My children and I were discussing the coming autumn season and I asked them what they liked about it. Here are some of their answers just because you needed to know.
1. I like that it is not so hot so now I can wear my pretty sweater.
2. I like pumpkins.
3. I like to crunch the brown leaves. Can we have a tree with leaves?
4. It means that it's going to snow soon, I want to go skiing.
5. Hockey games are starting.
6. I like that the cockroaches go away.
7. I like Christmas lights.
8. Do you think that the trees feel bad that they are naked?
Now you know, if you were also concerned about the trees' feelings you are not alone. May you enjoy the nice weather wherever you are. I happen to like the cooler weather and the changing leaves and the pumpkin flavored everything. I just never knew my children so agreed with me.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Done today status updates
Now that we are getting near to the holiday season and people are feeling crafty I've been struck by how many of my friends on Facebook are awesome. I mean this in a good way, and most days I read their status updates and think "Wow, you are awesome." but lately I'm getting frustrated. When you read a status update like this:
Wow, what a morning, I saved three baby endangered birds, fed the homeless, and stopped world war three. I finished the laundry, the dishes, and dinner is almost ready, complete with pie and fresh bread I baked myself. Hoping I can win a Nobel Prize this afternoon so that I can use the money to save the baby seals. Smiles!!
You start by thinking, "well good for her, I am so happy people like her exist." You end up thinking "What the @#$%! All I've managed to do today is crawl out of bed and inject myself with caffeine." You've all had this happen, you know you have. Forty years ago you would have had to listen to this lady tell you how wonderful she was over a cup of tea and you could have gotten the satisfaction of at least imagining you could throw your cup of tea in her lap. Today, you have to also watch her pin really cute creative things on her pinterest wall while you try to find the right end of the band aid to open because you tried to cut paper with scissors. Now in all honesty, I am usually very much a do-it-yourself kind of person, I try to be handy and I like to build things and make things. In all reality though, I have a long list each day that I only occasionally finish, so I want to share with you my new response to these posts. It will help you remain calm and sane. You don't have to share it with others or even let them know you are doing it but it will help. When you see that one of your awesome friends has solved world hunger in less than an hour choose one of these status updates that you've totally accomplished, you can post them in your status, or just know that you did something important.
Here they are,
1. I fed people today, they ate it, and it was good.
2. Someone learned something because of me.
3. No one needed a band-aid or a trip to ER, because I intervened.
4. I found the funny in what someone else was saying and I enjoyed it.
5. I didn't finish the dishes because we finished reading the book together.
6. I stopped folding the laundry so that I could color a picture with my growing up too fast child. Yes, the horse was blue and green, those are nice colors too.
7. I won the tickle fight! (This one usually requires an exclamation point.)
8. I had lunch on a blanket with a stuffed animal in a dress, I don't know which was yummier, the sandwich I imagined was mermaid food or the water that I pretended was honey and milk because that's what the unicorns drink.
9. I wrote down what my cuties said today so that when they are gone tomorrow I can remember how they once were and remind them of the dreams they once dreamed. That way when life discourages them I can lift them up a little.
10. I laughed.
11. I totally enjoyed my dessert.
12. I fought entropy! (You might lose, but never stop fighting and calling it by it's true name helps too.)
13. I spent time noticing something natural growing around me.
14. I completely thought about spending time exercising.
15. I fell asleep after kissing my happy, healthy, slightly smudged children who still let me hug them goodnight.
If you do some of these every day, then when you see a new post from your friend you can post one of your own. Now, go forth and accomplish!
Wow, what a morning, I saved three baby endangered birds, fed the homeless, and stopped world war three. I finished the laundry, the dishes, and dinner is almost ready, complete with pie and fresh bread I baked myself. Hoping I can win a Nobel Prize this afternoon so that I can use the money to save the baby seals. Smiles!!
You start by thinking, "well good for her, I am so happy people like her exist." You end up thinking "What the @#$%! All I've managed to do today is crawl out of bed and inject myself with caffeine." You've all had this happen, you know you have. Forty years ago you would have had to listen to this lady tell you how wonderful she was over a cup of tea and you could have gotten the satisfaction of at least imagining you could throw your cup of tea in her lap. Today, you have to also watch her pin really cute creative things on her pinterest wall while you try to find the right end of the band aid to open because you tried to cut paper with scissors. Now in all honesty, I am usually very much a do-it-yourself kind of person, I try to be handy and I like to build things and make things. In all reality though, I have a long list each day that I only occasionally finish, so I want to share with you my new response to these posts. It will help you remain calm and sane. You don't have to share it with others or even let them know you are doing it but it will help. When you see that one of your awesome friends has solved world hunger in less than an hour choose one of these status updates that you've totally accomplished, you can post them in your status, or just know that you did something important.
