Reviews

The Old Schoolhouse Travel Kits: a Simple Way to Bless Others is an informative guide to prepare travel kits . A travel kit is assembled with items meant to fill the time and make the trip go faster for children. In turn this should make the trip less stressful and more fun for the adults as well.

When I was a child, my family traveled a lot.  One fond memory is a time someone gifted us with a travel kit when I was about 10. The kit given to us was a large ball of yarn. We unwound  a section at certain times until we came to a joke or an idea for a game or a piece of candy. It was a great memory, a lot of fun and a very special gift.

So, I was very interested to review this Travel Kit ebook that is produced by The Old Schoolhouse (TOS). TOS offers a large selection for the homeschooler through their store.

The 93 pages initially intimidated me a little. I also doubted I would be organized enough to pull it off. However, the clear layout, simple instructions and readability made this review easy . The guide includes great suggestions of what to pack and how to pack an entertaining kit  for your family or another.  The more ideas I read and pictures I saw, the more interested I became in assembling my own travel kit.  I ended up with so many ideas and I found myself on the lookout for items to add to my travel kit collection everywhere I went.

I assembled my kit for a big trip we plan to take in the fall. Originally, my thought was to use items from around the house or collect small items for  free. However… I started browsing  websites geared towards teachers. Needless to say, I got a little carried away. My theme was animals. Each kit I make for my own family will be a different theme.

 If you are creative, I am sure, it would be possible  to assemble  a kit without any extra expense. Books, CDs and DVDs can be borrowed from a library ,  activity sheets  can be printed from the web, and collecting little toys or making small items wouldn’t be too hard. Snacks can be made instead of bought. I found it is important to plan ahead for the maximum you want to invest before beginning.

Since I purchased extra items, I hope this means I can quickly assemble kits in the future. It is my hope to send kits off with friends when they travel as well.  My plan is to prewrap all items I plan to use in the kits and place in labeled grocery bags so I know what is in each. I think my children will be slightly less likely to get into the gifts ahead of time if they are already wrapped.  

 I suggest - if you make a kit for someone else- that you  make  a checklist for the adults before planning the kit. For instance: Will the family take scheduled breaks? Will those breaks be at rest areas? Are the children allowed to chew gum? Does the family eat snacks in the care?  Are there any allergies? Are markers and crayons OK? Also, of course, be careful about small pieces if toddlers or infants are in the car.

I did enjoy this ebook and am glad for the chance to review it. It is not what I would  consider to be "simple", as claimed in the title . For me, the word "simple" implies something that can be thrown together quickly. That seems unlikely for these travel kits.  I guess that is partly because I do not routinely keep snacks, candy and  toys available.

 $12.95 is more inline with what I would pay for a hard bound book with this content.  So, the price is high for me. Some of what is included seems self explanatory as well. So, the length doesn't seem completely justified. I do recommend this ebook, however. Obviously, there are distinct advantages to an ebook. I did not print it out because I did not find necessary in this case.

This ebook was given to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Update: Last weekend (7/24) I sent my first travel kit off with a family who came to visit on their way to somewhere else. The Mom thought it was a great idea. I hope to hear soon if it made the trip go easier or not.

I have come to expect a certain quality from The Old Schoolhouse. This module - Travel the World- doesn't disappoint.  It is the module for June 2010 from the 2009 Schoolhouse  planner.

For the cost of $7.95, this unit study seems very thorough and cost effective. The way we personally used the module was in parts and pieces. This module can be purchased separately as a single unit. Alternately, the entire Schoolhouse Planner can be purchased.

 Often we will work a unit from start to finish. However, we are not currently back to a full load of school. So, I printed all the activities to be used on trips as time fillers. I didn't print out the rest of the module in its entirety for my children, but did print it out in 1/2 size because I found it easier for me to review it that way. I like the flexibility of an e-book and the ease of storage. I have so many books and not enough books shelves anyway. Also, there are many internet links in the module that would be lost if used in a print out fashion. When I read the info to my children, they colored the lapbook pages. They came to view my computer when I looked up a link.

We are working on assembling the lapbook. My children enjoy making lapbooks. We are used to assembling lapbooks along with a book. This time we will have to use other books and resources to fill in some of the information.  However, this will also allow us to add to the book throughout the year.

We plan on adding information from the countries we read about during the year.

There is a great variety offered in this module - everything from copywork in print and cursive to songs and coloring sheets.

I found this module to be primarily geared towards 2nd - 7th grade. However, there is supplemental material that would make it applicable for older grades as well. My older children often help their younger siblings with projects. If a particular child needs reinforcement in a certain subject, then they are usually the one assigned to the task.  I am the one who needs the most help in the area of Geography.

This module was easy to use, attractive and useful. I highly recommend purchasing  this unit. Many other units are available  on The Old Schoolhouse website.

This module was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review.

I am VERY excited to be chosen again to review for the TOS Crew. TOS stands for The Old Schoolhouse. TOS is a wonderul magazine packed with a variety of articles and offers for homeschoolers. I have found the magazine to be very helpful to me in my years as a homeschooler. I used to borrow them from a friend, but eventually subscribed. I was on the review crew a couple of years ago. This year I will be reviewing items geared toward the 7 - 12th grade ages. I will be teaching 2 children in that age range and 3 in the elementary range. Our oldest son graduated this past May. It was/ is a truly bittersweet experience.

Anyway, back to my main post!!

Below is a list of companies I might have the opportunity to reviewi as part of the Older Crew (I have been told this is *not*  because of my age , but the reviews will mostly be for 7 - 12th grade! )

I have never reviewed items from these companies before. I am looking forward to it!

Whatever items I do get the chance to review are being given to me free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product.

Vantage Learning

New Monic Book

Zoe and Sozo Publishing

Professor in a Box

The Write Foundation

Homeschool Programming

Now, here is the list of companies not necessarily targeted towards the Highschool ages. I have never heard of some of these. A couple I have heard of or reviewed before. I am very excited about all of these and hope to be chosen to review. A couple I wasn't sure I had any interest in. However, I checked out the websites of each and am interested in learning more!  This should be a fun year!

Time 4 Learning 

Math Essentials

Speekee / Lingua4Ltd

Schleich Action Figures

LanSchool Technologies

Digital Frog

GreeknStuff

Soli Deo Gloria Resources

Buckets - O - Fun

Collectorz

Bright Ideas Press

Master Innovations

SmartKids Innovations

Institute for Excellence in Writing

ALEKS

Positive Action for Christ

North Start Games, LLC

Zeezok / Book Peddler

Please check back throughout the year! I will post about each company I have the opportunity to review.

Krista LaRocque

SpellQuizzer - as you can guess by the name- is an ingenious and affordable spelling program to aid your children with their spelling. I was pretty hesitant to use a computer program and really dragged my feet with this one. I thought it would be hard to install (it wasn't) and awkward to use (definately wasn't!). What did slow me down was finding a microphone (only because my husband didn't want me to go buy one. He knew there was one in a box somewhere!) Microphones are a dime a dozen and certainly shouldn't have been an excuse.If you are using this as a traditional spell quizzer, then you can build in prompts to remind about each practice word and a microphone isn't even necessary - but is recommended. However, with Spelling Power the microphone would be essential to use the lists the way it is supposed to be used.

