Halloween Ideas: Pumpkin Box Halloween Tract {a review}

by Meghan // September 6, 2017 // Comments off

Fall time celebrations are quickly approaching! If you are anything like our family, you may keep an eye out for alternative or out-of-the-box ideas for holiday giving. In lieu of door to door trick or treating at halloween, many families enjoy harvest festivals, or small pumpkin/bon fire parties with their friends or homeschool co-ops.

This year we had the chance to try out some really fun candy alternatives for giving at halloween- Is There Anything Better Than Candy? Box-Tract by Let the Little Children Come. These little pumpkin Halloween tracts are perfect for a fun little something to drop into trick or treater bags, share with those in the community, or create in a children’s church classroom.

The small paper pumpkins are made of a nice quality card stock and sit nicely in the palm of my hand (for size reference). The inside of each section contains a simple, yet colorful message on how to know Jesus, and be saved. These are a great evangelism tool for young children to gain confidence in sharing the gospel of Jesus with friends, relatives, and those in the community.

My 7yo daughter immediately thought of people we could share them with:

nursing home residents
trick or treaters
harvest festival hand outs
hand out at your family’s farmer’s market or craft show stand (if you have one)
leave out and about in the community (park picnic tables, benches down town, self check out at grocery store, etc)
co-op fall party
classroom/sunday school/co-op parties
drop in neighbor’s mailboxes

These were very simple to use, even for my 7 and 5 year olds; we carefully popped them out of the perforated paper, laid them pumpkin side down, and gently folded up the sides starting with the stems. Each “petal” has a small slit cut into it, and we simply slid the slit over the top of the stem pieces. Then, we continued until all the petals/sections were up, making sure that #6 was the last one. They were both able to completely assemble their pumpkins independently.

**The key (for us) to not tearing the tract while assembling was to gently squash the pumpkin down as we added sections to the stems, instead of trying to pull up and over the stems.

Things that could fit inside:

homemade mini-muffin-tin crayons
foam stickers
hand written notes on fun card stock
a handmade friendship bracelet
fabric book mark (maybe from a handicraft like crochet or knitting, done in homeschool?)
those little sticky jewels for crafts
small plush keychain
handmade leather beaded necklaces
small hand painted rocks
small foam stamps
stickers
a few tootsie rolls, peppermints, gum, or other small candies

(You know those plastic containers small vending machine toys come in? Pretty much anything that would fit in there, would fit inside these, with a little room to spare.)

We really enjoyed putting a few of these together! When we get a little closer to halloween, we will probably fill them with hand painted rocks and drop throughout the community as a little “happy” for someone’s day.

This is a fun and safe way for children to share the gospel this fall season!

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Homeschool Planning {Back to Homeschool 2017/2018}

by Meghan // August 16, 2017 // Comments off

Aaah, homeschool planning- chances are most homeschool parents fall into 2 categories: The Type A’s that love planning, finding it simple and fun, or everyone else who finds it overwhelming and challenging.

I suppose there are those that don’t find planning necessary at all.

I enjoy it, once I set my mind to it and come up with my plan.

File Box System

Last year I started a new system, and I can’t find the original blog post I followed to help me figure it out. It was great, and had videos.

But basically-I took how many lessons we had in each curriculum, then divided them evenly into the number of weeks we wanted to school. Each week had a manilla folder assigned to it (1-36) and I filed each week’s papers in that folder. Then at the beginning of the week, my daughter could place all papers on her clipboard.

The weekly manilla folders are stored in a hanging file box like this one. It is easy to access, light weight, and can travel!

Wa-la!

You do have to tear apart the workbooks. The papers that I filed came from handwriting and copywork, math, and explode the code… It seems like there were others but I can’t remember.

Then each week I filed the papers into a big binder that had dividers for each subject. When everything is complete (we are still working, as we school year round), I will bind it into a book for my kids!

Workbox System

For my youngers, I love the workbox system! This is the one we have; it is sturdy, the drawers pull out without a problem, and we’ve never had them fall out of their tracks. (I have heard not so great things about the cute colorful ones?) We’ve had this one going on 4 years and it is still in great shape … though dusty!

