Bannock

What is this you ask? Well until this morning I would not have been able to tell you. It all started with breakfast, I asked my boys what they wanted this morning. They both ran for the cook books and began browsing through, decided there was nothing there of interest, closed them and put them back. Then my youngest said "Hey I know let's make something Native American, we can look on the internet." Sure I'm game Friday is cooking day and we are studying the Native Americans, so onto the computer we go, conduct our search and view a variety of different foods the Native Americans may have eaten for breakfast. We see the bannock and decide to take a look plus it had a five star rating. We make sure we have all the ingredients and are off to make breakfast. Bannock is a fried bread, it is very easy to make and the boys loved it. They said it was a combination of a biscuit and pancake. I encouraged them to try it with different things such as butter, honey, jelly (had none) and they suggested syrup. I personally liked it with just butter, though the syrup was good which is what the boys chose. We made two batches today and have a new recipe for breakfast which is quick and easy. I feel bannock could be eaten at any time of the day or even as a snack with some jelly, yummy. Looking for something new to try or add to your study of Native Americans this is it.

Bannock

Native American Breakfast Recipes
Here you can view all the recipes we had to chose from.

Native American Lunch and Dinner
This link contains more recipes for those who may be interested in lunch and dinner dishes also. There are 43,532 guess we need to try some more.

Usborne Books and More Wish List

I have noticed a great number of individuals have visited the Usborne Books and More site. I want to let you know that you can create a wish list for the child/children in your lives. This will be a great way to let your friends and family know what they can purchase books for a birthday or Christmas. These are not just any books they are award winning books, books which come with a guarantee that if anything happens during their lifetime they will be replaced at 50% of the original cost, so if you spend $6.00 for a book it will be replaced for $3.00. What other book company gives you this offer on the favorite books in your child's life? Create your wish list today and get the books into the hands that you love, give the gift of reading and learning to a child in your life. There is also the option of an e-show to earn the books and more for FREE ask me how, I would love to help.

The Importance of Early Education

I know early education is important, but wanted documented research to back up my beliefs. If an individual conducts a search for the importance of early education just like any other search a variety of links appear. I read through a variety to make sure that each was consistent with what others had to say. The most interesting of these came from two different sites the first was the state of Ohio government site and the second from a web site simply entitled "Math & Reading Help." The biggest consistency I found was that between birth and age five is a very important time in the development of a child. It is for this reason that I seek to enable all caregivers with the tools to aid in both the development and education of the child/children in their lives.

As a distributor for Story Time Felts I provide products which appeal to four of the five senses of a child along with the three main learning styles, hands on, audio and visual. This product is an investment in not only one child but will last beyond them and can be shared with their children. The product is not only durable, but also machine washable. The wonderful part is that these wonderful products can be obtained for FREE through hosting a catalog or home party.

Usborne Books and More provide books from birth to Jr high. They help children to learn about the world they live in and cover a variety of subjects and topics. I love the Usborne mission statement which states "The future of our world depends on the education of our children." Which fits in with my belief that the children are our greatest natural resource and my personal motto “Never stop learning?" Books give us any type of information we are seeking, by reading to children from the time they are born will aid in developing two important things a love of reading and their vocabulary. These wonderful books can also be obtained through hosting a party and along with options previously mentioned also include an online option.

Both of these great companies love to visit daycares, pre-schools, schools and libraries in order to aid them in obtaining FREE educational materials as well.

Because I am new to the Usborne family I am able to supply double the amount of FREE product to twenty hostess which reach $250.00 in sales and one party booked from theirs to be held no more than four weeks after the show it was booked at. This however does not apply to shows conducted online. For those interested in joining this great endeavor I am able to offer them the consultant kit at half the price.


