Sunday Sundries 6-3-12

My verse for this week:

Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” [Psalm 50:15]

Weather this week: Sunny. Today in the 80s. Tomorrow in the 90s. The rest of the week in the 60s and 70s. Some clouds and chance of rain about mid-week. Can ya tell it is Spring up here in the NW? LOL

This week I am thankful that we finally got the video done and submitted for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. We will be in the Show & Tell section of the July issue. If you don’t get it, look for it. The magazine (ezine) is FREE. I’ll share a link when the magazine is out….July 1st.

I am also Thankful for the three years we’ve been a crewmate on the TOS homeschool crew review team. I’ve decided, or rather God has encouraged me in that I need to take some time off from the crew. It is going to be a busy summer and like I predicted (or God whispered) we’d be matched this summer and need to go get our kids. I need to concentrate on getting them home and bonding without having to worry about getting around to using a review product then writing about it. We’ll see what next year brings.

I am looking forward to a road trip to Texas this summer.

Our plans this week: VBS week. Woohoo! Our theme this year is Amazing Desert Journey: Where Jesus Leads Us Home. Once again I’ll be the craft’s director.

After VBS on Monday, my mom, sister, her daughter, and her new daughter will be here for lunch. My kids haven’t seen the new baby yet. She is almost 2 weeks old now.

In school this week: School this week will be a minimum since it is VBS week.

On our menu this week:

Taco Salad for lunch on Monday when I have extras. I found a couple of new recipes I think we are going to try. An interesting way to make BBQ Pulled Pork along with some Asian Slaw.

I am going to go grocery shopping. I use to love going grocery shopping but I guess that was when I use to be out and about more often and these days I’d rather be a homebody.

I am creating craft projects for 50+ kids ages 3 thru 6th grade for this week. I’m also working on a Baptism gown for my new great-niece.

Something I’d like to share is that WE’VE BEEN MATCHED!!! We got a phone call this past Tuesday (May 29) that we have been chosen as the forever family for two boys ages 13 and 11.

We are waiting for the big huge packet of their life history to be sure we want to continue forward with bringing them home. We received the mini-packet (25 pages) and saw nothing that causes us undo concern. I can’t imagine there being anything that would make us change our mind.

With the interstate paperwork, we probably won’t be able to bring them home until August. We can’t homeschool them until we have finalized their adoptions. I can’t imagine how they are going to feel when they have to go off to school and the other 6 get to stay home with me.

We are excited though!!!

I am hoping we get the big packet for the boys this week.

I am thinking I really need to up my productivity in getting the rec room and sewing room completed so I can get bedrooms situated before the boys get here.

On my reading pile Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore

On my camera this past week (great-niece Aubree)

On my prayer list:

1. that God intervenes and we won’t have to put our new boys in public school for a year.
2. the healing of an almost 4 year old from church that was bucked off her horse and the horse rolled on her.
3. VBS is a complete success this week with all the kids hearing the Word of God and that the weather cooperates all week. Not too old nor too rainy.
4. that my niece learns to love being a mom and my new great-niece will have a good and happy life growing up.
5. my sister gets her meds fixed so she can be a help for her new granddaughter.
6. that my daughter’s alopecia will end soon (she has alopecia areata which is suppose to be the temporary one running its course in about 90 days) so her hair will begin growing back.

My praises include:

1. the 4-year-old’s injuries were not any worse than they could have been.
2. we’ve been matched!!!
3. that the Lord has provided all our needs.
4. The Lord has blessed us immensely while being on the TOS review crew. We are pretty well set for the next school year.
5. my daughter turned 16 on the 30th. How time flies.

Have a blessed week!

Vickie

The winners are……

As the 2011-2012 Crew year comes to a close, we are once again presenting awards to our vendors. The awards are known as the TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Awards. The following vendors are the recipients of the award this year. Click on their name to check out the Crew reviews! (I put a link to my reviews next to the ones I used.)

Favorite Reading Instruction Product: Reading Eggs My review.

