Avocado BLT Salad (vegetarian)

The other night I was watching Forks Over Knives Presents: The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue on Netflix.  Rip Esselstyn prepared a kale salad that I thought was interesting so I had to try it.  From that salad and a recipe for a Vegetarian BLT salad on the Weight Watchers website I created this cross between the two. (I did try the kale salad last night and thought that was good too.)

I started with a base of Romaine and mixed spring greens.  Then I cut up 1/4 of an avocado and used my hands to squish it all into the lettuce so that the leaves are all covered (no need for dressing now!).  I added tomatoes, sliced scallions a squeeze of fresh lemon, salt and pepper and 2 strips of Morningstar Farms veggie bacon.  This is 3 PointsPlus on Weight Watchers.  It was DELICIOUS!

Dive Into Your Imagination

I have lived in the Ocean State my entire life (44 years). I love the ocean.  We also have had a family membership to our local aquarium for many years. All this to say, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review a DVD about ocean life made for children. Dive Into Your Imagination is a company created by Annie Crawley, also known as Ocean Annie.  She founded the company to change the way the next generation views the ocean and themselves.

My fellow TOS Crewmates received one of three videos: What Makes A Fish, A Fish?; Who Lives in the Sea?; or Dive Into Diversity. Each of these DVDS has 8 main chapters and a couple of bonus tracks explaining scuba diving and production. Educator guides are available to go along with the videos. For each of the chapters on the DVD, there is a chapter in the educator guide of the same name. Within the educator guides, you can choose from 6-7 activity stations per unit.

We received Dive Into Diversity which teaches children about all the variety of life under the sea and how animals rely upon one another for survival. Take a ride to a depth of 1500 feet in the deep sea with a submarine pilot! Find out what happens on the reef at NIGHT. Learn what eating ice cream and brushing your teeth have in common. Why do crabs have claws? What can grow three feet in just one day? 

Dive into Diversity has eight chapters.  You can watch them all or choose one at a time.

1. Night Diving on the Reef
2. Dive into Diversity

3. Be a Submarine Pilot

4. Swim in a Kelp Forest

5. Invertebrates of the Sea

6. Coral Reef Living

7. Sea Animals with Back Bones

8. Wacky, Weird, Crusty Crustaceans

Bonus features include meeting Annie with a lesson on SCUBA, meeting Craig who is the musician behind the music in Dive into Diversity (I loved this segment) and the transcript for each chapter.

Total run time: 44 minutes

The photography in this video is just wonderful.  Each chapter is short enough to keep your child's attention but still informative.  You have the option of watching the video in English, Spanish or just have music in the background (which is a neat option I think).  The narration is definitely geared toward younger children but the video is really stunning and appropriate for any age.

sample video:


See more of Annie's videos by visiting her YouTube channels. Adventures of Ocean Annie and Dive into Your Imagination.

I do want to make a note that occasionally there are appearances of females in a 2 piece bathing suit.  Not overly revealing, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  There is also some slight evolutionary content but it is very subtle. 

Along with these DVDs, they have created cross-curricular educator guides combining literacy, math, science, social studies, and geography with character education. There are 2 guides for each DVD. One for PreK-K and one for grades 1-3.  These guides are around 300 pages long each and are an amazing resource.  They are written for a classroom setting but can easily be used in a homeschool. 

A sample page describing how the guide is arranged.

The Dive into Diversity DVD is $19.95 as are What Makes a Fish a Fish? and Who Lives in the Sea?. They are also offering free shipping for the months of May and June.  The Educator Guides are available for $299 (that is not a typo) for each DVD and $69.95 for the pdf version.  HOWEVER, if you mention you are a homeschool parent in the comment section you will receive the pdf version for the video you order FREE. Don't try to order the pdf just put it in the comments.  I am not sure how long this offer will last.

Visit the Dive Into Your Imagination website which is full of information and fun things like free coloring pages, The Ocean Song video (with song sheet link), lots of cool stuff to order in the store and much more.   I encourage you to check it out.

Annie Crawley was born and raised in Chicago, she did not see the ocean until after college. Learning to scuba dive changed her my life . Trained as a photo and broadcast journalist, she lived and worked around the world as a scuba diving instructor, boat captain, underwater photographer and cinematographer before starting her own company, Dive Into Your Imagination. You can read her full biography here: http://www.anniecrawley.com/meet-annie-crawley/annie-crawley-biography/ 

Read what others are saying about Dive Into Your Imagination DVDs on the TOS Crew Blog.


disclaimer: I received a free copy of Dive into Diversity and accompanying study guides for
 all 3 videos in exchange for an honest review.

