Homeschool Bible Study with Grapevine {a review}

by Meghan // March 9, 2016 // Comments off

This year as part of TOS Review Crew I was ecstatic to see Grapevine Studies on the list! Last year we used and reviewed one of their Bible studies and truly enjoyed it, so I couldn’t wait to try their next study, New Testament Overview Part I: John to the Apostles. We received the Beginner and Beginner Traceable levels.

About The Study

This study is at the beginner level, but there are levels for every student. Each study consists of 22 lessons total; we used these 2-3 times a week to supplement on bible study. We reviewed the digital downloads which we are able to print at home and use for the entire family; Grapevine also offers physical book options.

I like the layout of Grapevine’s teacher book. It is color coded so I know exactly what I am looking at, which is especially great it you are an “open and go” homeschool mom (or dad).

The teacher’s guide also offers

Teachers Goals and Students Goals section (which are broad goals for the study as a whole)
supply list
Lesson Goals and Key Points for each individual lesson

Included in each lesson is (for the teacher) are which passages of the Bible to read for study, some explanations for the teacher, section and review questions to ask the student(s). I like that they include a picture of the student’s page so I don’t have be right next to my children or see exactly what they’re doing.

The difference between the Beginner Student and Beginner Traceable is just that- one student’s book is traceable and one is blank. The traceable is great for those just starting out with Grapevine that need help understanding just how to stick figure.

How We Used The Study

These studies are so great for all types of learners; my children are young so they are still very wiggly and need something to do with their hands while they listen and learn. Drawing through the Bible (Grapevine’s studies) is just perfect for us; they really liven up Bible lessons and keep those hands-on learners minds’ busy! My son is 3, and so far has shown me he is most definitely in need of hands on learning with lots of visual explanation and demonstration. While he traced along the best he could (or wanted, rather) with his older sister, I can most definitely see this being a perfect fit for him when he is really ready for school!

As I mentioned above, we used these lessons 2-3 times a week (usually just 2 because we only school 4 days a week) to go along with our Bible reading from our curriculum. These could be stand alone studies with no additional Bible study needed. The lessons took us a little longer than it probably would take most families; we spent about 25 minutes each day to complete 1-2 lessons. My children ask tons of questions so we re-read some scriptures a few times. My daughter likes to explain back to me what we have read, so that also adds some time to lessons.

What We Think

I love that Grapevine includes their statement of faith (every homeschool should have one, if you don’t a simple google search will take you to some great blogs that can help you nail one down), their inspiration, their mission, and method in their teacher’s books. It really helps set my mind on what I am working towards also, so I say don’t skip reading that part if you use their homeschool Bible study!

Grapevine is a big hit in our home, again! We enjoy these lessons, the discussion they bring into our home, what the kids are really getting out of the Bible, and how simple yet effective they are. You can go as deep or stay as simple as you’d like. My children ask to do “history Bible” which is what they call Grapevine. My son just in the last few weeks has become adamant that he does exactly what big sister does,and with Grapevine that is so easy for ME- because he can sit in while I read the scriptures, then trace the pictures to make those connections concrete for him, although he can’t yet draw detailed pictures. My daughter is enjoying the Beginner Level and I can’t wait to see how she progresses as we continue to use Grapevine.

Check Out Grapevine Studies Online:

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Preparing for Spring on the Farm {Daybook 21}

by Meghan // March 7, 2016 // Comments off

Outside my Window …
Spring is here … about 6-8 weeks early. It is warm, there are buds on the trees, the perennials in the flower beds are blooming. J.Tom and I spent the weekend cleaning out the asparagus bed, and pruning roses. Then we cleaned out the flower beds around the house, cut back their bushes, mulched the beds, and fixed/replaced the sprinklers that needed work. We have purchased the hot wire to keep animals out of the garden, and will get that installed before we plant in the coming month.

