My Rocketmom Adventures
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Being a Rocketmom is an adventure!
So what is a Rocketmom? The Rocketmoms are women who come from all parts of the world and gather together online to complete special Rocketmom challenges. Those challenges usually involve creating and publishing pages (called lenses) on Squidoo. We are given assignments to write about particular topics, along with some hints as to how to complete them. Sometimes we may find one or two of those topics to be out of our comfort zone, but usually we're able to pull through and complete the assignment anyway. Correction: Usually we're able to master the assignment! Oftentimes, the assignments that seem the hardest for us end up producing the best lenses! Maybe it's because they make us really work and think! It's an adventure indeed, full of learning and fun. Although I've already graduated from Rocketmom's once before, I decided to return to take some more of the Rocketmom challenges during session 12. Would you like to hear about my adventures with the Rocketmoms?
About Me
This is my kids and me at Stonehenge in 2008.
I have to tell ya: This week we discovered that my son is no longer the shortest one in the family!
Assignment 1: Create A Squidoo Lens About Ourselves
Our first Rocketmom assignment was to create a page that told something about us. It could be about our job, our kids, one of our hobbies, our favorite book or movie, or a recipe that we really enjoy. It could be about anything that let the reader know a bit more about us!
Because the Giant Squids (The Giant Squids is a group of authors on Squidoo who have created at least 50 really great Squidoo pages) had been given a quest to make a 2011 goals lens, I decided to complete that quest and also use it as my Rocketmom's assignment. After all, a list of my goals for 2011 is very much about me!
At the same time, I also created a lens of goal setting tips. I was originally planning to put the list of my own goals, along with the goal setting tips, on the same page, but decided to separate them because I felt the resulting page would be too long. You'll find a link to both of those pages below.
Because the Giant Squids (The Giant Squids is a group of authors on Squidoo who have created at least 50 really great Squidoo pages) had been given a quest to make a 2011 goals lens, I decided to complete that quest and also use it as my Rocketmom's assignment. After all, a list of my goals for 2011 is very much about me!
At the same time, I also created a lens of goal setting tips. I was originally planning to put the list of my own goals, along with the goal setting tips, on the same page, but decided to separate them because I felt the resulting page would be too long. You'll find a link to both of those pages below.
Let's Get Niche
Reading and Spelling Games Kids Will Love!
Assignment 2: Create a Super, Super Niche Lens
Our second assignment was to think of the things that we enjoy doing and/or are good at, and then narrow down that topic to create a super niche lens. Bonnie wanted us to get familiar with, as well as use, Squidoo's new sub-sub categories.
I have a Masters degree in early childhood education, and have taught in a variety of settings, including public school, 4 year old preschool, and a home based preschool when my kids were 3. I am currently homeschooling my son and also teaching him and others in a homeschool co-op. So...I decided to put that experience to use as I created my niche lens. I wrote about fun, yet educational, games to help kids practice their reading. I believe learning should be both hands on, and fun, rather than just one boring worksheet after the other!
I have a Masters degree in early childhood education, and have taught in a variety of settings, including public school, 4 year old preschool, and a home based preschool when my kids were 3. I am currently homeschooling my son and also teaching him and others in a homeschool co-op. So...I decided to put that experience to use as I created my niche lens. I wrote about fun, yet educational, games to help kids practice their reading. I believe learning should be both hands on, and fun, rather than just one boring worksheet after the other!
Less is More
Blue and Yellow Macaws:
Can They Really Talk?
Assignment 3: Less is More
My Blue and Yellow Macaws lens was awarded a purple star!
Wow, this assignment was hard. We had to create a Squidoo page without using any additional html. We were instructed to just use what the Squidoo modules provide - and that's it! Sure, it'd seem like this would be an easy thing indeed, but when you're use to using html to resize and position photos on a page, it's hard to do without it. It basically meant all my photos had to be in one of two positions on the page, and that I couldn't vary the size of them. They were either on the left and somewhat small, or in the middle and huge!
