July 30 and 31--Special Sale on TOS Subscriptions!

Hello Friends!

I was able to go on a business trip with my husband last week to San Francisco.  We had a really great time, and I will post some pictures and tell a little bit about it later today or tomorrow.  For now, though, I wanted to share some information (below) about a sale that is going on right now at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and the Schoolhouse Store. 



Read carefully--some wild things are going on in the Schoolhouse Store July 30 and July 31 ONLY!

For 2 days only, grab your 9.95 or 17.95 subscription deal from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! YES, you read that right--9.95 for one year.

Or 17.95 for two years AND receive the May 2010 Schoolhouse Expo To Go for FREE! Here are some links to check out with all the information

Here are the two crazy deals: http://bit.ly/cw2e7N

Here is the information on the FREE Expo To Go you'll receive with your 17.95 two-year subscription: http://bit.ly/9ZHp2M

Travel Kits

I was given the chance to review the ebook "Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others" by Donna Rees.  Because we had one lengthy car trip planned for the summer and several shorter trips (which would  be a few hours each), I knew this would come in really handy this summer! 

This ebook is published by The Old Schoolhouse and is available in the Schoolhouse Store for $12.45.  This is a full length ebook with 91 pages in all.  It is absolutely packed full of ideas and information!   Without giving away the details of the book, I will tell you that travel kits are fun little packages of various kinds of things that can be used to entertain travelers on long trips. 

The book begins with a more thorough explanation of what travel kits are and who might benefit from them.  It also explains how to put travel kits together and where and when they might be useful.  In the book, Donna Rees says that travel kits are especially useful for younger children.  She goes on to say that they can be used by children of any age, though.  I have to say that I agree with her whole-heartedly!  My children are ages 15, 13, and 7.  I used several ideas from the travel kits book earlier this summer on our 11 or 12 hour drive to Disney World, and my two older children benefitted just as much as my younger child from the use of travel kits! 

The author goes on to give many more details about travel kit ideas depending upon the space you have in your vehicle and whether you have a lot or just a little money to spend on them.  She even discusses issues such as duplicate gifts and gifts for girls or boys specifically.  You will also read suggestions for wrapping the individual gifts in various ways to add to the fun!  And of course after all of those decisions are made, she even provides information about many different possible ways or times to distribute the gifts.  It is amazing to me to read all of the different gift suggestions along with the many possible ways of wrapping them and distributing them.  All of these little details certainly are important, though, and can really add to the fun and help make a long trip much more pleasant!

Besides information on travel kits for younger or older children, Donna also included ideas for adults.  After all, anyone can benefit from a travel kit when traveling--even parents and grandparents!  When I prepared travel kits for my children on our Disney trip earlier this summer, I tucked in a few little things for myself, my husband, and an adult friend of mine who went along with us to help with my daughter who has autism.  Although these things were not surprises to me since I assembled them, it was still fun to have a few things in there for myself and the other adults.  After all, traveling long distances can be monotonous for grownups too!

There are lots of references listed toward the end of the book.  You will want to take a look at these ahead of time.  Some of these references are websites that offer ideas for packing along with ideas for activities to do along the way.  Also given are the official tourism websites for each state.  Finally, there are lots of tips and ideas from moms who have experience traveling with their families and wanted to share some advice.  These tips are not necessarily about travel kits but include all kinds of ideas.  There are even some recipes and ideas about what kinds of foods and drinks might be good to take along when traveling.

It was amazing to read so many great ideas all collected and explained in one 91-page book!  My only complaint is that I didn't have this book years earlier!  Whether your children are younger, teens, or somewhere in between, I'm sure you will love this ebook. 

TOS offers this ebook along with many others at their Schoolhouse Store in the ebook section. 

Would you like to read reviews by other Crew members to see how they liked this ebook or used it with their own families?  You can do that here.  Happy traveling!

Note: I received this product free in exchange for writing this review. The information contained here is my honest opinion. I did not receive any other compensation for writing this review.

