I believe in today’s day and age computer skills are very important.  Our family was very excited to have the opportunity to review Let’s Make a Web Page by Motherboard Books.  Since my oldest daughter has started a privet blog, these editing skills will be put to good use!

Motherboard Books was created by Phyllis Wheeler an experienced homeschooling mother who created a great line of computer skill curriculum for her own children.  Thankfully she has also published these to help other families.

Let’s Make a Web Page is a 60 page PDF ebook, that retails for $19.95.  This program is designed for children age 8 to 12 years old.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction for Parents
• Lesson 1: An Interview
• Lesson 2: Download and Set Up the Program
• Lesson 3: Add Text
• Lesson 4: Make a Table
• Lesson 5: Add Photo
• Lesson 6: From the Internet, Add Animations
• Lesson 7: Browser Check, Backgrounds, Photos
• Lesson 8: Sound
• Lesson 9: Links
• Lesson 10: Post Your Work
• Appendix: How to Upload to the Internet

This program is written in conversation style and walks the children through designing a web page using the Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer and NotePad.  Coffee Cup is a paid program but they give you a 30 day trial when you download it.  This is long enough to work through the program, but if you wanted to continue after this you would need to buy Coffee Cup or switch to a free html editor.  Coffee Cup runs only on Window’s XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Since this course is in PDF form I decided instead of printing it off, that I would copy it to our android tablet.  This worked out really well!  We were able to zoom in on the screen shots when needed easily.  It also saved some ink and paper!  I much prefer to load ebooks onto a tablet then print them when possible.  Using the tablet also saved us from flicking back and forth between windows on the computer.

The suggested project for this course is for the student to choose a person to interview.  Then build their web page around the interview.  Our children decided to pick their own topics and started to build their first page about our new puppy.

Our family has enjoyed using this program, I think it is a great introduction to HTML for children.  I picked up a few tips myself!  While we started out using Coffee Cup we switched to a different WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor.  Coffee Cup is a great web editor but it doesn’t run on Linux our main operating system.  This way our children could work on their websites on any of our computers.  The concepts taught in Let’s Make a Web Page transferred easily to our other program.  Even though the menu options were in different places and the screens looked a little different it was still very easy to figure out.

One advantage to starting out with the Coffee Cup editor is that the step by step photos will match exactly what your child is seeing on the screen.  Coffee Cup is a very easy editor to use for a beginner website designer.  If there was a version for Linux I would consider buying it for the kids to use.

We found this was a wonderful program and I would recommend it to any family who would like an introduction to web page design for their children.

To read more reviews from my crew mates on this program and other courses from Motherboard Books please click the banner below!

Kim Mills on Google+

Last weekend the weather was just wonderful, not to cold and not to hot.  We took the opportunity to head to the park and enjoy a nature hike.  It was great day with no huge swarms of black flies or mosquitoes.

One of our first finds was this beautiful Lady’s Slipper flower.

Our kids love this tree! I have so many photos of them by this over the years.

They rediscovered how poplar trees have a dust on their bark.

Deer grazing in the pens.

I love the little water rapids.

3 beautiful swans!

Canada Geese were enjoying all the attention at the park.

No bread? Ok I’ll ignore you then!

I love how this Canada Goose photo turned out!

Trout in the small ponds. They raise them here then stock other local ponds with them.

I love how the geese look surrounded by the flowers.

If you look closely you can see a noise raccoon helping himself to the deer and bird seed!

Have you been on any nature walks lately?  What did you find?

Kim Mills on Google+

I’m playing around with a new layout, so please don’t mind any odd looks to the site right now!

Kim Mills on Google+

 Math Mammoth is one of my favourite math programs.  I was so happy to have the opportunity to review the 5th grade program, since our family has been using the Blue topical series for the past few years.

Math Mammoth was created by Maria Miller a math teacher and homeschooler to help homeschool parents teach math in an easy to understand way to their children.

Math Mammoth uses worktexts instead of a teacher’s guide and student workbook.  Everything is contained together and all instructions and sample lessons are written directly to the student.

The Blue Series are topical books that cover a grade range on ONE topic of study.  I bought all of the grade 1 to 3/4 Blue Series books years ago and love them very much.  More importantly my children LOVE them!  These can be used as a math supplement, remedial math, or a normal math program.  Maria includes a suggested scope and sequence if you use the Blue Series as your main math program.

