Freaky Frugalite

I have a daughter who is finishing up high school and who may be setting her sights on college courses in the near future. We’ve been keeping our eyes open for books that will help her continue her studies. There’s a book that caught me by surprise- How To Get A’s in College, published by the Hundreds of Heads group. LOL! I thought this book might be a study book (like an SAT prep book or something), but it’s not. It’s much better! It’s a compilation of pithy advice and helpful tips about how to survive the college years, and how to do well! There are tips from students from all walks of life, so some are extremely helpful. Some are also uproariously funny:

My Biology teacher caught me when I fell asleep in a 200-person class. I was very much asleep, almost to the point where drool was coming out of my mouth. People nudged me because she was calling my name. I dropped my books on the floor as I woke up. I remember her saying, “It’s so nice of you to join us again.”

Oops. lol!

There are excellent tips in the book. I never went to college, so some things were real eye-openers. The book is over 200 pages long, but it is small sized, and reads easily like those “For Dummies” books. If you have a high school student preparing for college (or even real life, lol), this is a fun book that he/she will enjoy reading. Some stories are so helpful (and amusing) that you might even read it to each other during family times. It’s that good!

By the way, the publishing company has a website devoted to their dozens of books like these. (They have books like How to Survive Your Retirement, How to Survive Your Marriage, lol!). I was pleasantly surprised at the website! It’s chocked full of advice, tips, and loads of stuff, much that I found helpful for my own independent studying.

I’m not a big fan of Al Gore, lol, and I’m getting a little tired of him shaking his finger at people! But I am 100% in favor of conserving energy and being thrifty and resourceful. I hate waste! And it seems that whenever I plug in my behemoth old vacuum, the lights in the rest of the neighborhood dim and my electric meter jumps up (as well as my electric bill). Energy is so expensive here in New York State, so a lot of us housewives have been hunting for ways to save on those big bills. The time has finally come–an Energy Star-approved cordless vacuum! It’s the new Dirt Devil AccuCharge! This thing should have a sticker of a smiling Al Gore. Then maybe he’ll quit nagging and whining, lol!

The new AccuCharge Stick Vac and Hand Vac use 70% less energy. That knocks a huge chunk of energy off my bill! We have a lot of carpeting (and it’s old, so it’s harder to vacuum), and every bit helps. It is TERRIFIC that companies are recognizing the need for more efficient, energy-conserving appliances. The Dirt Devil AccuCharge not only gets Energy Star approval– it gets Freaky Frugalite approval!

I’m finally going to begin what I’ve promised I’d begin– a series of posts about our homeschooling routine and our resources. The hardest thing about homeschooling is getting started. I know a lot of young moms and dads are completely baffled about how to begin, and the thought of educating their children is terrifying. But I believe in you– you can do it!

As I’ve stated very clearly before, reading is the most essential element of education. Reading is much, much more than looking at letters and words. Reading comprehension is absolutely crucial. You can read more about my reading philosophy by clicking the link in my sidebar. I am 100% in favor of phonics when it comes to reading education. Two of the best books I have seen are Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade. These books are available by Cedar Valley Publishing. They cover more than teaching reading– they are a condensed summary of the first two years of education. Educators (and to you homeschooling parents– that means YOU) can use them as a scope and sequence for the basics, for what the child should be learning that year (colors, numbers, etc for Kindergarten; subtraction, geometric shapes, etc for First Grade). I like these books a lot, and wish I’d had them for my own children when they were young.

Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten addresses the basic curriculum for kindergarten. You could even use it for preschoolers. The book is extremely durable (laminated thick cardboard pages). I love the bright colors and very clear illustrations. This book covers the alphabet, colors, basic shapes, numbers and counting, money, opposites, seasons, weather, telling time, the calendar, and more. Each page is very basic- you should develop your own activities based on what is addressed in the book. For example, there’s a page about the different seasons of the year. What you can do is– throughout the year– start a notebook and fill it with words, pictures, and leaves throughout the seasons. My kids had a three-ring binder that we filled with the leaves of spring, the weather we saw during the spring season, and the birds and bugs we noticed. We looked up the different kinds of leaves and birds in the encyclopedia and drew pictures of them, and wrote their names in the notebook. We did this for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This fulfilled the requirements for science (noticing weather patterns and collecting leaves), for language (by using the encyclopedia and watching mommy write letters), for art (drawing the birds and flowers), and more. Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten will not teach your child for you, but will give you the tools and basic information you need to know what to teach the child. And because the pages and the book in general are durable, the child can flip through the book himself, too.

