While I was seeking through curriculum the other day, I decided to take a look at Christine Liberty's web site. I had used them when I first started homeschooling and thought I would see what they had in the way of history for fifth and seventh grade. I could not believe what I saw there, they are selling the Bob Jones English teacher's editions for under ten dollars. I have not ordered one from them, but will next year, however I did purchase the student edition which is the cheapest I have found so far new. Shipping is pricey however, but if you were to get the set it would be worth the shipping to save so much on the teacher's edition. Note that they only carry answers keys for first through third grade.

Bob Jones English at Christian Liberty Press

Carl Perkins Center

There is a child abuse center here in West Tennessee called the Carl Perkins Center. The location in Jackson Tennessee is the largest of it's kind in the nation. The center has a 95% success rate in the twenty years of its existence with a less than 5% of child abuse cases it has dealt with being re-opened. Being new to Usborne Books and More distributors will have what is called a kick off party introducing family and friends to their new business. The sales from this event allows distributors a way of obtaining new books for future displays. Because children and their futures are so important to Education Jump-Off the event being held will aid the center in obtaining books to help the children who utilize the facility both now and in the future. If you feel led to help with this endeavor you can utilize the link below to go to the e-fair and click on the wish list to purchase one or more of the books the center has picked out. If you chose to order for a child/children in your life please place a separate order while putting the one for the center on hold. I also encourage you to visit their web site to learn more about their history and their success rate.

Carl Perkins Center Book Fair

Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center

Did You Know?

Did you know that Usborne Books and More guarantees their books? This is one of the best aspects of this company which a lot of others do not offer. During the life of an Usborne product if anything happens to it they will replace at 50% of the retail price, how awesome is that? How many books on your shelves are torn or tattered that are favorites or much used and could be replaced, but you don't want to have to repurchase them or can not find them? With Usborne Books and More you can be rest assured that you can include a brand new copy in your library for half the cost plus shipping.

National Hot Dog Day

Did anyone know it was national hot dog day? I sure didn't, but guess what the boys ate for dinner, you guessed beans and chili with hot dogs of course. About.com has what they call funday calendars which lists each day of the chosen month and what is going on. The majority of the topics have links for more information, activities, recipes, crafts and more. Tomorrow is national hot cross buns day below is a link for a recipe along with a variety of stories of how these buns came to contain a cross.

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Fundays Calendar September While this is located on my web site I thought I would post it here considering it shows that today is indeed national hot dog day.

Shurley English

I found Shurley English eight years ago when my now college daughter was in fifth grade. While she could do her work just fine she was not retaining enough for her tests. At this point only the school version was available, but easily adjustable for homeschoolers. This program is great for children to identify the various parts of speech. While my boys are using Bob Jones at this time the question answer flow which Shurley utilizes for identifying parts of speech is still used. Shurley also does a great job of aiding children in writing and editing with simple exercises. Parts of speech are given for the sentence and the child puts in the words. After this is done the child is required to edit the sentence by making changes such as one synonym change and two antynom changes. The children were always amazed at how the changes effected the sentence. Another area I feel Shurley does well with is teaching how to write a three point paragraph and three point essay. For the paragraph, instructions are included in a sentence by sentence structure allowing students to not only learn about each sentence, but also see a simple example. The three point paragraph is done the same way making learning to write easy and understandable. While Shurley also teaches punctuation and more these were the big up points to the program for our family. Shurley is used to supplement and view for review of the topics discussed. The biggest down fall for me is that the sentences which need to be labeled with the parts of speech are not in the student books, but need to be written out.

Finders-Keepers while the page for Shurley English it self was not coming up for me, this is a great place to obtain the product new for a good price. Here you can also view samples before you buy and more.

Shurley Strengths & Weaknesses

Coloring Contest

This month Story Time Felts has their wonderful felt dolls on sale along with the clothes for the dolls. There are two items within this category which can be customized, the "Just Like Me Doll" and "Color My Own Clothes." Story Time Felts utilizes a picture of a child to create a felt doll to look just like them and the clothes are colored in by the child, sent back to the company for printing (two separate products.) Well, in lue of the dolls being on sale Story Time Felts is having a coloring contest for the best designed and colored set for the boy doll or the girl doll. Thee is one outfit to be colored and sent to the company for judging. There is no purchase necessary to enter here is how it works....

First Place Winner will receive a Just Like Me Doll and set of clothes of their choice!
Second Place Winner will receive a doll and set of clothes of their choice.

There will be 3 first and 3 second place boy winners and 3 first and 3 second place girl winners in the following age categories:

3 to 5 years
6 to 8 years
9 to 12 years

Print off the doll clothes from the link below, have your children color them, then send them in. They may be the winner! Coloring Contest

Only winners will receive a replication in felt of the clothes that they colored.

Entries must be received by September 30, 2009. Mail entries to:
Coloring Contest
Story Time Felts
PO Box 921
Salem, UT 84653