Where am I?

Hey Blogger friends!
Just letting you know that I'm still around! You can find me posting over at Scraps of Life, my other blog!
I have a Wednesday Homeschool/Educational Link Up! I will also be reviewing Homeschool Curriculum at that blog, too! If you have a product that you want review just send me a message!

I"m keeping this blog up because of all the resources and links that I have gathered here. I don't have a spot for them on my other blog.  The right side bar is FULL of links that I use for homeschooling.

Stop over!  Just click the Scraps of Life button!

The origin of Foreign words used in English

The origin of Foreign words used in English

Free America History The Story of US DVD offer

I just got this information from a History Channel Update!

School principals, register for your school's free AMERICA The Story of US DVD!*

America The Story of US — premiering on HISTORY™ April 25 at 9pm/8c — is a six week event that provides a fascinating look at the stories of the people, events, and innovations that forged our nation. It will provide you with an unprecedented opportunity to bring our nation's history to life for your students. This 12-hour series will be supported by educational materials tied to curriculum standards and is copyright cleared for Fair Use in the classroom by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities.
* HISTORY is offering America The Story of US on DVD to every school in the United States. School must be an accredited public, private or home school, for grades K-12 and college. In order to receive your school's DVD, your school principal (grades K-12) or Dean of Students (college) should fill out the request form below. HISTORY strictly limits one request per school. DVD requests must be made prior to July 1, 2010. DVD's will be mailed around August 2010 and free shipping is included in this offer. 

Click to get offers:

Free American History: The Story of US DVD
Daily History Updates on Twitter
Daily History Updates on Facebook

Giveaway winner of Katie and Kimble Winner of Moms Choice Award

Congrats to Kerrie for winning the Katie and Kimble Series!!!!

Katie & Kimble Series by Linda Thieman honored with Mom's Choice Awards *Giveaway*

 

PRESS RELEASE

Mom’s Choice Awards® Names the Katie & Kimble Series by Linda Thieman among the Best in Family-friendly Media

The Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble (A Ghost Story) series by Iowa author Linda Thieman among the best in family-friendly media, products and services. The MCA is an annual competition known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in these areas.

When the great flu pandemic struck America’s shores in 1918, it took with it an estimated 675,000 men, women and children.

In her imaginative first book in the award-winning chapter book series, Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, author Linda Thieman follows one of the young victims, named Kimble, and her nine-year-old friend, Katie, who just moved into Kimble’s old house.

Though ghostly in its viewpoint, the story does not fit into its genre’s stereotype. Rather, Thieman’s ghost is a funny, adventuresome little girl who not only helps Katie, but receives help from her friend in return.

Written to inspire the 7- to 10-year-old set, Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story is an educational adventure for the parental set, too, giving insight into the worldwide pandemic, Kimble’s Jewish customs, and even a bit about the supernatural.

Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on MCA evaluations when selecting quality materials for children and families. The Mom’s Choice Awards® seal helps families and educators navigate the vast array of products and services and make informed decisions.

MCA judges are bound by a strict code of ethics which ensures expert and objective analysis free from any manufacturer association. The evaluation process uses a propriety methodology in which entries are scored on a number of elements including production quality, design, educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal and cost.

To be considered for an award, each entrant submits five identical samples of a product. Entries are matched to judges in the MCA database. Judges perform a thorough analysis and submit a detailed assessment. Results are compiled and submitted to the MCA Executive Committee for final approval.

The end result is a list of the best in family-friendly media, products and services that parents and educators can feel confident in using.

Other past Mom’s Choice Awards® recipients have included Meredith Vieira, Founder of Club Mom and Today Show Co-Host (Celebrity Mom of the Year) and O, The Oprah Magazine (Magazine of the Year).

Thieman graduated from Storm Lake Community High School and received a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. She now resides in Sioux City, Iowa.

For more information on the awards program and the honorees, visit MomsChoiceAwards

For more information on the Katie & Kimble series, visit http://www.katieandkimbleblog.com

I'm a very excited mom today! My daughter, Emily, loves this book series.  What a thrill to have already read this book series and then hear of it honored Award! 

Thanks to the author, Linda Thieman, she is offering the two books for a giveaway on my blog! Come enter and get a set your set for that someone special!  Don't let the "ghost story" scare you away from wanting these books for your 5-10 year olds.  Kimble is not a scary ghost! She is more of a kindred spirit to Katie and helps her on a quest that is very engaging and heartfelt.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How to Enter: (leave separate comments for each entry)

Visit the Katie & Kimble Blog and have a look around. Then come back here and make a comment on something from her blog. This is your entry to the giveaway.

BONUS entries

1) Follow @LindaThieman on twitter for 5 entries

2) Tweet this blog post up to twice a day for 2 entries each
"Come win Katie & Kimble" honored by Mom's Choice Award @susieqtpies http://bit.ly/boTY7e"

3)  Click each of the above pictures of Katie & Kimble to read more from my blog about the books. Comment on those blog post and come back here and get 5 entries per comment!

4) Follow my blog on Google Friend connect and Networked blogs 1 entry each

5) Follow me on twitter @susieqtpies 2 entries

6) Go to my other blog, Scraps of Life and follow on Google friend connect, Networked blogs and fan on Facebook (all in left side bar) Get 2 entries per each one! 

7) Go enter FEDDIE GIRL BOOK GIVEAWAY on my Scraps of Life blog  http://bit.ly/9wYT8l

Leave a message there and come back here and claim your 10 BONUS ENTRIES!!!! 

GIVEAWAY is for US and Canada. Must be at least 18 to enter. 

Ends February 22.

WordToons allows you to play with your word!

WordToons is a fun way to play with your words!  Sounds like a NO NO, right?  The developer of WordToons use to get sent to his room (imagine that) when he was a kid and when he did he would play with his words, making cartoons.  Parents are so silly to think that getting sent to your room is a form of punishment. 

