Marshmallow Shooters

How are these two pictures related???

Click over to Quirky Momma to find out about how to make your own Marshmallow Shooters!

Spelling Rules are DUM

Nicholas is so bright and so eager to learn. But he gets hung up when it comes to spelling.

It's hard to teach spelling. There are so many rules to learn but even when you know the rules you have to also know all of the exceptions. There really doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for some of it but we keep working at it.

I found this video clip on the Internet today. I laughed out loud as this young man makes fun of English spelling rules.

You really have to check it out. It reaffirmed to me that this is a challenging subject to teach and that you might as well just memorize the spellings of words because our spelling rules are just DUM.

Breakfast In Bed

Nicholas got up before me this morning. He went down to the kitchen and came back upstairs to bring me breakfast in bed!

He made me two pieces of toast with sliced bananas between them, the rest of the banana, and a cup of milk.

Isn't he the sweetest thing?

We Choose Virtues Review

One of the reasons we homeschool is because we want to be the primary influence in what our children learn in their early years, not only academically but in values and virtues as well. If they were in school for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, it would be harder to find time to work with them on things like character development. But with them at home, we can really study character and virtues as part of our school day. Hopefully this will help them in these foundational years to be better citizens with Christ-like character that just can't be taught in a public school setting.

I have heard that a lot of homeschool families use We Choose Virtues in their curriculum but I had not had a chance to check it out myself. So when I heard that the TOS Crew would need reviewers for it, I was excited to try it out.

We Choose Virtues was created by a mom who is a preschool teacher and children's pastor. This is not unit study that you use once and then move on from. It is actually a character development tool that you use every day, every year. You introduce the Virtues, then demonstrate them, memorize the catchphrases, then learn the antonyms, then capture teachable moments when they are being used…or aren’t.

We have been using the Virtue Clue Cards each morning. This is a set of 13 colorfully cute cards that each cover a different virtue, a virtue catchphrase and antonyms, and on the back is a "You can do it" challenge for the day. We continue to review one virtue card for a whole week before moving on to the next. However, there have been times that we needed to go back and pull out a card we've already done to review again if someone isn't choosing to use good virtues.



The kids have also enjoyed the Kids of Virtueville Coloring Book in which they can color 12 of the Kids of VirtueVille, learn their names and and do a word search!

I think this is a great program to just keep virtues fresh on the minds of my children. There are many different kits available from the We Choose Virtues website. There are full kits to use in a classroom as well as several different options for homeschool families. Check out the Product Comparison Chart to help you decide what will work best for your family.

We Choose Virtues has a special right now. For the months of January and February, the 100 Days of Virtue Poster and Stickers will be included FREE with any Homeschool Kit purchase during these months.

Also, here are some promo codes that you can enter at checkout. These are only good for one use.

VIRTUE15 for 15 % off the shopping cart is still available
SHIPFREE for free worldwide shipping

There is also a clearance sale on a few items while they last. They have lowered prices AND upgraded the paper quality on their 3 MOST POPULAR posters!

Prices for these thicker posters:

Kids Virtue Poster now $11.99 (from $14.99)
3 Rules Poster now $9.99 (from $11.99)
100 Days of Virtue Chart with Butterfly Stickers now $13.99 (from $14.99)

What will happen to the 3 posters we currently have in stock?

CLEARANCE SALE!
2011 Kids Virtue Poster $9.75 (from $14.99, 35% savings)
2011 100 Days of Virtue Chart and Butterfly Stickers $11.99 (from $14.99, 20% savings)
2011 3 Rules Poster $7.75 (from 11.99, 35% savings)

Also, The Virtue Clues are on sale for $5.99 (from $7.95)

For more information, please visit the We Choose Virtues website and make sure to like them on Facebook!

If you still have questions, check out some of the reviews of We Choose Virtues by other members of the TOS Crew.

Note: I was provided with several products for free in order to review this product. I was not provided with any other compensation and the comments and opinions here are all my own.

File Folder Games for Kids

My kids and I love file folder games. They can be used for any age and any theme, educational or just plain fun. They are super easy to make and there are lots of free templates online that are really cute and creative.

Click over to Quirky Momma to read more about how I make these.