This program has proved to be a lifesaver for us. My oldest son and daughter are supposed to take turns reading the lists in their Spelling Power books to each other.  However, while my 16 yo daughter LOVES spelling and reading , my son loathes it. So she is always nagging him to read her the list and he is always "forgetting" to get to it. It is not on the list of top 10 things and sometimes he struggles with pronunciation and using the words from her list in sentences, too. I know he was slowing her down in her progress, but she is far ahead and  I just didn't have enough hours in the day. I have often thought how nice it would be to record myself reading the lists and using the words in sentences so any of the kids could work on spelling independent of me and each other.

Then into my lap - through the The Old Schoolhouse Crew- dropped the opportunity to test out SpellQuizzer designed by Dan Hite.

I simply downloaded the software onto the computer my kids (by myself, I might add!) and started entering the lists. Set up was a breeze. It also saves on paper for us. My children only need to transfer the missed words to thier 10 step study sheet OR better yet start a custom list of words they missed so they can quizz themselves the next day.

The program is completely cusomizable and even my younger spellers will be able to use it. My son doesn't know it yet, but he is going to get practice entering the spelling lists in for the younger levels. There are even lists that can be imported from the website. I highly recommend this program as a handy tool to aid teaching. It works with ANY and all spelling programs. Additionally, it will help with keyboard practice. Younger kids could have an older child or parent type the word while they spell it, but even my 5 yo would love the novelty of getting to use the computer for spelling.

The program is only $29.95. You can also download a free trial offer for 30 days. If you are part of a school group or co-op bulk discounts are offered. Satisfaction is guaranteed. Dan's website is wondefully formatted and as easy to use as his program. Bravo! And thanks for the opportunity to review this wonderful program. It has been such a useful tool already!

So… I must admit…. I had a preconceived idea that I would not like this curriculum, Beyond Five in a Row -volume 1. I never have used it. I do like a literature approach, however, both the name and the way the program had been described to me think it must be a "light" curriculum. I did not get how do stretch out a book or books and adequately cover all the areas of study?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find this to be one of the easier curriculums to review. The books were easy to locate, the suggestions of what else to study and how to go about it was clear. The guide truly guided me as a parent. I did not feel stressed out or pressured to do everything.

The age range was for 8 - 12 years old. That was an issue for me. The kids I teach in that range would not have benefitted from working through this curriculum. I intended to do at least some of it with them. Instead, I modified it to use with my 7 year old son, 5 yo son and 5 yo girl I teach as well as my 4 yo. I did not expect my 4 yo to really follow along because she hasn't shown much interest in the past. However, she LOVED the books we read and really got into this.

I do think 7 - 10 or 11 would be more fitting for this course. However, I would need to do all the activities to really make a judgment about that.

My kids really enjoyed this and so did I. In fact, for the younger ages, I found it to be a lot less stressful than what I had been using. I plan on starting this and using this in depth and completely next year. For now, I only started one book because that is what we had.

The opportunity to review Beyond Five in a Row has changed my mind completely about this program. In fact, if I didn't already have (and love!) the books and materials for my current literature based study, I would probably have used this for my kids up until age 10 or so. Their love of learning approach is very much in line with the way I believe a child will learn best. I also believe if a child loves to read and has the skills in place for reading, then he/she can accomplish just about anything academically!

Best of all, each of the 3 BFIAR volumes are only $24.95. I might even consider breaking up my school year so I can do a unit of these studies interspersed with my other course of study. The Five in a Row website is great, too. I was really impressed by the simplicity. In a day and age when simplicity is lost and where children are being overwhelmed this company offers a relaxed approach that I felt was still complete in its scope. In fact, the guide points out what areas each activity covers.

My only problem with the curriculum came from my own need to have everything prepared and ready to go. I often do not look far enough ahead. However, with only a little bit of planning, I could have done ahead and organized the needed supplies for much of the suggested projects. This might be a problem for missionaries or others abroad who might wish to use this curriculum. There is an option to buy the main books used in the study as a collection.

Another Math Curriculum! I have had the hardest time finding and sticking with a Math curriculum for my kids. I have really enjoyed being a part of the TOS Crew this year as an alternate. It has given me a great chance to review a lot of math!

When given the chance to review Math Mammoth, I decided to request the complete curriculum from the Light Blue series for both 4th grade and 1st. I had my 11 yo take the online placement test. While my son was ahead of 4th grade in some areas, all my skipping around caused him to have some gaps. So, I felt starting him in the 4th would be best. To download both sections is only $29.70. There are SO many options on what to order and prices - depending if you want download, CD or printed copies- that it would be easier for you to go look that up on the site directly. There are also package deals for those who are looking to save even more money.

My review was for the downloadable series. At first I was not sure about this. I like to actually look through and hold in my hand. However, it has turned out to be perfect for me. I do not need to print the answer key off. I do print individual pages, but I also have the flexibility to print off exactly what I need.

Through the TOS crew, I realized my 11 yo son seems to be able to focus better and read better when reading through a blue filter. My hope is blue paper will do the same thing. So, I plan on getting some in the near future. This will help him to not lose the filters he now uses from Head's Up! 

I do not like to waste paper, but if pages need to be redone, I can keep the one done correctly and recycle the others by shredding and using as bedding in my worm bin or as pet bedding for my pet Degus.

I have been very happy with this curriculum. I have taken longer to get this review in than I should, but have also had a chance to do quite a bit of each book with my younger 3 sons (and the kindergarten student I teach as wel)l. I am not usually workbook oriented. This is in part because of the waste of paper and also because it is often easier and quicker for me to go over math verbally. But I have found I really enjoy this worksheets. Only 1 of the 4 children I have used these with has needed to repeat the sheets. For him, I have found, he needs to stand right beside me and we need to talk through several of the problems before he is ready to go write. However, he is actually only just 5 and doesn't have the quickest responses when we review verbally either.

I recommend this curriculum for its cost effectiveness and thoroughness. I also find the website easy to look around. If you do not need to cover the whole year, but just fill in gaps, then you can purchase by subject matter as well. This is what I could have done with my 11 yo. However, he is actually enjoying the pages and even asks to do some at times when they aren't required.

I know I wrote about Alphabet Alley a while back. I just wanted to put another plug in for this company.

Their products are adorable, prices are reasonable and quality is as good as I have seen. Their products can be used in Sunday School classrooms as filler time, as quiet time projects in church or in the home. They are great to bring to Grandma's house or to send with your older children if they babysit.

They could be used as an open door to witness if you bring your own toys to places like the Dr office or dentist.

Mostly I am writing to say they have something that is very hard to find! Customer service!! I had an issue with a product I had recently recieved from them. They took imediate responsibility for the error and immediate steps to correct the issue.

This company sells their products in a variety of places. I encourage you to support this company whenever you have the chance to! I wish more companies - like this one- existed. Not only do they carry a product with a Bible message, but they seem to embody what the Bible teaches. I do not feel they simply are marketing to this "unique niche", but that they care about their customers and are passionate about their products.

In fact! I plan on going back to order some wooden ABC stacking blocks soon! I have been looking for those for my children.

Heads Up!  is a company that sells a unique combination of products geared towards children with special needs. I was sent several color  panels  to review. Heads Up! Calls these reading aids and are available in these stylesl: Frames, Readers, Double -Time, Top of the Line. My first impression was … "What is this??"

The strips of color  intrigued me. I immediately used them to look at a book I was reading. (The viewing was easier after my daughter -who is very observant- discovered a sheet of clear protective coating and peeled that off. I hope that it was supposed to come off!) I suspect I read slower and with more difficulty than many people I know, though I enjoy reading. I was very shocked and surprised when the blue colored panels did improve the way I saw the page.

