Weekly Wrap-up: Back to (Home)School!

That's right, we are officially back to school work this week.  We had such a great summer I'm a little sad to see it go.  But we are riding that wave of new school excitement.  Nothing like the feeling of new books, new pencils, and new notebooks.  Ms. Q misses school clothes shopping but I promised to take her to get a few things when the weather actually cools off.  Who needs sweaters and jeans when it's still 75 degrees out?

Here is what we've been up to this week:

Monday Ms. Q started 4th grade and Little M started Pre-school.  I'm working on some pages to post at the top of my blog with all the curriculum materials we are using this year.  Just putting on some final touches and some links and they will be ready to go.  We went out for lunch on Monday (well the drivethru anyway) to celebrate being back to school.

Ms. Q was really disappointed that she was not able to start French this week.  She's been looking forward to learning French all summer.  Our computer has been acting up and the Rosetta Stone software kept making the computer freeze.  Hopefully everything will be a go for French for next week.  She was able to start her unit on South America for Geography.  She's not totally excited for this but I have some pretty cools things planned that she doesn't know about yet.

Little M is continuing with the Letter of the Week that we started last year.  This week we did a review of the letters A-E and a literature unit using Blueberries for Sal.  He enjoyed counting and eating blueberries and he made up this cute little song: "Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk, I love blueberries. Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk [insert person's name] loves blueberries."  It's been stuck in my head for days.  He also made some new play dough.

Friday we explored a new (to us) trail in the area for our nature walk.  This week's topic was milkweed.  We were not successful in our hunt for milkweed but we did see some other interesting plants, a funny little salamander, and we all enjoyed our walk.  We will be following the Outdoor Hour Challenges as best we can again this year.

I would say that we can call our first week back a success.

MathBlaster Giveaway Winner!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

Chemmy - you are the winner!!  Congratulations!!

That was so much fun.  I hope I can have another giveaway sometime soon.

Enjoy!

Favorite Recipe: Magic Milkshakes

I know, I know it's a little late in the season to post a recipe for milkshakes.  And do you really need a recipe for milkshakes?

Well, I love milkshakes and so do my kiddos.  We make them all year round.  BUT we don't have ice cream available all the time and I hate to think how many calories and grams of fat I'm sucking up that straw.  Here's where the need for a recipe comes in.  During a recent internet search I stumbled upon a great website called Hillbilly Housewife.

The Hillbilly Housewife has all sorts of great low cost cooking from scratch ideas.  Among them a wonderful recipe for milkshakes that doesn't use ice cream!  The recipe uses ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.  You can find the recipe HERE - just scroll down to find it.  It's between the Chai Tea recipe and the Instant Cafe Au Lait.  MMM...

Oh and here's some pictures of the most recent Magic Milkshakes we've made.

Chocolate

Strawberry

We also made chocolate banana, chocolate peanut butter, and vanilla.  All were thick, creamy, and delicious!

Enjoy!

Review: Big IQ Kids

Big IQ Kids is one of those finds that makes homeschooling sooo much easier.   Big IQ Kids is an online program designed to help kids in grades K-12 master skills in spelling, vocabulary, math, and US geography.  Your child works on one lesson a day in each subject area (about 10-15 minutes each) and the lessons progress as mastery is achieved.  It's totally customizable so you can tailor the program to partner with your curriculum.  You can also get progress reports on each lesson to see how well your child is mastering the material as well as any trouble area.  For each lesson completed the student earns a coin to spend in the game arcade, an area of the website with "fun" games and a student created avatar.

We have been enjoying the last of our summer break and although Ms. Q has been using Big IQ Kids almost everyday and trying to learn how it works, she is really excited to start using Big IQ Kids as part of her school day.  When I told her that I scheduled it into her day she literally jumped up and down!  She really likes the way the characters talk and give her directions and she loves earning game coins.  The Spelling Bee is her favorite.  She is not totally sold on the drill aspect of the math program but after I lowered the number of problems she had to complete in each lesson she was better (and complained less).