Here they are,
1. I fed people today, they ate it, and it was good.
2. Someone learned something because of me.
3. No one needed a band-aid or a trip to ER, because I intervened.
4. I found the funny in what someone else was saying and I enjoyed it.
5. I didn't finish the dishes because we finished reading the book together.
6. I stopped folding the laundry so that I could color a picture with my growing up too fast child. Yes, the horse was blue and green, those are nice colors too.
7. I won the tickle fight! (This one usually requires an exclamation point.)
8. I had lunch on a blanket with a stuffed animal in a dress, I don't know which was yummier, the sandwich I imagined was mermaid food or the water that I pretended was honey and milk because that's what the unicorns drink.
9. I wrote down what my cuties said today so that when they are gone tomorrow I can remember how they once were and remind them of the dreams they once dreamed. That way when life discourages them I can lift them up a little.
10. I laughed.
11. I totally enjoyed my dessert.
12. I fought entropy! (You might lose, but never stop fighting and calling it by it's true name helps too.)
13. I spent time noticing something natural growing around me.
14. I completely thought about spending time exercising.
15. I fell asleep after kissing my happy, healthy, slightly smudged children who still let me hug them goodnight.
If you do some of these every day, then when you see a new post from your friend you can post one of your own. Now, go forth and accomplish!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
How many can you answer?
I told my husband that my children were asking more involved questions lately, that they no longer just asked why. I said that some of them were tough for me to answer. He thought I was joking, so I've written down their questions this week. It's only Wednesday morning but here's what I've got so far.
1. What day of the week will the world end on?
2. Do pteranodons have tongues?
3. Where is Radiator Springs really?
4. What does stupid fried mean? (He meant stupify)
5. If you were a mouse would you eat these crumbs?
6. Did they have cars back in the olden days, before TV?
7. Who invented the zipper and how many iterations did it take? (She loves the word iteration)
8. Why is the diesel engine louder than a regular engine?
9. Why does my left arm never fall asleep?
10. Why do they say "go to sleep" when you are supposed to be still?
I'm sure I'll have more this week, but I thought I would share so you can all ponder instead of doing what you need to do for the rest of the day.
1. What day of the week will the world end on?
2. Do pteranodons have tongues?
3. Where is Radiator Springs really?
4. What does stupid fried mean? (He meant stupify)
5. If you were a mouse would you eat these crumbs?
6. Did they have cars back in the olden days, before TV?
7. Who invented the zipper and how many iterations did it take? (She loves the word iteration)
8. Why is the diesel engine louder than a regular engine?
9. Why does my left arm never fall asleep?
10. Why do they say "go to sleep" when you are supposed to be still?
I'm sure I'll have more this week, but I thought I would share so you can all ponder instead of doing what you need to do for the rest of the day.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
What I'm Learning From My Big Toddler
My son is seventeen months old and he's been teaching me some valuable life lessons. There is a reason we call this one Yoda, he's wise beyond his months. I'm sharing so that his wisdom will be a gift to you too.
1. It really is ok to run EVERYWHERE, but laugh while you do it and don't stick out your tongue.
2. When you fall while running, which you may do, say "Uh-Oh" while laughing, this makes people respond to your laugh instead of laughing at your fall.
3. Stop what you are doing for airplanes in the sky and cool cars that drive by. Enjoy watching them.
4. Push the buttons on the printer and the remote with enthusiasm, don't push people's buttons, that's not nice.
5. When you do something right it's ok to tell yourself that you did a good job. It's also ok to tell everyone else.
6. When you need help ask nicely, always say please instead of screaming.
7. It's ok to make a mess with your food, share your mess with others so they can have the joy of washing.
8. Consider the day a success if you've had the opportunity to take more than one bath in the same day, preferably in the same hour, this means that your hair may not dry fully. That is ok too.
9. Be confident in how you look. Don't bother wasting time combing your hair or matching your clothes, a good smile will make others think you are cute in your current state.
10. Sometimes the best thing to do is to dance around in a circle and strike a pose, often with a leg or arm in the air. This tactic seems silly but can actually diffuse many troublesome situations.
See, I told you he was wise...
1. It really is ok to run EVERYWHERE, but laugh while you do it and don't stick out your tongue.
2. When you fall while running, which you may do, say "Uh-Oh" while laughing, this makes people respond to your laugh instead of laughing at your fall.
3. Stop what you are doing for airplanes in the sky and cool cars that drive by. Enjoy watching them.
4. Push the buttons on the printer and the remote with enthusiasm, don't push people's buttons, that's not nice.
5. When you do something right it's ok to tell yourself that you did a good job. It's also ok to tell everyone else.
6. When you need help ask nicely, always say please instead of screaming.
7. It's ok to make a mess with your food, share your mess with others so they can have the joy of washing.
8. Consider the day a success if you've had the opportunity to take more than one bath in the same day, preferably in the same hour, this means that your hair may not dry fully. That is ok too.