Also, my eyes will sometimes wonder or I will lose my place. My attention was focused where it needed to be. It did improve my reading speed and focus for sure! Next I shared them with my son who is in 5th grade and has issues with reading and also staying on task. He also found the blue color to work the best for him. My left handed son chose Green. In fact all my children who read found they preferred reading through a particular color.  Several distinctly disliked the yellow and orange. Blue seemed the most popular.

I wouldn't consider most of my children to be "special needs" and I would not have known that a product like this might help my children, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I wish the product had some weight to help hold the book open or keep it in place if interrupted for a while. It  got me wondering if there was a light magnet on both sides would it work even better? Or what if they were wrapped around the book and held it open as well as framed the areas that were needed?  However, at $1 a piece the price is right and any modifications would - obviously- make them less affordable to others.

I also found myself using them as bookmarkers in the books my 5th grade son reads. He keeps one with him and also used the frames for math problems. My 5 year old will also ask to use the frames or readers with his school.  I am glad the kids like to use them.

I strongly recommend looking on the Heads Up! Site . There might be something that will aid you in your teaching program.

When I was given the chance to review this art curriculum for The Old Schoolhouse Crew, I was very excited and interested.

I like the format and layout for this art curriculum. The one I reviewed was for Book 1 for 4th -6th grade.

My 5th grade son is very interested in art and , even though I teach an art class weekly for a group of homeschoolers, I thought he would like his own book. However, once looking it over, I realized there were parts I wanted to incorporate into the class I was teaching.

Each lesson is formatted simply and with the intention of a student using without additional teaching.  The lesson covers an introduction to an art concept, a couple pages of art history and discussion about the introduced concept in relation to the art , technique, and then application by drawing practice. The 2nd book of the same level will cover color and composition. More information and sample pages can be found on the Artistic Pursuits website.

I feel this is a very thorough and appropriate art book. It is easy to understand and believe any child would have success with this program. The price is $42.95 for each book. Since the book is not consumable, this could be a very good value for families with more than one child. The website also has a FAQ section that does an excellent job of explaining themselves!

My children found both Math Tutor DVDs-  Math Help: The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor (8 hours)  and the Algebra 2 (6 hours) - helpful and  interesting. Both sets contained 2 DVD disks. The teaching style was clear and concise.  Even though my son is not currently doing Algebra 2 he was able to understand and work the problems.

The price of $26.99 a DVD the price is very affordable. Obviously, the DVDs can be used for multiple children in the same family. This makes the series more affordable than any tutor I know of. I would recommend these DVDs if your child is struggling in a particular area in math. Sets are also available for a discount.

The only complaint I had about the DVDs were they would not play in my very old DVD player. I have no idea why that was.  They worked fine in our regular player and my computer, though.

Rocket Phonics is a very thorough and fun phonics program. It mixes phonics games with reading. The program was written by homeschool parents, Stephen and Maureen Guffanti, for their daughter Stephanie.

It is a complete program that includes 2 reading books, cards for playing several games, and activities for scavenger hunts. Additionally, every week , bonus material is sent to your inbox to use as well.

I think it is an excellent product. I love the view finder used to focus the attention on one word at a time.  We paired the Head's Up color frames with the view finder and some of my children did respond well to reading through a color frame at the same time. The cards for playing the games with are very bright and attractive. The stories used in Rocket Phonics start out as the typical readers, but progress into Aesop Fable stories and common tales. It appeals to me that real literature is used.

My children who were already reading well found the view finder to be bothersome. So, I used it with some of my kids and not with others.

Also, because my middle readers were 1/2 way through the another phonics , I only used the card games and sounds with them. I envisioned using the Rocket Phonics with them as well, but it was difficult for them to switch gears and I didn't want to frustrate them since the other program was working well with them.

I have not gotten as far along as I would have liked.

For me the price- $160-  was more than I would spend since my other phonics program was far less expensive. However, I do plan on continuing the program with my reluctant reader. If it works well with him, then I will be revising my position. It is well worth the price for a curriculum of its scope. If I did not use one already, I believe I would have purchased this to use. I have taught 6 children how to read. With the last child I will use this curriculum and with my reluctant reader as well.

Looking for a GREAT creation based science course for your children? Look no further than Apologia. This is the best, most clearly written and easy to understand, yet thoroughly understandable, program I have seen. If you want to look at samples of the modules, there are many to look at on their site as well as other extras.

My college degree is in Biology. I wish these books had been available to me when I was growing up. Their books for Elementary students are written by Jeannie Fulbright include: Exploring Creation with Astronomy, Exploring Creation with Botany, and Exploring Creation with  Zoology 1, 2 and 3. The books for High School Students include:  General Science, Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Advanced Biology, Marine Biology, Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Physics.

There are many other resources and helpful material available on Apologia's website. Apologia is also offering a Conference in the Baltimore, MD area the weekend of Feb 27-29th. If you are able to go, I am sure it would be of great benefit to you!

My 4 year old daughter cannot get enough of the Alphabet Alley    game sets we recently product tested for The Old Schoolhouse Crew. She always chooses to pack them in her bag for Sunday night church (along with the One2Believe Noah's Ark figures) to keep her busy when she sits with us.

The Two by Two Matching Game is a memory game that sells for $10.99. The pieces are very thick and durable. They are easy to pick up off the table and flip over. The illustrations are adorable and vibrant colors seem to make them even more fun AND easy to spot when it is clean up time. My daughter plays with the set the most.

She loves that the Noah's Ark Go Fish game has the same pictures as the Two by Two Game. She likes to make up her own games with the pieces. We also have played Go Fish with them and she likes that. The cards seem thicker and are larger than the other card sets we have. They are easy to hold.

When we use the games it opens up discussions about the Bible. In fact the whole line up of products look great. Why not substitute your traditional Go Fish game with these charming Biblical characters? Alphabet Alley also has a set of Go Fish cards comes in a Christmas theme, also. At $5.99 I feel the price is very competitive.

Alphabet Alley is a great place to do shopping for baby showers (How many onesies do babies really need? Why not get a set of stacking blocks instead?) or birthday gifts or Christmas. Great for grandparents house, too. Oh! Don't forget your church nursery!

WriteShop descibes itself as an incremental writing program.

While I haven't tried out much of their program, I have had the privelege of  putting to use 2 products from their Story Builder line: World of Animals and World of People. The Story Builder sets are are 192 printable cards sent as an e book. There are instructions and suggestions on how to best use the cards. You save the ebook and print the cards off yourself. The cards are divided into 4 categories representing the main parts of a story, such as character and setting , and can be  printed either  on colored paper in black and white or on white paper with colored ink . The writer chooses one card from each category , by a method the teacher assigns,and uses that as the framework of a creative story.

Obviously, this is somewhere in between telling a student what subject to write about and expecing him to come up with something on his own.

The combinations are endless and there are some blank cards in each category for your own cards. These cards are a lot of fun. I think they will be enjoyed for a long time and not just as a novelty. My plan is to use them weekly. I will try to post a sample of writing from one (or more) of my kids using these cards in the near future. This  style works really well for my children .

I am surprised WriteShop doesn't have their website listed on the indvidual cards. I think anyone who sees them will want to know where to order their own! Each Story Builder sets sells for a recently lowered price of $7.95.

There are many other great looking products on the WriteShop website. It looks like their other materials will be equally as impressive and easy to implement as well as being interesting for your aspiring writer or the writer who just has to get the assignment done!!

