Labor of Love Sale at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

 

The Old Schoolhouse is my favorite homeschooling magazine. It is just the right balance of curriculum reviews, meaty, thought provoking articles, and homeschooling how-to’s.  Each issue takes me several weeks to read through—This is definitely not a skinny, quick-to-read magazine!

TOS is currently running THE best sale I have ever seen on the magazine. If you have thought about subscribing, this is the time!

Here are the details:

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine is extending an extraordinary subscription offer to homeschool families. Receive a one-year print subscription for just $7.95 or a one-year plus current issue subscription for $12.95. One-year subscriptions start with the winter issue. The one-year plus current issue starts with the fall issue. Only 5000 of these special subscriptions are available from August 31 through midnight on September 15. Once the 5000 are gone, they're gone! Hurry and grab this crazy price today!

I am receiving a “Fall Expo to Go” in exchange for blogging for TOS. All opinions are my own.

ThermoCell Mosquito Lantern

Jamerican Spice is running a giveaway for a mosquito lantern that keeps mosquitos free from a 15 X 15 foot area. I really need one of these in our buggy yard!

Digital Keychain Review

For many years, I have used a keychain that is a photo frame holding a couple of pictures of my kids. I just had an opportunity to check out something that is definitely the “new and improved” version of a photo key chain!

Wholesale Keychain.com sent me a Digital Photo Frame keychain to try out. The keychain itself measures about 2 x 1 1/2 inches—a nice size.  Not too big to stick in a pocket, but big enough to see the pictures. It came with a USB cord that makes it quick and easy to transfer pictures from the computer and to charge.

Main features:

• 1.5 inch 128x128 LCD display;
• 4.8 MB internal memory which can store about 72 pictures;
• Auto / manual picture slide show, slide time adjustable.
• Manual switch between picture and time display
• Time display including date, week, hours, minutes and seconds.
• Time manual adjustable or sync with computer via software.
• Picture format: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF;
• Picture size automatically cut by software.
• Input / output picture via photo View software included
• Built-in rechargeable battery
• Charged / data downloaded via 5 pins USB cable
• Dimension: 5.5x4.1x1.2cm
• Weight: 85g

My Thoughts:

It was very quick and easy to upload photos onto the keychain.  I like that the battery is rechargeable. The slide show feature is also very nice. I love that it can hold 72 pictures!

I think the price is great—only $9.95. Some of the fancier models are $14.95. This would be a GREAT gift for grandparents who want to show off photos of their grandchildren!

It was fortunate that the keychain is very intuitive to use because the direction manual was printed in microscopic print and included the awkward English typical of Chinese made product manuals! With the help of my reading glasses, I was able to get the information I needed, though. If you are not a “manual person,” though, you probably won’t use the directions anyway, since the digital keychain is so easy to figure out.

I received this product free for review purposes from Wholesale Keychains. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are my own.

Cameras

Sadly, I think my camera, a 5 year old Sony Cybershot DSC P-10, is dying. When I turn it on, the lens goes in and out repeatedly. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes before it will turn on properly. I use this camera almost every day, so I think I’m going to have to replace it soon.

I would love any suggestions for an under $200 camera—or any cautions about which ones to avoid.

Moving into the dorm

We took Katie to Birmingham Southern College this morning and moved her into her dorm. Here are some photos of our “decorating diva” fixing up her room. She has spent weeks hand painting frames and other accessories and planning their placement!

Allison cut out some drawer labels for Katie and her roommate. Lime green, of course!

Worn out from the early start to our day!

Katie and her new roommate, Carol.

Organizing Giveaway

Visit Laughing Lindsay to enter a great giveaway for a $25 gift card from organize.com.  Sounds like something anyone could use!

Super Star Speech Sale

Do you have concerns about your children’s articulation skills?

All of the Super Star Speech books and games are currently on sale. The e-books and games are 20% off at Currclick. All of the printed books are on sale for 25% off at the Super Star Speech website with the coupon code, “August.”

Both sales end on August 31, so act fast if you are interested.

Super Star Speech Winner

The winner of the Super Star Speech giveaway is comment #71--

Anonymous said...

I just signed up for the email list. I have a 3 year old that has some articulation problems and I'm not sure whether she needs speech therapy or not, so this book would be perfect!

The winner has been contacted. Thanks for entering!