9. Be confident in how you look. Don't bother wasting time combing your hair or matching your clothes, a good smile will make others think you are cute in your current state.
10. Sometimes the best thing to do is to dance around in a circle and strike a pose, often with a leg or arm in the air. This tactic seems silly but can actually diffuse many troublesome situations.
See, I told you he was wise...
Sunday, September 1, 2013
grammar lesson humor
Before you call the psychiatrist and social services, please remember that she is a comedian who wanted to finish school as quickly as possible with minimal effort. This totally worked.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The results of vacation
We had a lovely two week vacation that cost more than we were planning and was more fun that we thought it would be. I think that was about normal. I was going to write about it because it was fun and the tow truck ride was an adrenaline rush; but I think I'm going to write about the aftermath, because it's more amusing and won't make you jealous.
When we were on vacation my husband and I decided to make a serious effort to focus on each other and our children and really spend time as a family. We did evil parenting things like making our children talk to us for half an hour between movies on the days we drove. We included them in deciding the activities for the day. When we had things go differently than planned we included them in the decisions about how to get back on track. We discussed ways to spend more time with them and how fast they are growing up. We really enjoyed getting to know our children and each other again. Then we got home...
When we got home we realized that our youngest, whom I shall now refer to as Yoda, had a stomach bug and we needed to take him to the doctor and get stool samples. Then we tried to start school and clean up the rv and do all the laundry and the dishes and deal with the two weeks of produce from the garden. While I was contemplating how to duct tape a plastic bag on Yoda's rear to catch the explosive exhaust (don't call child protective services I didn't actually do it) as I held him over the toilet for two hours, I thought that none of those articles about cherishing your children, keeping your house clean with one daily chore, and teaching your children Latin so they can take over the dental industry really understand what day to day parenting really requires.
This morning as I cleaned the nasty, slightly moldy lint trap in the washer, that requires the removal of three star-drive screws to access, I realized that there's no getting around the yucky jobs when you are a parent. My children may never take over the dental world, or take on the high stakes offices on Wall Street or be stars on Broadway, or however else you define success, but they will never see me shirk my duty as their mother. I hope they learn something valuable from watching me clean up the projectile vomit that has become a rather regular routine recently. I hope they learn that I love them, lots and lots, not just a little, and not just when they are clean and healthy, but all the time. I hope they learn how to love others under the same conditions. People are really actually quite yucky, we have all kinds of dirt, we have to love each other through all of that dirt.
So am I a failing mother because I forgot all those "one chore a day to a clean house" tips and my house is a complete mess because I spend four hours a day helping Yoda go to the potty so he can run away screaming "boy potty!" Nope, not going to claim it. I've been thinking about the good old days, you know when we thought we were just as good as all the other parents because our kids had clothes and food. I'm talking about the times when you were expected to keep your children alive, teach them right from wrong, make sure they mostly wore shoes in the winter, and ate food. Before self-help books that tell you how every word you utter is making your child guilty, depressed, self-conscious, or causing them to feel inadequate. Don't worry they will be millionaires because you made sure they knew their times tables at age 3, so they can afford therapy later.
Seriously, I learned a great many things from my vacation.
1. I need to put my phone, book, and child down. I need to talk to my husband more, he is a really awesome guy and I need to do fun things with him, not just dinner and a movie twice a year.
2. We need a smaller house. I don't need an entertainment room and a toy room and a workshop, I need to get outside and take my children to new places so they can be entertained and play in the world. A workshop would be awesome though.
3. I don't need new ways to store my injection molded Chinese plastic, I need less injection molded Chinese plastic. My children played with rocks, sticks, and logs for a week and cried when we left them. I am not buying them another toy EVER!
4. My children are smart and fun and I don't need to worry about whether they are reading or writing at grade level. I need to teach them to learn because it's fun, not because there will be a test at the end of the week.
5. I will say and do the wrong things, I will make them feel bad sometimes, I might even give them some sort of complex problem when they are older, but they will always know I love them. I will tell them every day and every night that I love them. Then, I will tell them when they wake up and when they go to sleep and I will probably do that until the day I die. That's a real mother's real job, making sure they know that.
So, my vacation was awesome, I will never catch up and that's great. We will go on another one and I will get behind again, but I'm going to see some of this beautiful world and share it with my family because that's more important than storage, clean clothes, and a clean floor.
When we were on vacation my husband and I decided to make a serious effort to focus on each other and our children and really spend time as a family. We did evil parenting things like making our children talk to us for half an hour between movies on the days we drove. We included them in deciding the activities for the day. When we had things go differently than planned we included them in the decisions about how to get back on track. We discussed ways to spend more time with them and how fast they are growing up. We really enjoyed getting to know our children and each other again. Then we got home...
