Joyful Momma's Top Picks

Growing up learning Calculus, Advanced Chemistry, and reading Chaucer, I sadly missed out on other skills that I now use every day, namely homemaking skills. As a young wife and mother, beginning my career as a stay home mom (quite different from the training I had received), I tried to catch up on learning things I wish I had learned in the first place. This task of learning was difficult as there were few resources I could find that truly helped me.
That's why I appreciate Mrs. Kathy Brodock and her ministry www.TeachingGoodThings.com, because she is providing resources that will help to teach and disciple other young wives and mothers who also didn't get their training early in life. Even better, you can use her wonderful resources to help you in training your own daughters, as I am doing.
When deciding which of Mrs. Brodock's DVDs to get first, the choice was easy: Cake Decorating. Why? Because that is one thing that I either outsource to others, or do a lousy job at, though I have always wanted to learn. Being an artsy sort of person, I've figured it can't be that hard to learn, but alas every workshop I've taken or book I've read has been of no help to me. I figured the real test here would be whether or not she could teach me (yes, even me) how to decorate a cake that didn't look like I had fallen somewhere in the process. Worst comes to worst, I figured, maybe one of my girls could learn how to do cakes and take that job off of my hands. Up until I watched Kathy Brodock's DVD, my pastry bag and star tip were used almost exclusively for filling taco shells with sour cream.
As soon as Mrs. Brodock's DVD arrived, I popped it into the DVD player and started watching. Even though the video was done on a home video camera and not produced slickly in a studio like other instructional videos, the content is superior, and the quality of both sound and video is well done. In a real-life, practical, down-to-earth way, Kathy Brodock takes you by the hand and shows you how to do it, making no assumptions that you already know things like how to fill a pastry bag with icing, or how to even make your own icing for that matter. For the record, I found out while watching the video that I had been doing both wrong all along. I felt like I had a girlfriend over, showing me how it's done.
I wasn't the only one watching the cake decorating DVD, though. Each of my children were soon digging through the pantry to see if we had some Crisco and powdered sugar so they could whip up some icing to practice with. For the rest of that week, too rainy to work in the garden or play outside, my girls practiced making cake decorations on waxed paper, then scraping it back into the bowls to practice more again tomorrow. They watched the engaging DVD over and over again, and even the neighbor's girls joined in and practiced making roses, leaves, stems, clowns, and more.

Mrs. Kathy Brodock has really hit on something big with these training DVDs that offer practical Titus 2 style training in a style that anyone can understand.

I've included some pictures to show you just how effective her video really is.

~Esther (age 10), ready for action~

~some first samples of piping and stars~



~Anastasia, age 11, did this rose on the first try, thanks to some wonderful instructions!~

~The Girls did this Thank You for Mrs. Braddock after they were done



~Esther, age 10, and Isobel, age 9, designed this cake all by themselves, just from watching the video

And Proof that Kathy Braddock was able to teach this old dog a few new tricks:



Success on the first try!

So, if you are looking for an easy to use video for decorating cakes, I give Basic Cake Decorating with Kathy Brodock 5 stars, and two thumbs up. One of my girls said it should be more like 10 thumbs up because each of them are also giving it two thumbs up too. :-)Look at www.TeachingGoodThings.com for more quality videos and instructional materials to better learn new skills for hearth and home, and to pass those skills onto the next generation.

Labels: Homemaking Skills

For a large part of last year, whenever our homeschooling co-op sent out an Excel file, I couldn't open it. I may have lots of cool web design and graphics programs on my computer, but I don't have Microsoft Office (and didn't really see the need, apart from an inability to open Excel Docs). A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about a free, open source set of programs that does what Microsoft Office does, but for free.

Open Office is a free, open source set of programs. It includes OpenOffice Write, which is comparable to Word, OpenOfficeBase and OpenOfficeCalc, which can open and create databases and spreadsheets, and OpenOfficeImpress, which makes Power-Point style multimedia presentations. There is also OpenOfficeMath which are used for mathematical operations and OpenOfficeDraw for creating Vector drawings.

This free software suite is pretty easy to use, and has many different uses within your family. I know my own children like making Slideshows and multimedia presentations with Impress, and drawing with Draw.

Labels: freebies, software

My children are creative kids, as I think most kids are. They are fortunate to live in a day when there are more opportunities to express that creativity! Back when I was a kid, the way we animated things was by making one of those lame flip books which was not all that exciting, way too much work for little results, and really hurt your thumbs to use.

Today, if you have a child who wants to learn stop-motion animation, they can have their parents or grandparents purchase the Stop Motion Animation Kit from NR Productions. They may even buy it themselves.

A few months ago, I first saw someone commenting on this clever kit, put together by some homeschoolers, and I wanted one. The thing that stopped me, to be honest, was the price, as the kit includes not only a very helpful book, but software and a camera. I thought to myself, "I'd rather just have the book--we already have too much software and a camera". However, the software they packaged with this kit, and the camera, make stop motion animation a breeze. As I looked at it, and watched the sample videos, my son came in the room, and said, "I want that!" We've made stop motion vidoes before with just a digital camera, and uploading each picture frame by frame into Power Director (can you say time consuming?) but this looked much easier....and it is!

