recipes page

Goodbites Sandwich Cutter

One of your many jobs as a mom is to be a short-order cook. You know by now that your son wants the skin taken off his hot dog, your daughter will only eat the Blues Clues Mac and Cheese, and by all means, they both will only eat their grilled cheese sandwiches without the crust. Well, we can help make life easier with that last one. This -- dare we say -- ingenious product by Inventive Parent cuts a sandwich into 4 quarters, removing the crust, in one swift, mess-free motion.--read more


A Greener, Healthier Cafeteria

Improving the nutritional quality of school cafeteria food is on the agenda of many parents and school administrators. Some schools are beginning to source food from local organic farms. Photo: Getty ImagesDear EarthTalk: How can we get schools to offer healthier and more eco-friendly cafeteria food to our kids? I don’t have time to bag a healthy lunch every day.
-- Leslie Morris, Richmond, VA

Now that many schools have stopped selling sodas and other unhealthy vending machine items to their students, improving the nutritional quality of cafeteria food is on the agenda of many parents and school administrators. And luckily for the environment, healthier food usually means greener food.--read more


Homeschooling for Beginners

you can homeschool--reallyAre you considering homeschooling your children? While there is more information out there about homeschooling than ever before, you may not know where to start. So let's take a look at homeschooling, from a beginner's perspective.

"Homeschooling" in a legal sense means that one or more children of not more than 2 families are instructed by parents or legal guardians, or a member of either household. The laws that define homeschooling vary from state to state, and country to country.

If you have ever had a baby or toddler, you've already homeschooled--you just didn't know it! Learning begins long before kids reach school-age. Many children already know their alphabets, the names of animals, colors and other more complicated stuff before they reach school. And who taught them? I'm betting it was you.

Homeschooling is just a natural progression from there. Instead of sending your child to a public school, you make or buy your own curriculum and teach in ways that best suit your child. This, put simply, is what homeschooling is about. Here's what to consider before you make the decision to homeschool.--read more


The Brown Bag Lunch Cookbook

Submitted by Lynn on Sun, 03/18/2007 - 9:51am.
cover of The Brown Bag Lunch CookbookThe Brown Bag Lunch Cookbook (Cookbooks)

asin: 0762727586
binding: Paperback
list price: $10.95 USD
amazon price: $10.95



Super Easy Bag Lunches

Submitted by Lynn on Sun, 03/18/2007 - 9:49am.
cover of Super Easy Bag LunchesSuper Easy Bag Lunches

asin: 0969166524
binding: Spiral-bound
list price: $12.95 USD
amazon price: $12.95



Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist & Turn: Books for Kids to Make

Submitted by Lynn on Tue, 12/19/2006 - 7:49pm.
cover of Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist & Turn: Books for Kids to Makeasin: 1579903266
binding: Paperback
list price: $12.95 USD
amazon price: $9.58 USD



Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and

Submitted by Lynn on Mon, 10/16/2006 - 7:11pm.
cover of Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet andasin: 0761525130
binding: Paperback
list price: $18.95 USD
amazon price: $12.89 USD


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The Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 09/28/2006 - 9:16pm.
cover of The Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculumasin: 0898707161
binding: Paperback
list price: $21.95 USD
amazon price: $14.93 USD



Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 09/28/2006 - 9:14pm.
cover of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Seriesasin: 1889209007
binding: Paperback
list price: $58.95 USD
amazon price: $37.14 USD


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Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians (Mathematicians Are P

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 09/28/2006 - 9:11pm.
cover of Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians (Mathematicians Are Pasin: 0866515097
binding: Paperback
list price: $17.50 USD
amazon price: $17.50 USD



The Stars: A New Way to See Them

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 09/28/2006 - 9:08pm.
cover of The Stars: A New Way to See Themasin: 0395248302
binding: Paperback
list price: $11.95 USD
amazon price: $9.56 USD


A charming new look at constellations that will have your child (and you!) looking up a lot more. H.A. Rey is best known as the creator of "Curious George," but this book may become even more well-loved at your house. He makes finding the constellations--by memory as well as by the book--accessible and fun.


