Try a New Recipe Tuesday- December 1

I hope that all of my American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  :-)

Did I just type December 1st?  When did this happen?

The most viewed post from last week's hop was:

Delicious and Easy Macaroon Recipe from Slick Housewives

An InLinkz Link-up

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Try a New Recipe Tuesday- November 24

It is that time of the week-- time to share your delicious recipes!  :-)

In the first spot below is my recipe for Croatian Bear Paw Cookies.  They were SO 

good.  My kids have already asked me to make them again!  :-)

The two most-viewed posts from last week's hop were:

Apple Crisp in the Crockpot from Home to 4 Kiddos

and

10 Amazing Recipes for Cranberry Lovers from My Sweet Mission

Have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals from Friends and Heroes

This Advent, would you like some FREE Christmas-themed puzzles and activities for your children? What about a Christmas music video?  Friends and Heroes is happy to provide you with these starting on November 22nd!  And, if you are interested in their many wonderful products, they are also offering free shipping and great sales prices that you can see below.

Black Friday

Dates: , Nov. 22-29, 2015

Offers:

·         $10 off any purchase of $20 or more

·         FREE USA shipping on orders of $25 or more

·         FREE Christmas music video download

·         FREE, fun Christmas puzzles and activity sheet downloads

Cyber-Monday

Dates: , Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2015

Offers:

·         50% off Friends and Heroes DVD 1

·         FREE USA shipping on orders of $25 or more

·         FREE Christmas music video download

·         FREE, fun Christmas puzzles and activity sheet downloads

Click here to access all of the beautiful Christmas freebies and check out the sales promotion!

** This post contains affiliate links.  You may read my affiliate disclosure here.**

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Croatian Bear Paw Cookies

As we continue our study of the geography and culture of Europe, we made these delicious cookies. Croatia, a nation right across the Adriatic from Italy, has much of the Italian language and culture, but also has a distinguished identity of its own.  I had never learned about this nation as a child because it was part of communist Yugoslavia until the 1990s.

We enjoyed these cookies from a traditional Croatian recipe.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup of sugar
3 1/2 cups ground walnuts (I used ground almond meal)
7/8 cup of butter (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons)
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1 tsp. vanilla (I used 2)
powdered sugar for coating

Combine together walnuts, flour, baking powder and sugar.  Add egg, honey, vanilla, butter and work in a dough.  Put in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the Madeleine molds and sprinkle lightly with flour.  Set aside.  Break off pieces of dough and lightly press into cookie molds.

Bake for 15 minutes (or until golden brown) and coat with powdered sugar while still hot.

Enjoy!  We sure did!  The kids are already asked for more.  Definitely a hit here!  :-)

Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday,  Crafty Spices, Better Mom,Create with Joy, Thursday's Treasures, Tasty Thursdays and Wonderful Food Wednesday and the Chicken Chick and Creative Mondays and Try a New Recipe Tuesday and Essential Fridays

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Frugal Mommas Friday Linkup #13

Frugal Friday Link up - Thrifty Family Living

Come join the fun and link up your posts or find a project or recipe you need for home or homeschool. We are off to a stellar start with this weekly post and share on our group blog. The FM team is Pinning and sharing your links and we are thrilled to get to know you and your blogs better. Don’t blog? You are sure to find a recipe, home project, or homeschool resource that will be just right for your family. If you are looking for great ideas for your home and homeschool, you’ve come to the right place! At Frugal Mommas, we are all about “Abundant Family Living on a Frugal Budget”.

Meet Your Hosts

It would be greatly appreciated if you make sure to "like" and follow their Facebook pages - especially if you plan to link up. They will be pinning and sharing your posts on social media each week!

• Kelli Becton - owner/blogger- Frugal Mommas & Adventure Homeschool
• Lauren - owner/blogger - bPatty.com - The Place for Busy Moms!
• Lisa - owner/blogger - Home to 4 Kiddos
• Michelle - owner/blogger - Blooming with Joy (tea & gifts)
• Susie - owner/blogger - The Chelsea Project Blog

Featured Posts this Week

Long Ladies-When the Thief is Your Child 

  Raising Samuels-Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels 

  Decor by Seashore-DIY Wreath 

Born Again Farm Girl - Turkey Cupcakes

If you are one of our featured bloggers from any of the linkups – please feel free to advertise using

                                                                   

our Featured Blogger Button! 