Schoolhouse Planner "Travel the World" Module

It's time for this year's The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew to begin reviewing again!  Last year on the Crew was so much fun!!  It was like Christmas all year long as I got new homeschool products in the mailbox or my inbox every few weeks.  I am really excited about starting my second year on the Crew and about this first review of the year. 

The first thing I am reviewing for this year is the "Travel the World" module of the Schoolhouse Planner.  This module sells for $7.95 at the Schoolhouse Store.  It is actually a mini unit study about geography.  This mini unit study begins by defining geography.  Then it gives information about maps and globes, continents, the hemispheres, latitude and longitude, and lots more! 

I am sorry to admit that I have intended to do a study about geography with my children for the last few years, but I just never got around to doing it.  The truth is that I never learned much geography in school, and I wasn't very sure how to go about teaching it to my own children.  After reading this module, though, I think I have found a good starting point.

After reading the module, it looks to me like it would probably work well for students in grades 4 and up because of some of the more "technical" information included.  If you have a younger student, though, I think you could adapt many of the readings and activities to work for younger students too.  There are several activities that look like they are specifically geared to younger students and, even if you are doing the mini unit study with older students, would be helpful and fun for younger siblings to do.  There is, for example, some manuscript copywork included as well as some coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word finds, and a template for a "travel book" that could be used by any age student(s). 

I also really like the fact that there are high school expansion activities included in the module.  It is usually pretty easy to find unit studies for younger students and even middle-school students.  Sometimes, though, it can be difficult to find them (especially short ones like this one if you don't want to commit to a unit study that will take much of your semester or school year to complete) for older students.  There are activities, websites, and literature ideas for high school age students listed in this module.  There is also a more difficult word search activity. 

If you want to do a geography unit study that can be done in a week or two (or that can be expanded for many weeks using the extra websites and ideas given in the module), then this is an inexpensive but quality resource you may want to consider.  I don't know if I ever would have thought of one of the TOS Schoolhouse Planner modules as a source for such a study, but from now on I will!  If you decide to give this mini geography unit study a try, I hope you will let me know how you like it! 

If you want to see how other Crew members liked this planner module, click here to find more reviews. 


Note:  I received this product free in exchange for writing this review.  The information contained here is my honest opinion.  I did not receive any other compensation for writing this review.

Bible in 90 Days Week 3

It's week 3 of our Bible in 90 Days reading.  How are you doing with it?  I am actually beginning to find it easier to do my daily readings as part of my "normal" routine.  I try to do at least part of it each morning.  If possible, I do it all in the morning.  If not, though, then I do what I can and then do the rest later that afternoon or evening. 

I have found that I am actually enjoying doing my reading.  When I've attempted to read through the entire Bible in times past, I've never really enjoyed or looked forward to doing the reading.  This time, though, I actually do enjoy it and look forward to it. 

It's really nice to "have" to do my reading each day because I think when I've tried to do it before, I've almost felt selfish for taking the time each day to read.  I guess that, as a mom, I've almost been trained to think that all of my time should be spent taking care of my family or doing things for them.  It's hard for me to take 45 minutes or more each day to do something for myself.  I am learning to take the time now and not feel guilty about it or feel like I should be doing something else instead. 

I am also enjoying occasionally listening to my readings using my Bible on CD.  I do prefer to do the reading myself, but it is nice to have another alternative for those times when I can't sit for 45 minutes to read. 

How are you enjoying your daily reading?  Has there been any verse or chapter that has really "come alive" for you this past week?  I would love to hear about your experiences with your reading and how you've been doing!

Here is the list of readings for this week:

Monday, July 19
Deuteronomy 23:12-34:12

Tuesday, July 20
Joshua 1:1-14:15

Wednesday, July 21
Joshua 15:1-Judges 3:27

Thursday, July 22
Judges 3:28-15:12

Friday, July 23
Judges 15:13-1 Samuel 2:29

Saturday, July 24
1 Samuel 2:30-15:35

Sunday, July 25
1 Samuel 16:1-28:19

I'm Looking at the Number 4

Ok, this may sound a little goofy, but I just have to share this with you.  Just when I thought my 13-year-old son had given every single excuse possible for NOT going to bed when his dad told him to, I actually heard him use this excuse:  "I'm looking at the number four!"  Yep.  No kidding.  That was his excuse. 

