Budding Authors & 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar

If you have been a LSG reader for any length of time, you have probably heard me mention that we struggle with writing.  For the most part, my girls can be pretty reluctant writers.  They are good with grammar, but I think they just lack confidence with writing.

Joyce Herzog's Budding Authors Series and 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar, a review we received from the TOS Crew, seemed like just the thing to get us going. 

Let me tell you a little about the series. The Budding Author series is a five book series that takes students from copywork and dictation to writing their own stories, researching topics and writing reports.  The books are not grade specific, you would just use the book that best suits where your student currently is with their writing. 

• Step Into Writing ($10) is the first book in this series.  It starts off gently by introducing dictation of simple stories, copywork and then "experiencing the story," which is when the child dictates their story for someone else to write down for them.This book also includes helpful checklists that remind students to capitalize, and check their spelling and puntuation.  
• Step On Into Writing ($10), the second book in the series, continues with the same format as book one, this time adding in vocabulary and "Write Your Own Story" pages.
• Adventuring In Writing ($10), which is book three, is a bit different then the first two books.  Here students see a picture, are given questions and a word bank to draw from.  This book encourages students to think more on their own.  
• Then and Now ($12), the fourth book, focuses on writing paragraph.  Indenting is automatic with built in indentions on the page.  This book includes pictures from the early 20th century, students are encouraged to compare then and now.  Then and Now helps students to develop thinking skills while learning to write paragraphs.  
• Writing US History ($15) is the final book in the series.  This level takes students through US History while teaching them research and writing skills.  Students write about topics such as Pilgrims, Patrick Henry, George Washington, the Gold Rush and the Roaring Twenties. 

 

6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar ($12) is a small, yet meaty, booklet that gives a compressive overview of grammar.  This book covers topics such as parts of a sentence, nouns, pronouns, prepositional phrases, capitalization rules, spelling rules, verbs and irregualr verbs.   

This is not a traditional grammar workbook.  It follows the teaching style from many years ago, state it simply and give an example.  This little gem helps to make grammar concepts clear in a very simple fashion. 

What we thought:

I found that I really liked this whole series, it is quite the breath of fresh air from many grammar and writing books I have seen.  Very Charlotte Mason friendly in my opinion, the lessons are short and to the point. The books have a gentle start and progression.  

The assignments are not overwhelming for the student (or for mom), but they are enough to get them thinking and writing.

I think that the Writing US History was my favorite book in the series. I like that it starts the students out with a picture and several key words, the student then has to go research based on the keywords given and write about their findings. For instance, one assignment shows a picture of the state of California, a man on horseback and 2 men panning for gold. The keywords for the assignment are 1849, Gold Discovered and California. Not only are they writing, but they are learning able the California Gold Rush.

Joyce Herzog is a veteran teacher that has many products helpful to homeschoolers. The TOS Crew

Members reviewed several of her products, click here to check out their reviews. 

The books that I have reviewed, as well as Joyce's other homeschool products are available directly through her web store.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App

Over the years I have heard great things about the McGuffey readers series. Many moms have successfully used this set to teach their little ones to read. It wasn't until recently that I got to check them out for myself.

LiteracySoft has taken a tried and true McGuffey reader, and turned it into an interactive phonics and reading app.  The Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App is a complete beginner level phonics and reading program.

I loved this quote from LiteracySoft's website....

“The generations which made America rich and great all grew up reading the McGuffey's Readers.”

The goal of the program is to bring the user to a 1st grade reading level. The App consists of 53 Lessons that are based off of the McGuffey Eclectic Primer, which has been successfully used for over a century. 

Each lesson has several different activities to help students learn, as well as retain letter sounds and words. There is plenty of reading and spelling practice in the program, but with enough variety to keep it fun and exciting. The program is flexible, allowing students to work at their own pace, and even repeat lessons when necessary.

According to LiteracySoft's Website, this app includes:

• All 53 McGuffey Primer lessons

• All 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes

• 60+ letter sound animations

• 400+ practice word vocabulary

• 9000+ nonsense word audio dictionary

Here are a few pictures of this app is action....

By dragging the letters into the Phonics Blender, students practice spelling words.

Illustrations through out the lessons add interest to the stories.

Here you can see the different activities in the lessons....

This activity was probably our favorite! You are asked to build (or load) a word, after you have spelled the word correctly the truck drives off.  Pretty cute!

 

Little Bits, my Pre-K'er, was my guinea pig for this review.  He seemed to do pretty well with it. I think t hat for him, the progession of learning the letters and words was just right.  I do feel that this is something that I need to be near by to keep a watch on what he is getting and not getting.  This way I know what he needs to repeat.  

For the most part, I was pretty impressed.  I do wish that the app keep track of what they have mastered and what they haven't.  We plan to continue to use this as a supplemental activity.  

