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Monday, June 29, 2009

Huge 4th Of July Inventory Clearance Sale



I am having a huge 4th of July inventory clearance sale, in my Etsy store. Buy one item get 20% off, buy two items get 25% off total order, plus free shipping. Hurry sale ends July 6th at midnight. Payment with Paypal, and did I mention free shipping! Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6007466 to see all my great items. Be sure to check out the 14k gold blue diamond ring. Christmas is coming, layaway now.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

LEGO Education Group Buy Ends 07.27

I am copying, and pasting this for all my readers who may be interested. The more people in the group that buy, the deeper the discount. I do not get paid for this, but if more people join in, the price goes down for us all. You will see a link to join homeschool buyers co-op so you can take advantage too. Click the big Lego picture to see the items available, and the possible savings. I really want to buy the Science one for my kids. I will be saving my pennies for the next month.
A Co-op Group Buy Exclusive

LEGO® Education
Summer Learning FUN with LEGO® Smart!

Offer Expires 07-27-2009 at 11:59 pm Eastern

LEGO Education
The Homeschoolbuyers Co-op is proud to present...

LEGO® and LEARNING go hand in hand this summer! Fill your long summer days with an abundance of creativity, learning, and FUN. If your kids like LEGO they'll love these EXCLUSIVE Co-op Bundles with over 500 LEGO bricks & 130 DUPLO® Bricks! Choose from 4 different packages, one for every age & level of LEGO learning.

LEGO Education students don't just know it - they DO it!

Summer days don't have to be lazy days when it comes to learning. Keep your students' skills sharp with creative ideas for Math, Engineering, and Science. Best of all, it's ALL considered FUN by your student --- LEGO Fun! These exclusive bundles from LEGO Education will help your student master concepts in Math, Engineering and Science in a hand-on learning environment. PLUS! These bundles come complete with educational lessons, activities, experiments, and workbooks. Turn your students on to summertime building fun that's learning fun too!

The DEEPEST LEGO Savings Ever Offered to Members

That's right! This exclusive Co-op member Group Buy offers THE DEEPEST SAVINGS TO DATE that LEGO Education has ever offered Co-op members. We are delighted to bring LEGO Education to the Co-op with SAVINGS UP TO 47% OFF!!! Members choose from FOUR DIFFERENT BUNDLES --- Bundles start with DUPLO Learning sets and move right on up to Engineering --- Something for every age group here. This Group Buy offers you tools to enhance your Homeschool classroom experience WHILE giving your children just what they want to do this summer. Make their lessons and playtime FUN - and keep learning while you do it!

Get LEGO SMART.

The bigger our order, the more we all save, so tell your friends and homeschool groups!

To take advantage of this special offer, you must place your order no later than 07-27-2009 at 11:59 pm Eastern.

Regards,
Homeschool Buyers Co-op






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Homeschool Buyers Co-op | 736 Midland Way | Emerald Hills | CA | 94062

Friday, June 26, 2009

Fun Friday Island Pond, Vermont

Today's Fun Friday topic, for Blogging For Fun, is favorite vacation spots. When I was a young girl, every year my mother took us to Island Pond, Vermont on vacation. We had very good friends that lived, very close in NH, and we would visit with them while there. It is a small resort town, with mainly camping, hiking, and general nature activities. It is a not a place to go, if you do not like to relax. Sometimes we would tent camp, or rent a cabin, depending on finances, and such. I have such lovely memories of going there, and would love to be able to take my kids someday, when they get a bit older. My mother used to love the many moose you could see, and we would go out at dusk to look for them. We were very close to a place called Moose Alley, where the moose were abundant, and easy to see. I tried to find some of my pictures to scan, but they are packed away. I will try to dig through them this weekend, and post a few. It is a beautiful place. We never went in winter, always in summer, but I did find two videos on youtube of the area, one in summer, and one in winter. I hope you enjoy them, and can see the beauty of the area. Have a great Friday, and weekend, everyone. By the way our playgroup yesterday was a blast. Everyone had so much fun.




