Luv'N Lambert Life

Mental Health, Homeschooling, Epilepsy and More

2012

Everyday Homemaking {Molly-Crew Review}

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A review for the Molly Crew
Members of The Old Schoolhouse’s Molly Crew were given a great opportunity for our first Molly review of the year.  Everyday Homemaking offered the crew two of their amazing products: Everyday Cooking and the Everyday Family Chore System.  Both products are exceptional for homemakers and those looking to educate their children in home-keeping skills.

For my review, I chose the Everyday Family Chore System because with a new baby on the way, I knew I would need all the help I can get to maintain the house at this wonderfully busy time in our lives.  This review could not have come at a more perfect time for me and my family.  It has allowed me to set up a system that works, show my children the correct way to do things around the home, and allowed them to step up and help out, which allows them the feeling of accomplishing something all while learning important life skills.

The Everyday Family Chore System eBook was easy to use, easy to understand and easy to implement into our daily lives.  This is the second book in Vicki Bentley’s Everyday Homemaking series.  The book begins by explaining who Vicki Bentley is and why she created this series for homemaking.  It continues with explanations on child training, putting a plan into action and creating the actual chore system to use in your own home.  There are How-to-Do it cards to print and use through every step with your children, as well as blank cards to print and create for your own method of doing things that need done in your home.

Though we only had a short time to review this product during a very busy and stressful time in our life, we still found it very useful and it is definitely something we will continue to build upon as we adjust to living with our new little family member in our life.  The kids enjoy the simple methods laid out through the book for organizing and cleaning.  To be honest, I did too.  The whole system was easy for us all to use.

The Everyday Family Chore System is available through www.everydayhomemaking.com for $19.99 for the print version or $17.99 for the eBook version.  There is also a companion CD available for an additional $6.  Or you can purchase both the Everyday Family Chore System plus Everyday Cooking cookbook for $34.98.

For more reviews of the Everyday Homemaking series, please visit the Molly Crew Review Blog!!!

*Disclaimer – This review was provided to me free in exchange for a blog post review from The Old Schoolhouse Molly Review Crew team and Everyday Homemaking.



Vocabulary SpellingCity.com {Crew Review}

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     Here lately I have been doing a lot of reviews for companies and websites we have been using in our homeschooling since we began.  Things we absolutely love using in our schooling.  Vocabulary SpellingCity.com is one of those websites.

     We personally have used the free version of this site for years now and it’s been a blessing for myself and my children educationally.  The website is extremely easy to use and full of lots of learning.  For this particular review, I was given access to the premium membership portion of the website for a year for up to 5 children.  As a parent this is a blessing, as a teacher this is an exceptional blessing for us.

 

     Through Vocabulary SpellingCity.com, I am able to upload our weekly or monthly (or however I wish to create them) vocabulary and spelling lists to use with my children/students.  I can also use pre-made lists created by others and by local public schools to help educate my children which are readily available on Vocabulary SpellingCity.com.  Vocabulary SpellingCity.com then takes my lists and creates spelling and vocabulary games, programs, quizzes, etc for my children to practice with for the week or period we are working on the words.

     I can create lists for any subject too!  So lists of Math words, Science vocabulary, Social Studies, etc can be used right along with the other things we are learning about with Vocabulary SpellingCity.com.  And of course, there are TONS of extras to use and work through when the weekly work is finished, just for fun!

 

     This website is a bonus for any parent or teacher to have to help educate their children.  There is a free version for you to use and try out the program, as well as additional memberships which provide even more! A premium family membership is available for $29.99 a year for up to five students.  A classroom membership for up to 25 students is available for $49.99.  School memberships are also available through the website.

     For more reviews of Vocabulary SpellingCity.com, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!!

*Disclaimer – A year subscription to Vocabulary SpellingCity.com was provided to me free in exchange for my honest opinion shared in a blog post review by Vocabulary SpellingCity.com and TOS’ Schoolhouse Review Crew team.


