Weekly Wrap Up {Park Day, Animal Show and Book Club}

Today ends our second week of school.  Never would have thought I'd be saying that in the middle of July! 


This week went pretty well, scattered but well.  Some how we didn't finish all of our Trail Guide to Learning -POE lessons last week so we finished them up this week. 


The Lil' Chef was exited to start Teaching Textbooks 7 this week {Thanks Mrs. Luisa for blessing us with this!!}. She continued to not be very thrilled with her writing assignments.  She is getting used to the copywork that goes along with POE but does not like to have to go off and creatively write something.  She is starting an online writing program, Time 4 Writing, next week that I am VERY excited about.  I will tell you all more about this later {it's a review}.


Computer Girl has been plugging along with her studies.  She is progressing very well with her multiplication facts while using Math Made Easy {another review}.

Alpha Boy is working on his Abeka Letters and Sounds.  He is at that point where he knows his letter sounds but they all haven't quite clicked yet.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we can work at our own pace.  He is also working through his Arithmetic 1 book, some of which we do orally as he is doing jumping jacks.  {smile}


Little Bits made an alligator out of a letter A and made an a book.  He also talked his oldest sister into reading countless Eric Carle and Berenstain Bears books this week.  Aren't big sisters GREAT!!

This guy was about 2 feet away from me, a little too close for comfort thank you very much.  I was able to get a good picture of him though.

On Wednesday, we went to a park play date/ farewell party.  The only probelm was that we went on the wrong day, we were a day early!  We even brought playgroup granola bars, which became our lunch.  Since we had the day wrong we went to Goodwill to look for some clothes for one of my kiddos.  God is so good!  We found several really cute outfits that work for everyday as well as church clothes.  We got 3 skirts, 5 tops , 1 pair of shorts and 2 dresses for about $65!  I have mentioned my love of Goodwill, right??

We also went to the library.  This week they were having a show about animals.  The Maryland State Zoo came and brought several animals for us to check out.  We got to see a screech owl {I really want one BTW}, a sugar glider, tarantula, and a baby alligator!!  We had a full and fun day! 

Thursday we went back to the park for the actual play date/ farewell party - this time we brought brownies.  It was nice to hang out with our friends whom we are going to miss very much! 

Tea Party!

Today we had our second American Girl Summer Book Club meet.  9 girls, 4 moms and my boys!  The girls had read Meet Felicity last week, so we talked about the book and the characters.  We made 2 batches of short bread cookies, the girls got dressed up and we had a tea party.  My boys helped serve the girls, which was really sweet.   The boys looked really cute with their dad's hats on and eyeliner mustaches! 


Looking back, I 'd say we had a pretty good week.  We accomplished school and had some great fellowship with friends.  Hope you all had a great week too!

By His Grace,
Brandi

Who Is My Neighbor? by Apologia

If you have been reading my blog for any bit of time you have probably heard me mention the What We Believe apologetics series from Apologia.  As well as how great I think it is!

We were recently given Who Is My Neighbor?, the third book in the four book series, to review.  Like the other two that we have, Who Is God? and Who Am I? - this book is amazing! 

We received the hardcover Who Is My Neighbor? book, a notebooking journal and a coloring book.  The illustrations through all three books are beautiful - the color and quality that we have come to love and expect from Apologia is also present in these books. 

The notebooking journal for the older kids.

This is from the coloring book, which is great for the littles!

I like how this series is designed to be used sequentially, each book building upon another. I am sure that you could just buy or the other but trust me, you will want them all! 

The purpose of the Who Is My Neighbor? book is to help children to understand what it means to be the the salt and light in this fallen world.  Children learn what it means to have a servant's heart and to be more like Christ. 

