• Feb. 9, 2010
At Least Nobody Was Looking

I believe I've mentioned the snow and ice that has pounded us this winter, have I not? You may even be getting tired of hearing about it, so here is a bit of comic relief for you.

Our driveway is very steep, but its old and rough and I put enough rock salt down to keep it from being slick. Our neighbor is a widow in her mid to late 70's. Her driveway is steep, and was refinished this past summer and is slick as snot.

I typically try to keep our neighbors driveway shoveled, salted etc. for her to keep her from falling and getting hurt. Yeah, I'm nice like that. This morning, the latest round of snow began to fall, and I went out to start the van up to thaw out. I noticed the paperboy (ok, middle aged dude who can't throw worth a hoot) landed the paper right in the middle of her driveway. I went and retrieved it and laid it on her front door step so she'd be safe.

Yeah....so picture if you will, me, the good neighbor stepping off the porch onto the driveway. My feet when up over my head, I landed on my greatly padded backside and SLID ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF HER DRIVEWAY ON MY BUTT!! (STOP LAUGHING)

It was pure poetry in motion. My feet hit dryer ground and I stood up in one fluid motion...and quickly looked around to see if anyone saw me. (I SAID STOP LAUGHING!!) Then I zipped up my driveway and slammed my front door.

It was at about this time the husband, still in bleary eyed, half awake stupor asked "why is your butt wet?"

"DON'T ASK! But call Ms. Kay at 8:30 and tell her you'll bring her the mail when it comes."

So to one of my readers, who recently asked "Do fat people bounce when they fall?" The answer would be NO!

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• Feb. 8, 2010
2010-2011 Homeschool Crew

Since I've been on the Crew, I've had several folks ask me about becoming a member of the review team for the Old Schoolhouse Magazine.   If you think you'd be interested in being a part of the review team you can simply click here to get more information.

If you find that you are interested in trying out for the Crew, be sure to fill out the TOS Demographics form to get you started.

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• Feb. 6, 2010
Beehive Reader (Review)

The folks at All About Spelling sent me a free copy or the Beehive Reader 1 to review.   Let me just say that Olivia LOVES this book.  There are 156 pages, with engaging graphics.  Each short story is a little more difficult than the previous story.  Olivia picked up on that fact as well, but instead of being a bad thing, she got rather excited about it, almost like it was some suspenseful mystery novel.

Olivia's reading level is above the level of this particular reader.  However, she's still enjoying reading it to her sister.  The fact that it's a hardback book makes her feel like she's really flying through a major undertaking.  The first time that she picked it up, she read the whole book at one sitting, and it took her about 15 minutes.  It would have probably taken a lot less, but she felt the need to stop and do commentary on every.single.picture.

Lindsey is enjoying the book as well.  At four she's just now starting to read short sentences.  The beginning of the book gives her some challenge, but not discouragement.  Here are a few sample pages for you to peep at.

If you'd like to get a bigger peek inside this reader, click here.  Beehive Reader 1 is available for purchase for $19.95 at the All About Spelling Website. 

To read the reviews of other Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Feb. 5, 2010
Blizzard 2010 Edition

Catchy title, eh???

This has been a real  humdinger of a winter for us here in Virginia.  We've had snow and or ice, almost every week now since the first week of December.  Sometimes more than once in a week.  Such is the case this week.  This past Saturday we had 8 inches of snow.  Tuesday night, another 6 inches.  No biggie....but then....drum roll please!

Tonight through Saturday night we are supposed to get a blizzard.  For real, BLIZZARD.  The weather map for our area shows PARALYZING SNOW on our area, with winds of 35-30 miles per hour.   Nice.  Supposedly 36 inches or more. Time will tell!  I'll post photos if/when it happens.   Here is what my backyard looked like BEFORE the snow started today.

