Historical Fiction Horse Series Appaloosy- Blue Skies West

by Meghan // October 19, 2022 // Comments off

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

A few years ago I told yall about the Appaloosy Books, and now there is another one for me to share with you. Blue Skies West is the fifth book in an adventure series for kids and families. Mattie is a young woman now but began writing books in her early teens. Her stories are adventurous and written from the point of view of the horse. Your horse loving, adventure seeking kiddos are going to love this series!

Blue Skies West- middle grade horse series

I knew we wanted to read this one because my oldest enjoyed the first books we read several years ago, but also because I now have an 8 year old who is *obsessed* with horses. Blue Skies West is a 140 page, soft cover chapter book, with sturdy binding.

Blue Skies West- middle grade horse series

My daughter says,

In the story, Charlie is the horse’s boy. The whole family decide they’re going to take the Oregon Trail to Oregon, where part of their family has settled. Charlie takes Blue with the family, along the way many of the children in the family get sick, they have ford a river, with adventure along the way.

The story is told from the perspective of the horse, Blue which makes the narration unique and interesting. I really like that in the front of the book there is an informative introduction about the Oregon Trail as well as a large, easy to read map of the Oregon Trail. In the back of the book readers will find a Blast From the Past section where they can read and learn about the history which the book is based upon, an Author’s Note and Historical Disclaimer section, this is a brief note to readers from Mattie herself. Lastly, there is a Bibliography/Further Reading page with a list of books and additional reading for those who would like to dig deeper into the history that Blue Skies West was written in.

I think most of your historical fiction loving families will enjoy Blue Skies West, and the other books in the Appaloosy series. It will be a big bonus for animal and horse loving kids! These are going to make great gifts this Christmas season, and you will be supporting a young, Christian author who just may sign your books!

Blue Skies West- middle grade horse series

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Homeschool Printables from SuperTeacherWorksheets.com

by Meghan // August 19, 2022 // Comments off

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

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? ???? )

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

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.

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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Famous Men of Rome- Classical Education Homeschool History

by Meghan // April 27, 2022 // Comments off

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

Memoria Press is known for their great classical education curricula and programs. We’ve used their Latin program, and a few other products. The last few weeks my 11 year old has been working through their Famous Men of Rome program. This is geared towards grades 4-5, and is an introduction to the great drama and action, beginning to end, that was the men of Rome. This is going to be a wonderful addition to any classical history, or eclectic homeschool.

Famous Men of Rome: Memoria Press

What It Is

Famous Men of Rome is a year long study consisting of 3 books and flash cards. The text or reader contains 30 stories documenting the rise and fall of this civilization via 30 biographies of men from Rome. The illustrations and artwork in the textbook are absolutely beautiful; this is one of my and my daughter’s favorite parts of this book! The pages are thick, and glossy. The pages are not hard on my eyes, but are just glossy enough to make the artwork pop. The pages are also the thickness and material that allows the pages to stay open more easily, which I really like!

Famous Men of Rome: Memoria Press

There are 160 pages in the textbook, including the maps, pronunciation guide, and glossary. The program covers
the biographical stories of:

ROMULUS
NUMA POMPILIUS
THE HORATII AND THE CURIATII
THE TARQUINS
JUNIUS BRUTUS
HORATIUS
MUCIUS THE LEFT-HANDED
CORIOLANUS
THE FABII
CINCINNATUS
CAMILLUS
MANLIUS TOR
QUATUS
APPIUS CLAUDIUS CÆCUS
REGULUS
SCIPIO AFRICANUS
CATO THE CENSOR
THE GRACCHI
MARIUS
SULLA
POMPEY THE GREAT
JULIUS CÆSAR
CICERO
AUGUSTUS
NERO
TITUS
TRAJAN
MARCUS AURELIUS
DIOCLETIAN
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
END OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE

The student guide is where most of the work will be done by the student. This newest edition also contains maps of: Rome, Italy, and the Roman Empire, as well as a glossary of people and places. These pages are a regular paper, easy for writing, and do not feature any distractions. Students will find interesting lessons that include famous quotes, key people and places, vocabulary words, and comprehension questions. There is map work as well, which most homeschool parents love to include in our studies. =)

Along with all the comprehension questions, facts to know, vocabulary, and review lessons, I really like the activities listed for each lesson. The lessons help make this an even more comprehensive program, but add hands on elements.

example of activities at end of lesson

These activities include discussion questions, but also many will translate well to discussion questions and starters. There are also research activities in some lessons. My daughter really enjoyed the family tree activity, and because we enjoy mapping, that has been fun for her as well.