The chickens are free ranging in the back and Thora is laying on the stoop. The wind is blowing crazy-hard so we called it an afternoon for now.

I am thinking…
I can’t believe spring is really here! I know we will probably get a cold snap (over night freeze) between now and Easter, and if we don’t the bugs are going to be killer this summer! But, man. I LOVE SPRING

I am thankful…
for SPRING! Oh, did I already mention that? Okay, then I am thankful for a husband that loves working in the yard and making things pretty, mostly because he knows it makes me happy. It is much more fun doing it together.

In the kitchen…
It probably still smells like bacon from this morning. But everything is mostly cleaned up from lunch and ready for dinner.

I am wearing…
Denim shorts and an Old Navy maternity tshirt. It is warm enough for shorts- whew I love the sunshine!

I am creating…
Dresses for the girls. I just finished Lexie’s, and I am almost done with Ila’s. Then I will start on their next few sets.

Pages in journaling bible. I will do a separate post with those details. It is so much fun!

I am going…
to Walmart this afternoon for a few random toiletries and sewing notions.

I am wondering…
If this wind is going to die down, it is so windy!

I am reading…
My Bible a lot more. I have been Bible journaling (it is so fun) and it has me constantly wanting to get into the Word.

I am hoping…
This week we get a good spring thunderstorm.

I am looking forward to…
My chickens laying their first eggs! The girls are almost mature. Their combs are just starting to get really red. They’re about 22 weeks old, so in the next 2-6 weeks we should have eggs!

I am also looking forward to our newest addition! Well, newest additionS.

We have:

-15 laying chicks on the way

-50 meat chickens on the way

-and my most very exciting announcement: A little heifer on the way! We should hopefully be picking her up next weekend and I cannot wait. Hopefully we can get her tamed and easy to handle so she will be the resident pet heifer and one day mama cow of the homestead. We are really excited, and haven’t told the kids yet since we won’t get her for another week. She is a Hereford/Dexter cross, and needs a name!

I am learning…
how very addictive farm animals really are, how much I *love* spring on the farm and am truly amazed at God’s world, how fast my children are growing up. We look at our babies and see them learning new milestones and turning into toddlers. But it seems like now that Lexie and Mister are almost 4 and 6, they’re really en-truly so different than they were until this point. It is amazing.

Max went out with J.Tom today for a boys morning out and I swear he came back more grown up than when he left. =/ Lexie has her daddy daughter date this afternoon to the orchestra.
Around the house…
Things are mostly picked up and done. We have spent so much time outside that it is hard to make messes inside (YAY). But, I can say ALL the laundry is DONE! bahahaha

A favorite quote for today…

One of my favorite things…
SPRING!

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Get the tags on my car, sign the kids up for swim lessons, truck on through school with the kids, prepare for the heifer, enjoy the weather, pray for a thunderstorm.

What is your favorite season? How do you prepare for spring?

Some Days Are Hard: Getting Out of A Rut {and weekly wrap up for Jan 22, 2016}

by Meghan // February 1, 2016 // Comments off

I love blogging, mainly because I enjoy writing, but also because I get emails and messages asking for help, our experiences etc. I am a transparent person, so I love sharing here!

I usually have encouraging things to say, great review info, or experiences to share. But lately …

Well, I’ve just been in a rut. (Haven’t I written that before?! … oh yes! yes, I have)

I don’t get into school ruts often, though. And I am still not 100% sure this rut I am in is directly school related, because I really feel like it’s a lack of the house being settled the move (some curtains not done, decorations not quite right, the basement isn’t perfectly set up, etc), and winter.

Every few years I just have a really hard time with winter-I remember specifically the years I was pregnant with Lexie and Max were hard. Not every year is this way; as a matter of fact the last 2 years in Nebraska, where it was OH-MY-GOSH so cold and windy, where I never went outside in winter time and everything was covered in snow until May, I had winters that were just fine. No ruts or frustrations or lack of motivation.

