Armyof5 - Homeschool Blogger

Exploracise GyMathtics by ExploraMania

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:27:00 -0600

Exploramania was created by Carrie Scheiner, who, as a parent was concerned about too much non-educational TV, and not enough exercise. Her passion for education and healthy lifestyle, commitment to her children's well being, and desire for more options for parents and educators grew into development of several multi-sensory learning products. You can read more about her story and inspiration here.

For review, I received the first Exploracise Gymathtics DVD. It is a 30 minute workout teaching math and healthy lifestyle concepts while performing a complete exercise routine. The math facts target 2nd through 5th grades, but the exercise program is great for all ages.

The complete Program (copied from the DVD cover) includes:

*Shape Stretches Warm Up - stretch your mind and body with line, circle, and polygon stretches

*Counting Calisthenics- Aerobic movements work your heart as fun counting concepts work your brain

*Pattern Power- Growing and repeating pattern exercise combinations challenge minds and strengthens muscles.

*Well Being Wind Down- Relaxing stretches cool down the body and open the mind to think about healthy lifestyle choices including the Nice Wave Stretch and BIG DREAM Stretch.

You can see more detail of math concepts and actual photos of parts of the program here.

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So how did my family like this?

As you can imagine, my girls ( 9 and almost 13) groaned when I explained we would be watching a math/exercise program. I think they might have envisioned Sesame Street counting with the big purple dinosaur singing cheesy songs. "Just give it a fair shake," I told them.

As I began, we noticed the music was upbeat and motivational, not annoying as they had imagined. But math facts?? Well, the inclusion of educational content on the side of the screen where the folks are performing the routine are well organized and easy to follow. The screen is colorful and well organized, and the voice of the exercise instructor is pleasant and energetic. All three kids thought it was a fun and upbeat video and exercise routine, but definitely geared for the younger set (elementary).

We don't even have a TV in our home, so too much screen time really isn't a problem. My girls spend a majority of their spare time outside riding horses or exploring our caliche cliffs, so exercise isn't much of a problem either. My three year old goes non-stop as well, although I was quite disappointed for a time last year when he became seemingly addicted to sitting watching cartoons at the babysitter's house. I can certainly say I understand Carrie's concern for too much tv and not enough exercise in our youth. While I'm so thankful our family has had the opportunity to provide our kids with 30 acres and a ranch full of critters to tend to in exchange for tv time, I know this is certainly not the norm in today's society. I love the idea behind Exploramania's mission as an alternative and healthy addition to families commited to their children's well being.

You can purchase this DVD for $24.99 by visiting the Exploramania website. While you're there, be sure to check out some of the other neat products they have, including GyMathtics 2.0 dvd. In a personal message, Carrie stated that several new products will be rolling in over the next few months, so be sure to keep a watch for some fun and educational additions to your children's learning experience.

Visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog to read more reviews of this and other great homeschool products!

Chris

I received this DVD for review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. No other compensation was received, and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

AVKO

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:37:00 -0600

"AVKO is a non-profit membership organization that focuses on the development and production of materials and especially techniques to teach reading and spelling, handwriting and keyboarding. AVKO is dedicated to teaching everyone how to read and spell, regardless of their mild to moderate learning disablities, dyslexia, poverty or opportunity. "

For review, I received a complimentary one year membership to the AVKO website. Upon visiting the website, I soon learned that the founder Don McCabe specializes in teaching dyslexics reading, spelling, writing, and keyboarding. He is the creator of Sequential Spelling which I had heard of before as a popular spelling program.

I noticed many free and helpful materials on the website itself. But after logging in as a member, I began to look around at the many free e-books, articles, audio downloads, games, worksheets, and more that the $25.00 per year membership has to offer:

Benefits of AVKO Basic Membership

Discounts on AVKO printed materials
Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books(PDF)
Access to the Member Only section
AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
Access to Don McCabe's most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more!
Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

There is also a $100.00 Deluxe membership you can see here.

How did this work for my family?

Well, I've never had experience with learning disabilities or dyslexia. My first taught herself to read at 4 and the second was ready to read at 3.5 and never looked back. They've always been natural spellers, so I've never done much research or looking for reading or spelling helps.