I use this for my 5 and 3 year old’s school things- dry erase boards, handwriting books, a few manipulatives, etc. This way their things are always handy for them, and they can pull them out either when I am ready to work with them, or independently as they choose.

Homeschool Planners

Well… how do I love planners? Let me count the ways! A simple search on my blog will show you how much I love and use planners.

This last school year I went rogue (haha) and used a traveler’s notebook for my planning- I created all my own layouts, and kept notes, plans, and everything we did right there in the notebook.

I love this way of planning and recording.

However, I don’t feel like I have enough space, which is silly since the pages are empty and a blank canvas for me to record on. I guess I like most of my things all on a 2 page spread. With Mister schooling this year, I definitely don’t feel like I have enough room in an A5 size notebook.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell is wonderful! The pages are huge, the boxes are blank, and there are areas each week for recording special things, prayers, etc. I truly love that planner.

I have always loved the Mardel Simple Plan– which is almost always sold out! This year’s is BEAUTIFUL, and ya’ll, Im regretting not buying it! I wish I had … but instead I am trying a Plum Paper Homeschool Planner. Honestly, I am not sure how I will feel about it, and seeing as how I already wish I had bought the Mardel Simple Plan … I will let you know!

Planning out the Year

Planning out the year used to scare me, but not so much anymore. I print and mark 6 weeks on, 1 week off on a small monthly calendar like this one:

Then, I put a small mark on the days we do school. If we have to miss for appointments, illness, etc, I just take note and when we get to our 1 week off we plan accordingly. Having all our assignments divided into the weekly folders helps us gauge where we are in the year, and if we may need to double up on a week or two.

Truly, the weekly folder method saved me! No more flipping through workbooks to find the right page, no keeping up with it all. Once it is on the folder, school can be done while we wait somewhere, outside, on the couch, in the tree (yes, in the tree). It is really cool, and so worth the fore thought!

And because you aren’t micro planning days those assignments can be done whenever, most of the time. I allow my daughter to finish them all in one day if she wants, or a few each day. (But they still must be done at her very best effort).

Planning doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming. Preparing to plan is really key, as I learned last year.

Hopefully you homeschool plans will go smoothly for you all!

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In the Reign of Terror Audio Drama {a review}

by Meghan // August 3, 2017 // Comments off

We *love love love* audiobooks and audio dramas, so when offered a chance to review In the Reign of Terror by Heirloom Audio Productions I knew we should say yes, please! What better time to listen to an adventure filled audio drama than summertime travels?! That’s just what our family did.

What It Is How We Used It*

Let me begin with Heirloom Audio Productions- I truly can’t say enough good things about this company, the integrity they uphold with historical stories, and what they stand for. You can read more about who they are HERE, which clearly outlines what they believe, and how they get these stories which are shared with listeners. The best part is their stories is they are wholesome (ie: safe for my kids to listen to without me needing to know every detail before pressing play).

Heirloom Audio offers several audio adventures, and this time we listened to In the Reign of Terror. We received the 2-cd set, along with access to their Live the Adventure Club, which is really cool (more details to follow).

This 2.5 hour audio drama is full of non stop adventure and action! Recreating a story by G.A. Henty and set during the French Revolution, executive producer Bill Heid and cast have blown this production out of the water! You will recognize star voices (from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Downton Abbey and more!) which have made this one-of-a-kind audio adventure so much fun and full of life.

The synopsis is a boy, Harry, (16 years old) visiting France during the French Revolution. All that ensues challenges his faith and expectations, after he is taken in by a family which he grows to love. He struggles to survive, while his new found friends are taken captive and persecuted for something they cannot control-the blood line from which they were born.

What We Thought

Heirloom Audio does a beautiful job showing these stories of history are imbedded in Christianity. The story shows the faithfulness of God in all circumstances, and how our faith in God brings people out of this darkness. This production is exceptional.

