FREE: Maps of WAR~historical timelines in 90 or so seconds!

This is cool~You can have a quick overview of a map like the one below in chronological order of historical events to learn all kinds of interesting facts about the world.

There are quite a few topics in the collection~Maps of War!

FREE: Meme Offering Freebies Each Thursday~Join the Fun!! THRIFTY THURS~

Thrifty Thursdays! is hosting. She has some neat stuff listed and updates weekly!

FREE: Homeschooling eZine (Clickschooling)

Homefires.com You can sign up for her eZine and check out a BUNCH of free resources.  Diane Flynn Keith is the Author of Carschooling! Check out this cool site! She has freebies when you sign up for her eZine!

FREE: American History FUN Site~Organized by Topic Using Film

This is exactly WHAT I've been looking for this year to complement our history education. I'd like to find this kind of thing for world history, and so far I've not done it~do you know of one?  In the mean time,
Have Fun With History looks wonderful, and I will be enjoying this one in my spare time! It's right up my alley, and since I don't watch television unless it's web based online, I am looking forward to digging in here!  Thanks Homeschool Buyers Co-Op and Homefires.com (Clickschooling eZine) for sharing this resource! whoohoo!

GiveAway: $35 Gift Certificate~Can You Use One?

 

I am hosting a celebration over here! Celebrate GOOD TIMES~come 'on! Let's celebrate! It's ALRIGHT! AND to bring in the party fun, CSN Stores is offering ONE of my readers a $35 Gift Certificate to use ON WHATEVER you'd like! Did you know CSN Stores has 200 stores where you can find everything from cheap bedroom furniture to fantastic fitness equipment to cookware??  You have loads to choose from~HOW KOOL IS THAT?

OK, soooooooo here's how to enter for a chance OR MORE to WIN!
1.  First entry~leave me a comment telling me HOW you like to celebrate....
2.  Grab either my button or my feed widget and place on your blog.  5 entries! Leave me a link, OK?
3.  Blog about this giveAway~link back to me~ 5 entries!
4.  Follow me with GFC OR Networked blogs~3 entries!
5.  Tell me HOW you are going to spend this gift certificate~do you KNOW?  CSN Stores   
6.  Share this giveAway on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking site.
7.  Enter ME in one of YOUR contests (leave me the link, so I know~ LOL)
8.  Come back here daily, read another blog post and tell me in a comment which one you read. You can do this EVERYDAY for as many entries as there are days til this contest is over!! (Be sure and comment!)
GiveAway ENDS 9/17/2010
US AND CANADA only please. Thanks!

I have my eye on some flatware and my daughter would LOVE one of the day beds~Have fun and thanks for coming by! CELEBRATE!! (This song is from my teen years AND is a happy song!)

Head 'Em Up! Move 'Em Out! ....Homeschooling GRADUATES

It's coming, and not THAT far away~in just a few short years, my BIG littles will be all grown up~young adult-homeschool graduates! Oh boy! Seems like FOREVER away, and yet I know this time will speed on by like a bullet train heading west!

I saw the cutest YouTube video by a young homeschool graduate, Israel Wayne of Wisdom's Gate who is part of the Homeschool Alumni Assoc.  This is soo funny and sooo true as well~enjoy!!


We got going today for day two after our beginning of school year 2010-11 yesterday! Just 178 more days to go~whoohoo!

FREE: Blog Improvement Stuff: Blog Button Making Instructions

eHow really has some cool stuff, and Here's where they show us how to make a button~did you see mine on the right? It's my first BRAND NEW button~will you share it with others? Let me know you did~thanks ;-))  (IF you prefer to share site feed, grab that widget box scrolling button on the left)~THANKS!

I just realized something~There are no instructions for making the button itself.  Ha~you can't link nothing to make a button, right? So we need to make a pretty button to represent your blog.  I am NOT the most well-versed, but what I did was used my header (THAT I MADE) and had saved to My Pictures on my hard drive and uploaded it to Picnik (dot) Com  and then edited it to look like it does.  I'm not completely happy with it~a little small and could improve upon the graphics, but HEY, it's up right NOW and I can improve it in short order~now that it's up!

