TOP TEN TOS CREW Rewiew Team Products of 2010-11

What a year it's been and it's hard to think how fast it's come and gone! So many changes in my life such as K12 in our lives and also all the house remodeling~the joys and stresses of it all...and doing the homeschooling product reviews in the mix.  Blogging a bunch...and working on my health...WHAT a combination! LOL

I've been asked to compile a top ten and rank in order the products I believe are the BEST of the BEST for our family~We saw some really great stuff roll across our lives this year...
 Drum Roll, please~

Positive Action For Christ~Life of Christ (Gospel of John)
Yesterday's Classics
Wits and Wagers
Who Is God?

Bucket's O Fun~YUCK!
Lanschool technologies
Professor in a Box's Intro to Accounting course
WonderMaps
Reading From the Heart
Considering God's Creation
Math Tutor DVDs
IEW's Teaching Writing With Style and Structure HANDS DOWN was the best for us!

DARE SAY I have a dozen...LOL!  Well, it was a great year with all the cool and VARIED STUFF we reviewed! Wasn't bored a bit...There are a few digital products here...but overall, I prefer the in hand stuff...unless it was a program, such as Lanschool...loved Lanschool and found it very useful! WonderMaps comes into play with digital also..but it has so many applications~amazing!  One more digital we loved is Yesterday's Classics...a whole book shelf in a download! Whoot! One more, please...no! Make that two...

Virtual Nerd was awesome!
and who didn't love Speekee....and Jim! LOL...just loved that purple guy and the Spanish instruction! Still want to sing those songs!! ;-))

Okay that's a WRAP on the Top 10~ha! Top HOW MANY???

Head over to the CREW to see what they say              !  What was your faves...do you have these~want these???  I'm on my way to a big book sale where I'm cleaning out all things..okay most things homeschooling...

REIVEW: Read For the Heart

Read For the Heart

by Sarah Clarkson
Website: HERE!
Ages: Teens-Adult
Price: $17.00 Softcover  
I say: Great resource!

I received Read For the Heart by Sarah Clarkson as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review program in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation. My opinions are my own.

If you want the INSIDE SCOOP in great reads for your child and a better shot at aiming them at greats literary works for their heart and mind, Read For the Heart is a wonderful resource.  It's really a good road map to navigate parents into the expertise of guiding children though good books...and what skill is more crucial to success in life than reading? A love of books and reading can transform the soul~the understanding and ability to absorb~to really gain from a good read is invaluable..and this is what's at the core of this book...a guide/roadmap/lead into books for children. 

You can check out a sample chapter HERE where you can see how this volume is laid out...It's not an overwhelming read, but one that will inspire you to pick up these wonderful books and snuggle up with your child for walking in the world of imagination...Little can so inspire us...and you just may find yourself hunting down some of the books as you go along~adding them to lesson plans~finding ways to make reading a bigger part of your life!  Great books can so inspire us to want to read them...ever pick up a book and not be able to put it down?? Oh yes, SisterT has done this many many times...

You can even check out the sample chapter, The Golden Age Classics ad see for yourself the beauty of this book~It's definitely one great resource for any homeschool family~Wish I had had it when mine were much younger...what help it would have been...oh yes!

Go ck out what the CREW is saying           !

REVIEW: Considering God's Creation

Considering God's Creation

WEBSITE:  HERE!

AGES: K-HS

PRICE: $29.95
I say: We LOVED this study!

I received Considering God's Creation from Eagel's Wings Educational Materials as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review team in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation. My opinions are my own.

I love this science curriculum! In fact, it's the best thing I know of that can be used for young child just as it is and added to for the older grades for a wonderful study on the things God made on the six days of His creation.  It's multi modality format with hands on activities and questions for extended study~Really it's an overall good science overview..think about it~

What happened on those days?

Based on each individual day, you will launch into studies that will in many ways become a general science overview~with the creation of the sun, moon, stars, outer space, planets, sun and moon will all be studied...With the plants there is study for various characteristics of botony...with the animals you have all kinds of things and with man~the human body takes center stage!  I don't want to spoil this for you, but trust me, I know that this is a good unit study resource with a teacher's book and student workbook where you can use the materials to teach as is or go much deeper.  There's a CD of songs to reinforce the information in a fun way~

There's enough here~for a whole year OR you can teach each for longer periods and go longer!  This is a great resource and I used it when my children were second and first graders.  I was excited to get to see it again and we were able to delve in much deeper this time as high schoolers.  I do say that you need to add things though to make it more high school credit worthy, though it is a good spine and could easily be used for a family with multiple ages and stages.  We also own Remembering God's Awesome Acts!  Whohoo!!

