Sponsors of our 3rd Annual Back to Home School Giveaway    Ready to Enter? Click here!
Prize Package Details - Total Prizes Valued at $1,906! How it works: We will draw 12 individual winners - one for each prize pack below. ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL GET A COPY OF EVERYTHING - A $1,906 VALUE! Hearts at Home Curriculum Store - Hearts at Home is offering a 5-Subject Switched on Schoolhouse Complete Set. Switched-On Schoolhouse is a comprehensive, Christian homeschool curriculum that offers computer-based learning for grades 3-12. With animation, video clips, and other fascinating multimedia, Switched-On Schoolhouse is the perfect Christian homeschool curriculum for today's generation.Winners will select one grade between 3-12. Hearts at Home offers over 200 publishers at up to 30% off everyday! Super fast, flat rate shipping & great service. Owned and operated by a homeschooling family. Total Value - $450 Founders Academy - Founders Academy is an online instructional resource to assist you in your homeschooling. They provide live, interactive and engaging instruction in American Government and Free Market Economics for a variety of ages. Winners will win the following: Sensational Signers of the Declaration of Independence & Choice of ONE: Government 101 OR Economics 101. (Note: Semester of Economics or Government class must be used Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 and has no cash value if not claimed or used. If you have no high school students, you may substitute Economics or Government for the Young Patriot's American History.) Total Value - $221 Bright Ideas Press - Enter to win a year of your choice of Illuminations plus the corresponding science and history books that go with it (either The Mystery or History or All American History and a year of Christian Kids Explore Science). Tired of planning it all yourself? Do you long to teach your kids together at the same time? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the planning you need to do? Do you ever wish you could find all your plans in one place? Illuminations is your answer! Illuminations is an all-inclusive* curriculum plan, covering Bible, language arts (grammar, writing, copywork, spelling, and vocabulary), literature, science, humanities (poetry, theater, music, and art), geography, history, and life skills. Total *does not include math - Value - $215 Cover Story - From the creator of The One Year Adventure Novel comes a new writing curriculum for mid-grade students. Cover Story takes middle school students – 6th through 8th grade – on a guided tour through the universe of Story. The program covers poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, interviews, blogs, letters, and much more in video lessons taught by a professional writer. A complete Language Arts program: Writing, Story techniques and structure, Literature, Critical thinking, & Grammar (included but optional.) Total Value - $149 Home School Adventure Co. has bundled an exciting and unique critical thinking collection which includes: Philippians in 28 Weeks™ - a simple and painless way to memorize an entire book of Scripture, The Wise Woman with Literary Analysis Journal Questions - an enchanting fable that unmasks the ugliness of pride and selfishness, and the newly released Philosophy Adventure™ -Pre-Socratics - designed to help students 6th-12th grade cultivate and defend a biblical worldview by teaching them how to write skillfully, think critically, and speak articulately as they explore the history of ideas. Total Value $148 BrimWood Press - BrimWood Press is dedicated to providing thought-rich, visually stimulating materials that enable children to grasp essential concepts of learning through pioneering methods that engage the whole child. Their package is the "Conversations Worldview Kit" - a combination of some of the most popular BrimWood Press' worldview products: Christian Theology & Ancient Polytheism, Historical Novels for Engaging Thinkers, Introduction to Worldview, & Conversations from the Garden. Total Value - $125 A+ TutorSoft - Multisensory-Interactive Homeschool MATH ONLINE (1 year Access) - Our Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH Curriculum Software makes learning MATH fun and easy by using audio, computer animated visuals and text. It is designed to keep your child's attention. Total Value - $125 Heritage History - The Heritage Classical Curriculum is the easiest, least expensive, and most enjoyable way to learn traditional history. Their "living books" reading program uses narrative histories that were popular with young people of earlier generations and features books of interest to students of all ages. This giveaway includes the following titles: Young Readers, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, British Middle Ages, & British Empire. Total Value - $125 Memoria Press - First Form Latin Set - Written by Cheryl Lowe (author of the best-selling Latina Christiana), First Form and its sister Latin products have been used by more than 100,000 students across the world to learn Latin! First Form's grammar-first approach focuses on grammar forms and vocabulary because these are the skills suitable for the grammar stage student. The First Form Series is for students of all ages because all beginners—regardless of age—are in the grammar stage of learning. Total Value - $115 NotebookingPages.com - Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Membership with 1-year bonus access to The Notebooking Publisher web-app. Your Membership includes access to ALL of their products on this page PLUS LIFETIME updates...past, present, & future products...all yours! Total Value - $100 Blogelina - The Complete Blog Set-Up/Makeover Package. Have you ever wanted a blog, but you didn't know where to start? Wonder how you can make money for your family by blogging? This complete package is for you! If you already have a blog, get a FREE makeover! Total Value - $79 Write Through the Bible Write Through the Bible is a series of copywork printables designed for an entire school year, combining the disciplines of handwriting, dictation, vocabulary, and Scripture memory into one daily activity. Prize includes The ENTIRE Write Through the Bible Collection along with The Heart of Humility: Teaching Your Kids to Put Others First (A family study of Philippians 2:1-18). The Workbooks will be in both manuscript and cursive & you can choose between ESV or KJV versions! Total Value - $54
Ready to Enter? Click here!   Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Flurry of Friends Pinterest Party

