Mood:  not sure

I have come to a dilemma in my life. Recently, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was given a free membership to the ABC Teach website in order to try it out and post a review about it on my blog. But, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry! Oh, don't get me wrong! The site was fantastic! Let me try to explain it by breaking it down into two categories - the laughter and the tears. First:

The Laughter

I had a wonderful time with my free ABC Teach membership. ABC Teach is a website for teachers.  But, before you tune me out and press the exit button, what have I always said? Even if you are not a school teacher, even if you are not a homeschooler, even if you don't have any children living in your home, if you are involved with children in any way, you are an educator. And, that's what ABC Teach is all about. It has everything you could think of to educate or help in the education of a child. 

I downloaded everything I could think of.

• Unit studies - John Allen was doing a Unit Study on WW II and they had everything I needed.
• Math pages - Joshua is working on skip counting. They had skip counting dot-to-dots that were perfect for him. They also had math folder games, board games, higher level math helps, even high school!
• Calendar and Chart helps - I found perfect chart cards for chores, our workboxes, calendars - you name it.
• Science pages - I had been looking for science things for Joshua, and found some perfect things for him. Things that he was interested in and wanted to study.
• History sheets - Not only do they have unit studies for history, but extra history page that were great compliments to what John Allen was studying.
• Preschool - I couldn't believe how many things they had for even Jacob's age. Worksheets that go along with preschool books that we are reading. Ideas to help him learn his letters and numbers. Phonics games. You name it!
• They had everything! And what you couldn't find, you could make yourself. They had worksheet makers, puzzle makers, spelling list makers, math worksheet makers, printing and cursive page makers! And I had it all for free!

I was in homeschool parent paradise. I downloaded and I downloaded. I did it as quickly and as furiously as I could for I knew my time was limited. We were only given two months to try this out. They have a free section of their site, but nothing to the extent of their member ship section. So I hoarded all that I could. And then...it happened...

The Tears

...my laptop crashed ! It was only six months old. I didn't think I needed to back up my files with Mozy...but I did. My hard drive malfunctioned and I lost it all. My games, my dot - to - dots, my worksheets, my unit studies, my calendar cards...it's all gone. What I was able to print out and use was great, and the ABC Teach website was fantastic! Oh, don't feel sorry for me. The membership isn't expesive. I (or you) could have it all again for only $40 per year or $70 for two years. I can go to the ABC Teach website by clicking here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. I might even click here to go and see what the other TOS Crew members are saying about ABC Teach and to read about all of the things they are doing with their downloads. The downloads that they still have because their computer didn't crash. But I'm not bitter.

Oh well. Now you see my dilemma. Should I laugh or should I cry? Hmmm? Is anyone there? Ah well...they're gone. They've already clicked out to the ABC Teach website. I can't say that I blame them...it is a great website...I guess I'll head on over there myself. For those faithful few who may still be reading...Happy Homeschooling!   

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