Enjoying the Chaos

We love classical music. All three of my children play the piano and it's wonderful now my older two can actually play 'music' rather than the early 'plunking' on the keys. So when we were offered the chance to review  The Nutcracker  from  Maestro Classics  we were all really excited. I think almost everyone has heard of the Nutcracker Ballet. It is a Christmas Classic! As a child I have watched this ballet numerous times, and my children have watch various TV/Video versions, but there is nothing like listening to an audio story and music in the car while you drive. This CD arrived on a Friday morning just before a swim meet. We had a 90 minute drive Saturday morning, so I was really excited with the timing. So at 4:45 AM I put the CD in and turned it up loud relying on the beautiful music to keep me awake on the drive. Within a few minutes Jam was asleep on the backseat but Boo was sitting next to me and did a really good job at staying awake. However, it

Last year I found this post on  how to make a skeleton out of milk jugs  and since Captain's birthday is in October we decided to make one. It turned out really well, but I had only saved enough milk jugs to make one. We all decided that our front porch looked a little lopsided with just one skeleton, so of course we all decided that we would need to make another one this year. So for the last month or so we have been collecting milk jugs. Yesterday we made our matching milk jug skeleton and hung them both up outside. Perfect matching skeletons just in time for Halloween fun! They blow perfectly in the wind - and a it's recycling which is a huge plus! Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosin

We love  Institute For Excellence in Writing  and we have been very fortunate to review two things from them this year. We reviewed their complete reading and writing package  here.  This time we were luckily to be able to review the  Phonetic Zoo Spelling Level C [Starter Set] . We completed a placement test to decide which one to order. Level C is the highest level. There is also a  Level A  and a  Level B .  The spelling program it's self is designed for ages 9 and up. The placement test is split into different grades and so you need to start with the appropriate version of the test. Spelling Placement Test I - Grades 3-5 Spelling Placement Test 2 - Grades 6 and up Spelling Placement Test 3 - High School and up Each test has instructions and they are very easy to follow. I would definitely recommend using these tests. They can be used directly from the website or printed off as a PDF. Jam actually only got one word wrong on the level C placement test

The last scripture took Jam a little over a week to memorize. We didn't change it over until this morning. He passed it off in Seminary on Friday. Then with all the birthday chaos this weekend I didn't get the new one written on the glass door in the kitchen. His goal is to pass this one off on Friday so of course Boo's goal is to pass it off on Thursday! Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”  ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitte

1. It's been another great week here. The weather has been amazing and I even turned the air on for twenty four hours. It got up to 85 degrees in the house with the windows open and I couldn't deal with it any longer. 2. Captain had his birthday party today. It was really fun. We went to the pool and I made 'swimming pool cake' However I forgot how hot the indoor pool is and although my cake looked good when I made it the heat in there took it's toll before I took a picture with all the backstroke flags etc... 3. I was accepted for a  Smiley360 Airhead Crafting Mission . I used airheads to help me make the lane lines for his swimming pool cake. Since he changed his mind for the cake the morning of his party I don't think it looked too bad. I wish I took a picture with the back stroke flags. 4. While hubby was away this week I found a new Netflix show.  HGTV Extreme Homes . It's interesting to learn how some people live. 5. Dad and Jam are going on

This was my second chance this year to review some amazing products from  Koru Naturals . I love the products I reviewed last time and even bought some more  Emu Oil  since we reviewed it last time. So I was delighted when I received the Manuka Honey Propolis Soap ,  Manuka Honey and Manuka Oil Facial Cleanser ,  Manuka Honey, Tamarind and Manuka Oil Facial Toner , and  Skin Clear Cream . When I first chose these products of the list available for review I was intending on using them myself. However, by the time they arrived I had been doing some more research on the products and decided to let Boo use them instead. She has a little trouble with her skin like a lot of up coming teenage girls and since I don't really have any skin problems and I really wanted to get a feeling for how well the products worked. I wanted to see how the products felt for myself so before giving them to Boo to try I used them for about 3 days. I really loved how they felt on my skin, and they sm

Captain loves Spanish. He has been trying really hard with this fun program literally called  The Fun Spanish  published by  Brookdale House . Brookdale House  specializes in homeschool curriculum and has a huge selection. Believe me it took me forever to decide what I wanted to apply for as all of the products offered to the crew looked awesome. I know I normally wait to the end to say this but you really do need to click on the link (after reading this though) so you can check out some of the other cool things that you can find at  Brookdale House . The Fun Spanish  is recommend for grades 2 - 5 however, it's a fun way to introduce some sentence skills to older students too. I used this during the review period with Captain and I will continue to do so he has really enjoyed it. However, Boo has decided to add it to her current Spanish studies as she noticed that there were some things that she was learning while looking over Captains work. So literally as I am typing

