My Two Happy Homeschoolers

Update on "Mimi" our foster baby

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:30:00 +0000

BTW, Mimi is not her real name, it's just a nickname we have for her.

It's funny to call her our "foster baby" because in many ways she is like our own. At the same time, it's always on our mind that she isn't ours, so we have to keep ourselves mindful and at the same time allow ourselves to get attached to her.

She is 5 months now, and she is just a happy little lady! She is pretty attached to us too--if we leave her alone in a room, say in her exersaucer, she will start crying, then smile when we come back! She is a little social bug too, always laughing, smiling, cooing and in general being super cute!

Physically the experts say she is on target for her age (had her evaluated by early intervention), but personally, I disagree. She isn't rolling at all or even trying to, or trying to sit. She isn't grabbing things or holding toys. She can't support her body on her arms and still face-plants during tummy time. I'm not too concerned, but it's something we are keeping our eye on.

Her reflux is under control at the moment, and thus she has mastered the art of sleeping on a flat surface, finally! Just this week she started breaking out of her swaddle so we are now laying her down without a blanket too! Big girl! No solids yet, though we tried a couple times and she did fine, she also did fine without, so I figure, why bother if she doesn't really need it?

She is a big girl! I think she is probably about 20 pounds! Amazing since when we got her she was only 4 pounds 9 ounces. She drinks four 8 ounce bottles a day. And she sucks them down, boy! We've already had to switch to a convertible car seat since she was way to heavy to tote around in the bucket seat.

As for her permanency plan, we don't know yet. We have another court date coming, that may reveal more, but I honestly highly doubt it'll be very productive. We'll have to wait and see!

Live and learn

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:20:00 +0000

A while back I typed up my curriculum post for our new school year. I've always been pretty eclectic and have avoided "boxed" curriculums, like Abeka, Bob Jones, Sonlight, etc. And so every year I try to piece together the "perfect" curriculum package for my kids, based on my wants and their needs. After I typed up my post though, I read over it and I kept thinking how I wished we had something that was more cohesive, that wove the subjects together in a creative and fun way, and was less "choppy", for lack of a better word. The kids are doing fine with their current curriculum, and academically, they are progressing at amazing rates. In fact, I just got Little Bean's testing scores back and he did awesome!

BUT...we get lots of complaints about school around here. I hate that! It's so discouraging to work so hard on something have your work be under-appreciated and even sometimes just plain hated. :( So, since none of my choices were finalized yet (read: I had purchased nothing), I began searching for a curriculum that was both fun and more unit study in style to bring that elusive cohesiveness to our days.

What I landed on was My Father's World. I would consider My Father's World to be a boxed curriculum, as well as an overtly Christian curriculum. We have always incorporated Bible into our day, but with MFW, it's different--Bible is the base from which all the other subjects flow. So it's definitely something that we have never done before in any way.

MFW has packages for K through 12th grade, and built into the program is the ability to teach multiple grade levels from the same texts. They have a K program, a 1st grade program, a transitional program for 2nd and 3rd graders and then they begin a 5 year cycle through history before introducing fully independent work in high school. Being the busy person I am (and knowing I'll get even busier next semester with a new baby coming), I like the sound of putting both kids in the same program.

I chose Adventures, the transition program for 2nd and 3rd graders, though Miss O would only be in 1st because Little Bean will be in 3rd. I put in my order. I ordered my supplementary materials (MFW does not include Language Arts or Math). And then I started thinking more about what would happen if we continued using MFW for several more years. Miss O would, in essence be skipping 1st grade, and I'd be modifying Adventures for her as a almost 6 year old. Then she would head into the history cycle as a 7 year old! In my opinion, that's too young! Even Little Bean would be on the young side for the history cycle since he started K at age 4, and progressed quickly through lower elementary. I knew if the information was over their heads and I had to do a lot of modifying, this curriculum would not work for us. Who wants to hear me summarizing book and after book every day? I'd rather do something more suited to both their levels. The other option was to put Miss O in 1st and Little Bean in Adventures. Then Miss O would skip Adventures entirely and move on to the history cycle next year with Little Bean. But that really only solved my problem for this year. Both kids would be in the right programs for their levels this year. But I'd run into the same issue next year with Miss O being too young. Plus, I'd have to do two programs at once, and I didn't relish that idea!

SO...I've decided to back pedal (and isn't that the beauty of homeschooling? I can back-pedal when I want to, and speed up when I want to, according to the needs of our family!). I want to take this coming school year and make it a time of coming together as a family, learning to love learning, and enjoying school time together. I don't know if that's impossible given the dynamics of our family relationships or not. But I'm going to give it a try. And the way I'm going to attempt that is to keep Miss O in MFW 1st (on grade level), and take Little Bean back and have him to do 1st along with her. I cringe at the thought in some ways, and those that know him, know he is way beyond 1st grade work. But I know this will be good for him emotionally to be able to sit back and enjoy learning without having to think so much!

That being said, the math and Language Arts in first will likely be too easy for either of them. So we are sticking with Right Start for both of them and will continue with our current spelling and Language Arts programs alongside MFW. So from MFW 1st, the both of them would be doing art, music appreciation, science and history/Bible. We will hold off on Latin until we start the history cycle in 2 years.

So to lay it out for you:

Miss O will do MFW 1st, which includes Bible/history, science, art and music, and will review the phonics rules therein. On the side she will do Learning Language Arts Through Literature, Winning With Writing and All About Spelling (as needed). She will continue practicing handwriting, whether in HWT or in MFW, we'll have to wait and see what is needed. I'm hoping she will not need to continue with the Little Books, but she will if needed. We will also continue our current Bible program next year, as that is one thing the kids love doing!

Little Bean will be "held back" in MFW 1st with Miss O, and will do the Bible/history, science, art and music portions with her, with the expectation that he can do more copywork and writing and create higher quality pieces than she due to his ability level. He will do his own Language Arts, continue with cursive, and his own math at grade level. Yes, MFW 1st will be slow for him. But, I think he will love some of the aspects of the program, that really, are great for any age.

MFW is a unit study approach with a focus on "real" books (as opposed to text books). So we'll be doing lots of hands-on experiments, read alouds and craft and art projects throughout the year. Also, in the 1st grade program, each student illustrates and creates their own Bible notebook and does memory work. The days are purposely short, following the Charlotte Mason philosophy of letting little children be little children. I like (and need) that since I will not have much time for school with two babies under 1 in the house.