Stick with it Saturday

It's Saturday again and time for a Stick with it Saturday post.  Last week I like the Wednesday Weight Watchers meeting so much I decided to go back.

Unfortunately, I only lost .2 for the second week in a row.  It is beyond frustrating.  I know it is good that I lost "something" and didn't gain but losing less than .5 in 2 weeks is just not satisfactory.  I am doing everything I know to do and still barely losing.  This was the reason I switched to Weight Watchers from calorie counting.

I didn't exercise early in the week because I was still giving my tailbone a rest.  On Thursday, I decided to exercise again.  I was only planning to walk but when I got outside I remembered that I had downloaded a Couch to 5K app on my iPod Touch so I turned that on and used that for my workout.  I loved it.  My tailbone isn't completely better but it is not bothering me to the point that I think I shouldn't be doing it.  I did day 2 of it this morning.  I'm also enjoying listening to the workout music I mentioned last week that I downloaded to my iPod.  (50 #1 Cardio Christian Hits ) Last night I went out and shot hoops in the driveway for about 20 minutes.  I'm really enjoying being more active.

There are several Couch to 5K apps out there.  I downloaded this one.  It's free for the first 4 runs.  I love that I can listen to my own music while using it.  It tells me when to walk and when to run.  If all goes well with the next 2 runs I will definitely be purchasing the full app which is $2.99.

 If you have any favorite fitness apps (for iPod) I'd love to hear about them. Link up your own diet/exercise post over at Sam's Noggin.

Amazing Peanut Butter Product

I went to a Weight Watchers meeting last week the leader mentioned a product I had never heard of before. It's called PB2.  I went to the store and bought a jar today.  I couldn't believe how good this stuff is.  It's only 45 calories for 2 Tablespoons (1 PointsPlus point for Weight Watchers!).  In case you don't know, regular peanut butter has 190 calories in 2 tablespoons.  You just take 2T. of the powder and mix it with water.  The consistency is the same as regular peanut butter and it is just delicious.  I like to eat it on an apple or banana.  They also have a chocolate version.  That is good too but I prefer the regular one.

This is what you are looking for.  It was with the regular peanut butter.

This is what the powdered peanut butter looks like before adding water.

This is what it looks like reconstituted.

I think the possibilities for this are endless.  Let me know if you give it a try and what you think of it if you do. You can find recipes for using it on the Bell Plantation website. Go here to find a store near you.

Write Shop Junior

I think most homeschooling moms would agree that writing is one of the hardest subjects to teach.  I was very excited when I found out I was going to have the opportunity to review Write Shop Junior Book D. Write Shop is an incremental writing program with resources for grades K-high school.  I received the Write Shop Junior Book D Teacher's Guide,  Activity Pack and the Time Saver pack all in pdf format.

Book D is recommended for 3rd, 4th, or reluctant 5th graders. Students learn to write and publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry using a variety of pre-writing games, graphic organizers, and self-editing tools. The accompanying Activity Pack is required. The Time Saver pack is not required but is very helpful.

The Teacher's Guide walks you step by step through everything you have to do.  One thing I really like about the Teacher Guide is how detailed it is, including scripted conversations you can have with your child to get their creativity flowing. This is a problem for us. We just aren't all that creative. So these scripted conversations were a big help to me.

The activities are often hands-on and not just sitting with a blank piece of paper in front of you.  Even the brainstorming sheets are fun and age appropriate.

brainstorming worksheets

I have to admit this was quite overwhelming at first.  I ended up printing out quite a bit of it to get a handle on it.  Once I knew where everything was it was pretty easy to implement. I've shown a picture below of what the pdf Teacher's Guide looks like on the screen. It is not a typical one document pdf.  Each chapter is separate and you view and download them individually.

This is how you view the book.  Each chapter is a separate document.  

It is only $5 more for a printed version of the Teacher's Guide. My personal opinion is that it would be well worth it to have this in a book format rather than the pdf format.  If you have more than one student you would benefit from having the pdf version of the Activity Guide and the Time Saver Pack but with one student, I think in the long run you will save yourself time, money and aggravation by just spending the little bit extra and having all of that work already done for you.

