Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Review: iTooch 3rd Grade Science app
We were asked to review an iTooch app from edupad. They have apps available for iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. They have Elementary (grades 3-5) apps for Math, Science, and Language Arts (Plus Health for 5th Grade), Grade 6 has apps for Math, Language Arts, and Health. Grades 7 & 8 have Math, Music, and Language Arts. They have SAT prep apps for Math, Critical Reading, Biology and U.S. History. There is also a "French as a Foreign Language" app. Not all of these apps are available for all the different platforms, however.
We downloaded the "iTooch 3rd Grade Science" app from the Google Play Store to use on our Android tablet for free. They also have Math and Language apps available here.
We thought the phrases it displayed while loading were funny. Some of them were:
iTooch is combing his hair
iTooch is cleaning his room
iTooch is taking his dog for a walk
Engine is warming up
Activating rocket launchers
Fixing zorblocks
It said "This may take up to 1 minute". It took at least 5 minutes, which wasn't too bad (this wasn't installing the game, just while it was opening it)
I don't have a 3rd grader (I have a 2nd and a 4th) but I decided to go with the 3rd grade app because Emily is above grade level in most subjects. The 3rd Grade Science subject included "Physical Science", "Life Science", and "Earth Systems Science".
It starts out with a practice time and after finishing that, it went right into a timed test about the subject. We didn't realize that there was a text that went along with the practice/tests. That helped to explain the subject much better!
It seemed sort of hard for it to register our touches for the answers and we had to do it a few times before it would take it. Also, there were questions where it wouldn't let us open the keyboard. It'd pop up and then disappear right away before we could type anything. You couldn't enlarge the practice or test to make it easier to select, either.
In the Earth Systems section, it said that the earth atmosphere wasn't hospitable (ie didn't have oxygen) "long ago" and one of the questions was "Oxygen was always present - True or False" I didn't like the false information that the earth didn't always have oxygen. It had to have oxygen at least by Day 3 when God created the plants and I would assume it was there on Day 2 when He made the atmosphere!
Overall, I found the app useful to strengthen knowledge. I'd just have to make sure to point out the errors that it has.
I downloaded this app for free in order to do my review for Mosaic Reviews Team. Your experiences may differ than mine.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Reusable "Kleenexes"
Lately, I've been trying to use handkerchiefs to save money from buying Kleenexes. I mean I have handkerchiefs, I should use them (other than just when I get a cold).
In nice girlie colors, too. But they are so big.
They worked perfectly!! So I decided to go ahead and cut up one of my hankies. I had one that just wouldn't lay straight and it made it difficult to fold. I figured the "gitchy goominess" wouldn't be as obvious in a smaller square.
Emily saw my fabric Kleenexes and said she'd like some, too. So back to my stash I went! I found this remnant that I'd picked up who knows how long ago, just because I thought it would work for something! The squares worked perfectly for cutting it out to be Kleenexes.
I figured I couldn't make some for one kid and not the others, so I found a boy print that I thought would work for the boys' Kleenexes.
In order for the boys to get 6 Kleenexes like the girls, I had to make theirs a little shorter, so they ended up rectangular instead of square. The hankie I quartered is, of course, the biggest.
The ones for the girls and I are almost the exact same size as a Kleenex ☺
This is what each of the girls ended up with:
All folded up, neat and tidy.
There were 3 extra princess squares, so I got them.
Now I have 11 cloth Kleenexes!
I decided that I should make some sort of container for the reusable Kleenexes. My first thought was to make little cardboard boxes. Then I figured they'd get smooshed too easily. So I thought of making pouches for them. I had some denim from the bottoms of jeans I'd cut off for shorts. But I didn't have enough. So I decided to make them in the kids' colors to make it easy to see who's was who's. But I didn't have a good yellow and the fabric was pretty thin and floppy for a Kleenex case. Back to my stash I went and I found more denim! So I went with denim after all. I only had enough of the darker denim to make one, so that one is mine and the kids' are all the same except for the stitching to differentiate to whom they belong.
Ready to be used.
And just for the record, I'm not going to make reusable toilet paper, although I know that some people do (or feminine care products)
In nice girlie colors, too. But they are so big.
If you can't tell, that is a Kleenex on the lower corner of the hankie. Like I said - big!
I thought "What I need are cloth Kleenexes!". I figured I could just cut a hankie into quarters and that would work, but I wasn't sure I'd like cloth Kleenexes, and then I'd have ruined one of my hankies. I know that they sell smaller hankies, but that would take buying some and I was trying to save money! So I went and looked in my fabric stash and found something that would work.
The fabric is folded in half and then I just brought the corner over to make a square. Then cut off the extra. Then I just zig zagged around the edges.
They worked perfectly!! So I decided to go ahead and cut up one of my hankies. I had one that just wouldn't lay straight and it made it difficult to fold. I figured the "gitchy goominess" wouldn't be as obvious in a smaller square.
Emily saw my fabric Kleenexes and said she'd like some, too. So back to my stash I went! I found this remnant that I'd picked up who knows how long ago, just because I thought it would work for something! The squares worked perfectly for cutting it out to be Kleenexes.
I figured I couldn't make some for one kid and not the others, so I found a boy print that I thought would work for the boys' Kleenexes.
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| Waiting for edgings |
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| All finished |
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| They are edged in each kid's color to keep them apart |
The ones for the girls and I are almost the exact same size as a Kleenex ☺
This is what each of the girls ended up with:
All folded up, neat and tidy.
There were 3 extra princess squares, so I got them.
Now I have 11 cloth Kleenexes!
I decided that I should make some sort of container for the reusable Kleenexes. My first thought was to make little cardboard boxes. Then I figured they'd get smooshed too easily. So I thought of making pouches for them. I had some denim from the bottoms of jeans I'd cut off for shorts. But I didn't have enough. So I decided to make them in the kids' colors to make it easy to see who's was who's. But I didn't have a good yellow and the fabric was pretty thin and floppy for a Kleenex case. Back to my stash I went and I found more denim! So I went with denim after all. I only had enough of the darker denim to make one, so that one is mine and the kids' are all the same except for the stitching to differentiate to whom they belong.
Ready to be used.
And just for the record, I'm not going to make reusable toilet paper, although I know that some people do (or feminine care products)
Thursday, September 26, 2013
ArtPrize 2013
Tuesday, we got the kids out of school a little early so we could go and see some of the ArtPrize exhibits. We invited my parents to come with this year. We parked at Meijer again and rode the bus into Grand Rapids. We rode the bus longer than last year and got off closer to the area we spent most of the time in last year. We didn't do any of the indoor venues, just the larger out door ones. We got to Meijer at 3:50 and back again at 7:50. I took pictures of all the exhibits we saw whether I liked them or not ☺
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| close up of the clown fish above |
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| This dragon breathed fire |
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| The artist was whispering through the tube to Andy |
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| Dan was talking to the news guy to find out where Monty was |
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| This tree is left over from the super flooding we had earlier this year. |
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| Monty ☺ |