When we got home we realized that our youngest, whom I shall now refer to as Yoda, had a stomach bug and we needed to take him to the doctor and get stool samples. Then we tried to start school and clean up the rv and do all the laundry and the dishes and deal with the two weeks of produce from the garden. While I was contemplating how to duct tape a plastic bag on Yoda's rear to catch the explosive exhaust (don't call child protective services I didn't actually do it) as I held him over the toilet for two hours, I thought that none of those articles about cherishing your children, keeping your house clean with one daily chore, and teaching your children Latin so they can take over the dental industry really understand what day to day parenting really requires.
This morning as I cleaned the nasty, slightly moldy lint trap in the washer, that requires the removal of three star-drive screws to access, I realized that there's no getting around the yucky jobs when you are a parent. My children may never take over the dental world, or take on the high stakes offices on Wall Street or be stars on Broadway, or however else you define success, but they will never see me shirk my duty as their mother. I hope they learn something valuable from watching me clean up the projectile vomit that has become a rather regular routine recently. I hope they learn that I love them, lots and lots, not just a little, and not just when they are clean and healthy, but all the time. I hope they learn how to love others under the same conditions. People are really actually quite yucky, we have all kinds of dirt, we have to love each other through all of that dirt.
So am I a failing mother because I forgot all those "one chore a day to a clean house" tips and my house is a complete mess because I spend four hours a day helping Yoda go to the potty so he can run away screaming "boy potty!" Nope, not going to claim it. I've been thinking about the good old days, you know when we thought we were just as good as all the other parents because our kids had clothes and food. I'm talking about the times when you were expected to keep your children alive, teach them right from wrong, make sure they mostly wore shoes in the winter, and ate food. Before self-help books that tell you how every word you utter is making your child guilty, depressed, self-conscious, or causing them to feel inadequate. Don't worry they will be millionaires because you made sure they knew their times tables at age 3, so they can afford therapy later.
Seriously, I learned a great many things from my vacation.
1. I need to put my phone, book, and child down. I need to talk to my husband more, he is a really awesome guy and I need to do fun things with him, not just dinner and a movie twice a year.
2. We need a smaller house. I don't need an entertainment room and a toy room and a workshop, I need to get outside and take my children to new places so they can be entertained and play in the world. A workshop would be awesome though.
3. I don't need new ways to store my injection molded Chinese plastic, I need less injection molded Chinese plastic. My children played with rocks, sticks, and logs for a week and cried when we left them. I am not buying them another toy EVER!
4. My children are smart and fun and I don't need to worry about whether they are reading or writing at grade level. I need to teach them to learn because it's fun, not because there will be a test at the end of the week.
5. I will say and do the wrong things, I will make them feel bad sometimes, I might even give them some sort of complex problem when they are older, but they will always know I love them. I will tell them every day and every night that I love them. Then, I will tell them when they wake up and when they go to sleep and I will probably do that until the day I die. That's a real mother's real job, making sure they know that.
So, my vacation was awesome, I will never catch up and that's great. We will go on another one and I will get behind again, but I'm going to see some of this beautiful world and share it with my family because that's more important than storage, clean clothes, and a clean floor.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Jokes from my 6 year old
My second daughter is a delight. All my children are of course, but she seems to have been placed in our family to make us laugh. She is the smile that we all share either with her or at her, and she usually takes it well. She lives in a different place, a place of magic and mystery where we only visit from time to time because she lets us in. Here's a few of the things she's shared in the past few months.
Q: Where do pencils go on vacation?
A: Pennsylvania
Q: What did the wolf say to the other wolf?
A: HOWWWLLLS it going?
Q: What do you call a dog at the beach?
A: A hot dog.
Q: What do you call a witch at the beach?
A: A sandwitch.
Q: What did the dog say when he stepped on the sand paper?
A: Ruff!
Q: Why do cows wear bells?
A: Because their horns don't work.
She usually hits me with them first thing in the morning, her delivery is perfect, and if she gives me one that isn't funny she doesn't get discouraged at all, she just tries again the next day. It's really been great watching her come up with these. I'm thinking she has a future, a future doing something that makes people happy.
Q: Where do pencils go on vacation?
A: Pennsylvania
Q: What did the wolf say to the other wolf?
A: HOWWWLLLS it going?
Q: What do you call a dog at the beach?
A: A hot dog.
Q: What do you call a witch at the beach?
A: A sandwitch.
Q: What did the dog say when he stepped on the sand paper?
A: Ruff!
Q: Why do cows wear bells?
A: Because their horns don't work.
She usually hits me with them first thing in the morning, her delivery is perfect, and if she gives me one that isn't funny she doesn't get discouraged at all, she just tries again the next day. It's really been great watching her come up with these. I'm thinking she has a future, a future doing something that makes people happy.