Head on over      to ck out the Crew!  Thanks for coming by! We love Considering God's Creation!

WHERE I'm AT...I know! I know...LOL...Behind the AT~LOL

But seriously, I'm not sure where I am...but I do know some stuff...
First I am on the last leg of my TOS Crew involvement~excited and sad both at the same time...
But the BIGGER NEWS for us is that we've scheduled our Jr classes for K12 which we are hoping will include as we're navigating university admission and ACT testing to get in under the wire~RIGHT NOW...LOL
THIS IS HUGE!

My little girl has worked all her academic life for these moments...these...

I'm proud.

Guess I was working for this too.

Now to get to the FINISH LINE...

By the way...whoot! SHE PASSED the graduation exam~ OH YES!! HOMESCHOOLING ROCKS!

Thanks for cking on me..what's up in your neck of the woods? Leave me a shout out...
Also I am almost 32 weeks no white junk...YAY! and I"m still shrinking...
BIG HUGS
SisterT ;-))

REVIEW: Mad Dog Math

Mad Dog Math

WEBSITE:  HERE
 Ages: Preschool & up
Price: $19.99-$39.99
I say:  I like this!

I received a trial version of Mad Dog Math as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review team in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation. My opinions are my own.

BASIC MATH SKILLS are a must for anyone who wishes any kind of success in the world. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division in lightening speed using strong mental math skills will make all higher level math go so much faster!  Mad Dog Math makes learning these basic skills FUN and you can rest from using the flash cards and all the grueling processes of the past.  Want your kids to LOVE math at a young age? Try Mad Dog Math~and you can sign up for the FREE trail period too HERE!

There are three levels in the program: Level 1, 2 3 and Challenge.  The levels progress in complexity and number of math problems.  Challenge is where combinations can be set within the various families of problems.  There's a timer that can be set as well~30 seconds to unlimited time!

It's a colorful interactive basic skill builder that is software you download on your computer. There are two versions for varying memory amounts so you can read how to ck that on your own system. It was easy for me to navigate~IF I CAN, you will be able to...I am so techno challenged in this way!

While doing the levels, I began thinking that there might be some slight limits to this system, that a child's time might be increased based on their level of typing skill in the area of speed and accuracy. But on further thinking and practice, guess what? If practiced a good deal, typing speed and accuracy will undoubtly increase as well as their mental math skills...  More practice in the numbers area of the keyboard as well as working within the number families will increase that speed!  Soo what's NOT to like?  Just be aware that your child's actual time might be slower at first...but with practice, WATCH their time decrease! Soo cool! Really, this is hitting two birds with one stone and a built in bonus!

Wish I had had Mad Dog Math way way back when mine were littles...WISH I could have had it myself. I can't tell you HOW terrible it was to struggle through those multiplication tables way back in third grade...It was awful.

Want to spare your child and yourself some distress? Mad Dog Math will do the trick and teach these essential skills painlessly and with FUN!

The Crew reviewed it and you can read about itHERE!

LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH~the STUFF LIFE is MADE OF...

Freebie: HSE Mag~FREE Digital Edition

Sign Up~
HERE!

REVIEW: Bright Ideas Press WonderMaps!

WonderMaps

WEBSITE: HERE

AGES: Elm-HS

PRICE: $49.95

I say: LOVE it!

I received WONDERMAPS from Bright Ideas Press as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review team in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation.  My opinions are my own.

We've used Bright Ideas Press' Mystery of History I and 2 and loved every minute of it, and getting WONDERMAPS is a fantastic complement to those history studies.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to use these interactive maps that I can tailor make to suit just what we need!

From Tyler Hogan of Bright Ideas Press:

WonderMaps is a customizable collection of over 350 different maps. With nearly endless possibilities, WonderMaps makes it easy to regularly integrate map study into a variety of lessons and make the most of every learning opportunity.

