Middle Grade Book- Quest for the King’s Crown {Focus on the Family with Tyndale House Publishers}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Focus on the Family 

Did you know Focus on the Family with Tyndale House Publishers offers children’s books with Christian values, for all ages and stages of childhood? Some of my children recently read Quest for the King’s Crown, the 7th chapter book in The Last Chance Detectives series. They have really enjoyed it. This series has been updated with new stories, and is rereleased just in time for your adventure loving kids!

This is going to make a great Christmas gift for independent readers on a 2nd grade+ level, and a read aloud for all ages.

Quest for the King's Crown from Focus on the Family with Tyndale House

In this adventure friends Mike, Winnie, Ben, and Spence are searching for a lost treasure that could make them richer beyond their wildest dreams, but they aren’t the only ones searching for the treasure. Readers will learn along side the friends what discernment is, and that some things aren’t worth all the riches in the world.

My 12 year old thought it wasn’t long enough ???? which is about right for a girl that wants books to have 300+ pages. But overall she said it was a fun story, and thought her younger siblings (8 and 10) would enjoy it more than her. There wasn’t anything objectionable she wished wasn’t in the book, and she is a little more particular than even I am. haha

This is a 160 pages softcover chapter book that offers adventure from the beginning to the end, with twists and turns that will keep your kiddos reading. From my perspective, there is quite a bit of dialogue, which isn’t my favorite for a read aloud. But I do think this series, and the Quest for the King’s Crown in particular, is a great way to get our kids reading on their own. My 10 year old has started it, but hasn’t yet finished. He is enjoying the plot, and for a boy who only wants to read hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure books, that is saying something.

My 12yo says the funniest part of Quest for the King’s Crown was “the hot sauce part- when the person they think is the bad guy approaches them, and the little old throws hot sauce on him.” Lessons learned include discernment, judgement, and what a treasure really is (hint, it isn’t riches ???? ).  I would say there is a definite Indiana Jone’s vibe with mystery and excitement, without the violence and gore, which most boys especially are going to enjoy.

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Homeschool Printables from SuperTeacherWorksheets.com 

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Super Teacher Worksheets

SuperTeacherWorksheets.com is possibly the largest online worksheet resource for homeschoolers, offering over 20,000 printable PDF resource! As homeschoolers, many of us approach elementary education from a Charlotte Mason, classical, or eclectic viewpoint. I would say in any homeschool style, there is always room for a little fun review, extra practice, or a seasonal activity printable. These PDFs are going to be best for K-5th grade level students. We received the 1 year membership, and I have so many plans for using it over the next year! The unlimited year membership is only $24.95 for an individual and include *unlimited* downloads. No more searching the internet for hours, getting side tracked with 100 tabs open, and never printing off what you were looking for … (just me? ???? )

SuperTeacherWorksheets.com  24.95 for a year unlimited downloads

What Is It?

SuperTeacherWorksheets.com is a perfect resource for any homeschool family that needs custom printables for specific learning areas or skills.If you ever find yourself looking online for printables, look no more! Because you will find worksheets for math, reading, writing, phonics, spelling, science (and more!), all your printable-needs will be met with this one subscription. I like to use them for weaker areas where we need extra time for learning a specific skill. The worksheets are super easy to use as a supplement with manipulatives like snap cubes, real money, counting bears, and shapes for hands-0n learning!

I also like to have printables ready for our on the go clipboard work. I will print off a few sheets for each child, put them on their clipboards so they can work while we wait at the doctor, the dentist, or drive to town. Some skills just need extra time, and that’s okay! With SuperTeacherWorksheets.com we have access to all the printables we need, in one place. Woo hoo!

