Harry Potter No More

We have decided to stop with the Harry Potter reading. I think Kendall isn't old/mature enough to handle a book of its length. He get intimidated by the longer chapters and it's just not benefitting his education at all! I hope the quizzes I made for the first few chapters have helped some people at least get started.

We are moving on to Tom Sawyer. Kendall has read this book already, but I bought a workbook that has activities, quizzes and worksheets to go along with the book. So I guess you could say we're re-reading Tom Sawyer but not really. Click here to see the book I bought.

I will try to post what we do with this. I know that first we are going to do some research about Hannibal, Missouri.

Maybe I'll have a more exciting blog post next.

Homeschooling Theme Days?

My son, being nine years old (ten on January 3), is in a stage where he is mommy's boy one minute and then a rotten teenager the next minute. I think this age is called the "tween" age. I do not care for it one bit. While I know it will only get worse, my optimistic (maybe stupid) side takes over and chalks his behavior up to any of these reasons: He didn't get enough sleep, he's hungry, he needs a hug, etc.

When he is in his mommy's boy personality, he likes to act like he is about 6 or 7. He carries around stuffed animals, talks like a little kid and sits in my lap.

To tie this in to the title of this post, today has been dubbed "Bring Your Stuffie to Homeschool Day." He has a stuffed dog on his desk and just told it to "sniff my paper to make sure there isn't a bomb." I guess it's "Bring Your Bomb-Sniffing Stuffed Dog to Homeschool Day!"

Intro to Couponing, Installment Two

My last post was about where to find coupons and how to organize them. Now, I will walk you through my menu planning, list making and coupon cutting process.

First, Make the Menu:

This is not like a restaurant menu. Your family does not get to place their orders every night! I usually just choose 4-5 meals for the week and I don't really choose which meal goes with which night. The goal here is to plan the meals. After making this menu, I look in the refrigerator/pantry/cabinets and write down any ingredients I may need to make those meals. Another equally-effective way to do this is to look at what you have first, then make a menu, then write down the things you need.

Second, Visit the Internet:

I use two websites: www.southernsavers.com and www.couponmom.com. They both have different functions, which I will explain.

Southern Savers--I use this site, which is specific to the Southeast, to compile my list of things that I will be buying from the various stores I frequent. I will visit a maximum of three stores each week. I am sure I could get a ton more for my money if I went to more stores, but I hate going to stores unless they are called "Macy's" or "Hobby Lobby." SS is good because the user can click on the items they want to buy from a store's weekly ad and it shows the coupon matches right below the item. Once the items are chosen, a printable list can be created so the whole weekly ad doesn't have to be shown. The user gets their own personal grocery list. The only thing I don't like about SS is that the B1G1 sales are in their own section and not really separated by the items' locations in the store, so I end up rewriting my list each week.

Third, With Your List of Items NOT from Southern Savers:

Go to www.couponmom.com. You will have to sign up for an account, but this site doesn't send any advertisement emails so no worries about that. On the top toolbar, there is a section labeled "Grocery Coupon Database." Click on that. Once you get to the database, click CTRL-F (Command F on a Mac) and search for the items on your "I need these ingredients to make the dishes on my menu" list. Write down the insert name (I abbreviate: SS, PG & RP) and date next to these items. You are now ready to cut out some coupons!

Fourth, You Now Have Two Lists:

Because (OMG I just started a sentence with the word 'because') I am pretty OCD about things, I combine my list of SS items and my "I need these ingredients to make the dishes on my menu" list into one list according to where they reside in the grocery store. My sections include: grocery, bakery, produce, dairy, meat, frozen and miscellaneous. I do this because it saves me time in the grocery store.

Fifth, Cut Your Coupons:

Pull out all the folders you will be taking coupons from. Then, cut out each coupon you wish to use from each folder's inserts. You are now ready to go to the store!!! DON'T FORGET YOUR COUPONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please let me know if something is unclear or if I have left anything out! Ask me questions!

Discipline Your Image

If you don't like the sheer genius of Napoleon Dynamite, you should reconsider. Then you should go and buy your disciplined image Rex Kwon Do outfit. I need that outfit. NEEEEEED!!!!!

Intro to Couponing, Installment One

I asked my Facebook Fans what they wanted me to write about, and the first suggestion was that I should write about meal planning and couponing. I will just walk you through what I do most weeks. Just to warn you, this process is not for the faint of heart. It does take a while, but if you consider the amount of money you can save, it's worth the time if you have it.

