Making A Home

TOS Review: Times Alive

Times Alive is a software program from City Creek Press, developed to help children learn their times tables in an easy and fun way. The program is available for $48.95 on CD Rom or $44.95 for instant download and is available for both PC and Mac.

 

The program itself contains songs and stories that teach individual number facts. As usual, I have to admit the songs drove me nutty… but it wasn’t really created for ME, now, was it? My children enjoyed it and some actually asked to play with it on their freetime, including my 7 year old who isn’t even learning multiplication yet in her math program, but enjoyed playing with Times Alive and wanted to get ahead!

Hallie says: “My favorite part is the paintings, which are coloring pages for the stories you just learned. You click on the paint bucket and on a color and spot and it appears. I enjoyed using it. It was a little bit harder than I thought but I learned a few of them quickly like zeros and 3x3=9.”

Gideon says: “My favorite part is painting the pictures after you do the story and the music. I feel like I learned a lot, like when I was first learning my times with 8s (on his other math program) I got lots of things right on it because I understood it from Times Alive. It’s a fun way of memorizing.”

Sam says: “I also liked the painting ones, and I liked the songs, too. It was fun to watch and it works better for helping me learn the times facts than my other programs.”

From the Website:

 “This new program makes learning multiplication facts more fun than ever. It is based on the Times Tables the Fun Way Book for Kids and teaches the zero's through the nine times tables.

Students read along while they hear the storyteller.

Lively animation makes the number characters come alive.

Each story is followed by a music video with a catchy song.

Interactive games and fun quizzes engage the student while testing recall.

Progress reports summarize date lesson completed, quiz scores, and time elapsed.

Students may stop anywhere and resume where they left off. The program remembers."

 

The company also offers products you can purchase to accompany the software, like workbooks, posters and flashcards that use pictures to remind students of the stories (the flashcards are especially intriguing to me) and an audio CD to help cement the songs in their minds. (For the record, I will NOT be purchasing THAT product!) There are also similar products (but not the software) for learning addition.

Would I recommend this software to other parents whose children are learning multiplication? Absolutely! I think it worked amazingly well, and they are REMEMBERING what they've learned using the program.  This is one of the products we'll continue to use after the review period is over.  And I'll be ordering the flash cards soon, since I think seeing the animations on the card with the equation will be a great way to help reinforce what they are learning. (But I’d also recommend headphones so mom and dad don't have to hear the songs!) J

There's a DEMO available on the site, too, so you can get a taste for what it's all about.

(Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review.  I have not been compensated in any other way.)

And just that quickly...

plans go wonky.

Baby K's birthmom is constantly flip-flopping in her decision to relinquish to us, and the report I got this morning is that she is calling every relative under the sun to try to get someone to take her. 

So we're back in a perpetually turbulent state.  No idea how this one will turn out, and there aren't a lot of details I can share.  God is in control of the situation... but it's hard not to let myself get weary of the roller coaster ride.

In good news... the children's counselor is back from maternity leave.  HOORAY! 

TOS Review: Speekee

Speekee is a Spanish language learn course for children ages 2-10.  Previously offered only on DVD, it is now available to watch online for $7.50 a month, making it handy for families on the go. 

• 10 episodes, over 150 minutes of pure Spanish learning
• Learn Spanish from real Spanish children in real Spanish locations
• Features songs, animation and puppets
• Optional subtitles in Spanish and English
• Free activity sheet downloads
• Great fun and extremely effective
• Created by specialist language teachers

 

 

The program is full of songs and phrases repeated over and over by children and puppets.  There are corresponding worksheets to copy Spanish words and draw pictures.  It looks like a well put-together program that from the testimonials on the site seems to work for a lot of people.  Unfortnately... it didn't work for us.

My children were excited to try the program the first time, and were still optimistic about it a second time, but it got harder and harder to get them to sit through it.  Meanwhile, the songs were driving me absolutely batty from across the room.  After 4 lessons, my children could recall exactly 3 Spanish words.  (Granted, there are sensory and attention problems among the group, so it's not necessarily your "average" group of children.)  However, for us... it's not a program we would continue to use.

I would have to recommend it may be a good option for the toddler and preschool crowd.  (My 7-year old reviewed it as "babyish.")  Since our experience may be different from yours, you may want to try their 2 week free trial to see how your children like it. 

TOS Review: Maestro Classics

Fun, fun, fun!  I've been waiting for a chance to incorporate a bit of music appreciation into our schooling (the years go so quickly, and I always find there wasn't time to do all I wanted to do in a particular school year.)  We got the perfect intro in the mail a few weeks ago.