We often do a fun school season around Christmas, or add in extra activities for Resurrection Sunday, so I really like that they offer printouts for holidays and other seasonal activities. The autumn scarecrow letter mix-up example below includes the page to write the letters, but also has the letters students can cut (fine motor skills), and scramble around to see and build the words they are making before writing them. This adds a hands component to the worksheet; I have found many of the worksheets

SuperTeacherWorksheets.com  24.95 for a year unlimited downloadshomeschool printables SuperTeacherWorksheets.com  24.95 for a year unlimited downloads

Parents will find math games, cut and paste activities to encourage fine motor skills, puzzles, entire spelling units, phonics mini-books, and more! There is also a worksheet generator feature that allows you to create worksheets for math skills, games and flashcards, different kinds of puzzles, ABC order sheets, quizzes, teaching tools, and there is an area to save your generated worksheets! So you don’t have to recreate worksheets you’ve made before. Im telling you, the uses are endless and the resources are such go0d quality.

homeschool printables SuperTeacherWorksheets.com  24.95 for a year unlimited downloads

This is maybe one of my favorite reviews … ???? but also one of the most utilized in our homeschool. I can even set my 11 year old up on the website and have her search for what we need, and let her do the organizing. Delegating is the best. ????

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Art Class at Home- ARTistic Pursuits Homeschool Art

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

ARTistic Pursuits 

If you are looking for a great art core series for your homeschool, look no further than ARTistic Pursuits.  My oldest daughter has been so interested in art the last few years; she has always been a creative girl doing all sorts of handicrafts. But in the last year or 2 she has really taken by art, drawing, and doodling on everything (including her math work). She has never had a formal art class, outside of a co op art class which would be similar to elementary art, so we began with Drawing with Graphite Pencils, Art Core 1.

We have been using the physical product, but also received the streaming flip book and videos. This is a great option for families that do not want/need a physical product and only want an online resource. The streamed flip book is an exact copy of the hardcover textbook, with thumbnails, note taking capabilities, zoom in and full screen features, as well as a table of contents tab for easy navigation to the lessons.

ARTistic Pursuits Graphite Drawing Core 1

What Is It?

Drawing with Graphite Pencils, Art Core 1 is a non-consumable (it can be reused) beginner art program focusing on Element of Art. The program comes with a high quality hard cover textbook, dvd video lessons, and you can choose to add lifetime streaming if you’d like. This is an independent course that does not require intense parent involvement- students will read the 10 minute lesson material from the textbook (which can be led/ discussed with parent, but isn’t required), set up the video, have materials ready and begin!

ARTistic Pursuits Graphite Drawing Core 1

Materials needed include:

  • the program textbook and videos (physical or streaming)
  • paper- we used a sketch book
  • 4 graphite pencils
  • vinyl eraser
  • pencil sharpener
  • 8 sheets of black construction paper

Each of the 4 units is divided into 4 lessons, and has students observing the art element from that lesson in their environment, studying the element in art of the masters, and how to incorporate each element into their own works of art. Then students will complete a project for each lesson; projects may take up to 50 minutes, but if you child is like mine, they will most definitely enjoy it and the time will fly by. While lessons are designed for 2x a week, my daughter was doing them as often as she could! I can already see we will be needing the next program, Core 2, very soon!

homeschool art ARTistic Pursuits Graphite Drawing Core 1

Units included in the program cover:

  • lines
  • space
  • shape
  • texture
  • value
  • form
  • animal forms
  • human forms
  • man-made forms

homeschool art ARTistic Pursuits Graphite Drawing Core 1

You will also find objectives listed in the back of the book for documentation/grading purposes (if that is required for your state).

Drawing with Graphite Pencils, Art Core 1 can be used with multiple students, and because it is non consumable can be used over and over gain. ????  my 7 year old is already watching along with big sister and wants so badly to begin her lessons.

So, what did we think? It is probably pretty clear that this is one of our very favorite reviews this year! However, it is more than that … it is probably one of our favorite homeschool programs we’ve used. It has brought joy into our homeschool day; it is simple, my daughter has learned so much already, and I can see her confidence growing. (and did I mention it’s independent at this age/level if I need it to be?!). The videos aren’t cheesy or boring, they’re concise, fun, easy to follow, and very clear on explanations.

Thank you ARTistic Pursuits for a wonderful homeschool art program we can count on and enjoy! We look forward to using the rest of the cores offered!

