It is that time of the year again - everyone is on the hunt for the perfect homeschool curriculum for the upcoming Fall term. Well, I don't have the "perfect" curriculum (because every child is different and every homeschooling parent teaches differently so the combinations of successful homeschooling are endless - literally endless!) but it is nice to glimpse into other homeschool days to see what others do. You never know when a change might be in order or you will stumble upon that "perfect" curriculum to fit into the gap you've been struggling to fill. 2018-2019 has been a crazy year ... Continue Reading...
White House Holidays Unit Studies
I'll start this by saying I'm not usually a fan of unit studies (they are usually too much work for me along with all of our other studies), but I received White House Holidays Unit Studies to review from Silverdale Press LLC and I have really enjoyed how thorough they are. These multi-grade level unit studies are very in-depth and in include all the information I needed to complete them. The White House Holidays Unit Studies includes six separate unit studies for the major holidays. When I first learned I would be getting these I thought this would just be a simple overview of how the ... Continue Reading...
Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary
I have recently started shopping for our 2018-2019 curriculum and this year I've decided to add Vocabulary for Booger who will be going into the 8th grade. We were given a copy of Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary by The Critical Thinking Co.™ to review and this was perfect to introduce him to a richer vocabulary. At first Booger thought he could breeze right through the lessons, but boy was he surprised! Not only was he unable to hurry through, he struggled with getting the answers correct as the words are very challenging. Even I was stumped on a few of the words I had ... Continue Reading...
PandaParents – Preschool Curriculum Review
Drewdle was so excited to have something to review all on his own when we received three lessons of MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS from PandaParents to for him to try. So what does "M.E.S.S.Y. Learning" mean exactly? Mixed subjects & activities for integrative learning Engaging activities that challenge minds Simple 1-2-3 steps: READ, LEARN, CREATE Smart designs for creative learning Yeah, a new way to promote preschool STEM & early brain growth! The idea behind M.E.S.S.Y. Learning is that young children (preschool and kindergarten age) need a multifaceted ... Continue Reading...
Improve Skills for Young Readers
Finding the right supplements to help young readers can be difficult, especially with all the computer programs out there, but I want to share with you our review of a program that is fun and it works: Reading Kingdom. Reading Kingdom is geared toward kids 4-10 years old so I have had Lulu trying out this program for several weeks now. She has really enjoyed the lessons and, though the program recommends not doing multiple lessons in the same day, she usually asks to do more than one lesson. Everything with Reading Kingdom starts with a placement test. This will test the ... Continue Reading...
Milton Hershey: More Than Chocolate
We've been reading all about the life of Milton Hershey and we learned there was much more to him than chocolate! Heroes of History - Milton Hershey from YWAM Publishing was given to us to review and we really enjoyed the book and accompanying study guide. I started this as a read-aloud, but Booger didn't want to wait for me to finish it. He took off with the book after I read the first three chapters outloud and within a few hours finished it and brought it back. He's already asked me if we can get more books from the Heroes of History series. We want to get YWAM Publishing's best ... Continue Reading...
A Great Worksheet Resource & Test Generator
Sometimes your curriculum just isn't enough and you need some extra practice worksheets or maybe you're looking for a way to generate your own tests. I've been reviewing a resource that may be just what you are looking for! HelpTeaching.com is a wonderful website full of printable worksheets, online lessons, a test maker, and a worksheet generator. They also offer online testing too! We've been trying out their Help Teaching Pro membership and they have something for every grade level. HelpTeaching.com has a huge library of ready-to-print worksheets for preschool all the way through ... Continue Reading...
Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology
Science can be fun to teach, but it can also be drudgery and a headache, and which one you feel can largely depend on the curriculum you use. We were given a great opportunity to review Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia. I've heard so much about Apologia's science curriculums I couldn't resist trying this one. Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is designed for kids Kindergarten through 6th grade. The series includes: Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Text Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology ... Continue Reading...
If You Were Me and Lived In… (Book Series Review)
It can often be hard for kids (or even adults) to imagine what it would be like to have lived in the past. Carole P. Roman has written a great series of books: "An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time" and we were given three of these to review. The Carole P. Roman books and collections feature many other titles as well, but I chose three from this particular series because my kids love history and I wanted to help them understand better what life was like during each of these time periods. If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy was my personal favorite of the three. ... Continue Reading...
Our Homeschool Curriculum Choices (2017-18)
Every year in the spring I start researching and choosing our homeschool curriculum for the fall. This is probably my favorite thing about homeschooling (from the mom side of things anyway). I love browsing and comparing and choosing, I even love the ordering and especially the part where it all comes in the mail! First, a little about our homeschooling style and schedule. In Georgia we are required to school 180 days per year. In the past I've tried to use the M-F scheduling method, but with our family's comings and goings we often do school on weekends and I needed our schedule to be ... Continue Reading...
Drive Thru History Adventures
I'd like to share about a great history curriculum that has brought history alive for my family. Drive Thru History Adventures is a full history curriculum we were invited to review and so far we love it! I'll be the first to admit history is my weak link and I struggle with teaching it, but since we started the Drive Thru History Adventures curriculum I feel like history is stress-free. The idea behind Drive Thru History is Dave Stotts (the witty and sometimes hilarious host) drives around, usually in his Jeep, but sometimes in a rental car, and explores the sights of historical events and ... Continue Reading...
Keyboarding for the whole family!
In this age of computers it is essential to learn to type, but the program I picked out for my kids originally was very limited and didn't have good foundations, just skippable lessons and some games. Thankfully we were given the opportunity to try (and review) UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning. So far this feature-rich typing program has been a blessing to our family. My reluctant typists now ask to work on the games and lessons in UltraKey Online! UltraKey Online Family Subscription includes your own URL to login to your personal program. There will be an ... Continue Reading...