WonderMaps is designed with easy-to-use layers that allow you to enjoy great customizable features with just a click. Select:

• historical or modern-day maps

• outline, reference, political, or topographical maps

• black-and-white or color maps

• features including:  names, borders, rivers, cities, physical features, and graticules

WonderMaps includes:

• 60+ maps of the world

• 60+ maps of the USA

• 125+ historical maps, including 25 biblical maps

• The complete map sets from The Mystery of History vols. I–III and All American History vols. I & II

Here's Tyler with a tutorial~


We LOVE it and believe you will too! Even if you don't use MOH, you can use WonderMaps as a complete  maps studies to complement any curriculum or study~

Head            to see what the CREW is saying!

Blog Cruise: SisterT's Talking About CREW and HSing 2010-11

The Question: Please share your favorite homeschool experience in relation to your participation in the Crew this year! (a resource you received, how it helped your child, God's divine choices for your family, etc...anything.

I'm participating in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review group's Blog Cruise as a member where we answer a question or write on a different topic each week.  This is the last post this Crew 2010-11 year.

I think I'm putting off doing this b/c I really don't WANT to leave CREW, but by my own choice and due to the changes in my family~THIS IS my last Blog Cruise...I have high schoolers who will be 10th and 11th grades next year. We're heading into a different port on a different ship...Times, they are a changing!

With this I say,

THANKS for the MEMORIES...


And they are soo sweet~


We loved so many different things about CREW... and my fave would have to be the personal connection I have felt with SO MANY of YOU...YOU, dear friends...You have BEEN THERE on lonely, and lost days when I wasn't sure I wanted to go on...even when I couldn't raise my head...YOU helped MY heart.  Crew helped give purpose and push to what a times was a struggle to keep on keeping on...

So with this I wish you all FAREWELL and Godspeed!

Love and Hugs,
(SEE Ya around!)
SisterT

WEEKLY FREE PDF downloads Homeschool Freebie of the Day~

You can sign up for the weekly 'sneak peak' from the Erskine family of KY who has Homeschool Freebie of the Day which is a daily FREE pdf download: HERE!
BTW~they also do the Homeschool Radio Shows which is a free audio radio show of the past you can purchase, but they also have one they offer for FREE! whoot!

This week has some homekeepers good stuff and then on Fri is a Memorial Day pdf~
Go ck it out!
HUGS!

REVIEW: The Insitute For Exellence in Writing~Teaching Writing Structure and Style AND Student Writing Intensive C AND Portable Walls

IEW: Teaching Writing: Structure and Style

IEW:  Student Writing Intensive Group C

IEW: Portable Walls

Website: HERE!

Ages:  9th GR and up (High School)

Price: $239.00

I say: STANDING OVATION!

I received IEW: Teaching Writing: Structure and Style and IEW:  Student Writing Intensive Group C as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Crew review group in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation. My opinions are my own.

Writing is one of those subjects that it takes some pretty strong know-how to pull off UNLESS you have a solid  curriculum behind you.  Having worked over the years on my own writing and then just shuddering when trying to convey the needed information and skills to my own children, I have honestly tried and RETRIED so many things to end them in unneeded frustrations. 

When I received the Institute for Excellence in Writing's complete curriculum for teaching Student Writing Intensive Group Level C (SWI~LC)writing I was so excited! In truth, it has been a dream come true.  I was sent the text and dvd lessons for this level~there's A, B and C available.  Included was the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS) as well as the Portable Walls.  Of course, when I opened the box from IEW, I was so excited, and in looking it all over I noted how beautiful it is too: each part of the product is colorful and appears well made.  The Portable Walls is sturdy wipe- coated professional full color tri folding 11.5X14 paper.  All these are used in coordination to teach the high school level of writing.

What's really cool is all the resouces IEW has available for homeschool parents to teach our children.  There are teacher dvd in a seminar just for us to help us teach and guide our student into developing their writing to a much higher potential! Hearing Andrew Pudewa tell how IEW came to offer such wonderful resources really makes sense to me~that a college professor saw a GREAT need in his students as they struggled to write for him...it just grew from there as other professionals joined in and then IEW's teaching writing seminars were developed and designed. EVER WISH you could be taught to teach writing? This is the FANTASTIC THING about this curriculum...and as in my instance, your kiddos can learn this too~LET THEM watch it if they are older for sure! WHY STRUGGLE? I mean, I've certainly struggled, and SisterT won't 'go there' to include all the names of the writing products I've used over the years! NO I won't, but you have to know that this IS the best of the best! I believe this!

