Archives for February 2013

For a while now I’ve been making plans for my garden this year. Last year was my first year really getting into it, I am very excited about this year! SO far, I plan to plant corn, beets, carrots, watermelon, bush beans, pickling cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, okra, and cabbage. As of now, I have all of my seeds except for cabbage, and I plan to get those soon. I know that some people start seeds indoors before transplanting outdoors. I have never done that, mostly due to lack of space, but I was thinking of trying it this year. Has anyone here done this?
We’re waiting for the ground to dry out some so that the garden can be tilled, and I need to empty out my compost bin, also. I need to get some newspaper from my parents so that my worms have a nice new bed to go to for next year. This is my first year having a worm bin. I’m excited and hope the compost works like it should. I am also planning to do a bit of canning this year as well. I found this canner that I think will do great. The description says that it will work for standard and smooth top stoves, which is what I have. I also need to get more jars. I have quite a few, but not enough to do what I’m hoping to be able to can this year.
Do you have a garden, and if so, what do you grow? Do you have a standard garden, raised beds, or something else? Come tell me about it!

Monday~ Mac & Cheese
Tuesday~Burgers
Wednesday~Fried Chicken
Thursday~Lasagna
Friday~Pizza
Saturday~Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

Grab my button!

 

 

I’m excited about this review, because Math is a bit of a sore spot with me. I always had issues with it in school, so occasionally I do get a little nervous about teaching it to my kids. A+ Tutorsoft offers both online and CD software math curriculum. For this review, I received the A+ Interactive MATH 4th Grade CD Software.

 

Here are some features from the website of the A+ Tutorsoft CD software:

1) Multimedia lessons

2) Interactive Q&A at the end of each lesson.
3) Printable worksheets.
4) Worksheets Solution Guide

5)Printable Exams.
6) Exams Solution Guide – A Parent’s Manual (with step-by-step problem solving instructions to each exam problem).
7) Curriculum Book (Full year curriculum book in digital format on the CD).
8) Lesson Plan
9) Reference sheets

One thing I really love about the lessons, is that they are read out loud to the student. Issac, my 4th grade son, LOVES this feature because he hates having to read to himself. The audio is very clear and easy to understand, which is another plus, especially when it comes to speaking with children. My son does not need to use ear phones to be able to understand the speech, although if your child is easily distracted, I would recommend headphones to drown out background noise.

At the end of each lesson are interactive questions going over what was learned in that lesson. Question are either multiple choice, or the student types in the answer. For multiple choice, the answer is chosen and the student is given either a thumbs up for a correct answer, or thumbs down for a wrong answer. For the typed answers, the student types the answer, and clicks on an adorable frog that croaks! I really like that immediate answer feedback is given for each question. If an incorrect answer is chosen/given, the student can go back to change their answer. At the end of the Q&A, you get a breakdown of how many questions were answered correctly the first try, and how many weren’t.

You can also print worksheets and worksheet answer keys that correspond with each lesson. These worksheets have different questions than what are given in the Q&A. The Worksheet Solution Guide gives an expanded view of how to answer the questions, much like reading the actual lesson, while the Answer Key just gives the simple answer.

After installing the software, you can create your parent account, and add your student(s) information, also. The parent and student accounts basically look the same, except that the Parent account has an admin panel feature, while the Student account has a progress tracking teacher, that you as the parent will fill out. In the parent Admin Panel, you have options for Progress Tracking, Parental Controls, Certificate of Accomplishments, and Deleting Student Information. The student has access to all the other features (worksheet and exam solution guides, etc) unless you choose to block them with your Parental Controls. I chose not to do this since Issac doesn’t have the program loaded when he does his worksheets. In the Progress Tracking section, you can go in and make notes for each lesson of how your child did, such as how many questions were answered correctly, what day the lesson was completed, and you can even leave a little note of encouragement for your child. I love this! The progress tracking is not done automatically for the CD software, you will need to go in and do this yourself if you choose to do so. I think it’s a nice feature, and gives you the parent/teacher an opportunity to be more involved in your child’s work. If you utilize the progress tracking, you can also go I and print Weekly Progress Report Certificates of Accomplishments! These are very nice and colorful, and include spaces for the Interactive Q&A, Worksheets, Exams, and Cumulative Reviews. The Cumulative Reviews should be available mid-March according to A+ TutorSoft, Inc. The Premium 4th Grade CD Edition that I received can be purchased for $124.99, and the program works for up to 5 children, ages 9-11. The standard edition is available for $99.99.

