Category Archives: HOMESCHOOL

Teaching Your Child How To Use A Phone…To Actually Make Phone Calls :)

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This past week Broc was out of town for eight days for a research project in San Diego, CA. As he was out of town I had the thought, “What if something happens to me while he is gone and Titan can’t get a hold of anyone? Like what if I don’t wake up in the morning? Or what if I fall and hit my head or something?” I actually had this thought the last time Broc was out of town as well, but didn’t act on it.

This time around I decided it was definitely time to make sure Titan knows how to use a phone to make a real phone call all by himself with no help… and not just how to to play games or surf the internet. 🙂 I mean, I know he knows how to play games, turn it on, etc. – he’s been doing all of that for years now! When I really thought about it though, I realized I wasn’t sure if he would know how to make an outgoing call. Especially since Broc and I mostly text and rarely make outgoing calls ourselves when we are around him.

So, while Broc was gone, I made it a goal to teach Titan how to do just that. We reviewed what an emergency is, talked about phone manners and etiquette, and then had him make a few real calls.

I realize it looks like there are no numbers on that paper, there are. I just blurred them for security and safety reasons. Don’t need our family’s phone numbers accessible all over the internet. 🙂

As part of our lesson I showed Titan how to pull up my mom’s and Broc’s phone numbers on my phone by going to my contacts. I also wrote the numbers out for him though and put them up on our fridge so he could practice manually entering in numbers as well. I think it’s a good idea for every child to have at least one of their parent’s phone numbers memorized. So I wanted Titan to start becoming familiar with the numbers as well and not just the name in my phone.

Then, I had him make actual phone calls to both Broc and my mom, Ti’s grandma. Titan loved making the phone calls all by himself. So much in fact that I’m pretty sure he’s called grandma now almost every day since. 🙂 I’m not complaining though, I’m glad he’s getting the practice.

If you are thinking you need to teach your kids how to use the phone for it’s “original” purpose or even just about what to do in case of an emergency, I found the article “Teaching Your Child About Dialing for Help” from the Disney Family site really informative and helpful.

For example, they shared the following reasons as to why your child should be familiar with calling family but also with 911 and “0” for operator:

  • There is always someone to answer the phone at 911 or “0”while there may not always be someone home at your house.
  • When 911 sends someone to help, they are probably nearby and can get there quickly. Possibly quicker even than a family member. 
  • If a child is lost and cannot tell someone where they are, 911 can trace the call. 
  • And, last but not least, if a child is in an area outside of their area code a call may not sometimes go through to a home or other number but a call to 911 or “0” will always go through, no matter where you are. 

A few of those tips were things I hadn’t thought of before. Especially like in the case of a lost child. I hadn’t thought about how 911 would be able to trace my child’s location, something I wouldn’t be able to do if they called me directly and were lost. So those were all things I went over with Titan as well.

All in all, everything only took maybe 10-15 minutes because of Titan’s age and ability to “get it” really fast, but it’s amazing how much better I feel knowing that he will be ok and know what to do if an emergency happens or if he is ever lost or in trouble! 🙂

If you haven’t gone over these things with your kid(s), I highly recommend that you do it in the next couple days. I think I truthfully should have gone over all of this with Ti at least a year or two ago. You know, as soon as he was able to start playing on the phone. Better late than never though, right? I think it was just something that was easy to forget about because his generation is SO tech savvy. It’s like they are born knowing how navigate our phones. So you just assume they’ll figure it out. Which, they might. But in a moment of trouble or emergency, I don’t want to rely on “maybe”. I want to know that they can for sure do it and have the knowledge that they need.

So take the 15 or 30 minutes and make it a priority. You’ll feel better knowing they have been given the tools that they need and they will have a boost in confidence as well. Titan was SO proud of himself after he made his first call all by himself & he told me later that night that he was happy that he could take care of things by himself now if something ever happened to me. 🙂

Review | Rachel & The Treeschoolers…Preschool Delivered!

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Today I want to share one of my new favorite preschool resources with you. A while ago I was sent a copy of the Rachel and the Treeschoolers: A Rainy Day DVD & CD Combo Pack to review.

Upon its arrival, Titan and I sat down to watch the 30 minute episode and we LOVED it. The songs were fun, the characters were super cute and not only was it really educational… but it was very entertaining as well. In fact, after watching it once through with me, Titan asked if he could watch it again on his own. (Pretty sure he actually ended up watching it twice more!)

Here is a little bit more detail about the Treeschooler series from the site:

  • Delivers a well-rounded preschool curriculum.
  • Helps kids get ready for their first day of kindergarten.
  • Is hosted by Emmy-nominated Rachel Coleman from Signing Time.
  • Is based on an educational framework developed by Emily Swan, Ph.D.
  • Includes lots of songs that help kids remember what they’ve learned.
  • Teaches children HOW to learn (using the CORI method)
  • Actively involves kids’ whole bodies in learning.
  • Teaches emotional intelligence.
  • Nourishes self-esteem.
All in all, I was a BIG fan on this new DVD series. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the price. Being a newer program, one DVD & CD Combo pack containing a single episode (there are currently 3 episodes and new ones are being added over time) costs around $24.99. That’s a little pricey in my book for a 30 minute episode and some songs – even if they are very well done! 🙂
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Luckily, a couple months after receiving my DVD I found out that Two Little Hands (the company that created the Treeschoolers and the same company that created the popular Signing Time videos) had launched a new digital subscription format similar to Hulu or Netflix. For only $14.99 a month you can subscribe to their digital database and access more than 40 videos, hundreds of songs, and every new product that they release! So not only do you get access to all of the current Treeschoolers episodes, but you also get access to all of their Baby Signing Time and Signing Time videos and music as well! How awesome is that?! 

