A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

TOS

TOS Information

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Are you ready to learn, have fun, and go for adventure? Your wait is over–your FREE download of Autumn Treasures is now available! The Old Schoolhouse® and Amanda Bennett have been working hard to create a new and innovative homeschooling product–one that seamlessly blends the unit study concept and lapbooking fun into one great adventure.

Spice up your homeschool with sweet apple cider, pop some corn, and decorate with colorful autumn finds! Embark on a wonderful learning adventure about this season and all that it holds. Your child will examine how seasons change, find out what autumn is all about, discover the life cycle of pumpkins and apples, see how candy corn is made, and much more.

Where Unit Studies and Lapbooks Come Together
Easy . . . Innovative . . . Effective . . .

Download instantly!
The learning process is on GO from that point on–let the fun begin!

Units are theme based and full of exciting discoveries and motivation to develop lifelong learners.
• Each study is one week in length, having five daily lessons with lapbook components for each day.
• Each student creates a complete lapbook–a finished capsule of learning.
• All the research and preparation have been done!
• Hyperlinks are embedded right in the study–saving you time!
• Integrated studies include history, geography, reading, science, spelling,
vocabulary, writing, art, and more.
• Units are reusable year after year–nothing is consumed.
• There are no expensive resources required!
• Includes a great list of books that you can use to enrich your study, but
they are not required.
• One week of hands-on learning adventures for kids from K – 4th grade.

Check out some of the fun and unique upcoming themes for 2010:

Seasons Americans that Made a Difference
Places in the World Toys and Gadgets
Presidents & Patriots Sports
Ocean Animals Literary Giants

Download N Go™
Go for learning. Go for fun. Go for adventure!

Special Introductory Pricing. Limited Time Offer!

1 Semester of Download and Go

Full Semester of Download and Go

Get in on the special introductory pricing and save 20%! Purchase one semester of Download and Go™–19 weekly studies–Regularly priced at $114—Special introductory price of $92!

Pre-pay for a full semester-an entire school year–38 weekly studies–Regularly priced at $190–Special introductory price of only $152!

What a bargain!

When you take these two, outstanding, homeschooling resources (TOS and Amanda Bennett), along with the best learning components, you have a superior product . . . one that blends the unit study concept and lapbooking fun into one great adventure!

Welcome the opportunity to use Autumn Treasures in your homeschool.

It’s a $7.95 value—yours for FREE! Download it now.

File Folder Games

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Have I ever told you to go the The Old Schoolhouse and get on their email newsletter lists? Well, go do it! Free homeschool goodies and oodles of ideas await you!

File Folder games is one such letter they sent out.

In a nutshell…you take a file folder, you put stuff inside it, keeps everything compact and you have a game or activity that your child can do.

I got the preschool set from the teacher’s book bag. Our son LOVES the games (most of them). The one I got seems to focus on alphabet stuff…he thinks the honey pot game is just too much fun. 🙂 But he likes the others as well. I don’t use file folders as that would have cost more dollars…and I have oodles of card stock because I scrap book! So tape, cardstock, worksheets and voila! I can make a file folder type game/activity for him.

Here are Jamin’s freebies on File-folder games. She has more on her page so make sure you go there as well. 🙂

File Folder Fun offers free file folders for preschool through second grade. You will find file folders for science, language arts, math and more! You can browse by subject or grade level. The more you click the more you find at this website!

Looking for phonics games? Check these out!

Adding and rhyming? Click here.

Simple addition, telling time, and counting money. Click here.

For preschool file folders, click here. (There are 22 to chose from on the yellow sidebar on the left.)

For more preschool file folder games click here. You will find them mixed in with a lot of other free printables for little ones.

and the following list is ones that I’ve found as well. See…I just love how one list inspires people to look further! 🙂

File Folder Games and Other Games
Activity Village
Essortment: Preschools educational file folder game
My File Folder games
File Folder game – opposites
bellaonline
Childcareland
GigglyGames
File Folder heaven has purchase options as well as free options.

Things to Try with File Folders
File Folder Games for teachers
come up with themes: seasons, months, alphabet books, and such like. Basically whatever you want, you can do if you just think about it.
Come up with different ways to do things: cut outs, hideaway, pop-ups and such like.
MakePlayDough.com
Ezine articles

This one I think does more that file folder games but it looked intriguing.
Printables for your classroom.

For Horse girls

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TOS sent out this as well,

The Girlhood Home Companion’s Happy Trails Horse Club™ is a one-of-a-kind resource for girls who want to learn more about horses and explore the many positive ways to get involved with various riding disciplines. Each month features a different breed and discipline, weaving together a collection of fact and fiction about equestrians from the past and those who are making a difference in the world today.

So know any horsey folk? Perhaps that website might interest them. 🙂 Here’s the direct link.

TOS freebies

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Have I ever told you to go the The Old Schoolhouse and get on their email newsletter lists?

Good way to get free stuff you can use when you homeschool.

yes, it’s a pain to try to figure out the whole storage space thing, but it’s free!

And what does it cost yah to get a couple of discs to store things on? not that much!

I’m on one list that sends me out stuff every Friday.