We have not had nearly enough time to fully try out the One Year Advernture Novel (OYAN) Curriculum by Clear Water Press. My oldest son is trying it. He is a pretty reluctant reader and writer. However, he seems to be enjoying the course very much. He seems very interested in the  process of choosing a hero and I have never seen him enjoy writing assignments like this before. I plan on adding to this review throughout the year, and expect it to be an interesting journey!

The One Year Adventure Novel is written and produced by a novelist and written from a Christian worldview. There is zero prep work for parents. The classes are taught completely on the included DVDs. However, it is not meant to have no parent participation. There are quizzes and tests for the parents/ teachers to give after every lesson and they are expected to review and give feedback to their child(ren) throughout the process. There is also an online forum for the student writers to be involved in. Our kids do not have online access at this time and so we have not tried out that particular area. Of course we can mark the site as an apporved area and plan on doing that in the future.

My oldest son took this program and ran with it! He has been assigned 3 lessons a week, but usually does 4. After every 3, the teacher is supposed to give a quiz. It is a mix of true/ false and fill in the blank. I hadn't warned him about those and yet he only got 1 question wrong. That greatly impressed me because I know he had picked that up only from the DVDs and lessons and not from a cram session.  His story and writing style is extremely creative and I didn't know he had the potential for this kind of work (though his spelling and grammar need work for sure! We were asked to not be particular about that, but just let them write!) . This is the same son who only speaks a handful of words on most days. I am definately recommending this to my friends who homeschool as well as teachers I know.

I have looked at a lot of writing material. This one is not only unique it what it has to offer to just about any kind of student. As different as my children are, I picture each using this course as soon as I feel they are old enough and able.  In fact, I personally plan on going through the course in the future. I would like to learn to write better.

When you purchase  the OYAN it is licensed for use within your own family and it is not meant to be resold. The DVDs can be used by additional children in the same family or a co-op/ school license purchased. The website includes all the information needed. Basically., for a single student in a family the cost is $199 and then additional texts maybe be purchased for additional students in the same family.

Try it out for yourself with a FREE demo CD and sample lessons . It will be the best way to see if this particular study is right for you and your family.It has been a blessing for us to use this course and came at a perfect time. My daughter is currently working through a unit study based on Anne of Green Gables. Once she has finished that (also a year study), I know she wants to try her hand at the One Year Adventure Novel as well! My son is already asking if he will be able to get his book printed when he is finished.

Feb 7: My son asked this week to get books from the library and documentary style DVDs so he can learn more about what his main character would have been like and so he can make him believable. I never believed he would be writing like this. This program has been a great blessing for us.

This book, All About Homophones , will be the only book you ever need to ground your elementary aged children in homophones. My 11 year old get very confused about words that are spelled different but sound the same and have different meanings. He is very rule oriented when it comes to his school-work (wish it carried over to all areas of him life....)

This book - available in traditional bound version for $29.95 or ebook for $27.95- is a great resource for students of all ages. My older children already have a firm grasp, but we all get rusty over time. The cards included to play games and rules are great. They can be played and are everybit as fun as your typical Go Fish or Old Maid games.

What I really liked about the e-book version is being able to print out just what I needed for each of my children. Most are at very different levels. The worksheets can then - of course - be printed and used with other children. In our home it is very important to have text books be reusable with multiple children. Also, it is becoming second nature for me to look through my e-book collection before I look through my bound books when I need something.

I would like this book in bound version as well because I still find it more natural to flip through a "real" book.  However, because of the nature of the book, I am quite satisfied to have this in e-book only. Also, your satisfaction is guaranteed or your money back ! Go to the site and check it out for yourself!

And this is the big news: to celebrate the launch of All About Homophones, you get $10 off any order at www.all-about-homophones.com! To receive the discount, simply enter "FUN" in the customer code box during checkout. The coupon code is good for a very limited time, so order yours before Feb 2, 2009.

Watch for Molly's Money-Saving Digest Ebook to come out soon at The Old Schoolhouse store. This book is filled with ideas that will help the budget challenged family or a family striving to be debt free to think of ways to save and feel good about it at the same time . I feel it will also be an encouragement who struggle with wanting tto give their children things they want, but can't afford. Sometimes it seems everyone else is able to afford private lessons, sports events, eat out every night, etc. Knowing other families are not able to afford everything their children would like to have. Many of these things might be "good", but it is a better choice to be free of debt and serve God. It helped strengthen my resolve to spend less money and save more. Many of the ideas  in this E-book, we put into use in our family. I am looking forward to trying the recipes for cleaning green (while saving green), the food recipes l, and starting seeds in handmade newpaper "pots" that can be planted directly in the ground.

It also challenged me to think of unique ways for enjoying my  family  without spending money. One idea in the book we already do - and is a huge success with all -  is give "coupons" as gifts to our children. We all win and enjoy planning special "prizes". Many of these coupons are redeemed for things that are free - like a day off chores or stay up late. However, there were other original ideas in this book that were new or I hadn't considered doing to save. That is generally not the case when I pick up a book on saving.

This book came to me at a time when I needed a refresher that it *is* worth it to dig out of debt. I need to be reminded to "diet" in this area and tend to think if I have "extra" that I can spend it somewhere else.

This is what my friend Kathy had to say about using Kinderbach:

We used Kinder Bach with a 4,5,& 6 year old.. The children really enjoyed the computer component of KinderBach. The Tunes are catchy and appeal to young children. The computer animations, sounds, and games held the children’s attention much better than if I was trying to teach them. There were a few lessons I couldn’t print due to a problem with my printer (no ink), but the children were so excited about “Dodie” and his friends that they asked to draw what they had seen in their lesson that day. They weren’t as enthusiastic about the keyboard exercises. If we had used a keyboard (instead of a piano) to make different noises, they may have had a longer attention span. Overall KinderBach is a great program to teach younger children music.

There are options for both classroom and home to teach piano with this curriculum. Also, you have the flexibility of online classes or DVDs. The pricing options and packages are too numerous to list. It would better to go look on the KinderBach website for that information.

Here are a couple examples: Bronze -  Web Lessons (over 300 sessions) and PDFs - $14.95 per month or only $7.16 a month if paid for in one lump sum of $85.95 for the year. You can also purchase the DVD sets. A semester set with bonuses can be purchased for $137.45.

 All the pricing options seem to be very well priced. Multiple children can learn from the same materials. So, compared to the cost of traditional piano lessons, there really isn't any comparison.

My friend ,Kathy, reviewed this product for me sincer she was already teaching music to my younger 3 children once a week, while I attended a co-op with my older children and her children. It is a program we probably will work into our curriculum in the future.

As part of The Old Schoolhouse review forum, I was given the opportunity to research and explore Mr. Jeffrey Peyton's Puppet Tool website. He describes himself as "The Play Professor" and has obviously put alot of his heart and soul into the making of this site.

I  feel Jeffrey  makes valid points and can undertstand his misson to promote puppet play into education.

The site itself makes at least one reference to evolution and is not written from a Christian worldview. Certainly puppet play has its value in classrooms, homeschools, sunday schools, vacation Bible schools, etc. On the Puppet Tools site there is a forum for people  to discuss different aspects of puppet play.

The site itself I found  boring, confusing and had diffuculty navigating through it. Jeffrey has many papers he has written and videos he has made on the site. Several are in pdf form and need to be downloaded and others open up and he speaks for 90 seconds or so. However, the way to create a paper hinge for the puppet was clearly explained and it was nice to simple print out some puppets that could then be cut out and glued on the hinges. The paper I used for the hinges was from old coloring books that were already used up. I showed my 7 year old how to construct a hinge and printed out the beaver template. He set right to work and really enjoyed it. I only saw 37 patterns to print out. There are hundreds of examples of student and teacher puppets, though.