Favorite Writing Product: Write Shop My review.

Favorite Language Arts Product: Progeny Press My review.

Favorite Social Studies Product: TruthQuest History My review.

Favorite Science Product: Amazing Science My review.

Favorite Math Product: Math Mammoth My review.

Favorite Online Math Product: Math Rider My review.

Favorite Foreign Language Product: Visual Latin My review.

Favorite Fine Arts Product: Artistic Pursuits My review.

Favorite Christian Education Product: Apologia: Who Am I? My review and all around favorite product this year.

Favorite Preschool Product: Before Five in a Row My review.

Favorite Elementary Product: All About Reading

Favorite Middle School Product: Write with WORLD My review.

Favorite High School Product: Excellence in Literature My review.

Favorite College or College-Prep Product: Excellence in Literature My review.

Best Online Resource: Reading Eggs My review.

Best e-Product: Heritage History

Best Homeschool Resource: Apologia: Educating the Wholehearted Child My review.

Best Book, Novel, or Magazine: Apologia: How to Have a HEART for Your Kids

Best Children's Book: Amazing Animals by Design My review.

Best Game or Toy: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers My review and Say Anything My review.

Best Hands-On Resource: Pitsco Education

Best Resource I Didn't Know I Needed: eMeals My review

Best Customer Service: K5 Learning

Most Adaptable Resource: Creek Edge Press

Most Family-Oriented Resource: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers My review and Say Anything My review.

Kids' Choice (favorite of CHILDREN ages 0-12): Reading Eggs My review.

Teens' Choice (favorite per the TEENAGERS): Pitsco Education

All Around Crew Favorite: Visual Latin My review

Each winning vendor has received this wonderful award to display with pride:

  Congratulations to our winning vendors! We hope you will sail with us again! Many Crew Members are blogging about these awards as well. Click here to see the Crew Blog Posts.

We’ve had an awesome year. The crew is not taking a break over the summer as they have in the past. So continue to look for amazing reviews from the TOS review crew.

Thanks for joining us for this cruise. What are some of your favorite products of the year?

Vickie

DIVE into Your Imagination (TOS Review)

DIVE into Your Imagination history:

“Annie Crawley created Dive Into Your Imagination to change the way a new generation views the ocean.

The images in the award winning books and DVDs from the Dive Into Your Imagination® series uses the photographs and video Crawley created around the world during her explorations. The ocean is responsible for 70% of the oxygen our planet needs, all of our water and much of our food. The Ocean is facing some incredible challenges right now and it is the heart of our planet. Dive Into Your Imagination hopes people will fall in love with our ocean because we protect what we love.”

Well…I have to say, WE are a group of people that has fallen in love with these DVDs and learning more about the ocean.

We chose to review the DVD called What Makes a Fish, a Fish? This DVD is for PreK and up and is also available in Spanish.

What Makes A Fish, A Fish is the first DVD in the Dive Into Your Imagination series. This DVD teaches children about astounding fish from around the world.

Some of the chapters include:

• How do fish take a bath?
• Learn the truth about sharks.
• Play hide and seek on the reef.
• and a special section on Annie teaching the kids how to Scuba Dive.
• Plus several more chapter.

The underwater realm provides boundless opportunities for parents to learn and laugh with their children.

An upbeat original score celebrates the ocean and brings it to life. The DVD has three audio tracks, English, Spanish and music only. Great as an entertaining teaching tool for the classroom too!

Here’s a sample chapter (Hide and Seek on the Reef) to watch.

As you will see in the sample, the colors are phenomenal!! Bright! Colorful!

Annie keeps the kids engrossed in the video by asking questions to the kids. The kids had a great reaction and have asked more than once to watch this DVD over and over again. Or wanting to take to let Papa see it. Even my teens stayed interested in it

What was even more fun….after watching this fabulous DVD, we went to the big city to the aquarium and I could hear the kids talking about things they learned from Annie Crawley on the DVD.

