Trail Guide to Learning - Paths to Exploration {Review}

 

We just recently finished up our Trail Guide to Learning - Paths to Exploration curriculum for the year. While I have mentioned it in several posts, I had not yet done a complete review of it.

The Trail Guide to Learning series was written by Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler.  Their goal was to create a curriculum that was completely based on the teaching philosophy of Ruth Beechick. By doing so they have made a wonderful Charlotte Mason friendly curriculum as well.

The Trail Guide to Learning series includes the following teaching philosophies:

• develops thinking skills that lead to comprehension and writing ability
• use the copying and dictation process to acquire language and writing mechanics
• develops reading and writing skills through history, science, geography, and literature rather than through separate artificial activities
• gradually connects grammar to reading and writing naturally
• uses the tutorial approach, thus reducing excess paperwork
• unifies and focuses the core concepts and knowledge—rather than scattering the focus through untargeted tasks, which often occurs in unit studies
• builds skills naturally through reflective thinking and discussion

We received the Trail Guides to Learning - Paths of Exploration Complete Package.  That included the two volume set, as well as the readers that accompany this level in the series.  The books included in Paths of Exploration are:

• 2 Volume Set of Paths of Exploration Curriculum with Student Resources CD-ROM

• Meet Christopher Columbus

• Christopher Columbus

• Stories of the Pilgrims (2nd edition)

• Stories of the Pilgrims Answer Key

• Squanto, Friend to the Pilgrims

• A Lion to Guard Us

• Surviving Jamestown

• 5" RealEarth GlobeMap

• Daniel Boone Frontiersman

• Daniel Boone, Young Hunter and Tracker

• Munford Meets Lewis and Clark

• Seaman

• Trouble for Lucy

• Johnny Appleseed

• 1911 Boy Scout Handbook

• United States History Atlas

• Lewis and Clark Hands On

• Going West!

• Handbook of Nature Study

• North American Wildlife Guide

• Profiles from History

• Eat Your Way Around the World

• Classroom Atlas

• Large USA and World Outline Map

• Assessments CD-ROM

We have spent the past year studying the famous explorers and great pioneers of America. With Paths of Exploration we were able to go beyond the page or two that most history books use to explain these great people.  We were able to in depth who they were, and what their goals were.  Not only did we learn about their lives, but we learned great character lessons from them. 

TGTL uses living books.  Books that are nothing short of AMAZING!  Not only did they teach us history, but they are enjoyable.  Yes, enjoyable!  We have not yet encountered a book in this program that we did not thoroughly enjoy.  My girls always have great things to say about their readers, this is always a good sign.  I personally have loved the biographies that we have read.  

Next to the historical fiction and biography books we've read, digging into the North American Wildlife book has been a favorite for everyone! We have learned so much this year just from the nature studies. My kids have fallen in love with beavers and prairie dogs! When ever we are outside and there are fallen trees, Little Bits swears knows there are beavers close by.  I tell him he has Beaver Fever! 

TGTL also incorporates hands on activities.  The activities through out the curriculum have been a wonderful addition to our year.  We have especially enjoyed the cooking and science diagrams.  The animal ID sheets were also a huge hit with my kids. Learning Morse code was also pretty popular.

I think that the Trail Guide to Learning Series is a fabulous and engaging way to study American history! Home schooling with TGTL is something we look forward to. I am sorry we didn't find it sooner.

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is a complete 3 year study of American History, which is broken down into 3 paths. Each path is a full year course that consists of 6, six week unit studies:

Paths of Exploration

• Columbus (includes people such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Gutenberg)
• Jamestown (includes people such as John Smith, Pocahontas, and Leonardo da Vinci)
• Pilgrims (includes people such as William Bradford, Squanto, and Galileo)
• Daniel Boone (includes such people as James Cook, Benjamin Franklin, and Handel)
• Lewis & Clark (includes such people as Sacagawea, Thomas Jefferson, and Mozart)
• Trails West (includes people such as Johnny Appleseed, Zebulon Pike,    and Jesse Applegate)

Paths of Settlement

• Growing Pains (includes people such as Samuel Adams, John Audubon and Paul Revere)
• Freedom Decided (includes people such as George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin)
• Nation Building (includes people such as Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and Francis Scott Key)
• House Divided (includes people such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Clara Barton)
• Unity Restored (Includes people such as Samuel Francis Smith, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and cowboys of the American West)
• Sea to Shining Sea (includes people such as Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and Booker T. Washington)

 Paths of Progress

• Great Leaps
• Making Connections
• Perseverance Pays Off
• Cultivating Greatness
• Success Takes Flight
• Reach for the Stars

 This series in geared toward students in 4-7th grade, but they are easily adaptable for younger and older students. My 1st grade followed this program just fine, with help of course, and he loved it! My little 4 year old even did some of the activities and was in on most of the reading. I just want to encourage you in the fact that this program very flexible and great for multilevel teaching.

For the older crowd, there is a middle school supplement, which we loosely followed for my 7th grader.

Final Thoughts & Favorite Things:

Mom- I loved the open and go feel of this curriculum, all of the hard stuff was done for me. I liked being able to print out the student sheets as we needed them.

I loved that TGTL is not a spoon fed curriculum. My kids were encouraged to think for themselves, and not just regurgitate facts. Loved the discussions!

Teaching from this series, as well as learning myself, was just awesome! Just thinking over the past year with school, it was a huge blessing to use this curriculum.

Lil' Chef - "The books were the best part! Pocahontas and the Captain's Dog were my favorites."