Friday, July 12, 2013
educational aps for android
So I started this several weeks ago and totally got distracted so I am finishing it so people can actually have the information. There are four basic categories, math, reading, both, and fun, I will do math first.
Math aps we have tried:
Math Open
Simply Fractions
PuppyMath
DragonBox
Math Open is nice, it lets you have multiple users and set the grade level. It goes from preschool to fifth grade. I don't remember the price but nothing I bought was more than $5, except for Dragon Box. It's fun, for the preschool level I have to help my son a lot, but for the first, second, and third grade levels the girls do well on their own. It's also fun because it gives them stars for each level they complete, one star if they passed but didn't do well, two stars for average, and three stars for all of the questions right. This means that even though they finished a level I can make them go back and get three stars. It's not really flashy but if they have a choice they choose this over a workbook page.
Simply Fractions is a great tool to use to help them visualize fractions. You don't have to have strong reading skills for this one and some of them my son can play. The full version was $1.99 and totally worth it I feel. There is also Simply Fractions 2 for older elementary it was $.99. The graphics aren't really fancy but they are way better than I can draw and for my daughters it has made fractions very easy. Simply Fractions 2 has adding mixed fractions and comparing fractions that are challenging and fun at the same time. Sometimes they compete to see who can get more right answers. There's also a memory equivalent fractions game that my oldest enjoys.
PuppyMath is a favorite of my girls. It's a little silly and it just does addition but it's fun. They give you addition problems and for every one you get right you get a letter, when you get one wrong you lose a letter, when you spell PUPPY you get to see a picture of the game designers' puppy. It's fun because you can tell them, show me three puppy pictures and then play a different game, or you can have them test themselves, can you get five puppy pictures in ten minutes, stuff like that. And the pictures are cute.
DragonBox is a little pricey, I think it was either $6.99 or $9.99, either way it was totally worth it. It teaches your child Algebra without them knowing, plus I must admit it's fun to play. It let's you create different users so you can track each child. My son likes it too and I only have to help him a little bit. It's a great game because it's challenging to my eight year old and still something my four year old can play with. Also, they give you stars too so I can make the girls go back and get three stars on every level.
Strictly word aps like reading and spelling:
Booksy
PowerVocab
Word Search
Spell Me Right
My Spelling
Word Drop 2
Bubble Wubble
4 Pics 1Word
Booksy is fun and educational, it's for young readers, first and second grade level. It does have reading comprehension tests and it lets you set up multiple users. The books are a little expensive but you can buy more than one at a time and the content is fun. It's also good for them to do on their own because it will read to them if they don't know a word. It's great for my four year old and my daughters like to use it to amuse the baby. He loves the sounds that it makes, some of the books also are very interactive and play animal sounds or musical instrument sounds.
PowerVocab is challenging for my eight year old but there are different packs you can get so maybe I should get one of those. You need to have the sound on to play this game because it sounds out the words for you. You need to be a pretty strong reader to play without getting frustrated but it will teach you some neat words.
Word Search is just that, a bunch of word search puzzles. If you get a puzzle right you can unlock new puzzles. It's easy to use and if you like word searches it is great.
Spell Me Right is fun and they have different packs for children and adults so if the pack you have is too easy or hard, get a different one. It's a fun game but you do need to be able to read pretty well or you will get frustrated. It's helped my spelling.
My Spelling is fun. It allows you to set up different users and put in your own spelling words then you can play hangman with your words. It's fun. My children all like it. It does take some time to set up as the parent but then they learn to spell and the robot voice is cool.
Word Drop 2 is a fun game. It's like Boggle with letters falling from the sky. You can make a word with any letters on the screen, they don't have to be touching. There are bonus letters and you get six new letters every time you make a word so if you don't make long words the screen fills up and you lose, but it's fun and there are several different ways to play, timed, puzzle (un-timed), and super speed.
Bubble Wubble is probably not worth getting. It's slow and you have to have the sound on to play. It says a work and then you have to pop the floating bubbles to spell that word. It's ok, it's a little too easy for my two oldest. My four year old likes it because he likes to pop the bubbles.
4 Pics 1 Word is fun but probably too advanced for a early elementary student, my daughter does enjoy playing with me though.
Kevin Bradford aps have both reading and math in them. They are set up by grade level, aren't very expensive, and have neat graphics. We have the preschool, first, and second grade ones. They are fun for the children to play, seem true to grade level and are pretty easy for the children to navigate. I recommend these games. There's also a Kevin Bradford 101 Kids Puzzles that all my children like. The music is kind of groovy too.
There are also preschool games that we enjoy, basically anything from Intellijoy. Some of the full versions are expensive but for my son the lite versions are good enough to start and then if he really likes the game I get the full version. There are puzzle games he likes by Intellijoy.
Fun games that also help with learning physics.
