More Fall Fun...

We decided to try our hand at some Fall Tie-Dye shirts. I think we will try this project again in the summer so we can work outside! They turned out pretty cute.


Rider's Shirt


Noah's Shirt

Micah's Shirt

I found some cute games and craft projects over at The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. She has lots of great ideas over there! If you havent visited her blog, you should definitely check it out.

This is a game that all the kids enjoyed. It was quick and easy to make and inexpensive too, which is always a plus!

All you need are some ping pong balls and colored markers. The object of the game is to bounce the "eyeballs" into the pumpkin or in Rider's case- to throw them all over the house! Its harder than you might think...unless you play Rider's version. Ha!

The boys have laughed and laughed about this one. It was another idea from Jenn's blog.

Josh's turned out perfect --right down to his purple pants!

We also made these pumpkin and ghost decorations for the front yard. They were so easy and turned out sooo cute.

These are a few of the fun fall things we have done so far. This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the colors, smells, and temperature of fall! I have a few more ideas for this last week of October and then....on to Thanksgiving!

Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Carving

We had a great time at the Corn Maze. You had to make your way through the maze and get 5 different stamps to form a pumpkin face to get a bag of goodies and be entered to win a free I-Pad.

There was also a hay slide which the kids really enjoyed. As you can see, there were threats of rain and thunderstorms but fortunately the storm came before and after our 3 hours there. Yeah!!!!

Everyone did some carving and painting but some how I only managed to get pictures of Noah doing the hard work!

Here is Micah's....

Noah's...

and Rider's....

Here they all are on the front porch... I Love Fall!!!!

Human Body...God gave us a brain!

This week we started a unit on the Human Body. Each week we will be focusing on a specific area and this week we learned all about the brain. We are using this book from Teacher Created Materials and when we are finished we will have a paper replica of our bodies.

Each week we will add body parts to our life size mural. Micah decided he would volunteer for the tracing while Noah took the pictures.

These are a few of the books we read to learn more about this amazing part of our bodies.

We finished up the week with some fun experiments.

This first one is called "Reading Rainbows" . We read the words on the list as fast as we could and then we read the list again saying the color that the word was written in. Which one is easier to do?

Explanation: Different areas of the brain have different jobs and it sends the info to two different places so your brain gets confused. The dominant part of your brain is the part that understands language so it is easier to name the color that the word spells out.

We tried "Think Fast, Act Faster" to see how long it takes for our bodies to react to messages from our brain.

And of course, we had to try to spin like a top and learn about how our bodies balance themselves...all in the name of science!!!

Micah taking his turn. We had to try this one about 10 times to make sure our research was accurate. ** smiles**

We also learned that not only do we have a dominant hand but that we also have a dominant eye. The boys were also very interested to find out that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa.

This is the book we are using for a lot of the experiments we will be doing over the entire unit. It has some great ideas with easy to gather materials which is a must around here!

I picked this book up at the library and we have had a lot of fun with it. Some of the tests include....

• Optimist/Pessimist
• Introvert/Extrovert
• How observant are you?

We also checked out some optical illusions online and talked about how and why they work.

We had a great week and the boys are looking forward to next weeks topic....the heart!

DNG's Terrific Tigers Review and Giveaway

Who isnt captivated by these gorgeous animals? Or concerned about their precarious situation on the brink of extinction? Did you know that there are only 3,000-5,000 tigers left in the wild? These are just a few of the things we learned about this week with DNG's "Terrific Tigers" !

Let me tell you about these DNG units in general and then I will give you a little more information about Terrific Tigers specifically.








Each DNG unit is geared to children K-4 but could easily be expanded to use with older children. Everything you need is here…websites, activities, videos, and lapbook pieces! All the work is done for you! There is also a very extensive list of books to go along with your studies. Prep time for the teacher is minimal. Mainly printing and putting books on hold if you so choose. Just as the name suggests, you just download & go!








"Terrific Tigers" is broken down into 5 days/objectives:

1. What is a Tiger?

2. Getting to know Tigers

3. Where are Tigers?

4. The Science of Tigers

5. Cool Things about Tigers

This has been one of my boys favorites so far. They have both decided that they want to be be involved in animal rescue/conservation. The videos included in this study are both breath taking and heartbreaking. If you have animal lovers in your home like I do, then dont miss "Terrific Tigers".

Take a look at some of the beautiful lapbook pieces and activities included in "Terrific Tigers".

You and your children will learn about a different subspecies of tiger every day. Geography, vocabulary, science, and even literature is included! We checked out lots of books and videos to go along with our study and really came away with a new and greater appreciation for these amazing animals.

I would gladly recommend these Download & Go Units to anyone. You can order them individually for $7.95 each. Check out all the titles they offer here!

Check out the "Terrific Tigers" Blog Tour here.

Now for the giveaway!

Here’s how to win your very own copy of the DNG's Terrific Tigers unit:

Leave a seperate comment for each entry and be sure and include your email address so that I have a way to reach you if you are the winner!

TOS/DNG affiliates including the DNG Review Team and TOS Crew are not eligible to win.

1. Let me know what is your favorite species of tiger

2. Follow my blog

3. Write a blog post about my giveaway and link back and leave me a comment that you did.

Contest ends October 29th, 2010 @ 12pm MST.

***Disclaimer Statement*** We were provided a copy of this product, free of charge, for the purpose of writing an honest review. The opinions stated above are those of myself or my children.

Schoolhouse Student Planner Review

I am so impressed with the Schoolhouse Student Planner High School Edition. It includes everything your student will need to successfully plan and prepare for their high school and college years. It is important to me that my student becomes more independent and responsible for his schooling and these planners are a very useful tool to accomplish that goal.


They are written directly to the student and include a wide variety of forms, calendars, schedules, planners, book logs, and much more! I really appreciated the lists of important information. I have never seen a planner so comprehensive but so flexible. It will work for your student and home school! The forms are completely customizable by typing your information directly into the planner. You can save a copy on your hard drive or print off exactly what you need. No more wasted paper and ink on pages you don’t really need.


A benefit for me, beyond the accountability for my student, is having all the information for transcripts all in one place and easily accessible. I think that this planner would be an incredible asset to anyone who is planning on homeschooling through high school.


I wish it had been available before my older two children graduated from our homeschool. Fortunately, I have three more students who will be able to benefit from these planners. Thanks TOS for making my life a little bit easier.

You can learn more and purchase your own planner here.

They are available in 4 age-appropriate levels.

Primary Planner—grades K–3
Secondary School Planner—grades 4–6
Middle School Planner—grades 7–8
High School Planner—grades 9–12

*** Disclaimer Statement*** I was given a free copy, in exchange for an honest review. The opinions given above are that of myself and/or my children.

Happy Birthday Download N Go!

Download N Go is turning one and to celebrate they are having a great contest and special deals everyday this week. Hurry the celebration ends Saturday, Oct. 9th, 2010!