Seriously, go ahead and upload a pic you want to make your button.  Resize it to button size. The eHow article says 125x125 which is the size of mine, but I think it's a tad on the small size...sooo like I said, I'm going to remake it at some point.

Once you are happy with your "button" then save it again back to your hard drive and be sure to put "button" on the title so you know it's just that~save it and then upload it to a photo sharing website such as photobucket.  I have a photobucket account and did this~got the code to share and THEN went to the eHOW article to make the button.  Sorry it got lengthy, but you NEEDED a button before you can link it~ha!

HINT: I like to open multiple windows and move back and forth. To be sure I had the code correct, I used dual windows open at the same time!


Happy Blogging!

Review: Math Tutor DVD~PreAlgebra Volume I and The TI 84 Calculator Tutor

Math Tudor DVD: The PreAlgebra Tutor Volume I (2 DVD set) 5 hrs of instruction

The TI 83/84 Calculator Tutor (3 DVD set) 8 hrs of instruction

Ages:  8-10th grades (Anyone who needs Alg HELP or to learn the calculator.)

Price: PreAlg $26.99 Reg $34.00~23% savings! Here!

Calculator $26.99 Reg $31.99~16% savings! HERE! 
You can also join the site to use the online resources: all dvd courses, worksheets and forums along with discounted savings  HERE!

Contact:  MathTutorDVD.COM  OR 1-877-MATH-DVD 
Guarantee: Grades Raised or your money back!

My opinion:  Practical and solid!

I was given Math Tutor DVDs, The PreAlgebra Tutor Volume 1 (Vol 2 is available, but I did not receive it.) and The Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator Tutor for review as a reviewer of The Old Schoolhouse Crew.  My opinions are my own.  I received no other compensation.

Need a tutor for math? Does your child need extra explanation for his work in math? What about a need for additional resources for learning? Math Tutor DVD offers an array of dvd collections to enhance math instruction.  Math Tutor DVD offers many titles for basic math (counting 1-10) for the young child all the way to physics.  These are dvd instructional videos with topics listed and with easy navigation.  Jason Gibson, the instructor is conversational engaging students to learn. He encourages them to watch the lesson first to absorb the material, then to come back and take any notes and work problems for practice.  He has a pleasant manner and is easy to listen to with very good use of the white board for illustrations.  Mr. Gibson REALLY breaks down the information into small pieces so learners can GET IT~These are nice, well done videos that will enhance math learning. Read his bio here! You use your own text and Math Tutor DVD offers foundational and informative information that makes it sensible.  He offers many examples and insights.  He makes it real and simplified.      


We are using PreAlgebra to refresh our skills going into Algebra I when we are capable. Our text is preAlgebra and I am coinciding the Math Tutor DVD lessons to the lessons in our book for additional instruction and reinforcement.  This great for visual and auditory learners~to rework the practices that Mr. Gibson shows would make it more hands on.  My kids are learning and reinforcing their work through these lessons that are about 40 minutes each.  We use my laptop and watch together first as Mr. Gibson suggests then we watch again doing the practice. 

I like Math Tudor DVD because Mr. Gibson is friendly and easy to understand.  I like that I can easily navigate the lessons via my dvd player on my laptop and that my children can watch with me to learn.  I like the classical music included in the opening. These dvds are a great resource for learning! This is consistent throughout the collection. I have reviewed Math Tudor DVD before and found it helpful. You can read about it HERE!

A little about each collection:

PreAlgebra I covers 5 hrs of math instruction:
Disc One~

Section 1  Real Numbers

This lesson covers the kinds of number there are~do you know there are rational and irrational numbers? 
Section 2  The Number Line
Learning about the number line is essential to algebra and being able to plot lines and solve equations.

Section 3  Greater than, Less than, Equal to
No more confusing these symbols in working the problems!

Section 4  Absolute Value and Adding Integers
Wonder what this is? It's explained in this lesson!

Section 5  Subtracting Integers
Watch this one to enhance performance!