The Light Blue Series are full year programs for grades 1 to 6.  We received the grade 5 level in PDF format.  The grade 5 level books are divided into two parts worktext A and B and an answer key for each book.

Worktext A contains:

• Chapter 1: The Four Operations
• Chapter 2: large Numbers and the Calculator
• Chapter 3: Problem Solving
• Chapter 4: Decimals

Worktext B contains:

• Chapter 5: Graphing and Statistics
• Chapter 6: Fractions: Add and Subtract
• Chapter 7: Fractions: Multiply and Divide
• Chapter 8: Geometry

Math Mammoth is a mastery based approach so each chapter focuses on one topic.  However many of these topics are worked on in the next grade but on a new difficulty level.  I love that the pages have clear instructions, if your children can read independently then they should be able to work on their math on their own.  I’m always nearby in case someone does need some help though.  If your child pick’s up on new concepts quickly then the Light Blue Series should work very well for them.  If like some of mine, they need extra practice the Blue Series is inexpensive and a wonderful way to get some extra practice in.

One feature I LOVE is that the PDF files can be typed in.  My oldest daughter really doesn’t like to write by hand and prefers to type.  With this math program she can easily just use the Adobe keyboarding function and type her answers in.

Math Mammoth has placement tests and a HUGE bundle of FREE samples over 350 pages you can download!  Maria also has samples for each Light Blue Grade Series.  To see the ones for grade 5 look in the right sidebar.

I highly recommend Math Mammoth as a great math program and one we’ve used for many years now.  The grade 5 program is $32.00 and one of the most affordable math programs I’ve found yet.

To read more reviews of Math Mammoth curriculum please click the banner below!

Kim Mills on Google+

Keeping up with schedules and piles of papers is a struggle just about every family has.  I’ve been a list maker since I was a child, but following through on the lists is a whole challenge in it’s self.   With the Molly Review Crew, sister company to the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I recently had the opportunity to review Paperless Home Organization by Simplified Pantry.  I was so looking forward to this one!  I also received Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten/Dairy Free.  The focus of the review will be of Paperless Home Organization.  Simplified Pantry was created by Mystie Winckler a homeschooling mother of 5 children.

Paperless Home Organization is a 75 page ebook that is available in both PDF and Kindle format.

Paperless Home Organization takes you step by step through setting up an online home management binder.  The main setup uses 3 programs that will run on anyone’s computer since they are web based.  Remember the Milk, Evernote and a Google account for gmail and calendar.  You could use this  process with other applications, but Mystie includes step by step screen shots using her suggested apps.

I’m already a heavy Evernote user, I started using Evernote when it first came out a few years ago for my genealogy organization.  At that time I began converting my file folders and notebooks into Evernote files.  I love how much space this saves and it’s so easy to find anything with the search.

I had already started converting my home management binder into Evernote and I was glad to be able to pick up some tips from Mystie!  Things like automating groups of emails to be forwarded into Evernote and setting up daily routine to-do lists.

A large section of her book deals with how to organize your emails.  Now I have to confess I have 6 different email addresses that I use daily including 2 different gmails.  I do have a good folder/label system set up but finding time to organize them isn’t always easy.  I already had email filters set up to sort my egroup messages into sorted folders, but Mystie had so many good ideas for taking this process further.  Getting a handle on my emails so each inbox is zeroed out every week will take a while.  Seriously I get an crazy amount of email every day between my YouTube channel, egroups, newsletters and research projects.  I am making progress!

Mystie recommends checking your emails online, I don’t do this I use Thunderbird email and have all of my accounts download into it.  I also don’t normally check my Google calendar online since I use a plug-in with Thunderbird to synchronize it’s Lightning calendar with my Google one.  However even with these differences I could still use many of her ideas.

Mystie suggests Remember the Milk as a to-do list organizer for the “extra” things outside of your normal routines in Evernote.  Remember the Milk has been around for a while, but this was the first time that I tried it.  It is a free web app  but if you want to use a more complete syncing features you need to pay for a premium account.  For my own use I find the free version worked just fine and I was happy to see it could be synced with my linux desktop to-do list program that I already used.  This is actually great so if I’m away from home I can still check my list.

For myself I don’t own a smart phone although my hubby does.  I do have an android tablet but it’s not connected to a data plan only wifi.  In our area most restaurants have free wifi as do the libraries but other stores don’t.  So for myself I have no way to check my lists using Remember the Milk or Evernote if I’m not in a wifi zone.  If hubby is with me then it’s not a problem as I’ll just snatch his phone!  So for myself  if I’m heading out some where I’m still likely to print off my shopping list.  Also living in a rural area our internet can hiccup a lot.  So it is very important to me to have access to my information if the internet goes out.  Thankfully Evernote has desktop clients for Windows and Mac and their is NeverNote for Linux.