Meal Ideas with Mission Flour Tortillas

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

Mission – Back To School 

My kids get tired of eating the same thing for lunch every day. If sandwiches were the only item on the menu, I’d have a rebellion on my hands! Plus, I don’t always have bread on hand. One thing I do usually have is Mission Flour Tortillas. Because they keep so well, I can buy several packages at a time so I won’t run out.

One of our favorite quick lunches is cheese quesadillas made in the toaster oven. Occasionally we will add tomatoes, salsa, and or shrimp to make it extra good.  Another lunch food we like is to spread a tortilla with cream cheese, top it with lunch meat and maybe some lettuce or cheese, then roll it up. This is a great food to make the night before and is a great picnic or school lunch choice.

Breakfast burritos are very popular around here when I get around to making them. They are a bit of work, but I always make extras to stick in the freezer for a quick grab, heat, and go meal. I mix a pound of cooked sausage, 10-12 scrambled eggs and grated cheese, put the mixture down the middle of a tortilla  and roll it up.

These dishes are all easy enough for kids to help prepare or even prepare all by themselves.

I like that Mission Flour Tortillas contain 0 grams Trans fat per serving and are cholesterol free. They are economical and are available in small (6”), medium (8”) and large (10”) sizes in major grocery stores nationwide.

Do you have any favorite Mission Flour Tortilla recipes to share?

Heard it on the Playground

Kids say the funniest things. I don’t know how many times my kids have said something cute and I’ve thought, “Oh, I need to write that down before I forget it.” Sometimes I actually do. Each of my kids has a smattering of cute sayings preserved in their baby books.

One of my favorites was my youngest daughter at age 2, telling the Christmas story…  “The wise men brought goldfish and pretzels and then they sang one last song to Baby Jesus, ‘It’s a small world, after all…’”

 Heard on the Playground is a new website designed to be a collection of stories funny photos from parents and teachers. It’s a great way to share your cute stories and photos with the world. It’s also a fun place just to browse for a few minutes to get a chuckle or two.

Some highlights of the site are:

-Collect all your funny kid stories  and photos in one place

-Increase the visibility of your blog—all stories and photos can be linked to your URL

-Upload your child’s artwork

-Have a funny kid saying printed on a T-shirt.

Its FREE!

Here are just a few of the funnies that are posted….

You can TELL IF 2 PEOPLE ARE MARRIED because they will be YELLING AT THE SAME KIDS

Our son asked about 2 LOOK ALIKE CLASSMATES and we told him they were probably TWINS.  The following day he come home from school saying "You'll never believe this... THEY'RE NOT ONLY TWINS, THEY'RE BROTHERS TOO.

My friend COMPLIMENTED my daughter on her LARGE VOCABULARY.  She casually replied "AND I HAVE WORDS IN MY HEAD I HAVEN'T EVEN USED YET"

I think you're supposed to GET SHOT WITH AN ARROW OR SOMETHING when you're IN LOVE...but the rest of it ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SO  PAINFUL

 

I encourage you to visit Heard it on the Playground and check it out!

This is a Mama Buzz review. I was compensated for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

Bright Ideas Press Giveaway

The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew Blog is running a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to Bright Ideas Press, which publishes great materials like Mystery of History and Christian Kids Explore Science. I’d love to win this!

A Day in Our Homeschool

I am a person that thrives on organization. Emily is very distractible and I have found that structure helps keep her on track. Last year, I “discovered” workboxes and we have used this system in our home school very successfully. Each night, I place Emily’s work in her boxes and she moves through them in sequence. I try to make some of the tasks very quick—5-10 minutes, to help her feel successful and I try to include a fun activity, such as a game, puzzle or craft. I have found that using workboxes helps me actually get to many of those fun activities that we never seemed to have time for before. A few of the tasks require my assistance, but many are done independently.

