Homeschool Review Math Mammoth

I can't tell you how much we love this program. First it's a program you can buy a download to so you can print the pages as many times as you need. This is perfect for us since I can have Nathan work the pages and then the twins can follow him when they are ready all for one low cost. We've been using the program for just over 9 months now and I'm amazed at how easy it is to teach. I've never been a math person and most math concepts go right over my head. However since starting this program with the kids I've picked up on several concepts. This program is very very similar to Singapore Math.
There is loads of practice built into the lesson. Great for kids who struggle and it's easy to skip problems if it's a concept your child picks up on quickly. We do about 1-3 pages a day depending on how well each child picks up on the concept.
This is not a self teaching program. But the teachers notes are right on the paper so it's very easy to just go down the worksheet and do the teaching and problems.
We also love all the links to websites that offer games to practice the concepts your learning. My kids think they are playing on websites and yet they are getting even more practice done in math.
Another great feature of this program is you could even use this with your kids in public school. They offer workbooks for extra practice which you could use to help enforce what your child is learning in school.
Link to math mammoth.
Samples of the first grade program.
Check out the website for more information.

Twins 6th Birthday Cakes

These are a little late but I do want to share them. My wonderful sister came up to help me make these cakes. Noah insisted on a Lego Indiana Jones themed cake and Zach's was suppose to be a Lego Star Wars but Lego took way longer than expected to ship out our set so he settled for a Minion cake.

Declutter and Organization 2011 Challenge Week 2

This week's challenge is the kids toys boxes. I have four upstairs in our main room. My goal is to get these cleaned up, decluttered (much to the kids dismay), and organized. Hopefully we can get some clever ideas from each other on this one.

Thought on Week One of the Declutter and Organization 2011 Challenge

One of the worst shelves in my kitchen. Things were just getting shoved in there as needed.

After getting rid of items that were expired or just past their prime. I also got rid of several containers that I was saving for who only knows what. It's not perfect yet but at least I can find items on this shelf.

A shelf on a book case in the living room. This was a scary shelf. Things go on this shelf to disappear and never to be seen again. I did find some missing items we had been looking for over the past year. It now only hold books like it is suppose to.

Not only can you see the books but you can find what your looking for.

This was one scary drawer in the bathroom. Sadly I found a missing pair of my contacts that expired 4 years ago. I'm thinking newborn twins isn't an excuse for that drawer anymore. I threw away bottles of expired medicine and bandaid wrappers.

I bought some little baskets at Target for $1.49 each. I thought my drawer was smaller than it is cause I only bought two. I should have bought three and a couple of the smaller ones.

I only got to four places this week. One place I haven't got pictures of yet. I'll get them as soon as I can. Stay tune for week two's challenge which I'll be posting in a few hours. Add a link to your accomplishments for the week so we can cheer you on.

Declutter and Organization 2011 Challenge Week 1

This week pick five shelves or drawers in your house and empty them. Get rid of items you haven't used, will ever use, or have expired. Clean the shelf/drawer and reorganize the shelf/drawer so that it's possible to find what your looking for. My plans are to do one shelf/drawer a day but you can do them all in one day if you desire. Feel free to take before and after pictures and leaving a link to your blog to show your work.

We are starting with a few small projects just to get us in the groove. Stick around and hopefully we'll get the whole house done before 2012.

I'm also starting a healthy living challenge on my healthy eating blog. If your interested let me know and I'll post a link to that blog for you. Click here for the healthy eating blog.