Let’s Get Ready For First Grade is similar, and advances to the next step of development. Now that the child has learned numbers and letters, the child can advance to learning basic addition and subtraction, and learning the phonetic alphabet. I love that these books emphasize phonics for reading. This book addresses things like vowels, consonants, punctuation, compound words, ordinals, graphs, solar system, money, measurement, shapes, and government structure. You can really get creative with this. For example, print a picture of the Supreme Court building, and allow the child to find the different shapes that form the building (the columns are rectangles, the pediment is a triangle, etc). The child can trace the shape and color them. As he colors, you can explain what the Supreme Court does. This fulfills requirements for art (coloring), spacial skills and geometry (finding and drawing shapes) and civics (government function). Let’s Get Ready For First Grade takes the very basics of what is necessary for First Grade (or sooner, if you want to get ahead), and you can go from there. The only limit is your own creativity!

In the next few posts, I’ll talk about other helpful books and offer tips on what worked for us. Homeschooling is very fluid and flexible. People have asked me how on earth I find the time to do everything that I do. I can only answer that homeschooling is a lifestyle– you find out ways to educate your child with everything you say and do. It grows on you, too. In the beginning of homeschooling, structure is very important. The child must have a set time to work and a set time to play. The child must accomplish goals and he must realize from the start whether he is accomplishing them correctly. Expect to spend a lot of time with the child for the first 4 to 5 years of homeschooling. After that, however, the successful discipline really shows and the homeschooling child becomes independent and responsible much quicker then the public-schooled child.

We’re really hoping– oh, ever so much!– to visit my brother who lives in Virginia. We’ve been wanting to see him for a few years now, sheesh! The kids are very excited, and we’ve been saving our nickels and dimes to go. We also hope to see Washington, DC, on our way there. I have fond memories of seeing Washington, years ago. I attended the very first “Washington for Jesus” conference at the Washington Memorial. It was such a blast! I got to meet Steve Green, Larnell Harris, Melody Green (Keith Green’s wife), and several congressmen. I went there for a radio show (I was in radio at that time) and it was quite the experience! I didn’t have a chance to see the sights, though. So I’m looking forward to seeing the historic side of Washington, DC.

Plus, my kids are tremendous history buffs, and we could never travel south past Washington without stopping. We’ve already got some ideas for our future Washington dc sightseeing thanks to Trusted Tours & Attractions.com. Have you ever seen this site? It is the best travel site I’ve ever come across, with terrific online travel guides! It has a great listing of attractions and events for the city (as well as various other major U.S. cities) and also has discounts for popular attractions. I love perusing this site. I even signed up for their newsletter to keep on top of things to do in New York. Sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and you’re entered to win a handheld GPS! The offer ends June 30th, 2008, so get going if you want to try for it.

Can you believe that, thanks to the Internet, you can shop for used cars online?! Yes you can! I am flabbergasted. And of course, elated! If you live in the North Carolina area, check out these cool used cars Wilmington, NC. It’s the Bruce Cavenaugh AutoMart, AutoPalace, and Suzuki SuperStore virtual dealership. At Bruce Cavenaugh, you can search the inventory, watch BruceTV, clean up your credit, and even apply for credit online. Pretty amazing. The Bruce Cavenaugh Automart has a huge selection of cars, trucks, vans, and SUV’s, including Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet. Buick, imports, and — amazingly– some hybrids! I would just love to check those out! Deals are incredible because gas prices has everyone looking to save money on better and efficient vehicles. Check them out online at your leisure with no nosy salesman to follow you around! Gotta love the Internet!

I’m getting that urge again. You bloggers (and obsessive furniture re-arrangers) know what I mean. It’s the urge to get a new Wordpress theme! I feel it burning inside again! I just cannot stop browsing wordpress templates!

