All About Spelling

I broke down and purchased All About Spelling Level One. Wow! Am I ever glad I did. I didn't know if dd4 would be ready for it, but I couldn't wait to see it in person. And I knew I wanted to use it as soon as she was ready for it. I am very impressed with the thought that has been put into this program. The steps they have the student take make a lot of sense to me.

I started dd4 with it the other day and we are now working on step 3. She already knew her phonograms A-Z so we were able to bypass step one. Today she was segmenting 3-sound words and learning to alphabetize. I wasn't sure how the segmenting was going to go, but she did well. I can't wait to see how this affects her learning to read.

So if you want a phonics-based spelling program or have a struggling speller, definitely check out All About Spelling. I have heard reports from many happy remedial users.

The Litmus Test

So how do I, as a wife and mother, know what activities and projects I should be involved in? There are so many good things out there that need to be accomplished. How do I know which of those I should take on?

I think the following is a good litmus test. If the activity drains me so that I don't have as much to give to my husband and children, it is not the right time for me to be involved. If the activity enriches my life so I have more to give my family, that is a worthwhile use of my time.

So what extracurricular activities do we have that enrich us? And which ones do we have that drain us?

Typical Animal Cell
(I know it's kind of hard to read,
but it gives you a little idea of the work dd12 has put into it.)

A simple way to make science information stick better - notebooking. Here are some of dd12's.

The Water Cycle

An Egg

The Scientific Method

Berry Stains and Boiling Water

I am amazed once again at how berry stains just disappear when you pour boiling water over them. I didn't know about that until about a year ago. It worked wonder then and it worked great again today on strawberry juice. So I just wanted to share that tip with anyone who may not have known about it.

Place your spotted item over a bowl and pour boiling water over the stains until they disappear.

Rosetta Stone!

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Genesis 6:22

What can we accomplish in life if we will just walk where God is leading?

There is some very sad news in our house . . . I broke the digital camera. So, it has to be mailed out for repairs and hopefully the repair cost is within reason. Thus, there won't be any picture updates for an undetermined amount of time. I'm not real good at providing text updates but I will attempt to do better while the camera is out.

I received the book Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 1 through Paperbackswap and put it in dd4's school box. I read to her about the mud wasp this morning then decided to ask her some questions about it. She surprised me in how much she remembered as she is quite a wiggly worm. I am very excited to start this narration journey as I have never used that teaching technique before. I can definitely see the benefits not only in the area of comprehension but in the area of preparing for written communication.

No pictures to share today until I download the camera. But just wanted to give you an update on us.

Dan's job is going well. They have restructured his position. It now includes being the database administrator for the company. This is a role he enjoys so it is a positive change.

I am staying busy with homeschooling and just keeping the household afloat. School is going well. We have about 11 weeks left. (We usually run from Jul-Mar but the move this year extended that.) I have most of next year planned out and am starting to purchase material. The girls are enjoying spending a lot of time playing outside. They have made some friends in the neighborhood.

We are slowly getting the house put together. We are still on the look out for another couch, some kitchen chairs, bar stools, and a bunk bed. I found a couple area rugs but haven't heard back from the sellers. But spring and summer are coming and we will hit the garage sales for what we still don't have.

That's about it for right now.