As my 3.5 year old is just on the brink of sounding out words and just about ready for reading, I decided to print off a few of the ebooks on teaching reading and have looked through them a bit. I do believe the AVKO method has many helpful and valid suggestions, and if my little guy ends up providing more of a challenge than the older two, I will be sure to refer back for a closer look. So far, though, it's looking like a third natural reader and speller.

Who is this for?

For anyone looking for more information on teaching reading, spelling, writing and keyboarding, and most certainly for those with learning challenged students, especially dyslexics. I've heard this is just a life saver in those cases.

Any downside to this? The only con for me was that the website seemed a bit difficult to navigate, and took a bit of time to figure out what was there and how to access it.

Be sure to check out the other reviews of AVKO on the Homeschool Crew website.

Chris

This company provided a free one year subscription to their website to me for purposes of review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. No other compensation was received, and opinions expressed here are my own.

American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc.

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:23:00 -0600

American Heritage Education Foundation website

*Product: America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty resource CD

*Cost: FREE ($150.00 value) CD or download from website, or $19.50 per level in printed binder format.

*Grade Level: K-12

The PDF file contains Elementary, Elementary in spanish, Middle School and High School volumes.

As a part of the TOS Crew, I was sent America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty K-12 lesson plan resource CD for review. I was already familiar with the American Heritage Education Foundation website. I admire and appreciate their fierce dedication to equip tomorrow's leaders with not only the information to be productive citizens in society, but the knowledge and understanding of our forefather's Christian character that brought our great country into existence.

As a military homeschooling family, we certainly agree with the themes of freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility that AHEF promotes. You can read their philosophy and how it came about here.

I certainly appreciate that this material is being provided to educators for FREE, and surely hope it is taught with the vigor and fortitude with which it is intended. While it is not truly a Christian-based curriculum, the Christian character on which our country was founded has certainly been addressed. Intended for public school use, it can easily be adapted for homeschool use, and would be an excellent resource for coops.

This resource has some very complete and well structured theme units for supplement of a regular history program. The lessons would be great for use as individual unit studies as well.

Our family is not currently studying American History, as we have covered the founding of America, colonists, and early US history up through the Revolutionary War in quite a bit of detail in the past. We have also taken time to cover American symbols, our American flag, and the importance of patriotism with our children in great depth as a military family, and in scouts. We spent so much time with this I felt it was necessary to take a break to cover world history for awhile. I had planned to include AHEF supplemental resources as we started back into US history again, and after viewing the CD, I'm anxious to get back into it!

I printed off the unit on Thanksgiving for the girls to do as independent study this week. The materials include a handout "History of Thanksgiving Day", and a comprehension/discussion sheet with vocabulary words and questions to answer,as well as a crossword puzzle. They will work together to plan a Thanksgiving celebration, identifying foods they would like to eat, and combining it with our Nutrition study. The object for this unit is for the student to recognize and understand the origin and the meaning of Thanksgiving day. The theme for this unit is unity, and it's importance is in understanding that Thanksgiving began as a celebration among all of the people in the new nation as a blessing of a full harvest, and as a time when people united to share their bounty with others in the community.

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The material is broken up into 14 well structured teachable units, each reflecting on one or more of the four base themes of freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility. There are suggestions for months to complete each unit to help schedule them into your curriculum. Included are games, fun activities, many printables such as crossword puzzles, reading comprehension questions, color sheets, charts to fill out, and more. Each level can be used together with the same basic information expanded for upper levels.

The units include:

1776 - Colonial America: Amer. Revolution

1776 - The Declaration of Independence

1776 - A Famous Signature

1762 - George Washington

1762 - U. S. Presidents

1782 - The Great Seal

1789 - Thanksgiving

1792 - The United States Flag

1814 - The Star-Spangled Banner

1864 - The National Motto

1886 - The Statue of Liberty

1892 - The Pledge of Allegiance & Creed

1895 - America the Beautiful

2000 - What is an American?

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I'm thankful that there are individuals in our country still dedicated to promoting the education of our grand heritage and freedom.

If every American home taught and believed these ideals and values of our forefathers, our country would again be "One Nation Under God," and continue to be the greatest nation in the world. Without them, our future and the future of our children will continue to crumble. Read how America's Survival is in Mortal Danger!, then order the CD or download these lessons from the AHEF website , and get busy!! You got a big job to do, your children and your country are depending on you!