My daughter who is almost 7 years old, was better able to keep up with the story than my son, who is almost 5. They both said they liked listening to Victor the most. They loved the music and how it made them “fill with excitement!” (per my daughter haha) I wasn’t in the car the first time they listened, but my husband said he really enjoyed it too!

I have since been able to listen to parts and pieces, and can say I am so thankful for the values and lessons taught in this adventure. Unlike twaddly books and shows, In the Reign of Terror teaches lessons of love, truth, and history deeply rooted in God without jeopardizing quality and rigor. Yes- rigor! It takes great listening skills to truly capture all of this multifaceted story at once. I suspect the more we listen, the more we will learn. The settings throughout are really brought to life with the birds, crowds, and other background sounds, that are so clear you can picture the action- I felt like I was right there.

I love that on a basic level, this is a fun, adventure of a story that brings everything back to God; but as my children grow and develop in their understanding of history and the Lord, we can delve deeper and deeper into this production, over and over again!

Truly lifelong learning.

The digital study guide is *amazing.* It includes everything from comprehension questions and vocabulary to recipes, deeper understanding/background information, and Bible study! Not only is it a helpful tool, turning the listening experience into a great educational experience, it is beautifully written and designed.

You can learn how to get the study guide and other extra features below.

Live the Adventure Club

The Live the Adventure Club is a subscription service that provides access to tons of bonus features. There are really too many to list, but some of my favorites include:

the many study guides-one for each audio adventure
a free crash course on Christianity and our constitution
early American curriculum resources- all rare, from American and world history, to biographies and readers (this is so cool!)
a club member discount on future audio purchases
access to purchased audio adventures, via mp3 listening
an old time radio vault of wholesome, public domain, listening from years gone by- all in one place!
daily devotionals
a plethora of kids activities

Inside the Club site you will find all these extra resources and much, much more!

I really like that you can follow along with a script, look over defining words, read thinking further questions, as well as take chapter quizzes while listening to the audio, thanks to screen in screen technology! They have really thought of it all.

The website runs seamlessly (even with my ~~15 million~~ many tabs open), is streamlined, and so easy to use.

Below are screen shots of the study guides and a few radio shows from Live the Adventure Club site:

I am not exaggerating when I say I can’t believe all of these resources have been included for such easy access, at a subscription rate. This is so exciting, and I can’t wait to use these during our history lessons this school year. Thank you Heirloom Audio Productions!

**Right now you can purchase an audio adventure and receive a 3 month trial of Live the Adventure Club for $1! After your trial is over, Live the Adventure Club is $24.75 every 3 months, which includes a new audio adventure and access to all the club benefits. (click the links for more details about the subscription).

If you want a fun way to include audio dramas and adventure in your homeschool, this is it!

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U.S.A. Homeschool Activity Bundle {a review}

by Meghan // July 27, 2017 // Comments off

This summer we have traveled- what seems like- endlessly. Thankfully that is over, so now we can get into a good end-of-summer routine before starting back at it for the new year. One of our fun homeschool activities this summer has been studying a few states, using {for review} the USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom.

This year we have slowly studied early American history and have learned a little here and there about the states in our country. The eBooks from the USA Activity Bundle seemed like a perfect way to study a little in depth about a few states with which my children are very familiar.

What It Is and How We Used It

The USA Activity Bundle is comprised of 3 eBooks/parts:

The State by State Activity Notebook offers a template page for each state. The notebook pages are a lot of fun, offering space to write in all the important facts about the state itself. Students can write (or dictate for an adult to write) everything from the abbreviation to mapping important landmarks on the state itself.

My children all enjoyed mapping our large state park, the capital, and the major river closest to us on their small state map. I was surprised when my almost 5 year old was able to correctly point out our state on his small US map, found in the top corner of each state page.

I really like how these notebook pages allow children to see not just their state, but where it lies in reference to all the other states. Just from their paper we were able to talk about the bordering states, if we were a west coast, east coast, southern, or mid western state, and how the location of our state affects our weather.

(not seen below are the notes my 6 year old dictated to me, which I wrote for her)

My daughter liked the notebooking page so much, she decided to draw a “journaling” entry on the back, of things we like to do in our state. (I was honestly surprised at the amount of creativity shown and true fun (which equals learning!) the kids had with this entire bundle.)

