Wrightsboro Sonrise Center

Joyce Herzog's Choosing and Using Curriculum Review

2011-08-04T19:21:00.018-04:00

During one of the Heart of the Matter Online Homeschool conferences I had the pleasure of hearing Joyce Herzog speak on Special Needs and Homeschooling. Since we're friends on Facebook I saw that she needed people to evaluate and review the two of her books - Joyce Herzog's Guide to Choosing and Using Curriculum - and the Companion resource ebook with links - I jumped at the chance. The Guide to Choosing and Using Curriculum is in print form and the companion book with links is in ebook format.

This is probably the best resource I have found for adapting and modifying work
for my very differently-abled learners. I don't remember learning to read - I
just always have and have loved it. I found it very hard to try and teach a child who has dyslexia and processing issues. I soon realized that I didn't even know phonics!

This book gives practical tips and ways to approach helping him with his
reading. It also gives me new ideas for sparking interest in reading for all
three boys. It was harder to come to terms with having kids that dislike reading
than it was coming to terms with their special needs!

Some main things that I really really loved Chapter by Chapter:

Introduction/Chapter 1 - Love the questions to ask yourself when evaluating a curriculum as well as tips for convention attending. I hope to attend an in person next year because I love the online conventions. (The Fall Heart of the Matter Online Conference starts Monday and there is still time to get a ticket.) There are questions to ask a curriculum writer that will help you decide if their curriculum is right for your kids.

Chapter Two - Curriculum Types and Comments - I love the way each method is broken down with the advantages/disadvantages and the consideration for the special needs learner. I found the most valuable parts were the suggestions on how to maximize each approach to work with special needs kids fir each homeschooling method. If you tend to collect curriculum like me or by necessity do the eclectic thing this helps a great deal to use what you do have. As she states several times - there is no one size fits all curriculum for ADHD or Autism or Dyslexia. We must find ways to modify and tailor the curriculum to what our kids need. I had no idea where to start but this book gives me places to start and ideas to use.

Chapter 3 - Which One is Me? - This has descriptions of different types of homeschoolers. I found these descriptions very accurate - sometimes uncomfortably so! I go from 'Average Homeschooler' to 'I don't know what to do with Johnny' several times during a school year.

We did not plan to homeschool - the school system made it impossible for us to
leave our boys in it. It's been a constant state of trying to catch up as they refused to recognize our oldest's dyslexia. The suggestions and tips are very helpful because after five years I still feel inadequate to the task before me. Yet, I know God doesn't call the equipped - He equips the called.

Chapter 4 - Education Styles - This chapter goes into how each Education Style actually looks in the homeschool. The subject she uses is the topic of ducks. The illustration was spot on and really helped me understand the different homeschool methods and how they are applied.

Chapter 5 -Grade Levels - I found the history and explanations very helpful. It is very hard to get out of the idea that because a child is a certain chronological age then he/she should be at ____ grade level.

Chapter 6 - Getting Back to Basics - This chapter talks about the very basic things we wish to teach our children.

Chapter 7 - What Can They Do By Themselves? - A very nice list of tasks that a child should roughly be able to perform independently at certain age range. Since I don't have typical developing kids and I don't know what 'typical' development looks like I found this very helpful.

Chapter 8-Start Your Year Off Right - Tips for preparing for your school year. I love the line 'Read aloud to your children until they are old enough to read
aloud to their children. So often I feel I shouldn't be reading to them because
they are X age.

Chapter 9 - Take a Snapshot of Your Child's Progress - So often progress is very slow and so hard won that we miss the achievements and focus on what we haven't gotten done. This chapter gives tips on how to see the trees for the forest.

Chapter 10 - Infant and Early Childhood Training - I skimmed this as my kids are well past this age. :)

Chapter 11 - Bible, Spiritual, Religious and Character Training - A wide selection of links to materials and book suggestions that are available for this area of study.

Chapter 12 - Points to Consider When Choosing a Math Curriculum - I skimmed this - as we found programs to fit each of the boys mathwise but I liked the questions to ask yourself when evaluating if a curriculum is a good fit for your child.

Chapter 13 - Comparison of Math Programs - I really appreciate the side - by - side comparisons of programs through out this book. It really helps when you are trying to weigh your options.

Chapter 14 - Points to Consider When Choosing a Reading Method - Again, a great list of things to question when deciding if a program will work for your individual child.

Chapter 15 - Comparing Seven Popular Learn-to-Read Methods - The breakdown of the various learn to read methods is VERY helpful for the parent of struggling reader. I wish I had this break down back when I was wondering what could I possibly use to help oldest read and that I could effectively teach.

Chapter 16 - Comparison of Reading Programs -

Chapter 17- How to Interest a Child in Reading - This is one of those - 'Where have you been all my life' - chapters. I think coming to terms with having three kids who don't like to read was harder to come to terms with than their autism. I spent much of my childhood (and adulthood) with my nose in a book and to not be able to share that joy with my kids is hard. I had no idea what might spark an interest and now I have new things to try.

Chapter 18 - Teaching Reading Comprehension - I found it very hard to teach this as it was something that came naturally to me my entire life. This provides me with a guide and methods to use.

Chapter 19 - Teaching Discernment in Literature - Very timely chapter as my kids are getting older and need to be wise about what they are reading and what it is actually saying to them.

Chapter 20 - Developing Written Expression - Writing is a nightmare here. I have used just about every program on the market. I was glad to see this chapter.

Chapter 21 - Looking at Language Arts - A very informative list of what is out there for language arts.

Chapter 22 - Comparison of Handwriting Styles - I skimmed this as we have used one particular program for years and it works well. Still - the side by side helps very much.

Chapter 23 - A Few Unique Books to Consider - These are resources I had not heard of before but are now on my needs list.

Chapter 24 - Geography, Science and History Resources - Lists the various programs available and a brief summary of each.

Chapter 25 - Tips for Teaching History - This chapter is going to be copied, laminated and at my fingertips at all times during teaching history. The tips - the questions to provoke thought and discussion are very valuable and helpful.

Chapter 26 - Adapting Materials for Special Situations - The most important chapter for me. So often I realize things need to be adapted but have no idea on how to proceed. I'm putting this in my teacher notebook because I need to go over it again and again. This is a list of ideas on modifying or adapting work for your child. There are so many of these that I felt like I should have thought of already and did not. This chapter is being copied and posted at my desk to remind me of how to change how to get information into the child when the current method isn't working.

A few examples: Do half the problems. Read to your child if you need to do so, provide the child another way to demonstrate what he knows - a project, a film, an oral presentation, etc. Highlighting and other visual aids - mini offices for example.

Chapter 27 - Testing - A chapter I skimmed. In NC we are required to administer a standardized test yearly. I use the CAT 5 and the only reason we do it is because it is legally required. The chapter does remind you to examine the point of the testing and what the testing can tell you or even if it is helpful. All of our kids had been evaluated before we started our homeschool journey - (except for the dyslexia) - and we found that the 'labels' helped us a great deal to understand why they do the things they do.

Chapter 28 - Special Help for Our Very Special Students - These are specific suggestions for various special needs as well as resources for support or more information on each.

I found the text very readable and the layout and illustrations very nice. The print copy is only 12 and it is a book I will refer to again and again.

The companion book is wonderful. I like this in ebook format. I appreciate being able to click and go to a
link. I like the way the links were broken down and grouped. It was easy to find
what I was looking for.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of these two books by the author for the purpose of my honest and truthful review. I received no other compensation for this review and my opinions and thoughts are my own.

TOS Review - Eagle's Wings - Considering God's Creation

2011-05-25T15:54:00.000-04:00

I have had a wonderful year serving on the TOS Review Crew. It's hard to believe but this is my last review as a crew member. I've had the privilege of trying so many great products and it has helped me learn what will and will not work in our homeschool.

I was very happy to receive Considering God's Creation by Eagle's Wings for my final Review. I had seen samples before and it looked like a great program. The Teacher's Manual, complete with audio CD and a student book are available for $29.95. Extra student workbooks can be purchased for $13.95. Eagle's Wings also offers other products - History, Bible, Phonics, Geography and Math. For a full list please click here.

This is a real bargain. It is a life and earth science program written from a Creationist point of view that spans grades 2 to 7 though it is easily adapted for any age. We used it as a supplement to our regular curriculum but this could be used as a stand alone program as well. It does not have to be followed in the order it is presented. It uses hands on approach to each topic through the use of notebooking pages, crossword and word search puzzles, pull out charts and foldables. It works well for a hands on, visual or audio learner (thanks to the songs on CD).

The topics covered are:

Creation
The Universe: Stars and Planets
The Earth
Non-Living Things: Rocks and Minerals
Weather
The Plant Kingdom
The Animal Kingdom
Animal Anatomy and Physiology
Man: Made in God's Image

Each topic has several subtopics for a total of 36 lessons.

The first two things I pulled to use were the parts of a plant and the parts of a cell. Both of these were areas my oldest was struggling in. The illustrations and the analogies in the cell chapter - (example comparing the cell membrane to a 'guarded wall') - helped cement these concepts in his head. He is a weather nut and I promised him we would work on that section when he finished cells and plant parts. (My oldest is fourteen but dyslexic and only reads on about a 8th grade level.)

My middle son was all about the crossword puzzles and and the star slides activity. He loves space and planets and these notebooking pages and activities were well laid out and he could work independently.

I will probably be using this as my youngest son's main Science curriculum in the fall. It's visual and hands on plus it's easy to use for short lessons.

The Teacher's Manual is well laid out. It tells you how many lessons the topic will span, materials you will need to complete the lesson and suggestions on how to dig deeper with a topic of interest. These include suggestions for DVD/Videos, books, experiments and research topics. Some lessons include suggestions for vocabulary words and Bible readings. My boys didn't get much out of the songs and the audio CD which comes with the Teacher's manual. An auditory learner most certainly would benefit. This is a quality product at a very good price. It's nice to go out reviewing a product I can recommend with no reservations.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product: here.

Disclaimer/Disclosure: I was given use of this product for the purpose of obtaining my honest opinion. I received nothing else. This is my honest opinion. Please consider that every family is different and results may vary.

TOS Review - Bright Ideas Press - WonderMaps

2011-05-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I was given access to Bright Idea's Press Wonder Maps for review. Wondermaps is available from Bright Ideas Press for $49.95 at the above hyperlink. It is available via download or CD. The license is for installation on two computers and a back up. This also includes updates to the program.

This is the latest in a line of great products by this vendor. Earlier this year I had the privilege of reviewing 'A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers' so I was thrilled to be picked for this review.

Geography is an important part of our homeschool. I don't want my boys wondering where Chile is for example. My middle son is a huge golf fan and we usually look up player's countries during a tournament.

Wondermaps made it easier to do this and opened our eyes to new ways of exploring the countries of the world.

This is the main screen. You can see some of the many ways to pull up the map you need or would like to look at.

You can also look them up this way:

or

And when you decide how to look them up you are in for a treat:

There are over sixty world maps, over sixty US maps and over 125 historical maps which includes 25 biblical maps. It has all the maps needed to complete any of Bright Ideas Press history programs - The Mystery of History series and All American History.

It requires Adobe Reader v 9 or higher - which is a free download from Adobe.

The versatility of this product is it's largest strength. Operating on a 'layering' design the user can chose what to include in the map to print - or to simply view. This makes it a cinch to make not only student maps but teacher key maps as well.

You can turn on and off labels such as: lakes and rivers, territorial boundaries, mountain ranges, state and country names, capital names and locations and city locations. And that isn't nearly all. The biblical maps are perfect for use in home school or Sunday School. You can make the maps color or black and white.

The Teacher's Guide is packed with information on how to use this product. Also included is this great tutorial video. This helped me get off to a fast start with the program.

This product could easily be used as a stand alone resource or as a supplement to ANY history curriculum. I could not recommend it more. Now if you'll pardon me I have to go look up Ireland for the golf boy. :)

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product: Here

TOS Review - Yesterday's Classics

2011-04-19T15:51:00.020-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew and a self confessed book junkie I was lucky enough to be chosen to review 'Yesterday's Classics'. Currently they are running a special sale - 225 ebooks in either Kindle or Epub format - for $99.95. The sale through May 31st then the collection will return to the regular price of $149.95.

To get a full listing of all the wonderful books that are included in this collection click here. These files are free of DRM or other restrictions so for the low price above you may put them on as many devices as you wish. In fact we will be purchasing another Kindle for the sole use of putting these and any other ebooks for school on it.

We have both a Kindle and Ipod so I checked out the collection in Kindle and Epub format. This impressive collection contains book recommended by the curriculum we currently use and many that will make excellent supplements. Right away I noticed that the formatting is much better than the free books I had downloaded from other sources. Another great feature is that the table of contents are hot linked - meaning you can click on the link and go right to the chapter you're looking for.

We primarily used it on the Kindle for several reasons. The main reason was that our oldest is dyslexic and Kindle has text to speech enabled for some ebooks. I was delighted to discover that the ones we checked out from Yesterday's Classics had this feature. Also on the Kindle the user can make notes or highlight sections of text.

The instructions made loading these onto the Kindle and the Ipod a breeze. The information file had the books listed in a variety of different ways - sorted by Level, Genre, Author and Title, by Genre, Author and Title, by Title, and by Author.

There was also a list of books and descriptions as well as a price for those available in print form with pricing. This made it very easy for me to determine which books would work for which child and with which study.

Here are a few of the titles we've read so far:

The biggest problem is getting the boys to share the Kindle. Middle is a nature lover and he's all about the Science books. The Oldest will now actually do his literature assignment because when he gets tired he can use the text to speech feature and his retention of what he reads is better.

I'm looking forward to using these to finish out our school year and to enhance our new year starting in the fall. I feel the product is well worth the price. If I had not been lucky enough to be chosen for this review it was on my 'to buy' list. It is a true bargain. The tech support was prompt and friendly. The instructions were quite clear and easy to understand.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product: Here

TOS Review Crew - GoGo Kabongo

2011-04-04T11:24:00.026-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew my youngest got a trialhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif subscription to GoGo Kabongo to try out.

GoGo Kabongo is a colorful website devoted to strengthening a child's pre-reading skills through games of various types. The recommended age levels are 4 to 7 years old.

Kids get to create their own avatar in order to explore the learning games. Colorful characters guide the student through the levels or habitats. The first habitat - Laughter Lake - is free. Additional habitats are $4.95 each - with no subscription fees. If you sign up now you can get Galaxy Gardens free for a limited time.

In the Treehouse you can create your own avatar in the Avatar Maker, use the Comic Book Creator, play in the Skate Park or use the Map to access the habitats.

