Johnson – Geography – Owner of Knowledge Quest and creator of MapTrek
Adam Andrews – Literature – Director of the Center or Literary Education
Joey Hajda – Chemistry – Author of Friendly Chemistry
Diana Waring – History - author of Beyond Survival, Reaping the Harvest and the History Revealed curriculum
Kimm Bellotto – Lapbooking – Owner of In the Hands of a Child

These really are just a few. In fact, the main “courses” with weekly or monthly content offered are:

Career Exploration	Home Economics
Chemistry	Lapbooking
College Choice Guidance	Literature
Economics	Music – Voice
Figures in History	Reading Lessons
Filmmaking	Special Needs
Geography	Technology
High School Math	Writing
History

The “Schoolhouse Dailies” are (mostly) daily content lessons. These include:

Summer Olympics	Daily Grammar
Daily Math	Daily Writing
Ditch the Desk: Hands-On K-5	Everyday Easels (Art)
Everyday Explorers: Canada	Everyday Explorers: USA
Pre-K Activities: Read and Play	Summer Shakespeare
This Day in History	This Month’s Menu

The “Schoolhouse Extras” include ALL of The Old Schoolhouse Planners, believe it or not! They are included in the membership for no additional cost (and they retail for $126 for all 5 of them, btw). Also included are all of the past expo mp3s and all of the past digital editions of the magazine. Depending on how long you’ve been a member, you’ll have access to more and more items available from The WannaBe Series, The Curiosity Files, Monthly Mini Units, and WeE Books.

The Schoolhouse Library is everything else: copybooks, articles, monthly reading lists, and more.

I really hope that I’m getting the image across to you that it is an enormous amount of information and you, as teacher, just log-in and point, click, print, and teach. Everything is done for you and it’s all high quality material.

So, I’m sure you want to know who this is good for, right? Mind you, these are just a few. . .

If you have or use a full curriculum, you will be able to find lessons on here to supplement your current curriculum.
If you have a relaxed or interest led homeschool, you will find lessons on here that your child will enjoy.
If you suffer from a chronic illness which makes planning is difficult, you will find SchoolhouseTeachers.com to be very beneficial to you since you can just open the lesson and go.
If money is tight and you have one or more children, this can be a full curriculum along with living books from the library. ABSOLUTELY!

Cost of SchoolhouseTeachers.com:
Are you ready? This is is one of my favorite parts.

Cost = $1 for the first month and $5.95 each additional month. If you purchase a whole year, you can purchase it with a 10% discount. This means, along with the library, you can teach your family of 1, 5, or 10 for about $65 a year. ABSOLUTELY! You can purchase SchoolhouseTeachers.com by clicking here.

You can find many samples included on their SchoolHouse Sample Page.

Don’t just take my word for it! Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

Zane Education Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:14:00 +0000

I am all for using videos for teaching tools. My daughter learns best visually and kinesthetically. Much like her dad, who uses YouTube tutorials to teach him everything he is wanting to know, she learns by watching and then by doing. Knowing that she learns this way, made reviewing Zane Education a program that I really wanted to try.

Zane Education is a subscription service that offers on-demand streaming of over 1,600 K-12 slideshows and videos, quizzes, and lesson plans in practically all subjects. The videos are all subtitled which helps in both literacy and retention of the material. It also helps many different types of special needs learners. In fact, the close-captioning is what Zane coins “the missing piece”.

Zane believes that there are 6 key components to using their online visual learning system.

The subtitled videos that teach the information - often called the curriculum.
The quizzes that test - but also continue the learning process.
The lesson plans - for lesson preparation and lesson activities.
The video study tools - that enables students to fully explore each topic.
The Study Centre - enables student to track progress and provides additional resources (re-opening soon - new features currently being added)
The very affordable family subscription - remains the same irrelevant of number of children.

Zane Education offers several different fee structures.

If you would like to see Zane Education, you can sign up for their free membership. They also offer a Free Video of the Day.

What I thought:

There are sooooo many videos! You can find all of the titles to this very vast collection HERE.
This can definitely be used for special needs learners.
Depending on the type of subscription, these videos can be used for multi-children and multi-grade students and families.
As a relaxed homeschooler, students can pick and choose to go out of order and let their interests lead their video choices.
Even though Zane writes about how this is a great program for gifted learners, I have a difficult time agreeing. Even though my daughter learns best visually, I would much rather have her read information then watch a video on the subject. The video is the supplement to the reading. In fact, one of the “benefits” in a gifted learner graphic is that Zane Education “Removes reliance on reading to learn.” I never want to remove reliance, I’m solely looking to supplement her reading and learning.
Finally, and this goes along with my above issue with Zane, since I’m only looking to supplement our learning with videos, we would prefer more of a “movie feel.” Some of the videos were difficult to keep my daughter’s attention.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including other reviews of Zane Education.