We also received a study guide that corresponds with the DVD we received.

There are two different ones; one set for PreK-K and one thru grades 1-3. I had my high school kids do it too

This 374 page study guide includes:

• Lesson plan for the teacher/parent
• Vocabulary words
• Coloring pages
• Crossword puzzles
• Fill-in-the-blank
• Word Searches
• Character education
• Classroom activity stations
• and more!

With the DVD and the study guide, this makes a wonderful unit study (when ordering the DVD, be sure to mention HOMESCHOOL in the comments and you’ll receive the study guide for FREE!) In class you could watch one chapter at a time and do the corresponding lessons in the book or like us, we watched the whole DVD at once to begin with then went back thru it slower to do the study guide.

I highly recommend the whole DIVE into Your Imagination series. Other DVDs and books include:

• What Makes a Fish, a Fish is the first in the series and sells for $19.95.
• Who Lives in the Sea
• DIVE into Diversity
• Visions of the Sea
• There is also the Camera Coach which teaches how to photograph underwater.

When you go to the DIVE website, you will see a Kids’ Corner; Travel (you can schedule a dive with Annie); blog; public speaking schedule; contact info; the store will all they have to offer which is a whole lot more than these DVDs.

OK…to sum it all up.

What Makes a Fish, a Fish DVD – $19.95

When you order, put HOMESCHOOL or Homeschool parent and you’ll receive the corresponding study guide for FREE (.pdf).

Order any time during June and receive FREE shipping on the DVDs.

You can check out the DIVE Into Your Imagination website and Annie Crawley’s website. Lots and lots of good info.

Not all of us on the crew reviewed the same DVD. To see what others enjoyed, check them out here.

Have a blessed summer. Anyone going scuba diving?

Vickie

Disclaimer: As an independent contractor for the TOS review crew, I received the DVD What Makes a Fish, a Fish and the corresponding study guide in .pdf format for FREE for my review. My readers receive the same compensation I do….FREE shipping for the month of June and FREE study guide when I order another DVD.

WriteShop Jr–Book D (TOS Review)

The purpose of WriteShop Junior is for parents to work with their grade 3-6 children, guiding them toward writing independence. Through activities and exercises, you teach the creative process of writing so your child has the skills and confidence to successfully complete each writing assignment.

WriteShop Junior equips children with specific tools they need to develop the ability to write effectively.

The WriteShop curriculum is designed for children K-High School. You can check out all that WriteShop offers here. Quite the list to be sure.

We were privileged to get to review Book D. We received the Teacher’s Book, Activity Pack, and Time Saver Pack.

WriteShop Junior Book D is for ages 8-11 who need to learn to:

• Identify and use proper grammar and punctuation.
• Choose strong words.
• Brainstorm before writing.
• Write a paragraph.
• Write a short, research-based article.
• Self-edit and revise their work.

There is a suggested lesson plan at the beginning of every teacher’s book.

There is the two-week lesson plan and three-week lesson plan. They also have a suggestive lesson plan for those families (like ours) that have multiple students at different grade levels therefore, using different WriteShop books.

Pretty nice!

There is also a materials list for each chapter in the front of the teacher’s book to help you prepare in advance.

At the beginning of each lesson it lists:

• Lesson focus
• Objectives
• Advanced Prep
• Materials needed from the resource pack
• Required supplies and optional supplies

Simple enough.

From the Activity Pack I am able to copy pages for each of the kids to use. I have 6 kids in the age range for this particular book.

Three in 3rd grade, two 5th graders, one 6th grader.

I prefer having group work for my kids and having the mixture of grades, I think, helps the younger ones along better. Not that it is too easy for the older group, but their participation abilities are more advanced.

We’ll be adopting more kids in this age range, hopefully they’ll be transitioning in this summer, so I’ll put this curriculum aside til Fall classes begin so I can have an even larger group and the current group won’t be too very far ahead. They’ll get a refresher course in the lessons already completed.