The best part is watching the expressions of joy in  the videos and pictures of the kids and adults with their puppets. Almost everyone is beaming and having fun. The universal appeal is undeniable.I look forward to making many puppets and looking through our favorite books to create characters.

In the future I am sure my kids will get hours and hours of fun and play from the ideas in Puppet Tools. I have also been challenged to think more about using puppets in my teaching. It makes me feel funny to use puppets, but I do agree with Jeffrey that puppets are a very helpful tool while teaching. This was certainly not a site I would have stumbled on or even given a second glance. I do feel most of the material can be found for free on other websites and not a lot was new or original to me personally,

www.puppetools.com

$20 for an  individual per year

$99 for a group (up tp 30 members) per year

I am very happy with the ALEKS math program we have been using. This has been particularly successful for my oldest 2 children. It has succeded where other programs have failed for us. It is not working as well with our 11 yo. That has more to do with his reading skills and not the program itself. With help from me, he has made progress as well.

ALEKS is unique compared to other math programs we have tried. In the past we have used Switched on Schoolhouse, Math U See and workbook based programs like Singapore Math. While all these have seemed to be very good and I have liked them, it seemed like my kids would do well with the parts they already did well and didn't on the others (like fractions for some reason). I like that ALEKS pin points what my children are ready to do and then teaches them how to do it. Also, the lessons are clear to understand.

My kids do like the program and are making progress. It is slower than I wished for. However, I have had the advantage of my own subscription as well. So, I have been able to test it out more than just relying on the reports or checking progress "blindly".

ALEKS provides parents with a master account and reports sent directly to your email account. I would like to recieve these automatic reports more frequently, but I can also access my student's account. ALEKS shows a graph and charts of what your child is learning , what they are set up to learn and how long they have spent.

I have 6 children. When I ask my children to do certain subjects for certain lenghts of time, I often get "I did" or "I will" and then it is up to me to remember to check. Often I really have no way to know how much time they have actually spent.  ALEKS has made it really easy to see at a glance how much time my children have put in.

With younger children who are not reading really well, this might be frustrating. Perhaps there is a way to have the material read outloud and I am not aware. I should ask about that. My 11 year old has reading delays and he had problems with this.

I have already recommended this program to other homeschooling friends and people who have mentioned their child(ren) struggling with math. I believe the prices to be very good. It is less expensive than some programs I have seen (based on a year, but of course you can't reuse ALEKS with other children), but it is more than others. However, if you currently using a math tutor, ALEKS might be a much more cost effective method.

There are so many courses and you can switch the courses. So, over the course of a year you might actually be able to finish several levels. So, in that way, the price can be even better.

We do plan on continuing with ALEKS even after our trial ends. You can have a free month trial. I strongly recommend trying it out. We did have an issue with having more than one child on their separate computers , but linked into one main computer. The program would freeze up. So, we simply alternated and made sure each child had their own math slot. This worked with us and 3 kids. Also, since it is an online program, it will be necessary to allow your child access to the site. We currently do not allow any of our kids access to websites - other than our own family site.

 ALEKS has flexible subscriptions for  1 month - $19.95 , 6 month - $99.75  and 12 month - $179.95 so it can be used however best suits your family - either short or long term. The best thing is ALEKS offers a 48 hour trial offer and now through this link , you can try it out for a whole month . Family disounts are also available.

If you are like me, maybe you didn't realize the word "rime" is a word. I don't like "cute" spellings and so initially was not impressed with the name for that reason. However, I learned through this review, that a rime is a word that has the same sound and spelling (at in cat and hat) and not just the same sound ( care, wear, hair, etc.).

I reviewed this book series with the help of my 5 and 6 year old sons. They liked reading on  the computer and using the mouse to turn the pages. The also liked the length of the books and asked to read more. They both are learning how to read and working on reading for fluency. The books kept their attention and I liked the feature that allows for a new rime to be read outloud if they are having a problem with it. Rhyming is a hard concept for my boys to learn, and I liked working on different rimes.

However, there are also features that I didn't care for or that didn't work for our family.

We were given access to all 20 books. The feature that allows you to see what books you have already read or started to read didn't work for us. Even if it had worked, since I had more than 1 child reading the books, I am not sure how that would be a helpful tool unless each child had an account. I did not know if there was a certain way to introduce the books. My daughter who just turned 4 and doesn't read was intrduced to the books. She liked the pictures, but showed no interest in trying them. I did not push it, but she does show interest in the other reading program we use.

Also, some of the books did not have all new words highlighted. For instance in book #3 when the word bad and Dad are used, the word bad and had were not always highlighted. My one son struggled with reversals so I was encouraging him to click the words he was not confident reading. When one word -bad- was written, but not  highlighted, it was clickable - however- the voice said "cat" for this word.

We also had issues with the printing feature. I wanted to print out a book to bring with us to our homeschool group. You get one chance to print the book. I admit I am not very good at printing, but when I followed the directions (or tried to) I ended up with a huge piece of paper and 1 word on it and a picture.  It just seemed like a waste of paper. Perhaps there was a way to print smaller and then assemble into a book, but we didn't get that far. I imtended to ask my husband to print the books for me in a small size, but never found the time. Unfortunately the school printing tasks generally do fall to me and have to be extremely simple to do. In thic case, the  process wasn't  easy for me

The biggest drawback for us is the cost.

 Rime to Read costs $9.99 for a set of 4 books or $44.99 for all 20 books. To me, the program is a lot less thorough than other reading programs I have seen. I think the cost of a virtual, online program would have less overhead and should be more affordable than a paper and ink version. AS a matter of comparison, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" has step by step instructions and a definate flow and plan. It also incorporates writing, but costs only $20 new.

This just didn't work for our family. I am sure there are features I am overlooking and the program probably does fit alot of people. I *do* want my children to be able to rhyme, and do think it is important, but this just did not work for us. I think if the cost were lower and the printing were easier then I would recommend this program. I do appreciate the purpose and the mission behind the books and think it is wise to be virtual when possible. .

www.rimetoread.com

Wow! I wish I had taken this course when we first started homeschooling. Even now, in my 9th year, there is A LOT of great information in these lessons that I have benefited from. Some of the information reminded me of what I am doing right and gave me confidence and that "pat on the back" so often lacking from our job as mother/ teacher. Other parts pointed out ways I could improve. However, I did not  detect even the slightest tone of criticism or judgment in the lessons. And  I can  feel guilty about anything..

The lessons come weekly . There is a different lesson for each letter of the alphabet- as the name implies. I would recommend this course as a *must read* for new , struggling or  even seasoned homeschoolers.

There are currently only a limited number of spots available for this course. So, if interested, sign up soon. The course is well written and extremely easy to understand. I have not gone through all the lessons yet, but look forward to the others to come. In addition to the large amount of "meat" in each lesson, there are very valuable REAL extras in many or all of the lessons. I hate when you sign up with the promise of free "extras" and they turn out to be useless or there is a "catch".

Bravo Terri! Thank you so much . I whole heartedly recommend this series and feel you will not regret this investment ($60 total broken up into $10 a month increments).

www.homeschoolingabcs.com

Additionally, there is an offer of a mini-course to try it out for free.

www.knowledgequestmaps.com

This has been a very fun review and you can try with no risk at all to you! If you homeschool, do yourself a favor, and check this out.