Big IQ Kids has both a free play and a premium membership option.  The spelling and vocabulary programs are all free.  We used the free spelling program last year to help practice Ms. Q's spelling words and we were both really excited to try out the premium member options.  The spelling Jr., math and geography programs are part of the premium membership.

 

The free spelling and vocabulary programs are great but if you want to be able to track your student's progress, have lessons that progress with mastery, and give your child access to the game arcade and buddy then the premium membership is for you.  The pricing starts at $7.99 for single months or $39.99 for a yearly membership.  You can read more about pricing options HERE.  In my opinion, Big IQ Kids is a little pricey.  BUT, if you are willing to prioritize Big IQ Kids in your curriculum budget you will not be disappointed.

If you would like to read what others are saying about Big IQ Kids, please visit The Old Schoolhouse  Homeschool Crew Blog.

 

 

Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

Field Trip: Leaming's Run Gardens

The kids and I recently took a field trip to Leaming's Run Gardens in Cape May Courthouse New Jersey.  I have never been there before but the website looked pretty interesting and the price was right, so off we went.

The website states "A visit to Leaming's Run Gardens is a delightful relaxing walk along winding paths where at every turn is yet another celebration of nature's beauty."  And it really was.  We followed winding paths through wooded areas only to emerge back into the sunlight and be surrounded by a beautiful garden.

Butterflies and hummingbirds were everywhere.

 

A sign stated that this garden was "owned" by a hummingbird named Emily.  She's in the picture but you really can't see her.  The kids were thrilled with her and sat and watched her fly from flower to flower for quite a long time.

Another sign stated "please walk on the grass" so Little M did.  He also walked on the trees.

Nestled among the gardens is a replica colonial homestead.  Here the kids explored what a colonial bed nook looked like as well as the other living areas and the outhouse.

Outside the house was a kitchen garden, a barn, and chicken coops, complete with chickens, a turkey, and a goat.

The graves of Thomas Leaming, his wife and young daughter are also on the property.

Little M and Ms. Q by far loved the bamboo forest the best.  At first Ms. Q didn't believe me that it was real bamboo.  She thought they were poles in the ground!  She was eventually convinced and the two enjoyed themselves hiding behind and spinning around them.

 
Baby C loved looking for frogs in the pond.

We finished up our trip with a picnic lunch.  It was a wonderful place to visit and one that changes all the time making each visit unique.  Now that we know about this little gem we are sure to return.

 

Review: R&R Games- Pig Pile

One of the newest editions to our family game night is Pig Pile from R&R Games.  It is a quick flowing card game for 3-6 players ages 7 and up.  The game comes with 80 cards and 40 little pink pigs.  The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards first and be rewarded with piggies.  The player with the most piggies at the end of the game wins.

Our family really had a great time with this game.  At first glance, the directions were a little intimidating.  There seemed to be alot of rules, especially for a game targeted to children ages 7 and up.  But as with any new game, we trudged along hoping that as we played the game we would get the hang of it.  And we did!  Turns out the rules really aren't that complicated and even Little M (age 3) could play along with a little help.

We have played this game every week for family game night since we received it and the kids and I have played it at least two more times each week.  The Hubs is the most picky gamer we have and he gave it two thumbs up (although he did complain that their wasn't much strategy, mostly luck of the draw).  We sent the game with Ms. Q to the Grandparents' house when she was visiting them for the week.  They loved it!  All in all it has been a wonderful addition to game collection.

Pig Pile sells for $15.95 and can be ordered through the R&R Games website HERE.  R&R Games is offering TOS Crew readers a discount on any purchase from their website now through the end of 2011, use coupon code CREW20 and receive a 20% off your purchase.

To see what other TOS Crew members thought about this game and other R&R Games, you can visit the Crew Blog TOS Crew: R&R Reviews.







Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.