I don't  believe you will find a better writing curriculum for your up and coming writer! After working through and listening to this systematic program I found that writing really wasn't as hard to teach as it has seemed. With the teacher training and student focused program, The Institute for Excellence in Writing materials literally taught themselves! HOW cool is that?

Not only does IEW have three levels: the Elementary Level A; Middle School Level B and High School Level C, there are continued studies available as well as additional resources! I LOVE that there are FREEbies on the 
Site
such as a weekly webinar and even free download eBooks or mp3 downloads! You can't go wrong..even a Yahoo group! There is LOADS of support to help us teach our children the valuable skill of writing.

There's more~Mr. Pudewa is funny and engaging! NO BORING stuff here! Everything is done very well and laid out in an easy to follow format.  Each part comes in a 3-ring binder that really makes the materials user friendly! I like this too~


I highly recommend this curriculum to teach your child. IT'S GREAT!

The CREW has reviewed various levels from the Elementary, Middle and Upper grades.  You can read those reviews HERE!

Review: GoTrybe~Fitness For Kids Via the Net

GoTrybe~Kids Fitness, Wellness, Motivation
CK it out here!
AGES:  6th gr & up
COST: 99 cent Introductory Trial Special
I say:  Not convinced...read on...

I was given a trial of GoTrybe as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review team in exchange for my honest opinions without monetary compensation. My opinions are my own.

I've been working hard on my family and my own health for a good number of years and when given the opportunity to review GoTrybe, I was excited.  Looking at ways to bolster our efforts for a healthy lifestyle and learning more has always been my goal so that we'd be able to live more productive and satisfactory lives.  It's a noble goal, and while there's tons of info out there in the marketplace of ideas, it' doesn't all add up to what I believe is sound conventional wisdom that best suits and fulfills our needs.  So what's GoTrybe and how did it add up?

About GoTrybe~

GoTrybe is a subscription for net users that you can purchase yearly for $19.95 but there is a FREE Trial Period (unspecified) and at the end of you will be asked to join. 

From the website:

GoTrybe.com is an online fitness and nutrition community that delivers daily fitness, nutrition, wellness, and motivation content to students and teachers across the US.

You get your own homepage  on the site and an avatar where you earn points by daily picking a series of activities regarding a workout in the warm up, cardio. flex and strength training areas. There are quite a few choices of activities in each domain with varying intensities such as moderate or intense with a score card of sorts with each one so good choices can be made.  You can't do more than one sequence of Daily Activities per day and this could be good for children who need more structure, but I'd think the ages this is really targeting that allowing the nutrition and wellness videos to be seen in multiple segments really couldn't hurt anything~but then I dunno..the idea I think was to get consistency over TIME...getting short snipits of info that could be absorbed in the long run is the goal~

Here's a screen shot of my choices so you can see that each domain as a score card explaining each activity. Each video is different in duration too~as well as different GoTrybe Instructors and activities...

 When you click and drag each video in each domain into the workout recipe above the choices you form your work out for that day.  After you're done creating your workout, you can hit the start workout button and get going. 

My experience has been that what I've chosen is between 19-24 minutes in length.  The videos are well made, and the trainers are personal, attactive and engaging along with children and other young people. There are no children younger than about 12 that I can see here, and even the classroom settings are showing what looks at least to be middle and high school kids.

I do note that the work outs are mostly moderate in intensity.  I found no beginner or easy levels available which I would think might preclude some children from participating and certainly those (of us) who might benefit most.

The sets are clean, attractive and colorful.  We especially liked the Salsa video warm ups and wish there had been more dance steps with better music on these videos.  I love dancing, and I believe marketing to children/teens might be better served if  the videos used more child/teen friendly fare such as HIP music and concepts. What happened to OLD FASHIONED PLAY as warm ups, cardio, flex and strength? Don't tell me that playing hop scotch and climbing monkey bars didn't condition us...LOL...

