Guest Post: Kelsey’s App Review

My daughter, Kelsey, has a few educational games she likes to play on her iPod, so I asked her if she would like to share about them here on my blog:

So my mom wanted me to talk about some learning apps that I like. I only have a few so I will do my best to talk about them and tell you how much I have enjoyed them!

Presidents vs. Aliens

iPhone Screenshot 2

The Presidents vs. Aliens app is really fun if you want to know more about our Presidents and their nicknames, facts, quotes, and more. What I love about this game is that when I get a question right, I can use the circle picture to take down the aliens that are put in different places. It’s fun because it’s not just learning, you are doing something fun in between if you get the question right. Another thing I like about it is that you can change the settings on it. You can change the questions that it asks you. So if you want the game to ask you the nicknames that belong to a President or you can just do identifying. You can do more then one too. It has helped me learn a little more about my Presidents but I’m still learning. Another cool thing is that once you have gotten a certain amount of Presidents (after you have taken down all the aliens then you earn a President depending on how many questions you have gotten right), you can play some side games, which are still about the Presidents but they are really fun to play and I have been learning so much about all of our Presidents.

Stack the States

iPhone Screenshot 1

Stack The States is another really fun game that I really like to play. It is the same company that made Presidents vs. Aliens. The game will ask you a question about a state, like maybe where is Yellowstone Park located and it will give you options of which state to pick. If you get the question right, it will make the state as big as it would be and then you have to put it on a platform and well, stack them, hence the name. It has a ‘finish line’ a bit up away from the platform. What you have to do is stack the states up to the finish line and if you got a certain amount of questions right after you reached the finish line, it will give you a state to add to your map like the Presidents vs. Aliens game. This one also has side games for you to play once you have earned a certain amount of states. I really like it because again, you’re not just answering questions, you’re doing something fun in between. I have also ,been learning about the states and where things are located. I don’t believe you can change the questions on this one but it is still fun and you can learn a lot from it.

Another thing that is cool about these two games is that each player can have their own game. So maybe Tim and Bob want to play. Bob can have his own game and earn his own states while Tim can also do the same with his own game.

Duolingo

iPhone Screenshot 3

Duolingo is a cool language app that you can use when you, well, want to learn a new language. It has lots of different languages and you can learn more then one at a time. But for me that might be a bit confusing…. But it’s really cool and I have been learning quite a bit. It does get difficult sometimes just trying to learn all the verbs and things with Spanish, but that’s just Spanish. You can go back at any time to a lesson and review everything that you learned in that lesson. I think that’s really awesome. You have a certain amount of hearts in each lesson. When you answer a question wrong you will lose a heart and this will keep happening each time you answer a question wrong. If you run out of hearts you have to do the lesson all over again, which can be a good thing because then you can learn a lot more by doing the lesson over and over again. I like it better then Rosetta Stone because you know what the sentences are and what the words are because it switches between English and Spanish. Maybe one time you’ll have to write out a sentence in Spanish from English or an English sentence from looking at the Spanish sentence. Me and my mom both do it and love it. My mom and I have been learning a lot through it and hopefully we will be able to speak the language soon. Maybe when I am done learning Spanish I can learn a different one through it.

Well, that’s all I have for today and I hope that helped you learn a little bit more about three educational apps for your phone or other device. I have learned a lot about different things from these three apps and will hopefully continue using them. Thanks for reading and again I hope these helped you out.

-Kelsey

Summer Day? or School Day?

A couple of weeks ago, we drove up to the closest IKEA and Kelsey found a loft bed that she thought would be perfect in her room. She even told me she had enough money to pay for the bed herself. We didn’t buy the bed that day, but she did come home and she did take all the measurements necessary to see if the bed would fit in her room.

This morning, we measured the area in my car (a Saturn Vue, not a huge SUV) to see if the bed would fit. We decided to take the chance, make the drive, and do our best to fit the bed in the car.

Once we arrived at IKEA, we saw that the bed came in two flat boxes, so we were not sure if they would fit. Since we made the drive, we decided to go ahead and buy the bed and take the pieces out of the box to fit everything in the car.

The best part of this was when we went up to the register and Kelsey handed the clerk a wad of cash that she had saved up to pay for the bed. A gentlemen at the register next to us was impressed that she was paying for the bed herself.

IKEA loft bed in my car
IKEA loft bed in my car

Yay! Everything fit!

