Weekly Wrap Up

This was our first week back after our winter break.  Things went pretty well, considering. 

I started a new routine with the kids (and self) this week and I am thinking that is going to take some getting used to, for all of us.  Things really do run much smoother and I am much happier if we have a plan and focus on completing it each day.  Our routine includes chores, reading time, school times, quiet/nap times, computer times and the like.   We had a few snags since I am doing physical therapy (for my neck) 3 mornings a week, but we accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish. 

I haven't talked much about our curriculum for a while but we are still using MFW, along with a few supplements, and loving it.  We are doing Creation to Greeks this year and I am really diggin' all of the old testament studies.  This week we studied the plagues that the Lord sent upon Egypt when the Pharaoh would not let God's people go.  As I was read scripture in Exodus the children and I would talk about what we were reading, well, everyone except Little Bits, he would usually just pelt Joe O's at us.  The kids keep a Bible/History notebook so they would draw a picture of each plague to go into their notebook. 

We have been using some of Diana Waring's Ancient Civilization curriculum, mostly the workbook and the audio cd's, and this week we sung her song about the plagues to the tunes of Camptown Races.  That was AWESOME!  I gave the girls 2 challenges, one to do this week and one for next.  I told them that I wanted them to write their own song about the Egyptian plagues, this should be no problem and lots of fun for them because they are ALWAYS writing songs about something.  They also need to put on a news broadcast about the plagues for their daddy and I.  The only requirements that I gave them were to do one this week and one next and I also told them they had to include their brothers.  The boys could be frogs or locust or something : )

I have been wanting to start incorporating character traits into our studies and this week I FINALLY did!!  Yay!  This week we talked about loyalty.  We talked about what it means to be loyal and ways that we can show loyalty to others.

We studied comparative and superlative words, worked on fractions, and had spelling words with a french origin.  We have been enjoying some really cool online games that we are reviewing for the TOS Crew, which I will be telling you all about real soon. 

For Health and Science we studied blood and the immune system.  We are working on a book about blood and we learned alot about the different types of blood cells and what they do.  We learned some pretty amazing facts about the body which the Lord has so miraculously created!  Then we followed that us with a Moody Science video that taught us about the immune system, this was by far the coolest science video I have seen so far (more about this later).  After watching the video and reading from our book, the girls draw pictures of blood cells and viruses for their health notebook. 

Friday is our day off so we are going to be doing a little house cleaning and we will probably make gingerbread houses because we just never got to them.  At least we are doing better them last year when we didn't get to them until MARCH.  Yes, MARCH! 

I also believe we might get a little snow tomorrow and if we do we will be making these really neat 3D snowflakes. 

TOS Crew: Math Facts Now

 

As a member of the TOS Crew we were given Math Facts Now! for review.  This is an educational math facts program that drills children in the basic math facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

 

Math Facts Now, as their website says..."is simple yet effective." 

Here is what I liked about it:

• This program picks up on the facts that your children are struggling with. 
• I think it is wonderful that if a problem is missed they have to type it over, not just the answer but the whole problem.  AND the program allows you to select how many times the student has to type the problem correct before moving on, up to ten times.  I love this, my kids. not so much. 
• Math Facts Now also allows you to design your own lessons.  You can choose addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and then you can even choose which numbers to work with.  I really like that I can really customize different lessons for each child. 
• I like that once I enter a child's name, the program will keep track on their progress.  The progress report shows the date, lesson they worked on, time spent with the lesson, and how many problems they got right and wrong.  AWESOME!!  This is great for multiply reasons, one it shows me what they are learning and what they are not getting PLUS it is wonderful to print out for the end of the year portfolio.  
• The program has the option to offer a reward when the child has completed the lesson.  I did not do this but I thought it was a cool feature.
• I was very happy that I could add multiple children to program.  

I really do like this program, it is affordable, simple and it gets the job done.  They only thing I could think of in the "something I didn't like" department was I wish they had some games with in the program.  The Math Facts Now website says that they didn't want to rely on cartoon characters to entertain children rather than educate then and I do get that, BUT my kids learn alot from "games" too.  I think even a little game at the end of each lesson completed, like a reward of sorts would be a wonderful addition to this already great product.  Like I said, I really do like this product and would recommend it. 

