joy in the Mornings

Today - January 5 - is National Bird Day. If you’re like me and you like watching and feeding those birds then celebrate today! I love watching the feathered friends who visit my yard in all seasons.

On January 5, 1925, Nellie Ross was inaugurated as the first woman governor in the United States - in Wyoming!

January 6 is Epiphany, Cuddle Up Day (goes right along with January being Hot Tea Month), and Sherlock Holmes’ birthday. Why not enjoy a good Holmes mystery tomorrow?

January 8 is Elvis Presley’s birthday (born in 1935, thank you, thankyouverymuch!).

January 9 is National Static Electricity Day, and January 11 is Peculiar People Day - a chance to honor those quirky people in your life (you know ‘em and you love ‘em, you just don’t understand ‘em!).

Until next time - here’s hoping you have joy in your mornings!

I did some antique shopping locally yesterday. My mom and my kids and I loaded up and stopped at a local antique mall and another little store.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve been antiquing and I’d forgotten how much I love it! It was fun taking the kids along because they got to see some neat things they’d never seen before and I had the chance to show them items that I remembered from my childhood (I’m not that old - but I remember plenty of things in my grandparents’ homes).

I ended up buying myself a beautiful, white teapot. Original price: $25. Final price: $6.78. My husband was quite impressed with my bargaining abilities when I told him the final price - until I explained that the particular item was 75 percent off!

Now I can’t wait to do some more browsing!

I heard the song “My Favorite Things” the other day and started thinking about my own favorite things.

Even though some of my favorites are goofy and maybe bizarre, they are things that bring me joy and make me happy.

Here’s my list:

Butterflies

Ugly shoes

Teapots

Antique dishes

Homemade things

Hair decorations

Apple scents

Flowers

Chickens

Goats

Hot chocolate

Hot tea

Big dogs

Funky jewelry

Plaid

Ladybugs

Dragonflies

Bees

Morning Glories

Rocking chairs

So what are some of your favorites? I’ve got more that I can add to mine, but this is a good representation of my faves.

What are yours?

It’s hard to believe 2008 is almost over and 2009 is banging on the door!

This week has some interesting - and fun special days and celebrations.

On December 29, 1862 the bowling ball was invented and December 31 is of course, New Year’s Eve.

January brings several neat things to remember.

January is Eye Care Month, Hot Tea Month, National Blood Donor Month, National Braille Literacy Month, National Hobby Month, National Soup Month, National Staying Healthy Month (goes right along with my New Year’s resolutions!), National Thank You Month and Oatmeal Month (yum!).

January 1 is New Year’s Day, but it also has three interesting anniversaries/birthdays: Betsy Ross was born on January 1 in 1752. Paul Revere was also born on January 1, but in 1735. Ellis Island officially opened on January 1, 1892.

January 3 is Festival of Sleep Day (I could definitely enjoy that day!) and it is also J.R.R. Tolkein’s birthday - born in 1892. Tolkein wrote the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, in case you didn’t know who he was.

So enjoy your last few days of 2008 and your first few days of 2009!

There are tons of homeschooling products and curricula available and it’s hard to figure out what’s what. Is this one good? Is this one worth my hard-earned dollars? Is that one appropriate or my child?

The best way to figure out the answers to those questions is to find out what other homeschoolers who have used the product think.

I’m part of a viral marketing focus group through The Old Schoolhouse magazine that uses and reviews homeschooling products and curricula. I’ve already posted a few of my reviews on this blog and will continue posting more in the future.

If you want to get some info on some interesting products, read through my reviews - or better yet, read through the reviews from the 100-plus TOS Homeschool Crew reviewers.

All of our reviews can be accessed through the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog. And they are worth reading!

You might notice that some of us write long, in-depth reviews which are great, while some of us touch on highlights of the product. Either way, the more you read, the more information you’ll get about the products you’re interested in.

I’ll admit, there have been a couple of products that most of us just didn’t like, while there have been a number that most of us just loved. You’ll get it all at the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog.

So head on over and check it out!

What child doesn’t love to play? Studies have shown that kids learn through play, but unfortunately, we adults try to separate the two - learning and play.

