May
17

Contenders of the Faith ~ Model Rockets

By | Bible, Homeschool

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Since I posted previously on my daughter’ doing the Keepers at Home group, I’ve had a lot of questions about my son’s Contenders for the Faith group. They’ve had a lot of fun this year with all of their projects and so I wanted to share the latest group meeting with you all today. Being that I’m a girl and all, I don’t have a lot of pictures of their activities, you know…boys only…yada yada… Personally I think that mom’s with camera’s should be allowed. And thankfully I convinced my husband of that fact easily! The boys learned all about model rockets this month, and each built their own models. Of course, be being a blogger and all, I couldn’t resist getting some pictures of these boys launching said rockets!   The boys and their dads each had a shot to launch their prepared rockets. They learned how to hook up the engines, a few safety rules, and then each got the honor of counting down to their own lift off!   The … [Read more...]

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Mar
22

4-H Robotics

By | Homeschool

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Turbo has been participating in a Robotics club this year and he absolutely LOVES it! Since it’s been such a big hit, I wanted to take a minute to share some information with you as well. They have 3 tracks to work through, Virtual Robotics, Junk Drawer Robotics, and Robotics Platforms. The program Turbo is currently doing is called “Junk Drawer Robotics” because the items used can typically be found in your junk drawer! The group is filled with boys ranging from age 6-12 and they all team up to work together on projects. They are currently working through the Robotics Level 1 “Give Robots a Hand”. They’ll eventually move onto Levels 2: “Robots on the Move”, and Level 3: “Mechatronics”. Each project (teacher manual) book costs around $7-$9.   In order to complete the program, each student needs a 4-H Robotics Youth Notebook ($5.95). The notebook is used to record ideas, collect data, draw designs, and take notes on their projects. Along with the … [Read more...]

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Oct
30

@Ed_Insights: Velociraptor Dino Digs

By | Give Aways, Homeschool

288 Comments

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Oh my heavens were the kids excited to see the Dino Dig Velociraptor kit show up at our house today! The awesome folks at Educational Insights sent it for our review, and I was begged daily to let them try it out. I wanted to wait for a nice day out before starting since it looked like it might be messy.   It was a good plan. It was messy. Very messy. And very FUN! The GeoSafari Dino Dig kits come with everything you need to perform a “life like” excavation of dinosaur fossils. Each kit includes fossils encased in a clay block, an excavation tool, a brush, and a wax block (used to hold the fossil pieces together once completed), and a detailed instruction booklet with more ideas and information. (Just as a side note, these books are written with a secular world view)   I was actually amazed at how long my kids sat and worked on this kit. They were even taking turns which is a miracle! Honestly I was a little concerned that we only received one kit, but as you … [Read more...]

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Oct
16

Educational Insights GeoSafari® Tuff Cam Review

By | Homeschool

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As you all know, I LOVE Educational Insights stuff! Not only because they are so fun, but also because they are nice and sturdy! So I was totally psyched (yes, I’m an 80’s child) when they asked me to review the GeoSafari® Tuff Cam!    As you can imagine, with all the photos we take around here the kids are always dying to get involved. And aside from handing them my Canon T1i Rebel, which NEVER happens, they are constantly begging to take a picture. I have to say, we’ve used other “kids” cameras before, and the photos are just not that great. But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality from the GeoSafari® Tuff Cam. It is a 12 Megapixel camera with both photo and video capabilities. It has a 2” viewing screen, and frankly whoever came up with the design is a genius! It looks like a store scanner, and for kids its PERFECT! There is an easy point and shoot “trigger” that takes the photo, or video and can be operated easily with one hand. The buttons … [Read more...]

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Oct
04

Science Day: Scientific Measurement

By | Homeschool

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We’ve finally started on our Young Scientist Kits for the year and the kids are loving the experiments. Kit #1 includes 3 separate activities, this one has Recycling, Scientific Measurement, and Magnets.     The first activity we did was on Recycling. This kit discussed the importance of recycling. The kit came with tools to make handmade paper, since we made that last year in our Expedition Earth China week and I was feeling a little lazy, I skipped it. Next they had us create our own mini-composter. The kit included 2 peat moss disks that we were instructed to soak until fluffy.   Sadly, the disks were old I think, so they didn’t ever expand. We ended up having to use some of our own potting soil, which wasn’t a big deal. In one cup we put a piece of plastic, and in the other we put a piece of lettuce. After a few days we checked and the kids noted that the plastic bag was still intact, while the lettuce had started to decompose. So our first … [Read more...]

