I just got a mailing from Voice of the Martyrs. Included was instructions for making a parachute that a pilot will use "to drop Christian literature, Bibles, and shortwave radios set to Christian broadcasts" to guerillas in the jungles of Columbia. All that is needed is the pattern (they provide), s...

I found a great website with live images of the earth from satellites. You pick the satellite from a list and then you can chose a variety of views (cloud cover, topography, visual image, etc.) It's at: www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/satellite.html I look forward to sharing it with my children tomorrow!

We used MFW-1st grade last year and loved it. Now we are in Adventures & MFW-K. I am seeing a benefit now that I want to pass on. We followed MFW recommendations and used CBof M for math in 1st and have now moved into Singapore Math for grade 2. When we hit adding and subtracting with regrouping lat...

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:46 am When we started addition and subtraction with regrouping last year, I pulled out the toothpicks and we physically worked through it. (80-25=? 80 is the same as 7 bundles and 10 singles, take away 2 bundles and 5 singles and what do you have left?) I was so happy tha...

We are getting ready to use Singapore for the first time and I had the same frustration when I gave the placement tests last spring. After much debate, I decided to place my son where he tested, even though I am certain that he knows much of the material better than the test indicated. Here was some...

I love Nicole's ideas about asking if the child wants to know what is spelled wrong and keeping a spelling dictionary. I, too, have a perfectionist and think those ideas would work well with him. I love to write, so I have been frustrated that my son is not excited about it. So many things come easy...

Instead of making the pencil cup, we made a kangaroo puppet from a paper lunch sack. It even had a pocket and a joey. We used brads to attach the arms so the could move up and down. Our 2nd grade neighbor joined us for this craft and all 3 children (my K and 3 yr old) loved it. The instructions and ...

We just read a wonderful fiction book about octopi. It is called "Nico's Octopus" by Caroline Pitcher. The story is about a boy who rescues a small octopus from a fisherman's net and takes it home. The book has beautiful watercolor pictures and includes a tremendous number of facts for a fiction boo...