It focuses on biblical truths such as:

• God created me to be a blessing to the world
• God chooses to work through me
• I can make a difference at home, in my community, and at church
• The church is God's family
• The church is one body with many gifts
• I am an important member of Jesus' body

The Lessons included in Who Is My Neighbor? are:

• Lesson 1: Does Anyone Really Need Me?
• Lesson 2: How Can I Make A Difference?
• Lesson 3: Who Is My Neighbor?
• Lesson 4: Why Did God Make Families?
• Lesson 5: What Can I Do For My Country?
• Lesson 6: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
• Lesson 7: Who Is God’s Family?
• Lesson 8: Why Does the Church Need Me?

You can see a detailed table of contents here.

The Who Is My Neighbor? set is available directly through Apologia, the prices are as follows:

• Who Is My Neighbor? - $39.00
• Who Is My Neighbor? Notebooking Journal - $24.00
• Who Is My Neighbor? Coloring Book - $8.00

Please check out what others on the TOS Crew are saying about Who Is My Neighbor?  

Disclaimer: We received this product at no charge to us in exchange for an honest review.

Professor B Math {TOS Crew}

We were given the opportunity, through the TOS Crew, to review for Professor B Math.  Professor B Math is a interactive math website designed to teach 3 years of math in just 1 year. 

The lessons are geared for children in Pre-K through 8th, but the focus is the level that your child needs to work on and not necessarily their grade level.  

The levels are set up like this:

Level I
Pre-K though 2nd graders and remediation of older learners. Introduction to Addition/Subtraction Facts – Counting to One Hundred – Lower Addition and Subtraction – Higher Addition and Subtraction – Place Value Fractional Parts & Order – Time – Money

Level II
3rd grade through 5th grade and remediation of older learners. Multiplication/Division Facts and Problem Solving – Introduction to Fractions – Fractional Equivalence – Addition and Subtraction Fractions

Level III
6th through 8th grades and remediation of older learners. Multiplication/Division of Fractions – Decimals – Percents

  

The Professor B program has structured the content of math as a developmental, contextual flow, kind of like a story.  The goal of this method is to help the children to more quickly absorb its content without learning gaps.

For our review we were given access to all 3 levels of the program along with worksheets and answers keys.  I decided to allow Computer Girl (4th grade) to be our review gal on this one.  She enjoyed the lessons and did fine on the worksheets. 

I was a little disappointed that during the program the Bee that helps with the teaching did not talk.  I later learned that this was very intentional from the company.  Here is what their website says about not having the sound....

The decision to not have the Bee speak was intentional. We did not want parents leaving the student at the computer by themselves. If the child answers incorrectly, you would not know unless you are there. This is not a game. This is a teaching program

After reading this statement I understood their reasoning.  If you are looking for a math program that your child can go and be totally independent from you then this may not be a great fit for you. 

I do feel that the content of this program is superior.  I like the way everything is laid out and the lessons are easily understand.  Professor B would be a good solid math curriculum if the website was used along with the worksheets.  It would also make a great supplement for a child that is struggling in math.  This is also a wonderful program for a visual learner.  

Professor B is very affordable for homeschooling families.  Several children, at different levels, can use this program at one time.  Currently all 3 of the Professor B Math Levels can be purchased for $100.   This one time purchase will give your family 3 full years of access to the program.  Professor B's website is not currently updated to the new price change so if you are interested you can call them directly to order 678-765-6655.

You can also order on a month to month basis:

• 1 Level- $20/ monthly for one level
• 2 Levels (at the same time)- $15.00/monthly for 2nd level
• 3 Levels (at the same time)- $10.00/monthly for the 3rd level

We feel that Professor B is great math program that is also affordable and definitely worth you checking it out!   You can see what other TOS Crew members thougth about Professor B Math here.

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.

Weekly Wrap Up {Back to School}

This was our first week back to school.  I did mention that I am going to a more year round schedule, right?  I have been thinking about this for the last couple of years but just couldn't get out of the public school calendar mindset.  Little by little I have been doing my own thing and this year I am just going for it.  I have come to the conclusion that my kids and I do better with a little more structure and we need the shorter more frequent breaks. 