Teach Them Diligently Convention and Apologia are hosting a week-long Flurries of Friends and Lots of Fun homeschool celebration with Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter parties. A random winner will be chosen on Thursday from the Pinterest board entries.

Grand Prize Package

One year of Apologia Science (winner's choice), 180 Days Around the World, family registration to the spring convention, and a complete set of TTD recordings of their choice!

After reading a post from Amy at Raising Arrows and getting inspired, I had fun putting together this Pinterest board. My theme is Afternoon Tea. Check out what it would be like to come over to my house for a cup of tea and homeschool mom chat. Then, join in the fun! If you create a board, leave a link in my comments, so I can check it out.

Homeschool Planning 2012

Busy bee... That's me! I am trying to do way too many things at once, right now. Getting ready for a yard sale. Sorting through and reorganizing our homeschool books and records. Researching, purchasing, and planning for our upcoming homeschool year for four boys. I'll have one son finishing school and another one beginning this year!

Surprisingly, I'm very excited about our school this year. We are going to be using Galloping the Globe for Isaac (3rd) and Levi (K), while adding in some unit studies and Five in a Row. Thankfully, Jolanthe, at Homeschool Creations, has shared her plans and printables from their world geography study and made life planning a little easier for me. Of course, we have several Usborne Books to supplement our studies, like Usborne's IL Encyclopedia of World Geography, Usborne Book of Peoples of the World, and Usborne Flags Sticker Book.

The other curriculum we are looking forward to is Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We are going to have a mini co-op class in our home with a couple of other families with boys close in age to Isaac. To say Isaac is excited would be an understatement. He keeps asking when we will be starting. Hopefully, his enthusiasm won't fade before August.

We are also going to try Singapore Math for Isaac, after using JUMP Math last semester. JUMP Math is great for children who are not strong in math or get stuck and need a step-by-step break down of math concepts. It was very helpful in getting Noah past his math road-block.

Speaking of Noah, I am still unsure of what all we're doing for his 8th grade year, other than Easy Grammar and Apologia General Science. So, I'll post about that another time.

Mason will have a fairly heavy senior year, as he needs to fill in a few gaps and catch up on his reading list. His courses will include Lifepac Civics, Art History & Appreciation {unit study}, Around the World in 180 Days {world geography}, Jensen's Format Writing, and maybe Jacobs' Geometry. He will also be using Chemistry 101 since he is not planning on attending a four-year college. He is leaning very heavily toward a technical school for auto mechanics. Mason has spent more than enough hours earning a credit for an elective auto mechanics course. Papa Bear and I are so proud of how much he has learned on his own through reading, researching online, talking to local experts, and his own blood, sweat and tears poured into his car.

How is your planning going? What are you using in your homeschool in the fall?




Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through any of them, I will receive compensation. 