The above image is the Map used to navigate to the habitats. There are three with three levels each:

Twister Top - which contains the games Crazy Maze, Desert Dash, and Design a Door.

Galaxy Gardens - where you can play Photo Safari, Robo Bobo (Robot building was something my youngest liked a lot!) and Rocket Racer.

Laughter Lake - has Scuba Dude, Critter Sizer, and Going Buggy.

My youngest did not like the characters and refused to play the games more than once. This is not unusual for him and is not a reflection on the product. We are currently unable to determine his actual reading level but I'm sure it is higher than the target group. He is easily bored and does not like to do anything more than once. Therefore this review was mostly based on my playing around on the site. It is easy to navigate and we just had a few minor hiccups - badges not appearing - that were resolved by refreshing the screen.

The games are just challenging enough without being too hard and therefore discouraging. When my middle son was younger he would have loved a website such as this. I can see how it could teach visual-spatial skills along with spelling and other necessary skills. In fact it could have helped any of my guys in their weaker areas of attention, visualization and working memory to name a few. I would recommend it for any child in the target ages but especially a child who has visual tracking and working memory issues.

Here is a nice chart that shows the skills the website is designed to teach and a progress report is emailed weekly so you can easily keep track of your child's progress.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - Artistic Pursuits

2011-03-23T08:00:00.004-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I had the opportunity hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto review Artistic Pursuits Art Curriculum. We used Book 1 for Grades 4-6 - The Elements of Art and Composition. It is available for $42.95 here. There are also lots of sample pictures from the book on this page so you can get a general idea of what a lesson looks like.

I appreciated the supplies needed list in the front of the text. Not only was it clear about when certain supplies were needed - by unit - it also had pictures of the needed supplies. This helped me get the proper item.

I also appreciated the What Parents Want to Know section. This section explained the aim of the curriculum, how each Unit was structured and suggestions for scheduling. Their suggestion is two classes per week - 1 hour each - to complete the book in one year.

The next section introduces the student to the aims of the curriculum:

1. Learn to observe the world around you - to really see it.

2. Learn WHAT to look for.

3. Learn to focus on one element of art at a time, while drawing, and block out others.

and they lay out The Elements of Art:

Line - Value - Form

The Lessons themselves have four parts:

Explore Your World - This uses real world experiences to help the student learn to 'see' the world from an art perspective.

Make a Drawing - The student tries to make their own drawing based on the objective of the lesson.

Something to Try - This encourages the student to try different techniques while drawing.

Final Project - Self explanatory.

These are accompanied by illustrations that really work well for my non artistic visual learners.

My boys do not like to draw and this is not a reflection on this book. They did however - enjoy learning about how to 'see' art and the history behind some of the artists and paintings featured in the book. We learned much about an artist making good use of the space on their paper, line and shape and how they are used to enhance detail in art, texture, shading, shadow, contrast and so many terms they were not familiar with that the text did a great job of showing and telling.

For the first time the boys want to go on a field trip to the local art museum to put into practice what we've learned through this book. They are such perfectionists that I did eventually give up on the actual drawing part of the lessons but I tried a few of them myself and the directions are clear and easy to follow.

In the back of the book is a helpful 'Evaluation Sheet' to assist in grading the lessons in this book. From the perspective of a non artistic parent this helped me a lot.

I highly recommend this curriculum for anyone looking to introduce art in their homeschool.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - Kid Scoop

2011-02-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

As a TOS Review Crew Member I was given a chance to try out Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution. Since we have three of those in our house - only one is currently identified as dyslexic - I jumped at the chance. The information page that includes pricing and the basis for the program is located here.

Kid Scoop offers a Reluctant Reader Solution package - 365 worksheets and 12 month subscription to their Kid Scoop News for the low price of $97 per year. This is a money back guaranteed program that is quickly delivered to your email box after purchase.

The worksheets consist of mini unit studies on 60 different subjects of high interest. I used Christopher Columbus with Oldest, Golf for Middle and Immunizations with Youngest. These are in black and white and come in PDF form. Oldest was studying Columbus so it dovetailed well with his history lesson - map activities, math exercises, proof reading/editing, puzzles and the always popular word search.

Golf had many different math exercises that Middle really needed. He loved the word search and the jokes and riddles on the pages.

I chose Immunization for Youngest because he needed a booster at his well check and I needed help convincing Mr. Logical. The study filled the need and went with his Science study of the Human Body. It talked about the science behind Immunizations and how the body reacts to them. Again, the Word Search was a big hit.

My only complaint would be that the pages are a bit too cluttered for people who are easily visually overwhelmed. We preferred the black and white worksheets to the Kid Scoop News. While bright, vivid colors are attractive to most kids mine are easily visually overstimulated. I am as well and I had a little trouble navigating both the website and the Newsletter online. It was much easier to download the monthly newsletter and read it on my computer.

I will continue to use these units as they make a very nice supplement to our studies. It did raise the interest level of my kids - Middle wanted to do the entire golf unit in one day. I liked the way math word problems were woven into the subject as my boys struggle with ordinary word problems. Tying them to an interesting subject made all the difference in their comprehension.

You can also sign up for 30 days of tips delivered to your email here. There are also other offerings at this link - a website for kids and a newsletter for parents.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - The Curiosity Files - Zombie Fire Ants

2011-02-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

As part of the TOS Review Crew I was given a copy of their new Unit Study series - The Curiousity Files for review. After discussion with the boys we chose 'Zombie Fire Ants'.

There are currently nine different studies in this series and they are currently bundled into a money saving package of all nine for $46.00. It includes - Blue Diamond, Dung Beetle, Puffer Fish, MRSA, Red Tide, Blue-Footed Booby, Cidica Killing Wasp, Quicksand and Zombie Fire Ants. You can also purchase them individually. These are geared for ages 8-13 but could be beefed up for older students or adapted for younger students easily. The studies cover Bible, Geography and of course, Science. There are plenty of Language Arts activities to choose from.

We had a blast with Zombie Fire Ants. I have always said I would ask God just what His purpose was in creating fire ants. They are the opposing side in a war over our back yard that we fight every spring, summer and fall. Sadly there were no ants to look at while we were conducting this particular study because of the unusually cold weather we've had in our area.

As the mother of three who are easily overwhelmed by too much text on a page - I appreciated the layout of the information section of this study. It was well balanced with pictures and broken into several sections for easier reading.

(I also loved showing my middle son that fire ants can - in fact - form a ball and float on water. We had a spirited debate about that and the picture provided in the study proved it.)

The boys decided that the phorid fly should be imported to North Carolina immediately so we don't have to use fire ant killer this year. Plus, I think they really want to see headless ants wandering around.

We did the Question and Answer section together - giving all of them a chance to respond. As usual - the more gross and strange the topic, the more the boys retained. I was happy that I didn't have to do much adapting to this section - it challenged them just enough.

The 'Fire Ant Week' section was a God send. My youngest has a horrible time with days of the week and using the theme to work on this skill made my job much easier.

In fact we wound up using all of the pages that had math activities on them. It goes so much easier when it's an interesting topic.

As a writer I loved the analogy of the zombie fire ants wandering around with a direction like a run on sentence does. The boys - who are allergic to writing - weren't as impressed. They did like correcting the sentences - they just didn't like writing them.

I liked having a vocabulary list and the spelling activities. I liked the use of puzzles to reinforce certain concepts. Word searches are always a good thing in our school. We did the map activity, and the lapbook components we used to lap and note in our science binders.

I cannot stress enough how much I liked the tips for making this study more friendly to hands on learners. It really made me think of ways I could use this that would not have occurred to me. We poured over You tube for Zombie Fire Ants videos.

We spent about a week on this study be with all of the information given we could have easily gone longer and branched out into different areas from it. There is a lot of material here and it's an excellent deal for the price.

Since we liked the layout and the content of this study so much I believe we will be using more of The Curiosity Files. In fact I think Dung Beetles may be the next in line. Remember, for our boys the grosser and stranger the better!

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review-TenMarks

2011-01-28T09:00:00.011-05:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received a six month trial subscription for two of my boys to TenMarks. TenMarks is an online math instruction program that works through worksheets and videos. Each student does a quick assessment to determine placement here.

I would also recommend watching this video. It gives you a nice overview of how this program works.

I am not a math person - that is the understatement of the decade - so finding a math program that works for my two very math oriented kids is a challenge. The non-mathy child is quite happy with his curriculum, the oldest is easier to find math products for but the youngest.....

A little background, my youngest taught himself multiplication at five and square roots at seven. His favorite toy? A calculator. Seriously. He wants a graphing calculator next. Did I mention he's nine?

Right away he took to TenMarks. He liked the variety. He liked only having one worksheet per day. He liked having the option to do all off his worksheets in one day and ask for more. He's a hands on learner with a little visual thrown in so the videos, the graphics and the multiple choice were perfect for him.

I liked the flexibility of the program. As the parent I could change the order of the modules, pause the program, the worksheet reminders and probably many things I don't know I can do with it yet. TenMarks has top notch customer service. They always responded promptly to any emails I sent and patiently walked me through changing the curriculum around to suit my oldest - whose math abilities are all over the place. It also let me know he wasn't doing the work he claimed he was doing thanks to the worksheet reminders. It was easy to communicate with TenMarks via the Feedback tab on the right hand side of the webpage.

TenMarks has a VERY flexible pricing structure. You can sign up for a free trial for seven days. If you like the program it is available for $10 per month, $49 for six months and $89 for twelve months.

Again, this is another product on my must have list. I highly recommend TenMarks. The product is great and the customer service cannot be beat.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review- Lifeway Christian Bookstores-Bible Dictionary

2011-01-26T09:00:00.012-05:00

As part of the TOS Review Crew I received the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids from Lifeway Christian Bookstore to review. The product is $14.99 and can be purchased here or at a local store. Use the store locator on the Lifeway Christian Bookstore website.

This is a must for any homeschool library in my opinion. You can take a peek inside here. You can also download a sample.

I had a lot of trouble reviewing this product. Mainly because I could not pry it away from my kids! My middle would take it to bed to browse over, my oldest would take it to look up something for school and I'd lose him for the rest of the day! Even the youngest - who is not into books - loved browsing through the entries about animals in the Bible.

This is more than just a Bible Dictionary with pictures. It has Reconstructions that are great for visual guys like mine who need to be able to 'see' what something might have looked like during Bible times. The illustrated charts and maps were immediately bookmarked for future use and quick access. The pronunciation guide was a big help to my oldest - who is in remediation for his dyslexia and needs encouragement to try and sound out words on his own.

One day I noticed my middle son with his Bible in one hand and this book in the other. Upon closer inspection I realized he was using the scripture references in each entry to read about them in his Bible. That alone was enough to sell me on the product.

The age range is listed from 5-10 years but my oldest is fourteen and enjoyed it also. The illustrations and pictures are so nice I think all ages could benefit from this resource.

So I highly recommend this resource for anyone and I'm sure it would also make a wonderful gift. Now if I can just get our copy back from those pesky kids.....

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - Speekee/Lingua4LTD

2011-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew our family was given a free trial to Speekee - Spanish for children - Online. Speekee is a Spanish teaching program that is available online or via DVD (though a PAL compatible DVD player is required). They offer at two week trial and then it is $7.95 per month. There is also an available option for regular schools here. The age range is approximately 2-10 years of age though my eleven and fourteen year old thought it funny and interesting.

There are ten videos staring Speekee - a purple puppet that speaks Spanish and interacts with Jim and several kids in various scenes. Closed Captioning translates the Spanish spoken into English so that kids learn as they follow along.

The videos combine songs and skits - each with a different location. Each video has suggested activities and worksheets that can be used along with the program. The videos are approximately 20 minutes long. My boys said it was like a Spanish version of Sesame Street and liked it very much. It is an immersion type program and I mostly just let them watch it and we would occasionally use some of the suggested activities. They really liked being able to watch it on our TV via our Wii. (Using the internet channel on the Wii, I went to the website, logged in and selected a video. I could not figure out how to get the closed captioning to work so we watched the ones they'd seen before.)

I found it a great way to start our school day and we watched some of the videos more than once. I think it would have helped my boys more if I had found it when they were younger. English is pretty tough for my guys and a new language would have to be introduced like this and even then it would be hard for them to grasp.

I would highly recommend Speekee for anyone wanting to introduce their child to Spanish. We will probably continue our subscription past the review period so that we can finish all of the activities.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - Virtual Nerd

2011-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received a premium trial subscription to Virtual Nerd to evaluate the product.

Virtual Nerd is an online higher Math and Science step by step video tutorial program. IT is primarily for grades 7-12. Using a speaker and writing out concepts on a whiteboard - the student is able to absorb the information through two learning modes at once. They offer both a Basic and a Premium account. Basic is free for everyone. Premium service is free for educators (For public/private schools only). The price varies depending on the plan you choose. $5 per day, $19 for one week, $49 for monthly recurring and $129 for 3 weeks. These are flexible to allow for the various ways to utilize the product.

Currently the subjects covered are: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II and Physics. Since my oldest is currently in Pre-Algebra we started and mostly concentrated on that. I highly recommend watching the intro video to get an idea of how this product works.

The subjects are broken down into many different concepts. Pre-Algebra is broken down into thirteen areas with sub menus beyond that. Once you watch a video you are provided with suggestions for another related video. You have the option to select one topic or to play all of the selections for a concept.

Oldest found the tutor engaging and he really liked the way concepts were written out and made visual for him. The way they break down things into steps and show the steps they will cover in a display to the right of the presentation really helped him stay patient. I didn't hear 'How long is this?' over and over again. (The video has a 'time bar' under the video that is also marked off with the various steps that will be covered as well as the total time of the selected video.)

The speaker's pace and diction were just right. The graphics were not overwhelming and the explanations - written and discussed were clear enough for my oldest to follow it. It was great that he could pause it, watch it over and over and come back and watch it again if he needed to do so. He has not gotten very far with Pre-Algebra so the concepts quickly became too hard for him. I let him watch them anyway - figuring as he progresses maybe he will remember seeing the videos.

Occasionally we would have trouble getting a video to load but it was rare. We used it on a PC running Windows 7 with the Firefox browser.

I briefly looked at the other subjects but since I struggled to finish Algebra I in High School the large majority of it was way over my head. Though I believe the price is a little steep if I were to use it now (for basically part of a subject) I believe it would be a worthwhile investment when my boys reach High School age.

