A Big Girl

I was not ready for the move to the big girl bed, but on Sunday morning, I walked into Maggie's room and realized that she was way too tall for the crib.  It is surprising she hadn't figured out how to get out!  As I walked closer she lunged toward me and at that moment I knew that the crib days were over.  She flung her body over the railing and I caught her right as her body tipped over.  Whew!  The crib was dismantled and packed away and in its place the coveted "big girl bed."  Maggie has slept peacefully in it for 2 nights now, not even getting up once.  She is thrilled!

Homeschool Mothers Journal

In my life this week:
It has been a crazy week.  We have had 2 series of severe storms roll through our area.  I have spent 2 sleepless nights keeping vigil over the radar, Skywarn chatter, listening to the weather radio, and watching "tornado TV."  I'm not sure why but I am completely terrified of tornadoes.  I have seen their devastation.  I have seen houses wiped completely off their foundation.  Living only 1 hour from Joplin keeps tornado safety in the forefront of my mind...it can happen here.   I've noticed that so many of my neighbors and acquaintances have such a complacent attitude about the tornadoes in our area.  In fact, one night last year, while I was nervously watching radar I had one friend respond to my Facebook status saying, "you'll get used it (tornado season)...I'm shopping at Target."  One night last season too, I was sitting at Olive Garden with a group of girlfriends when the weather got angry and within minutes the sirens were blaring.  Literally...people kept eating as though NOTHING was going on.  I could see out the windows, the rain was actually blowing sideways.  I, personally was ready to run and duck for cover in the walk-in freezer...but my friends laughed at me.   Perhaps I am panicking unnecessarily...but...the blase' reaction from people who live in this area is unreal sometimes.  Of course, not everybody is like this, but I've encountered it a lot.  Today, storms are bearing down on some of my friends to the East of me and I pray that they are taking the weather seriously and that they will be ok.

In other news, our new chore chart has been going great, our schedule has really helped us to have more time to do fun things and our school days have been going ok too.  My husband has been working tremendously long hours and we are all missing him terribly but somehow even though the days are awfully long, the weeks fly by so quickly.

In our homeschool this week:
We have been really enjoying learning about the Iditarod, sled dogs, Alaska, and the Great Serum Run of 1925.  I blogged about that HERE.  Kayley is learning 2 column addition with carrying, and 2 column subtraction.  She loves math. We have a new hanging workbox system that has been working nicely...it has really opened up some more space for us to keep more organized.   I know it is time to start working a bit more with Maggie, but I haven't figured out how to make that happen.

Places we are going/People we are seeing/Stuff we are doing
So much to do, so little time.  This is my month to teach sharing time in Primary, and I admit that I am really, really nervous.  I have been preparing for 2 weeks...and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do on Sunday!  Don't even ask about the Sunday's after that or I might have to get a bag to breathe in.

My husband is supposed to be planning the party for the Elders Quorum next Friday night...so, that means that I have been busy helping with this project as well.

What's working/not working:
We've been doing a really fun book for a short morning devotional called "God & Me"  Its for ages 5-7.  We are loving these short stories with questions.   Along those lines...I've decided that our Language Arts program just isn't working for us anymore.  Kayley is just too smart for most of it that it ends up being dreaded busy-work.  I think it is time for a change...  I'm not sure what we might change to, but I'm searching.

I'm reading:


100 Days of Weight Loss by Linda Spangle.  I have been blogging my 100 Day weight loss journey over on a new website called:   Fattery Will Get You Nowhere.  Stop by if you are interested in seeing how I'm doing. This book focuses on the MIND of weight loss...not the diet.  It has been really eye-opening to get behind the "why" of eating.

Something Sharable:

Can you believe how patient and cooperative our cats are?  Me neither.  They put up with some serious shenanigans from my kiddos.  And they are usually purring.

Iditarod - The Last Great Race on Earth

One of the things I love about homeschooling, is the ability to jump off where we are and run down rabbit trails if we want to...  I always try to keep a read-aloud going in our house.  Sometimes I choose the book, but usually I let Kayley choose the book.  This time she picked the Jr. Classic "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London.  I thought that seemed like an interesting choice...very un-girly, but there's nothing wrong with that, and read-aloud time is a family favorite.

As we were reading through the story of Buck and his adventures as a sled-dog we started to have a lot of questions.  What kind of dog is Buck?  He pulls a sled???  In the Snow!?  Wow!  Why is it so cold in Alaska?

Being the typical homeschooling Mom that I am I thought this was a great time to follow the rabbit down the hole....  Jump in with us!  We have made an entire unit unit around The Call of The Wild.  It has been a blast!

 

Have you ever heard of the Iditarod?  This is the "Last Great Race on Earth", the one where the dog mushers in Alaska race from Anchorage to Nome in record time.  The race commemorates the Great Serum Run from 1925.   In those days, a doctor in Nome discovered that a few small children had a deadly virus, dyptheria, that without the proper medicine, would sweep through the village and leave devastation in its path.  It was so cold and snow packed that getting a plane into Nome with the needed serum from Anchorage was impossible.  In an amazing feat several sled-dog teams relayed the needed medicine to Nome in blizzard conditions.  They traveled over a 1000 miles, many of the dogs succumbing to the cold - sacrificing themselves to save the families of Nome.  A heroic story!

You've probably heard of Balto, he was the last sled dog on the relay and the one who led the team as they made the final run into Nome...but did you know that there was a dog named Togo who should not be forgotten?

