31. October 2008 by Shannon.

Okay, this is a day early… but I really wanted to share this with y’all before November starts… it’s SUPER COOL!

Okay, You all know how the Old Schoolhouse Magazine has an e-store, right?  They also have a Planner, right?  Well, they ALSO have these monthly supplements to their planner that only cost a mere $5.00!  Next month’s (okay, THIS month as of tomorrow… but this is fantastic, so I have to tell you about it today *grin*) Module is all about Amusing Mathematics (no, not Amazing… AMUSING). 

So, why do I think this is so fantastic?  Oooooo I was hoping you’d ask!!! :o)

1. It’s got RECIPES!  And not just ANY recipes, but a CHILI recipe… and anyone who knows me knows that chili is my chocolate!  I LOVE chili… and I really love NEW chili recipes (btw, that is also a subtle hint, if you have a great recipe for chili PLEASE leave a comment with it by clicking “comment” below!  PLEASE!
2. There is a simple Sudoku to start the kids off on a lifelong addition of what has got to be one of the best solitaire type games on the planet!
3. There are cool copywork pages with Very Handy little rhymes for things like “30 days hath September” and “Monday’s child is fair of face” (although, I learned that one slightly differently than what is on that page, but same idea… very cute!). 
4. There are copywork sheets to give kids little remembering rhymes for things like the value of a quarter, the hands of the clock, and even which numbers are even and which are odd. (oh, and cool little penmanship rhymes for writing numbers out neatly!)
5. They introduce Tangrams, Telling Time, and even teach the kids some funny math jokes!

All in all, 5 very good reasons to spend 5 bucks showing your kids that math can be Amusing and Not A Bore. All found in the Amusing Mathematics Module from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

I’ll leave you with a quote (it’s up to you to find it in the module! *grin*)  Oh, and an added incentive:  there are MORE modules when you are finished this one… check em out!

“Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the Universe” ~ Galileo Galilei

Blessings!

As a review blogger,  I am provided a free copy of the book, curriculum or product to test and use in order to write an honest review. I receive no other compensation and the opinions I share are my own and not influenced by the company in question.

Posted in F is for FANTASTIC! | Print | 1 Comment »

27. October 2008 by Shannon.

Okay, this is for Mom (in more ways than one!) … you see, I’m all about Christmas.  I love everything about the season.  And even though we don’t “do” Santa, I love the jolly ol’ fellow!  I love that Canadians do Thanksgiving early (getting into the mindset) and then a whole month and a half later, the Americans catch up… and because although we don’t affect them as much, their whole “holiday spirit ready to go” thing does affect us up here in the Frozen North. 

A friend of mine who had moved here from The South, always got things going for Christmas at the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner… she shopped Christmas, she talked Christmas, heck - she even had her Christmas tree up before *I* did!!! Now that is an accomplishment!  (We have a tradition of getting ours up the first Sunday afternoon in Advent).

I’m also all about getting things done ahead of time (you see, we also have three birthday’s immediately preceding Christmas, so from the 3rd of November on, it can be touch and go on time and resources available *grin*).  SO, in the spirit of Getting Ready for Christmas I am pleased to announce that The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has put together a wonderful new resource they are giving away FREE with new subscriptions!  Subscribe between Oct 18 and Oct 31, 2008 and you’ll receive a free TOS Homespun Holidays E-Book!  Do you like to create holiday memories? The brand new TOS holiday E-Book is all about the fall and winter holidays - mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it’s not even for sale yet. This is your chance to get it first - for FREE ($12.45 value)!

Normally when a person subscribes, their subscription starts with the upcoming issue which can take a while. But, TOS thought about that when they planned their Fall Special.

If you subscribe now with their Fall Special, you’ll get:

Almost 50% off the cover price for 2 years The current Fall issue as soon as it is ready

6 Bonus gifts

12 months of Teacher’s Toolbox, which contains a FREE E-Book every month PLUS, the new E-Book, Homespun Holidays for FREE!

This is over $250 worth of product for only $39!!

You don’t want to miss out on this one for sure!

Blessings!

PS. Did you ever dream of getting a horse for Christmas? You can get a sneak peek of our Fall issue and see Nancy Carter’s first horse! Oh, and she’s not the only one sharing her childhood pictures. You’ll see photos from the 50’s through the 80’s.