 

Video #4 Texture Drawing from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. on Vimeo.

 

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Holland Lops, Health, and Herbs: Friday on the Farm

This Friday on the Farm is brought to you by a dear friend, who shared some bunnies with our family.

I always joke with my husband that about the time my youngest is turning 2, I get antsy because Im used to having another baby on the way! So when we don’t have another human baby on the way, we end up with more baby animals… This addition is bunnies!

These bunnies came in a larger group at a sale; they were all a bit sickly and needed some extra care. My friend nursed them for a while, and then we took on these 2. We are still nursing them, and I can get into those details in a bit.

Meet Dandelion and Plantain- affectionately named after their favorite foods. ????

These girls appear to be Holland Lops; Im going off of the crown of hair on the back of their heads, the size of their heads, and their personalities. Dandy is the brown girl, and Plantain is the tri-color. These girls are so sweet, but Plantain isn’t super excited about being held yet. She is getting much easier to pet though. Dandy is a happy, chill girl while Plantain is much more curious and bouncy.

Nursing Sick Holland Lops: herbals and supplements

These girls have already fattened up a bit. We pick buckets of dandelions and plantain leaves for them every day, and they love them! They had a little soft poop when they got here last Sunday, probably due to stress, so I looked up what plants to feed them. So far these have helped them a lot! At the bottom of this post, I will add links to the websites I’ve been using to reference herbs.

Before they made it here, my friend was using echinacea tea and diluted silver in a spray bottle. They were improving. Once I got them here, I thought it might be good to switch things up every few weeks. So we began:

  • Vetericyn Spray in eyes and nose (they dont mind this a bit)
  • grapefruit seed extract in their water
  • dandelions and plantain leaves from the yard, for their medicinal and immune building benefits
  • I just started them back on ecchinacea tea (had to order some without elderberry in it)
  • Im adding 1/4tsp a week of Molly’s Herbal wormer. This is what we use for our goats, I need to use it for our dogs, and so I thought it would be a great addition for these girls.

Side note: We got the C Virus in January and it came along with pink eye. Ever since then whenever we get sick, I end up with pink eye and so do a few of the kids. Because it is usually viral, my colloidal silver will make it go away, but hasn’t been keeping it from coming back a day or 2 later. This time someone recommended we try the Vetericyn spray in our eyes. IT WORKED! it took about 2 days each, and our eyes were clear. It took a little longer for the toddler, but that’s probably because he’s obsessed with blowing his nose right now, and wiping it all over his face ????‍♀️ I know. I know. He’s almost 2 y’all, and I give up. ????

We always use this on our animals, but I am not keeping it in our human first aid kit as well.

 

 

Here are the links Ive been referencing so far:

If you have any tips for a new rabbit owner, feel free to share those with me. Also, we may have miss on one, so I think we will call the vet and ask about that.

And if you have any specific questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back with you. If I can’t help, I will ask someone who can. =)

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Zondervan NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Zondervan

Zondervan‘s NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers is one of the very best beginner Bibles for children who are of reading age. We have use various versions of their Adventure Bible over the years. My children usually get this as their first “real” Bible around 7 years old, or when they really start to show me they’re old enough for the responsibility.

This is a beautiful, full color, hardback Bible made just for beginner readers who are ready to transition from read-to-me story Bibles, to a full text Bible. The NIrV translation is also going to work well for struggling readers, and those that do not speak English as their first language. It is going to be loved and treasured, I know our kids have all loved theirs. It makes a great gift, too!

NIrV Adventure Bible for Beginner Readers

What It Is

The NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers is a step up from story Bibles, and one step closer to reading the NIV version of scripture. (Of course later parent’s can have their children transition from NIrV to whatever translation they prefer.)

Because this Bible is the NIrV translation, it is written at a third grade reading level, using short sentences and easy to understand language. This helps early readers understand God’s Word sooner, one their own, without the struggle of words and comprehension they’re not yet ready for. It is a great choice for readers ages 6-10, or anyone who is considered a “beginning reader” and beyond.

The NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers offers:

  • Complete text of the Bible in NIrV translation
  • Full color text and illustrations (which my kids *love*)
  • Articles and illustrations describing life in Bible times, to help children make connections from their world, to Biblical times
  • Words to Treasure, which highlights great Bible verses to memorize (My oldest really loved this about her Bible)
  • Interesting facts under Did You Know sections
  • People of the Bible offering articles about people from God’s story
  • Live It! sections offer ways to apply Biblical truths in everyday life
  • Book introductions help explain useful information about the book, to help the reader’s comprehension
  • A dictionary/concordance
  • A color map section for locating places in the Bible. (This is also great for homeschool Bible activities)
  • 9 point font-not too small for readers, but small enough for a Bible to is easy to carry around

NIrV Adventure Bible for Beginner Readers

While the features of The NIrV Adventure Bible are fabulous, I think the translation is pretty special. I love that it grows with your child, their maturity, and their understanding of The Word. This time my youngest daughter (almost 6) has enjoyed exploring a real Bible, and it definitely draws her in because of the language. It’s not a simple, choppy reader, but it’s not as complex as an adult translation like NIV, or ESV. Its developmentally appropriate language, vocabulary, and cadence make this Bible accurate, and fun to read. This is important for early readers, or even more seasoned readers.

Genesis-NIrV Adventure Bible for Beginner Readers

I think this translation is not only more simple to understand, but because it is so clear for beginner readers, it makes that relationship with God seem more tangible. It can be intimidating as a child to not understand what you are reading. I love that this makes comprehension easier for all level of readers. This is going to be a wonderful addition to any homeschool, too! Scripture is a perfect way to do copywork for learning grammar, spelling, and vocabulary!

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NIrV Adventure Bible for Beginner Readers

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YWAM Christian Heroes Series: Lottie Moon

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

YWAM Publishing

Our family enjoys the Christian Heroes Then and Now series from YWAM Publishing. If you haven’t heard of this series, it is a series of chapter books focusing on the biographical life story of young men and women who have answered the call God laid on their life. These Christian biographies for kids and families are absolutely wonderful! We’ve read a few different ones, this time my 5th grader enjoyed Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China. Many of these stories are of Christian missionaries, others are written about famous Christians like C.S. Lewis, and their walk with the Lord.

YWAM Publishing Lottie Moon- Christian Heroes Missionary Stories

About Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China

This 208 page, paperback book has a beautiful, thick cover with binding that isn’t going to fall a part after a few reads (???? good thing with 5 kids …). The pages in the YWAM book are great for highlighting with a colored pencil. I love that the cover gives us something to explore in the book about the person, and the culture they lived in.

I would say Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China is appropriate for ages 10+ to read on their own, and probably for 8+ as a read aloud.

My daughter says

“At first Lottie Moon didn’t like the idea of being a missionary, even though she lived in a Christian environment. She grows up, and feels led by the Lord to declare she is a Christian; then she starts a school for girls. Her little sister, Eddie, goes to be a missionary in China. Then she goes to China to be with her sister, and become a missionary. I don’t want to tell you the rest, because it will spoil it.”

Isn’t it funny how the Lord works in our lives, how He allows experiences that mold and shape our views, then He gives us a new perspective? A perspective with a renewed heart. I would say the same is true for Lottie Moon, the wealthy young girl who thought all Christians were a bunch of gossiping, bitter churchgoers. She was a well educated Southern woman, who was called by God to do even more in the way of missionary work. She followed that calling, and because of her many people heard The Good News. As always, blessings flowed from trusting the Lord, and living according to His plan.

What do I love about this series of books?

I love that everyday kids and families get to hear the amazing way God worked in everyday people’s lives to glorify Him, to change their lives, and bless others in the process. I love that real life is intertwined with Biblical truth, as it should be. I love that children can see God’s amazing work happening in places where things are harder, less comfortable, and appear to be falling apart.

