Mood:  a-ok

It's coming! Yep, in two days a new Compassion International blog tour is coming. From Sept. 8-11, four bloggers along with their chaperone's, will be having the trip of their lives in Guatemala. Compassion has asked us to pray for these folks on this mission trip:

PRAYER SUGGESTIONS:
1. Safety: Severe flooding over the weekend and continued heavy rains have caused mudslides in Guatemala that have claimed the lives of at least 100 people and displaced an estimated 110,000. We are altering our travel plans slightly for our own safety. Please pray for the safety of Compassion's families and the whole of Guatemala.

2. Family: All our bloggers are leaving behind friends and family for the week. Please pray for the protection and comfort of these families while apart.

3. Writing: It is very difficult to have your heart broken and inspired so tremendously every day on these trips and then sit down at a computer each evening and put it all into words. Pray for God's guidance and courage.

4. Re-entry: Begin praying now for each blogger's re-entry into life back home. Coming home to the average American life after spending even a short time in the developing world is difficult for many. Pray that our bloggers return forever different and able to bring that difference into the same life they knew before.

And, of course, here are the links:

HELPFUL LINKS:
1. Trip Page (with trip banner you can grab): http://compassionbloggers.com/guatemala

2. Group twitter feed: http://twitter.com/shaungroves/compassion-bloggers-guate

3. The blogs:
http://www.aholyexperience.com
http://www.lindseynobles.com
http://thegypsymama.com
http://babybangs.blogspot.com
http://blog.compassion.com

I know that the last Compassion bloggers trip, the Kenya trip, really changed the way I viewed Compassion and the precious children that they work with. Unfortunately I will be a retreat this weekend where I will be without internet access so I won't be able to read their posts until I get back. Please support them for me by visiting their blogs and encouraging them with your comments. Trust me, it will change your life!

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Mood:  a-ok

Let me tell you, the Tinkel family loves pizza. We love delivery pizza, we love resteraunt pizza, we love home made pizza...it doesn't matter, we love pizza! That's one of the reasons why we were thrilled to receive Download N Go's unit study Pizza Party.

If you remember, the Download N Go unit studies are week long studies that would really take much longer than five days if you did everything that is included. Download N Go's have everything that you can think of...coloring pages, clickable links to fascinating videos and topics, a lapbook to put together, among other things. And, everything is included. There's elements of math, social studies, science, and grammar plus just good old fashion fun.

For example, here are the daily themes for Pizza Party:

• Watched two videos on kids making pizza.
• Drew our favorite pizza and labeled the main parts and toppings.
• Learned about the history of pizza.
• Learned math concepts by dividing a pizza into eight equal pieces.
• Located Italy on the map and colored it in.
• Discovered that Naples, Italy was the birthplace of pizza and located it on our map.
• Learned about the weather in Naples.
• Found out what language they speak in Italy and watched a cute video on th Itilian alphabet.
• Learned about Marco Polo and watched videos of his great travels to China and back.
• Talked about what supplies that we would need to take with us if we ever went on a journey like that.
• And, if we would have had time, we could have begun our lapbook, but I decided that our lapbooking would have to wait for another day.

There is also a book list where you can choose books from the library that go along with your study and a list of extras (as if that wasn't enough) that you can do each day after the regular study is done. And all of this is seamlessly put together by the author, Amanda Bennett, so that you can't even tell where you stopped talking about pizza and when you began talking about Italy and Marco Polo.

So, now you can see why I say that you could never get it all done in one day even if you tried. What I do with Joshua, and what I would recommend you do as well, is to just pick and choose the activities that you feel best fit your child's needs and your their learning style. But, be warned, all of Ms. Bennett's ideas are so neat that you'll want to try them all.

So, how much does tis great 112 page unit study cost? Well if you act by midnight tonight, you can get if for $5.00. Otherwise, it's only $7.95. All you have to do is click here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above to find out more about Pizza Party and other great Download N Go unit studies. But, The Old Schoolhouse has given me permission to give away a free copy of Pizza Party to one great person. Here's how you can get an entry in for he drawing.

1. Leave a comment below telling me why you would like a copy of Download N Go's Pizza Party (worth one entry).

2. Subscribe to my blog by clicking on the subscribe button at the end of this post and then leave a comment saying that you did (worth one entry).

3. Subscribe to my blog by clicking on the Networked blog button in the left column and then leave a comment saying that you did (worth one entry).

4. Become a fan on my Families Again Facebook page by clicking here and then leave a comment saying that you did (worth one entry).

5. Follow me in Twitter by clicking here and then leave a comment saying that you did (worth one entry).

6. Twitter or Facebook about this give-away and leave a comment with a link to the post(s) (worth one entry per day. Must make a separate comment each day).

7. Blog about this give-away and leave three comments saying that you did (worth 3 entries).

8. Become a fan of Download N Go by clicking on the Download N Go Facebook button in the left hand column and leave two comments saying that you did (worth 2 entries).

I'm going to be holding the drawing a week from today on Sept. 12, so enter quickly.