Thursday, June 25, 2009

Time For Fun Thursday Playgroup Date

This evening is our next playgroup date, and this time the whole family is going. It will be at Ms Laura's house this time, which actually is good because one I do not have to cook dinner, and two both hoses in my pool have sprung leaks, and are currently taped until a Walmart visit this weekend. It is of course hot here, though not brutal, like it has been. Ms Laura emailed me to let me know they would be breaking out the Slip N Slide. Remember the Slip N Slide. The big plastic runway, that when wet is incredibly slippery, and fun. At the risk of sounding like a Dork of a mom, I am nervous about my youngest. She is so petit. You literally get a running head start, then throw yourself onto the ground on it. Maybe a helmet, and pads are in order. LOL right, like she would go for that. I guess I will just keep my eyes closed. Hot dogs, chips, baked beans, and Kool Aid that is the menu. It does not get much better than this. It is great to be a kid. Have a great Thursday, everyone.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Wonderful Wednesday Things To Do

Here in the Gainesville area, there are some great summer time activities. Funworks Summer Action Camp, is one of them. I found out about this too late, to sign up for it, but I will have it for next year, for reference. Funworks is a skating park, that offers skating, go karts, swamp golf, batting cages, rock climbing, soft play, video arcade, field trips, and much more. Weekly camps begin June 8th, so you can still get in if you want. It is 125 dollars with lunch, and snacks provided, plus a 25 dollar registration fee. You can go to their website at www.skatestationfunworks.com or call them at 352-332-0555 for more details.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tasty Tuesday Tips

It has been so unusually hot here in N Florida. Temps well over 100 degrees, with the heat index, and humidity it quickly becomes unbearable. This time of year I go into easy cooking mode. My crock pot, toaster oven, and microwave are my best friends. The grill is ok, but you still have to be outside in the heat to use it. So today, I am going to share one of my favorite slow cooker recipes, from Taste of Home magazine. I would put baked potatoes in the microwave, or toaster oven to go with it, or just a salad, and Italian bread.

Honey Pineapple Chicken:

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp canola oil
1 can unsweetened crushed pineapple undrained
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbsp prepared mustard
2 tsp soy sauce

In a skillet brown chicken in oil in batches, on both sides. Transfer to your slow cooker. Combine the remaining ingredients, pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours, until chicken is no longer pink. Strain pan juices, reserve the pineapple to serve over the chicken.

This is one of my favorite recipes. I do add a little garlic to make it more salty, to go with the sweet side of it. Have a great day, everyone.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Does Your Dog Shed Excessively?

Have you met our dog Krypto, that is him in the pool, sitting on a raft, like he is the king. He loves the pool, he also loves to shed. To me it seems like excessive shedding, but I could be wrong. I suck up tons of dog hair every day, to me that is excessive. I found a website that makes custom food, Dinovite for your dog's needs. I did not know this but excessive high heat, while making your dogs food, is possibly stripping out nutrients that a dog needs. If your dog itches constantly, sheds excessively, or has a very bad smell despite bathing, this might be the case.

So I went to their website, and took their short survey, solutions center and found that they offer a special food for excessive shedding. The food contains vital nutrients, like vitamins, and enzymes, to help solve your dog's particular problem. It was a bit pricy at 118 dollars, but it did come in a 2 gallon container, so it certainly would last a long time, about 90 days according to the website, for a 60-75 pound dog.

They have all kinds of customer testimonials, on their website. People who are very satisfied with their dog food, and the results they got from using their dog food. They also sell other products, such as dog shampoo, and various treats any dog would love.

So if you have a dog, and he, or she, seems to shed excessively, itch constantly, or smell bad despite visiting the vet, and trying all kinds of products, then Dinovite might just be worth it for you to try. Click on any of the links provided, or the green visit my sponsor badge to go to their website, and check out all their great products.

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

The History of Fathers Day

Did you know Fathers Day was thought of, at a Mothers Day event? You can learn all about the history of Fathers Day at the History Channel. I would like to wish all dads everywhere, a Happy Fathers Day. Relax, and have a great day.