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Sep
17

@Ed_Insights Talking Microscope Winner

By | Give Aways

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Thanks so much for all who entered to win the super fun GeoSafari®Talking Electronic Microscope! As promised we have our winner!   A big congratulations to Tiffany, comment #688! I’ll be emailing you shortly to get your information!   If you didn’t win, but want more information stop by and visit Educational Insights, make sure to let them know Erica @ Confessions sent you over! Visit Educational Insights Website Follow Educational insights on Facebook Follow Educational Insights on Twitter Buy It: GeoSafari®Talking Electronic Microscope Thanks for entering, stay tuned Monday for a great giveaway from Pumpkin Seed Press! … [Read more...]

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Sep
11

Educational Insights Talking Microscope Giveaway!

By | Give Aways, Homeschool

897 Comments

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Well, those awesome people over at Educational Insights have yet ANOTHER great giveaway for you today! It’s the GeoSafari®Talking Electronic Microscope! I have to say that we really liked this one! It comes equipped with m ore than 180 super cool up-close images that your family can learn about! What’s the cost? $64.99 What did we think? The kids absolutely loved this thing! The microscope has a “Learning Mode” and a “Quiz Mode” so your kids can view images and learn 5 fun facts about each one, then switch over and test their new-found knowledge! Even the Teeny Tot loved to look in there! She kept saying “I see it, I see it!” One downfall I saw was that you can’t add anymore information into the scope, so once you go through it all, I guess you’ve gone through it all. But that hasn’t seemed to stop my kids from enjoying it!  I’ve seen it out quite often since we received it. And I guess with 300 fun facts to learn, that’ll take awhile … [Read more...]

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Aug
11

Butterfly Pavilion Field Trip

By | Homeschool

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  We had the privilege of touring the Butterfly Pavilion this summer. We’ve never been there before and while the tour was short, the scenery was incredible!     I’ve never seen that many different types of butterflies before. They were flying all over, and with all the luscious flowers tempting them, we were able to get some good photos! One of the highlights of the trip was “Rosie”. An extremely docile and patient brown tarantula that allowed dozens of children to hold her. They each received a souvenir badge stating that they “held Rosie” to commemorate the occurrence.   The exhibit was also filled with some buggy, insecty things. Most of which I’m glad do not normally live in this area.   Each day they release dozens of brand new butterflies into the room. As they emerge from the cocoon’s they tell a bit about each type and then release it into the air. These butterflies are all imported while still in the chrysalis … [Read more...]

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Aug
03

Educational Insights: Rock & Card Review & Giveaway

By | Give Aways

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Welcome to Day 9 of my 10,000 Subscriber Celebration! Today I have a super fun Rock and Card Set to giveaway! I think this is one of my son’s favorite items for the week!   This super cool set comes with various rocks and minerals and correlated cards with information, images and facts for each one. Each double-sided card features a photo, information on how it can be used in everyday life and some fun kid-friendly facts!   Check out the Rock and Card Set here! The kids had a great time playing with each one, matching them to the photo cards and learning about each type. We even got out the magnifying glass so we could get a closer look at our minerals. The Fact Cards are colorful and sturdy and come with lots of fun information including how the rocks can be used, what they generally look like, where they can be found and some cards include a fun “Try This” activity! You’ll even learn scientific terms such as Opaque, translucent, … [Read more...]

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Jul
28

Outdoor Science Day Review & Giveaway

By | Give Aways

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Welcome to DAY 5 of my 10,000 Subscribers Celebration! Today we’re going to beat summer boredom with some fun science kits! I’m excited to be participating in Outdoor Science Day with Scientific Explorer! They contacted me with some great outdoor science projects that were perfect for my kids who got bored with the summer break after about 30 seconds. And, yep, I have a FREE kit to giveaway today to one of you! We received the following projects in the mail: My First Backyard Explorer Kit – perfect for young scientists (ages 4+) who want to explore nature Ice Cream Science – take a break from summer’s heat and make your own ice cream – use multiple flavors to create your own recipes (ages 8+) Meteor Rocket Kit – make your own rocket, and shoot it into the air (ages 9+) The Meteor Rocket Kit: The Meteor Rocket Kit was really exciting for the kids. The only thing I’d caution you on is that even though the box says 9+, it took my dad about an hour … [Read more...]

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