Disc 2~
Section 6  Multiplying Integers
Explained simply and with loads of practice!
Section 7 Dividing Integers
Just like Section 6, this is so useful!
Section 8  Powers and Exponents
Essential information~at our fingers!
Section 9 Order of Operations
Working on multi-step problems~WHICH way to go? NOW we know!


Math Tutor DVD covers Alg I and II as well as AP Algebra.  Then for upper level, you can get Geometry, Trig/PreCalculus, Calculus Tutor, Advanced Calculus, Calculus 3, Differential Equations, Physics 1,2,and 3, Unit Conversions, Statistics and Probability.

Math TutorDVD will support your student's need to know more!

I remember taking Algebra 101and Statistics in college and needing an advanced calculator. I was at a serious disadvantage in having to learn how to use the thing while navigating college math~Math TutorDVD has answered this problem with creating a tutorial that teaches the ins and outs of this powerful math tool.  I don't currently own a TI calculator other than my old one from 1993, but we were able to download an online one from Virtual TI-84 which I did download and worked with.  I did not find the download useful with this tutorial.   

TheTI83/84 Tutor has 8 hours of video tutoring! It covers many topics needed to fully use this valuable resource!  Everything from simple programming to graphing with this calculator is included. You will appreciate Math Tutor DVD for supporting your math curriculum and as a supplement.  Online helps are available too! The helps provided really make this powerful calculator user friendly. 
 
When you look at this calculator a few questions come to mind: Where's the equal sign? It's missing or rather, not included on this model because the ENTER is where you get the results of calculations! Why worry about using this calculator?  The Texas Instruments 84 Calculator SAVES TIME which is very valuable in test taking on important tests like the ACT/SAT or GRE.    I KNOW that this calculator is VERY useful in university math courses~why disadvantage your child in testing and in college? Learn this calculator now and practice its use for mastery~Math Tutor DVD provides a wonderful way to accomplish these goals!


HERE check out what the Crew is saying!
and head over to pick up your copies of these useful tutorials for math HERE!

GiveAway: Skin Care Collection~Ohh La La!

Faith, Family and Fun is hosting! (ENDS 9/28)

FREE: Tracking of Grades/Lesson Plans

Engrade.COM

Curriculum SWAP~FREE STUFF (POST by 9/10 for SWAP on 9/13)

The details are over at
Heavenly Homemakers!

This looks like FUN!

Blog Cruise: SisterT'sTalking: Her Reaction to Criticism About Hsing

Some people just aren't going to like everything we do.  I well remember our decision to homeschool and some of the comments and thoughts of our friends and family. There was some support as well as well intentioned "concerns" expressed by anyone who cared to share. It is a heavy decision, I must admit, and what I did was asked God for His wisdom and desire, and proceeded on.  I hate to say it, but swimming upstream while not easy is sometimes necessary.

I did much research to be sure of my "facts" about hsing as were available to me. (Today there's a lot more information and the web is more used and rich with hsing information.)

I surrounded myself with like-minded people who understood what God was asking of us. (We joined a co-op for hsing that met once a week with activities.)

I began to learn how to do the job and to prepare. (I researched curriculum and methods as much as I could.  I gathered supplies and books.)

I allowed the nay sayers to just WATCH AND SEE~arguing never helps or would never have helped. (I think there are still some who WONDER and worry, but they don't say much now.  We don't discuss it for approval anymore~it's just a fact in our family.)

This is just what happened with us~hub was all for it if I thought I could~Hub and God are the two to be most concerned about what they think.  The kids haven't always been thrilled, but they know we are marching on in a process of doing what we believe is the right thing for them and our family.

If you encounter opposition, pray and seek God first. Discuss with your spouse.  Get on the same page as a family. Research and the go for it!~
God bless you as you consider hsing and may face obstacles/criticism along the way. The Lord knows, and He  has your back!

Read on to see what the other CREW are saying about criticism in their homeschool experiences. 

Old Sayings~ha!

