As home educators we often school on the go.  Being able to drive when we like to visit family in Canada, take educational vacations, and on the whim field trips is a perk to homeschooling.

Often that means though that we take our oodles of books with us, or we have to forfeit certain subjects because they aren't very conducive to on the go schooling.

An HP Mini 110-1100 with Windows 7 (which is by the way seriously awesome, if you use the Windows platform and haven't upgraded, it's fantastic), would really help simplify schooling on the go for us.  

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If you have an iPhone, and you don't live close to family, there is a new app that you may want to pick up before Christmas morning.

It's the Ustream Live Broadcaster, available in the official iTunes App Store.  It's the first live broadcaster ever available in the App Store, bringing you the ability to share live the joy of Christmas morning, with family and friends far away.  

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Ugh, I have charging cords all over my home.  One in a kitchen drawer, a couple around the computer, one on the bookshelf, and who knows where else.  Whenever I need to charge my cell phone, I have to remember where I last shoved placed it.

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When it comes to a holiday gift list, there is always somebody that you have to buy for that has everything, right?

So what is it that you get them?  Get them a gift that is personal to them, something from Things Remembered would fit the bill, and there are so many items available!
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Here are a couple of gift ideas that are sure to please the tweens and teens that you need to buy for this year.

Yum Drives are a perfect stocking stuffer, or an easy and light mailable gift.

These Jazwares products come in all the "flavors" the kids (okay grown ups too!) like best.  Hershey's Milk Chocolate,

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VOIP!  Sounds like an alien expletive doesn't it?  Actually it's an acronym for Voice Over Internet Protocol, which in non-geek translates into: telephone service that uses your high speed internet connection to dial in or out.

Voip service can save you a lot of $$ vs. a standard land line phone.

About a month a go we started using Magic Jack for a second phone line in our home.
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As most of you know we vacation with "The Mouse".  A lot.  

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Kajeet is a pre-paid cell phone service created primarily for kids.

If you would have mentioned the possibility of Amber having a cell phone at her disposal, even a year ago, I would have thought it pretty funny.


We don't have a contracted cell phone plan, and only I have a pre-paid plan from a different service.  My cell phone is only used in case of emergencies and we have never thought much about having a second one.












How Kajeet Works:  Kajeet works in one of two ways;

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Now don't go stuffing bran muffins into your disk drives, that's not what I'm talking about here! Fiber Optics is where it's at apparently.

When I think about fiber optics I conjure up an image something like this:


Are you thinking something along the same lines? Way back in the 80s fiber optic flowers set in a rotating case were all the rage, well at least they were with my parents and all their friends, and really that's about my experience with it.

After coming across a Re-Tweet on Twitter mentioning FiberForAll (and yeah my first thought was the bran type, that's what made me click!), I was met with this not so new idea that really is the future of our home technology. Yet the idea of it is so George Jetson.

Light speed fast (okay maybe not quite that fast, but faster than my cable!), fiber optics is the choice of the future for the home.

No more choppy video reminiscent of first year video students or garbled discussions. (If you've ever watched a streaming webcast, you understand the frustration of it!) Imagine being able to make video calls with crystal images as if the person on the other side of Earth is truly sitting at the desk across from you.

This can be done because of the major amount of data that these glass cables can provide. As a homeschool parent, the possibility of such clear transmissions via an internet connection would be almost priceless. Correspondence courses with a professor or lecturer, being broadcasted live to computers to teach subjects to students around the globe is a reality waiting to happen.

I often call my sister long-distance, our phone calls are wracked with static and the line cuts out at least once per call. I'm not calling the mountains in Tibet here, just Canada! I'd like to introduce fiber optics to both my cable company and my sisters phone company. It would be great to have a conversation that doesn't sound like my 2 year old nephew is on the phone the whole time (although, I'll have to look into that, perhaps my sister is pawning the handset off to him whenever I call....).

For us as a family, most of our time is spent together, either playing massive mulitplayer games online or watching movies. I imagine this won't change much in the future. However, hopefully our experiences while we engage in these activities will.

If you happen to play online multi-player games you know full well it is almost an impossibility to do it on a dial-up connection, but even with a dsl or cable connection one can lag often, especially at peak playing times on a full server. These are the times that as a family we covet a fiber optic connection. The thought of being able to buy goods and repair, visit the major places in the game, and raid with 40 other people, without lagging, getting a choppy screen or crashing is blissful.