So I'm hoping this is the change we need to begin enjoying learning together and making the shift from a more eclectic approach to a more integrated approach to learning.

How about you? Any changes in the new year coming your way?

New Year, New Curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

A few weeks back I was lamenting the fact that I just didn't have enough time to school the kiddos. After that post, I took stock of just how far we really are in this year's curriculum, and I realized, if we stay on track, we should finish up K and 2nd before Easter! I know, I still can't believe it myself. Course, this has led me on a hunt for what we will be doing next year. And now living in a state where homeschooling is much more popular, I can just swing by our local Mardel and actually get my hands on the curriculum I'm looking at for next year!

Much of it is staying the same, but there are some changes. Plus, this list isn't final...it's just what I've been interested in lately as I started doing research about what to use.

Miss O, 1st grade (can you believe it?! She will be 6 this summer though.):

Math: We are finishing up Math U See Primer, and neither of us love it. She really didn't like Right Start much either, but I'm thinking of putting her back in Right Start A (technically a Kindergarten level) for 1st grade. She has been asking to do it, but I'd like to finish up Primer first.

Language Arts: This year I want to go with something a little more cohesive, that brings all the elements of Language Arts together into one curriculum. I'm looking at Learning Language Arts through Literature, and for Miss O, I'd use The Red Book, which is geared toward 2nd grade. Miss O is reading really well, and since this is a literature-based approach, I felt better putting her in the grade level she is reading at rather than the grade level she is "officially" in. This will be our core curriculum, but I'm supplementing with the following:

Winning With Writing, Level 1

All About Spelling, Level 2

Handwriting Without Tears, Grade 2 (printing)

Little Bean, Grade 3:

Math: Right Start, Level D

Language Arts: Learning Language Arts through Literature, The Orange Book (grade 4)

Supplimenting With:

Winning With Writing, Level 3

All About Spelling, Level 4

Handwriting Without Tears, grade 4 (cursive)

Together:

The kids will do several of the subjects together:

History: Story of the World Volume 2. We will continue using the activity guides and tests, as well as adding in a timeline of events. I would like to add in some notebooking later in the year, especially for Miss O, who thus far has not picked up much history.

Geography: I'd really like to incorporate some geography into our studies this year. I don't know if I will do a separate curriculum or something independent for them to complete or work it in naturally (not my strong suit).

Science: Science didn't happen as often as I'd like this year, so I'm taking the plunge and getting Real Science Odyssey. I haven't decided whether I'd like Earth and Space or Life yet. I'm thinking Life since the weather will be right to do outdoor experiments (like finding actual living plants and animals!). I plan to purchase the corresponding materials kits because knowing me, science won't happen if I have to go searching around the house for materials each time.

Latin: Sigh. I'm undecided. The kids love using Song School Latin, and I am thoroughly impressed with it. But Primer A, the next level, is significantly more expensive and I don't know if I can justify the cost. If I do, I'll repeat Song School with Miss O, using the activities in the back of the teacher's guide instead of purchasing a new workbook and start Little Bean on Primer A.

Bible: We are loving Kid's Quest Catechism Club, and have enough to keep us going at least partway through next year. After that, we will go to the upper elementary level, and learn the reformed catechism in its' entirety.

Art: I don't plan to purchase another curriculum because we have plenty to do in Artistic Pursuits Book 1 still. I do want to get an art calendar so we can start learning about the different styles of art and artists of the past.

So that's my plan! When we move, I'd like to get back to the workbox system too. All that being said, I'm due in April, so we will probably have "summer" break then and start up the new school year when things have gotten less hectic, probably in the beginning of the real summer!

7 months of gluten free

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Believe it or not, we have been doing the gluten free, dairy free diet for 7 months! Feels like our new normal now. Initially I updated you all on how the diet has helped Little Bean with some of his behaviors related to autism. I don't think I have done an update in a while, but wanted to do one, and let you know how wonderfully this diet has helped him.

In the beginning when we would see improvement in a particular area it was always such an amazing thing and we really took note of it. As he settled into the diet, and the concerning behaviors diminished, we became used to the "new" him. (I don't want anyone to be offended by that statement. We love our little man no matter how he behaves, but I will say the "new" him is much more happy and well-adjusted than the him we knew prior to our diet).

Around Thanksgiving we took a trip to CA to visit my parents and family. My dear mom took great pains to see to it that the kids stayed on their diet while we were staying at her house. I know how overwhelming the diet can be in the beginning, but she did a great job of helping us cook a gluten free, dairy free Thanksgiving meal for them and purchased special foods for them as well. All week, Little Bean did very, very well. We got several comments from family saying how they have noticed the changes in him. We started this diet after leaving CA, so to hear that felt good; knowing that we weren't just imagining the changes, but others could see them too. Both Little Bean's great grandmother and his aunt commented on how he would give hugs now, without holding back. If you have an autistic child who doesn't hug, to have him learn to open up and enjoy that simple sign of affection is a great feeling.

When we got home that week, Little Bean regressed. We saw more of the self-stimulating behaviors, more aggression and problems with impulse control. It really scared me. I thought, "Are we really back at square one?" I wondered if the diet only works for so long. The days after his diagnosis, when his behavior was so terrifying were some of the darkest days of my life. I really thought that. ya know, in a few years from now we would have this huge, uncontrollable child who needed to be medicated or institutionalized due to his aggressive behaviors. I never want to go back to that. It took about a week, but eventually the behaviors went back to normal, and I can only surmise it to be one of two things: 1) maybe he accidentally ate something while in CA that caused the reaction (the only thing I can think of is coconut milk, since he had not previously had that), or 2) it could be that he has a problem with apples too. When we got back, the only fruit we had were apples, lol, because they stay fresh for so long. We were super busy, so the kids ate alot of apples that week since we couldn't make it to the store. Apples contain something called a salicylate (and that's about all I know about them! I don't even know if I spelled that right!) which children with autism are sometimes sensitive to. Berries and almonds have it too, and we have found that he has problems with both of those--he has not been eating those for a long time either. In any case, we stopped giving him apples and he has gotten back to his normal brands of gluten free foods, and we have since seen the behavior problems go away.