The State Bird Art Cards are a lot of fun as well! We didn’t realize how many states shared state birds (there are only 27 state birds, total).

My chicken-loving kiddos were excited to see two chickens listed as state birds, one being the Rhode Island Red (of which we have many) … I imagine you can guess which state it belongs to. 😉

The Crafty Classroom has provided a list of resources for you to use when filling in the bird fact/art cards- some free, others that aren’t. We found the free resource to be perfect for what we needed. The memory matching cards at the bottom of each page (not shown in the screen shot of the Rhode Island Red, above) make for a lot of fun! That is definitely a game we will need to practice at, but even mama enjoyed that one. While I knew some of the state birds, many I could not identify on my own.

The U.S.A. 50 State Mazes pack was probably my son’s favorite part! The boy loves mazes, and let me tell you- these were challenging. We studied the states where we have family living, or have visited on vacations. So we tried out several different mazes, all were a big hit, even with the two year old tag-along. haha

The 3 eBooks in the USA Activity Bundle make wonderful history or nature study/journal entries. I think we will be including ours in our end of the year notebooks, which I will have spiral bound. But I considered making lapbooks with them too.

After checking out their website, I really want to use some of their other awesome products! We are excited to continue using this bundle throughout our homeschool journey, as we learn about more US states!

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Paper Mache Kids Craft

by Meghan // July 24, 2017 // Comments off

For part of our summer homeschool activities, I wanted to do some hands on art/creating during the unbearably hot hours of summer. We have enjoyed using for review Activa Products Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit and the ACTÍVA Products’ Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS (a free ebook).

What It Is & How We Used It

We received the kit which contains both Rigid Wrap and CelluClay. And … if you are anything like me, you (may be?) clueless about what either of these products are really used for. So here is my breakdown:

The Rigid Wrap is plaster cloth, comes in 2 rolls that are 4″ wide each, and is used to cover just about anything you would cover in paper mache. You simply cut the cloth to strips in the size you need, place on your object/project, and add water using your fingers to smooth the surface and create!

For an object, we chose to use cardboard from a box we had on hand. Using the beautiful butterfly template from the ACTÍVA Products’ Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS ebook, I cut out the butterfly shape from the cardboard. Then we used the instructions and tips from page 10 of the ebook to create a butterfly!

Honestly y’all, this was so easy and fun! Because my oldest is 6, and I had a 2 and 4 year olds helping, our steps were:

I placed an empty dog food bag on the counter just in case we made a mess =)
I measured the strips
had a helper cut them
I wrapped them around the cardboard butterfly
then they each took turns applying water to their finger tips and rubbing the plaster cloth to a smooth finish.
we did front and back of the butterfly
to speed up drying time, we chose to microwave it for a minute or two (wow! That really works!)
then we did the same thing, applying a second layer of plaster
speed dried in the microwave, and let it sit to finish drying

Because I don’t believe in “fixing” my kids creative projects, I let them rub it in as much or as little as they wanted/were able. They were SO proud of the finished project. I couldn’t believe how easy this was to do! It makes me look forward to creating more projects with them; there was virtually no mess (yay!) and was something we could all enjoy, even the 2 year old.

We used our tempera paint sticks to paint the butterfly for one reason: my back went out and I couldn’t reach the actual paints … =( haha (and my husband was gone, so he couldn’t get them for me). While the painting job is far from a professional, smooth finish, it was fun to do and easy for my oldest to do on her own.

The CelluClay project was also fun! If I am being completely honest, I am a terrible (I mean terrible) paper mache-er. I did it one time in high school for a project in my Spanish class and failed the project miserably. I’ve never really been interested in trying it again.

But the CelluClay made it simple, and now that I understand the process a bit better (after having actually used the CelluClay) I can imagine the possibilities are endless for projects!

We mixed the CelluClay as instructed (which is great because it keeps in the fridge- score!). Then we decided to make bowls.

