The last couple of weeks have really just been a whirlwind. I’m sorry to have missed last week with a new giveaway linky….hoping you’ll stick around and link up today! I was going through some old bookmarks today, and I found a few homeschool sites for another mom who is considering homeschooling her high-school age son this next year. So, I thought I’d share these links in this edition of Time Out Tuesdays. Enjoy!

If you’re thinking about homeschooling, this is a great site to start browsing around on, Beginning Homeschooling.

Looking for affordable activities, unit studies, etc.? Your kids will get excited over the variety of subject matter found on CurrClick’s website.

Looking for a great homeschool blog? You’ll find a ton of blogs, written by homeschool families, over at Homeschool Blogger.

Most homeschool families know this organization well, but just in case you might be a newbie, check out HSLDA to find out more about the homeschool laws in your state. Stay informed!

This is one of my favorite sites, especially for support and encouragement, The Homeschool Lounge.

If you’ve read The Well Trained Mind, you’ll probably know this forum well, The Well Trained Mind Forum.

Check out The Homeschool Mom.

Finally, one of my favorite places to browse and find resources is The Old Schoolhouse Store.

Now link up your giveaways, and have a wonderful Tuesday!

Did you know that CSN Stores is chock full of educational toys and games?  I had no idea!  I knew that they had regular toys and home decor items, as well as cookware and all kinds of other things, but I had no idea the vast array of educational toys they carried, including brands like Melissa & Doug, Patch Products, Plan Toys, etc., right on their website Toys and Games Online.  We homeschool, so this was quite the find for us, as now we can search through their toys finding things that will not only keep Jaden occupied, helping him to learn….but things that will help Jacob, as well, things like science kits, games, blocks/building toys, etc.

I actually had the opportunity to review three different educational toys from CSN Stores, so I’ll tell you just a bit about each one.  I have been looking for the Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards for quite a while now.  They’re one of the harder Melissa & Doug toys to find in our local craft store/book stores.  I found one in a local book store, but it was so expensive that I decided to just wait and see if I could find it somewhere else.  Thankfully, CSN Stores carries it for less than half of the price in the book store!  This set comes with 130 different pieces of all shapes, colors, and sizes.  Jaden can actually pick a pattern board, and then he uses the shapes to form that same pattern on his board.  It really helps him to learn the different shapes, as well as colors.  It gives him tactile practice, as well.  It’s definitely a great project to pull out when I need to work with Jacob on a more difficult subject, as it keeps Jaden occupied.  It’s also a challenge for him.  You can purchase the Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards for $13.55 from Toys and Games Online; it’s meant for ages 3+.  I definitely recommend this product.

Next is the Plan Toys Preschool Fun Abacus, another product I’ve been waiting to find for Jaden.  He’s getting to the point where he understands how to count now, so this just adds to our daily learning.  It’s a great tool to pull out to help him with counting and even color recognition, as it has very brightly primary colored beads.  Jacob can actually use the abacus to supplement his addition/subtraction studies.  It gives him tactile practice with his math problems.  This abacus is meant to help with hand-eye coordination, as well as fine motor skills.  It has 100 beads, 10 on each wire.  One thing I love about the abacus is that it has two little legs that can fold out to stand more steadily when in use; however, when not in use, the legs can fold back in, so that the abacus lays flat for storage.  You can purchase the Plan Toys Preschool Fun Abacus for $22.50 from Toys and Games Online.  Plan Toys uses non-toxic, natural materials in their toys, so this makes for a “greener” choice, as well.

The last product we received to review was the Patch Products On the Go Peel and Stick Jr. This kit includes more than 160 foam squares that can be used as mosaic tiles on the 3 different scene boards. The scene boards include a choo-choo, a police car, and a dump truck, 3 of Jaden’s favorite things.  He can actually take the foam adhesive pieces and put them on the scene board, creating his own little masterpiece.  The set includes 6 sheets of foam pieces and a magnet strip, so he can display his works of art when done with them.  I like that this is a creative project for Jaden; it gives him a tactile project to work on that stretches his creative abilities and helps him to create something of his very own.  He feels so proud when he’s completed an art project, so this just helps to boost that confidence and level of creativity a bit more….keeping him interested.  As a mom, I like that there’s no glue involved….so virtually no cleanup.:)  You can purchase the Patch Products On the Go Peel and Stick Jr. for $10.00 from Toys and Games Online.  There are different varieties of this product, with different scene boards.  The only thing I would want to change about this product would be to make it reusable….that would add even more appeal for financially strapped families, as it would provide an ongoing activity for kids, something they could use over and over.

