Kit and Caboodle

Using Community College Online Courses for Dual Credit in Home School

2011-06-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

My oldest home schooled high school junior is finishing up her third online community college class this semester for dual credit. Last year she took College Algebra at a local community college. This semester is Trigonometry and Psychology. She has done well and has enjoyed the fact that she is getting credit for high school as well as college. We found a local community college that allows self-pay (non-scholarship) students to take up to a year to finish class coursework online. I think that this has been a good choice for her. I've enjoyed getting a little more free time, and letting someone else create the deadlines and course load.

A word of caution, be aware that some colleges have a limit on the number of hours that you can take and transfer before you are no longer considered a freshman but a transfer student. Transfer students typically have less scholarships they can compete for as compared to incoming freshman. Also make sure that the community college classes will transfer to the college the student will eventually attend.

Real Learning

2011-05-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

We are finally winding up the school year. By the end of this month of May, we will be through with school for the year whether we have finished our text books or not. Hopefully we will have finished the majority of the text work. Past years I have demanded that we finish the books, every page, but I'm seeing that our real learning wasn't in the textbooks this year.

The majority of our learning came from our doing...our trip to Israel...our mission trip to inner city Dallas...a mission trip to Zimbabwe...loading a shipping container for an orphanage in Zimbabwe filled with a tractor, medical supplies, clothes, and supplemental food...taking care of our animals, including our new Alpacas...learning a little about business and raising funds for educational opportunities for the poor, and our personal research into topics that interested us from our interaction with the world.

Even though we are a little behind in our school year with our books, I feel that it has been one of the most fruitful years of our homeschooling, and it has been the most fun. How has your year been?

Teaching Children Compassion

2011-03-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter and I just returned from our spring break week in Dallas, Texas. We spent the week working with Global Outreach and with Cornerstone Baptist Church helping the homeless and less fortunate in the inner city of Dallas. Our days were filled with passing out food and water to the homeless on the streets, working in the soup kitchen, passing out clothes to the elderly living in assisted living homes, remodeling apartments that will house released prisoners, and holding play times for low-income children. We came home tired and feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems these people face daily. The church has been able to minister with compassion to many people living in this area who were addicted to drugs or alcohol and living on the streets. The church has given them the love and hope of Christ, and lives have been changed.

You can teach a child compassion through reading stories of those who have served those in need or view others in action as they serve in different ministries, but the best and most effective way is to actually get your children to physically go out with you and pass out sandwiches to the hungry, read to the elderly, clean the homes of single moms, or take meals to those who are sick. The best education is one of experience, and compassion is best taught and learned by doing.

Trip to Israel for Inspiration

2011-01-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Our family just got back recently from a trip to Israel. We have been studying the Old Testament in our Bible along with ancient history. The trip was a wonderful addition to our learning. Nothing beats doing some hands-on activities for learning, and nothing beats being in Israel to ignite a fire in your heart for your faith. We have experienced a new perspective as we read the Scriptures. Being able to picture the place about what you are reading, definitely brings about a new level of experiencing God's word.

Going down into a cave where shepherds would stay

at The Shepherds Fields in Bethlehem

Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

Being re-baptised in the Jordan River

Touching the rock at the traditional site where Jesus was believed to be crucified
at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

We especially have experienced a desire to research our Hebraic roots and the Jewish traditions that come with that. I have found some websites and am now researching feasts that we would like to incorporate into the year. The first feast is Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees on January 20, 2011.

The West Wall in Jerusalem

Some recipes for Tu B'Shevat:

http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recipes/tu_bshevat/&tu_bshevat_index.html

http://judaism.about.com/od/tubshvatrecipes/Tu_BShvat_Recipes.htm

http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/category.cgi?category=TU_b_SHEVAT

More on the Tu B'Shevat seder meal rituals:

http://www.aish.com/h/15sh/ho/48965616.html

Let me know if you celebrate the Jewish feast of Tu B'Shevat and what you've gained from doing so.

Consolidating My Home Schooling Curriculum Favorites

2010-11-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted on this blog. My girls, both in high school, are at a stage in their schooling where they no longer need me to "teach" them. They have become independent learners, and they are studying and researching answers to their own questions. They rarely "need" me to help them so my focus has been on other things besides "doing school". This was a goal of ours when we first started home schooling, to produce students who can think for themselves, who know how to find answers to their questions, and who have a love for learning.