YWAM publishing also offers unit studies for their Christian Heroes Then and Now series. You can find the unit studies on their website. The unit studies can be used for personal study time by the student, filled in/answered as a family discussion style, or used as assessment if needed. They include an overview for how to use in the classroom//homeschool setting, Sunday school classes/small group, and an overview guide of what’s included in the unit studies. You will find a list of all the books in the Christian Heroes Then and Now series, and what they focus on. This is going to help parents and teachers incorporate each book into whatever their family is studying at the time.

Right now we are in year 1 of American History, but after year 2 we will be in Eastern studies. This guide is going to be so helpful for planning read aloud and readers for my children! For a complete list of what is included in the unit studies, visit the website and check out the description of guides you are looking for.

YWAM Publishing Study Guides

The Christian Heroes: Then & Now Unit Study Curriculum Guides cover:
  • Student Explorations – essay writing, creative writing, hands-on projects, audio/visual projects, arts/crafts
  • Social Studies – reproducible maps, geography, terms/vocabulary, journey tracking, critical thinking
  • Bible Study – scripture memorization, devotional application, spiritual concepts
  • Community Links – meaningful field trips, guest speakers, service projects
  • Related Themes to Explore – missions, current events, life skills, math, government, science
  • Bibliography or Related Resources – books, movies, documentaries, magazine articles, websites
  • Culminating Event – project displays, cultural food, music, oral presentations

This resources is invaluable for a homeschool or a classroom setting. Definitely check them out!

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SchoolhouseTeachers.com Homeschool Membership {self paced, online learning}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

SchoolhouseTeachers.com

This week I get to share with you all about the Ultimate Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com a division of The Old Schoolhouse®. This is an online membership full of resources for parents, students, and online courses galore! Homeschool families will find online classes for kindergarten through 12th grade, including (but not limited to) history, science, math, Bible, language arts, and tons of electives. So many online electives, yall! Membership also includes access to hundreds of streaming resources, World Book, and more.

It would be impossible for me to hit all of the amazing benefits of this membership, but I will certainly do my best to highlight what I think will be most appealing to my readers.

 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Welcome

What is Included with the Ultimate Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com?

The Ultimate Membership is going to be any homeschoolers best friend. This online subscription is one price for the entire family, and gives you access to courses in every subject, every grade level, for every student in your home. You will find there are no textbooks to buy, hundreds of courses that are self paced, easy lesson plans to follow, and wonderful parent support!

There is an entire page worth of classes, just for parents; things like Building Faithful Kids, Finally Conquer Fractions, and Growing in Homeschool Confidence caught my eye, but the list is extensive. There is even a Joy in the Morning Christian Motherhood course.

And did I mention resources? Aside from printables, planning pages, organization, charts, and monthly menus you will find over 400 streaming resources. Some videos are included in the courses, but with the Ultimate Membership you also receive access to:

  • Creation.com
  • Drive Thru History
  • Vision Video
  • Discovery House
  • Boat Angel
  • City on a Hill Productions
  • RightNow Media
  • and more!

You may have heard of the popular Right Now Media.  There are shows and movies for adults, families, and specifically for kids.  Seeds Family Worship, The Pilgrim’s Progress, and The Torch Lighters series are some of our favorites.

 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com

The website is easy to navigate and laid out in an organized fashion that makes it simple to get where you need to go. Classes offered cover all subjects from kindergarten to 12th grade, including core subjects, arts, and electives. I can’t possibly list all the individual classes offered, but you can check them all out here, or browse their website using the: grade tab, subject tab, or school boxes tab.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com subjects

 

Hey … speaking of school boxes!

SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers entire grade packages titled School Boxes for even easier planning and organization. If parents don’t want to pick and choose individual classes for each child, the prepackaged school box is the way to go. This can be especially convenient for planning high school; the 9h-12th grade boxes will contain everything your student needs to graduate with confidence that they have taken all the credits necessary for their homeschool diploma!

There are Prek and parent boxes coming, but in the meantime you will find school boxes for K-12th grades! Simply choose the grade that you need and then select the subjects you want to teach. Lesson plans are based on the Scope and Sequence found on the planning pages. Curriculum guides are provided for each subject and make everything so streamlined and simple. Each day the guide will provide the links needed for class. School boxes take care of the planning that may be overwhelming, or difficult during a season.