A few sample worksheets

Write Shop Junior Book D has 10 lessons.  Each lesson takes 2 to 3 weeks to complete depending upon which schedule you choose.  Both schedules are included in your Teacher's Guide.

The required student activity pack is two books in one.  It includes 60 activity pages your child will use to complete portions of each lesson. Games, word banks, worksheets, and graphic organizers introduce children to lifelong writing skills such as brainstorming and self-editing. Part one of the activity pack includes the worksheets, part two contains the Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack (another 63 pages). An answer key is also provided. The activity packs are available in a tear off pad or as a pdf.  You can reproduce as many as you need for your family if you own the pdf.  The tear off pads are NOT reproducible.


Student Worksheet Pack includes

• Pre-writing Activities
• Skill Builders
• Journal Prompt Pages
• Brainstorming Worksheets
• Reading Log Forms
• Self-editing Checklists
• Writing Skills Evaluation Charts

Your child will make the following guides using the Level 1 Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack:

• Lesson 1: Punctuation Marks
• Lesson 2: Self-editing
• Lesson 3: Nouns
• Lesson 4: Pronouns
• Lesson 5: Verbs
• Lesson 6: Adjectives
• Lesson 7: Adverbs
• Lesson 8: Prepositions
• Lesson 9: Capitalization
• Lesson10: References

The Fold-N-Go Grammar pack is my favorite part of this program.  Each Fold-N-Go has 6 pages which I printed on colorful paper. Then I trimmed each page to the appropriate size, stapled the pages together and used glue stick to affix them to a colorful file folder.  The Fold-N-Go has a two fold purpose (no pun intended).  First, they are worksheets where the student learns about a new subject such as punctuation marks or self-editing and second, once completed correctly they can be used as a reference. I highly recommend these! Within this set you also get 20 bookmarks for quick review.  It would be a good idea to laminate these and keep them in a place where your student can find them easily.

the self-editing checklist

Teaching children to self-edit their work is key in WriteShop Junior.  I love this part of the program.  There are some fun ideas included for motivating your child to edit their work.

The Incredible Shrinking Machine activity

 Here is an activity we did to help learn how to narrow down a topic.  Emma made an incredible shrinking machine and we used various sized paper with post it notes to demonstrate how to narrow down a broad topic.  This is something I never would have thought of on my own.

The Time Saver activity pack is the last component of WriteShop Junior Book D.  It includes 20 pages of game spinners, cards and other props that you could make yourself if you wanted to but would be so much easier to just print or tear off.

Emma really enjoyed using this and actually lists it among her favorite things we did this year.  We plan to continue on with this when we start school again in the fall.

Download a free sample or view placement information.

You can purchase Write Shop Junior Teacher's Guide for $39.95 (print) or $34.95 (pdf), the Activity Pack is $39.95 (print) or $34.95(pdf) and the Time Saver Pack is $13.95 for print or pdf.  Also available separately is the Level One Fold-N-Go Grammar for $19.95 (print) or $11.95 (pdf). Visit Write Shop for writing programs for all ages or check out their Story Builder Writing Prompts.

Kim Kautzer, author of WriteShop, has been kind enough to offer 15% off any WriteShop Primary and Junior products in the WriteShop store (including e-books) using coupon code CREW15 at checkout. Offer valid through June 15, 2012.

See what others are saying about Write Shop elementary writing programs on the TOS crew blog.



disclaimer: I received  a free copy Write Shop Junior pdf teacher guide, activity pack and time saver pack  in exchange for an honest review.

Stick with it Saturday

Somehow I forgot to do a Stick with it Saturday post yesterday.  Oops!  So here it is a day late.

This week I went to Weight Watchers a day earlier than usual.  I weighed in at .2 less than the week before. I was rather disappointed but it is still in the right direction.