Likewise I conjure the thought of being able in the future to watch the newest Hollywood Blockbusters on demand, in the comfort of my living room, in the coldest days of January with the clarity of (or possibly better than!) HD never having to leave my home (which is a huge deal in South Dakota in January). Movie theaters might become obsolete, but truthfully the only thing I'd miss about that is the popcorn, but for the comfort level, microwave popcorn would be a compromise I'd gladly make.

Yet for now while few can enjoy such intense technological wonders, most of us throughout the country don't have access to the wonders of fiber optics for our homes. If you are interested in learning more about fiber optics, who in your area might provide it, perhaps to even find out how you can be a part of bringing it to your city and the chance to win a FiOS Triple Play Prize Bundle, head over to Fiber For All (because everyone should have the freedom and speed of fiber optics).

Photo credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_a_ross/ Read the full story

About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with a condition called Raynaud's. The condition causes blood to not flow properly to fingers, toes and other parts of the body. I do take medication for it, but my hands and feet are still cold a lot of the time.

You will find me in socks most all of the time no matter the temperature, and I can't go into the freezer without my fingers turning white so I either have to get another family member to get things out or I have to wear gloves. Of the things I most enjoy doing, many of them are stationed right here at my computer.

Those would be surfing the Internet, blogging and playing World of Warcraft. But having my hand positioned on the mouse all day to do those activities is not comfortable with the loss of blood flow to them, and by the end of the day my hand is extremely achy or numb. When I was offered the chance to try an Infrared Ray product from Warm Mouse Heated Keyboards I was eager to try it. Infrared Rays are capable of penetrating deep into the human body where they elevate surface temperature and activate healthy body functions. I chose the ValueRays® Warm Mouse Pad.



When this arrived at my door, I opened it quickly and set it up right away. Two usb plugs are needed to use it. One for the four additional usb hubs on the mouse pad to work and one to activate the heat. The instructions noted to plug the red marked usb cable in to activate the infrared rays to heat the mouse pad, but mine weren't marked. It isn't rocket science though, so it was easy to figure out which cable did what. I am fortunate to have two usb outlets on my keyboard so I didn't even have to get under my desk and behind my computer tower to plug anything in.


This mouse pad really has kept my hand warm while using it. It has a wrist rest on it is as well to ergonomically help you keep a healthy position for your wrist while using your mouse. I've tried using a wrist rest in the past and honestly never felt comfortable using one. The same went for this one. However, I like the heating of the pad so much and it has helped soothe the pain in my hand, so I simply turned the mouse pad 90 degrees to its side and I use it like that. Works great for me that way!

The pad heats up within a few minutes and then stays at a temperature between 99 and 104 degrees after that point. It can get rather hot to the touch so make sure if you have young children around to keep it away from them when it is plugged in.

The four extra USB hubs on this mouse pad are a great bonus and make it easy to connect devices when needed right on your desktop.

This is the perfect device (think gifts here!) for anyone who suffers from conditions like mine (Raynaud's), Arthritis, and Carpal Tunnel to just name a few. Perhaps you are someone who just gets a "cold mouse hand" in winter, again perfect to resolve that issue. Free Shipping and No Sales Tax sweetens the deal!

Speaking of cold hands and computer mice, Warm Mouse Heated Keyboard also sells a ValueRays® Mouse Hand Warmer. This product is a heated mouse cover - an USB mini electric blanket for the mouse hand. It is a low, steady heat with a carbon fiber infrared heating element sewn inside the double layer of fleece.

Please read **About Reviews at the bottom of this page.

Warm Mouse Heated Keyboard has generously offered one my readers to win a ValueRays® Mouse Hand Warmer ($24.95 value)

To enter this giveaway visit Warm Mouse Heated Keyboard and tell me one unique piece of information you learned on their site.
This must be completed first in order to qualify for extra entries.

Extra Entries (leave a new comment for each one you are eligible for)
1. Subscribe to my RSS feed either by e-mail or reader.
2. Place my button on your blog.
3. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (this can be done daily)
4. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to me and to Warm Mouse Heated Keyboard
5. Visit the Partners Page - Become a ValueRays Fan on Facebook & Follow "Warm_Mouse" on Twitter
6. Visit the Products Page - Which do you like best?