Red Wrecker
Building game
Red Wrecker is a neat puzzle game and some of them are challenging. It really makes you think and work on spacial problems. If you have a child that has trouble with how things move or how things relate to one another this is a great game. It's more physics than math but it's fun and worth the time spent playing it. Be careful though you might start and not want to give them the tablet back!
Building Game is hard and fun. You have a crane and you have challenges that you have to solve. It's fun. There are different scenarios you can get so if you get frustrated with one, try another one.
I might add more later, but this is what we play with now.
Math aps we have tried:
Math Open
Simply Fractions
PuppyMath
DragonBox
Math Open is nice, it lets you have multiple users and set the grade level. It goes from preschool to fifth grade. I don't remember the price but nothing I bought was more than $5, except for Dragon Box. It's fun, for the preschool level I have to help my son a lot, but for the first, second, and third grade levels the girls do well on their own. It's also fun because it gives them stars for each level they complete, one star if they passed but didn't do well, two stars for average, and three stars for all of the questions right. This means that even though they finished a level I can make them go back and get three stars. It's not really flashy but if they have a choice they choose this over a workbook page.
Simply Fractions is a great tool to use to help them visualize fractions. You don't have to have strong reading skills for this one and some of them my son can play. The full version was $1.99 and totally worth it I feel. There is also Simply Fractions 2 for older elementary it was $.99. The graphics aren't really fancy but they are way better than I can draw and for my daughters it has made fractions very easy. Simply Fractions 2 has adding mixed fractions and comparing fractions that are challenging and fun at the same time. Sometimes they compete to see who can get more right answers. There's also a memory equivalent fractions game that my oldest enjoys.
PuppyMath is a favorite of my girls. It's a little silly and it just does addition but it's fun. They give you addition problems and for every one you get right you get a letter, when you get one wrong you lose a letter, when you spell PUPPY you get to see a picture of the game designers' puppy. It's fun because you can tell them, show me three puppy pictures and then play a different game, or you can have them test themselves, can you get five puppy pictures in ten minutes, stuff like that. And the pictures are cute.
DragonBox is a little pricey, I think it was either $6.99 or $9.99, either way it was totally worth it. It teaches your child Algebra without them knowing, plus I must admit it's fun to play. It let's you create different users so you can track each child. My son likes it too and I only have to help him a little bit. It's a great game because it's challenging to my eight year old and still something my four year old can play with. Also, they give you stars too so I can make the girls go back and get three stars on every level.
Strictly word aps like reading and spelling:
Booksy
PowerVocab
Word Search
Spell Me Right
My Spelling
Word Drop 2
Bubble Wubble
4 Pics 1Word
Booksy is fun and educational, it's for young readers, first and second grade level. It does have reading comprehension tests and it lets you set up multiple users. The books are a little expensive but you can buy more than one at a time and the content is fun. It's also good for them to do on their own because it will read to them if they don't know a word. It's great for my four year old and my daughters like to use it to amuse the baby. He loves the sounds that it makes, some of the books also are very interactive and play animal sounds or musical instrument sounds.
PowerVocab is challenging for my eight year old but there are different packs you can get so maybe I should get one of those. You need to have the sound on to play this game because it sounds out the words for you. You need to be a pretty strong reader to play without getting frustrated but it will teach you some neat words.
Word Search is just that, a bunch of word search puzzles. If you get a puzzle right you can unlock new puzzles. It's easy to use and if you like word searches it is great.
Spell Me Right is fun and they have different packs for children and adults so if the pack you have is too easy or hard, get a different one. It's a fun game but you do need to be able to read pretty well or you will get frustrated. It's helped my spelling.
My Spelling is fun. It allows you to set up different users and put in your own spelling words then you can play hangman with your words. It's fun. My children all like it. It does take some time to set up as the parent but then they learn to spell and the robot voice is cool.
Word Drop 2 is a fun game. It's like Boggle with letters falling from the sky. You can make a word with any letters on the screen, they don't have to be touching. There are bonus letters and you get six new letters every time you make a word so if you don't make long words the screen fills up and you lose, but it's fun and there are several different ways to play, timed, puzzle (un-timed), and super speed.
Bubble Wubble is probably not worth getting. It's slow and you have to have the sound on to play. It says a work and then you have to pop the floating bubbles to spell that word. It's ok, it's a little too easy for my two oldest. My four year old likes it because he likes to pop the bubbles.
4 Pics 1 Word is fun but probably too advanced for a early elementary student, my daughter does enjoy playing with me though.
Kevin Bradford aps have both reading and math in them. They are set up by grade level, aren't very expensive, and have neat graphics. We have the preschool, first, and second grade ones. They are fun for the children to play, seem true to grade level and are pretty easy for the children to navigate. I recommend these games. There's also a Kevin Bradford 101 Kids Puzzles that all my children like. The music is kind of groovy too.