As a special gift to you, Zane Education is offering my readers a 35% discount on all Bronze, Silver, and Gold memberships sold by August 31, 2012. You will need the case-sensitive code ZE692HSM at checkout to take advantage of this offer.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

Who Is My Neighbor? Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:02:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to review Apologia’s Who Is My Neighbor? (And Why Does He Need Me?) This is the third book in the What We Believe series and written for children from 6-14 years old.

Who Is My Neighbor is a 276-page, hardcover textbook. It is suggested that each of the 8 lessons contained in the book be completed in 3 weeks with 2 lessons per week.

Each lesson has the same general structure:

The Big Idea – An introduction
What You Will Do – Learning objectives
Short Story – A story with young characters which focuses on different worldviews and the themes taught in the lesson.
Think About It – Thought provoking questions about the story.
Words You Need To Know – Vocabulary
Hide It In Your Heart – 2 Bible memory verses specific to the lesson
Integrated Learning – Articles and information of an interdisciplinary nature
What Should I Do – Highlights a specific character trait.
Prayer
Encounters with Jesus – Stories based on the Gospels about people who met and interacted with Jesus.
Take a Closer Look – Questions specific to Jesus and how our children “can act as Jesus’ ‘hands and feet’ in a similar situation.”
House of Truth – A visual memory aid used in conjunction with the other books in the series.

The topics taught in each lesson are:

Does anyone really need me?
How can I make a difference?
Who is my neighbor?
Why did God make families?
What can I do for my country?
Why can’t we all just get along?
Who is God’s family?
Why does the church need me?

Who Is My Neighbor? text retails for $39. Click to see a sample lesson.

The Who Is My Neighbor? Notebooking Journal is a 240-page, full-color, softcover, spiral-bound book. It is consumable and meant to be written in. Besides containing a detailed lesson plan grid, it also contains activities that correspond to the different sections in each lesson.

The Notebooking Journal contains:

Blank notebooking pages
Think about it questions
Vocabulary and memory verse pages
Crosswords and word search puzzles
Mini books
Prayer pages
Praise reports and I Spy! pages to report on where you have seen God
Living out Loud pages to record how you are serving others
Review pages and Find Out More Lists.

The Who Is My Neighbor Notebooking Journal retails for $24. Click to see a sample page.

The Who Is My Neighbor? Coloring Book has detailed coloring pages that correspond to each lesson. It retails for $8. Click to see a sample page.

What I thought?
When we first heard about this product, I was really hoping that I would be picked for the review. I have been working with my daughter on having “a servant’s heart,” so I knew this was the type of program that I was looking to use.

I thought the stories were exceptional and really exemplified the topics in the lesson. They also kept my daughter’s interest. In fact, even though this is written for children 6-14, I see no reason why this couldn’t be done as a family.

If you don’t want to do it as a family, the book is written to the student so there is absolutely no teacher prep. I love that it is just open and go.

Finally, this is our first time using any of the books from What We Believe series and I was highly impressed. I did not see anywhere that went against our Catholic beliefs. I also was happy that we didn’t need the previous books to use this volume.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of Who is My Neighbor?

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

Decorative Walkway on a Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 14:19:00 +0000

We have a peastone walkway that runs from the front steps of our porch all the way around to the back sliding glass door. We don’t like it and we’ve been wanting to replace it for a while.

For the longest time Jim had been looking at the WalkMaker Molds from Quikrete. Well, he started our new walkway project this past weekend.

He cleared out a 12 foot long area from the steps to the end of the house. That would give us space for 6 – 2’ x 2’ blocks. You need one 80 lb. bag of Quickrete per block, so we purchased 6 bags from Lowe’s for about $3.85 a piece. The mold is reusable and we purchased it for about $16.

When he mixed the Quikrete, he actually found that by following the directions, it was a little too dry. The stone in the first blocks did not settle and left a crumbly brick. When he added a little more water, he had much better results. (We ended up buying two more bags of mix and redoing the first two blocks.)

To stabilize the bricks in the path for the time being, we filled them in with play sand. Eventually, I will be vacuuming the sand out with the shop-vac and replacing it with jointing sand that will harden into a mortar. We wanted to make sure that was a doable project and we would get good results before we invested any more money into it.