Now, on to our school week..   All of our outside activities have been cancelled this week because of the weather.  You'd think that would mean I've gotten extra school work done...not so.  I'm just not in the mood to press especially hard this week.    We did manage to get a full five day week in this week.  Our co-op typically doesn't meet on the first Friday of the month...however, even if we HAD been scheduled the snow would have caused a cancellation.

We did finish up our study of New Jersey.   We didn't have the state meal this time, it sounded good, but I knew the kids wouldn't eat it, so really why bother?  All that is left to do is the collage from the maps and brochures we have.  I'm saving that for Saturday as a boredom buster.

We finished reading our selection of books on Abraham Lincoln.  To finish up the readings, Olivia wrote her own story and made a lovely little book out of it.

We also revisited the puffy paint creation.  We ended up with a green dog, and a pink cat.  It is just me, or does the cat look like it has "issues"?

There was nothing overly exciting this week, just typical stuff.  I do feel it was productive.  Lindsey's reading skills are increasing quickly, and her cursive writing is getting a lot easier to read.  Olivia is doing well in all areas.  Although, I really need to find a way to make her think outside the box.

For those of you who do not have snow, but would like to make "snow angels" with your kids, here is a photo of a nifty craft to do.  I'd love to take credit for it, but Lindsey's Awana teacher sent this home last week.   The "body" is Lindsey's footprint , and the "wings" are her handprints.

Go check out the Weekly Wrap Up and see how well, or wild, everyone else's week was.

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• Feb. 4, 2010
Homeschool Library Builder (Review)

Homeschool Library Builder is a Christian family-run book business dedicated to providing great literature at affordable prices. This online store stocks both new and used books, both hardback and paperback.  Used books are rated by condition and priced accordingly. For information on book condition rating click here.

Membership to the HSLB site is totally free, but it does have it's perks.  For each dollar you spend, you earn a Book Point.  15 Book Points equals $1 in your account to go towards future purchases.  By becoming a HSLB member you also have the opportunity to earn extra Book Points by telling your friends about the site.

Another thing I love about Homeschool Library Builder is the ability to search their stock by age, curriculum (Ambleside, Beautiful Feet, Five in a Row, Heart of Dakota, Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace and Veritas Press) or country/region.  No more need to look through every single book they offer, unless you just really want to!

Spotlight on the Season  is another helpful feature that lists ideas and book selections for upcoming holidays, season and special events.

Homeschool Library Builder is having an incredible sale  this month,  20% off everything in the store!  There is also a special offer to save an additional 15% on Super Bowl Sunday, for a total of 35% off!  Simply make a  donation of any amount to the Heartline Ministries, serving and Homeschool Library Builder will send an online coupon for an additional 15%, good  for Super Bowl Sunday (February 7, 2010) only.

To read reviews of other Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 29, 2010
Sigh...

The stomach bug hit Olivia in the WEEEEE hours of Monday morning (at 2:30am to be exact).  I was up from then until I left for work at 8:15 with her.  Major spewage from both ends simultaneously.  So no school when I got home!   She was well enough to sit in the van with me for the 30 minutest that Lindsey had ballet in the evening; although she was laying down with a puke bucket by her just in case. 

Tuesday the bug had passed (and bypassed everyone else, thank God!) So it was back to the grindstone for us.   The A Beka writing program for 1st grade had us doing a lot of Abraham Lincoln work this week.  So I figured we'd take the opportunity to delve a little deeper into his life so I added a few books to read.

Abe Lincoln Remembers; by Ann Turner
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance; by Frances Cavanah

There are several pluses to this, one being that Olivia is really interested in Mr. Lincoln.  The other plus is that I didn't have time to get to the library this week to get any books, so thankfully I had a couple in our own bookshelves that worked for us!

Awana is going well.  Olivia will finish up her 2nd year book next week.  I guess we'll work on review work until the end of May.   Lindsey is plugging along in her book as well.  The Cubbies all do the same verse each week, so she's steady on the course.