There are also preschool games that we enjoy, basically anything from Intellijoy. Some of the full versions are expensive but for my son the lite versions are good enough to start and then if he really likes the game I get the full version. There are puzzle games he likes by Intellijoy.
Fun games that also help with learning physics.
Red Wrecker
Building game
Red Wrecker is a neat puzzle game and some of them are challenging. It really makes you think and work on spacial problems. If you have a child that has trouble with how things move or how things relate to one another this is a great game. It's more physics than math but it's fun and worth the time spent playing it. Be careful though you might start and not want to give them the tablet back!
Building Game is hard and fun. You have a crane and you have challenges that you have to solve. It's fun. There are different scenarios you can get so if you get frustrated with one, try another one.
I might add more later, but this is what we play with now.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Mom-Shower vs. Dad-Shower
This is mostly for my husband and all the other husbands out there who, like him, sometimes travel for work and come home to a clean house, clean children, and a stinky wife.
You may have seen a really funny post on Facebook or somewhere that explains the differences between the way men shower and the way women shower, it's mostly true. I don't have link to it, but I should. It fails to point out the differences between the way mothers and fathers shower so I am going to clear that up for you.
There are two basic ways that fathers shower. First, the father may get the luxury of showering while everyone is asleep, say in the morning or late at night. In this case the father gets to shower however he wants because there is no one awake to bother him. The second way that the father can shower is while people are awake, if he does this he will say "I am going to shower now." This is the same as if he were to say "It is now time to pretend I am not in the house and pretend that the bathroom does not exist because I am THE DAD and if you bother me while I am showering you will feel my wrath for the next ten years." He doesn't have to say all this, he just says "I am going to shower now." and everyone else translates it in their heads automatically.
There are three basic ways the mother showers and they are all significantly different than the father's ways. First, the mother may take a quick and quiet shower while everyone is asleep, but she will do this with an ear out of the shower in case someone wakes up because this could be catastrophic if others are startled awake by the commotion. I do not have the guts to do this unless my husband is home.
Second, the mother may take a shower while showering a child. This is often a result of whatever happening caused the child to need a shower or the mother has reached the washing point. That point at which she cannot stand her own smell and has decided that showering while a child pinches her toes is preferable. She will usually end up with all the children in the shower with her and a huge mess on the bathroom floor.
Third, the mother may take a sneak shower. This is often done while her husband is home. She will wait until everyone is occupied at some seemingly harmless and time consuming task, then she will quietly stop folding laundry and sneak in the shower. Here are some likely scenarios:
1.Mother turns on the water, someone comes in bleeding, mother turns off the water sighing.
2.Mother turns on the water, multiple people come in to the room asking to shower, mother washes them and turns off the water sighing.
3.Mother turns on the water, husband enters the room, "Are you really going to shower now?" Mother turns off the water sighing.
4.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she gets in the shower, still no one, she puts the shampoo on her hair, door slams open, someone is bleeding. Mother turns off the water sighing.
5.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she gets in the shower, still no one, she washes her hair, she shaves one leg, as she starts the other one she hears crying and screaming. She turns off the water sighing.
6.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she showers, washes everything and shaves her legs, she gets out, she dries off, she goes in the kitchen to find every single dish dirty and mud on the floor and towels in a pile. When she is done cleaning the mess she needs a shower.
So when my husband gets home after a week of travel and asks why I haven't showered since he left I say "I'm a coward." Now when you see me and I stink you know why.
You may have seen a really funny post on Facebook or somewhere that explains the differences between the way men shower and the way women shower, it's mostly true. I don't have link to it, but I should. It fails to point out the differences between the way mothers and fathers shower so I am going to clear that up for you.
There are two basic ways that fathers shower. First, the father may get the luxury of showering while everyone is asleep, say in the morning or late at night. In this case the father gets to shower however he wants because there is no one awake to bother him. The second way that the father can shower is while people are awake, if he does this he will say "I am going to shower now." This is the same as if he were to say "It is now time to pretend I am not in the house and pretend that the bathroom does not exist because I am THE DAD and if you bother me while I am showering you will feel my wrath for the next ten years." He doesn't have to say all this, he just says "I am going to shower now." and everyone else translates it in their heads automatically.
There are three basic ways the mother showers and they are all significantly different than the father's ways. First, the mother may take a quick and quiet shower while everyone is asleep, but she will do this with an ear out of the shower in case someone wakes up because this could be catastrophic if others are startled awake by the commotion. I do not have the guts to do this unless my husband is home.
Second, the mother may take a shower while showering a child. This is often a result of whatever happening caused the child to need a shower or the mother has reached the washing point. That point at which she cannot stand her own smell and has decided that showering while a child pinches her toes is preferable. She will usually end up with all the children in the shower with her and a huge mess on the bathroom floor.
