Special Connection Homeschool

The Schoolhouse Review Crew is hosting a special week of homeschooling information.  Many of the members are sharing information about homeschooling methods, curriculum, planning, classrooms and co-ops.  I chose not to participate in the event as I did not think I had much to share on those topics, but I assure you the people who did participate do.  If you want reliable and tested information about homeschooling, check out the blog hop taking place this week.

One day while Gess and I were reading a magazine in a doctor's office waiting room (we spend lots of time there) we came across a kid's recipe for making a yogurt parfait.  It made me think, why have I never thought of doing that at home?  The recipe called for either yogurt or cottage cheese.  We love yogurt so we went with that and added to it whatever fruit was sitting in the fridge at the time.  This is a really easy recipe that kids can do themselves and it's not only delicious, it's healthy too! Layered Yogurt Cups 1.  Choose and cut your fruit  (this time we used grapes, bananas, and strawberries). 2. Place your first fruit on the bottom (Gess chose grapes to go in first). 3. Cover that layer with some yogurt (we used a strawberry yogurt but any or plain yogurt will do). 4. Place your next layer of fruit on the yogurt (now she wanted strawberries). 5. Cover that layer with yogurt. 6. Put in your last layer of fruit (banan...

Since we are very active in our church Vacation Bible School is something our entire family is involved in and enjoys. It's our favorite way to not only spend some fun family time together, but to serve others in the process. At VBS there is something for every family member to do, no matter what their age. This wasn't always the case for us as we usually hold VBS during the day when my husband is at work.  However this year we held our VBS at night, so this allowed my husband to be involved too. Each night we served the kids dinner and set up inflatable bouncy houses for them to play on.  It was my husband's job to help set them up and put them away. (You are welcome for volunteering you for that darling!) It sounds easy enough, but those things are actually pretty hefty and in 105 degree weather it's actually quite the job!  My husband also stuck around to move tables or do whatever else was needed. My job is usually teaching and helping with registration. T...

Super Duper Publications makes fun educational materials for kids.  These products are perfect for just about any child and are very special needs friendly.  In fact our speech therapist has used and recommended some of their products in the past. Because of that, I was super excited when I chosen to review their new HearBuilder Following Directions computer program for PreK-3rd grade (ages 4-9). HearBuilder Following Directions is an interactive computer program that helps children improve their auditory processing and following directions skills all while playing a computer game.  In HearBuilder each child is building their own Toy Factory and are working towards becoming Master Toy Makers.  There are 5 stages in making a toy and in each part of the process the children practice a different skill.  Each time you enter the game you choose which door you wish to enter. As you can see, the doors actually tell you which skill you will be working on. ...

History can sometimes be hard to grasp.  Figuring out where and when all these people and places fit together can really get somewhat confusing.  Memorizing facts and dates does not necessarily mean a child understands history.  Knowledge Quest tries to help tie those people, places and dates together by using time lines and historical maps so that history makes more sense to your child.  TimeMaps is one of the ways they do that. TimeMaps is an interactive combination of timelines, historical maps, and encyclopedic information that help make learning about history more engaging and fun.  These chronological maps follow history as it happened.  With each date cycle you are shown how these places were changed over time and what important events impacted those changes.  With TimeMaps you don't have to look at the map and then turn to a book to read what is happening.  The information is all there with the click of a button or the simple scrol...

Keyboarding for the Christian School is a printable e-book that helps you teach your student or child to type.  They have two typing courses, one for grades 6 and up and one for elementary school that comes in both regular and large print.  We were given the large print elementary school edition of the Keyboarding for the Christian School for the purpose of my review. Keyboarding for the Christian School is geared towards teaching your student traditional typing skills that will help them not only to learn how to type on the keyboard but how to do so without looking at the screen.  While computer based typing programs always have the children looking at the screen, this technique teaches children the more off screen approach to typing that will normally be used in a school or professional capacity.  The book begins by explaining technique, posture, and key placement.  I actually didn't realize that it was best to sit with the J key opposite your belly b...

As Christians we know there is a constant struggle and battle for the minds of our children.  Every day they are bombarded with the world's philosophy of truth, faith, morality, beauty and so on from television, music, movies, games, the internet, and many other influences that surround them.  While as parents we strive to protect our children from those outside influences (as we should) our most important job is to teach them what the proper definition of truth, faith, and morality is.  We do that by teaching them God's Word and then helping them to gain all of their insights and beliefs from within it.  There is no other task as important as this one.  In fact, it is one that God himself gave to us. Deut 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when ...

Is it hot enough for you?  Here in Kansas we are experiencing a serious drought and currently have a burn ban going on.  With temperatures over 100 degrees and very little respite of cool temps in between we are trying to figure out how to enjoy the summer in midst of all this heat. Of course the best thing to do if you are going to be outside is to go swimming.  By this, I mean actually staying in the water.  This isn't the time to get a tan or spend hours on the shore reading a good book.  Just yesterday someone was leaving the pool from heat exhaustion and my theory is they weren't actually in the pool much.  Swimming can keep you hydrated, cool and be lots of fun, but whatever you do, don't forget the sunscreen! Our city put in a new water park a couple of years ago.  It has a swimming area, diving boards, sprinkler play area for little kids and a lazy river. This used to be great for Gess because when she got bored with one area we w...