Soo onto How It Added UP for us~

I confess that I did not jump head long into GoTrybe like I might have done had I liked first off what I saw.  In checking out the site, I was unimpressed by the 'staff' of young super healthy folks who obviously have been in the exercise/health field for a good long time and might not fully understand or appreciate the needs of the outta shape/poorly nutritioned population GoTrybe has hoped to reach.  When looking at the staff, I am skeptical because it seems they have been in this field for some time and have never experienced being out of shape or dealing in obesity.  I wonder just what they have to offer me without these kinds of experiences.  When I viewed them, I saw young instructors with their beautiful, and I don't mean this disrespectful, either.. beautiful bodies and perky encouragements and had trouble seeing that any of this was going to motivate me(albeit an obese middle aged mama, but desiring change) much less a sedentary overweight child who is already dealing in all of the ilks of their misery.  (In my own defense, if there had been a level of workout I could have accomplished, I would have.  I bike and swim. Lame effort probably, but it's what I can do...Gotta start SOMEWHERE!) 

Two things stood out in my mind: Could that child be reached, and if so HOW~Can GoTrybe be used to accomplish this? Not sure. And the reason is that I'm not sure is that 20-30 minute pretty high intensity workouts using OR not using added equipment...along with >1 min video bites seemed, try as they might, would make some connection for me.  It seems impersonal to me and doesn't seem motivating. 

I think that IF this problem were solved by diet and exercise alone, Lord knows the zillions of OTHER iniatives over the years would have worked. But what I've discovered in my own life and in the life of others as well as the 'fat' kids I know is that obesity isn't as much about the body as it IS about the mind.  Does GoTrybe address this area? NO. Other than some perky uplifting mentors who try their best to be positive and encouraging, little reached us.  I wasn't motivated a bit to leave my chair and get moving~which I believe would be the goal of this program.  Now, the question is CAN IT to the job? Maybe. If you have a child who already has made the mind-body connection and is already on the MOVE, yeah, it's possible they'd enjoy the benefits of GoTrybe which is FIRST of all~the increased health and energy/fitness.  But as for the avatar, I'm not so into that. Don't know how many homeschoolers live in 'virtual' worlds either, but if they do...buying outfits and dressing up that virtual fit/gorgeous/perky ME just might motivate me, but I'm thinking that as a fat child, and I was one..not just a fat adult, that it wouldn't have had much power to push me onward.  Sorry, SisterT doesn't usually feel so strongly, but I've battled this area ALLL my life...let's just say heading into Weight Watchers in the 4th gr taught me something about this...maybe experience that 'normals' don't get...ya think?

Soo I really hate that I haven't found here what I had hoped, and better able to recommend GoTrybe to you as a magic bullet to get you and ME off our ...and MOVING! NO, some good dance music and a phone call with some prayer~yeah...that might~no! It DOES help me!  Focusing on God and His power in my life has been just what the doctor ordered to move me..MOVE MEeee...

Don't just take my word for this, please...do your own research here and head over to ck out the          and see what they are saying on this one! I'm betting some of them see things from a different vantage point and that if you don't identify with my perspective you could very well theirs and GoTrybe IS just what will get you and your kiddos up, moving and living a healthier lifestyle. That IS the goal, isn't it? Healthier for ALL of us??

Thanks for stopping in and leave me a shout out~I'd love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts~
HUGS!

REVIEW: Christian Pop Artist Robert Pierre WOOT!

No secret, SisterT rocks! Rock of Ages and pop, rock and soul...

I received this download as a Propeller Review opportunity with no money and my opinions are my own.

Robert Pierre has is a young NEW Christian artist and has written most of his album, sung and even done his own back up vocals~woot! NOT just talented, he's a looker too! Believe it or not he's graduating HS this month too~WOW! I'm impressed dude! THANKS for sharing your heart from God!


I got to download and listen to four of his songs as a preview for the coming CD~and I loved two the very best..but there was a third I liked too for its message mostly~yeah, I'm ole school! LOL
YOU can DOWNLOAD too!Here's the lineup AS I like 'em:
Jesus
Breaking My Heart
Idenity
You Hold Me Now
It's coming out soon~BE ON THE LOOKOUT~WHOOT~I'll be reviewing his CD AND having a GIVEaWAY too boot! ;-))!  Head on over and *LIKE* his facebook page too~ Robert Pierre Music

REVIEW: Yesterday's Classics~Ebooks for EPUB or KIndle

Yesterday's Classics

Website! 
PRICE: Sale going on $99 until 5/31
AGES:  preschool-HS
I say: I adore these books!! ALL 225 of them!