To find out more about Amanda Bennett and other great products that she produces, click here. And, last but n least, click here to find out what other Download N Go reviewers thought about Pizza Party. Until next time, have fun making pizza and Happy Homeschooling!

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Download N Go review team I was given a free copy of Pizza Party to use and review on my blog.

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Mood:  spacey

Please pray for the Tinkel's...especially me! It has been a wonderful day. Joshua's football game was this morning and grandma came all the way from Oak Ridge to see it! Although his team lost, Joshua did great. Afterwords, we all went out to McDonalds and some of Joshua's teammates showed up. They had a fantastic time playing in the play place. This afternoon, we went to a birthday party at the state park and again Joshua played with friends for about an hour before we had to leave for yet another party (this usually does not happen to us - what a day). This time it was a pool party/barbecue. And mmmmmmmm was it great! Our host is a professional chef and gets things on wholesale. How about pure Angus beef hotdogs for the kids and lamb steaks...yes I said LAMB steaks and vegetable Kabobs for the adults. Joshua had a fantastic time in the pool. Overall it was a fabulous day and Joshua, on his new (actually old) medicine was our sweet Joshua once again...until we got home.

He is tired out and having a meltdown. As I write this he is yelling that he hates his life and that this is the "worstest" day ever. Typical, tired, busy day, medicine has warn off, Joshua. And I have a review to write that was actually due yesterday! Thankfully we have a three day period that we are allowed to post it so I have until tomorrow. I am tired, I can't think straight - especially with a child that is having a meltdown, and I am just not going to try right now. I'm going to set my alarm and try to get it done before church.

So, pray for me. Sunday's are always long days anyway and we are planning on going to Grandma's after evening service for a couple of days to celebrate labor day. Please pray that I will get it done tomorrow morning. Actually, compared to the last three weeks, life is pretty good, so I can't really complain. It's just one of those things that happens. It's just another one of those nights!

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Mood:  a-ok

Last year I had the great pleasure of reviewing Time4Learning's preschool program and Joshua loved it. One of the first things that he covered was shapes, so instead of "Time4Learning", Joshua wanted to play "Shapes" all of the time. Of course, he learned much more than shapes. You can read my review of Time4Learning preschool by clicking here.

This year I got to review Time4Learning's elementary program and, although Jacob wasn't too thrilled, John Allen and Joshua enjoyed it! It was everything that we expected and more. I put Joshua to work on math right away because that is where he is very deficient. He is still learning about money and they had some great lessons on identifying coins and their value, then on adding different coins together. Later he really enjoyed some of the science activities such as learning about magnets. Time4Learning always makes learning fun. Joshua loved the animation. Much of it was hilarious and even Jacob wanted to watch some things over and over again. That's what makes Time4Learning such a great program. They do excellent teaching in very entertaining ways. When the two go together, you can't lose.

Even the older grade sections are great. John Allen worked on pre-algebra, and, although such topics have to get down to brass tacks a little more and not use as much animation, it was still well done with excellent teaching. You really can't go wrong with Time4Learning.

Now, don't get me wrong, Time4Learning has much more than math and science. It has social studies, history, grammar...almost anything you can think of. And, it has printable worksheets to reinforce the online interactive teaching and, for those reluctant learners, there are reward games that you can play. The games are links to some of the best educational and fun game sites on the internet. It's all easy to use with detailed reporting, lesson plans, teaching tools for parents, and it all meets state educational standards. Time4Learning can be used as a stand alone homeschool curriculum or as a supplement to your existing studies.

Now with everything that I've mentioned above you probably think that this must cost an arm and a leg but you would be wrong. Time4Learning only costs $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child! Still not convinced? If you go to there website, Time4Learning has free lessons in all grade levels that you can try out. You can get to their website by clicking here or on any on of the hi-lighted links above. And, don't forget, you can access the reviews of the other TOS Crew members by clicking here. Give it a try, I don't think you will be disappointed. Happy home educating! 

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given a free 30 day membership of Time4Learning's elementary edition in order to try out and to review on my blog.

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Mood:  happy

Anyway, his old medication seemed to be wearing off too soon, and, since we were at the max. for what he could get, we couldn't up his prescription. So, after talking with our doctor, we decided to switch him to a different medication. I was reluctant at first, because I always hate switching medications with my kids, but we decided to try it and watch him carefully for any side effects. Well, after a week and a half, there was no difference. In fact, he was worse. So, we upped the new medication. Instead of getting better he got even worse! This went on for about another week and a half. He was inattentive, got upset very easily, homeshool was a bust...nothing got done. His worst on the old medicine was 10 times better than this new medicine.

Last weekend we had had enough so promptly on Monday we called the doctor again. Together we decided to try his old medication again in an extended release version. It has been wonderful! Our old Joshua is back! Kind, sweet, eager to learn (most of the time )...he was our little boy again! And we are thrilled. Thank you for all of your prayers.

And thank you, Lord, for our son Joshua. Thank you for always taking care of him and guiding to do what is best for him. Thank you for your care for all of us. Amen 

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