One thing that incident taught me was how the diet isn't therapy. Therapy theoretically will teach the child ways to cope that are more appropriate and pleasant. The diet is different. It diminishes his behavior problems, and enhances his ability to cope by making him feel better physically. But should the diet be interrupted, we realized he had not really learned how to deal with life in better ways, he had not learned coping strategies, he had only masked the problems with diet. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. If diet works (or when therapy doesn't, as in our case), then I think it's a valid option. Is it feasible to do it forever? I don't know. This is all food for thought, I suppose.

Fast forward to Christmas, and of course things got a little hectic again. It was our first Christmas in this part of the country and Raymond's parents and his sister's family came down. They have three boys, all 6 and under, and things were a little crazy (that's putting it mildly). Finally Little Bean freaked out started crying because they were all getting into his toys and wouldn't put them back in the right places. I think my sister in law and brother in law were shocked. They haven't been around him since he was small, and haven't really seen a lot of his autistic behavior. They watched as he slowly relaxed as his toys were put back in place and his room closed off for the night. Another reminder that the diet (at least for Little Bean) isn't a cure. He has autism and always will. But the diet helps.

Just before Christmas, Little Bean lost his first tooth. It had been loose for months, and the adult tooth had already grown behind. We were sitting at the table doing spelling when all of the sudden I noticed that his tooth was gone. How I noticed the moment it happened, I don't know. But I said, "Hey, where's your tooth!? Did it fall out?" And in that moment, Little Bean realized that he must have swallowed it. We were all cheering and trying to show him in the mirror the much anticipated missing tooth, but he flipped out. He started crying and hopped up from his chair and started gagging like he was going to throw up. I ran to get him a bucket because he really seemed like he would throw up any moment. Blood was dripping from his mouth because he was not swallowing and was all drooly. Nothing would calm him down. :( All I can think was the sensation of the blood and the missing tooth and the knowledge that he had swallowed an inedible object was too much for him. Eventually, he calmed down and wrote a letter to the tooth fairly explaining what had happened. She pays extra for swallowed teeth of course! ;)

I'd like to spend some time doing a post on what brands we have found tasty that are gluten/dairy free. I know it'll take a while to write up, which is why it hasn't happened yet, but hopefully will in the future. Anyway, that's where we are at right now with the diet, and no plans to change any time soon.

The Bible for auditory learners

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:09:00 +0000

Several weeks ago I was sent a portion of the Bible on CD to review. The CD is made by a company called The World's Greatest Stories, and isn't that what the Bible really is--the greatest story the world has ever known? Most of us want our kids to enjoy it, but often times we find that the stories are hard to understand when we read them to our children or our children read them by themselves.

The World's Greatest Stories puts out a collection of CDs for purchase that are word for word from the Bible. Read by George W. Sarris in a dramatic tone, these CDs DO bring to life those all important stories from God's Word. Not only were my kids enjoying them, I too was listening along and picked up on some details I had not previously remembered reading.

You can choose from KJV or NIV. I chose NIV for us, and was sent a CD on the prophets. My CD included the stories of Jonah, Daniel in the lion's den, Beltshazar and the writing on the wall, Elijah calling down fire, and the fiery furnace. Little Bean, my 6 year old LOVES to listen to audio books of any kind, but these were a special treat because they are read in such a dramatic fashion and include sound effects like the sound of a blazing fire in the story of the fiery furnace. Miss O liked this CD too, but Little Bean really seemed to favor it.

Each CD is $7.95. You can listen to samples on their website too! Other offerings include: The Life of Christ, Beginnings, Joshua and Esther, Joseph and His Brothers and Defeating Giants.

Note: I received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Review: Vintage Remedies

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Vintage Remedies a company dedicated to teaching children and teens about natural living and a healthy lifestyle. They have a number of wellness products with this aim, and I was sent a copy of their Vintage Remedies for Kids curriculum, which is geared toward children ages 2 to 6.

Vintage Remedies for Kids is approximately 200 pages, and has 18 health and wellness topics to discuss with your child. Rather than a workbook, Vintage Remedies for Kids is more of a discussion guide with creative ideas to extend the learning for young children. Each chapter has a few pages of discussion that help the parent to lead the child into a conversation about a particular topics. Following that are some ideas to make the learning more hands on. For example, one day the kids and I discussed fruits, and then made a smoothie. We learned that smoothies are healthier than juice because you are eating the whole fruit (pulp). We also learned about what kinds of vitamins and nutrients are in different kinds of fruits. Other topics to explore include: foods that are not real foods, nuts and grains, how I grow, when I get sick, and many others.

While I thought there was quite a bit of quality information in this little book, along with some good ideas for making the learning come alive, I would have found it more appealing if it did come with more visual aids (pictures, of which there are none), and worksheets or mini books to do together. I don't want to have to put together my own crafts to go along with each lesson; I just don't have time for that! Vintage Remedies for Kids is $25.00.

I was also sent a book called The Kitchen Herbal. The Kitchen Herbal is a book that explores 18 different herbs, and their uses for health and wellness as well as for taste! The author, Jessie Hawkins gives a small history of each herb, as well as several recipes and information on how to grow and store the herb at home. Those who enjoy cooking and trying new flavors will likely enjoy this book, as it contains a wealth of information on herbs and their uses. The Kitchen Herbal is is $9.95.

Note: I was given this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

2nd grade, fractions and geometry and a game called Fractazmic

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:11:00 +0000

As some of you know, we use and love our math curriculum, Right Start Mathematics. Little Bean is in Book C now, which is for second graders. He is doing quite well with it! Recently we began a series of lessons focusing on geometry and fractions. Little Bean has been using a 30/60 triangle and a T-square to construct various shapes and divide the shapes in parts. He is doing some comparing of fractions during this time too. While this has been very challenging for him, it has also been a great way for him to realize that real math problems are the kind that don't have an immediately apparent answer. He has really had to problem solve to figure out how to divide the shapes accurately.

I was excited when I was given the opportunity to review a fraction card game called Fractazmic because the opportunity came at the same time as our study of fractions did. Fractazmic is a card game with three suits (colors) that the players must collect and add up the fractions on the cards to equal 1. The trick is that the fractions don't all have a common denominator, so the student must convert the fractions to a common denominator in order to figure out how to make the cards equal 1.