 

Maestro Classics sent us their CD lesson of Peter and the Wolf.  I loved this, truly.  It was such a perfect and easy way to introduce my children to classical music.  The CD includes a 24 page booklet full of puzzles, games and additional information that accompany the story and music, which can take the lessons just a wee bit further, but the CD itself was the real jewel.  Let me walk you through it just a bit:

Track 1: Introduction.  Storyteller Yadu leads us through the characters of our story, the instruments used to represent them, and a sample of their individual musical scores.  My children were enthralled by the way the instruments gave personality to the characters, and it wasn't long before they were all prancing and prowling around the livingroom, giving their own interpretations of how they might act or move based on the music we were hearing.  I can think of no better way to get them interested in music than this FULL immersion that drew them in so easily.

Track 2: Peter and the Wolf.  The story is told with the music playing in the background and a storyteller narrating what is happening.  Having the narrator lead them through the events of the story was a help to picture it in their minds... and preparation for later...

Track 3: About the Composer - Prokofiev.  Another narrator gives us a brief, but informative and entertaining biography of the composer and author of our story.  Beyond just his life story, she explains how he came to pen this particular work, story and music in just two weeks!

Track 4: A Russian Peter.  Peter's tune, played on Russian folk instruments.

Track 5: About the Music.  More information is given on the music itself, and about the themes of the individual characters and how they change based on what is happening throughout the story (with example clips.)

Track 6: Peter and the Wolf, Instrumental Version.  Here we get to lay back, close our eyes and imagine the story again, this time without the narration, and appreciate the brilliance of the way it all comes together.

Track 7: Invitation to Grandfather's Party.  A short dramatic "invitation" to imagine yourself in the setting of Grandfather's home for the final piece.

Track 8: Kalinka.  Another song by a Russian composer, Ivan Larionov.

Not much else to say - we thoroughly enjoyed it, it required ZERO preparation on my part, and I will likely be ordering a few more, as they also offer similar CD lessons on the classics "The Story of Swan Lake" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."  To tie in fun stories with other classical songs, they also offer "Casey at the Bat", "Juanita the Spanish Lobster", "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel."  Each CD costs $16.95 and can be ordered from the Maestro Classics website.  All of my children are between 7 and 9, but it would have been easily understandable for children a few years younger than mine, and I found it interesting and fun even as an adult! 

I had a little trouble with some of the links on their website this evening (particularly those offering "more info" on the individual CDs), but it was working fine a few days ago, and I assume it's a temporary glitch.  You'll still see plenty of content there, including the answers to all of the puzzles in the accompanying booklet (in the "Kids Club" section), and samples of most of the tracks from each CD story set.

And for the record, I was listening to a few clips from the CD this evening to refresh my memory for writing this review, and my children BEGGED from their beds for me to turn it up so they could listen again.

(Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this product in exchange for my honest review.  I have not been compensated in any other way.)

 

More Interesting All the Time

I had no idea what today's meeting would hold.  Would I be "interviewed", just observed, or was this something else entirely?

After dropping off 2 children and bringing a babysitter home for the other two, I drove to the scheduled visit.  I was doing pretty well about not being too on-edge... until I was about 3 blocks away, then getting full breath seemed just a little bit more difficult.  I couldn't help but laugh at myself for the obvious nervous response.  Thankfully, the laughter shook off most of that trepidation.

I walked into the lobby at the office where the visit would take place and saw Baby K's birthmom already waiting.  After the usual greetings, (while still in the lobby) her first sentence was:

"Are you going to adopt K?"

"I... uh... well... We'd really LIKE to."

As the visit went on, she expressed how she and K's birthfather had discussed it at length, and felt our home was the best place for K, and that they'd like us to adopt her.  She talked about how healthy and happy K is at each visit, and how she's obviously attached to me.  They want to relinquish their parental rights and have an open adoption agreement, which we are fine with, though we'll still have to work out the details. 

And there are a few hurdles yet:

- Birthdad's name didn't end up on the birth certificate, so they'll need to file a paternity affidavit.
- K is not fully a dependent of the state yet, so dependency still needs to be filed (that shouldn't take long after paternity is established.)
- K is evidently 1/32 Native American (birthmom didn't even know, but the state has ways of doing that research, and although we don't anticipate the tribe in question claiming her, the Indian Child Welfare Act requires the tribe (and likely all it's many branches) give their permission for her to be adopted.  It's reassuring having a friend who adopted a child with even MORE Native blood than K, with no trouble from this SAME tribe.)

So obviously this is VERY exciting news!  But we are cautiously optimistic... nothing's official yet.  They can still change their minds until the ink on the relinquishment papers dries.  And that part can't even happen until the above items are addressed.  And as we learned before, she's not REALLY ours until adoption day. 