I know this seems like a theme with me lately. But... go to The Schoolhouse Store and check out the Amusing Mathematics module. It is a mini-unit study. If you are constantly looking for ways to make math fun and/ or incorporate it in different ways, then this module will be of interest. I made the mistake of printing the whole thing. That took longer than I think it should have.

It is meant to be used interactively.

The only downside is we don't let our kids get online. There is just too much temptation. Alot of this module is linked online. I wish I could have just turned it over to the kids. But I am thinking of making some safe sites the kids can go visit and maybe this will give me the motivation I need for that.

This was a fun way to experience math! Thanks TOS!

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=159&products_id=7262

(Oh! The best part is the price. At $7.95 for a 48 pages and a wide variety of activities for various ages, I think it is a great value.)

It is my pleasure to bring you a review on a product made by a company called One2Believe. When  my children saw this set arrive in the a mail, they descended on the set immediately and couldn't get it out of the package fast enough.

So far it is held up well to my childen (which is no small feat) ! I am a little concerned about the star being pulled off somehow, but my kids are rougher on toys than average children. I forsee this set giving my children a lot of enjoyment. Initially, I thought about letting them play with it a few days, and then putting it away until Christmas. However, they are having too much fun playing with it. Maybe I will have to get a second one!

The pieces are very sturdy, well made and guaranteed safe by the company that makes the set. It retails for $24.99 on their site www.one2believe.com

It comes with a little booklet in 3 languages. I love that it comes in different languages, but I was dissapointed it wasn't a little more to the booklet.

I highly recommend this playset if your kids like toy figurines like mine do. It also would make a great gift.

I know I have already written about the e-version of The Old Schoolhouse magazine. However, I would also like to post a review for the print version and tell about a special offer that is going on.

My first introduction to the TOS magazine was in the bathroom of 2 other homeschool families. When my friend Caryn told me about all the free things that came with the magazine when you order it, I went online and ordered! I always love "free".

Here I must admit that I am an "order on line and have your books delivered" kind of homeschool Mom. I do not attend the large conferences OR make regular trips to my local homeschool stores - even though we have at least one very large and great store relatively close and many teacher resourse kind of stores. I would spend way too much at places like these.

So, to me, TOS magazine offers a way to "browse" for homeschool items without leaving my home and be introduced to ideas and products that can help me while teaching my children.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is the only homeschool magazine I subscribe to. I am sure there are other great ones, but I feel the scope and weight of this magazines is all I need. If you are a Christian homeschooler, then I highly recommend this magazine. There is such a wide variety of articles and many would be of interest to a secular or non-religious homeschooler, but the magazine is clearly written with a Christian worldview in mind.

I love the size of the magazine, the type and variety of articles as well as the thought and preparation of the articles. It is very professional looking. It goes with me everywhere until I read the whole magazine from beginning to end. I often go back and re-read or look up articles as well. I could go on and on about the kinds of articles, but there is such a variety and they are written by other homeschoolers.

Welll... now for the offer. If you want to susbscribe to The Old Schoolhouse magazine, do so now! (If you are like me and like FREE, they have some really great offers for joining now)

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/US_Promotion.php

It was with great interest I realized The Old Schoolhouse Magazine was offering a digital version of their magazine. Since I am the type of person that keeps her magazines and loves to have a way to look up specific articles and retrieve the information quickly, I thought I would love to have an e-book version. Plus, I am online a lot looking up articles and researching various subjects.

This is the first magazine I viewed this way (OK! So, I know they are not "new", but I just like the real deal when it comes to my books.)

Pros: The magazine is very easy to download and flip through. It was easy to read the articles and find  the information I was looking for and I save the copies on my computer. No magazine ink on my fingers when I am done. No wondering what to do with the magazine when I am done (Keep entirely, scan in pages, recycle, give to a friend?).

Cons: I didn't realize how much I look forward to actually getting my magazine in the mailbox. I anticipate when it will show up and then spend time throughout the day over the course of several days thumbing though. My laptop is not handy to throw in the car if I have a few extra minutes waiting at the doctor.

I found myself wanting to print out the articles I didn't have time to read entirely.

So, I do like the digital version of this magazine, but I like the paper version too! I found myself wanting both. I would (most likely) look thoroughly through the print version when I recieved it, but then pass that on to another homeschooler or someone thinking about homsechooling. Then I would use the downloaded version to look up the articles again.  Personally, I would probably want the digital version to be a free add on or come at a discounted price along with the paper version. I think the digital version is well priced as a stand alone.

I have been using a great new planner this year. Typically I do not actually use a planner because I have stuck pretty closely to using Sonlight and I can keep all my notes directly in the planner they provide. However, this year, my oldest two are doing mostly Switched on Schoolhouse, plus Apologia Science and Typing and some other subjects. My 10 year-old is doing Sonlight, Zoology 3 , Math U See , and my 6 year-old is doing a different Sonlight,  Professor B math, and the Zoology 3 (kind of).

So... I needed a way to keep it all straight and have plans written down for each day!

What I did not expect was not only does this planner have a variety of pages to be used in planners, but also just about every form you can think of for School and Home! Instead of this simply being a school tool it is equally useful as a household tool. The forms are able to be filled out on the computer and then printed out. There is enough space in the boxes for the average person to fill in by hand, but it seems I can't ever write inside of the boxes. Additionally it is hard for me to write clearly enough for the younger kids to read clearly.

In fact, the only regret I have about this planner is I didn't get it at the end of last school year. If I had more time, I think I would have been able to use it more thoroughly.

Currently, I am still trying to figure out a few features with it. Also, I tried to download using Firefox after placing my order, but the planner did not like to be downloaded with Firefox.

I highly recommend this planner. Even if you are well underway this year it is worth checking out.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Let me know what you think.

Rating: 5 Rocks

Summary: One of a set of unique restaurants in the Triangle area. We stopped by on a whim, looking for something different. We were impressed with our friendly server, and the wonderful selection of quite different, yet appetizing-sounding entrees. Expect crowds usually - there's even a pool table in the waiting area, if you can manage to get a turn on it.

Pros: A quiet Tuesday evening, with the place pretty much to ourselves at almost closing time. Turns out this is an unusual night for the restaurant, but we still enjoyed it! The food was excellent; this restaurant specializes in seafood, yet offers a good selection of chicken, beef, and non-meat options. We shared a Soup Sampler so we didn't have to decide which soup to try, and enjoyed them all. Krista got the special, a pretzel-encrusted Mahi with veggies and onions. David ordered a peppered gouper, surrounded by withered spinach. This spinach was really, really, good - going to have to try making that sometime!

Cons: Crowded on regular nights; expect to wait an hour or two.

Who: Those bored with the regular chain food, and want to experience something new and delicious. It's something like Bahama Breeze, but not so exotic. Get someone to watch the kids, unless yours really like trying new and funny-looking stuff.

Rating: 5 Rocks!

Summary: A great multi-purpose PDA running Palm OS 4.1 (in other words, access to my mission-critical apps and thousands of other quality programs), with photo and audio apps added in. It also reads Sony's miniscule Memory Stick.

Pros: The screen. The screen. Did I mention the screen? Nothing comes close. It's like going from EGA to XGA, like going from dot matrix to laser, like going from night to day. The double benefit of double-resolution screen, and in color just take your breath away. Oh, by the way, it's a full-fledged MP3 player, complete with cool headphones and an inline volume/track/play controller built in. And (this just keeps going on) there's the Back button! Finally, I can use my deeply ingrained web behavior, and back up through the Palm. I've always floundered when I wanted to go back to a previous application, because Palm OS doesn't provide a close button. This is even better. OK, one more; the Memory Stick can be accessed from Windows through drive-letter access. I can stuff any kind of file on there. Time to get a bigger one.

