Bought an iPad

I took the plunge and bought an iPad. I knew the battle was futile as soon as I walked into the Apple Store. All those smiling faces and friendly salespeople were just too much for my already weakened condition.

So as you can imagine I have spent the last few days at the iTunes store looking at educational apps for the kids. It didn't help that we are all feeling a little under the weathers so it was a cuddling and movie watching weekend.

I am going to try to write reviews on the apps we're using. Looking on-line and in the app store I was completely overwhelmed by the choices available! I hope they will help others in their quest through the mountain of educational apps.

Goodbye Enbrel, Hello Humira

Enbrel and I have parted ways after I developed a fairly severe site-injection reaction. Oddly enough, I didn't have a reaction in the beginning when most people get them, but started getting it around month 5. My Rheumatologist had me start taking Benadryl and Zantac on shot day (in addition to the Claritin I already took daily). That worked for a couple of weeks but then I had to start taking them the day before, day of, AND the day after my injection. So for 3 days of every week I was a very drowsy/loopy lady :-). The last shot I injected ended up with a 5" diameter injection site reaction and the beginning of swelling in my hands and feet. As you can imagine, my Rheumy said I was done with Enbrel.

So Humira and I have been dating for the past 8 weeks. So far, we are starting off slow, but I am hopeful it could lead to something more. So far no site-injection reactions! Please keep your fingers crossed that it starts working soon AND I don't have an allergic reaction to it!

Bedtime Math

I stumbled across Bedtime Math while reading the It's Working for Me Blog, and was intrigued by the name. Bedtime math, what in the world could that be?

Each day there is a new word math problem presented and three challenge levels: Wee Ones (preK), Little Ones (K-2nd) and Big Kids (2nd +). Obviously those grades are approximate and you can choose whichever problem(s) would be a good fit for your child.

They also offer a free PDF calendar that you can add your own stickers too, to show which days your child completed the problem.

I think Blue might really enjoy this and the word problems are on fun topics and don't feel too "school-y".

History Odyssey Timelines

I just received my History Odyssey Timelines from Rainbow Resource and they are lovely! I ordered both the HO Timelines and the HO Prehistory Timeline.

The HO Timelines has 4 timelines included: Ancients (6,000 BCE to 500 AD), Middle Ages (AD 500- 1600), Early Modern (AD 1600-1850) and Modern TImes (AD 1850 to 2020). Each timeline has 7 rows with small labels on the far right and left:

-Treaties/Agreements
-Wars and Conflicts
-Inventions and Discoveries
-Eras/Reigns Dynasties
-General Events
-Men and Women
-Art/Architecture and Literature

I also purchased the HO Timeline Sticker Pack with 200 black and white stickers. There are 50 stickers for each time period covered and has an explanation on the back of who/what the sticker is and the dates associated with it. There are no stickers for the prehistory timeline.

The Prehistory Timeline covers 2 milion BC to 7,000 BC. It is approximately 4 inches longer than the other timelines and does not have the titled rows.

After receiving the timelines I took them straight to Office Depot and had them laminated, hopefully this will increase their chance of survival with my three little ones! The total for all five timelines to be laminated was $42.29. I used my Office Depot Star Teacher reward card and saved about $7.50, this is a benefit available to homeschoolers and is easy to sign up for online.

Next step is to find a wall space big enough for all of them!

Waldorf Window Stars

I was introduced to these Window Stars when we were living in Alaska. They are easy to make, colorful and brighten up even the dreariest days. These are still a little advanced for my little ones so I made a few for them to enjoy this holiday season. I bought the craft book and paper at a wonderful store in Fairbanks, AK, Enchanted Forest Toys. They specialize in Waldorf inspired arts and crafts, toys, games and homeschooling curricula and the best part is it's owned by two homeschooling moms!

Tools needed:
-Scissors and/or paper cutter
-Clear glue or transparent tape
-Ruler
-Colored wax paper
-"Crafts Through the Year" by Thomas and Petra Berger

I wish I had some better pictures of the finished product but here you go:

Synchronizing Math Programs Part I

So, I may have gone a little overboard with the math curricula for Blue. We have Rightstart A and B, Singapore Essentials A and B, Singapore Standard 1A and 1B, and all the Miquon books! I have also heard great things about Mathematics Enhancement Programme (MEP) but think I need to get the first three under control before adding a fourth.

At this point we are using RightStart as our spine and the others as supplements. I've been struggling with how to synchronize the three programs since they cover materials in different orders. Today I decided to disassemble Miquon Orange and Singapore Essentials (this is a big step for me because I hate taking pages out of books, it feels almost sacrilegious!). The Miquon pages tear our nicely but a razor blade and I have a hot date with Singapore Essentials later.

After all the pages are out of the books I am going to try to divide them into an order that makes sense for our family, update Homeschool Tracker with the order sequence and then slip them into page protectors.

 

Phonics Pathways

Now that our household goods have arrived and we've unpacked, I am trying to get our homeschooling prep work done so we can get started again. I am also going to try to make a teachers guide and daily lesson plans so any adult can teach the kids, in case I'm not feeling well. So here are my preps for Phonics Pathways by Dolores G. Hiskes:

Supplies:

• Cardstock
• Copy paper
• Laminate and machine
• Scissors
• Notebook
• Ziplock bags or clear sleeves for game pieces
• Hole punch/clear sleeves/laminate for game instruction

To Do:

• Read introduction
• Short Vowel Stick - page 4 - copy onto card-stock and laminate (4 "sticks", one for each child and one for teacher notebook)
• Short Sheet of Vowels - pages 5, 256 - (not sure how many copies yet of sheet), and 1 copy of instructions from page 5.
• Short Vowel Shuffle and Shoo-Fly Shuffle - pages 5, 6, 257 - make 1 copy of instructions on page 5, make 4 copies of page 6 onto card-stock, laminate and cut apart. Page 257 is a master copy to add syllables and/or words to later in the book (optional).  
• The Train Game - pages 20, 258, 259 - make 2 copies of each page onto card-stock, laminate and cut apart. Put copy of instruction in teacher notebook.
• Blendit! - pages 16, 260 - make 3 copies of page 16 and cut apart 2 of them, the 3rd one will be used as the board. Put copy of instruction in teacher notebook. Page 260 is a blank master sheet to be used later in the book (optional).
• Star Search - pages 37, 38, 261 - make 2 copies of page 38 onto card-stock, laminate and cut apart. Make 1 copy of page 37 and put in teacher notebook. Page 261 is a blank master sheet to be used later in the book (optional).
• Bag of Bugs - pages 48, 49, 262 - make 2 copies of page 49 onto card-stock, laminate and cut apart. Make 1 copy of page 48 and put in teacher notebook. Page 262 is a blank master sheet to be used later in the book (optional).

Now to get to work....