I have not been able to get back on my bike because I have injured my tailbone.  When I was in high school I most likely broke my tailbone.  Sometimes after having a baby I will have pain with it and riding my bike did something to it.  I could hardly sit so I didn't exercise early in the week to give myself some time to get better.  Then mid week I downloaded 50 #1 Cardio Christian Hits (2 volume workout) to my ipod (through itunes).  I decided to take my exercise outside.  I walked and jogged for half an hour....and now my tailbone hurts a lot again.  SIGH  I'm not sure what to do. For once I want to exercise and feel that I can't.  I guess I could still walk.  I do have to say that even though I've been doing Leslie Sansone DVDs I don't feel like it prepared me for walking/running outside....different muscles are used and I was hurting (in a good way).  (not including the tailbone pain..that is not good)

This week at Weight Watchers we were concentrating on making healthy choices using the daily guidelines set in the program.  I managed to meet the guidelines every day but one.  The guidelines include having 6 liquid servings, 5 fruits and vegetables, 2 healthy oils, 2 non-fat or low-fat dairy servings and a multivitamin.

I really like Weight Watchers.  I am eating a much healthier diet. I just hope the weight will come off more than .2 lbs a week.




 Link up your own diet/exercise post over at Sam's Noggin.

CapJaxMathFax

We've been trying out CapJaxMathFax™  for the last few weeks. It was an easy download to my computer. There is a 4 page Teacher Guide available on the website that will walk you through the set up and features of CapJaxMathFax™ . (It was really easy to set up.)

CapJaxMathFax™ is a simple way to get math fact practice in and get detailed information on how your student is progressing.  It's not a flashy program and is ideal for kids who like to see their scores go up and improve themselves.

I had my 9 year old daughter use this daily for about 10 minutes.  Unfortunately, I never told her to check the box to "play for rating" and didn't get any stats for her for the time she has been using it.  I did, however, use it myself to see how it works. 

See encouraging messages as you improve your rating.
Click on the message in the bottle for an "inspirational quote."

With CapJaxMathFax™  the problems start out easy and then as the child gains confidence with the initial success the difficulty increases.  I really liked how the levels were short.  In some programs you have to "play" forever before you get any sort of reward or feedback.  Not so with CapJaxMathFax™.  It doesn't take much time to see a message telling you what you have accomplished.  

This is the main screen where the student signs in.  They can select the operation they want to
practice and the level to work on. You can also change the number of facts in a set,
set the number of seconds to get a "super" rating and determine whether you want to play for rating,
  practice without rating or practice on the keyboard.

Practicing on the keyboard is great for students that are not familiar with the keyboard or need more practice to gain speed.  All a student needs to do is type in the number that is shown....easy peasy.

In practice mode, operations can be mixed (you choose which ones you want).  When playing for a rating you only test on one operation at a time.

As students learn they have the option of putting a table up on the screen to help them with just the click of a button.

The green arrow (I added) points to the table button.
The blue arrow  is pointing to the table.
In practice mode, the table will automatically switch between addition and
multiplication if you are practicing
more than one operation.

One other neat feature is the Word Thinkers option where students get their facts as a word problem like you see here:

Other options include twelves, negatives and working on a single level.

Detailed summaries can be printed as well so you know what facts your child needs help with or to create a record.

You can also check on your child's progress by viewing the progress graph.  View all the operations at once or choose one or more at a time.

When your student masters an operation a certificate pops up which can be printed if you wish.

I think this is a nice program for having students practice math facts, however my daughter (9) really did not enjoy this at all and said it was boring.  I think she prefers something a little more flashy.  I mastered all of the  operations in familiarizing myself with the program in just a few sessions and enjoyed using it. I think it will depend on what motivates your child as to whether a child will like this or not. You can try it out FREE here.

You can download  CapJaxMathFax™   for $29.95. (CD version also available for $35.90)  Also available is a set of 4 merit buttons that can be purchased for $4 so you can award your student as soon as they master an operation.

The Addition Merit Button

See what others are saying about  CapJaxMathFax™   on the TOS crew blog.  Also feel free to ask me any questions and I'd be happy to answer if I can.

About Captain Jack
Starboard Training Systems is headed by Jack Fretwell. Jack earned a Masters degree in Educational Technology and has spent over thirty years in education and computers. He has taught math to elementary students and computer and business skills to Xerox Corporation executives. As an undergraduate Jack belonged to Pi Mu Epsilon honorary mathematics fraternity. In graduate school his Miller Analogy Test scores qualified him for membership to Mensa. Jack is a sailor and holds several patents relating to sailing and mathematic software. In Jack's spare time you might find him with his harmonica playing some blues with his band in Northern Virginia.



disclaimer: I received CapJaxMathFax free in exchange for an honest review.