Organic Coffee

Why bother? I bought it because the 5pound bag of Organic Rainforest saving coffee was around $10 less at Costco than the Same-sized bag od Starbucks coffee. PLus, the Starbucks Coffee said “French Roast” and I know that dark roasted beans have more caffeine and flavor, I usually get the Italian Roasted Starbucks but I could SEE THROUGH the bag of the Rainforest coffee and those beans were blackish, dark so I opted for the known entity. Dark beans are the best. Starbucks is a yummy thing, but I just don’t know about French Roasting techniques. The french make great fries and great vanilla ice cream, but those are mild and coffee (in my house) can’t be mild.
I wonder, though. how many harmful chemicals the non-organic coffee is exposed to. Or is it B.S. like “organic basil” Bugs don’t generally eat basil. There wouldn’t be a reason to spray basil. I’d google it if I cared. It’s yummy coffee in case you’re wondering.

Bringing back the Latin

We’re Currently using Latin for Children and loving it. We got the kit plus the reader. We haven’t used the reader yet, it isn’t called for until like lesson 16 or something. Latin for Children is so much fun. The “chanting” is like a song, a very upbeat song that the kids have memorized so very quickly. I knew we had found something special when my youngest (at that time) daughter was singing the songs before her 2nd birthday. How many 2 yr olds can sing in Latin? The beauty of this program is in the song- And in the loving way the father in the video is teaching his children. The activity book is geared for 4th grade and up. You will never find a boring worksheet here, it’s chock full of fun activities, word searches, crossword puzzles, games, tons and tons of different (Latin) word games. It isn’t repetitive at all, and the kids look forward to it, as if it wasn’t even schoolwork. IN fact, I don’t even have to assign it, I use it as an incentive. “If you clean your room, you can do Latin” or as a bribe. “If you don’t finish you math by noon you won’t get to do Latin today.” Right from the get-go they are learning at least 10 words per lesson. It’s upbeat, challenging and fun.

A few years ago we tried Prima Latina. Each week there were 5 words introduced. The workbook was repetitive. The speaker in the video series (the author of the program) had a southern Accent, so her pronunciation was sometimes obviously wrong. Also, in words with (assumably deliberate) deviant pronunciation no explanation was given for the deviance (unless she was just saying them wrong and we didn’t realize because we’re not native speakers) Her videos were also repetitive and LONG. The kids could rarely sit through them. My older girls (12 and 9 at that time) zipped through the entire workbook in a few weeks time. They did retain the knowledge, and a few yrs later when we started LFC (above) they still remembered the Prima Latina they had learned. They begged me not to watch the videos each time. Latin was almost a punishment in those days. I think parents like Prima Latina because it’s a younger version of the Latina Christiana Program, so if you’re interested in the Latina Christiana program you might want to start with Prima. Also, different kids find enjoyment in different things. Just because my kids didn’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t a good program.

If you have experience with another Latin Program, please post your reviews in the comment section. Also, if you’re reading this on the main blog page, click on the title so you can see the comments in line with the post, and read other evaluations.

There are several websites for Latin helps and several classical Latin texts available online for free download. Posting links in the comment section is perfectly acceptable.

Stardoll-like website helps kids get their chores done.

Last Saturday we had our annual “Mom’s Appreciation Brunch” It’s a great event put on by our local Homeschool Support group. Basically, on a Saturday morning, we get up SUPER early (for me anyhow) and eat a catered breakfast while an expert something or other inspires & encourages us with her speech. This year, it was Londa Harpster. She’s as funny as heck. (Where did that expression come from?) Anyhow, she’s a mother of 7 kids ranging from 11-17 and her kids are WAVA students, so she’s working with them on their schoolwork all day like we are.

Anyhow, she’s a certified (whatever that means) Life Coach (I didn’t know it was a certifiable industry) and she’s written a book called “Coach Your Kids for Life.”

She recommended this website and I am so glad we checked it out. It’s not nearly as cool as Stardoll, though. But it is fun and my kids are loving it. The parents go in and create chore charts for the kids and determine the point value for the chores. The kids can then go on and pick their cat and use their points to shop around and buy clothes for the little cats.

My 4 yr old can even do it, so it’s very user friendly. Parents choose what they will award points for (brushing teeth, making bed, using the toilet all day, washing the car…)

I know- it sounds stupid to you and I but this is society’s way of teaching the kids how to shop online- it can’t be so bad. Nahh, It probably isn’t a very good thing but if your kids, like mine, are already hooked on Stardoll, Neopets, or any of the other ten thousand kids websites that allow them to choose things based on a point system, then they’ll love it.

I almost forgot to tell you what it’s called, Handipoints When you sign up, tell them MrsHannigan sent you. If I get 5 people to sign up I get to gift one of my kids with a figure skater costume for their kitty cat. This is going to save me so much money in bribery.

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road trip with 6 kids

I ran across this story about a family road trip with 6 kids. The pincher bugs on the toilet seat sound like a nightmare.

Send in your stories…

My sister is writing a book called Positively Pregnant. She wants to share hopeful and positive aspects of pregnancy. She started a blog as a way to round up content. She’s the mother of Mason (He doesn’t look like that in real life.

So if you happen to have some wonderful stories of blissful, ecstatic pregnancy, send them her way.

Thank you.

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P.E. for Homeschoolers in the Winter

I was writing an article about Ballroom Dancing Lessons Online because I thought it would be a great homeschool PE kind of thing, but I discovered that people hardly ever search for the relevant keywords, and hardly any advertisers are looking to place their content in an article with those keywords. I had to put it in a general fitness category. So- for your benefit, I’m letting you know, as homeschoolers, that you can learn Dance moves in your living room or home office. Wherever your computer is. with a wireless connection, that could be anywhere.

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What’s your favorite Homeschool Blog?

Hello- I’m learning that my google page rank will increase if I am linked to from several other sites. SO- I’d like to pay it forward and list a few awesome Homeschool Mom blogs. You can help by recommending your favorite Homeschool blogs in the comment section. I will do a brief review of each one, and post a link to them in a future post. You’re more than welcome to link to individual posts or my blog wherever you want. Even if you think I suck beans. In fact, if I was reading a blog and they mentioned someone else sucked beans I might even be more likely to go check them out. My husband always says “who cares what they’re saying as long as they’re talking.” and “no press is bad press.” I’m way more sensitive than he is, so don’t be too mean about it. Actually on second thought I am a big wuss. If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Schizophrenics, are we all neurotic, or is it just me?

The point was- tell me your favorite homeschool blog in the comment section.

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Pregnant Again

Not me, silly. It’s Tori Spelling. I blogged about her back in September. So we’re old friends. I will bet thousands of dollars that she has a girl this time. That’s how it is in Hollywood, they all have a boy and a girl. It’s a good thing we moved away from there.

Planning ahead

For the very first time ever, I have made a 2 week meal plan. I am so excited, for the first time ever, a Scientific approach to grocery shopping. I wish I had been doing this longer.

Helpful kids.

It’s so hard to decide whether having kids help with chores is a parenting issue or a Home Care Issue. I have decided it is both. You can read about the wonderful new system I have devised for getting the kids to pull their weight around the house.