TOS Blog Walk February 21-25, 2011

Please come with me this week on a walk with these homeschooling blogs.

1. Our Best Daze
2. The Joy of School
3. Spell Outloud
4. to the sea with me
5. Half Dozen Mama
6. Creative Learning
7. Homeschooling My Miracles
8. Beyond The Silver and The Gold - A Filipino Family's Homeschool Journey
9. My Own Sense and Sensibility
10. Happily Homeschooling

Our Pineapple Plant

We have had this pineapple plant growing leaves for so many years that I have forgotten when I started it from a pineapple we bought at the store. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I looked in the middle of the plant and saw the new pineapple growing. When I saw this I was so excited and I just had to take some pictures and share them with you. I found a link as well to a site that is all about growing pineapples. And the most important thing that I gained from this website is, a pineapple needs little water, which is something that my plant hasn't gotten lately, so it has taken off. I always watered it too much. I can't wait to see how it grows and I will keep you all up-to-date.

C's Blogging- Momma loves C

Momma loves me. Momma is 34. Momma shows she loves me by hugging me all the time. She tickles me too. C loves Momma. Momma said right now, “C, you are sliding off my lap.” Very, very funny. And C is five years old. The story is good so far. The end!

C's Blogging- C loves Momma

It was a nice rainy day. And the clouds were rolling and rolling away. A spider was on Momma’s head. And C picked it off Momma’s head and dumped it out the door. Another spider was on Momma’s head and C picked it off again. And dumped it out the window. This time it was on C’s head and Momma picked it off and dumped it out the window. The end.

B's Blogging- A Moose Eating

One day a moose went out to graze, but then it started to rain and thunder and lightning. Then the moose decided to graze another day. But the next day on, the same thing happened. And the moose decided if the same thing happened he would go out and graze the next day on. The same thing happened, but he went out to graze. The End.


Word Search

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Dig-It! Games- Roman Town

Product: Roman Town: The Premiere Archeology Interactive Computer Game for Kids
Vendor Contact Information:
Dig-It! Games
e-mail- info@dig-itgames.com
phone- 1-877-213-4448
Connect with them on Twitter and Facebook
Age Appeal: targets 5th to 8th graders, but is played by kids 8 to 88
Format: CD ROM
System Requirements
• Windows Vista/XP/2000
• CPU 800 Mhz; RAM 412MB; Hard Drive 350MB
Not available for Mac at this time
Price: Good news there is a SALE! Usually $39.95, you can use the coupon code TOS2011 to get Roman Town for $19.96! This coupon expires on February 21, 2011. What a deal!

Do you have a budding archeologist in your family? Then they may want to try Roman Town by Dig-It! Games. In this computer game, the archeologist will excavate the Roman town of Fossura, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

In 3D rendered graphics you are able to explore each room of the building where Lucia and Marcus grew up. You will also L.E.A.R.N. (Locate Engrossing and Remarkable Knowledge) about the artifacts that were excavated with the in-game encyclopedia. As the archeologist, you will reconstruct mosaics, pots, classify artifacts, and fill out a report.

Our Experience:
We had a lot of fun with this game. B and C love history and games, so it was a wonderful mix. We took a while to finish each level, because there was a lot of reading for me to do. B and C enjoyed learning what amphorae, impluvium, the Fauces and many other items were that we excavated. We were in control of our diggers and what tools they used. There were different sized tools, from trowels to pickaxes. When we finished each level we would sort our artifacts then play three games, such as Matching, Does not belong, 2D or 3D reconstruction. After we played the games we would do the L.E.A.R.N. Quiz which consisted of true or false, word search, and term match. Some of the questions were tricky, but we were able to figure them out! After the Quiz we would play Calculi, which is a board game where you try to get five in a row. It is played on a board similar to a checker board without the colored squares. We would also go on a tour of the room we had finished excavating. The final thing we did was to complete our report, so we could move on to the next level/room. The video below is a wonderful example of the game.


What I Liked:

• That I had to read it to my kids, so I was able to learn along with them!

• The joy in the kids eyes when they solve the mini games.

• The amount of fun mixed in with great learning.

• The addition of Lucia and Marcus helped B and C learn what life was like for children in 79 A.D.

What I Disliked:

• It was hard to click on the tools, we needed to dig with. It took me multiple tries to get my tool selected.
  

• Since there was a lot to read and some words were hard for B to read it would be nice if it was voiced over.

What B (boy, recently seven, officially first grade) Liked and Disliked: I liked Dig It! It was fun! You can give your diggers trowels. I discovered that if you give your diggers trowels they can dig up small artifacts-and a pick ax digs up big artifacts. They were 6 levels. My favorite mini-game was Calculi. I think Roman Town is good for kids my age. There wasn't anything I disliked. I can't wait for the next volume!



What C (girl, recently five, working on Kindergarten) Liked and Disliked: It was fun. Daddy helped by reading the instructions to me. I learned how to separate artifacts and play Calculi. It was fun to keep the workers digging at the excavation site. It's good for kids my age. I liked all of it.

What Dad Liked and Disliked: This is a very creative activity for kids to learn about Roman Times through interactive archeology. The dig site was interesting but at times was slow. I liked how you could get information about artifacts as you dug them up. There were many activities for the kids to keep them interested and occupied. Having been to Italy I shared my Pompei pictures with the kids and that got them extra excited about Roman Town. All in all this is a wonderful program for kids.

Other Products Available: Roman Town Teachers Edition (CD ROM) and Roman Town Educator's Manual (Download)


I would recommend Dig-It! Games: Roman Town. For more reviews on Dig-It! Games: Roman Town go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Sickness and Snow

Today was supposed to be C's day to do her first post and yesterday was supposed to be B's first day to do his post, but due to C's illness we were unable to do it. I am hoping that next week we will be back on track with the blog and our school work. It is difficult to do our school curriculum when I have to keep one child distracted (so she doesn't get sick) and I have to make sure that B (who is officially in school) gets his work done.

Fortunately through The Homeschool Crew we have been able to review products that work very well when kids are sick and learning still occurs. Please see my reviews on SPEEKEE TV and Tiny Planets.

I am looking forward to the snow that we are getting. We are supposed to get between eight and twelve inches. As I look at the DOT map most of the state is full of roads that are either closed or travel is not advised. It will be fun in a couple days to go sledding at our park when the wind dies down and the temperatures warm up.

Stay warm and inside if you are a part of the great Midwest storm and stay safe where ever you are in the world!