Enjoying the Chaos

This time last year I was fortunate enough to be sent some cool clothes from Great Products . This year they approached me again and wondered if I would like to offer another giveaway to my readers. The kids are anxiously awaiting the T shirts we chose. The two older ones are still wearing last years choices (albeit Boo's is a little snug this year.) They have washed great. Jam actually had the black hoodie and it hasn't faded at all, in fact he can't wait for the cooler weather to come so he can start wearing it again! Captain America is SO excited to have his own home school t shirt on the way. Last year the kids picked different ones. This year we decided to have the same one! Isn't that cool. You now know why the kids are stalking the mailbox. They seriously can not wait. I will post some pictures when they arrive.   Even if you don't win the giveaway, you can purchase your own cool T shirts for the new home school year. Right now all of the

 1. Today I decided to take the kids to the zoo. I didn't decide last night however, it was at 8:30 this morning. So at 9am we were heading down the road. Reminder to self...Next time check the weather forecast. Did you know not many people go to the zoo WHEN ITS CHUCKING IT DOWN!! Bonus though...we got a really close parking space. 2. The polar bears at our zoo like the rain, and have you ever had fun in a mirror.  3. We had out regular homemade pizza night tonight. Our current favorite - My homemade crust, barbecue sauce, bacon, onion, peppers, chicken, Italian cheese - plus jalapenos (but not on every pizza). 4. The kids and I are working on a review. They are LOVING it! In fact they have been working on about a week worth work every day. Watch this space for the review. I bet you would be surprised to hear it's GRAMMAR 5. I can't believe it's labor day weekend. Another year has gone by without Heather. It's strange that something can feel like it

Curriculum is a HUGE decision. We follow a loose Charlotte Mason program. When I say loose, I mean we love living curriculum, but sometimes we love textbooks. So really we balance our loves into a blend that is just ours. There are no affiliate links in this post - they are there purely for your information. The kids are going to be continuing swim team this year. We are hoping that Captain America can swim well enough to sign up too. He has really improved his swimming this summer, and he really wants to join. We won't sign him up for USA Swimming this winter but should be ready for our summer league next year. I love that this gives the kids SO much exercise and they really love it. We start again next week and the kids are really excited! Latin is still being done with Nana via Skype. It is so great that she is willing to put so much effort into the kids studies. This will be the third year. They have compleated Cambridge Latin 1 and are half way through Cambridge Latin 2.

Since I work from home there are times when I need Captain America (remember this is now what we call Little J who's 5) to do something constructive if I am busy. He has his own laptop on his new school desk that we set up this year and so doesn't have to boot someone else off theirs to play.  Essential Skills Advantage is an online reading and language program for grades K-6. I was given a premium membership in exchange for this review. A premium membership costs $9.99 a month however if you use the code 'TOS50' by Oct 1 2014 you could get this program for $4.99 a month (for as long as you keep the subscription active). There is also a free version of the program available however this does contain ads and doesn't have all the features of the premium membership. Essential Skills Advantage has been around along time. Up until recently it worked mainly with traditional schools (over 20,000). Since the program was so successful in helping children in the class

I don't know about you but in our house math facts are a problem. We memorize and memorize but 'instant' recall comes and goes. Well for me anyway! Anytime I can review something that can help in that area it is exciting to me (not necessarily to the kids). So when I was offered a chance to try Ubersmart Math Facts  from Ubersmart Software I jumped at the chance (and my kids groaned). Before I get started talking about how the program works I have to point out that this program is downloadable to your computer and only works on Windows 7, 8, XP and Vista. This computer based software teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and is aimed at grades K-6. However if you are like me you might find it useful for yourself. The program was designed by a home school dad, like many dad's he was trying to solve a problem given to him by his wife ~ "make a set of math flashcards". He actually did something my husband would have done...tried t

1. We have had the hottest weather o far this week. Typical since we started back to full school. 2. We snuck in two swim parties.  One with friends and one with Grandma and Grandpa. 3. My hanging baskets are dying and I don't really know why. I have watered and fed them. Very sad... 4. We have two buzzagent things in the works. My Monopoly from Hasbro and a new Robo Dog. The kids are SO excited to get the robotic dog to play with! 5. Going to watch Dirt Track racing tomorrow night. I heard we need to take earplugs. The kids are excited.... Check out more Random Five over at ThePebblePond ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author Chickensbunniesandhomeschool.blogspot.com

   Picture from Wikipedia Today I read about the most amazing place on earth, The Magic Grotto also know as The Blue Grotto. (Halliburtons Book of Marvels) Along time ago on an island called Capri, there was an earthquake and part of the caves entrance sunk into the sea. It is now known as the Magic Grotto. The only way to get into this cave is to enter by a narrow entrance by rowboat. Once you get inside the cave it's so beautiful you could imagine you are in heaven. The oars turn silver as they touch the water, if you skim the water with your hands they turn the color of diamonds. The walls and ceiling are the most beautiful shade of blue.  I would love to visit this Magic Grotto. I read that if you dive into the depths that you would leave a trail of sparkle behind you, Wouldn't that be amazing. ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form witho

We have just completed our first experiment. Boo placed 2 peeled apples in bowls and covered one with Baking Soda and salt. We left it for one week and today was our check it out day. The apple left on our side just looks dryed out - no mold anywhere. I have seen others that were covered in mold. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Our apple covered in baking soda and salt is mummified, but in fact looks worse that the other. I hope we eventually get better at this science thing.

