Birthday cake and a family update

It's our birthday season.  Last week we celebrated M's 5th birthday.  He wanted chocolate frosting with sprinkles on his cake ... so that's what we had.  This week we're celebrating R's 12th birthday.  She wanted ice cream cake, so we used the Duggar's ice cream cake recipe to make her an oreo (not butterfinger) ice cream cake.  Yummy!  J turns 8 in about 2 weeks, but he's not sure if he wants a Star Wars cake, an ice cream cake, or a dirt cake with gummy worms.  He's supposed to be having his first "friends party" so he's thinking about what his friends will like, as well.

The kids all seem healthy again.  A few have lingering coughs, but were well enough to go to church Wednesday night.  Baby G is no longer coughing, wheezing, or having a stuffy nose.  That's a blessing!  We still have one child on medication, since M has an infected thumbnail area from biting his nails.  But even that is improving (it got nasty looking, it was so swollen.)

We've begun the process of updating our family photo wall.  We haven't had the children's individual portraits taken in 4 years, except for a baby photo of 2 yo L.  We had a family photo taken in the summer of 2007, but not any recent photos of the children.  They've changed quite a bit in 4 years, as they've been reminding us.  They're so excited to be getting updated portraits ... and they love their individual time with the photographer and a parent!  The star of the show!

 5 yo M had his pictures taken a few weeks ago, and we'll have 12 yo R's taken this weekend.  M was very bashful and it took him a long time to warm up to the photographer.  He never did speak to her.  Being a distractible boy, we had to shoo his siblings out of the room repeatedly to keep his focus on the photographer's instructions.  Next month we'll have J's birthday pictures taken, and so on.  We'll go in birthday order, and get everyone's photos taken this year.  Hopefully we can end the year with a family portrait in the Fall.

Homeschool is going well.  We've finished testing Further Up & Further In, although I need to read it over some more and gather my thoughts on the curriculum.  I have Beyond Five In A Row and Tapestry of Grace to test with the children now.  Auralog Tell Me More Spanish just arrived yesterday, and I need to start that.  13 yo A is still plugging away at the Latin Road to English Grammar, and we need to begin Friendly Chemistry with her.  SpellQuizzer is ready for me to download for testing, and Apologia science (not sure what level they're sending) should arrive in the mail this week.  It's getting busy again, and keeping track of it all can be confusing at times.  But we're enjoying our TOS Homeschool Crew journey.

Oh, 7 yo J is improving so much in his reading!  He's really reading now, although he still lacks confidence.  I'm trying to encourage him, brag on him, and build up his confidence.  I still haven't seen him pick up a book on his own to read to himself, but one day he will ... and I'll rejoice!

I just created our cattery website this week.  I had originally wanted a full website for our Persian Cattery, but I didn't know how to build one and Steve didn't have time to create one.  Then a friend of mine used a blog for her Ragdoll cattery last year, and I've thought about it off and on ever since.  Our Queen is pregnant right now, so I guess I was subconsciously thinking about a website again.  I'd discussed a website with my sister a week or two ago.  The other night, I was researching something for Steve at WordPress, and just signed up for a cattery blog on a whim.  I should have done it sooner.  You can view our cattery blog at http://elcloudcattery.wordpress.com.  See our pretty kitties!?

That's a little update on our life.  Next week we begin (resume for us) Tapestry of Grace, and I'll give a more detailed homeschool update then.

Trusting in Him,
April

Write Shop Story Builders

Write Shop has created three fun Storybuilder e-books:  World of Animals, World of People, and Christmas MiniBuilders. 

The StoryBuilder e-books include 4 categories of cards (192 total) that you print onto cardstock, and cut apart.  The four categories are:

• character
  


• character trait
  


• setting
  


• plot
  

These cards can be printed in black and white onto colored cardstock, or with colored ink onto plain cardstock.  (I chose to print in black and white onto plain cardstock, and then use colored sharpie markers to mark the cards by category.)  Then the children choose one card from each set, and use those ideas to create a story. 