From the deep south, I still use some of these old saying to express myself. I don't use them much in my writing, but I will often say some of them.  Soooo here's some fun~ a collection sent by a friend of quite a few. Enjoy!
1. A Bone to Pick (someone wants to discuss a disagreement)
2. An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive. This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin  who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked. He ended up walking away with his axe sharpened free of  charge) 
3. One bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)
4. At sea (lost or not understanding something)
5. Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)
6. Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)
7.  Barking up the wrong tree (talking about something that was completely the wrong issue with the wrong person)
8.  Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose )
9.  Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)
10.Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult)
11. Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk)
12. Calaboose (a jail)
13. Catawampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furniture sitting at an angle)
14. Dicker (To barter or trade)
15.  Feather in Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. This came from years ago when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy) 
16.  Hold your horses  (Be patient!) 
17.  Hoosegow ( a jail)
18.  I reckon (I suppose)
19.  Jawing/Jawboning (Talking or arguing)
20. Kit and caboodle (The whole thing) 
21.  Madder than a wet hen (really angry)
22. Needs taken down a notch or two (like notches in a belt usually a young person who thinks too highly of himself and needs a lesson)
23.No Spring Chicken  (Not young anymore)
24.Persnickety  (overly particular or snobbish)
25.Pert-near  (short for pretty near)
26.Pretty is as pretty does  (your actions are more important than your looks)
27.Ret up  (clean the house)
28.Scalawag  (a rascal or unprincipled person)
29.Scarce as hen's teeth  (something difficult to obtain)
30.Skedaddle  (Get out of here quickly)
31.  Sparking  (courting)
32.Straight >From the Horse's Mouth  (privileged information from the one concerned)
33.Stringing around, gallivanting around, or piddling  (Not doing anything of value)
34.Sunday go to meetin' dress  (The best dress you had)
35.We wash up real fine  (is another goodie)
36.Tie the Knot  (to get married)
37.Too many irons in the fire  (to be involved in too many things)       
38.Tuckered out  (tired and all worn out)
39. Under the weather  (not feeling well. this term came from going below deck on ships due to sea sickness thus you go below or under the weather)
40.Wearing your 'best bib and tucker'  (Being all dressed up)
41.  You ain't the only duck in the pond  (It's not all about you)

Well, if you hold your horses, I reckon I'll get this whole kit and caboodle done and sent off to you. Please don't be too persnickety and get a bee in your bonnet because I've been pretty tuckered out and at sea lately because I'm no spring chicken.  I haven't been just stringin' around and I know I'm not the only duck in the pond, but I do have too many irons in the fire. I might just be barking at a knot, but I have tried to give this article more than just  A LICK & A PROMISE!  But if you get all bent out of shape, you will have your panties in a wad or in more polite society, you knickers in a knot LOL!! (The last three I've added and the very last is attributed to my Savannah friend~she KNOWS who she is! LOL)

Plans and the Planner~HELP for MEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I FINALLY came up with WHAT to do this school year for planning, and I'm utilizing my Old Schoolhouse 2010 Planner to do it! You can read my ad about the planner HERE!

You really NEED this one~it has loads of possibilities to make this year easier! You can get it HERE!

Free: Healthy Recipe eBook: Smart School Time Healthy Recipes

One Frugal Foodie is offering it. Enjoy and thanks Crewmate, The Cow Queen ;-))

GiveAway: Novel, Fatal Convictions by Randy Singer

Beyond Silver and Gold is hosting! (ENDS 9/10)

GiveAway: Fogless Mirror For the Shower!

Angela's Analysis is hosting! (ENDS 9/8)

Applesauce Making 101

Thanks Illinois Lori for your simple EASY instructions on making applesauce~which works beautifully!

You can read my post about picking apples if you'd like.

Gather your apples! You can either purchase, grow or have them gifted to you.  You want fresh beautiful apples if possible, but if this is not, depending on how much trimming you want to do, you can still use the ones with spots.  Ours had not been sprayed this spring, but that was OK. They were easily prepared with our device.

Purchase or borrow a peeler/corer.  This isn't ABSOLUTELY necessary, but it will make quick work of the process. We did enough for 6 and 1/2 quarts last night in one and half hours. This is REAL fast compared to the peel and chop method without the peeler/corer. What a great $10 investment. We purchased at Harbor Freight but there are other sources.  If you plan to do this big time~more than just for a pie or crisp, I'd invest in one.  Time is worth something too!