Initially this seemed too difficult for Little Bean, who has only had a gentle introduction to fractions, and no introduction to conversions. But as we played, we utilized the illustrations on the cards to help us. For instance, one suit has pictures of eggs in a carton. To add up to 1, you must have 12 eggs. This he could understand, so we built on that, and used the game as our introduction to conversions. To start, we also played our hands open faced, so I could help him along. Later, in Right Start, he was briefly introduced to this concept by dividing triangles into fractions and comparing the sizes of the pieces.

Fractazmic is $6.95 cents (plus shipping). As a learning tool and a fun game, I haven't a complaint about it! The makers of Fractazmic, a company called I See Cards, has several other educational cards games, so if you like the looks of this one, be sure to check out their other offerings!

Please note: I received this game in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Big hopes for the bigger house...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:33:00 +0000

I have grandiose dreams of having a lovely schoolroom in our new house that is all organized and pretty and not combined with any other room. We'll see if finances allow for a fancy room like that, but regardless we will have the space!

Even with the space though, I'm finding it very difficult to run the house, take care of the baby, and school both kids. Things have really slowed down in the school department, which I guess is okay since they are "ahead" anyway for their age. But it leaves me feeling disorganized and scattered and questioning whether we even got anything done in a day (and dreaming of what I had pictured their school years to look like). Having a child on the autism spectrum only adds to the stress because he has so many special supports that need to be in place to have a smooth day. Add to that that we have some curriculum burn out (at least for me), and I'll say I'm not in the best place (as far as homeschooling goes) right now. I don't even want to think about what my life is going to be like when this new little one arrives at Easter time!

In the past we have used the workbox system on two separate occasions. We used it, loved it, dropped it, and then came back to it briefly. It does keep you on course, but it is SO much work, at least in my mind. By the end of the day, all I want to do is spend time with my husband and go to bed. I don't want to think about filling the boxes and making centers for them to do. But, I know I need to do something because what we are doing now (aka flying by the seat of our pants), isn't working. It was alright when we had a newborn on our hands, but Mimi is almost 4 months old now, sleeping through the night and (mostly) napping during the day. When I think about the last 4 months, I just keep thinking about all the wasted time....sigh.

We have found we can really only school when Mimi is sleeping. And right now she is sleeping alright during the day. But it means we have to break our schooling up into chunks with playing in between while I care for her. We aren't used that, so that's been an adjustment. The kid's toys are in the school room and during breaks they wreak havoc on the space and make it difficult for me to come back hours later and pick up where we left off! Unfortunately, I don't have another place to put the toys even if I wanted to move things around. I also don't like knowing I only have a certain amount of hours to get all their schoolwork done in a day, since we are only working while Mimi is napping. I end up having to pick and choose what we will get done each day, and never feeling like we got it all done.

I know, poor me! But I'm writing hoping someone will have some been-there-done-that advice for me. :) For the first time in a long time I'm feeling like I can't do this well, even though I'm trying! Help!

Our House

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:06:00 +0000

I mentioned a while back that we had purchased a new home. It's entirely new, hasn't even been built yet! And if you read my post the other day, you know with a baby on the way, plus Mimi (not her real name), our foster baby, and two older kids, we are eager for the extra space. Above are a couple pics of the layout and exterior of the home.

It's 5 bedrooms (the media room we are putting in a closet to make a 5th bedroom), with two bedrooms downstairs, including the master. We will have a formal dining room downstairs which differs from the picture in that we will be closing ours off to make an extra room (playroom maybe?). Upstairs there are three bedrooms and a "game room". Our game room will be the school room. It sits on 1/3 an acre. We would have loved a little more land, but for the size of house we wanted and the price range we had, 1/3 was about as good as it gets! It's very close to Raymond's work too. We are excited and feel blessed to be making this purchase! We are hoping to close in February.

All About Spelling Level 3, not a review, just an update

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:51:00 +0000

We are cruising right along in All About Spelling with both kids. Miss O, in Kindergarten is 10 lessons away from finishing Level 1. Little Bean, in 2nd grade, is 9 lessons away from finishing Level 3. Both of them do really well with this curriculum, and are shaping up to be excellent spellers. I will say Little Bean seems to be a natural speller though; his memory is amazing! Just seeing a word once or twice he is able to memorize it.

In Level 3, the student moves beyond just sentence dictation to creating his or her own sentences. Little Bean made a nice little story using his All About Spelling words (teacher, reading, staples, smarter, papers) when he noticed all the words he was given connected to each other in some way.
Another activity we recently did in Level 3 is practicing the sounds of /ed/. You probably never thought about it, but the sound /ed/ actually makes three sounds (ed, d, and t). Here, Little Bean had to sort the words under the proper sound the /ed/ made.
In the interest of full disclosure, this post contain my affiliate links. But don't worry, I would still recommend it if I wasn't an affiliate, and truth to told, I haven't made any money being an affiliate with them anyway! ;) Course if you want to be the first to help me make some extra money, please feel free to click through my post to make your purchases. :)

Free Digital Homeschool Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Just a heads up, follow this link to get your free digital copy of The Old Schoolhouse Christmas issue. I really like this magazine, and though I would love to read it in print, digitally is okay too. And hey, can't complain, it's free!

A poem with some news hidden in it

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:44:00 +0000

We've really been focusing more on Language Arts lately, and that has included some poetry writing. I pulled out a poetry packet I received in college when I was studying for my teaching credential and we have done a few of the activities from there.

One such activity is a non-rhyming poem called I wonder. Each line begins with the words, "I wonder" and the child is free to wonder about anything at all! Little Bean seemed to really like this activity, and if you read closely, you will see some hidden news in his poem.

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...did you see it? If not, I'll just tell you; in one line of his poem he wonders how mom gets a baby. ;) Yup, that's right, I'm pregnant! It's late in the game too. I think I'm around 20 or 21 weeks already! I kept it a secret for so long because I knew we were visiting my parents in California and I wanted to surprise them! We go for the gender ultrasound on Friday.

A reading game from the author of Worldy Wise

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:21:00 +0000

Most of you know we love games at our house. So when I was given the opportunity to review a reading game, aptly titled, The Reading Game, I was excited to see what it was all about. In the back of my mind, I thought maybe Miss O, my emerging reader, may be too good at reading to benefit from this game, but never the less, we gave it a go.

