Maestro Classics

"Through wondrous new recordings, innovative educational and performance materials, and uplifting live performances, Maestro Classics guides audiences as they expand their listening horizons and discover the magic that can only be called music."

My family had an awesome review opportunity when Maestro Classics sent us a copy of The Tortoise and the Hare. We love listening to stories, and especially those that have exciting sound effects, and terrific narrators.

With music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and story narrated by Yadu, Bonnie Ward Simon's adaptation of The Tortoise and the Hare was stunning! I popped the CD into the CD player at nap time. The children laid on their mats listening raptly to The Tortoise and the Hare. Later, we enjoyed listening and singing along with the Pretzel Vendor of Paris song. Babybug (11 months), Babyman (2) and Little A (2 1/2) loved dancing to the music! The lyrics and sheet music are included with the CD!

The accompanying booklet also contains photos of the orchestra instruments (which are described in detail by the composer on the CD), a mini music notes & time signatures lesson, interesting info about turtles, tortoises, rabbits and hares and a couple of paper/pencil games.

Maestro Classics has done an amazing job combining my three loves: music, education and storybooks! They have turned classic stories into exciting musical works of art. I am sure we will be enjoying Maestro Classics for years to come!

Please take a glance at Maestro Classics' website, where you can buy products, listen to samples, and even find coordinating lesson plans! You can purchase The Tortoise and the Hare for $16.98. There are several other story choices, as well; and you can purchase a gift set!

Enjoy reading other reviews by clicking the banner below.

Mathletics

It's pretty important to review your math skills, lest you forget how to multiply! So it was fun (for me... and I suppose for the children!) to receive free access for a little while to Mathletics.

Mathletics is a "curriculum- based resource for students at school and home." Its website states the benefits as

*students love it, becoming highly motivated to improve

*phenomenal improvement rates

*weekly report emailed to parents

*used and trusted by millions of students and schools worldwide

*kindergarten to grade 8 available now

*less than $2 a week

Mathletics contains over 750 learning activities for children!

I could continue to quote from the website, but instead I'll tell you that our family loves Mathletics! The main user in our family has been our eight year old, but Mommy and Middleman (4) have used it as well.

Each time we visited Mathletics, we signed in with a user name and password. (The first time there, you'll create your own persona with a Face Maker.) You'll choose either Live Mathletics (Mommy thought it was great to be able to compete against children in other countries!), or an activity from a variety of math topics. After you've worked through all the activities, you can choose to take a test on what you've learned.

I cannot tell you if your child will love Mathletics, or if his math skills will certainly improve, but Butterbean's basic facts knowledge has improved. I enjoyed visiting the Parent center where I could check in on the boys' progress and print out practice workbooks if I chose.

Overall, we really enjoyed our free trial of Mathletics. Unfortunately, the cost of $59 per child per year is not in our budget right now! Don't take my word for it. Visit Mathletics yourself!

Read what my reviewer buddies have to say.

Tektoma Review

Tektoma is a company that provides "engaging video tutorials that teach children game programming." Their website states

Tektoma offers you this:
Engaging video tutorials for ages 7-17
Tutorials of varying skill levels and topics
Learn at your own pace in the comfort of your home
Natural progression helps develop technical skills
Customize your learning experience
Low monthly membership fee gives access to all our resources
New curriculums available monthly

I received a free three month subscription to review.

The first thing I had to do in order to access all the materials needed was download Gamemaker software and a Gamemaker Resource folder. As we continually have some kind of computer difficulty, my first thought was a deep sigh and "oh, no, I don't want to download something else!" Luckily, Hero said it should be all right, and to go ahead, so on I went!

After downloading Gamemaker and the resources, I went right away to the first tutorial "How to make a racing game." I was intrigued with this one, as it is described as "appropriate for beginners and has no guns or shooting."

The gentleman talking in my tutorial does a really nice job explaining the how-tos. I love how the tutorial shows you onscreen exactly what you should see, and click on! I got pretty confused when so many windows kept popping up over the tutorial. I had to keep clicking in and out of windows; going back and forth between the tutorial and my game-making process! I had to keep stopping and starting, rewinding and fast-forwarding to make sure I had done everything correctly. During this whole process, my computer froze up on several occasions and I finally gave up!

Butterbean (8) tried out the first tutorial once. He sat through about five minutes worth, said "I'm bored," and went off to play energetically! My boys love computer games, but right now, game making doesn't hold their attention.