Here's where it gets interesting though. The photos for the original topic I selected were vertical photos and simply looked too big in the big photo text module (you had to scroll down the page to see just one photo!), and without html, that's where they had to be if I wanted them centered on the page. After struggling with it for a while, I ended up changing to a new topic. I found a couple of photos we took of Blue and Yellow Macaws at a zoo in Nassau and decided I wanted to learn more about them. The more I learned about these fabulous birds, the more I grew in love with the topic!
One thing I discovered was that some parrots are actually learning how to communicate with people. They aren't just mimicking us, as humans have so long believed. They can put words together to make new thoughts. "Yellow" + "food" = banana, to a bird named Alex that saw one and wanted it, but hadn't yet learned the name! I find this absolutely fascinating! My Blue and Yellow Macaws page has now become one of my top favorites!
Here's where it gets interesting though. The photos for the original topic I selected were vertical photos and simply looked too big in the big photo text module (you had to scroll down the page to see just one photo!), and without html, that's where they had to be if I wanted them centered on the page. After struggling with it for a while, I ended up changing to a new topic. I found a couple of photos we took of Blue and Yellow Macaws at a zoo in Nassau and decided I wanted to learn more about them. The more I learned about these fabulous birds, the more I grew in love with the topic!
One thing I discovered was that some parrots are actually learning how to communicate with people. They aren't just mimicking us, as humans have so long believed. They can put words together to make new thoughts. "Yellow" + "food" = banana, to a bird named Alex that saw one and wanted it, but hadn't yet learned the name! I find this absolutely fascinating! My Blue and Yellow Macaws page has now become one of my top favorites!
Try a Theme Week
American Girl Dolls, and Other Gifts Girls Will Love!
Assignment 4: Try One of the New Squidoo Themes
Giving the pink Bubble Gum Theme a try!
The assignment for week 4, was to create a lens inspired by one of Squidoo's new themes, New York, Squid Grid, Big Lucid, or Bubble Gum. It was suggested that we not just create a lens on that theme, but one specificly geared toward that theme, such as doing a lens on Pink Flamingos on the pink "Bubble Gum" lens. I had a hard time deciding what to do with this one, but since it was near Valentine's Day, I ended up using the pink Bubble Gum theme for a lens on gifts for girls. I focused on four main types of gifts: pink and white webkins, American Girl dolls, puzzles, and craft kits. I had a lot of fun taking photos of pink webkins! I already had several photos of my daughter doing crafts, putting together puzzles, and posing with her American girls dolls, so I used those as well.
Travel
Rothenburg Germany: A Charming Medieval Village!
Assignment 5: Create a Travel Related Lens
My Rothenburg Germany lens won a purple star!
Our 5th assignment was to create a travel related lens. In the summer of 2008, my family spent three weeks in Europe. I had already created a lens on two of the places we visited: Venice and Manarola (part of the Italian Riviera), but had been wanting to create some more lenses from that fabulous vacation, so I was thrilled to see this week's assignment! I completed the travel lens assignment with my page about our visit to Rothenburg, Germany. I turned this lens in for a Giant Squid quest too, and was delighted to be awarded a purple star for it!!
Happy Valentine's Day
Dessert Lens
Double Decker Strawberry, Banana, and Chocolate Dessert Crepes
Assignment 6: Create a Red, Pink, Or White Dessert
With Hearts!
The day before Valentine's Day, Bonnie gave us the assignment of crafting a dessert lens. In honor of Valentine's Day, we were asked to focus on hearts, as well as the colors red, pink, and white.
I decided to complete this dessert challenge with a special holiday crepe recipe. I already have lenses on both savory and sweet crepes, and so it wasn't hard to come up with a new red and white crepe recipe. I just used strawberries and powdered sugar! To make them look extra fancy, for an extra special holiday occasion, I created double decker crepes. That's two filled crepes stacked one on top of the other!
I made and photographed several different crepes with the same basic filling, but topped in unique ways. Some were covered in extra strawberries, others in powdered sugar or nuts. In keeping with the heart theme, I even put a red heart, made from icing gel, on top of one.