I work/play on the computer and do some basic housecleaning, or run a load or two of laundry while Emily is doing her independent work, but am close at hand if she needs help.
Our schedule varies from day to day—we don’t do Spanish, spelling, vocabulary, Bible study or creative/report writing every day of the week-- but here is a typical schedule:
-Speedy Spanish lesson
-Singapore Primary Math (5) 1-2 lessons
-All About Spelling
-Igniting Your Writing (Creative writing)
-K’nex Simple Machines study
-Meet the Masters art
-Piano practice
-Prairie Primer—reading, discussion and hand-on activities
On a really good day, schoolwork lasts from 9:00 to 12:00. Then I read to Emily during lunch. Right now, we are reading Farmer Boy and doing some follow up activities from Prairie Primer.
On a not-so-good day, one with lots of distractions or melt-downs, Emily may have an hour or two (or more!) work left for the afternoon.
After lunch, Emily goes to her room and reads for an hour. I then have the chance to either sit and read myself,  to catch up on some computer work or to get (Super Star Speech) packages ready for mailing.
What is a day in your homeschool like? Write about it and link up at the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop.

Paper Shredder Giveaway

Day 23 of the Back 2 School Blog Bash features a giveaway for a Fellowes P-8C Paper Shredder with a $59.99 value! Enter at Laughing Lindsay.

Back 2 School Day 21—Notebook and Folder Giveaway

More personalized school supplies! Enter a giveaway for a personalized notebook and folder from Tuzaiz at Jamerican Spice. Be sure to enter on my blog for the same giveaway to double your chances of winning!

Giveaway winners:

The winner of Map Trek Ancient Maps is comment #2.

Libby's Library News said...

I would be interested in the Star Spangled State Book.
Thanks so much for the giveaway.

 

The Easy Lunchbox winner is comment #78.

rah267 said...

higgs.rachel@gmail.com
i learned 9.38" x 6.1" x 2" Compartment capacities: Large section - 2.5 Cups, Smaller section - 3/4 cup, Smallest section- 1/2 cup.

Winners have been notified.

Fun with Farmer Boy

We’re kicking off our school year with a Prairie Primer unit on Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Some of the most fun activities we’ve done so far have been the cooking. If you have read Farmer Boy, you may remember that there is a lot of emphasis on food!

We loved these dishes:

Apples and Onions

Bird’s Nest Pudding—whole apples, stuffed with brown sugar and baked in a pudding-like crust. Mmmmm.

Popcorn and Milk

This may have been the most fun. Almanzo’s favorite way to eat popcorn was to take a full cup of milk and a full cup of popcorn and to drop the popcorn into the milk. It really worked! The entire cup of popcorn fit into the cup of milk without spillage.

The milk-soaked popcorn tasted like puffed corn cereal. Actually not bad!

Snapfish Giveway, Back 2 School Day 19

Day 19 of the Back 2 School Blog Bash Hop features a $35 gift certificate to Snapfish!  Choose anything from photo developing to personalized gifts! Enter at 3 Boys and a Dog.

Canson Eco-Series Papers—Giveaway!

Emily enjoys art and drawing. So you can imagine her delight when this arrived in the mail:

For a child who usually draws on scrap paper, this was a real treat!

Canson, a name long known for quality art supplies, has just come out with a new line of papers just for kids.  The World of Eric Carle Eco Series art pads feature:

-Good quality papers

-The highly recognized Eric Carle drawings as cover art.

-Product line that is both recycled and manufactured through an ec0-friendly  process.

We received a variety of sizes and types of art pads..tracing pad, colored paper, paint pad, drawing pad, marker pad, and sketch-and-tell pad that has room for both picture and printing on each page. One think that I like is that the cover of each pad describes its use—for example, the painting pad says, “Good for use with posterpaint, tempra, fingerpaint, and watercolors.” The marker pad says, “No bleeding through papers. Ideal for markers, pens, and crayons.”

Emily is using the smallest drawing pad for her nature study book—It’s a great size for carrying on walks or sticking in a purse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that these art supplies are both high in kid-appeal and of high quality. It is very frustrating for kids to have markers bleed through the paper, or to have their paintings crinkle or tear. These pads will provide a satisfying creative experience for kids.

The Canson Eric Carle Eco-Series art pads are available at many retailers  for $1.99 to $4.39 a pad.

Giveaway: Canson is giving away an assortment of art pads ($25 value)  to one of my readers  (US or Canada only).  To enter, tell me your favorite Eric Carle book or character or tell me which type of art pad your kids would like best. Giveaway ends on Sept. 1.

Additional entries: (Leave a separate comment for each.)