I received a download of the books offered by Yesterday's Classics and given instructions on how to download a reader for PC as part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew review team in exchange for my honest opinion without monetary compensation.  My opinions are my own.

I LOVE the older books~the books written well and for the classical child's mind and heart!  I've long been an advocate of the free online classic books through Baldwin Children's Literature Project mainlesson.com and also Project Guttenberg as well~love them and we've used quite a few titles over the years for our homeschooling to add to our history studies. Okay, here's a plug for Librivox which has free public domain audio books available.  I especially loved This Country of Ours, and we read this one in our US history studies~my kids loved the read aloud and they were upper elementary school at the time.  Let me say that the free version was hard to keep track of as far as not being able to mark our place.  Also I had my daughter read a good deal of it and it was difficult reading it online.  But if we could have had a printed version it would have made it easier to follow~Yesterday's Classics offers printed books as well as beautifully format EPUB and Kindle Ereader versions!  We're hooked!

Let me tell you what these books will do for your homeschool.  If you are a history lover or want your children to love history so much more than we all did growing up, then finding the books written for children with historical background and context is the way to go.  I definitely used these books to teach my children in ways that were interesting and productive! There's ancient history, Roman history, Middle Ages and more~it's awesome, and if you are like me with bulging book cases, you will see that an easy on the go eBook version will work very well~it's amazing how much space this will save ...AND THE CLEANING! woot! You all KNOW SisterT isn't about 'cleaning'! LOL...

Inside credit of one of the books~

Yesterday’s Classics is the publishing arm of the Baldwin Online
Children’s Literature Project which presents the complete text of hundreds of classic books for children at www.mainlesson.com.

These are out of print, hard to find children's books from 1880 to 1920 with many titles available! New titles are published regularly.

You can find books listed by subject, author or title~

World History
Greece
Rome
England
Faith
Hero tales
History
Literature
Legends
Nature
Poetry


IF you have to have printed books this is about the print books from the website:

All our titles are offered in high-quality paperback editions, with text cast in modern easy-to-read type for today's readers. The illustrations from the original volumes have been included except in those few cases where the quality of the original images was too low to make their reproduction feasible. Except where noted, color illustrations in the original volumes are rendered in black and white in these editions.
 

But for those who want freedom from shelf maintenance, the eBook is the way to go~An easy download is all you do plus set up for a free EPUB reader as well which I easily got from the web and installed. ;-)) Here's the link for the one I used:
Adobe Digital Editions

Customer service is excellent as well! You won't go wrong in exposing your children to such great titles. You can check out what they offer by subject!

Read what the crew is saying            !

SHOUT OUT: WaterWISE Rocks~

You have to know that SisterT is all about thrift, bargain hunting and KNOWING A GREAT DEAL~

I have to share~UNSOLICITED/UNASKED/ TOTALLY ON MY OWN endorsement of WaterWise who makes water distillers~and we have one...have had it about five years now AND TOTALLY LOVE IT! It is a countertop distiller model that makes a gallon at a time for about a quarter which is about 75% savings over buying it~AND  we don't waste plastic jugs this way but reuse our storage containers for our water...GOOD for the landfill issue!! BUT THE BEST thing is the distiller~how well it 'makes' good PURE clean water..the taste is divine...AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE ROCKS!!! TOTALLY ROCKS! Let me share what I know..Our purifier malfunctioned last fall~yup..it did.  And so we contacted and sent it back and paid/promptlly receiving it back and then about two mos later~it died again. Now you gotta know that by now, we're wondering if our distiller is really TOAST and if we'll have to shell out huge bucks (for us that sum is huge!) to replace it...well, NOOOOOOO...I contacted the customer service dept and they said to ship it back...by now, SisterT is drumming her nails on the counter...but guess what? Yesterday it arrived BACK ALL NEW and ...well,...NEW!  I am so excited! What a blessing! And I can't say enough! If we get five more years out of it~WOW!!

Okay, do you wanna SEE what you're drinking ~THE STUFF that's in your water?? DISTILL...you will NEVER think of water the same way again~(In our water, it's literally sludge and BROWN...no kidding!)

Here's the link to the site
HERE!
THANKS WaterWise!