I definitely recommend Toys and Game Online with CSN Stores.  Take a look around, as you never know what you’ll find.  They have such a great selection and affordable prices, as well.  Be sure to Like CSN Stores on Facebook, and follow @CSNStores on Twitter.  You can also subscribe to the CSN Stores Blog.

(Disclosure: I received the aforementioned products, free of charge, from CSN Stores, for the purposes of this review.  All opinions/views are my own.)

School has been going full force for a few weeks now here in our house, and we’ve been staying mighty busy.  Just between you and me, between school, taking care of house and family needs, and working, this mama is tired and out as soon as my head hits the pillow….you can ask my honey who gets frustrated when we try to watch a movie, and he looks over to find me conked out.:)

Anyway, just wanted to share some of the stuff we’ve been doing.  Jacob is just thriving with our new curriculum, and Jaden’s absolutely loving his “school.”  We read lots of library books, and then I base most of Jaden’s lessons off that same subject matter; we also have been focusing on different letters via the books and projects; for example, one week we focused on apples, the next we did bugs.  I get a lot of ideas for Jaden from Homeschool Creations and No time for Flashcards.  I love, love, love those sites; the ladies who run them are truly gifted and creative and absolute dolls for sharing with all of us “not so creative” educators.  We use lots of other things too like BrainQuest, cut and paste activities, games, tracing activities, ideas from magazines, etc.  Here are some of our recent projects.

We had the opportunity to review this awesome Create your Own Pop-Up Books Kit from Growing Tree Toys (review coming soon on MamaBuzz).We’ve had lots of playdough time; this is a great thing to give Jaden while Jacob and I work on something that he needs more of my attention with. He finds all kinds of creative things to do with his playdough, including using it as a phone.:) We use these playdough mats every week.Another activity that I just recently introduced Jaden to is Dot Paints, which are wonderful!  They’re easy cleanup, and he loves it when this box comes out.  We found these bandage lightning bugs, and they were so much fun to do.We sailed the bathtub blue with the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, as we were learning about Christopher Columbus one week in history.Jaden enjoyed making this Cut and Paste Train, and then chugging it around the house for the rest of the morning, and of course, when Daddy came home.Jacob is in the midst of learning about early America and the Indians, so he designed and made a tepee yesterday, sticks and all.  His wigwam from the day before didn’t turn out so good.  We were doing something wrong, not sure, but now his tepee happily sits with his cowboy/Indian sets.Today Jaden got to make this Cat in the Hat hat. I think I need to fix it, as our plate was way too big, but he’s had a time wearing it around the house.  Just for the record, this is one of his favorite movies.Finally, Handy Manny has made a deep impression here.:)So, what are you guys doing in your homeschool adventures?  Anything new and exciting to share?

Lobster Network is a social networking site, on which you can share, sell, buy, or keep track of certain items.  The items can include anything, from books to movies to household items.  The best part is, it’s free to sign up and use.

For me personally, Lobster Network is a great tool to help me keep track of items that we own.  For insurance purposes especially, this could be quite useful.  If you just want to keep a private inventory of your items (for example, the homeschooling items/books that you have acquired), you can, and noone else can see your inventory.  However, if you’d like to sell your stuff or share your stuff, you can do that too.  Lobster Network has its own messaging system for this purpose.  With the click of a button, you can borrow a movie from a friend.  If you’re simply looking for something that you’ve been wanting, you can list that desire on your board.  You can include picures, as well, on any listing.  This is a great homeschooling tool, especially if you’re like me and homeschooling on a budget, trying to find the best deals on the things you need for next year.With this network you can invite friends onboard with you.  You and your friends can have your own “community” within Lobster Network.  All you have to do to try it is to sign up for a free account; it’s that easy.

To read more reviews, visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.