Ah.... today happened.   That's what I can say, it happened.

Our household has been somewhat lacking in the sleep department lately what with the humidity and heat... we needed a thunderstorm to cool things off and FINALLY we got that early in the morning.  :)  WOOT WOOT!

So my tired boy wasn't quite as tired today, but was still highly distractable... much like his momma.. so we did well to get things done.

FIRST OFF we did Target the question.   I did a review on this program oh.. back in March.  You can find it here.    The lad needed to think abit and wasn't happy that I made him read the questions for himself today.  BUT MOM.. why?  you ALWAYS read it for me.   But son of mine, if you read it, we don't need to read from the yellow book.  Oh.. okay.  but if I read now I won't have to read later right?   Yup.  :)   So he read, he though and he figured out his math word problems.   It was good.  :) 

Oh.. almost forgot.  One of the lad's friend caught a garter snake today and asked if I could sell him mice for it as he wants to keep it over the winter.  This lead to the lad (who was quite excited by this news) and I learning a bit more about garter snakes.    This site was VERY useful.  

Then we went and did some art.  Last week we worked on a fresco and today we decided to take a good look at the frescos that we did and turn them over and see what it was like to paint on the opposite side.    The lad was MUCH happier with his efforts today.

We had some paint leftover so I submitted to the lad a challenge... draw/paint ANY sort of picture, but add some fall colours to it.   This proved to be a challenge, but this is what he came up with.

I had hoped to portray a windy autumn day....  not sure if I succeeded.. what do you think?

While the lad was finishing up this picture we did another chapter from "a child's geography".   The lad scoffed at the Greek myths and wondered why people would make up such stories.    He doesn't quite understand that people always have a need to connect with God and when they don't know him, they make up their own gods.     If you want to know my thoughts on "A child's geography" I did up a review on it last week.  You can find that here. 

We made some zucchini bread (recipe to follow) today for HOPE days tomorrow, and I had the lad do four lessons from Time4Learning.  That review is here.    He did well on today's lesson.   He's a picture of him working away.

We got in some phys ed later by going for a bike ride, the lad continues to gain confidence in this skill.   We also cut the lawn, cared for bunnies, and kept ourselves occupied.  Overall the day went much better than I had anticipated.  God held us up nicely today.  :)

Zucchini Tots

Ingredients:
1 cup zucchini, grated
1 large egg
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.

Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel. Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each muffin section to the top, pushing down on the filling with your spoon so it's nice and compacted so they don't fall apart when you take them out of the tin.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden... I prefer mine a little well done, so just watch them to cook a little longer if you want it that way as well.

Use a plastic knife or rubber spatula around the edges of each tot to remove them from the muffin tin. Enjoy!!



Servings: 3 Serving Size: 4 tots • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 3 pts • Calories: 108 • Fat: 4.3 g • Protein: 6.8 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 1.8 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 262 mg (without salt)

Is up at Educents for free right now.  :)   This is a series of ebooks that help children learn what it means to be a doctor, pilot, artist, farmer and so forth.

Wouldn’t you like real-life, Christian mentors and heroes to help your children aspire to all that God desires for them? We want to help them explore the world of opportunity around them and maybe spark their interest toward a special calling through the WannaBe Series.

Give them a solid look.  They are good ebooks.  :)

You get the following:
Artist, chef, firefighter, vet, military, video game designer, farmer, police officer, pilot, doctor and missionary.

So when you have a moment, go to Educents, sign up and get the I Wanna Be series.  It's free and there's no long term obligation.  :)

Okay, here's the scoop.   Was reading a bunch of blogs tonight and various sites were mentioned on them that offer freebies, either entirely or in part so...

I want to be able to review those sites but it's getting late so I"m doing up a post so I can check them out late.  Makes sense eh?

anyways, here we go

Have fun with History.  American History Teachers, homeschoolers, and history buffs now have an online resource full of American History streaming videos, activities, links and resources - because history is fun!

Home Learning Family.  Our Fave Free Resources In these crazy economic times who couldn't use some FREE inspiration! There are so many great curriculums and games available online totally FREE! There are also some interesting programs that will send you free products to use in your home. Be sure to check back often as I will be updating this list much as possible!

Every Bed of Roses.  Today I would like to share some of the places I have found FREE resources for homeschooling outside of my local library.

Only Passionate Curiosity.  all sorts of freebies for language arts, fine arts, science and more.

CNN Student News.  News.  Use for conversation starters, history, geography, science and much more.  :)

Classical House of Learning.   Hello!  I'm excited to offer my FREE literature guidesfollowing the reading suggestions outlined in classical education books such as The Well-Trained Mind.  I was frustrated that no one seemed to have the sort of guide I was looking for: a secular, multi-level, four-year history cycle, open-and-go, easy to use, 36-week program.  Well, you know how the saying goes.  "If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself."