As always, check out what my crewmates have to say by visiting the Crew blog!

Chris

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was sent this free resource with no additional compensation for review. Opinions expressed in this blog are my own.

abcteach

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:26:00 -0600

When I first started homeschooling about 6 years ago, some of the first resources recommended to me were websites where you can search and find worksheets and supplemental learning material concerning just about any subject you want to cover. Abcteach was one of those websites, and while I was impressed with the 5,000 worksheets available on the website free of charge, a fellow homeschooling mom showed me how much more was available through her membership (35,000 worksheets, plus!), and I was hooked. After the first couple of years of homeschooling, though, I found we really were moving in a different direction and I really never searched or printed anything we didn't already have included in our materials. The first couple of years, though, I did have a preschool/kindergartener and the extra material was really helpful.

Abcteach is a great resource for preschool through 8th grade, and they add new material weekly. I really enjoy having access to some great seasonal and holiday printables. They have fabulous worksheet generators, and you can make anything from crossword puzzles to handwriting sheets. Just scroll down and check out the abctools worksheet generator!

I was pleased today to read in the member newsletter that they have now added Getty-Dubay italics to their fonts, as well as another different one they hadn't included before. On occasion I see my 9 year old with some odd looking characters on her paper, and have wished I still had the handwriting worksheet software program on my computer that I used to have. Since we use Getty-Dubay handwriting, I can now just print up a practice sheet whenever I see that handwriting slipping a bit!They really do add great stuff to the website all the time. They are also always open for suggestions.

Since we are studying ancient Greece, I was thrilled to run into some Greek recipes that had math word problems with them. I thought they added a little something different to our study time, and we were looking for a couple of easy greek recipes to try with our study.

I am especially thrilled to be able to have the membership again since my preschooler is really interested in doing "school" this year. He has been overjoyed to have his own worksheets to do. We are doing "letter of the week", and there are so many different choices of things to do. Somedays he just wants to do one, somedays he keeps asking for more.

For moms needing some extra math practice sheets, extra materials for little ones, or extra worksheets on something you are currently studying for workboxes or even to show curious relatives or fill portfolios, abcteach is a great resource. Take a look at their video tour to get a visual for yourself.

After my free one month TOS Crew membership was expired, I found I could definitely still benefit from the membership, so I took advantage of a great deal to continue it for a year. You can take advantage of a great deal too, over at Homeschool Buyer's Coop. They are offering a 50% discount off the normal $40.00 yearly membership through the end of November! You can also get a two year membership on the website for $70.00.

While worksheets and extra printables aren't for everyone, this is a great resource for those who do utilize this type of learning in their families and homeschools, or have little ones always needing something to do.

As always, don't forget to check out what my Crewmates over at the TOS Crew blog think!

Chris

I was given access to abcteach for one month at no charge for purposes of writing this review. No other compensation was given. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Virginia Soaps and Scents

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:32:00 -0500

First things first. You'll be needing this link!

*Okay let me just make this disclaimer right from the start:

I LOVE Virginia Soaps and Scents

I'm a homeade/natural soap fan (addict) from way back. I had purchased rich natural handmade soaps for several years from a soap artist back home, but have been unable to get them anymore for almost a year now. I've tried some from the health food stores and such, but they've not really been the same, and much too expensive to use on a regular basis.

I used to tell that soap artist that when I got out a brand new bar of lavender soap, I felt like a kid unwrapping the silver wrapper on a fresh new Hershey bar! I missed that feeling when I could no longer get her soap. When I learned of Virgina Soaps and Scents I was pretty sure that the Crew had been given this opportunity soley as an answer to my fervent prayers for a new soap artist. **grin**

I've not stalked the mailman or run to the mailbox (partly because my mailbox is now about a half mile down the drive,LOL) this crewyear as I did last year...well, until now. The day I received that package I think I could hear music from the heavens!

We opened our package to find the most adorable personalized "Soap Sampler Designed especially for the Old Schoolhouse Crew", along with a sweet note and pamphlet telling the Spargur family story. The product labels are the cutest handcrafted gingham checked design, and the soaps are beautiful! The products are made from all natural oils, fragrances and colors by the Spargur family in their own home.