This giveaway will end on July 8, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and is open to residents of the US ages 18+ only.

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There is a new arcade-style videogame for the Wii, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, featuring those iconic characters in that quantifying playground game of dodgeball. Using a ball to tag opponents out of the game, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball changes that "innocent" (I don't know about you, but I never found that game innocent at all!) childhood game of dodgeball into an action packed, mind-blowing battle between Pirates, Ninjas and other eccentric groups of characters. Teams include Robots, Aliens, Monsters and more!

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball is rated E 10+ and is available at major retailers nationwide. For more, visit www.SouthPeakGames.com.

Check out the video trailer for it! My bets are on the ninjas (I just think they're quicker on their feet), but I'll get back to you on that!


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I'm coming out of the closet. The gaming closet that is. I'm admitting to you all that I am a gamer. I've denied it (even to myself) for a long time, but honestly when I'm raiding WoW four nights a week, it's time to admit the addiction. (For those of you who did not understand the previous sentence, breathe a sigh of relief ☺).

In any case there are times I want something, shall we say stress free to play. Zenses Rainforest (for Nintendo DS) from The Game Factory, was sent to me to play and review, and I have to say for a casual gamer this fits the bill.

First off, although I am now a self proclaimed gamer, I cannot use a joystick or control pad well. It's true, I fail at that. A mouse and keyboard or a touch screen are preferable to me. That's where the Zenses Rainforest game shines in my opinion, no keypad controls needed, the games (there are six of them) are all touch screen based.

While these games are designed in a relaxing theme of rainforest pictures and sounds, you are not mindlessly wasting time, as many of them require you to think abstractly to accomplish the level. This isn't brain surgery though, so you aren't under any pressure! There is a particular game I was drawn to in this set, where you have to match up flowers in a certain combination in a grid for maximum points.

The games are visually appealing and the music that accompanies them is very soothing. I like how you can go to the Zenses microsite and download the mp3 soundtrack from this game.

Zenses Rainforest and its counterpart Zenses Ocean are available at retailers for an arv of $29.99.

I'm sensing that on our long flight home from Barcelona next year, this game is going to get a lot of play time, providing of course that the battery on our DS holds out ☺.

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We love taking video of our vacations and special events...although most people will never see them. That's mostly because getting them off the tape and editing them and burning them on to a dvd is time consuming and frankly with the software we currently own not simple. I really have been wanting to share more of the pictures and videos I take in a unique way with friends and family, and so when I had the opportunity to try muvee Reveal I jumped on it.

When it comes to simple muvee Reveal is in a class by itself. This is such an easy to use program your children, or better yet my mother, could use it. Not only for videos though, muvee Reveal can take your digital stills and make an Oscar winning performance out of them!

muvee Reveal's interface is functional and pretty much self explanatory. You choose from your device or files which photos or video to add, you choose a style, you can add music and then you can view your creations. Yes it is just that easy.

The only problem I had in creating my movie (which is actually four short clips spliced together, pretty seamlessly I might add), was getting the original sound on them. After a quick Google search, I found my solution and was good to go.

You need to have quite a bit of room on your hard drive if you are going to download this program. While it may not provide some of the features of other movie making programs, muvee Reveal's ease and quick delivery and price of $79.95 makes it more usable than the other program we own. My computer did crash a couple of times while using it, but really it is a great program and it didn't frustrate me as it would normally, just because I knew that it would not be horribly time consuming to get my project together even with the crashes.

Take a look at the movie I created:



Please read **About Reviews at the bottom of the page.

I am giddy to tell you that I am able to give 2 muvee Reveal CDs away to my readers.

To enter tell me in the comments who you would give this software to if you are one of the winners. (You must do this or extra entries will not be counted)

Leave a separate comment for each extra entry you are eligible for.

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This giveaway will run until 11:59 pm cst May 13th. Open to U.S. Residents 18+ only. Winners will have 48 hours after they have been contacted to supply me with mailing information or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Check out more giveaways this week hosted at Mom Most Traveled during her Give It Away Now! Blog Carnival. Read the full story

Do you have a budding scientist at home or a child that just needs to see every little detail?