But, you’ll need the Fall issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to go on this walk down memory lane!

Posted in M is for Mom | Print | No Comments »

21. October 2008 by Shannon.

HA!  What a great domain name, eh?  www.helpme2teach.com … almost as good as momlovesbooks!  *wink*

Seriously though.  Help Me 2 Teach is a real website!!  Elaine, over at www.helpme2teach.com is a woman on a mission.  Her goal is to make a perfect “teachers” search engine.  She hand picks sites (and right now has over 2300 of ‘em!) that she feels are valuble and appropriate in content -  and loads them in, one by one, into her website search engine, so that no educator is ever stuck wading through the zillions of pages a popular search engine might send their way. 

There is a small fee for this service, though… ranging from $4.95 for 3 days access (got a big project due? This might be a great choice for the frazzled parent of a school child who only announced their project due monday on saturday morning! *lol*) to $29.95  for a full year’s membership (but if you sign up before December 2008, you can get a second year FREE with the purchse of a one year membership - What a deal!!!)

The best part of www.helpme2teach.com, besides the thousands of links to wonderful places and resources?  Elaine.  I have rarely come across someone  so willing to learn and grow.  To show you what I mean; one concern plaguing the TOS Reviewers was that there were no links to any Christian sites when we were first asked to take a look at www.helpme2teach.com.  Some of us made inquiries, and Elaine heard our concerns and IMMEDIATELY worked to rectify the situation - making this site a far improved version, imho.  I love that she was humble enough to accept our constructive “concerns” and to grow in it… and she’s always willing to take a look at a link - so if there is something you’d like to see, PASS IT ON!  She’s very nice to deal with, and responds to email inquiries promptly.

The cons… well, yes, in my opinion, I guess there are at least a couple. 

First, I, personally, LOVE search engines (almost as much as books!!! *grin*).  I’m Good at them and I have a hard time validating paying for something (even something sorted for me as Elaine’s site is) if I can find it myself. 

But understand something, I LOVE rabbit trails!  I find most of the fun of search engines is the filtering and the totally-not-what-I-was-looking-for-but-wow-that’s-super-cool-too stuff of the big name search engines (google being my current favourite).  I like the excitement of the hunt… and that might just be me.  But I also know that many of my friends find search engines their internet nemesis (es?  how do you pluralize nemesis?  nemesi? *rofl*).  I get calls EVERY DAY from one friend or another who needs me to “look something up for them”.  (HA!  Maybe I’ll take stocks out in www.helpme2teach.com and then send my friends Elaine’s way… LOL!)

Second, even though there have been over 2300 links added in BY HAND… somehow the searching mechanism seems rather hit and miss.  For example; I typed in “Canada”.   These were the top three results I got:

1. Goverment of Canada www.canada.gc.ca/main_e.html - okay, this makes sense to me… “Head Office” of Canada.
2. An interactive teaching map www.yourchildlearns.com/canada_map.htm - alrighty… not bad so far, after all geography is good.
3. Find your name in Latin www.latin.org/english/name-lookup.html - HUH?  Not only that, but the site didn’t even work… gave me an “oops” message every time I tried it.  I’m not exactly sure what my Latin name has to do with Canada… but ??

The other thing was, when I typed in “new france” *yes, even in quotes to isolate that word combination* - I got Mardi Gras and everything in old France’s history.  When I typed in “upper canada” I got only math links (for upper elementary! ROFL!). 

So, I guess what I can say is, that this is a site truly in it’s infancy, and has great potential (with Elaine willing to listen and grow with her supporters) to become something quite useful… but for me, for now?  Well,  I will definately be suggesting her site to my most frequent callers… but I know I’ll keep myself  busy chasin’ my rabbits trails! :o)

Blessings!

PS. the HM2T system is set up to “lock” any account accessed by more than 3 IPs (so if you have dialup, you may find yourself not able to get access after the third use) but if you contact Elaine, and explain the situation, she will permanently “unlock” your access (for the duration of your membership).

As a review blogger,  I am provided a free copy of the book, curriculum or product to test and use in order to write an honest review. I receive no other compensation and the opinions I share are my own and not influenced by the company in question.

