Two Kids One Dog

Scholarships for National Merit Finalists

Tonya — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:53:39 +0000

Curriculum Recommendations on Amazon

Tonya — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:30:16 +0000

At the request of several followers, I’ve started to pull together a comprehensive listing of the curriculum materials we used throughout our homeschooling. Over the years, we have purchased from a wide range of vendors but now most of it is available on Amazon. So, in the interest of ease, I’ve started a storefront. My goal is to set up the categories to you can explore the curriculum we used by subject area or by grade level. I’m looking forward to adding to it in the days and weeks ahead.

Textbook Coupons

Tonya — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:42:18 +0000

Quick savings tip today:

If like many of us, you look to purchase textbooks on-line, here’s a site that may help. Direct Textbook lists the current coupons available for online booksellers including Allbris, eBooks, eCampus, and Half.com.

Cavalier Photo of the Week

Tonya — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:57 +0000

We were fortunate to puppy sit a couple of weeks ago and here’s a picture of the little guy at 14 weeks!

Food Allergy Awareness

Tonya — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:37:18 +0000

Thanks to my eldest, for this post on her blog. Reprinted with permission (http://cocopensee.wordpress.com/).

Today is the first day of Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 9-15, 2010. Food Allergy Awareness Week was started in 1997 by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). It is now officially recognized by twenty-seven states, as well by theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

As someone with a severe food allergy, this is an issue near and dear to my heart. Over 12 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with a food allergy and the prevalence continues to increase. Ninety percent of these food allergies are due to eight major allergens: eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, and soy.

Food allergies can be life-threatening, but there is currently no way to prevent allergies, nor is there a cure. The only way to manage an allergy is by strict avoidance of the allergen. In acknowledgement of this, the Food Allergy Initiative encourages people to give up a favorite food for Food Allergy Awareness Week.

The theme this year is Respect Every Bite, because even trace amounts of an allergen can elicit a reaction. Food allergies are a daily threat that have to be taken seriously.

For more information on food allergies, please visit: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000817.htm

For more information on this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week, visit:http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2010/Pages/FAAW10.aspx

Learning Russian

Tonya — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:41:47 +0000

Interested in learning Russian?

If so, you may want to take a look at the following two sites:

Master Russian which offers daily lessons and Russian Language Lessons which offers self-paced lessons along with limited video.
And here’s a list of some free online resources for Russian: http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html#russian

MA Food Allergy Law Compliance: 4 Steps

Tonya — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:36:27 +0000

Short video with the Blue Ginger’s Ming Tsai demonstrating how to comply with the new Massachusetts Food Allergy Law. Great piece to share with your favorite restaurant manager / owner, even if you don’t live in Massachusetts!

Allergy Alert Dogs

Tonya — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:54:21 +0000

Interesting segment on the news this morning about a group out of Colorado. Angel Service Dogs provides service dogs to those with anaphylactic allergies. The dog shown was trained to sniff out peanuts and the report indicated they had success in training dogs to identify wheat, soy and other allergens as well. In addition to identifying a potential allergen, the dog had a small back pack which carried the child’s epipens and other medicines. Seems like a great addition to a families’ allergy management plan given the increase in severe food allergies and the prevalence of peanuts (and other allergens) in a child’s day to day environment.

Evaluating Writing: Samples by Grade Level

Tonya — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:18:04 +0000

One of the challenges we faced in homeschooling was learning to evaluate our child’s writing skills. Many of the rubrics we found were geared towards specific reading assignments and the evaluation methods seemed so subjective. In the end, we chose to focus on reading high quality literature and using that writing as a standard.

Just recently we found this compilation of writing samples by grade level. It is a great collection of links and resources on the evaluation of writing. I hope you find it as useful as I know I would have when my children were younger. . . .

Disaster Planning: Are you prepared?

Tonya — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:59:29 +0000

In looking back through the coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, I found a great site on disaster planning. 72 Hours provides checklists and guidelines for your family, in preparing for a natural disaster. While earthquakes are not common in the Northeast, last year’s ice storm was a good reminder that having a plan pays off when one goes several days without heat, electricity and water.