Togo led his team over 350 miles (3xs as far as any of the other mushers on the relay) on his part of the serum run.  He gave so much of himself that he was never able to race again.  Balto, the dog who became famous, ran 53 miles.  Of course, all the dogs who ran the serum were heroes but it is important to remember that the hero is not necessarily the person who crosses the finish line first...in this case Togo is the dog who made the final lap possible. 

Most sled dogs are Malamutes, Samoyeds or Huskies. Aren't they beautiful dogs?  Their fur is nice and thick to keep them warm, their paws are HUGE (built-in snowshoes) and these dogs are so strong and have a ton of energy.  They LOVE pulling the sleds.

Did  you know there is a statue of Balto in Central Park in New York?  His statue, a big favorite in the Park, is located west of East Drive and 67th Street and north of the Zoo.
The plaque reads "Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence."
And they are.  The dogs are so smart and loyal.

To commemorate the great serum race, the Iditarod is run annually and is, of course, a HUGE event in Alaska.  As we started looking into more information about sled dogs we discovered, conveniently, that the Iditarod starts in only 3 days!  March 3rd, 2012.

We will be following the race this year, if you want to follow along check out the Official Iditarod Homepage!  http://iditarod.com/

Oh, and don't miss the resources page for students.  There are printables and a FUN interactive game that lets you drive your own sled team!

Register as a free user at Iditarod.com and you will have access to this years musher profiles where you can pick your favorite musher and they wills send you daily updates as he/she races the Iditarod!   You can follow along with your AK map or on Google Earth!

Interested in learning more about sled dogs, Iditarod, The Great Serum Run, or Alaksa?  Check out the books and DVDs below from your library!

K5 Learning - TOS Review

In todays day and age I believe it is essential that kids know how to use a computer.   Kayley is becoming quite proficient, thanks to all of the online learning opportunities we've had this year through the TOS crew.   

What a blessing to have a chance to review another great computer based program:   K5 Learning!

What is K5 Learning?
K5 Learning offers reading and math enrichment for kids Kindergarten through Grade 5.  Using fun and interactive characters kids practice reading & math while having a great time.   Convenient and easy to use we have enjoyed our experience with K5!

A tour of K5 Learning:
After logging in you can view the Dashboard:  Here Kayley can choose Reading & Math, Math Facts or Spelling.   Spelling - those words would have been assigned by me in the dashboard...Math Facts offers drill and practice of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.  Reading & Math takes you to the daily lessons.

After choosing Reading & Math Kayley can choose from Reading or Math Lessons or Reading or Math Assignments.  The assignments are assigned by me in the parent dashboard. 

The lessons are fun and interactive!  

Kayley could move throughout the lessons easily with little to no help from me.

One thing I really liked about K5:
In the parent dashboard I can also generate reports, create spelling lists, print out worksheets, visit the help center, change my daughters levels and so much more.  K5 will also give your child a free online assessment to better place them in the right lessons.  Be forewarned, the assessments are LONG but extremely nice to have.  I downloaded mine and saved them in Kayley's file.  It was interesting see how she measured up to her grade range. 




 How much does it cost?

25$ dollars per month for your first child, additional children are only $15.  You can also pay for an annual subscription at $199 for  your first child, $129 for each additional child.

You can download a sample lesson HERE.

You can also enjoy a free 14-day trial or sign up to purchase HERE.

Want to learn more?  Watch the K5 Learning video HERE.

K5 is pretty darn fun!  Want to see what my fellow crewmates thought about K5?  click HERE.

Disclaimer:  

I received K5 Learning in exchange for an honest review.  

All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Reading Eggs - TOS Review

I know I've said it several times, but I'm going to mention it again.  We LOVE online learning.  Kayley loves getting her own computer time each day and I'm always thrilled when she can spend 30 minutes or so on the computer doing something educational.  Thanks to TOS Crew and Reading Eggs we were able to sample another great online learning product!

 

What is Reading Eggs?
Reading Eggs has made it their mission to make learning to read fun and enjoyable for your children.  It is easy to use and it's virtual world encourages kids to learn...and they don't even realize that they are doing it!  They think they are just having fun and playing games!  There are 100 lessons on Reading Eggs that are perfect for kids ages 4 to 7 who are just learning to read or who are working on reading proficiency.

Here is a small tour of Reading Eggs:
Logging in - choose either Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress (for 7-12 year olds).

Once logged in, here is a sample of Kayley's dashboard.  You can see there are so many options on the left to choose from.  She can explore the Kingdom.  Continue with lessons.  Have fun in the play room.  Decorate her own house.  Play in the arcade.  Put together puzzles and so much more!

Once she has clicked "Lessons" she continues on the path, which looks a LOT like a fun gameboard!  Each numbered circle is a lesson.

 

The lessons are very interactive and very fun! 

How much does it cost?

12 months of an online Reading Eggs subscription costs $75.00 and will give your child access to all parts of the growing Reading Eggs website for 1 year.  A 6 month subscription is $49.95.  Reading Eggs offers a special 50% family discount, with any full price 6 or 12 month subscription purchase.  You can add a second or third child at the same time and receive 50% off their subscription price.

You can also purchase a month-by-month plan to Reading Eggs for $9.95.

To purchase Reading Eggs  or if you are not sure -- you can register for a free trial HERE.

Reading Eggs also offers print books to go along with the online lessons.  Learn more about pricing options HERE.

We really enjoy using Reading Eggs and I bet you will too!
I know many of my crewmates were pleased.  To read their reviews, click HERE.


Disclaimer:  We received a 3 month trial to Reading Eggs in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed herein are my own.