For me it’s about finding the right balance between having things on your pc, online and in paper format.

I can highly recommend Paperless Home Organization to anyone wishing to move their home management system online or even if your looking for new ideas for using Evernote, RTM and Gmail.

• Paperless Home Organization ~ $3.99
• Simplified Dinners ~ $12.99
• Simplified Dinners Gluten Free/Dairy Free ~ $ 12.99

Simplified Pantry is offering a wonderful discount for our readers.  Enter TOS2013 at check out to save 30%!  Discount good until June 3rd.

To read more reviews of this book and Simplified Dinners and the Gluten/Dairy Free versions please click the banner below!

Kim Mills on Google+

I was so excited to see that The Old Schoolhouse has launched a new product.  I’ve always LOVED everything they have put together.

It’s the Schoolhouse Library including over 175 e-books and audio books for homeschool encouragement and support.  The library includes material from preK to highschool cover topics:

• Art and Crafts
• Bible
• Economics
• Electives
• Encouragement
• Geography
• Government
• Grammar
• Spelling
• Reading
• Organization (with several planners)
• Nature Study
• Special Needs
• And many more!

Some of what is included is:

• 2 Study Guides from YWAM
• Draw Write Now Sampler E-Book by Barker Creek
• Heroines of the Past-Victorian unit study from Amy Puetz
• Map Trek: Atlas and Outline Maps of World History from Knowledge Quest
• Teaching Writing E-Book from WriteShop
• 15 audio E-Books from My Audio School in history and literature
• A Glimpse at Carnivorous Plants Lapbook from In the Hands of a Child
• Video from Jessica Hulcy on “Learning as a Family”
• From Frazzled to Focused: 7 Planning Tools for Busy Moms from Mary Jo Tate

This is an amazing offer for a one time purchase of $25!

Disclosure:  I was offered a membership to the Schoolhouse Library in return for helping to spread the word about the new site.  Links are my affiliate links, thank you very much for using them!  However the opinions are strictly my own and I only endorse products by companies that I truly love.

Kim Mills on Google+

The eastern tent caterpillar can be a real nuance.  I loved playing with these little caterpillars when I was a child and my children still love to play with them.  But if your trees are filled with nests, these caterpillars can quickly defoliate your trees.  Unless your tree is young or under stress this normally wont cause long term damage.  The tent caterpillar lifecycle lasts 7 to 8 weeks and the tree will simply grow a new set of leaves.

However one of their favourite foods are fruit trees.  Leaving the caterpillars to themselves on our fruit trees can be a big problem.  Yes the trees will recover, but I have found when heavily attacked they will often drop their blossoms and put the energy into growing new leaves.  This means little to no fruit will be set, really not something I want to happen.

Most people in our area simply use a small propane torch and burn the nests.  This does work well, but can damage the tree and leave large black patches behind.  Also if the caterpillar nests are higher in a tree it’s difficult to reach with a torch.

The method to get rid of tent caterpillars that works the best for us is simply vegetable oil.  I save used vegetable oil from our deep fryer and pour it into a small spray bottle.  You can certainly use fresh oil but I like finding a use for the used oil.   Just spray it onto the caterpillar nest later in the evening when they have all come into sleep for the night.  It will kill them quickly because insects breath through their skin, once they are coated in oil they can no longer breath.

Kim Mills on Google+

Last Monday after planting our potatoes we met our good friends for a nature walk at a local park.  We had a great time, except early afternoon when it’s 31C + humidity isn’t the best time for a hike! LOL  Especially after spending hours out in the garden.  We had planned to plant the potatoes later in the evening, but they were calling for storms so we wanted to get them in before the garden was to wet.

Oh well despite the heat and bugs it was still fun.  Now we have the woodstoves running.  What a spring!

The trillium’s were in full bloom!

Swampy areas meant a lot of black flies!

Pink trilliums!

Late in the evening we had some bad storms roll in.  The worst just skimmed us but we had very strong winds and rain for a while.  The garden has sure loved all this rain!

