Review: Christianity Cove

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I received 2 products from Christianity Cove, I reviewed Daily Dilemmas: 26 True to life dilemmas and “Tween and Rock and a Hard Place” Lesson blueprints.

The first product, Daily Dilemmas goes through 26 different scenarios and then list 4 multiple choice answers that it wants the student to rate in order of the best and least likely to respond to the scenario. photo 26devotions_zpse20f3cac.jpg A scenario is outlines, there are then about 3 scriptures to read, and then the student is asked to rate the 4 responses. The scenario section is followed by a reflection section that points out the best answer and topics to discuss with your child. [Read more...]

Summer-Schooling? Why you should homeschool in the summer

Call me crazy but I continue to homeschool in the summer. We are year round homeschoolers here and I love it. It works for our family and after taking some summers off, this is definitely the best schedule for us.

Why would you want to homeschool in the summer?

It gets too hot to play outside. That’s right, my kids are sensitive to extreme heat or something, they complain about how it’s too hot and end up lazying around the house indoors anyways. Why not use that time to get some school work done.

If my children were unschooled or left to their own devices all day, they would probably spend it in front of the TV or playing video games if I let them. Homeschooling gives our day structure and provides breadcrumbs for the boys to follow in their own time. [Read more...]

What do you do in the Summer?

Summer vacation may be here from the public or homeschools. What will you do be doing in the summer?

I love it when summer finally arrives after the cold winters. We look forward to spending  a lot of time outside.

I love the possibilities that open up once summer hits.

You can send your children to summer camp or for a Christian option vacation bible school (vbs). This gives you and your children a break and allows them to meet some new friends. This can open them up to new experiences. If it doesn’t work out, it’s only for a week. [Read more...]

School Year in Review 2012-2013

I’d like to say that this was the best school year ever, but it was not. I am terribly behind in my schedule and what I planned for the year.

Math was particularly troublesome but we managed to get back on track. We stopped for a month just to work on basic arithmetic drills which were much needed and definitely helped with our regular math program. Thanks to the Math Rider review, I was able to pinpoint where exactly my son needed help with basic arithmetic.

We’re continuing along with french and latin, we’re a bit behind in Latin because we stopped to work on other things, but I think we’ll put it away for the rest of the year to concentrate on other subjects. [Read more...]

Review: Homeschool in the Woods

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This is a review for the 20th century history lapbook (grades 3-8) from Homeschool in the Woods. As you know, we love lapbooks here so I was super excited to try their history lapbook.
I had not used any of their products before but had heard wonderful things about them. The product definitely lived up to my expectations.

Each minibook held a lot of information and some were quite elaborate, which took my son awhile to get use to the new style. They were definitely more involved and contained so much information.

We’re use to the ones where he does most of the writing so this was new to us. From the download file, it was easy to see how all the books were laid out. There was even a photo to accompany each minibook which made assembling them super easy. [Read more...]

In need of some motivation

I’m in need of some motivation, with all that is going on, I can’t seem to get my head into writing.

I love blogging and started this blog to write and share what I know about homeschooling. I love it. However, there were so many reviews last month that I think I was a little overwhelmed.

Things are slowing down, review wise, so I hope to bring some better content to this blog.

I only have so many hours in the day, and finding time to blog after homeschooling my kids is just draining.

I can only do so much. I want to write because it’s something fun and not something that I have to do, which makes it feel even more overwhelming.

I’m taking some much need mommy time tomorrow, and hopefully I can get refocused.

Here is my little rant, over for now.

Why We Homeschool Year Round

When things don’t go as planned, I’m always happy that we school year round.

Homeschooling is a lifestyle, and with life, unexpected things arise. You may face illness, unexpected family issues, and changes. Since we must always adapt to whatever life throws at us. Our homeschool must adapt as well.

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be from 9 to 3pm, Monday to Fridays. It can really take place whenever you want it to, whatever works for your family.

We are not morning people here so school doesn’t start until 10am.

We school 5 days a week with a half day on Fridays to accommodate library trips or errands that I need to run then.

We school year round starting in September until May and then have a lighter schedule in the summer months.

The winters are cold here and we are most productive then. We want to enjoy our summers so we spend a lot of time outdoors. [Read more...]

Review: Math Rider

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I had the opportunity to review Math Rider, I’m always on the lookout for good math tools for my son so I was looking forward to reviewing this product.

Once I received the program, it was super easy to download and install, no issues there. I set up a login account for him and let him loose. photo mathrider-product-box-v5-200x209_zpsf141caec.jpg Math Rider is intended for use with children in grade 2 to 6.

My son is in the 6th grade and I figured that he would need to work on his multiplication and division first so that’s where he started.

The player then starts a new quest. The rider is sent on a mission to find the flower that will cure his mother of the multiplication flu. The player rides a horse and the player must answer the multiplication question that is presented on the obstacle. If it is correct, the horse jumps over it, if it is incorrect, the horse stops and goes around the obstacle.

The great thing is that if you get it wrong, the pace of the horse slows down so that your child gets more time to work through the problems. They are also presented with the question again so that your child works on the problems that he has difficulty over and over to help them really get it.

There’s also a great master list of skills where you can see which questions your child is having difficulty with which gives you a great overall outlook. I was able to look at the list and give him some help on certain problems he was having. We were also able to review some of it orally. [Read more...]

Wrong Book Selection for Read Aloud

I was on the search for our next read aloud and looked to my list from the beginning of the year. I brought it home and within the first couple of chapters I knew that I had made the wrong choice.

I take a lot of time planning what books we’ll read the next year based on several reading lists and then looking at our time period that we’ll be studying as well. I also read the quick synopsis on the library info page to make sure it will be interesting and suited to my son’s taste.

When I got the book from the library, I even looked at the back of the book which had reviews. Several of them stated how the book was filled with humour and quite funny.

I read the summary of the plot and while it did state that guests of the story would attend the reading of a will, I thought it would just be covered in a chapter or two and then the plot would move on. [Read more...]

Review: Leadership Garden Legacy

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This is a review for the Leadership Garden Legacy is for the U.N.I.Q.U.E. Growing the Leader Within program which is meant for high schoolers or adults. We also received the U.N.I.Q.U.E. Kids: Growing my Leadership Garden (age 5-12).

The Growing the Leader within program includes:

  • Growing the Leader Within paperback book ($18.95)
  • Growing the Leader Within audiobook download ($14.95)Leadership Garden Guidebook photo leadership-adultleadership-guidebook_zpsf2bbaaad.jpg
  • The Leadership Garden Guidebook ($18.95)

The kids program includes:

  • U.N.I.Q.U.E. Kids: Growing my Leadership Garden paperback book ($18.95)
  • U.N.I.Q.U.E. Kids: Activity Guide and Journal pdf ($8.95)
  • U.N.I.Q.U.E. Kids: Audiobook download ($8.95)

The acronym stands for:

U – Understanding
N – NurturingUNIQUE Kids book photo leadership-uniquekidsbook_zps3822722c.jpg
I – Inventive
Q – Quality
U – Unstoppable
E – Expression [Read more...]