Math took a sudden bad turn for Olivia this week.  Her weekly math test was the lowest score EVER for her.  It was still an 85, but for her that is really bad!  Quite honestly, I think a lot of it is due to the vast amount of math review products over the last little bit.(6 in the last 2 months alone) with several more due in the next month.  This weekend I'll try to get a game plan for getting her back on track.  There are just too many distractions with so many products!

Today we had Co-op.  We've been cancelled for snow, ice and flooding the last several weeks. (We are getting more snow tomorrow.)   Then home for a 40 minute rest break and off to ballet and then to a board meeting at our church.  

10:43 pm, home from the board meeting.  Girls are in bed, and I just finished up my wrap up.  Now I'm going to bed! 

Check out everyone else's week at the Weekly Wrap Up.

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• Jan. 26, 2010
Ray's Arithmetic/Dollar Homeschool (Review)

As part of the Homeschool Crew we received a free copy of  Ray's Arithmetic to review.   The thought of one program that can carry us from now through graduation is/was a bit intriguing.

The Ray's math series begins at a preliterate level with counting; then takes the child through addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and so upward until calculus, teaching concepts with thorough explanations followed by ample problem sets. The Ray's series provides a very full-bodied course of mathematics.

The Ray's series includes a total of 38 books. These include the 12 Core Text Books, + Answer Key's, Teachers Editions, and several intriguing books of mathematical pursuits for the aspiring student, such as Surveying, Navigation, Astronomy, Book Keeping, and Physics.

The cost of the CD containing the entire Ray's Arithmetic is only $59.00 and you have a full 30 day money back guarantee.  (Shipping is also free for a limited time.)  To order click here.

There is no doubt that a student going through this program would get an excellent mathematical education.   The only real issue is how much time does the homeschooling parent have to set up problems and make additional practice sheets if necessary?     For the family on a strict shoestring budget I'd say this is a wonderful buy that can be used over and over.  However, if your time is more limited than your funds, you may find this to be more time consuming than a preprinted program.

To read other Crew member reviews,click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 25, 2010
100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Homeschoolers

Associatesdegree.com recently compiled a list of 100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Homeschoolers.   Topics included in the list of posts are:

About Homeschooling
Making Things Run Smoothly
Homeschooling Tips and References
Lesson Ideas
Adventure
From Homeschool Students
Religion
Family
Food

If you look way down that list under Adventure, you'll find my Christmas Break! post.  I don't know that I'd necessarily consider this to be one of my better posts...but hey, it made the list!   There are lots of great ideas, lessons and resources throughout the list of 100.  Be sure to take time to go check it out!

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• Jan. 24, 2010
Factsfirst & Saxon (Review)

factsfirst in an online math facts program that was created for Saxon Math, although it will compliment any math curriculum.   The age range for this product is grades 1-4, although I think older kids would still benefit from it if they haven't mastered their basic facts.

Olivia and Lindsey both enjoyed creating their look-a-like for the program.  As you can see by the photo below, there are lots of options to personalize your child's look-a-like.  Olivia ended up wearing a flowing gown and a cowboy hat...yeah, she's funny like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the beginning of each lesson the student is taught two new facts through some simple word problems and graphics. They then practice these new facts and take a quiz.  At the end, students get progress charts to see how much they have mastered the facts that they have been working on.
 
After each lesson is successfully completed, the student earns 5 minutes of game time. In all, there are over 350 games a child can work through in order to master the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and addition.  Besides mastery of the facts, the student also works on their speed and keyboarding as they work their way through.

 Parents can access, and print out a math facts matrix (shown in the graphic to the right) for each child. It shows both you and your child the facts they've mastered and the ones they still need to practice. Parents can get on the site anytime to look at a chart of their child's progress. 

This has been one of Olivia's favorite math products to review.  The graphics aren't so distracting that she loses focus of the goal.  However, the real world learning situations help her to understand the concepts and the why behind the facts.  