Posted in T is for Teaching | Print | 1 Comment »

20. October 2008 by Shannon.

Okay… today is Monday.  Monday is for Mom.  Mom had a bad day today… so it’s kinda hard to think something Pro-Me… you know?  One thing that did jump out of me today though, was a song by Casting Crowns (I’m a big fan! *grin*)… it’s called Voice of Truth.

This past school year almost saw my children in the public school system.  My husband, listening to all the nay-sayers and critics, almost gave me an order to have them registered, with no regard to anything I or the children wanted.  That was a tough time.  I went to good Christian friends for prayers and counsel… and that didn’t help.  The prayers more than likely did, I should say, but the counsel was so varied I felt that I had opened an even bigger can of worms.  On the one hand, I needed to submit to my husband, on the other, God is my King of Kings… and His will should be MY will - what to do?!?!

Through it all, however, was my conviction that God was indeed asking me to do this… and even if it didn’t seem to be what my husband wanted, it was so deep on my heart, that I stood up to him.  Turns out, by his own admission, he didn’t feel so strongly about it after all, and gave his permission.  I cannot express to you my joy of that moment… but I cannot also tell you how much stress I caused myself - as the days before his concent dragged on and I worried and feared and made myself crazy. 

God didn’t want that for me (hind-sight’s a kicker, eh?) - He wanted me to TRUST Him… that He knew that what He was asking of me would be done to His Glory. 

D’oh!  If I’d only had a mustard seed of faith, eh?

Anyhow, this is my musing for Monday (for Moms), and I also wanted to share with you the lyrics of Voice of Truth (courtesy of www.christianlyricsonline.com):

Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
The voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand

But the giant’s calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. “Boy you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don’t seem so high
From on top of them lookin’ down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessings! 

Posted in M is for Mom | Print | 1 Comment »

11. October 2008 by Shannon.

Having been at this Homeschooling Thing for 10 years now… I know the fears, doubts and frustrations with starting out… or restarting homeschooling.  I’ve had the “homeschooled since birth” experience as well as the “yank ‘em out of school fast” experience, as well as one “he’ll finish up the year and that’s the end of that” experience.  And every single time it comes with that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling of

NOW WHAT?!

Well, a friend of mine, Terri Johnson, came up with a wonderful answer!  She’s created an ABC’s of Homeschooling E-Course (oh, and btw, I’m not the ‘brightest bulb in the house’ as it took me to lesson F to realise that she was indeed going through the Alphabet - even the fact that there were 26 weeks to the course didn’t tip me off… *oh brother*). 

Ahem!  Back to what Terri did…

Imagine walking hand-in-hand with a Veteran Homeschooling Mom who is there helping you week-by-week to plan what you will be doing…

Imagine being introduced to all her Homeschool Veteran friends who want to bless you with gifts of curriculum and encouragement…

Imagine learning alongside your children, in a pleasant, RELAXED way…

Imagine knowing that what you will be learning and doing can be re-used and re-done a thousand times without wearing out either the learning or the fun…

Imagine developing your OWN Educational Philosophy (a lofty goal for some… but completely attainable!)…

Imagine having the time and know-how to create  your own “Unit Study” geared to your children’s gifts and passions, or know that you can fully meet all Provincial or State requirements…

Or best of all - Imagine having the ANSWER when your neighbour asks “What about SOCIALIZATION?!”…

Would it be worth it to you to have this kind of help?  Would you be willing to give up a cup of coffee at a Fancy Coffee Shop a week for it? 

Well, Terri’s Homeschooling ABCs E-course costs as little as that… less than 2.50$ a week ( only $10 a month for 6 months)!!!  And you’ll get lots of free goodies from Terri and her friends (your new friends!), not to mention the incredible opportunity to “sit at their feet” and soak up all their years of experience and wisdom!! 