You see the story behind the creation of this magnificent company is every bit as captivating and inspiring as the soap masterpieces themselves. This homeschooling family began this whole adventure as a unit study on Colonial Williamsburg! You can check out the stories and artists behind VSS on their website. Everything they use is created with their own hands, from the molds and tools, to the beautiful labels they print! Amazing!!

**We received 3 "bed and breakfast" sized 1.75 oz. pure handcrafted soap bars in coconut lemongrass, oatmill milk and honey, and fresh orange, a 2.25 oz Ginger Lime shampoo bar, and a soap laundry kit.

I had never heard of a shampoo bar before, so was really anxious to try it out. It was interesting and a different experience for each person in our family with all different hair types. I really love it for my 3 year old who always seems to have that "sweaty" smell. No longer ! That hair stays clean and fresh for longer now! My 9 year old has very thin "always messy" hair, and the shampoo bar works great for her too. For my oldest, the regular bar didn't work at all because her hair is so very thick, long and heavy/oily. But after I ordered the Oily hair/clarifying shampoo bar (more on that later), she is loving using it with her claryfying shampoo off and on. I love it in my own hair. I do rotate it with my regular shampoo sometimes, though, because my hair is also very thick and long and it sometimes looks oily. I don't have to use conditioner at all, though with the shampoo bar. The oily hair/clarifying bar works very well on my hair, and smells just awesome!

On to the laundry soap. I'm just absolutely THRILLED to have been blessed with this resource for my homeade laundry soap. I heated the grated soap bar with the amount of water it required, added the premeasured packages of borax and washing soda, added the rest of the water and let it gel. Just as I had heard, this homeade soap cleans the clothes so much better than any detergent I've ever used! My laundry is soooo squeaky clean, smells amazing and even costs less (much less, actually)!

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After receiving the review soap sampler and enjoying them so much, my girls and I spent much time looking over the website.

I just couldn't wait to order more from these fabulous folks. I had decided VSS will certainly make my Christmas shopping easy this year, and this could be the first year ever to be finished with my Christmas shopping in October! But, we were so excited to try out so many of the other products that we decided to put in a family order first. I ordered several more laundry bars so I might continue making my own laundry soap. The laundry soap comes in premade packages with the bar, borax and washing soda all pre-measured ($4.95 or 6 kits for $25.00- one kit makes 2 gallons!) , or they sell a 9 oz (or two 4.5 oz bars depending on Richelle's mood!) laundry "lardbar" ($3.95) to go with borax and washing soda you can purchase locally yourself. It took me quite a lot of looking ,but I finally found washing soda, so I'm all fixed up now! I just can't say enough about how clean and fresh my laundry is now!!

There are several options for purchase of the soaps. Single bars are $4.50, 3 bars for $12.00, or buy 4 get one free. We took advantage of the 10 bars for $35.00 offer since there were so many we wanted to try. (We really wanted to order 20, but finally decided on only 10 this time around!) Believe me, you'll have a terrible time deciding which of their magnificent masterpieces you want to try first!! We did include all three of the holiday scents (wild bayberry, pumpkin spice and peppermint) in our order and they are unbelievable!

We also ordered more shampoo bars. These 5.5 ounce bars are $5.50 each, or we took advantage of the 2 bars for $10.00 offer since we knew we wanted 2 of the oily hair/clarifying tangerine/grapefruit bars. We also went ahead and ordered the other two regular shampoo bars- coconut lemongrass and cherry almond (Tayt's favorite!).

In our soap order we included the three All-in-one bars. They are for shampoo, shower and shave, and are our very favorite scents! The "Waltzing Matilda" is Morgan's and my favorite, because it has the scent of Victoria's Secret Lovespell which I've loved for years. The Kiddiwink bar is my next favorite because it is an unscented base full of a "confetti" of the leftovers from other bars, and it's adorable and a "new adventure" each time you use it. Of course I had a difficult time narrowing down the rest of my order, and while I wanted to order "violets and lace" which is noted as Richelle's favorite, I didn't end up with it on my order. Not to worry, she included an itty bitty sample with a cute little label! (How'd she know??LOL) I can see a future order containing several violets and lace!! It's out of this world!

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They have many other products such as lip balm, linen spray, body powders, shaving kits, and even pet soap (which we originally had in our shopping cart, but decided to put on hold until next order!) They even have fundraising opportunities.