We would appreciate your continued prayer support, that the birthparents would hold fast to their decision, that the process would move quickly, and that this baby girl would one day soon offically be our daughter.

 

Friends Who Can Read Minds

Yesterday my friend Shawn came over for several hours to help me sort clothes.  HUGE help!!!  I've termed my recent clothes-flinging passion "choosing sanity over frugality." 

Sure, it makes sense on one level to collect clothes that my children will grow into, gained either free or cheaply.  But the reality is, I'm not going to dig into that closet very often (the "big hideous closet"), behind the crib, with boxes stacked 4 high (there were 8 or 9 boxes, NOT including baby clothes.)  It was organized, but inaccessible.  So the sizes have mostly come and gone... and many are now too small.

Just in the time Shawn was here yesterday, she filled SIX boxes for consignment (so I can sell them and buy clothes when we actually NEED them) and 4 or 5 for Goodwill.  And I'm not done yet!  While she was here, Tami called, asking if she could take any books to the library for me.  I did have some... the ones that SHE had picked up for me when she was there last week, knowing my girls were struggling with fractions.  When she came by, she also dropped off a delicious penne pasta dish!  Wouldn't you know, this was the day I hadn't gotten around to making the meatloaf I had planned for dinner, and I had an extra loaf of french bread without a purpose (that I quickly made into garlic bread to go with the pasta) because I'd accidentally read the week's menu wrong? (Spaghetti is next week.) 

I worked a bit more on the pile that was left last night, but this morning launched in to a full-blown assault on the children's current clothes.  (Three out of 4 cannot seem to get dressed in the morning without dumping the entire contents of their clothing bins on the floor.  And baby is between sizes, so she has an abundance right now, too.)  I ordered these clothing organizers, that should be here in the next few days.  So today I pared down to the bare minimum in preparation... 6 outfits, plus church clothes and jammies.  The organizers only hold 5, but they'll be wearing one, and I do 1 load of laundry every day, which keeps us caught up.  It should be really easy to take their ONE complete outfit from the laundry pile, put it back in the proper day's pocket, and keep the holder full and the clothes organized and off the floor.  I hope, I hope, I hope.

Okay, in truth I still have the girls' jammies, underwear and church clothes to tackle, and all of Kaylee's stuff, but I love seeing the piles set to LEAVE our house! 

Knee-deep in clothing today, I took a break to go start dinner.  I started a pot of rice, chopped carrots, onions and broccoli, and stir-fried them, added frozen chicken (my children were NOT excited)... and the phone rang.  Tami was at my front door again (I evidently didn't hear her knocking, but she heard someone (probably Hallie) scream and knew we must be here) with a small paper sack.

"Shanghai," she said.  The bag contained a bag of rice, a can of mandarin oranges and a canning jar of sauce.  "Dump it over meat." 

So I did.  After trying to communicate how awesome she is (words fail me), I walked to the kitchen, dumped the sauce into our naked stir-fry, and opened the oranges to sprinkle on top.  Oh, yum.  All 4 children had seconds.

Carolynn offered to come help clean this evening, but I had to postpone (but hopefully we can reschedule soon!)- I accidentally double-booked (for not the first time this week!)  I have a massage this evening and expect I will be WIPED OUT after.  (Have I told you about my new massage therapist?  She is the tereotypical masseuse - tall, blonde, strong, Swedish (I think) with a pretty strong accent.  But she seems to have a spectacular knowledge of muscles.  This will be my second visit to her, so I'm excited to see if she can help with the tension in my upper back, and the ongoing headaches.)

Back to work!

Getting Interesting...

Baby K's birthmom has requested that I come to the next visitation.  Highly unusual overall, but a first for us.  Something good could be in the works, and I'd really appreciate your prayers!  We'd love to keep this sweet little girl...

Measuring...

Can you tell by the glint in those beautiful brown eyes that the newest members of our family have been waiting for this day?  That they've bugged me several times a week for the last two months about "how much longer?"

 
 

We measure our children on the doorway between the diningroom and kitchen on New Year's Day every year.  (Since we purchased and moved into our home when Sam and Hallie were 3 and 1.)  Gideon and Molly have never been here on New Year's day before!  Of course we've measured them and marked them on the wall - once in July 2009, when they first came home, then again in April 2010, when they came home for good.  But those weren't OFFICIAL measurements, and they seemed to sense that. 

Since I didn't have an official starting point for them, I counted their measurement from the midpoint between the other two marks, which is bound to be very close.

Molly grew the most of the 4 children this year, with an upward movement of EIGHT centimeters!! (Incidentally, she's the exact same height Sam was at the same age.)