Getting Ready {Thoughts From Me}

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August has pretty much flown by for me.  The anticipation of giving birth to my last child has kept me busy this month.  Yesterday, we had a doctor’s visit with an ultrasound and we officially scheduled our delivery for August 31st.  Exactly two weeks from today I will be holding my sweet little angel and I can hardly wait!  I know his brothers and sisters are excited too!!

This month has been spent on being together as a family.  We have also worked on housekeeping skills in attempting to get everything just a bit more organized before Jackson gets here.  The kids have been helping a lot since Momma can’t get up and down from the floor like I could just a month ago.  The things they are learning will be helpful skills for them for life: dishes, laundry, cooking and cleaning.  We’ve been spending our time talking, reading and watching good movies together too, creating memories while we wait.

The kids were excited to see pictures of Jackson yesterday, to know he’s really going to be here soon and actually see his hands, his feet and his little face.  They are as anxious to see and love him as I am.  Laycie is very excited to have a baby brother though I don’t think she quite understand that he’s not coming out as a miniature version of her but instead as a teeny, tiny baby boy.  She will adjust though and I’m so thrilled by her experience in becoming a big sister.

I suppose you can guess that starting school work will be postponed until after baby brother arrives since there is no way I can keep up with both for right now.  As soon as the little one arrives and we all settle in we will begin working on learning again.  And yes, he will be there with us as we work, learning right along with the other three.  Learning is most fun when all are included even when learning on different levels.

So that’s a brief update for now.  I’m not sure when I will get back to post again, except for my required reviews for the Schoolhouse Review Crew but I’m hoping at least once next week as I finish up preparations for Jackson’s arrival.  I hope this post finds you all having a blessed back-to-school time and wish many happy days for you this year!  God bless you all.

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A Thomas Jefferson Education {Crew Review}

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Lately, I have been blessed to share about some of my favorite products through the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  A Thomas Jefferson Education is yet another one of the great websites we already use in our education at home.  For this review, I was given access to A Thomas Jefferson Education’s This Week In History part of their very informative website.
A Thomas Jefferson Education believes in bringing education back to the purpose of educating the child instead of simply pleasing society.  They believe the LOVE of Learning is so much more important than following along.  They believe in placing education into the hands of the child, to be developed and encouraged along by the parent simply by allowing the child to learn naturally in the first place.
A Thomas Jefferson Education supports the 7 Keys of Great Teaching encouraging the use of classics over textbooks, mentors over professors, inspiration over requirements, structuring time instead of content, providing quality over conformity, providing simplicity over complex learning, and educating the child instead of pleasing others through society.  Each of these 7 Keys of Great Teaching work together to provide strong values and thorough knowledge in education.  Each key is important to create an educational process that cannot be beat.
This Week In History is A Thomas Jefferson Education’s subscription program.  This program provides subscribers with an email in their inbox that is packed full of educational information for the week.  Each week is something new and completely different from the last allowing the student to absorb a new fact or learn about a new historical event or person throughout the week.  On the website the student and teacher will find extensive lessons and information provided in the weekly email to help increase learning on the various topics for the week.
A Thomas Jefferson Education creates an interest in learning, inspiring both student and teacher to learn more.  Each lesson teaches about the topic then provides lesson ideas to continue learning about the topic.  Additional links on the topic are also provided to expand past the initial interest and initial stage of learning.  Lessons can be taught together or individually in a students self-learning time but they are always interesting and thorough.
My children and I have used A Thomas Jefferson Education for a while now as a website and we have greatly enjoyed the lessons provided by this site.  The provided lessons capture their interest and keep them wanting to know more.  Many lessons have lead to them expanding educationally on the topic on their own and created different interests for them.  Websites like this one are a blessing to any homeschooler looking for a little something extra to use at home.
A subscription to A Thomas Jefferson Education’s This Week In History is available on www.tjed.org and is $9.99 a month.  For more reviews of this website and product, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog!
*Disclaimer – This Week In History was provided to me for free by A Thomas Jefferson Education and the Schoolhouse Review Crew. Only my honest opinion shared in a blog post was required for this review.