You can purchase the Phonics and Reading with McGuffey app for $19.99  It is currently available for your PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone.  We use ours on the iPad.  

LiteracySoft also offers a Lite version of this app.  They give you the first 10 lessons to try for FREE!

Check out what other Schoolhouse Review Crew members are saying about this app! 

A Journey Through Learning {Review}

 

As a home school mom I have learned that learning doesn't have to be boring.  I love finding new ways to make learning interesting, as well as enjoyable! There are several ways to do this, two of my favorites things to do are add lapbooks and unit studies. 

Recently, we were given four downloadable products from A Journey Through Learning for review.  Here's the line up of what we received:

Letters, Numbers and Shapes Lapbook (ages 3-5)

The Earth Lapbook (grades 1-4)

Knights and Castles Lapbook and Learning Guide (grades 2-7)

Astronomy and Space Unit Study (grades 2-7)

 

 

 

        

 

 

After looking them over, I decided to do Letters, Numbers, and Shapes with Little Bits, my four year old. Can I just tell you I can hardly think of a time that I have seen a kid so excited to do school! Literally, every single morning my little guy would faithfully bring me his workbox of supplies so we work on his lapbook. 

Through the Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook we got to learn and trace each letter, as well as search magazines for pictures to go with each letter. We practiced counting and tracing numbers. There was even a memory game that we got to make and play, then store in the lapbook. We went over shapes and what shapes different objects are.  We also got in a pretty good amount of practice with our cutting skills.

 

 

Here are some of the letters we traced and cut out pictures for.  You can also see the pictures used to describe the different shapes.  

 

 

More letters!  There is a counting booklet where we were able to trace numbers and number words in.  You can also see the cards to a matching game we got to play.

 

I was pretty impressed that there were even games, activities, poems and book suggestions included!

 

 

Little Bits really enjoyed all the cutting and gluing that he got to do.  He especially liked the ice cream cone, bubble gum machine and fire truck for the shapes portion of the lapbook.  This lapbook has become his favorite things to!  I think that the variety of letters, numbers, shapes and games really helped to hold his interest. 

I thought that the Letters, Numbers and Shapes lapbook, as well as the other lapbooks, were very well laid out and had a good number of components with each of them.  There is enough content for a child to learn, yet not so much that they get overwhelmed and bored. 

Even if you have never done a lapbook before I recommend giving it a try.  They are lots of fun and the kids love to show them off and retell (narrate) what they have learned.  When I first saw them I was a little intimidated but really it is just like scrapbooking.  Here is a quick video on what lapbooks are and how to do them.

 

See, it's easy!

 

 

I would most definitely recommend the lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning!  They offer tons of different lapbooks on all kinds of different topics at affordable prices.  All of the lapbooks that we received are available for instant download for $13.00.  There are several lapbooks that are even available for just $1.00!

Check out what other TOS Crew members have to say about A Journey Through Learning's lapbooks and unit studies!

Character First - A Character Training Curriculum {Review}

I am always trying to instill good character values in my children.  I firmly believe that it is up to parents to teach and train our children, the results of course are up to the Lord. 

 

In saying that, I am always on the look out for books, videos and curriculum to help us along the way.   I was very excited when I came across a little gem called Character First!

 

Character First is a wonderful user friendly character training curriculum that can be used in a classroom or family setting.  The curriculum is divided into a 4 part series covering 36 character traits.  Here is the break down of what character traits are covered in each series:

 

Series 1: Attentiveness, Obedience, Truthfulness, Gratefulness, Generosity, Orderliness, Forgiveness, Sincerity, Virtue

Series 2: Responsibility, Patience, Initiative, Self-Control, Punctuality, Resourcefulness, Tolerance, Creativity, Discretion

Series 3: Diligence, Loyalty, Hospitality, Sensitivity, Enthusiasm, Flexibility, Discernment, Cautiousness, Boldness

Series 4: Dependability, Thoroughness, Determination, Thriftiness, Availability, Deference, Compassion, Persuasiveness, Wisdom

 

We were blessed with the Series 1 elementary materials from Character First, which included:

 

The Series 1 Elementary Teacher's Guide - 3 ring binder with lesson plans, coloring sheets, historical and nature stories, crafts, songs and memory work for each of the 9 character traits in this series.  This is the meat and potatoes of the curriculum. 
 
 

 
Character Cards - These 9 little cards, the size of a baseball card, have been great for us.  They fit right into our memory box for daily review of the trait we are currently working on, as well as the the ones we have previously done.
 
 

 
Student Guide Collection - We received the elementary guides for each of the traits in Series 1.  These are individual guides for the kids that include stories and activities.  The kids can write in them, color the nature picture and keep them in their own notebooks.  I was glad that these were included.  My kids enjoy these and are always excited to get a new.
 