I think this website is very well organized, as were the tutorials. If I were a techie, or had a techie-kid (which one day in the future, the boys may well be!), I think Tektoma would be well worth the subscription!

To judge for yourself, or to subscribe to Tektoma for $14.95 per month please go here. To read what other reviewers have to say, go here.

Homemade Play dough

There's something special about homemade play dough. Maybe my feeling stems from my childhood when Grandma would throw together some flour and water and we'd have an afternoon of fun.
When my four year old asked if he could play with play dough, I invited him to his kitchen step stool so we could make some. He loved stirring the mixture as I added the necessary ingredients to the big pot. To make it even more fun, I added aroma... pumpkin pie spice and a dash of nutmeg... mmmmm!
Together we watched and stirred, our arms getting tired, as the clumpy "mess" turned into a soft smooth dough. We turned it out of the pot onto the counter to knead it while it was still warm. I don't know which part was more fun, creating the dough with my "big boy," or helping him roll out and cut the dough with cookie cutters.
Yes, there's a bit of educational value (I look for it in everything!) to him using his small motor skills to measure, stir, roll and cut. But I think the bigger picture here was the time I spent with my little man making memories that will last a lifetime!
And for the practical side... here's my recipe!

Homemade Play dough
2 Cups flour
2 Cups water
1 Cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
Food coloring (optional)
Spices (optional... I usually add this to my flour first)
Mix in a pot on the stove over low heat until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides. Knead. Have fun!

All About Spelling

Yay, yay, yay! I received All About Spelling from Take Away Press to review. I was very excited to receive actual printed curriculum, as it's been a while! I received Levels 1 and 2. Upon looking through the books, it looked like Level 1 would work for Middleman (4) and Level 2 for Butterbean (7).

All About Spelling is "the multisensory program for spelling success." Through the step by step scripted lessons, and the use of magnetic letter tiles, the oft dreaded spelling can be learned or relearned with relative ease. The built in daily review and constant repetition found in this curriculum are very helpful to both teacher and student.

Using the Phonogram Cards, Sound Cards, Key Cards and Word Cards, spelling can be taught visually, verbally, aurally and kinesthetically. Children will watch spelling concepts being demonstrated and written down. They will review spelling rules and segment words out loud, and say phonograms as they are written. They will write down dictated sounds, words and sentences. They will practice spelling using letter tiles.

I do think that before choosing All About Spelling, it would be helpful to read some of the sample lessons found on the website. It would be important to make sure your reading program works well with this spelling choice. As Middleman (4) is just learning how to read, I found the phonograms in All About Spelling to be introduced differently than he is learning them, causing some confusion. I'm not sure if this program would be appropriate for beginning readers. Although it does use phonics, it's a bit advanced for my early reader!

As I suspected, Butterbean flew right through level 1. We probably could have gone straight to level 2 as the first lesson is a quick review of level 1. In fact, looking at the examples on the website, he could probably spell all the words in all the lessons! [His Mommy is well known as a fantastic speller! Whenever spelling comes up in a conversation with friends or complete strangers (more often than you would think!), Daddy often says "Go ahead, Babe, spell antidisestablishmentarianism."] My children read widely and are read to A LOT. Combine copywork with reading above grade level, and they rarely see words spelled incorrectly. I have also never really allowed "invented spelling." Misspellings are generally not accepted when Mama is the teacher! Needless to say, even though Butterbean is already a good speller, it never hurts to learn those spelling rules!

Overall, we have really enjoyed using All About Spelling. We probably will not continue through all of the lessons with Butterbean, but we will more than likely use the Key (spelling rules) Cards for review as needed. After Middleman is fully reading, we probably will try out All About Spelling with him!

To purchase All About Spelling, check out their website here! You can get the Starter Kit for $26.95, Level 1 for $29.95 and Level 2 for $39.95. You can view a video recommending purchases to get started as well. If you'd like to read what other reviewers had to say, you can do so here.

Happy Birthday Firstborn!

Sometimes I cannot believe I am a mommy! Let alone a mommy to an eight year old! We celebrated our first born's birth a few weeks ago with lots of excitement. We went roller skating (whew- blast from the past!), played laser tag (a first for me, but I must admit it was lots of fun!), and had ice cream cone cupcakes, at Butterbean's request. I thought I'd share some photos with you. Enjoy!

