In the introduction you will learn different meanings of what "special needs" can mean for your family.  Even though I am homeschooling a special needs child (AS and ADHD) I learned something about the words "special needs" that I had never considered before. Next you will hear the stories of individual families with children that where diagnosed as ADHD, Dyslexic, Deaf, Asperger's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Gifted, Lupus, Sensory Processing Disorder or a mixture of these. You will learn of how they came to homeschool them, their struggles, and successes. There is so much encouragement in these stories I'm sure you can relate to some of the things they experienced.  I want to take a moment now to share some things they said that I can really relate to…

Julia said:

"There has been more than one occasion when she caught her daughter “teaching” her toy dragons the subjects they had been discussing. This allows her brain to reprocess the information and allows for long-term retention. A good thing! Imaginative play is something all ADHD children need a little bit more of than the average child. Their brains work in a more imaginative way."  My son has done this countless times with his toy bear.  We listen in without him knowing it.  It's not only cute but it brings a smile to our faces when we see that he really took in what he was learning.

Michelle said:

"We soon discovered how far behind our children were in their math skills. The problem with public school was that the teacher had to keep going and move on to finish her curriculum by the end of the school year. That left our children behind, and they did not receive the extra help that they needed—nor were we informed of the problem. As a result of the teacher moving forward, my children could not understand the next concept because it was built upon the previous concept—one that our children had never been given time or help to grasp."  I found this same thing happening with my son when he was in public school.  It upset me because I knew he was capable of doing better had they taken my suggestions seriously.  I'm so glad we brought him home to learn because he too is "thriving at home instead of floundering in the public school system where he was lost and being left behind."

When Anita started talking about her daughter and Asperger's Sydrome, she practically took the words right out of my mouth...LOL!!!  Rachael was so right when she said "The real world will not adapt to fit my son. I must teach him to adapt to it, using his strengths to support his weaknesses. I always keep in mind that I need to work now to teach the skills he will need in the next 3 to 5 years."  She also said "I am my children’s teacher, but I am also a student. I study my children as they study their lessons."  I find myself doing this with my son too.  I also was amazed at what I learned from Thereasa about gifted children.  I assumed I knew what gifted was until she shared her story.  Thank you Thereasa for clarifying that for me.  Everyone shared such amazing stories and I felt like I was sitting right there with them listening to them talk while drinking a cup of tea.

After you read these awesome stories you will learn the Ten Reasons to Homeschool Your Child with Special Needs.  This is a great list to keep on hand when in doubt even if you have been homeschooling a while. There is also a section with questions commonly asked when dealing with the special needs of our children and homeschooling them.  IEPs are also covered, including a discussion of what they are and whether or not they are necessary for homeschoolers.  At the end is an explanation of each disorder that was discussed in the book.

I learned so many helpful things from reading "Someplace Called Special".  Some things were a reminder of what I had already known and others were things I never knew.  Stop by The Old Schoolhouse and grab your copy today.

If anybody knows what it means to be frugal it's Molly Green.  Her website Econobusters is dedicated to helping us stretch our dollars in these hard economic times. We shouldn't wait for an economy downfall to try and be frugal.   Common sense is what we all need when it comes to handling our money.  Unfortunately common sense tends to take the back burner while we just give in to our wants and desires.  Are we guilty of not asking ourselves "am I being a good steward over what God has entrusted me with?"  Asking this question may be easy, but really listening to and accepting the answer may be hard. 

Believe it or not God does want to supply ALL of our needs Philip. 4:19.  We are His children.  No loving parent wants their kids to suffer.  No matter what is going on in our country God is bigger.  He has an answer if we will just listen.  He sends us help right when we need it.  I am thankful that he has put on Molly's heart to share with us things that she is learning through her monthly Money Saving Digests.

I had the privildege of reviewing her upcoming June Digest.  Before I share with you what it's all about I want to mention that each digest is sold for $4.95 at The Old Schoolhouse.  You can find all of her previous digests on there.  If you wish to print and keep all of her digests in a binder you can download the nice binder covers they have for FREE. Once I share with you all the great things that's inside you'll want to check it out for yourself.