Virtual Nerd is a very well constructed, innovative product and one that is certainly on my list to purchase when we reach that level. The pricing structure is makes this much more affordable and flexible to use. It is not a product I would need a year long subscription to - perhaps a day if we were struggling to understand a certain concept.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

TOS Review - See N Read©

2011-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received a package from See N' Read© Reading Tools. These products were designed to aid readers with focusing, visual tracking and retaining what they read. They were developed by a mother seeking to help her daughter who was struggling to read fluently. More information on the research behind it can be found here.

Enclosed were the Book sized See-N-Read© with the Memory Mark™ feature. This tool measures 5 1/2" x 3" and has a cut out window in the guide section that allows you to highlight or underline without moving your guide. This is also available in Document size which is 8 1/2" x 3". This product can be purchased as a single or in different quantities and packages. A price list is here.

I found the Memory Mark™ to be perfect for Bible Study. I could keep my place, not be overwhelmed by text all over the page and highlight or make a note without moving the tool. My kids liked using to to read their literature books but really didn't need to highlight anything.

Also in the package was the Document sized See-N-Read©. (8 1/2" x 3"). I had the boys use this one to follow along with worksheets and to keep their columns straight during their math work. They adapted to using it fairly quickly. I did not use this one nearly as much as they did. We will purchase more of these to prevent fighting over them. My boys are easily visually overwhelmed and this was excellent for helping them to focus on what they needed to do. A price list and the various bundles can be found here.

The eSee-N-Read™ works very well with computer based curriculum or books on your computer (I used mine with my Kindle computer application and various e-books I've downloaded.) The boys used it with their Switched On Schoolhouse Subjects. This is probably my personal favorite of the three products we tried though the boys would probably give the Document sized See-N-Read© the vote. You can set it up to start when Windows starts, minimize it, adjust the shading and many other things I probably haven't tried yet. It will give you tips if you wish on start up. For now it is only available for the PC but a MAC version is in the works. A single license is $29.99 and multiple licenses are available.

I thought these products would be wonderful for my oldest - who is dyslexic. I was pleasantly surprised that not only did he benefit from the products - the entire family did. In fact, I used the Memory Marker™ more than the kids. My husband liked the book sized for his reading as well. We will be buying the eSee-N-Read™ and at least one of each of the other products to be sure everyone in the family has one to use.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product: here.

TOS Review - Aleks Online Math Program

2010-12-13T05:00:00.001-05:00

As a member of the TOS review crew my family was given a free trial of one month.

I had been looking at Aleks for a long time because my youngest - the math whiz - is very hard to match in terms of curriculum. Aleks did not disappoint. He really liked the variety and the short lessons and the way the concepts were presented.

Aleks stands for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces. It's made for kids in grades 3-12. The instruction is tailored to the individual child. You can use it in different ways - worksheets, games that teach math facts, quizzes and online work that provides full explanations.

Setting up the Master account was easy - it would have been easier if I had carefully read the directions but Aleks customer service quickly combined my Master Accounts for me so all three of my students were under one Master Account. (click on the images for a bigger picture)

From the Master Account page the parent can view student attendance/progress reports and quiz results. It will tell you exact what problems the student missed or had trouble with.

Once you have your Master Account set up then each Student needs to complete an assessment. Then the student will see this:

The student can then choose an area he needs to work on and gives a summary of what they already know. My youngest LOVED this because he likes variety. He could work on different areas in the same day. I loved that I could also print out a worksheet for him to do if we needed to go somewhere and the guys needed to work without the computer.

This program is really wonderful for kids like mine who need repetition but don't like the monotony of it. They don't even realize they are repeating information. The visuals are nice and not overwhelming on the page. The only thing that would make this better would be a text to speech option for dyslexics like my oldest. The oldest really liked the explanation part of the program - the concepts were laid out in a manner than he could understand them.

My middle son really liked the whole program. It was easy for him to follow and the introductions of new concepts was much easier for him than we've found with other math programs. I can't say enough about the visuals this program provides and how big of a help they are to learners like my boys.

This 2 minute video provides an overview of Aleks. Pricing can be found here. The price for one student is $19.99 per month - $99 for six months and $179.95 for 12 months. Family discounts are available for 6 month or 12 month terms. More details here.

My experience with Aleks and their customer service was wonderful. They responded promptly to any inquiries and provided a ton of information.

This product was a true winner for all of my boys. We will be extending our membership as soon as the funds are available. To try it out for your own family click on the link below for a free 1 month trial.

To read what others had to say about this product please click here.

TOS Review - Bright Idea Press-A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers

2010-11-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

As part of the TOS Review Crew I was allowed to chose a product from Bright Ideas Press to Review. Currently we are using All American History Vol I and in the past have used Christian Kids Explore Biology and Mystery of History Vol I from this company. Bright Ideas Press is one of my favorite homeschool publishers and I had my eye on 'A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers' for quite some time.

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers consists of 32 weekly lessons covering six eras of music and 26 Composers. It is hard to summarize the wealth of information in this study. To get an idea of the content of this study a sample can be found here.

This is available in two formats - the CD Rom version is $29.95 plus shipping and the Paperback version is $34.95 plus shipping.

My oldest was very happy when this came in the mail. I immediately put the CD Rom in my computer to see how I could blend this in with our regular study. In the Teacher Introduction is a suggested schedule which I chose to follow.

On the first day we listened to the suggested piece of music, read the lesson and filled out the notetaking pages (Oldest really liked the layout of these pages and did not find the text overwhelming).

The second day we again listened to the suggested piece of music, completed the time line (this worked in well as we use a timeline for both history and science) and the 'Composer Info-Card'. Oldest really liked these and they make great reference materials. We also located the Composer's place of birth on the map. Again, this blended quite nicely as we do a lot of map work in our studies. I want my boys to have a better grasp of geography than I do.

On the third day we listened to the selections again.

We have recently started memorization work and this program fit into our schooling seamlessly. There are directions for 'folderbooks' which are similar to lapbooks. We did not use these as the cards worked well for us.

I printed the cards on cardstock - manual duplexing them so we had a card with information on both sides. We then printed out the illustrations and cut them out and glued them on the correct card. There are also instructions for games that I plan to use in the future: Composer Memory, Composer Bingo and Composer Go Fish. My oldest really loves music and games and this product seemed like it was written especially for him.

We covered the Ancient Music to Music in the Middle Ages and then Oldest begged to skip to Ludwig van Beethoven. We read the book 'Beethoven Lives Upstairs' last year and since then has loved all things Beethoven. (I think his favorite piece of music is 'Ode To Joy' which he can play on our piano quite well) I believe we will probably go back to a more chronological method after this and work our way through the rest of the study.

If you are searching for a way to incorporate music into your homeschooling this study is a great way to accomplish that. There are a lot of materials to choose from. This is a very complete program and is well laid out and easy to follow.

To see what others on the TOS crew have to say about this and other Bright Ideas Press products click here.

TOS Review - KB Teachers - Premium

2010-11-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

As part of TOS Review Crew I was given a trial subscription of KB Teachers to try out. I love websites such as these and was eager to explore this one. There are two subscription levels and I was given a 2 year Premium trial. They have a 30 day free trial and then the price is $29 for 1 year or $49 for 2 years for premium access. They have all sorts of worksheets for ages K-8 though some of the history and science worksheets could easily be used for older students.

The site is well laid out and easy to navigate. In fact there is no search bar because the company believes you should be able to find whatever you are looking for in three clicks of the mouse.

They offer worksheets, clip art, workbooks and activity guides. The subjects cover Seasonable topics, English (including handwriting worksheets), Math activities, Science, Biology, and Social studies (including maps).

Since my oldest was covering the weather in science I first went to the weather and climate worksheet section. Oh it was wonderful! All three of mine are quite visual learners and there were graphic organizers galore! The stages of a tornado was a big hit and we loved the combination of writing a description and drawing at the same time! They also have a similar worksheet for hurricanes.

The illustrations on the worksheets are detailed and wonderful. The pages are not overwhelmed with text or pictures - there is a nice balance. This works well because my boys get overwhelmed at too much on one page.

For the middle son - the Astronomy workbook was a good pick. He is familiar with The Big Bang Theory, though we do - as a family - follow creationism. The site is not heavily into evolution - at least not in my observation but the content is there if that is a concern. I don't think it would be a problem to skip worksheets that do not fit into your plan. We used them as a springboard for discussion.

For youngest I used the Plants: Intro to Biology worksheets. He is studying plants on a basic level. Again, I found many resources to go with our other work. The Photosynthesis worksheet really helped him to grasp the way plants make their own food.

I was happiest with the Ancient Egypt activities. We went to K Bears website and though it was a little difficult to find the Egypt section it was well worth it.
We went to the links on Pharonic Egypt as that is the time period we are currently studying. There is a wealth of information there and it was easy to find the answers to the worksheets there.

I highly recommend KB Teachers as a supplement to your current curriculum. There are many activities - journal prompts, worksheets, graphic organizers - that will enhance whatever you might be studying.

I am looking forward to using the Thanksgiving materials in the upcoming weeks. There is something here for every homeschooling family in my opinion.

Please head over here and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product

TOS Review - The Write Foundation

2010-11-10T08:00:00.004-05:00

As part of the TOS Review Crew, I had a chance to try out a level from The Write Foundation. The Write Foundation is a writing program with three levels:

Level #1 - Sentence to Paragraph Writing - suggested ages are 11-13.

Level #2 - Paragraph Writing - suggested ages are 12-15.

Level #3 - Essay Writing - suggested ages 14-17.

There are several options for ordering.

Package # 1 is the complete level package - Lessons 1-30 Instructor manuals - spiral bound, Student worksheets and an additional resource CD. The price is $100 plus tax and/or shipping.

Package # 2 - Includes the above materials for Lessons 1-15 only $65. plus tax and/or shipping.

Package # 3 Includes the above materials for Lessons 16-30 for $65 plus tax and/or shipping.

You may also order additional worksheets for $25 plus tax and/or shipping. Worksheets are reproducible only for your family use. If this were being used in a co-op setting then each student would need to order their own copy of the worksheets for use. The worksheets are not stand alone and the teacher manual and CD are required to complete the program.

Optional but highly recommended are Mindbenders. This page speaks about their use with the program. We did not use these with the program when we tried it but I can see the benefit if I had differently abled learners.

Samples can be found here. There are samples of all three levels and I highly recommend reviewing all of these before making a decision on a level for your learner.

Since I have three very reluctant writers I chose to try Level #1 - Sentence to Paragraph Writing.

The Instructor's Manual states from the beginning that assignments - other than some specified exceptions - should be typed. This was appealing as my boys all struggle with the mechanics of handwriting and are pretty adept at keyboarding. From there the objective and requirements of implementing the program is laid out along with a definition of terms used in the materials. It is recommended that one lesson be introduced weekly with the remaining days of the week for completing the assignments.

There are suggestions for Daily Schedules: 5 Day and 10 Day - a Classroom setting and an alternative schedule to stretch the course out for two years instead of one.

The first lesson in Level I starts with organizing notebooks. It is suggested that a binder with 8 tabs labeled with:

1. Assignments
2. Checklists
3. Word Lists
4. Class Notes
5. Reading List
6. Graded Work
7. Semester Worksheets
8. Mind Benders (if used)

The notebook should be set up prior to the first lesson. We did not set up the notebooks but I can see how this would be necessary in a co-op setting.

At the top of each Lesson Sheet are a list of supplies needed for the lesson. For Lesson 1 the student notebook, the worksheets 1-6 from the student worksheet packet are needed to complete the lesson. The student also needs highlighters of six or more different colors, a thesaurus and a dictionary.

We did one worksheet a day - the introduction on Day 1 and worksheets 1 & 2 and then Day 2/worksheet 3 and so on. The Mind Benders immediately gave my boys trouble - mostly because I didn't fully grasp how they work Since they were optional we left them out after that. Since we didn't set up the notebook I gave them a basic overview of what we'd be covering for that week and on Day 2 we went over the Sentence Writing Worksheet Checklist along with the Teacher Presentation for the day. We followed that pattern for the rest of the week.

(The Teacher Presentation sheets are on the resource CD along with Checklists, Games, Grading Sheets, Reading List, Syllabus, and Supply List. There are also Weekly Assignment Sheets and Writing Lists.)

The boys did like the highlighting of different parts of sentences but they did not like typing up to ten sentences a lesson. I had a lot of trouble adapting the teacher instruction - which seems to be written for a classroom/co-op setting more so than a homeschool. After the Mind Bender disaster, we dropped the use of those but we only managed one more lesson before I could just not engage them.

This is truly not a reflection on the product. The instructions are quite clearly laid out and would be wonderful for use in a co-op setting and I'm sure would be much easier for children without the language weaknesses with which my children struggle. I believe a large part of the reason we weren't quite successful with this product was due to my failure to comprehend and adapt the curriculum for my particular students.

Please head over and see what other TOS crew members have to say about this product here.

Download n' Go - Terrific Tigers

2010-10-21T23:41:00.014-04:00

I love it when an opportunity to review something dovetails into a study we're already doing. That was the case with Terrific Tigers.

Terrific Tigers is yet another great Unit Study by Amanda Bennett and part of the Download N' Go series. Middle was starting the chapter about cats in Apologia Elementary Zoo III when we got this unit. It's available for only $7.95 here.

He loved it! The videos were great and I think all of the boys had to take turns watching them. Over and Over. There's something very interesting about Tigers and this unit study really helps you understand these animals well.

The five day study has lots of videos, the Tiger of the Day and book recommendations for each day.

Day # 1 - What is a Tiger?

Day # 2 - Getting to Know Tigers.

Day # 3 - Where are the Tigers?

Day # 4 - The Science of Tigers

Day # 5 - Cool Things About Tigers

As part of our Zoo III study we are doing lap n' note. Download N' Go provided us with plenty of things to add to our notebook - Our Tiger Word Dictionary - our Tiger of the Day Chart and one of our favorite leaning tools - a Venn Diagram comparison of house cats and tigers. There are many more lapbook and notebook components of this study - these are just a few! Another big hit was the Tiger puzzle. We just printed it on cardstock and are keeping the pieces in a library pocket in our binder.

I love that the videos are safe. I don't have to worry about my kids seeing something I'd rather them not see. Middle loved that there were so many to choose from.

We did not use the coloring pages much but they are a wonderful resource. My oldest likes the riddles in this unit. Take a look at the sample located here for an idea of the material available in this study.

I believe the Siberian Tiger was voted the most popular though I personally like the Bengal Tiger best. Now I have to explain that no, we cannot have our own pet tiger named Hobbes (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) and perhaps we could try to find one to sponsor in a zoo. So Terrific Tigers has launched us into another area of research - how to aid efforts to preserve some of God's most beautiful creatures.

