Reading lesson 101.

Ruby was doing her reading lessons yesterday, and that hard “C” sound was getting the better of her. As a poor child who struggles with the C’s and G’s anyway, learning to sound out those words has been interesting. The word: CAT.

“Tat.”

“No.”

“Tap.”

“No.”

“Trap.”

“Ruby! There’s no ‘R’. There’s no ‘P’. SOUND IT OUT!”

I’m sure it sounded nicer than that. Actually, it probably didn’t. It was frustrating. Meanwhile, Sterling was giggling and whispering “Cat. Cat. Cat.” over and over like he was being helpful or something.

Ruby paused. “CRAP!”

I stared at her. She looked back at me like she knew she was in trouble. I started snickering.

It all went downhill from there.

The first – and only, thankfully – time I have heard two of my children swear was while sounding out a word that didn’t come out quite right. Ruby’s headed there next, my friends. And when the time comes… I’ll do my best not to snicker. No reaction is the best reaction… but just try that. It’s hard.

READS from EGM Educational Systems, LLC: TOS Review

As part of the Review Crew for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I got to review the READS Parent/Child Reading Comprehension System from EGM Educational Systems, LLC. Sterling (age 5, doing Kindergarten and 1st grade work) has primarily been using it, but it was written for grades 1-4 and I’ve had fun using it with all three of my older kids in 3rd and 4th grades too. READS stands for Really Easy and Dynamic Strategy and their READS Homework Helper includes:

• a parent’s manual
• question cards on a metal ring
• a reward chart
• stickers
• the “magic finger”
• a reading guide strip
• the Speedy Speller – a handbook for readers and writers
• a plastic storage pouch

The parent’s manual explains the whole program. It was a quick and easy guide to using the READS program most effectively. The question cards contain 30 questions to ask about what your young reader has read. If you've ever gotten the shoulder shrug or the blank stare that would indicate that your dear son or daughter read but did not comprehend… these questions help a whole lot. I used these with all three of my readers and found out just how much they were learning from the words on the page they’d just “read”.

Once they are off and on their own reading, I’m rather at a loss for where their comprehension is unless I get the play by play. These cards do a great job of encouraging them to tell me the story. Getting a glimpse into how they pronounce the words they've read is helpful as well. It could help them avoid a catastrophe with a word like “ facade” in their early 20’s. Not that I speak from experience or anything. Ahem.

The reward chart and the stickers are just that. For your child who loves rewards, he’ll love these. The parent book contains suggestions for rewards when their chart is complete. The chart is left pretty open – you decide what the goal is for the week. Homework, reading… it’s easily adaptable.

The Magic Finger – easily Sterling’s favorite part. He calls it the monster’s claw. What boy wouldn't like an ugly green finger to put atop their own to point to the words they are reading? It has elementary love written all over it.



The reading guide strip is pretty cool. I’d heard of such things but never seen one. It’s a clear plastic strip that has color strips at the top and bottom so that a single line of text is visible when placed on the book. Sterling loved it – and insisted he use it every time – until he met his monsters claw. It’s been cast aside – but only for uglier fun.

The Speedy Speller has become Sterling’s favorite book. It has more than 1400 words and space to write more. He can “look it up” in his mini “dictionary” without all the stuff he can’t understand – like pronunciation and parts of speech and meanings. The back has all the states, capitals, and abbreviations, and best of all, the months, week days, and measurements and their abbreviations too. Every day in math Sterling has to write the day and date and every day he has to ask how to spell both. Now, he can look it up. Amazingly enough, what’s more work for him has given him independence and unspeakable pride at being able to do it all by himself.



Click HERE to read more reviews from the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew.

READS is available HERE for $19.95.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of these materials through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this review are mine and my family’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.

Time to make soap.

Yesterday was soap making day. I made a double batch of cold-process soap, and separated it out into three batches: lilac, peppermint, and a men’s soap called Sandalwood Bay.

My house smelled interesting. I’m not sure I’d recommend all three scents together.

Lye water. Fun stuff.

Blaine’s idea. When my stick blender had to go back to the company for repairs, he suggested I use this. I thought he might be onto something. After not reaching trace (a thick pudding-like consistency) for an hour and a half, (something that usually takes less than 15 minutes) I gave up, poured into molds, and thought I’d botched my first batch - and it had to be the one I’d documented with the camera. I’m not sure if it was using the stirrer or personal error, but I’m not so sure this was the best method.

Soap making seems like such a feminine, pioneer, industrious business. You know, this:

Photo Credit

But when you use your husband’s drill with a paint stirrer instead, it feels more like this:

Photo Credit

Instead of feminine and lovely, I felt like I was ought to conquer the soap. But the soap won, at least momentarily.

I was afraid to look this morning, fearful it hadn’t set up since it hadn’t reached trace.

But it did. Whew.

Cut it into bars, set it aside to dry for a month, and we’re in business.

It’s soap.