When I turned around to see what on earth he could possibly be talking about, he had a little foam 4 (from one of those puzzles for little children who are learning their numbers) that he was holding and intently studying.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  What will he come up with next?

Teaching Spanish to My Daughter Who Has Autism

I decided that I want to have my 3 homeschooling children begin studying Spanish this fall when we start schooling again.  I looked into several Spanish programs and compared the programs, the cost, etc.  I also talked to other homeschoolers who have studied Spanish and asked them about their curriculums and how they liked them.  I even borrowed a couple of different programs to use for a short time.  After all of this research, I decided to go with Rosetta Stone.  (This is NOT, by the way, a review for Rosetta Stone.  I'm just posting this on my own about my family's "mission" to begin learning Spanish this school year.) 

I wasn't sure if I should have all 3 kids begin Spanish this year or just the older two. My older two are 15 and 13.  My youngest is 7.   My in-laws have hosted foreign exchange students in the past, and they, for the most part, begin seriously studying English in about 3rd grade.  I figure if they can begin in 3rd grade and become pretty fluent in English by the time they are in high school, that I'd like to try it even with my 7-year-old who will be in 3rd grade this fall.  In fact, I've decided I'm going to "take" the class myself right along with the kids!  There is a pretty large population of Spanish-speaking folks around here, and I would love for us to be able to communicate with them.  It would also be wonderful for the whole family to be able to go on mission trips together and actually be able to speak to the people we are there to witness to without having to always use an interpreter. 

I'm not too worried about how my 13-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter will handle the Spanish class, but I am a little concerned about the best way to handle it with my 15-year-old daughter who has autism.  I chose the homeschool version of the program so that the kids can do most (if not all) of their work pretty independently on the computer but I can check their progress and "oversee" their work.  With my older daughter, Hannah, though, I will pretty much have to do the program one-on-one with her. 

Hannah is totally non-verbal, so I won't be able to do the part of the program in which the student is given the chance to speak the Spanish word into the microphone and be "checked" for correct pronunciation by the computer.  I will be able to set the preferences so that that's not a problem.  My main concern, though, is that Hannah (like many autistic people) enjoys clicking on the incorrect answers just to hear the funny sound that it makes for incorrect answers!!  It makes a low beeping kind of sound for incorrect answers, and a higher chime sort of sound for correct answers.  She seems to prefer the "incorrect" sound to the "correct" one! 

I've only done a couple of sessions with her so far just to get an idea of how she will handle it before we actually begin "class" in a few weeks.  I suppose for now I'll just keep doing a session now and then and try to figure out what to do about this problem before we "really" begin class.  One thing I've tried that sounds really simple but does seem to help a good bit is simply putting my hand over hers (with her hand on the mouse) and having her wait a second or two before she clicks on her answer choice.  This gives her a little more time to process the answer in her mind before submitting it.  Then I remind her to "Choose the right answer," before I let go of her hand and allow her to click it. 

Another thing I've discovered that I'll have to watch for as I do the program with Hannah is that, if she really has no idea what the answer is, she will click on the answer choices in a certain order each time on every question.  That's not necessarily a bad strategy except that, once she's done it a time for two for an answer she really doesn't know, then she wants to continue clicking choices in that same pattern even when she does know the answer.  That makes it really hard to know which ones she actually doesn't know and when she's just clicking in that pattern "for fun." 

Oh, well!  Life is never boring for any homeschooling parent (or even non-homeschooling parents, I'm sure)!   I will try to post again in the next few weeks and let you know how our Spanish program is going with all 3 of my students.  We plan to start schooling again around the second week of August, so I'm sure I'll have more to tell you about when that time arrives. 

Until then I'll try to think of some more ways of dealing with this problem as well as continue enjoying what's left of our summer break from daily school work.   I hope you are enjoying your summer as well and hopefully taking a little time off!