National Police Week 2012

As many of my regular readers know, Papa Bear is a police officer and this week has a special meaning for us that most people don't recognize. May 15 was the official Peace Officers' Memorial Day, but we are joining in a local remembrance tonight. I especially look forward to getting to hear my amazing husband sing during the ceremony. My boys' favorite part is at the end when the Scottish bagpipes play and then we move outside for a moment of silence filled with dozens of flashing red and blue lights, followed by a 21-gun salute. It is very heart-stirring.

If you have the opportunity to attend one of these events in your community, I highly recommend it. It is a great way to teach your children to respect and honor those who have lost their lives in the line of duty and those who continue to put their lives at risk to protect your family and other local citizens.

Even if you are unable to participate in a memorial service near you, here are some ways that you and your children can still observe National Police Week and learn more about police officers:

• Read Officer Buckle and Gloria.
• Watch Courageous. Great movie!!
• Take homemade thank-you cards to your local police department or personally thank them. While baked goods may be well-received, it would be a good idea to call and ask first. I'm sure you can understand why they may not accept them.
• Pray for your local law enforcement officers and department personnel.
• Teach little ones more with these police coloring pages and crafts for kids or preschool activities. Make a police lapbook or these cute little paper police dolls.
• For elementary age kids, use these free police learning printables or do a police K-9 unit study.
• Get to know more about those who have sacrificed their lives at the Officer Down Memorial Page.
• Check out current LEO prayer requests at The Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry blog.
• Find out more about National Police Week and view a slideshow from last year's event at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5:9

Homeschool Preschool

Over the years, many moms, usually already staying at home, have asked me about homeschooling their preschool children. All of these women are caring, actively involved mothers, but our culture of early academics has cast a shadow of doubt on their confidence. Most moms know that the best place for their young child is with them, but they are mostly afraid that they will "ruin" their children by not socializing them in a school setting. That is so far from the truth.

Everything is a learning opportunity for a preschool-age child and there will plenty of time for formal learning in the future. They need concrete, hands-on activity, and lots of free time to explore their world, especially 3-5 year-old boys. Here are some suggestions for giving your preschooler a head start:

• READ, READ, READ. This one thing will set a foundation for all later learning. It will not only strengthen the bond between you and your little boy, but it will expand his worldview, help him develop a rich vocabulary and the ability to listen, and give him a knowledge base to build on later. Choose good quality books, like Newbury and Caldecott Award winners and classics. Avoid too many "junk food for the brain" books. Don't limit yourself to fictional stories, also read non-fictional books about things he's interested in. For example, if you dig up some worms while planting flowers and he's excited about them, get a book on worms from the library. Or tigers, sharks, race cars, etc. Here are Ten Read-Aloud Commandments to get the most out of reading with your little one.
• Include your child in your everyday activities, such as cooking, shopping, errands, and chores, including some of his own. Explain what you are doing as you do it and why.
• Go on field trips to the museum, botanical garden, nature trails, the zoo, farmer's market, orchard, and the library (storytime).
• Study nature. Plant a small garden together, grow sunflowers, put out a bird feeder and watch the birds, go on a nature walk and observe bugs, flowers, trees, etc., collect things (rocks, leaves, etc.), catch tadpoles and watch them grow into frogs, order some caterpillars, press flowers.

• Teach letter names and sounds using signs, story books, menus, food labels, etc. Focus on one letter each week.
• Build a foundation of math literacy. Count everything (beans, M&Ms, cars, houses on your street, etc.). Sort legos by color or size. Have him figure out how many place settings you need at the table.
• Encourage small-motor skills. Make playdough. Play with rice in a plastic tub or dishpan. String large wooden beads. Work with wooden puzzles. Practice pouring water or rice from cup to cup.
• Expose him to the rhyme and rhythm of language. Sing songs and read silly poems and nursery rhymes. Take turns making up combinations of rhyming phrases.
• Let him have lots of time to run around in the yard and just play. Provide toys that promote creativity and imagination (instead of toys that have only one use), like blocks, play food, dress-up stuff, little people (my 5yo loves Playmobil).

