TOS Review Professor In A Box Financial Accounting

I took a basic accounting class in high school, and it was enough to convince me that I would not grow up to be an accountant. I think it's just as important to discover what you *don't* want to do as it is what you do want to do so I was happy that the latest TOS Crew review product to come our way, Professor In A Box Financial Accounting, has helped Jake with that. :)

Michael Licata, Ph.D. is a homeschool dad as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Accountancy at Villanova University, and he created Professor in a Box for homeschoolers who may not otherwise take accounting in high school. Though I think this course would benefit anyone who would like to take a first course in accounting such as someone who is self employed.
This course is unique because there's no textbook. Lectures, Practice Problems, and Solutions for the 12 chapters are on three CDs. The lectures are on narrated slides that are easy to navigate. Your student can advance through them or replay them as necessary. Dr. Licata narrates the slides; he speaks clearly and is easy to understand.

The Instructor CD contains:
* an introduction from Dr Licata;
* the course syllabus and learning objectives by chapter;
* detailed lesson plans for a traditional eight week schoolyear track or a shortened 'summer school' nine week track;
* MicroSoft Excel spreadsheet templates for the practice problems; and
* exams, solutions, and a grading guide

The traditional schoolyear is scheduled in such a way that the student can do one lesson per week. Each lesson should take approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. The shorter schedule requires the student to do 3 lessons per week. You can view the syllabus here, and you can click here to watch a sample lesson.

An added benefit is that this course provides coverage of the content necessary to prepare for the new CLEP Financial Accounting exam.

Additionally, because there are no workbooks, the course is reuseable for multiple students.

So what did Jake think of it? Well, it's math, and I made him do it. ;) Seriously, though not his favorite subject, he said it was very easy to get started and find your way through the material. He also said he enjoyed Dr Licata's lecture style. I listened to two of the lectures and would agree. I found him interesting to listen to and the lecture slides were very easy to work through. The spreadsheets were straightforward, and even I was able to do the work.

I think this is a great product particularly if you have a high schooler interested in CLEP'ing Financial Accounting. Get on over to Professor In A Box, and check it out!

Click here to purchase Professor In A Box; they are running a summer special right now for $134.99 and FREE priority shipping. They also offer a money back guarantee so if you're not satisfied, you can return it, and they'll even pay the shipping.

Each box contains:
*a booklet containing the course syllabus and learning objectives by chapter;
* one instructor CD;
* three instructional CDs;
* a pencil; and
* a calculator

Be sure to click here to see what other TOS Crew members say about it.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving was a little different this year... I dragged my whole family out of bed before the sun was up so Hank and I could go for a run. I signed Hank and I up for a local 'Turkey Trot' race. It was a pre-emptive strike against all the mashed potatoes and pie I knew I was gonna eat.

I did the 5k and Hank ran the 1k; next race though, he's running the 5k. There were tons of kids walking/running the 5k, and I totally think he can do it.

They had a very fun balloon arch with a balloon turkey on top for the start/finish.

Here's Hank bringin' it home

All the 1k kids got a medal and balloon.

Me and my favorite 7 y/o

We left from the race to go to DeeDee's where for the first time ever- we were early to a family party.

Ella's babies

Ella was sleeping in the extra bed in the boys' room but has recently decided to move back to her own bed. While Hank was sad to see her go, I think he's also a little relieved. Mom, she's still talking and she's asleep! She has also been known to sing herself to sleep.

Her babies usually sleep in bed with her, but for some reason beloved Piggy and Sparkle Kitty were camping on the floor. Thankfully their little mommy had a pillow and covers for them.

What Nascar does to Shane

[insert loud car noises with each picture]

I love my little redneck baby. :)

Field trip to see Congress in session

Some friends of ours are taking a Civics class taught by a couple of moms. We were going to have Jake take it, but the timing didn't work out for us. They were very nice and invited us to tag along on a field trip to see Congress in session.

So we drove to DC and parked at Union Station- if you have a large family, driving and parking can be less expensive than the Metro. Of course the trade off is getting stuck in the afternoon rush, but if you're with friends, it's not so bad.

We started our day at Congressman Bartlett's office so we walked along the back of the Capitol building. Here's most of our group.

The boys standing in the hallway waiting for our appointment.

I kept telling Hank to stand near Mr. Bartlett so I could get him and Jake in the same photo.

Mr. Bartlett and his infamous copy of the Constitution. He's impressive in his knowledge of it. The other Congressmen/women know they're in trouble if he pulls it out. It means he's about to point out an error in their argument.

Mr. Bartlett very graciously posed for about a hundred pictures with all the different families
After that we headed over to the new visitor's center. Quite nice. They have a restaurant in there but it's crazy expensive. The boys and I ate outside and then rejoined our group inside.