I cannot recommend this particular study enough. The information could easily keep you studying well past one week.

(My apologies are in order for the original short post. I had inadvertently scheduled my draft and we had a crisis with the boys services and an allergic reaction to a new medicine on my part which resulted in more chaos around here than usual. This draft was nowhere near what I wanted to say about this product.)

Leave your email in the comments section for a chance to win a free copy of Terrific Tigers. I'll draw a winner on Monday as it's a birthday weekend for the oldest boy. Remember - members of the Download N' Go or The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew or TOS affliates are not eligible.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this unit study for the purpose of review. This is my honest opinion. Please remember all families are different and your results may vary. I received no other compensation for this review.

Westvon Publishing - Product Rave

2010-10-19T18:42:00.004-04:00

I stumbled upon Westvon's impressive product line some time ago, probably during a Currclick sale. I was amazed at the versatility of the products and have collected most of their products.

One of my favorites is Study Starters. Like my boys - I often don't know where to start with a subject. The product is available in e-book form, CD or spiral bound.

These worksheets provide an outline type form that helps you to shape a study. There are sheets for States, Animals, Minerals, Rocks, Music and so much more. A complete list of topics, as well as a sample, can be found at the above link.

We use a lot of Westvon's products - Happy Scribe Copybooks, History Scribe, Bible Scribe, GeoScribe and History Scholar. I also use pages from The Master Planner in my planning. Currently they have a great sale on all of their products at Currclick. Their products have really helped my reluctant writers with their history, science and handwriting.

TOS Review - Digital Frog

2010-10-08T08:00:00.003-04:00

We received one of The Digital Field Trip Series DVD's from Digital Frog for Review. The cost for a Home License on this DVD is $125.00 and can be ordered here.

On this DVD there are three field trips: The Wetlands -The Rainforest and The Desert.

Also on the DVD are Student and Teacher Workbook pages for each field trip.

With this DVD the student can take a virtual field trip. There is an option to have the text read to the student and I found that helped my dyslexic son a lot. The virtual field trips are easy for the student to navigate and there are check points and signs that give additional information to the student if they are clicked on.

The field trips are very thorough - defining climate and weather for each area as well as the types of animals one can find in the habitat as well as the human impact.

My first suggestion would be to choose the area you would like to study and do a 'Quick Tour'. This will explain how to navigate your way through each lesson. In order to access the worksheets for each study you do need to go to My Computer - right click on the DVD drive and open folder. This will show you the files on the DVD and allow you to access the student and teacher files which come in PDF, Word and RTF (Rich Text File) formats.

My boys are still trying to see all there is to see on this DVD. I believe it will be a wonderful supplement to any biome study and well worth the price.

To see what others on the TOS crew have to say about these products click here.

TOS Review - LanSchool Technology

2010-10-06T07:25:00.003-04:00

As part of the Review Crew for The Old Schoolhouse Crew I was provided with a free trial of LanSchool Technology. The company offers a free 30 day trial of the software and one home license is $99. That includes free updates and technical support for three years.

Oh my... Where to begin... I highly suggest the product tour located here.

LanSchool Technology enables the networking of all computers in a home or classroom setting. (The home license is good for up to three monitored computers - pricing is available for schools and classrooms as well) It allows the teacher to control all of the computers in the network - turn them off or on, monitor websites and keystrokes, limit websites or block certain websites, allow or block certain applications, send text messages between the 'teacher' and 'student' computers, and so much more. For a full list of capabilities check out the product brochure here.

I couldn't believe how simple it was to install. My 'teacher' computer runs Windows 7. My 'student' computers run Vista and XP. I was up and running in the few minutes it took to install on each computer with no issues at all. And since the software is user friendly it was easy to figure out how to use it.

My favorite part of this was the ability to display my laptop screen to the other two computers at the same time. This eliminated all of us crowding around one laptop to watch a video or read a lesson. I also liked the ability to 'turn off' a computer if someone didn't heed 'break time is over and school is now back in session'.

I also could write on the screen or underline a sentence on the display and my kids could then see it on their computers. The ways that this could be used in a classroom or home school setting are practically endless. I was so thrilled with this product I sent a link to a friend of mine who is on the board of a small private school which provides all students with netbooks. It is a product I will be make room for in my homeschool budget. I've only just begun to discover the ways we can use it in our studies. I highly recommend this product.

To see what others on the TOS crew have to say about these products click here.

TOS Review - Zoe & Sozo Publishing -Foundlings

2010-10-01T00:51:00.009-04:00

As part of the The Old Schoolhouse Crew I received a book from Zoe & Sozo Publishing for review.

Foundlings is Book 1 in their Peleg Chronicles by Matthew Christian Harding. Book 2 - Paladins - is also available on their website(with free shipping!), Amazon or Barnes @ Noble. Each book is $11.95. The third book in the series is tentatively scheduled for release by May 2011 with unit studies and lapbooks anticipated for the following year. The site is full of information - not only on the series but on the historical and Biblical context of the story.

My boys do not care for any sort of fiction but we did read the story aloud as part of our literature lessons.

As the site clearly states this book contains no magic, no humanism and no evolution. Set in the time period following the Tower of Babel, our heroes - and there is at least one character that the reader can easily identify with - are followers of the 'God of Noah'. This makes them a target for those who worship other gods - The Dragon Priests - in fact the story opens with Lord McDougal - one of our two main heroes - being cursed by the only mention of a witch in the story. McDougal is the sole survivor of his family and is accompanied by his faithful servant and shield bearer - Fergus Leatherhead. McDougal is a good-natured brave giant and follower of God. He feels duty bound to help other followers of the God of Noah and Fergus is pulled along on his adventures somewhat reluctantly.

Our young hero is named Thiery. He is also a follower of the God of Noah. He is targeted by The Dragon Priests. They consider the followers of the God of Noah good sacrifices to their false god. Thiery's companions include Oded, Suzie and his wolf, Horatio. After escaping an attempt on his life by the Dragon Priests, Theiry winds up in a cave reading the Book of Job and thus deepens his faith in the God of Noah.

McDougal and Fergus wind up saving the life of a dwarf named Gimcrack who tells them of Thiery. Mc Dougal is convicted that he must go to Theiry's aid.

I found this story charming and even though the boys never did quite get interested it is no reflection on the writer. Fiction does not interest my fact based boys. I am planning on ordering the second in the series as this story ended in a cliff hanger and I really would like to know what happens next. The story is fast paced without being rushed and the descriptions are vivid without being tedious. The story was quite Biblically based.

I highly recommend this series for anyone - young or old - (the suggested age is 10 and up) who enjoys this type of fiction.

To see what others on the TOS crew have to say about this product click here.

TOS Review - Math Tutor - Pre Algebra Vol I and Texas Instruments TI-84 Calculator Tutor

2010-09-08T08:00:00.008-04:00

Since I have one headed into Pre-Algebra and another obsessed with all things calculator I was thrilled to be chosen to review these DVD's. We hadn't officially started school when we got these so our viewing was here and there.

Math Tutor - Pre-Algebra Tutor Volume 1 is available for $26.99 here.

Math Tutor - The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor is the same price and available here.

The Math Tutor website is very easy to navigate. They have sample videos and a full listing of what is on each DVD. Their product line covers Basic Math through Calculus, Physics and Probability and Statistics. The site also offers worksheets for Basic Math, Algebra 1 and Algebra II.

My oldest really loved the Pre-Algebra Vol I. Jason, the instructor, has a pleasant voice and engaged him easily. (This is a tough thing to accomplish) My oldest was riveted to the first section - even though it was about an hour in length. I liked the way Jason explained concepts and that there was no special text to buy in order to use these DVD's. Though my oldest isn't quite at Pre-Algebra level yet he got a lot out of this DVD and we will be using it in the future.

Pre-Algebra Tutor Volume 1 consists of two DVD's - about 5 hours in length total. Disc 1 covers Real Numbers, The Number Line, Greater Than, Less Than, Equal To, Absolute Value, Adding Integers and Subtracting Integers. Disc 2 covers Multiplying and Dividing Integers, Powers and Exponents and Order of Operations.

Given the fact that my son asks to watch more of this DVD daily and retains so much of what he learned we will be using this series to supplement his math studies in the future.

Even though none of my children are at the level for The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator DVD I did let my calculator obsessed 8 year old watch part of this DVD. He now wants one of these calculators for Christmas. Since he's the child who knows square roots already he'll get one. Then he can watch the rest of the DVD. We do not have a calculator of this type but when we do get one I am sure - based on our viewing - that we will be able to use it and get the full use of it.

This set is 3 DVD's with 37 sections covering all of the functions of this type of calculator. A full list of the topics covered can be found here.

I highly recommend both of these products. They are especially helpful to someone like me - who is not math oriented but has at least two kids that are very math oriented.

To see what others on the TOS crew have to say about these products click here.

I am at Heart of The Matter Online Today...

2010-09-07T22:43:00.004-04:00

Please check it out here.

Also if you entered my drawing for the Pizza party unit - leave me your email address in the cocomments so I can notify the winner. Sorry - this is my first give away.

Download N Go Review - Pizza Party

2010-09-03T15:48:00.002-04:00

Pizza Party is one of the many great Download n' Go Units by Amanda Bennett. You can purchase the e-book for $7.95 in The Old Schoolhouse Store or at the Download n' Go Store.

Boy did we love this one! With a pizza shop right down the road we have pizza quite often and it was easy to interest the boys into studying the hows and wheres and whys about Pizzas.

Day 1: What is Pizza?

I have three boys. The responses were pretty much what one would expect.
Oldest: The best food in the world.
Middle: My favorite food.
Youngest: Food, duh!

Needless to say we learned a lot more about what is Pizza than that!
I really wanted us to make a pizza but it's been so hot here that the oven is on hiatus until at least October.

The boys liked learning about Italy - especially after I explained that the Super Mario Brothers had Italian names.

Day 2: The Story of Pizza

We learned more about Italy and I loved that we could study an artist - Leonardo DiVinci and Italian Cooking music. We looked at the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The boys all were interested in The Last Supper as Dad was in our church's Easter program where the men did a live action portrayal of the painting.

On Day 3 we talked about the Types of Pizza. The best place to discuss this is CiCi's Pizza - which has a great buffet with all kinds of pizza. Types like Ham and Pineapple or a dessert pizza that tastes like apple pie. I had pictures but some young soul has taken my patch cord and I'm unable to upload them. Hands down, CiCi's is their favorite place for pizza and they loved that it counted as 'homework'

We listened to some of the works of the Italian composer Vivaldi. The oldest was interested - he's the musical guy - but the others were not.

Day 4 was about The Science of Pizza. The middle boy is very into astronomy and was happy to learn more about Gallieo. We talked about yeast and unleavened bread and discussed some verses relating yeast in the Bible.

We ended the week by having a pizza celebration. We played a game on my Ipod touch - Pizza Math - which uses pizzas to cover fractions. We had Little Cesar's for dinner and watched the video links included in the lesson.

So far, this was my favorite and I'm sure it was the boy's favorite Download n' Go. Tying learning in with one of their favorite foods was a sure winner.

You can read more reviews of Pizza Party here and you can also enter to win a free download of Pizza Party by leaving me a comment, 'liking' Download n' Go on Facebook, following Download n' Go on Twitter or do all three for even more chances to win. Just let me know how many of those you did in your comment. I'll draw winners on Tuesday!

Disclaimer: I was provided this product free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no other compensation for this review. Please remember all families are different and your results may vary.

TOS Review - Vantage Learning - My Access! Home Edition

2010-09-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

We used Vantage Learning's My Access! Home Edition for a month in order to review the product for TOS Review Crew. Available for $99 for a 12 month subscription for up to 3 students or 6 students for $129.95, this is a guided writing program. The site includes a demonstration video as well as a parent manual and student manual. The program is for ages 8 - 18 and the assignments are broken up into age ranges - 8-10, 11-14, and 15-18.

My children are reluctant writers to put it very mildly. I knew that getting them to use this would not be easy - we hadn't 'officially' started school yet and they have a horrible time with fleshing out a topic. Registering and setting up the accounts was very easy. The site is easy to navigate and it is very easy to find help if needed.

I set up the oldest easily. The format is engaging and easy to navigate. The student is in training to become a reporter. In order to do this the student must learn the steps in the writing process and the grading rubric that is used with My Access!. Each step is re-enforced with a short quiz to make sure the student is comprehending the lesson.

Topics are listed by age levels - each level has a wide variety of topics - covering the different types of writing - informative, narrative and persuasive. The student can opt to go through the tutorial before the pre-writing process or start writing immediately.

The student types in their draft and then submits it for review. The program displays a graph - showing the student's progress and what they need to work on. My Revision plan is displayed and the student is lead step by step through the revision process. Optional are tutorials that help the student understand the need for revisions and what they might have left out of their essay. Drop down menus help the student revise his draft until it is polished into a product that meets the rubric requirements.

My oldest got very frustrated when we got to the actual writing part. This was harder to navigate and even though he could click on things for explanations he did not understand what the program was trying to tell him. He is dyslexic and any reading is difficult for him. The writing area doesn't operate the same as a word processing program and if he tabbed instead of using the indent button all of his work vanished. Unfortunately he refused to finish and the battle was not worth it.

We also had some intermittent connection issues that added to his frustration. I do believe this was our cable modem and NOT My Access!. My son, however, associated it with the program and I was unable to persuade him to use it further.

I experimented with the program myself in order to give a fair review of the product. The problems my son had are not typical of most learners - my son has dyslexia as well as autism and this makes both the process and the act of writing very difficult for him. The problems he had have nothing to do with the actual product.

I would highly recommend this product for a student who needs help polishing their writing into a finished product. It is well put together and easy to use. I believe it is well worth the price and if I had differently abled learners it would be on my must have list.

To see what others on the TOS Crew have to say about this product click here.

Week 2 - I need a Staples button...

2010-08-30T14:09:00.002-04:00

Started week 2 of our new school year and I think I want one of those Staples' 'That was Easy' buttons. I wonder if I haven't made things more difficult than they should be. School got done - math and spelling and grammar went quickly - science for the middle and youngest and we watched a DVD about Jamestown as an intro to our American history unit. No one fussed or balked or refused to do any work.

Hmmmm.....

I have three reviews due in the next week and have made good progress on all but one of them. Tonight I have two meetings at church and then a meeting at SSI in the morning. Praying that one goes well. It would have been easier if they had told me what they needed to begin with.

My grandmother gifted me with her collection of family pictures and the letters sent to the family during one of my great uncle's tours of duty in World War II. I want to scan the photos and transcribe the letters. They are a window into a time that is very important.