You can view more details and access demos on their website.   A one-year subscription is available for $49.99.  The one year subscription is good for up to four students, so it's perfect for sibling groups to work at their own pace and keep track of their own advancements.

Crew members received a 90 day trial membership.  To read the reviews and opinions of other Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 22, 2010
Cattle Rustler's Beware

My father-in-law is an avid western movie watcher.  A great deal of the time that he was here was spent watching videos from the library.    The kids picked up a great deal of information from the westerns (and I'm not a bit happy about some of that info...but I digress.  Suffice it to say, dear husband, I told you so.)

There were several shoot outs in our living room.  There were various Indian attacks and a few cattle rustlers attempted to run off with the My Little Pony herd.    In true western style the girls defended what was theirs.

At least, I can say they look somewhat mournful in this next photo as they look down at the dead rustler they "shot".

Yeah, and in case you're wondering about the guns...ehem.  Lindsey wanted a "Cowgirl" birthday party back in September.  Both girls received a set of cap gun pistols then (not from us).  At Christmas the same gift giver purchased these lovely bolt action guns, with honest to goodness plastic shells that will eject from the side of the gun.

My father-in-law did point out that the girls are very diverse in their interests.  Yeah, that makes me feel MUCH better.

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• Jan. 22, 2010
Ice Ice Baby Wrap Up

The first week at my new job went really well!  The time goes by really fast.  My supervisor is very quirky and funny all at the same time.  I officially have 6 days of training time and then he'll be out of the office for 12 weeks.   Yeah...no pressure there!   Olivia was thrilled when she realized that the place where I work teaches children to play musical instruments...she's already put in a request for piano lessons.   There goes the whole "extra income" aspect of the job!

Our monthly activity day was scheduled for Thursday.  I had planned to be teaching my class about the Sioux.  However, the threat of an ice storm caused it's cancellation.   The ice did start, but about 5 hours later than anticipated.  Better safe than sorry though!  So I have everything ready for next month, go me!  I'll just need to grab the reference books from the library again.

Co-op was also cancelled on Friday because of the ice.  Aaaawww...too bad.  Ice is my friend.

Despite my busy schedule, and being away from home 12 hours this week, lessons still went pretty good.   The seven crisis for Lindsey has been resolved.   I hid sevens in various places in the house.  I told Lindsey the seven's were sneaky...so she spent some time sneaking around looking for them.  Now they are officially "sneaky sevens" in her world, and I'm totally ok with that!

I'm completely amazed at how much Olivia's reading has improved in the last two to three weeks!  I finally found a children's book series that she's interested in and that I approve of.  This particular series is The Prairie Skies Series by Deborah Hopkinson.  The first book in the series is Pioneer Summer, so I picked that up yesterday at the library.

We're still studying New Jersey.  This week we focused on literature by New Jersey authors.  Books we read:

The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart
The Quilt Makers Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau
Cross a Bridge, by Ryan Ann Hunter
A Day in the Life of a Colonial Schoolteacher, by Kathy Wilmore

After reading Crossing a Bridge, we practiced building our own bridges using various items from around the house.  Lego's and wooden blocks are easy to use, of course.  So I gave the girls a huge bag of these to work with....

I'm drawing a complete blank on what these things are called.  I bought them at the teacher supply store probably two years ago and we've used them here and there.  They have the same texture as packing peanuts, but they are made of some starchy product.  When dampened they stick to paper, each other and your fingers (eeww).  They will completely melt if left in water.  So when we have our next rain, we'll have a science project to watch...heh heh he.

Anyway, back to the bridge.  I showed them a page from Cross a Bridge, and gave them liberty to work together as a team to build as best they could.  It turned out relatively ok, with the exception of the centerline being nowhere near the center.  Originally there were no guard rails in place; but after several cars toppled into the river below (blue construction paper), Olivia decided improvements needed to be added.

Then Olivia zoomed out the door to ballet.  Engineer by day, dancer by night.

