Blogging Through the Alphabet ~ D is for decorating disasters

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Have you ever put up and taken down a 7.5 foot artificial tree 3 times in a span of 24 hours? What about stringing 850 lights on said tree, 3 times?

By golly, its not for the faint at heart. The girls and I are were having THE worst luck with Christmas lights this weekend. First, our lights blew out after we had them on the main tree Friday afternoon. I went to Walmart Saturday morning after dropping Mikayla off at carpool and bought all new lights. Once we took the tree down and took off all of the old lights and it was completely re-stranded with ll 850 lights, the center pole light cord ripped clear off the strand! Seriously, I almost cried at this point. I was this (<) close to just having our Advent tree up this year, or biting the bullet and purchasing the Basalm Hill tree of my dreams.

So, I trudged back to Walmart and exchanged the lights for a new set while the older girls took down the tree again. Thankfully, the third time was the charm and our big family tree is up and looking as beautiful as the day we bought it 17 years ago.

This is week 4 of my attempt at Blogging Through the Alphabet with by Meg @ Adventures with Jude and Cristi @ Through the Calm and Through the Storm. Be sure to check out the posts this week and see how creative everyone is as we make our way from A to Z.

 

Missed a post? Catch up with the links below.

A is for Arithmetic

B is for Birthdays and Bones

C is for Caramel Corn

 

 

 

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Blogging Through the Alphabet ~ C is for Caramel Corn

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We love to make homemade caramel corn around here. In fact, Madison requested some for her birthday last weekend so we whipped up a batch.

The recipe is a family secret of my mom’s that has a special step, so I won’t be sharing it here, however, there are several variations online :-)

As she used to say,

 Bon Appetite!

 

Missed a post? Catch up with the links below.

A is for Arithmetic

B is for Birthdays and Bones

 

 

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

TOS Blue Ribbon Awards

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Over this past year I have had the privilege of reviewing over 50+ products from curriculum to things just for mom. At the end of each review year, the members of the Crew vote for their favorite products. Several of the products listed below are some of our favorites too, be sure to check them out!

Favorite Reading Curriculum: Reading Kingdom Favorite Writing Curriculum: Institute for Excellence in Writing

Favorite Vocabulary Program: Dynamic Literacy Favorite Spelling Program: Institute for Excellence in Writing: Phonetic Zoo

Favorite Grammar Program: Institute for Excellence in Writing: Fix-It! Grammar

Favorite Penmanship Program: CursiveLogic Favorite Literature Curriculum: Progeny Press

Favorite History Curriculum: Home School in the Woods

Favorite History Supplement: Heirloom Audio Productions: In Freedom's Cause

Favorite Science Curriculum: Visual Learning Systems

Favorite Science Supplement: Ann McCallum Books: Eat your Science

Favorite Math Curriculum: CTC Math

Favorite Math Supplement: SimplyFun

Favorite Christian Education Curriculum: Grapevine Studies

Favorite Christian Education Supplement: Brinkman Adventures

Favorite Foreign Language Curriculum: Middlebury Interactive Language

Favorite Fine Arts Product: Maestro Classics Favorite Elective Curriculum: Apologia Educational Ministries: Field Trip Journal

Favorite Audio Drama: Brinkman Adventures Favorite Video: FishFlix.com

Favorite Elementary Product: Star Toaster

Favorite Middle School Product: The Critical Thinking Co

Favorite High School Product: Writing with Sharon Watson

Favorite College or College-Prep Product: Freedom Project Education

Favorite Parent Product: Koru Naturals

Favorite Planning Product: Apologia Educational Ministries: The Ultimate Homeschool Planner

Best Resource I Didn't Know I Needed: Homeschool Planet

Best Online Resource: Super Teacher Worksheets Best e-Product: Home School in the Woods

Just for Fun: USAopoly

Kids' Choice: La La Logic

Teens' Choice: YWAM Publishing

All Around Crew Favorite: Institute for Excellence in Writing

I am pleased to announce that I will be rejoining the TOS review Crew for my 6th year. It’s been a fun ride and I look forward to reviewing more products and telling you all about them!

Blogging Through the Alphabet ~ B is for birthdays and bones

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Yesterday we celebrated Madison’s 15th birthday. Not quite sure how 15 years has flown by, but it has and we have been able to see Madison blossom into a fine young lady.

She is not one to want a big party or for us to fuss by having a big celebration. She actually wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese because she knew her younger sisters and brother enjoy it. So, that’s what we did.

This week, we also finished up our bones unit in science for Montana and McKenzie. They both were able to tape their bones to their body outlines. Montana’s body is obviously bigger than the bones we received, but she gets the jist of there location.