To finish the walk, we put the peastone that we removed around the side of the path. Here is the final product.

The new blocks at the bottom are the ones that he redid so they are not as dry as the blocks toward the top of the picture. What do you think?

We love the results so far. In fact, we’re talking about eventually extending the path in the backyard to include a patio. We will also have a walkway come off from the front path, since I park my car on the opposite side of the house.

**Disclaimer: These are my honest opinions that no one asked me to write. I paid for all products mentioned and decided to share my thoughts with you. No compensation was received.**

Lightning Lit & Comp Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:59:00 +0000

As a Charlotte Mason “flavored” homeschooler, we have always read a lot. Narration worked well when my daughter was younger, however, now that she’s older I felt that it was not enough and we were beginning to struggle. My goals were to engage in a Socratic dialogue about a piece of literature, but I was never quite sure what I should be asking. Lightning Lit & Comp helped give our literature lessons some new direction that we were missing. I enjoyed it.

I received Lightning Literature & Composition American Literature: Mid-Late 19th Century Student and Teacher Guide for review from Hewitt Homeschooling. The student guide is a 170-page, soft-cover, black and white text. The teacher’s guide is a 55-page, black and white, stapled packet.

American Literature: Mid-Late 19th Century included the following books and topics:

Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Setting and theme
Leaves of Grass selections – Sound and imagery in poetry
The Outcasts of Poker Flat – Local color
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Humor
Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar – Register
The Red Badge of Courage – Description
Poems by Emily Dickenson – Figurative language
The Call of the Wild – Point of view

In this course, all of the poems were included in the guide.

The student guide retails for $29.95. The teacher’s guide retails for $2.95. A bundled pack of student guide, teachers guide, and books is also available for $51.98.

Thoughts:

The student guide is set up to be a non consumable student work-text. There is virtually no teacher prep involved at all, except for glancing at the schedule that is included in the teacher’s guide. This would be great for independent workers.
There are two suggested schedules. One is an extremely fast moving “honors” schedule which take an 18-week semester to complete. The other suggested schedule takes a year to complete. Both schedules suggest 2 writing assignments for each longer work and 1 writing assigned for each shorter piece.
For each selection, there are several writing assignments that are offered and the student can pick which assignment she likes best. This works much better for us than just one assignment. Also, remember how I mentioned that I longed for Socratic dialogue? I was able to explore the readings more in depth with my daughter by discussing the writing questions that she did not choose.
The teacher’s guide is completely worth the $2.95 and is “a must have" to go along with the student guide. Beside the answers for all of the comprehension questions and suggested schedules and assignments, it also includes grading templates, discussion questions, and project suggestions.
Finally, since page numbers were not referenced in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, we had no problem utilizing the free book on our Kindles to use for the course.

I thought this was a very intensive college prep program and would thoroughly prepare the high school English student in literature.

View the Table of Contents here.
View a sample chapter here.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew’s website to read more reviews about Hewitt Homeschooling and Lightning Lit & Comp.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

IXL Math Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:12:00 +0000

Well, even though we’re well on our way into our summer vacation, we’ve been doing quite a bit of math lately. IXL, though it can be used all the time, was the perfect summertime math supplement.

IXL is an online math supplement for grades Pre-K through Algebra, with plans for Geometry, Trigonometry, and other advanced subjects on the horizon. When you sign up for IXL, you enter into the “parent side” and register. Then you register your student. Each side is password protected with individual passwords. At this point, once inside the parent’s domain, you can choose the appropriate settings for your child. After you give your student their log in information, they are on their way.

As students work through the problems, they are given achievements such as certificates and virtual “prizes”. The student’s progress is captured in various reports which you can access from the site. One even measures the student compared to the state standards for your individual state. You are also sent an update once a week on your child’s IXL activity and achievements earned.

You can join IXL with a monthly subscription for $9.95 or through a yearly membership for $79.

What We Thought:
Without a doubt, this was the best math supplement that I’ve seen in a long while. When I first logged on, I was hesitant (as was my daughter) because the graphics seemed geared to very young children. We quickly got over it, because once inside the meat of her material, there were very few images. It wasn’t boring, however. IXL uses color and a visually nice font to liven up the math problems.

I was quite surprised by the amount of topics and skills covered by the program. We were “told” that there were over 2,000 skills covered, but you don’t realize the enormity of that until you see the lists.