Over the next few months, Judah saved up some money towards it and I decided, after much hemming and hawing over it, to take the plunge. We are so grateful.

I *love* this kit.

Right out of the box, we were able to do something with it. In fact, the day it arrived, I could barely open the box, as I had five children, all excited about it, trying to catch a glimpse. We opened it, loaded it onto the computer, and within a few minutes, my 13 year old son had produced this 4 second video. the little characters are the Cubboyds we purchased from NR Productions too.
.Literally, folks...not 15 minutes later, we had this video:



Why am I showing you this? because though this is a 4 second, somewhat rough video, I think it demonstrates just how easy it is to use this software, camera, book and kit. Actually...ahem...my son didn't read the book yet (the girls, as always, are reading it first...he just jumped ahead to the good part--hands on).

Do you have little filmmakers in your household? This momma highly recommends NR Productions Animation Kit!

Labels: Art, Creativity, Filmmaking

When I started homeschooling, most of what I read really pooh-poohed the use of workbooks--and probably for a good reason. Most of life is not handed to us in workbook format, and workbooks can be pretty boring. It was not until after I had a rather diffult time with my son, who has some learning disabilities in the reading department, that I began to look for a phonics program that would work for him--preferably not costing hundreds of dollars. While at a local bookstore that carries many homeschooling resources, the Adventures in Phonics workbooks caught my eye. They were simple, yet full of "meat" for teaching phonics. Because I've used Alphaphonics by Samuel Blumenfeld for most of our reading instruction, I was especially pleased to see that it looked like I could easily use the workbooks along side of Alphaphonics. I was almost afraid to turn it over to look for the price, but sighed sweet relief that it was under $10. But, would it help?

Within a few months of using Adventures in Phonics with my then-7 year old struggling reader, I soon was back at the store buying a copy of the appropriate workbook for each of my younger children as well. My youngest is now in the last workbook of Adventures in Phonics, and I can't recommend this enough. No matter how you plan to teach phonics, Adventures in Phonics levels A, B, or C are great for reinforcing the basic phonics principals both for reading and for spelling. I have also used Adventures in Phonics as a stand alone phonics curriculum with my youngest, who has really enjoyed doing her schoolwork.

I especially enjoy the fact that the sentences that are used in the assignments reinforce good character traits and Bible truths.

Any downsides? If I had one complaint it would be that some of the clip art is downright cryptic. We have had many laughs around the table as we all pass the workbook around and try to guess what the picture is using a word that fits into todays phonics rule!! Of course, I do cheat by not buying the teacher's guide, as most of the lessons are self explainatory for a mom who has a reasonable handle on her phonics, but those clip arts have been a challenge at times. ;)

Level A is designed for Kindergarten and is super basic, teaching the consonant sounds slowly, one at a time, and then introducing blends and short vowel sounds before teaching long vowel sounds and vowel digraphs. Level B reviews what was taught in Level A, and then introduces new material. Level C is a year long review of basic phonics and spelling.

If you are looking for a great curriculum for teaching your children phonics, check out Adventures in Phonics from Christian Liberty Press.

Labels: homeschooling, phonics

Assigning chores, especially if you have a large crew or household help that comes in to help you, can be a job in and of itself. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get really overwhelmed trying to keep track of what household chores need to be done, when they were last done, who is supposed to do them, and keeping all of the details straight. If only there were something in my computer to spit out a chores schedule for me!

Well, guess what? I FOUND just such a thing last week. Woo Hoo.

Let's Clean Up is a very inexpensive piece of software available from a mom who wanted to set up a program to schedule her chores. Lisa Way is a professional software designer, specializing in user-friendly databases. She developed Let's Clean Up to help manage her own household, and she has made it available to help other households as well.

Let's Clean Up allows you to easily create a database of chores that need to be done around your house, how frequently each job should be done, which day of the week it should be done, the skill level required to do this job (numbered 1-10), and the name of the person responsible for the job. When you are done setting up your tasks, you can print out a task list for that day, listing all of the jobs that need to be done, and who should do them. Alternatively, you can print out a separate sheet for every worker, so that everyone has their own checklist.

We downloaded our free 30 Day trial version of Let's Clean Up a week ago, and it has already helped us with our household chores. What a blessing to have all of our assignments printed out on one sheet with a click of the button!

Let's Clean Up costs US$9.95, and is available from www.lets-clean-up.com

Labels: chores, housework

Growing up, I didn't get music lessons, apart from time served in Band (playing the clarinet). I've always has a passion for music, but never the opportunity to actually learn to play anything. Maybe that is why I have tried to make music lessons available to my children and to have musical instruments (mostly bought used or given to us) lying around our house. We have a piano, an organ, a clarinet, an acoustic guitar, a lap harp, and a marimba!