My kids and I were excited to receive two of these to review:  World of People and Christmas MiniBuilders.  Each of my children, including the ones who can't write, eagerly selected their 4 cards and started making up stories.  When Daddy came home, they nearly pounced on him, racing to be the first to tell their stories to him.   Daddy wanted to join in the fun, so that night he selected 4 cards, and used them to make up a bedtime story for the kids.  Then it was Mommy's turn to do the same.  I think we have a new family ritual.

This is a simple idea, but it works.  It's fun, and very versatile!  You can use it for creative writing in school (make it more challenging by assigning them to write their stories as plays, or in first, second, or third person point of view).  You can use it for fun family times, in the car or at home.  You can write "round robin" stories with each person drawing a new card and adding to the story.

The e-books are priced very reasonably, and are reusable!  The World of Animals and World of People are each priced at $9.95, although currently on sale for $7.95 at the Write Shop store and The Old Schoolhouse Store.  The Christmas MiniBuilder is listed at $4.95, but currently on sale for $3.95 at each store. 

Our family has enjoyed the StoryBuilders e-books, and give them a big "thumbs up!"  They're helpful, affordable, fun, and non-consumable.  They will add a fun element to your homeschool as they encourage your children to write.

Write Shop and The Old Schoolhouse Store are currently giving away the World of Animals StoryBuilder e-book totally FREE!  You can go HERE to download it.  I don't know how long it will last, so hurry to get it now!

Click the banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting in Him,
April

All About Homophones -- Teach Homophones With Ease!

I recently received the All About Homophones e-book (by Marie Rippel of All About Spelling) to review.  At first, I wasn't sure how to fit this into my curriculum.  It seemed like just "one more thing" to try to squeeze in.  I feared that it would be another thing I'd intend to use, but not follow through with.  I was wrong.

After reading through the e-book, I decided to print out several pages from each grade level of students that I have.  The kids wondered what I was printing, so I showed them.  They were intrigued, and quickly took their worksheets to their school boxes. 

For review purposes, I intended to have each child do one worksheet per day, or every other day.  I printed out 6 grade-level worksheets per student, and all of the crossword puzzles for their grade.  The girls (13, 11, and 9 years old) enjoyed the worksheets so much, they gladly did one each day.  After the third day, they asked me to print more of them ... because they were FUN!

After seeing how much my children enjoyed the worksheets, I realized that this e-book is a great addition to our homeschool.  

• Want to reward the kids with a puzzle or fun activity on Friday?  Pull out a worksheet.  


• Need the children to have something to keep them quiet when you're sick or busy?  Pull out a worksheet.  


• Need something easy to take to a Dr. appointment waiting room?  Grab some worksheets and a small dictionary. 

It isn't one more subject to schedule in.  It isn't a burden to accomplish.  It's a fun and easy way to add variety to your homeschool, while teaching an important spelling topic:  homophones. 

All About Homophones offers several different ways to teach homophones to your elementary and jr. high students,  including:

• graphic organizers to create a homophone notebook,
  


• worksheets to practice using homophones,
  


• crossword puzzles,
  


• and games.  

I love that the practice worksheets include puns and riddles, and encourage children to create their own puns, riddles, and tongue twisters with homophones.  No matter what spelling program you use, All About Homophones can be a fun addition.

Since it includes lessons for grades 1-8, and is reusable, it is a great value for the homeschooling family.  Making photocopies has been a stumbling block for my school planning in the past, so I recommend buying the e-book and printing the pages instead.  If you buy the softcover book, I recommend making all your photocopies early in the year, so they are available to use at any time.

All About Homophones is available in a 250 page softcover book for $29.95, or as an e-book for $27.95. But right now they have a $10 coupon to celebrate the book!  Just enter the coupon code "FUN" in the customer code box during checkout.  This coupon is good for one week, now through Monday, February 2, 2009.   Marie Rippel even offers a 30 day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied with All About Homophones.   You can view sample pages from All About Homophones right HERE.

While you're at the All About Homophones website, be sure to check out their homophone games, including the NEW online Homophone Machine Game.  It's a lot of fun!  The Homophone Machine converted my sentence:

"I want a new cup of hot coffee to drink right now."
to this
"Eye wont a knew cup of hot coffee two drink write now."  

I definitely recommend All About Homophones for a fun, easy way to enhance your spelling program and teach homophones to your children. 

Click the banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.


Trusting in Him,
April