Homeschooling for His Glory

2020/2021 School Year Plans

2021-04-23T16:24:00.003-04:00

For many school is well underway! I realized I never posted about our plans for this year. So here is a run down of our plans for this year.

This year I have a 10th grade and a hybrid 11/12 grader. Why hybrid 11/12, because technically he should be graduating next Spring, but I am extending his high school 1/2 to 1 year longer to get in all those credits needed.

As has been the case for the last few years, our main curriculum will be Tapestry of Grace (TOG) with an online co-op. These are the subjects we will be covering:

History year 3 - The Nineteenth Century - From Napoleon to Teddy Roosevelt
Literature
Writing
Philosophy
Church History

I put together an art elective from the Fine Art strand of TOG year 2 and year 3 with a couple units from the Lifepac Arts elective. I call it: Art from the Southern Renaissance to the end of the Nineteenth Century

Science : we are trying the new Masterbooks Biology curriculum
Math : we are continuing with Lifepac Math. Zach has been doing Geometry and Algebra II, alternating them, so will complete both this year Lord willing. Johann will be doing Algebra II (geometry was completed last year.) He is thinking of computer science so the goal is for him get to Calculus in grade 12.
Health from Lifepac. Zach completed it last year and Johann will be working on it this year.
French: Breaking the Barrier and Duolingo, both online.

During the summer, Zach worked through two courses from Crashcourse on YouTube: Economy and Film. I also had Johann work from the Intro to Computer Science.

I also have a preschooler in the house with whom we are working through some of our MANY Usborne books covering reading, writing and science, as well as some Costco Preschool workbooks.

And there you have our homeschool plans.... What are you all using?

Middle School Junction - Learning Independence and Responsibility

2020-07-23T10:57:00.004-04:00

In my previous posts about Middle School I have shared about how I have been blessed with quite independent kids. I had promised a post about how I went about to encourage independence in my children. Here it is finally!

First off I have to say that some kids are naturally independent, and in this case it is quite easier to cultivate that. With others, it is a bit more difficult and requires intentionality and being more aggressive about it.

When you have kids who have learned to be independent and to own their learning, they end up being kids that do their school work, even if mom forgot to write a subject on the list of to do for that day.

Here are a few steps I took in developing independence in the boys.

Give them freedom - the first step is to gradually give them freedom in how they want the school day to go. Involve them in the decision making of what subjects to do each day and in the order as well.

Build trust - the kids need to know that you trust them and expect them to do what is right. This goes a long way.

Keep them accountable - Since they had input on how things will go, keep them accountable to follow through with the final decision. You will need to be continually checking that they are doing what they should be doing, some kids more than others.

Consequences - Have consequences set in place for unfinished work. Set goals and have consequences for unmet goals.

TV and video game rules - I have found that TV and Video games are one of the biggest distraction to finished work. That is why I have a rule of no video games on school days, and TV only goes on when school is finished. .

Breaks and distractions - I do not know about you, but I have a child that gets constantly distracted. His mind goes all over the place. With him I have found that the best way to help him is to set targets during the day, schedule breaks, and check on him every so often on his progress. Basically be a cheerleader.

Encourage and commend initiative - When the kids come up with an idea on how to improve how to do their school, consider it. Encourage the fact they are thinking and care about their school work and learning.

Involve dad - I have found that having dad chime in helps a great deal! When he sets the goals and standards somehow they get more motivated to get it done. So, might as well tap into that!

So there you have it! Hope you find it helpful!

The Lantern of English - English and Writing Curriculum Review

2020-01-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

With an 11th grade and a 9th grader as my homeschool students now, writing has become one of those subjects that I am most anxious to get right. Up to 5th grade, because neither of my boys were big on writing, I had been very relaxed about teaching writing. Grammar, I emphasized, because I believe in having good foundations in grammar, but writing, I thought I could build up to it. Around that time (5th grade for my oldest), I came across a curriculum that I liked but it advances through the topics in a slow and gentle manner. Back then I wanted my boys to get the full benefit, so I started them at the very beginning of the curriculum series.

That curriculum was a wonderful addition to our homeschool, but when my oldest reached 9th grade, I realized I needed to get where we are going faster. I also wanted outside evaluation and grading. Came in The Lantern English, Co. which name I had seen floating around on my Facebook homeschool groups and which had been recommended to me by a friend. So, at the beginning of last school year, decided to give it a try.

The Lantern of English is an online English and Writing curriculum that takes you from elementary to High School. It is a thorough curriculum and very easy to follow. They offer:

Literature
Writing
English program

You sign up your child(ren) to the program you want them to do and they will receive their assignments in their or your mailbox every week. Your child will then have a week to study the lesson and complete the assignment. By the eighth day the assignment is due back for grading. Each course is 8 weeks long so not too long, not too short. The teachers are very pleasant and friendly and grade in a very timely fashion. The lessons are thorough and to the point. The English program is a full year curriculum.

I signed up each boys for a different program and they both learned a lot and improved in the areas I had set goals for them to improved in: my oldest in consolidating his writing mechanics and my youngest in the basic writing course.

I love that The English Lantern Co. offers so many topics and that they keep the sessions to 8 weeks-long. You would need two sessions to make a semester. Their cost is very reasonable as well.

My kids enjoyed working through this program. It helped them keeping on a schedule and a deadline.

This program was just what I needed to help my 10th grader review his writing basic skills and grammar and for my 8th grader to get to speed with the basics of writing.

I definitely recommend this program to anyone looking for a writing curriculum.

2019-2020 Curriculum Line Up- Grade 11 and Grade 9

2020-01-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all!

After a two year hiatus, I am resurrecting this blog. Life has been such that keeping up with this blog had become a really low priority, but I kind of miss it, so here I am giving it a try again.

First I realized I never posted about my kids' curriculum line up for this school year. So, though late, here it is.

This year I am homeschooling two high-schoolers. Time has gone so fast. With a 14 year old (9th grade) and a 16 year old (11th grade) I really feel like time is sleeping away; but that is the reality of life. We are but a vapor...

So here we are:

Humanities:
Tapestry of Grace Year 2 - Middle Ages: History, Literature, Writing, Church History, (hoping: Philosophy)

Math: Alpha and Omega

Chemistry: Mr.Q. Science - Advanced Chemistry

Electives:

Health - Zach - Alpha & Omega (1st semester), Speech - 7 Sisters Homeschool (2nd semester.)
Violin - Zach
Piano - Johann

French: Duolingo, Breaking the Barrier, Usborne Easy French

SAT prep: Khan Academy

There you have it! What are you all using this year with your high schoolers? Which is your favorite this year?Have a great day!

5 Days of Hosmeschool Encouragement - Take a Look Tuesday - Grade 8 and 10

2018-08-22T16:52:00.000-04:00

On this second day of the Back to School blog hop hosted by the Schoolhouse Review crew blog, I will finally be sharing with you our plans for this coming year.

This year I was later than usual in planning our school year. Like I mentioned yesterday, grade 9 did not go as planned, so I was still getting over the frustration and then we were on Vacation overseas, so waited until we came back earlier this month to work on it.

This year I will have a 10th grader finishing some grade 9 stuff and an 8th grader.