This has been without a doubt my favorite experience with the TOS Crew. This family has been such an inspiration and joy to me. What an incredible testimony they are both to our homeschooling community and to our world in need of such an example: students, craftsmens, artists, and a loving, caring, supportive family. I thank you for generously allowing me this opportunity to experience your world! May God Bless you!

Now go wash behind those ears...

Chris

Virginia Soaps and Scents has graciously provided me a sampling of their products free of charge as a member of the TOS Crew for review purposes. No further compensation was received. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Bible Timeline from Bible Charts and Maps

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:20:00 -0500

Bible Timeline

As a member of the TOS Crew, I was sent a Bible timeline to review. I looked forward to receiving this product after reading about it on the website since we studied about Egypt last year, and this year we are doing studies on Old Testament history and Greece.

The first shipment I received arrived in a triangular cardboard tube, but it had been folded in half and crushed. The map had a large crease down the center which made the eensy-weensy words very difficult to read. I contacted the company, because I thought they would want to know this about their product for review purposes, and they sent me another right away, showing their good customer service.

Upon receiving the second map, I unrolled it to find a huge 38" X 46" sturdy poster labeled "World History Chart in accordance with Bible Chronology- showing in colors the descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth." As I began looking over it, I thought how very cool it was to be seeing these events and people who lived simultaneously. I was pleased that the timeline started at 4004 B.C. and as I followed it around, saw 2000 A.D. on up to 3000 A.D.

As my girls and I studied our Old Testament history and Greece, we had fun looking at the timeline, and getting accustomed to following the lines around. It was really neat to see it all in perspective, there together on the timeline, comparing different family lines and cultures at the same time.

I'm no history buff. Names and dates are NOT my specialty. But I do enjoy putting events and people together, especially now that I have had the opportunity to learn HIStory with my children. For every subject I study or teach that is not my own specialty (history is one of those), I am bound by trust to my resources. I have taught my girls the importance of researching and finding trustworthy references.

When I received an email from the company "clearing up" some confusion of concerns by fellow crewmates, my red flags went up.

As my commitment and obligation to post an honest and fair review, I will state my opinions as follows:

*I am no expert in Bible theology, or world history.

*I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible is God's word and 100% true, and Jesus Christ is His son sent from heaven to die for our salvation.

*It is my obligation to guide my children in the knowledge and footsteps of Jesus Christ, presenting them with accurate and factual study material.

*This timeline claims to be a "Christian" resource, based on the Bible. While I see many accurate references to scripture, I also find questionable references to non-Biblical material that isn't listed on the Bibliography . The authors admitted mistakes, mishaps, and events occuring relating to the creation of this resource. They made it clear that this was a non-denominational resource, yet the Book of Mormon was referenced. They do have a LDS version available.

*While I feel parts of the timeline are useful, I don't feel my knowledge base is broad enough to discern for myself if there might be other inaccuracies, therefore, we won't be using the timeline anymore.

Other families, however, might find it useful and acceptable.

The Amazing Bible Timeline sells for $29.97 plus shipping and handling. They offer free bonuses with purchase, and they offer a money back guarantee. Check it out here if you wish.

Chris

I received the Amazing Bible Timeline free of charge as a member of the TOS Crew for review purposes. Opinions expressed here are my own. Please visit the Crew website to read what my crewmates think!

Sue Patrick's Workboxes

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:05:00 -0500

I must be among a small minority who had never heard of workboxes. With all the building and moving chaos happening the end of last school year and throughout the summer, I guess I missed out on the craze. Or maybe I just never ran into it because I don't pay much attention to scheduling and organizational tips. I spend hours upon hours researching and praying over which materials will work best for each child in my own family, and then go with those. We stack our materials in crates and they go through the next lesson each day. I could never really figure out why it would be necessary to waste my time writing down their next lesson. Just open the book where you left off. Do what we're ready for, and don't move on until it's understood. Kind of hard to write that on a schedule. We also do many subjects together, in which I open up the manual to the next page, and read or lead a discussion either around our table or piled up on the bed. We spend as little as 5 minutes on some things, and have been known to continue for weeks on others, adding impromptu field trips and grabbing my college textbooks for further discussion sometimes! Kind of hard to put that on a schedule too, LOL.