For next week, I'm trying to get a system worked out where the girls will have some school work to do while I'm at work.  My husband doesn't feel confident in his ability to teach, so I'm trying to work out a system for them to be able to govern their own workload.  Translation, they'll be getting some version of workboxes....I hope.

Zippity doo da on over to the Weekly Wrap Up to find out how everyone else's week progressed! 

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• Jan. 18, 2010
Zeezok Publishing (Review)

As part of the Homeschool Crew, I received a free copy of the Presidential Penmanship program from Zeezok Publishing.   This is a supplemental handwriting program, used to fine tune skills, not as a stand alone writing program.  One GREAT thing about this program, is they have several versions, that coincide with some of the prominent handwriting programs.

HWOT Style (similar to Handwriting Without Tears)
AB Style (similar to A Beka)
DN Style (similar to D'Nealian)
BJ Style (similar to BJU)
ZB Style (similar to Zaner-Bloser)
Italic Handwriting Style

I received the BJ Style Complete Program. I would have preferred the AB Style, as we use A Beka, but was still blessed to receive this product to review.   Olivia is only in the 1st grade, but she does all her writing in cursive, so we had to skip grades 1 and 2 of this program to reach the cursive section.  The quotes are short enough to work on memory work, grammar, handwriting and introduction to our governmental foundations.  Here are several of the quotes from the 3r grade lessons.

The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government. ~George Washington
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. ~Thomas Jefferson
It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't. ~Martin Van Buren
My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side. ~Abraham Lincoln
The one thing I want to leave my children is an honorable name. ~Theodore Roosevelt

You can see sample pages by clicking here.

I found this to be an easy to use product.  I'm able to print off the pages as needed to coincide with our studies.    Reading the quotes and names has piqued Olivia's interest, so we've found ourselves reading about folks that we'd not yet started to study, like Martin Van Buren for example.

The Complete Program (Grade 1 - Senior High) can be purchased for $39.99; or you can purchase individual grade levels for $9.99 each.

To read the reviews of other Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 15, 2010
Christian Keyboarding (Review)

I love reviewing products that aren't the "typical" reading, writing and math!   So I was super excited to receive a free copy of Keyboarding for the Christian School, Elementary Version from Christian Keyboarding .  This particular version is appropriate for grades K-5 and the e-book is only $12.95!

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• Jan. 15, 2010
Electrifying Week

Before anyone panics, relax!  No one was injured...we were studying Thomas Edison.  We did some simple experiments using balloons, wool socks and various objects to see if it would stick to the balloon once statically charged by the sock.  You'll notice a blatant lack of photographs this post.  My camera is currently full of photos and I haven't had a chance to go to Wally-world to get them printed.  (Yes, I do know I can do it online...but that always results in me paying for a bunch of horribly pixilated photos.)  So just have faith when I say we did do this stuff.    Lindsey's baby fine hair responds incredibly well to a statically charged balloon, in case you were wondering.

Besides studying electricity, we did a biographical report on Thomas Edison as well.   I didn't know that he started losing his hearing at the age of 8.  I also didn't know that his mother removed him from school because he asked too many questions that the teachers couldn't answer; which kept him at odds with the teachers.   Here is a list of the resources we used:

Thomas Edison; by Haydn Middleton
Experiments with Electricity; by Salvatore Tocci
The Science Book of Electricity; by Neil Ardley
The Thomas Edison Book of Easy and Incredibly Experiments; by James G. Cook

Videos:

Thomas Edison and the Electric Light; Animated Hero Classics.

Olivia's reading has improved incredibly over since Christmas break!  She's no longer monotone and sounding.like.a.robot.with.every.word.   Even more thrilling, she's reading books on her own, of her own free will!!!   (Insert angelic choir singing the hallelujah chorus here).