I found an interesting website, Puppetools, that is dedicated to recapturing fun in learning.

The site provides patterns and information for making puppets and using them to make learning fun.

My kids already love puppets, but the site has some neat ideas, inspiration and motivation - especially if craftiness isn’t your thing.

The patterns are for paper puppets, but they could easily be made from felt or fabric for greater durability and length of play.

It’s an interesting site to take a look at, although I found it a bit difficult to maneuver within. They do have some neat puppet patterns and a really neat pattern for a paper hinge to create for the puppets.

In addition, the site offers a web subscription for $99 per year or $20 for a 60-day trial. I don’t think those are options I’d spend my money on, but it’s worth checking out. The main thing I liked about Puppetools was the information and reminders about the value of play and the role puppets can have in helping children learn.

I guess I need to go dig out our own puppet stage out of the shed and find where all of our fabric puppets have disappeared to. Sounds like a good time to put together some more paper puppets. . .

Is your child struggling in math? Do you homeschool?

I found a neat online computer program - Aleks to help kids improve their math skills.

The cost for a subscription is $19.95 per month per student or $99.95 per student every 6 months. There are also family discounts available.

The website also offers a free trial to “try before you buy.”

My kids weren’t as crazy about Aleks as they were about other online programs, but what I liked about it was the initial assessment they went through.

When starting, each child answers a series of math questions (based upon their approximate school grade) and the computer calculates what they need to learn more of.

I was happy to have the analysis because I know that we struggle with math. I was able to see exactly where my two oldest needed the most work. Based upon that assessment, when the kids log into the program, they choose activities to do based upon their needs.

I liked that aspect of Aleks a lot. It’s worth checking out if you’re looking for an online computer program to help your kids out with their math skills.

Trigger Memory System has a really cool way of helping kids learn their times tables. It’s called Times Tales and sells for $29.95 - but let me tell you, it’s worth it.

The concept was created by a mom and it helps kids learn certain more difficult times tables by translating them into stories.

For example, the number four is represented by a picture of a chair, number 8 is Mrs. Snowman. The story behind 8 x 4=32 is this: Mrs. Snowman (8) stood on a chair (4) to reach her 3 buttons and 2 mittens (32).

My kids loved the concept and really picked up on it. I remember having lots of trouble with times tables in third grade, as math has never been my strong point - but if I’d had this, I might have decided to like math!

Trigger Memory Systems also has a set of Clean’n Flip chore charts to help kids keep up with chores. There are three available: Bedroom Cleaning, Laundry, and Zone Cleaning (for living room and kitchen). The three charts break down the chores into easy-to-follow steps that are great for getting the kids involved in keeping a house neat. You can buy all three for $29.95 fromTrigger Memory System.

Definitely worth checking out!

Special thanks to Gregg for nominating me for a Lemonade Award!

So now I’m going to nominate some of my faves (and they’re not all Today blogs!).

Homeschool Freebies

Penny Pincher

Kitchen Adventures

Extra Money

Peace and Quiet

Sister Tipster on Homeschooling and Life

Not New to Autism

Here’s how it works: If you’re nominated, post a blog with a trackback to the person who nominated you then links to the blogs you nominated. Add the Lemonade logo and voila! There you have it!

I don’t know that you win anything special by being nominated - other than knowing someone liked your blog enough to nominate it!

Schoolside Press offers a really neat book for teaching the states of the USA.

The book was written by E. Andrew Martonyi and features rhymes and clues to help you remember the names and locations of the states.

The Little Man in the Map is called Mim and is made up of five states in the center of the U.S. - Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Minnesota is his hat, Iowa is his face,  Missouri his shirt, Arkansas his pants and Louisiana his boots.

The whole book is filled with neat personifications of the states to help kids remember them.

The book is beautifully-illustrated with wonderful, imaginative drawings that really appealed to my kids. My 7-year-old especially loved the book. She loved practicing her reading skills by reading it to me!

The website offers free coloring pages to go along with the book as well as a beautiful 38×22 color map for $21.95.

The Little Man in the Map sells for $19.95 and it’s a great way to make United States geography fun.