Friday, June 19, 2009

Don't Forget About Dad



Sunday June 21st is Fathers Day. Don't forget to thank Dad, for all the good things they do for you. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I Don't Agree With Everything

So far my posts have been all positive, concerning health care reform. But there are two things, that President Obama, proposed that I do not agree with. One is tort reform, and the other is how to pay for it. Today will be tort reform. In case you are unsure a tort basically refers to a citizen's ability to sue for damages, for medical mistakes, also called medical malpractice. Let me say first, I am in no way against people being able to sue for gross negligence in the medical field. Nor am I saying I am against doctors, nurses, hospitals, or nursing homes. That is the furthest from the truth. Every year, or two, we have to take a nursing continuing education course, on medical errors. These classes are a collection of statistics, and ways to improve medical errors in the profession. One sentence jumped out at me more than any other. It said that the number one reason for the extremely high cost of health care, is because of lawsuits, risk, and malpractice issues. So what does that tell you, that the lawyers need to be removed from the equation, or at least limited. Now Obama said he did not believe in capping the recovery amount a jury can award a plaintiff. Ok, fine then make changes some other way. Honestly I am not sure what he can really do at the federal level, as tort laws are left up to the individual states, but there must be something. Here are some of my thoughts on this issue. Some of these may sound harsh, but lets be frank, it is true.

1- Lawyers should not be allowed to have commercials trolling for clients. Every single time there is even a whiff of something with a medication, or instrument, they are trolling for customers. I think we can agree most people would know how to sue, without constant commercials asking them if they used this, or took this, or did this happen to them. These lawyers are making a killing, because even if the case never goes to trial, and is settled out of court which most are, they are still getting at least 30% of the settlement amount. I am still waiting for the Zicam ads to start.

2- Doctors need to be doctors, and do what doctors do. Physicians assistants should be banned. I do not see any reason for someone who goes to school for less than two years sometimes, to be allowed to write prescriptions for medications. I will not even see a PA, they just push drugs on you. Doctors need to spend more time with their patients. Come on now, you charge 180 dollars for a 15 min visit, if you even see them that long. Most times it is in, and out so fast, the patient can not discuss anything if they want to. If they think of something later, and call the office, you will most likely talk to the secretary, or maybe the nurse. These are all things that increase risk, and thereby increase the chance for lawsuits. If you don't want to be charged high malpractice rates, then decrease your risk. I heard a different Dr several times this week, state on TV, that they order tests that are not needed, because they are afraid to be sued. I am sorry I thought all procedures had to be justified, for the insurance company to cover them, so what the pt is stuck paying for them? Come on this is absurd.

3- The public needs to be informed, and educated, but not crazy. No one is perfect. Anytime you have a procedure done, or put a medication in your body, you are taking a risk for a side effect, or untoward event to occur. That does not mean it was malpractice. You need to learn about everything you have done, or take, and decide to assume the risk. If you did not ask the doctor, nurse, pharmacist or any other information source, and then something happens, you are part of the responsibility. Now obviously there are cases of gross negligence, and malpractice that the public has no control over, those are lawsuits, that should be brought.

4- Facilities that provide medical care, need to provide proper staffing ratios, proper training, and machines in good working order. Now this does not mean you need to spend billions buying new equipment every year, but it should be properly maintained, and in good working order. There are already laws on the books for this, but I think we can agree it doesn't mean it is followed, or enforced. Nurses often work with staffing numbers that are inadequate, and sometimes pushed into areas they are not trained, or comfortable with. I especially call on Mr Obama to change the ratios for nursing homes. Right now one nurse can have 30 patients on the first two shifts, and 40 on the night shift. One CNA, can have up to 19 patients, on the night shift. Now I am not saying I am against working hard, however to reduce risk of malpractice, you need to remove the risk. Having 30-40 patients is a risk, believe me, to everyone. The hospitals have more reasonable ratios, or at least they used to. It was based on acuity, and staffed as such. However with a nursing shortage, it may be short staffing there as well. Having nurses who are forced to work double shifts, short staffing, and in a highly stressful environment you can see how mistakes can happen. Some facilities have excellent competancy classes, each year, to be sure their staff is up to date, on new information, and skills. Others are not as good, and they increase the risk for everyone else, there by increasing the malpractice insurance for all. Nurses also need to know their Nurse Practice Act, and be willing to stand their ground, for what is safe, correct, and best for the patient, nurse, and facility.