Trying to force myself to blog more frequently and not just when I need to review something. Thrilled to see that the Temple Grandin movie did well at the Emmy's. This HBO movie is not to be missed. It was excellent on so many levels.

Our first day of the 2010-2011 year

2010-08-25T15:38:00.010-04:00

We had a good first day - Math U See for the older two - Saxon for the younger. Shurley Grammar for all three. Apologia Zoo III for the younger two, Apologia General for the oldest. Tapestry of Grace Year I Unit 1 for two days a week and TOG Yr 2 Unit 3 for two days a week and catch up on Fridays. The older two will start with Institute for Excellence in Writing next week. Plus we will be adding all the great stuff I'm reviewing for TOS.

Today went well - started at 10 am (my boys are at their best later in the morning) and we were done by 1 pm. Only the youngest grumbled and then stopped when he realized it wasn't that hard after all.

Day 1 done - 179 more (approximately) to go. :)

Review: Download N Go - Rollercoasters

2010-08-13T18:32:00.005-04:00

When I heard that Download N Go was looking for people to review their product I jumped at the chance. Amanda Bennett is well known for her Unit Studies and I had a Download n' Go unit that the boys really loved.

Since Download N Go studies are meant to be covered in a week it was perfect for the gap week we had before starting our regular school year.

The entire Download N Go series is available in The Old Schoolhouse Store. Roller Coasters is available in e-book format for $7.95.

There is an introduction to the topic by Amanda then you find the daily objectives, book suggestions - our library didn't have these but I found others that worked just as well - then a short intro to lapbooking. We've been lapbooking or lap n' noting for awhile now but it was still interesting to read.

Day 1 was about defining a roller coaster. My kids have only seen them on TV. (In my 43 years I never found the need to ride a roller coaster but then I'm the one who is scared of the Ferris Wheel). They loved the videos. All of mine are 'special learners' and hands on and visuals help them retain so much more than just plain text.

Day 2 covered The History of Roller Coasters which I found interesting - my boys are not really history buffs. They did like learning how they came to be and are clamoring to go on one. I think it might be time for Mom to call in her brother aka The Brave.

Day 3 talked of People and Places of Roller Coasters. I really loved the way that physics is worked into the lesson and my boys learned without realizing it. This was also covered more in Day 4 - Science Secrets of Roller Coasters & Rides. We learned about laws of motion and played with slinkies - a bit hit as the youngest in particular - loves any excuse to try one out. The boys wanted to know what a Ferris Wheel was and I can see a trip to the county fair in our future this fall. Hopefully Dad will brave the scary rides or maybe Uncle The Brave.

Due to family illness we didn't get to cover Day 5 - Goodies & Gadgets of Roller Coasters in much depth. We also didn't get to the lap n' note I wanted to do or take pictures.

This was my second use of Download N Go in our homeschool and I can say that it was VERY enjoyable. I will certainly reuse this study in the future and I will be using other units. We run on a 9 week - one week off schedule and these are great for any gaps we might encounter. The variety of activities really helped my boys gain a better understanding of the topic.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this Download n' Go Unit Study for the purpose of review in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no other compensation. All families are different and your results may vary.

Join me at Heart of the Matter Online Today!

2010-07-21T08:29:00.003-04:00

Come read about the homeschooling I thought I'd be doing this summer and how God homeschooled me! Homeschooling in a Sea of Change

Review- ‘Travel The World!’ The Old Schoolhouse Planner June 2010 Planner Module

2010-07-19T02:00:00.004-04:00

This is product from The Old Schoolhouse could not have come at a better time for our school. We’re going to be starting a study of Ancient History this fall and this unit study is a perfect overview for them to get their bearings.

In addition to The Old Schoolhouse Planner – which contains all the forms you need and then some – you can purchase monthly modules that are unit studies focusing on one main theme for $7.95 in The Old Schoolhouse Store. The theme for June 2010 is ‘Travel The World’. It’s available at The Old Schoolhouse store – just click on the link and it will take you there. It comes in E-book format which I love because I can print only the pages we need.

It starts off with a nice overview of geography – the definition and then a quick summary of the geography of the earth. Then it covers the oceans and the continents. I love that it has a little bit of this and that – a song which will help eldest remember the continents, lapbook components, tons of web links, puzzles and coloring pages.

We used this for a week. Oldest enjoyed the word searches, Middle enjoyed the maps to label and color. The youngest actually sat still long enough to color the continents.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the age range – there were activities ranging from K to High School. It was a good fit for the age range of my three – 8-11-14. The boys also liked the conversational style of the text.

I would highly recommend this module to anyone needing an introduction to geography or a refresher course. The variety of activities means something for everyone.

If you'd like to read more reviews about this product click here to check out reviews by my Crew mates!

Disclaimer/Disclosure: I was given this product for the purpose of obtaining my honest opinion. I received nothing else. This is my honest opinion. Please consider that every family is different and results may vary.

I'm over at Heart of the Matter Online today....

2010-06-23T12:48:00.003-04:00

Check it out....The Birthday Gift

Happy - yet Sad......

2010-06-21T09:59:00.004-04:00

Today is the 11th birthday of my middle. I call him my birthday present. He was born the day before my birthday. It was a normal pregnancy and birth and though we had a bit of a scare when he first was born (blood sugar crash) he's beautiful and healthy.

And we are celebrating today - he got Wii Sports Resort and a Blue (his favorite color) Wii controller with Wii motion plus. He is one happy boy. A little disappointed that Phil Mickleson didn't win the US Open but he enjoyed following the tournament.

But first we had to get through yesterday....

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to a huge part of our lives for the past twelve years. Not only was he our Pastor - he was and is our dear friend - part of our family. We named our youngest after him. After thirteen years, our Pastor is going to another church tomorrow - on my birthday. Part of me is pouting and glaring at God much like one of my kids when something happens they don't like and another part of me is rejoicing.

Our Pastor is an amazing human being. He loves everyone. He promotes an environment where people are taken as they are - just like Jesus did. That is not to say that wrongs are glossed over and ignored. He preaches the Word of God and does not stray from it while infusing it with the love of Jesus. And he is one of the most humble people I have ever known. If it were freezing he would hand you the shirt off his back without a hesitation. He would give you the last bite of food he had. I am honored to have known him and his wife - who would take up a whole other entry as I strive to be her when I grow up.

He grew up as I did - in the deep south. Racial prejudice is still alive here I am sad to say. But he didn't think people should be judged as Martin Luther King Jr said - '...by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.' He was and is shy. His own struggles growing up helped him - and later me - have compassion and understanding when our boys were diagnosed. He was there - for two births, three diagnosis, my surgery, the death of my father, the near death of my mother, four baptisms (me, the boys), and he renewed mine and my husband's vows. He helped us through hard financial times, rejoiced with us in happy times, taught me to love the Word of God and how to study it. Because of he and his wife I am a better person, a better Christian, a better mother and a much better wife.

It was with great weeping and wailing and gnashing of the teeth that we let him go yesterday after his last sermon. His official move is tomorrow. I pray the church that receives him and his wife know the jewels they are getting. I'm sure God is directing his steps and Pastor is merely following His call.

When I was little I didn't go to church much and when I did the Pastors terrified me. They seemed untouchable and didn't want to be bothered with the kids. Oh, I am so glad my boys had a Pastor who lived what Jesus said, 'Let the little ones come to me... and don't impede them...'

I love you my friends. God Bless, God speed. You are faithfully in my thoughts and prayers and I treasure the twelve years we spent together. Go, and be as the butterfly.

Hot, Humid, Hazy…. Feels like August here….

2010-06-16T13:19:00.004-04:00

I can’t get over how hot this week has been! Heat index near 100? We only usually see that type of heat in late July or August. Since we’re still waiting on my medical issues to get straightened out and it’s VBS – Vacation Bible School – week at our church – followed by Middle and my birthdays we’re doing some light schooling. I’m trying to digest the wonderful downloadable webcasts at Tapestry of Grace. So far I’ve watched Out of the Shrinkwrap and Lesson Planning 101. I have purchased and downloaded the other two but haven’t watched them yet. If you want to really get a taste of Tapestry of Grace I highly recommend the above titles. TOG can look overwhelming at first but it’s really a nice frame work that I find quite flexible. Each session is $7.00 and I believe there is a code to get one of them free. They will be adding new Teacher Trainings each month.

I am also faithfully reading and re-reading my The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew Manual. Yes, I got picked to be part of the Older Review Crew this year. I am very excited at the opportunity. The support is fantastic. I based a lot of my curriculum choices by reading the reviews of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I love the practical suggestions I gleaned for tweaking a product to use with my family. So I’m happy to be a part of it this year.

Middle son enjoying the NCAA Women’s Golf Finals. He and his Dad made a day of it – watching Perdue win their first title.

My Mother, Grandmother and Brother now live in Oak Island. My Mother – who shares mine and middle’s infatuation with Pelicans took this shot off the Oak Island pier.

We went to the beach Saturday for the first time in a long time. Oak Island was a less crowded beach than Wrightsville Beach – which is much closer. I suspect it has to do with the smaller waves and it’s a south facing beach instead of east. We examined a wriggly little fish from the surf – let him go – examined seaweed and kelp. Then we went back to grandma’s to grill and ride around in the golf cart.

Monday the heat arrived full force so we’re just trying to stay cool. Hope your week is going well!

Interesting conversation with the youngest...

2010-06-14T22:26:00.003-04:00

I dropped oldest and middle off at Vacation Bible School. Youngest decided he didn't want to go this year. (I stepped into the Sanctuary for a few minutes before it started and it was sensory overload for me.)

On the way home he pipes up from the back seat:

Him: What day did I hatch?

Me: What?

Him: (patiently) What day did I hatch? You know, out of my egg.

Me: (thinking that this kid has really made a huge leap in his biology knowledge) You're a mammal. You were born.

Him: (exasperated sigh) I was not! I was hatched! I'm a chicken!

Me: (knowing it's useless to argue with an 8 year old Aspie but doing it anyway) No, you are not a chicken. I'll take you to Dr. B - he delivered you.

Him: Hatched me. Was Dr. B there?

Me: Yes, he delivered babies then.

Him: Was Daddy there?

Me: Yes, the whole time.

Him: That's silly. Rooster's aren't there when chickens hatch.

We pulled up at home - DH right behind us and I inform him that he needs to tell our son he is not a chicken and did not come from an egg.

Him: Technically....

I then left for the library....

Multitude Monday

2010-06-14T09:41:00.004-04:00

Since being chosen for the 2010-2011 TOS Review Crew I am determined to start blogging on a more regular basis. Now that I have the house fairly organized it's time to start on my time. I have loved this meme for a long time and decided to take the plunge and start my own list of things to be thankful for.

1. A husband who is also my best friend.
2. A nice home that is cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
3. A fabulous church family.
4. Three amazing kids who inspire me even when they challenge me.
5. The little wiggly fish in the ocean this weekend. God made them perfectly tiny.
6. The baby mockingbird fledglings from last week who seemed to think I could protect them. (So far so good)
7. A day of rest.
8. My mother, brother and grandmother now live less than an hour away in a safe house.
9. My husband has a good job.
10. We have our curriculum for next year and are ready to go anytime.

Changes...

2010-04-14T15:53:00.004-04:00

Now that all the boys evaluations are done and after this week I will have my mother, grandmother and brother moved closer to where we live, we can pick up the pace with out schooling.

I finally took the plunge and bought Unit 1 of Year 1 from Tapestry of Grace. I've been looking at it over a year, wondering if I can make it work.

I downloaded the three weeks sample, discovered most of the books at my local library, took a week for my brain to recover from the information overload that comes from one's first glance at TOG DE and wow....

I think it's going to work well. I can still use the Charlotte Mason aspects I love - the nature walks, the living books, etc. I love the way it covers everything but science and spelling and math (though I have my own preferences in those subjects anyway).

Now if the pollen will just wash away....

Spring is starting to peek out so it's planning time again...

2010-03-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

It's finally starting to warm up here. My middle stood at a park with his worker in a gaggle of geese and brought home an unwelcome present on his boots. No matter - that's why we have soap and water - and wipes.

This means that it is time to start school planning. Despite the interruptions and upsets we're almost done with the stuff we've used this year. We've completed Apologia Astronomy, each boy has finished at least one level in Math U See and are pretty far into the next level, we're almost done with NC history and its time for the CAT testing required every year.

Next year I'm incorporating a lot more Charlotte Mason - shorter lessons - more subjects - including nature walks, Shurely English for the older two and First Language Lessons for the younger. We're going to use Apologia Botany for the spring and summer and then Zoo I. The oldest will be using Apologia General Science. Then we'll start All American History Vol I.

I just need time to sit down and write out our plans. Since we're done with evaluations for the time being I hope to do that this weekend or the next.

Uhm, isn't it supposed to be spring or close to it?

2010-02-26T14:24:00.002-05:00

I am tired. Of whining, mostly my own. Tired of evaluations for the boys - over and over again - duplicates. Tired of being scared to eat something. Tired of seeing the nice people at the ER. Heck, they may be missing me as I haven't been there in almost two weeks now. Tired of it being cold.

But I am happy too. Happy that the sun is out today. Happy that Zondervan sent me a 'Busy Woman's Bible' to look over in exchange for a review. Happy to be participating in the churchwide 'Treasures of a Transformed Life' Lenten study. Happy I got to go to the Homeschool Refresher by HOTM online. Happy to have my HOTM article done before the deadline - for once. Glad to have found 'The President's Daughter' series at the library by Ellen Emerson White. Yes, technically its young adult fic but its good fiction.

It started with me looking for a book she'd written years and years ago called 'Friends For Life'. I really liked that book and its main character - Susan. (Susan happens to be the name of my best childhood friend. Her darling father passed on this week and my heart is breaking for her. He was a very fine man.) Google led me to a blog that said Susan (the character, not my friend) was back in Ellen Emerson White's latest book 'Long May She Reign'. The library had it. All 7oo plus pages of it. I love a good thick book.

I also liked Meg as much as I liked the returning Susan. White creates real characters - they whine, they get mad, they say ugly words sometimes but they are tough and strong people that are interesting to read about. Today I got the remaining books in the series from the library and can't wait to settle in a read them.

I'm also investigating using some Charlotte Mason in our school from now on.

As for the stuff I'm tired of... I have to keep remembering - 'This too shall pass....'

Pass soon. I'm ready for Spring!

Glad to be still here...

2010-02-14T10:04:00.004-05:00

I had a stomach bug around Thanksgiving. I thought I had recovered quite nicely - despite having to go to ER due to dehydration. Not so fast.