This course is worth every single penny, in my humble opinion… and I’ve seen lots of “ABC lists” for Homeschooling (or any other topic you might wish to research) and this is not just a list… each course comes in an email with a link to the Homeschooling ABCs Site with links for downloadable PDFs  (which can be read/printed from the free Acrobat Reader ) and any links to your new Homeschool friends’ gifts to you (gifts totally hundreds of dollars, I might add.. nice friends, eh? *grin*).  You’ll receive one course each week for (you guessed it… even if I didn’t! LOL!) 26 weeks… a whole Alphabet of weeks! :o)

One of the things I really REALLY liked about this course is that it was MUCH less intimidating than reading the ‘Guides to Homeschooling’ that are available in the market, and not full of all the “perfect homeschool - lookitus” mentality that can downright discourage a new homeschooler (heck, even a veteran like myself can be left wondering if I have what it takes in reaction to bragging like that!).  This is not a collection of how all these wonderful things that happened when our kids got into “Ivy League schools on full scholarships the same year they won the Nobel Peace Prize just for being Homeschoolers” kind of encouragement - instead, it’s a PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON, WALK-YOU-THROUGH-IT-IN-BITE-SIZED-CHUNKS kind of encouragement.  I like that kind! :o) 

Terri (in case you don’t already know) is the talent behind Knowledge Quest Maps - she’s been homeschooling for at least 11 years - so she knows of what she speaks!  I’ve had the priviledge of listening to web-seminars offered by her in the past,  and her passion and vision is an inspiration. 

So, If you are just starting out, or starting over - maybe what you are doing isn’t working and you’re ready to toss in the towel… WAIT!  Don’t give up… think of Maria’s advice in The Sound of Music… “Let’s Start at the Very Begining, A Very Good Place to Start”… Well, Homeschooling ABCs E-Course will certainly get you off to a Very Good Place - and you might just hang that towel back on the hook (or better yet - why not wrap it around your head like a Pirate and chase the kids around the living room, fall laughing on the couch, pull our a copy of Peter Pan and snuggle down for a Good Read?). 

Whatever you decide… don’t give up - just go back and learn your Homeschooling ABCs!

Blessings!

As a review blogger,  I am provided a free copy of the book, curriculum or product to test and use in order to write an honest review. I receive no other compensation and the opinions I share are my own and not influenced by the company in question.

Posted in F is for FANTASTIC! | Print | 4 Comments »

8. October 2008 by Shannon.

Now, normally on Wednesdays I will share some fantastic new site that I’ve stumbled across… or maybe one of my “Golden Oldies” (read: my favourites *grin*) but for today, because I would love to have it all in one place… I have decided to tell you all about some of the work that *I* do on websites.

I taught myself HTML years ago when I had only two little ones who took naps in the day… ahh for those days of peace and quiet.. LOL!  My first sites were pretty rudimentary, but still, I took time to learn frames, tables, stuff like that from the blank “notepad” screen up… I believe this has helped me tremendously over the years that I’ve used WYSIWYG programs such as Front Page, PagePlus, and Xara.  It helps me find that “itty bitty toopid piece of code” that is messing up what I’m trying to get to happen on the screen.  Many WYSIWYG programs throw in SO much unnecessary code snippets that the whole site slows down in loading and functioning because of the “muck in it’s wheels”.

Here are some sites I’ve worked on in the past few years… many for free, some as a thank you gift, some as ” real,live, lookit me being professional”CONTRACT!  *grin*  Many sites are maintained by the persons or organizations I created them for… but some I maintain as a courtesy to family or friends.

www.ratcliffeblessings.com (this is our family site - in sorry need of updating, I’m afraid)

www.homeschoolinghorizons.com (THE only monthly Canadian Homeschool Magazine.  *Oct 2008*)

www.realjoyministry.ca (the church my parents attend in Alexandria, Ontario)

www.visitseakindly.com (my Father in law’s Bed & Breakfast in Nova Scotia, Canada - check ‘em out!!)

www.signingsmarttots.ca (a friend of mine’s site devoted to Infant Sign Language in Windsor, Ontario)

www.lemetro.ca (a friend of mine’s consulting business)

(I used to have St. Georges Church in this list, but they’ve recently redone their website.  So that is why it is missing, for those who notice! LOL!)

www.prayersat830.com (my new friend Stan’s site, and I’m hoping he’ll let me work on some of his other sites too! *Oct 2008*)

www.personneloasis.com (currently being maintained by the website owner *March 2009*)

My son is hoping to follow in my footsteps in this webdesign thing (probably as a part time hobby as well since he’s planning first to be a best-selling author) and is learning using Motherboard Books “Let’s Make a Webpage“.  Who knows, maybe you”ll read about his new webpages on his blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/ratcliffeauthor where he blogs weekly on his learning adventures of the week!

