Spring Surprise

       We stopped by the nursery on the way home from our camping trip and picked out some colorful flowers. Granny was delighted with the ones we picked out for her and showed us just where to plant them so that she could see them from her window. We could feel the nearing rain in the air, and Heather and Powpow helped me get them planted right before the heavy rain started. Granny even planted one!

     Powpow is a master gardener, not by official title, but by experience and results. He recommended we put a little water in the hole before adding each plant. Granny wanted to try something new, which she shared with us the next morning when we returned to plant the Mandevilla beside her trellis. She shared that she read to put a cup of oats in the hole you are putting the plant into to help it retain moisture. We did, with Emily and Heather laughing about cooking oatmeal and dirt. It kind of had a mud pie making fun appeal to it.

     We planted our own flowers and herbs when we walked home, planning to re-use the pots and the topsy turvy planter that were still on the porch from last season’s plantings. Joseph helped the girls carry the dead plants from the pots to the compost pile, and then they added fresh dirt to each flower pot.

     Emily and Joseph both enjoyed walking onto the porch and picking grape tomatoes from the plant in the topsy turvy planter last year. Very few of those tomatoes actually made it inside to serve. The planter stayed in its spot on the end of the porch through the winter, right where Mitch added the special bolt strong enough to support it. We had the new tomatoe plant ready to put in the planter, but when Heather reached up to take the planter down, a bird flew out! It actually flew into the side of her hand. She held her camera above the small hole in the top and took a picture of the nest with four tiny eggs. I hope we didn’t disturb them so much that the Mamma bird will leave them. It will be fun to hear the baby chirps inside the planter as they hatch and grow.

     Last year I read an interesting planting idea, and with our hanging tomato plan thwarted, I adapted that to our needs. We took one of the moss lined types of hanging baskets (also emptied of last year’s dirt) and made two tiny holes in the bottom of it. Then we added two tomato plants, upside down. I didn’t have the foam circle used in the bird nest planter so I put pieces of peat pots around the plants to keep them from completely falling through the holes. Then we added more dirt, a cup of oatmeal, and flowers on top. The rest of the herbs and flowers went into the flower pots and front flower bed.

TOS Review of Alphabet Beats

A TOS Homeschool Crew Review

 

     Of all of the programs we have tried over the past year with the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, Joseph, my five year old son, has declared Alphabet Beats to be his favorite. I rank it up with my top favorites, too. This is a program for handwriting, but includes so much more.  We received the Alphabet Beats writing lowercase letters DVD from The TV Teacher.

     This program was developed for teaching letter formation, one letter at a time. “Miss Marnie,” an Occupational Therapist, demonstrates proper letter formation while repeating a “chant” for the children to imitate as they watch and draw the letter in the air. Words are clearly displayed on the screen as she says them out loud, sometimes accompanied by pictures, sometime acted out. Each letter ends with a clear demonstration of her drawing a large sample letter and repeating the chant 3 times before the child tries it on paper. It is recommended that this not be watched in its entirety at one sitting, instead one letter at a time. I agree with this concept, and doing it this way with Joseph has not lessened his enjoyment by overloading him with too much to process at once.

     From the company: "Alphabet Beats is a multi-sensory handwriting program using visuals & rhythmic chants.  This award-winning learning tool was created by an occupational therapist and a mother of two, and has produced amazing results since its release in 2006.  Alphabet Beats is formatted on a DVD that can be used on a TV or a COMPUTER (with DVD read capability).  Lessons are presented in letter chapter segments, each approximately 5 minutes in length."

    Check out this and their other products at www.thetvteacher.com. Each DVD (writing lowercase letters, and writing uppercase letters) is available for $35. Each or $64.99 for both DVDs. They also have workbooks and additional resources available at the website.

Disclaimer: These products were received for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.

Beware of Alligators

     That was the sign I read as we entered the state park Friday. We had a great weekend camping, and did not see any alligators! The first evening I took Joseph to the playground right before dark. I pushed him on the merry-go-round, and didn’t think it through when he told me to get on. I did, and he spun it around, and I felt like a kid- a dizzy kid!
     Mitch made the plans for us after a friend recommended a nearby state park. When he set up reservations, he thought his parents would be meeting us there on their way to our house. Their plans were delayed, and instead my parents drove up yesterday and spent the afternoon with us playing scrabble, walking around the lake, and playing with us on the playground (Joseph’s favorite part of the weekend.) Mitch made breakfast for us both mornings. We played Frisbee; the weather was perfect outside. We all enjoyed leaving behind our responsibilities, but it feels great to be back home.