Famous Men of Rome: Memoria Press

In true classical education style, the program includes memorization for the student. The Drill Questions found in the appendix of the study guide and on the flashcards, will be memorized to help student have instant recall. How to do this, and how to use the program in general is all outlined for the teacher in the teacher’s guide. The teacher’s guide is just that- you will find detailed answers, examples, and what is expected of the student. I *love* this because it helps those of us learning right along side our children know what is expected of them, and how to better help them get there. I also like to have my child look at the teacher’s guide once we have completed a lesson, so they can see where they needed improvement and where they did exactly what was asked of them.

I am working more closely with my 5th grader on this program, because she is ready for more detailed responses in her work (clearly … haha). This is a great program for student to begin more independent work, or to be used as a family/with the parent. The text can be shared between students in a family, or read aloud by the teacher during morning time. Each child can have their own student book, or some students may work from the student guide, and others work orally (for younger kiddos), or maybe orally and by drawing illustrations.

I think this is going to work well for any family that is learning about Rome in history (one of our favorite things we have studied!), whether they are a classical education family, or more eclectic like ours. We love learning using many educational philosophies, and tweak anything we use to work for us! So if memorization isn’t your thing, this program can still work well for you. This is also going to work well for independent learners or as a family subject. The possibilities are truly endless.

Lastly, the flashcards are exactly that. They feature questions about people and places learned about in the stories from Famous Men of Rome, and are used to help their recall and easy memorization of what they are learning.

Memoria Press always offers great programs and supplements, and their Famous Men of Rome set is no different. I highly recommend this for any family studying this phase of history.

Famous Men of Rome: Memoria Press

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Bible Book Breakdowns {for your homeschool}

by Meghan // October 12, 2021 // Comments off

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

My kids really enjoy using their Bibles as we do our Bible reading or memory verse work. When my kids are about 7, reading well and able to understand the Bible better, I get them their own Nirv Bible. Teach Sunday School has created dozens of helpful tools for children and adults; we’ve been using their Bible Breakdowns. These are really fun, easy to use, and visibly uncluttered breakdowns of the books of the Bible.

What Are These Bible Breakdowns?

These breakdowns cover each book of the Bible, and are divided into two sections: New and Old Testaments.

Each breakdown includes:

summary about the book
number of chapters
type of book (ex: history, Gospel, Epistle, as well as what category of each type)
date written
period covered
author
and an overview of each section of verse-what those verses are about, or what Bible story they pertain to, including not well known stories.
most popular verses from that book

How to Use Them

These Bible Breakdowns are going to be perfect for families studying the Bible together; whether during homeschool, bedtime devotional time, or for personal bible time, the breakdowns are helpful for anyone needing more in-depth information for studying their Bible. You can spiral bind them, which is what I plan to do, or hole punch and put in a folder for easy access. We liked using them before our homeschool Bible time, to go over all the specific information about that book of the Bible. It was easy for the kids to understand and helped me explain things without too much over thinking. It’s also great if your family is working through a timeline book, you can easily add the dates of each book and when they were written to your timeline.

The breakdown of Esther looks like this:

I also like that there are spots for you to check off as you go through and read each chapter of that book.

These Bible Breakdowns are so easy to use. My oldest has her own copy, and likes looking through them as she reads her Bible, or when she has questions. I think these are also going to be helpful if you’re reading the Bible on an app; you can keep the PDF version of the breakdowns on your device so you can easily reference them. I like pen and paper, so printing them was my preference.

Teach Sunday School has so many wonderful resources for anyone studying the Bible, doing Bible activities, or looking for information about the Bible for their home, small group, or classroom. Check them out!