10th grade line up ( with the credit in brackets)

History (1) /Literature (1) /Philosophy (.25)/Bible survey (1): Tapestry of grace Year 1: Ancient times
We are circling back on our rotation to year 1. This will be Zach' first time doing Ancient Times at the rhetoric level. Looking forward to it. Both his brother and him will still be doing this in a co-op setting as the past three years.

Math (1 per grade completed): Lifepac.
I switched him last year mid-year, and that set him back half a year, so he is still in the catching mode. So he will be finishing Algebra 1, then on to Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time, because I am trying to get him ready to take the ACT or ACT (have not decided which one yet).

Logic (1): The Discovery of Deduction
This has been on the schedule for two years, here to hoping it gets done this year

French (1): Duolingo and Breaking the Barrier

Science (1): Ck12 Physical Science

English : The Lantern English Co. Formely SoVerbose.
We are trying out this company, and i was able to secure a free quarter in exchange for a review

Writing (1): Silverdale Press.
We got this as a review last year and liked the content, so we will attempt to complete it this year.

Art History (1): The Master's Apprentice
This is a review item from this year as well that we will seek to complete this year.

He will also still be doing violin and participating in the ensemble he has been part of for 3 years now.

8th grade

Math: Lifepac Algebra I

Science: Ck12-Physical Science

Logic (1): The Discovery of Deduction by Classical Academic Press

Writing : The Lantern English Co. formely SoVerbose.
We are trying out this company, and I was able to secure a free quarter in exchange for a review. They run 8-weeks long courses. He will be doing English IV covering punctuation.

English: Analytical Grammar

History /Literature /Philosophy /Bible survey: Tapestry of grace Year 1: Ancient times
We are circling back on our rotation to year 1. This will be Johann's' first time doing Ancient Times at the Dialectic level.

French:

Here is another sampling of the blogs participating this week:

Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom
Patti @ Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy
Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining
Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ
Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart
Tess @ Circling Through This Life
Wendy @ Life at Rossmont Yvie @ Gypsy Road

5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement - Motivation Monday - On High School

2018-08-20T20:48:00.000-04:00

The Schoolhouse Review crew is having a Back to School blog hop this week and the topic is Homeschool Encouragement. I am pretty confident that anyone embarked on this homeschooling journey can use a little encouragement.

Today, Monday, the blog hop kicks off the week with motivational posts. Since I am entering my second year of homeschooling High-school I thought it appropriate to talk about homeschooling the High School years and maybe encourage those dreading it.

First, let me tell you that the high school years are nothing like the preschool or elementary years. I recently read an article on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog talking about the loneliness that comes from homeschooling High school, and I could not agree more with many of the points made there: the weird look when people find out you are homeschool high-school, the changing nature of field-trips, how more expensive it all becomes, the waning away of those precious childhood moments and feelings, and more.

Our grade 9 year did not really go as I had hoped and planned. I had to make changes mid-way and made a few choices that in hindsight were not the best. I was not very happy with the way my son was handling his time, not finishing his assignments, and sometimes not giving his best. Basically it was a very frustrating year for me. This has caused me to many time wonder, should I still be homeschooling, would he not be better in public school? This has caused me to doubt my ability to graduate him and successfully get him ready for college or university. BUT, deep down there was always this conviction that he was right where he needed to be... that the Lord was doing a work in him and in me...that it will turn out okay in the end.

This whole process caused me to think hard about my reasons for homeschooling high school. Is it because it is cool? Uh no! Is it because it is easier? Certainly not? Is it because I am scared of the outside world? Not really, I think my son's got a pretty good grounding and is secure in his relationship with God. And on top of that, we have a good family relationship and communication going on. So what is it? In addition to answering this question I was also forced to look beyond the academics to the deeper benefits of homeschooling. So, let me tell you what in the end motivates me to continue on this journey.

First, this is what I believe the Lord gave me to do. I strongly believe in God's mandate for able parents to take on the education of their child. There are so many resources available for us to use, we are not left on our own!

Second, home is the best place for them to be grounded for what the world will throw at them in this ever changing culture. Forging a strong christian worldview takes time. Even though I think my boys have a pretty good foundation, there is till a lot to add and nurture. The rhetoric years have a lot to offer in preparing teens to be good critics of the world.

Third, home is the best place for them to prepare to be culture changers instead of culture absorbents and consumers. Freedom to explore their gifts and abilities is a big motivator to homeschooling.

Fourth, God has it all in hand. He knows what he has in store for my kids, I just need to do my part and be in prayer for them.

Fifth, this journey is also for the benefit of my growth, as a leader, a planner and a teacher. I need to take on the challenge relying on God's grace and help.

So, all of this to say homeschooling High School is a daunting task, after all it is just your kids' future we are talking about, but I know it is totally doable. I have seen and read about many successful stories, so I know I am not dreaming. If you are contemplating homeshooling high school or are a bit discouraged in the midst of it all, be encouraged and inspired today to keep on if you know that is the path for your family.

Here is a sample of blogs participating in this week's blog hop. Give them a read!
Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures
Lori @ At Home: where life happens
Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama
Marla @ Jump Into Genius
Meredith @ Powerline Productions: Being World Changers/Raising World Changers
Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Missica @ Through The Open Window
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling

Code for Teens - TOS Review

2018-08-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

In this age of computers and digital life, knowledge of computer language, and how this whole world works can be a real asset for kids to have. Computer programming curriculum abound and deciding on which one to use to expose your child to coding or computer science can be a daunting task That said, the crew was offered one for review, and I took the opportunity to give it a try. The curriculum in question is Code for Teens: The Awesome Guide to Programming by Code for Teen.

We received a digital copy of this program so we were not able to benefit fully from all the aspects offered by the program, but it definitely is very appealing. The book is written by a husband and wife team, Jeremy Moritz, a software engineer, and Christine Moritz, an illustrator.

Code for teen teaches kids steps by steps how to write and understand computer language. There are a lot of different computer languages but because Java Script is the most commonly used, this is what Code for teens focuses on.

As the name suggests, this program is best suited for middle schoolers and high schoolers.. It start at the very beginning and bring them to a level, after 9 chapters, where they can build a game. Each chapter follows the same pattern:

Lesson (5-6 pages long at last on my PDF copy)
Practice example
Quiz
Concepts review
Drill
Aggregate review

The lessons are written in a very friendly an readable way. It is written in a very engaging way that is bound to keep your child's attention. All the answers to the quizzes, drills and reviews are to be found at the back of the book so the child can self-correct himself, since it is supposed to be a self-taught program. In the couple of pages dedicated to parents, at the beginning of the book, they are strictly told to "stay away". The chapters build on each other and the whole program is rigged with so much practice and exercises that parents can be reassured their child will be learning.

At the end of the book, the student can also find a glossary of terms to help him grasp the concepts taught as well as review them.

You can find a sample chapter on their website.

I had my soon to be 8th grader give this a try and he thought it was pretty easy to follow and taught "cool" stuff.

So, if you are looking to expose your child to computer programming, or are just looking for a new one to try, make sure to check Code for Teens. Visit them on their Facebook page, and check the other crew members' reviews as well.