I've put together a list of some of our favorite curriculum materials that we've used in the past. I've just started this list and will be adding things as I have time. If you care to take a look at what I have so far, the list is located here: Top Picks for Home Schooling Curriculum and Projects.

If you have favorite home schooling curriculum that you'd like to share, please leave a comment. Do you have questions about home schooling? I'd be glad to try to answer them.

Back to School

2010-08-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

It seems that we have just finished our school year, and here we are starting again. My oldest daughter Kayla, will be a junior in high school, and my youngest, Christine, will be a freshman.

Kayla has decided on a college and a major. She wants to pursue a career in medicine. This has come about because of her experience in the medical clinic at the orphanage in Zimbabwe. She had a chance to get some real hands-on experience with cleaning wounds and making herbal remedies.

She will travel back to Zimbabwe the end of the month for more work at the clinic. We are looking into the shadowing program at our local hospital where she can follow several medical personnel in their jobs to see what they do on a daily basis. We are also looking into getting her into a Certified Nurses Assistant course so that she can start working in the medical field and getting experience. She is already reading nursing textbooks on her own, and searching the Internet for medical information.

When you get a child excited about learning, you've captured their minds and hearts for knowledge. Encouraging your children pursue their passions is the first step in accomplishing this.

Finishing Up School

2010-06-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

We've been spending our days finishing up our textbooks for home schooling. I'm one of those moms who has to have their kids finish the books, or I don't feel that we've finished school. So these last weeks we've been trudging through our textbooks and turning the pages to see how far we are from the end of the book.

I'm also looking back on the year and evaluating things that I should do differently for the next year as I will have two high school students. I'm looking forward to the home school convention this weekend, in hopes of finding some good curriculum for applying the things that we've been learning so far. I'll be looking into more project based material, especially for math. I want my girls to be able to put to use the algebra and geometry that they have learned. Much of the textbook material is learning to solve problems based on the examples given, but I want them to think about how to solve a problem that has no example to spark their thinking.

I'm also going to have my girls write more. Being able to communicate well through both writing and speaking will be goals that I'll be setting for them for the next year.

Care to share your home school goals for the next year?

Zimbabwe and Work at the Orphanage

2010-04-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

This video shows our family's trip to Eden Children's Village in Zimbabwe, Africa. It mainly shows the orphans we worked with while we were there. They truly touched our hearts.

My girls and I helped in the school with tutoring. My oldest daughter helped in the medical clinic bandaging wounds, helping with abcesses, and making herbal remedies for the patients. This was a tremendous hands-on experience for her and it reaffirmed her desire to be a medical missionary. My husband worked on a tractor that we shipped there through Tractors for Our Daily Bread.

Home schooling has allowed us to be flexible in our schedule and has allowed the girls to try out ideas that interest them. This has been a worthwhile experience that we will all treasure for years to come.

Procrastinating on Writing My Blog Post

2010-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a lot like the character in this video. So many distractions. I've been home for a week and a half from a 3 week mission trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. It was an intense trip I am still thinking about and getting my thoughts together for a blog post. Someday, when all the distractions are taken care of, I'll fill you in on my trip.

Zimbabwe and Science Take-Outs

2010-03-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

Our family is planning a trip to Zimbabwe, Africa to do some mission work at an orphanage. Zimbabwe had a Cholera epidemic about this time last year (2009). To learn more about this epidemic, we purchased a kit from Science Take-Outs, "A Medical Mystery of Epidemic Proportions", where my girls learned how to test for the cholera bacteria in a sample of well water and a patient sample. Of course no real bacteria existed in the samples, but through the simulation, the girls were able to do the tests, compare results and make conclusions on an epidemic scenario from the kit. For only $9.00, the kit provided some great hands-on science. They have a great selection of other kits such as "Flower Forensics", "Pollution Investigation", and "Diagnosing Diabetes".

We love learning by doing. As for our trip to Zimbabwe, we are calling the class "Applied Geography". Learning about a culture, working with the people, and experiencing their daily lives is the best way to learn about our world.