If so you may be interested in this neat product by Carson. The zOrb, which is just as cool as it's name.

This egg shaped hand held digital microscope, also has an integrated camera and the ability to capture video! The box states that it has a 35x magnification, however the larger your monitor, the larger the magnification! You can get up to a 53x if you have a 21" monitor.

This is what you get when you purchase a zOrb.


Everything your child (or you!) needs to to display a magnified image right on your computer screen. The zOrb connects directly to your computer through the USB port so it doesn't need batteries.

The zOrb we received from Carson to review was extremely easy to set up and use (it is simple to turn on and off, once set up), and for the price (I found it as low as $40.61 online when I did a Google search) it is a great magnifier for the likes of bugs, rocks, stamps, coins, fibers etc. This won't take the place of a microscope that you would use to view slides for biology or things like that, but it would be a good tool for the elementary aged kids for basic science lessons. We liked that you could take a picture of the magnified object, very helpful for science lessons and projects!

The zOrb comes in three fun colors too, Lava Orange, Safari Green and Surf Blue.

I would recommend this if you are looking for a microscope with a lower magnification resolution. Being able to view the image on a computer monitor really is a unique way to view a magnified image, and more than one child can see it at a time that way too.

Here you can see the zOrb in action:


Carson would like to offer one lucky reader a zOrb!

To enter please visit their website and tell me one other product you would like to experience from Carson.

Be sure to leave your email address if it is not visible in your profile, so I can contact you if you're the lucky winner.

For more entries, you can:

• Subscribe to my blog via email or feed and let me know you did (or do!)
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• Blog about this giveaway and let me know the address
• Twitter about this giveaway and leave the link to the tweet - you can copy and paste this tweet: @threedifferent Enter to win: zOrb Digital Microscope - Ends May 2 http://tinyurl.com/c2etsu - visit Three Different Directions Blog
  
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Leave a separate comment for each bonus entry you qualify for.
This giveaway ends on May 2nd and is open to U.S. residents ages 13+.

Please read my **About Reviews at the bottom of this page.
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Capturing life as it happens has become very important to me.

A few years ago I gave Hubby a small Handycam for Christmas, but to get good quality video means using tapes in it. While I like using it for weddings and vacations, it's too much work to transfer over to the PC and save it to dvd for everyday use.

Thanks to NewBaby.com and Creative, I was able to receive a Vado Pocket Video Cam to vlog with.

Since the Vado doesn't use tapes, but records to an internal memory, it's super simple to use and upload your content. If you want high quality video it will record an hours worth, or if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of quality for more time, the SP setting will get you 2 hours of recording time.

I got the pink model of this design, which I am SO glad about. Hubby nor Genius (who has a repulsion to all things the color pink), will have no desire to pick up an walk away with this, so it's MINE ALL MINE ☺. For those of you who would like to sport a different color it also comes in silver.

This is truly a take it with you anywhere camera -- at a little more than half an inch thick, and only four inches tall, it really does fit in your pocket, wristlet or diaper clutch.

Uploading is a cinch with the built in USB connector. This is also how you recharge the battery.

I needed to download a program to be able to see the video content on my PC, but that was quick and painless.

The microphone seems to pick up better when the videographer is speaking, when you are pointing the camera away (such as videoing yourself), it doesn't seem to pick up the sound as well, although it is still audible.

The bottom line of this mini camcorder is that it can be purchased at Amazon.com for just over $65 right now. For that price, its' tiny design, rechargeable battery, and ease of use is worth it. You will want this to have around to catch those unexpected moments that will otherwise go unrecorded.

Check out the following video I created with it - An Easy Crockpot Dinner for you and your family!

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HE IS RISEN!! HAPPY EASTER!

On this Easter Sunday I want to highlight the entire New Testament in a format that is ready for a tech savvy and wired (or wireless!) generation.

I was able to review “The Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament” MP3 CDs courtesy of Thomas Nelson.

Most tweens and teens will recognize the all-star cast some of whom are AnnaSophia Robb, Corbin Bleu and Emily Osment. A great soundtrack and enhanced sound effects round out this complete recounting of the New Testament.