Bible Study Guide for All Ages - TOS Review

2018-07-11T12:12:00.002-04:00

As a christian family, knowing our Bible is of primary importance.So I am often happy to try new curriculum that help accomplish that purpose. One of the most recent items we got to review on the crew is a Bible study curriculum called Bible Study Guide for All Ages. It comes in four different levels, and I requested the Advanced level (5th and 6th grade) o try out with my 7th grader.

What is Bible Study for All Ages? It is a bible curriculum that takes through the whole Bible in three years, teaching kinds about the whole picture of the Bible. Everyone in the family, or in your church can be studying the same Bible story at the same same but at different levels. All the levels come with a teacher's key and students pages. Optionally you can purchased Bible book summary cards as well as a timeline and song CD.

Each child needs to have his copy of the students'pages. I had my 7th grader go through this program. At the advanced level, it is very independent. Everything is there for the child. Each lesson, can take 1-3 day to complete, depending on the child. They each contain:

A remember it section: where a important facts from previous lessons are being reviewed.
A memory workout: where the kids are encourage to put certain facts to memory. This is where the song CD can come handy.
A Guess What section: the kids are encourage and led to understand better certain facts about the lesson
A Time Line: where the kids are led to see where the characters from the story fit in the time line of History
An apply It section: where the kids are brought to think deeper, through a set of questions, on the implication and application to their own life of an aspect of what they just learned about.
A Discover the Bible section: where the kids dig deeper on the actual facts and events in the Bible Story. It serves as a sort of review.
An optional Get Active section: where kids get to be creative, commit to take further action, work as a group.

What I love about this curriculum is that it goes through the whole Bible. It does study the text and helps the kids go to the Bible itself and reflect upon what they are reading. It is engaging, in that it has lots of activities to do, all relating to the story. It is pretty straight forward. I was not too keen on the physical format of the book itself, as the pages easily detach with use. That said this is a very good option if you are looking for a curriculum that will allow kids to explore the whole Bible and the full story line.

The Master and His Apprentices - TOS Review

2018-06-28T12:36:00.000-04:00

In all my 10 years of homeschooling I always have had a hard time including Art in our weekly schedule. I would have these big plans at the beginning of the year, but always fell short of keeping them.

Our team at Schoolhouse Review crew had the chance to review an Art program geared to the high school years or even for adults to benefit from. I jumped on the chance to try it with my soon to be 10th grader. The program in Question is called The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective, and put our by a company by the same name The Master and His Apprentices.

The Master and His Apprentices is written by a homeschool graduate who loves, studied and teaches Art and English. You can read her very inspirational story on the curriculum website. She is very knowledgeable and loves the subject as well as the creator of all Art: God. Her curriculum breathes owe and praises to the author of all Art. In her first chapter she truly makes the reader come away with a new appreciation of the beauty of Art and of its creator.

Throughout the curriculum besides teaching about the development of art throughout History, the main goal of the curriculum is truly to bring the reader to new appreciation of the author of it all. She does a wonderful job in accomplishing this.

The curriculum is available as physical copies as well as digital. They are available on the author's website as well as other book distributors such as Christianbook.com and Rainbow resources. We got the digital version which I was able to put on both my computer and the boys'.

The curriculum comes with a textbook, as well as a teacher's guide which contains a workbook, tests and an answer key. I printed the workbook for my son to work on. If used with a high school student it is designed in such a way that it can count as a full High school credit.

We both found the chapters to be long, but after all this is a high school level program and also geared towards adult. I started reading the chapters with my son and found myself enjoying what I was reading ( I am not much of a Art person). The workbook is quite involved and my son did not find it easy to go through it. Some of the questions as factual (basic recalling of what has been read), some were more subjective and reflective, and some were meant for further thought.

The curriculum takes you through the different times in History after taking the student through an overview of the beauty of Creation in the second chapter. The sections are as follow:

Ancient Culture (Ancient Near East, Egyptian, Aegean)
Classical Antiquity (Early Greek, Etruscan, Roman)
Middle Ages (Early Christian and Byzantine, Medieval and Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic)
Renaissance (Proto Renaissance, Early Italian Renaissance, High Italian Renaissance, Northern Renaissance
Baroque Era and Beyond

It also includes nice extras such as timelines, charts, pictures, maps, an extended biography and more.

I love how easy to read, colour, and pleasing to read the textbook is. Though the chapters are long (as mentioned earlier - 10-15 pages), Gena really brings you in and captures your attention. Reading the textbook prompted me to highlight stuff, which I encourage my son to do as well, as often time, these were the things asked in the workbook.

One thing to note about this program is that it is written from a young earth perspective. Though I do not necessarily embrace that view ( I am not rejecting it all together either), I think what she has to offer in this Art overview tromps any objection to that bias. It is just that packed-full with valuable Art appreciation concepts and facts

I personally loves this curriculum and am looking forward to use it during the course of the next 4 years in concurrence with our History program, as will starting back with Ancient Times in the Fall.
My son thought that the emphasis on God being the master artist was really cool and that the questions really make you ponder about your views on art and God.

You can find the Master and His Apprentice on both Facebook and Pinterest.

Silverdale Press - TOS Crew Review

2018-06-21T13:22:00.003-04:00

This is my first year homechooling a high schooler. It has not gone quite has planned and one of the subject that I am still working on with my 9th grader is writing. As a boy he did not like writing in the elementary levels and I did not push it until about 5th grade. Now with the high school years upon us, writing has become a must. So, when the chance to review a writing curriculum came up, I took the opportunity to try it out.

Persuasive Writing and Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers is a writing program put out by Silverdale Press LLC, a company dedicated to providing high quality education to homeschooling families, especially for the middle and high school years. Founded by a couple with high credentials (a Ph.D and a lawyer), their goal is to cultivate knowledge and sharpen skills in students.

I was immediately attracted by the fact that they were classical and using the framework of classical rhetoric to teach students persuasive writing, given that our homeschool bent has been classical. I was not disappointed.

Persuasive Writing and Classical Rhetoric is a full high school 36-week curriculum, designed to be used 4-days a week. One of the main emphasis of the curriculum, as is of classical education, is the imitation of great writers. In each chapter of the curriculum the students read a great writer, analyses his writing and then is led to learn from it. Also, at the beginning of the curriculum, the students are encouraged to make a list of 10 books to read over the course of the program to widen their exposure to good writing as well as their knowledge base so as to have content to engage and write about. My son got actually excited bout picking up the books.

The curriculum comes with a textbook, a reader, which contains all the reading selections, a workbook, and an answer book for the teacher. I like that the curriculum can be done by the student independently. It is done workbook style, but the questions are both factual as well as thought provoking. I like how it forces the students to truly understand what they read as well as see how the writing itself contributes to the power and effectiveness of what was written. It is very cleaver. My son is not a quick thinker (he likes to take his time) and I had to really push him to look at the text more carefully instead of the surface.

Another important aspect of the curriculum is the practice. The student is asked to write a 500 words essay with a given prompt at the end of each chapter. The idea is that you learn best by not only exposure and study of good writing but by constant practice.

As soon as we got the curriculum we dived into it. I printed the workbook and made sure my son had the textbook and reader on his computer. My son had trouble with completing the essays, but I encouraged him to push through and keep working on them. Some topics inspired him better than others.