(These were her independent readers from the middle school supplement)

Computer Girl - "I really liked learning about Daniel Boone and Lewis & Clark. I liked learning about what they did, where they went and who they met. You know, their life. Oh, and I love Munford!!"

Alpha Boy - "The Pilgrims were my favorite, no Jamestown, no Daniel Boone. Ok, I just liked it all!"

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is available through Geography Matters. There are several packages available for purchase, including just the teaching guides, the core materials, the resources and complete package. I feel like they have several selections available for different budgets.

There are several bloggers out there that use the Trail Guide to Learning series, you can check them out on my TGTL Blog Roll.  Kris over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Sam at Sam's Noggin have also reviewed TGTL. Like me, they both love it!

We received this product at no cost to us in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren

With age and experience, wisdom usually follows. Wisdom is exactly what Carol Joseph Flynn gained through the ups and downs of his life. Living through the Great Depression, and being a kid going down the wrong path, he turned life lessons into great pearls of wisdom.

Diane Flynn Keith, his oldest daughter, wrote about these pearls of wisdom in her book, Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren. 

 

I knew when I saw this book it would be a little gem. This book is full of humor, love and of course, wisdom. The way that Diane writes of her dad shows the immense love that she has for him, and that he had for their family.

Papa's Pearls takes us through many of the lessons Papa learned in his life. I just love the sayings that he came up with to remember them! Here are some of my favorites:

You don't kick someone when their down, you give me a hand up.

Let it go, like water off a duck's back.

Be grateful every day.

Life is too short. Take a little time off.

Keep a foxy pocket.

Doodle-lee Do It!

Papa took life experiences, like growing up in the depression and living with out necessitates and turned them into little rules for himself. As he grew up and earned money he saved and invested it. He taught his children and grandchildren to do the same. He encouraged them to save half of any money they were given or earned. He even doubled any money they put in their savings account as an added incentive. He taught his kids and grand kids to always "keep a foxy pocket," so they would never be without a little emergency cash.

Diane, thanks so much for sharing your daddy with us. I was glad to hear he got his whistle back!

Papa's Pearls is available for $21.95. It would be a great summer read!

 

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

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! 

Menu Plan 5/6/13 - A few new recipes

I don't know about you all but I have NOT felt like cooking lately.  Every once in a while the daily grind of breakfast, lunch and dinner gets tiring!  What's a wife to one and mom to four to do?  Well, for me, it means it is time for start to find some new or different recipes. 

So that is just what I did!  I pulled out a cookbook that I haven't used in a long time, Supper's on the Table, Come Home by Rachel Masters.  This mama/cookbook author is a homeschool mom of 5, in other words we live in the same world, minus one child.  It's actually a neat little cookbook, she has 13 weeks of recipes along with shopping lists.  The recipes are of the simple, family fare variety, however, I found several new recipes and was reminded of some old ones. 

Okay, enough yapping {smile}.  Here's what I am serving up this week....

Breakfast

• Cereal w/ Banana Slices (x2)
• Waffles w/ Berries
• Oatmeal (x2)
• Eggs, Toast, Orange Slices
• Egg Wraps

Lunch

• PB&J's, Carrot Sticks and Chips
• Turkey & Cheese Rolls Ups w/ Fruit
• Ham, Cheese, Crackers and Grapes
• Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa, Fruit
• Hot Dogs, Fries, Apple Sauce
• Egg Salad Sandwiches, Fruit and Chips

 Dinner

• Hot Dogs, Veggie Pasta Salad, Corn on the Cob
• Homemade Hamburger Helper, Broccoli and Cauliflower
• Upside Down Pizza, Salad 
• Honey Baked Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Mixed Veggies
• Cavatini, Peas, Fresh Bread
• Turkey Clubs, Potato Wedges,  Cucumber & Tomato Salad
• Broccoli & Cheese Soup w/ Panne Bread

The last 5 dinners are from the Supper's on the Table, Come Home cookbook.  Do you have any go to cookbooks? 

Weekly Wrap Up! {The week we had nothing to do)

I tell ya, I just can't seem to keep up with this little blog lately.  Life seems to be pretty busy lately.  We have been keeping busy with school, taking weekly field trips and decluttering a bit. 

We completed Trail Guide to Learning Paths of Exploration a few weeks ago, and have moved on to KONOS for now.  TGTL is a wonderful program, and I hope to continue with it again next year.

We just finished a unit on lighthouses and we are starting to study horses now.  I think that the flexibility, living books and hands on activities are a better fit for our crew at this point.  I will keep you all posted as we go along. 

We have also been taking field trips on Fridays with a few other families.  That has been lots of fun!  So far we have done a train museum, nature center, the National History Museum and today we did the zoo.  It has been so nice to get out and explore!

As I mentioned, I have been declutting a bit.  It all started one lovely day when I went to the garage to pull out the spring/summer clothes for the kids.  I had been saving baby clothes and baby "stuff," but at this point I am feeling led to get rid of them.  So I am Ebaying some things and yardsaling others, my thoughts were that the funds from selling this stuff would go nicely towards next years school books.  It will also just be nice to get rid of extra stuff. 

This past week we actually took our week off.  You know 6 weeks on and 1 week off with school.  I was kind of torn about taking the week off because other than the zoo we weren't really doing anything.  BUT the down time gave me the extra time to work on the sorting through stuff and listing them online.  For the kids,  it gave them time to play and relax.  It was perfect!  There were forts, train tracks through the WHOLE playroom, READING, an impromptu trip to the park and LOTS of outside play.

Here are a few pictures from our zoo trip today....