The Reading Game comes with several decks of leveled word cards and a corresponding leveled reader for each deck. The player uses the cards to play a memory game. When the words on the cards have been memorized, the player then reads the book. During the course of the game, the child memorizes 180 of the most commonly used words in early reading. The goal of The Reading Game is to make learning to read fun for the student and to help give their reading skills a little boost in a low stress situation.

In the end, I was right about Miss O being too advanced in her reading skills for this game. She is already reading most all of the 180 words that were introduced, and the few she didn't recognize she memorized on the spot. So from an educational standpoint, this game was past its' prime for our household. Does that mean it's a bad game? Not really. It's just that since my youngest reader has already learned the words in the game, there was no real educational point in playing it.

In terms of fun factor, I wasn't particularly impressed. I was really expecting a reading game, something new and different, not just decks of word cards and instructions on how to play memory. Memory isn't the most exciting game, my kids have played probably dozens of memory games in their short lives, and it wasn't all that fun for them. Is this always the case? Probably not. There are probably kids who love memory games, and those kids would probably really like this game. For us though, it was a little dry.

Quality-wise, the game itself is packaged neatly and nicely in a little box with colorful decks of cards that appear sturdy enough to be used many times. The readers are paperback, printed in black and white on glossy paper. They aren't fancy, but they do the job. The Reading Game sells for $24.95 here. Free worksheets and assessment printouts are available here.

Please note: I was sent The Reading Game free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligate to give a positive review.

Math Mammoth

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:57:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered about Math Mammoth? I know I have. On the different homeschooling forums I frequent, whenever people ask about quality math programs, Math Mammoth is mentioned as both a quality program and an affordable one. I know all the talk made me curious. So I was excited when I found out I would get to review one of their programs.

Maria Miller, the creator of Math Mammoth worked with each crew member who was reviewing her products individually. She helped us choose just the right program for the particular learner in our home. Apparently this is a regular practice of her, so I give two thumbs up right off the bat for excellent customer service. Maria chose for me both her full 2nd grade curriculum (Light Blue series), and also her multiplication book. I was delighted with her choices and printed out the full 2nd grade text that night!

A little background on how Math Mammoth works may help those of you who are unfamiliar with its' format. Maria has different "series" or kinds of work texts. They are downloadable, so you can print them as many times as you want or need and this also keeps the costs down for you. CD or printed copies are available for those who desire them. Maria has full curriculum sets which are listed by grade level. She also has individual work texts which cover a particular topic--for instance I received one book just on multiplication. These are helpful for students who are struggling in just one area and need extra practice. Check out her FAQs page for more information on how these items are sold and how the grade levels match up to the topics.

In terms of pricing, as I said, Math Mammoth is affordable. I received the full curriculum for 2nd grade, and this runs for $34.00. The multiplication book I received is $5.00. Maria does not actually sell her products on the Math Mammoth site, but you can purchase them on Currclick or Kagi or Lulu. Learn more about that here where she gives direct links to her stores on each site.

Here are my thoughts. Neither of my kiddos are workbook kiddos. Some kids are, and some parents or teachers are. And that's great. But my son can take 30 minutes to do just one Math Mammoth worksheet filled with old concepts for review. Since Kinder we have been using a very hands-on approach that is really teacher intensive and very oral. Math Mammoth is a different approach altogether. It's much more of a paper and pencil math curriculum that requires the student to write quite a bit. There is very little actual "teaching" going on in my opinion, or at least in the way I am used to teaching. Short explanations and lots of practice seemed to be what I observed when using this with Little Bean. That works for a lot of people. So I'm not saying Math Mammoth isn't a quality curriculum. I'm just saying that for us, it's a little to worksheet oriented.

As for how math is taught, Math Mammoth leaves room for teachers to introduce their own manipulatives and make it more of a hands-on approach, certainly. The worksheets are colorful and make use of visual models to help the student understand the concepts. I'm a bit of a manipulative snob though; I believe only certain ones are worth using. I believe that just having a picture of ten balls in rows of two isn't necessarily going to help the student understand what ten looks like. Or counting out beans or plastic bears when adding isn't much of an improvement from using nothing at all. So I guess for me, some of what I saw on the worksheets was visual, but not necessarily helpful to the student. I hope that makes sense.

So is Math Mammoth worth it? Well, that all depends on what you're looking for. Take the Math Mammoth tour so you can get samples of the workbooks and decide for yourself if this is something you want to invest in.

Please note: I received my copies of Math Mammoth for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

What's going on

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:08:00 +0000

I know, I know, I've been so MIA from my blog...but it's not for lack of fun things to share with you all! Recently we learned to play subtraction chain games in Right Start Level C. We made Spartan and Athenian magnetic paper dolls, we delved into creative writing with some fun projects and poems, we learned how bones and muscles work together to make our body move, and we played a neat fraction card game. All things I want to post about on my blog.

On the personal side, we are celebrating Little Bean's first loose tooth (and the adult tooth that is already coming in behind!), the baby's 3 month birthday and the piercing of her sweet little ears, Little Bean's amazing job selling popcorn for cub scouts (he came in 2nd in sales for his whole pack!), and the purchase of a brand new home, set to close in February!

In terms of reviews, I've got some good stuff coming up, reviewing that aforementioned fraction card game, a reading card game, a book on healthy living and nutrition for preschool and lower elementary, a math curriculum, and lots of other good things!

So though the blog is a little quiet, I hope you'll stick with me in this very busy time. If you do, I know eventually you'll be glad you did because I have lots of good stuff in mind, ...now all I need is the time to write it out!

How are things going with you??

A computer reading program that's fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:36:00 +0000

Some of you may have gathered from previous posts that my Miss O is a little....technologically challenged. She and the computer, they just don't mesh. No matter how well-crafted or fun the computer game is, for some reason she always ends up in tears. Well, recently we had the chance to review another computer program, this time a reading program, called Ooka Island.

Miss O actually really had fun with this one! I was wary to begin with because of our failures in the past, but she really enjoyed this one, and I'm sure will continue to enjoy Ooka Island until our subscription runs out.