Guest Hollow.  ou will find all sorts of goodies in different sections of our site. This site currently (as of 2013) has over 7000 files! That's a TON of pages, printables, articles and freebies to explore. Some of the things you can find are:

• Free history, science, and math curriculum and/or schedules
• Lots of free printables like handwriting paper, notebooking pages, lapbooks, Bible printables, math, science, help pages, etc.
• Living math book lists
• Book and curriculum reviews
• Math, language arts and science sections.

Oklahoma Homeschool.  I have written these units with the goal of studying history and science on alternate days, two times per week each (Monday & Wednesday - History, Tuesday & Thursday - Science). I recommend spending 1 - 2 hours each day per lesson depending on the ages, abilities, and interests of your children. You WILL NOT complete everything listed in these units. Pick and choose the reading selections and activities as they meet your family's needs and interests.

MapMaker Interactive. 
Explore your world with map themes, data, and tools for customizing your map

The Zen Spot.  Free Learning Websites For Kids

Going to the Western Fair is something our family does on a yearly basis.   We normally have one day that we focus on the boy and do boy related things, and then we take another day where Hubby and I go and just do our thing.  This year, one day was enough, the fair was really not all that great this year.  BUT that said, their was fun to be had.

We saw this display of metal objects, we found them fascinating.

We toured the booths and then headed out to the midway.   But before I get to that... we toured the picture gallery and the artist areas as well.

I have to admit, I found this part immensely boring, other than for a the first bit watching my boys have fun together.  After a while I wandered off, but before I did so... I took these pictures.

while they were out, I wandered over to down on the farm.

Dad's head started to spin with all the ride -riding so the boys hunted me up.  By this point I was watching the high school rodeo.  The students weren't doing the greatest job, but I did enjoy watching the pole bending class.

On the way out the lads took in three more rides.  By this time the lad was becoming quite the connoisseur of rides.  I like this one better than that because of _______.   He's getting to know his rides. :)

I showed the lads the down on the farm section.   The youngest lad jumped in the straw.  It was funny, when he first went in he was digging madly in it, and a lady passing by was all.. WHAT IS THAT??   Our son...having fun...OH.. it's a boy.. I thought it was an animal.  In her defense by this time it was getting rather dark out.

The lad rode a tractor around for a while and then we called it a night.  We stopped at McD's on the way home for cheaper food and it was a good long day out together.  God was good to us, giving us great weather and a good time together.  :)

When hunting for bugs you need
1. a mom to walk along with you
2. a bug net
3. containers to put bugs into
4. a sunny day is helpful if you hope to catch grasshoppers

You need to attempt to not roll down hills and get stuck and need your mom to pull you out.  :)  Mom was annoying, she took a picture BEFORE she helped me up, but it was funny. :)

YOU HAVE TO, let your mom catch some bugs too.  It makes her feel happy inside to help you.  :)   See, she caught a grasshopper. 

Catching lots of grasshoppers is very fun.  I even caught one that had just shed it's skin.   It was very funny coloured cause it wasn't dry yet, but it hopped good.

Sometimes you catch bugs that are too small to get good pictures of.  I caught a small green leafhopper.  It hopped very fast.  I couldn't catch the other one that was with it.  I put it in my smallest bug bin which is on the end of the magnifying glass.  It is a sneaky good place to put bugs.

Today I caught crane flies, crickets, grasshoppers, ants, a leafhopper and I tried hard to catch a spider but he was too tricky.

At the end of our bug hunt we decided to enjoy a sweet treat.  Mom taught me this last year, if you suck on the ends of sweet clover flowers it is sweet.   
We made up a rhyme to remind us which ones to pick

Brown brown just makes you frown.
Light light is quite a fright.  :)

Bug hunting is just fun.  
I can feed any crane flies I catch to my spiders.  They like them.  Although my mom, she wishes I didn't have any spiders to feed cause she doesn't like them in the house.  

You should bug hunt with your mom too!

As we were looking for an art craft to do as we were doing "A Child's Geography" we decided to do a fresco.

This was a totally new art form for us and so we approached it with the thought that we would do a practice piece before trying to do a real art piece.

The lad was very unimpressed with how it was going and was getting a bit... worked up about it as he tends to being a perfectionist (not that he gets that from a stranger).  :)

In an effort to rescue the situation and prevent a total refusal to even keep trying I turned our art project into a science project.

Does the colour matter when doing it?
Does the thickness of the paint make a difference?
What happens if you mix a thin and thick paint?
What about areas of the plaster of paris that are dryer, what about the wetter areas?   Does that make a difference?
What about the type of paint brush you use?

That, as you can see, convinced him to continue.