By now you may be thinking "what does Molly share in her Money Saving Digest?"  In the June Digest (which is over 35 pages long) she shares with us how to have a Frugal Family Vacation.   By the time you get through reading the Digest she will have  helped you decide whether a vacation, "stay-cation", or a "day-cation" is what your family needs.  You may be wondering about those last two.  Don't worry Molly will explain it all.  Before she gets into that she shares an informative interview that she had with the owner of the Hillbilly Housewife.  Then she tells us what types of things will go on sale for that month. Now on to the Frugal Family Vacation.  Molly shares with us some many money saving tips that you can't help but to relax and enjoy your family.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that you can think of she has tips and links upon links to help you "watch how you spend those dollars" and get the most out of your family vacation. 

Throughout the Digest you will also find yummy recipes she shares for taking on the road and even a picnic at the park. She tells us of special days throughout June and July that is usually not printed on our yearly calendars.  There are so many things you can do with your family this summer.  She had many things in there I had not even thought of.  I was really touched by the special section where people shared "what their father taught them".  I never knew my father so I was really blessed by it.  What a way to honor fathers for Father's Day.

Another great thing Molly shares with us is an example of how her family took a trip to our nation's capital on a shoestring budget.  Other's share their stories of their frugal family vacations too.  You will be amazed at what you hear.  I know I was.  Last but not least are vacation planning forms at the end of the Digest. Molly really has thought of everything from what I can tell.  It's like having your on travel agent but better.  She's guiding you step by step in planning your vacation.  How cool is that!!!  Before you plan the rest of your summer stop on by The Old Schoolhouse and download Molly's (June) Money Saving Digest for only $4.95 today. 

I have been so blessed to have been choosen to be a part of TOS Crew this year.  I'm sad that it has ended with me completing my last review for them.  It has brought out a part of me that I never knew was there.  I did not think I would be able to keep a blog let alone write reviews.  I remember when I saw the first email advertisement from TOS about the opportunity to review homeschool products.   I figured it was something I wouldn't be able to do since I was new to homeschooling.  The next time I saw an email about it I started pondering it in my mind.  I put it off again because I figured I wouldn't have time being I was trying to be more organized than our first year homeschooling.  When the last email came around about the first batch already being screened I figured I might as well send in my profile and see what they think.  I figured if they like what I had to say then God was opening a door for me, and all I needed to do was trust Him each step of the way.

I have had the opportunity to try out products I would have not consider or even have heard of.  Many of the products were really great and we would have missed out on things are homeschool needs.  The vendors were so generous in what they sent.  I couldn't believe some of them would send so much.  I was expecting samples of their curricula, but they were sending the full product that a paying customer would purchase.  It was truely a blessing.  Some products we didn't care for or didn't work with our homeschooling needs.  To come up with our top 10 picks, I asked my husband and son to sit with me to discuss the ones we enjoyed the best.  The first ones our top 3 must haves...

* Homeschooling ABC's - This is a must have for new homeschoolers.

* Trigger Memory Systems - To help keep my son on track.

* Heads Up - I can find all I need to work on my son's speech and motor skills.

These next 7 are more of our favorites in no particular order...

* Spears Art Studio

* Artistic Pursuits

* KinderBach

* The Little Man In the Map from Schoolside Press

* Write Shop StoryBuilders

* Apologia

* Memoria Press

The others that made our Honoray List are TOS Magazine whom I am so thankful for, One2Believe, All about Spelling (Homophones e-book), SpellQuizzer,  Homeschool In the Woods, and Schleich Action Figures.

We had another opportunity at using a product that allowed us to get a feel for a "Classical" approach to education.  It's still not our cup of tea at this time due to us still trying to get used to educating at home.

Memoria Press has a really great line of products for homeschoolers to choose from.  We had the opportunity to take a shot at learning some Latin.  I never thought of learning Latin before so I was excited when our package arrived in the mail.  Here is a brief description of all we recieved.