Since we've moved into our new house, and we have a bit of a different setup for schoolwork this year ( together days are Mon, Wed, and Friday, and independent studies are Tues and Thurs), I was open minded to review Sue Patrick's Workbox System. Since I hadn't really seen much discussion on the system proir to this, I felt I could give the system a fair go. My initial impression, though, was quite jaded when I learned that she matter-of-factly states that the system should be layed out exactly as she shows because she knows what works and what doesn't. LOL, sounded like one of the reasons that top my list for avoiding public schools to me, because we all know every child in every household learns differently, and every family is different as well. But onward I walked, trying to keep that open mind.

I received Sue Patrick's Workbox System User's Guide ebook. Upon downloading it, I began to read through why she developed the system (she has an autistic child), then on into the structure of the system, and her educational philosophy. I did enjoy reading through Sue's opinions because of my great interest in different educational styles and philosophies. I find it very interesting and often inspiring to learn of ways others have taken obstacles and situations to develop and persevere to a place of success in their own situations, then graciously sharing their ideas with others. I am cautious, however, of philosophies not open to change and adaptation, especially in recommending them to others who may be less experienced or learned in adapting programs and materials to individual temperments and learning styles.

Knowing that Sue Patrick's desire was for her readers to use the program "as is" before trying to adapt to their own families was very difficult. The first step in implementing anything in my homeschool (after prayer and my own research) is to sit my girls down and show it to them, and ask their opinions. They both laughed at the thought of schedule strips with little pieces of velcro to stick off and on things, just as I imagined they might. They both did understand how this might be helpful for autistic or smaller non-readers, though.

They liked the idea of seperating out assignments and Mom scheduling them daily. This put more work on mom's shoulders, and less on their own of keeping up with their assignments. Hmmm, seemed to be another step backwards, from the independence they already show and the responsibility they have to me, LOL.

As we looked at the pictures of the twelve shoe boxes on the little rack, we all commented on how very messy it appeared to have papers and books folded over sticking out of the little boxes. Another strike against doing it Sue's way, because I've worked diligently on teaching my girls respect for their materials and books. Seemed another step backwards to exchange their neat and tidy crates of materials for messy shoeboxes with papers sticking out everywhere because they didn't fit.

After our discussion of what we felt might be a good way we could try this system out and which, if any, parts might help us accomplish our goals for our homeschool, we went shopping. We liked the idea of plastic boxes to seperate individual assignments and still leave the texts and larger materials in their crates. I already have most of my schoolwork seperated out into plastic boxes and stacked, such as Levi's BFIAR materials in one box, MATHUSEE manipulatives in another, lapbooking materials in one, preschool letter of the week activities in another. So we figured we could just buy some of those, but we could't find anything big enough for less than 2.50 to 3.50 apiece, and I didn't feel it a good investment for something that wouldn't be long term. So we spent a couple of weeks and several shopping trips discussing and trying to figure out what we could do to use her system as close to she described for review purposes to accomplish the objects she lays out in her User's Guide. One thing I was trying to focus on was using clear boxes and seeing them empty once the work was all finished. My mother was visiting at the time, and she read the User's Guide to help us try and figure it out as well. My daughters and I really enjoyed including her in this project!

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In the end, we purchased each girl a plastic file box and hanging file folders for assignments. As they complete a folder, they put it in Mom's box for grading, and they can see their empty box when all their work is complete.

I went ahead and printed off the schedule strips and other basic downloadables from the website which we had access to for review purposes. I didn't really care for the look or format of any of the downloads.

I simply could not make her schedule work for us. Instead, I printed off several different types of schedules from many different planners and programs, and finally ended up making one myself on Word. This is something I've been going to do for quite some time, but never had the time to work on and figure out. I finally just TOOK the time and did it. I made a schedule for each child and a "together" schedule. I even went on to make out longterm schedules for the subjects that I could to make the weekly schedules easier. I've never gone to this extent before, but after Sue got the organizational ball rolling for me, I just took advantage of the creative juices and got it all laid out for our new weekly schedule. I assigned a color to each child for the schedules and background color on their file folder tabs to quickly identify who I was dealing with.

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So how's it working?