I read that having a properly-coded blog theme is really important for speed and to mitigate excessive CPU loads. But face it– who on earth wants that hideous Kubrick theme??? Not me! I love this theme here. It’s called TickTockTack. Isn’t it hilarious? I love whimsical themes like that.

Needing a new theme? Here’s a website that has tons of colorful and personal templates: Top WP Themes. They have a support page and an installation help page, too! They are one of my favorite template sites. And they are always creating gorgeous new themes for obsessive theme-changers like me. The only problem I have is making up my mind on the next one…. hmm….

I’ve joined this blog to SocialSpark and it got approved! I’m happy. This is my very first “mommy blog,” and SocialSpark appeals to mommy bloggers. SocialSpark is the mega-maxi-mammoth social blogger network of all time. It’s a pretty amazing bunch of stuff. SocialSpark was designed to help bloggers make some money, connect bloggers and advertisers, connect bloggers with other bloggers, and establish a unique community of serious bloggers. There are “sparks,” which are, very simply put, bits of news/reviews/memes/notifications that bloggers can discuss amongst each other.

There’s a “code of honor” amongst us, too. SocialSpark is not sleazy. They have a very open and honest code of ethics, which includes:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

Here’s my blogger profile. Isn’t it purdy?

If you join SocialSpark, look me up and be my “friend.” Bloggers can make friends and give each other “props.” It’s all so cute!

It’s no secret that bloggers wield a great deal of influence over the internet. Heck, even the mainstream media has noticed us! SocialSpark wants to round us all up and generate buzz and interest about quality products, news, events, etc. It’s a wonderful community. The forum that developed from PayPerPost and now includes us “sparkies” is a treasure-trove of information. I’ve never been a part of such a beneficial online community. I can boldly say that my experience with the IZEA folks has made me a much better blogger. And a smarter one, too! I recommend that you check it out!

I was surfing around this morning at my Entrecard advertiser’s site for today (Vivid Lamp) and was amazed at this– a special Internet browser for autistic kids! I’m amazed! It’s called the ZacBrowser.

There exists a one of a kind application, called ZacBrowser, which is designed specifically for autistic children. ZacBrowser was inspired by Zachary, grandson of software designer John LeSieur, who began displaying classic signs of a pervasive development disorder (PDD) and was diagnosed as severely autistic in 2005.The browser basically simplifies the web for the benefit of children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and ODD-NOS. It was developed by PeopleCD specifically for the children’s enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom.

The browser looks really great, too (Vivid Lamp has some screenshots). I would think this would be a cool browser for very young children and older adults, as well. It looks so interesting I think I am going to download and try it out!

Hey you homeschoolers, I found another resource! It’s iCue. I looked at it the other day and thought it was another video site. After digging a little deeper today, I see that it’s more like a “social network” with educational videos. I haven’t tried out the videos, but that’s what I am most interested it. They are mostly NBC archived videos (iCue is run by NBC), but you can play games and discuss stuff in a forum. Could be a terrific teaching tool! What’s a little weird is that the “tour” video is hosted by the late Tim Russert. I intend to check out more of it later, but right now I’m off to look for some memory cards for the kids’ camera…

If it wasn’t for bloggers, what would I do?? However, THEY forgot it was Father’s Day, too! I guess it caught a whole bunch of us unawares. For me, I tend to lose track of the days, and June has just whizzed by. I can’t believe it’s almost halfway over!

So.. Father’s Day. Great. I didn’t get anything for the Husband, and the van is in the car shop today (brakes repair). I’m turning to the trusty Internet and what do I seeee? A gorgeous Citizen Watch collection! Woo! Look at this baby!

Ooops, Father’s Day, Father’s Day. OK. How about this one?

I think the father of my children deserves something classy like that!

That’s a the Caliber 2100, from my favorite “Unstoppable Ambassador,” Emeka Okafor, basketball player extraordinaire and a choice from his favorite Citizen Watch collection. Niiiiiice. Husband is nuts over basketball, and I’m NOT getting him another tie this year….