Hallie got second place with 7 centimeters.  (Still our shortest... I mean, "fun-size" child.)

Sam passed up his (3 months younger) brother, just barely, with a growth of 5 1/2 centimeters, making him currently our tallest child!

Gideon wasn't far behind, with a very respectable 5 centimeter growth.  Of course, it was a trick to measure him through all that puffy hair!  And that was AFTER a haircut less than a week before!!!

And yes, we measured Baby K, too (in case she stays, just like we measured Natty last year.)  I guess if you want to get technical, she grew the most since last year... being non-existent (not even in-utero) last New Year's.  :)

TOS Review: Easy Classical Early Modern Times

When we first started out our homeschooling adventure (when Sam was my only student), we bought one of those nifty "all-in-one" boxed curriculums.  It was pricey, but so nice to have a schedule of what to read on what days.  Unfortunately, it didn't fit our needs, because "2 pages of this book and 4 pages of that book and 3 pages of book 3" seemed incredibly disjointed to me.  Granted, I could have amended the schedule, but to be honest, for those prices I just didn't feel like I should have to re-work it.  And I wanted more control over the subjects we were studying.  Admittedly, the eclectic style we've adopted is a LOT of work for me.  If I had all the time in the world, (and could predict what each of our days would look like) I'd create that kind of a schedule for our family for the subjects we ARE doing.  And to some extent... I do.  So this is pretty fun. 

 

We were given a copy of the "Early Modern Times" History Schedule from Easy Classical to review.  This wasn't a product we USED so much as EXPLORED.  (To use it, there is quite a list of "recommended resources" that we don't have.)  But it appears to very similar to what I keep trying to develop myself, yet even more in-depth!

What this product contains is the outline for a pretty comprehensive history course for grades K-6, fully adaptable for most age groups, based on Susan Wise Bauer's book The Well-Trained Mind.  (Which the author recommends you read before starting the schedule.)  The history schedule itself contains 36 weeks of day-by day schedules, forms, projects, ideas, and even drawing lessons.

"Easy Classical Early Modern History Schedule includes 36 week-long schedules plus 45+ pages of charts, sheets, and helps that will enhance your child's learning. Each week's lesson has review questions with answers, and quizzes included with each lesson. This schedule also includes a shopping list for the next day, as well as detailed instructions on how to use the schedules and the books you purchase. We send you all of this neatly placed in a 1" 3-ring binder."

While the schedule is jammed with information and options, the author is clear in the intro section to not expect yourself to do EVERY project every week.  I appreciate that... sometimes it helps to have "permission" to take it easy when life gets rough.  Additionally, she states:

"Feel free to choose the project that best suits your child. If he is a kinesthetic learner do more of the hands on projects, if your child is more of a visual learner use as many pictures and map projects to aid in learning. If she is an auditory learner make sure you do most of the reading that is scheduled. There is a variety of projects placed in the schedule to give you flexibility and choices."

 If you don't have a history system that you like, you really should check this one out. When we reach this point in history, it's likely I'll revisit it.  The text we use for history (Story of the World) is a huge part of this schedule, along with several other products we use on occasion, so tying it in with what we are already using should be a breeze.  It's incredibly well laid-out, detailed and so much of the work is done for you, along with the peace of mind that comes from seeing how much you've checked off as you continue through the year.  See sample pages here. They have a complete list of recommended resources, linked from their website, and your days are planned for you.It's available in Notebook form for $35.95, or as a digital download for $29.95.

Thanks...

Thank you for the kind words and the offers of help and the prayers.  I'm working on allowing those who have offered to help to do so.  I'll be in touch.

Today has been some better.   I swallowed a small dose of apathy (let it go... just let it go), and while I'm not sure it will help the children, it's definitely helping my stress level. 

I need to simplify our home and life for easy maintenance.  There's too much to deal with on the emotional level to try to cope with an overflow of the tangible. I'm hoping over the next month or so (weather depending) to sort all of what we own and ultimately get rid of half.  There's just not room for all this stuff.  If anyone has boxes they don't need, please drop a few off at my house.  I can use them to pack up stuff for goodwill and consignment, and I don't have the time or energy to go box hunting right now.  (Just don't judge me on the condition of my home if you drop by... it won't be pretty.)  I can be more ruthless if I have empty boxes to fill.  I'm also hoping to get ahead on school planning and finally complete a 30 day rotating meal plan (I've started them before but never completed... my 30 days turned into 9 weeks and became an unmanagable task.  SIMPLIFY!!)

I do my best sorting and organizing during snowstorms... so pray for snow.  :)