The Way They SEE It: TOS Review

I’ve been using The Way They SEE It: A Book for EVERY PARENT About the Art Children Make by Brenda Ellis with Ruby for several weeks now. As part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Review Crew, I was asked to review it and let you all know how it works, and what I – and Ruby – think of it.

 

The Way They SEE It is from Artistic Pursuits. It is their preschool level book. They offer books for every student, preschool through high school. From their website, the preschool level is for ages 3, 4, and 5 and offers:

• 26 Grown-Up Talks offer practical advice for parents
• 26 Picture Talks introduce works by the Masters, followed by art projects that help children gain skills in art
• 36 art projects that can be revisited repeatedly during the preschool years

First of all, Ruby LOVES art. Drawing, painting, coloring… she gets entirely enthusiastic about it. When we ran short on time one day, she begged to do two “lessons” the next day. She’s been entirely thrilled to have art as her lessons each day and won’t possibly let me “forget” to do it. We’re speeding through the book and going to have to start back at the beginning when she finishes. She’s loved every minute of it – especially those days when paint is involved.

 

Each lesson we’ve done begins with “Picture Talk” – a painting/drawing made by a “real” artist and discussion questions regarding the picture. The first one was flowers in a vase with bugs and shells in the picture. It was like pulling teeth. “Where’s the bug?” “Umm…” She just wanted to get to the paint. “Where’s the black shell with white spots?” “Ummm… I don’t know.”

Contrast that with a more recent lesson, weeks later. She picked it apart like a pro. She pointed out things I didn’t ask about. Progress. Dramatic progress. As a momma who is artistically challenged, this was a book I could do – easily. I was happy to find I can encourage her artistic bent without being skilled with pen/paper/paint or any other medium with which I find myself lacking the skill to produce anything of beauty.

The Way They SEE It was created to explain to the parent how their child views art – and to encourage creativity from the child.

Of course, Ruby wasn’t the only one who got in on the fun. (Pardon my giving Charlotte the muddled watercolors. I assure you, she only damaged them further.)

The Way They SEE It is offered in the Artistic Pursuits store for $47.95. An art supply pack is available for $69.00 should you desire the have all the supplies needed gathered for you. If you want to gather your own, a detailed list of materials needed and recommended brands (I was glad to see my Crayola-only crayon and paint fetish was approved by someone qualified!) is in the front of the book and required items we already had on hand for the most part. The book is comb-bound with a plastic protector over the softcover book. (Smart thinking!)

(Ruby studied pictures of nature, rubbed the bark on our maple tree, rubbed a leaf from the tree, and painted her own picture of it.)

This book has been so much fun to teach. Ruby’s enthusiasm for art has been contagious these last weeks… and we’re going to have to replace those watercolors soon. She’s painted and colored and painted and used markers and painted and painted… It’s a good thing. A very good thing.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of these materials through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this review are mine and my family’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.

Soft Scrub: Review and Giveaway

Soft Scrub sent me a bottle of their Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath and Kitchen Cleanser to try and review and three coupons for a giveaway.

As soon as it came, I poured it on my kitchen counter. I’ve tried without success to get one particular stain off of there, and I thought if it could do that, it can do anything.

It helped, but it didn’t solve everything up there. But I took it to the sink, and she shines. The top of the stove cleaned up great with it. It handled the bathroom limescale without issue.

So… it can’t take the stain off my counter. It would seem nothing can. But if the sink next to the stained counter is shining… can we just notice that instead? It did a great job on the stainless steel sink, and the faucet in the bathroom greatly appreciates it’s efforts. It’s a keeper.

Want to try it too? Comment here, comment on my facebook page, like this post, and share on your own page. Each comment and like gets you one entry, and sharing gets you three. Let me know in your comment if you shared this blog post.

Drawing is Saturday at noon CST 3/9/13.

Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends: Review and Giveaway

I recently received for review a box of Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends. With 10 grams of whole grain, 120 calories and 6 grams of sugar, they rank higher than Honey Nut Cheerios (an all-time favorite in my house).

But… how do they taste?

The box was gone in two days. I’m thinking the troops like them. Judging from the “Can we buy more of these?” and the “Do you HAVE to give the coupons away or can we just keep them?” I think they get the seal of approval.

If you’d like to try them for yourself, comment here, comment on my facebook page, and like this post. Share it on your page and let me know you did so for an extra three entries, giving a grand total of 6 entries per person. Drawing is Friday at noon CST.

What’s for dinner? Floppity Flop Flop Flop.

I made this for supper tonight: Pressure Cooker Recipe – Beer Can Chicken. Their photo looked fabulous.



(Photo Credit)

When I eagerly peeled open my pressure cooker, I anticipated beauty. What stared at me instead:



Oh, the horrors. What on earth did I do wrong?!

It looks like road kill. It even has the cast off cheap beer can.



Then, I added the butter and herbs to my red potatoes that I’d so carefully peeled around the center of each, also expecting beauty. I “shook gently to toss”. And they fell apart.



But darn it, I didn’t ruin the peas. I can boil a bag of peas to perfection, my friends. Be proud to be numbered among my followers. For sure.

Ugh.