VidMatrix Review

VIdMaxtrix Review

The problem of 0.... (a numeral & counter story)

Bub asked to work with numerals and counters today. I put away our Valentine's Day counters last week, and haven't gotten St. Patrick's Day ones together yet. Our plain numerals and counters are boxed up due to some home repair we have going on.

So, I quickly wrote out numbers 0-10 on 10 pieces of cardstock. For counters, I gave him a bowl of white chocolate chips.

Since Bub has mastered 0-10 numerals & counters quite a long time ago, I left him to work alone at the Table while I worked with Princess on her reading. When I came back to check on bub a bit later, he had the numerals ordered on the table, but not a single chocolate-chip counter laid out.

As I watched, Bub laaid a single chocolate-chip counter under the 0, then mumbled to himself, " Oops... 0 means none. I should get rid of this counter...", then proceeded to get rid of the chocolate chip-counter by eating it! Then, he went through the process again.. and again... until all the chocolate chip-counters were gone!

And what we learned..... edible manipulatives are distracting. And 0 does, indeed, mean "none".

"The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge": Review and Giveaway

The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge is a devotional unlike any I have seen!  A combination of the real life experience of former NFL head coach Tony Dungy and motivational devotional entries, this book is designed to go beyond a simple devotional - its intended to truly motivate a real life change.

This book cycles through seven different themes: core, family, friends, potential, mission, influence and faith.  Tony Dungy uses his experience as a former NFL head coach as an introduction to each devotional entry, providing insight into both his life and his faith.  Each devotional entry is ended with a daily challenge, designed to help you change your life and practice your faith more fully!




For more information on the daily life challenge, check out this informative video by Coach Dungy.

This is truly not a book to be missed.  Tyndale House Publisher and Coach Tony Dungy are offering a certificate for a free copy of The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge to one blog reader!  Take the uncommon life challenge and let it renew your life and your faith. 

And now.... onto the book giveaway!

Tyndale House Publisher and Coach Tony Dungy have generously offered a certificate for a copy of The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge to one blog reader.  This giveaway will be open till February 8th. 

Whew, we're back!

Well, we had a but of an unexpected break! We had a minor water-on-laptop issue, then Christmas, then three birthdays thus far in January!

But, we're back now, at least a few days a week. Stay tuned for our first ever give-away next week, some great product reviews, and fun activities.

So glad to be back!

Salt dough ornaments!

First, forgive the sporadic posting lately, and the lack of pictures in this post.  My Macbook crashed (I know.. I know.. they aren't supposed to do that!), and we're waiting till after Christmas to replace it.  So, more regular posting should resume then, but for now, here's how we made salt dough ornaments yesterday!

I used my stand mixer to make these easier, but make sure to wash the bowl right away - salt dough is rough to get off once it dries, and it dries fast!

In the stand mixer, combine:
1/2 c table salt
1/2 c water
1 c all purpose flour

Let it mix until a sticky dough forms.  I use floured wax paper on the counter, then knead the sticky dough for about 5 minutes - you will feel it become more elastic as you knead it.

At this point, I divided the dough into three pieces.  Each of the  kids had a piece of floured wax paper, some small cookie cutters, and a straw.  They (quickly) rolled their dough - keep an eye on them to make sure they get it to between 1/2 and 1/4 of an inch.  Then they cut the dough with their cutters.  I put all the cut ornaments onto a cookie pan, and helped the kids use their straws to poke holes.

At this point, the dough goes into the oven on it's lowest temperature setting (mine goes to 200) overnight (or for at least 6-7 hours).  Once the ornaments cool, they can be painted or drawn on.  Use pretty ribbon or string in the holes to hang the ornaments onto the tree.

New Living Translation Giveaway!

I got an email recently about a nice giveaway happening, so I thought I'd share the details with you!

The email said:
Starting on November 29^th until December 24^th at the New Living Translation Facebook page we're giving away lots of great prizes and something free for you just for singing up.
By visiting the giveaway entry page (located on the NLT Facebook page, the link is under the profile picture) and entering your name and e-mail address you'll be entered to win the following prizes:

• One random person each day will win a Life Application Study Bible Family Pack (Guys Life Application Study Bible hc, Girls Life Application Study Bible hc, Student's Life Application Study Bible hc, Life Application Study Bible hc, Life Application Study Bible Large Print hc).
• One Random person each week will win an Apple iPad 2!

Everyone that signs up gets a free download copy of the Life Application Bible Study – Book of Luke!

I just "liked" their facebook page and entered my information, so I got my download copy of the Book of Luke by the Life Application Bible Study - looking forward to checking it out!

Christmas vowel sound sorting

Have I mentioned that I love Christmas?  Here's yet another Christmas-themed educational activity that was super-easy and a ton of fun for the kids.

Here's what I put on one of our trays this morning.  

Each of the trees has a vowel on the top "a" through "u", and the stocking is full of phonics objects that I ordered from Montessori Services.

I made sure that each of the objects was a one syllable, short word with an easily identifiable middle vowel sound (ie, "jet", "tag", "nut", "pad", "bag", etc.).

The kid's goal was to sort each of the gifts under the correct tree according to the middle vowel sound.  So, "pad", "car", "tag", "bag" went under the "a" tree, "jet" went under the "e" tree, "lid" went under the "i" tree, "dog" and "pot" went under the "o", and "nut", "cup" and "mug" went under the "u" tree..