Apparently this upset my GI so bad I have progressed from IBS to just plain mad BS. I have made three trips to the ER in the past five days and four total since the first of the year. I had an allergic reaction to one med and think I may be developing an allergy to yet another.

Which means I was not able to fully enjoy the first snowfall we've had around here in ages. Two of the three boys did enjoy it - playing in the snow here before going to a friend's house for a birthday party where they made huge snowmen in a field nearby.

This is the nicest kind of snow - it fell Friday night - big puffy flakes and most of the overnight and into the early morning. We lost power for about five hours but it was the middle of the night so we didn't really notice much. The roads cleared quickly and by late Sat afternoon it still looked nice but was on its way out. Today it will get warm enough to finish it off and since we won't go below freezing tonight everything will be fine in the morning.

Our new stuff came from Rainbow Resource. I think I'm in love with Shurley English and we all love the Apologia Elementary series. We're just waiting on Anatomy to be published and we'll have the whole series. Cole will start Apologia General Science. All American History looks like I'll have to tweak it some but I like it.

I think I may need to order Shurley English 3 for youngest. We'll see.

I did it again....

2010-02-11T15:47:00.003-05:00

Sigh....

I am a complete planner junkie. I love Donna Young.org but that doesn't stop me from trying every single homeschool planner on the market. Today I wound up buying the The Ultimate Homeschooling Mom's Planner.

My husband will sigh and try yet again to work his Excel magic and make the planner of my dreams. Until then I will probably still keep looking at planners.

Yet another hoop to jump through on the way to the boy's CAP slots, I found out as their teacher/administrator I have to write up how their disabilities affect their schoolwork. At first I nearly fainted but talking with the caseworker made me realize that no one can quite articulate how much their academics are affect by their autism and co-morbid conditions but me. They have the 'as close to perfect as it gets for sensory issues' classroom and a 1/3 teacher/student ratio. So that sort of eliminates the other things that make a regular classroom hard for a special kid. I have one form done already and was quite impressed with it. (not my writing but actual good questions on a government form!)

School is rather hit and miss at the moment. We are doing something every day but due to Mommy doing the paperwork shuffle times three it is not our usual routine. Yesterday the IEW course I ordered came and I can't wait to use it. Tomorrow I am expecting my Rainbow Resource order and am a little embarrassed to admit to checking the UPS site constantly to get updates.

I am very tired of the cold weather and thought the wind would blow us into the ocean yesterday. Yes, I know we live fifteen minutes from the beach but the wind was awful. It finally died down but its cold and I don't like cold. I live in the south cause its warm.

Review: Molly's Money Saving Digest -Jan 2010

2010-02-10T13:08:00.007-05:00

This is a product I was given to review to 'try out' for The Old Schoolhouse's' Review Crew. I had already purchased this product myself as I am organizationally challenged and we are a one income family always looking for ways to cut costs.

Molly's Money Saving Digest for January 2010 is available at 'The Old Schoolhouse' store in ebook form for only $4.95.

January's theme is 'Evaluate, Prioritize and Organize'. The e-book is broken down into fourteen different sections, starting with a note from Molly and ending with a helpful directory of links.

Molly's Minute gives you an idea of what you will find in the digest. This month, the next section - called 'Begin With the Basics' featured pie making. In addition to being organziationally challenged I am scratch cooking challenged as well. I did appreciate the layout, the recipes and the pictures and the insert on how to turn cooking into a math lesson. If I get brave I may actually try and make my own pie crust someday.

The next section gives you a brief rundown of what items are typically marked down this time of year as well as special dates in the month. It was the next section that drew my interest to this product. Organization. It is my biggest thorn. I get easily overwhelmed at the thought of it but my boys and my husband really prefer it and when I get organized I do as well. Molly shares forms that help me a great deal - monthly bills, budget with tracking money spent per week, daily to do list and a clothing inventory list.

The rest of the book contains inexpensive ideas for decorating, recipes and menus for the month including a shopping list, a kid's corner on saving and how to make a cute piggy bank from a recycled soda bottle, the main article on 'Evaluate, Prioritize and Organize', a personal story from one of the digest writers on how her family benefited from her organization and prioritization skills and a mail bag with tips from readers. At the end is a list of links sorted by topic.

I did glean helpful hints from this digest. I do subscribe to Molly's blog. There were parts that did not interest me but I may go back to at some point and time. The product did help me figure out how to start evaluating, prioritizing and organizing and that was why I purchased it. I will probably buy more of Molly's digests in the future as I like the layout and the articles are easy to read.

Disclaimer: I was given this product for the purpose of obtaining my honest opinion. I received nothing else. This is my honest opinion. Please consider that every family is different and results may vary.

Review: TOS-Help Me Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling my High Schooler!

2010-02-10T12:12:00.008-05:00

As part of a 'try out' or audition for next years 'The Old Schoolhouse' Review Crew I was given two of their products to review. The first of these, 'Help Me Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!' could not have come at a better time.

My oldest just turned thirteen and technically he should be in the seventh grade and in the fall the eighth grade. He has autism, dyslexia and a healthy dose of ADHD. His primary mode of learning is auditory. I was quite nervous about providing the High School education he needs. The local public schools are not an option for him and no local private school is within our means.

This e-book was a God send for me. It is available through The Old Schoolhouse's web store in e-book form for the low price of $12.45.

'Help Me Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler'

The book begins with a forward from Amanda Bennett of Unit Studies fame and then is broken down into thirteen different stories of homeschooling and their experience homeschooling High School.

The first article, 'The Tale of Two Sisters' by Regenia Spoerndle, really hit home with me. We also started out in the public school system and I gradually wound up spending more time at school than I do now teaching my three boys. This helped to remind me that there is no option at this time but to home school through High School. God has always known that I understand best through closed doors. As the mother of three 'special boys' I also struggle with wondering if I am indeed doing what is best for them.

Another article 'The Greatest Gift' by Danielle Olander is written by someone who was home schooled and is now homeschooling her children. I always enjoy articles by someone who has 'been there, done that' and I like to hear the perspective of the home school student as well.

I have really enjoyed the different ways each of these thirteen articles speaks about homeschooling through High School. There are reminders through out that we also need to make sure our kids are capable of basic life skills and also that every child is not college material and this is perfectly fine. I like the emphasis on directing each child as an individual and this thread runs through out these articles. Also there is a reminder that God does not always call those that are equipped, He equips the called.

The Epilogue contains a speech written and read by home school grad, Jonothan Wuehler titled 'How Homeschooling Has Benefited My Life.' He touches on four ways homeschooling helped prepare him for the adult world. There is also a Recommended Resource list, websites and favorite Bible verses.

This is a product I will refer to time and time again for encouragement. I enjoyed this product very much and would have purchased it eventually.

The only drawback would be if someone has trouble reading on the computer. I prefer the convenience and easy storage of ebooks as well at the ability to manually adjust the font size in Adobe reader.

I highly recommend this encouraging resource.

Disclaimer: I was given this product for the purpose of obtaining my honest opinion. I received nothing else. This is my honest opinion. Please consider that every family is different and results may vary.

My poor neglected blog...

2010-02-08T13:02:00.002-05:00

Here it is Feb and I have yet to post. Shame on me.

In my defense I have a birthday boy in January, December was a mad rush and at the end of January I got word that two of my three boys finally had a wavier we've been waiting on for many years. Last week I got word that my third child also had a spot. I was in a whirlwind (and still am) of paperwork filing and other stuff.

But it's almost over and it will all be worth it in the end.

Last week we got our tax refund and I went into my yearly 'what to purchase to use for curriculum' panic attack. Finally after going through about TEN scenarios my husband looked it over and told me to order it already. He trusts my judgement but when I can't make up my mind he will help me.

So it looks like Shurley English for the older two, Apologia General Science for the oldest, All American History Vol I, IEW (I literally cannot wait to start this), Apologia Elementary Botany and Zoo 2 and 3 and the Anatomy book when it comes out for the younger two. We're sticking with Math U See and SOS for all of the youngest's subjects.

In a way I can't wait to get started. It will be box day soon and I plan on posting lots of pictures.

The Kid is Exhausted.....

2009-12-10T09:47:00.004-05:00

I have three boys. All three are blessed with some form of autism. I call it a blessing because through this journey I have discovered many things about myself - why I struggled so much in school - in social settings and never felt like I belonged. I call it a blessing because each of them is gifted in different ways. Yes, it comes with struggles but everyone has struggles.

The holiday season is rough around here. From the start of Advent we don't seem to be able to catch a breath until Christmas Day.

My husband sings in our church choir. And our choir is not just a choir. We are blessed with a wonderful director of music that has a knack for choosing the right piece to showcase the message of hope and love that is Jesus Christ. He does it for Easter and he does it for Christmas and he does it every Sunday.

But these take hard work, lots of practices, and long hours. My husband can handle it but my oldest? Well, this is where things get really hard for him.

Oldest is musically gifted. He plays piano by ear and has been attempting to direct the choir since he was 18 months old standing on my legs during the service. He helps run the sound board and video for our church productions. He also is in our youth choir and the youth play.

And he's been at church almost every single night for the past month and a half. He's also fighting a cold and the fact that he's thirteen and the hormones have arrived.

I believe it is my job as a his parent to say no. Last night he was exhausted and today he's feverish - not high but enough that he's acting out - and so he will not attend the youth play practice tonight. He has all of two lines and he knows his part very well. He is also supposed to sing Sunday and then there is youth play practice and performance later Sunday evening.

I'm writing this because it's hard for people who know him to believe that he honestly cannot self monitor. He's getting better but he is not able to realize when he needs to just rest. So that's my job and for today - that's what I'm called to do.

I am glad for all the opportunities that he has to express his talent and I know he is beyond appreciated at our church. But as he often says - 'I'm just a person.'

And the kid is exhausted....

Strep... again...

2009-10-22T10:58:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure when I looked up at Middle Tuesday and noticed he had a sizeable bald spot on the left side of his head. Once I did I called the peditrician immediately. It was strep... again...

My kids do not have typical strep symptoms. My Middle probably has something known as P.A.N.D.A.S. which is an acronym that basically means strep causes his immune system to go into hyperdrive causing all sorts of side effects such as tics and OCD's and general grouchiness. Oldest usually has the meltdowns of the century with no other symptoms and Little is just totally off the charts emotionally. So yesterday morning we spent at the Dr's office which was fully of sick kids. Middle has it and the other two do not. Did I mention Middle HATES taking medicine? Did I mention he had clever ways of pretending to take it and not really? Strep is a scary thing to me as I had a bout with it in High School where it attacked and paralyzed my neck and shoulder muscles. It quickly reversed with anitbiotic treatment but it scared the mess outta me. I do not play around with that nasty bug.

So for the next nine (he took two doses yesterday and has had one dose of the two for today) I have to watch him like a hawk and make sure he drinks every last drop of antibiotic. And deal with the grouchies.

Saturday Oldest turns 13. I cannot believe I almost have a teenager. Who is rapidly outgrowing his size 10 (men) tennis shoes. Oldest is a joy and delight and teaches me daily what it is like to have a heart for Christ. He lets God in without reservation. I have been so blessed because of this child. I watched him become a full member of our church after Conformation this past spring. I watched him baptised by not only water, but by the Spirit. I cannot begin to tell you of the unspeakable gift it was to see my child actually touched by the Holy Spirit. In that moment I saw him as God sees him - as he will be in heaven. It is scary sometimes to know that God has something very special for this child to do in his life. I not only know it because God has told me but because He has told others who have told me. God's mark on this child is very apparent to everyone who meets him.

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

I am in no way equating my son to the Lord he serves. The Bible is full of examples of people that God used in extraordinary ways. Mary was one of these. It is when I see my son doing what Jesus would have him do - with the light of God shining in his face - that I can get an inkling of what she must have felt.

Happy Birthday my Oldest boy. May you always let your light shine for the Lord you so readily and happily serve.

Feeling better, getting more done

2009-10-08T18:19:00.002-04:00

As of today the kids are caught up. I had a dental appointment on Tues and my not feeling well had put us just a little behind the past two weeks. The kids really worked hard and are back on track.

The Spider lady is gone. She molted - a shock to me as I didn't know spiders molted - and then she was gone. I'm a little sad. I was used to watching her while waiting for my coffee to be ready.

The weather is in it's usually hot one day, comfortable the next that is typical of fall in Southern NC. The days are getting shorter. And the boys can tell you why that is too. (We just finished a unit on the earth in Science today.)

Monday night I had the privledge of attending the Maxwell's 'Encouragement for the Homeschool Family Conference'. I'm going to blog about what I learned in a series of posts. I am just amazed and convicted and uplifted. The Maxwell's have a wonderful ministry. I'm reading through 'Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit' now.

I'm glad to be feeling better. God is good.

Monday Monday

2009-10-05T11:00:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a front draped over this area both sides of my face hurt equally. :sigh: This too shall pass.

The boys got all their work from last week completed- on Sat. They didn't like that overly much but with the principal aka DH home they did it with minmal complaints.

Tonight the Maxwells of Managers of Their Chores, Homes, Schools and Titus 2 fame are speaking at a local church. I don't care if my sinuses are killing me I am not going to miss this - LOL. We seldom get homeschool conferences here and I can't understand why - we're right next to a beach.

So it's time to get started. Hope this week is better than the last week.

Another The Old Schoolhouse Freebie...

2009-09-29T18:07:00.001-04:00

Make sure you sign up for The Old Schoolhouse Holiday Freebie. Just follow the link. They have the best freebies!

http://tiny.cc/A1S7R

Late start

2009-09-28T15:54:00.002-04:00

I have been fighting a sinus infection for two weeks now. Yesterday I went to an urgent care and the Doctor couldn't decide if I had a sinus infection but decided it was probable and gave me a perscription for Zithromax - the only antibiotic I have yet to have an allergic reaction to other than Cipro which they only like to use in emergencies.

Today I feel a little better but not much. I feel like I'm on a merry go round I'm so dizzy. It's taken me this long to get organized enough to do school. It being a Monday there's very little chance Dh can come home early.

I figure we'll do as much as we can and plug away at it the rest of the week.

The weather has at least cleared up - even if it is hot. It is supposed to cool off and tomorrow should be lovely.

The Spider Lady is quite happy with this turn of events and has her web all ready to catch her next meal.

Next year I've resolved to take a trip. Just me to either the state homeschool convention or the Typeamom conference (if they have it in Asheville again) Last year I went to some TEACCH trainings. I think it's important for me to go to things where I can get new ideas.

Another week done...

2009-09-25T16:58:00.003-04:00

Another week of homeschool done.

I'm very proud of the boys for not shirking their work. They've worked hard and are making progress. Things are so much easier since I got more organized.