If you are looking for something more, literature-based unit studies are a fun way to teach to kids of all ages and you can do as much or as little as you want. Basically, you read a book and do activities that go along with the theme. For example, read Blueberries for Sal, then pick blueberries, create blue art, make blueberry muffins, learn about bears, etc. You can also make a lapbook, which is a very clever way of recording what your child has learned and makes a great keepsake to look at again and again to reinforce learning or to show to doubtful friends and family.

Sometimes, your preschooler may want to do "real" school, which to them, most likely means paper and pencil work. This website has printable learning pages and activities for a wide variety of subjects. You can also utilize technology for preschoolers with interactive websites for pre-reading and other basic skills.

Some would try to make you believe that it is necessary to send your young child away to preschool. Usually, the reasons all boil down to socialization, but this article tells you why you should NOT put your child in preschool. You know your child better than anyone and you have taught your child so much already. Keep up the good work!


Linked to Better Mom Monday and Titus 2 Tuesday.

Moments to Remember

Snack time ~ "hummie" & pretzels

M2 loves our Schleich animals right now. He always makes sure that the babies are paired up with the parents. His favorite is the chimpanzee pair {"monkeee"}. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the momma has "nurnies".

Clever Dragons Review

Like it or not, we are raising a tech-savvy generation. My boys are drawn to electronic games and devices like a moth to a flame. I could fight it or I could use it to my their advantage, when possible. Blogging has given me opportunities to try several different educational websites with my boys. So far, the one that has been the biggest hit with both mother and son is Clever Dragons, an educational website exclusively for boys, ages 7-12. It just launched last month as the "brother" site to Always Icecream, an educational website exclusively for girls.

Of course, we loved the theme right away! Knights, dragons, castles. Your son creates his own "Mini Me" that represents him in the games and learning community. The objective is to collect gold coins by completing levels of various educational activities and then use the coins to build your own castle and to take care of your pet dragon or other animal. The activities are not your typical arcade-style games with lots of action. They are mostly multiple choice type questions with plenty of repetition to build mastery. The mastery part was what impressed me.

In States of the USA, you have to locate and click on states on a blank outline map. At first, it seems like too much repetition, because you have to find the same handful of states over and over again. If you click the wrong one, it shows you the answer before continuing. But as you begin to consistently give correct answers, new states are added in. Each level builds on the previous one until you have learned the location of all 50 states. As any homeschool parent/educator knows, repetition is the key to memorizing and mastering facts.

In addition to geography, there are learning games and quizzes on math, science, language arts, keyboard skills, and even classical music and the Bible. Isaac has discovered that he enjoys classical music and has learned about several composers so far. It fits in with our Charlotte Mason style very well. A picture of the composer is shown, along with some facts about him and the name of the piece that is playing. Then the child is quizzed on the the information, all while listening to the music.

Security is a big deal, as children are learning how to safely interact in an online environment. If you allow your son to join the learning community, you'll be glad to know that it is moderated and all comments have to be approved before they are posted. As a parent, you'll set up your own free account so you can control the social features (learning community), keep track of your son's progress and activity, and dole out gold coins for whatever reason you see fit (chores, attitude, reaching goals, etc.). It was a nice surprise to discover that I had my own "allowance" of gold coins to reward my son with. You also have the ability to earn free months of membership by referring new members to the site and there is a fundraising option for organizations.

To keep Clever Dragons free of advertising, you do have to pay for membership. Due to the personalized nature of the program, each son needs to have his own account. Here's the breakdown:

• Monthly subscription: $4.99/month (first month is $0.99)
• Two-months membership: $9.98 (perfect for summer break)
• 12 month membership: $29.99 (Holiday special - extended membership until 7/1/12 for a total of 18 months!)
• Lifetime membership: $99.99 (this would be the best deal for boys under 10)

Disclaimer: I received a free lifetime membership in exchange for this review. All opinions are my honest evaluation of the website.

Moments to Remember

This week, I'm joining Carisa and Jolanthe in their Moments to Remember link-up. Here are several pictures of happenings in our homeschool this week.