This winter has been really tough though. I don’t know if it is a combo of pregnancy (man, the last 7 weeks were killer), or cabin fever or what, but I haven’t been myself.

And when mama isn’t herself, things seem to fall apart little by little. And the first attack here is on menu planning, attitudes, and school.

SO … all that to say, over the last few weeks we have been reading our Sonlight books and doing those discussions, handwriting, weekly journal writings, and math (all because Lexie asks for them), but that’s it. We haven’t hit science thoroughly, we haven’t done art much, which we all love, and have not been notebooking through our Bible stories.

I do have to say, the kids seem mostly unaffected as far as school goes. They beg for learning time, books, activities, workbooks … it is me that feels *blah* about everything in general right now.

A sweet friend, and wonderful homeschool mama, came over this past week and we had a wonderful visit. She helped me come to the conclusion that I just need to relax.

I can do the assignments Lexie is interested in, and the rest doesn’t matter, because she is 5.
We can sit around and read books all day; they’re learning so much just from that (which is what we used to do, before winter got here and I slowly became consumed with everything in the house around me). It isn’t going to end the world if we leave a mess or two, or don’t get something done. (remind me of this first thing in the morning!)
I NEED to get back to a solid routine

That’s the second part of this post … what has made the last few months inside hard has also been a disruption of routine. We had a SOLID routine in place that was pretty much no-fail this summer and fall. That block of time outside first thing in the morning was heaven for all of us, and just set the tone for school and the rest of our day.

Today, I can’t take the kids outside in 20 degree weather first thing in the morning, and enjoy my coffee while watching them play, or go pick the garden. And it down right sucks.

We also didn’t have a library home. In NE we could just get out and go to the library; have a bunch of books on hold and take them home and read. Since we moved to KS, we haven’t joined a library, so my friend also helped with that! (Isn’t it wonderful who God puts in our lives?)

We went just last week to the library and I put a bunch of books about pioneers on hold. For the next few weeks we are going to read books on pioneers, cowboys, and the west (our current Sonlight topic and a favorite of both Lexie and Max’s), discuss, learn, maybe do some easy projects, and that’s it. I am going to enjoy these days with my babies and try to CHILL OUT. (easier said than done, but I am trying)

I know mamas with older children are thinking, “I can’t just stop everything we are doing and relax” …. But you know, I think you can. Isn’t that one reason why we homeschool?- because we know when we need a change, a break, or to feed our souls. It is hard to change our mentality when our eyes see everything around us and our brain says “I must get it all done.”

But what’s the most important work? That’s what I have to ask myself right now. And the answer is loving and nurturing my kids; building those relationships. It is a balance and it is HARD.

What to Do About Those Struggles

So, if you’re with me- stuck in a winter rut- know that it is okay. I am working on identifying why I am struggling and what I can do to fix that. So far, praying over it, and encouragement from a good, experienced friend has lead me to:

relax
work on a new routine and stick with it!
take it to the Lord
did I mention, relax?
Work on my word of the year, which was Joy. Find Joy in this winter ..

(not in that order….)

So I would say identify why you’re in a rut or struggling, make a plan to change those things, and go from there. That’s what I am trying to do! Trial and error, it is okay to fail. It is okay to apologize to your kids when you’re frustrated and have a bad attitude. Try, try again. =)

Yesterday I noticed the sun set about 6:00pm- WOO HOO! Can I get an Amen?! In 8 or so weeks spring will be here and I will only want to be outside all the time, so now is the time to embrace these days indoors … that is my new outlook!

How do you get out of the winter doldrums?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Fun-Time Phonics {a Beginner Phonics Program}

by Meghan // November 11, 2015 // Comments off

Fun-Time Phonics! by The Critical Thinking Co. is a 320 page phonics book, with 100 lessons, for children that are ready to learn beginning phonics and reading skills. We were able to use and review this as part of the Review Crew for the past several weeks with Max, and as review and reinforcer for Lexie. I received the paperback book which retails for $39.99.