Enjoy “my” hobby! :o)

Blessings!

Posted in W is for Websites | Print | 2 Comments »

7. October 2008 by Shannon.

North America (as a whole) is suffering from a bad case of Election Fever! 

In Canada, our election is coming up at break-neck speed… just enough time left to cover some basic “party” information and maybe cast a “mock vote“… take time to explain to your children who you are voting for and why.  Or explain why it’s a challenge to pick.  For example… my instinct tells me to vote Green or NDP, they are the only parties really concerned about what is happening in our homes and in the environment… HOWEVER, the only party who disagree in principle with the legalization of abortion is the Conservative Party. 

Now, I am pretty convinced there is no turning back from this poor decision that past governments have made on this important issue, but it would be nice to have a Prime Minister who agreed with my values and convictions.  I think educating our children on the Rights and RESPONSIBLITIES of voting is of absolute importance.  And so I leave you with no idea about who I’m going to vote for… because honestly?  I haven’t decided (and I’d better get to it, since I have about 6 days to figure it out!).

In the States, you have a bit more time to prepare… how about heading over to Currclick and participating in the Mock Election?  They have some valuable resources available to help you in teaching your children more about their civic responsiblities including an incredible American Civics course published by Connect the Thoughts curriculum (for the high school level).

Whatever was you decide to vote, do not let this TEACHING moment pass you by… or you’ll have to wait another 4 (or 5) years!!

Blessings!

Posted in T is for Teaching | Print | No Comments »

3. October 2008 by Shannon.

Over on my Little Homeschool on the Hill site, I ran a little “contest” to see what people thought I should do with this blog.  Well, my friend, Rachel Larkin (www.Rachel-Larkin.com) won it with a “book reviews” site idea that I think is quite fun!  SO, in a nutshell, she thought I should “assign” a day for different types of reviews… her idea was only books, but I think I’ll expand that a bit (I can only read so many books a week, Rachel! LOL!) to include curriculum, christian books, great sites, etc…

This is what I came up with based on the abbreviations of the days of the week (trying to be clever here, so excuse me if I miss the mark, LOL!):

M is for Mom (so books related to being a Mom, Parenting, or even Chicken Soup-y kind of books for Moms)

T is for Teaching (so books on teaching, specific subjects that I teach, homeschooling, curriculum, etc.)

W is for Websites (if I find a website I really like.. could be a blog, homeschool site, whatever… know that they will always be family friendly sites!  I won’t ever put anything on my sites that I woudln’t want my own kids reading… so no worries there!)

Th is for Theology (books about God, inspirational lectures - I know, not a book - or even devotionals)

F is for FANTASTIC! (if I find something incredibly amazing, could be an offer, could be a freebie, could be my “Best Book Ever”… my choice! *grin*)

…and if I post on the weekend… well, it’ll probably not happen, but if it did, it’ll probably just be babbling about nothing - LOL! :o)

SO… seeing as today is Friday.. I wanted to share with you a great DEAL that I came across… (unfortunately, as far as I can tell, though, it’s limited to my American Friends… but still, for those of you in the States, what a great deal!!!)

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is running and incredible Fall Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical gifts (no downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that is full of ideas for the new school year, so you start receiving your magazine in a flash!

It really is one of their best deals ever and you don’t want to miss out. In fact, they’ve got a really cute Homeschooling with Heart tote bag (valued at $13.95) for the first 1000 to subscribe. About half of them are gone, but you should still be able to get one if you hurry! They will remove the info from the subscription page when the bags are all gone.) The total value is over $212, but you receive it all for only $39 - 50% off of cover price! Plus subscribers get their online monthly Teacher’s Toolbox which focuses on a different topic each month, giving you words of encouragement, hands-on teaching ideas, book recommendations, field trip ideas, and a bonus download item!

Check it out! www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/US_Promotion.php

in fact, they have a really cool deal for the rest of us too… www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/International_Promotion.php

So, there is my FIRST Mom Loves Books post… whaddya think? *grin*

See you on Monday!
Blessings!

Posted in F is for FANTASTIC! | Print | No Comments »