And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
1. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet or pot, then drain.
2. Return meat to the pot. Add beans, chilies, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato sauce, water and spices.
3. Mix and cook on low-medium for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Serve over top of shredded lettuce. Top with toppings of choice.
Everyone loved this! We will definitely be eating this again.
I really liked this one because it was good and easy enough to make at the end of a long day. I think you could even make this earlier in the day and crock pot it on warm or low until dinner time.
This would be a great recipe to serve when having company!
We were given the chance to review a wonderful language arts program recently, Essentials in Writing. EIW offers curriculum for grades 1-12. In grades 1-6 the program focuses primarily on grammar skills and then starts to shift into writing for 7-8 grades, while still weaving in grammar lessons. For 9-12 grades, students work on sentence structure, paragraphs, essays and research papers, again with grammar woven into the lessons.
We were given the 7th grade level for review, which was perfect for the Lil' Chef.
The way that EIW is laid out is that you first look over your assignment (which can be printed out from a PDF. file or done in a workbook), then the student WATCHES the lesson via DVD. After gaining an understanding of the new concept, the student then completes their assignment or assignments that correspond with the lesson.
We like that Essentials in Writing is a DVD based curriculum. It is a blessing to have an experienced, former middle school English teacher teaching the lessons, and me overseeing and helping when needed. The videos lessons are laid out well and easily understood. The 7th grade level that we reviewed covers the following (from EIW's website):
Review sentences types and sentence structure (compound sentences) and address sentence errors (fragment and run on), dependent and independent clause
Parts of a personal letter & Writing a personal letter
Parts of a paragraph & Writing a paragraph
Other forms of written communication: lists/thank you note/invitation/diary entries
How to choose an appropriate writing form.
Writing a business letter (includes format and composition)
The writing process (prewrite, draft, revise, edit/publish)
Use the writing process to compose narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive writing in formal paragraphs and informal writing
Essays; compare and contrast essay, expository essay
Effective writing skills: strong details, transitions, beginning/middle/end concept, logical sequence of events, variety of sentence structure, and use of figurative language including simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole; vivid language
Revision: word choice (use of a thesaurus), using strong details, a variety of sentence structure in writing, & figurative language when appropriate, adding dialogue when appropriate
Research Project - a complete research project including planning, gathering information, drafting, revising, and publishing.
Supplemented with:
Capitalization rules: beginning of sentences, names, city/state, holidays/countries, titles
Punctuation rules: period, question mark, & exclamation point, and comma usage; titles
The Lil' Chef has a pretty good foundation in grammar, which is recommended before starting this level (the 6th grade level offers a pretty intense grammar course, from what I understand), at this point we really need to focus on her writing. Essentials in Writing 7 pretty much jumps into writing, but as I mentioned, it also weaves grammar into the lessons. With EIW, grammar rules are reviewed and not forgotten.
So far, the Lil' Chef has done some grammar review, worked on paragraphs and now we are on to essays. The video lessons have been helpful for her in understanding new concepts and improving on her writing skills. I have noticed that EIW has also increased her confidence level with her writing. At this point she is plugging along in the program and doing great!
Essentials in Writing is a great program that is also very budget friendly! Each Essentials in Writing level is only $40! I was pretty amazed at the price to be honest. For $40 you receive the writing lessons via DVD, as well as the PDF files that can be used with multiple children. If you prefer a workbook over printing, they offer a student workbook for an additional $20. A bargain either way!
I think we are finally getting back on track. The kids are better, other than a few runny noses, thank you Lord! Life goes on and so do the hungry bellies at the LSG House. Here is what we have planned for this week.
Breakfasts
Cereal & Banana Slices (2)
Waffles & Fruit
Oatmeal (2)
Egg Wraps
Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Orange Slices
Lunches
PB&J's, Chips & Fruit - some how my kids never tire of PB&J's. They actually prefer them over most things.
Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups, Baby Carrots & Apple Slices
For the last several weeks Little Bits has been "doing school," just like his brother and sisters. He was so excited to start his new math program, TouchMath Kindergarten.
TouchMath is a multisenory math program developed by an elementary school teacher that saw a need to help children connect abstract and concrete ideas. She met this need by creating numbers that have counting points or "TouchPoints" on them, one for each count to get to the number the student is working with. Counting the "TouchPoints" in the TouchMath program is really the key to the program, and what sets this program apart from the rest.
The TouchMath program consists of four units, each one includes 90 student activity sheets, that are to be spread out through the school year. As you can see, TouchMath covers a wide range of topics:
While the activity sheets are heart of the curriculum, there are many other components that can be added to enhance your child's learning experience. We were given the four units of activity sheets, TouchShapes, Kindergarten Software and the 3-D Numerals.
This is the first official math curriculum that Little Bits has used so far. While he is not quite in kindergarten yet, I felt this level was a better fit for him than the preschool level. He seems to be doing quite well with it. He is not writing on his own yet, but he is still learning the concepts from using the 3-D numerals, TouchShapes and the computer program. He really LOVES the Kindergarten Software program!
At first, using the 3-D Numerals and counting the TouchMath way was a little foreign to my little guy. I think he had a hard time understanding why he had to count some of the dots on the 3-D numerals twice. After a little practice he got it, and now enjoys using them.
We like TouchMath and plan to continue using it for his kindergarten year. I think it is a very thorough program. TouchMath is laid out very well for the homeschool mom, I felt that it was simple for me to understand and teach. I liked that it was very hands on for my busy little boy. One major plus, Little Bits really enjoys it!
TouchMath has programs for grades Pre-K through 2nd grade:
Well it has been a little while since I have posted. Life has been a bit busy. I was dealing with vertigo for a little over a week, my girls were sick and Alpha Boy was in a wedding (he was the cutest little ring bearer I have ever seen BTW). I am thankful that we are better and that we are on break this week!
We finished our Daniel Boone unit from Trail Guide to Learning last week. So, following the 6 weeks on and 1 week off schedule that we are trying this year, we are mostly taking it easy and just doing things around the house. We had a field trip scheduled for today, but rescheduled because of all the snow we were supposed to get. The kids have been busy playing with friends from the neighborhood, catching up on chores and playing games like Clue and Pick & Draw.
This is my creation from one of our games of Pick & Draw. It's the new me : )
This is the one Computer Girl made. Hehe! As you can see we had fun!
I have come to really love this 6 on and 1 off schedule. It gives my a few days to catch up on stuff that doesn't always get done when we are schooling, lesson plan and relax a bit. Oh, and catch up on NCIS!