 

Nature Mini Posters - These are 8.5"x11"mini posters.  There is a set for each series, each one contains of the 9 character traits.  Each mini poster corresponds with the nature lesson.  There is a beautiful picture of the animal and character trait on the front and the nature story on the back.  I laminated each of these because the are so nice.  I hang them up as we work through them.
 
 

 

Classroom Demonstration DVD - These DVDs help to teach kids the songs, memory work, hand motions and nature stories from each character trait.  There is a 5 DVD set to go along with each series.  This is an essential part of the program, in my opinion.  My kids really get a lot out of these videos, it helps to cement what we are learning from the teacher's guide. They LOVE to do the memory work, hand motions and sing the songs in the DVD lessons.  (Mama likes the teacher tips!)
 

Let me take you through one of the character traits. When studying Truthfulness the teacher guide explains the definition, an illustration, ideas for application and about how to praise kids for being truthful. 

 

You are given the I Wills of Truthfulness.  I will:

• tell the truth.
• encourage others to tell the truth.
• not cheat or steal.
• admit it when I am wrong.
• not exaggerate to make things seem different than what they are.

 

Next we read about lions. We learned that lions are truthful about how they feel, and show it with their mouth, tail and posture. Then we read two stories about a boy in Africa that wanted to prove his courage by killing a lion, one was true and one was false. We had to figure out which was which was which. Then we read about Abe Lincoln, now we know why he is called Honest Abe.  

 

Some of the other activities included in the truthfulness unit are:

 

• Truthfulness Mural craft that illustrate the five I Wills
• Definition Scramble
• If You're Truthful and You Know It... Song
• Truthfulness crossword puzzle
• Geese Fly game
• Memory Work poem,
• Truthful Lion craft
• Notes of Truth Project
• The Pocket Watch Story & Craft
• Pass It On game
• Lion picture to color

 

Then watched the DVD and used the mini posters and character cards for further reinforcement of Truthfulness.

 

 

The Pros: 

I really love this curriculum, they are like mini unit studies! I think what makes this curriculum great is that there are several activities for each character trait.  There is repetition, yet there is variety.  Certain things you go over and over, like the memory work and the hand motions, but there are other things that add variety.  The games, videos, stories, crafts and coloring keep the children interested and having fun all while building character. 

 

I feel that the teachers guide is very simple, straight forward and easy to implement.  I have had no problems or concerns with this curriculum. 

 

Character First is a great tool to build character for families.  Our children range in age from 4-12 and while we only reviewed the elementary series, I felt it was a good fit for everyone.  I will also keep in mind that they do offer the student guides for older kids. 

 

The nature and history stories are captivating.  The kids and I have enjoyed every single one that we have read so far.  

 

The Cons:

This is really not a con, more of a suggestion.  I do wish that CF incorporated Bible stories and scripture into the curriculum.  An add on booklet with scripture suggestions to go with each character trait would be an awesome addition to the program.  I have added in some scripture myself, which no big deal. 

UPDATE:  When I inquired about this, they pointed me to some resources for biblical content that related to the character qualities. Yay!   

Conclusion:

I highly recommend Character First.  I plan on continuing to use Character First with my children, hopefully through the whole series.  It is a great addition to our studies, and I can see the fruit from using it. 

 

 

We received the above mentioned Character First materials at no charge to us in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Time 4 Writing {TOS CREW}

For the last 4 weeks or so the Lil' Chef has been using a new program for writing.  She has been doing an online writing course with Time 4 Writing. 

Time 4 Writing offers several different writing courses for students in grades 2-12.  The Lil' Chef took the Middle School Writing Mechanics.  Here is how Time 4 Writing describes this course:

This eight-week course is the first of two courses focusing on "boosting the basics" at the middle school level.

Basic Mechanics A allows students to strengthen their foundation writing skills. The course teaches the fundamentals of writing such as: sentences vs. fragments, subjects and predicates, subject-verb agreement, and capitalization. 

The class is completely online and she was given 8 weeks of access to complete the course.  I never did tell her how long she had to complete the course {smile}, she is pretty motivated to get her work done, so I didn't think it would be an issue.  Time 4 Writing does list a 4 and 8 week suggested schedule that the student can follow but the she just worked at her own pace. 

The Middle School Mechanics Course covered the following topics:

1. The Sentence, The Fragment and The Run-on
2. Nouns, Nouns and More Nouns!
3. Subjects of a Sentence
4. Predicates of a Sentence
5. Subject - Verb Agreement in a Sentence
6. "Tricky" Subject - Verb Agreement
7. Capitalization
8. Sum it ALL UP!

The Lil' Chef enjoyed the assignments, although they were challenging.  She is the Perfect Paula type, and thrives on good grades.  She liked that when she had mistakes on an assignment she would be able to get feedback from her teacher and make the necessary corrections.  I also liked this feature of the program, the focus seems to be more about mastery than a grade.