GyMathtics

Exploramania sent me a free DVD to review. GyMathtics has won several awards, including Dr. Toy's 10 Best Active Products. We were pretty excited to check it out! Not only is GyMathtics a fitness video, but it has a mathematical twist as well! When we first popped in the DVD, it took the boys and me a few minutes to get into the groove. It was pretty difficult to read the menu on our t.v., but when we finally got going, I started "working out" with Ms. Carrie (hey, great name!) and her on-screen helpers.

The program includes

Shape Stretches Warm Up

Counting Calisthenics

Pattern Power

Well-Being Wind Down

Babyman really enjoyed watching and dancing with GyMathtics. It took Butterbean (8) and Middleman (4) a while to get up and take part! Normally they love active videos, but they both thought this one was a bit silly. Since the program is geared for 2nd-5th graders, I thought it would have been nice to have more of that age group appearing in the video (it looked to me like just one was of that age). I found the screen to be a bit busy at times, with the exercise portion shrunk down, and math-related graphics appearing. In my opinion, the exercise and math weren't as cohesive as they could have been. I felt at times they were disconnected with each other. I also felt the Wind Down voice-overs had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the DVD!

Exploramania has a really cute website, so be sure to check it out! You can view a snippet of the GyMathtics video there. I think the overall idea was great, but our family, as a whole, didn't enjoy it as much as some families might. You can order your GyMathtics DVD for $24.99.

Don't just take my word, see what other reviewers have to say!

AVKO

"AVKO is a non-profit, 501(C)3 membership organization that focuses on the development and production of materials and especially techniques to teach reading and spelling, handwriting (manuscript and cursive), and keyboarding. AVKO is dedicated to teaching everyone how to read and spell, regardless of their mild to moderate learning disabilities, dyslexia, poverty, or opportunity."

I had the opportunity to review this company as they have given me a free one year membership to their website. I find the website to be a bit overwhelming. It seems like it would be helpful to own AVKO's Sequential Spelling in order to really get into the site. However, I did enjoy perusing the oodles of free Ebooks! With your $25 a year membership, you will receive these Ebooks for free:

The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context
To Teach a Dyslexic
Starting at Square One
The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.
The Reading Teacher's List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words

You will also get access to the member's section, discounts on AVKO materials, Don McCabe's (AVKO's Research Director) workshop recordings, pretests and placement tests and supplemental materials (which is why it might be helpful to own Sequential Spelling).

I recommend you check out AVKO yourself and see if the membership works for your family!

To read what other reviewers have to say, click below!

American Heritage

American Heritage Education Foundation sent me a free CD to review titled America's Heritage an adventure in liberty. My CD included lesson plans for Elementary, Elementary in Spanish, Middle School and High School. As my oldest is technically a third grader, I will focus on the Elementary level for this review.

The Elementary curriculum contains fourteen units including (but not limited to!) Colonial America, Thanksgiving, The Star Spangled Banner and The Pledge of Allegiance and Creed. The units contain exerpts from speeches of famous Americans, poetry, and activity suggestions for teachers and students focusing on the four themes of American Heritage; freedom, unity, progress and responsibily.

The worksheets & memorization tools, games & puzzles, read-alouds and even creative dramatics practically ensure fun learning of our important past. Our children also had the opportunity to brush up on our patriotic voices, as lyrics to many beloved songs are included. (hmm, maybe we'll remember the words when Mommy sings our National Anthem at the Pinewood Derby next year!)

There are some fantastic printables in this neat packet. I particularly enjoyed the President cards (hey, we need a current one, though), and The Star Spangled Banner unit. We plan to use the Thanksgiving lesson as a miniature unit study in the coming couple of weeks.

I think both teacher and students are bound to learn something through this all-American curriculum. It would be a great companion to any study of America.

Now for the best part. The CD version of this outstanding K-12 Teacher Lesson Plan Resource is FREE! If you'd like a printed bound edition, you'll need to pay just $19.50. We cannot wait to delve into it further!

To read what others think, check out our Crew Blog!

Bright Ideas Press - A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers

As part of being a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I received a free digital copy of A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers from Bright Ideas Press. "This course provides a close-up look at famous composers, their music, and their times, with special attention to character traits and Christian testimony..."

I have been looking forward to receiving this study so that I might incorporate more classical music study in our homeschool days (and because I LOVE to listen to it!). For years, I have used classical music in my preschool classrooms and in my home to promote calmness and healthy brain activity. A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers has been a great addition to our growing knowledge of music past and present.