Now, you probably shouldn’t do like *I* did, and just go creating a bowl from scratch. It works! Because CelluClay is pretty awesome like that.

But for best results, you could need to have a template of some kinda to adhere the paper mache to (looking back on it, I’m thinking *duh*). Anyway, we made bowls by forming the CelluClay like you would using a regular clay. The kids used damp fingers to mold and smooth their own bowls- this was really fun and relaxing for them! I just handed them a ball of CelluClay, they did the rest!

After we were done, we placed them on a cooling rack and let them air dry for a few days. They hardened so nicely! I mean, they are really hard. I thought for sure they would crumble and fall a part- NOPE! They are enduring almost daily play by all the oldest three kids (6, 4, and 2 year olds).

I was really excited to use these products and very thankful for the free ebook that is full of project ideas, templates, and tips when creating paper mache projects. We printed out the pages we needed and kept them on hand during our work; my 6 year old read the directions for me as we went (which is why we just *had* to microwave the butterfly haha).

If you are looking for a fun, endless art activity for your school year this fall, this is a *great* product for kids (and adults) of just about any age; and better yet, you can grab it on Amazon!

What would you use this sculpting kit for in your homeschool?

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The Resolution {from a 6 year old}

by Meghan // July 11, 2017 // Comments off

Today, we were working in our Sonlight Language Arts, grade 2, for my oldest’s language arts. The lesson was about the major parts of a story- plot, setting, characters, conflict, and resolution. We talked about how all stories, from all cultures and parts of history, have each of these elements.

As her assignment, Lexie was to choose a Bible story and go through the elements of the story.

I asked her if we needed to grab the Bible for her to choose a story, and she promptly informed me that she had her story already in mind-

Adam and Eve.

So I asked her, what was the plot? She responded with the obvious, “Adam and Eve turned away from God when they listened to the serpent, or Satan, instead of God.”

The setting, she said, was the Garden of Eden.

The characters were Adam, Eve, Satan, and God.

The conflict she said, was when Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan, hide from God, and were then sent away from the Garden. <—now mind you, most people would have said that the resolution was God sending them away.

So I asked her, then what was the resolution?

She replied, “God sent Jesus.”

That’s it, y’all.

God sent Jesus.

There’s the resolution to it all.

Every tear, every doubt, every suffering we experience. Every time we battle the desires of the flesh, every time the enemy is on our backs or working actively on our family; for every single lie we believe because we are human and not perfect,

there is Jesus.

And He bears it all. He gives us grace to make new our mistakes, He hears us when we need a quiet moment before we lose our minds in the chaos of our home. He resolved it all. His death brings meaning to everything we endure here, because we know This. Isn’t. It. We cannot even imagine what He went through, so that we don’t have to endure everything on our own.

No matter how unbearable, how lonely, how sickly or fallen life is here, God has taken care of all that.

The resolution, is Jesus.

And thank you, Sonlight.

PS- Yes I know the resolution to the small story of Adam and Eve was probably God making them leaving the garden; but the resolution to the *whole* story, is definitely Jesus.

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Homeschool French with Whistlefritz {a review}

by Meghan // June 13, 2017 // Comments off

There are lots of different ways you can learn a new language. You could listen to bilingual audio books to get your head around the pronunciation of words. You can stick post-it notes with words and phrases around the house. For adults, there is the option of attending learning institutions like UKLP who can deliver tailored courses that fit your needs, but for children learning a language needs to start at home, and luckily as a parent, you can use an online resource. And we have been enjoying learning French using the Educator’s French Collection by Whistlefritz. Just as my oldest was starting to get very excited about Latin, my son also wanted to learn a new language. So when we were able to review a french program, I thought it would be fun for all of us, and it has been!

This program is designed for children PreK to early elementary, but I think some students above early elementary would find parts of it enjoyable.

What It Is, How We Use It, What We Think

Whistlefritz’s Educator’s French Collection is an award winning program which includes everything you need to teach French to your student. It is an immersion approach to learning a second language; which means it it teaches children using language in their every day life, only speaking in that language for a period of time. The videos include live native speakers, for an easier to understand (and more accurate) pronunciation of words.