I personally like the selections that they put together in the reader. It includes:

Winston Churchill
Jane Austen
Alexander Hamilton
JFK
Abraham Lincoln
Augustine

The way the curriculum teaches writing is somewhat different than traditional curriculum. It takes the student on a journey to discovering what makes good persuasive writing good. As mentioned earlier one of the means is through imitation and study or great writings, the other mean is through a careful, systematic teaching of what constitutes or makes good writing. They take the student through an understanding of how one can have a good topic, how to arrange one's arguments, what good arguments are and how to be ready to defend one's position.

I really like that the last few chapters cover style, punctuation, and the aesthetic of good writing.

I am looking forward to finishing this curriculum with my son. It really looks promising to me. Bonus is that my son does not mind it at all except for the essay every week.

Makes sure to check the other crew members' review as some got to try out their study guides.

Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary from The Critical Thinking Co. - TOS Review

2018-06-06T12:41:00.001-04:00

If you love logic and critical thinking and want to impart that to your children, The Critical Thinking Co. has been in the business of doing that for years. I have been homeschooling for 9 years and I have always heard of them, and always in a positive way. I myself have used some of their products and have not been disappointed in them. So it was natural for me to ask for one of them again and it came up for review. This time a lot of the choices were totally new products to me and they look quite intriguing. I opted to give Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary Book 1 a try. It comes both as a physical book and an ebook. We received the e-book version.

Critical thinking is an essential skills to develop. Including logic and critical thinking in our curriculum every year has been a priority of ours since we started homeschooling. Now that my boys are in 9th and 8th grade the kind of logic books we use has changed a bit. With kids in Middle School and High School you want challenging but still fun books, and if it can do double duty even better. This is what you get with the higher grade selections from The Critical Thinking Co.

I am planning for my son to take the SAT and one of the things he need to be good at is vocabulary. So, what best way to hit two birds with a stone than to go through a book that allows you to practice critical thinking and at the same team enhance your vocabulary.

Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary did not fail. What this book is is a collection of mysteries that your child has to solve. The trick is that the setting and the clues use vocabulary that your child most likely do not know. This forces him to have to look for their meanings in a dictionary.

This particular book contains 12 mysteries where you have to figure out who is guilty based on series of clues. The child the has to understand what is being said and analyze the clue to deduct who the culprit is. After each mystery, you are then suppose to work through a worksheet where your child can practice the words he just learned. This is the part that my son had a hard time with. He was able to solve the mysteries quite easily, but when it came time to fill the worksheet, he had troubles. Actually, when I tried it myself I found it quite challenging. The worksheet is a fill in the blank kind where you need to figure out which of the new word (18-15 words listed at the top) fits in the sentence. It was also confusing that there were more words listed than needed in the worksheet. Even with having to look up words, the whole process is not overly long, about 1/2 hour max. My son preferred to do the mystery on one day and the worksheet on another day. I discovered a couple mysteries in that you could fill in the worksheet right on the screen, but I son still preferred to print them. And, thank goodness, all the answers are at the back! I certainly needed that.

Geared toward kids grade 5-12, Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary is engaging, colourful and right up what you expect coming from The Critical Thinking Company. It can be done independently, but kids on the younger spectrum might need coaching. The only objection I have is that it only works on Windows computer, given that my boys use Mac. They had to do the work on my computer. All in all I would definitely recommend this book for vocabulary enhancement which doubles up as critical thinking practice. Some kids, like my 7th grader may not like the tedious side of having to look words over, but some might thrive on it. My 14 year old who likes to use big words is actually enjoying learning new words.

The Critical Thinking Co has a wonderful and wide array of products for you to check out. For you crew readers they have a couple of offers:

Free Critical Thinking Puzzles! A $75 Value! Delivered weekly to your inbox. Choose PreK – Grade 8. Sign Up Now! https://www.criticalthinking.com/toscrew

Free Shipping + 15% Off Any Size Order! Use Coupon Code: TOSCREW18. Expires 12/31/2018.

CodeWizardsHQ - TOS Review

2018-05-04T14:07:00.000-04:00

In this new technological word our kids more and more need exposure to the world of computer science and coding. Computer programming is an ever expanding field that our kids do well to get their hands on learning. There are a few companies that are dedicated to have children learn the language of coding, and CodeWizardsHQ is one of them. The kids of the Schoolhouse Review Crew got to preview to first lesson of their level I course.

CodeWizardsHQ is a homeschoooling computer curriculum that offers live classes in computer science. It is important to note that these are "live", meaning a real-time teacher teaching and interacting with your kids. It is not self-pace. It is a full, comprehensive coding curriculum that can prepare your kids for college. It is intended for grade 5-10 students.

For more about the uniqueness of the program, check their website.

CodeWizardsHQ is comprised of a set of 12 week courses. They offer 3 levels of computer programming and coding instruction, ending with a fourth level that consists of a 6-month internship program with a partner non-profit organization.

This video gives you a nice snapshot of what this program is like:

From the one off class my son (for whom this was the first exposure to coding) participated it, we can say the following:

the teacher was very friendly and knowledge. She was articulate and connected with the kids.
the pacing was good, as my son said he was not bored and found it quite interesting
it was enough to pick his interest in the subject

In this one hour class that the kids took, they learn some basics code language and were able to create a comic strip web-page. Your children has constant access to his work, which means they can work on it anytime.

These coding classes look really interesting and I am happy that my son got interested in coding. it would make for a perfect elective class. I am really considering having one of my kids enrolling for this.

This is a program for any student really, but CodeWizardsHQ is making a special offer for homeschool students. There is a significantly lower per-student pricing based on the # of students in the class and the flexibility to pick their own class time.

You can also check them out on their social media platforms:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
You Tube
They even have a Facebook group for parents interested in their child learning to code. It includes sharing of resources, ideas, tips and support for teaching programming to kids.

A+ Interactive Math - TOS Review

2018-04-25T11:56:00.000-04:00

Math curriculum abound, yet it can be quite difficult for parents to find just the right Math curriculum that works for their child(ren). Well, today I have a Math curriculum to share with you that might just be what you are looking for.

A + Interactive Math (by A+TutorSoft Inc) is an online Math Curriculum that offers you a full Math Curriculum for grade 1 to Algebra 1. It offers an array of Math instruction packages, two of the main ones being their Family Math Package, which gives you access to all levels, and their Adaptive Math Curriculum Online, which comprises a Placement Test followed by individualized Lessons Plans based on the test. These were the two that the crew members got to review. Since we had reviewed the adaptive Math Curriculum in the past, I opted for the Family Math Package this time around. The The Family Math Package gives you access to the program for a full year for up to 10 students.

A + Interactive is online, so you will need a computer with internet access and log ins for each students as well as for the parent. It does work on both Mac and Microsoft, but not on mobile. We had used this program before, so we already had log-ins, I just needed to enroll the boys in the Family Math Package program, and we were ready to go.

Though I enrolled both boys, I had my 7th grader gives this a try first. He is doing pre-algebra at the moment and was struggling with graphs , so I decided to have him start the program at the coordinate planes section and move on from there. It was not easy to skip the first few chapters, but eventually got there. I suppose the program is meant to be used from start to finish, but there is a manual and somewhat tedious way to move ahead. That is one aspect of the program that I have to warn against, some of the functionalities are not intuitive at all. You have to dig around to figure out where things are and how the functions work. I wish they had tutorial videos.