Math Made Easy {Crew Review}

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Math Made Easy is a wonderful program created to be simple in teaching children to do basic math without using their fingers for counting, adding, subtracting, multiplication and division.  A new way to teach an old subject, Math Made Easy provides simple techniques to build strong math processing skills for any age.  Once put into place, Math Made Easy makes learning math fun.
For this review, we were given a copy of the Math Made Easy Addition Teaching and Learning Made Easy book.  The program proclaims that math skills can be built and developed in six short weeks.  The program diminishes redundancy in learning math facts by teaching the student to eliminate addition facts dealing with simple math like +0 and +1 as well as teaching a student to quickly recognize redundant facts like 2+3 and 3+2 so they can quickly process a math problem.
This program includes a thorough teaching process including well-written yet simple lesson plans for each step.  An addition pre-test is included right away so that a student’s ability can be measured and progress in learning addition can be seen throughout the six week program.  The entire book is black and white but is accessorized with cute images throughout to help capture the interest of a young child.  Activities, games and simple flashcards are also included for the same purpose.  The goal of Math Made Easy is to keep the program simple, while educating the child on the simple concepts of every day math, leading to an enjoyable math experience for all.
This program was perfect for my children, who like things that keep learning simple.  They enjoyed the activities throughout and quickly completed their work without boredom.  Math Made Easy was easy to incorporate into our eclectic homeschooling style too.  It isn’t a hard to use program, nor is it invasive or overly structured.  It reminded me a lot of the older programs that used to be used in Public Schools when I was growing up and learning there was sort of fun.
Math Made Easy can be purchased via their website at www.mathmadeeasy.org.  They have both an addition and a multiplication package available for homeschooling.  The addition package that I have reviewed here is available for $24.95, not including shipping.
For more reviews of Math Made Easy, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!
*Disclaimer – This product was provided to me free by Math Made Easy and the Schoolhouse Review Crew!  Only my honest opinion of this product was required in a blog post for this review.


Joy to Come {Thoughts From Me}

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Lately I’m feeling stuck in a serious rut.  I know the weeks are flying by for Jackson’s arrival.  I have so much to do but yet I feel like I’m getting no where.  I search for the “what’s next” stages but find nothing.

We have three weeks until baby Jackson is born.  I haven’t gotten anything of his ready except to say that he has plenty of clothes.  I have some washes to use on him.  I have no diapers for his tiny little bottom yet though.  No wipes to clean him with.  And so much I still have to do.

I’m nervous and scared but trying to remain calm.  In three weeks I have surgery to give birth to my last darling baby, my sweet baby boy.  It cannot come fast enough and yet it’s coming way to fast for me.

I’m ready for it all to be overwith and at the same time I’m so not ready.  Jackson will be my last baby.  My last baby to carry beneath my heart.  The last baby I feel roll and tumble and kick inside my belly.  The last one to hear my heartbeat from the inside.

I know it’s time to give up birthing babies.  I have discussed this with God.  I have felt him agree with me.  Yet, it makes me sad to know it’s all over.  It makes me sad to know it can’t go on and on.  It makes me sad to know there will never be another baby I carry and feel, to hold and love after Jackson.

Yet I do know it’s time.  My health cannot withstand pregnancy again.  I’m getting to old to feel sick like I have this time around.  I want to spend time with my children, to love and watch them grow without feeling like I am neglecting them for the morning sickness and tiredness of pregnancy.  I want to enjoy the days I’m blessed with and have them enjoy our time together too.  It’s so short now and going so fast.  I don’t want any of us to lose a single minute that should be enjoyed with one another.

But I will enjoy my last three weeks carrying my son.  I will memorize every moment I can and remember the three beautiful babies I have carried before him.  Remember how much they each have meant to me and how much I enjoyed giving life to their beautiful souls.

I’m so thankful to have been blessed by God so many times.  So thankful to have two girls and now two boys to raise and love.  I hope Jackson is very much like his siblings, all of them.  That he shares their sweetness, kindness and love.  I know they cannot wait to share it all with him, to love on him and care for him just as they have each other over the years.

We are patiently enjoying your last days inside Jackson and anticipating your impending arrival everyday.  Such a blessing you are to us, our littlest angel.  We all love you always. <3 p="p">

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