I have always heard great things about The Critical Thinking Company; this particular book allows for copying pages within your family for multiple students. I found it interesting that none of the activities require writing , making this a developmentally appropriate program for early learners (which is perfect when your child’s fine motor skills haven’t quite met up with their cognitive abilities). I did let Max circle some of his answers, because he is all into being like big sister right now.

About Fun-Time Phonics!

The book opens with suggestions for parents/teachers when helping their children with the activities. Most of these are practical and very useful.

I really like that the pages are colorful, but not distracting; engaging, but not confusing. Thr program itself focuses on vowel patterns and comprehension as opposed to memorizing rules of reading. The lessons are broken down into progressive sections:

Phonemic Awareness
- beginning and ending sounds
- rhyming
- putting sounds together
- short vowel sounds
Alphabetics (longest section)
- short vowel letters
- consonants and co-articulation
Beginning to Read
Words I can Read

As you can see, the lessons begin with beginning letter sounds- NOT the letters themselves. Lessons go on to use rhyme to enforce phonemic awareness, and advance into short vowel sounds, middle sounds, and eventually work into blending letter sounds for learning to read!

What We Think About & How We Use Fun-Time Phonics

The program is designed for children ages 4 years- grade 2; Max is 3 and Lexie is 5. Max is not yet proficient in all his letter sounds, he has two or three he needs to master. But Lexie is a proficient beginning reader; she was able to do most of the lessons with ease. Max was not yet ready for some of them, but as he continues to learn they will be a fun addition to his preschool days. This is a program he can grow into.

We aimed to do 3 lessons a week with Max, though sometimes we did a review instead of moving on to the next lesson. Because the lessons are done just pointing, not writing, we were able to review lessons as needed with no problems!

I will say, this is an open-and-go program. Sometimes other curricula say they are open-and-go, but really are not. Fun-Time Phonics! is no prep; no pre-reading for parents, no cutting out, no printing, absolutely NO prepping. So if that is something you are looking for, I would definitely add it to your considering list. The instructions are simple for parents to follow and there are teaching tips along the way.

As I mentioned before, we will use this as a supplement for Max as he learns to read, probably for Ila when she is at the right age, and as reinforcement for Lexie (because she loves stuff like this). But for now, we won’t use it as a stand alone reading program.

I find this program is simple but clear, concise, easy to teach, and pretty thorough for beginning reader skills. What I also like about it is I can identify many parts of it with what I learned in college about teaching literacy. We focused very heavily on phonemic awareness, and its importance in college (in a teacher’s program), and this program definitely meets that criteria.

Connect With The Critical Thinking Co.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Weekly Wrap Up: October 29

by Meghan // November 6, 2015 // Comments off

writing amounts using the cents sign, reading “I Can Read It: Book2”, Mister coloring blueberries on the letter B

I am so behind on weekly wrap ups, baby updates, etc. I am so sorry y’all! I know many of my readers really look forward to those posts, and I have been seriously slacking since the move…. and the move was over in August, so no excuses.

This is more like a monthly wrap up.

The past month the 5 year old has been working on:

finishing AAR Level 1-learning new sounds for letters, open/closed syllables/
working through Saxon K (which she LOVES, so glad I chose not to skip it!)- telling time to the hour, and writing money using the cents sign, ordering items according to price
Sonlight language arts for supplementing- copywork, select grammar, I Can Read It book
HWOT Kindergarten book-she loves this and asks to do it all the time
Elemental Science (I will be honest, we haven’t been hitting this every week.. but the kids *love* science!)- we recently had a lot of fun learning about diluting using mud!
art lessons from Artistic Pursuits- again, a favorite!
Sonlight Core A- history, Bible, Read alouds, and geography- right now studying medieval times, working through Moses stories, and SL missionary stories. Our read aloud is Here’s a Penny and IT IS SO FUN! We love it so far; we recently finished up My Father’s Dragon which was also a favorite.
supplementing with Grapevine Bible lessons (review coming soon!)- Lexie *loves* history, it is her other favorite part about school
Lots of books- she reads to me a little, and the rest of the time I am just reading to all of the kids.