The things that I like about A+Interactive before are still the same though|:

It is interactive. They complete the lesson, which is narrated to them and very visual. Then they complete interactive questions with instant feedback.
It is a full, complete Math program.
It is very independent. It teaches, corrects, grades and explains what is done wrong one question at a time. No parent involvement needed.
I love the variety of ways you can practice and test the students, through the printable or online worksheets and exams.
I love that it has the whole text of the curriculum available to view or/and print
I love the printable reference chart

In the parent account, you can check the student progress and score.

The program also allows the parent to set up some features for the student account as seen below:

My son did a couple of chapters independently and enjoyed it. He found it easy to follow and understand. He thought that the teaching was pretty clear. He did not like the fact that once you are done a section you have to update your status yourself otherwise it will not let you move on.

Overall, I think this is a great program which could potentially be appealing to a wide variety of learners.

Ideas to Keep Your Toddler Busy

2018-04-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

My little baby has turned one a few weeks ago. Wow, times fly! He has learned to walk and he is a rather busy toddler. What do I do to keep him busy? Here are a few ideas to keep a 9-18 month old busy:

Food exploration: food is always fun to play with. At that age babies love exploring and discover new textures; food offers a wide range of those. I am not one to like mess, so I do not let him play with his food at meal time, but during play time I give him textured food to explore with.

On/off , in/out play activities: I have discovered that my little boy loves to put covers on top of things (pots, bottles, anything.). Also, taking stuff out of containers is one of his favorite activity to do. So go fill a basket, a pot, anything you have on hand with all sort of different stuff and watch your child having fun emptying it. Only downside is that you have to refill it again....

Peekaboo and hide and seek game: My baby has always enjoyed me playing peekaboo with him. This game has reached new levels as he can now do it too. Use hands, blankets, whatever you have on hand will do. He loves it too when I hide somewhere and call him name or say "Where is mommy". I love doing that especially when I do not want him to go a certain place.

Playing with balls: Balls are fascinating to babies and toddlers. My son loves playing with balls of any size. He enjoys playing with it himself or watching his brothers play with it.

Books: My boy loves books. So what I do is recreate the library in my home by making book displays at different spots in the house and let him have at it. I even heard of someone who would set up books at the corner of the staircase. I probably will try that one my little one stops dropping things down the stairs.

Home School in the Woods - TOS Review

2018-03-21T11:50:00.003-04:00

If you are a hands-on homeschooler or you and your kids like playing games. You might be interested in this latest review of mine. Home School in the Woods has been putting together homeschooling resources that enhances any homeschool for years. The range of products they offer is just too large to be listed. They cover every subject and time periods as well as variety of resources. The crew was blessed to be able to review quite array of their products which can be found in their A La Carte line of products which gather different project from other collections . These include file folder games, lap books, activity packs, file folder projects, 3D crafts, and newspaper activities. I decided to give the Art Gallery file folder game a try.

The reason why I picked this particular resource is because we have not done much Art study in our homeschool and I thought this would be a fun way of adding some.

The product is digital, so it needs to be downloaded, printed and put together. The instructions are straight forward and easily followed. I had no problem putting it together. The game consists of a board, 60 playing cards, and 4 markers (so for player, but can be played with more). The goal of the game is to recognize the art pieces, author, name, year and style of art. You start from anywhere on the board and it ends with the fist player who makes a full round back to that spot. If you are not familiar with file folder games, it is all about printing the parts of a game and gluing them unto a one or two file folders that you assemble together. You sometimes have to color the pieces too. I had the options of doing it for this game, but did not.

Once I had it together and ready to play I realized that it would be a real challenge, as we did not know the answers, except for maybe a couple of art pieces. The boys and I had to improvise, they did not want to study the card ahead (which was my first idea), so we decided instead to play it as a guessing game, based on the info present on the pictures on the board. The way Amy put the game together, the board had all the artists on it with brief information on each one of them. This trick really helped us guess the who part and the era part. As we played the game we were getting better at recognizing the style of the artist and guessing them based on that.

Bottom line, this game is best played by people who have learned some art works in the past as a review game. If, like me you know very little, it will take a few try to first learn the works (unless you decide to study the cards first - which is definitely an option), and eventually play it as a Trivia game. Either way I think it could be quite effective. This game targets grades 3-12 and I would say it definitely can be used in some form or way for any of these grades.

Pros:
Colorful
Covers quite a few art works and artists
Easy to play

Cons:
Requires prior knowledge but can easily be adapted to fit your need

There were so many options given to us, I actually had a hard time picking which one we were going to review a few others that I eyed were:

Literary Genre Lap Book Mini-Study
The War to End All War file folder game

Make sure to check the reviews for the other products we all got to review.

Parenting Made Practical - TOS Review

2018-03-14T11:44:00.003-04:00

Parenting is hard. Anyone who has or is raising kids will tell you this. There is no way around making it easier, it is just what it is. No matter the age your kids are a , there are challenges to being a parent. That said, learning to deal with kids and raise them the best way possible, can definitely be helpful and make the whole process less stressful as well as more purposeful.

This is where this resource I was given the opportunity to review comes in. I was not familiar with it until it came up for review, but I must say it is a good one. Parenting Made Practical offers parenting resources to help parents navigate those parenting waters and challenges. Its goal is to equip parents with tools to help children become responsible adults. They offer a wide array of books and DVDs. I chose to review the Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting your Kids to Think video download.

There is lots to say about the video I watched. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it very helpful. Some of the material was not new, but put into a different light and presented in a quite enjoyable way. It made the material fresh again, and renewed the challenge for me.

The material at Parenting Made Practical is put together by a couple used to dealing with youth and families in church and other contexts (the husband having served as Youth and Family pastor and the wife being a social worker). As such they know the challenges and needs of families. They are able to come up with resources that address exactly those needs. Their material offers help in parenting children from age 2 to college. Here is a list of books and videos you can find on their website:

Why Can't I Get My Kids to Behave?
Navigating the Rapids of Parenting
Dating, Courting & Choosing a Mate... What Works?
What Every Child Should Know Along the Way

What I liked about the video I watched

I do not know about you but lecturing my kids is second nature and is a very easy trap to fall into even if we know better. In this video Joey and Carla Link explain and demonstrate to you the failure of lecturing (or nagging or yelling), your kids as well as how to avoid doing it by showing what to replace it with. They take your hand and show you step by step a better way. The better way being to lead them to think about their behaviour and owning it. The lecture has a lot of aspects that make it enjoyable to watch, as well as very helpful:

They cover a lot of topics in a 50 minutes video. They manage to include a description of temperament types which is helpful to take into consideration when learning how to avoid lecturing
The husband and wife team-teaching is very effective as it becomes a dialogue. They even included a live example with the help of their daughter, making it more interesting
They do try to include some humor, even of the whole lecture looks and sound pretty scripted and somewhat rigid
The video is just the right length. Though 50 minutes sounds long, I can guarantee you that you won't see the time pass, that is how engaging Joey and Carla are more because of the content that is covers than the style itself
A good addition is how they include extra resources for the audience to check out to complement their teaching.
The style of teaching is very direct yet gentle. They say things the way they are, while in the same breadth giving you hope and solutions to correct the problem or bad habit.
The advice and tips are very detailed and practical.
I also love how the steps appeared on the screen as they went through them.