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Reading Eggs and Math Seeds for Your Homeschool

by Meghan // September 23, 2021 // Comments off

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

I need to get the garden picked, and dishes done … and help with the animal chores. But first I want to tell you how much we have enjoyed Reading Eggs! This subscription includes both Reading Eggs and Math Seeds, their math program.

We have reviewed this interactive reading program before, and my children all enjoy it. This time I used it for the younger two, and they had so much fun. The program is suitable for children 3-13! Yes, you read that correctly- up to 13.
After farm chores, or school time I would let them each take a turn working through their level in the program. They enjoyed making their own little character, and working their way through the reading map.

I love that there is the option for desktop or an app for Reading Eggs and Math Seeds.

Students can (and should) take the placement test which is simple, and takes the guess work out of trying to find the just right level; the program does it for you! The placement test was right for both of my girls, with no problems. If your student is not familiar with using an online program/app (like my 5 year old) I would say help them with making the choices/moving the pieces during the placement teat, because that can obviously impact their level. But after a little practice of using the app, it becomes pretty intuitive for them.

My girls progressed well through their levels. I love that the added reading practice is fun for them; it helps on days when I may not have time to put together something fun for their practice, or we need a change up from the typical school day. My children usually get a little screen time after cleaning day is over, so Reading Eggs is great for that, too! They like having something new to try and I like that it is educational and helping with their foundational reading.

The parent’s screen for each child lets the parent know how that child is progressing, what they have read well, where there may be struggles for added practice purposes. There is even data for their growth in each area. This is great for anyone needing to give a district or state data, as well as just wanting to track progress for yourself.

Then there is Math Seeds! Math Seeds is an interactive math program for children ages 3-9 that helps them with problem solving and solidifying math skills. The structured lessons are fun and inviting for kids and easy for parents to set up. As you can see below, there are different areas to choose from in Math Seeds- after taking the placement test, students can begin lessons at their personalized level.

There are options for lots of fun games and skill building, test taking, spending points earned in the shop, and there is even a play room for children to explore. I remember doing some old school programs back in the 90s that had rooms like that- and I *loved* them. If your kids are anything like mine, they will love this! And you can rest knowing they are learning and spending time wisely.

$Math Seeds$

I think Reading Eggs and Math Seeds are great for foundation skills in both subjects; it is also a great supplement to your current schooling situation, whether at home or elsewhere.

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Homeschool 2021/2022 School Year Choices {5th, 3rd, 1st, and K}

by Meghan // August 23, 2021 // Comments off

This homeschool year, we are starting slowly. This is the first year we have taken a full blown summer break … we have done maybe a week’s worth of school since the end of May, and filled some time with lap books and other fun schooling activities. We’ve really taken off the majority of days for pool time (because I just can’t resist!), gardening time & family trips; and we have loved every minute of it!

Our main core as a family this year will be continuing through Sonlight Core D (Bible, History, and Read Alouds), which is American history. When we finish this core, we will move on to Core E, the second half of American history. After doing several years of wold cultures and world history, we are very much savoring American history. I’d like to focus on President’s and state capitols this year. There are so many great read aloud, and readers for US History. Just not enough hours in the day for all the books!

I am also finishing reading through the P4/5 Core with my youngest 2. They will be K and 1st this year; they are less than 2 years a part, but one is a fall baby and one is summer, so they’re close in grade levels. We made the choice a long time ago to keep our fall babies back a grade (they don’t meet most cut offs anyway, and like many states we aren’t required to school until age 7). We are very happy with that decision; but I like them being the older in their “grade” for the purpose of Co-op, sports, and church activities. I will start Core A with them at naps and bedtime once they finish P 4/5.

Math- We will be using Christian Light Education for our math, as always. My kindergartener will be using their K2 books, and I hope this bridges the gap between K math and 1st grade math for her. I will probably add in Saxon K worksheets for her as well. I think CLE K2 combined with some math games and a little Saxon K, will be a fine math foundation.

Science- I just haven’t made up my mind here. I really love Apologia’s science programs. We would do the Anatomy and Physiology if we go with Apologia … we really need to complete the Sonlight Science for Core D *but* every time we go to do the science, my kids already know everything we are discussing (thanks Wild Kratts), so I just feel blah continuing with it. I know I don’t have to finish it, but I hate to leave it incomplete; also, it isn’t only animals and biology. Core D Science covers lots of other fun topics, so I should just persevere.