This is a non-paid review. I'm providing this review for the benefit of my readers.

The Power House Solar Oven

2010-02-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Finally a sunny day in Kansas for toasting bread in our Power House solar oven. We didn't think this day would ever come. This is a continuation from the Power House post I recently wrote. This kit is packed with many projects, experiments and information on sustainable energy. So much science is packed into this one kit.

My girls first put together the oven from the materials provided in the kit. They ran some experiements on heating water with the rays of the sun. Next they ran experiments on heating water to a higher temperature using a magnifying glass where the glass concentrates the sun's rays at one point, the focal point. They learned that you can actually burn things with a magnifying glass. What fun!

They ran some experiments on temperature in their solar oven to find the focal point in the oven. They learned the science behind how the oven works by concentrating the sun's rays at one point much like a magnifying glass. The kit provides some activities in using the oven to toast bread, cook soft-boiled eggs, cook an apple, make rice and homemade bread. Looks like the girls will be able to make their own breakfast in the mornings...as long as the sun is shining!

This is a product review for the benefit of my readers.
I get no compensation other than from Amazon.com if a person orders from the link provided.

Writing at Home with Write at Home

2010-01-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

We have used the online writing course, Write at Home, for the last three years. I have to say that it has been worth every penny. I enroll my girls for the fall semester each year. The course is done all online. My girls get their reading assignment and a written assignment each week. On the last day of the week, they upload their papers to be graded by their writing coach who grades, helps correct, and encourages their writing. They both learn so much and all the assignments are fun to do.

My youngest daughter, Christine, who loves to write, recently entered her first writing competition. Every year, the Home School Legal Defense Association has an essay contest for ages 7-19 years. They also sponsor an art, photography and poetry contest for homeschoolers.

My daughter's essay, Investing in Victims of Leprosy, won second place in the 11-14 age category. I think much of the success in her writing is due to her time spent in the Write at Home program. She has always loved to write stories, and I have tried to find ways to inspire her to keep at it. She has recently entered another contest through Patrick Henry College with a fictional short story (her favorite papers to write).

If you know of other contests, or others ways to inspire young writers, please leave your comments! I would love to share your ideas with my readers.

This has been an unpaid endorsement of Write at Home online writing program.

Disclosure Statement

2009-12-08T09:25:00.001-08:00

Disclosure Statement for my blog to comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials 16 CFR Part 255 I share the following info
rmation, prepared December 1, 2009. This disclosure applies to my blog, Kit and Caboodle.

Amazon Associates and Other Affiliate Programs:
Since the fourth quarter of 2008, I have been an Amazon Associate. Purchases made through Amazon affiliate links or my Amazon Store on this blog yield a small referral fee. This a
pplies to all purchases made on Amazon regardless of whether the product the consumer purchased was mentioned by me or not. The consumer’s purchases are confidential; I do not have the capability to track who has purchased items using my blog’s Amazon Associate links.

I do write reviews of products that I use personally and provide links to those products via Amazon.com, but I am not paid directly by them to do so.

Google Adsense
I participate in Google Adsense advertising. I do not necessarily endorse products from the Google Adsense ads displayed on my blog. I do receive money for displaying ads on my sites.

All other reviews or recommendations I make are strictly my opinions, and I am not compensated for these reviews.

Power House

2009-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

This year seems busier than the last. And if you are a home school family, you know first hand how this happens. So many great opportunities to learn, you just have to try them all. One such opportunity this year for us has been putting together a science kit called Power House. With Power House, you put together a Styrofoam house that comes with solar panels, wind mill, green house, and desalination system. My girls will be learning about regenerative energy sources, something that they should know about for the future health of our planet.

Right now we are studying passive solar heating, by taking the inside temperature of the house in different lighting and insulating situations. It has been a great hands-on learning experience that will take us a year or more to complete. I'll be updating periodically as to how we are progressing. If you would like to do this together with us, I've put a link below where you can purchase your own Power House.

More power to you!