I spent the last two weeks trying to figure out where to beging writing a unit study about North Carolina. Something kept stopping me. Today, thanks to a Tweet from the NC Encylopedia I found this: http://www.learnnc.org/nchistory/

And NC Learn as well. I discovered tagfoot last week thanks to a link from Jimmie's Collage and am trying to edit the tags so I can make my links public.

I'm still watching our spider lady in my kitchen window. I'm going to miss her when she's gone.

The spider lady

2009-09-23T21:21:00.003-04:00

It poured rain here last night. I watched anxiously for my not so little spider. I was worried she'd drown. This morning during a lull in the rain she was still hanging - looking very still. I was worried but something told me she was just waiting.

And she was. The sun came out and she daintily respun the damage to her web. A small jewel spider next to her was spinning madly but she carefully and deliberately made repairs to her web.

Middle called out to me around supper time. I walked over to find she her patience paid off. A huge horsefly had landed in her web and she and her tiny mate were having their dinner.

Could God have put this lovely creature in my window to teach me a lesson? Or two? Or three? :)

Amazing Offer!

2009-09-22T17:51:00.003-04:00

Amazing offer at The Old Schoolhouse! A one-year print subscription (US only),
to The Old Schoolhouse magazine. This is usually a $25.00 subscription but by using code FB795 you can get a year's subscription for just $7.95. This offer ends at midnight PST on Sept 22 so hurry over and get yours. I got my subscription last night. Just click on the link below.

Rain. Rain and more rain

2009-09-22T15:43:00.002-04:00

So it's raining here and it wouldn't let up enough to take a nature walk. It's not nearly as bad as the flooding in Georgia and points west so I'll not complain.

Middle and I watched the Golden Orb spider outside the kitchen window several times today. I know a lot of people get squicked out by spiders but she's quite lovely with her delicate legs. We watched her studiously repair her web. (Can you tell I loved Charlotte's Web? )

I cannot look at this perfectly put together creature and deny the existence of God. I just can't. The colors, her legs with the little fuzz on them....

Middle of course gets excited when she grabs a beetle or fly to eat. He likes to watch that. I just like watching her. I'm going to miss her when she leaves but she (or one like her) will be back next fall. She's become part of my routine. While I wait not so patiently for my morning coffee to ding in the microwave I stand and watch her at the window and marvel at one of God's creations.

So maybe we just took our nature walk at our window?

2009-09-21T14:06:00.002-04:00

This is the Golden Orb Spider and we have eight females and probably 8 males that have taken up residence around our home and yard. They come every year in late summer/early fall.

Today we started a new part of our homeschool - a daily nature walk. Two boys loved it - one is still shrieking that he's itchy from being outside. Our yard is also home to 19 jewel spiders, 7 garden spiders and one birds nest - apparently abandoned for the winter.

Tommorrow we are going to take a leaf from each of our trees so we can look up and identify what we have in our yard.

The two older boys are estatic about this latest addition to our day and I like it too. After we've exhausted the yard we'll be going around our area.

We are in a great area for nature study. In a fifteen mile radius we have ponds, river, estuaries, marshes, and oceans. We'll try to post something from each of them.

Reminder to self....

2009-09-21T11:47:00.002-04:00

I am not pleased with myself this morning. We are on day 15 of our new school year and so far it's gone really well.

Until this morning. You know the type. You wake up with a sinus headache that makes you want to pull your head off. The weather outside is simply gorgeous so this means the kids really do not want to dig and do their work. Well two of them don't.

And you forget that each of them comes with their own learning challenges.

The oldest had a very preventable meltdown this morning and it was entirely due to my snapping at him. The child cannot help that he has processing issues. It is always going to take him longer to accomplish multi step work. It's just a fact of life. I have the eeg's and the MRI that show these issues. He cannot help it. And I need to remember this.

He needs me to be the cooler head. To help him break down things into manageable chunks. This will get better as he gets older - part of it is the fact that he has a nine year old brain in an almost 13 year old body. Because when I help him do this he has great success. And he needs success.

Public school hurt him a great deal. This was not entirely their fault - I know this child and his issues better than anyone and I still make mistakes there are no hard and fast rules about teaching a child with high functioning autism much less one that has a form of dyslexia to boot. But he had many more failures than successes in public school. They couldn't give him the time or attention he needs and that is no reflection on them. He had some outstanding teachers.

He is only too aware that he can't keep up with others his age. I think that contributes to the explosiveness.

So I'm restarting the day with a prayer that I am more mindfull of my son's needs. And he's finishing his math and looking forward to the nature walk.

Excited!

2009-09-20T17:31:00.002-04:00

This was the year I vowed to be a more organized homeschooler. Thanks to a lot of prayer and Homeschool Tracker Plus it's turned out much easier than I thought it would be.

I have been so blessed recently. I attened Heart of the Matter's Online homeschool conference this fall thanks to winning a ticket on The Homeschool Lounge. Then I attended A Woman Inspired's Stepping Out into Ministry Conference last Tuesday. I got a prodding that I should volunteer for HOTM and they accepted! :)

I love to write and have been every since I remember. I write a lot of our unit studies and I contribued to an online ebook last month. I'm excited about this opprotunity to give something back.

Be sure to check out HOTM online and be blessed.

Why we Homeschool

2009-09-16T11:16:00.004-04:00

Since I went off on a tangent rant about 'socialization' in an earlier post and Amy Bayliss said it so much better, I thought I should write about why we homeschool.

My husband and I married 'late'. We were not believers at the time and I was pregnant when we married. Shortly after our oldest was born we moved here and we knew no one and I thought nothing of how our little guy was coming along.

When he turned 18 months old we decided we needed to go to church. We wound up at a church literally across the street from where we were renting at the time. From the start I should have realized that Oldest has a special connection to God.

See, he would sit through the service with nary a peep until it came time for the choir to sing. At that point he would climb up on my or Dh's legs and conduct along with the director. In time. Like he knew what he was doing. He probably did.

I don't say this to brag - I am overwhelemed with the privledge God had given me through these kids. They amaze me on a daily basis.

As time went on homeschooling tugged at my heart. As Oldest grew closer to school age I started investigating it. Then Middle was born and we moved to our house and then Youngest came along. That was when we started to realize Oldest was not like the other kids.

I still remember the color of the carpet in the Doctors office when he told us he had to refer us to TEACCH because he wasn't qualified to make an autism diagnosis.

Autism? Huh? Somewhere in the distant part of my brain rang a bell about detached parents and we were not that at all. We were attachment parents all the way. Our son was affectionate.

Well I decided there was just no way I could homeschool a child with autism. I just wasn't equipped.

God doesn't call the equipped - He equips the called.

I am quite slow on the uptake and God knows this. Oldest started public school and it was rough - very very rough. First grade was marginally better thanks to a young energetic teacher who was determined to make it work. Second grade went downhill fast.

By the time Oldest entered third grade we knew that Middle was also on the autism spectrum. He was a very quiet anxious child. He did well in Pre K and K but first grade was just horrible. His inexperienced teacher - who was also short handed - could not handle the choas and an unchecked bully made things so bad Middle and Oldest (thanks to third grade year that might as well have not even been attempted) finished the year on homebound. I wanted to pull them out then. DH begged me to try another school. I agreed.

The boys started out well at this other school. The class sizes were smaller. Then things begin going downhill fast. We did everything - hours of IEP meetings, FBA's, BIPs that were never followed. I was so stressed out I went to the ER with chest pains at least three times. The school's number on the caller ID sent my blood pressure through the roof. I spent more time at school than I did at home.

Then it really all went to hades in a handbasket.

Oldest is hyposensitive. This was well documented in his school and medical charts. He had a supreme meltdown at school which resulted in him hitting two teachers, tearing up the library and stomping on the foot of the SRO officer. Despite the fact he tested positive for strep throat the next day he was petitioned to juvenile court.

Praise God we had a hearing before a juvenile probabtion officer who 'got' autism. She was shocked that Oldest was there for 'a manifestation of his disability.' (Her words, not mine) The charges were dropped.

Meanwhile Middle's stress levels were going up and up. I firmly believe he was being bullied (again - this no tolerance bully thing is a joke). He had a meltdown that resulted in him saying he wished he was dead. Despite the fact that it was not a credible threat of self harm, despite the fact that I call our family therapist the MINUTE I stepped out of the school, Despite the fact that the school had proper release forms signed and could have contacted the therapist themsevles if they indeed thought the treat was credible - they reported me to Social Services charging me with MEDICAL NEGLECT!

The Social worker was furious at the school - calling the complaint a waste of her time. (Rightly so, at the time both boys had a peditrician, a pediatric dentist, a neuropsychiatrist, an OT, a SLP (private) to say nothing of their community support workers.

Dh was so angry he couldn't talk. I was devastated. Even if the charges were without merit it was an attack on my parenting. I'd done everything but bleed for these kids - worked with the school and they did this to me?

They tried to say they were trying to get me help. I don't often throw brickbats at people expecting life savers but whatever. They made nary a peep when we pulled the kids out to homeschool them. They were glad to be rid of them if you ask me. And the feeling is quite mutual. In short order we realized that Youngest would also wind up with a label if he continued in public school. (This is the child who knew his letters and numbers at 3 and could read at age 4. Bored = hyperactive)

I am not saying there are not great public schools. I am not saying all kids should be homeschooled. But mine will not go back unless things change dramatically. And I don't think that they will.

Plus, we found we liked having the kids home. We found that it was easier to accomidate their special needs at home. Middle has Central Auditory Processing Disorder as well. School was too noisy and overhwelming for him. Oldest has a form of dyslexia and could barely read. Youngest has one whopper of an ADHHHHHD component to his autism. There are days I find him hard to teach. He would drive a teacher into retirement - easily.

And we like to learn along with them. We don't miss the mornings of dragging them out of bed, dreading phone calls all day long, hours of homework every night or spending outrageous amounts of money on the latest school fundraiser. We like seeing that light bulb go on.

So for us, for our family, it is the best choice. We do not think it's the right choice for every child or every family. All we ask is that others respect that it is the right choice for ours.

Socialization... Or what I bring up when I can't formulate an arguement on my own...

2009-09-13T08:12:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine on Facebook was celebrating the way Konos had transformed their homeschooling. A friend of hers was agahst. 'Why Homeschool?'

Well, why not? I'll be the first to admit that homeschooling is not for every child or every family. Good for them. If you can make it work that's great. Every child is different.

But don't patronize me by bemoaning how 'hard it must be to teach the same subjects all day long' and give me fake 'kudos'.

First of all it is painfully obvious this person was not interested in learning just why any of us homeschool. My friend - and others of us - happily replied that it was no chore - we love it and it's the best thing for our kids. Problems with our local schools - kids with special needs,etc.

Today I woke up to this:

What about socialization?

I have not - since leaving public school and certainly not in college - only been forced to socialize with people within a year of my own chronological age. School socialization is as fake as plastic surgery. It's also brutal at times. A person does not have to be bullied and treated like dirt in order to build character.

Newsflash... I was weird in public school. My kids are weird. They are wired that way. My husband and the people that do interact with my kids - people from babies to senior citizens - happen to like their kind of weird. My kids are polite, respectful and they don't care about the latest 'my jeans are riding so low you can see my drawers' trends. They don't walk around with a cell phone attached to their head. They don't spend hours texting. They speak clearly in English. Not text lingo.

After the experience I had with my kids in this local school system it will be a cold day in the nether regions before I expose them to that kind of 'socialization' again. The school system can continue to use our tax dollars but they can't have our kids. I consider it a small price to pay for my children's self esteem.

So if all you can bring to the table is 'what about socialization?' you aren't interested in learning more about homeschooling. You want to feel better about your choices. Fine. Then keep it to yourself. I don't down anyone for their school choices for their kids because I don't know their kids. Extend the me the same courtesy. Thanks

9-11-01

2009-09-11T10:07:00.003-04:00

I will never forget that day.

I was pregnant with my youngest and my other two were two and five. My oldest hadn't started K because he was past the cut off date. I had overslept because I hadn't slept well the night before. DH called and told me to see if I could find out anymore because he'd heard a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Grumpy, I turned on the TV just as the second plane hit the tower. I called him back and then my grandmother. We talked until after both towers collapsed.

I didn't cry until the towers went down. It was surreal. Before becoming a Mom I had been a Police Dispatcher. I worked with Police and Fire and Rescue. And when those towers went down I knew the majority of those killed would be men and women like I'd worked with. The kind of people who charge into danger when the rest of us run from it. And it hurt.

I remember Donald Rumsfeld pulling people out of the Pentagon and the Secret Service trying to get him to safety. I remember the look on President Bush's face when he was told. Some said it was fear. I saw something else. It was shock then determination.

I let the boys watch the live feed rebroadcast on MSNBC for a little while this morning. They need to remember - we must NEVER FORGET! We were attacked for just being us. The United States of America. Freedom isn't free.

Labor Day weekend

2009-09-06T16:15:00.002-04:00

Other than the front trying to decide if it wants to hang on the coast or move on out to sea that is killing my sinuses, this is has been a nice weekend. It's nice that we have tomorrow to relax and do some light schoolwork and enjoy the rest of the summer.

My planning is so much easier this year thanks to Homeschool Tracker Plus. It is easily the best money I've spent on a product and the customer service is outstanding. You get free upgrades for well - ever.

I can put in lesson plans - and there are tons of groups with prewritten lesson plans or I can make my own. I can put in chores or appointments. I can log their reading or a video or a field trip. But the thing I love best in being able to enter my books in the library feature. I can do it by ISN number. It's great to be able to see what I have a glance.

You can get the basic version for free and the plus version for 49. http://www.homeschooltracker.com/default.aspx

I'm not an affiliate - just a homeschooler who loves this product.

I was blessed to be able to help out with Teacher Book Bags - 4th and Beyond Book Bag for the month of September. I wrote the Ocean Biomes and the Ring of Fire Units along with a few other writers. I can't say enough about Teacher Book Bag Products. They have file folder games and the monthly book bags have a treasure trove of information that can be used in many ways.

You can preview the entire book before buying.

http://teacherbookbagimages.net/septemberBookBags.html

Hope everyone has a blessed week!

Hands off my books!

2009-09-05T11:07:00.002-04:00

Last night I made another Goodwill run and of course brought home more books. :) We have two large bookshelves crammed full - one smaller one full and stacks and stacks all over the house and garage. Once I get the garage cleaned out I am determined to have wall to wall bookshelves there.

I read about a private school doing away with their print library and going to digital. 20,000 books - gone. I wanted to cry.