The big kids and other adults had tickets to see both the House and Senate in session. They weren't debating anything exciting that day so I opted to take Hank and his buddy Jacob on a tour of the Capitol. Personally, I figured we were there, it would be a shame to not actually *see* the inside. So the big kids went to do their thing and the boys and I did ours.

We began by watching a cool video about the history of the US and then went on a whirlwind tour of the Capitol. They seriously kept us moving so the pictures are rushed. The boys were very good sports. Hank is used to his crazy mother posing him for pictures all over creation. Thankfully Jacob has grown used to it over the time we've known him.

The statue of Freedom in the lobby of the Visitor's Center. This is a replica of the statue that tops the Capitol dome

A bust of Abraham Lincoln. It's degree of incompleteness is symbolic of different things of his pre-President days and how he changed during his time in office. I don't remember the details though because I was watching our group walk away with one eye while photographing the boys with the other!

Hank's favorite president, Mr. Washington

Another famous dead guy

Roger Brooke Taney, longest sitting Chief Justice and Frederick native. Sadly he's best known for his shameful ruling on the Dred Scott case. His law partner was Francis Scott Key. Who would have guessed Frederick was home to such rich history?

In the old Supreme Court chambers (I think). It's where one group (House, Senate, or Supreme Court) used to meet.

I like Ike

The ceiling of the dome

The Great Communicator

There are pieces of the Berlin Wall in the pedestal of the statue. Very cool.

Fun picture coming up the steps of the Visitor's Center towards the Capitol

Silly picture

Muscle men

Union Station

TOS Review Exploramania Gymathtics

Exploramania was founded by Carrie Scheiner because kids need opportunities for educational and physical activities both during and after school that are fun and benefit their bodies and brains.

This 30 minute DVD includes Shape Stretches Warm Up, Counting Calisthenics, Pattern Power and Well-Being Wind Down.

The math facts are geared towards students 2nd-5th grade, but kids of any age can benefit from and enjoy the workout.

I love the concept, and there's evidence that kids better remember information they learn if they are accessing multiple parts of their brains while learning. I already try to incorporate as much kinesthetic learning into our day as possible, particularly with Hank. I also have the kids do jumping jacks and 8-count body builders between 'classes.' So I was really excited to see this in my mailbox.

The reality is that my 2nd grader Hank pretty much refused to do it. Ella tried really hard to follow along, but she kept getting confused trying to keep up with the moves and the math facts.

I also tried it on our Friday afternoon K/1 class, and they too struggled to keep up with the moves while counting, etc.

So while I was excited about this product and what it has to offer, it doesn't work for my family right now. I think Ella will enjoy the full benefit of it in a couple of years, but we aren't there yet.

You can buy the Exploracise Gymathtics DVD for $24.99 and free shipping and handling right now (11/20/09) . They offer other products such as an Exploracise Math Mat, Thumbballs, and Exploracise Gymathtics 2.0 geared towards 4th-7th graders.

You can read reviews by other TOS Crew members here.



~ I received this product for free so that I may give my opinion of it. No other compensation was received.

Field Trip to the National Zoo

We scheduled a guided tour of the Amazonia Exhibit at the National Zoo. The week prior to our adventure was *gorgeous* The days leading up to and including our field trip were not so gorgeous. Thankfully Amazonia is an indoor exhibit so we were able to march onward.

As usual I spent a lot of time keeping track of Shane

It was feeding time while we were there so we stayed at this tank for quite a while and watched the fish eat.

This beetle is actually a mosaic of other beetles. Gross and intriguing at the same time.

The big kids went into a conference room for a class so Shane and I hung out in the hallway and munched chips

They have a hands on science observation area attached to the exhibit so we spent quite a bit of time in there.

After we munched some lunch, we sprinted through a couple of exhibits. The pandas were out. Sadly the elephant house is still under construction

Ella is just a bit smaller than a Silverback Gorilla

Another fun and exciting field trip!

FIAR Lapbook for Ferdinand

So this is the lapbook I put together for our Wednesday morning preK-1st graders. They meet just once each week for 2 hours so I need to keep it fairly simple.

I also want the folder to fit in the kids' binders in such a way that they can open the folder and all its elements while it's in the 3-ring binder.

I found most everything for the lapbook at ABC Teach, Enchanted Learning, and Homeschool Share.

The front cover because Ferdinand loves to sit and smell the flowers
It lifts up and the kids drew a picture of Ferdinand sitting under the tree. Ella added a swing because all trees need swings.

Clockwise starting at the flag of Spain, we have the flag of Spain. Next is a mini book to count to five in Spanish, a pocket to hold flashcards of animals with their names in both Spanish and English, and then some colors in Spanish. Next to that is art illustrating distance and perspective. The kids drew a road from the Spanish market, to Ferdinand's tree and then to the castle on the hill. The drawings got progressively smaller to show that they were farther away.

Close up of the animal flashcards

On the back is a color by number in Spanish to reinforce what they learned

Simple and fun!