UFO

The WordToons ebook is $17 and full of detailed step-by-step instructions on making Word Cartoon.  The ebook allows you to print off the pages you want to work with.  We had the book up on the computer and worked from it there.

I was very impressed with how easy it was to make these drawings.  I would suggest teachers include WordToons into their weekly planning.  Have the children make a WordToon for one of their spelling or vocab words.  I've always encouraged my homeschooled daughters to make visual drawings when listening to the history lesson.  Drawing is a great way to take notes.  WordToons enforces this.  Thank you! 

 

UFO

My daughter and I used Wordtoons as a creative outlet one afternoon.  She loves words! What a fun way to reinforce spelling.  My daughter got creative and started making up her own word cartoons.  She doesn't consider herself artistic although I consider her to be very crafty.  She was able to draw  word cartoons without complaining that she "can't draw".  She was focused on the word she was working with that she forgot that she was actually drawing a cartoon.

 

FRUIT

After awhile she discovered that she could make up her own WordToons using words of her own.  She wanted to see if she could make up one and teach me how to make it!  She did! Below is the octopus she made on her own.  

 

 OCTOPUS

What a fun project to use in the car.  I recommend taking it along if you know that you are going to be sitting around waiting, too!

 

WITCH

Would you like to try WordToons before you purchase the ebook? Click WordToons and you can get a free sample of the book.

Thanks to WordToons for givnig me a review copy of this book.  The opinions expressed here are mine and my daughter's.  We loved the book and plan on using it weekly.

Snow much Fun! Giveaway Wii Winter Fun

Kids love snow! I like snow if I'm inside my home!  Here are fun pics of the girls making me a snowman! I love snowmen!  Isn't he cute?  

Robyn over at Robyn's Online World is giving away 5 copies of Wii Winter Fun! Now this is the winter fun I want to have!  This is one Wii game we can all play together and not freeze! There are 30 games on this disk!  One of them is curling!!!  I really want to learn  how to curl before the Olympics! It always looks very cool!

Top 6 Picks for Homeschool Fun and Learning

Once a week I'm going to list my top 6-10 items that I have used or items that I know have been used for homeschooling. Have you used any of these? What are some of your favorites??

10 Ways to Get Fit After the Holidays for Homeschoolers

I think that it is time for these homeschoolers to get into shape now that the holidays are over! haha yeah right! Remember that your kids will not get into shape or get fit if you don't do it too! With kids it is more important to think of ways to get them having fun than saying "we need to exercise". 

Here are our top 10 ways to get our homeschoolers fit and to have fun!

1) Make sure that they do their morning workout! Don't let them skip putting on clothes.  A good morning workout out includes picking out clothes for the day and taking off the pjs! Don't stop there! Make sure they put their dirty clothes where they belong and even get doing the laundry!

2) Burn calories while brushing teeth!  Set a timer for 2 minutes, turn up the music and jam to tunes while brushing away the overnight grime and germs on the teeth! Depending on the music the muscles will get a good workout!  I think of this as endurance training!

3) Morning breakfast workout!  Get the kids in the kitchen pumping iron! Milk and OJ jugs are heavy and great for resistance training.

4) Time for school! Don't let your kids be sluggards! I know that they might want you to take them to school! Make them walk to school, the long way! haha 

5) During school time the kids might be in just one room all day! What a shame! Have school all over your home. Nothing like getting to those 10,000 daily steps by having class in every room of the house!  Get all the kids (and yourself) a pedometer.  Help them set goals as to how many steps they want to get in a day! You will just see them bursting with energy to meet their step goals!

6) PE time can be difficult for homeschoolers if the weather is bad!  Who really wants to go outside and play in the snow or rain???  Your kids do!  Let your homeschool get dressed for the weather (this burns a lot of calories) and go outside and play!  PE time is a great to walk the dog.  While the kids are outside you can break open the Wii and play some tennis!  The teacher needs a workout too!

7) Lunch time becomes active time!  Don't let your kids think that they can line up and get food! Have them in the kitchen making their own lunch!  I'm a lunch lady on strike! They are in charge of lunch! This is not only an active lunch hour but a mental lunch hour! They have to give their brain a workout and make yummy food! 

8) Out of groceries?  Get those kids to the store! Look at all the muscle toning they can get going up and down the store aisles!  They can build muscle mass lifting, stooping, bending and reaching for food items!  Go to the self check out lane so they can work on their fine motor movements and pick up each item to scan and bag! Let them lift all the bags into the cart and load into the car!  This is a great time for them to look for people to  help in the parking lot.  Little old ladies love help loading groceries into their car! This will provide a bonus workout!

9) Healthy eating is key to getting fit!  Make sure you pick out healthy snacks to have at home for the kids to eat! Get them involved with menu planning for dinner too! Go to the library (walk to get in their step goals) and find books on healthy foods.  The library is also a great place to work on muscle fitness! Those books can be heavy! 

10) Get fit and have fun as a family!  If you have a Wii use it!  What a great way to play with your kids and get fit!  We do not have Wii Fit or EA Sports but would love one of them!  EA SPORTS says "Get inspired, get motivated and get active!"  If you don't have one either then use this time to play bowling, tennis,etc with your kids on the Wii.  Use whatever you have to have fun and get active! 

This blog post was inspired by a contest going on with  EA Sports and TwitterMoms. To enter, share your top ten tips for getting fit after the holidays. 5 entries will be randomly selected to win a copy of EA SPORTS Active™ Personal Trainer – the highest rated Wii™ fitness product to date for use on the Nintendo Wii system!

What are you doing to get your kids fit? Post and let me know! If you have something on your blog leave the link so I can visit!