Why We Switched Math Programs to Teaching Textbooks

Why We Switched Math Programs to Teaching Textbooks

We've been homeschooling since 1994 so we have been at this for a minute. For over 20 years we used a very popular curriculum that's been around for many years. It was used in many public and private schools but not really geared toward homeschool students. It was a thorough program and met the needs at the time.

However, in recent years, our lives have become a little more hectic and unpredictable. These changes came due to the health issues of my sister and my dad. Basically, we needed something a little more "hands-off" for me. So, I reluctantly tried Teaching Textbooks.

Teaching Textbooks -Teaching Textbooks allowed me to easily set up a schedule and it does the teaching and grading for me.

We set up a system...a "standard operating procedure" for math. The kids, at the time a 1st grader, 6th grader, and 8th grader, would watch the lesson, complete the practice problems, and then complete the lesson problems. If they missed a problem, they were to try again. If they missed it a second time, they were to watch the video that shows HOW that problem was solved. This allowed them to learn from their mistakes as they did the work...which did not happen when I had to grade their work because, honestly, I would fall behind trying to grade math for three kids and still run a household and care for other family needs.

Moving them to this curriculum allowed them to keep up with their math lessons even if I was unavailable and I could log into the parent side, review their progress and even reset a problem they had missed or even a whole lesson if I felt they weren't comprehending it well.

It really has worked well for our family and I enjoy the freedom it has given us. We do use the CD version of the program and it's loaded on our laptop. Since it's loaded ON the laptop, we can do math anywhere...even in the car! This is great when our schedule takes us away from home for the day or we are traveling.

Give it a try! You might love it as much as we do! 

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A Nice Surprise

Today we had a repair man come to the house to repair a recliner we purchased two years ago. We rarely have repairmen in the house since my hubby is very handy at fixing pretty much anything but since this piece of furniture has a lifetime warranty on the mechanism and that was the problem...Tom was here to put in the new parts.

    As you can imagine, our younger two were totally entertained by watching Tom install the parts. I'm almost sure I saw one of his ears fall off from their talking so much, telling him stories, asking him questions...you know, all the normal things we hear ALL day, EVERY day.

    It wasn't surprising that Tom was patient, after all he is a grandpa and has a granddaughter about the same age as the Princess. What was surprising is that as soon as he discovered that we home school our children, he went on and on about how great it is for children. This comes as quite a surprise because most people are not real encouraging. Tom, however, was very informed on what home schooling is and how it works! He talked about how well children who are home schooled do on tests, how most of them turn out as great citizens and just, in general, bragging on them.

    So...Tom, thanks for your encouraging words. You probably won't know how much you lifted my weary heart. Home schooling is hard and it's nice to have a cheering section.

Blessings to you,
Mavis D.

Wordy Wednesday - My Little LadyBug

Recently we participated in co-op classes with our local homeschool group. This cute little bug learned all about God's creatures with our good friends "Confetti" and "Cranberry." 

Adorable, right? :)

Perfect Rice...Every Time

Photo courtesy of ScottChan of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 How many times have I made rice and it turned out to be a huge sticky mess? I can't begin to count the times! All I wanted was rice that sat nicely on a plate and I could put stir fry over or I could use it in fried rice, one of my favorite foods!
Well, I've tried and tried and just couldn't get the hang of it. Now, finally after all these years, I've figured out something that works for me! EVERY. TIME! The great thing about this method is that it doesn't much effort and if you do a little planning, you won't be using any extra electric or extra appliances (yes, I almost bought a "rice cooker" before I discovered this method).

So...lets get started.

The amount of rice doesn't matter...whatever you need for your family. For ours we usually make one cup of dry rice so we end up with about two cups of cooked rice.

You'll need a covered baking dish. If you don't have a regular casserole dish you can use whatever you have and cover it with foil but I prefer my Corning Ware dishes. Put one cup of rice in the dish and add two cups of water, add a dash of salt (if desired but it's not necessary) and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place the lid on the dish and bake it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and let it sit another 15 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and serve.