Whistlefritz uses natural language (I love that!) to teach, meaning children hear words in context, not just randomly on flash cards with no background knowledge. This is important for vocabulary comprehension, becoming familiar with French words and French Verbs, learning cadence (flow, or rhythm of language), and also when speaking the language fluently. Students learn just as children learn their first language, which is how we all wish we had learned foreign language in those mandatory high school courses!

This approach is fun and multi-sensory. The lesson plans include all the senses, which as we know, helps retain and recall information for young children.

Included in the Educator’s French Collection:

3 videos- (in English): Inside and Out, Let’s Play, and The Seasons
2 Music CDs- Cha, Cha, Cha, and Allons Danser! (Let’s Dance!)
Matching Cards game- memory matching
Lesson Plans Book- French Lesson Plans for Kids

The DVDs teach vocabulary and how to speak the language through interaction between real people and animation characters. This is obviously one of the most fun things about this program! I would equate my children’s love of the DVDs to our favorite “baby genius” style DVDs that my kids all LOVE (including the oldest who is almost 7). It catches their attention, isn’t too crazy and flashy (which you know would drive me crazy), and is perfect for your visual learners … and during down time on a hot, summer afternoon. =) The videos are done in true immersion fashion, spoken completely in French (which is amazing, and a little mesmerizing to my ears)!

The two music CDs include fun, catchy songs that will have you singing in french. The CD booklets each contain the lyrics and translations so you can easily follow along (perhaps in a car ride, or during rest time). The CDs are also Mom’s Choice Awards winners! Each song is about 1 minute-3 minutes long. The music is enjoyable, even for adults.

The card game is made up of 50 cards, each adorned with a cute french fox illustration that corresponds to the action-word vocabulary word. Here is one part of your hands-on learning (there is more included in the lesson plans).

The French Lesson Plans For Kids book contains the 40 scaffold lessons (reproducible); each lesson is engaging and interactive. They include hands-on activities, step by step instructions for the teacher, and all your reproducibles for games, paper dolls, graphs, titled sheets, etc. The lessons teach not only language, but math, science, and PE in french.

Each lesson includes:

Breakdown/Summary for Teacher
- description of the lesson
- specific goals
- clear objectives
- vocabulary to be taught
- materials needed list
- approximate amount of time needed for lesson
Activities (here is your actual lesson to be taught)
- focus
- teacher input (short script)
- a guided practice (modeling for students)
- an independent practice (always fun and interactive/hands on)
- closure
- extension activities
- also included are the lyrics to videos and CDs assigned for the lesson

This is a very educationally sound, and developmentally appropriate program. The lesson plans are thorough, descriptive, and easy to teach (aka-not too wordy). I think you could do as much or as little as you wanted at a time, even dividing a lesson up (which we have done) if needed.

I believe children will rise to whatever you ask them to do or learn; but is it fun, truly educational, and do they enjoy it? Because if not, then it isn’t really necessary at a young age. This program IS fun, it is truly educational, it is easy to implement, and most definitely something a beginning learner interested in a second language will enjoy!

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Online Reading and Math with K5 Learning {a review}

by Meghan // June 7, 2017 // Comments off

Reviewing the Online Program by K5 Learning has been a lot of fun for my daughter. We don’t do a lot of work on the computer (if you read my blog, you already know that …), because I just feel like she is still very young for the computer screen. But a few days a week while the littles nap we have been enjoying doing K5 Learning on my laptop together. And man, has it been a great experience!

What it is

K5 Learning’s Online Program is a supplement to any education program. An account is good for up to 4 students, and allows parental and separate student accounts. This is an online reading and math program for grades K-5. Students take placement assessments which allows them to work at their own level and at their own pace through a personalized program of reading and math lessons. Each lesson also has a corresponding worksheet for extra practice and understanding.

Included are lessons in:

Reading– phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, vocabulary, & reading comprehension
Math– numbers & operations, measurement, geometry, data analysis, algebraic thinking
Spelling– advanced spelling and vocabulary, adaptive instruction, 150,000 word database

Each subject has lessons that help build foundational skills, confidence, and fluency, as well as independent and interactive learning.