Cons: The photo viewer doesn't read JPGs, they have to be converted to PGPocket viewer format. It's free, and it works, but that's more of a hassle then throwing the pictures on the Memory Stick. The video viewer is a joke - all grainy and jerky. Good thing I didn't buy it for that. OK, I'm trying hard to cover both sides here: touching the screen. I guess because of the space the front-lighting takes up, I have to press harder than I expect to touch the screen. As it is it's so beautiful I don't want to hurt it!

Who: I got mine for $260 refurbished at a Sony Outlet store. Great deal! These retail for $400, but you can find them used for less, because they're an "older" model. If you want color on a Palm OS PDA, this is the one for you. Other color Clies will probably work, too, though - they all have about the same screen. This one has the big bonus of the MP3 player, though. It doesn't have the keyboard that the 70s do, but I tried those in the store and didn't like how it worked anyway.

Rating: 4.5 Rocks (David 4, Krista 5) Summary: A 19th century man comes forward in time to charm an unabashedly 21st century woman with his gentlemanly ways.

Pros: There are plenty of funny situations without overdoing the time traveler bit. Meg Ryan does a great job with her part, and there's a solid story line.

Cons: How did they fall off the bridge and end up on the road? Making the dramatic requirement of jumping off a bridge to time travel isn't thought completely through.

Who: Anybody looking for a good solid, calm movie.

Rating: 2.5 Rocks (David 2, Krista 3)

Summary: A famous steakhouse in a big red barn; famous for good food, great service, and high prices. We visited the day before Mother's Day, arriving around 5pm. We didn't have to wait at all, so didn't get to experience the waiting area's amenities. We were taken to a table in the back by the windows, and soon all the tables around were full.

Pros: The service was the best we've had in a long time. Several greeters out front welcomed us in, and were friendly enough - a dramatic departure from the bored / tired attitude of most hosts/hostesses at other restaurants. Our waitress was friendly, efficient, and helpful. The h'ordeurves were definitly an unexpected plus; the kids loved the crackers, celery, cheese, and pickles.

Cons: The entrees were good, but far short of exceptional. There wasn't much ambiance where we were, but at least we were separated from the main dining room, with all its noise and crowds. If the food were much, much better, and the dining experience classier, the prices would have been justified. As it was, it was fancy restaurant prices for average food in a country atmosphere.

Who: There are plenty of other great steakhouses, so this would be for people who want to say they've been to the Angus Barn. We've heard the wine cellar is exceptional, so perhaps those into wine would better appreciate the restaurant. Businesspeople with substantial expense accounts looking for a unique restaurant to treat their clients would also be attracted here, especially if the clients are the type that are impressed with big-ticket items.

Rating: 4.5 Rocks (David 5, Krista 4)

Summary: This is one of the best children's Bible story books we've seen. The Bible stories are accompanied by verse excerpts to memorize, activities to share, and fun facts about the Bible story.

Pros: The writing style keeps the young kids interested and the illustrations are very well-done. The activities are great, and applicable, including making food, getting outside, etc. The stories are also followed up with character traits to learn.

Cons: God is more than love, and sometimes the stories gloss over some of the truth of sin.

Who: The book is targeted at preschoolers, but first and second graders enjoy reading along with the stories.

Rating: 3.5 Rocks (David 4, Krista 3)

Summary: A cute version of the old cartoon. Madeline is an orphan at a girls' school with an impetuous attitude. (PG)

Pros: The girls do a really good job, and the untranslated French and Spanish is refreshing in a modern film (instead of just a thick French or Spanish accent).

Cons: Nice, but kind of boring, and where is the red Vespa on the cover?

Who: Little kid movie, and just interesting enough to watch with them once.

Rating: 3 Rocks (David 3, Krista 3)

Summary: An epic-length telling of the day that will live in infamy, through the eyes of three people. (PG-13)

Pros: Focusing on the story of individuals lends a remarkably personal look at war, and how it affects people. Very good to get you thinking about the value of life, and how fragile it is.

Cons: Way, way too long. Also, war doesn't spare the heroes, making the whole saga of these two guys really improbable. And, for all the trouble taken in digitally recreating the attack, it was too fake. The smoke alone in that attack would have made "filming" extremely difficult..

Who: A war movie - watch with caution, and no kids.

Rating: 5 Rocks!

Summary: A man meets himself as a child, and gets his life back on the track he imagined it would be. (PG)

Pros: Really good acting on the part of the kid, lots of funny lines and scenes. There are pleny of unexpected twists to the storyline - you don't get bored.

Cons: Hey! Hey! Hey! Bruce has some brainless lines.

Who: Good family film.

We're checking into heating & cooling our home. Right now we have window A/C units, and baseboard electric heat - a really inefficient, expensive solution.

It's always expensive to retrofit a house with a central system, but our home's tri-level configuration compounds the problem by requiring extra ductwork. We had somebody give us a quote, which comes in around $8000 or so!! Wow.

The wheels start turning

But, hey! Talking with the HVAC guy, and from what else I know about sizing these systems, it's all about compromise: finding the best balance from different parts of the house. Not too mention the closet space you lose with the ducts. Well, since it's so expensive to run ductwork, why not install a room unit in each room? They would have to be heat pumps, not just a/c, and we want them to be in-wall, not window units. 6 units would take care of the house, and they have to be less than $1300 each to be competitive with central.

• Amana wall units run around $500
• Carrier has one, for $650
• GE has an extensive line, ranging from $500 to $800
• Whirlpool has a few, but only one in the wall. No pricing.
• Friedrich has a versatile line, with even split systems. No pricing.

It gets better

Doing a lot more reading, and I discover ductless split systems. These work just like a full-size regular unit usually does, with separate chiller and air handler, but are a single unit with no ducts. You put them in on a room-by-room basis. You gain a lot of efficiency, as each room is its own zone, and lose all the duct noise.

• According to their website, Mitsubishi apparently came up with idea, and has a few models available.
• Friedrich's systems are what caught my attention in the first place.
• More research on Google turns up Goodman/Janitrol, Enviromaster, and an article from James Dulley. Turns out Carrier, Fujitsu, GE, LGE, and Sanyo also make these units.

Several manufactures, zone cooling, no ducts, high efficiency, much lower capital expense - it all sounds too good to be true. Now to find some local dealers and see if this will actually pan out to all it's made up to be.

Rating: 5 Rocks!

Summary: Lots of fun, great gizmos! Cool action movie with an original storyline. What made it especially neat for us is that the girl's name is Carmen, there's an uncle Felix, and Antonio Banderas takes the part of the dad: all our kids' names! The whole movie is set in quite a hispanic setting, for a nice change. (PG)

Pros: Good gadgets, very clean movie, not even any stupid "kick the guy between the legs" scenes. Several unexpected twists to the plot keep you engaged.

Cons: Hmm. Can't think of any at this point.

Who: Anybody wanting a fun, clean action movie!

Rating: 4 Rocks (David 4, Krista 4)

Summary: A nicely done, interesting movie. Interesting characters and a well-developed pleasing plot provide the core to a pleasant village backdrop. It has almost a fairy-tale quality to it, considering the incredible power of chocolate in people's lives, and the (of course) instant romance between the gypsy and the wanderer. The most interesting and powerful character is actually the Mayor, who fruitlessly tries to enforce his traditions on his townspeople. (PG-13)

Pros: Nice music score, luscious chocolate scenes. We liked the references to Maya culture and Guatemala, and the pottery was neat. Gets you thinking of life beyond traditions, and ends with a solid "good" feeling.