Now the way I save on energy is I'll bake a dish or two of rice while I'm baking something else. If I'm not serving it with dinner I let it cool off some then I put it in the refrigerator for later use. Most of the time it becomes part of lunch for the next day when I have something that calls for cold rice...like fried rice!

Here's another tip: If you are using it for fried rice, instead of adding two cups of water, replace 1/4 of a cup of water with soy sauce. Then when you make your fried rice the next day you won't need to add the soy sauce so you won't need to wait for it to evaporate when you are frying the rice. It really makes the rice crispy.

Have a great day!
Mavis D.

Sautéed Zucchini

I've been trying to be more creative with side dishes and use potatoes and rice a little less. I've been on a lower card diet for about 10 weeks now so I've had to get creative so we aren't eating the same things over and over. Today I made Sautéed Zucchini and it was a big hit, even with the one kid that says he doesn't like veggies much but just tolerates them! LOL!

Anyway, here it is, I hope you like it!

Two zucchini squash, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter (you can use olive oil if you like)
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
Salt & pepper to taste


Coarsely chop zucchini, toss with salt, pepper and parsley then set aside. In a nonstick skillet, heat butter on medium/high heat. Add zucchini mixture and cook until about half done...this will be to your taste, some like it a little tender-crisp and some like it a little more soft. When you have about a minute of cook time left, add your garlic. If you're handy with flipping it with just the skillet, you can do that , otherwise, toss using a spatula. :)

Serve immediately.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry...I was trying to hold the pan and take the picture without fogging up the camera! :) 

Have a great day!

Homemade Coleslaw Dressing

I've been looking for a recipe for a coleslaw dressing that we liked. My mom just mixes mayonnaise and vinegar but we didn't like that flavor much so I've been experimenting and we've finally decided on a winner.

I just make it up as needed, there no reason to make up too much at a time. I'd say we have coleslaw about once per week and it only takes a few minutes to mix it up so it's fresh!

Using a pint size jar, add three tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of salt and three tablespoons of vinegar.
Shake or stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add 3/4 cup of "salad dressing" (some people call all of the white sandwich spreads mayonnaise but if you look closely, there is actually two different products...we prefer the salad dressing version). After you've added your mayo or "salad dressing" put the lid on tight and shake it up. Right before serving, pour dressing over your shredded cabbage and carrots, then toss to coat.

We used to buy the Kraft Coleslaw dressing but now we use this instead. It works out to be about 35c per mix and the Kraft is about $1.50 per bottle.

Hope you enjoy!

The Great Search!

     I was beginning to think our family was just really hard on can openers! Either that or we simply couldn't operate one correctly! We've tried several over the last few years trying to find one that will hold up without leaving shreds of metal around the top of the can or that doesn't mess up the can do bad you can't even come close to getting it open!
     Finally I did some homework! I planned on getting a quality can open that will open all size cans and last at least a year...longer if it cost was on the high side.
     So, I found one...it's called a Swing-a-Way and it's made by Amco. It looks a lot like one we had years ago but lost. Now the only problem was finding one locally because we needed one last week! After a little more searching I found a local dealer and purchase TWO! After just a few day I know this was a good purchase and I'm sharing the info with my friends. Ok...I'm sharing the info with anyone who stands still for more than 2 minutes! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fox Run Craftsmen Swing-A-Way Can Opener

Menu Plan Monday - August 29

Today I am planning a "baking day" so I'll be making at least two loaves of bread and various other things like muffins, whole wheat buns, wheat rolls and probably some cookies. Since I'll be baking most of the day, I'll put dinner in the crockpot so I won't need to worry about it later when I'm tired!

One thing I have done to make menu planning easier was to make a list of all the meals we enjoy. So far, I have about 42 meals in our rotation and I'll add to the list as we try new recipes and find more "favorites." This is what our menu looks like for the week.

Monday - Chuck roast with potatoes, carrots and onions
Tuesday - Herbed chicken, rice pilaf and green salad
Wednesday - Taco salad
Thursday - Chicken Spaghetti with green salad
Friday - Scalloped potatoes with turkey ham, green beans
Saturday - Homemade pizza
Sunday -  Chicken & Dressing casserole

What will you be serving this week?