My daughter always listens to her iPod at night while falling asleep. Genius has been listening to this for the past several nights and says that they are cool. She says that if you know about the Bible you know who’s talking (from the Bible narrative), and if you are not familiar with Scripture, if you know the actor’s voice you will still be able to follow along well. She thought it was pretty incredible that such a cast of young famous people were willing to work on this project.

These MP3 CDs won’t be used just for bedtime listening though, I foresee them being used when traveling and just for recreation listening as well. She really loves them, and with recognizable actors providing the narrations, she can relate to it also.

The one negative I see to this (and it would not be a problem if you are listening from the actual CDs) was the time and organizing of it on the iPod itself. Since there is over 23 hours of media, it took quite a bit of time (and space) to upload it. Then it was not in chronological order either. It’s a small matter but a time consuming one, so if you are going to put it on a portable listening device, make sure that you schedule some time to do it.

If you are interested in seeing some trailers on how this project was recorded click here.

Thank you Thomas Nelson, for providing a high-tech product to saturate the hearts of young people with the Scriptures. Read the full story

Tell Me More. About what?

No, no, that's not what I meant, lol! Tell Me More is a foreign language learning software.

The French version (which we were able to review) comes in 4 different packages, one of which is completely online. The DVD-rom discs (which we received), installed effortlessly, and we had it up and running in minutes.

Depending on how much you want to learn and how much you want to spend, Tell Me More has a course for you. The basic package starts at 2 levels of learning for $209.00, and you can go all the way up to 10 levels for the cost of $369.99.

The course is designed for people who have no previous knowledge of the language.

The way Tell Me More teaches you a new language is through immersion. It takes the user through vocabulary, grammar, listening comprehension, written expression and cultural understanding.

Included in the package is a headset with a microphone that allows the student to repeat phrases and engage in dialogue, with instant feedback on pronunciation.

So far the topics of the lessons we've uncovered have been colors, clothing, family relationships and the alphabet.

A variety of spoken, written and activity based exercises (matching, crossword puzzles, etc.) occur during the lesson. There is a help button as well, in case the user is stumped on a particular word or phrase. If you need even more clarification on how your program works, there is a 24/7 online chat with Auralog, to help explain any questions you might have.

What we liked about it:

• The course really is aimed at beginners. While it may seem overwhelming at first to be tossed right in an immersion program, the concepts are simple and the French words to the pictures are easy to identify and learn from.

• The help button came in handy on more than one occasion. It is nice to know when you are a bit confused that you won't be left floundering.

What we didn't like about it:

• The verb conjugation when completing sentences was difficult for my daughter. I was able to help her as I took 10 years of French when in school, but she didn't feel as if she had enough information in order to know how to type the verb form in correctly.

• The pronunciation recognition was somewhat inconsistent. Perhaps because I learned Canadian French and this program is based on European French. My accent may be a bit off, (and I am somewhat rusty in my French speaking), but many times when Genius was ready to rip off the headset, because the program didn't understand her, and I would step in and repeat the phrase, the program still wouldn't recognize that I was saying it. That can get a tad frustrating.

Truly, I think this is a worthwhile program and is a great value for the price, especially for homeschoolers, because more than one person can have an account on the software at a time. Even though the voice recognition is difficult to work through, Genius has acquired an arsenal of French vocabulary in the short time we've been using this. She can translate the words from English to French and back again, and can say them decently enough that I believe a native French speaker could muddle through her accent and decipher what she is saying.

If you are wanting to introduce a foreign language in your homeschool, then you can sign up for a free trial in one of a number of different languages. This will give you an idea of the type of program Tell Me More is, and how it works.

Go to the TOS Crew Blog for more reviews on Tell Me More, where the crew members were able to try a variety of languages in their homes.
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At a young age, we impart the wisdom to our children to not talk to strangers, look both ways before they cross a street and wear helmets while bicycling or rollerblading, among other things.

We watch them grow, often letting them become more independent as the situation warrants, and when they hit 9 or 10, have some confidence that if they were in a precarious situation they would know what to do.

But in this day and age, we have one more safety concern to battle against, and that is technology and the Internet. According to a 2006 study done by the Zandi Group, 30% of children ages 8-12 have access to the Internet at home. That puts large targets on our children. Everyone from legal corporations (such as Nickelodeon and Disney) to their own peers, have access to them through this media.