First we have the Prima Latina .  It  is a beginner Latin program (an introduction to Christian Latin).  If you have no background in Latin here is where you want to start.  It is recommended for students K-3rd grade.  Even if my son was beyond 4th grade I would have began here anyway to help us get a feel for it.

     
It is very easy to follow because the author Leigh Lowe  does an excellent job of teaching it in an easy to understand way. The Prima Latina text set comes with a teacher's manual, student book, and a pronunciation guide, songs, and prayers CD for $32.95.  It is made up of 25 lessons.  Each lesson consists of 2 pages that has grammar, vocabulary words, and your child will even learn a new part of a prayer in Latin.  At the end of each lesson is a 2 page exercise.  The exercises consist of review questions, writing out the new words and their translations, and a fun practice.  They have a 3 disk Instructional DVD set for $45.00 that goes along with all the lessons.  My son likes watching this because he can see the teacher's face and how her lips formulates the words.  They recommend using the flash cards to go along with the study.  If you are like me and want to save money, I suggest making a set of your own flash cards using different colored 3x5" index cards. 

Next we have the Cursive Copybook.  Your child will write some Hymns and Prayers as well as other words he or she is learning from the Latin lessons using New American Cursive. 

Your child can begin using this copybook around the 2nd grade level or once he or she has started cursive handwriting.  My son learned cursive this school year so it was great practice for him.  In the beginning of the book there is an opportunity for students to trace the letters.  After that is the Latin phrases with the English translation on the next page.  I like that the pages are side by side so you can see what each word means.  The Cursive Copybook is $14.95.

Last we ventured into learning some Roman History by reading about The Famous Men of Rome.  This is indeed a living book and is beautifully illustrated.

Famous Men of Rome is recommended for Grades 3-6.  The book set includes a text, teacher manual, and student guide.  It is normally priced at $52.85 but is now on sale for $39.95.  The student guide goes along with each lesson being read.  It consists of Facts to Know, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions, and Activities to do at the end of each lesson. 

 Although my son is in 3rd grade I found this to be too much for him to do right now.  It is above his level of comprehension because he has AS and is socially behind a few years.  We just read the stories together and have a brief discussion about what we read.   IMO unless your child is very mature to actually understand what's going on, I think 4th or 5th grade would be a better time for kids to get more out of this type of study.  My son's attention span was too short for these lessons so we will try this again in a few years for him.

Memoria Press has a great line up of Latin and History products for different ages.  My son really enjoys learning Latin.  During each lesson he says "this is fun".  Once we have finished Prima Latina I plan to continue on with their Christina Latina I if we are able to afford it.  For all that you are getting it is well worth the value.

We are very eclectic when it comes to our homeschooling.  After seeing so many different curriculums out there, I decided the eclectic approach works best for us to homeschool our son.  It gives us more options to choose from so we can find things that cater to "his" learning style. 

I've become more relaxed than I was the first year since I'm learning all about the different teaching styles and philosophies.  Being part of TOS Crew has allowed me to use curriculums that incorporates some of the different styles and methods.  Recently we began using a product from a company that allowed us to get a feel for a "Classical" style of education.  It's called Tapestry of Grace.

Tapestry of Grace's (TOG) history-based Unit Studies are sold through Lampstand Press.  They are "designed to follow a Classical education using a guided unit study approach".  Students from grades K-12th will go through 4 year cycles to learn World History.  Tapestry Of Grace integrates many subjects like history, literature, geography, and fine arts to make learning fun and influential.  From week to week your kids will learn about people, events, and movements through a time period.  Each one is broken down like this:

• Unit 1: The Books of Moses (Creation/Egypt/Exodus)
• Unit 2: All Governments are Established by God (Bronze Age)
• Unit 3: Preparing the World for Its Savior (Solomon to Alexander the Great)
• Unit 4: In the Fullness of Time (the Roman World)

• Unit 1: The Middle Ages
• Unit 2: Renaissance & Reformation
• Unit 3: Colonial America
• Unit 4: The Age of Revolutions

• Unit 1: Napoleon's World (1800-1825)
• Unit 2: The Birth of the Modern (1825-1850)
• Unit 3: Nations Uniting and Dividing (1850-1875)
• Unit 4: not currently available. Due for distribution in early February.