I purposely set the goals at a minimum this week.  I did not add everything back for the kids this week  They were not exactly thrilled to be schooling in July but it is too hot for them to run around outside all day and they have plenty of time after school to play.  They adjusted to this just fine. 

We started our much anticipated new curriculum Trail Guides to Learning - Paths of Exploration, which went well.  We are enjoying the reading materials, the discussion and the activities.  My girls were both not too excited to be doing copywork again, they would rather work out of a grammar book to be honest.  They did not love all of the writing activities either.  But as the week went on they started getting in the groove of things and all was well.

Trail Guides to Learning - POE is just a little different of a layout than what we were doing before so everyone needs to adjust a little - not only is it normal with a new curriculum it is normal in starting a new year.
This year we have children in 7th, 4th, 1st and Pre K.  The way that I usually work our day is Bible along with breakfast and then I work with the youngest on up the oldest on things they do on their grade level.  Then we would do the rest of our group work together, this seems to work good for us so far.

Not only did we get our feet wet with our new curriculum this week we managed to end up at our county library for a science show.  I was swinging by the library to pick up from books and movies when I saw a friend who mentioned that the Maryland Science center was doing a show there today.  I had no clue about it but was very thankful that the Lord lined us up with being there at the right time.  All of my kids really enjoyed the show and 2 of them even got to go up and volunteer with the experiments. 

Another fun activity that we started this week was an American Girl Summer Book Club.  One of my friends and I are hosting it here at my house every Friday afternoon this summer.  We had six girls this afternoon, which was a perfect size.  They read the book before they came and then we discussed the book, made 2 crafts, had a snack to go along with the book and had the girls color a picture for their book club notebooks.  The all had a really great time! 

Then to end our wonderful week, this evening the kids and I scattered black and white patches all over our clothes, put on some fake paper ears and went to Chickfila for Cow Appreciation Day. I think we are going to have to make this a new family tradition! 

Anyone else start back to school this week?

10 Ways We Are Pinching Pennies

Living on one income while being a homeschool family can be somewhat challenging, financially speaking.  Add to that the irregular income from a home based business and it becomes even more challenging.   Many opportunities to trust in the Lord!

We have a home based carpet cleaning business.  The Hubs has been doing carpets for 15+ years.  He has run his own business for about 11 years.  We do mostly turn over cleans for apartment complexes but we also do residential. 

Lately, because of several reasons, we've had to learn to live on less and be frugal where we can.  I know that many others have had to cut expenses so I thought I would share some of the things that we are doing to cut costs here in the LSG house.

1) Keeping it basic - we dropped ALL of our pay channels and now only have basic cable.  We had Netflix, which we loved, but for this season in life we stopped that too.  We love to watch movies so when we have a hankering for movie night we either dip into our collection or borrow some from our wonderful library - for free.

2) Eat in - I am sure this is a no brainer, right?  We aren't ordering pizza every Friday night anymore.  Instead I pick up two $.99 bags of pizza dough, mozzarella and sauce each week from Trader Joe's.  We make two large square pizzas for about $7.  Not only is it less money, it is all natural.

3) Spending less on groceries - not only do we eat in but I make most of my own food.  I do not buy a lot of convenience foods, I do buy a few but not many.  I will buy TJ's mac and cheese, bread for sandwiches and cereal.  For our dinners though I pretty much make everything.  This not only helps us save on groceries but it is better for us. 

I do try to buy all natural or organic on things that are important to me like lettuce, tomatoes, berries, apples, chicken, ground beef, hotdogs and luch meat.  Basically things that we eat the skin of I try to buy organic.  I can not afford organic meat but I do try to get all natural and nitrite free foods.

Then there are other things that I am not so worried about like bananas, oranges, noodles, bread, milk and eggs.  I would LOVE to buy organic milk and eggs but there are just too expensive - I have learned to be content with hormone free milk and cage free eggs. 

I really want to get to the point of making all my own bread, I know this would be much more cost effective and better for us.  I just have not found a sandwich bread that I like, any suggestions?

