$25 CSN Stores gift card WINNER!!

The winner is Mrs. White!! Congratulations!!

Thank you all so much for stopping by and for entering my very first giveaway!!

Happy Birthday Samantha and Katie!!

Two of my girls have birthdays six days (and eight years!) apart. This year their birthdays fall in the same week.

Happy, Happy Birthday      

to two beautiful, intelligent, funny, kind-hearted, amazing daughters!! Having the privilege of being your mom fills me with more joy than one person should be allowed in a lifetime. 

My very first giveaway!!

In honor of reaching 100 followers I’m doing a giveaway! I’ve been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now, so when I was contacted by CSN stores with a giveaway offer I was super excited!!

I went and checked them out before agreeing, and couldn’t believe the variety of products they sell!! After browsing for more time than I care to admit, I’ve decided that an L shaped desk is what I’ve been missing! Since I usually do all my work on the dining room table, it’s kind of a pain having to pack up and put all my supplies away every time it’s time for a  meal. Having my own space is a much more practical solution!

Now for the giveaway! I get to offer one of you a $25 gift certificate to CSN stores!

To enter:

• Do you have a space of your own to work? Or do you park at the table with your laptop like me? Leave me a comment and let me know!

For additional entries:

• Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
• Like CSN Stores on Facebook
• I’m tired of winter. Leave me a comment telling me what you’re looking forward to most about spring. (if it ever gets here!)

The winner will be chosen Monday, March 14th. I will announce the winner Wednesday, March 16th. I will email the winner a prize code, so be sure I can get ahold of you! Now go ahead, do your thing!

The Lord has called my husband…to Ecuador.

A few months ago it was announced in my church that a mission team was being put together to travel to Ecuador this summer. As we sat there listening my husband’s response was immediate and intense: he had to be on that trip. He knew absolutely without a doubt that the Lord was telling him to go.
Now, for those of you who don’t know my husband-let me tell you what a testimony to his faith this commitment is. The furthest he’s ever been outside of New England is New York, and that was for work. He doesn’t travel. He’s a creature of habit, and he’s most comfortable and happy close to home. He likes his routine. Anything out of the ordinary stresses him. And perhaps most telling of all, he doesn’t fly. For as long as I’ve known him he has adamantly refused to fly anywhere. Ever. For any reason. Joining this team has been, hands down, the biggest leap of faith I’ve ever seen him take. It has been amazing to watch the transformation in his attitude. He is committed to doing what he’s been called to do, and he’s trusting in God to see him through it.  No fear, no jitters. It’s truly remarkable. 
The team (made up of 16-17 members, the biggest group our church has sent!) will leave for Quito, Ecuador on July 30, 2011. They will stay overnight and then travel all day to Pichiyacu, where they will stay while in Ecuador. The team will split and serve two purposes while there. The Building team will travel an hour daily by boat to get to the small jungle village of Santa Maria where they will help build a church. This is where my husband will serve. The other half of the team, the Ministry team, will travel to various villages bringing supplies, ministering to the people, and sharing the good news of Jesus. My husband will fly home August 7, some will stay on a week longer.
I’m sharing this story because we need prayer. Prayer for strength through the spiritual warfare we’ve experienced already and will continue to face in the months ahead. Prayer for my husband that he can continue to stand firm in his faith without fear of the unknown. Prayer for wisdom and strength for the team in the months ahead. Prayer for protection while they’re away. Prayer for the people they are going to minister to. And most importantly, prayer that in all this the Lord will be glorified.

TOS Review: Reading Kingdom

Reading Kingdom is an online program that teaches children 4-10 years old how to read and write to a third grade level. We recently had the opportunity to try out Reading Kingdom for review.

Created by Dr. Marion Blank, one of the world’s top experts in literacy, it’s the only system that teaches the six skills needed for reading and writing success.

To learn more about how the Reading Kingdom is fundamentally different from other reading programs read this.

Subscriptions are $19.99/month (cancel anytime) or $199.99/year. They also start you with a free 30 day trial. What really blew me away about this company is that they’re so passionate about promoting literacy that they offer a scholarship program. That’s dedication.

How it works:

The very first step in the program is keyboard and mouse training. In order to successfully use this program, it’s important that the child is comfortable using a mouse and knows where to find the letters on the keyboard. My four year old, Francesca, hadn’t had much practice on a computer so she started here.

She enjoyed working in this part of the program. Clicking on the picture it named greatly improved her control over the mouse.

My six year old, Katie, navigates around a computer with ease so she began with the skills survey. (This is important because the program is tailored to your child. In the beginning it stressed the importance of not assisting the child so that the program can accurately gauge your child’s knowledge.) She was placed in Level 1, and has been working her way through it. There are five levels in all.

          

After about a week in the Keyboard and Mouse Training, Francesca took the first Skills Survey and was placed in the Pre-Reading level to work on mastery of visual sequencing and letters on the keyboard. 

 

 

 What we thought:

This program was  frustrating for Francesca to use in the beginning. As a new computer user, the mechanics took some getting used to. However, she quickly caught on and is liking it much, much more now. I think that she will benefit the most from it, and we will continue using it indefinitely!!

The length of the lessons are just right. Also, I loved this program because the approach just makes sense to me. I’ve used only phonics based programs in the past, and it was really interesting to read about Dr. Blank’s philosophy. I’m excited to incorporate my newfound knowledge into our reading program!

To see what my fellow crewmembers thought, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog.

*As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received an extremely generous one year subscription to Reading Kingdom in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are stated are my own, and are not influenced in any way by the free product or the extremely generous company.