As I mentioned, she has been doing this program for about 4 weeks and only has one more assignment left.  I think that the Time 4 Writing course has helped her to improve her writing skills. 

Here are the specific things that the Lil' Chef said she liked about Time 4 Writing:

I like getting graded. {told ya}
I like that everything is on the computer, including my writing assignments.
I am excited to get a certificate for completing the program. 
Time 4 Writing really helped me to better understand the difference between simple and complete predicates.
I liked having a teacher to explain this things I got wrong.
I liked that I could work at my own pace.

Mom's Thoughts:
I thought that over all Time 4 Writing was a good solid program.  For some reason I thought that Time 4 Writing was a teacher/ video class kind of thing, which it is not.  Not saying this is a bad thing, just not what I expected.  Basically, the student reads over the lesson and then completes the assignment online.  The teacher then grades and gives feedback on a job well done or corrections that need to be made. 

Even though the teacher is not teaching via video, they are just a message away if there are any questions from the student or parent.  The was a big plus for in my book!  The Lil' Chef really didn't have any questions regarding the work but on one of her assignments she received like a 90 - 95% on the paper but there were not remarks on what she missed.  I thought that was a little odd, usually the teacher, Mrs. Gilg, was very good at explaining Lil' Chef's mistakes.  I told my daughter to message her and ask what she missed to get the grade she got, because it appeared to be a perfect paper.  She was a little reluctant but I encouraged her to write the message.  The teacher wrote back and apologized that she had indeed clicked the wrong button, she immediately corrected the grade to 100%.  The Lil' Chef, of course, was THRILLED! 

I also liked the fact that she was getting feedback from a teacher that had more grammar and writing knowledge then me.  Did I mention that I received an email after each assignment that the Lil' Chef completed and got graded?  I really liked this feature, it helped to keep me in the loop. 

We were very happy with this program and would love to enroll in the another course soon!

The Time 4 Writing Courses are 8 weeks long and cost $99.00.  The courses range from Elementary to Adult Level.  Time 4 Writing even offers a guide to help you to select which course would be best for your student.

Please check out what other members of the TOS Crew have to say about Time 4 Writing. 

Disclaimer:  This product was given to us at no cost in exchange for an honest review. 

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Our School/ Play Room

My little guy was sick yesterday, so I am a day late on my post...

I thought the best way to do this post would be in pictures.  Lots of pictures.  I know that when I am looking for new ideas for our learning spaces, the best way for me to get ideas is by pictures.  I am going to show you our school room, as well as the other learning spaces in our home.  So here we go...

We have been blessed to have a school/play room right off of the kitchen.  Funny thing is that we rarely school in there, at least not together.  The kids do independent studies in here and they also play in there.

This is the school side of the room.  Trust me, it is only this neat and tidy because everyone is in bed {smile}.  I do, for my own sanity, try to have it organized nicely and train the kids to put things in their place when they are finished with them.  Some of them are still in training.

A couple of years ago, we invested in two of the Expedit shelving units from Ikea.  B E S T -  P U R C H A S E - E V E R ! ! !  The unit on on the left house our history, chapter, geography and art books.  The other unit holds our picture books, early readers, Bible based, math and phonics stuff.  I try to organize these together in the different cubies. 

The small shelve to the right, you know the one with the fancy ivy stencil on it {what was I thinking!} is for science books. 

The table was a $10 yardsale find.  I painted the top of it with chalk board paint.  The kids really like it.  One time we even traced Alpha Boy on there and then added organs for health. 

That awesomely ugly and uncomfortable couch was freeeee on Craigslist.  It kinda grows on ya after a while. 

This is the play room side of the room.  Again, I try to keep things sorted, for the most part anyway.

Those small containers, the ones with the pink and green lids were from the dollar store.  They hold magnetos, finger puppets, little people, plastic animals, Laurie Pegs and Numbers, etc.  These are handy to grab for Little Bits to do at the table or on the floor while I am working with an older child. 

There is the piano and our turtle.  Hey, anybody want a turtle?  They are really low maintenance.

I used to have a clothes line going across this back wall, but I took it down.  Little Bits and I just started making these letters from No Time For Flashcards.  I needed a spot to hang them so I just clipped them to the curtain.  I am just going to go all the way across the back wall with them.

We start our day with B&B (Bible & Breakfast) here.  I read the Bible and have my coffee while the kids eat, then we go over our memory verses.  This is where I am usually helping the kids with their independent studies, like math and language arts.  All of our art projects seem to happen here too.

The message board on the left side of the wall is an old window.  I placed scrapbook paper on the backside and write and the window panes with dry erase marker.  It has been nice to day a spot there for emergency numbers, menu plans, memory verses, blog posts, etc. 

While I was at it with that table, I went ahead and painted this little wall in our foyer.  Sometimes I will throw up a tic tac toe board, mark a spot and go on about my day.  Someone usually spots it and joins in the game. 

