Lobster Network

Summer is a great time for homeschool families to get organized. Our family is usually so busy with school and activities during the typical school year that our house tends to suffer from "clutter-itis", "i'll deal with it later syndrome" and "throw it over there disorder". Stacks of things to be dealt with grow taller and taller on my desk and I begin to dream of long, summer days with nothing to do but, get organized.

This summer as I sit at the beach relaxing I know I have a new tool to help me re-capture order once I return. It's LOBSTER NETWORK found at http://www.lobsternetwork.com/. Making use of the facets of this FREE website can refresh a stressed out disorganized homeschool parent just like a day at the beach.

Lobster Network, created by Canadian homeschool parents, Isabelle and Robert Lussier, is a "one of a kind item networking" system that allows you to keep track of important items, share them with friends or borrow new things from others. If you can imagine maintaining a library of valuables while networking with other like-minded families you can imagine the possibilities of Lobster Network. LOBSTER is actually an acronym for Lend it/ Organize it/ Buy/ Borrow it, Sell it, Trade it, Exchange it, Request it. LOBSTER NETWORK is like a support group, garage sale and Facebook wrapped up in one handy website.

Creating an account on LOBSTER network is simple and FREE. Once registered you can join "communities" or create a new community for your friends to join. The most useful aspect, I think, is the ability to inventory all of your books, cds, educational games, etc. I have homeschooled for nearly 15 years and have an unbelieveable supply of educational resources. During the summer months I generally create lesson plans and begin to develop the ensuing school year. Many times I neglect items in my vast collection of resources and regret it later simply because I have lost track of it. Utilizing LOBSTER Network in the planning process will ensure I never do that again.

If time is limited and the thought of rifling through all of your "valuables" turns your heart to ice, never fear. Simply enter a few items every day and soon a wonderful list will develop ensuring you are well underway to optimum organization. I was amazed when I used LOBSTER network for the purpose of this review how quickly and efficiently the inventory process was. I also was able to quickly glance through the needs of members of my TOS Review Crew community to determine if I could fill a need.

Since I am a member of The Homeschool Review Crew for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine a special community group was created for us to use. My youngest child will enter 1st grade next year and I am finally willing to begin to part with some of my educational supplies. I listed these specific items to be searchable in the "Marketplace" for friends in my community. This allowed my friends to search my inventory and the inventory of other connected homeschool families when shopping for new homeschool supplies. Lobster Network allows users to search for products by name, category, purpose or distance.

LOBSTER network members can advertise items to other users. This advertising can include, for sale, for FREE, for lending,for trade or "I want this"in the listing. Lending and borrowing items with other homeschool families is a great way to frugally homeschool, but sometimes tracking those transactions can turn into a major waste of time. It is at best difficult to manage. LOBSTER network allows users to easily keep track of items lent, due dates, send messages to borrowers for due date reminders and request an extension on a loaned item. All communication can be managed right on the site.

When I return from my beach vacation and begin to tackle those stacks on my desk one of my first priorities will be to add to my Lobster Network. It's free. It's fast and efficient and it will help me refresh and re-organize my homeschool journey.

FamilyMint

Budgeting, saving, spending, earning; all of these terms slip in and out of my daily conversations with my husband. I am a firm believer in making the most of teachable moments, but never thought our discussions of finances were the perfect "teachable moment" for eavesdropping children until I was asked to review FamilyMint.com. FamilyMint is a FREE website co-founded by IT experts, engineers and businessmen Jeff Eusebio, Bob Masterson and Brad Frederick. The trio, with the help of a group of financial experts, designed the site to teach children the art of money management.

Eusebio thought of the idea for FamilyMint after becoming frustrated with a lack of quality materials available to help parents teach their children about money management, allowances and interest. "We've heard over and over how young adults enter the world of fiscal responsibility without the skills to succeed. FamilyMint is a natural, easy way to get kids ready for this future", states Eusebio on the FamilyMint website.