 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Preplanned School Boxes

 

I know you will find SchoolhouseTeachers.com is something that your family can benefit from, but just in case it turns out that it isn’t your jam, you can cancel anytime! And I can tell you first hand how great customer service is, so you never have to worry about getting help when you need it.

Coupon code time! Use the coupon code FINISHWELL on the quarterly membership through 3/18 and families can get the quarterly ultimate membership for grades PreK-12th for $45. (You will continue to keep your current price, even if it’s a sale price, as long as you keep your membership active.)

This includes a quarterly print subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and Applecore Silver Plan, a record keeping program!

SchoolhouseTeachers.com

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Math Mammoth: Homeschool Math Spotlight

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew
Math Mammoth

We’ve been using Math Mammoth in our homeschool the last several weeks. My 5th grader has been going through the Grade 6 Skills Review Book, and my 7 year old has been working on the 2nd grade Light Blue Series (also called Math Mammoth Complete Curriculum). We received the digital sets for review, but you can also purchase CDs, and physical copies. There are some pros to the Digital version- one being that you can print as many copies as you need for all your kids. But what is also cool, the PDFs can be filled out using a computer, phone, or tablet. You can find instructions for how to do that on Math Mammoth’a website.

 

Math Mammoth

About Math Mammoth

Maria Miller is a math teacher and homeschool mom; she created Math Mammoth out of the desire to help homeschool moms teach the why. This is a program specifically designed for homeschoolers, by a homeschool mom and math teacher by degree- Sounds pretty awesome to me!

Math Mammoth Light Blue Series is a full math curriculum program for grades 1-7. It is mastery oriented, which means that students will be mastering one skill before moving on to the next skill. Each chapter focuses on one topic and its related skill sets. Mental math is a big emphasis in this program, along with number sense.

Number sense is so important- you know, it’s that thing that most of us were never taught, because we were learning skills before we really understood what they were for. Raise your hand if you had no idea the tens place was actually just a place for groups of 10 ones, until you were teaching your first born math in kindergarten?

No?

Just me? Okay then …

The Skills Review books are just that- they cover the review of skills learned in the curriculum. They are spiral oriented, which means they cover lots of concepts at once.

These books are broken down into chapters, and those chapters correlate with that grade level’s curriculum. It can be used right along side the curriculum for added review and practice. If you’re trying to catch up a child who is moving from public school to homeschool, or maybe they need some enrichment over the summer or extra practice to keep skills fresh, this is probably a great book for that purpose.

foresee using this with my son to do some review on 4th grade math before hitting 5th grade next month.

Math Mammoth Grade 2 Light Blue Curriculum

What We Thought

Well, let me first tell you how much the Light Blue Series showed me that I needed to focus on number sense more with my 7 year old. This isn’t something that comes naturally to all children; sometimes a 5 year old may have better number sense than their older siblings… (hmm) But there are things we can do to build number sense for those that need extra practice, and Math Mammoth lays a good foundation for that!

I really liked that each lesson she went through in the 2nd grade curriculum had my daughter thinking about numbers with visuals. There is a great emphasis on visual models and this is oh. so. helpful! It helps the child understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. Which makes remembering how to get the answer much easier. It also makes self checking easier, because they understand the actual process, not just a set of procedures.

Math Mammoth Grade 2 Light Blue Curriculum

Grade 2 Math

I also love that the entire curriculum is written to the student; there is no script, or separate teacher’s manual. You can find notes for the teacher  at the beginning of each chapter, but the chapters can be completed ???? independently by your child, if so you choose. The included online videos of Maria teaching are great, and simple to understand. If your child needs someone to show them vs reading instructions, then the videos are going to be your friend! (Or you can show them).

The Skills Review book was wonderful! My 5th grader is a wonderful independent learner. She enjoys figuring things out for herself and comes to me only when she needs help. The review of 6th grade (which lined up with the beginning of her current 5th grade curriculum) really gave her a different perspective for doing math. I like that she is learning a deeper context to her math skills. We will continue with the Skills Review books for her as needed.