I think medical malpractice insurance, should be based on a facility, or medical practice, on a base by base situation. If a Dr has low scores in all the things a DR should do to maintain being a good doctor, then they should pay more. If a Dr has higher scores, with very little risk mounted up, then they should pay less. Same goes for facilities. I do think there should be a cap on certain types of lawsuits, so that suing will be discouraged rather than encouraged. I think lawyers should be limited to how much money they can spend on advertising to troll for malpractice clients.

If we do not get some of the risk removed from health care, and bring down costs, who is to say it will not go the way of the housing bubble. One day it will just become too much, and explode. Then what will happen? I hate to even think about it. Health care is a team effort including, doctors, nurses, patients, and facilities, and everyone has a responsibility to each other.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

DJ's 4th Grade Curriculum, Evaluation

I have to take a quick break from health care, to post DJ's 4th grade curriculum, and evaluation date. This is solely for my own record keeping, and probably boring, but I must do it. If anyone is looking for a fee curriculum, or ideas of what to cover, please feel free to use this as you wish.
For the 2009/2010 school year:

Science:

Environment of the local region
Classification systems
The insect world
The reptilian world
Plants and animals of the past
Structure of plants
Seeds
Ecosystems
Balance of nature
Weather
Climate
Causes of seasons
Earth and its history
Oceans and the hydrosphere
Air and water pollution
Magnets and electricity
Light and color
S0lar system and the universe
Living in space
Scientific method

Health:

Personal and mental hygiene
Dental health
The body and its functions
Skeletal and muscular systems
Care and proper use of the body
Principles of digestion
Basic food groups
Good nutrition habits
Diseases
Safety
Substance Abuse

Math:

Reading and writing numbers
Roman numerals to C I still have not found lessons for roman numerals
Prime numbers less than 100
Prime factoring
Subsets
Decimal and fraction equivalents
Addition and subtraction to seven places
Multiplication and division
1,2, and three digit multiplication
1,2, and 3 digit division
Meaning of mixed numbers
Finding simple averages
Geometric concepts
Customary and metric measurements
Time to the second
Problem solving
Charts and graphs
Fractions

Social Studies:

World cultures
Reasons for our laws
Continents
Time zones
Earths resources
Climatic regions of the world
Map skills
Using a globe

Language Arts:

Silent and oral reading
Listening skills
Telephone skills
Making and accepting simple social introductions
Summarizing simple information
Short stories, chapter books, poetry
Spelling
Increase dictionary skills- vocab words
Cursive handwriting
Simple outlining
Writing letters and informal notes
Written and oral book reports
Creative writing
Developing skills in locating information
Developing encyclopedia skills
Utilizing parts of a newspaper
Parts of speech
Sentence structure
Proofreading
Continuation of writing skills

Spanish:

Book 1, 2, and three

Art: I bought a book this year, plus we will continue with interesting stuff I find online. Crafts not so much, but some with his sister.

Music: Looking at a book, and I can play piano.

I have not added my reading list yet, because I have not decided it yet. I have looked at several options, and am leading towards kids books related to history, for this year. DJ reads all the time, so reading is not really an issue for him. Does not really need to be structured, or specific.

Our 3rd grade evaluation is set for August 23rd at 11:30 AM. If anyone is in the Gilchrist County, Florida area and needs an evaluator, contact me and I will give you the info of mine, she is great.

Tomorrow I go back to health care reform.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Say Goodbye To The Pre Existing Condition Clause

If anyone watched the Obama speech yesterday, at the AMA, it was a pretty awesome speech. He really is a good speech giver. He finally laid out what he plans to do, and how, health care reform. There were several things that jumped out at me, in the speech. I will cover them individually, so they can be discussed as such.