My 3 year old is working through:

Tagging along with big sister’s books
AAR Pre Reading level (just recognizing letters and their sounds, which he mostly already knows because of our ABC song)
ThisReadingMama’s letter of the week activities-when he feels like it
Before Five in a Row books- the last two weeks we have focused on the letter B and have been rowing Ask Mr. Bear. Mister has had so much fun with this book, and has especially enjoyed the rowing activities. He is at the age where he can listen to books and focus a bit longer on activities (especially if he gets to cut or glue!), and it is truly so much fun for us as a family!
identifying numbers through 10- the boy is obsessed with counting, and subtracting then recounting. I made a number line for the back of our backdoor (where all our learning charts are) and I bet he points to the numbers and counts at least 10 times a day!
Supplementing with Fun Time Phonics- review coming soon
just having fun and learning through play- lots and lots of play for everyone!

We discuss each morning: our manners, character traits, Bible, talking about being a good friend, helping others … The most important of all this, for us, is building faith, relationships, and character. Those are our main goals.

It looks like a lot- and it would be- but we don’t do this every day. We don’t even hit on all of this every week! The kids are young, I am following their lead because we can. They LOVE our Sonlight reading and on days that we don’t have it scheduled they are pretty bummed out about it. Mister some days doesn’t want to do school with us, and I am 100% fine with that- he is learning all day long while he plays, and while we read books.

I don’t want our days to be so consumed by “we have to get this done,” that we forget why we are homeschooling, why we are trying to live simply, why we are trying to not be consumed, or super-consumers. So the list above is like a buffet, we take from it what we need, going slowly and having fun!

Of course Ila is only 13 months old and is just tagging along, while going through her own developments. Those will get their own post in her 1 year update (coming soon, I hope!)

We have acted out parts of stories, built castles with “dungeons,” used compasses, played with play doh, baked, spent tons of time outdoors, gone on nature walks, and read books galore.

I hope November is as much fun and full of learning for all of us as October has been!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

The Nutcracker: A Ballet Story Put to Classical Music

by Meghan // October 30, 2015 // Comments off

Maestro Classics produces beautiful stories put to music; we have reviewed some of their Cds before. This time, we reviewed one of their newest additions: The Nutcracker. I received the physical CD, along with the activity book as part of The Crew.

This 1 hour version of the Nutcracker ballet is narrated by Jim Weiss, music is performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and originally composed by Tchaikovsky. Many of you know the story of the Nutcracker, but just incase here is a link to a synopsis of the story. I won’t recount the entire thing here. =)

What We Thought About The Nutcracker

First of all, I can tell you that anything by Maestro is going to be just beautifully done. But the Nutcracker is an absolute favorite! My five year old daughter has asked to listen to this classic story on CD almost every single day since we received it. She loves to look at the activity book pictures while she listens, or dance around to the music. I think at this point she can quote most of the narration … that is how much she enjoys it!

The music is of course the classic Nutcracker composed by Tchaikovsky, but Jim Weiss (as many know) in the king of narration! He keeps the music the center of the story, while adding just enough for those young listeners to really be able to visualize what is happening in the story. There are beautiful details in the story.

Just like last time, one my daughter’s favorite things was pointing out the different musical instruments. We read about the harp inside the activity book that was included with the CD. She enjoyed doing the crossword puzzle with me, but is still a big young for the longer words in the word scramble. She really enjoyed learning what different words from the activity book meant, such as overture, and discussing the sugar plum fairies and other details of the story.

