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teachingmom
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Virginia Bluebells
Joined: Feb 16 2005
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| Posted: Feb 16 2005 at 9:53pm | IP Logged
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Chari wrote:
| Irene, how do you use your easel? we got two for Christmas here.......but have not remembered to get it out yet..... |
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Hi Chari,
The easels I bought are wooden boxes with handles that open to become tabletop easels. They were originally priced at something like $70 each. (Although I would never have paid anywhere near that for them.) A friend clued me in to the clearance sale at the local craft shop and I bought out the store at $7.50 each!!! The acrylic paints and pad of art paper inside alone is worth far more than $7.50.
Anyway, we all sit around the kitchen table with our easels and paint whatever we wish. One day I started doing a bowl of fruit as a sort of still life and a few of the girls ended up doing the same. Closer to Christmas, we all painted scenes related to the season. I haven't really given them particular assignments yet. We've just enjoyed free-painting times, sort of like the Bravewriter Friday freewrites.
Dh had a grandmother who was an artist (studied art in France in the early 20th century), and his mother and a few sisters have natural talent in that area, so I keep thinking that some of the girls most likely have the genes to become real artists.
I, on the other hand, have no apparent talent in this area. But I have been surprised at how much I've enjoyed our painting times. It is very relaxing and I get very caught up in it. One day I had seated my toddler down next to me in her highchair with a large piece of paper and some of those dot painting things. They are like markers of paint that are way less messy than handing a paintbrush to a little one. I then got completely distracted by my own painting. When I looked up about 10 minutes later, I found that her face was completely covered in many colors of paint, like a clown! We all laughed hysterically at the sight, but boy did I feel like a bad mom! 
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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jdostalik
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| Posted: Feb 18 2005 at 10:35pm | IP Logged
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This is a great topic! I am getting some really wonderful ideas. So,
Leap Frog is worth getting? I have the globe and we love it but I
have been hesitating to get the leap pad books because they don't
seem to have a lot of good titles...Am I wrong? Anyway, here are my
top 5 favorite things about homeschooling right now:
1. Watching dd, age 7 who has struggled with her phonics a bit,
read Green Eggs and Ham to dd, 3, before I could!
2. Math U See
3. Prima Latina and Latina Christiana DVD's
4. New scooters we bought for the four oldest to use during recess!
5. Mavis Beacon Typing CD rom for the two oldest
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Elizabeth
Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Feb 19 2005 at 2:30pm | IP Logged
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jdostalik wrote:
This is a great topic! I am getting some really wonderful ideas. So,
Leap Frog is worth getting? I have the globe and we love it but I
have been hesitating to get the leap pad books because they don't
seem to have a lot of good titles...Am I wrong?
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I'm not as impressed with the Leap Pads as I am with the Leap Frog DVDs (Letter Factory, Word Factory, Code Word Caper, and Math circus).They are really wonderful! I also like the refrigerator magnets and the board games that are spinoffs of the videos. I like our globe, too but I can't find the instruction guide so I know I'm not getting the most out of it.We save the Leap Pads for the car. And I think Janette had some math games for the car by the same company???
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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jdostalik
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| Posted: Feb 19 2005 at 5:15pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Elizabeth for all the info.! I had no idea that there were
DVDs,,,,My ds, almost 5, and dd, 3, woukd probaby love them... 
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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cathhomeschool
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Texas Bluebonnets
Joined: Jan 26 2005
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| Posted: Feb 20 2005 at 7:16am | IP Logged
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elizfoss wrote:
| We save the Leap Pads for the car. And I think Janette had some math games for the car by the same company??? |
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Hmmm...yes! I had a rough night and no coffee yet. Thanks, Elizabeth, for getting my brain moving in the right direction! We have Turbotwist Math. (I think this is what you're referring to.) It is wonderful for practicing drill, mental math, word problems. There's a similar spelling program that I've heard is very good, too.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Mary G
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| Posted: Feb 21 2005 at 3:28pm | IP Logged
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Quote:
I'm not as impressed with the Leap Pads as I am with the Leap Frog DVDs (Letter Factory, Word Factory, Code Word Caper, and Math circus).They are really wonderful! |
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Elizabeth:
I agree with your opinion of the DVDs -- my kids had letter factory and FINALLY got the letter sunds down. We have Word Factory and my 6 yos "gets" how to blend sounds to get words... these have really helped the kids' phonics take off.
The LeapPads I can take or leave -- they were a gift from inlaws, so my kids probably wouldn't have gotten them otherwise. There is some value to them, but the DVDs and "peripherals" are really well worth the $$$$.
Blessings y'all
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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TracyQ
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| Posted: Feb 22 2005 at 9:30am | IP Logged
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We're past phonics and word blending, so the DVDs won't help us.
But we do LOVE our leapads! Even our 14yo learns from them! 
It's helpful for information that you really need to review often for retention like state capitals, presidents, etc.