What's more, most kids in that age bracket, know more about the technology than their parents do. However, most of them lack the maturity to know how to handle muddy situations that they might encounter using it.

Creating the series together Karen Child Ogden MA. LMFT. and Danielle Tiano, author of Temptation of a Generation: The Series, recognized that this is a growing concern in our society. This is a series of books to help tweens tackle the tough issues that go along with the technology that they are growing up with. Karen, also has a page of great tips in the back pertaining to the subject discussed in the book.

Don't Hit Send Just to Fit In educates tweens and parents about the reality and dangers of cyber-bullying.
A group of four middle school students, decide that in order to be "in" they need to follow the crowd. That comes in the form of posting pictures of themselves on social network sites, and being cyber-bullies themselves. Through the help of their "computer keyboard" and caring adults, they learn some tips on how to be kind and stay safe using their technology.

I thought this book was well thought out. It has colorful graphics (illustrated by Edward Pollick) to hold the attention of the tween, and very neat text. There are some hard words to understand for the younger set that the book is targeted for, but I like that, because it gives more reason for a parent and child to actually read the book together. I'm guessing that if your child has had any exposure to e-mail, message boards, texting, cell phones or instant messaging, one or more parts of this book will be prevalent to them.

Genius also read the book and these were her thoughts:
I thought it was a great book, the plot and pictures are cool, and the characters are believable. There's a rhyming pattern that makes you read it like a poem, that I sort of enjoyed. The theme is awesome, and could really help kids to remember to read what they type before they send it, and that you don't have to fit in.
The bottom line is we need to be informed about what are kids are doing both off and on the computer. These books provide an engaging platform for your tween, to help tackle some of the tough issues you may not know how to approach or discuss. The books are available at Beyond Your Words and cost $9.99 each.

Would you like to win a copy of Don't Hit Send Just To Fit In, for your family? Thanks to Kara at KBPR I have one to giveaway.

Here's how to enter: (By leaving a comment you agree to the Privacy Disclosure and Rules)

• Visit Temptation of a Generation and leave a comment telling me one of the two other books that are in this series. (I will keep from publishing the comments until the contest is over so everyone has a fair chance!)

For additional entries

• Follow my blog publicly (that's the only way I can verify) if you already follow publicly just comment with that and your blogger id.
• Subscribe to my feed, if you already subscribe just mention that you already do.
• Write a post and link back to this contest on your blog.
• Spread the word to your friends via twitter and leave your username with the link.

US Residents ages 13+ only please.

Contest ends on February 14, 2009 at 10:00 am cst.
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Genius has three ideas for career opportunities that she would like to explore for her future.

The first one is engineering. She is interested in getting a degree to be able to use that to design roller coasters, and if that fun job doesn't pan out, maybe just bridges (lol!). She will be attending a one day seminar at the state college in March to get a better idea of what an engineer actually does. That should be fun!

The second is to be adept at computer networking. That hardly surprised me. Hubby has had three computers networked and running since she was old enough to walk and talk (meaning she has had her own, since the day she was able to use it). Watching Daddy disassemble, insert memory/hard drives/dvd drives etc, and reassemble the computer is a daily activity around here.

The third one is to become a graphic designer. Again this didn't shock us. If she isn't drawing with paper and pencils, she's drawing on the computer. Last year I bought myself Photoshop Elements to do digital scrapbooking with, and Genius promptly absconded with the discs to load them on her computer so she could draw with it.

She designed the above book cover, for a language arts assignment, after we read the book Frindle. She was tasked with drawing an alternate cover that would explain the book. If you've ever read it, I think she did a great job, how about you?

In any case, I'm too cheap to look for any other programs for her to fiddle with at the moment. They can be very expensive, and some aren't user friendly. We've checked out some of the downloadable free ware programs, but again, either they're not easy to learn or don't have the options she's looking for.

Core Learning (who incidentally was a part of the TOS Crew Marketing Campaign, but I never received a product from them to review), has a program called Corefx Level 3, that looks perfect for what Genius aspires to do with her graphic designing.

A fellow TOS Crewer, has a giveaway on her blog for this software, courtesy of Core Learning, the deadline to enter is Friday, January 9th at Midnight CST. If you are interested in winning, head on over to Freely Educate!
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