What's for Dinner - Crockpot Spaghetti

It's Wednesday again and I'm sharing what we are having for dinner.... tonight it is one of our very FAVORITES! It is also probably the EASIEST meal I make. You can make a whole bunch and put leftovers in the freezer and then pull it out on a night when you just don't feel like cooking. Ever have one of those nights?

We love spaghetti, and ever since my friend, Melissa, made this for us one cold night in North Carolina I've always made my spaghetti in the crockpot. It just doesn't taste good to us otherwise. It must have something to do with the fact that it cooks all day and really makes the flavors come out.... and the house smells really good all day.

Here goes -

Crockpot Spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef (I usually double this)
1 large jar (2 jars if you're doubling) of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I usually buy whatever is the cheapest!)
minced garlic
tablespoon sugar
chopped onions (I used the minced onions you find in the spices aisle)

Brown the ground beef and onions. Put in crockpot and pour sauce over top. Add a little minced garlic and sugar. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. YUM!!!
Serve over cooked noodles.

*I have no formal recipe for this written down, and every time I make it I change it a bit, so feel free to play with the recipe.

Enjoy ~ leave me a comment and let me know what's for dinner in your house tonight!

Also.... if you like the recipes each week and want to grab the "What's For Dinner" button (available on my sidebar) to put on your site, feel free! I would love to turn this Wednesday post into a linky, but am waiting until after our vacation in mid February to do so.... it's a learning curve thing - if I have to learn one more thing right now my head might just explode!!

Mastering the Times Tables

Way back in the beginning of the year, I stated it was my goal to make math more FUN. I haven't forgotten that goal. I'm not sure that my nine year old thinks math is "fun", but she doesn't think it's the drudgery it used to be. My six year old can't get enough of math. He has a brain for numbers and is obsessed with time, money - it's great, but it kind of drives his sister crazy!

I'm also discovering I have two very different learners. My son learns by hearing something and this is just about enough for him. My daughter has to have more repetition/drill and also enjoys working with her hands. Homeschooling is awesome because it allows me to tailor math to their specific learning style.

We have almost mastered the times tables through 12. I have a couple of resources and games which have really helped that I'd like to share. If you have something that works for your children, please leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Multiplication Mountain CD by Hap Palmer -- the times tables set to music. When my little guy recalls his multiplication facts he sings them to me. I'm not kidding. All it took was a week of listening to this in the van and he had it. This is obviously the way he learns.

Multiplication Wrap-Ups - we used these for addition and subtraction. My daughter likes these because she loves to work with her hands. This is obviously the way she learns.

Egg carton game for math facts -- I got this idea from a Mathtacular video that came with some Sonlight curriculum. The whole video is great and has lots of ideas that are easy to implement. Here's how you play: get an empty egg carton and number the compartments with the numbers 1-12 with a Sharpie. Put two beans or counters (we used marbles) in the carton and SHAKE!

Open the carton and whatever two numbers your counters rest in determines your math fact. For example -- counters land in 11 and 10, my kids say "11 times 10 is 110". You can use this for addition and subtraction, too. They REALLY liked this game.

Coloring 100s charts with whatever multiples you want your child to learn - print some 100s charts from this site and have your child color accordingly. It seems that 7s and 12s are tough for us, so I've had the kids color in the multiples of those so they can see the patterns. For example, your child would color 7,14,21,28,35, etc.... all the way up to 84 on their 100s chart and then see if there is a pattern that emerges.

Drill, drill, drill!
I know there is a school of thought that says don't worry about drilling, but I am in charge of my kids' education and I know they will know it if I drill them and drill them daily. Mean momma, right?

That's it for multiplication? Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear from you!

I am participating in a blog hop today over at ABC & 123 Learning Cooperative. Looks like there are some great ideas, so check them out! And, as always, I'm linking to the wonderful Hip Homeschool Hop!