I'm sure such an attachment to an inanimate object seems extreme but books have played such happy part of my life that this and the Consumer Product Safety Protection Act (the dumbest law in the history of the dumbest Congress ever elected) make me very protective of the bound book.

When I was a child I spent many happy hours wandering the shelves of the public library. I found so many good books that way. I don't remember learning to read - it came as naturally to me as breathing. I was thrilled to have children because I could share all these wonderful books with them.

My kids hate to read. They do like to listen so it's read a loud city here.

An electronic book will never replace the feeling of a page under your finger - the smoothness, the sound it makes. It will never smell good. You will never wonder about the hands that held this book before you did and some of my books belonged to my Great Grandfather (I love his margin notes) so I love to think of him holding them, loving them as I do. (He even had his own library stamp - he and my great grandmother were book junkies as well.)

My husband - currently immersed in a Tom Clancy he's re-read countless times - shares my adoration of the written bound word. I think that's one of the reasons I am so drawn to President John Adams. Eyesight failing as he aged, he had his bed moved into his library. Even if he couldn't see to read them - he knew his books were there and that was enough.

So keep you Kindle and give me the books. Nothing will replace the feel of a book as far as I'm concerned.

I got it, thanks....

2009-08-07T17:02:00.005-04:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I need God to speak clearly - with neon signs. It takes him a long time to get something through my head. Which, I suppose, is why I kept getting the same 'What God Wants You To Know' message on Facebook for two weeks.

It's getting to be back to school time again and once again I wonder if this is what I am supposed to be doing. God usually lets me know in no uncertain terms that the boys belong at home.

This year He sent:

A parent at the dentist office who lamented having to tolerate their own children and in the same breath said they would be happy to get back to the nearly 500 children they were responsible for as a public school administrator. For some reason this really bothered me. I guess because I can't wrap my mind around not wanting to be around my own kids. I like them. They're neat little people who are growing into great adults.

Two recent college grads (I gleaned this from their conversation) that spoke in very poor grammar, used adjectives like 'retarded' (I think that word is horrible), and said 'like' and 'ya know' a lot.

A child my son has grown up with called him weird. This child has never said anything like this before. This child was mannerly and polite and went out of his way to be kind to every child - until middle school. I'm only speaking for my local school system here - it's awful. We pulled the boys out for several violations of their rights under IDEA. It just was not worth the fight.

I have noticed this child seeking my oldest out to be mean to him more and more over the summer. Frankly, I like being weird, I like my son the way he is - challenges and all and take being called weird as a complement. The two college grads I encountered in the grocery store are supposed to be normal. I pass - thanks.

The good sign I got was a free ticket - Thanks to The Homeschool Lounge - to the Heart of the Matter Online conference. There I learned that I was not weird at all, that we are different to make a difference. I am revived, inspired and ready to go.

Let's do this thing boys. With God for us, who can be against us? Weirdos that we are. :)

Wow.....

2009-08-06T16:49:00.004-04:00

Spent much of this week at the . I'm sad that we only have one more day. The seminars are wonderful and the fellowship is fantastic.

I have no idea how I got a ticket. I suppose I won it. It just showed up in my email in what I call a God incidence. I have been truly blessed. I really needed the encouragement and the inspiration and there is just no way I can go the the NC conference. The timing, the finances, the distance - just can't do it. This I could do from my home.

Even if I hadn't won the ticket at 12.95 it was a great deal. You can still sign up and get the Mp3's of the seminars later. It is WELL worth it.

As a result of this I'm investigating Sonlight. I never had done that before because my kids are reluctant readers at bests. However, talking with Amy Bayliss, who uses it, and listening to Sarita Holzmann of Sonlight, my interest was sparked and I went looking with my 'just arrived in the mail Sonlight catalog'.

Most of the books are in my local library. Hmmmm... Another God incidence?

As good as the seminars have been it was Amy's that was the one I really needed to hear. I am not being a Godly parent lately and am letting way too much negativity invade my thoughts and come out of my mouth. I can't do this thing without God and I need to stop trying.

Run, don't walk!

2009-07-22T10:03:00.002-04:00

The Homeschool Share Blast sumbission are up and there are some great new units to choose from!

There are units on Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, Months of the Year lapbook (which my youngest sorely needs), Chemistry, Mozart, Spanish, Math thru Literature, Habitats, Inventions and tons of things for the Workbox system.

I've only mentioned a very few things - these were just the ones that jumped out to my eyes that we could use.

My first unit study is there also - The Revolutionary John Adams. It's very cool to see something you wrote posted online and it feels good to give back a website that has helped me out tremendously with my homeschooling.

It's like Christmas in July! Click on the link to Homeschool Share on my sidebar and check out the 'What's New'.

Updating

2009-07-07T14:22:00.002-04:00

It's been a long year. I'm still trying to find the magic 'thing' that works for the boys. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that it's going to be a constant challenge.

Right now we're using Time4Learning, Math U See and CLP's Bible studies. We're also doing unit studies as needed. The boys all really like the computer part of curriculum but Time4Learning's Social Studies and Science need supplementing.

I've also come to the conclusion we need to school year round. Otherwise they just lose too much.

On the plus side I found Sue Patrick's workbox system. Cole started using it yesterday and he loves it. The book is well worth it for the ideas Sue has for modifying existing curriculm for special needs learners. http://www.workboxsystem.com/index.html

I sumbitted my first unit study to the Homeschool Share Blast. It was so much fun to do and HSS guidelines were very easy to follow. One of my favorite sites is Homeschool Share. There is something for everyone there and best of all it is free.

I also found two other products I really love:

http://teacherbookbag.net/

I really love their Bookbag of the month. It's full of hands on activities and other goodies. Teacher Book Bag has lots of other great hands on materials. I've been eyeing that Ronald Reagan lapbook since they came out with it. I also ordered their 5 book - American Votes Epack and can't wait to use that as well.

also:

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?cPath=1005 or

http://www.fortunatelyforyoubooks.com/remepo1.html

Remember Me Pockets by Fortuneately For You Books. They have a calendar that highlights special events and famous birthdays (authors, historcal figures) as well as activities surrounding the monthly theme or author spotlighted.

HSS contest

2009-04-30T18:47:00.000-04:00

 



Please consider entering the Homeschool Share contest. It is one of my favorite places on the web. So many great units, lapbooks and notebooking pages - FREE!

Back to School

2009-01-05T16:41:00.002-05:00

Today was our first day back after Christmas break. I am starting to plan for next year as well. I'll be using the Core Knowledge books as a spine and lapbooks from HOAC and other things to fill in as needed.

But today we kept plugging away at this years....

9:30 am - Circle Time and Devotional from The One Year book of Devotions for Kids.

10:00 am - 11:30 Everyone sits down to work - except Tommy who runs away and general disrupts school until he lands himself in a time out. Cole starts by writing in his journal 'What I would do if I were President.', Matthew starts with a page from a Grammar workbook. Cole then does a page in his Grammar workbook and Matthew starts his North Carolina state study. Matthew moves onto a chapter of 'It Couldn't Just Happen' and his Psalm 19:1 copywork. Cole moves on to his Science and it only takes him three meltdowns to get through it. Cole takes a break in his room to regroup and Matthew finishes his 20th lesson in MUS Gamma.

Meanwhile Tommy has decided to get to work. He listens to Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne the Steam Shovel and works on the first two activities from the HOAC lapbook on the story. Then he does a page in his Spelling workbook, a worksheet on animal skin coverings and ends with two geography worksheets.

12:00 everyone has lunch

1:00 Cole is ready to work. He finishes his Science sheets, zips through lesson 16 of Epsilon and then we start his unit on Explorers.

After he finishes I call it a day and do my Bible study and my readings for the day. I usually like to do it first thing but my sinuses had me up late so I slept in.

So far I've been to the Y two days in a row and walked 20 minutes each time on the treadmill. I am so out of shape I am going to have to go slowly until I start getting some stamina. I plan to go again tonight with Cole after DH gets home. I have been very good about keeping up with my 'Read the entire Bible in One Year' readings.

December pictures

2008-12-24T20:33:00.001-05:00

Photobucket Album

What a week/weekend!

2008-10-21T13:37:00.002-04:00

Last week was a whirlwind. Wednesday we had a reporter come out and do this story: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20081018/ARTICLES/810182959/1015/NEWS0101?Title=Budget_crunch_cutting_services_for_developmentally_disabled

I HATE being on camera - still or video but this is very important. The reporter couldn't have been more friendly and the article - IMO - was very balanced. I'm trying to get used to total strangers saying they saw me in the paper. It happened all day at church on Sunday but I had expected that. If it hadn't been for our church family I doubt we'd be making it through this crisis. Our church: Wrightsboro United Methodist Church
celebrated it's 50th anniversary this Sunday, which also happened to be Homecoming. I spent most of the day on my feet and that night we had Geron Davis and Kindred Souls in concert. It was a great concert and Geron and his family are so nice and down to earth it made it a great experience for all of us.

This week we're back in the swing of school and lots of play time in the nice weather outdoors. Thursday and Friday I get to go to a two day seminar at TEACCH on Structured Teaching. I'm very excited about that.

Bad blogger

2008-10-13T12:07:00.002-04:00

I am so bad about updating the blog on a regular basis.

Yesterday we went to the YMCA for the first time to check it out. I am more out of shape than I thought. I enrolled in the free 6 week wellness program we get with our membership. I go in Thurs. night at 7pm and they go over my stats, assess my level of fitness (ugh) and teach me how to use all those cool machines I saw yesterday in a way that will work best for me. Dh already worked out this morning before work.

I've gotten even more flexible about schooling. I signed up for the awesome - Teacher File Box by Evan Moor and am letting the kids pick what they want to study for science and history. Matthew has decided he wants to study astronomy, Cole the weather and Tommy is learning about transportation this week. I also started using a work system advocated by TEACCH. I went to a really great conference there last week and am going to another for two days next week. I really love the TEACCH program. Their approach is a middle ground - modify the environment and the person and make it visual.

Matthew just left to go swimming at the Y with his worker and I'm recovering from a stomach ache I had for two days. Pharmacist suggested it was stress and hoped I didn't have an ulcer. We both laughed cause he knows how stressful it is to have three boys on the spectrum and I'm homeschooling them.

It's much less stressful than it was when they were in school. We're all happier and I think they are starting love learning again. At least the older two - Tommy only went to Pre K so he didn't need much deschooling.

Finally! I got back to church!

2008-09-21T20:10:00.002-04:00

I actually got to go to church today. I haven't been in months. Seriously. It got to the place where it was too much of a battle with Tommy.

I felt like I've been gone for years. It was like half the babies that were newborns the last time I was there are walking.

I was determined to go because Cole was performing with Da' Blaze Youth Choir. We are very blessed to have a great youth choir director who (IMO) should get a medal for dealing with ten kids going through various stages of puberty. Not only does she do that, she teaches them some great singing and routines. Cole loves it. He is a born performer. I'm going to try and get some pics up soon.

Next week we only have one appointment. YEAH! Matthew does have his TEACCH group but it's in the afternoon and I'll be at a two day conference at TEACCH Tues and Wed. (Wow, two days of interacting with adults!)

I'm also waiting to hear back from the state on my appeal. All the testing is done. The bonus in this is that I don't have to administer a test this year. They had a Woodcock Johnson done. I used a CAT-5 last year and this is a new year.

The weather is getting nice and cool and that is going to mean lots of field trips. We have a ton of historical sites around here that are free. I think the boys will like that.

Running, running, running

2008-09-17T12:17:00.002-04:00

I hate having to get new evaluations every three years. There's always one more test and a zillion appointments that are hard to manage with no childcare.

Next week is better. I'm going to a two day course on teaching kids on the spectrum and there's only one appointment.

We've switched to US and local history and I'm putting it together as I go. We've been pretty hit and miss with school due to all these appointments and I'm ready to get back on track.

Bad news and more bad news...

2008-09-03T12:05:00.002-04:00

Well, the boys services have been cut - again. And there is nothing I can do about it.

I've written, called, protested, appealed. Bottom line is that the state does not want to give the local agency more money to lose. I don't blame the state for that. However why don't they remove this agency and get a competent one in there?

Two, Cole's dental surgery seemed to go well but now he's spiked a fever and the antibiotic is taking awhile to kick it. He's on edge and so am I.

Three, a hurricane is headed this way. Oh joy. My husband scared himself nearly to death replacing shingles last weekend. Goodbye shingles, hello wet roof. Not to mention the pool in the backyard.

On the plus side I found that doing notebooking and lapbooking is a much easier way to teach the boys. The lessons are smaller, hands on and the information seems to stick better.

School started today and we weren't there....

2008-08-26T22:21:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of Traditional School in our district. We weren't there.

Instead we....

Completed two pages each in Math U See on their various levels,

Worked on our Operation English Grammar lapbook - Nouns today,

Worked on our Note/lapbook for Apologia's Flying Creatures of the 5th Day,

Learned about Dinosaurs with Mystery of History Vol I. (I must have the only boys on the planet who could care less about dinosaurs)

We finished the day at TEACCH. It was Tommy's last group meeting. He has loved his social group meetings and I'm sad to see it end. I love working with the TEACCH staff and I'm attending a conference there next month. Also Matthew's social group will come up soon and after his it will be Cole's turn again.

Speaking of Cole he has dental surgery Friday and I'm trying not to panic. He's had it before when he was younger and had NO problems. I've seen the x-rays and I know it's needed. Braces and Cole would be a nightmare of epic proportions.

We have Doctor appointments the rest of the week so I hope to blog more next week.

Busy, busy week

2008-08-18T14:42:00.000-04:00

So much for being able to stay on schedule! The older two have testing this week and Tommy is still going to his TEACCH group on Tuesday mornings. We get some things done ever now and then but it's been very hard to stick to any sort of routine.

Hopefully I can get back on track next week because the only appointments are in the afternoon.

I did more work on the portable circle time. It is ready to go next week. The boys seem to like it. I got their mini offices and a writing office done as well.

Portable Circle Time idea borrowed from Wayzley Academy

2008-08-10T19:47:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite blogs is Wayzley Academy. Allison has such great ideas and she and the kids have loads of fun. I saw her 'Portable Circle Time' post a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a great idea.

So I brainstormed and came up with a version for my visual learners. We're trying to teach them Spanish as a second language. I'll post updated pictures as I finish it but here it is so far. Click on a picture for a closer look.

Starting a new blog

2008-08-10T18:53:00.000-04:00

This is only the second blog I've started. I couldn't figure out the first one and might not be able to figure out this one - LOL. I hope to be able to keep a record of our school year. I'll try to get some pictures up this week.