We will also add in No Sweat Nature Study again. We have really enjoyed these classes, and are building some great nature journals.

Language Arts- My beginning readers (K and 1st) will be using AAR plus The Good and the Beautiful. My older 2 will continue with The Good and The Beautiful, in levels 3 and 5. This includes spelling, some phonics, grammar, some writing, and geography. The 1st grader is a great reader, so lessons with her are pretty smooth. The K wants to read so badly, and was killing all the CVC words we practiced on our Florida vacation (during snuggles in the morning). So we are looking forward to her reading this year.

We add in Explode the Code, and Wordly Wise to our language arts. My children love both of these, and it does improve their skills, along with giving extra handwriting practice. I like them because of all this, plus they provide independent work for my children; so while I work with one student on language arts or math, the others have some independent work that keeps them on task.

Handwriting- We begin with Handwriting Without Tears, and after the PreK and K books, we move on to A Reason For Handwriting book K and then A. I like giving my children lots of good handwriting practice. They usually fly through both K books, but then Book A isn’t as difficult and they’re better readers by then, making the copywork easier. My 3rd grader is in their first cursive book. My 5th grader has done so many handwriting copyworb books, and she likes them so much. This year I got her the Memoria Press cursive book … I think it is a poetry copywork.

Extras- We are doing logic this year, with some workbooks I found on Rainbow Resource. They do problems logic in their math, but this is just extra practice; my husband wanted to be sure they were hitting logic, so we are going to try it this year.

My 5th grader is doing French from Memoria Press, which she is sooo excited about. I think I couldn’t given it to her for her birthday and she’s been just as excited. We are adding in some new sets of Brain Quest for fun, Fandex Presidents and States, and Kanoodle for a little brain teaser game.

We are using the Answers For Kids boxed set for our Bible discussions, along with the Heroes of History and Christian Heroes added to our morning basket time.

We are praying over our homeschool year that each step taken is led by the Lord, and that our words glorify Him. I am truly grateful for the blessing of our homeschool journey, even during the hard days (especially) or mornings when life feels heavy, I know the relationships we are building are worth it. At the end of the day, the math and reading, and science topics don’t save my children. Jesus does. And while we love learning (just one reason we homeschool), learning to love each other and serve one another on really hard days, is maybe one of the best things I can give my children. Or at least show them day in and day out.

I hope yall found this helpful. If you have any questions about what we do, or why/how we do it, let me know and I can go more in depth for you!

Are yall ready for the school year? Or school week? Or school semester/term? You’ve got this mamas!

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Emergent Reader Fun with one More Story {a review}

by Meghan // May 27, 2021 // Comments off

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

You may have seen me posting about One More Story over on Instagram. This has been so much fun for our family. One More Story is an app (or website, we tried both ways, but settled on the iPad app), where children and families can enjoy being read precious picture books. There are currently over 87 books to choose from, on five different book cases, with more to come!

After logging in, there are different ways for children to use the program. First click on the book cover to hear the title and author/illustrator. Then:

Select the book you want to read, then click the green button below it
Click Bendy, the bookworm site host, to have the book read to you, and pages turned automatically
Click the green arrow in the bottom right corner to have the book read to you with the pages turned manually. You will continue touching/clicking the green arrow in that spot to turn each page.
Click on the I can Read badge on the left to read a book on your own, with the sound track turned off. Any word can be clicked to hear it read by the narrator. Click the E in the lower left of the text post to hear the entire text read. Children can “echo” back the words.

There are also vocabulary words for each book (woo hoo!- I see a whole creative unit to be made using books from One More Story).

In both automatic and manual modes, the words are highlighted as the narrator reads, which is a proven way to help emergent readers understand text on a page- this is similar to following the words with your finger while reading to children. Pointing to/highlighting the words in a book teaches early readers that words have meaning on a page, and that we read left to right on a page. These aren’t just valuable, they are necessary pre-reading skills for children. Thank you One More Story, for adding this into your program! Emergent readers are actively learning, while reading a book, which is just what we want as teachers.

