M is for...Marriage

It is for a life time and we have only just begun...

Review: Christianity Cove

Are you looking for a fun bible activity?  Do you want to teach your children some bible truths?  Are you planning on teaching at a co-op and need ideas?  You need to check out Christianity Cove.  Christianity Cove offers tons of Sunday School lessons, Bible games, crafts, skits and activities.  We had the opportunity to review a couple of these activities Fruits of The Spirit Activity Kit and Bible Memory Games. I have the privilege of teaching my children about God's Word in our school so any opportunity to do that is a blessing to me as a Mom and teacher.  

Fruits of The Spirit Activity Kit is a great way to teach your children about Galatians 5:19-26; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control by using games, crafts, songs, snacks and worksheets.  With these hands-on activities it is fun to teach your children the character traits.  We made fruit salad, sang songs, jumped rope, made crafts and many more all the while learning.  Was a blessing hearing my boys, Jack (10) and Evan (7) talk about the area or "fruit" the need to work on. I think this would be a great activity to offer to a co-op.  It would be a lot of fun to offer to a larger group of kids.  You can get this activity for only $19

We also reviewed Christianity Cove's Bible Memory Games.  This is a large e-book offering lots of activities and game to help children learn Bible verses.  The book is divided into categories like salvation, love, good behavior and faith.  You can move around through the subjects however you want.  They use three different learning styles for each game: visual, audible and hands-on.  We used puzzles, hopscotch, jump rope and many other ways to master scriptures.  We were in the mist of baseball season and I felt it would be hard to learn so many scriptures at once.  So we used these games and activities to help them learn the scriptures needed for the baseball team.   You can check out a video here to see some of the activities.  The would be a great co-op class too and for only $29 not a bad deal. This was whole lot more fun then just our normal way of learning scripture!!  We will continue to use this through out our school year to help them master many more scriptures!! 

L is for...Legacy

"A Mother's Legacy is her children."

Tyler, the oldest, 17.

Sam oldest daughter, 15.

Caroline, youngest daughter, 12.

Jack, number 4!! 10

Evan, The baby!!! 7.

Review: Motherboard Books, Let's Make a Webpage

 

(Price: $19.95)

We haven't done a lot of computer work, but I wanted my son, Jack, to try something different.  When Motherboard Books came up for a review I wanted to check it out.  We were able to review Let's Make a Webpage for our review.  Motherboard Books are written by a homeschool veteran, Phyllis Wheeler, who wants to help our children get a good foundation to computer knowledge.  She has lots of different programs to get you started.  My fourth grade son was able to work on her Let's Make a Webpage program.
We received and downloaded a 60 page e-book, this is just a short-term homeschool project for kids 8 and up, you will probably need to help your younger children. Children 10 and over should be able to do it themselves. Parents are given instructions which includes Internet Safety and uploading To the Internet. We downloaded the free trail version of CoffeeCup software. I did have trouble with this part (I downloaded the wrong thing), but I emailed Ms. Wheeler and she promptly helped me fix my problem. 

Check out what is in the e-book. 

Table of Contents: Introduction for Parents

Lesson 1: An Interview

Lesson 2: Download and Set Up the Program

Lesson 3: Add Text

Lesson 4: Make a Table

Lesson 5: Add Photo

Lesson 6: From the Internet, Add Animations

Lesson 7: Browser Check, Backgrounds, Photos

Lesson 8: Sound

Lesson 9: Links

Lesson 10: Post Your Work

Appendix: How to Upload to the Internet 

Once I got everything downloaded we jumped right in. The directions were very easy to follow and the concept is great. My son interviewed his big brother about his job as a bat boy at our local Minor League Baseball team, Louisville Bats. The directions made the process very easy to work through. Jack could have done most of it on his own, but I worked right along with him. He really enjoyed adding the the photo, choosing the picture and adding the animations, he had a swinging bat and flying baseball.  His web page looked great and really loved that he created it. 

Review: Mammoth Math

My first look at Mammoth Math was when we were asked to review some of their products.  I think MAMMOTH Math is a great name for this publisher since they offer tons of math options. Mammoth Math offers affordable math "worktext" and workbooks for grades 1-12.  There five different options:

• Complete Curriculum (Light Blue Series)  is a full elementary mathematics curriculum.  They have grades 1-6. 
• Books by Topic (Blue Series) there are "worktext" (like a workbook and textbook combined).  Each Blue unit focuses on a few topics for example; addition & subtraction, place value, clock, measuring, money, multiplication, division, geometry, fractions, decimals, ratios, percent, integers, and so on. 
• Worksheets by topics (Green Series) workbooks, or worksheet collections, each one covers a different mathematical topic (such as geometry, integers, statistics, or measuring.  Each book spans several grade levels on the same topic. 
• Real-Life Math contains problem situations taken from real-life.  For example; cell phone plans, autism, population growth, credit cards etc.  As they work through this real-life problem they use their math skills that apply to real-life situations.  
• Worksheets by grade (Golden Series) this series is are worksheets for grades 3-8(9), having of two parts (A and B) for each grade. Each workbook consists over a variety of topics.  There are 120-150 sheets per grade.  

I when I looked through their website I had a hard time choosing which one I wanted to use.  I finally decided on Mammoth Math Seventh Grade Worksheets (Pre-Algebra) I thought these would come in handing with teaching my 6th grade daughter the basics of algebra before she actually got started with it next fall.  The Pre-Algebra was much more in depth then I expected and it was way over her head.  All wasn't lost though, I decided it would be a great opportunity to work with my ninth grade daughter who is taking Algebra, who has been struggling.  You can check out sample pages here, Book A content .  Book A & B plus the teacher key download can be ordered for only $14.95 

Topics covered in books A & B

• The Language of Algebra
• Integers
• Solving One-Step Equations
• Factors and Fractions
• Rational Numbers
• Equations and Inequalities
• Proportion and Percent
• Statistics and Graphs
• Probability
• Geometry
• Right Triangles
• Polynomials 

We worked through the worksheets everyday to help her understand the concepts better or to review them.  The lay out is very easy to work with.  The topics covered are typically from 7th - 8th grade math.  These are just worksheets there are no lessons.  I really liked the format and think this is a good way to help you child with their math no matter where they are in their math journey.  I am considering using some of these to work during the summer.  

You Will be Missed!!

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 a tragic accident occurred and we lost a bright light from this world! 

Kayla was a VERY bright spot in the eyes of her parents, Bryan and Jessica Brown.  She was also a sister to four sisters and one brother.

This girl was larger than life. She brightened the room when she walked in and if she didn't she would turn around and walk in again.  You never really knew what she was going to say or do. You only knew who she was going to do it with, her best friend Shelby. I've never seen two girls who meant so much to each other, we could learn a lot from their friendship.

There are people who are destined to change the world and Kayla was one of them.  I'm sure in her short life of 19 years she changed the world to many.  With her joy, smile, love, truth and Savior I'm sure she changed the lives of the many people who knew her.  All you have to do is see the people who are supporting her family and friend right now.  See her Facebook page covered with photos of her with those who knew and loved her. She could brighten a heart with just a smile!  

We are all overwhelmed with the grief of losing such a special girl, but we must go to God to try and find understanding. 

"He heals the brokenhearted 

    and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars

   and calls them each by name.

Great is out Lord and mighty is power; 

    his understanding has no limit." 

                          Psalm 147:3-5

Please be in prayer for this family for the days and months to come.