In my opinion, this product is not really grade specific.  The program covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, so as your child works on those areas in their core math program they would use Math Facts Now to reinforce the facts they are already learning.

You can purchase your own Math Facts Now either on CD ROM or on Download both cost $15.95, but the CD has an additional $3.95 added for shipping and handling.

We received this product free of charge for review purposes only.  We were not paid in any way and the opinions expressed here are my own.  

Menu Plan Monday

We just started back to school this week after a nice long winter break so while we are getting back into the swing of things I decided to keep food really simple.  I had really good  intentions of stocking my freezer full of healthy homemade casseroles while we were on break.  I even still have the basket of all my "freezer" cookbooks still sitting next to my spot on the sofa where I perused them for a few hours and yeah, that is about where it ended.  So much for good intentions, I guess there is always Spring Break, right!   and on with the menu....

Monday
Hot Dog Casserole

Tuesday
Creamy Potato Soup w/ Ham Sandwiches

Wednesday
Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas

Thursday
BBQ Chicken Legs, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Mixed Veggies, Greens

Friday
Tacos (because we never got around to making them last week), Corn, Black Beans & Rice

Saturday
Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs

Sunday
Meatloaf , Potatoes and Carrots

TOS Crew: Positive Action For Christ

We were given the opportunity to review for Positive Action For Christ, more specifically we reviewed the 5th grade Curriculum called Possessing the Land.

Possessing the Land is an Old Testament survey that goes from Genesis to the minor prophets, which ends in Habakkuk.

Here are the things that I liked:

• I really liked that even though it was designed for a 5th grader, I had no problem using this program with all of my children.  The younger children did more listening and drawing of the things that they heard, while the older 2 were more capable of working in the workbook. 
• I liked how everything was laid out for me.  Each lesson was set up in a way that was simple to understand and just as easy to implement.  The teachers guide explains your Target Truth, which is the main point of the lesson.  They give you Teaching Strategies, Character Trait Activities and some lessons include Additional Teaching Suggestions.
• Selected scripture is suggested for memorization for each lesson, I thought this was great!
• This curriculum not only includes a study of the Old Testament, but it includes a suggested music curriculum.  Each month, new hymns and choruses are introduced.  I liked this very much, because other than choir, music can unintentionally get pushed to the side. 
•  We liked the workbook that accompanied the study.  Some of the activities include answering questions, looking up scripture, charts, maps, fill in the blanks and crossword puzzles, which of course my kids LOVE!
• There are 35 Lessons in this curriculum so you could use it for an entire school year.

As far as things I didn't care for, I can't really think of anything.  I think it is a worthy study and I am thankful that it was given to us to review.  I would definitely recommend it to other families for homeschooling or just as a family devotional.

The Possessing the Land study is available through Positive Action for Christ.  The teacher's manual is $33.95 and the student manual is $12.95.

Action For Christ offers Bible Curriculum grades Kindergarten through 6th Grade:

• Kindergarten - Learning About God
• 1st Grade - Enjoying God's Gifts
• 2nd Grade - Finding God's Promises
• 3rd Grade - Growing with God
• 4th grade - Building Life Castles
• 5th Grade - Possessing the Land
• 6th Grade -Winning the Race

Each of the books listed above have download samples for both the teacher manuals and student manuals, you will find them on the links I have provided for you above.  They also offer separate curriculum for Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. Please see what other TOS Crew Mates are saying about Positive Action For Christ.


We received this product free of charge from Positive Action For Christ for review purposes only.  We were not paid in any way and the opinions expressed here are my own.

Saturday Solutions - The Ultimatest Grocery List

It dawned on me the other day that I have NEVER shared my grocery list print out with you all, or at least I don't think I have.

For several years now I have been using the Ultimatest Grocery List because it is absolutely AWESOME!!  I printed one out long ago and just make several copies at a time.  I of course occasionally lose my master and have to print a new one.   On their website they have a deluxe grocery list as well as a vegetarian one .

I LOVE how just about everything that you can think of it right there in front of you and all you have to do is check, check, check!!  How easy is that!