When a book is read in the I Can Read mode (number 4 above), any word the child clicks to have read to them, is added to the My Word List. This gives a young reader the opportunity to identify, review and master words that cannot easily be sight read for them. When a word is mastered, it can be dragged on My Learned Words. The My Word List badge is displayed on the last page of a book so that children can review the words they have learned from that book! This is such a great motivator, and an easy way to see how far your children have come. (Below I’ve added the word said to the My Word List.)

I love that the books have background noises/music to go along with them. The stories really are brought to life in this way; it makes them more real, and reminds me a lot of watching Reading Rainbow (throw back!). Maybe that is because it is original music by Sesame Street vet Robby Merkin. These stories are books we have on our shelves, or would like to- and that’s how I know they’re high quality. No twaddle here! Plus the narrators are just delightful-so much expression and easy to understand/listen to voices.

We found a new favorite book, Rattletrap Car, by Phyllis Root. This farm family is getting ready for a trip to the beach. But on their way, first a wheel falls off, then the floor falls out, the gas tank falls off, etc. Each time there is a catastrophe, the children have a creative way of fixing the car from their packed goods. (This is the perfect chance to make a family book club/activity and enjoy some chocolate marshmallow fudge delight. Mmmm) There are so many sound words (onomatopoeia) in this book, kids are going to love it! Mine definitely did, as did I.

We have really enjoyed using the One More Story subscription in our home. It is going to be perfect for a cross country car ride to the beach this year with young children. We are also going to enjoy adding it in as part of our summer homeschool.

Connect with One More Story

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2019/2020 Homeschool Year- 3rd grade

by Meghan // December 16, 2019 // Comments off

Instead of posting everything we are doing in one very overwhelming post, I thought I would break it down by grade level this year. I am late … I know. I’ve been in a deep first trimester exhaustion of random naps and no motivation beyond sleeping and eating. We’ve been sick with one stomach bug after another, and of course with 6 people in the house, it takes forever to get over 1 thing just in time for another to hit! (But I’ve stepped up my elderberry syrup and vitamin C game for the family, so hopefully the rest of the winter won’t be so bad).

And I’m feeling better now, that I’m closer to second trimester! Woo Hoo!

This year, my 9 year old is doing 3rd grade, for all intents and purposes.

Math- CLE Grade 3 math. We like this math so far because it is clean, simple, straight forward, and has students becoming more independent at an early age. I am involved in their lessons, but they aren’t dependent on me for learning 100%. I like this because one of our goals as homeschoolers is to create intrinsically motivated, self taught students who love to read and learn as they grow.

Grammar/Writing/Language Arts- This area is a little more gray. We are using The Good and the Beautiful, and also Easy Grammar (which we have reviewed before). For my 3rd grader, this is working out very well. I would like something that is a little more consolidated so I am not using 2 different programs (we don’t use the reading and spelling in TGTB). I’ve ordered BJU English which includes writing, grammar, and mechanics all in one book. I found it used for super cheap, just so I can look through it. We will see how it is, and may give it a try. Other than using 2 different programs, I *really* like TGTB and also Easy Grammar. Both bring a lot of their own qualities, and most importantly, my daughter enjoys both and does well with them.

Reading and Spelling- This is still All About Reading, and All About Spelling. We don’t really use AAR very often … she just doesn’t need it as much as spelling. I have started implementing he reading aloud to us from our History Core, so I can hear her reading, and help with any difficult words. She is a very fast reader, which is great when you’re studying or looking for key words in notes, or need specific info. But I want her to slow down and enjoy what she is reading, read with inflection, and wait for the good parts. haha When she reads on her own, it is fast and for the purpose of finding out what happens … which is also great; however reading aloud is so beneficial and she is willing to do it with joy!

Homeschool 2019/202 3rd grade

All About Spelling is what we are working through with her brother, still. They just do it together since he is naturally a great speller, it is easy for them to do it together (and takes some pressure off of me to get one more thing done in the day).