Well, at first it was hard to take the extra time to sit down and type out weekly schedules, and switch out individual assignments in folders. It means more copying, more typing out answer sheets for them to fill in, much more time on my part seperating out lapbook pieces and me keeping up with their stuff. But since I only fill their folders on Tuesdays and Thursdays for their "independent" days, it's working out ok. I do feel they are getting things done when they might have used the excuse before that they didn't know exactly what to do or couldn't find something. On Monday, Wed and Friday we do our together subjects, and then go over the things they do independently that need to be reviewed. All in all, it's working out pretty well. But, I must say, it's a long way from Sue Patricks workbox system, LOL.

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Would I recommend this to others?

Hmmm. Well, yes and no. For those seasoned at adapting programs to fit their own needs, it is a good read. Sue has some great ideas, especially for younger kids and certainly learning challenged students. For those new to homeschooling who are not used to adapting, I believe it could be quite frustrating to feel obligated to use the program "as is", and then deal with the frustration and those scary feelings of failure when some parts don't work. It's a whole heap of work on Mom's part, and for a newbie, this could definitely steer her away from the true joys of homeschooling, which I believe are piling up on your couch or bed with a good book and just spending time together laughing, learning, and praising our Creator. You can't put that in a box.

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Sue Patrick's Workbox User's Guide ebook can be purchased for $19.00. You can also purchase consulting, supplies, and some package deals on her website., as well as view sample pages and videos.

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For many families, I know this has been a great program to help keep them going when they seemed to feel lost at sea. For my family, I felt I was trying to fix something that wasn't broken. Once I quit trying to stick my square pegs into round holes, I found a wonderful springboard of ideas that has helped us start out a new year, in a new house, going in that new direction.

For other reviews and opinions, please visit the TOS Crew blog.

Chris

Sue Patrick's Workbox User's Guide ebook was provided free of charge to me for review purposes as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Educaching

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:56:00 -0500

My girls and I were introduced to "Geocaching" several years back from a group of 4-Her's putting on a program at a local library. It was a very informative program, and the girls were able to participate in finding a couple of caches. We were inspired by the stories told about the fun hunts, and the examples they brought of some of the cool stuff they had found. We learned that these hunts take place all over the world, and many people go geocaching in new spots on vacations.

It was at that time we learned that GPS stands for Global Positioning System of satellites, and that these hand held devices can get you within 50 feet of a hidden object, or "cache". This is done by using a GPS receiver to obtain signals from the satellites giving the location of the objects hidden as "waypoints", which are the latitude and longitude measurements combined, expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds. It is from these waypoints that a cache is hidden and found.

I immediately signed up on the geocaching website to learn more, and began my quest for a handheld GPS unit. I did finally decide on one some months later, but in the hussle and bussle of moving, we put it away and forgot about it. When my husband was getting ready to deploy to Iraq, he asked if I knew where that GPS had gone, and we soon dug it out and he took it with him.

When I heard the title "Educaching" from the TOS Crew, my ears perked up. After all the past interest, including obtaining the equipment, I knew what this meant. We were finally gonna get to dive into using that GPS! When I brought this up to my girls, they were excited. Not only do they love new technology, but hunting for treasure outdoors still sounded like a cool idea.

I received Educaching GPS Based Curriculum for Teachers by Jason Hubbard and the SDG Creations Staff as a secured download in pdf form. It is labeled for grades 4-8, but I feel can easily be adapted to most grades and ages.

My copy is 127 pages packed full of:

* Teacher's Training

* 20 Lesson Plans (beginner, intermediate and advanced)

* Field Sheets (lesson templates, teacher maps and student maps for printing)

* Acquiring a GPS

*Beyond the Basics (clubs and further activities)

I enjoyed reading through the teacher's section. Though I was already a bit familiar with the idea of the GPS , I had never actually used it. I was dreading beginning somewhat, because I knew it would take quite a chunk of time for me to figure the whole thing out, go through the plans and hide the caches. I was quite inspired by the wealth of information I found here, though. It explains the program and ways to use it very thoroughly, beginning with vocabulary and lingo, taking a tour of a GPS receiver, kinds of containers to use, and safety.

The manual is definitely geared towards larger groups, and describes 'teamwork' dividing kids up into 5 different "roles", but they can certainly be adapted to less participants.

In this section are some easy-start projects to familiarize you with the procedures and process. These were easy and fun to implement, and suggest beginning with a look at latitude and longitude on maps. My girls picked up the steps of recording and following the waypoints fairly quickly from these easy beginning setups.