Menu Plan Monday - August 1st

This week is going to be CRAZY! We're having VBS at our church this week so we'll need to be out the door by 5:30pm. We'll eat dinner at home and take dads dinner to him so he can scarf it down before he goes to teach class! We're so looking forward to it...our kids all love to attend VBS. So...even though we'll be away from home each night this week, we'll still be able to have normal meals...except Monday because we are also having a bowling day with our homeschool group. :)

I'm also going to start planning our meals for Saturday and Sunday. In the past, I've kind of flew by the seat of my pants but that's clearly NOT working! Saturdays are usually pretty laid back so I'll plan a big pot of something and they eat on that throughout the day. Sunday afternoon is utter chaos, hungry children and having to stop by the store is NO fun so...we'll probably have a crockpot meal or something that can be popped into the oven. I really don't like stopping by the store on the way home to pick something up...it's simply too expensive.

So...here's what's on our menu:

Monday - meal out (between skating and VBS)
Tuesday - Scalloped potatoes with turkey ham (crockpot meal)
Wednesday - Cheesy Chicken enchiladas with green salad
Thursday - BBQ chicken sandwiches on homemade wheat buns
Friday - Family pizza night
Saturday - Italian Vegetable soup with wheat crackers (recipe to come)
Sunday - Beef stroganoff served over egg noodles

What's on your plate this week?

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

Tonight time sort of got away from me and before I knew it, it was dinner time and there was nothing to eat. The natives were restless and hungry! So I threw together my version of chicken cacciatore. It's super easy because I used pre-cooked, de-boned chicken. This works especially well since I don't really like the skin left on it and a lot of the recipes I've seen call for leaving the skin on. So...here's my version (photo coming soon!)

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

1-2 pounds cooked, skinless, de-boned chicken (any parts you like)
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes with liquid
2 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

Put your chicken in a large skillet and brown it a little on medium heat. Add the peppers, onions and garlic...toss to mix. Pour diced tomatoes with liquid over the top and mix together. Add seasoning...simmer 10 minutes until heated through and veggies are tender. Serve over prepared pasta or rice.

This is a yummy quick meal and I make it even easier because I use pre-cooked chicken that I have ready in the freezer. I also use peppers and onions that are already diced and in the freezer. When I do that, I can make dinner from start to finish in about 15 minutes!

What meal do you have that can be made in 15 minutes that fills your hungry bunch? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Menu Plan Monday

Hi Everyone!

Well, it's our second week back to school and to keep things from getting crazier around here...I'm actually planning our meals! Oh yeah...it does make life easier! Also, we're having several of my older sons favorites because he's finally back from all his mission trips this summer! So, this is what we're having:

Monday - Spaghetti with Italian turkey sausage, green salad and garlic bread
Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday - Mexican Chicken Casserole and green beans
Thursday - Meatloaf, homemade mac and cheese and green peas
Friday - homemade pizza and green salad

Hopefully I'll be able to throw in a few fresh sliced veggies after our trip to a local farm on Tuesday. :) I'm not sure what they'll have available...it's pretty hot here in Arkansas and gardens are burning up.

Frustrated with Netflix Price Increase?

Are you frustrated with Netflix recent price increase? Many are. I've heard the complaints and well, we all get a little miffed when our bill increases but I still believe that Netflix is a good value. Here's why:

• Renting a movie...even the older titles would be at least $1 per movie, multiply that by 30 days in a month and you've already spent $30. If you choose the dvd/streaming combo, you'll pay bout $16 and you can watch more than one per day. This still fits in our $20 per month "entertainment" budget for our family.
• We haven't had cable in a LONG time but the lowest cost cable package I have seen is around $25 per month...not including fees. You can watch all you want but you'll pay extra for movie channels. 
• One of my favorite things about Netflix...NO COMMERCIALS! Oh yeah...this one is great! I can watch what I want without being bombarded by commercials every 5 minutes. This in itself saves me money and not just my spending but my kids won't be seeing all the stuff they don't have and screaming for me to buy it for them.

So...did you get miffed that they changed their pricing? Let me hear it. 

Giveaway at Smockity Frocks

Being a large family ourselves...I love giveaways! Especially if they help keep my budget in check!