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Post Your Link Up

We’re so glad to have you joining us. Please be sure to visit at least one or two of the posts you find interesting from fellow bloggers. Share with us your tips, DIY, recipes, how-to’s and any family friendly home or homeschool post. We’ll be Pinning and Sharing!

You will want to be sure to follow the

Frugal Mommas main Pin Board HERE

Get together with us on Facebook HERE

Frugal Family Group

Join our FREE Frugal Family - Deals and Steals Group HERE and you will be "in the know" for all the best deals this Christmas season! You can even make special requests and I'll help you find what you are looking for. ~ Kelli Becton

Grab our button and/or link back to FrugalMommas.com (in your post, sidebar, or weekly links page) Link up your favorite posts! It's a great way to promote your new articles or to up-cycle some good older content.


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Try a New Recipe Tuesday-November 17

Welcome to another week of wonderful recipe sharing!  :-)

My recipe for Apple Crisp in the Crockpot is linked in the first spot below.  Delicious and easy! What a perfect dessert on these chilly fall evenings.  :-)


The most viewed post from last week's hop was:

Microwave Fudge Assortment for One from stuffedveggies

An InLinkz Link-up

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Apple Crisp in the Crockpot

I had so many apples still left over from our picking adventure, so I began to look up recipes.  And, to find one that calls for the crockpot was an extra plus.

The recipe I found was from stockpillingmoms.com for an apple crisp in the crockpot and boy, was it good! Kiddo #1 and Hubby just asked me today if I could make some more tomorrow!  :-)

Ingredients:
5 cups apples, sliced
1 cup of oats, not quick
1 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat or regular.  I used regular)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, unsalted

Spray crock pot with nonstick spray.  Add apples.

 Melt butter and mix with all remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture over apples.

Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4-6 hours.  Serve and enjoy.

You can serve with ice cream or whipped cream (optional)

Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday,  Crafty Spices, Better Mom,Create with Joy, Thursday's Treasures, Tasty Thursdays and Wonderful Food Wednesday and the Chicken Chick and Creative Mondays and Try a New Recipe Tuesday and Blogging Through the Alphabet- C and Essential Fridays

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Frugal Mommas Friday Linkup #12

Frugal Friday Linky- Thrifty Ideas for Home Life

Come join the fun and link up your posts or find a project or recipe you need for home or homeschool. We are off to a stellar start with this weekly post and share on our group blog. The FM team is Pinning and sharing your links and we are thrilled to get to know you and your blogs better. Don’t blog? You are sure to find a recipe, home project, or homeschool resource that will be just right for your family. If you are looking for great ideas for your home and homeschool, you’ve come to the right place! At Frugal Mommas, we are all about “Abundant Family Living on a Frugal Budget”.

Meet Your Hosts

It would be greatly appreciated if you make sure to "like" and follow their Facebook pages - especially if you plan to link up. They will be pinning and sharing your posts on social media each week!

• Kelli Becton - owner/blogger- Frugal Mommas & Adventure Homeschool
• Lauren - owner/blogger - bPatty.com - The Place for Busy Moms!
• Lisa - owner/blogger - Home to 4 Kiddos
• Michelle - owner/blogger - Blooming with Joy (tea & gifts)
• Susie - owner/blogger - The Chelsea Project Blog

Featured Posts this Week

Wooden Pumpkin from Moola Saving Mom

Christmas Wrapping Hacks from One Little Project

Do it Yourself Thanksgiving Wreath on a Budget from Embracing Destiny

Thanksgiving Dinner Side Dish Shake-up from Campfires and Cleats

If you are one of our featured bloggers from any of the linkups – please feel free to advertise using                                                                                       
                                                                    our Featured Blogger Button!

 We are pinning & sharing – thank you for participating!

Post Your Link Up

We’re so glad to have you joining us. Please be sure to visit at least one or two of the posts you find interesting from fellow bloggers. Share with us your tips, DIY, recipes, how-to’s and any family friendly home or homeschool post. We’ll be Pinning and Sharing!

You will want to be sure to follow the

Frugal Mommas main Pin Board HERE

Get together with us on Facebook HERE

Grab our button and/or link back to FrugalMommas.com (in your post, sidebar, or weekly links page) Link up your favorite posts! It's a great way to promote your new articles or to up-cycle some good older content.

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TOS Review- The Critical Thinking Co.