This video was very helpful to me as I was reminded of some habits that I had neglected, such as not accepting certain types of answers or putting off doing something to a later time. I had already been doing some of the things they talked about, such as the whole questioning approach, but it was nice to be given extra tips and advice on how to do that even more efficiently. Joey and Carla rightly put the emphasis on the heart of behavior and not just external behavior change, and for that they are a resource I would definitely recommend. That said, like every parenting resource, every parent has to see for himself how to best apply the principles being advocated, and not necessarily apply them blindly.

Find Parenting Made Practical on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and make sure to check the reviews of the other material they offer.

Wordless Wednesday - Science Center Days

2018-03-08T16:28:00.001-05:00

We had a field trip at the Science Center today. While the older boys were having fun with friends and enjoying a Mars mission lab, baby Al discovered the place for the first time!

Bytes of Learning - TOS Review

2018-02-22T10:19:00.004-05:00

Typing has never been my strong suit. You would think as a blogger I should have that down, but I don't. So, when a curriculum that teaches typing came along for review, I thought this would be something I should probably try.

Bytes of Learning is a company that specializes on developing multimedia software to aid students (as young as 8 years old ), and adults learn better. Members of the crew were given the opportunity to try out their UltraKey Online Family Subscription with access for a full year.

Before having the kids try this software I decided to take the review period to test it on myself. The way this software works is actually pretty straight forward. There is nothing to download, it is all done online. Once you've got your account set up, you are welcome with this screen from where you can access your dashboard.

The dashboard is a very important place in UltraKey because this is where you set up and manage everyone who will be using the program. The family subscription allows you 7 users , each with their own sign in which the main user sets. UltraKey is very adaptable and offers you many options. The student enrollment is the most basic. UltraKey allows you to manage the family as a whole (common features such as access to games and forum), and also to manage each student. When it comes to managing the students, there is an array of setting you can go through:

Goal setting, which is very detailed and specific: speed, accuracy, with custom or automated options
Setting of the interface itself: background color, sound, practice amount, coaching intensity
Goal and progress report

Each section of the program has an introductory video which explains to you what it is about. There is also a thorough PDF guide that details to you every aspect of the program.

I really like this program. What I appreciate most is the fact that it is like having an instructor that guides you step by step. The program is incremental. It starts with the real needed basics such as posture and position of the fingers. Then with each lesson you are introduced to a set of new keys. As you go though the lessons, the practices are pointed enough that it allows you to really internalize what you are learning. Though you can set your own practice amount in the dashboard, you can also do more or less during the lesson itself. I love the repetition. You can only move forward as you reach the goal for each lesson, usually in both accuracy and speed; the next level gets unlocked. The program teaches you typing by introducing letter pairs and chains.

The program is so engaging that it is easy to just keep working. I found that what stopped me was tiredness of the fingers or brain starting to go numb. Mentally I found myself wanting to do more, but could not focus anymore. I love the way the assessment details to you what you did wrong and gives you tips on how to improve. I also love the voice over which works well for auditory learners and visual learners.

On top of the lessons, the student can have extra practice though the forum or in the game section.

The program works on all platforms. The software is oriented towards the American keyboard and North America spelling and content. A UK and an Australian/New Zealand orientation is coming in 2018.

I am looking forward to have the boys use this program and I know they will enjoy it and that it would be beneficial.

UltraKeys is an innovative, engaging online keyboarding software which I think would work for many. Check out Bytes of Learning on their Facebook page.

Week in Review in 5

2018-02-10T18:20:00.001-05:00

I am going to try a new weekly post where I will share our week in 5 points. So let's start.

1. This week has been a pretty snowy week here for us in Toronto.

2. In our History co-op, we resumed back after a week off and I had fun teaching a rhetoric class aon Ghandi.

3. I discovered a cool series of Storybook DVD's for Daniel

4. With me borrowing so many books from the library it brings back a lot of memories from when my older boys were younger. I am feeling nostalgic :-)

5. This week we had fun trying a few recipes from the Goodfood company. We were blessed with a coupon that allowed us to get 3 free meals. I have to say they were pretty good! I love how you do not need anything from your own pantry except salt and pepper.

Curriculum We Have Loved Using - Virtual Homeschool Fair -Week 3

2018-01-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to week 3 of the Virtual Homeschool Fair hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds. This week we will be sharing what we actually are using with our children.

Since I already have a run down of all the curriculum we are using this year in the post 2017-2018 Curriculum Line up, here I will share with you the curriculum companies I have loved using during our 10 years of Homeschooling.

As I mentioned last week, our homeschool debut was geared towards classical education, so I have had an affinity to classical homeschool companies over the years. These include:

Tapestry of Grace: This has been our core curriculum for the humanities up to now. It incorporates History, Geography, literature, worldview and in the High School years Philosophy and Government. It involves lots of reading and critical thinking. The past 3 years I have had the boys join an online co-op to enhance the discussion aspect of the curriculum.

Classical Academic Press: I love this company. I have used their Latin curriculum, Latin for Children, and am currently using their Writing and Rhetoric series, which I started at book one. We are now at book 6. I have also loved using their logic series, The Art of Argument, last year, and this year the Discovery of Deduction(or the next year, since we still have not started it).

The Well Trained Mind: I used their First Language Lessons program all the way to level 4 (skipping level 3)

Michael Clay Thompson curriculum. We have mainly used and loved their Grammar program, which we used up to the 1st book of the high school level. I am still debating whether to keep going. or not.... I like the whole language approach it offers.

Other companies I have loved include:

Veritas Press. I enjoyed their Bible curriculum, and they also have a good History program, which we tried out one year for a review.

Life of Fred, which worked better for my Math oriented son. I am still using it with him

Bible Road Trip. This is a Bible curriculum that I really like. It goes through the whole Bible in three years and includes memorization and thinking question. Unfortunately I dropped the ball on the third year, but am still hoping to give this another rotation.

The Logic of English, which I really enjoyed using with the boys for Phonic and Spelling. You can read my review for more details about it.

When it comes to science, we have jumped around a lot when it comes to curriculum and I have yet to find a curriculum that I truly love and embrace. The two that came close are Visual Learning System (which was a review item), and Classic Science, although I kind of like Real Science 4 Kids as well but found them not meaty enough.

Same story applies for our math journey, though we have used CTC math for most of the years, as I kept getting it for review. Last year we switched to Lifepac (Alpha &Omega), more because we wanted to witch to paper Math. Their foundation gained with CTC seems to be strong enough.

Looking for more curriculum ideas? Visit my fellow homeschool bloggers!

Note: all posts will be live after 8 am EST on Monday, Jan. 22nd.