There is an entire library of worksheets (that are great to use with manipulatives) to focus more in depth on different topics. I especially like the looks of the math worksheets that use base ten blocks.

What We Thought and How We Used It

We have explored all of K5 Learning. The spelling has been fun for my daughter; we just started a spelling program a few months ago, and she is enjoying the challenge (she is SO my child …) of spelling words. I *really* like that when she misses a word in the K5 program, even after correcting the error, the word comes back up so she has to respell it correctly a second time! This is good for “muscle memory” so to speak, which outside of learning rule breaker spelling rules, is how we typically learn to spell.

The reading placement assessment was a bit tedious at first, but between each section is a really fun learning video about animals, or another topic that is interesting to kids (and even me). This was really nice, and made the placement test much more enjoyable! The reading lessons are relevant, and because she doesn’t need phonics lessons, are a great help for her in the department of vocabulary and reading comprehension. I would also say the reading comprehension selections are a really nice challenge!

Mostly, we have focused on math, because she has been having a tough time with math facts. At first, she was hesitant to use the K5 math because she had a sense of failure in regards to math facts.

But it wasn’t long before she started asking to do it! This made my heart so happy; K5 Learning has helped her feel successful while also having fun, and actually learning. I like that it has helped her with number fluency, and I can see that fruit! It has made her more confident with numbers in general and that’s important- because that seems to be a BIG hold up with kids and math.

The assessment placed her appropriately; though she scored above first grade level overall in math (she is in K, working mostly on a 1st grade level), the program doesn’t put students more than one level above the grade level assigned by the parent. But if your child finds it too easy or too hard, you can easily email them to have it changed.

the ninja and the toddler learning alongside big sister

Speaking of email- I felt like the communication with the company was definitely personable! It gave me a feeling that I could trust them as a company, and always contact them if I had any problems or questions. *Sometimes with online companies you don’t get this type of customer service, and that is a huge problem- but NOT with K5 Learning* I feel confident in their service!

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Learning Latin with Memoria Press & Prima Latina {a review}

by Meghan // June 5, 2017 // Comments off

I’ve wanted a gentle and simple way to introduce latin in our homeschool, but it wasn’t until having a chance to review Prima Latina Complete Set by Memoria Press that I really became excited about it!

We have been using Prima Latina a few times a week for several weeks now, and we have loved it. Memoria Press offers classical Christian education and homeschooling programs at every level, and they *never* disappoint! Prima Latina has been no exception.

What it is

Memoria Press’s Prima Latina is a gentle approach to learning latin for early elementary/beginner students. We have learned latin words and their definitions, derivatives in the english language, and are learning a prayer (but there is even more great lessons to be learned).

The Prima Latina Complete Set includes:

The Basic Set
- 25 lessons, each including grammar lessons appropriate for primary grades
- 5 vocabulary words with corresponding English derivatives per lesson
- A practical Latin phrase per lesson
- One line of a prayer per lesson that is learned in totality over 5 lessons
- Easy-to-read, 2-color format
Flashcards
- Vocabulary with derivatives
- Latin sayings
- Conjugations & Declensions
DVDs
- 3 discs, 9 hours (15-20 min./lesson)
- Comprehensive teaching by Leigh Lowe (<–she is SO great, fun, and easy to listen to!)
- Recitation & review, vocabulary practice, and explanation of derivatives
- On-screen notes, diagrams, & examples
- Self-instructive format

Because my oldest student is so young, we have been moving very slowly, and repeat lessons at least once before moving on. My daughter doesn’t mind this and I think it helps us both with retention, because of our learning styles.

We have enjoyed the student text, flashcards, and smooth, gentle lessons immensely, but …

The video lessons are the icing on the cake! The lessons are so gentle and move at a perfect pace; we do re-watch lessons a few times because it just helps us learn. But because my daughter is an independent reader, she is able to read the student book (to be used with one student) on her own, and complete the pages independently after doing the DVD lesson. I don’t have to teach anything! I can just relax and listen along.