Even if your child is not going to be the next Mozart, understanding some basics about music is good for them, and will help them to be a more well rounded individual. Especially as Christians, with music such an important part of our corporate worship, being able to at least read music and understand musical terms is a blessing. My older three children not only read music and play piano, but they also have the opportunity to play in our church on occasion, and use their gifts for the Lord.

Well, I found the most incredibly fun software a few months ago for helping my younger children learn to read music and to understand some basic music principals. It is even good practice and refresher for my older childen. This software is called Music Ace, by Harmonic Vision. Music Ace is interactive, educational software that teaches children about notes, reading music, rhythm, pitch, the keyboard, making music, and more, with a very cute animated character, and singing notes.

The Music Ace Software Series includes a Music Doodle Pad which allows children (And adults! :-)) to play around, creating their own songs, and then playing them back by arranging the singing notes on the staff.

We also enjoyed the various lessons that are on the CD Rom, which are followed by games that can be played which reinforce the lessons learned. Families can download trial versions of this software to see how they like it.

If you have music lovers, or even just children interested in music in your house, then look into the Music Ace Software from Harmonic Vision. In this series, there is Music Ace, Music Ace 2, Music Ace Deluxe, and Music Ace Maestro.

Sample Screen Shot:
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(this is from the music doodle pad!)

Labels: music

When you have a new reader, the way to get them into the realm of "Experienced Reader" or "Comfortable Reader" is to have them read often, and for enjoyment. The problem is with finding easy to read, yet interesting books for young readers. When I was starting to homeschool, and read all I could about it, the general consensus seemed to be that older books were the best. Though I do enjoy the old classics, not all of the older readers are interesting enough to make a young reader want to read them, especially if it has to compete with a TV in the home (side note: if it were up to me the TV would be long gone, but it is not my decision). So, I give you the Top Picks I have for early readers. I have tried to classify them as for boys or girls, and also for very early vs. more experienced readers.

I think going to your local library and checking out the "beginning reader" section of the children's department is another great place to start! Our Libary has a wide selection of books for new readers (Some good, some not so good, but with a quick flip-through a mom can usually tell the difference in these short books). Each summer, my children sign up for the summer reading program, where they are encouraged to read Ten books. When they are done, they get a new book of their choice, and a free pizza at Pizza Hut! However, the real blessing is that they spent time during them summer reading 10 books. This past summer my newest reader read a whopping 17 books outloud to me, and was just under the 1000 page challenge they have at our libary too (which wins you another prize).

Early Readers/Boys and Girls

Hands down, the best thing to read (in addition to your regular reading curriculum) for both boys and girls who are just starting out is the BOB books. The BOB Books are sets of saddle-stapled books in boxes which use very basic phonics and simple words to tell amusing stories, with cute line drawings. There are Levels A, B, and C, and Sets within each of those levels. Level A and B could be used as soon as phonetical awareness is acheived (ie, your child understands that different letters make different sounds, and he or she knows the basic consonant sounds and short vowel sounds).

Early Reader Chapter Books of General Interest

Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel is a family favorite, which helped getting my children reading better. This fun little book is all about a little Grasshopper who is curious to see where the road leads to, and along the way he meets all sorts of critters. We used Grasshopper on the Road as a read-to-mom book once my children had learned most of the basic phonics sounds. This book also helped with some common sight words.

The Minnie and Moo series by Denys Cazet tells some rather silly stories about two cows who go on all sorts of adventures, leaving the poor farmer wondering just what is going on in that barnyard. These are fun chapter books to read with aloud with newer readers that always make me laugh out loud!

Early Reading Chapter Books of Particular Interest to Boys

Christian Liberty Press' Robinson Cruesoe Reader is of particular interest to my son. This is the classic story of Robinson Cruesoe, stranded on a deserted island after choosing to run away from home, but retold for new readers. My girls read this book as well, but were not quite so enthralled as my son was.

Josephine Pollack's "Life of George Washington" is a simple book written over a hundred years ago, with words broken into syllables for new readers. This book tells about George's life, and what moved him to be the man he became.

Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggelson is another great biographical reader that my son enjoyed. Again, though everyone in the family read through it, the stories seemed to really interest my son, as they told the tales of heroic men who helped found our country.

and a couple Great "Girlie" Books

These books are great for read aloud, or for newer readers to read by themselves.

The Purple Coat by Amy Hest is about a little girl who visits her grandfather (a tailor) for her new coat, and talks him into making her a purple coat instead of the usual navy blue. I always loved this books, as I always opt for a purple coat too! :-))

Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen is a really awesome book about an immigrant girl, reminding us of modern day pilgrims to our country. It's one of those books that you get tears in your eyes reading! Though it is a short book, my children all have read it a few dozen times to themselves, and it was frequently requested when I was the one doing most of the read-aloud.