One morning, McKenzie came running to me and said that Montana’s leg fell off. What!?! Then I remembered the skeleton and we fixed it by adding more tape. Next week, we start on the muscular section and I have some fun activities planned to round out our school year before Christmas break.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is blogging about this week for letter “B” by clicking on either hosts link here or here.

 

Grapevine Studies: Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level ~ a TOS review

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My girls have great drawing skills, especially Marie who has been doodling and drawing detailed pictures since she was four! Let me be the first to tell you that I can not draw. Well, I can draw stick figures, but that’s about it. Over the last six weeks we have had a chance to prepare our hearts as we enter this Christmas season by using Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level from Grapevine Studies .

Grapevine Studies has developed one of the leading Bible study curriculums to grow disciples for Christ. Children use their own Bibles and study materials for their level through a multi-sensory approach that includes hearings, seeing, and drawing the Biblical lessons. One of the great features is that this curriculum does not promote any one specific faith or religious practice, so it works for all denominations.

We received eBooks of The Birth of Jesus Multi-Level Student Workbook, Teachers Manual and Traceable Pages. The Birth of Jesus study includes five self-paced lessons that can be spread out over 24 days.

The weekly lesson topics are:

~ The Announcement

~ The Birth of Jesus

~ The Proclamation

~ The Wise Men & Herod

~Final Review

Each lesson includes the complete timeline for the entire story you are learning and includes several pages to correspond to the verses, including the memory verses, you are learning about. The traceable pages are perfect for the young learners who want to be involved in Bible study time.

I used this curriculum with my youngest two daughters {9 & 6} during this review period. I love how simple stick figures have helped them see the whole big picture of Jesus’s birth and the Reason for the Season. The program is so great for visual and artistic learners.

My plan is to go back through this study at the beginning of December with all my girls at home as we prepare for the Christmas season. Or you could use it in addition to your Advent studies. My younger girls are excited to go back through the program again and this time really memorize the story of Jesus’s birth.

If you want to use one of Grapevines other studies but are too sure about where to start, be sure to check out this graphic chart below. It will give you an idea and overview of what the company offers. Overall, we have enjoyed this product and will continue our stick figuring through the Bible in January as we start preparing our hearts for the Resurrection with The Resurrection Studies.

Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this product and the other titles being reviewed, Birth of Jesus: Beginner, Old Testament 1: Level 1 Creation to Jacob, Old Testament 1: Level 2 Creation to Jacob, Old Testament 1: Level 3 Creation to Jacob, Old Testament 1: Level 4 Creation to Jacob , by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ Grapevine Studies

Product ~ Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level

Price ~ between $6.50 – 10.00 for eBook versions

Ages ~ 5-7 years old

Format ~ eBook download

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Periscope: @Grapevine Studies

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

The Critical Thinking Co.: Fun-Time Phonics! ~ a TOS review

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If you are looking for an easy to use phonics program then look no further than The Critical Thinking Co. Fun-Time Phonics!. I have had the chance to use this with McKenzie for the last six weeks, let me tell you about it.

The Critical Thinking Co. is a family-owned business  that has been “empowering the mind” for more than 50 years. They sell critical thinking products/supplements that cover reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. Instead of rote drilling and memorization, students are encouraged to “carefully analyze what they are learning.” The Critical Thinking Co. is on a mission to develop the critical thinking skills in all children. The phonics book is available in either book form or Windows PC download.

Fun-Time Phonics offers a systematic phonics program that teaches students that spoken words are comprised of sounds and those sounds are written with 26 different letters. The program places emphasis on knowing the vowel patterns and not rote memorization of rules.

The book is broken down into 3 different sections:

Phoenemic Awareness

Alphabetics

Beginning to Read

and is filled with 300+ pages of reading basics. Using the book program is as simple as turning the page to the activity and following the directions at the top of the page. It is recommended to cover up the sections below and above the section you are working on to maintain focus, especially with young children.

Overall, this has been a great addition to our phonics studies for McKenzie! She is becoming a confident reader and Fun-Time Phonics! helps to fill in the gaps we may have missed or sections where she has trouble. Because she is such an eager learner, she has soared through the book and is currently on Activity 38. She does have a little trouble remembering the sounds that “G” makes, but with daily practice she is making excellent progress.

We plan to finish out this book until completion and then save it for when Micah is ready to learn phonics. Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this book and the other products, Surfing the Net: Science , The Basics of Critical Thinking , U. S. History Detective, Book 1,
Practical Critical Thinking, being reviewed from The Critical Thinking Co. by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ The Critical Thinking Co.

Product ~ Fun-Time Phonics!

Price ~ $39.99 paperback book

Ages ~ PreK - 2nd grade

Format ~ paperback book

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©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com