Equine Curriculum for Home School

2009-09-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Christine taking the pulse of her pony, Reba

Being able to study what you want, when you want to, is the beauty of home school. My oldest daughter studied Swahili after a trip to Tanzania last year (not something that is usually an option in public school). This year my youngest daughter wanted to learn more about horses...she is thinking of a career as an equine nurse. I found the Young Equestrian Series curriculum for kids ages 13-15 years (can use with younger students with adult help) at New Horizons Equine. They teach young equestrians:

Equine Ancestry
The Power of Instinct
Horse Buying Tips
Caring for your Horse
Tack Selection
Equine Behavior
Costs of Ownership
Terminology
Conformation

She has a year to finish the curriculum for a certificate. She will take tests and mail them back to New Horizons to be graded, and when she is finished there are some adult (16 years old +) courses she can take to further her knowledge of horses. If you have a young equestrian, you may want to look into this further.

Our Homeschool Curriculum for This Year

2009-09-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile since my last post. We started school at the beginning of August and here it is September already. I wasn't quite prepared as I thought I was at the start of school, so it has taken us awhile to get back on track...much of that consisted of wading through our curriculum options. For now this is what we are doing...

For my 1oth grader :
Saxon Algebra 2
Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry
Bob Jones Writing and Grammar 10
Spelling Power
English from the Roots Up Vol. 2
The Easy Spanish by Great Commission Languages
Larry Burkett's Money Matters for Teens
Exploring America History, Literature and Faith
Alpha Omega Health
Volleyball

She is also taking an AP English Literature class with our homeschool group, so she does Bob Jones Grammar when she is not working on her English Lit. class. I like that she is able to experience a class setting and is able to use her note-taking skills that she learned last year.

For my 8th grader:
Saxon Math Pre-Algebra
Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science
Bob Jones Writing and Grammar 8
Spelling Power
English from the Roots Up Vol. 2
Rosetta Stone Swahili
Larry Burkett's Money Matters for Teens
Abeka's American History 8
Volleyball
Write at Home - online writing classes

I'll be doing some product reviews on these choices in future posts.

Our Top 5 Curriculum Choices for Homeschool

2009-08-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

After purchasing our new curriculum for the new school year, I thought about all the books that I've ordered the past five years that we have used and loved...as well as those we never really got excited about. I'm not sure exactly what it is that we liked about some curriculum and not others. It seems to be a combination of hands-on activities, our love of the subject being studied, and the ease of use by student and teacher.

I thought that I would list our top 5 favorite curriculum choices and why we've liked those materials in hopes of helping some homeschool families make their curriculum choices. I love reading reviews of curriculum as it gives me a better idea of how it is used and if it will benefit my family.

My Father's World Complete Curriculum. This was by far the easiest curriculum to use. We used it for three years until my oldest daughter started high school. At the time, the high school version was not complete, so we started to piece our curriculum together ourselves. My Father's World is great for first time homeschool moms who need help with scheduling their days and the year. It comes with daily activities already outlined, notes of specific instruction for each day, as well as a book list to choose books from your local library for the reading portion that complements the lessons learned for the week. It is easy to add or subtract activities whenever you as a teacher feel the need to slow down or speed up. I was able to use the same curriculum for both daughters at the same time. Each of my daughters used their own grade level math and language art books, but everything else was done together easily. We started with the One Year of Geography, "Exploring Countries and Cultures", and then did "Creation to the Greeks", and "Rome to the Reformation".
Spelling Power - My girls loved the idea of doing spelling only fifteen minutes a day and not having to study words that they already knew how to spell. It was a little complicated at first to get the system down as to how to use the book, but after awhile we got the hang of it and even adapted it for our own use. It has worked well for us the past five years and we continue to use it today as one book covers spelling instruction to adulthood.
Saxon Math - We specially loved the third grade curriculum as it was more of a hands-on curriculum with manipulatives, a clock, a thermometer...We've stayed with Saxon from the beginning as I liked the spiral method of learning and the review and drills that it provided. The third grade year took a lot of teacher involvement, but it gave my daughter a solid foundation for the subsequent years. Today, eighth grade, she does most of her math on her own.

English from the Roots Up Volume I and II - We've used this for four years now as our vocabulary instruction. Learning the Greek and Latin root words has helped them to interpret the meaning of words they come across everyday. We do one root word a week using the root for different activities each day, including making a flash card for each root word. At the end of each week, we review all roots covered so far that year. We review previous years periodically so that they retain those root word meanings as well.