When I set my daughter’s settings up in the beginning, I was given the option to hide all grade levels. I liked this. My daughter focuses on grade levels and it sometimes gets in the way. I was glad that I was able to eliminate that element.

I did have to “instruct” my daughter that she is to read through the explanation of how to do the problem that pops up whenever you get an answer wrong. I know. You would think this would be obvious, but while sitting next to her one day, I noticed she was trying to figure a new concept out on her own without reading the explanation. Once she read the explanation she understood, but she didn’t want to take the time to do that.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of IXL.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

My Math Lab–Algebra 1 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:14:00 +0000

Since we started homeschooling, math has been a thorn in my daughter’s and my side. It was the cause the many arguments and many tears. To this day, I feel completely responsible for her not liking math due to the way I tried to explain things to her and gaps that I have unfortunately let happen. What used to be fun and hands-on subject, somewhere along our school path turned into “the enemy.” Within the past year year and a half, we’ve been working hard on building a relationship back up with math and we’ve come a long way. It’s no longer “hated.” In fact, I believe that I’ve finally gotten through to her about seeing the “game” or “puzzle” in all of math which has helped tremendously.

When I was given the opportunity to review Pearson Homeschool, I was looking forward to it. My thinking was this, “Here we are again starting math at the beginning. I do not want her to have gaps again, this time in algebra, considering all higher mathematics courses use algebra. Since Pearson’s My Math Lab is a full algebra course, with a video component, this may be the answer.”

Pearson’s My Math Lab: Algebra 1 is a complete web based algebra 1 program. It contains a complete online math text and over 3,000 lecture videos from the text author.

Key features and benefits: (from the website)

Ready to use out-of-the-box or choose to create your own lessons and assignments
Fully interactive eText
Robust multimedia library with videos and animations to improve understanding
Personalized learning based on quiz and test results
Easy-to-create online homework, quizzes, and tests that are automatically-graded
Immediate feedback for all your child’s work

My Math Lab: Algebra 1 retails for $49.97 for the Student Access Kit and $30.00 for the Parent Access Kit. You can click on this link to see a full listing of features and benefits. Click on the following link to see a complete table of contents for My Math Lab for both Algebra 1 and 2.

If you have questions about Pearson Homeschool or My Math Lab: Algebra 1, you can contact them through their Contact Us page.

What I thought:

I received two confidential access codes. One for the parent access and one for the student access. Even though they are sold separately, you can not use the student program without the parent access. I needed to call up the customer service help line when installing them on my computer. It’s not clear in the literature that you receive that you MUST set up the parent access information first. For the homeschool version, you must set up a “course” for your student and generate a course number. (This is also my clue that the “homeschool version” is simply a “public school” version made available on an individual basis.) Then, when you set up the student, you need not only the confidential code that was sent, but also the newly generated course code. This confusing introduction seemed to follow us throughout the use of the program.

It was very difficult for us to use the program. The student’s screen that she opens up is very cluttered with all of the link choices. I needed to actually set her up with her assignments and her book work. So, setting up work on “my side” to assign to her lessons and exercises on her own side, turned out to be just an additional step that we did not need to do.

The lecture videos, which I was relying on to keep gaps to a minimum, were extremely slow to load and even locked in the middle of the lectures. You could still hear what was going on, but you couldn’t necessarily see all of the examples. This caused a lot of anxiety for my daughter.

The online book was another issue that we had. It seemed like a great math book, however, the online format does not work for my daughter. She needs to work with the tangible pages for math.

Overall, I think we both felt lost in the “virtual-ness” of this program. Once we got the hang of the program it seemed more user friendly. However, learning to use the program and getting acclimated was more frustration than I typically like in our one-on-one homeschool environment.

Now, I’m not saying there wasn’t a positive. I think this program would serve a co-op purpose very well with one teacher to many students. Then, during your co-op meeting time, the teacher can fill in any questions or gaps that occur during the week. I could also see this program working well for a learner that works well on their own with a firm grounding and high confidence level in math.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew to read more reviews, including what they thought of Pearson Homeschool products and My Math Lab.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.**

Getting More Done by Scheduling Less

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:00:00 +0000

As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, I’ve been in a terrible funk with blogging lately. I’ve just been feeling that I have nothing really to say. Nothing new. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing exciting. I was tapped to my limit with things that were going on, which left me very little time for anything extra. By extra, of course, I mean laundry, cooking, enjoying my family, and, yes, blogging.

After some discussions with God, my family, and myself, I changed a few things. I reworked my schedule. I reevaluated my priorities. My life is a little different now. It’s a little more open and less busy. And, do you know what’s happening? I’m getting more done.