Once we arrived home, we got right to work: moved out the old bed, vacuumed, and got started putting the new bed together. It took quite a bit of work and coordination, but we were determined to get it done!

new loft bed
new loft bed

So, goodbye to the picket fence bed and hello to the new loft bed!

So if you ask me, I love these kind of summer/school days. I am a big believer in that every lesson does not need to come from a textbook. We had a great day together, overcame some obstacles, and persevered. It is hard to see her growing up so fast, but I love to see the young woman she is growing up to be.

A little of this and a little of that…

Today, I am just going to share some random things with you, I hope you enjoy them!

Hello Mornings
Hello Mornings

I have decided to join in on the Hello Mornings Challenge again. This is a great way to start my morning off the right way. Spending time with God, making a plan for my day, and taking time to exercise a few times a week. This fall, the group is doing a inductive study on the book of Ephesians. My book is ordered and I am looking forward to the lessons God has for me.

last homeschool book
last homeschool book

Quite a few schools out here have already started and I believe many more will be starting in the next week or two. At this point, our plan is to start at the end of August or right after Labor Day (one of the benefits of private homeschooling!). We have most of our books, but we are waiting for this one last book to arrive. Just got an e-mail that it should arrive just in time for us to start. We have already gone through the first three books in this series and I have been waiting for this fourth book to be published and ready.

Mexico countdown
Mexico countdown

And I can’t believe that when I first started the countdown for our Compassion trip, the number was 203 days! Matthew’s passport arrived yesterday and I am still making things to fundraise for our trip. Take a peek at my Facebook page, you might find something you like!

Happy Friday, enjoy this summer day, and have a great weekend!

Capture Your 365…or not

Usually on Wednesdays, I share with you a week worth of photos that I have taken from the Capture Your 365 photo prompts. Well, the past couple of weeks have been crazily (not sure if  that is a real word or not, but it fits!) busy and I did not take any pictures with my Nikon! Tragic, I know! What was I doing you might ask?

homeschool conference
homeschool conference

I was able to set up a Compassion table for two days at our local homeschool conference and we found sponsors for three kids! In addition to hanging out at the table for two days and talking with a lot of people, I presented a workshop on the this title, “How One Mom Transitioned from Career Mom to Homeschool Mom”. This was my second time speaking at this conference, but the first time speaking on this topic. The topic is very personal to me because I was that career mom many years ago. Once I have time to enjoy some of my summer, I might just share with you some of what I shared in my workshop.

Spirit West Coast
Spirit West Coast

The other event that keep me busy and away from home was three days at Spirit West Coast in Monterey. I could have taken some pictures with my Nikon at this event, but my focus was on finding sponsors for a lot of Compassion kids. Once I arrived home on Saturday night, I did learn that 165 children were sponsored over those three days! Praise God!

So I finally printed out my August list of prompts and will do my best to share a set of photos with you next week. In the meantime, why don’t you print out the August list and join me for some photo fun?

Capture Your 365

Five pictures for you this week and here they are:

lavender
lavender

ISO 100, 116mm, f/4.8, 1/80 sec

Day 111 – Blooming: This lavender plant in my backyard is blooming like crazy! I need to do some cuttings and start drying some of these.

mail
mail

ISO 100, 80mm, f/4.2, 1/4 sec

Day 113 – Mail: I was able to mail off letters to my Compassion kids last week! I hope they enjoy the bookmarks I made for them. Do you send your sponsored kids handwritten letters?

mobile
mobile

ISO 100, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/160 sec

Day 114 – Mobile: trying to get back into the routine of walking a few days a week. On my iPod, I have a playlist of upbeat Christian songs. This is a great way for me to focus on how amazing God’s love for me is while I do what I can to keep my body healthy.

oreo moon phases
oreo moon phases

ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.0, 0.4 sec

Day 115 – Spotlight: When I saw this idea on Pinterest months ago, I penciled in our history book to give this a try. We had just read about the Battle of Marathon in the Mystery of History and one of the activities was to learn about the moon phases. Always fun to combine lessons with food!

fence with poppies
fence with poppies

ISO 100, 50mm, f/5.0, 1/250 sec

Day 116 – A Fence: Well, there is a fence behind the California poppies, does that count?

So what have you been taking pictures of this past week? The May list for the Capture Your 365 is now available to print out. Go get the list and join me for capturing the little details of your life.