Here are some basics of the game:

Ooka Island is a reading program geared toward children in Pre K through Grade 2. The child chooses an avatar to take them around Ooka Island and proceed through several different learning games. Some of the games Miss O enjoyed were the sound cave in which the child listens for a sound and her avatar is moved forward on a little roller coaster ride in the cave, and a mountain climbing game focusing on jumping from letter to letter in alphabetical order. Once they reach the top of the moutain, the child's avatar can skateboard down!

After being guided through the activities for twenty minutes, the child goes to the popcorn library to read a book. At first the books are read to you. Later, it is my understanding that the child reads the books. How it works is that every child, no matter their reading level starts at the same point in the game, but by contacting customer service, your child is offered an assessment to place them at the appropriate reading level in the popcorn library. Though Miss O is reading well already, I chose to start her out at the very beginning for the purpose of this review. But the option to bump your child up is out there for those who need it.

Once you are done in the popcorn library, the child has 8 minutes of free time on the island and can repeat whatever games they like or visit the playhouse, where they can dress their avatar in different clothes or play with the Ooka elves and their toys.

It is my understanding that Ooka Island is a fairly new program, and thus there do seem to be some kinks that need working out. For one, the download itself is quite lengthy. They warned about this one the website, that since there were so many components to the game, the download would be long. But mine was over 2 hours, and even then I had to contact customer support for help because the program would not run right. Fortunately they were very helpful and I was able to get the program going. A second problem we encountered with Ooka Island was with the avatar. Ours was headless! And if my daughter entered the "closet" to change her avatar's clothes, the game would freeze up and we had to close it. Neither of these were a huge deal to me, but I thought I'd be honest and just say the game isn't "perfect" just yet.

Ooka Island runs by subscription. It's $12.95 for one month, $59.95 for 6 months, and $99.95 for a year. Alternatively, if you have more than one child who wants to play, you can take a look at their family account pricing, which is cheaper. You'll want to check out their website because it has lots of information and some video to help you get a feel for what the game is like. Also see the graphic below for a promo code to save 30 percent!

My opinion is that Ooka Island is a really fun, well put together program that most children will really enjoy. I think if the child is just starting out, they would be the ones who would benefit the most.

Please note: I received Ooka Island for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Memoria Press Reading Program

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:13:00 +0000

Memoria Press sent me a sweet little bundle of books to try out with Miss O recently. Memoria Press is a publishing company that publishes all kinds of classically-based curriculum for students of all ages. I received their phonics, reading and printing program, called First Start Reading, as well as their Classical Phonics book, which is a little book that has extensive words lists to be used alongside any reading program from K to 2.

Since Miss O is already reading pretty well (she can read books like Henry and Mudge or the Young Cam Jansen Mysteries), I wasn't at all sure what I could pull from this program that would work for her level.

I knew most of the phonics portion would not work for her. I'm not against phonics at all; nor am I a die-hard phonics person like some teachers seem to be. But First Start Reading is a phonics-based program that is pretty thorough, taking a child from not reading at all and giving them a great start toward fluency in reading, and Miss O for one already knows how to read, and for two, didn't respond to the phonics approach very well in the past. I did try out their Classical Phonics book for its' word lists, starting her somewhere in the middle of the book closer to her reading level. This is a nice little companion book, and for those who need it, it does have phonics rule explanations at the bottom of each page explaining the rule the child is practicing.

The First Start Reading program consists of three components--phonics, reading (stories) and printing. It consists of three consequtive workbooks for the student, and a teacher's guide that has scripting as well as a smaller copy of the workbook so the teacher can see what the students will be doing without having to look at the workbook separately. I went ahead and started in the beginning with Miss O, because although she knows how to read already, her printing isn't the best, and printing is an integral part of the lessons right from the beginning. This program uses the "ball and stick" printing you see in a lot of workbooks (as opposed to manuscript or something else). Miss O actually really enjoyed the workbooks, though they are really repetitive in that each lesson is the same format every day.

My assessment of this program is that is a well-thought out, no-frills program that would work well for parents who a) want a phonics approach to teaching reading, and b) who have children who thrive on repetition in learning. The First Start Reading Program is $29.95 and the Classical Phonics book is $14.95. Memoria Press also offers full curriculum packages, Latin and Greek curriculum as well as many other subject areas related to classical education.

Please note: I was given this program free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Allergen Free Halloween Candy List

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:24:00 +0000

My husband found this list of allergen free Halloween candy, and I thought it was so helpful, I had to share: http://surefoodsliving.com/2011/10/halloween-candy-list-gluten-free-allergen-free-2011/ . It's written by a mom who's child has Celiac's (gluten allergy), I believe, but she includes six of the top eight allergens (including wheat and milk) and lists dozens of different candies and what is and isn't in them. She updates this list every Halloween too! This would be very helpful to us if all candy didn't have dyes in it and we weren't avoiding dyes! ;)

What are we doing for Halloween? Candy buy-back! The kids are getting money in exchange for their Halloween candy. We did buy a few gluten free, dye free candies at the store, but for the most part they are doing buy back. They seem to be alright with that.

Resource for Christian home educators

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:45:00 +0000

People homeschool for all kinds of reasons. Some people do it out of necessity--they have a child with severe allergies, or they live in a neighborhood with poorly ranking schools. Some people do it because their child was not thriving in public school. Some do it for religious reasons. Some would consider home educating their children a calling. If that's you, you may be interested in the book I've been reading of late, a book entitled, "Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson.

I say this book is for those who feel that homeschooling is their God-given calling as parents because this book is wholly focused on Christian home education. Right off the bat I noticed that it was written to that particular audience, and I think those who do not hold to Christian belief probably would not enjoy this book much, though I can't say that definitively, since there is so much to glean between it's covers.

As a Christian home educator myself, I found this massive, nearly 400 page book to be an inspiring and quality resource. I have always felt that my children should be educated at home with me, that that was where they were meant to be. This book has given me so much inspiration as I explore how to best go about homeschooling my kids.

As the title suggests, this book is about developing the whole child, not just his academic side, but also nurturing the home environment in ways that will aid in shaping him into a child who is wholly devoted to God, and who has had an excellent education. I wish I had been able to read this one cover to cover before my review was due (course with a newborn in the house, who can blame me for not finishing the entire thing), but I will say I am thoroughly impressed with what I have read, and have spent many a session with hi-lighter in hand, processing the things I am reading. I can tell this will be a book that I come back to time and again because already it is reminding me of why I homeschool and in what ways I can make the experience better for our whole family.

"Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" can be purchased at Apologia's website for $22.00. For a book of this size (this book is the size of a college text!), that is not a bad price at all. As most of you probably know, Apologia sells lots of other books and curriculum, so be sure to cruise around their site for a while!

Please note: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

American Heritage Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Have you heard of American Heritage Girls? When we signed Little Bean up for Cub Scouts, Miss O could not wait to get in on the vest-wearing, patch-earning action. She even wore her Awana Cubbies vest around the house and tagged along to Little Bean's pack meetings. When she turned 5 in July, I started looking into Girl Scouts, but heard something about this other group called American Heritage Girls.

AHG is a Christian group for girls that is apparently associated with boy scouts, and is a lot like girl scouts in that they earn patches and do fundraising and service projects in the community. We actually found out about our troop through our local homeschooling group and decided to join that instead of girl scouts.

Miss O is loving being with all her little friends and earning her beads (in Pathfinders they earn beads, not patches). Last Monday was her joining ceremony--she did great and had a lot of fun! :)

Update on the little one

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Our little foster baby is 2 months now! She is doing great! She has not had a visit with her mama again yet, but we do have a family team meeting coming up at the end of this month and court again in December, so most likely mom will request a visit at that time. She is free to request one whenever she wants, but usually she ends up missing the visit for whatever reason.

The aunt that originally wanted to take the baby has changed her mind, but another possible dad is being DNA tested now, and if he is the dad, he would be able to take custody of her right away, probably. We just need to wait and see, and we should know real soon if he is the dad. They do not give us foster parents the DNA results, but if he is the dad we will know because they will call to let us know she will be moving or at least to start visits with the dad if he needs to work a parenting plan.

Baby is about 12 pounds now, and already moving up to size two diapers! There were a few days last week where she was just super fussy and I decided to take her to the doctors, because that is not like her. As it turned out, she was not getting enough of her reflux medicine and they had to adjust the dosage. She is doing much better now, thankfully!

She is sleeping through the night most of the time now (8 to 10 hours!). I say that tentatively, since she tends to go for several nights great, and then need a feed the next night at 1 am. But for almost 9 weeks, she is doing super in the sleeping department. Her naps are not as good, she takes some of them pretty well, like 1.5 hours at a time, but others she wakes up after 45 minutes and is clearly not hungry and is clearly still tired. Not sure how to fix that, but eh, it is what it is right now I guess. I will say it makes homeschooling quite a challenge when I can't have her on a predictable schedule. Sometimes I feel like I am doing so much I can't do any of it well, or if I do one thing well, the other things suffer. I guess that's probably normal for this stage in life though!

We had her pictures taken when she turned 5 weeks, they are so adorable! I wish I could post them, but we are not allowed! I can't wait to show them off to her mom. :)

She is a lot of work, I will say that, between meetings, visits, court dates, docter visits, and home visits. We will likely add Early Intervention to that list soon too, as she is not meeting all of her milestones (who knew an 8 week old could be behind, but alas, this is what the social workers are worried about, but I digress...) and as a foster child, they are required to refer her sometime in the first three years of her life. I can't tell you how many people and how often they have asked me if I want her referred already! Even if she is alot of work, she is such a pleasure to have around, and we all already love her dearly!

Magnet Curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:52:00 +0000

What kid doesn't love playing with magnets? I know both of mine have really enjoyed playing with the magnets in the kit Little Bean received from a friend a year or so ago. The kit even came with a little booklet with some simple experiments to try. So when the opportunity arose for me to review Primarily Magnets, published by Aims Educational Foundation, I was certainly interested.

Primarily Magnets is geared toward grades K to 2, and is 85 pages long. Covering such things as magnets interacting with other magnets, magnets interacting with other materials, attraction and repulsion, magnetic fields, and the everyday use of magnets, this supplimentary curriculum went far beyond the little booklet in our existing magnet kit. Primarily Magnets consists of thorough lesson plans which are aligned with educational standards and also has pages that can be copied for use with the lessons. A CD with PDF files of all the worksheets comes with the book, which is really convenient for those who don't have free access to a copier, but can print at home. Primarily Magnets is $18.95. Primarily Magnets is offered in a PDF version for the same price.

As I said, the kids have already done a lot with magnets in the past, but with Primarily Magnets I was able to take their knowledge to a deeper level. I was glad that we had a variety of magnets on hand already, otherwise the book alone would not have been all that fun since it does not come with magnets. You can purchase ring magnets alone from AIMS or a Mostly Magnets kit, but the kit in my opinion wouldn't work for homeschoolers because it comes with too many duplicates (it was clearly made for classroom use). But magnet kits are inexpensive and easy to purchase, and luckily this curriculum with adapt well to any magnet kit you decide to use alongside.

I found Primarily Magnets to be a solid curriculum choice for those looking for a unit study or semester long study of magnets. Was it exceptional? In my opinion, no, not really. But it wasn't bad either. It was a good solid curriculum and I have nothing bad really to say about it. My friends on the Homeschool Crew also reviewed Primarily Magnets and other products from AIMS (AIMS offers quite a range of educational products in the areas of math and science), so if this book sounds like something you'd like to know more about, by all means hop on over here and see what other people are saying.

I received Primarily Magnets for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review, and all opinions are mine.

Couldn't have found this site at a better time...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:38:00 +0000

Just a few weeks before we picked up our little one (now 4 weeks old!), I started asking around on the different homeschooling message boards about an online program that I could use with my kids. I knew I'd be swamped taking care of a little baby, but at the same time, I really wanted the kids to continue with their studies even while we took some time off from our regular schedule. I didn't want an actual online school or a complete program, just something that would continue to sharpen and keep their knowledge fresh while we were away from the school room for a while.

A few people mentioned this program called Big IQ Kids, which is a free website (with a premium section, more on that later) designed for K to 12, offering learning exercises in math (drill), spelling, vocabulary and the states. To my delight, I was actually offered a premium subscription to this site for both my kids, and it couldn't have come at a better time!

Big IQ Kids is kind of a unique program because it is fairly customizable for your student. In the math section you can choose to have them timed or not timed, which operations you would like them to do and in how many digits (1 digit addition, etc), and how many problems they must complete to finish the lesson. In the free spelling section you can input your own word lists and choose how many and which games they will play to learn their words. Miss O was put on the premium spelling, and hers is oddly much less customizable than the free version. The section the states is not customizable, but it starts everyone at the beginning.