This first post will be about the types of coupons that are available and how to organize them and how to find them once you figure out you need them. There are other ways of doing it other than my way, but I know that my way is the best way because it's my way, you know?

Subscribe to the Sunday paper from the largest city that will deliver to you. Mine is the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. Most newspapers will have a map or listing of their delivery area. Some people with larger families (there are only three of us) buy two (or 3, 4, 5 papers. That's just more coupons. I choose to subscribe because I hate having to go into a store on a Sunday. (Sunday is the busiest grocery shopping day, FYI.)

Inside the Sunday paper, there will be coupon inserts. Weekly, RedPlum and SmartSource are included. About once a month, a Proctor & Gamble insert will be included. Sometimes there are multiple RedPlum & SmartSource inserts so make sure you check your ENTIRE PAPER.

Once you have these inserts pulled out, file them by published date. The reason I say this is because the websites I use tell where the coupons are according to the publishing date. I keep my stash of filed coupons in a file box along with blank file folders. And you know I reuse those file folders once I'm done w/those coupon inserts since I'm little miss frugal.

Other sources for coupons include store flyers, store mailers, tearpads in the stores, etc. For these types of coupons, I keep them in their own special file folder labeled "Cut Out." My other folders include one for "Store Specific" & "Restaurant" coupons.

Once you have your lists, your coupons will be easy to find since you will be told exactly where to go to find them!

HP1, C5 Quiz & Answers

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 5 Quiz

Vocabulary:

A) Write the sentence from the chapter that includes each word.

B) Look up each word in the dictionary and write the definition.

collapse/collapsed p. 76

babble p. 87

quiver p. 88

hurtle/hurtling p. 92

minuscule p. 101

stammer/stammering p. 101

1. What does Harry do to get the owl who delivered the paper to go away?

2. What is the name of the wizard bank?

3. Why does the Ministry of Magic want to keep the world from knowing that there are wizards and witches?

4. Name three of the things Harry is required to have for school.

5. What is NOT allowed for first year students at Hogwart's?

6. What is the name of the store that Hargrid & Harry go to to buy Harry's school supplies?

7. What do the people do when Harry goes inside the store?

8. Describe the goblin who is guarding the bank door.

9. How do Harry, Hagrid and Griphook get to Harry's vault at the bank?

10. What do they take out of vault 713?

11. What is Quidditch?

12. What does Hagrid agree to buy Harry for his birthday?

1. Harry has to pay him five Knuts. p. 77

2. Gringotts p. 78

3. So that people will not ask for them to use their magic to solve problems. p. 81

4. I'm not typing that whole list. Refer to pages 82-83 for the list.

5. First year students may not have their own broomsticks. p. 84

6. The Leaky Cauldron p. 85

7. The people greet him, shake his hand, etc. p. 86

8. Page 90

9. A cart on tracks p. 92

10. A small package wrapped in brown paper. p. 95

11. The sport that the wizards and witches play. p. 99

12. His owl. p. 101

HP1, C4 Quiz & Answers

Vocabulary: Use a dictionary or context clues to find the definition of each word

skidding (p. 57)

glinting (p. 58)

dratted (p. 66)

ranting (p. 66)

glaring (p. 70)

clenched (p. 70)

speared (p. 70)

clouted (p. 71)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Who is the person knocking at the door in the middle of the night?

2. What does he bring Harry for his birthday?

3. Why does Hagrid get so angry at Mr. Dursley after breakfast?

4. What does Harry FINALLY get to read?

5. What does it say?

6. What does Hagrid use to send a letter back to Dumbledore?

7. What did Voldemort do to the wizards and witches who stood up to him?

8. How many years will Harry go to school at Hogwart's? (HINT: Answer is on page 73)

9. Why isn't Hagrid allowed to do magic?

ANSWERS:

1. Hagrid (p.59)

2. A chocolate birthday cake with “Happy Birthday Harry” written on it. (p. 59)

3. Hagrid is angry because Mr. Dursley did not tell Harry the truth about his parents. Harry knew nothing about Hogwart's, that Harry was a wizard or that his parents were famous wizards. (p.61-63)

4. The letter! (p. 63)

5. It says that Harry has been accepted to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (p. 63-64)

6. An owl (p. 64-65)

7. Voldemort killed the people who stood up to him. (p. 68)

8. 7 (p. 73)

9. Hagrid was expelled from Hogwart's and is no longer allowed to be a wizard. (p.74)