Today I am reviewing Surfing the Net: Science from The Critical Thinking Co.

I cannot believe that this is my last review of the year!  This has been the 3rd year that I have been a part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  I look forward to another adventure with them next year.

Now, onto telling you all about this wonderful resource!  The book is geared toward upper elementary and middle school science was an amazing fit for our family.  Not only did it cover topics that were of great interest to my kids, it encouraged and guided internet-based research, which when done responsibly, is a critical skill for our children to learn to be successful in our society today.

This type of learning is called Inquiry-Based learning.  What exactly is that?  Inquiry-Based Learning is an instructional method that can enhance experiential learning by allowing youth to construct their own learning using scientific processing skills to explore and gather evidence about a variety of phenomena in an investigative manner.  Is this not what true learning is all about?  Teaching our children/students to explore, gather and investigate and having them construct their own learning, not telling them *what* to learn.  We become their facilitators and guide their learning, but they are doing the work (and enjoying it at the same time!)

While engaged in inquiry-based learning, youth direct their learning in a way that is similar to how science happens in real world situations. Students are able to identify their own areas of inquiry and engage in hands-on learning using science process skills to seek information. This results in increased ownership of learning and enhanced critical thinking skills, while creating a culture that values learners’ ideas.  The Critical Thinking Company hit the nail on the head with this approach, especially in the sciences.  Enhancing critical thinking skills and engaging children in a hands-on manner.  This is truly what my educational philosophy has always been about-- from when I was in a classroom or now in my own homeschool.

There are 7 disciplines of science covered in the book and 46 topics of study (something for absolutely everyone! from those disciplines).  They are:

• Animals
• Atmosphere
• Ecosystems and Habitats
• Energy
• Geology
• Plants
• Space

Some of the topics covered are oceans, the solar system, insects, grasslands, plate tectonics, nuclear energy, reptiles and more!

This 250 page resource is an engaging, reproducible book packed with interesting activities.  The websites that are included are all free and completely safe for our children.  The suggested activities include watching videos, investigating websites, searching for different images, playing online games, reading articles, engaging in interactive, educational websites and more.  It is all hands-on and definitely not boring!  While the kids are learning and engaging in these important computer skills, they are learning about science.  Talk about a win-win situation!

We will definitely continue to use this book for the rest of the school year.  I feel like we have barely scratched the surface of the many topics available.  Kiddos 3 and 4 have enjoyed it thus far and I know will continue to do so. 

My generation utilized card catalogs and encyclopedias that were dated before even going to publication.  This generation has literally the world at their fingertips and it changes daily.  What a wonderful resource to have-- an educational program that encourages them, not only in scientific pursuits, but in the ever-changing and challenging world of technology.

The Critical Thinking Co is on social media at the following:

https://www.facebook.com/TheCriticalThinkingCo
https://plus.google.com/114500823774999703181
https://twitter.com/criticalthinks
https://www.pinterest.com/source/criticalthinking.com/

The Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed several different resources from the Critical Thinking Company.  You can see what my colleagues had to say about them by clicking on the banner below:

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Try a New Recipe Tuesday- November 10

It is that time of the week again!  :-)

The most viewed post from the last hop was:

Two Ingredient Pancakes from Morsels of Life

An InLinkz Link-up

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Frugal Mommas Friday Linkup #11

Frugal Friday Linky 11 - Family Home and Homeschool

Frugal Friday Linky 11 - Fall Favorites - come join the fun and link up your posts or find a project or recipe you need for home or homeschool. We are off to a stellar start with this weekly post and share on our group blog. The FM team is Pinning and sharing your links and we are thrilled to get to know you and your blogs better. Don’t blog? You are sure to find a recipe, home project, or homeschool resource that will be just right for your family. If you are looking for great ideas for your home and homeschool, you’ve come to the right place! At Frugal Mommas, we are all about “Abundant Family Living on a Frugal Budget”. You'll want to be sure to check out the new post from our busy mom expert ( Lauren of bPatty )

Featured Posts:

One little project - Fall Kid Crafts PK1HomeschoolFun-Heart in Homeschool

 If you are one of our featured bloggers from any of the linkups – please feel free to advertise using
our Featured Blogger Button!

 We are pinning & sharing – thank you for participating!

