Enjoying the Chaos

Anyone who knows me knows that math is not my favorite subject! Any math questions from high school definitely get directed to my math-loving husband. I feel more like Mr. Incredible in the new movie...I need to stay up late at night to study. If you are like me and need to brush up on your math skills you need to check out  Math Essentials for Adults  by  Math Essentials . Even if you didn't homeschool your kids there would be lots of reasons to brush up on your math skills! For the last few weeks, I have been using this math refresher book. It covers general math, geometry, problem-solving, pre-algebra, and algebra. The book is laid out in chapters. I haven't been working in a traditional way through this book. I didn't want to start with addition and work through math in a traditional way. I like that the contents are separated into topics rather than chapters. Whole Numbers Fractions Decimals Percents Geometry Integers Charts and Graphs Word Problems

I never thought I would actually say this about a grammar program BUT Captain has really enjoyed using  Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3  from  Hake Publishing . I have never done any formal grammar with Captain and so although he works higher than his grade level for all other subjects I thought I'd give grade 3 grammar a try. We received the  Grammar and Writing 3: Complete Homeschool Kit  which consists of - Grammar and Writing 3 Writing Notebook Grammar and Writing 3 Teacher Guide (Answer keys and tests) Grammar and Writing 3 Consumable Textbook I was a little skeptical of how a grammar workbook would be received by Captain. However, I didn't need to worry. Before we used the program I was up against a little bit of resistance. Our school year was winding down and Captain was adamant he didn't want to try anything new. I insisted that we needed to give this a go and he agreed. We sat down and I opened the Teacher Guide. I was hoping it was set out a

We had a blast at our E-cloth party! The cloths are great! Even got butter of my glass door with the window cloth!

We have used books from  ARTistic Pursuits Inc.  before and Captain really wanted to try the new  ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray - Art of the Ancients  course even though he's really at the top of the age range. This new course looks quite different from their other books. They were all softbound and had a ring bound edge. These are hardback thinner books with a DVD and Blu-Ray stored behind the front cover. Captain decided on book two as we had the older version book one. Book two of this new series focuses on ancient art. There are two ways you can work through the series of art books. You can start with volume one and work in chronological order two through eight or start with volume one and skip around any volume focusing on the historical period you want to study. There are some materials needed for some of the projects. There are kits you can buy for this book from various retailers. Or like me, you can visit your local craft s

The view was worth the ferry ride!

We have been excited to work on  New American Cursive - Penmanship Program  from  Memoria Press . We were sent  New American Cursive 2 With Quotations from Famous Americans . We have used the first workbook in the past and I was excited to see how they added cursive practice with the American quotes. I love quotes from famous people, especially Americans and so this intrigued me. This is a second level book. Captain had already completed book one last year. The first few pages of the book cover contents and then the program reviews information from the previous book. It covers The Three P's of Penmanship Posture, Pencil, and Paper Position to make sure that you and the student remember how important this is to successful handwriting technique. The next section reviews the alphabet and numbers that were taught in the previous book. The child traces and then writes his own letters and numbers. I love how they letter connections are described 'smile', 'g

Captain loves to keep tradtions alive. Jam wouldn't be found perching on top of a zoo animal statue anymore. However, Captain wouldn't leave without a couple of traditional pictures!

For the past few weeks Captain and I have been working from the Indigo level of  Homeschool Navigator  We are also in the middle of a great  Interactive Notebook  for Holes. We didn't get as far as I wanted with the notebook as I wanted but we have had great success with this program. Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum is an online/offline program that contains a full year of reading and writing assignments. There are six levels you can find the scope and sequence for each level  here. RED - K reading level ORANGE- 1st-grade reading level YELLOW- 2nd-grade reading level GREEN -3rd-grade reading level BLUE- 4th-grade reading level INDIGO - 5th-grade reading level I received a one-year membership to the website and Captain worked on the Indigo level. We used this on our i-pad but it can work on laptops too. When you log in it goes to the dashboard where you click on the level they are using. We click on Indigo. Each week is listed separately in days and you c

It's such a nice change...summer is coming. Two weeks of school left and I am so ready. Next week my mother in law is arriving for a month and we are very excited.  We took our new travel trailer out last weekend even though the forecast was bad. It turned out that is only rained the first night. After that the weather was beautiful. I suggested a walk, I need to check my maps or gps before I suggest such things. Captain was it turned out to be about nine miles before lunch. We had to jump over streams on the beach. I wish I had taken a picture. Jam carried Boo and Captain over. I took of my shoes and rolled up my leggings to brave the freezing water! Such a fun Mother's Day weekend. The campground owner's gave all the mom's on the campsite a lovely potted plant. I think can't wait for more summer adventures!

I love this word....

We were fortunate to be able to review one of the awesome  Heroes of History  books from  YWAM Publishing . Captain took ages which one was going to be his first choice and everyone here was really excited for him to choose  Theodore Roosevelt - An American Original . All of my kids have loved learning about 'Teddy Roosevelt' and so I know this book will be read by all three of the kids. The Heroes of History collection from YWAM Publishing is by far one of our favorite educational book series. They are written in a narrative style and chronicle remarkable true stories of amazing men and women. There are twenty-nine books in the whole series and it's Captains goal to read and own each one. They start with Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 and end with Ben Carson 1951. This list shows the books listed in chronological order and would be an excellent way to read them so the child basically reads their way through history using these biographies. I'm sure you can

We had a fun, busy weekend. Nearly 11 hours each way! However, we had a great time together with family. How did we pass the time you may ask... We listen to all 10 hours of The Alchemyst on the way out.  We are on book two now on the way home! Such a fun story...suitable for everyone. We have all been listening. Now DVDs this trip, its been fun to be into the same book.  Filey travels really well and loves hanging out near the air vent! A lot of hours in 3 days, but completely worth the short time we got to spend with family!