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SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Posted by Brande on March 12, 2012
in Articles, Education, Encouragement for Moms, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gardening, Gift Ideas, Parenting, School

Check out The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s (TOS) reinvented Teacher’s Toolbox. I introduce SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

Click the banner above or here’s the link – http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=3429

The topics of March include “Get Out and Garden!” , “This Day in History” , “Schoolhouse Kitchen”, crafts, lots of encouragement and devotions.

TOS is continually adding enhancements to SchoolhouseTeachers.com - Watch for Schoolhouse Clubs for Kids, freebies (for long-term members), and TOS digital back issues! With even more coming in April and beyond!

There are 3 different tiers of membership.

The Standard Membership includes –

Members-only access to lesson material from all of our expert teachers—Geography, History, Home Ec, Literature, Music/Singing, Technology, Writing and many more subjects in months to come
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered by TOS straight to your inbox monthly
All The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine digital back issues (easily searchable)
3 E-Books from the TOS E-Book Homeschool Library during the first 12 months of membership

After 12 months of uninterrupted membership, you’ll receive a $5 gift certificate to the Totally TOS section of The Schoolhouse Store.

Premium Membership –

Members-only access to lesson material from all of our expert teachers—Geography, History, Home Ec, Literature, Music/Singing, Technology, Writing and many more subjects in months to come
All TOS webinar Expo-to-Go recorded sessions ($60 value), including recordings of all future and ongoing Expos during length of membership
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered by TOS straight to your inbox monthly
All The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine digital back issues (easily searchable)
7 E-Books from the TOS E-Book Homeschool Library during the first 12 months of membership

After 12 months of uninterrupted membership, you’ll receive a $10 gift certificate to the Totally TOS section of The Schoolhouse Store.

Ultimate Member –

Members-only access to lesson material from all of our expert teachers—Geography, History, Home Ec, Literature, Music/Singing, Technology, Writing and many more subjects in months to come
All five 2012-13 Schoolhouse Daily e-Planners (more than $125 value)
All TOS webinar Expo-to-Go recorded sessions ($60 value), including recordings of all future and ongoing Expos during length of membership
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered by TOS straight to your inbox monthly
All The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine digital back issues (easily searchable)
12 E-Books from the TOS E-Book Homeschool Library (one per month) during the first 12 months of membership

After 12 months of uninterrupted membership, you’ll receive a $25 gift certificate to the Totally TOS section of The Schoolhouse Store.

BONUS for the Ultimate Membership for a limited time only!

Go and sign up, this is a great tool for any parent just not homeschoolers!

**The membership information was quoted directly from the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website.**

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Maple Syrup & Hospitality – Monday Motivation

Posted by html404 on March 5, 2012
in Education, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Saving Money, School, Seasonal Stuff

For once my Monday Motivation is not about cleaning or working, but about showing hospitality and sharing our experience making maple syrup. This week on one of the homeschool yahoo groups someone posted about a maple syrup event that was a great children’s activity especially for homeschoolers, however, it was with a cost. I know how much homeschoolers watch their budgets, after all I am one! So without too much thought I posted inviting interested families to our house for a FREE homeschool activity to see what we have done to make our own maple syrup this year. After I hit send, I was like, “Oh-oh, what have I done?” I wasn’t expecting much response and about four families responded. Therefore, we’ll be getting ready for our guests this week, as I thought hot chocolate and homemade cookies were in order to go along with the children learning about where maple syrup comes from and how it is made.

The catch is we got snow and it is colder so the sap may not be running this week, but we’ll wait and see. Someone said it was going to hit the 50’s by mid-week, which will be perfect and muddy. It should be fun to meet new people and share what the Lord has blessed us with here with our maple trees and space.

This week’s motivation is to share our home and maple syrup adventure with other homeschooling families. Hopefully blessing them by helping them save money on an outing and to show them if we can do it so can they!

The Rest of Our Maple Syrup Story

Obviously we are not done tapping our trees or collecting sap, nevertheless, I thought it was time to show the rest of our maple syrup adventure or what we have recorded so far. We’ve had a few mishaps and bumps in the road and may not get as much sap as we had hoped. You see, we have had wind blow our bags off, we have had them fall off due to being too heavy and we have had certain family members dump our maple syrup down the drain thinking it was water in the pot! Yeah, that’s what I said. This happened two different times by two different people and I am like, “Can’t you ask first? We are making syrup!?” Talk about aggravating, to say the least. Both individuals were apologetic and felt bad, but accidents happen…..still, just ask!

Our Tapping Adventure Continues

Drilling.

The younger ones wanted to try too.

The tap is in. We were not very happy about the sap dripping out below the tap, but that was rectified once we got the drill boring the right way!

The bags were put on the little metal hangers and set on the taps.

The day we put them up the sap was running fast. This is what we got within the first couple of hours.

Then by late afternoon, look what we had!

