Enjoying the Chaos

Jam loves history, especially American History. We have also been using some lapbook products from Hands of a Child . So when we were asked if we wanted to try a NotePack I was very interested. Jam loved the NotePack for  Battle of the Alamo from Hands of a Child.    We have done a lot of Lap books before so I was very interested in the NotePacks and the fact that they were for an older age group. This NotePack is designed for grades 7-12. Jam actually worked on this all by himself. The pack includes a 6-day Planning Guide, Related Reading List, 16 Hands-On Activities, a 9-page Research Guide, and an Answer Key. Jam loved it, and commented that he did prefer it over the regular Lap books we have done before. It was a case of "I think I am too old for all the cutting and pasting."  Jam already knew quite a lot about the Alamo as he is a history buff and seems to remember anything historical he reads. However in this pack it covers the event...

    When I was offered to review one of the DVDs from  BrainFood Learning we were very excited. All of our regular DVDs, games, toys etc were in storage as we were moving. Little J chose Fascinating World of Mammals DVD and to say he was thrilled was an understatement.   We decided to watch the DVD the first day it arrived, and it was a huge hit. Since my Mom has an amazing projection TV the animals were larger than life. The DVD is very detailed and therefore suitable for all ages. I love that it doesn't use childish names for things. You can click on 'play all' or just play certain sections. Boo loved to click on the animals in different orders. Little Jam just hit play and watched the whole thing all the way through. The mammals featured in this video include beaver, kangaroo, moose, dolphin, lion, giraffe, elephant, bat, chimpanzee, and bear each of the mammals are identified and shown in their natural habitat. There is also a multileve...

I have heard a lot about  Classical Conversations but I had never used any of their curriculum. So when I was offered the chance to use and review  PreScripts Cursive Letters and Coloring I thought it would be a good chance to look at what the company had to offer. Classical Conversations   combines a classical education with a biblical worldview. To explain a little more about their physiology I went to their website and it says... There are two ways in which Classical Conversations "combines classical learning with a biblical worldview." The first is the more significant: classical education is a methodology. In important ways, it is not content-based—although excellent content must of course be chosen. It is a method, and its methodology is expressed through the Trivium, three of the seven Liberal Arts. "Liberal," in this case, stems from the Latin word liber, meaning "free." Education by means of the seven Liberal Arts nurtures childre...

Every since I started homeschooling two years ago one company name has been suggested to me over and over by fellow home schooler's Institute for Excellence in Writing also called IEW.  I was given the amazing opportunity to review Teaching Writing: Structure and Style  and Student Writing Intensive Level B . Most of the reviews that I have done have been focused on my children. It was amazing to spend the last few weeks being taught how I can be a better teacher.   This set includes; 10 DVDs: Six DVDs with instruction on the nine structural models and multiple stylistic techniques (10 hours total viewing time—may be watched all at once, or viewed one disc at a time throughout the school year) Tips & Tricks for Teaching Through the Nine Units , a two hour supplemental DVD refresher course Three DVDs of sample student workshops at three different grade levels to help you with that first lesson The TWSS Seminar Workbook, which serves as t...

My children LOVE to paint, they never turn down an opportunity to get out our paints and brushes. When I was offered a chance to review a DVD art lesson by the company See The Light I jumped at the chance. Dave and Pat Holt are the driving force behind this company, they are joined by an excellent group of artists and musicians to share biblical principals and art in a way that complement each other perfectly. We were lucky enough to receive our first choice Repeated Sweets I chose this topic because I wanted to do this with both my son Jam (12) and daughter Boo (10) and of course sweets, cakes, donuts and ice cream would appeal to both of them. My children were very excited for this review, this excitement increase the day my husband brought home a dozen decorated doughnuts for the kids to use as props. Unfortunately they were all eaten before they were drawn and so my husband 'had' to bring more home. I think he enjoyed this part of the project the most. Rep...

  I have just found out about a new resource I wanted to share with you. schoolhouselibrary.net This is another awesome site brought to us by the  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine if you remember I blogged about this magazine here. This resource looks awesome and is available for a one time purchase of $25.00. For this you get 175 eBooks, audio books specially designed to offer home school support from a variety of  popular home school publishers. There are also study guides, lap books, timelines available. Here's a list of examples... 2 Study Guides from YWAM Draw Write Now Sampler E-Book by Barker Creek Heroines of the Past -Victorian unit study from Amy Puetz Map Trek: Atlas and Outline Maps of World History from Knowledge Quest Teaching Writing E-Book from WriteShop 15 audio E-Books from My Audio School in history and literature A Glimpse at Carnivorous Plants Lapbook from In the Hands of a Child Video from Jessica Hulcy on  “Learning as...

Ever since I started to Home School two years ago. I have wanted to learn Spanish with my children (notice I said 'learn with' and not 'teach' - that will give you an idea of my ability.) However it has been something that completely overwhelmed me. When I got the chance to review  Spanish for You   I jumped at the chance. For the first time learning Spanish seems like an obtainable goal. We have been using the Fiestas package. Click  here to see samples page for this unit. The author of this program Debbie Annett has been teaching Spanish for 14 years. She gives her reasons for writing this program on her  About the Author page. A need for easy flow from elementary/middle school Spanish into any high school curriculum. A need for an easy to schedule program that accomplishes much learning over time without being overly burdensome.   A need for an effective curriculum that would allow families or schools to use the same book with all their stu...