1. These week has been another warm one. I haven't turned the air on again though! The windows have been open 24 hours a day. I haven't suffered with allergies once! 2. Last Sunday we had a great walk around the lake. We found a ton of fossils. We wanted to find arrowheads though, but didn't. We did however find a very friendly tortoise. 3. We have our first USA swim meet of the season tomorrow. We can't wait to get back in the pool. It's a month later than last year. Better late than never. 4. Captain is now well on his way into his 2nd grade math curriculum. He listened to Jam and Boo discussing math today and said that he was glad his is easy. He also lost his second tooth this week! 5. Have you all made the switch to Windows 10? Mine is the last computer in our house that hasn't made the switch...I guess I don't like change. Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you cli

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”  ©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

Captain is still very new to reading and so literature guides are still very new to him. We were accepted on a review from  Progeny Press  with his very first literature study guide for the book  Sam The Minuteman  I wasn't sure if the book would be too hard for him to read by himself but it turned out to be a perfect fit. It's a fictional story with a fictional main character however set in a historical period all American have heard off. The first 'shot' of the war of Independence. The book we bought (not part of the review) was the level 3 'An I can Read Book' for grades 2-4. To complete the study guide I bought the book, we also needed a dictionary, and our bible. We used the King James Version. I don't want to tell you too much about the story as it's a really good. Progeny Press has a ton of study guides geared to all ages lower and higher elementary, middle school, and high school. Really if you are reading a book and you want to dig

Jam has to memorize twenty-five scriptures this year as part of his  LDS Early Morning Seminary Class . This is his first year and he is studying the Old Testament. He has a wonderful teacher who gets up early every school day and teaches a group of 9th - 12th graders at 6 am. He has already passed off a few of them. This week we are all studying it. I write the scripture we are working on on my glass door in the kitchen so we can see it all day. Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All tex

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 50% on a year’s subscription through Educents... and FREE shipping in the Continental United States! Ships to Canada for $2/month. This deal is amazing... just $10 per month, DELIVERED!   If you have children (ages 5-12) who enjoy the Magic School Bus books or videos–and if you like doing science experiments with them–then you'll LOVE The Magic School Bus Science Club! Developed by a team of Harvard graduates, scientists, and educators, the award-winning Magic School Bus Science Kits are delivered monthly right to your doorstep. Children will explore science through experiments that will spark an interest and curiosity in science. Each kit includes a colorful manual based on The Magic School Bus characters, as well as everything you need to complete at least seven experiments related to that month’s theme. What is included? 1 year subscription includes 12 Magic School Bus kits + FREE SHIPPING in the Continental USA (Ships to Canada for $2/month).

This week has been a blast! We have completed a few reviews and learned a lot of new things. 1. Captain amazes me constantly. He loves to watch documentaries especially ones about animals. When we are alone he always comes up with a new fact or something to tell me about, it's so fun! 2. We are coming to the end of another School House Review Crew Year. I have been on the crew now for three consecutive years and I love it. So if it's something that you think would be interested in, make sure that you click  here! 3. My older kids have been going to the same piano teacher since they were in fact we travel every other week an hour each way because we love going to her so much. However, this week Boo added a new piano teacher so she now gets four lessons a month. Two from our original teacher who lives an hour away and one that lives literally around the corner. 4. I just sat through the Disney movie  Descendants . I think Disney keep trying to make a new 'High School

Teaching your child to read is something that every parent wants to do. This review is not just focused to home-school parents but anyone with a young child who is learning to read and spell. Captain was given a year subscription to  Reading Kingdom Online . Reading Kingdom teaches; Phonics, Sequencing, Writing, Meaning, Grammar, and Comprehension. Captain has been working on this nearly everyday, sometimes working on more than one lesson. In fact the program tells you the average Captain has been working on a average of 4 days a week. I don't think this takes into account if he does multiple lessons on one day. The program is designed for children aged 4-10 and teaches them how to read and write to a third grade level. Captain reads really well, in fact quite a bit about grade level and so I was a little surprised when he was placed lower in the program than I thought he would. The placement test is supposed to be done without help - to get an accurate placement

I was given an opportunity to have a preview of the new documentary  Finding Noah . This movie is about a modern day hunt for evidence of the existence of Noah's Ark. I found the information disclosed in the movie very interesting. I didn't realize that there was so many reports of people viewing the actual ark going back for hundreds of years. Mount Ararat is located in Eastern Turkey and is also known as "The Painful Mountain". It's been a very unstable area which makes it very difficult to confirm a lot of the 'eye witness' reports. The director/producer Brent Baum and the film crew follows a group of explorers on their trip up the mountain. There is a very real chance of accidents and even death. The lack of oxygen alone makes the journey arduous and difficult. Right at the beginning of the trip when the group are moving from the first base camp someone falls and has such a bad injury that a military helicopter has to come and make a rescue t