For us, a day with A+ Interactive Math was pretty simple. I installed the software onto my laptop for ease of use, since we don’t have speakers on the desktop. Issac just logs into his profile, watches/listens to the day’s lesson, completes the Interactive Q&A, and then I will print off the worksheets that correspond with that lesson, plus the Solution Guide if I think I need it. At the end of the current section, I print his Exam for him and , and he completes it. Once he finishes the Exam, I log onto my Parent account to grade it.

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m in LOVE with this Math program. It has a LOT of great features that are easy to use, and for me, makes Math easy to teach and fun!

As a most awesome bonus, A+ TutorSoft, Inc. is offering a very generous discount through the end of MARCH! Enter code: SPOFFER50 during checkout. This coupon is valid for BOTH the CD and online software.

 

I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

If you’re a homeschooler, you’ve probably heard of Handwriting Without Tears. I know that I my 7 years as a homeschooling Mama, I’ve heard them mentioned many times in my group of homeschooling acquaintances.  My son Lucas, who is 4, has lately been wanting to do schoolwork like his older siblings, so he was excited when he found out he got to try something new that was just for him! We’ve been using the Wet, Dry, Try Android app for the last few weeks. The app is also available for the iPad, and works on Android tablets that have a 7” screen, but please note that it does NOT work on the Kindle Fire at this time, nor does it work on iPhones or Droid phones. The Wet, Dry, Try app aides you in teaching your Preschooler or Kindergartner how to write capital letters and numbers, and is the app version of the HWT Slate Chalkboard activity.

We really enjoyed using this app. On the Home screen, you will see a place to enter your child(ren)’s name, and you are also able to choose Pick and Practice, which allows you to choose any letter or number, and HWT’S Winning Order, which has the letters organized into groups that have similar starting points and stroke sequences. When you tap on the name box, you can choose which person will be working at the time. You can have up to 4 users on the app. Some of the app features are: making the Stroke Tolerance easy or challenging, audio control (turning background music, voice instruction, and sound effects on or off), and you can also lock a user at certain levels in order to gain more practice before moving onto the next level of each letter. Once you choose which user will be working the app, you can then choose if you want to pick any letter or number (Pick and Practice), or use Winning Order.With Winning Order, your child has to earn at least 1 star on the current letter in order to unlock the next letter.

I really enjoy the audio, it is VERY clear and easy to understand, which is important for young children. I’ve never heard such clear audio in an app, and I am very impressed. The app is very encouraging as well, with each stroke of the letter that the child completes correctly. Even when your child makes a mistake, they are encouraged to “”Give it another shot!” The touch aspect is somewhat sensitive, so you can’t just try to “write” all over the slate. I forgot to mention, the screen looks just like a chalkboard slate. It’s really neat!
When you tap on a letter, you see a picture of the letter, as well as something that begins with that letter. For example, for the letter F, you’ll see the letter, then a picture of a fish on the slate. Then, the child is shown the starting point of the letter, and how it’s written.

 Remember the name of the app is Wet, Dry, Try? Ok, so next, a sponge will flash at the starting point. The child will place his/her finger on the starting point, and keep it there until they complete the first stroke. So first, the letter is writing with a sponge. After that is complete, a towel will flash at the starting point, and the child will repeat writing the letter with the sponge. Next, the child gets to “write” the letter with chalk! After they complete all 3 tasks, they will earn a star. Each star level is just a little more difficult that that last, in that fewer or no clues are given for the starting point. Your child can earn 3 stars of each letter. When all 3 star levels are complete, there is a Wall Card visual the spins on the screen. My son Lucas used the Wet, Dry, Try app along with the Flowering Baby curriculum  that I reviewed previously, as well as just generally playing it as a game. He enjoys it very much. I cannot think of anything negative to say about this product.
 Wet, Dry, Try is available for purchase in the iTunes App Store and Google Play for $4.99. I think this is a very good price for such an in-depth app. I have enjoyed watching my son Lucas enjoy himself so much while learning to write!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