We used their Year 1 Unit 1 Digital Edition (DE).  The Yr. 1 Unit 1 covers creation to the Egyptians through the end of the Moses era.  The price for DE is $45.00.  You will need lock lizard in order to download the digital program.  Then you will need a license to access all the files.  This will be sent to you in an email after you have paid for, and downloaded your unit.  You can also get a printed version for $60.00.  I have to admit I found it hard using the classical method since we don't use curriculums.  I found it to be overwhelming for us to get into.  I was glad they have lapbooks to go along with the units.  Here's some pics of our completed lapbook...

They suggest using 2 pieces of 11" cardstock folded in a shutter fold to make the lapbook.  We didn't have anything but white cardstock that wasn't big enough to use.  I ended up using 2 regular file folders and an extension.  Each file was to be printed on colored paper.  We didn't have any colored paper so I used white paper and let my son color some of the pictures.  We also found pictures online to use as a decoration for the outside.  This was a 9 week unit.  There are instructions on how to fold the mini booklets as well as what information you will need to look for to write in them. 

I am not sure we will be continuing on using any more Tapestry Of Grace units at this time.  Being a new homeschooler, I still have lots to learn before I'll know if I'm comfortable using a curriculum of this kind.  Their loom is a helpful resource to get you started.  There is also a TOG forum and a yahoo group that can be of great help for those who are new to TOG.

The curriculum looks very well put together and can be used for families with children of different ages.  If you like giving your kids the classical style of education TOG may very well be worth you looking into.  If you're like me and don't want your head spinning from all the information you have to read in order to use this curriculum, their lapbook supplement may suit your family's needs.

I've mentioned before that I'm not a Science lover.  Science is one of my sons favorite subjects.  He loves keeping up with the weather on the weather channel.  He says he wants to be a meterologist when he grows up.  Every week he always wants to watch two T.V. shows called "Zula Patrol" and "Cyber Chase" (they also focus on Math).  He talks to me all about that days episode. 

We have only been homeschooling for two years now.  From the beginning I noticed there are so many curriculum out there to choose from.  A new homeschooler can get overwhelmed looking for one that will work well with their family.  I am still learning about new ones all the time. Through one of my searches I came across a company that has a Christian based Science curriculum for homeschoolers.  The name is what first struck an interest to me.

I had never heard of Apologia before.  I wondered what that meant.  So I browsed around on the website more to get a feel for what it could be.  It didn't take long before I realized I had come across a Science curriculum that actually recognizes and shows God as the creator of everything around us.  I thought to myself "what a great ministry".  We recently had the chance to do a review on one of their books in their Elementary Science series for grades K-6th.  It's called "Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day".

Written by Jeannie Fulbright. 

Has 14 Lessons/Chapters

Price $35.00

Focus on Creationism and Intelligent Design

Great for notebooking or lapbooking.

Enhance learning with experiments in each chapter.

The author wrote the book in a conversational tone so it would be easy for the reader to understand as you go through the study.  My son is a very fluent reader so he had no difficulties with it.   He does not comprehend on the level that he reads so we made a lap/notebook to go along with our study.  In this book your kids will learn about...

*What is Zoology?

*What makes a bird a bird?

*Flying Factuals

*Nesting

*Hatching

*Bats

*Flying Reptiles

*Insects (Life Cycles & Life Styles)

*Beetles, Flies, and more

Here are pictures in our lap/notebook of things we learned in the first lesson:

The mini books we used in this came from Notebooking2Learn.  You will have to become a member of this yahoogroup in order to have access to the files.  You can find free mini books to go with chapters 1-6 there.  Another place you can find mini books for this is LALP.  I will be coming back from time to time to update this post as we get through each chapter.