Can’t hurt LOL

I can see this program being a huge huge benefit in a couple of the kids and their writing. A couple of have great ideas, stories, etc but getting them down on paper is the challenge. I see this program helping in that area immensely.

We got to review WriteShop’s Story Builders a couple of years ago and the kids loved them. I think I’ll have to get those out again to go along with this program. The high schoolers will probably enjoy those again. It’ll make for good ideas for journal writing.

Anyway…on the website, there is support services available.

There’s a parents’ corner, kids’ corner, online tutoring, resources, and forums.

If you are looking for a great writing program to use in a co-op, this one would fit that bill as well.

Write Shop D Teacher’s Guide is available as a 266-page white coil print edition ($39.95) or as an ebook ($34.95).

The Activity Pack is required to go along with the lessons. That is also available in tear-off pages ($39.95) or as an ebook ($29.95).

WriteShop is being generous and offering our readers a 15% discount if you order before June 15, 2012 (only on the Primary or Junior products). Use the code “CREW15” when ordering.

That’s a really good deal!!

Some of my crewmates used other levels of the WriteShop books. Again, WriteShop Junior Book D is geared towards 3rd, 4th, and the reluctant 5th 6th graders.

Here’s the coupon code again for ease of location “CREW15”.

Happy writing!

Vickie

Disclaimer: As an independent contractor for TOS, we received WriteShop Junior Book D: Teacher’s Guide, Activity Pack, and Time-Saver Pack for our review. No other compensation was received nor promised.

My Favorite Adoption Websites

Well, here we are…day 5 of the 5 Days of…..blog hop that some of us on the crew have been doing all week.

Today, I’m hoping my post will be shorter

I am going to share a few of my favorite sites for viewing kids available for adoption all around the country and some from around the world as well.

I pray that this week has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment. Maybe next week I’ll write another blog post answering all your questions.

Every evening after dinner I have a ritual.

I have a list of my favorite sites and I go thru each site each evening. Then I have a few other sites I check every Friday evening.

Anytime I see a child/ren I’m interested in, I send an inquiry, then I have to let our worker know that I have inquired. He keeps his eye on the goings on and will do follow up for me every 30 days if I haven’t heard anything myself. We have a lot of correspondence going on LOL

He wants me to have 20-25 inquiries out at any given time. I am only up to 15. I’m mainly looking at larger sibling groups, typically 4+ in the group. The max I’ve ever seen in a group has been 8.

The group I’m praying the hardest about right now has 6. 4 boys, 2 girls. That would give us an even dozen at home….plus our 3 grown kids and we’ll have 15 total.

I’m so excited!!! I just wish they’d hurry up and call us already to let us know we’ve been chosen! This waiting is harder then any pregnancy I tell ya! At least with a pregnancy you have an approximate end date….with adoption….it feels like for.ev.errrr!

OK! Here are my favorites I check every evening in no particular order:

NorthWest Adoption Exchange (NWAE-WA, OR, ID, AK)

Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TARE)

AdoptUSKids (covers all 50 states)

The Adoption Exchange (CO, MO, NM, NV, OK, SD, UT, WY)

A Family For Every Child (AFFEC – OR)

These I check every Friday evening:

Heart Gallery of Colorado

Missouri Heart Gallery

Adopt Kansas Kids

Arkansas Heart Gallery

Heart Gallery of Alabama

Washoe County, NV

These are international:

Reece’s Rainbow (special needs kids focusing on Down syndrome and HIV+)

AACAdoption (China & Korea)

HOLT International

Rainbow Kids (this one will sometimes have kids that come from other countries to the US in an adoption situation and then the adoption is disrupted and the kids become available again. They aren’t shipped back to their country of origin but remain here to be adopted by someone else).

I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as I enjoyed having you visit. I had a good time putting these posts together and I pray they were a blessing to you or someone you know.

Always remember that adoption is an option, for growing your family.

“Behold, Children are a heritage from the Lord, the Fruit of the womb is a reward.” <Psalm 127:3>

God’s Blessings,

Vickie