We have used this for math problems, hangman, spelling lists and just for fun.  I would have done this in the school room but that room has a lot of windows and limited wall space.  For those of you that are wondering what the answer to hangman is, it's JESUS SAVES!

This is our family room.  We do the majority of our reading for history, science and fun. 

That large coffee table is older than me, and was given to me by my grandma before she died. I love it and we use it every day! It is big enough for the kids to spread out and color and draw while I read. The two baskets under the table house paper and how to draw books.

I put an old map under the glass in the coffee table there last year, this has been really helpful and well used. Like when we read that Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, we can quickly locate it.

I got tired of lugging legos back and forth during the day so I took an old plastic drawer to store them in the family room.  Some of the kids will play with these while I am reading.  The clean up is much easier now.

This is where the kids use the computer for Teaching Textbooks and learning games.

This used to be where I would sit and scrapbook and stamp my nights away.  Now it is just a place to store the arts supplies for the kids : ) 

As you can see, even with a dedicated school room, we are pretty spread out. 

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Homeschool Planning

I had to laugh when I typed up the title to my post, because I always feel like I am planning.  My little OCD mind is always planning and tweaking things, or so it seems. 

Even though I always feel like I am planning, I do a major planning session in the summer prior to starting school.  It looks something like this...

First, I search and pray. 
I ask myself if the current path we have been on is working.  If not, why or what is the problem?
I think about the children and their different learning styles.
I figure out what kind of budget I have to work with. 
Since a lot of what we do revolves around our history program, I figure out what time period we will be studying.  I use this as a starting point for our main curriculum. 

Once I have it all figured out {as if that is possible} I start going over our curriculum to get a feel for our year.  Using all in one type curriculum, like Trail Guide to Learning and My Father's World, really take a lot of the guess work and planning time out of the equation.  Both of these programs are pretty much have the year laid out for you, unless you plan on tweaking something. 

I have tried planning out our whole year and writing every thing out in my little planner.  Can I just say, for the record, I only did this one time.  Praise the Lord I know better than to use pen in a homeschool planner {smile}.  Since I learned my lesson on that one, I now only plan one week at a time. 

Usually, I take some time on Sunday evening to fill out my planner and go over our material for the week.  I try to make sure I am prepared and have all our papers printed out for the week.  Planning on a weekly basis has been a much better plan for us, it allows for plans to change and life to happen.

Do you plan for the whole year at once or as you go? 

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Curriculum Plans for 2012-2013

Today I am talking about Curriculum Plans.  Am I the only one that gets a little bit stressed about this process??  Even though I have been schooling for about 7 years I still get the "am I using the right such and such program for so and so" feeling.  You would think I would just be a little bit more relaxed by now.  I am a work in progress!

I originally started this post out by saying I wasn't quite sure of all of my plans for the year, a not so great week can do that to a homeschool mom.  I have since gotten into a little bit better of a grove and reminded myself that there is usually a learning curve when starting a new curriculum.  I also had to remind myself that there is a grace period at the beginning of a new school year. 

No matter what curriculum we choose, it should not totally stress us out.  We need to not be slaves to our curriculum, but have the freedom to adjust it to our family. 

So after all of that rambling, here's what we plan on using this coming year..... drum roll please

Things we will be doing as a group:

Bible & Character
My Father's World - Exploration to 1850 - I had purchased a used copy of this prior to getting trail Guide to Learning.  i am pretty sure that we are going to us their plan for Boy Have I Got Problems by Kay Arthur, as well as their plan for memorizing the book of James. 

Character Sketches - We try to read through a few of these each week together in the evenings.  We usually read the nature stories and the kids color pictures that go along with the animal.  This is part Bible and part nature study, the pictures end up in their nature notebooks.

Character First - We are reviewing Volume 1 from Character First and so far we really like it.  So far we have been focusing on one character trait for a few weeks at a time.  Character First has songs, nature stories, historical stories, games and crafts.  The kids are really enjoying this! 

We Choose Virtues - We will continue going over these, my kids love them.


History, Science, Geography, Art, Thinking Skills
Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Exploration - The older 3 children have been all been doing the TGTL program.  My 1st grader mostly just listens, discusses, narrates and draws, although I was informed today that he wants to do the notebook pages too!  So far the literature is fabulous, you know the kind of books that your kids beg you to read more of. 

In TGTL- POE we will be studying the following units:
Unit 1 - Columbus (Carry On Mr. Bowditch)

Unit 2 - Jamestown (Pocahontas)

Unit 3 - Pilgrim (Almost Home)

Unit 4 - Daniel Boone (Sign of the Beaver)

Unit 5 - Lewis and Clark (The Captain's Dog)

Unit 6 - Trails West (Bound for Oregon)

The books that I have posted here are the middle school supplement books that my 7th grader is supposed to be reading independently but we decided to read them aloud together.  It is extra reading for me (by choice) but I am so glad to be reading Carry On Mr. Bowditch.  It is a really good book and the little guys are really enjoying it too!