My son really likes the books and asked if we will do the other books in the series.  That tells me they would be worth the money because he's enjoying what he's learning.  The other books in this series are Zoology 2, and Zoology 3.  The other Elementary Science books they offer are Exploring Creation with Astronomy, and Exploring Creation with Botany.  He will definately want to study the Astronomy one.  So I guess you can say this is where we will be getting all of our science curriculum for now .  I have enjoyed learning along with my son reading this book as well.  My favorite part is when we do the lapbooks.  I  just love the look of a finished project.

We recently received toys from a company that has something for kids of all interests.   Schleich has an awesome imaginative Play World with animal and other action figures of all kinds.   These products are of fine quality.  Each figurine is "crafted with great care and attention to detail".  They are not only great for play because of their durability, but are also good for collecting as well.  Below you can see pictures of the ones my son is playing with.   

From the "farm life" world we have a walking cat, a standing sheep, a donkey foal, and a lipizzaner stallion.  From the "wild life" world we have a walking lioness, and an African black rhino.  You can see other wild life animals and accesories on Schleich's playground page.  My son is a wild one so he loves making the animals wrestle each other.  He said he wants to start a collection with the world of knights.   He enjoyed playing the game with his dad on the playground page.

They also have the forest life, world of elves, human figurines, playsets, dinosaurs, dogs, sea animals, and even "the smurfs" toys. There is so much to choose from.  These are not only great for play, but they can be used when educating your kids through History and Science.  However creative you the parent/teacher want to get; you'd be surprised with the variety of ways to use these action figurines.  You can find many of Schleich's toys in speciality toy shops and stores like Target, or Toys "R" Us.  

One of the things I love about homeschooling is the fact that I can pick learning materials that goes with my son's style of learning.  We do a little of everything to keep things interesting in our studies.  Lapbooks have become one of my son's favorite things to do.  He doesn't enjoy the written or the art side of it more than he does the finished product.  Once we've finished he loves to get his lapbooks out and look over all the things he learns.  This helps him to retain the information.  Recently we started working on a project to get more out of our study of the bible.  We're doing a New Testament lapbook that came from a company by the name of Homeschool In The Woods.  It is their New Testament Activity-Pak that was written, designed, and illustrated by Amy Pak.

Homeschooling In The Woods has History Through the Ages, Time Travelers, and Activity-Paks that are great for hands on learning.  The New Testament Activity-Pak is a lapbook that is geared toward kids 3rd-8th grade.  The Activity-Pak we're using is in PDF format that can be downloaded upon purchased for $18.95.  It can also be purchased on CD for $19.95.  It has 17 activities that have detailed instructions and the pictures are of high quality. 

Some things your child(ren) will learn from by doing the Homeschool In The Woods New Testament Activity-Pak are:

• The Lineage of David to Jesus
• The Beatitudes
• Miracles and Parables of Jesus
• The Fruit of the Spirit
• The Last Supper
• The Crucifixion
• The Ascension
• Pentecost
• The Resurrection
• Prophesies that were Fulfilled, and more.

Here you can see pictures of our finished lapbook.... 

I haven't seen a project pack full of pictures of such great quaility as these have.  Majority of the activities we've done were easy to do.  Each activity had a list of supplies needed to complete it and a picture of how to assemble each mini book.  The only problem we experienced was trying to put together the pie booklet.  This one could have used some extra details to the instructions for those who are not used to putting together lapbooks and mini books of this sort.  My son doesn't like to color that much so I had to help him with some of it.  There is lots of printing and cutting involved.  I found it was better to have my son color his pictures first then I would cut them out while he was busy doing another assignment.  Some of you might like the idea of cutting all the pictures out before doing the activities and that's fine too. 

Later I will post pictures of the "Armor of God" and the "New Testament News" once we have finished those activities.  I think Amy did a wonderful job on The New Testament Activity-Pak.  It is so full of valuable information that I know will stick with my son for years to come.  Head on over to Homeschool In the Woods to see these great activities as well as the resources they offer for free.