My oldest daughters are 18 and 20 years old, work part-time and pay for their own college expenses. When they were young we made it a priority to teach them the importance of money management on a weekly basis with allowances, budgeting and saving. Back in the day of their youth we used old peanut butter jars to hold various "accounts", and although primitive in design they worked. FamilyMint takes the concept of the "peanutbutter jar" and revolutionizes it with technology. It is very, very cool!

Creating an account on FamilyMint is FREE and easy. Upon registration the banker/parent names their family bank and adds as many users as desired. Ideally each child in the family will be a separate user. Instructions for set-up are clear, easy to follow and take only minutes to implement.

FamilyMint's focus is to help children use their money to:

• Plan
• Organize
• Motivate
• Educate

Planning is accomplished by creating various accounts for each child to deposit money. Spending goals are set by either choosing a typical goal suggested at the site or creating a unique goal. Users choose an amount to contribute either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly to the savings goal and the program displays an end date to anticipate when the goal is met. Each spending goal created becomes a separate labeled account.

An added "Savings Plan" feature enables users to pre-determine percentages of deposits for each savings goal. For example, my 15 year old son created a savings goal of paying for his plane ticket for a National Bible Bowl tournament this summer. Making use of the Savings Plan option allowed him to determine that 35% of all of his deposits would be allocated to his Bible Bowl account.

Organizing occurs as users make consistent deposits to the family bank. FamilyMint suggests literally having children hand over their piggy bank stashes to the banker/parent as one option, but the important thing is to make sure money is deposited and allocated as pre-determined. Our family chose to make virtual deposits leaving the physical money in the hands, or wallets of each child. Yet another suggestion of FamilyMint is to include gift cards in the mix and record them as money deposits. The principle concept is to track and manage all money through the magic of the FamilyMint site.

Motivation is easy when using FamilyMint. Parent/Bankers can reward interest payments at any rate they choose for deposited money. Interest rates can be adjusted as the need arises, but only by the Parent/Banker. FamilyMint encourages the use of allowances to help children "think about money as a limited resource that must be used wisely". A "matching deposit" option is provided for extra incentive too. As parent/banker I chose to offer a 50% matching deposit to each college savings account for our children to demonstrate my value of this goal.

Education is natural and frequent with the creation of a FamilyMint bank and accounts. Because the site offers a visual component to a sometimes abstract concept of money management even my 2nd grader is comfortable in discussing percentages, interest and budgeting. Discussing FamilyMint deposits, accounts and savings goals is fun, engaging and feels more like a game than a lesson on finances.

I love FamilyMint, but the true test of any educational product is met when the kids use it. I asked the users of the Spoerndle Family Bank to share their honest opinions for this review. This is what they said:

"I like how they organize the money. I like how it shows you if you don't have enough money when you will if there is something you want to buy. For example, I want to go to the American Girl store in Chicago. This costs a lot of money. Now, I know how long it will take me to save the money and I don't have to keep asking my Mom when we can go."~Sierra, age 8.

"I like how it's set up in a way that's easy for me to understand. I like how it explains to you how close you are to your goal. I think this makes it a lot more exciting to save money this way. It's a lot easier than trying to figure it out myself. I feel more professional when using FamilyMint. I feel like I know more about banks and how they operate". ~Micah, age 12

"I like how you can work with your own account and add in deposits on your own without your parents help. Parents can just approve the transactions later. The account records look very official which is helpful for tracking details regarding your money. I would definitely recommend FamilyMint"~Jonah, age 15.

FamilyMint is a hit with all ages of our household. I especially appreciate being able to personalize all aspects of our bank and accounts. Step by step instructions, a users forum for questions, answers and tips and a blog are all accessible on the website. With very little effort on my part, my children have developed a new understanding of financial responsibility and money management in a short time. FamilyMint.com is the perfect product for parents in search of making the most of financial teachable moments.

American Heritage

There is a saying that "the best things in life are free", and this certainly holds true with American History curriculum provided by the American Heritage Foundation. I received a CD from American Heritage with their Elementary English language, Elementary Spanish version, Middle School and High School level American History curriculum to review for TOS Review Crew. Although American Heritage always provides their curriculum for FREE I promised to review this product in exchange for them mailing it to me.