We have a Quantum Pad, but then I also purchased used a Leap Pad for extra, because they are always wanting to use them, so now we have two (books work with either, they're just different colors).
We use them at home, in the car, and we also test each other on state capitals, etc. in the car too. The kids love being able to *test* their parents LACK of knowledge!
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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MEBarrett
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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I love the leapfrog dvd's. I only recently heard about them from the CCM list and I bought Letter Factory. Well Erin who had been having such trouble with her letter sounds was actually reding the Bob books a week later  It seemed to help her. Kelli (2) is even getting her sounds down pat. I just received the Math Circus one and am saving it for the car. I am not a big fan of the leap pad books. The phonics ones are all right but in general I find the quality pretty poor. The kids received the whole set up as a gift with a bunch of Scooby-Doo books and some Clifford (I think, maybe Arthur ones). Not terrible but definitely not something I would buy. They played with it a bit but now it is one of those things that just clutter up the shelves. I will probably make it "disappear" soon.
One nice Leapfrog thing is the imagination desk. It comes with paper and mkes letter sounds. They can draw on the desk or color in the letters on the sheets that come with it with listening to a song involving the letter. It's not really teaching them all that much but it is a nice toy.
I am wondering if that Math twister would help Ryan. Might have to try it.
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Blessings,
Mary Ellen
Mom to seven beautiful kids
Tales from the Bonny Blue House
O Night Divine
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MEBarrett
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 1:02pm | IP Logged
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I forgot my list....
Being the one to be there when my kids "get it" for the first time. Whether it's reading or a math problem I love that I see the spark first. 
My laptop, the window to the world for me! 
Great books, many of which come at the suggestion of the dear people on this board.
My newest favorite, lapbooks.
A HUGE closet full of school/office supplies (I confess - I am an Office Max junkie)
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Blessings,
Mary Ellen
Mom to seven beautiful kids
Tales from the Bonny Blue House
O Night Divine
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teachingmom
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Virginia Bluebells
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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I am one of the ones who raved about the Leapfrog DVDs on the CCM list recently. They have really been a key in opening up a door for my 5yo daughter. She just turned 5, so she is not yet doing kindergarten work. She mostly has chosen to play this year up to now. After getting The Letter Factory for her, she has learned many of the letters in a very short time and has shown a huge interest in working with me on schoolwork too.
This morning she joined me in bed and we laid there together while I quizzed her on her letters. She made them in the air with a finger. She is doing amazingly well. I can tell the DVD is ingrained in her memory because at one point she chanted, "The A says 'a', the A says 'a', every letter makes a sound . . ."
We also have a few Leapads. (We just received a second one as a hand-me-down from someone with older kids a few weeks back.) Tracy mentioned the one thing I really like them for--geography. I find many of the games I've seen to be a waste of time, but it's a great format for geography quizzing.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: Feb 26 2005 at 8:59am | IP Logged
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We have had wonderful, wonderful success with our LeapPads.
I really hesitated to buy them, but 2 yrs ago we purchased one for our then oldest boy at 5yo. It was slow starting, particularly because we had to replace the units 3-4 times to get a properly functioning unit. So I purchased the nice LP case that comes as an assessory for $25. It holds 12-14 books and cassettes as well as strapping in the LP unit quite well. Some of his initial hesitation w/ the Lp was a broken 'side' that I wasn't aware of, and he was frustrated! We love Lping some together these days!
The experience has been more than just LPing. Mike has learned that electronic things need to be carefully handled or they break. He only uses his Lp under careful conditions and he is very conscientious about putting it away everytime.
One of the tricks to great LPing is to be very particular about which books to buy. Except Nemo and Spiderman, we have stuck with purely educational books and he really enjoys the educational books more anyway.
I betcha the age of the child has much to do with the overall success of the Lp investment too.
My 3yo girl has a My First LP w/3 books and in general I think they are nicely done, educational and sweet for little ones. It has really been worth the investment for us.
We'll probably 'put off' purchasing the DVDs, although your endorsements of them really tempt me! But I like having my computer all to myself for now!
To stay OnT, FAV things (in no part. order):
1)Leappads for sure;
2)CCM group/methods/philosophies (couldn't do this w/o ya!);
3)the Sacraments;
4)hot tea/muffins in winter, lemonade/cookies in summer;
5)school rm stuffed with wonderful supplies of all sorts.
6)creative kids!
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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Cindy
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amiefriedl wrote:
We have had wonderful, wonderful success with our LeapPads.
Mike has learned that electronic things need to be carefully handled or they break. He only uses his Lp under careful conditions and he is very conscientious about putting it away everytime.
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Hi Amie-
Yes.. I agree there is value just in that- learning to care for our things. When my youngest was 3 we got our first computer and he was enthralled with Sammy Science. We told him the rules for handling the CD and computer and if he wanted privledges to use it he MUST be careful and handle it correctly.
He loved the computer so much, he did and has to this day.
Great leverage for teaching good habits with the things they love! 
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Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: A Few of My Favorite Things