The lesson plan pages are very organized and easy to follow. They also show national standard stats for those concerned with or needing that information. The field sheets for each lesson are very neat and easy to follow. I copied a teacher's map and student maps for each before we got started. We scanned through most of the lessons together. The girls really wanted to start with an intermediate lesson "Rain Birds" which also happens to be a sample on the website. I thought it interesting (and lucky for me!) that they chose the first one to be one in which I did not have to hide caches! Instead, we read about the Story of the Rainbirds of the Zuni Indians, and mapped out different triangles using tent stakes, string, protractors and a tape measure. They plotted the way points on their maps and sketched out the triangles they had made. We learned the secret of the rainbird is in his triangular body which when tilted certain ways mean different things. After our time outside, we created our own rainbirds inside using construction paper to cut out the different types of triangles we learned about and decorating them with feathers and such to make their own rainbirds. The girls really love lessons on nature and Indians and such, so they didn't seem to even realize they were actually discussing geometry. LOL.

I can see that this curriculum will definitely take quite a chunk of extra time to set up, but for my family will be worth it for a monthly break or so. In south Texas we are fortunate to have warm weather for most of the year, but it does get quite windy on our hill many days. We've had many days of blowing rain this fall which didn't allow us to go educaching more than the first few easy-start projects and the Rainbird lesson so far.

One would definitely have to take the weather into consideration in planning when to use these lessons, and scheduling a raincheck day would be a good idea as well .

We love nature walks and outdoor learning, and I think once we do a few of these that the setup time will be less. I would like to include, however, that for those who have never really used a GPS, the time investment will be a large one. Just like anything, however, the time you invest will pay off, because I've never met too many kids who don't LOVE to hunt for treasure outdoors on a beautiful day using some high-tech device!

You can purchase Educaching for $32.00 (plus S & H and applicable taxes). You will receive a 3-ring binder and CD with customizable templates for copying. You may also purchase it in PDF download format as I received for $32.00 plus no additional S & H, but I printed the manual off, finding it more useful to refer to in hand.

Happy Hunting !

Chris

This product was provided to our family for review purposes; opinions are my own.

Levi's C Week!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:56:00 -0500

For C week we started with our Itsy Bitsy C book. Levi put together a car with brads printed on cardstock and cut out from DLTK's alphabuddies . He colored and completed a few C sheets from ABC Teach.

We revisited the Before Five in a Row book Carrot Seed and talked about the determination, care and faith it takes to grow seeds into plants to reep the vegetables or fruits they produce. We talked also about the tiny little mustard seed growing into a tree in Matthew 13: 31,32, which was the topic of children's church the week we were studying C! We also referenced Matthew 17:20 "If you have the faith of a mustard seed...nothing will be impossible," discussing the little boys faith that the carrot seed would grow despite being told by his family it wouldn't.

Levi loves to sip my coffee. One morning of C week he said, "Hey Mom, coffee starts with C!" as he was eating his cereal. We discussed that coffee was hard c and cereal was actually soft c, so we decided coffee and cereal would be our "snack" for c.

We had a fun C week!

Chris

Levi's B Week!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:49:00 -0500

I'm catching up on letter B week since I just got photos loaded.

Levi loved making his Itsy Bitsy B book! Itsy Bitsy books are such a cute way to give the child something just their size to work on!

We printed out a bat on cardstock to brad together from DLTK's alphabuddies. This cool bat uses the outlines of the child's hands for the wings. Levi loved tracing his hands. (Can't see the wings on the white table since Levi wanted them to stay white, but you can see the flower he pasted on the left wing.)

We also ate a banana for our snack!

We revisited Jesse Bear from our Before Five in a Row studies and I was able to cut out a bear I had printed with the Jesse Bear Fold-n-Learn I purchased last year from Five in a Row., along with several pieces of clothing that fits him. Tayt helped me stick velcro dots on everything so Levi could dress Jesse Bear. He had a ball with this (and I do believe Tayt enjoyed it as well!) Homeschool Share is also a great place to find projects to go along with many of the BFIAR books, and they have lots of stuff to go along with Jesse Bear. I really wanted to make the whole lapbook they have, but not enough time this go around.

Of course we sang the Leap Frog train's "B says buh" all week too.

Chris