Inside the activity book you will find:

The ballet acts broken down
A thorough history of ballet
An overture to The Nutcracker
The history and details of the harp
a short biography of Pytor Ilych Tchaikovsky
A word scramble
Crossword puzzle
It is all surrounded by beautiful illustrations

What I love about this CD is the music and narration are in perfect harmony; neither is too loud or overpowering of the other, they perfectly compliment each other. Both my daughter and my son have enjoyed playing while listening to The Nutcracker. They have turned it into their own pretend play and love acting it out. The music makes the narration so exciting, you cannot help but enjoy it. Lexie just keeps saying, “it is just a beautiful story, mama, isn’t it?” =)

Overall, like all their other productions, the Nutcracker is a beautiful story put to music. Their CDs would make perfect gifts or stocking stuffers for any child that enjoys books on tape and/or classical music. I think we will be giving some as gifts this year!

There are also great curriculum guides to go along with Maestro’s classics! Check them out.

Connect with Maestro Classics

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Miss Rumphius Unit Study/Guide {a review}

by Meghan // October 9, 2015 // Comments off

We have been working our way through a wonderful study guide by Progeny Press for the book Miss Rumphius; I am so excited to share it with you! I love unit studies and literature studies, so this was a wonderful addition to our book shelf.

About The Study Guide

This 45 page study guide is a digital download ($11.99) and is to be used with the book Miss Rumphius. It is for the early elementary/k-3rd grade level written by Dory Zinkand, but there are many other study guides for other books on other levels. You will need to already have the book (or get it from the library, etc) do complete the study guide.

The guide is broken down into a few study topics:

Before-You-Read Study
Before-You-Read Activities
Section 1: The Child Alice Sets Her Goals
Section 2: Miss Rumphius Travels and Comes Home to Live by the Sea
Section 3: The Lupine Lady Makes the World More Beautiful
After You Read Activities

The book Miss Rumphius is precious; it is about a young girl, Alice, who sets 2 goals for herself. She plans to travel the world like her grandfather, and then settle in a home by the sea. But her grandfather has her promise to also do something to make the world more beautiful (what wonderful life lessons for our own children). The story follows Alice on her journey of meeting these three life goals. This study guide by Progeny Press is a wonderful addition to reading Miss Rumphius.

What We Thought

We used the study guide as we read along in the book- we took our time so we could be thorough and go deeply into the book with the guide. My daughter is on the much younger end of the suggested level, but it was still developmentally appropriate for her! Because her writing ability is not yet at the same level as her comprehension, I read aloud the questions, and did much of the writing for her as she dictated to me.

What I really loved about this Miss Rumphius guide is how it beautifully integrates Bible study into the literature study; I feel like it showed my daughter how she can make text to world & text to text connections with our Bible verses and lessons. The guide also offered hands-on-studies, such as a nature hunt and observation (our favorite!), that asked critical thinking questions about the nature hunt. This is all very helpful for the teacher; the guide can truly be used as a unit study, and that is how I would describe it!

The comprehension questions go much deeper than even the story; they connect the reader’s real life to the lessons and meanings of the story. For instance, one question is: “When Alice sets her first two goals, how does she honor her grandfather?” The following questions take that answer and connects it with real life, “In what way do you already honor your parents and grandparents?” and “In what other ways could you honor them?”

Honestly, at first I thought this study guide would be a bit over my barely 5 year old’s head- but she soaked it all up! She needed help with some definitions, and examples of what it means to “honor,” etc. but the study guide as a whole was wonderfully thought provoking and put together well.

I also really appreciated the “Note to Instructor” section at the beginning of the study guide; it not only outlines the purpose of the study guide, but helps you understand as a teacher what your goals are for studying this piece of literature. There are multiple choice questions, open ended comprehension questions, character and language art lessons, and so many activities I can’t cover them all here. This is an awesome study guide!

Progeny Press has created a beautiful, comprehensive, and meaningful study guide for Miss Rumphius. I have no doubt we will use their other study guides for future literature!