Check out the giveaway at Smockity Frocks....a pantry can of each: strawberries, apple chips and taco flavored TVP. Now let me tell you, I haven't tried Shelf Reliances TVP but I have tried their strawberries and apple chips...they are great! They are great healthy snacks and are good to put in instant oatmeal to make your own "packs" for easy serving.

Go check it out!

7 Ways to Get more Fruits and Veggies without Breaking the Budget

As we talked about yesterday, on June 2nd the USDA released their new MyPlate guidelines. The new guidelines show a diet filled with more fruits and vegetables with less grains. Have you looked at the price of fresh produce in the grocery stores? Not a pretty site! And many people, including our family, have always viewed the "grains" as fillers....I know rice, pasta and breads are cheap ways to fill up a hungry teenage boy and at that age, they are able to burn all those extra carbohydrates and calories. Of course, it probably sets a bad habit for them to fight in later life?

So....how can we increase the fruits and veggies without breaking the grocery budget? Well, I have some ideas.

1. Many of us use the meat as the "centerpiece" on our plates. We'll throw a big hunk of meat on there and then the rest of the plate was given to fillers and a little veggies. Fruits were usually reserved as dessert or a snack. Change your thinking...if the veggies and fruit take a larger role on our plate, then we'll be spending less money on meat or "proteins" as the MyPlate guideline shows. 
2. Buy fresh produce in season. This is a no-brainer. If the produce is not in season, it is picked early, shipped from long distances and has a higher cost especially as the cost of fuel rises. Learning to buy produce in season for your area may mean that you try new types of produce...that's not a bad thing. Have fun with it.  You might find a new favorite! 
3. Shop at discount stores like Aldi's. The Aldi's store near us gets their produce shipment in on Tuesdays. That means I am there usually on Wednesday buying our produce for the week. The produce varies but I have always found it cheaper. For example, our local Walmart and other grocers charge about $2.88 per head of califlower but at Aldi's, it's $1.49. Bell peppers at other grocers cost about $0.89 each...at Aldi's, I've purchased them in a three pack for $0.99 on sale with a regular price of $1.49. That's quite a savings. Of course, I stock up on them when they are on sale...bring them home and slice or dice them to put in the freezer. 
4. Check the "discounted" bin at your local grocer. If you are uncertain where it's located in your store, ask the produce manager.  Just because it's marked down doesn't mean it's bad...choose the best packages from those available. When you get it home, if you don't plan to use it immediately, chop it up and put it in the freezer.
5. Find your local restaurant supplier. In or near every town there is a company that supplies produce to local restaurants. Find that company...they are usually listed in the phone book but you can also call your favorite restaurant and simply ask where they get their produce. Then contact that company and find out if they offer sales to the public. Many of them do. If you must buy a case of something to get the special pricing...find friends to go in with you to buy a case and then divide it up.
6. Don't forget frozen and/or canned fruits and veggies. Although fresh is best, sometimes we must use alternatives. Frozen foods would be the second best to fresh as it's "flash frozen" and retains a lot of the vitamins and minerals. Canned is also fine, however, with fruits, try to choose those canned in fruit juice or light syrup instead of heavy syrup. 
7. Lastly, it might be in your best interest to have a small garden. If you are new to gardening or it sounds daunting, I recommend the "Square Foot Gardening" method. It's great because it produces a lot of stuff in a small area. It's great for rural areas, city lots and even those who live in apartments or townhouses.

I hopes these ideas have helped. What do you do to keep the costs of fruits and veggies down? Share them with us by leaving a comment.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

5 Reasons I Like the New MyPlate Guidelines

On June 2nd, the USDA announced their new nutritional guidelines replacing the outdated (and I believe, flawed) "food pyramid." Of course, there is already quite a bit of talk about big changes like this and people are chiming in with their opinions. I figured....I feed a large household ranging in ages from older adults (hubby and myself) to our 17 month old baby girl...I should be interested in what they recommend. This is what the new guideline picture looks like.