For science the kids will be doing nature studies as guided from TGTL.

I really would love to get a little co op going for hands on stuff to go along with our TGTL studies.  I am praying about this and we'll see what the Lord does : )

Music
Hymn Study - we are going through different hymns this year using the book, Then Sings My Soul.
Singing - my girls love to sing.  It has been on my heart for several years now to take my kids to nursing homes to visit with the elderly patients.  Our thoughts are that the girls {and possibly one friend} are going to visit and singing to some of the patients, maybe one a month.

Life Skills
Lessons in Responsibility for Girls 1 & 2- I know it is for girls but Alpha Boys can do some of this stuff too.
Chores - Yep, my kids have them. Every day in fact.  I am continuing to teach them to cook, do laundry, vacuum, clean bathrooms, clean their room, dust and sort socks {can I get an amen to the sock sorting!}

Independent Studies -

Just to clarify, by independent I mean separate from our group studies.  Most of these things are done one on one with Mom, like math, phonics and grammar.  

There are certain things that my 4th and 7th graders do independent, meaning alone, be they will come to me with questions and for corrections.  Like with Teaching Textbooks, I am not really involved unless there is a question, technical problem or to show me a good grade.  Same thing with copy work, I am not really doing this with them, I just go over it  once they are finished.  : )


The Lil' Chef - 7th Grade

• Abeka Spelling 7 - I asked her if this year she wanted to try something different and she said no.  She loves to spell and likes the challenging words that she gets from this program.
• Teaching Textbooks 7 - This is the 2nd year we will be using TT7.  It is a great fit for her.
• Time 4 Writing
• Easy Grammar Plus
• IEW
• Apologia General Science - she is doing the experiments mostly on her own, but she gathers her siblings to watch all the cool stuff their big sis' is doing.

Computer Girl - 4th Grade

• Abeka Spelling
• Daily Grams 4
• Math Made Easy - to get those multiplication facts down.  So far so good!
• Teaching Textbooks 4 or Math U See - not 100% sure on her math yet.
• IEW - this is a maybe

Alpha Boy - 1st Grade

• Abeka Letters and Sounds K & 1- we jumped ships last April so we are finishing up the K book before we move on
• Abeka Arithmetic 1
• Handwriting - manuscript
• FIAR - mostly just using the list of books but I may grad an activity here and there

Little Bits - Pre K

• Letters - I am going through the letters with him at a very slow pace.  We are making little letter books for each letter from Hands-On Alphabet Activities for Young Children, as well as the letter crafts from No Time For Flash Cards.
• Playing
• More Playing

Here is what I am not doing this year:
I will NOT be looking at other families and all the activities that they are doing and think that our family should also be doing them too{excuse the run on sentence, just had to get that all out}.  That was a life lesson I learned last year. 

There are lots of families that thrive on the go, and enjoy doing all kinds of different activities.  We are not one of them.  We do better when we are home.  If we commit to doing something this year it will only be one thing.  This is just not the season for us to be running.

Weekly Wrap Up {Park Day, Animal Show and Book Club}

Today ends our second week of school.  Never would have thought I'd be saying that in the middle of July! 


This week went pretty well, scattered but well.  Some how we didn't finish all of our Trail Guide to Learning -POE lessons last week so we finished them up this week. 


The Lil' Chef was exited to start Teaching Textbooks 7 this week {Thanks Mrs. Luisa for blessing us with this!!}. She continued to not be very thrilled with her writing assignments.  She is getting used to the copywork that goes along with POE but does not like to have to go off and creatively write something.  She is starting an online writing program, Time 4 Writing, next week that I am VERY excited about.  I will tell you all more about this later {it's a review}.


Computer Girl has been plugging along with her studies.  She is progressing very well with her multiplication facts while using Math Made Easy {another review}.

Alpha Boy is working on his Abeka Letters and Sounds.  He is at that point where he knows his letter sounds but they all haven't quite clicked yet.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we can work at our own pace.  He is also working through his Arithmetic 1 book, some of which we do orally as he is doing jumping jacks.  {smile}


Little Bits made an alligator out of a letter A and made an a book.  He also talked his oldest sister into reading countless Eric Carle and Berenstain Bears books this week.  Aren't big sisters GREAT!!

This guy was about 2 feet away from me, a little too close for comfort thank you very much.  I was able to get a good picture of him though.

On Wednesday, we went to a park play date/ farewell party.  The only probelm was that we went on the wrong day, we were a day early!  We even brought playgroup granola bars, which became our lunch.  Since we had the day wrong we went to Goodwill to look for some clothes for one of my kiddos.  God is so good!  We found several really cute outfits that work for everyday as well as church clothes.  We got 3 skirts, 5 tops , 1 pair of shorts and 2 dresses for about $65!  I have mentioned my love of Goodwill, right??

