Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program

If your child reads 8 books they will earn 1 free book from Barnes & Noble. Please see Barnes & Nobles 2010 Summer Reading Program for more details.

Pictures of Mystery Rash

Superstar changed his mind about pictures. These pictures were taken at the beginning and in the middle of last week. He over all looks a lot better now. His ears are clear, most of his arm and legs are clear. His face is still rough looking but it's better too. (You can click on them to see bigger pictures)

Mystery Rash: Solved? We hope!

Superstar still has his rash, bumps, spots, whatever you want to call them. When they first appeared on April 9th, I felt as if it was chickenpox. Later that day I learned it was NOT chickenpox, but an unknown virus.

The following Wednesday we went back to the doctor's office. That doctor agreed with the previous diagnosis that it was a viral, unknown origin. However that doctor did give us a steroid cream for it. In addition Superstar has been given benadyrl 3 times a day and an oatmeal bath every night. We were told if he had not cleared up by Monday to see a dermatologist.

So here it is Monday and Superstar still has his rash. I wish I could post pictures here on the blog for you all, but I promise Superstar that I would not. The steroid cream did cause the rash to go "flat", seeing it was raised, but that was the only change to it.

The dermatologist today said it was NEVER an viral infection. That the rash on Superstar is an allergic reaction to a plant. What plant we do not know. It's been already 1.5 weeks and honest I don't remember what and where we have been. In addition there is real no way of knowing what plant unless we are fully aware of what he got himself into.

Let me tell you that has been so frustrating. We for the last 1.5 weeks have been home. We've gone NO WHERE! No church, No co-ops, No field trips, because we were under the impression that it was viral and because it was an unknown virus we didn't know if he was contagious or not. I didn't want to expose him to others, because I didn't want him to pass on the virus. Some virus you are no longer contagious once you break out, others you are still contagious until rash scabs over. So he just didn't know and was working on the side of caution "better save then sorry".

We were given a new stronger cream today to put on his rash and hopefully that will clear it up. At least we now know that we can be around people! This means tomorrow we are going to our homeschool co-op! Thank God!

Lexile: Reading Assessments

The state of Illinois is just one of the many states that is using Lexile as means to assess a child's reading level. Lexile is now apart of the I-SAT.

Learning this today made me wonder what is Lexile? Well the following 6 minute video will answer that!



So now that I know what Lexile is how do I find out what my child's Lexile score is? The only "affordable" resource I found for homeschoolers is Total Reader for those children 3rd-12th grade. (If you know of another resource to find out what your child's Lexile score is please share)

Total Reader is a web-based reading assessment program that gives out Lexile scores. It cost $39.95 for ONE child for ONE year. If you have more then one then you automaticaly get 10% off for each child. You can add up to 6 children. Once you have a Total Reader account you have unlimited access to the program. The more the child uses the program the more accurate is the Lexile score.

There was standard testing options that were comparable in price, however I felt it was best to use something that allowed us to gauge reading levels over time vs. a one time test.

Once you know your child's Lexile score you can use Total Readers recommended reading list or you can use Lexile.com book finder to help find books in your child's reading level.

Personally, I liked the Lexile.com book finder because not only does it filter books based on Lexile Score, but it's possible to filter the selection by topics and age range too. I can see the advantage of using that to select materials for your child.

• First go to Lexile.com find books on the topic you want in your child's lexile range.
• Second take that list of books to your local library (or look on your library's online catalog) to see if they have the book.
• Third, check those books out!

I was browsing my library's online catalog, comparing what my library has to offer against the list I got from Lexile.com. Honestly, there are books that I never would have even consider for my kids. Why? Because they are located, shelved, in an area that I assumed to be younger then my children's reading level and/or are shelved in an area that I assumed to be above my children's reading level.

In addition it's possible to buy books at barnes and nobles website based on Lexile score. At the very least the whole idea of using Lexile score is interesting!

Kids Bowl FREE every day all summer long

With it being mid-April most of us are winding down our school years. We have just over 30 days left not counting Sundays or Saturdays. Seeing the school year is winding down many are looking to summer.

Do your kids like bowling? Are you wanting something they can do every day without breaking the bank? Well you can take them bowling EVERY day ALL summer long for FREE! Thanks to Kids Bowl Free.

If you registered for Summer 2009 then you WILL have to re-registered this year. If you weren't able to participate last year because a bowling alley was not near you then check out the list this year. There are MORE bowling allies this year then last year. As a matter of fact for me I have a choice of 6 local bowling allies where last year I only had 1. That's for this area...I can't promise the same in yours, but it's worth looking over the list of bowling allies.

In addition to the kids bowling free, a family pass that allows parents bowl too and be bought for ONE time fee of $25.  Not only that but you still will have to pay for the shoe rental, unless you have shoes of your own. What that rental fee is dependent on your local bowling alley.

Just to note: Registration is NOT open yet, but the site said it will be SOON!!! I imagine it will be within the next month, because Summer is fast approaching!

Once you find your bowling alley's page on Kids Bowl Free you can bookmark it. You can also find kids bowl free on Facebook or on Twitter @kidsbowlfree as a means to stay update on the latest development from Kids Bowl Free.