Saturday, November 20, 2010

KB Teachers Review


KB Teachers is an online worksheet generating website that is a valuable resource for both teachers (homeschooling or other) and parents wanting to extend what their child is learning.



This is what KB Teachers has to offer:


* One click worksheet generators and alphabet factory
* Create an unlimited number of engaging printable activities - For all ages and grade levels
* No watermarks and unlimited access
* Exclusive graphics and clipart - Decorate your websites, Blogs, activity sheets etc...
* Diverse educational resources - From simple ABC worksheets, to 20 pages exams
* Intuitive activities online or off - At home, at school or in study hall
* Free 24/7 Support - If we don't have it, we'll create it - or help you find it
* Answer Keys - Proofed and checked quality materials you can trust
* Updated regularly - New features and member created content added every week
* Nothing to download, instant access - From any internet connection

KB Teachers changes regularly with emails coming in to tell you about new worksheets and activities available on the website. This is an added benefit to keep your activities fresh and for $29 for 12 months that great value.




Topics Covered:

For This Season
English Language
Maths Activities
Science Workbooks
Biology Worksheets
Social Studies
More Activities

All these topic heading have a variety of subheadings for you to explore. However explore you must. There is no search box for you to quickly explore what they have available, which makes it very time consuming having to click in and out of every heading in a bid to find what you are looking for.

Is It For Me?

Well perhaps not. It is heavily American based which is fantastic if you live there. Money, season's (I know we have the same seasons but opposite) it just means that you can't take advantage of the new things that are added regularly because in the time we have had the subscription not much of it has been relevant to us in Australia. We have used the maths worksheets a lot though and lots of the worksheets for Lucy who is 5.
the other really disappointing part for me was the lack of Language arts worksheets. Things like er, ir, ing, phonics/blends etc worksheets. That is the sort of things I could really use more of. If there was any of that included then this site would be a winner for me.

They have a lot of free worksheets for you to look around and print for yourself so have a look and see what you think.

Disclaimer~ I received a complimentary subscription to KB Teachers in order to provide this review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

I Thought of You Tristan


This was sent to me today by my oldest daughter. As a mother of 6 I so get it!

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.

I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?
'

Friday, November 12, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Welcomed Blessing


Last week parents of our dear friends gave us a dishwasher. We have always had plenty of hands to do the dishes but you know those warm & fuzzy stories of family bonding happening while the children are washing the dishes together. Well that's not us!!! My kids are not big fighters and all have a fantastic relationship, but you add dishes and its like they are taken over by this craziness. Caitlin always took control of the situation and was like a walking chore chart plus whip cracker. No getting out of anything while she was here but having moved into her new marital nest I am the mother again. I know what you are thinking but if you had someone who did a better job at that then you, trust me you would let them go too. She is GOOD!
But enter into our lives a beautiful, hardly even been used, stainless steel and more flash that we could ever afford Blanco dishwasher. What a blessing and I mean a blessing!!

Mind you when we told Caitlin that we were finally getting a dishwasher she said WHAT!! Now that I'm gone!! I told her how wonderful it will be when they come for dinner & lunch & breakfast (she has only been gone less than 2 weeks and we've had them here regularly I love it). That did calm her down and they are all now having lovely visions of Christmas at home using real plates not disposable for once.

Now our kitchen wasn't built for a dishwasher, in fact it wasn't built for much so my husband has had, well, a fun time shall we say. But he is so clever. He has totally done this amazing job putting a dishwasher where one should never go. I have new plumbing, power points (thanks Dan my electrician son)and remodeled this badly built kitchen cupboard system to fit it in. I would take a photo but, oh my goodness, it is a mess with tools and stuff everywhere. I love him. he has literally done the impossible for me. He doesn't like me working harder than I have to and he did this so I would have one less thing to do.

Thank you Lucy's mum & dad. Is there a Patron Saint for this? They're amazing Catholics and we are Mormons but I do love learning about who is the saint for what. Our first experience with Michael and Saint Anthony was a funny story but that is another day. And my wonderful husband for installing the impossible. I'm ready to cook up a storm now!

Monday, November 8, 2010

PS..


The quote came from this great blog Sprik Space that a series call "just because". The quotes are all downloadable for free and are so gorgeous. Check them out!