Third, the mother may take a sneak shower. This is often done while her husband is home. She will wait until everyone is occupied at some seemingly harmless and time consuming task, then she will quietly stop folding laundry and sneak in the shower. Here are some likely scenarios:
1.Mother turns on the water, someone comes in bleeding, mother turns off the water sighing.
2.Mother turns on the water, multiple people come in to the room asking to shower, mother washes them and turns off the water sighing.
3.Mother turns on the water, husband enters the room, "Are you really going to shower now?" Mother turns off the water sighing.
4.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she gets in the shower, still no one, she puts the shampoo on her hair, door slams open, someone is bleeding. Mother turns off the water sighing.
5.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she gets in the shower, still no one, she washes her hair, she shaves one leg, as she starts the other one she hears crying and screaming. She turns off the water sighing.
6.Mother turns on the water, no one comes in the room, she showers, washes everything and shaves her legs, she gets out, she dries off, she goes in the kitchen to find every single dish dirty and mud on the floor and towels in a pile. When she is done cleaning the mess she needs a shower.
So when my husband gets home after a week of travel and asks why I haven't showered since he left I say "I'm a coward." Now when you see me and I stink you know why.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Laughter
Here's a list of things I laughed at over the last week. I'm sharing so that you can laugh too.
1. Me: What did the soldiers eat in the Civil War?
(My four year old): Hard attack!!
2. Despicable Me 2
Ok, I know I don't see many grown up movies, in fact the last one I watched in the theater was Act of Valor (which you should see, it was AWESOME!!!) but I am a well versed critic of animated G and PG rated flicks. This one was as good as the first. Arguably better because it had more Agnes in it and she is just too cute. Oh, and I want me some minions.
3. While getting dressed for Fourth of July my four year old son looked at me quite seriously and said, "Mom, your shirt is very pretty and you look very pretty." I looked at my husband and he said, "Ditto." Yeah, my children don't know what that means.
4. We spent most of a day cleaning the girls' room because it was bad, when we finished my six year old looked at me and said, "Gosh Mom, now it's time to get busy cleaning your room huh?"
5. It's actually been raining a lot lately and it was really raining last night. My son comes in and says to me, "It's raining so much, I think we might wash away!"
6. My 15 month old has learned the word mine, but he's a fourth child so he doesn't really understand what it means. He yells mine and throws whatever is in his hand. His brother gave him a tennis ball and he threw it and yelled "Mine!" His brother looks right at him and says, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
7. My phone auto typed brainless instead of vegetables. So I said "Do you want me to bring some brainless from the garden, they are fresh?"
8. My second daughter and oldest son were arguing in the car. This is what we heard:
son: No, you did it.
daughter: No, you!
son: Mom, she hitted me!
daughter: it's HIT not HITTED!
son: well, you did.
9. Mom, I love pumpkin flowers, they are like stars that fell from the sky and landed on a vine and became flowers and turned orange and yellowish.
10. It's the end of the world! I can't find my shoes.
Did you look in the closet where they go?
Why would I look there?
1. Me: What did the soldiers eat in the Civil War?
(My four year old): Hard attack!!
2. Despicable Me 2
Ok, I know I don't see many grown up movies, in fact the last one I watched in the theater was Act of Valor (which you should see, it was AWESOME!!!) but I am a well versed critic of animated G and PG rated flicks. This one was as good as the first. Arguably better because it had more Agnes in it and she is just too cute. Oh, and I want me some minions.
3. While getting dressed for Fourth of July my four year old son looked at me quite seriously and said, "Mom, your shirt is very pretty and you look very pretty." I looked at my husband and he said, "Ditto." Yeah, my children don't know what that means.
4. We spent most of a day cleaning the girls' room because it was bad, when we finished my six year old looked at me and said, "Gosh Mom, now it's time to get busy cleaning your room huh?"
5. It's actually been raining a lot lately and it was really raining last night. My son comes in and says to me, "It's raining so much, I think we might wash away!"
6. My 15 month old has learned the word mine, but he's a fourth child so he doesn't really understand what it means. He yells mine and throws whatever is in his hand. His brother gave him a tennis ball and he threw it and yelled "Mine!" His brother looks right at him and says, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
7. My phone auto typed brainless instead of vegetables. So I said "Do you want me to bring some brainless from the garden, they are fresh?"
8. My second daughter and oldest son were arguing in the car. This is what we heard:
son: No, you did it.
daughter: No, you!
son: Mom, she hitted me!
daughter: it's HIT not HITTED!
son: well, you did.
9. Mom, I love pumpkin flowers, they are like stars that fell from the sky and landed on a vine and became flowers and turned orange and yellowish.
10. It's the end of the world! I can't find my shoes.
Did you look in the closet where they go?
Why would I look there?
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