Scrub the apples with a vegetable brush. We've done this all summer with our garden produce and it makes everything nice and clean. Be sure to scrub really well on the ends where the stems are as dirt/grime can hide there.

Core/peel and chop out any bad places. You want your applesauce to be as good as your apples are sweet. We had a solution of cool water and lemon juice (Real Lemon into about a five gallon bucket.  1/2 cup per bucket of water.) When the apple is peeled and cored, drop it into this solution until you have enough for a pot to cook into sauce.

Cooking~use a five gallon pot and place 1/2 cup of Real Lemon and 3/4 cup of cool water into the pot along with all the apple it will hold. Turn the stove on medium heat until it boils. Turn down and stir as needed keeping the pot covered.  When your apples are soft they will begin to fall apart and made sauce. If you like it chunky like we do, then just stirring will be enough. If you want smooth applesauce then put into a processor, mill or blender to reduce the texture.

Preservation is achieved by several options. You can can them into Ball canning jars OR you can freeze them like we did.  I'm not going to discuss canning here, as I do it for some things, but not this. We have a deep freeze and use it for most things EXCEPT pickles!  ha!! Anyway, we use quart ZipLoc Freezer Bags to assure quality in our preservation.  Cheaper bags just don't do it for us. If you like another brand, go ahead. I know cost is important. We want our stuff to last and we KNOW it will in these bags! Be sure and let your sauce cool.  When it's cool (room temp) keeping it covered until it is, then bag into either pint or quart bags. We use a good amount in eating, so we do quarts.  I also always take out the excess air in the bags so that we don't get freezer burn by pushing the liquid up to the edge of the "zipper" and then quickly closing the bag. Have a rag to wipe the inside of the flaps once the bag is sealed and the outside. I use a ladle or big spoon to put my stuff in the bags and then clean them really well and label with product name and year. What's more frustrating than something frozen and UNKNOWN! But then again, what's MORE DELIGHTFUL than good homemade stuff in our freezer for some yummy eats! 

How are you preserving the harvest this year? Do you dry, can, or freeze?

Apple Picking~Processing Whew! Applesauce MADE TONIGHT!!

We did it!  Picked about 65 gallons of fresh apples from a friend's tree~whoohooo AND picked up about 50 gallons that had fallen for another friend's horses.  This work went fairly fast in that in about two hours all six of us~our family AND the friend had totally picked and cleaned underneath the one tree.  What a blessing he shared with us his bounty.  We had a great time going on this little jaunt to pick them and then take the apples to the friend's barn for her horses.

When we got home, we jumped right into processing our applesauce for our deep freezer. Son was our resident corer-peeler, daughter took a turn but mostly got her self ready for work tomorrow, but she WAS the one who climbed the tree! AND Dad cut out the spots and ends with ME and Grandma working the sink to scrub each apple with our brush before the peeling/coring and chopping began.

 Each apple was done this way and placed into a huge bucket (food grade) with lemon water to prevent browning and then after a big pot was accumulated, I put them on to cook.  I used 1/3 cup of Real Lemon and 2/3 cup of water.  I didn't use any sugar, Splenda or cinnamon.  We are going to package into ZipLoc bags and freeze. Right now as we visit, my apples are cooking down for the sauce. We have worked about one and a half hours processing with apple sauce (chunky) all made up!We like it this way so I'm not going to process it into finer grade of sauce but leave some pieces in it for a full texture.

The kids seemed to have a great time~and it was a hoot to watch them get the apples and process them!

Oh I can't wait to get some goooood applesauce! Already we've all eaten one OR TWO fresh! YUM!

I'm going to do a second post about HOW we made or rather have begun making our homemade YUMMY applesauce for the freezer!

FREE: Merrium Webster's Vocab Site (Spelling Bee Preparation and SAT/ACT Prep)

Word lists with audio pronounciations and definitions~lists by topics like Latin, Japanese, Spanish, Olde English.
Merrium Webster's Spell It!