Ohio Government

Math & Reading Help

United States History, Native Americans

I found this great site containing a whole text book for United States History. The nice thing about this site is that the text is geared towards ages K-16. Depending on the age/grade that is being taught depends on which curriculum will be utilized. We are using this, this year and I love the price even though you need to print out worksheets for the lessons. At this time we are working on the Native Americans before Columbus, because it is geared towards a class I have altered this part. Groups were supposed to be formed each one taking a tribe from the various areas. Instead each one of the children has chosen a tribe to study and report on from each area. We are utilizing library books to conduct the research, but I know you can find plenty of information on the internet.

Crossroads, American History

Native Americans I love Mr Donn for history this site is a must bookmark. Click on the link for clip art to give reports more visual appeal or for notebooks and lapbooks.

Fun With Electronics

Before school starts I have the boys make a list of what they would like to learn about. My oldest not only wanted to build a robot he also was interested in learning more about electronics. I was a little leery of this due to his ability to become frustrated when he is unable to achieve his goal. We started with easier robots because of this and I searched the Rainbow Resource catalog for anything pertaining to electronics. If you have ever seen their catalog it is huge, not so much because they carry a large amount of product, but reviews are included on every thing they sell. This was helpful to me as I searched and decided on “Fun with Electronics.” I again became leery when I read that there was a work bench that required assembly before any of the projects could be completed. However this boy who would become easily frustrated sat silently and worked intently to assembly the work bench.



I was impressed that while it was time consuming and required approximately four hours to assembly he did it (not all in one day.) Projects included are fading light, ambulance siren, burglar alarm just to name a few, altogether there are twenty five different projects to conduct. Everything needed to complete the projects is included except for the nine volt battery which is required. The book which is included gives information on the different electronic items utilized in the work bench, which is made out of card board. Rainbow Resource states in their catalog that children ages 5 and up can utilize this product and costs $15.00. My son who is utilizing this is twelve, he says it is fun and very exciting to conduct the first project.

Total Language Plus

Seeking to do a study in literature and browsing through a variety of products and reviews led to the purchase of Learning Language Plus “The Hobbit.” While I wanted something which was more analytical the up points are that there was no purchase of a spelling curriculum, it is incorporated into the program. While there is some grammar an additional program is highly recommended. The spelling words are also used for vocabulary as well and aid in the retention of the new words students are introduced to such as flummoxed and necromancer. While the book is to be read the first day we have done one chapter a day when there are multiple chapters to be read. The reading worksheet has the questions broken down by chapters making it easy to complete as the chapters are read. All worksheets are broken down through out the week by letters, so on Monday the “A” part of each worksheet is completed. The program is to be completed within a seven week time period, however if we need to take more time we will. Total Language Plus is easy to use and is available in a variety of titles which are geared towards 4th through 12th grade. There are different books which are utilized by two different grades such as 3rd and 4th however high school level is grouped differently. Guides can be purchased separately or with the book, prices vary from title to title on all materials for the program. It is also important to note that this program is done from a Christian perspective. I purchased this from Rainbow Resource, it is not available to view on there sight.

Total Language Plus
This company utilizes reps to distribute their products this link will aid in helping you find one along with actually looking at what is available.

Usborne Books

Education Jump-Off has become a distributor for this company which will aid in the education of the children in our lives. There are a variety of homeschool curriculums which utilize these books. With the economy in such disarray why not earn those books instead of purchasing them from the curriculum provider. Usborne offers a way to achieve this without having to clean your house or even take catalog orders. Wish lists can be set up on the site and guests can aid in your endeavors by purchasing items for you or themselves allowing you to still receive FREE books. However catalog orders or party orders can be incorporated with online orders to help you to earn even more books. Think about the options of creating a wish list others can view, items could be purchased for birthdays or Christmas. Grandparents often want to give the children in their lives a gift just because, what can be better then a book which allows them to obtain knowledge or just have fun and utilize their imaginations. No matter how you look at it you can't go wrong with books from Usborne, there is something for each child which occupies the life of an individual.