Throughout our test run of A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers, we learned about composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary Periods. We read about Vivaldi, Haydn and Mendelssohn, to name a few. We read about the lives of these great people, and were provided with lots of resources to reinforce what we learned.

Bright Ideas Press includes tons of hands on activities in their appendix. So although I thought the reading sections were a bit above my boys' heads, we enjoyed the time lines, coloring pages, composer cards and suggested listening links. As we grow, we will definitely take advantage of the note taking pages, Student Review Questions, maps and quizzes.

My primary goal has been to introduce a variety of classical music and the names of the great composers. Over time, as we study more about these musical masterpieces, this composer study will prove to be a great asset.

To find out more, please check out the Bright Ideas Press website. To purchase your A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers (recommended for grades 4-8) for just $29.95 for the CD-ROM version or $34.95 for paperback, you can do so here.

Want to know what other reviewers thought? Click on the banner below!

Babybug

Yeah, I finally got Babybug's (my 10 month old niece) dress done! Here she is in all her ladybuggie cuteness!

ABC Teach

Before I was officially a homeschooler, and was teaching preschool, I frequently searched the internet for themed activities to involve my little charges. My hubby had been using the net at work one day and called home to tell me about a cool website he'd happened upon.

In the free part of this website alone, there are 5000+ printable pages to choose from! The school subject categories are numerous, and they include (but are not limited to) Art, Handwriting, Math, Music, Science, Social Studies and Writing. There are printable flash cards, center ideas, and sections for Early Childhood, Elementary, Junior High and High School! My favorite is the Theme Units. There are worksheets for every theme imaginable! I recently used printables from Native Americans, Piligrims and Pumpkins. Hey, I just noticed there is a section on the Kentucky Derby! Very cool. See, no matter how much you go to the site (or how long you stay!), you'll find something new!

Now, those are just some of the things you'll find in the free section. Those 5000+ pages are pretty amazing. But can you imagine 30,000 more!? That's right. When you become a member for $40 a year, not only will you get over 35,000 printable worksheets, but you'll be able to create fully customized worksheets with the advanced worksheet generator, you'll see new activities every week, you'll have access to a huge clip-art collection, and you'll be able to talk to customer service reps about any concerns! You can check out abcteach's video tour here to learn more!

I try not to use too many worksheets in our homeschool. But when we do, I typically want something fun, with a theme. abcteach is just the place to find what I need!

If you'd like more info, click here.

If you'd like to read more reviews, click below.

I Beat Mommy in Chess... It was Easy!

How I got roped into playing a game of chess with Butterbean today, I'll never know! There is something about strategy and me.... we just don't get along! But I'll tell you, after today, I certainly understand how he earned his chess belt loop in Cub Scouts! You know something is strange when your 7 year old tells his 4 year old brother "We have to go easy on her. She doesn't really understand how to play!"

Virginia Soaps and Scents... Yummy!

Virginia Soaps and Scents sent me a package full of handmade goodies to review. When the box full of bed and breakfast-sized Handcrafted Olive Oil Soap bars arrived, my two littlest men (4 and 23 months) literally had a mini quarrel over it! You should see them in the bathtub when I let them loose with a bar. They love it!

The boys should be glad I even let them touch this deliriously yummy stuff. I mean, the way it smells it oughtta be edible! I received three soaps... Oatmeal, Milk & Honey; Fresh Orange and Coconut Lemongrass. The Oatmeal, Milk and Honey is my favorite! Typically I'm not much of an herbal smell girl. My allergies can't usually handle scents. But I wasn't bothered a bit by Virginia Soaps and Scents! If you'd prefer unscented, however, they make them too!

These gorgeous family-crafted bars, are made from "all natural ingredients with no added chemicals for hardening or lathering properites." They are also made with a generous amount of coconut oil, which is probably why I didn't have to use a ton of lotion after my shower like I typically do. They lather up wonderfully on my little bath puff, and they leave skin feeling soft and smelling delicious!

I also received a Ginger Lime scented shampoo bar to try out. Since it contains no fake lathering chemicals, it didn't lather up for me like I'm used to. But from what I understand, that's a good thing! The first time I used it, my hair felt different, but after using it several more times (which I didn't have to do every day like my normal shampoo) I realized that it was moisture. My hubby said my hair looked great, so for me, that's all that matters! I tried out the shampoo bar on Middleman and Babyman too. Babyman's uncut locks were left so soft and beautiful. Middleman wasn't so lucky. We apparently didn't rinse it out well enough, because his hippie hair looked pretty oily! We've done a better job since. I've also used the shampoo bar for shaving. It left my legs smooth, soft and silky!