If You Were Me And Lived in... Australia Portugal Russia We were recently sent a box of books from Carole P Roman . If you haven't checked her books out you really need too. Little J loves these! About Carole; Award winning author Carole P. Roman is a former teacher turned businesswoman. She has successfully run a family business with her husband. Her most favorite job is being grandmother to her many grandchildren. She currently lives on Long Island with her husband. We have reviewed them before here and loved them. This time we were sent books about Russia, Australia, and Portugal. Little J is starting to read but these are a little above his level so I had to read them too him, because I enjoy them too. The books are written as an introduction to culture from different countries across the world. The first page of the book shows a map of the country and indicates where the capital is. Then it shows roughly where the country is on the globe. The book tel

Little J is only just starting to read, and so books that he can read to himself are pretty limited. He loves action/adventure type books and so when I was offered the chance to receive the book Captured on the High Seas he was really excited as he is an old-fashioned 5 year old at heart and still enjoys a paper book!   Captured on the High Seas is about 2 time traveling children Patrick and Beth who land in the middle of sea battle between the British and Americans in the Revolutionary War. The book covers a lot of interesting topics. The slave trade, prisoners of war, overcrowded prison ships. The book would be an excellent addition to any study of the Revolutionary War. The book is aimed to children between the ages of 6 to 9 years old. However if you love reading to your kids then I would recommend this to younger kids if they like to listen to more complex stories. Little J is 5 and LOVED this book. He would have listened to the whole book in one sitting if I had read th

1. Our first week of school went well. 2. Little J has his own computer desk now, and we added a few things to the schoolroom. 3. Our rock climbing day turned into a fun weekend as we stayed overnight spontaneously. We luckily found a hotel with a laundry and pool, near a Walmart so all was good! The kids loved staying over 'unplanned', and loved it even more when I told them the hotel had a hot breakfast included.  We went exploring and had a blast. 4. I am going to be starting a giveaway soon for a home-school T Shirt from Shop Great Products We have picked our T- Shirts for our review and can't wait for them to arrive! 5. I am in the middle of making the most delicious homemade caramel popcorn - Recipe: Check out some more random five fun over at The Pebble Pond. ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the

1. I gave the kids an extra week off. Although we have still been working on reviews, math, and reading. Our full schedule starts again Monday. 2. Have I ever mentioned my kids like rocks. We are going to look for rocks tomorrow. Stay posted for pictures later in the week. 3. We are coming the end of our lastest television treat. We have been watching Merlin . It's getting a bit tense now we are getting to the end. The funny thing is Jam and Boo keep on comparing it to the books they have read of the stories of King Arthur, which of course they LOVE. 4. We have just finished up the last of the English chocolate that my neice brought over when she visited. Little J's favorite is Milky Bar 5. I am SO excited for the new school year. We have got some fun reviews we are working on. Especially IEW Fix it Grammar .  Check out more Random Five over at the Pebble Pond . ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artw

We had the Sister Missonaries over for dinner last night and they shared a poem with us that my husband actually remembers having to memorize as a child. Then we went rollar skating with some of the youth from church. Little J is such a thinker and driving home last night he said "Mom, I fell over quite a few times skating tonight but I kept thinking about the poem and just kept getting up!" The Race    attributed to Dr. D.H. "Dee" Groberg Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,     my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race. A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,     excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell. They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race     or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place. Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,     and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one. The

  Jam loves anything to do with the Greek Mythology, it has been one of his favorite subjects since we started to home school. To be honest it wasn't our home school journey that sparked his interest but a well known children's book series. However the fact that we home school allows us the time to explore this topic a lot more. We lean towards a mix of Classical Education and Charlotte Mason methods. So when we were given the opportunity to review a product from Roman Roads Media I was seriously excited (and so was Jam). We were given access to the online streaming version of the full year course Old Western Culture - The Greeks .  What is it? Roman Roads Media is a leader in home school Classical Education products. The course I received is the first in a four year program DVD/Online history course called Old Western Culture: A Christian Approach to the Great Books ;   Year 1 The Greeks Year 2 The Romans Year 3, Christendom (planned for 2015) Year 4, The M

{This is a sponsored post and may contain affiliate links.} This is the first time I have heard of Glideware. It is something that I definitely want to look into for my kitchen (and other places in the house). In fact my husband and I had a conversation today about going through all our cupboards and doing a major organization.  This guest post was written by Heather  @Thrift Schooling about her experiences with Glideware.  Last year, I introduced you to a brand new product in the making, Glideware . At that point, the company was only in it's beginning stages. Now, only a year later, Glideware has grown leaps and bounds. After an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, Glideware was able to raise the funds needed to get their product into production and into the hands of the consumer. Recently, Glideware has been showcased in Kitchen and Bath Design News Magazine, listed as one of their creative storage solutions. Glideware was also featured in Builder Mag

We were introduce to 3P Learning and their Mathletics program when my children were in public school. They used to compete online as a class once a year. So I was very interested to find out more about the full program. 3P Learning is not just about math. It also offers online learning in reading, spelling, and science. The programs are available world wide and is fully aligned with over a dozen international curricula including the Common Core Standards. As you can tell by my first comment it can be used by schools as well at home. In fact they have 4 million students in over 17,000 school across the world. Mathletics   is not a full math curriculum. It is designed to be a supplemental math program, because of this it is perfect for schools, home schools, or just family's just wanting to help their kids get some extra math skills. What we got to try: We were given a full year subscription to Mathletics for two students. The program is suitable for K-12. Little