And, it gets even better because right now you can try out their Digital Subscription Program for 30-days for only $1.00! And once the month is up, you will be given a promotional rate of only $9.99 per month until you decide to cancel! (Reg. $14.99 per month) 

To me, this option is a whole lot better than purchasing the actual DVDs at $24.99 each. The way I see it I can get three whole months on the digital site with access to everything for the same price as the one episode on DVD. And, the way their digital program works, I can even utilize the videos on the go on my phone – something I can’t do with the DVD. 


I signed up right away for their 1-month trial as soon as I heard about it and Titan has had the two additional Treeschooler videos that are currently available on repeat. We also have been taking advantage of the Activity Packets that they have available that go along with each episode. This last week we watched the Incredible Insects episode together and then did a few of the activities from the suggested Activity Guide. 


Ti did worksheets from the Incredible Insect Guide where, among other things, he got to learn all the parts of an insect and how to tell if a bug falls in to the insect category or not. 


Then we went on a “Bug Hunt”. 

Ti was very thorough in his hunt and made sure no rock went left unturned. 🙂


…he even spent some time checking out the greenery and dandelions up close.  

And after our bug hunt, we made a “Bug Picnic”. 

We learned about dividing something into “fourths” and then I let Titan select four of his favorite foods that he thought the bugs might like as well. 


After the picnic was ready, we set it outside and Ti kept checking it to see which food the bugs went for first. This was a great science activity where we were able to make a hypothesis and then test it out. He thought they would go for the chocolate first and I thought they would go for the peanut butter first. 

Seriously, I wasn’t kidding when I said this is one of my new favorite resources for teaching Titan. I love that there are the videos and the music we can listen to separately, as well as the Activity Guide for each episode. They give you so many great ideas and ways to keep the learning going far beyond just the video. 

Plus, I really love the emphasis they put at the end of each episode on sharing what you learn! To me, that is the real key as to if Titan has learned something. If he can turn around & share it with others then I know it’s been actually learned and not just stored in his short term memory! 🙂

Peterson Air & Space Museum

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Broc took the afternoon off of work today so that we could go renew my military ID on base. ( It kind of expired back in September and I just barely noticed…oops! Luckily, I don’t need it for much more than proof we are military when military discounts are offered.)

While we were on base we noticed the Peterson Air & Space Museum and all the cool planes they had on display. So we decided to turn the afternoon into an impromptu field trip as well!

The museum isn’t very large but they had quite a few cool artifacts, pictures, etc. Plus, they had a computer program where you could interact with various planes that Titan found really cool.

After walking around the displays they had up inside, we watched a short film about the aviation and space history of Colorado Springs and Peterson Air Force Base. It was fun to see what the base looked liked as far back as the 1920’s! (And to see what Colorado Springs looked like at that time as well!) We also learned that the Broadmoor Hotel has been around for a lot longer than we realized. In the 1930’s the Broadmoor Hotel owned a hanger for people’s personal planes when the visited the hotel. They later sold the hanger to the city though and it is now being renovated and added to the museum.

It was also crazy to realize that the little building we were in was once the passenger terminal for the airport!

After the video we made our way outside to see the sixteen aircrafts and ten missiles that they have on display. Ti liked learning all the names of the different planes and what they were used for. I liked how close we were able to get the planes!

Broc and Titan with the Boeing CIM-10A “BOMARC”
We definitely lucked out that the weather was SO nice today! 

Titan and I with the HAWK missiles mounted on their launcher. The missiles were a definite favorite of Ti’s. He didn’t want a picture with the planes, he wanted one with the missiles.

The Martin EB-57E “Canberra” 

Half way through seeing all the planes Titan wanted to run back to the car for his sunglasses. Not wanting to go all the way back to the car, we offered him mine. I didn’t think he would accept the offer, but he did. And then he wore the glasses the rest of the time we were there. What can we say, he’s more worried about functionality and practicality than style! 😉 

Checking out the displays in front of the museum as we left. 

On our way home we decided we needed a treat and so we used our coupon we had for a free Diet Coke Frost Cherry Slurpee at 7-Eleven. I am not a big slurpee fan and so I was very skeptical…turns out it was actually quite yummy & I could see myself grabbing one of these again in the summer! (This seems to be the year of Cherry Diet Coke for us!) 

Titan and Broc both tried the slurpee as well and both gave it a thumbs up. In fact, Titan refused to give it back! (Yes, we let our son have diet coke. No, I don’t need a lecture on the evil of it.) 🙂 

All in all it was a great afternoon! I love when a random afternoon turns into some fun and educational family time! (Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it was all FREE as well! That makes it even better in my book…and Broc’s too of course!) 🙂

*****
The Peterson Air & Space Museum is a free museum that is opened pretty much year round on Peterson Air Force Base. If you do not have a military ID though, it seems like there is a lot of information and notice required to visit the museum. (Makes sense considering you do have to go on base to visit it!) The nice thing though is that if you have a little one who loves airplanes, you can look at pretty much everything online in the Museum Tour section! 
We’ll definitely be visiting that section again the next time we want to learn more about aircrafts or missiles. 🙂