Our Homeschool Plan for 3rd, 6th, 8th, & 12th Grades by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Our 10th Grade Plans by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
Planning Out Our Unschooling Studies by Jen @ A Helping Hand Homeschool
The Details of Curriculum by Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Reflections of a Curriculum Junkie by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
Freedom through nature journaling. by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
How I pull together a homeschool curriculum without packaged curriculum by Dana @ Life Led Homeschool
Our Favorite Curriculum and Resources - An Annotated Bibliography by Sabrina @ Kids, Crunch, and Christ
Our 2018 Homeschool Curriculum Choices by Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
Top Home Educating Resources by Sarah @ DeliveringGrace
Homeschooling Curriculum We Are Using This Year by Laura O @ Day by Day in Our World
Use the Force and Complete the Course by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
Choices, choices - how to choose your curriculum wisely by Lizzy @ Peaches@Home
Our Curriculum Needs - grade seven by Annette @ A Net in Time
The Heart of Our School by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
What We Have Loved Using - Virtual Homeschool Fair -Week 3 by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
How to Avoid Gaps in Education by Kristen H. @ Sunrise to Sunset
Tricky Subjects and Starting the Decision Making Process by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
High School Syllabus by TrueNorthHomeschoolAcademy @ GoldenGrasses
How We Homeschool Together (Our Curriculum Choices for Preschool, First, and Tenth Grade) by Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine

Our Current Homeschool Routine - Virtual Homeschool Fair - Week 2

2018-01-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

For week 2 of the Virtual Homeschool Fair, which is hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds, we are talking method of homeschooling.

When it comes to the how of homeschooling, and the method that we all follow, with the 20 plus blogger participating I can guarantee you, no method will be the same. Homeschooling is a lifestyle and a path unto a goal or toward a direction that each family sets for itself. For us, this encompasses academic rigor, as well as Christian values and depth of understanding of how to live in this world as Christians. To that end, earlier on we had settled on a classical education.

10 years into it, I cannot say we have been very good classical homeshooler. We did not follow the method and philosophy to a T but instead adapted it to our family's routine and rhythm. We became more relaxed classical homeschooler. I had good intentions with the Latin and Greek, but not enough discipline and it did not appeal to the boys; my oldest son did two years, the other son, one year. Memorization and copywork has not always been consistent, but present. That said, even with our method becoming more relaxed Classical homeschooling, we have been able to work toward our goal. How you may ask? By focusing on the essentials:

Strong emphasis in the humanities
Solid Math foundation
Instruction in logic and reasonning
Instruction in writing and rhetoric
Instruction in Biblical literacy and doctrine
Emphasis on critical thinking

When it comes to routine my goal has always been to steer my boys to independent work. My youngest, being an organized child by nature, picked it up early and does all his school work on his own schedule. My oldest on the other hand has had a harder time, being the procrastinater and dreamer that he is. So, with this year being his sophomore year, I had to be more hands on and work with him every night on his next day's schedule. This has been going on a week, as this is the new endeavor of this semester (since the first semester on his own did not go as planned), and he has been liking it leading to his work been completed. Success!!!!

I do not run a school at home, so the boys have lots of latitude when it comes to time. They tend to go to bed late, but I do require their work to be completed on a weekly basis. My youngest is a late riser, but self-scheduled. My oldest does not mind waking up early, so we set a schedule up for him with an early start and fluid transition time between his subjects.

We always eat dinner together, which is when we go through our catechism. We play a lot of games together and watch lots of movies or TV shows together, as my oldest is very much into movies and everything that has to do with the movie industry. I find that watching the movies and tvs shows opens up a lot of conversation and keeps the boys aware of what our society is like and what they will have to face in the future. I do not believe in sheltering. Homeschooling is shelter enough, now they need to be taught wisdom and discernment. I love this definition I read recently:

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

—C.H. Spurgeon

Next week I will talk more specifically about the curriculum we used and have used, but for this week, this is in broad strokes, what our routine and method consists of.

What do my fellow homeschool bloggers have to say about their Homeschool Method? Go visit them to find out!

How Our Academic Co-op Completes Our Eclectic Homeschool by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
A Method to Our Madness by Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Finding Our Homeschool Method by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
How We Homeschool by Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
Give Us.... by Annette @ A Net in Time
A day in our Home by Sarah@DeliveringGrace
Lit-Based Education: How We Homeschool by Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
Overhauling Our Homeschool - Adjusting our "How" to fit our "Why" by Sabrina Scheerer @ Kids, Crunch, and Christ
A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler: Expectation Vs. Reality by Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
How Charlotte Mason Transformed Our Homeschool by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
Captain's Log, Supplemental - Our Homeschool Days by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
How we get it done. by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
How to Organize Daily Curriculum with the School Cart by Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Learning For LIfe by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
Eclectic Homeschooling: When It All Comes Together by Jen @ A Helping Hand Homeschool
A Typical Day? by Lizzy @ Peaches@Home
This is the Way We Do Our School, So Early in the Morning by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
A Little of This and a Little of That: Eclectic Homeschooling by Laura O @ Day by Day in Our World
Still Classically Educating After All These Years by True North Homeschool Academy
So what exactly is Life Led Homeschooling? by Dana @ Life Led Homeschool
The way we learn ~ 2018 Virtual Homeschool Fair by Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
Our Homeschool Routine by Joelle @Homeschooling For His Glory
Homeschool Methods – 8 Tips for the Journey by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset

SchoolhouseTeachers.com - TOS Review

2018-01-10T09:17:00.000-05:00

I am back reviewing for the Schoolhouse Review Crew and I am thrilled to start the year with one of their wonderful product: SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I have known of SchoolhouseTeachers.com for a long time, but every time I go check it out there are always new exciting things to be discovered. SchoolhouseTeachers.com is your resource heaven for homeschoolers, and I am not exaggerating! Let me tell you why.

In this review I will be talking about all the resources and benefits you get with a Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

So what is SchoolhouseTeachers.com? SchoolhouseTeachers.com is an all in one online curriculum where home educators can find everything they need to homeschool their kids from preschool to highschool. At SchoolhouseTeachers.com you will find curriculum for all subject matter and for every levels, preschool, elementary, Middle School and High School.

When I say SchoolhouseTeachers.com has everything, here is a list of all the subjects and topics you can find resources for:
Art
French
Latin
Greek
Spanish
Language Arts
Math
Science
Computer and Technology
Bible
Drama and speech
History
Geography
Health and Fitness
Social Studies (Government, Economics, Career)
Music
Unit Studies on all the topics just listed as well as holidays and transportation

I particularly love their electives section which includes:
Architecture
Business
Film
Accounting
Cooking
Graphic Deisgn
Photography
Image editing
Social Justice
Leadership
Homesteading

With my oldest being in grade 9, I was very interested in having him take the career course elective. Most of it is done online, so I had to set my high schooler up to SchoolhouseTeachers.com on his computer. Most of the courses work in the same way, where you have to click on each lesson of the course so as to be taken to the actual lesson page. I also printed the lesson plan and workbook for him to answer the questions in.

If all of these were not enough, SchoolhouseTeachers.com has resources for parents, the perfect homeschool parent support. You will find help with:

Lesson planning and homeschool planners for everyone (which was of course my first stop!).
Grading
Special needs
E-books and courses on almost every possible topic you might need help with ranging from homeschooling to homesteading. This is a section I definitely want to explore more.
Menu planning
Charts
Certificates

All the resources at SchoolhouseTeachers.com are easy to find, as everything is organized by grades, or by levels, or in their appropriate categories. The whole site makes perfect sense and is easy to navigate.