 

LJ stringing beads, completely uninterested in my efforts to help him create patterns, while M2 periodically scatters them and knocks them on the floor

IB practicing place value (and stacking the tens and ones into little pyramids)

M3's work-in-progress (I call it "Auto Mechanics") 

NG helping IB make cookies for IB's Cub Scout cookie exchange

                                      

VocabularySpellingCity.com Review

I love finding new resources to help with our homeschooling. One of my recent finds is VocabularySpellingCity.com, an award-winning online service where educators can create custom spelling and vocabulary lists, assign a variety of activities to teach and test students, and keep track of students' progress. This is one resource I can use for all of my boys, from the beginning reader through high school. And there is so much more than meets the eye with this site! While clicking around the site and the forum, I discovered lots of things that I didn't see at first glance.

The Teacher Resources section contains popular word lists, including Dolch-sight words, math and science words, analogies, contractions, compound words, syllables, and many more. My eight year old likes the short, animated videos that accompany some of the topics to help explain the concepts. Personally, I appreciate the Teach Me aspect that says each word aloud, spells it, and uses it in a sentence. The female voice is actually pleasant and clear. And the ample activities can be used to reinforce more than spelling and vocabulary. For example, practice states and capitals with MatchIt Sentences and WhichWord. Integrate handwriting practice by creating your own worksheets, using your saved word lists, in your choice of font and size. If those activities aren't enough, you can also have your child practice composition and demonstrate comprehension with Sentence Writing and Paragraph Writing.

My two middle sons are the ones that will benefit the most from using this program right now. For IB, who is in second grade, I am using mostly pre-made word lists and printing out handwriting practice sheets. IB's favorite activity is HangMouse. NG is currently reading The Bronze Bow and using the Total Language Plus literature guide. I simply used the vocabulary lists from TLP to create custom lists to reinforce his lessons. With all of the activities to choose from, I can add variety to each assignment.

There are two membership options: free and premium, which is only $24.99 per year for a family with up to five children. You can see the differences below. Of course, there are options for classrooms and schools too.

With the premium membership, I get access to the Premium Teacher Toolbox where I can manage students, word lists, assignments, check student progress, and print detailed reports for each student. I really like being able to create individualized assignments for each child, using their own word lists, and setting due dates. The boys can each sign in under their own user name and see exactly what I want them to do and when they need to have it finished. This makes it much more likely that we will fit spelling and vocabulary review into our busy days. I simply add a VocabularySpellingCity.com card to their workbox/file and they can do it on their own while I work with one of their brothers.

Having seen many online learning websites in our 12 years of homeschooling, I think VocabularySpellingCity.com is a great tool to have in an educator's belt, whether you choose the free registration or the affordable premium membership.

Disclaimer: I received a free one-year premium membership in exchange for this review. This is my honest assessment of the VocabularySpellingCity.com program.

2011-12 Homeschool Curriculum

Thankfully, my slump has passed and I am operating at normal speed again for this school year. Not to say that I don't still feel overwhelmed at times or want to quit. That comes with the territory. Last year was rough for all of us and we have some catching up to do. Also, keep in mind that the following list of curriculum is subject to change at any point if we find that it isn't working.

History
For our study of Ancient History, I'm using A Child's History of the World as my spine, along with the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and various other books. I still have A World of Adventure, but I will probably only use it as a resource. At this point, I have researched and seen enough history studies, that I feel okay winging it. My biggest issue is keeping to a time frame. 

IB ~ 2nd Grade
Math Mammoth

Alpha-Phonics

A Reason for Handwriting

Considering God's Creation - I used this with my older boys when they were younger also and we love it. IB will also be participating in an elementary science co-op class twice a month.

NG ~ 7th Grade
Math Mammoth - NG needs to master a few more basic math skills before we move on to Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals & Percents.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: Tan - I'll probably continue to supplement with Easy Grammar curriculum that I've had for years.

Apologia General Science - He'll attend a co-op class twice a month for labs.

M1 ~ 11th  Grade
M1 will continue to fulfill elective credits by researching and working on his car (Auto Mechanics), by expanding his knowledge and experience with his expensive camera (Photography), and by learning many vital life skills (Practical Living Skills).