I then asked him.... how do you think it was for the artists who used to do this type of painting.  Back then they couldn't go to the store for paint, they needed to make their own.   Do you think they struggled with doing a good job?

In his final picture you can see that his wolf spider did not turn out well, but he learned to use different paint brushes, and that thin paints don't work well when doing fresco's.   Thicker colours work well, particularly when trying to fill in larger areas. 

I had completed a more abstract work that my son liked a bunch.  :)   It really became our practice board from thick/thin paint, different brush strokes/styles etc.   but I haven't downloaded that picture yet.  When I do I'll update this post.

Stunning pictures, easy to read text (for an adult) and a chance to think on what was learned.  This is what makes up A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World.   Come join us as we review this geographical-history book.

Product: A Child's Geography Volume 3, Explore the Classical World
Vendor: Knowledge Quest.
Price: $34.95 with a pull out map $9.95.
Age Range: 1st through 6th grade, it will work well for middle school as well.
Written  by: Terri Johnson

So what I think?  What did my lad think?
How did we use it?
We used it purely as factual literature.  Let's read and let it sit for us in our brains, so when we need it for something we can pull out the ideas and run with them.  (We do that alot in this house).  It's amazing what pops up later for us to use and reflect upon.

I enjoyed it.   I thought the information was well presented and had sufficient pictures to make the words come to life. 

My lad (age 8) THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book.   It captured his interest and it provoked good conversations.     He did find it a bit lengthy between the reading and the reflection type questions so I broke it down for him and we went through the book more slowly.  We HAVE NOT finished it.  It will be a good portion of our geography/history time for the rest of the year.

We get alot of crafts/activities with this book.   And I made the decision that we would simply do what interested us, regardless of where it was in the list of when/where (the activities are suggested to go with certain chapters). 

One of the activities we did was trying a fresco.   The lad was most displeased with his first attempt, and we'll be attempting it later.  He didn't like how the paint went on (it's too smooshy mom) and it was just too new and different for him.  So I'll be letting it set in his brain for a while.  The craft did prove to be an interesting science experiment for us as well though... we had different thicknesses of tempura paint and we learned the thicker style works better for this type of painting rather than the thin style. 

I was told "Mom, I like your abstract art one better than what I tried for a picture"  maybe that style works better mom.    (this with a very sad voice).  When I suggested that we'll paint on the other side when it's all dry he perked up though.... then it will be hard and not wet right mom?  So it will paint more regularly?   It should bud.. good, I'll do that then mom.  :)   It certainly made us realize the difficulties artists would have had in days gone by.

In my opinion, if you want a good book to talk with your children about the Classical world, this would be an excellent first choice.  Interesting, thought-provoking, the odd giggle provoking type of book that should appeal to most children and their educators.   Definitely a hit in this household.

If you'd like to see what this book is all about, you can download the first three chapters for yourself.  You can find those here. 

To find out what other reviewers thought,please go here.  :)  Thanks!

A Child's Geography Volume 3 with Wonders of Old Timeline Book ($59.90)
NotebookingPages.com Treasury Membership ($99.95)
Philosophy Adventure Physical set ($89.95)
Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries Intro Pack from Diana Waring ($64.95)
Writeshop Primary Level (winners choice of A, B, or C) ($51.85)
Raising Real Men prize package ($50)
A Journey Through Learning $50 Gift Certificate
3 Months A+ Tutorsoft ($49.95)
Lilla Rose (2 Flexi Clips) ($32.00)
See The Light (2 DVDs) ($30)King Alfred's English and Baktar (Laurie White) ($25)


NOTE: this draw is only open for USA residents. 

You may each giveaway a digital edition of A Child's Geography in addition to this mega-giveaway.  You will need to create your own rafflecopter form for that giveaway.  It would be wonderful if you included a couple of Knowledge Quest links on that form.  THIS draw is open for people located ANYWHERE in the world.

One stop learning.  That's what Time4Learning provides.  Over the past few weeks my son and I have been reviewing a program called Time4Learning.  My son has been learning math, science, language arts and social studies.   I received six months access to the program in exchange for letting you know what I think about it. :)

Vendor: Time4Learning
Product: I tested grade 3
Age range: k-8, they also have a new highschool section.  :)
Price:
K-8  $19.95/month, each additional student $14.95/month. 
For highschool $30/month each student

Time4Learning is an award-winning, automated, web-based learning system that provides interactive education to students in grades preschool - high school. Students can use it as a complete or supplemental homeschool curriculum, as an after school program, or as a summer school program.

Some of the facts about Time4Learning. 

• 24/7 access to 1000's of interactive lessons for prek-12th grade
• A safe, private, ad-free, online learning environment
• Detailed lesson plans, automated reporting and guides for parents
• Flexibility to start, pause, and cancel your account without penalties
• Time4Learning staff will answer questions by phone or email

Those are the basic facts.
But what do you get?