He very clearly said that under his reform, Health Insurance companies will no longer be able to refuse coverage, due to pre-existing conditions. Wow it is about time! What sucks more than paying hundreds of dollars per month, for a service, and then being denied that service? These insurance companies spend countless hours, days, and months trying to deny you the coverage you have been paying for. Now with that said, if you have health issues, refuse to follow your doctors plan of care, or choose to live a lifestyle that is reckless, and dangerous, then you should pay more for your insurance, but not be denied care. Most people do not even know they have a pre-existing condition until they are diagnosed. So that is just a load of crap, in itself, and one more way for the insurance companies to boost their profits. I am unsure of when companies started implementing the pre-existing condition rule, because it was not always like that, but it sure started a rapid decline in the health care industry. I know of a lot of people, who not only could afford insurance, but also had insurance, and they dropped it because they were paying for something that they were never getting to get any good use of. No, in case anyone is wondering, I do not care what it does to health insurance companies. They have been screwing the American people for years, and getting away with it. It is about time they pay their dues. Stay tuned for more in the coming days. I will be covering Torts, and lawyers in the next post.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Summer Education and Tutoring Options, Health Care Cont

Well since it is summer vacation, and I can only rant about health care reform so much, I thought I would show some love for our local businesses. With all of Levy County schools doing away with summer school, this year, a lot of parents are wondering how their kids will meet their goals. Suwannee Valley Educational Options is offer summer education, and tutoring options. It does not list prices in the little pamphlet they sent me but they can be contacted at sveotutoring.att.net for info, or 352-490-0700 You can also stop by their office at 6830 NW 140th St, Chiefland, FL I hope kids will not suffer from the inability to access summer school programs. I think there is also the option to use the virtual online classes, but many kids of course do not have a computer, with long waits at the library. I had made a previous post about Currclick having live Algebra, summer classes if anyone needs to look there, their prices are reasonable.

Now to my recent irritation about the health care reform debate. Fox News, who I normally enjoy watching, is really making health care reform, their political talking points. I am actually quite tired, of how ignorant, and crass they are about the whole thing. Their recent irritation to me, was this poll they supposedly did asking people who were already insured if they were happy with their current insurance. I forgot the exact percentage, it was high, of those happy. Well duh, number one they usually only poll 1,000 people give or take a few, and why would you not be happy if you already have coverage. Some said it was too expensive, and sometimes coverage is not so great, but over all happy. Would anyone expect that to be any different? If you have insurance you do not have to worry about an accident, major illness, surgery, or injury to make your life a catastrophic event. They will pay the copay, and deductible, but it surely will not cost them thousands of dollars, lose their home, car, credit, credibility, possibly job, etc. Come on Fox, get with the program. We need universal health care for everyone, plain and simple. Stop with your increased tax BS, and have a little compassion for your fellow American.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A 24 Hour Vacation

I actually took a full 24 hours off, something I never do, unless I am sick. I did no dropping, no blogging, no email, no ChaCha, no housework, cooking, or any other work. I just relaxed, and enjoyed a whole day. I took Caitlin shopping to spend the rest of her birthday money. Then we went to visit my mom, and had a great time, with just the girls, no boys allowed HaHa. While we were gone, there was a bit of excitement back home. My husband called to inform me that a wicked thunderstorm came through, and a tree fell next to the drug dealers house. Yes you saw that, the drug dealer. I am not being slanderous that is actually what he is. The town knows he is there, and all they say is they know he is there, and they watch him. The joys of living in a small town. Anyway the tree missed him, his car, and his house, no offense but he must be the luckiest SOB. So today, I play catch up, and work my fingers to the bone, both online, and housework. But that 24 hours was so nice. I am probably a bit too high strung, to do that very often, it did pretty near kill me, not doing anything. One more note, my husband and I watched the Simpsons movie last night. It was very disappointing, and I was glad when it was over. Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Fun Friday: Fattening Food Makeover

Todays Blogging For Fun Friday topic is food makeover. Since I am all focused on health care, I decided to mix Fun Friday in with it. One of the things I will discuss later is bringing down the costs of health care. Over all health is one way to do that. Eating a diet low in fat, can help. So the assignment is, take you, or your families favorite fattening meal, and make it healthy. So many foods are full of fat, but I picked pizza, because that is by far a favorite here at my house.