With having a less busy schedule, I’ve now found time to tackle our version of Mount Washmore. I’ve finished several books and I’m almost finished with two more. I reopened my Etsy shop. I’ve listed a good many books for sale. My checkbook is balanced and the bills are up to date. My coupon book is current. My work related tasks at TOS are current. And, ta-da, I not only have something to say, but I’m saying it and writing a blog post.

Is it perfect? No. The top of my stove needs to be cleaned and the dishes need to be done. The bathroom also needs a good clean-up. However, at least I’m going forward and I’m happy with that. Going in circles or even standing stagnant (because everything on my list is important and I'm a perfectionist at heart), just doesn't work for me and makes me miserable!

I also realized this isn’t the first time I had this happened.

When we first started homeschooling, nothing felt “right.” I was ~~searching and searching~~ buying and buying, trying to find the “right” curriculum, which I never found. I needed something that worked instead of just homeschooling in what felt like circles.

What I didn’t know at the time was I’m a relaxed homeschooler. Sometimes, I'm a peddle-to-the-metal, strike-while-the-iron-is-hot homeschooler. But, most of the time, I'm a do a little of this, and then read, and then do you want to watch a movie, and then read, and do a little of that homeschooler. When I started relaxing our schedule and letting our interests lead our homeschooling, that’s when it felt “right.” That’s when I knew I had the “secret formula” for our homeschool that was “the perfect fit.”

Sometimes, scheduling less is more productive than scheduling more, and it still leaves time to smell the roses. I need to remember this.

When Dad is Home

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:56:00 +0000

I’ll be honest. For us, when hubby is home, most of my school plans go right out the window. Because of his work schedule, some days are spent spending time with him instead of a day worth of doing schoolwork. Is it a bad thing? Absolutely not! Do we still get to our schoolwork? Well, yes and no.

Sometimes, we do school as planned, even though Jim is home. There is a lawn that needs mowing and “Dad chores” that need to be done. We can do our normal daily schoolwork when he’s busy with his stuff.

Sometimes, we make our family plans for the day and just fit in schoolwork where we can. Math and reading are the easiest to work in throughout the day. However, Morgan can do much of her work on her own now. She pretty much always knows what needs to be done next. I’ve always felt confident “enough” was done when we covered the 3 r’s, reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic, but now it’s possible she can do more than “just” the 3 r’s on her own or with limited assistance.

Sometimes, we incorporate dad into a learning adventure (field trip). This way, we are learning and making family memories at the same time.

Sometimes, we ditch it all and just make our memories at home.

What I don’t do, is worry about it.

I know that when I think of homeschooling, my goal is the big picture. The day-by-day stuff gets me there, but it’s not where I put my focus. As long as we’re moving forward I’m not concerned. What I don’t want to do is become stagnant.

I find it’s much better for us to look back over the week and reflect on what we’ve done. I also like to reflect at the end of the month on what we’ve done. That gives me satisfaction. If I looked at the end of every day he’s home and said, “Wow, we only did math and literature but we had all this planned,” it would give me a negative feeling and I wouldn’t be enjoying our time together as a family. Even worse, is the possibility that it would make me think negatively about my husband’s time at home and I would never, EVER want that.

Hands-On Homeschool Blog Carnival for 4/23

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:32:00 +0000

Welcome to the April 23, 2012 edition of hands-on homeschool blog carnival.

Amy B presents Scissor Skills: How And When To Introduce Scissors posted at Bow of Bronze

Jennifer Kalyn presents Our Peculiar Lives: Sink or Float? posted at Our Peculiar Lives.

Tiger's Mum presents Ohayou gozaimasu! posted at The Tiger Chronicle.

Cheryl presents Our HOW II Medieval Feast posted at Talking to Myself.

Serfronya presents Teaching Children About Money posted at Cookie's Domain.

Joan Otto presents Super science with stuff around the house posted at Our School at Home, saying, "This is our first time submitting - but this science stuff was WAY fun and I hope we can show some other folks where to get some new ideas! :)"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of hands-on homeschool blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Balance Math Teaches Algebra Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:47:00 +0000

Balance Math Teaches Algebra is a 64 page book from The Critical Thinking Company, which helps students to understand algebraic concepts in a visual way. It is a softcover book with a high-quality, glossy cover. The pages are printed in black-and-white and perforated for easy removal. There is a reproducible license with this book, so you are able to make copies for your other students. It is recommended for students in 4th through 12+ grade and retails for $14.99.