Apologia Science - My husband and I are both schooled in the sciences. I love that my girls love apologia science. Jay Wile has a way of capturing the attention of my girls in the area of science, and I love that I don't need a lot of complicated stuff to be able to do the experiments. My oldest daughter did the Biology last year, she had a blast dissecting the specimens. Well, maybe mom had a blast watching as she dissected the specimens.

Back from Ecuador

2009-07-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter, Kayla, and I had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador with Christ in Youth and our church youth group this past two weeks. It was such a great learning experience for both of us. Our team was there to do construction work on some churches, help with Vacation Bible Schools for the the children, and to do street evangelism and home visitation. The above picture shows us in clown make-up. Part of the Vacation Bible School and street evangelism consisted of clowns and puppet presentations for the young children. We worked in the towns of Guayaquil, Baba, and El Recreo.

We learned a little Spanish while we were there, but most of our communication was through body language. The people of Ecuador are very loving and welcomed us with open arms. Many responded to the message of Christ and His gift of eternal life. Many who had little hope have found hope and love through Christ.

More Living Without

2009-07-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

In June a storm took out my computer, phone, wireless internet, TV, and garage door opener. I had been disconnected from the world for about a month...did I miss my computer, phone, wireless internet, TV, and garage door opener? A little, but the time that I gained from being without those things were a real blessing in disguise.

I actually got some things done around the house, sorted mounds 0f clothes for the Zimbabwe, Africa shipment, ordered my curriculum for homeschool this fall (actually we will start in the early part of August), weeded the garden, and spent quality time with the family.

My doing without has changed the way I'm using my time now. I've cut back on some online activities; trying to simplify things that devour great amounts of time. I feel freer for cutting back and will be cutting back on more things in the future. I feel that I had lost myself in all the busy-ness of life and was going through the motions out of habit. I hate doing things out of habit without giving thought to why I'm doing something.

Well, enough said...I will not be blogging for the next three weeks. My oldest daughter and I will be on a mission trip to Ecuador doing Vacation Bible School with children and some street evangelism. The street evangelism will be pushing me out of my comfort zone, but knowing that I may be giving hope to someone without hope, compells me to sacrifice my comfy-ness. So for three more weeks...I'll be living without.

Living Without

2009-06-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've been without internet service for the past week. Will hopefully be up and posting again soon. Blessings to you all.

Very Tender Beef Brisket

2009-06-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

O.K., I promised some crock-pot recipes to go with the Rival crock-pot product review I did a while back. Here is a favorite of mine (for the ease) and my family (for the taste). This is great for a busy homeschool day or during the summer when you have more time to cook but do not want to heat up the kitchen.

Very Tender Beef Brisket

1 3-lb beef brisket
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 envelope regular onion soup mix (not instant)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup catsup

Place brisket in crock-pot (fat side up). Sprinkle the sugar, soup mix, and garlic powder over brisket. Drizzle catsup over all. Cook on low setting in crock-pot for 8 hours. Transfer brisket to serving platter and slice.

Bon appetit!

Our Homeschool Ministry Project

2009-05-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

The beauty of homeschool and project-based learning is the opportunity to do projects that will make a difference in the lives of others. A goal of our schooling is to learn compassion for others and to see the needs that are in our world. Being homeschooled doesn't mean that our girls are isolated from the world and our society. On the contrary, our homeschooling through real-world experiences gives our girls the opportunity to both see and respond to the needs around us.

We've been spending the last several weeks sorting through clothes that we have collected through the ministry, Tractors for Our Daily Bread, and our church. In July, we will be shipping the clothes to an orphanage, Eden Children's Village, located in Zimbabwe, Africa. We will be packing a 20ft container with good, used clothing for the children as well as adults in Zimbabwe. There is a great economic crisis in Zimbabwe today that does not seem to be getting better. Read more in "Zimbabwe: 'clothes are a luxury'"on channel4news.com.

We have clothes stored at our church, in our camper/trailer, in our house and in my husband's workshop. It has been our daily reminder of what is important and our commitment to help. This project has been a great way for our girls to DO something for those in need, and to use the money that we've made from our shops to ship the clothes.

Passive learning is out, active learning is in.