Pizza actually is good for you, if you eat just one slice. We have actually stopped ordering out, sorry Pizza Hut but your prices just do not fit our budget anymore, and make our own pizza. That alone will cut your fat content way down. Have you ever noticed when you eat pizza, that you order out, it is covered in grease. Now you can take a paper towel and soak up some of that grease, but we just make our own. When we make our own pizza we use part skim milk mozzarella cheese, no fat is never an option, sorry it tastes like cardboard, then instead of pepperoni which I love, or sausage we use chicken or ground turkey. By the way did you know ground turkey, when cooked, tastes just like sausage meat? It really does, minus all the fat. You can elimate the meat all together, but it does add a good amount of protein so we usually leave it on. Then we add pineapple, red peppers, onions, and garlic. If you are really brave you can buy whole wheat pizza crust, which I love, but my family says it has a different taste.

So that is how we transform an unhealthy, greasy pizza into something healthy, and yummy. Happy Friday, everyone. By the way if you would like to increase your friends to your blog, and get some blog love, join our Blogging For Fun group, by clicking on the green Blogging For Fun box.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Should Health Care Be A Single Payer?

So on to the next part of our health care discussion. Everyone should be able to have access to affordable, good health care. I think that can be safely said. Why anyone could justify otherwise is absurd.

So should it be a single paying source, ie the government? For me the easy answer is yes. Because, if the system is left the way it is, those who can afford the higher priced insurance will always get the better doctors, and better care. Please do not deny this is true. It most certainly is. Doctors can refuse any patient they want, out of the hospital setting, if they do not want to be paid what a particular insurance wants to pay them. So if you do not want a single paying source, and want to keep private insurance, than the only other option I can see is that there is a flat standard fees charged, and paid, for all services, no matter what insurance you have. This will eliminate the doctors refusing certain insurances, and will also cut back the increasing cost of health care over all. Believe me when I say, and if you have ever had medicaid, or been uninsured you know this is true, there are doctors that take the uninsured, and or medicaid and are not so energetic doctors. Sorry, but it is true. Not all of them obviously, but it is a sad state of health care in this country. This is unfair, not only to taxpayers, but to the uninsured or underinsured. If you think people with medicaid get only the best treatment, and all treatment they need, you do not know the truth. I have no problem with private insurance, but it should be fair, and balanced to everyone.

It will be interesting to me, to see what happens with all of this. Obama is determined to have health care for all by October. With no real plan yet put forward, it is kind of a scarey time right now, for everyone involved in health care.

What do you think about keeping private insurance, having a single paying source, or having both in some fashion? How do you think it could, or should work, so it is fair to everyone, both in cost, and coverage?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Healthcare Part One

As promised I am starting a new series of posts on healthcare. Why am I doing this? 1- I work in the medical field, and it is of great curiosity to me, 2- it effects us all, 3- we are out of school, so I have to blog about something.

As I stated yesterday, these will be multi posts, covering every angle, and topic. I hope to have many participants, with a wide point of view. Please stick to each topic, even if you are passionate about another topic. I promise we will get to them all. Each post will stay for about two days, so hopefully everyone gets a chance to participate. I accept all comments, and points of view. I realize this is a hot, and touchy subject, please be respectful to everyone elses point of view.

OK so to start with, lets just discuss your view of healthcare in general. I would love to hear from others from out of the US, as well. Do you have health insurance, or does your country provide healthcare to you? Do you feel the system, as it is, is fair, and available to all? Do you feel it is affordable? If you pay for your health care, do you feel the price and coverage is fair to what you pay? What is you overall view of healthcare in your country?

So let me answer first. First off, I have been uninsured, underinsured, and insured. I have seent the wonderful, good, bad, and ugly side of healthcare in the US. I have been on medicaid, had just so so insurance, and currently have excellent insurance. My overall feelings toward healthcare in the US, at this point and time, is it sucks. I have not always felt that way. I am not a Democrat, and I am not a Republican, so I can honestly see both sides of the argument. However I believe, every US citizens deserves good, and affordable healthcare, not just the wealthy, or those with a good job that has it. Now I will not go into the details of how we get there. Not yet, just your feelings on healthcare in general for today.