The American Heritage Foundation is "a non-profit corporation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of our nation's factual and philosophical heritage to promote freedom, unity, progress and responsibility among our students and citizens." (AHEF purpose statement) AHEF provides materials to students, families and schools to help students become "thoughtful, active and productive citizens." Their curriculum, America's Heritage: an adventure in liberty consists of 10-14 different units designed to focus on four key themes at all levels. The themes are Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility. The program is designed to be used as a year long supplement or as an intensified study during the month of November proclaimed American Heritage Month by the foundation.

Each level of America's Heritage contains an 11 page essay written for the teacher and intended as background to aid in teaching the curriculum. Detailed lesson plans listing the purpose, objective, theme and core knowledge points, expected time required for each lesson, materials and preparation checklists are written on the first page of each unit. Elementary lessons are designed for grades 1-5, middle school for grades 6-8 and high school for grades 9-12.

The elementary level lessons include directions and text for activities like group discussion, essay writing, role playing, games, songs, puzzles, journal entries, art and other creative ideas. One such activity suggested in the Colonial America unit is a game that requires students to play the parts of King of Great Britain, Parliamentarian Governor, Merchant or Colonist with variations for classes with 20, 25 or 30 students. Since America's Heritage is designed to be used with classrooms of children it makes an excellent curriculum for homeschool co-ops.

My friend and fellow teacher, Kelley Chin, chose America's Heritage to use with her homeschool co-op class this school year. When I asked her for her opinion of the curriculum she eagerly responded. "I am using this curriculum. I love it! The students really seem to enjoy it too! Every lesson is interactive to give the students a tangible way to learn the material. It is very patriotic! All of the lessons are based on the founding principles of our country. As soon as I saw the add in TOS magazine, I knew that this was the way I wanted my children to learn about the birth of our nation!!" she said

Elementary units of the curriculum cover the following points of American history:

* Colonial America

* Declaration of Independence

*John Hancock's Signature

*George Washington

*U.S. Presidents

*The Great Seal

*History of Thanksgiving

*The United States Flag

*The Star Spangled Banner

*The National Motto

*The Statue of Liberty

*The Pledge of Allegiance

*America the Beautiful

*What is an American?

* plus an extra teacher's supplement regarding religious expression in public schools

Middle school lessons and activities are varied much like the elementary level of America's Heritage. A sample activity while learning about the Constitution involved learning the Preamble of the Constitution in sign language. The 182 page Middle School curriculum has units for the following topics:

*Colonial America

*Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor (the history of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence)

*Declaration of Independence

*U.S. Constitution

*Thanksgiving

*Bill of Rights: Rights and Responsibilities

*Our National Documents

*The U.S. Flag

*The Star Spangled Banner

*The Gettysburg Address

*The National Motto

*The Statue of Liberty

*The Pledge of Allegiance

*What is an American?

The high school level curriculum offers greater opportunities for vocabulary study and discussion compared to the elementary and middle school levels. For example, students are instructed to read through the text of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, included with the curriculum, and then write their own personal Bill of Rights. High School level units include:

*Mayflower Compact

*The Declaration of Independence

*Federalist 47

*U.S. Constitution

*Bill of Rights: Rights and Responsibilities

*The First Ammendment

*Our National Documents

*Entrepreneurs in History

-Cornelius Vanderbilt

-Andrew Carnegie

-James Hill

-John D. Rockefeller

*America's Creed

*U.S. Flag/ Federal Flag Code

*Religious Expression in Public Schools

*What is an American?

America's Heritage: an adventure in Liberty is an excellent curriculum for students of all ages and the price is right! Persons interested in obtaining their own copy can do so by ordering a FREE CD on the website or if preferred purchase any level printed and placed in a binder for only $19.95 each. Payments can be made on-line through PayPal.

For more information about America's Heritage or the American Heritage Education Foundation become a fan on Facebook or visit their website at www.americanheritage.org. Once you have I think you will agree that some of the best things in life still are free.