Pretty huh? Well...in short, I think it's a better plan than the old pyramid and here are the five reasons I like the new MyPlate guidelines:

1. I think it's a more balanced look at what we should be eating. More fruits and veggies than the higher carbohydrates found in the former "grains" section of the old pyramid. 
2. I think the picture itself will help see what our plates should look like. Perhaps that's because I'm a very visual person. :)
3. It's a lot easier to remember! This will help a great deal in not only planning meals but making sure they are portioned correctly. 
4. Fats and sweets are not represented ON the place setting. This automatically tells us that we should not consider them our main sources of food or calories and to use them sparingly. We all know we use those items in our cooking and serving. 
5. Because of the ease of design and use...I think more people will be able to follow it. That's always a good thing. 

Go check it out at MyPlate ...be sure to check all the links for the sections, it's really gone into quite some detail about what should be included in that area. I do know one thing...we'll be switching out some of our old standbys with healthier options like replacing white rice with brown rice. Basically, getting more whole grains in our meals than fillers. 

So...what do you think about the new guidelines? Do you think you can follow them and still keep your grocery budget in check? I'll have more about that tomorrow!

Menu Plan Monday

Hi All!

We had a busy day so I'm just now getting to post a little more. I hope you all went to enter the giveaway that Robin is doing....if not, go and do it now....I'll wait for you! :)

Monday - grilled chicken, fresh cooked carrots, mashed potatoes and coleslaw
Tuesday - spaghetti with meatballs, fresh green salad and garlic french bread
Wednesday - pot roast with potatoes and carrots (crockpot!)
Thursday - I'm going to try and find a new chicken recipe to try..any suggestions using chicken hind-quarters?
Friday - burgers, herbed potatoes and a movie! Ok..we won't EAT the movie. :)

If you haven't noticed, our normal Friday night pizza night has had a little change. That's because our son, who normally makes our pizza for us, is on a mission trip to Nicaragua. He'll be gone for almost 3 weeks and they are providing a medical clinic however, the medicine that they took with them is being held by the government. Please pray that the medicine will be released so they can provide the clinic. Also pray for their safety there and in travel back home! Thanks!

Mavis D.

Spelling Software Giveaway!

My friend, Robin, is giving away a cool spelling tool on her blog....go check it out and enter to win! Hurry...the giveaway ends soon!

Crockpot Chicken & Dressing

We love turkey and dressing...or chicken and dressing and we like to have it more than just at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This casserole fits the bill....it's easy and it's great for the summer when you don't want to heat the house up using the oven although you can put it in the oven.

2 pounds chicken, cooked, deboned and cut into bite size pieces (use the pieces you like, light or dark meat)
2 packages cornbread dressing (16oz)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
water

This is really easy! Mix everything together except the water. You might need some and you might not...just add it if you need it. You're going for a well moisten consistency. Spray your crockpot with non-stick spray to make clean up easier. Dump the mixture into the crockpot and smooth out the top. Cook on low, 3-4 hours.

If you want to bake it in the oven....spread it in a 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

It's so yummy and creamy....I hope you like it as much as our family does. By the way, this is a great "make ahead" meal...put it in the fridge or freezer and have it later so feel free to make a double batch.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Menu Plan Monday

What a great weekend we had! Just lounging around do nuthin'! LOL! Here's our menu for this week...you'll notice we will not be having our regular pizza night on Friday. Our pizza maker, Stefen, will be traveling on a mission trip and be gone for two weeks. Please keep him in your prayers!

Monday - Beef stroganoff
Tuesday - grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies
Wednesday - mac and cheese with turkey ham, green beans, cake for dessert (birthday)
Thursday - chicken fajitas
Friday - Lasagna!

What are YOU having this week?

Wow! What a Day!

This has been an interesting day! As I've mentioned, it's HOT here in Arkansas but today I decided to get some baking done. I wanted to do enough to last at least a week so I made 5 loaves of bread, two to keep out and three to freeze. Then I made a triple batch of granola....not the kids favorite "Chocolate Granola" flavor but it might actually last a few days! *grin* Then, I made a double batch of oatmeal and white chocolate chip cookies...Yummy!

Now I am off to fold laundry.

What have you been able to accomplish today? Leave a comment and let me know!