You can find sample sheets on the product page. Their samples include two pages and the Table of Contents.

What I thought:
We love this book. It is a wonderful supplement to our pre-algebra coursework that we are currently studying. When Morgan is working her Balance Math assignments, she is feeling like she’s working on puzzles. This is exactly how I want her to approach all algebra problems, so I love that it’s reinforcing what I’m already trying to convey to her.

The book is progressive and gets much harder as it moves forward. I like that there are “tips” in the back of the book with different algebraic properties for how to approach and solve each problem. Since the pages are perforated, I removed the answer key so she can refer to the properties whenever she needs them, without depending on the answers as a crutch.

This is a great book to visually approach algebra without making it feel completely intangible. I love it and highly recommend it.

You can read what my crew mates thought of Balance Math Teaches Algebra at the TOS Homeschool Crew's website.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

God’s Great Covenant, New Testament Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:18:00 +0000

Throughout my time reviewing with the TOS Crew, Classical Academic Press has been one of my favorite companies with which to work. They routinely have excellent educational instruction, top-notch customer service, and high-quality materials. When I found out I was on the review team to review God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1, I had no doubt it would stand up to the same precedent as the other items I reviewed.

God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children, is a 350-page, black- and-white text covering the 4 Gospels of the Bible. This consumable, softcover book, recommended for children in 4th grade and up, is 36 lessons broken down into 4 units.

Unit 1 – Jesus, the Son of Man, Has Come … To Live Among His People
Unit 2 – Jesus, God’s Servant, Has Come … To Proclaim the Good News
Unit 3 – Jesus, the Messiah, Has Come … To Teach About God’s Kingdom
Unit 4 – Jesus, the Son of God, Has Come … To Conquer Sin and Death

Each chapter contains: (from the website)

A memory page that includes a weekly memory verse, key facts chart, fulfillment of prophecy section
A thought-provoking “Think About It” question that encourages children to consider how to relate to God in their own lives
A worksheet and quiz

Unit reviews contain a memory verse worksheet, devotional guide, and a fun short story of life in Simon’s world

This book has a unique challenge by teaching all of the Gospels at the same time, since they all were written at different times and from different perspectives. The book deals with this by presenting each lesson as a “theme.” For instance, Chapter 1 is “Jesus in Eternity and Time.” Chapter 1’s theme is, “The Son of Man is the eternal God who becomes man.” Then, Scripture readings come from each Gospel around this centralized theme.

The Teacher’s Manual contains the full student text and answers to all problems. It also contains copious notes to expand on historical, political, geographical, religious, and daily life of the times. It also will sometimes give information to bridge the different Gospel renditions of the same stories together.

Downloadable mp3’s are available with the 32-recorded Gospel stories from the book.

God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1 retails for $26.95 for the student text, $29.95 for the teacher’s edition, and $9.95 for the audio files. It is also sold as a bundled set for $56.95, which includes the above components.

What I thought:
First and foremost, I’m thrilled to say that I did not find that this program went against my Catholic beliefs in any way. Yay!

What I love most about this book, which is helping us really get to know Jesus, is the organized manner that the information is presented. It starts with different introductions giving us a baseline knowledge to Jesus’ time. We spent one week on the introductions reading one a day. (The introductions were included about the historical and political climate, a chronological timeline, geographic, religious, and daily aspects on the life during this time.) Then, throughout the rest of the book, we’re following Jesus’ life from birth to Ascension. We’re getting a complete picture of Jesus and I’m even learning things that I’ve never before known or forgotten.

In typical Classical Academic Press fashion, besides the material being in-depth and rich, the activities vary, which I LOVE! Activities may be fill-ins, crosswords, fill-ins with scrambled answers, questions regarding who said what and to whom, or many other different activities. My daughter appreciates these different types of exercises.

At the back of the book, there are very nice maps and chapter quizzes. I only would prefer them to be perforated so I can pull them out for my daughter’s portfolio.

In the teacher’s manual, the notes are easily identifiable to the section of the student text that they are referencing. Passages are numbered to the corresponding note. It’s a helpful addition, instead of just having sidebar text.

I highly recommend God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children, if you are looking for a Bible curriculum or looking for a course on Jesus.

Samples:
Student Text Sample
Teachers Editions Sample
Audio Files Sample

If you have any further questions about God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children or any of the other Classical Academic Press products, you use their Ask the Magister page.