We also went to the library.  This week they were having a show about animals.  The Maryland State Zoo came and brought several animals for us to check out.  We got to see a screech owl {I really want one BTW}, a sugar glider, tarantula, and a baby alligator!!  We had a full and fun day! 

Thursday we went back to the park for the actual play date/ farewell party - this time we brought brownies.  It was nice to hang out with our friends whom we are going to miss very much! 

Tea Party!

Today we had our second American Girl Summer Book Club meet.  9 girls, 4 moms and my boys!  The girls had read Meet Felicity last week, so we talked about the book and the characters.  We made 2 batches of short bread cookies, the girls got dressed up and we had a tea party.  My boys helped serve the girls, which was really sweet.   The boys looked really cute with their dad's hats on and eyeliner mustaches! 


Looking back, I 'd say we had a pretty good week.  We accomplished school and had some great fellowship with friends.  Hope you all had a great week too!

By His Grace,
Brandi

TOS Crew: enVision Math by Pearson Homeschool

Computer Girl was coming to the end of her math book for the year when the TOS Crew gave us the opportunity to review the 4th Grade enVision Math by Pearson Homeschool (the same company that publishes Sing, Spell, Read and Write).  I thought it would be a great math book for her to start and continue to use this coming year. 

We were given the enVision Math 4 Homeschool Bundle which includes the Student Edition Textbook, MindPoint® Quiz Show CD-ROM, Teacher Edition CD-ROM and Parent Guide.

Student Edition - The Visual Learning Bridge teaches math concepts step-by-step with purposeful, sequential illustrations while connecting learning activities and lesson exercises. Grades 3–6 hardbound edition expands visual learning with focus questions and pictures with a purpose, and students learn to express concepts in writing.

MindPoint® Quiz Show CD-ROM - Multiple-choice questions in a game-show format give your child additional math practice. Ideal for children to play on their own or with you involved.

Teacher Edition CD-ROM - Contains the entire contents of the Teacher's Edition with easy navigation. Includes customizable lesson plans, teaching guides, reviews and assessments, and numerous printable resources in .pdf format all organized in a friendly, easy-to-use format.

Parent Guide - This guide walks you through the program highlighting the main elements of the student and teacher materials and provides guidance on setting up your lesson plan, pacing, and adapting the curriculum to fit your family.

The enVision Math series has levels for students in K-6th. This program engages your child as it strengthens their understanding of math. It uses problem based interactive learning as well as visual learning to deepen conceptual understanding. EnVision incorporates visual tools to promote problem-solving skills, while providing data-driven differentiated instruction to ensure success.

The table of contents for Grade 4 are:

Topic 1: Numeration

Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers

Topic 3: Multiplication Meanings and Facts

Topic 4: Division Meanings and Facts

Topic 5: Multiplying by 1-Digit Numbers

Topic 6: Patterns and Expressions

Topic 7: Multiplying by 2-Digit Numbers

Topic 8: Dividing by 1-Digit Divisors

Topic 9: Lines, Angles, and Shapes

Topic 10: Understanding Fractions

Topic 11: Adding and Subtracting Fractions

Topic 12: Understanding Decimals

Topic 13: Operations with Decimals

Topic 14: Area and Perimeter

Topic 15: Solids

Topic 16: Measurement, Time, and Temperature

Topic 17: Data and Graphs

Topic 18: Equations

Topic 19: Transformations, Congruence, and Symmetry

Topic 20: Probability

Here's what we thought:

• This is the most beautiful math book I have ever seen, but to be honest I felt like there was a lot going on on each page.  My brain was on stimulation over load, my daughter on the other hand had no problem-o.  She loves this book!  So much so, that the other day she did 6 pages when usually we just do 2 pages at a time. 
• While I do appreciate non-consumables, math is a subject in which I would prefer a workbook.  In saying that, the teacher edition has oodles of printables that are great for reteaching the lesson and for daily review.  I am considering just using these along with the lesson in the textbook.
• I do like the way this book explains concepts. Math is not necessarily Computer Girl's strength, but she has been understanding and learning the lessons.  She is not dreading math, she is actually enjoying it!
• I really like the Teacher Edition CD.  While I would like a more portable answer key, I really appreciate all the goodies on the CD.  Things that would not be included in a standard answer key, like the additional printables, center activities, vocabulary cards and teacher helps are great a great bonus!
• Did I mention there was a QUIZ SHOW??  Let me just start by saying this is sooo cool!  All my kids want to play this.  The quiz show allows the player to select which topic they want to play from {same topics are their lessons}.  They can play as a single, multi-player and team play.  There is also an option to play against the computer or to beat the clock.  This quiz show makes learning so much FUN!!