I have always wanted to make my own laundry soap. But I thought the process would be a bear. With Virginia Soaps and Scents' laundry kit, it was a breeze. They sent me everything I needed for a half-gallon size jug of laundry soap. Now mine didn't gel up like it was supposed to, but that could, of course, be user error! My kit was unscented, so after each load, I got a whiff of nothing but pure clean clothes. And I mean clean. Even Hero's paintball cammos came out spickety span!


My family and I love the products we got to test out for Virginia Soaps and Scents. We highly recommend you check them out. They would make great gifts!

Be sure to check out Virginia Soaps and Scents' website. They have oodles of scented as well as unscented soaps in their varied product line. You can get your own hand-cut 4.5 ounce soap bar for just $4.50. The 5.5 ounce shampoo bar is $5.50 and also comes in an oily hair/clarifying formula (which I'll probably order!). You can get the laundry soap kit for $4.95 and it makes a whopping two gallons of gel! They have tons of other items to choose from. If you want to read what the other reviewers had to say, click here.

Bible Charts and Maps

Bible Charts and Maps sent me a huge World History Chart to review . I thought this 35" x 45" card stock poster of world history would be a great chance to see all of history thus far. I put the chart under a clear table cloth on our kitchen table. Our table wasn't quite wide enough, so I trimmed the chart up to the border.

The World History Chart begins at Adam and takes its studier up through the year 2000. I'm not sure why it doesn't come a bit closer to present day. It uses color coding to denote races and religions of people groups. It's cool to be able to see that Confucius lived at the same time as Nebuchadnezzar. There is a lot of stuff on this chart that I had never heard of. Of course, that is to be expected. No one knows all of history! But after hunching over the table to study more, I discovered some data was gleaned from religious sources other than the Bible. I did wonder why they are included. Since I try to use Bible based history sources, that would have been confusing for my boys, if they had noticed it!

I am not a history buff, but I am trying to learn with my children. I am not sure if I was more confused before or after I received this timeline. It definitely provoked debate, questions and thought, which, as a homeschool mom and teacher is a good thing!

I'm not sure if I'd purchase the chart, although parts of it have definitely been interesting! To check out more for yourself, go to the Bible Charts and Maps website. You can purchase the chart for $29.97.

To hear what other reviewers have to say, check them out here.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System

Sue Patrick and I must be kindred spirits of a sort. For years teaching preschool, I have used management systems to have children "clock in and out" of learning centers. I have organized materials into little boxes for them to complete in a certain order. I have used picture symbols since I was a child, helping my mom contact paper and velcro her speech and language educational materials.


Ms. Patrick has created an educational organization system that should fit all types of homeschooling families. It's called Sue Patrick's Workbox System. In fact, I think even classroom teachers could use this system to some extent. Even if I weren't homeschooling, I would use this system with my home childcare and preschool.

When I first heard of the Workbox System through homeschool blogs and yahoo groups, I thought the idea sounded familiar. When I saw Ms. Patrick's name on our list of The Old Schoolhouse reviews, I said "oh, please, please, please, let me be chosen for that review!"

Imagine how thrilled I was to open my inbox and see a download for Sue Patrick's Workbox System! This system of organizing a child's schoolwork into clear shoeboxes is detailed in Ms. Patrick's User's Guide.

Some of the chapters are titled
The Benefits of Homeschooling, How a Day Works, Breaking Down a Curriculum for Success and Life Skills Foundations. There is also has a fantastic section on creating centers. I had not thought of using posters as centers, and I cannot wait to make some!

The Workbox System uses a specific physical structure that enables children to see the work that they are accomplishing. Although I plan to purchase clear shoeboxes for this purpose (in KY I have yet to find them for cheaper than $1 apiece, and I refuse to spend $36 on shoeboxes!), we have a little wooden shelf that holds 16 colored boxes that have worked just perfectly. As my hubby would say "Why buy something, when you can use what you already have!" We have two shelves, so as soon as I find the space, we'll separate them. But for now, Butterbean has the top 8 (yellow and blue) and Middleman has the bottom 8 (red and green).

Having taught preschool for many years, and using Circle Time as part of my homeschool/home childcare routine, I have tons of little calendar numbers in varying and seasonal shapes. To make things more appealing to the boys, I have used those cut-outs for the numbers on our boxes. Everything is personalized and I will probably change out the numbers every month or so!