Believe me, my family didn't mind a bit my completing this Squidoo Rocketmom assignment!!! My son's been begging for more Double Decker Strawberry, Banana, and Chocolate crepes ever since!
I decided to complete this dessert challenge with a special holiday crepe recipe. I already have lenses on both savory and sweet crepes, and so it wasn't hard to come up with a new red and white crepe recipe. I just used strawberries and powdered sugar! To make them look extra fancy, for an extra special holiday occasion, I created double decker crepes. That's two filled crepes stacked one on top of the other!
I made and photographed several different crepes with the same basic filling, but topped in unique ways. Some were covered in extra strawberries, others in powdered sugar or nuts. In keeping with the heart theme, I even put a red heart, made from icing gel, on top of one.
Believe me, my family didn't mind a bit my completing this Squidoo Rocketmom assignment!!! My son's been begging for more Double Decker Strawberry, Banana, and Chocolate crepes ever since!
Popular Themed Toys
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Assignment 7: Write about a Popular Themed Toy
For week 7, our assignment was to write about a popular Themed Toy. I decided to write about Clifford the Big Red Dog. I took some photos of our Clifford the Big Red Dog, and reread a bunch of the Clifford the Big Red Dog books! Clifford is such a lovable dog, even though he often finds himself in trouble of some type or another!
Craft Week
A Collection of Christmas Crafts
& How To Make Them!
Homemade Christmas Ornaments
Our assignment for week 8 was to create a crafting lens. We could use the crafting, scrapbooking, or crocheting, knitting, or sewing sub categories, to house our new lens.
I poured through all the homemade ornaments in our Christmas decorations box, and selected several to share with you! For each, I"ve provided full directions, or at least hints, for how to go about making them yourself. Hope you have fun and your ornaments bring you a lifetime of joy!
I poured through all the homemade ornaments in our Christmas decorations box, and selected several to share with you! For each, I"ve provided full directions, or at least hints, for how to go about making them yourself. Hope you have fun and your ornaments bring you a lifetime of joy!
Rocketmom Angel
I'm a Squidoo Angel!
Part of my Rocketmom adventure was accepting the challenge of becoming a temporarily Angel for a week...which turned into two weeks, which turned into a month. At that point I was invited to accept a permanent position as the Homeschooling Angel!
The first Angel lens I created was for any topic. When I was asked to become the homeschooling angel, I created a new lens for that assignment.
The first Angel lens I created was for any topic. When I was asked to become the homeschooling angel, I created a new lens for that assignment.
Other Lenses I Completed During Rocketmoms Session 12
Learning Physics, History, and More with Catapults!
A Unit Study on Catapults
Before the Rocketmoms session 12 started, I had begun work on a educational lens on catapults. During the Rocketmom's session, I found very little time for any other work on Squidoo, other than updating my current lenses. But, not too long ago, I finally found some time to finish my catapult lens. It's not a Rocketmom lens...but since it was still part of my adventure during session 12, I've included it here.
My Rocketmom Articles
- My Personal Goals
- This "About Me" page is a collection of some of my personal goals, and my progress in achieving them!
- Reach For The Stars: Personal Goal Setting Tips
- This page is full of tips on setting your own goals!
- Playful Ways to Help Children With Reading And Spelling
- This article mentions several games and activities that help kids improve their reading and spelling skills in a fun and enjoyable way! Also included is a recommendation for people (of any age) with dyslexia.
- Blue and Gold Macaws and African Grey Parrots: Can They Really Talk?
- I had so much fun researching this topic and writing this article! Animal behavior has always been a special interest of mine, so reading about birds who are actually communicating with their owners, rather than just parroting words back, was fascinating to me!!
- Craft Kits, Puzzles, American Girl Dolls, Webkinz, and Other Gifts Girls Will Love!
- This page is full of gifts for girls! American Girl Dolls and Accessories, craft kits, puzzles, webkinz, and more! I've personalized the page with pictures of my daughter making crafts, doing puzzles, etc.