Streams of Civilization I - This is the spine M1 will use for Ancient History and I'll be adding supplemental books, especially classics like the Illiad.

Life of Fred Beginning and Advanced Algebra - Yes, he has been doing Algebra for a while, but he hit a wall with Teaching Textbooks and we are back-tracking with Life of Fred to help him master it. If it works for him, then we may continue with LOF Geometry.

Apologia Chemistry - We may get together with a couple of other families.
Forensics Science - I was having a very difficult time deciding on science for this year, but one of the homeschooling fathers in our group is teaching this co-op class and M1 is really interested in it.

The Art of Argument - Yes, I want my teenage son to learn how to argue...better.

Excellence in Literature: British Literature  - He'll attend a co-op class for book discussion.

The Money Mystery & Solving the Money Mystery, The Clipper Ship Strategy & Applying the Clipper Ship Strategy - We have been using the Uncle Eric books from Bluestocking Press for Economics and Mason really enjoys reading them. He has also read Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) & Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses

VocabularySpellingCity.com ~ Upcoming Review

What a coincidence! A few weeks ago, while searching for online educational games for my boys, I ran across VocabularySpellingCity.com. IB and I tried the free HangMouse game a few times and bookmarked it for later use. Today, I received an email offering me a premium membership so that I can provide a candid, personal, online review. Of course, I accepted. :)

VocabularySpellingCity.com helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Vocabulary Test, Word UnScramble and Word Search.  Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site or use any of the dozens of  free teaching resources such as compound words and math academic vocabulary.  Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.


There might be more free memberships available for bloggers.  If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.

Discount School Supply Sale & Some Recommendations

  Are you a homeschooler, teacher, daycare provider, a parent of a special needs child, or just a parent who likes to do fun, educational activities with your child? If you consider yourself the last one, you're a homeschooler too. ;) Then you may already know about Discount School Supply. If you don't, I suggest checking it out. They have tons of art supplies, wooden bookshelves, puzzles, puppets, dress-up, sensory toys, Lego and Duplo sets. You'll also find everything you need for homeschool and classroom organization. Right now, you can get 20% off of EVERYTHING through July 25! Use the code TWENTYEV when you check out. And you get free two-day delivery on all orders over $79!

I recently purchased the wall calendar pictured below and am planning to have calendar time with Isaac and Levi. Carisa at 1+1+1=1 has a great idea for adapting your calendar time to teach multiple ages. 

Another educational idea I would like to implement for my younger ones is sensory boxes or tubs, like the ones at Counting Coconuts. The Easy Label Teaching Totes below would work well for those and for organizing our educational and art supplies.

Miles loves to look at pictures and I have looked at many different fabric toddler photo albums. I'm considering getting this one. It's simple, colorful, and holds 13 pictures. 

When I was organizing our toddler room at church a couple of years ago, I ran across Viking Toys' Chubby vehicles. All of the kids loved them. A bucket of 15 was barely enough for a half dozen toddlers because they all wanted several so they could connect them. This bucket is perfect if you only have one or a few little ones. Of course, Levi wanted to take them home too, so I bought a few for him and now Miles likes to play with them. I usually shy away from a lot of plastic toys but I really like these. The wheels are rubber, roll smoothly, and are attached well. There aren't any sharp corners and since they are hollowed out underneath, they are easy to wash and play with in the tub without worrying about them holding water and getting mildewy. They are also just the right size for chubby little hands.

These Easy-Grip Stampers would definitely get a lot of use at our house. I just don't know which set to get first. Transportation, Space, Sea Life, Shapes, Alphabet, Jungle, Farm, Seasonal, Dinosaur...

One more thing I'm interested in getting is this set of Textured Dough Rolling Pins made of hard wood. The boys love playing with our homemade play dough and these rolling pins would be a great addition to our collection of tools.

Have you purchased anything from Discount School Supply yet? What did you get? If not, what's on your wish list?

Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation to write this post. However, I am an affiliate and will receive a small percentage of any future purchase made through the links above.