The enVision Math Program by Pearson Homeschool if definitely worth checking out!  The homeschool bundle is available directly from Pearson Homeschool for $99.99 which includes the Student Textbook, MindPoint® Quiz Show CD-ROM, Teacher Edition CD-ROM and Parent Guide.

Check out what other TOS Crew members are saying about Pearson Homeschool Products!

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

TOS Crew: Top 10 Favorite Reviews & Blue Ribbon Awards for 2011-2012

With the 2011-2012 TOS Crew year coming to an end, once again the TOS Crew Blue Ribbons have been Awarded!

This was an amazing year for us with the TOS Crew.  We are very grateful that we got to review so many wonderful products! 

The TOS Crew members have voted and you can now view the list of Blue Ribbon Award Winners on the TOS Crew's website.  

I thought it would be fun to do our own Blue Ribbon Awards for LSG's Top 10 Favorite TOS Crew Products that we REVIEWED this year.  These are not in any particular order, truthfully it hurt my brain way too much try to figure out which one particular product would be number one - there were just so many great ones! 

Here goes....drum roll please....

How to have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachel Carmen

Apologia: Who Am I?

We Choose Virtues

WriteShop

Math Rider

Creek Edge Press

TruthQuest History

Dive Into Your Imagination

Wits and Wagers

Say Anything

The 2011-2012 TOS Crew is over but we are looking forward to a new year with the Crew!!

TOS Crew: Heritage History

Heritage History is a homeschool curriculum company based on classical children's history books.  This company strives to produce the easiest, least expensive and most enjoyable way to learn traditional history.  They focus on living books instead of textbooks -which we love!

Here is how The Heritage History company explains the approach that they take to teaching history (from their website):

•Takes a Living Books rather than a textbook approach to history—students read a variety of engaging biographies and historical sketches rather than one comprehensive text.

•Is based on national histories rather than epochal histories—students study one civilization at a time, rather than contrasting contemporaneous civilizations.

•Is narrative rather than analytical—students are introduced to the great characters and events of history without being required to make comparisons or draw conclusions.

•Focuses on studying the most important periods of Western Civilization in depth, rather than touching lightly upon dozens of unrelated cultures.

•Explicitly encourages students to pursue historical topics of personal interest in addition to making selections from directed reading lists

Three books in one!!

With history being one of our favorite subjects, I was very excited to be able to pick one of Heritage History's Classical History Curriculum CD's.  Our choices were:

• Young Readers - includes easy-to-read, introductory selections from many historical periods and provides a broad introduction to Western Culture suitable for grammar school age students. Specially featured are short stories from American, European, Ancient, and Biblical history.
• Ancient Greece - covers Greek history from the earliest days of myth and legend, through the Golden age of Athens, to the Greco-Roman Era. Of special interest to older students is a selection of simplified classics based on the works of renowned poets, historians and playwrights.
• Ancient Rome - includes romantic stories for students of all abilities, from legends of early Roman heroes that fascinate youngsters to stories of political turmoil in the imperial era that provide food for thought to older students. Stories from Gothic, Carthaginian, and Byzantine history are also included.
• British Middle Ages - features books that cover the 5th through 17th centuries in Europe and the British Isles. Topics include barbarian invasions, Christian conversion, feudalism, medieval war-craft, church-state conflicts, and the Reformation, all covered with a special focus on British history.
• British Empire - focuses on 18th and 19th century world history, with a special emphasis on colonial development. Stories that highlight scientific discovery, exploration, invention and industry are featured, along with those that cover regional histories of Ireland, Canada, British Africa, India, and East Asia.

I felt that Young Readers was the best choice for our crew, it was well rounded and fit the age of our children pretty well (3,5,8 and 11).  Along with a Teacher's Guide, there were 86 stories included.  The stories included Joan of Arc, American History Stories, Vikings Tales, Napoleon, Nursery Book of Bible Stories and Aesop's Fables. 

I liked that the Young Readers Curriculum had a such a wide variety of stories that we could choose from no matter what time period we were currently focusing on.  The stories included are exciting, interesting and very informative! 

I believe that the variety of this particular CD makes it a very useful resource that we can use over and over through the years.

I found the Teacher's Guide that was included on the CD to be very helpful.

The Curriculum CD's allow the user to view the stories as a PDF file, which is what I did right on my computer, as well as EPUB and MOBI files for e-readers.

Heritage History Curriculum can be used as a stand alone history curriculum or as an additional resource to whatever you are currently using.  They even have a section on their website that explains how you can use it along with another curriulum like Tapestry of Grace or Ambleside Online.  

If you are interested in purchasing any of the Heritage History Curriculum CD's now would be a great time to do so!  They are currently having a Buy 2 Get 1 FREE Spring Sale!  Each of the Curriculum CD's are $24.99.

Check out what other members of the TOS Crew are saying about Heritage History!


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.