So, what say you?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Last Science Of The Year Earth's Oceans

Today is our last Science day of the third grade. Our lesson is about our ever changing earth, from wind, water, heat, and pressure. I picked this video by National Geographic, because they have stunning images, and wonderful information. I often record episodes to DVR for later use in class. Tomorrow I will be starting a new set of content about health care on this blog. Is it is meant to be informative, and data collecting of sorts. I hope to get a lot of input, from readers.


Monday, June 8, 2009

I Am On A Mission.... Because I Am Irritated

I renewed my Florida nursing license this morning, and I actually considered not doing it. I have been a nurse for 23 years, this year. Why do you think I was not going to renew it? Because I am irritated with an incident that occured this weekend at my job. It sort of directly involved me, but more so one of my coworkers. She ended up being scolded for something she was not comfortable doing, and did not feel properly trained and or unable to do due to the laws of Florida. Now I went home before I knew what the outcome was, but it has been bothering me since Saturday. So I am on a mission to read the entire Nurse Practice Act for the state of Florida, and any other document to find the info I need to arm myself should the incident occur again. My employer is fully aware, that I will not put my license in jeapordy for their own benefit. This has caused me to be in hot water with them in the past. I am not the type to be bullied, and I have no intentions of starting now. I will guard myself with the info I need to protect myself, as I believe in the end knowledge is power. I have to renew my NY nursing license as well, within the next 30 days. On a plus note the new local hospital finally got their funding, after four years, and construction will soon begin. I can not wait, hospital nursing is my true love, and I hope to return to it soon.

Lesson Plans for 6/09/09:

Early release day
Spelling: review
Language Arts: Compound sentences, word order, poetry time
Math: Division with remainders
Science: Our changing earth

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Hurricane Preparedness

Hurricane season, in Florida, officially started June 1st, and lasts until the end of November. It is important to be prepared, should a hurricane hit your area. Watch the short video below, for tips, and tomorrow I will add the text part of the plan.




Tomorrow is a half day and we will be finishing up the Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, division with remainders, multiplication, and arts and crafts.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Take Your Kids To The Movies For Free This Summer


This is so cool. I learned about this on another blogger's site, about two weeks ago. If I could remember the blog, I could tell you. Regal Cinemas all across the country, have been offering free movies, during the summer, since 1999. Did you know about this? I certainly did not. They are free, starting the first week of June, at 10AM on Tuesday, and Wednesday. They have theaters all over the country, just type in your state, to find the closest one to you, and what movies they will offer. We will be trying this out the week of 6/16 when my husband is on vacation. This great deal only lasts until the first week of August, so be sure to take advantage of it. Have a great Saturday, everyone.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Fun Friday, My Favorite Books






First let me say, this was kind of hard for me to just pick five favorites. I love to read, and read every day various things. I read blogs, news, homeschool info, resources, nursing education I read, and read, and read. But, for a book to be said to be a favorite of mine it must meet two criteria. One, it must keep me on the edge of my seat, and two it must move me to think, or feel for the character in the book. I do not read romance, or self help, they just never seem to do it for me. If I start a book, and find it boring, or undersirable, I will not finish it. In school, I used to skim read, very fast, so many of the books were boring. Here are my top five favorites:

1- Intensity by Dean Koontz. This is still ranked number one for me, and has not lost its spot yet. This book will keep you at the edge of your seat the whole time. If you want to read about a young lady, who is as crazy as her captor, this is the book for you.

2- The Green Mile, by Stephen King. I have read many King books, but this one is by far my favorite. It both moved me, and made me thing about prison, guilt, innocence, and sacrifice. If you have not read it I recommend it.

3- The Davinci Code by Dan Brown- another book that made me think, in many different ways, about religion, life, power, and control of society. I think many people have read this book.

4- When Rabbit Howls- this is actually a older book, one I read many years ago. It may have been updated, I am not sure. I had to read it twice because it was so intense, and moving. This book will move you.

5- A Child Called It, by David Peltzer I have actually read all three in this series. David is an amazing man, who will move you to tears. He overcame a lot to become the person he is today. A true story, and definitely worth the read.