- Rothenburg, Germany: A Charming Medieval Village!
- Love German architecture? You'll love this article, full of photos and information from our trip to Rothenburg, Germany!
- Double-Decker Strawberry, Banana, and Chocolate Crepes!
- This page, created for Valentine's Day, contains a recipe for Double Decker Strawberry, Banana, and Chocolate crepes! Yummmm!
- Clifford, The Big Red Dog: Books, Games, Plush, Toys, DVDs and Costumes!
- Children love Clifford! This page is a collection of some great Clifford the Big Red Dog products! Also included is a fun quiz on the Clifford stories!
- Making Homemade Christmas Ornaments: Cinnamon Ornaments, Candy Cane Reindeer, Beaded Ornaments, and More!
- This homemade Christmas Ornaments page was a lot of fun to create as well! All the ornaments you see on it are ones from my family's Christmas tree! Included, of course, are the directions for how to make them!
- Angel Blessings On Squidoo
- I became a Squid Angel while in this section of Rocketmoms, and so I created a page to list the lenses I gave blessings to.
- The Best Homeschool Resources And Lessons!
- This page is a collection of some of the best homeschooling resources and lessons on Squidoo!
- Learning Physics, History, and More with Catapults!
- This catapult unit study is a lot of fun! It includes lessons from a variety of subjects (history, science, critical thinking, etc). It's lots of fun to build your own catapult! Free miniature catapult building directions are provided!
Comments?
What do you think of my Rocketmom adventures? I'd love to hear from you!
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BarbRad Feb 16, 2012 @ 2:55 pm | delete
- I miss RocketMoms. I learned a lot, but the best part was getting to know the other RocketMoms and having a homebase within the huge Squidoo ocean.
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OhMe Feb 16, 2012 @ 9:08 am | delete
- Rocktmoms sure was a great experience and a lot of work. I love your Rocketmom lensography.
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hysongdesigns
Dec 22, 2011 @ 8:06 am | delete
- I have thought about doing the Rocketmoms, but I'm afraid I don't have enough hours in a day as it is and I wouldn't be able to meet the deadlines. Looks like you had a lot of fun and were very productive though!
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ajgodinho Mar 12, 2011 @ 10:37 am | delete
- Fun RM adventures lens you created here. Great variety of lenses and topics. I agree with Tipi, you're a perfect fit for a Homeschooling Squid Angel! :)
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- Just came back to give this lens a...**Lucky Leprechaun Blessing**
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GiftsBonanza
Mar 7, 2011 @ 8:04 am | delete
- Such great lenses and particularly enjoyed the one about Rothenburg, it seems such an enchanting place
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jmsp206 Mar 6, 2011 @ 8:08 pm | delete
- This is a lovely lens!
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Tipi
Mar 6, 2011 @ 2:17 pm | delete
- You're a permanent Homeschooling Angel, what a perfect fit for you. I just visited several of your Rocket Mom Challenge lenses and each one is a delight.
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Want to Read More?
~ Visit this list of all my recipes, articles, and webpages on Squidoo. ~
You'll find pages on raising Painted Lady butterflies, tadpoles & frogs, shadow puppets, parrots who can really talk, vegetarian recipes, crepe recipes, Venice, Rothenburg Germany, The Italian Riviera, homeschooling, a catapult unit study, fun reading and math games, goal setting tips, spiritual pregnancy experiences, Connestee Waterfall, Clifford The Big Red Dog, high school biology labs, and more!
Visit my blog, Laughing, Loving, & Learning, on vegetarian recipes, homeschooling activities, and more!
Copyright © 2012.
Contact Me
About Janiece
© 2012 Janiece Tobey. All rights reserved.
Page last updated 6/3/12.
Page last updated 6/3/12.
by Janiece
Hi! I'm an author, a vegetarian, and a homeschooling mom. I'm currently writing a book about various types of spiritual experiences women often report... more »
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