Science– Oh dear science, how we love you. We have really slacked in science since last year, short of nature exploration. So it is my intention this winter to take this season of cold weather, and do a *LOT* more science. We will utilize Apologia’s Creation series because frankly, it is just so good. We love listening to the text on audio, and the activity book that goes along is also great. We have reviewed Astronomy and Anatomy, and really love both. I can’t wait to try their Botany and zoology series.

History/Bible/Read Alouds- This is Sonlight Core C for us, this year. We are finishing up our second year of world history, and will move on to American history next year. I am not entirely sure if we will use Sonlight Core D for American History. I *think* we will, but I also want to look around and see if there is anything else we may want to use for AMerican history years.

Other Stuff- We are using Wordly Wise for vocabulary. I do like to pull words from our read alouds for the kids to learn, but this is something they all really enjoy, can do on their own, and helps develop more than just vocabulary skills. These books are simple, yet awesome.

We get to use lots of other fun stuff throughout the year, like Lit Wits, STEM activities, and foreign languages. We have co op and of course all our handicrafts and arts we enjoy freely.

This homeschool year I definitely feel more organized, and like we have stayed on top of things better so far. Last year was full of concussions, flu, puppies, baby goats, and travels. We got behind and did math through August! NOT FUN; I didn’t enjoy it at all. I DO like doing school year round, because we want to … not because we have to, if that makes sense.

So this school year we do math every single day, whether we are sick or not, or we double up if we miss. Any independent or workbook pages are divided into week in folders, like every year. We put that work each week on their clipboard. Some weeks we do 2 weeks worth of work when things are going really smoothly, to account for any sick days we may have.

Baby #5 should be here in June, so I want us to have plenty of time to enjoy the spring weather, play in the pool, and be homeschool work free! Life is going to change a lot with a newborn, so it will be important for the kids to have a solid routine, without me having the stress of “we must finish.”

What are you using for homeschool this year?

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!

Horses in History with Mattie Richardson {a review}

by Meghan // November 13, 2019 // Comments off

Y’all know when there is a chance to review a book in our home, we jump on the chance. =) We have been reading the Mattie Richardson’s Horses in History Series from Author Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books. Formerly known as North Dakota’s Teen Author, Mattie has written a series of books your children and family will love!

Each book centers around the story of a horse (or horses) from history-of course as a mom and homeschooler, this greatly appeals to me! My history buff daughter, 9, also loved the historical aspect of the books, and how the stories were told from the horse’s perspective. Mattie has written books full of love, adventure, integrity, and strength. All characteristics we want for our children. I hold my book standards pretty high; we don’t need ugly words and harsh language to get a point across, and these books definitely held up to my standards.

The first portion of each book begins with a dedication, which sometimes offers some insight to the author’s inspiration for writing the book. Dusty’s Trail, told from the view point of a horse on the Pony Express, begins with an article about the Pony Express, first published in 1860. Next, the reader will find a section of Words and Terms You Should Know. This section is in each of the books, with a small variation. In Day and Night, Mattie has made Civil War-era Words and Terms Used in this Book section. Golden Sunrise offers a Spanish Words Used in this Book section. So each book has a great intro to the topic through a helpful guide in the beginning; my daughter often referred back to this while reading, as did I. Appaloosy gives us the Nez Perce Words and Their Meanings as a helpful glossary to better understand as we read.

The books are nicely bound, with a colorful paperback cover. Day and Night comes in at the thickest with 148 pages, Appaloosy with 125 pages, Golden Sunrise with 98 pages, and Dusty’s Trail at 66 pages (plus a few un-numbered informational pages). Some books have a few illustrations throughout, the text is appropriate for early readers (not too small), and the pages are a smooth, high quality, crisp white.

Appaloosy is about a horse who wants nothing more than to be wild and free, until he finds the love of a girl named Faith. But when he is stolen and escapes captivity, Storm must decide if he wants his freedom or to go back to Faith on her family’s farm. My 9 year old says:

Faith gives her locket necklace to take Storm home from the man who had him. She was only the 2nd person he let ride him, of all the people that had owned or ridden him. I like his decision and the way the book ended.