Well they have done it again.  Some of you may remember me telling you before about the Nativity play set during Christmas time.  One2believe has now come up with another play set to enhance our kids learning.

Do your kids recall the story of Noah's Ark?  It's where God gave Noah a very special assignment.  He told Noah to build a BIG Ark because there was going to be a great flood all over the earth.  On this ark he was to make room for two of every kind of creature (one male and one female) God had created.  In return for Noah's obedience God saved him and his family from the great flood!  You can read all about it here.

As you read your children can make this story come to life with the Tales of Glory interactive Noah's Ark play set.  The set includes Noah, with 2 elephants, 2 monkeys, 2 lions, 2 camels, 2 birds, 2 ostriches, a sheep and a ram, a donkey and a mule, an ark with ramp, and a mini story book.  It's appropriate for kids ages 3 and up and sells for $29.99.

My son has enjoyed using his imagination with this play set.  Having toys like this to go along with the Bible stories are wonderful.  I only wish they had these around when I was growing up.  I think this is a great product other than the fact that I would liked to have seen Noah along with some of his family members.  It would make the play set complete so that it doesn't look to the kids like Noah was all by himself on the Ark with all those animals .

Stop by one2believe today to see Noah's Ark and many other great Bible learning toys they have.  Your kids will really be glad you did !

We don't use a Spelling program at our house.  Each week I'll normally just have a list of 20 words with activities my son needs to work with starting on Monday.  After having done different activities he's ready by Friday for his test.  He's already great at Spelling, but I like finding more ways for it to be fun for him to learn his new words. 

Do you already have a Spelling curriculum but looking for a fun, creative, and interactive way for your kids to learn their word list?  Do you have a child who struggles with Spelling and you've tried many things that just didn't work?  Maybe you're like me and just looking for more ways to make Spelling fun for your learners. A software program called SpellQuizzer just may be what you are looking for.

Dan Hite created this software to help chidren learn their spelling words in a fun and quicker way.  He wants to help them to "score better Spelling test scores".  For many kids the traditional way to prepare for the week's test is dreaded like doing a "boring chore".   With the way SpellQuizzer is set up the kids nor their parents have to settle for that most dreaded way any longer.

After you download the software and follow the instructions you are ready to begin using the program.  The first thing you will see is a box that allows you to choose the option to create your child's spelling list.  The number of words does not matter.  It will calculate them as you go.  As you type in a word you have an option to either type in a sentence as a hint or use it to put the defintion of the word.  I like that because we can not only use it for Spelling, but we use it for Vocabulary as well.  There's also an option to record your voice rather than typing in a sentence.  You will need an inexpensive microphone to do the recording.  We used my son's play mic from his piano he got for Christmas a few years back.  Once you are done you need to save your list.   You can always go back and edit your list(s) as needed.  When you are ready for your child to practice on his or her list you can click on the "Quiz me on a list" option.  Your child will then hear the hint or see the sentence you typed in.  He or she will have to type the correct Spelling word in from there.  If it's correct they will get to go on to the next word.  If it's incorrect they will see a box showing the correct spelling.

You can see some screen shots of SpellQuizzer by clicking here.  The price for this software is $29.95.  No need to worry about having more than one child because you can use it to make separate lists for all of your kids.  You can also download a free trial to try out before you buy it.  I strongly suggest you read the tips and suggestions to better understand and get the best use out of the program. 

Most kids love being on the computer and mine is no exception.  I involved my son in using the program with me.  Each Monday he would start off by recording the definitions to his words.  By Wednesday he was inputting the sentences for the words and being quizzed.  On Friday I just let him take a quick practice test or just test him right from the computer if he aced it on the first try.  There's a special way the program rewards them at the end for getting them all correct .

I can't credit SpellQuizzer for making him a better speller just yet.  I haven't seen much difference since he's already good at Spelling.  There were some times when he didn't get a word right the first time and was able to get it right the second time around after seeing his mistake.  I do know that he really loves the program, and it's much less of a hassel for me each week when preparing work for his weekly Spelling list.