Post Your Link Up

We’re so glad to have you joining us. Please be sure to visit at least one or two of the posts you find interesting from fellow bloggers. Share with us your tips, DIY, recipes, how-to’s and any family friendly home or homeschool post. We’ll be Pinning and Sharing!

You will want to be sure to follow the

Frugal Mommas main Pin Board HERE

Get together with us on Facebook HERE

Enter to win our $25 Amazon Gift Card HERE

Grab our button and/or link back to FrugalMommas.com (in your post, sidebar, or weekly links page) Link up your favorite posts! It's a great way to promote your new articles or to up-cycle some good older content.

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TOS Review- Standard Deviants Accelerate

Today I am reviewing Standard Deviants Accelerate's homeschool courses.

Do you remember the Standard Deviants videos on VHS tape (or am I showing my age?  lol)?  I enjoyed watching them and showing them to students when I was a classroom teacher.  So, needless to say, I was excited when given the opportunity to review their homeschool program.

They have so many options and courses for grades 3-12, including Advanced Placement.  The courses are as follows:

Arithmetic- Grades 3+
Fundamental Math- Grades 4+
Earth Science- Grades 6+
Nutrition- Grades 6+
Algebra- Grades 7+
Biology- Grades 7+
Chemistry- Grades 9+
English Composition- Grades 9+
U.S. History- Grades 9+
A.P. Biology- Grades 11+
A.P. Chemistry- Grades 11+
A.P. U.S. Government and Politics- Grades 11+
A.P. U.S. History- Grades 11+
A.P. English Composition- Grades 11+

Kiddo #3 worked on Algebra during the review period.  Kiddo #4 is looking forward to the

Nutrition videos in the future.  I'm sure we will dabble in some of the others, as well.  :-)

When I first received access to the program, I was on a parent's page where I set up my account.  I chose the course for my son and was given an access code.  When his account was set up (on a separate student screen), that access code was entered.  I did this for him. The program does require a separate email address for the student.

Once the code was entered, he was ready to begin.  The videos are fast paced and presented by college-aged actors and actresses.  They are very catchy with a lot of movement, music and sound. The videos were about 10-15 minutes long.  Some even shorter.

After the student views the video, they can go to the tab that has all of the vocabulary that was used in the lesson.  The diagram tab brings the student to a grab and drag section with the words from the lesson.  If they put the word in the incorrect section, the word will not stay.  The quiz section has 5 questions from the video.  If the child gets one wrong, it will show the segment of the video that explains the correct answer.  I like the instant feedback and explanation!  The last tab, written explanation, is one that is graded by the parent.  The material in every tab can be printed out for those who like to have a printed record to read and study.

Kiddo found that these videos were a "fun and different" way to do math and certainly a welcome supplement to his current program.  It was very fast-paced and sometimes with math, you will need, as we did, to watch something more than once, especially if it is the first time they are being exposed to the particular topic.  I like that the program had visual, auditory and tactile components-- something for every learning style!

Here is a closer look at what was covered in the Algebra program that Kiddo was using:

1) Foundations of Algebra
What is Algebra?
Kinds of Numbers
Order of Operations (PEMDAS)
Properties of Operations

2) Functions
Cost Functions
Input and Output
Scatterplots and Trend lines
Data, Equations, and Graphs
Domain and Range
Using Variables

3) Algebra Mechanics
Equality
Solving for X
Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides
Absolute Value
Simplifying Expressions
Solving Inequalities

4) Linear Equations
Slope
Horizontal and Vertical Lines
Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
Three Forms of Linear Equations
Connecting with Graphs
Systems of Equations

5) Linear Inequalities
Linear Inequalities
Graphic Linear Inequalities
Systems of Linear Inequalities

6) Polynomials and Factoring
Monomials and Polynomials: The Basics
Simplifying Monomials
Greatest Common Factors
Factoring
Simplifying Rational Expressions

7) Quadratic Equations
What is a Quadratic Equation?
Graphing Quadratic Equations
Solving Quadratic Equations
Applications of Quadratic Equations

Kiddo spent the review period on the Mechanics section.  It was what we were working on at the time the review assignment arrived.  :-)

We would definitely recommend this fun and engaging program as a supplement to any homeschooling program.

To find Standard Deviants Accelerate online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDAccelerate

Twitter: https://twittercom/SDAccelerate

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SDAccelerate

Google+: google.com/+SDaccerlate

Here is a video on how their student account works:

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