We improvised when we ran out of metal hangers and use a milk jug and wire.

This pot was full of sap and you have to boil it down to almost nothing.

Then we filtered the sap to get dirt and any other unwanted particles out of the syrup.

Baby wanted in on the action too.

Not a lot of syrup and by the time we had bottle it (sorry no picture of that!) we only got a quart out of 3-4 bags of sap. It wasn’t as thick as we would have liked, so it should have been boiled more. We know that for the next batch we do, as we are living and learning as we go along.

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Kid-Safe Chemicals – Must See Video

Posted by html404 on March 3, 2012
in Eco Friendly Products, Education, Health, Health and Nutrition, Safety

This is a must see video if you are even remotely curious or concerned with the amount of chemicals our children are exposed to today. Thanks to the Environmental Working Group (EWG.org). They also have a site that allows you to look up ingredients, which I cannot seem to find that link right now but will add once I find it:

This video is precisely why we are changing the products we use and the foods we eat. It is for the future of our children and future generations. A change must occur. What will you do?

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“God Loves You!” Personalized Children’s Book Review

Posted by Brande on March 2, 2012
in Baby Products, Books, Education, Encouragement for Moms, Family Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Parenting

“God’s love graces each creature, the great and the small,

and it soars to the sky like His redwoods so tall.”

This is a beautiful heartfelt book for your children is written by Jennifer Dewing and Illustrated by Maria Carluccio. It is available at “I See Me! Inc. Personalized Children’s Books“.

“God Loves You” won multiple awards in 2010, including Mom’s Choice Award and Creative Child Magazine’s “Preferred Choice” Award.

There is a great deal of personalization in this book. You are able to include the following information, child’s first, middle & last name, gender, dedication, sender, the month, day and year!

The book flows along paths of different illustrations, including the ocean, thru the wood, springtime, etc.

Follow this link for a tour of the book - “God Loves You!”

This is a great gift for Easter, baptisms, births, or just because.

My Review:

This book is full of love and inspiration for you and your child. This is going to be the “go to” present for when friends and relatives have new babies. The personalization in this book is extensive, no more writing in the front cover for me. I’ve read “God Loves You” for my daughter the past few nights. She loves the illustrations and I love the message coming from the book.

**”I See Me!, Inc.” did mention to please place your order before March 23rd if you’d like it for Easter.**

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Pizza Hut BOOK IT!

Posted by Brande on March 1, 2012
in Books, Education, Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Parenting, Restaurants, School

“YOU ARE YOUR CHILD’S FIRST TEACHER” Great slogan and so true. Here’s a great reading incentive program for your K-6 kids. The program is available for Home School Children or contact your child’s teacher and tell them about the program. It runs October to March – the home educator/teacher sets a monthly reading goal of books to read. If that goal is achieved, the child will get a “Reading Certificate Reward”, with that certificate the child goes to Pizza Hut (with their family, of course) and they will receive a free one topping personal pan pizza, “BOOK IT!” card, and a Backpack clip. Enrollment for 2012-2013 begins in March, CLICK HERE for the enrollment form!

What about the Pre-K kiddos! Try the R.E.D. ZONE.

No pizza for the little one, sorry. If you register for the “Give Me 20 Reading Challenge”, you’ll be entered to win one of 50 “Skippyjon Jones Prize Packs”!

There are also printables for your little ones!

Happy Reading!

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Tree Hugging Really Was….

Posted by html404 on February 24, 2012
in All Natural Products, Education, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Food and Treats

I loved all your responses to our Wordless Wednesday post! I got a lot of chuckles! The tree hugging really was about measuring the tree, but it was for tapping the trees for sap. We need to measure the diameter of the tree to determine how many taps we can put in each of our five maple trees because we are making maple syrup! Today’s fun with food post will be all about our fun tapping trees and making our very own chemical free maple syrup! (I know there is really no food shown, but it’s all about making our own and being self-sufficient in providing our family’s food from our land – rented land in this case.)

Our handy little reference booklet.

Maple syrup supplies.

Photo from Anderson’s website.

Yes, we can measure with the measuring tape upside down, we are talented that way!

Drilling tap holes.

Tapping trees was a family event.

Two of our maple trees are in the backyard, the other three are in the front.

Stay tuned for more of our journey into the world of making maple syrup in our own backyard!

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Encyclopedia Britannica Kids – US Presidents FREE App – Only Until Monday!!

Posted by Brande on February 18, 2012
in Deals, Downloads, Education, Family Stuff, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Music, News Worthy, Parenting, Politics, Saving Money, School

Hurry! Head to your itunes store and download – Encyclopedia Britannica Kids – US Presidents app for FREE, it’s usually 2.99! This offer expires Monday the 20th at Midnight EST!

Great app, I’m learning a lot myself! It has all the Presidents, when you select a President it gives you their dates in office, who was/is the Vice President, First Lady, when their birthday was/is, and fun facts!