Connect With Progeny Press:

How We Nature Study {Pre-K}

by Meghan // September 22, 2015 // Comments off

Part of our science curriculum this year includes nature studies.

Nature studies are simple, relaxed studies of things in nature (a quick google search will give you all the info you need about them). The best part is you can go as deep as you want

For our nature studies, I decided to begin with a few supplies:

nature study tote (I made ours, but any tote or backpack will do)
Pencil Box
Prismacolor Pencil Sharpener
Ebony Graphite Pencil
Watercolor Pencil Set
Mixed Media Book large
Mixed Media Book small
Magic Rub Eraser

I could have bought cheaper supplies and the kids would have been just as thrilled, but I think Lexie is ready to learn how to be more responsible with nice art supplies so I went ahead and got the good stuff. To begin our nature study we just pick a topic; as of right now we are using the topic that goes along with our lesson from Elemental Science.

First, we read a bit about the topic we will be studying. Then we take our totes full of our supplies and head out for the study. We do a nature walk until we find just what we are looking for, once we find it we begin observing and writing in our nature journals.

In the journal you can write questions you have, things you see, what you like, what is around you, etc. The possibilities are really endless.

You can collect things from your study to add into your journal (leaves, pins from pine trees, flowers to press, petals, pictures, etc). We have only done one real nature study and since it was our first we just drew a picture of what we saw into the mixed media book using the watercolor pencils and the ebony pencil. You can use anything you would like; I am not sure if we will keep our pages in the mixed media book or if we will pull them out and place in a binder so we can add extra pages and more bulky things to the journal as we go.

After exploring outside, we came back in and studied more about the particular tree we had been observing; we would do the same with any bug, flower, etc. I plan to gather info on our nature studies before hand so I can print lapbooks and journal pages that go with the theme; it will take a bit more planning on my end but will be well worth it!

And that was it! As we go more in depth and really get the hang of the nature study I will share more pictures and details.

Elemental Science: Our 2015 Homeschool Science Curriculum

by Meghan // September 17, 2015 // Comments off

I have had so many friends and readers asking about our science curriculum. Well, we finally started it!

This week was our first one back at school full time after our move to the farm. It has been great and everyone fell right into routine.

Part of our new routine includes our first real science curriculum: Elemental Science Intro to Science (which is on a Kindergarten level).

So far this curriculum is right up our family’s alley! It is based on the Classical and Charlotte Mason models of education; as you may know I LOVE teaching using those models and so far they fit my children’s learning styles well. It requires 2 books, 1)The Usborne Internet-Linked First Encyclopedia of Science and 2)More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children. The third book that is recommended, and I LOVE IT, is Handbook of Nature Study.

The Lessons:

Each week you have options for 2 or 5 day lessons; we do a combo depending on how much time we have (it worked out to 3 days this week). You will have your lesson intro, experiment, student notebooking sheets that go with that experiment, and a nature study! (see a sample HERE). There are also short reading assignments for most lesson from the required supplement books above.

The lessons each have an experiment, which for me is awesome because A) it is all set up for me and I have the books I need for it and B) I am not good with hands on … so it is good that it tells me I need to do it! (plus my kids love hands on stuff). I did buy the experiment kit because of the move and everything, I just didn’t want one more thing to do. But everything in it is pretty easy to come by so you could easily set up your own kit to pull from throughout the year. It was about $42, and I wasn’t disappointed.

This week we studied how matter can states; from a solid state to liquid and back again using old crayons for our experiment (via the curriculum). We also did a little experiment that was in the science encyclopedia creating gas!

Then we took our science outside to do our very first nature study which was about pine trees. I did not do a lapbook for this nature study since it was our first week- we just drew/wrote in our nature study book. (look for another post about our nature study notebook soon!)