I have to mention the Odd Thomas series, by Dean Koontz. Koontz is known for having bizarre, and often violent stories. The Odd Thomas series, is an endearing, and loving character series. There are currently four of them, with more to come. If you have not read them, I recommend them.

Also I have to mention James Patterson. While none of his books moved me enough to make my top five, he is an amazing writer. I have never read one I did not like, or found boring. The same goes for John Grisham, his book A Time To Kill would have been there, if I made it top six. This book moved me, and touched me in many ways.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Fun With Photography

DJ has been practicing his photography skills. He got a kids digital camera for Xmas, and he has been practicing with light, and angles, to get a better shot. These are some of the things he has taken pictures of in our big back yard. His sister, I took, he his holding the shovel with the deadly crocodile, ha ha just kidding, it is just a little lizard. The big white flowers are magnolias from our magnolia tree. Tomorrow is our last test day of the year, and then three 1/2 days next week, then 3rd grade, is over.








Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Supply and Demand, Economics For Kids

Today for Social Studies, our lesson is Serve it up economics. Here are two supplemental lessons you can add to your existing lesson. The video below is one, and two is here I like the Learning Haven website. I found it last year, when making our curriculum, then I forgot about it. They have tons of lessons, and ideas for teaching History, and Social Studies. The other website I want to share is I Know That This website was made aware to me, by a member of our playgroup. It is all educational games, in all subjects for kids up to age 12. My kids love the History, and Science games especially the deep sea diving. Check it out, it is free, and awesome.



Lesson Plans for 06/04/09:

Math: Division patterns, multiplication
Writing: Concepts of a paragraph
Language Arts: Sentence practice, Capital City
Spelling: Lesson 34- put your spelling words in alphabetical order
Vocabulary: Lesson 34- Write each vocabulary word and meaning two times each

School ends on June 10th, all days are 1/2 days that week.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Rock Cycle, Custom And Metric Measurements

I am unsure of how the custom, and metric measurements ended up in my lesson plans, as it is not on my curriculum, and not in our math book. But somehow it did, so to cover it for this year, we will be watching, and learning from the short video below.

We are learning all about rocks, and the rock cycle this week. My son already knows a great deal about gemstones, from learning it from me. However, there is something called a rock cycle. While this is only covered minutely in our Science book for this year, I found a whole bunch of supplemental videos on the subject. These are great, watch them if you get a chance. I am amazed at how much I forgot about Earth Science, I think I took that in 9th grade LOL, a long time ago.





Lesson Plans for 06/03/09:

Math: Multiply 3 digit numbers, division with remainders
Writing: Concepts of a paragraph
Social Studies: Serve it up economics
Spelling: Lesson 34- Write each spelling word, and circle the vowels
Vocabulary: Lesson 34-Use each vocabulary word in a sentence
Language Arts: Sentence practice, sound search

Monday, June 1, 2009

My Top Ten Droppers For May

Can you believe it is June 1st already. My application for cashout was approved at Entrecard, yay now I can make some money, and get clicks for advertising. Every month I make a post dedicated to the blogs, that were the most active droppers to this blog. If you get a chance, just take a quick peak at all of them.

http://entreblogger.net/
http://smarterthanagrade5.blogspot.com/
http://www.picturetopeople.org/blog/blog.html
http://leomarsden.com/
http://losingweightintentionally.com/
http://www.dietsecretsonline.info
http://electriciannotes.blogspot.com/
http://joanhatch.info/
http://losingit-gettingfit.blogspot.com/
http://denfordmagora.blogspot.com

I also purchase Entrecard ads, using my built up clicks, the blog that got me the most hits to this blog, from their blog was http://sixsunflowerseeds.blogspot.com with 75 hits. Wow, that is awesome.

Thank you to all of you who visit my blog, leave comments, and follow me on my journey. If you have a blog, you can sign up at Entrecard too, and start earning advertising for your blog.

Lesson Plans for 06/02/09:

Math: Multiply three digits, division
Science: Custom and metric measurements, rock detectives
Writing: You found a new rock species
Language Arts: Run on sentences, rhyme time
Spelling: Lesson 34- write each spelling word two times each
Vocabulary: Lesson 34- look up the definition for each word
PE: 30 minutes

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