Enjoying the Chaos

This summer my kids were intrigued by the meaning of names. I can remember listening to them comparing what their names meant. So I was really excited to be chosen to review some fun products from  CrossTimber . We chose their amazing Personalized Frame Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse. I couldn't decide which child's name to use so I went with our last name and I'm thinking of giving it to my in-laws when they visit this month from England. My last name was written in a really nice cursive. You can pick the background design and there are so many to choose from it was really hard. Since I was going with our last name I chose something that I thought would match a more formal placing in a living room. If I had chosen Boo's name I would have chosen some of the pretty butterfly designs. I know a friend that would love some of the 'horse' ones. This would be an excellent gift for someone that's having a baby and wants to decorate the nursery wit

It's that time of year again...The Homeschool Review Crew is taking applications! I can remember a few years ago I started following a fun homeschool blog. I was a brand new homeschooler and my older two kids had just finished 2nd and 4th grade in public school I loved our little school but Boo had always wanted to homeschool. Jam came on board because he had a sub for the majority of his 4th grade year and he started to think it was a good idea. We started on our homeschool journey and I needed a lot of help! After a few weeks I noticed that the blog I was following belonged to what looked like a really fun group! Plus she got to review great curriculum! I was hooked, curriculum was so expensive and I was worried about making mistakes. So I spent a lot of time reading all her reviews and the reviews of other crew members. I was hooked! Later that year I saw an application and applied, I was SO nervous and excited but of course if you read this you know that I was successful!

Last year Boo was really jealous as Captain was able to use  Middlebury Interactive Languages  last year when we were chosen to review it. He loved it and so we were really excited when we were given the opportunity to review it again this year for the third time. The first time we reviewed it we used an elementary course. Last year Captain used High School Spanish 1 and this year Boo is using High School Spanish 1 . It's funny when you have kids that are following each other. They can use the same curriculum and have different results. In this case luckily both kids loved the program. Boo has actually had a little more Spanish that Captain had when he started this program. Mainly because she loves it and really has a desire to be fluent. When the student signs into the program and clicks on the screen there is a simple button that's labeled 'up next' you can see it in the picture below. Boo got a little confused and jumped around the program a little b

We have been using  Educeri ....... Educeri a division of DataWORKS  recently and love it. It covers work from Kindergarten all the way to twelfth grade. There is so many lessons available with their Educeri Lesson Subscription Service. I have mainly used this with Captain and he has a little lighter schedule at the moment. Plus we are diving into our multiplication facts and so I started to check out the program to see what was available. The first thing I started to look at with Captain is multiplication using groups. We had just completed a lesson in our online math program and I thought it would be a good subject to reinforce. I looked up the subject and chose the following subject. We worked through the lesson together and then I printed off three worksheets. The first one we worked through together and then he finished them off. It was a good way to have a quick lesson reaffirming the subject we finished. You could even add stuff yourself and make it a complete

This was a fun week. We found a new museum and Captain loved seeing a model of a T Rex up close and personal. This museum had a free area. Can you tell from the pictures how amazing the outside of the building is! The museum is called 'Prarie Fire' it's so beautiful!

I have always longed for beautiful handwriting. So I always like trying out new programs to help me teach my children (or myself) better skills. I always admire people who can do  calligraphy  and so I was excited for Captain to try it using Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting from  Everyday Education, LLC . Captain wasn't quite as thrilled. I guess when you are seven the thought of beautiful handwriting is not high on your wish list. However, we persevered and I can see an improvement in it. He has also taken a little more time on it since we started as he knows I expect him to try his best! This book is divided into six chapters and teaches reading (which Captain didn't need) and handwriting (which he does). The reading is phonics based and so although Captain can read at a level quite a bit higher than his grade it's always good to refresh these rules - it can't hurt right! This book is versatile! It can be used to teach reading and writing to a young c

My kids have never not wanted to read. In fact sometimes I threaten they are banned from reading! Of course this only lasts for about 30 minutes, or until their chores are done! One thing that spurs an extra long reading session, is when Captain's favorite magazine is delivered. We have a kids magazine produced by our church. It costs about $10 for a year (delivered) arrives every month and he loves it! If your child doesn't like to sit and read a long book (Captain's current book is 'Raising Dragons' by Bryan Davis) magazines can be a great way to kick it in to gear!

Captain and I have collected many books written by Carole P Roman b rought to you by    Away We Go Media  our most recent are; If You Me and Lived in Ancient Greece (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 1) If You Were Me and Lived in Viking Europe If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 3) If You Were Me and Lived in...Colonial America (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 4) Captain really likes these books. I like them because they are a great starting point when you want to introduce a new period of history. Or when something comes up in conversation, I have been known to say "Go pull out that book on Viking Europe". In fact Captain read the book "If you were me and lived in...Viking Europe" after relistening to on of our audio books on tape about the same time period. He said that the pictures in the book and the details mentione