The Children's Library (Penguin Classics Complete Collections)

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 8:52pm.
cover of The Children's Library (Penguin Classics Complete Collections)asin: 0147503248
binding: Paperback
list price: $499.00 USD
amazon price: $499.00



Teaching Writing to a Reluctant Writer

Like many middle-school-aged boys, my son despised writing assignments when we began homeschooling. Having been forced to do voluminous writing assignments when he was still attending school, his initial reaction when I became his teacher was to protest and argue over every writing assignment I gave him. After much trial and error, I found that the best approach was to give him a lot of latitude in choosing the topics and even what days he would write, at least in the beginning. When months began to pass and his writing skills were still weaker than I thought they should be for someone his age and given his abilities in other academic areas, I decided I had to induce him to practice writing more but also had to make it fun. If I didn't, we were going to have struggles over every sentence that ever reached the paper.--read more

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Three Girl Scout Troops, Two Girls (Plus Mom)

Brownie Leader
Some Mondays, my weekly calendar, posted on the large white dry erase board, is covered with activity. Five different colors, one for each family member makes quite a rainbow. I've even got the dog's schedule written in light yellow. (I don't want to make his activities look too imposing.) It still seems like too much.
Every other week, we've got three Girl Scout meetings scheduled. My spouse used to exclaim, "How can that be? We've only got two daughters!" I remind him, "One meeting for Sarah, one for Karen, and one for me." Oh. That's right. I lead a troop and neither of my children are in it. It's kind of a personal extravagance, that biweekly meeting.--read more

Spice Up Your Child's Lunchbox

Spice Up Your Child's Lunchbox
Ideas for combatting brown bag fatigue
by Louise Rousseau
--read more
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Allergies and Vaccines

The decision to vaccinate your children is one that should be made after researching the positives and negatives of each vaccine. How effective is it? How likely is exposure to the disease in the first place? What are the potential side effects? When choosing vaccines to have administered to our son, we spent many hours reading information and discussing before deciding how we would proceed. We selected the vaccines that we felt were important, and the order in which we wanted them administered. Unfortunately, in our concern about the possible reactions to the main ingredients, we overlooked something: the potential reaction to the vaccine's carrier agents, preservative, or other additives.--read more
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Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves

Submitted by Lynn on Thu, 07/01/2004 - 3:56pm.
cover of Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselvesasin: 0965780627
binding: Paperback
list price: $18.00 USD
amazon price: $17.10 USD



Usborne Book of World History

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 8:00pm.
cover of Usborne Book of World Historyasin: 0860209598
binding: Hardcover
list price: $24.95 USD
amazon price: $16.47 USD


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Natural World (Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia)

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 7:57pm.
cover of Natural World (Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia)asin: 0746016891
binding: Hardcover
list price: $18.95 USD
amazon price: $18.95


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Spelling Workout, Grade 2

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 7:55pm.
cover of Spelling Workout, Grade 2asin: 0813628164
binding: Paperback
list price: $12.50 USD
amazon price: $12.50 USD


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Spelling Workout, Grade 1

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 7:54pm.
cover of Spelling Workout, Grade 1asin: 0813628156
binding: Paperback
list price: $14.75 USD
amazon price: $14.75 USD


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Story of the World

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 7:53pm.
cover of Story of the Worldasin: 0971412901
binding: Paperback
list price: $16.95 USD
amazon price: $16.95


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First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind

Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 05/21/2004 - 7:52pm.
cover of First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mindasin: 0971412979
binding: Hardcover
list price: $24.95 USD
amazon price: $18.30 USD


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Baby Games, The

Submitted by Lynn on Tue, 04/27/2004 - 9:21am.
cover of Baby Games, Theasin: 0894716174
binding: Paperback
list price: $12.95 USD
amazon price: $12.95


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Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready

Submitted by Lynn on Tue, 04/27/2004 - 9:12am.
cover of Slow and Steady, Get Me Readyasin: 159160236X
binding: Paperback
list price: $22.99 USD
amazon price: $15.63 USD


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Homeschooling Babies and Toddlers

To be honest, when I first started researching this topic, nigh on almost three years (has it been that long already?), there wasn't much out there to find. It took me almost as long to formulate in my mind something coherent enough for other people to understand even the concept of homeschooling a child who isn't normally considered old enough to be "schooled."--read more

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Related items you may be interested in:

McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book

Submitted by Lynn on Mon, 03/08/2004 - 9:31pm.
cover of McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Bookrating:
asin: 0471289434
binding: Hardcover
list price: $9.95 USD
amazon price: $9.95 USD



McGuffey's Eclectic Readers/Boxed

Submitted by Lynn on Mon, 03/08/2004 - 9:29pm.
cover of McGuffey's Eclectic Readers/Boxedrating:
asin: 0471294284
binding: Hardcover
list price: $59.95 USD
amazon price: $40.77 USD



Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane

Submitted by Lynn on Mon, 03/08/2004 - 9:28pm.
cover of Storybook Treasury of Dick and Janeasin: 0448433400
binding: Hardcover
list price: $10.99 USD
amazon price: $8.61 USD


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One-Day Get-Aways

Yes, that's the sound of the school bell again, but don't despair--you and your family can still build in a fun variation of the family vacation on the weekend or their next day off. Mini-vacations offer the same spirit-renewing benefits as their longer counterparts. The LaClairs of upstate New York said that one-day trips are a good match because "they fit into our time schedule and budget."--read more