Cons: Foul-mouthed grandmother, religion is mocked, two short scenes. The gypsies were the only people that were happy.

Who: Pretty much by the rating (older kids, adults), and it'll be interesting for everybody.

Rating: 5 Rocks!

Summary: A great 3.3 megapixel camera. 3x zoom, LCD preview, several program modes, creates Quicktime movies, accepts Compact Flash types I and II cards.

Pros: I love the flip-out LCD preview for getting the camera into awkward positions, or for self-portraits on the tripod using the remote control. The auto modes work great, and it's very nice to have the shutter priority, aperature priority, and full-manual modes to get photos in those odd settings. My favorite special mode is the Photo Stitch mode, which visually guides in taking several photos to later mix into one large composite on the computer. The battery usually lasts through a two or three 128MB cards full of photos/movies.

The hot shoe for an external flash is rare on this level of digital camera. I got a flash unit from a friend, and it helps a lot in people pictures. The Quicktime movies can be taken in 30 sec increments until your card is full, complete with sound. It's nice to be able to get superb stills, but still catch those funny action moments, too. The camera also supports those humongous IMB Microdrives, but my 128 CF card / laptop combination has been adequate for me.

The software included with the camera is very surprising. Usually the included software in these types of things is next to useless, but here is an exception. There is an excellent photo stiching program that intelligently makes great panorama view, even allowing you to manually match them up even better. The other great software is PhotoRecord, which is hands-down the best photo printing software I have ever seen. Professional-looking templates for layouts are nice, but it's even better how it lets you print any combination of photos, sizes, orientations, and arrangments on a page at superb quality.

One other feature of mention that I haven't tried very much is the ability to capture photos in RAW mode, which simply saves the CCD info for later processing on the computer. The problem with this is that the only way to get those photos is through the USB connection, which is a lot slower than the PC Card adapter method I usually use.

Cons: I wish I had a bigger zoom. The built-in flash usually overpowers the subject, and it's really hard to take crisp non-flash low-light photos without a tripod and really stationary subject. Using and external flash helps a lot. The included 16 MB CompactFlash card is a joke - why do camera makers expect somebody buying a 3.3 megapixel camera to be using it in low-quality mode? I get 70 hi-res photos on my 128MB card.

The usual lag-time trouble common with most digicams is here, too. Either you have to take the time to pre-set the photo with a half-press of the trigger, or you wait a long time for it to do it itself. I usually find that pre-setting is critical to checking the photo quality in the LCD, as the most common problem is the camera focusing somewhere else than what you expect. Kids move around so much!

Who: This camera isn't cheap, so you need to be really interested in digital photography to buy this. It's nice and small, takes great photos, and gives you the potential for manual control over everything. You'll need to come over and check mine out, or visit the excellent reviews at Steve's Reviews, Digital Photography Review (which also has owner reviews and forums). I bought mine from CDW.

Today this camera retails around $800. Is it worth it?  As of this review, we've taken about 2500 photos & movies with ours since we bought it at the end of January, and have saved 784 of those. So we've thrown away something like 1700 photos. Let's say those were all 24-shot rolls, developed at a Walmart price of $5 per roll: $350 would have been wasted in thrown-away photos in just 6 months! This camera is well on it's way to payback, simply in saved developing costs.

Rating: 5 Rocks !

Summary: A fairy tale (as the intro calls it) of an Italian Jewish family during World War II. The first part of the movie is a charming, funny story of how the couple meets and ends up married. The second part is an unusual view of a concentration camp: trying to pretend it isn't real. (PG13)

Pros: Hilarious lines, great scenes, touching story line. It's refreshing to see such a harsh time placed in such a soft light. Yes, war is horrible, but life is beautiful!

Cons: Impossible events, especially at the concentration camp. But, hey, this is a fairy tale, in which anything can happen.

Who: Families with older kids, couples, it's worth your time.

Rating: 5 Rocks !

Summary : The classic Winnie-the-Pooh cast takes a closer look at my favorite character, Tigger. He's on a search for his family, because nobody seems to want to bounce with him. But he discovers that his family is really the friends around him, especially Roo. (G)

Pros : Super-duper kid fun, great family message, tons of great Tigger-isms.

Cons : Ok, it might be a little too childish for some adults, go figure.

Who : Family, kids, anybody not afraid to cry at the end.

Rating : 3 Rocks

Summary : A workaholic FedEx guy is the lone survivor of an airplane crash, and lives several years on a remote island with a volleyball for a friend. He gets rescued to find his girlfriend married, so manages to make himself find a new life. (PG13)

Pros : Great acting by Tom Hanks, Wilson the volleyball is great!

Cons : Long, without much of a plot. I guess you can't expect much on a remote island. It's a little hard to believe that a modern jet would crash in a storm, or wouldn't have at least turned around.

Who : People who have nothing else to do, or like Tom Hanks a whole lot.

Rating: 2 Rocks

Summary : An advertising guru accidentally gets the ability to hear what all women are thinking. He of course uses it to his advantage in every way, but she loves him anyway. (PG13)

Pros : Pretty funny when you realize what people think and what they say are often worlds apart, and how embarrasing it would be to have your thoughts wide open. Teen sex is portrayed in a dissaproving manner.

Cons : Lots and lots of sexual innuendo, this guy is a ladies' man to the hilt. Why would she want him after he's lied to her, stolen her ideas, and all his "sensitivity" is nothing more than mind-reading?

Who : Forget it. The bad stuff way outweighs the funny.

Rating: 2.5 Rocks (David 2, Krista 3)

Summary : A long, slow movie about a miracle worker that ends up on death row. The guards believe him, and the bad guys get taken care of. Not sure what the point of it all is, though. (R)

Pros : The trick mouse is great! Makes you want to go start Mouseville yourself.

Cons : Wierd, God-less miracles. Doesn't leave you with many answers, especially when the good guy gets the chair anyway. Really intense electric chair scene, and lots of profanity and blasphemy also detract from the movie.

Who : Watch this if you're interested in wasting some time, definitely no kids.

Rating : 5 Rocks ! (David 5, Krista 5)

Summary : This is a great film that really gets you thinking about the values of life. Here's a guy that has it all, or so he thinks. He gets to see what his life might have been with a family, and even though it seems painful at first, the value of family over money becomes painfully obvious. (PG13)

Pros : Pro-family, thought-provoking, humorous, fully-dressed romance between husband and wife

Cons: A couple blasphemies, scene of wife in shower through frosted glass

Who : A must-watch for couples, and good for kids if you're good enough to blank the screen during the nudity.

Rating: 4 Rocks (David 4, Krista 4)

Summary : A few years in the life of Judah the son of Hur, who lived at the same time as Jesus Christ. He lives through some interesting twists of events, and crosses paths with Jesus a couple times. He ends up realizing that the forgiveness Jesus showed was the only way to conquer the bitterness he held toward those he hated. (G)

Cons : This is a long old-style movie, with somewhat tedious portraits that try to convey people's thoughts. It's unfortunate that the movie ends with Jesus in the grave, because His resurrection was more important that even His death.

Pros : Elaborate sets and full story line make the film interesting throughout. Jesus is placed in a remarkably good light for a secular production, and several dramatic scenes liven things up throughout.

Who : Anybody with enough time, especially those who are familiar with the life of Christ and the state of the world around Him.