Please check out my reviews on other Classical Academic Press products:
--Latin for Children, Primer A
--The Art of Argument

You can read what my crew mates thought of God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children at the TOS Homeschool Crew's website.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Homeschool Mother’s Journal for 4/20

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:28:00 +0000

In my life this week…
It was another busy week now that I’m working for The Old Schoolhouse, especially since I’ve been working the social media and Facebook shift in the afternoons. Add that to Jim being home this week and it made it a week of juggling.

We’ve been out many mornings this week trying to find a new-to-us car. So far, we haven’t found one. Thankfully, we’re not in dire need at this point and we can take our time looking. I think those car dealers can smell when you go in really needing a car, so in my own mind, that puts us in a better place.

In our homeschool this week…
We’ve been adding in some of the lessons from TOS’s SchoolhouseTeachers.com. LOVE IT! We’re doing some of the daily writing assignments and some of the main lessons. I’m especially loving the literature lessons this month, as we’re working our way through Treasure Island.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
This idea came from my friend, Heather, and we’ve been using it here with much success.

Whenever we read about someplace new, we use a sharpie marker to write the name on a 3M Arrow Flag. Then, we place the arrow pointers on either the United States, North America, or World wall map. When we accumulate an abundance, we refresh the maps by pulling the stickers off. Besides seeing the locations every day and adding new places as they come up, we also quiz each other every so often. The system works quite well for us.

I am inspired by…
People that handle themselves with grace and dignity when they are wronged. I struggle with my temper and keeping my mouth closed. (Maybe it’s the Jersey in me?) My mouth, and sometimes my blogging and Facebooking fingers, can get me in trouble.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We have an endocrinologists appointment coming up. Ugh. Morgan’s sugars have been less than stellar since we were fighting off colds last week and we’ve been having issues with her pump staying inserted.

My favorite thing this week was…
Spending lots of family time with my hubby and my girl. They are my life.

What’s working/not working for us…
I started using a blogging planning page to organize my blogging time. It’s SO WORKING for me lately. There’s nothing worse than looking at a blank blog screen with a total lack of inspiration for anything.

Questions/thoughts I have…
>>>Shameless plug! Did you all enter my current giveaway for Simplify Dinner? I loved the eBook and it’s written by a fellow homeschooling mom. Please enter to help support her in this new endeavor.

Things I’m working on…
Reviews coming up:
God’s Great Covenant, New Testament from Classical Academic Press
Balance Math Teaches Algebra, from Critical Thinking Co.
Perfect Pies: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes from America's Pie-Baking Champion

Reviews and Giveaways coming up:
Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil
Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day

Projects:
After being inspired by my current issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I’ve started organizing my digital photos. Hopefully, more pics will make it here when I get them all off of my camera and into Flickr.

I’m reading…
I started reading Perfect Pies: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes from America's Pie-Baking Champion by Michele Stuart. I’ve also been reading my Better Homes and Gardens.

I’m cooking…
Hello! I’m getting ready to bake some PIE! (And, I can’t wait! The pictures are mouth-watering.)

I’m grateful for…
Every day. We were reminded again just recently when another family member died … life is short. We can’t go around and say “Some day soon we’ll get together.” We need to make time and get together sooner rather than later.

I’m praying for…
A co-worker’s health, the repose of several souls, and health and safety for my family.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

We had fun times hanging together this week. Not two minutes prior to this, Jim was in Storm Trooper gear. He chickened out of the picture, though.

Linked to Homeschool Mother’s Journal

Christian Kids Explore Physics Review

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:58:00 +0000

You would think that someone who majored in biochemistry in college would have an easy time teaching science to her daughter, right? Actually, I find the exact opposite to be true. I go into science curricula extremely critical. Typically, I find it to be, what I call too “fluffy,” for my taste.

I was recently given Christian Kids Explore Physics (in ebook format) by Bright Ideas Press to review. It is a 433-page, black-and-white book designed for children in grades 4-8. The book contains 30 1-week lessons, broken down into 6 units:

Unit 1 – The Foundation of Physics
Unit 2 – Matter
Unit 3 – Mechanics
Unit 4 – Matter in Motion
Unit 5 – Energy in Motion
Unit 6 – Electricity and Magnetism

Even though I received the book in eBook format, the book is only available in a hard copy form. It is packaged along with a CD that contains

Daily lesson plans
Materials lists
Bonus literature study guide for the book Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
All Reproducibles

This is a Christian program. The sidebar is dedicated to Scripture verses and vocabulary definitions.

Christian Kids Explore Physics retails for $39.95.