Additional Areas

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a few other adds-on on top of the full scale curricula that it offers, and these, add even more appeal and make it really well rounded.

Focused Learning Centers. These are places where they did their best to pull together all the resources available for you to address a particular subject matter.

Playschool Playground. Having had a baby recently, I was excited and curious about that one. There is a lot in that section to keep your little one entertained and busy. This area is organized by topics: Bible, Motor skills, Language Arts, Craft and Music, Manners and Healthy Habits, Numbers, Patterns and Cognitive Skills, Science, and Social Studies. I loved the songs and nursery rhymes that I was able to play for my 9 months old, but there are also plenty of printables, games and activities to explore and use.

The Video Library. Not only SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers you tons of curriculum, printable lessons and activities, it also offers you a wide array of videos for every levels and subjects. You will find educational, entertaining, and engaging videos, ranging from leaning to read, to studying apologetic. If you have ever heard about RightNow Media (the Netflix of Bible study as my husband calls it), you get free access to a lot of its content through SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

The World Book. With SchoolhouseTeachers.com you can have access to a multitude of libraries through what is called the World Book. This is an invaluable resource. With access to many databases of articles, videos, encyclopedias, interactive resources, games and activities, research and exploration of themes and topics are literally at your finger tips. You do need a log in, which your membership provides you with, and then the world of learning becomes wide opened to you. You can browse this section by category or by grade level. Again, the preschool section was pretty cool! That said, I planned to have my older boys use this in the future for any project that they will have to work on.

The Literacy Center. Here you will find all the resources needed to improve reading and comprehension, all gathered in one place. I love how they provide you with a collection of downloadable books and early reader collections among all the other help, strategies and resource to help your preschool and elementary children on their road to becoming fluent readers.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com's wonder resides in the breadth of what it offers. I have not quite seen an online resource that well stocked. Yes, it is online, and for some that is a stopper, but a lot of it can be printed and just the videos and World Book access would justify the membership. This is the perfect option for homeschooling on a budget as you get everything you need in one spot. It is very well rounded and exhaustive. If you already have your curriculum set out, this is still perfect for filling gaps or complement any topic or subject. I personally am planning to have my High Schooler do the Media Socialization course, as he is very much into movies, and count it as a credit.

For more on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, read what other bloggers have to say about it and make sure to check it out on social media:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Google+

Virtual Homeschool Fair 2018 - Week 1 - Why Do I Homeschool

2018-01-08T09:41:00.003-05:00

Here we are at the start of another year and time for another Virtual Homeschool Fair with Susan@Homeschooling Hearts and Minds. This year the topics are gonna be slightly different but still the same concept of showcasing what homeschooling looks like in different homes.

Week 1 - this week - we are talking about the reasons why we are homeschooling.

This topic is a providential one for me to be talking about at this time, as I am feeling the tiredness and weariness of 10 years of homeschooling. I feel like I have no energy or drive, and yet I know I need to persevere. Why do I feel that way? I can come up with at least five reasons which, I know will set me on a road to renewed enthusiasm and maybe encourage you in the process.

1. Time with my kids is invaluable. This was one of the main reason why we ended up homeschooling to start with. The prospect of spending time with my little ones (at that time) and not missing any of their milestones was an invaluable incentive. I have no regrets in homeschooling those tender years. I got to witness and be an essential part in all their haha moment as they developed. Now that they are older, it is not quite the same feeling, but the time that I can give to my teen and pre-teen is just as much valuable and important, if not much more. The teen years are crucial years and just being there to see them struggle, and being able to offer a helping and encouraging hand, comfort and advice, has no match. I do not think I wan to trade that.

2. My kids were entrusted to me to educate and raise. This one appeals to the conviction that I had when I started and still possess to this day, that God gave me my boys so I can teach them, guide them and support them. Whether that be spiritually or academically they are primarily my responsibility. Just because it gets hard does not give me the right to just default, in the contrary it is a call for me to learn to trust more and more on God's strength and enabling, which he promises to give when he calls.

3. The school system has a lot left to be desired. This never fails: every time I am tempted to send one of my kids to public school, I hear, see or is confronted with something that happened or takes place in schools around me - whether from the teachers, the students or the political agendas. I know I am not a perfect teacher, I know my kids are missing out on some things offered by the public school, and sometime I feel guilty about that, but then I remember the trade off and realize that I have chosen the better part.

4. Our cultural moment is a crucial one. We live in a time where being grounded in Scripture and our Christian belief is a must. Being homeschooled allowed for my boys to get that grounding, all the while being prepared to face the world that is awaiting them. The world's agenda is so "in your face" these days and I could not bring myself in good conscience to just give up and send the boys to face it when they do not need to yet!

5. Nothing beats the flexibility and fun of homeschooling. I thing every homeschooler would tell you that this is a no-brainer. Going on vacation during the off-seasons, going on a field trip when the attractions are empty, playing at the park when it is not crowded, what's there not to love? Being on your own schedule, learning at your own pace, having concepts explained to you as many times and as many ways as needed and playing a game to learn concepts in any subjects, what child would not thrive on that?

I probably could come up with many more reasons why I know homeschooling is my path, but these are the main ones that keep me going

Now, let’s see what my fellow homeschool bloggers have to say about The Reasons We Homeschool.

5 Reasons to Homeschool High School by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Weird Homeschoolers by Kim R. @ Good Sweet Love
How We Make Homeschooling a Lifestyle by Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Our Ever Evolving Homeschool Story by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
5 Reasons You Will Want to Homeschool by Michele@ Family, Faith and Fridays
How Our Homeschool Came To Be (and why we continue) by Sabrina @ Kids, Crunch, and Christ
Home Education - 10 Reasons we keep going...even when it's hard by Lizzy @ Peaches@Home
So... Tell Me Again Why You Homeschool? by Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Virtual Homeschool Fair 2018 - Week 1 - Why do I Homeschool by Joelle@Homeschooling For His Glory
Homeschool Reasons: Bullies, Faith and More by Annette @ A Net In Time
In Pursuit of Purpose by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
A Long Time Ago . . . Why We Decided To Homeschool by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
The Why Behind Hopkins Homeschool by Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
5 Reasons We Love Homeschooling by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
Why We Homeschool - It's What We Do by Kristen H @ Sunrise to Sunset
Why we Home Educate and Extra Benefits by Sarah@Delivering Grace
Homeschooling: The Big WHY? by Lisa @ True North Homeschool Academy at Golden Grasses
Regaining Your Homeschool Focus by Jen @ A Helping Hand Homeschool
Why do we homeschool? by Dana @ Life Led Homeschool
Our “Homeschool” Why by Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
It's Worth it! Why We Homeschool, Even After All These Years by Hillary @ Walking Fruitfully
Because Life is Precious by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
1998 vs. 2018: Why We Homeschool by Debra @ Footprints in the Butter

This post is also linked up on the Homeschool Review Crew Blog.

Worldless Wednesday - The Photo Bomber Edition

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Worldless Wednesday

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During this past year we have had an addition in our family. He is now 8 month old and very busy.