We are starting all of this very slowly and I don’t want to overwhelm Lexie with too much at once as she is still young, but she is soaking up every single thing we do. I will plan more in depth nature studies when appropriate. 🙂 Mister loves tagging along and wants to do all the same things we are doing, so of course he joins us.

Another thing that turned me on to ES is that in the later years they have tests included as part of the curriculum, along with everything else. Now, I do NOT believe in testing everything all the time. I do however think science is a great area to use test for assessment (and as a tool for learning to take tests when older). So there’s that …

Elemental Science so far has been a delight, and something both the kids (5 and 3yo) look forward to! I would definitely recommend it if you are interested in a Charlotte Mason, gently hands-on, Classical science curriculum.

Horizons Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Set {a review}

by Meghan // August 19, 2015 // Comments off

For the past several weeks our family has been reviewing Alpha Omega Publication’s Horizons Preschool Set. I have been using it with my son who is almost three years old (just a few more weeks!).

The curriculum set is $125 and includes:

2 student books- colorful, consumable worksheets
2 teacher manuals- includes 180 lesson plans
music cd
resource packet: memory verse, ABC puzzle, & all flashcards

About Horizon’s Preschool Set

This is a Christian based program curriculum; there are 180 lessons included within 2 student books, 2 teacher guides that align with the student books, a fun music cd, and a resource packet that includes all your extras (flashcards, and black line masters for making copies). It all arrived in a nice, colorful box that makes it so easy to keep everything together.

There are 5 days of lessons per week (which is very easy to tweak if you prefer fewer days).

Each of the lessons begins with a scripture and Bible story lesson (which my son seemed to completely absorb), and then flows seamlessly into other subject lessons like social studies, phonics, math, PE, science and more! You can see the Scope and Sequence here, (also included in the teacher’s manual,) which will tell you everything that is covered in this level. That is what I used to decide which level Max needed to start with.

The student workbook is beautiful and clean; the pages are colorful with nice images, but are not so busy they are distracting or confusing for young learners. The teacher’s manual has all the instructions for lessons and your coordinating pages to the student’s workbook pages. It is easy to follow and literally walks you through everything you need to do/say for your student’s lessons (of course you can go off script, like we did for some lessons).

The music CD contains 17 children’s songs, as well as the instrumental singalong versions. (thankfully) the lyrics are included which makes leading the songs much easier if you’re like me and don’t know them! The kids also enjoyed listening to the CD in their room during independent play.

What We Thought About Horizon’s Preschool Set

We simply loved this! I used the program with my (almost) 3 year old 3, sometimes 4 days a week. It is written in a school or homeschool setting format. If you are homeschooling, either you already know how to or soon will learn, to modify what you need for your family/students. It is very easy to change what is written in the Preschool Set to fit your young child/ren learning at home! New material is introduced on days 1, 3, and 5, using days 2 and 4 for review, so you can easily adjust for how many days a week your family does preschool.

I really liked that the set included SO much, because that meant I could go in-depth with what I felt really needed to be covered, skim over anything he just needed to review, OR review things that Max either really enjoyed, or didn’t quite grasp the first time. I liked that they included all the resources I needed in the resource packet, which keeps me from needing to buy a bunch of accessories for teaching my children. They are loose leaf, so you can either store them in the set box, or organize in folders like I did.

Preschool learning should be fun, SIMPLE, but meaningful, and that is exactly what I think Horizon’s has brought to the table.

I like that I didn’t need to try to find anything to add to this! Like many homeschoolers I would rather have too much (meaning I don’t need it all) than not enough.

Because he enjoyed having his own preschool “work” like big sister, Mister really focused during the lessons and had fun with them. He learned to use his fingers to count using 1:1 correspondence (which he is really obsessed with right now), and listened to the stories that were especially for him. =) Max enjoyed the hands on activities so much, and this really showed me how much of a hands on learner he is (vs older sister who doesn’t need hands-on activities but also enjoys them).

We have loved this program and will continue using it!