From the website, Dailylearners.com:
What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing. -Aristotle

Grasping Math Concepts

2009-05-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Learning math concepts can be...well...a bit confusing and a little frustrating. Learning math facts and memorizing formulas as a way to get answers to problems on paper was the way that I learned math when I was in school long, long ago. But, math has to be understood and applied to problems in the real world. Learning how to do that successfully is another problem entirely.

For our home school lessons next year, we will be doing some project-based learning. We will be working on projects where we solve real life problems using math, language arts, art, maybe even history as a means to solving these problems. I've researched some links that I thought had some great projects that we could do next year along with our text book learning...these are all math related...

High School:
Tower Project
Tessellation Exploration!
Buying Your First Home

Middle School or High School:
Pythagorean Theorem and the Distance Formula
Linear Equations
The Math Gods: historical research into the contributions of mathmeticians.
Geometry in Art, Architecture and Nature

Elementary:
Math in the Kitchen
Santa's Helper
When Will I Have Enough Money?

Here is a site, ThinkQuest, full of math projects where you can browse by age:
ThinkQuest

I'm still researching these sites and others not listed here. If you find more, please leave a link in the comments. I'll be updating this post as I find more sites.

Happy Home Schooling!

What Have You Learned This Week?

2009-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm a natural life-long learner who tries to motivate her children to be life-long learners. I've wanted to ask the following question of you in hopes that you will share your knowledge on this post. I'll be asking this question periodically so that we can all stretch ourselves in new ways of thinking.

Here is the question: What have you learned this week?

Your answer doesn't need to be profound. It can be anything that you know now that you didn't know before. You can relate this to education, politics, cooking, everyday life, whatever new idea or fact that you learned and would like to share.

I've been this last week at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno Nevada with my 9th grade daughter as she is one of the finalists at the fair. Right now she is being interviewed by judges in the science field related to her research. This gave me an opportunity to sit in on some great teacher seminars at the fair.

One thing that I learned at the fair that I want to incorporate more of in our home school is problem based learning (or sometimes called project based learning)...taking a real problem and challenging my daughters to find a creative solution to the problem. Science fairs have been part of my problem based learning curriculum, but I want to incorporate other subjects besides science into the project based learning idea. With the availability of information, fact retention is no longer needed as much as critical thinking skills and creativity. Problem based learning can help develop critical thinking skills and creativity. I'm just now starting to do more research in this area that I will share more of at a later date.

In the meantime, what is your answer to the question, What have you learned this week?

A Time, Money and Dinner Saver

2009-05-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

As a homeschool mom, I'm always looking for things that will either save time, money, or make my life easier. I have found that my Rival crock-pot has fulfilled all three criteria.

I bought a Rival Smart Crock Pot last year. It has four cook settings, high for 4 or 6 hours, and low for 8 or 10 hours. If you leave the house or are busy with your children, and it has finished its cooking cycle, it automatically switches to a warm setting so that everything stays warm and ready to eat when you get home. It also has a removable insert for easy cleaning. Easy, easy, easy. . .throw in ingredients in the morning, leave and let cook, come back with supper ready. No time wasted watching your pot boil or your pan fry, and extra time available for the children and the hubby.

The crock pot has saved me money. There have been many times, after a full day of homeschooling that I didn't have the energy or I hadn't planned ahead to make something for dinner, so we grabbed fast food on our way home from an activity. Money, money money . . . Now that I have a crock-pot, I can put something on in the morning and forget it the rest of the day.

I've not been able to get exact figures on crock pot vs. oven as far as energy usage. There are many different opinions and not many calculations. My own experience has shown me that crockpots in the summer months are more cost effective than the oven, as the oven heats up the house and runs up my cooling bill ( and I do have an electric oven). I did find a handy website that discusses the pros and cons of crock pots vs. ovens in energy use here at Fun Times Guide. This site also has links to crock-pot recipes.

The Creighton University website states, "Full-size ovens are not very efficient when cooking small quantities of food. When cooking small- to medium-sized meals, it generally pays to use smaller microwave ovens, toaster ovens, or slow-cook crock pots". Now it look like for most of my needs, a crock pot wins out.

I'll be posting some of my favorite crock-pot recipes in later posts. Mmmmm, so what's for dinner at your house?