What I thought:
I’m happy to say that I was very pleased with the content of this program. It didn’t feel “fluffy” to me, though it did seem be written for a student younger than 8 grade in my opinion. I feel that it would most fit with a child in 6th grade and 7th at the absolute latest.

This program does not need a lot of teacher preparation. The materials are listed in the supply list broken down by unit and then by lesson. They are easily acquired materials found around your home, in most cases. Most hands on activities were appropriate for their lab. I did not like those activities labeled “hands on,” when actually it was a word search in place of a “lab” activity.

The most difficult thing for us to get used to were the Review Questions and the Unit Wrap Up. The review questions are fill in type questions with the wording taken exactly from the text. Then the Wrap Up Questions were multiple choice, but the wording was again exactly from the book. This format is not what works for my daughter’s learning style.

If I would use this book in the future, I would use it solely as a reading text. I might have her fill in the verbatim review sheets once to keep an outline of items covered. However, I would make up other questions, similar to the critical thinking, Think About It questions, so she could manipulate the information in her mind further.

Sample Pages:
Table of Contents
Lesson 18
Lesson 19

Further questions may be answered on their Frequently Asked Questions Page or their Contact Us Form.

You can read what my crew mates thought of Christian Kids Explore Physics at the TOS Homeschool Crew's website.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

The Ultimate Blog Party 2012 #UBP12

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:06:00 +0000

Welcome! I’m so happy you stopped by Mountaineer Country! My name is Shannon and this is my little piece of the blogosphere.

I’m married to Jim and we have one daughter. She’s 13 and absolutely incredible. She was diagnosed with diabetes at 2 and we’ve been homeschooling her for the past 5 years. We originally took her out of school as a result of both the way the school managed her diabetes and her attitude about school in general. I’m a firm believer that no second grader should be complaining about “hating school.”

I’ve been blogging here for the past 4 years. Time sure does fly. I blog about a mish-mosh of things including homeschooling, life in Small Town, West Virginia (I’m originally from the Jersey Shore), my family, homeschooling curriculum reviews, product reviews, and giveaways. Imagine we were sitting across from each other at a kitchen table over coffee. This is is how I like to envision my blog; we talk about a little bit of everything between friends.

Since I’m always looking for new items to share with you in reviews and giveaways, I hope you will follow my blog’s RSS. Be sure to leave a comment and I’ll follow back. You can also find me on Facebook.

I invite you all to enter my current giveaway for Simplify Dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simplify Dinner Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Reilly) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:20:00 +0000

I find myself needing to simplify my world more and more these days.   In fact, simplifying our world was one of the reasons why we moved to West Virginia, in the first place. Our schedules had us “going” almost every day of the week, and when “we” weren’t going, I was going to work. We relied heavily on delivery. When we moved, I started cooking at home more (since there is no delivery) and, believe it or not, cooking every night was new to me.   My meals REQUIRED cookbooks and supplies and our choice to simplify was hardly simple.

Simplify Dinner by Mystie Winkler is written on the premise that simplifying your menus means less time planning, less time in the grocery store shopping, less money spent, a less cluttered pantry, and all-around less stress. Mystie writes, “The more simple I keep things, the less mental energy my stuff requires of me, and this includes food shopping and preparing.” What a great premise!

There is a unique set up to this e-book. You won’t find long drawn out recipes and directions. Instead, the recipes are grouped by “process.” The main directions are given and then the ingredients for the individual dishes are changed for different flavor combinations.   Many of the processes also included both regular stove directions and slow cooker directions. (Love that!)

Now, for the real questions … were the recipes any good, was it simple, and did I have everything already in my pantry?

I tried the recipes for margarita chicken and steak fajitas. I only needed to purchase the lime juice and the tortillas. However, the tortillas were used up after I made the fajitas and the lime juice is used quite regularly in different meals in the book and is considered a staple. I had everything else already available. Both meals were quite tasty.

My plan for this e-book is to print out the 30 pages put them in page protectors and a binder. Besides using it myself, it really is a great way for Morgan to cook different meals. She’ll be able to roughly follow the recipes, but also be able to experiment with some creativity while cooking. She loves cooking and I think this e-book will be especially good for her.

Download the sample to see Mystie’s Introduction, Master Pantry List, and how 8 recipes are grouped by process.

Simplify Dinner retails for $9.99.

Visit Mystie’s blog at Simple Dinner / Simple Pantry Cooking. I’ve been there several times now and I learn something new every time.

Now, here is your chance to win a copy of Simplify Dinner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway **Disclaimer: I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.