I love the idea of incorporating Bible study into our home school day. I was super excited to be given the opportunity to review God’s Great Covenant, Old Testament Book 1 by Classical Academic Press. For this review, I received the Student Book, Teacher Edition, and the Audio Book Download.

God’s Great Covenant, Book 1 covers the Old Testament of the Bible from Genesis to Ruth, and also includes the book of Job. It contains 32 chapters, with 1 chapter completed each week, and 5 unit themes. This book is considered 3rd grade level. This is a consumable book, meaning your child will be writing in the Review and Quiz sections. The chapter begins with a Memory Page which includes the Theme, Memory Verse, Key Facts for the unit, Things to Remember, and a “Who is God?” question.  Next is Story Time, which is the story for the unit, followed by the unit Worksheets, and finally the Quiz. All pages are nicely printed in black and white, and I think that the font is the perfect size for a child to be able to read. It’s very clear and not too small at all. In the Story section, there is a “Jesus in the OT” blurb that coincides with the current chapter.  The Student Workbook is available for purchase for $22.95

This is the God’s Great Covenant Teacher’s Edition that corresponds to the Student Workbook. It contains the entire student text, along with answer keys to the Review Worksheet and Quizzes, plus lots of additional facts that go along with the current unit. There is also space for you to write your own notes down if you choose to do so. The Teacher’s Edition also includes “Catechism for Children Questions” that apply to each chapter, and “Notes to Teachers and Parents,” which is a bit of extra information for you and your children for the current chapter. The book even shows you where you can read the information that is listed under the Teacher Notes, so a lot of work is done for you! Each page in the Teacher book is a copy of the Student workbook pages, much smaller than the workbook, but again, not too small with the Catechism and Notes to the side. Like the Student Workbook, the pictures and texts are printed in black and white, are very clean, and easy to read. I really loved all the extra information in the Teacher Edition. The Notes were a fun addition to the lessons, and are not overwhelming. I feel like it contained just enough information without bogging down the story or lesson. God’s Great Covenant, OT 1: Teacher’s Edition can be purchased for $24.95

 God’s Great Covenant, OT 1: Audio Files is 2 hours of recordings of the Student Workbook. It is narrated by Christopher Perrin, and features all the stories that are in the Student Workbook. The audio files are in MP3 format, and once downloaded can be burned to a CD, or installed on iTunes. I really enjoy the files. The narration is engaging, clear, and not at all hard to understand or boring! The audio files can be purchased for $9.95

 Classical Academic Press also offers an Old Testament Map and Timeline Set to go along with the book course. These maps and timelines were a great fun addition to the books. My kids loved seeing where history took place!

 Ok, a day for us using the God’s Great Covenant may be different than most people would use this. As I said earlier, this curriculum is geared towards 3rd grade. After receiving the materials, I really felt like I could use it with all of my children, who are in grades 6, 4, 2, and Pre-K. The first day we would go over the Memory Page together. This is a great way to get all the children involved. Afterwards we would do a short review of what we just discussed. I really love the vocabulary. I learned some new Latin, Greek, and even Hebrew words that I had never heard before. I definitely utilized the Audio Files for Story Time for Day 2. I really loved the convenience of them. We all sat around the living room where we do our schoolwork. I used my laptop to play the audio. It plays clearly and worked very well. During the narration, I would pause in the sections that the Teacher Edition indicates the extra Notes to Teachers and Parents could/should be discussed, and read those notes to my children myself, since they aren’t in the audio files. Afterward, we would do a short review of the Memory Page again.  On Day 3, we would do the Review Worksheets. I did these in sort of a public classroom setting, I guess you could say. I had my daughter be in charge of writing down the answers, since she has the neatest handwriting out of all my children. I asked the questions listed on the worksheets, and my children raised their hands if they knew the answer, and my daughter wrote the answers. The Worksheets are great for reviewing the Story that was read the day before. On Day 4, we reviewed the Memory Page information, and did a short review of the Story, because on Day 5 there’s the Quiz! The Chapter Quiz page is very similar to the Worksheets, although not an exact copy. The Chapter 1 Quiz includes Fill in the Blank Questions, along with matching Vocabulary words to the meanings. If you were using this curriculum with just 1 child, it would be more of an open-book Quiz, since you can’t tear out the page without removing part of the next lesson. I really think that’s great, though, because, in my opinion, when you’re teaching your children about the Bible, you don’t want  them to be too upset if they don’t remember it all. They can go back and read to find the answer. I think another great way to use this would be as devotions. We did this one evening when my husband was late getting home from work. I just used the Story Time page as our devotions for the night!