1. Follow Debbie’s Homeschool Corner on Google Friend Connect.

2.  Blog about this giveaway. (2 entries—leave a separate comment for each entry.)

3. Enter any other giveaway at Debbie’s Homeschool Corner—leave one comment per entry.

4. Add the Back 2 School Blog Bash button to your blog.

5. “Like” What Do You See on Facebook—The first 200 to comment on the What do you see? thread will win a free sketch ‘n tell story book.

6. Enter a giveaway from any other of these sites:

3 Boys and a Dog

Mommie’s Angels

Jamerican Spice

Laughing Lindsay

I received this product free from Canson in order to write this review. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are my own.

Schoolhouse Expo

Last spring, I participated in the online Schoolhouse Expo. The Expo is just like attending a homeschool convention without even leaving your home. Great speakers, vendor’s hall, and lots of free goodies! Here is the official info. for the upcoming Fall Schoolhouse Expo.

It's back to homeschool time and registration is open for the online Schoolhouse Expo, October 4-8. It's five days of top homeschool speakers, fellowship, and fun door prizes.

Save $5 per ticket! Register between August 16 and midnight August 22, and you'll pay only $19.99. Plus you'll receive over $200 in free E-Books.

You'll be inspired by speakers including: Zan Tyler, Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright,Carol Barnier, Diana Waring, Todd Wilson, Davis Carman, Kim Kautzer, Lee Binz, and many more!

A special teen track is planned--the entire family will definitely want to listen to these special sessions. We've also planned a special focus on a topic that touches every homeschool--writing. Plus, an array of other topics that will inform and inspire you throughout your homeschooling years.

Don't forget, MP3 copies of each session comes with your LIVE event ticket.

Two special preconference shows on August 24 and September 21 with Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright, and Kim Kautzer!

Register starting 12:01 a.m. on Monday, August 16.

The theme this fall is "Celebrate Homeschooling!" We're going to celebrate the unique blessings of homeschooling, the beginning of another school year, our families, and the freedom to tailor our children's education to best meet their needs.

If you cannot make the Live event, then the October Expo To Go is just your ticket! You'll reserve MP3s from all of the workshops. This week only, pay just $14.95

You can visit either of these links to get more information. http://www.SchoolhouseExpo.com or http://bit.ly/aWHFiL

Personalized Notebooks and Folders (Tukaiz) Giveaway!

 
I really enjoy personalized products. When given as a gift, they let the recipient know that you put though and planning into the gift. Kids, especially, enjoy having items with their own names on them. Plus, a personalized item is much less likely to disappear at school!
I had the opportunity to review a personalized notebook and folder from Tukaiz.  The Tukaiz website has almost 50 designs to choose from. What makes this company unique is that many of the designs are actual photos, which are altered to include your chosen name. The photo designs make the notebooks a bit more grown up looking, therefore appropriate even for teens or adults, although still great for younger kids too. I chose this set for a friend who loves the beach:

Both the pocket folder and the spiral notebook have very sturdy, glossy covers that will hold up for a long time.
I really like this design, too.

And this one:

It is fun to experiment with each design on the Tukaiz website to see exactly what YOUR name will look like on it.
Pocket folders sell for $5.95 and Spiral notebooks for $10.95 and are perfect for back-to-school or for birthday or Christmas gifts.
Giveaway!
Tukaiz is offering a free notebook and folder to one of my readers. (US and Canada only.) To enter, visit the Tukaiz site and tell me which is your favorite design. Giveaway ends Sept. 1 and winner will be chosen by random.org.
For additional entries (leave one comment for each):
1. Follow Debbie’s Homeschool Corner on Google Friend Connect.
2.  Blog about this giveaway. (2 entries—leave a separate comment for each entry.)
3. Enter another of my giveaways—one entry for each.
4. Leave a comment on my Super Star Speech blog.

Student Photo Week

Today is “student photo week” at the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop. Here are a few recent favorites of Emily. Big sister Katie curled Emily’s hair and took these photos—she is a much more talented photographer than I am!

And for my non homeschooled students… Katie 18(who is heading off to college next week) with Allison 22, who is in med. school…..

And John Michael (20 years old—assistance mgr at McDonalds, part time student, and new homeowner!).…I need a new picture of him.

 

Socks Giveaway! Back 2 School Day 16

Today’s giveaway is a $25 gift certificate at Socks4Live. There are some really cute choices. Visit Jamerican Spice to enter!