I Love Quotes



Today was a perfect homeschooling day. Maddie got through her workbox's today without one complaint, argument, or self inflicted distraction. She recited a poem that we had been working on for ages without even batting an eyelid and gave me all the definitions of nouns with examples! She then whipped through her reader like she had not a problem in the world. That was a miracle day. I was beginning to loose hope and feeling like I was failing and perhaps we need to look at alternatives for next year. Then today happened. My faith in myself as a homeschooling mum has been restored. I'm not sure tomorrow will be the same but that's perfectly fine. I think even Maddie's faith in herself has been restored as well. It's hard when your baby sister is looking over your shoulder and reads out the words before you have sounded them out. But today she was so proud of herself at the end of the day. I was proud of her.

She is getting Baptised on Sunday and is so excited. It was her birthday back in September but with the wedding, a sister traveling overseas and a brother that just received the Priesthood (so he will not only baptize her but will be able to assist with the confirmation). Her dress is made and the food list is ready and in 6 more sleeps she will finally have her day.

I love my Maddie.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Questions Doctors Ask?



Wednesday I went to see a new doctor. He is just another one on my long list of expensive specialist that I see. Now this was my first visit with him so I went prepared because at $420 and this is a man with a year waiting list , even as a private patient I wanted to waste no time at all. Well did I get value for money?

After the initial chit chat we got down to business so to speak. He review my file and all associated letters from other specialist. Then he began asking his questions.

1. Have you seen a psychiatrist incase it's in your head. I informed him that it is indeed in my head. My brain in fact. Strokes, limited vision, significant lose of brain function, speech & comprehension. Oh yes he said, it's not psychosomatic then is it?

2. Could someone in your family be poisoning you? How's your marriage? What is your relationship like with your husband? Well I almost fell off my chair but for fearing of doing further brain damage and not sure that this man would be able to render the appropriate first aid I held on tight.

If I didn't need a shrink before this consultation I sure did after it! What sort of questions are those. This man did honors in medical school in Australia as well. We do offer a lot of online courses these days though?

In the end he said he would like to do a $500 blood test so come to the hospital on Friday and I will do it there. Following that I will see you in 2 weeks. My husband was in the waiting room with the girls and asked how it went. i deflected the question some what as i thought it may be better to be out of the hospital before I told him how the consultation went. HE SAID WHAT!!!! My husband is a good man and always see's the good in others but even he struggled with this one.

My mother rang later to see how I got on. Now this women has worked as a mental health nurse for 27 years and knows crazy when she see's it. So I told her and you know what she said. oh yes I have a patient in at the moment that has just been moved from the prison to our ward (criminally insane) and she was doing that. Happens a lot you know! WHAT!!!!

I think I will live in my own little world a little longer.

Collectorz ~ Book Collector


Catalog your book collection by ISBN.
Automatic book details and cover art.
Just enter ISBNs or scan ISBN barcodes.


This is a really cool way to keep your home book library under control. Book Collectorz is so easy to use. Once you download the software you just start right away cataloging the books that you have on your shelf.

All you have to do is locate the ISBN number which is usually located on the first few pages. Click add to collection and the program does the rest. It gives you a picture of the cover and details of the book. If it's an old book, pre ISBN than there's an option for you there as well.

Check out the website and watch the short video clip on the page to get a better understanding of exactly how Collectorz works.



Now while the software is easy and at $29.95 for the standard edition or $49.95 for the Pro edition it's not overly expensive. The one catch is that a little pixie doesn't pop out of your screen and do the 'cataloging' for you. I gave this a go but am still slowly chipping away at the data entry side of the program so have yet to see exactly how this will benefit me in the long run.

The other bit for me is that I don't really have that much of a care factor about what books I have on my shelf. I know the books in the homeschooling room are for the kids. The books in my room are teacher resources. The books in my room downstairs are church & craft books and the books on the shelf near my husbands workshop are his Teaching, Business, University books & Car Manuals. So I just think I need a book about the human body today. Yes, after using my eyes Ah Ha there it is!!!

So if your that way inclined and just love to keep track of all your possessions, books, movies,games, comics etc than I would say a big yes to this program. You can even sample it for free over on the website

Disclaimer~ I received a copy of Collectorz Books software free to review. This is my honest opinion only.