Week 2 of Read the Bible in 90 Days

After waiting so long to get started, it's hard to believe that week #2 of our The Bible in 90 Days adventure is here!  I have to admit that it has been a little harder than I thought it would be to get in a habit of reading the 12 pages each day.  I've never been as good as I should be about reading my Bible every day, and reading 12 pages each day has been quite a challenge for me!  One reason I chose to blog about this experience, though, is to help keep me accountable. 

I hope that those of you who chose to join in the reading with me have managed to do your daily readings.  If not, don't give up!  You can read a little bit extra each day for the coming week and still have time to catch up and keep going with the rest of us.  If you have done your reading each day, then you are off to a great start and I am so proud of you!! 

I have a suggestion that I hadn't thought to mention before but thought about this week.  I had bought an entire Bible on CD several years ago, had listened to parts of it for a while, and then had tucked it away and forgotten about it.  I dug it back out this week and decided that I might listen to my readings some days instead of reading them myself every day.  I figured it might make some sections (like the so-and-so begat so-and-so....) easier to read if I have someone else to pronounce all those names for me!  Otherwise, I'll admit, it would be quite tempting to skip over those parts.  I hadn't really thought about listening to the Bible readings instead of reading them all until I remembered my Bible on CD.  I thought I would mention it in case it might help someone else to stay on track.  I actually don't advocate doing all of the reading using an audio CD, but I wouldn't have a problem with doing some of it that way--especially if it meant the difference between getting it done or not getting it done at all. 

Below is a list of this week's readings for anyone who doesn't have a "90 Days" Bible and would like to follow that reading schedule.  Also, I'd love to hear a quick comment from any of you who are reading along with me.  I hope you have a great second week!

Monday, July 12
Leviticus 1:1-14:32

Tuesday, July 13
Leviticus 14:33-26:26

Wednesday, July 14
Leviticus 26:27-Numbers 8:14

Thursday, July 15
Numbers 8:15-21:7

Friday, July 16
Numbers 21:8-32:19

Saturday, July 17
Numbers 32:20-Deuteronomy 7:26

Sunday, July 18
Deuteronomy 8:1-23:11

Today Is Day 1!

Today is the first day of the Read the Bible in 90 Days challenge!  I realized I should have posted about it early this morning, but this is something new for me, and I honestly didn't think to do it until now.  From here on out, I will actually try to post every Sunday with the readings for the week. 

Today you should have read Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16.  If you didn't do the reading today (Monday) but still want to participate, please feel free to join in.  You may either do two readings one day this week, or you can start on whichever day you decide to join in and just begin reading that day's reading.  You can always go back and do the readings you missed at the end of our "regular" 90 day schedule.  Your 90 days will just end a few days after the rest of ours. 

For this week, our readings are as follows:

DAY 1
Monday, July 5:
Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16

DAY 2
Tuesday, July 6:
Genesis 17:1-Genesis 28:19

DAY 3
Wednesday, July 7:
Genesis 28:20-Genesis 40:11

DAY 4
Thursday, July 8:
Genesis 40:12-Genesis 50:26

DAY 5
Friday, July 9:
Exodus 1:1-Exodus 15:18

DAY 6
Saturday, July 10:
Exodus 15:19-Exodus 28:43

DAY 7
Sunday, July 11:
Exodus 29:1-Exodus 40:39

I know life is busy, and there are always lots of things that need to be done.  It was hard for me to make the commitment to do this, too, but I felt like I should do it.  I've wanted to read the entire Bible straight through for years but have always had some reason why I couldn't do it at that particular time.  This time I decided to just do it anyway! 

I hope we can encourage each other as we do this together.  If you fall behind, the rest of us will be here to support you.  Please don't be afraid to join for fear of not being able to keep up.  I would much rather you join and give it an effort than be afraid to try it at all.  If you don't get the reading done one day, just pick up where you are and make a note that you need to go back and do the missed reading later.  Like I said in the second paragraph above, you can just add the missed reading(s) to the end of the 90 days.  Nobody will fuss at you for it! 

If you are participating in this challenge, I would love it if you will stop by once a week or so and leave a comment.  I would love to know how you are doing and that you are reading along with those who have signed up to be a part of the challenge. 

I will be praying for each of you during these 90 days.  I'm sure they will be a challenge, but I'm also sure they will be a blessing!