Awana is back in full swing.  This week Olivia earned two jewels in one night by reciting all of the Old Testament books.  We've gone from being really behind to only having 6 more verses to last until the end of the year!   Olivia was also asked to participate in this year's Spark-o-rama games.  From what I understand, this is a "olympic type game" where Awana clubs from various churches compete against each other.    Lindsey was thrilled to learn that her beloved Awana teacher is expecting a baby!!  

Math has been moving smoothly for Olivia.  Lindsey is doing awesome with verbal math...but that blasted number 7 is starting to really get on my nerves!!   How does one help an auditory learner improve in other areas???  She does wonderful on 1-6, and 8-11...but 7....aggggghhh!!   Any input is greatly appreciated. 

We had out first co-op meeting of 2010 today.  Only 13 more to endure, 'nuff said.

One exciting thing happened for me this week, I got a job!  Well, I interviewed today and was offered the position, I don't technically start until Monday at 9am.  I'll be working part time as a bookkeeper and administrative assistant for a music academy locally.   I'll only be working 3 days a week, from 9am until 1pm.  This will still allow me to continue to homeschool, just later in the day than I do it now.   This further pushes me toward letting go of the weekly co-op at the end of this academic year.   I just can't justify losing that extra day now that three days a week will be more rushed.

That's about it for this week.  Hopefully there will be photos next week.   Head on over to the Weekly Wrap Up to find out what exciting things have happened in the rest of the homeschool realm.

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• Jan. 13, 2010
This and That

First of all, to all of my devoted readers (both of you), I'd like to say I'm sorry for swamping you with product reviews this month.   However, believe me when I say it's much easier being the one having to read them all in January as opposed to being the one who is doing them all in January.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but this last 6 weeks has been a little swamped in the review area (especially math).  

Speaking of math...and no it's not a review.   I found the coolest resource at the library.  It's called "Rock n Learn"...Addition Rap.   Yep, you read it right, RAP.  We played the cassette today while the girls worked on their seatwork and they loved it.  Lindsey is such an auditory learner!  She picked up a lot of info just from today.   It's too bad they don't cover the number 7 in some way, because she's still having trouble recognizing that number when she sees it.

Our weather has been frigid for the last several weeks.  Temperatures in the single digits and strong winds have landed us stuck indoors for the most part.  We venture out for ballet and Awana, but that's about it.   We still have a great deal of snow on the ground, left over from our December 18 snowstorm.  Sadly, the snow is now nothing but ice and it doesn't appear to be leaving anything soon.   Co-op was cancelled last week due to bad weather (we're averaging an ice storm or snow storm almost every Friday.)

Since our weather has been frightful, I picked up "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder as a read aloud in the evenings.  It's been interesting drawing similarities in the story and things happening in our lives recently.   Although we are obviously in no way in the dire straits that the Ingalls family was in during that year.

I'm starting to think about and plan our upcoming year.  Deciding what things to keep and what things to toss is always fun and intimidating all at the same time.   I'm certain we'll be dropping co-op this year.  Likewise I know I'll be continuing with Cantering the Country, but I'll be beefing it up in the science area with something from Apologia, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

For those of you who have followed the progress of my father-in-law, I'm happy to report that he is doing phenomenal!!   He stayed with us for 9 days after his release from the hospital.  His leaving was emotional all the way around, but I can tell that a lot of good came out of his stay here.  Besides his obvious health improvements, the relationships and bonds that were built and strengthened during that time are wonderful.   36 hours after he went home, his wife was taken to the emergency room with a ruptured appendix.  She's been hospitalized since Sunday and is scheduled to go home sometime this afternoon.  I've offered my assistance, but my father-in-law has taken full responsibility for her care.  I believe the last three to four weeks have been real eye openers for both of them in a lot of ways!

I guess that is all the randomness I have to share right now.  I'm sure I'll be posting another lovely review for you to enjoy shortly!

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• Jan. 11, 2010
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling (Review)

If you, or someone you know is contemplating homeschooling then I have just the thing for you!  Apologia sent me a free copy of "The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling" by Debra Bell for review; and let me tell you, it is AWESOME!     If you are already a homeschool Mom (or Dad), I still highly recommend this book to you.  This is our third year of homeschooling and I have sticky notes and highlighter all throughout my copy.