Another thing I do is have a plan, I have a grocery list and a menu plan and I don't leave home with out them!

4) I no longer buy laundry soap or shampoo -  Can I just say, FREEDOM!!  Count less times I have thanked the Lord for my homemade laundry soap.  I love, love, love it!!  I am no longer spending big bucks on laundry suds, it works great, it's inexpensive, plus it is easy peasy to make.  So easy that my 11 year old cheerfully makes it for me when I am running low.

We are also making our own shampoo, the reason for this is actually two fold.  I know that I could go to the dollar store and scoop up several bottles of shampoo for just a few bucks.  However, the ingredients in these shampoos are not something I want to be applying to my head day after day.   The shampoo that I prefer would cost about $4-5 per bottle. {I will post this recipe soon!}

A while back a friend of mine had mentioned that the Oatmeal Soap from Trader Joe's was like a 0 for harmful chemicals {meaning it is a safe soap, so scrub up!}.  That was the day we both tried this soap on our hair just to see what we thought.  We both really liked it.  Fast forward to last weekend, The Little Chef and I were making laundry soap and hand soap when we decided to search for homemade shampoo.  Can I just tell ya that we made like 5 bottles of it from 1 bar of our oatmeal bar soap.  While we don't mind using the bar soap we really like the creamy homemade shampoo.  Whoop! Whoop!  Did I mention that this soap comes in a bag of 2 for less than $2.00! 

5) I stay out of the stores -  I no longer just run to Target for whatever.  If I have a real need then I will go or better yet I will send The Hubs.  He is great at zipping in and out with my list and not adding 50 things he had to have to it, unless it's Little Debbie snacks {smile}.  I on the other hand tend to need things as I see them.  I know that I have this weakness so I just stay away : )

6) Just say no to paper products, well mostly - Can't even tell you the last time I bought paper towels.  We have a big bucket of rags under the kitchen sink that holds wash clothes to wipe little hands and faces as well as cut up t-shirts for cleaning mirrors and glass.  I will occasionally buy a big pack of paper plates to use for breakfasts and lunches but this has also become rare.  I just realized that we spent a lot of money on unneeded paper products. 

7) Buy used - Yardsales, consignment shops and Goodwill are my friends!  I have always loved getting a good deal.  I can remember back in high school some friends and I would go from thrift store to thrift store finding all kinds of neat clothes - for pennies compared to the retail cost.  Nothing new under the sun, I still love to shop thrift stores for clothes.  I feel like you can usually find better quality clothing for much less than you would at retail stores.

Even when I need something like a new colander, the first place I look is Goodwill.  Found a perfect one for $2.  I wanted to get the The Hubs one of those plastic insulated thermos take to work with him, found one for $1. 

If your kids accidentally throw your spoons and forks away or they get lost in the yard because they were used as mini yard tools, no worries they are 4 for $1 at the Goodwill : )

8) Hand-me-downs?  Yes, please!  - For kids clothes, hand me down are great!  The Lord has really blessed us through the years with family and friends that have given us next to new clothes, and we are so grateful!  When I am given clothes or find them at yardsales they go into the garage and get sorted by size and gender.  I pull them out as needed.  This year I did not have to purchase one item of clothing for either of my boys! 

9)We do it ourselves - We cut our own grass, pull our own weeds {well theoretically}, do our own car repairs and change our own oil.  Whenever possible we do it ourselves.  The Hubs is pretty handy with cars, thankfully.  So unless it is something major he can usually fix it himself. 

10) Hair cuts at home - I think I can count on my one hand how many times my kids have gone to the salon for a haircut.  I am able {thank the Lord} to do a pretty decent job on the boys hair.  I can kinda cut a straight line for the girls hair and I have learned a great way to do layered cuts.  The Hubs shaves his hair and so that only leaves me.  I go for a hair cut once or twice a year so it's not too bad on the pockie purse. 

What are you doing to pinch pennies at home??