Kim Mills on Google+

Goodness it has been a crazy spring weather wise. This past weekend our temperatures jumped up into the low 30C and was very humid! We worked to get some of the garden put in, but since later in the week it was suppose to get cooler I decided to hold off on transplanting all of our tomatoes and peppers out. I’m glad I did because it’s now near 0C at night! Some areas even had a little snow this morning. Ick!

While the nice weather was here on the weekend we picked up another load of wood chips, planted our potatoes, beans and squash. Our lilac bush is in full bloom and smells amazing around the yard! The apple trees I was worried about in our Mother’s Day storm pulled through just fine and have been flowering well.

The blossoms on the apple trees are HUGE this year. I guess they really enjoyed the pruning we did!

Our rhubarb is doing very well this year and I’ll be starting to harvest it soon. I’ve grown rhubarb on all of our other homesteads with out any trouble, but it has never grown well on this property. I’ve tried different locations with out much luck. This year we put cardboard down around the plants and covered it with mulch. It’s now doing amazing!

Our gooseberry bushes are starting to set fruit.

The living mulch clover we seeded last year has come back so well. It’s over a foot deep! We will have to give it the first cut soon so I can plant easily.

Our potato patch is in. The garden is a mix of Cal Whites, reds I think Chieftain or Norland and Russian Blues.

Kim Mills on Google+

Learning styles has been a topic of interest to me for the past year.  So I was very excited to receive a copy of Learning In Spite Of Labels by Joyce Herzog to review.

Joyce Herzog has a passion for teaching and helping people to learn how to learn.  She has been an educator for 25 years in public and private schools.  Joyce Herzog has also been serving homeschoolers with her speaking and writing for over 25 years.

I loved reading Learning In Spite Of Labels and I’m already reading it for the second time and reading it aloud to my hubby.
I love that this book is written from a Christian perspective, and filled with tips and suggestions on how to help your children learn.  I love finding solutions to try!

It’s Table of Contents:

• Section One:  What Do I Need To Know?
• What Does It Feel Like to Be Learning Disabled?
• A Look At Learning
• Behavior and Strengths
• Issues to Consider

• Section Two:  What Do I Need To Do?
• Introduction to Doing
• ABC’s of Learning
• Twenty-Five Teaching Techniques that WORK!
• Teeny Tiny Teaching Tips

• Section Three:  Where Do I Start?
• Begin At the Very Beginning!
• Setting the Stage
• A Person, Not a Problem

• Section Four:  And Furthermore
• Learning Styles
• The Law
• Learning Problems in History
• History Repeated
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Vision Skills and Therapy
• Speech and Language Development
• Individualized Education Plan
• Depression:  Causes and Cures
• Appendix A:  Resource Guide
• Appendix B: Author Information
• Afterward

The book starts out trying to show you how it feels to be learning disabled.  Your first task is to write an important date and place on a piece of paper.  Yes it sounds simple enough doesn’t it?  But the trick is you have to hold the paper on your forehead while you write.  Then see how well you were able to write it.  It gives you a different perspective on how others may struggle to do what you think of as a simple task.  Would you like to be judged based on what you just wrote?
Then it moves into how people learn information and how sudden a change it is for a child to go from a free style learning environment to an 8 hour school day.  So many options of expression are removed from their abilities before they maybe ready for reading and writing.

Joyce talks about how in someways we are all learning disabled, in that she isn’t good at understanding how things work and her husband can’t style girls hair.  It really depends on what standard you are measuring against.  I agree with this in many ways.  My hubby can play many instruments wonderfully, me?  Well you don’t want me to sing trust me!

The section on 25 Teaching Tips that Work is a gold mine of ideas, from thanking God for the situation and praying for his guidance and blessing to providing frequent review in different learning styles.

The Teeny Tiny Teaching Tips section is filled with little nuggets for all parents.  One of my favourites was if your child has trouble telling right from left, put little smiley faces inside the arch of each shoe.  The shoes are on the right feet if the smiles are facing and “kissing”.
To help mark the left and right hand side of the page, put a green dot in the left margin and red dot in the right margin.  Green means start and red means stop.  There are just so many ideas for hands on learning that this will be a book I refer to often!

I highly recommend Learning In Spite Of Labels to any parent not just toughs who have struggling learners.  There are so many wonderful ideas in this book on education, ways to learn and work around struggles.

You can download a PDF sample of this book on their website.

Learning In Spite Of Labels cost $15.00

The School House Review Crew received 12 books and curriculum from Joyce Herzog to review.  For more information please click the banner below!

Kim Mills on Google+