In this 500+ page book, Debra Bell does an excellent job of combining personal experience,  practical advice and invaluable current resources such as curriculum vendors, website and state homeschool group info.   Obviously a lot of the personal experience and practical advice is based on Debra's opinion; however it is not done in a "my way is the only way"  fashion.  Topics (each having 3-7 subtopics) included are:

1.  Homeschooling: Is It for You?
2.  Choosing a Curriculum
3.  Organization and Planning
4.  Preventing Burnout
5.  What to Teach - When and How
6.  Homeschooling Teens
7.  Computers in the Homeschool
8.  Creative Solutions
9.   Measuring Your Success
10. Resource Guide

I'm personally finding What to Teach - When and How EXTREMELY helpful as I start planning our upcoming school year.  (Yes, I KNOW it's only January...but I am a planner by nature.)    This chapter alone contains 69 pages of subject by subject guidelines  broken down into Primary (preschool - second grade); Elementary (third - sixth grade); and Secondary (junior high and up)

"One of the most useful and readable books on homeschooling."  Cathy Duffy, Author, 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum

"Passes Mike Farris's Official Number One Rule in Homeschooling:  If it ain't easy for Mom to use, throw it out!"  Michael Farris, Founder, Home School Legal Defense Association.

This book costs a meager $20...but I guarantee it'll be one of your most valuable resources!

To read other Crew member reviews, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 8, 2010
Math Tutor DVD (Review)

I received a couple of DVD's from Math Tutor DVD  to review as part of the Crew.  The first DVD  is Young Minds Numbers and Counting.  The photography used in this DVD is stunning!  My girls were ooohing and aaahing continually.   This product is for younger children and teaches both counting and number recognition from 1-10.   A young child's voice counts along with each activity and gives little snippets of info about some of the animals and photos.     Olivia and Lindsey both watched the DVD together, and even though it was below grade level for each of them, they still enjoyed it and actively took part in the counting exercises.   The accompanying classical music works wonderfully with lovely photos, and Olivia was quick to pick  out one of Beethoven's pieces (ok, it's the piece that Linus plays the Charlie Brown movies...but still at least she recognized it.)

There are some fun bonus features as well; such as Guess the Animal, Picture Puzzles and Connect the Dots.

The list price for this product is $24.99, but it you order directly from MathTutor the price is $19.99. 

The second product I received is The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor.   This is a set of 2 DVD's that has a total of 8 hours of instruction in  word problems. 

Disc 1 covers:

Adding Whole Numbers
Subtracting Whole Numbers
Multiplying Whole Numbers
Dividing Whole Numbers
Adding Decimals
Subtracting Decimals
Multiplying Decimals
Dividing Decimals

Disc 2 covers:

Adding Fractions
Subtracting Fractions
Multiplying Fractions
Dividing Fractions
Percents, Part 1
Percents, Part 2
Ration and Proportion

Obviously, based on the wide range of topics, this is not a product you use once and are done with it.  This valuable tool will go right along with your child's math progression,  regardless of what curriculum choice you're using.

Olivia is working on adding and subtracting whole numbers using word problems, and this has helped her to get a better understanding of how to know what the question is asking and how to write the equation to get the correct answer.

This 2 DVD set retails for $34.99; but if you order directly from MathTutorDVD the price is $26.99.

  To read more reviews by Crew members, click here. 

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 8, 2010
Back in the Saddle

This was our first week back to school after the Christmas/New Year break.   I'll admit, I was glad to get back into our work, and by all appearances the kids were too!     All of our extra activities started back this week as well.  The girls were super excited to get back to ballet and Awana.  Co-op was supposed to resume today as well, but we had more snow last night so it was cancelled.  I'm planning to use my "free day" to work on some Crew reviews.