Robotikits

My boys’ ages ten and twelve were allowed to pick out some things they wanted to do during this school year. Both of them wanted some robots to build and pick out some pricy ones from Home Science Tools. After some careful thought and the fact that this is something neither of them had done before I decided to purchase something cheaper and easier first. I found a product called RobotiKits through Rainbow Resource which were solar powered and cost under $20.00. The twelve year old chose a frog, but mom screwed up and ordered the grasshopper which was able to be assembled in approximately ten minutes. My ten year old chose the valiant Viking ship which took him approximately two and half days to complete, this included the removing of the plastic parts. The grasshopper was a great success and the cats enjoy it as well. Unfortunately while the ship looks wonderful we have yet to see it work, this could be due to not enough sun however since it has been somewhat cloudy here lately. The motor was tested before the assembly was completed so we know that is not the problem. We will wait for a bright sunny day and see what happens, if it still does not function we will disassemble to check for problems.

If you have a young one interested in robots with no experience in this area I highly recommend Robotikits. We will be purchasing others and after seeing her brothers their eight-teen year old sister decided she wants the crab.

Felt for Education and Fun

Of course we can not talk about the alphabet and education without mentioning the products which Story Time Felts carries to aid in this area. While there are products to aid in this area it does not stop there it continues into phonics and reading as well. Learning Letters contains 104 pieces for teaching both the alphabet and phonics. A fun game to play to aid in recognizing upper and lower case letters would be to take five upper case letters and five lower case and play concentration with them. As the child learns more the number can be increased, if you need to start with less do so remember they learn best when they are having fun.

Toggle books are a newer item to the Story Time Felt family and provide for learning wherever you go. These books are double sided, include suggestions for use along with including a convenient carrying case. Each toggle includes a theme with a variety of activities to perform such as matching upper case to lower case letters, matching colors to the word or utilizing phonics to discover the first letter of a word. Which ever toggle is chosen pre-schoolers will be sure to learn in a fun way where ever they go.

And don't forget it's OK if they get dirty they are washable and so are the books. Choose from a variety of themes such as space, pets, ducks, the jungle, ranch and more.When ordering please remember to include my name (Joyce Wheeler) as the consultant, thank you. However orders also can be placed directly through me, or better yet have a catalog party if you are not located in West TN and I can send you samples and catalogs so you can earn FREE products. Enter to win FREE shipping and you not only receive FREE felt, but FREE shipping as well. To register visit Education Jump-Off and click on the Story Time Felt link.

Educational Toggles

The Alphabet and Salt Dough

A craft idea utilizes salt dough to form the letters, after they have baked and cooled they can be decorated with pictures related to that letter utilizing paints or decoupage. To decoupage you can utilize stickers, wrapping paper or scrap booking materials. You will need to obtain some modge podge and some clear acrylic sealer. After you have placed the images on the letter coat well with the modge podge after this dries spray with the clear acrylic sealer. You might want to teach them to spell their name with this method and when it is done display it in their room. Instead of images geared towards the letter you might want to decorate the letters with items which represent the child and their interests, this would make for a great keep sake. This is just an option you could always just play with some dough to create the letters and be done with it.

How to Decoupage
While there are a variety of other sites on this topic I choose this one because the writer also discussed the use of modge podge.

Salt Dough Recipes
This site is nice it not only includes a couple different recipes for salt dough, but other home-made dough for children as well. The recipe I utilize when making salt dough does not include the oil, though we may try this next time.

Before They Read

I have incorporated some useful links for web sites which contain printable pages for teaching the alphabet. When utilizing coloring pages think about turning them into a craft project by utilizing other things other than crayons, for instance noodles, or rice colored with food coloring are an option. Printable pages may also be turned into a lab book, if you are not familiar with lap books take a look at the links below for a greater understanding of this fun educational tool.

Alphabet Printable Activities
Bookmark this site it is one of the best preschool sites on the web.

What is a Lapbook?
Read about what a lapbook is and their benefits, then take a look at some of the samples.

Free Alphabet Lapbook
If you love this idea and want to try here are pages you could utilize which are made for lapbooking. However never be afraid to think out of the box, it is the biggest up point to being a homeschool family.