You get a child learning.  
We started out with everything at grade three, found some sections too difficult so I simply switched them to grade two.  It was so easy.   If you sign up for a level you can go up or down a grade level for each specific area.   This worked well in our household.  :)

You get helpful staff.
We got such immediate assistance anytime I asked for help with something.  I found that quite impressive.

Detailed Lessons.
It was good to see how much my son could learn.  One day we learned about measurements and he was running around looking for things to measure.    And you do get the option to print some lessons out to do them.   This caused my lad to grin.   The lessons are short, one lesson feeds into the next.   I could say "son, I want you to do three lessons today" and he would simply work across until he completed them.   Sometimes he was so interested that he simply kept going, but having the lessons short meant that when he wanted to go feed his bugs or take a break he could do so easily.

From the ease of login for the student, to the variety of lesson plans (see below) this is a comprehensive program for children of a variety of ages.   They use a variety of characters and methods of teaching.  Some pages are animated, others are straight reading, quizzes, tests, affirmation when correct and removal of wrong answers when incorrect.  Parental reports and so much more.  I can't think of a whole lot this program doesn't have.  It is well done.

We really liked the LA extensions because they covered language while combining the learning with the different subject areas. 

One day the lad learned a valuable skill.  Reading something over and over again helps you to read it better.   He saw his speed increase amazingly.  He was so astonished. (see pic below) I LOVED this lesson for the affect that it had on my son.  He was so close to the goal he was "Mom, LOOK!  no mom, LOOK GOOD, you have to see it mom!"  (I was sitting right with him so it's not like I needed the insistence...but it did show how happy he was).  :)

Time4Learning has a playground section.  It's a place where children can go after they finish their lessons.    It is seen as a good reward area.  BUT my son had absolutely no interest in it at all.  I had him check it out, but he was mom, can I go do something else now??   His own reward of being able to get out of the house and hunt bugs or go for a walk was way more intriguing to him than playing games on the computer.   :)  I know from checking out other reviews that my son was not the norm in this.  Most children loved the playground section.  :)

I loved how, for doing lessons, when you were completed it would show a check mark over the area that was finished.   it was a good indicator for my son and a quick visual for me to know when he completed what I asked of him.

it is a program that you can use as is, but I plan to continue to use Time4Learning as a supplemental program, where I can plug my boy on to do his language arts in a different way, and to pick up on some science type things that it can do in an easier or different way that I can.  Variety is the spice of life you know.  :)   This is a good program that will fit well into how you do your schooling, either as a comprehensive program, or as a supplement.

If you'd like, you can try a personalized Time4Learning demo.  Time4Learning was reviewed by a group of people from the Schoolhouse review crew.  There are some amazing reviews.  You can click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew or click on the link below.

What does one do on Labour Day?   Well...around here when tend to relax, though we'll do some schooling as well if we're bored due to rain. :)

First we decided to go up the Pinery Provincial Park.  They were doing a program in the afternoon on Smart Birds.   And the lad wanted to hunt for ant lions.

He managed to catch 5 of them all together and has set them up in a nice tank at home and will be feeding them ants on a regular basis.   If you don't know what ant lions are you can learn more about them here.   I've attached a video below so you can see them in action. 

He also discovered tent caterpillar nests... so off he went collecting some of them as well.

The smart birds program was about the crow family.   We all learned (Dad came with) that crows use tools (using cars to crush hard nuts), know how to use ants to clean mites off their feathers (called anting), like to have fun (aka using plastic lids as sleds) and some of the crow family can mimic human speech.  It was quite an interesting presentation though we got there five minutes late (we desperately needed to put gas in our car).   After the presentation we took walk on one of the many trails the pinery has.   Neither my son or my hubby understand why I like taking pictures of fungi, but I just find the variety in them fascinating.  I mentioned to hubby I wouldn't mind have a book on identifying them (who knows, that might be a Christmas present this year).  :)

We ended up doing some schooling later on in the day as I had a lad bored with the weather.   We have continued to wander through "a child's geography".  Stay tuned because a review is coming up soon for that.  :)   We also worked on A+ Math.   We covered fractions today.   We haven't done fractions in a while and it was amazing what the lad got hung up on.     So we listened to the lesson and then are letting it sit for a bit.

Today we are going (I think) to the back to school picnic.  We'll bring along an umbrella as it's supposed to rain and is rather damp now.  It's usually fun regardless the weather.    Dad needs to visit a rather sick parishoner in the hospital so he's providing us the ride down (we only have one vehicle at the moment so it makes travel a bit more difficult).

So that was how we spent out Labour Day.  How did you spend yours?