SisterT ;-))

More Playn'

Me with a twist! LOL..

Just Playing...

Who ELSE I am In Jesus...

WHO I AM...in Jesus!

WINNER: Charlie and Trike's Grand Canyon Adventure by Ken Ham

Congrats Jade~
YOU WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've sent you an email for your addy ;-))
Woot~
Everybody~BE  SURE to ck out my sale~~
HUGS
SisterT

GiveAway LINKY whoot!

Saving Money Plan~woot!
LOADS of giveAways listed weekly!

YouTube History: Coronation of Elizabeth II 1953

Blog Cruise: SisterT's Talking About HS Stuff~CONTAINED OR/ Runover?

The Question:  Do you separate your school area from your home area?  How do you keep from having your school materials from spreading out all over your home?

I'm participating once again in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew's Blog Crew, and I'm proud to say I've done them all but the one on babies~couldn't contribute a bit to that one~so here we go~

HSing materials over running your home or do you have them contained in your life? In ten years I've been both.  Of course in these years there's been all kinds of seasons from moves to illness, and so has the storage methods and even the styles/methods our homeschooling has taken on.  Our materials have been well organized at times and at others they've taken over our home!  But in whatever our state of living, we have persevered onward!  It has been good and bad...

But how did I reign it in~or keep it reigned in~and what were the circumstances that I had to work through to get it BACK under management?  Whenever we've moved has presented some challenges such as trying to function either packing or unpacking or setting up or organizing.  Not always fun, but it's necessitated some processes such as having huge book shelves and open storage that we've kept around the last seven years or so...First our bookcases were the press board fake wood grain type that began to sag in the middle with the weight of our materials and we progressed to a rough hewn lumber painted one to then one what my father in law built out of some scrap that looks so nice it has made it's way to stay in the family and is now in my daughter's bedroom.  Then about two years ago my hub built a fine set of bookcases which  I brag on anytime I can b/c they are unique in that they are two large single depth cases the width of the wall in which they set PLUS as tall as about 7 foot and have three narrower as tall cases that slide back and two horizontally to reveal the back cases and provide double the storage of one bookcase in the same space.  I love them!  They are massive and look huge in the room in which they live, but they hold tons of books. The shelves are adjustable too.  I hve another book case, not nearly as nice~that is single depth which has baskets on it to hold small stuff and a single set of books as well.  I like to use baskets that match to hold all the junky small stuff...I've used pencil boxes to hold crayons/markers/scissors/erasers,...that kind of stuff...even held manipulatives when my kiddos were young~no more! But you get the idea. We had no toy boxes, but shelves so stuff was seen and orderly~neatly (HOPEFULLY) placed and in view for easy access...I started out with a toy box for them when they were tiny, but soon discovered all the confusion that a toy box created along with the mess it made.  I've worked at organization since almost day ONE...and it's a continual job!

We've had hsing all over the house too.  In fact, I've loved it in our kitchen and in the early days stored their schooling materials in our pantry/laundry room and kitchen hutch~progressed to a school room which quickly was moved to our den and stayed there until this semester which is all pretty much located now between our den and a small nook type space really in a back hallway with two individual workstations designed for high schoolers who are doing internet computer based lessons each day.  They have a computer work station with shelving over my son's area and daughter has a bookcase (part of the father in law piece) behind her for their storage.  Loads of our books from YEARS of hsing and even a little bit of future planned hsing is in those big double layer book cases...BUT~

I'm gearing up for a sale to divest of all the materials of the past~we no longer need them and hope to pass them on as so many were so wonderful.  (Be on the lookout~join my site to get the announcement of my NAME YOUR OWN PRICE SALE) coming soon! I'm still digging OUT...LOL

Yes, my materials have taken over at times and at others they have been quite nicely contained.  With planning this sale, you can guess where I am right now, right?? LOL...It's EVERYWHERE~and I'm hoping to send it all out of here to your homes for your children to enjoy~;-))

But be sure to ck out the CREW to hear their ideas on this topic~and keep at it~homeschooling IMHO is a home/life event and if it mixes into the house, so be it~schooling IS LIFE! 
Thanks for stopping and please don't forget my sale~

My contest for a Ken Ham kiddo book (hardcover) ENDS tonight! HERE!
hugs
SisterT