The educational philosophy presented in the System allows for organization, well presented school materials, peace and independence. We have found in our house that it does just as the book suggests in regards to discipline. Butterbean is excited to get to work each day, and he doesn't get bored and frustrated. Middleman gets so excited to see what fun things are in his workboxes each day. He loves to find play-dough, stringing beads, lacing cards and dry erase boards for printing practice. We have even set up a little box for Babyman, who loves to do his "wookbock." I know he will do well when we have the larger system set up for him!

I could probably go on for days talking about Sue Patrick's Workbox System. I love the idea, and I hope to continue using it with all three of my boys. I think it might even work with my childcare with a bit of variance! Overall, I highly recommend this book. I am so glad I had the opportunity to review it!

Now if you're interested in finding out more about Sue Patrick and her fabulous Workbox System, you can check out her website. She has the basic forms you'll need to download and they're free once you order the book ($19.95 print, &19 ebook). There are also several different packages available for purchase, including the Starter Kit that includes the basic forms already laminated and velocroed (velcro can be used as a verb, right?!).

If you'd like some more opinions, check out The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew blog.

Educaching Review

If I didn't already know about Geocaching, I certainly would after having done my latest review.


Created by 5th grade teacher, Jason Hubbard and the staff of SDG Creations, Ltd., Educaching is an "innovative curriculum that uses GPS technology to teach all subject material including math, science and social studies." Using this 128 page activity guide and manual, students and their teachers are given the opportunity to "hunt for their learning," and the "ability to interact with the world around them..."

My family has used geocaching educationally since we began in August of 2008. So, when I received the digital version of Educaching in my inbox to review, I was excited, to say the least. What a great idea Mr. Hubbard had to use this up and coming world wide phenomenon to create a curriculum!

The digital version that I received contains five sections titled:
1. Teacher Training
2. Lesson Plans (including beginner, intermediate and advanced)
3. Field Sheets
4. Acquiring GPS (including Fundraising and Grant Writing 101)
5. Beyond the Basics

I loved the manual's layout. It is concisely written and very well organized. Before introducing the Educaching lessons, Mr. Hubbard describes in great detail what a GPS receiver is and does (Global Positioning System that basically tells you where you are on Earth!). He lets you know what features to look for when buying a GPS.

Educaching teaches you everything you need and ever wanted to know about geocaching; what a geocache is, travelbugs and geocoins (that reminds me, I need to drop my coins and travelbug in a cache somewhere!), and how to conduct his fabulous lessons.


And then... come the lessons! There are 20 planned lessons for you to use; 12 beginner, 6 intermediate and 2 advanced. The lessons can be used with a relatively large group of children, or just one child and they are geared for grades 4-8. Some of the beginner level lesson titles are

Grand Slam!

Dino Discovery!

Which Tree is Which?

Section 3 contains oodles of Field Sheets to go with the lessons. Your student or group of students will take these out into the field to use while he's searching for his cache. I think the field sheets were probably my favorite part of the curriculum! We have used a couple of them for our traditional family geocaching!


There's an invaluable section at the end that tells you how to obtain your GPSs; be it through fundraising, borrowing, purchasing (keep in mind, the more features, the more pricey!), and writing a grant to receive the receivers for your school.



Well, I can't tell you everything about Educaching, you'll have to get your own copy! I can tell you, though, that we absolutely love geocaching, and Educaching has been a super supplement to our already educational high-tech treasure hunting!


To purchase Educaching for $32 check it out here. I definitely recommend the 3-ring binder with CD version! Of course, you can get the electronic version as well. Read more about Educaching here. If you want to know what the other reviewers have to say, check it out here.

Reading My Library starting with Verna Aardema

Well, we've done it. We have started Reading our Library! Our first author is Verna Aardema. The three books we have read are

Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears

Who's in Rabbit's House?

and What's So Funny, Ketu? It's a shame I couldn't find an image for this one, as it's a really cute cover, and illustrated by Marc Brown, one of our favorites (think, Arthur!). There are a few more books by Verna Aardema that we didn't have at our local library. But I'd really like to read them. We'll do a search and keep you posted!

As I'm already busy enough reviewing for The Old Schoolhouse, I won't do full reviews here. But I will say, we enjoyed these books, immensely, even though they did contain a few "no-no" words! They are classics, and worth checking out!