We didn't do anything artsy or creative this week.  We did however manage to get back on track with Latin and Cantering the Country.  New Jersey is our current state, which lends itself to lots of interesting rabbit trails.  We'll be doing a study next week on Thomas Edison and hopefully doing some experiments if I can get to the library today to pick up the books I've ordered.

My father-in-law has continued to improve greatly, and I'm working our schedule around him as much as possible.  He loves to watch westerns, but we have no cable tv.  Luckily my husband has been making much use of the library this week, by going and picking up old westerns on VHS.   The girls have watched a few movies with him (although, I'm not really thrilled with it).  However, it has sparked a new trail of imaginary play.  Just last night we had a shoot out in the formal living room, cap guns  blazing.    The herd of "My Little Pony" dolls were almost rustled, but after hunkering down behind an overturned blanket basket the two were able to fend off the intruders.   It was a bit comical when Lindsey was killed by Indians.  She laid in the middle of the floor saying "ok, now pick me up and put me in the wagon and take me back to town"....followed by Olivia's "BE QUIET!!  YOU ARE DEAD AND DEAD PEOPLE DON'T GIVE THE ORDERS!"  Valid point.  (There are photos, you'll see, eventually.)

I had a dentist appointment on Thursday morning to get a cavity fixed.  We didn't start school until after 3:00pm that day, but we still were finished up before supper time.  That's about it for our week.  Head over to the Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see how everyone else's week progressed!

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• Jan. 6, 2010
MathScore (Review)

MathScore is an online math program designed to supplement a child's math education.   MathScore provides online math practice and assessments for students from 1st Grade through Algebra 1.  The website generates math problems that automatically adapt to the individual student based on their performance. In other words, if they are struggling in an area, MathScore will generate more problems in that area until the student has mastered the concept.   A faster student will on occasion be given the opportunity to skip ahead several lessons based on their scores and time it takes to do the online "worksheets".

The initial Copy Cat portion of the program helps build typing speed using the 10 numeric keypad.  As the name states, the student simply copies the number on the screen as quickly as possible, using the number keypad working on speed and accuracy.

While there are awards to be earned  for moving up levels, this program does not have a lot of the bells, whistles and distractions that are common in this type of product.  I in no way mean that as a negative!  My kids generally get so distracted by all that "stuff" that they lose sight of the goal and the math problem.  I much prefer this bare bones approach!  I also realy like the fact that there is a time limit on each test.   Olivia needs the motivation of knowing that she only has a certain amount of time to work.

MathScore also offers a free trial membership!  This gives you the opportunity to see if it is a good fit for your family. 

Pricing for MathScore is per month.   One student is $14.95/month; $5.00/month for a 2nd student and $3.95/month for each additional student.   Each student has their own username and password, and records are kept individually.   Parents will receive progress summary's on each student.  Parents have the ability to go under parental settings and individualize when (daily/weekly) they would prefer to receive their emails. 

To read more Crew reviews of this product, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

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• Jan. 3, 2010
Back to the Routine

The holidays have passed and now we delve back into the routine.   I'm probably the only one who is glad to do so! 

Thomas returns to full time employment tomorrow after being off work for two months!  (Thank you Jesus!)   Ballet and Awana and Co-op all start back this week as well.

The only unusual thing is that we've added a new family member to our routine in the last week.  My father-in-law was hospitalized the Sunday of Christmas weekend.  He was released on New Year's Eve and came home with us to finish recovering and regaining his strength.  It's been fun having him here.  The girls love to chit-chat with him (ok, they chit-chat and he smiles and nods a lot). 

Even though we haven't worked on lessons this past week, the girls have learned a lot watching the transition and changes in their Granddaddy.  They've shown remarkable compassion and love towards him, and have been little mother hens for him.

I'm looking forward to this New Year, and this new season we're in, both at school and in our family.  God is doing some remarkable things in our extended families, and it's awesome to watch it unfold!

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