It seems that everywhere I turn there is a new program promising to teach your child to read. There's Spell to Read to Write, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, The Writing Road to Reading, or some phonics something-or-another.
I am genuinely puzzled by all of this. I learned to read without any of these schmancy programs. Didn't you?
I feel quite certain (well, pretty certain) that my children can learn to read without any of the above.
I keep asking my husband, "Am I just being completely naiive?" He of course assures me that I am not. After all, he learned to read the same way I did. But then, if that tried-and-true "old" method worked just fine, why are all these new methods out there?
For those of you who do use these programs, are you doing them because you want your child to read by a certain age? Because your child is struggling in reading? Or... why, exactly? I fully realize that there may be a perfectly good reason and I'm just unaware of it.
I know NOTHING about phonics. Zip. I mean, obviously I know that it has to do with the sounds of the letters, but really, that right there is the extent of my knowledge. My plan is to continue reading aloud to my daughter (who is five), encouraging her to sound out words as she is able, in anticipation that some day it will just click.
Call me old-fashioned, but that is our reading plan.
I would love to hear from you. What are you using and why? Has anyone taught their child to read without using an official reading program? And how'd that go?
Why I haven't been posting
I'm at Amy's house and posting this entry from her computer. For some reason I have been unable to sign into Blogger from my computer, and I have no.idea.why.not! Grrr. I was thinking it was a Blogger error, but... the problem must be on my end. I am so brainless when it comes to anything technological. Seriously. Things were working perfectly fine on my end for weeks and all of a sudden, I can't log in or post a comment on anyone's Blogger page. All I get is a really slow load up and then a stark white page or pop-up box.
Anyway- I wanted to take a sec to apologize for the no-posting days... I am praying I'll be able to figure out what's up and be back to posting soon!
Anyway- I wanted to take a sec to apologize for the no-posting days... I am praying I'll be able to figure out what's up and be back to posting soon!
Beginning again
One of the first treasures I gleaned from the blogosphere was the idea of reading a Psalm each morning at breakfast with my children. We promptly added this to our morning routine, and it has been a tremendous blessing for us to begin our day reading aloud the prayers and praises found in the Psalms.
Last week we came to the final Psalm. And this week we began all over again. We're changing it up a bit this time around and reading from the KJV instead of the NIV.
Last week we came to the final Psalm. And this week we began all over again. We're changing it up a bit this time around and reading from the KJV instead of the NIV.
What we do: budgeting
Thank you to all of you who shared your budgeting system (or woes!) :)
Here are some of the things we do:
-I created a pretty straightforward budget sheet on the computer. At the top it lists how much we bring in each month. Then there are two columns representing each paycheck. Each column indicates a category (tithe, house payment, car maintenance, car insurance, gifts, medical, clothing...) and next to it the amount that we pay out (if it's a bill) or put away (if it's a savings account). There's a little box on the left-hand side of each category so that I can check it off when it's been paid or transferred. I print a bunch of these sheets out and keep them in a binder.
-I keep hard copies of these budget sheets in the binder for a year, so that I can make adjustments as needed (for instance, if I've only budgeted $25 for our phone bill each month but look back and note that we've actually been averaging $27/month, I can make that adjustment for the beginning of the next year.)
-We have several savings accounts at our bank. I find that if I transfer the money immediately into an account (as opposed to just having it "available" in our checking account) I won't spend it! Most of our categories are separate accounts at our bank.
-We take cash out each paycheck for groceries and dining/miscellaneous. And I keep that cash in an envelope. We tried the envelope system for a year or so, but I'm just not very disciplined about keeping the cash in separate envelopes. (I kept borrowing from one envelope to use for another category.) Now I only have two envelopes so if I end up using some grocery money for dining, it's okay.
-We have no debt (besides our house, of course), so that is a huge blessing. The best tip I EVER heard about credit cards (which was a huge lightbulb to me at the time but maybe everyone else already knows this!) was this: Each time a credit card purchase is made, immediately write it into the check register so that the money you just spent is actually deducted from your available money. (Does that make sense?) That way we're held accountable for how much we're charging.
It's all pretty simple. I've grown much in this area since we've been married (but I hope to grow much more in the years to come!) I want to be a good steward of what God gives us.
Budgeting
When I was in middle school, my dad taught me how to make a budget. And he set up a checking account for me (joint, with my parents). For the $40 we received monthly-- the amount we were given to purchase clothes and toiletries-- we were taught to tithe, save, and spend.
As middle schoolers, my sister and I groaned at the idea of having a checkbook and a budget. Who even knew what a budget was? It's not like it was cool to have a checkbook in middle school, either.
Now I am thankful that I was raised with those money-management tools. Who knew then how much I'd need to know how to make and stick to a budget? Yikes!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because within our budget there are only a few areas that aren't fixed amounts (bills). I'm trying to figure out how we can cut down our flexible amounts (groceries is the big one) so that we can save more money from month to month.
I'll dive more into the grocery topic later this week but for now, I'd love to hear how many of you have a budget. Or what system you have in place to keep track of your finances.
photo courtesty of iStockphoto
Sauces!
But first... some other items:
>Last night we completed our final class for our adoption training!!! WOO HOO! Back to the routine! We are busy wrapping up our paperwork and then our homestudy will begin shortly thereafter.
>I am still moving old posts from HSB. For those of you who are reading via RSS feed, you'll be seeing old posts popping up as if they're new. I've decided to start labeling each old post with a *2006 post* note at the top so you can easily determine if it's an old one I'm transferring over!
Okay, now to the title of this post. Stacey asked me if I'd be willing to post my recipes for Pizza, Spaghetti and Lasagna sauces. I mentioned in a previous post (called No-Fuss Meals) that I buy the giant cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste, and spend an evening making batches of those three sauces to freeze.
Here are the recipes:
>Last night we completed our final class for our adoption training!!! WOO HOO! Back to the routine! We are busy wrapping up our paperwork and then our homestudy will begin shortly thereafter.
>I am still moving old posts from HSB. For those of you who are reading via RSS feed, you'll be seeing old posts popping up as if they're new. I've decided to start labeling each old post with a *2006 post* note at the top so you can easily determine if it's an old one I'm transferring over!
Okay, now to the title of this post. Stacey asked me if I'd be willing to post my recipes for Pizza, Spaghetti and Lasagna sauces. I mentioned in a previous post (called No-Fuss Meals) that I buy the giant cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste, and spend an evening making batches of those three sauces to freeze.
Here are the recipes:
Pizza sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
2-3 T onions
2 cloves garlic (or more!)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt to taste
Spaghetti sauce
2 1lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
Brown beef with onions and garlic, drain. Add:
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste
Simmer for 1 hour
Lasagna sauce
1 lb ground beef
5 T minced onion
1 clove garlic
Brown beef with onions and garlic, drain. Add:
32 oz. tomatoes
16 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. seasoning salt (like Johnny's)
1 1/2 tsp. caraway
1 1/2 tsp. tarragon
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
You will also need:
1 pck. lasagna noodles
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan
1 lb mozerella cheese
To make:
Layer the bottom of 9x13 pan with 1/3 of the sauce, then 1/3 of the cooked lasagna noodles, then 1/3 of the cottage cheese. Repeat steps. Sprinkle mozerella and parmesan on top. Bake for 30 minutes @ 350.