I have to say that I’m very glad I had the opportunity to try out the God’s Great Covenant, OT 1 Bible Course. I love that it’s fun, easy to use, thorough, and very informative. I can definitely recommend this course to all of my Christian friends. Head on over to Classical Academic Press and check out all they have to offer.

 I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.
 

   I was so excited to have a chance to review Flowering Baby.  The program was designed for you to work with your child anywhere from 20-40 minutes per day, which is perfect for your young child, since, as you know, young children don’t usually have long attention spans.. For this post, I am reviewing the Four to Five year with my son, Lucas, who is just over 4.

  The Four to Five year is broken down into general work which includes Math, Science, and Language. There is also themed work that includes twenty-four mini theme studies, and Flowering Baby suggests doing 2 of those per month. One thing I love about this curriculum, is, you can start ANY place you want. We began with Day 1 for January, since, well, we started in January and also went through the February lessons. January and February each have 13 lessons, so this worked about to be about a full month’s worth. Each month gives you a list of supplies and books you will need to complete that month’s work. There are lots of books to choose from, so if you can’t get ahold of something, don’t fret, because you will likely be able to get one of the other choices. My only complaint about the books choices, is most of what I was looking for for January was not available on Kindle, since I have one and prefer to get books that way. That isn’t even a curriculum complaint, though, just an inconvenience with the books’ publishers.
At the beginning of the Monthly Curriculum Guide, there are lists of what you need for the WHOLE year. These lists include: favorite websites, favorite books to read, Science books used, and supplies needed for the year. I love this because 1. I have just recently started to love lists and list making, and 2. I’m not always very organized or creative, so I love that suggestions have already been made for me, and I have lots to pick and choose from! January has 13 lessons, so you could do one every other day, spread out a day’s lesson over 2 days, or just do a lesson a day and get through a little faster. Go with how your child responds and learns. That’s the beauty of the curriculum!
The books we chose for the month are: Blue Sea (we really liked this book, and it’s very, um, blue!), The Listening Walk, The Snowman, Berenstain Bears: Too Much Junk Food, Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Colors and Shapes, Los Colores y Las Figuras. All of these books were purchased from Amazon, but you could also check your library. All of these books also fit in with the January themes, and were in the recommended books lists. I have to say, the books were Lucas’ favorite part of the curriculum. He absolutely loves to try and read, and for me to read with him. His favorite new book is Three Billy Goats Gruff. 🙂

January’s Monthly Themes were Aquarium & Artic Life, and Dinosaurs. February’s themes were Musical Instruments and Transportation. The Themed Curriculum has fewer lessons for each theme, about 5 or 6, and are listed in alphabetical order instead of by month. The themes are super fun to do, and also include lists of suggested books, activity supplies, and even field trip ideas! These are more fun than actual work, but your child will still be learning

          Flowering Baby 4-5 can be purchased for $38.00 on CD-Rom. That breaks down to just over $3 per month! If you’d like to see a sample month, go here and scroll all the way to the bottom. Flowering Baby is currently offering a 10% discount when you order! Please use code Blog10 when ordering to get your discount. 🙂 This offer is good only on the Flowering Baby website.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.