In addition, there is a section of “Did you know?”. At the bottom of the screen, select menu and you are able to hear and see the words to “Hail to the Chief”. There is also a quiz section to test your knowledge.

It’s available for your iPhone and iPad. I checked Andriod and didn’t see this specific app, but did see other apps for US Presidents.

Enjoy!

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The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Goes Digital!

Posted by Brande on February 16, 2012
in Downloads, Ebooks, Education, Family Stuff, Free Stuff, News Worthy, Parenting, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, School, Techie Stuff

Homeschool parents, this one is for you! This app is available for Apple & Android devices! Now you can read “The Old Schoolhouse Magazine” at home or on the go for FREE!

These are very interactive apps. You can watch videos, zoom in on advertisers, web links to order, and more!

Here’s the links! Apple App – FREE Android App – FREE

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Book Review ~ Resumes for Children: 17 Years Old and Under

Posted by Professor on February 2, 2012
in Books, Community Issues, Education, Family Stuff, Home, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, School

Resumes For Children: 17 Years Old and Under

Ever thought of your child having a resume? If your answer is “no” think again. Your child can participate in these “out of the box” activities to begin to build a great resume.

Choosing activities that provide your child with life skills as well as build character is a key element to their success. Documenting those activities is also a key element to their success. Why? Keeping before them a present visual reminder of their activities, accomplishments, etc., gives encouragement, pride in what they do and have done. It also allows them to see how well they have progressed over the years. In other words, you will assist your child in “behaving” their way to success.

With your child’s résumé you can:

Use it to accompany an application into an academic program.
Use it to seek sponsorship from friends and family ~ obtain OPM (other people’s money) to pay for activities.
Use it to seek grants and scholarships.

OUR REVIEW:

I thought this was such an interesting book. Before being presented this book I honestly never thought of having a resume for children. But now I see how far this can take a child. You can use this book from toddlers to teenage years. Yes I said toddlers! I think this is a great way to get children thinking. I mean maybe your toddler is not going to write a resume like an older child but you can definitely use some prompts and ask your toddler questions to get them thinking of what they would like to do and become! For example in the toddler years you can ask children to list activities that they are good at and would like to do…this can range from playing blocks to taking dancing lessons. Eventually applying these things to a resume that the child will build.

But enough about a toddlers view… this book will work really well for an older child! This is great to get the child thinking outside of the ordinary…the child is taught how to use the things they have done in their lives (school, camps, odd jobs) and add them to a working resume. The children can then present their resume to anyone who would like to know more about them…perhaps the child would like a summer job …well a resume is a great way to introduce themselves. Perhaps your child is trying to earn money to go to summer camp…then a resume is a great way to introduce who the child is and what the child can and will do… There are endless possibilities to the unique situations that this book can be used!

As a mother I love this book! As a high school teacher and college professor I think this is also great for the high school student! Introduce them to this book at a young age and get them started on writing and honing their resume and they will not be at a loss when it comes to applying to scholarships for college!

You can find out more about the book here:

http://www.resumesforchildren.com/

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Free Apps for Kids!

Posted by Brande on January 28, 2012
in Deals, Downloads, Education, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Humor, Technology/Electronics

**(When I downloaded these apps they were free, I cannot guarantee if they started charging a fee.) **

Personally, I’m over the Angry Birds frenzy. How about you? For the next few weeks I’m going show you 3 apps that my daughter (she’s 3) and I enjoy. Most of these apps are directed toward the little ones, but there are a few along the way that your older kids might like as well.

Like most free games on iTunes, they are not the entire version. They want to get you hooked so you’ll buy it. So, far that hasn’t affected our home and we are happy with what we got.

The first one is called ABC Animal Puzzle Free. This game is compatible with an iPhone and iPad. This is not a complete version. However, still very playable for your younger ones. It’s a puzzle game. There are 5-9 piece puzzles. Besides the puzzle you are learning animals names, for example there is an elephant puzzle and it says ELEPHANT when you are completing it. Also, on this app is a Memory Game. (Click the bubbles on the bottom right corner to activate the menu). There is a stickers & score card section that let’s you know which puzzles you’ve completed and how long it took.

Baby DJ – this one can get a little annoying after a while, but is still cute! This app is currently available for the iPhone and iPad. Got a little musician in your house? Here’s the app for you. There are 10 options on this one. Anywhere from a lion to an octopus. Even Santa Claus makes his way onto this app. Once you choose an animal, the next screen opens to 9 “records” (like the good ol’ black vinyl records). You touch a record and it spin and start a beat. Then as you continue pressing the records, they sync up. Then press them again and that record turns off. Each animal has different beats.

The last one for this week is Glow Draw! Again, this one is available for the iPhone and iPad. All kids love to draw and this app is kind of like etch a sketch. You draw and then shake your device to erase it. On the lower left you can change colors,make your line wider, put a background of your pictures loaded on your device and save or email you pictures!