Science for the day!

One of the things I like to joke about (kinda sorta joking) is how there are always opportunities for learning in every situation, if you just keep your eyes open. (Really it is the same principle as being thankful, if we just look around we can always find something to be thankful for.)

The boys participated in a local county fair last week, which means they made some things and baked some things, and we entered them for judging. They look forward to this time of year because they know they will actually get some decent money.

This year’s fair was profitable. C (12) made $28, G (10) received $16 and N (8) raked in the highest total of the three, $39. With this particular fair, they pay you cash money on the spot when you pick up your ribbons. Wooohooo!!

From previous experience, I knew that one child in particular would be itching to spend his money. Immediately. Probably all of it. Bless his heart. And he received the least of the three. (Yes, I just gave it away.)

Anywho, yesterday the three younger ones went shopping with their dad, while me and my oldest son went off for what we like to call M&C Day. (This is where he goes along for the ride while I run all of my errands, including the ever-exciting fabric store, and in return, I reward him with a lunch out. The boy loves him some food. And I love his company, so it is a nice trade.)

G was predictable once again, and came home with a couple of things from Target. The first was what he had been searching for, a guitar instructional booklet that comes with a CD. (I thought this was a great purchase for him and was pleased. He loves music, and is actually pretty talented, and is determined to teach himself every instrument ever created.) The second purchase was neat, but I figured it was one of those things that will get misplaced, and turn into “just a fad” type toy. It was this: Wild Planet Micro Ear Gear

Boy, I think I might have been wrong about this little gadget.

This morning, N, who is the early riser of the four was playing with the little ol' micro ear and discovered that he could use it to hear his heart beat. What??? We now have a stethoscope. How cool. So I listened to his heart, then I said "Hey, let me see if your stomach is talking." So I put it on his little washboard stomach and you could hear the stomach acids just a churning. What?? Even cooler now.

So today we will be studying medical science. All because of a toy from Target called Micro Ear Gear. (Let's just wait and see how gross it gets with 3 boys playing. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before one suggests to listen to the others' bottoms.)

Science for the day!!

The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine Review

I have to admit that I was skeptical of an online digital version of a magazine. I currently only subscribe to one magazine that comes in my mailbox, and I love flipping through the pages, and skipping over the ads and articles that don’t appeal to me.

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the digital version of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Through no fault of the magazine, I can tell you that if I had a larger monitor, the whole process would have been much better for me. Even better would be if I had a laptop computer and could be reading the magazine on the couch. But in any event, it was still pretty neat.

The magazine is very easy to navigate using the toolbar at the top of the page. You have the table of contents available quickly, and can go straight to the page you are interested in. One of my favorite features is being able to see all pages as thumbnails. (I love to do this with the Target ad online as well.) You can view the magazine as one page, or to get the “magazine” feel, you can pick a two page spread.

The content of the magazine is great, with tons of relevant articles for all areas of homeschooling. Just like most magazines, there are quite a bit of ads, but not so much that you feel that’s all you paid for. Speaking of the ads, though, one of the coolest features available are hyper-links to other websites referenced throughout the magazine. Even if an author mentions a website in her article, the link to that website is right at your fingertips. Definitely can’t do that with a printed version.

All in all I was pleased with the digital, online version. It was very easy to navigate and you don’t have to worry about misplacing it. It definitely doesn't clutter up my living room. A great savings over the printed version, which is $39, the online version is currently $16.95. Click here to check it out.