This past week they sent out their October Module from 2008 that normally you’d have to pay $7-12 for. And just by waiting a spell…I got it free! can’t beat that now can you? 🙂

if you go here, you can even see what they’ve sent out. Happy looking!

Israel Unit Study

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don’t want to lose this TOS freebie on an Israel Unit Study.

Things to consider when doing a unit study

Books to use:
Welcome to Israel – Lilly Rivlin
Israel – Debbie Smith

History and Timelines
Learn more about Israel by compiling historical facts and events from its long and eventful history and adding them to your timeline. If you do not have a timeline on the go, you can construct one by following these directions – How to Make a Timeline Easily. Here is a link to a wonderful resource for timeline entries about Israel – http://contenderministries.org/middleeast/timeline.php. Here is another one that you may enjoy perusing or using for dates & events – http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/Facts+about+Israel-+History.htm.

Maps:
A unit study would not be complete without taking a good look at the lay of the land. Click here for both a labeled and unlabeled map of Israel. Have your students mark some of the major cities, the neighboring countries, and the sea to the west, at the least. For older students, have them use your teacher’s map and fill in the rest!

Recipes of the land such as

Fava Bean Spread

Ingredients

  • One can of fava beans, drained
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper (more if you like pepper)
  • Pita bread, torn or cut into triangles

Procedure

  1. Drain the can of beans, and empty the beans into a saucepan.
  2. Heat over low heat, mashing the beans against the side of the saucepan with a wooden spoon as they heat.
  3. Continue mashing until the beans have become thick, pasty, and warm.
  4. Add lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Serve warm or at room temperature with triangles of pita bread.

Felafel

Note: This recipe involves hot oil. Adult supervision is required. Many grocery stores now sell prepared felafel in the deli section.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup canned chickpeas, well-drained
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon pepper
  • ⅔ cup fine breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • Oil for deep frying, enough to fill the pot about 3 inches
  • Pita bread

Procedure

  1. Mash the chickpeas in a large bowl.
  2. Cut the garlic into tiny pieces. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and bread crumbs to the chickpeas. Mix the ingredients together.
  3. Add the eggs and oil to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
  4. Heat oil in the pot until little bubbles rise to the surface.
  5. Shape the mixture into 16 balls, each about 1-inch across.
  6. With the mixing spoon, gently place a few of the balls in the oil—do not drop them in because the hot oil may splash.
  7. Fry a few at a time until they are golden brown—about 5 minutes.
  8. Remove the felafel with the slotted spoon. Drain them on a plate covered with paper towels.
  9. To serve, cut pita bread in half to make pockets.
  10. Put two or three felafel balls into each pocket and drizzle with tahini sauce (see recipe).

Serves 6 to 8.

Tahini Sauce

Some grocery stores stock tahini sauce, already prepared, or packaged tahini mix.

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup tahini (sesame seed paste; can be purchased in stores that sell Middle Eastern foods)
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/3 cup water

Procedure

  1. Mix tahini, lemon juice, and garlic powder in bowl until you have a smooth sauce.
  2. Add the water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until sauce is thin enough to pour.
  3. Pour tahini sauce over pita sandwiches; can also be used as a dip for raw vegetables.

Hamentaschen

2/3 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1/4 cup pulp-free orange juice 1 cup white flour 1 cup wheat flour – no substitutes 2 tsp baking powder Jam

Beat butter and sugar thoroughly. Add egg and mix until well combined. Add the orange juice and mix again, until well combined. Add flour, ½ c at a time, alternating white and wheat, blending thoroughly between each addition. Add baking powder with last addition of flour. Refrigerate until chilled thoroughly – a few hours or overnight. Roll dough as thin as possible without tearing (you may want to roll it between two sheets of flour-dusted wax paper). Cut out 3-4 in [7.6 – 10 cm]circles. Put a dollop of jam in the middle of each circle and fold up sides to make a triangle, overlapping as much as possible so only a small amount of jam shows in the center. Pinch corners to seal. Bake at 350 F [176 C] for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

Sesame Candy

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 24 ounces honey
  • 24 ounces sesame seeds
  • Juice squeezed from one orange (or ½ cup orange juice)
  • Grated rind of orange
  • Peanut oil

Procedure

  1. Measure honey and sugar into a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture boils vigorously.
  2. Lower the heat just enough to keep the mixture bubbling. Add the sesame seeds, orange juice, and rind.
  3. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes.
  4. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with peanut oil.
  5. Pour candy mixture onto it and press down on the surface with a wooden spoon to flatten it.
  6. Set baking sheet on a cooling rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Cut into rectangles or diamond shapes.
  7. Allow to cool completely. Wrap pieces in wax paper to store.

And then doing some crafts of toys from there
Hebrew Calligraphy – Learn to write like a Sofer using these handy tutorials! Before long, you’ll be drawing like a pro. Here’s the link – http://www.babaganewz.com/activities/index.cfm?cat=22&sub=calligraphyMake your own dreidle – Chanukah Dreidels (spinning tops) are a tradition going back to the beginning of Judaism. Here’s the link – http://www.chadiscrafts.com/fun/claydreidels.html