The pages in the student text aren’t workbook style, at least not the way I think of workbooks. It is more like a note booking style, in my opinion. There are lesson “notes” on one page, and then simple questions like writing definitions and answering questions from the video lesson. Lexie enjoys reading the lesson in her book, and looking back at her work, reading the prayer, etc. so we think of it more as her latin journal.

We are currently learning the first prayer together; she really enjoys saying oremus before each prayer at meals and bedtime. My 4 year old also enjoys learning the vocabulary, which he has picked up on from his big sister using it in our home. When I ask my daughter some review questions, Mister can almost always answer them on his own. haha.

I made a simple chart with the words that we keep up on the dry erase board with magnets; this way we can review throughout the week when we aren’t “doing” school, since we school at the table & put everything away when we are done in the mornings. We review words and prayers at the dinner table with Daddy many nights of the week.

Here is a Prima Latina Sample DVD Lesson from Brian Lowe on Vimeo.

Summary of What We Think About Prima Latina

We have really enjoyed this program! I like that we can go at our own pace (which is pretty slow! haha), can review lessons as many times as we need to, and I don’t have to teach anything! I can put the DVD in my computer, and play it for my daughter to watch, while I listen and work right there in the kitchen. My son picks up on what he hears in the lessons, and that is always a bonus.

If you don’t know the benefits of learning latin, I will let you do the research there. =) I took latin in my homeschool during high school; I do remember the derivatives and that latin helped me greatly when writing papers, while taking my ACT, and when I was taking college courses. Because so many languages derive from latin, it is an easy way to transition into learning other foreign languages! (which we also want to do!)

There are other program by Memoria Press, for other grade levels:

You can see reviews on these program by clicking on the banner at the bottom of this post.

This is a great latin program for anyone wanting to introduce latin at a young age while learning the basics of english grammar, or families wanting to lay a strong foundation in latin for an extremely thorough language arts program later.

For us, this is definitely a great fit! We will continue our slow progression through the program, so we can enjoy it and apply what we are learning (and YES- I am learning with my kids).

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Anna Dewdney’s Little Excavator {review and giveaway}

by Meghan // June 1, 2017 // Comments off

If you have young children or grandchildren, you have probably read the Llama Llama series Anna Dewdney, with her fun and creative illustrations. Well now we can welcome something to the Anna Dewdney family that is so exciting, my kids won’t put the book down- Trucks!

We have been reading, for review, Anna’s newest book (Pre order your copy here) Little Excavator. It has been a huge hit at our house; we love anything that rhymes, anything about trucks, and anything by our Anna Dewdney! So when Little Excavator arrived in the mail box, all of my children were thrilled.

About the Book

The Big Rigs are working hard at the construction site when Little Excavator rolls up, eager to help. But Little Excavator isn’t big enough to CHUG CHUG CHUG! like the Dump Truck as it loads dirt to lug or MOUND MOUND MOUND! like the ‘Dozer as it pushes up the ground. Little Excavator wants to smooth out bumps and dig up dirt, but he is just too small. As Big Rigs around him WORK WORK WORK! they finally find a job that no other machine can do…except for Little Excavator!

There are exciting illustrations to go along with all the hard work happening on the job site, while “Little E” finds a job suited just right for him. We get to learn about other types of construction machines, which is usually pretty fun for small children, especially those in my house. =)

About the Author

Anna Dewdney was a teacher, mother, and enthusiastic proponent of reading aloud to children. She continually honed her skills as an artist and writer and published her first Llama Llama book in 2005. Her passion for creating extended to home and garden and she lovingly restored an 18th century farmhouse in southern Vermont. She wrote, painted, gardened, and lived there with her partner, Reed, her two daughters, two wirehaired pointing griffons, and one bulldog. Anna passed away in 2016, but her spirit will live on in her books.

See a complete list of her titles here. We have many of her books- from board books, to paper backs and hard back copies of our favorites. Little Excavator has definitely reached favorite status in our home.

Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney (ARV: $19.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 22, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 19, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 30, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

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