I'll be honest and just say we did not use the vocabulary section all that much, and I'll tell you why. This may just be me, but the characters on this program are computerized and they speak in a very monotone and unnatural fashion. In the vocab section especially, this is apparent, and I'll just say it, the voices irritated me. I didn't feel like my kids could understand them because of the strange tone and mode of speech. They actually never complained that they couldn't, but I couldn't bear to listen to it more than necessary!

Now here's the part of Big IQ that my kids liked: after every lesson, they earned a coin. The coins are saved and then can be used to play little games on the computer. The games are short and generally pretty simplistic, but it's enough of an incentive to get them to happily do some math drills or spelling games.

As I said before, Big IQ also offers a premium section of their site. The main difference between the two is that with the premium subscription the program will monitor and track your child's progress in the various subjects and move them forward only when mastery is achieved. But you do not have to have the premium membership to benefit from this site. There is alot there that is free for you. I wish I had known about it earlier! Here is more information on just what is free and what is included in the premium price. You can purchase the premium programs separately or all four for a bundle price of $19.99 a month, or $89.99 for a year. Find out more about pricing for individual purchases here.

We were given a 1 year subscription to this site, and I am sure we will get lots of use out of it--we already have! If you are interested in Big IQ Kids, hop over here and read more reviews for this product or go to their website FAQ page and find out more!

Please note: I was given this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review and all opinions are mine.

Foster Care Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:05:00 +0000

We have had our little foster baby in the house for a little over 2 weeks now, and she is such a delight! I haven't shared much about her, though I'd like to (I feel like I need therapy just thinking about all she has gone through in her little life!), to preserve her privacy and dignity there is alot I can't talk about.

But she is doing great! She came to us at 4 lb 12 oz, and she is a whopping 8 lb 5 oz now at almost 4 weeks. She is such a good baby too. I have memories of walking my kids up and down the living room floor at night trying to get them to fall asleep and stay asleep. Not so with this little one! She came to us already knowing how to fall asleep on her own. She has a very distinct pattern to her days: eat, stay awake for a while, get groggy, go to sleep, and start over again. Except at night when she skips the staying awake bit! Truly I did not know babies like her existed, she is SO good!

Even still, she does keep me getting up every 3 to 4 hours at night and likes to spray me with her projectile vomit at least daily (she has acid reflux and is on Zantac), so I am tired! I got a cold just right after we got her, and haven't been able to get rid of it. I'm not sure how I will with such sporadic sleep going on!

I don't know if I mentioned before, but in the state of Oklahoma, a kinship or family placement takes priority over a straight foster care placement, which is what we are. There is a relative that would like custody of this little one, and so is going through background checks now. If she is approved, the baby would go to live with her. Things do not look like they will go that way, but we will not know for at least a few months.

Baby had her first visit with her birthmom yesterday. I will say that it was interesting (and not in a good way) to say the least, but the most important thing I got out of it was that a)the birth mom loves her little baby A LOT, and b)although she is upset about the situation, she does not have any bad feelings, it seems, toward us as the foster family. I'm glad for that because I would really like to have a good working relationship with her, and am not the kind of person who knows how to deal with that kind of conflict. The baby was wide awake for the visit and well fed beforehand, so she was a little sweetie pie for her mom and they spent some time getting to know one another. I'm not sure if and when the next visit will be.

Yesterday our case worker also gave us a clothing voucher so we can do a little shopping for the little miss! Since she was so new when she came into custody, she came with nothing but the clothes on her back (a 3 to 6 mo. onesie and socks) and a receiving blanket. We have purchased alot of clothing for her already, but with the weather changing (yay!) she will be needing more warm clothing and the voucher will help a lot!

Miss O and Little Bean are enamored with her, but in different ways. Miss O is like my little helper, she even *tries* to change diapers for me! Little Bean loves how soft her skin is and how she makes "animal" noises and squeezes his fingers! We started homeschooling back up again on Tuesday, but I can tell I may need more time. My energy is really at an all time low. Thank goodness she is such an easy little baby, not sure I can handle much more!

When she came to us there were some concerns with her heart (possible situs inversus, or reversal of the heart) and she had some stomache distention, and had an x-ray. All was normal on that, and she is healthy in every way at this point. We are so thankful to have her for whatever amount of time. What an amazing (yet exhausting experience) this has been so far!

Our Newest Board Game

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:46:00 +0000

How cute is this game?

We are totally board game people--what homeschooling family isn't, right? But Flea Circus by R and R Games is our most recent favorite board game to play together.

The game pieces are well made and super cute, and the rules are easy enough that Miss O, my new 5 year old, caught on quickly and can play a mean hand all on her own! She is the least into board games of all of us, so that is really saying something.

Hey, you can even play by yourself, or if you're anything like Little Bean, with your pet monkey! Just kidding, you have to have at least one friend to play with, but still, isn't this pic adorable? I bet you can't guess who won! ;)

So here's the lowdown on this game, cause I know if you're looking at my pics you're already interested cause this game is just so darn cute!

Flea Circus is a card game that utilizes little rubber cats and dogs--the "spectators"--who have come to watch the "fleas" perform in their circus shows. Each player tries to attract the most spectators to his show to win the game. The box has easy to understand instructions included, and says that the game is for ages 6 and up. But like I said before, my daughter just turned 5, and she is a whiz at this game! The cost listed on the website is $15.95.

And here's a bonus--if your little one is learning skip counting, this game can help them along. Dog spectators are worth two tickets, cats are worth one. So when the cards run out and everyone counts out their spectators, you can take the opportunity to practice skip counting by twos with your child. Here, Miss O used her abacus to count by twos and then ones to figure out her total number of spectators.

Like this game? Me too. And you're super lucky. Because the folks at R and R Games say you can use the promo code CREW20 to receive 20% off any purchase on the site. It's good until the end of the year too, so if you wanna tuck this little game away for a Christmas gift, you can do that too!

Not convinced? Read more reviews R and R games here.

Thanks for reading, and happy playing!

Disclaimer: I was given Flea Circus free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, nor was I compensated in any way. I strive to be as forthright and candid in my reviews as possible.