Overall, I am so glad we finally tried Math Mammoth; it is going to be great to incorporate it into our homeschool.  I love the foundation it lays for number sense and conceptual math skills for my youngers, and it’s especially going to beneficial as math concepts become more difficult for my olders. The kids enjoyed it, I think they liked the change and the way the math was explained.

If you’ve been hesitant about trying Math Mammoth, check out their samples online, the free videos and other great resources shared on the website. I didn’t know that treasure trove was there before this review, and I wish I had!

Math Mammoth

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{updated!} Homeschool Valentine Resources for the Very Young

Updated, originally published Feb 2014

Valentine’s Day is upon us.  And in honor of that, I am here with some great Valentine’s Day Resources for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Free Valentine's Day Resources for Prek-K from Quietinthechaos.com

  • I really like BusyBeeKidsCrafts.com  They offer lots of printable educational Valentine’s Day activities such as word searches, mazes, math worksheets, and dot to dots.  Lexie really enjoys dot to dots, mazes, and anything where she has to find numbers.
  • As you may know, I loove This Reading mama all year round!  We use one of her reading curricula to supplement our homeschool activities.  She also has some great Valentine’s Day activities and printable packs:
  • Cutting practice (my daughter’s favorite!)
  • Entire PreK V-Day printable pack, including emergent readers, rhyming activities and more!
  • This awesome Valentine’s Day Scripture pack is one of my favorites!  It is a countdown to VDay, using scripture, courtesy of Kim from Not Consumed.  She has some other great resources on her site.  Check it out!
  • I think we made these every year in school, and it never got old- Tissue Paper Hearts using paper plates and tissue paper
  • Marble painting is so fun, and is the perfect developmentally appropriate process art! Place cut out hearts on an old cookie sheet or box lid, roll marbles or golf balls in tempra paint (plastic bowls and spoons work well). Then, place the marble/ball on the cookie sheet/lid and roll around, leaving paint trails on the hearts. This is so easy, so fun, and makes super cute hearts for decorations and cards! Younger and older kids will love this!
  • Noodle Garland is a great fine motor activity for all ages as well! Get some different shaped pastas, paint them with red and pink tempra paints. Then glue onto cut out paper hearts. Hang them on twine via little wooden clothes pins.
  • ChristianPreschoolPrintables has some fun Bible themed Valentine’s Day printables- you can make your own valentines, create a minibook, and print a VDay sewing craft!  Lots of fun stuff for the tiny humans.  =)

 

 

Valentine's Day RoundUp

Our Homeschool Nature Study- No Sweat Nature Study

We love our No Sweat Nature Study subscription! (FYI, this is not a promotional post. I’m writing this as my kids enjoy NSNS, and I’m learning along).  This is the second year our  Mia (grandma) got us an annual subscription for Christmas. The kids love it, and it enriches our homeschool in many ways.

My 4 oldest children, 5 to 11 years old, can follow along with the nature study. They each work at their own pace, which is exactly what we want in our homeschool, right?!

I don’t have to think about what to plan for nature study, it’s already done for me. And because all of Mrs. Cindy’s classes are based on seasonal topics, we can use those topics as a jumping off point for some light unit study learning in our home.

I don’t typically do full blown unit studies, (unless we are traveling somewhere new like the ocean, Grand Canyon, etc) but I do enjoy filling our home with topical books, via book baskets and our ledge shelves.

Homeschool nature study

No Sweat Nature Study gives us a perfect way to choose books, games, and other activities to continue our learning. As homeschool moms we are always looking for ways to make learning a natural part of our home. For our family, that means lots of good books, lots of reading aloud, playing games as a family, and lots of open ended play out of doors.

I love that no sweat nature study fits right in with our family values, and how we enjoy learning.

Check out Cindy’s nature study program- there are different subscription lengths, so you can try it and make sure you like it before committing to a longer subscription.  (but I promise, your family will enjoy it!)

 

 

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