Love A Good Book Sale!!

Love a good book sale. My favorite tends to be first day of our local library's book sale.  First day it's $5 per grocery bag, second day $3 per grocery bag, and the last day $1 per grocery bag.  Of course the last day is the "cheapest" money wise, but the selection is nearly always picked over and I don't get as many books I truly want.

So we went to opening day within the second hour. Selection was still fair. I got a grocery bag full of books for $5. Many of the book would have cost me $5 each new!!!

pile of books I got for $5

Score! However the BIGGEST score we received that day was an 1993 encyclopedia set for $10!!! Yep that's right I got the complete encyclopedia set for the rock bottom price of $10

The blue set is the new ones we got for $10.
The other set below it is from the 1960's and belong to my grandmother.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, IT!!

Giveaway: Math Blaster WINNER!!!

Last night the giveaway for Math Blaster-6 month membership ended. It's time to post the winner!!! We had 8 comments on the original post, but only 7 people wanted to be in the drawing. So I put in starting number 1 ending number 7 in random.org number generator and this is what it came up with.

This means the last person that replied "Chip" is the winner!!!!!!

Congratulations Chip!!!!!

I will be emailing you shortly!

What I'm Civilized.

What a morning? Superstar, my son, woke up with blood draining out of his right ear. Seeing there was no pain we waited for the doctor office to open this morning. We called them but they couldn't see us till 10 am. Unhappy with how late in the morning that would be my husband decided it would serve us best to go to the walk-in. Hubby called his boss to tell him he would be late and went with us.

Well the original plan was for hubby to take him while I went ahead and went down to my mom's seeing I was suppose to go there this morning to watch my nephew while she went to the dentist. However, when I called her this morning to tell her what was going on she told me to stay with my son and she'll cancel her dentist appointment.

Once we got to the doctors office we decided that I and Web-princess (daughter) would stay out at the lobby and only my hubby and son would go on back to the exam rooms.  After being back in the exam rooms for nearly 40 minutes I texted my husband to see what was going on. He told me they were just now seeing him.

Superstar has a hole in his ear drum. There is NO infection and NO foreign object in the ear.  Yesterday afternoon the kids and hubby were playing in the back yard and Superstar laid on the recently cut grass. While laying on the grass he started to complain his ear hurt. My husband and I both pulled grass out of ear. So it's possible that a stick or blade of grass or something tore his ear drum, but as I said there is no infection in the ear now and no foreign object.

So what does being civilized have to do with this post. Well while sitting in the exam room with my husband Superstar heard a ding.....

Superstar (after the ding): I think my latte is ready!
Hubby: Your latte?
Superstar: What I'm civilized!

Classical vs CM vs Literature Based?

I've been thinking about next school year.....

Does any of my readers take a Classical, CM, or Literature Based approach when it comes to homeschooling? I've been thinking about these methods and would like some input and opinions from my readers!

Thanks!

Giveaway: Math Blaster - 6 month membership

Yesterday I posted a review about Math Blaster. Well Knowledge Adventure the creator of Math Blaster and Jump Start has provided me with the means to gift ONE of my readers with a 6 month membership to Math Blaster.   This giveaway starts Today and ends May 18, 2011 at 10:00 pm CST.

Entry is simple just leave a comment here on this post!!! You don't have to do anything more then that!!! All comments received before May 18, 2011 at 10:00 pm CST will count. Just keep in mind my comments are moderated, so they don't post right a way. I will count every comment I receive BEFORE the deadline even if it is not made public before the deadline.  Please leave your email address in your comment so I have a means to contact the winner.

If you DO NOT want your email address public then please email me AFTER you leave a comment here!

Make the subject line: Math Blaster Giveaway.  In the body of the email be sure to tell me what your screen name is so I can match your email up with the comment that is here on the blog. I will announce the winner's name here on Catholic Christian Homeschooling on May 19th, 2011 and will email the winner that day as well.  The winner will be chosen by random.org.  Only one entry per person.

Good Luck Everyone!!!!

Review: Math Blaster

Title: Math Blaster

Creator: Knowledge Adventure (makers of Jumpstart)

Short Description: MathBlaster.com is a futuristic online adventure packed with wacky aliens, high-tech gadgets and, of course, math! As new recruits at the prestigious Blaster Academy, your kids will play arcade-style math games and race through high-speed missions with the help of a cast of characters that are out of this world! After learning the ropes in Blaster Academy, new cadets will join the Intergalactic Space Patrol (ISP), an elite team of Blasters sworn to explore and protect even the furthest galaxies and deepest black holes of the universe. Armed with the most advanced gadgets and fine-tuned math skills, the cadets of the ISP will travel to exotic new planets, discover bizarre alien races and face extraordinary challenges!

Review: Feb 2009 I did a review for Jumpstart's virtual world. So when Knowledge Adventure contacted me asking if I would review their latest virtual world: Math Blasters I happily accepted!! My kids have been playing jumpstart's virtual world on and off the last year and were thrilled with getting the chance to try out the newest features in both worlds! Of course Math Blaster did not disappoint us one bit!

The kids enjoyed making their online character and went straight to work playing the games. Their favorite game turn out to be Oozami (pictured above). In this game you have find the correct math problems and make it to the top before the ooze gets you. 

For example you can choose to work with place values. The game, for example, will tell you to find the 3 in the ones place (see picture below).  At various stations there are numbers.  You have to find the correct number with the 3 in the ones place. You have to find so many of them before the time runs out and the ooze catches up to you.

Besides place values you can do math problems or work with money. Personally I like the money version of oozami the best seeing WP (my daughter) still needs to work on this skill. In this version of the oozami you have to find the correct money combination that is equal to the value you are looking for. For example the game can tell you to find 31 cents. If you see the combination of a quarter, nickel, and penny then you would want to select it because those things together equal 31 cents.

Another cool feature of this game, besides working on math skills is how it (for members) can link up to jumpstart.com original online world at jumpstart.com. My kids enjoyed being able to go from one world to the other by using the portals within the games themselves. Math Blaster can be a stand alone game, but it's really an extension to jumpstart.com virutal world. Membership to Mathblaster.com gives you full access to mathblaster.com AND jumpstart.com AND the ability to download 4 downloadable PC games. (Membership costs $74.99 per year)

Honestly, my kids have enjoyed Math Blaster so much that I'm seriously considering buying the Nintendo DS version of the game for them. Math Blaster even has mobile versions of the game: only compatible with IPhone, IPad or ITouch.  (FYI: I seen on Math Blaster's Facebook Page that they had a promo code for the mobile game: Math Blasters HyperBlast and are looking for reviewers.)

Overall I'm really pleased with what Math Blaster has to offer and that's saying a lot for a site that is only about 2 months old. Knowledge Adventure has done a fantastic job with the site and I look forward to seeing what is in store for Math Blaster's future by following the Math Blaster Blog and the Math Blaster Facebook Page.

Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Jump Start at  no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.