Golden Sunrise tells the story of Cheyenne and Jared- “Jared is a man who wants to marry Olivia; they’ve been courting for about a year. But then he has to go off to war to fight for Texas’s freedom. He rides Cheyenne throughout the war, and they are buddies. Cheyenne becomes friends with Davy Crockett, which was really funny. I won’t tell you the end, but it is sweet.”

Day and Night was my daughter’s favorite of all the books. “This book is about 2 horses, Shiloh and Tucker, they take turns having a chapter, so it can be confusing if you don’t pay attention. Tucker is the older horse and Shiloh is the younger sibling horse. Shiloh is lighter in color and smaller; he is gentle and gets very attached to people he likes. Tucker is older and brown. Neither of them wanted to fight in the war but Shiloh was stolen by a girl in the Confederacy, and Tucker got sold to the US army. You will have to read and see what they go through and if they find each other again.”

We also enjoyed using Mattie’s Enrichment Guide for Day and Night, along with the answer key. It includes: vocabulary, history, comprehension, creating your own stories, further reading, and even more! These include activities, coloring, developing character attributes for a story, biographies, geography, and the list goes on! This is definitely worth the small purchase price, and something you can integrate into your homeschool for a large range of ages.

Dusty’s Trail is about a boy, Levi who runs away with his horse, Dusty, to join the Pony Express. “When someone starts stealing the horses and killing their riders, Levi and Dusty push through more runs (I think 3?) until they find someone they can tell. Eventually Levi gets captured, Dusty gets separated from him … and you have to read the rest (haha).”

As you can see, the books were greatly enjoyed by my oldest daughter. They will be wonderful reads for my horse loving 5 year old. These books will be best understood by those 8 and up, but I think they can be read aloud to just about any age.

Mattie Richardson is clearly a talented young lady, she has more books coming out, that I know we will be reading! We have enjoyed the Horses in History Series immensely. There are countless way to use it as part of a homeschool curriculum, and they are wholesome books.

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Reading Skills for Kids with Reading Eggs {a review}

by Meghan // September 6, 2019 // Comments off

We have used Math Seeds by Reading Eggs with my 4 year old. Now my second grade, newly turned 7 year old has been using their 200 Essential Reading Skills for Second Grade. You can check out all their workbooks HERE.

These workbook style reading lessons are short, and will help improve reading and critical thinking skills. Lesson focus is divided by day, with days 1 and 2 for comprehension, day 3 spelling, day 4 a spelling lesson that builds from day 3, and day 5 a grammar lesson. There is also review built in to the lessons. The pages are colorful, with helpful tips and instructions that are easy to understand.

There are 72 comprehension lessons that includes both non fiction and fiction passages to give children exposure to many types of text; poetry, novels, plays, informational, persuasive and imaginative texts. 72 spelling lessons covering the most common spelling rules such as digraphs oo, ar, or, suffixes, homophones, the sound of k/ck, and the list goes on. 36 grammar lessons cover adverbs, possessive nouns, simple sentences, punctuation, capitalization, conjunctions, etc.

Parents and teachers will find an entire lesson layout covering the week, days, and the lesson focus with its objective (ex: verb endings, main idea, making inferences, endings:y, ey, irregular plurals, etc). There are 36 weeks of lessons, which you can choose to double up, or spread out. There is also a Year Planner chart page for those of us that are visual.

What We Think About it & How We Use It

Lessons took us about 15-20 minutes tops, but usually less. My son enjoyed the grammar lessons most, but found all the skills fun and the lessons easy to follow. The lessons aren’t cut and dry; they vary with games, drawing, using pictures for clues, matching, sorting, and more! Sometimes I have to help Mister with a problem on the page, but mostly he is able to work independently after reading the lesson instructions.

In the comprehension lessons students use fun strategies like circling, drawing a shape above, boxing, underlining and coloring to mark what they know, have read, etc. This helps them find the information when answering the comprehension questions. Mister really enjoyed this part, because it was like “solving a puzzle.” =)

I like that these workbooks cover the basics, cover them well, and aren’t long boring lessons. Anytime we can cut table time down in our homeschool we do so! This workbooks definitely helps in that area, if you’re a workbook style student/parent combo. And, even if you’re not, but you want something for reviewing basic skills or practicing, these are great lessons that your child can get through without painful hours of frustration and complaining.

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