Back to School: So many choices for Curriculum

There are so many choices out there for curriculum just as there are a variety of methods to us. While we don't use a boxed curriculum I have found help from those style companies in their websites. I have printed scope and sequence from almost every currirulum company I have found. Why? because it gives me ideas.  I love pulling things from various sources to put our curriculum together. 

One of my favorite sources is actually my membership on the Schoolhouse Review Crew because I am able to try out so many different products and find things that work and don't work. I use this as teacher training especially, because with 2 boys with different learning styles I have found what works for 1 very rarely works for the other. 

With that in mind here are a few of things we will be using this year: (I will link back to reviews if we have reviewed a product that we will be using.)

Math: Montessori bead bars, stamp game, place value tiles, and a checkerboard game.  Math-u-See Foundations and possibly moving into Intermediate 

Reading: McGuffey's First and Second readers and any other chapter books we find to add to the library. Our main resource has really become McGuffey's because the boys both seem to thrive in these books.

History: The Bible, a variety of books, Story of the World Volume 1, TruthQuest History Ancients, as well as a variety of Hands of a Child Lapbooks and Notepacks

Science: I'm still working on this one. We are considering Magic School Bus kits, but from right now we are doing Chemistry using a free kit we found online as well as some fun activities to help us learn the periodic table of elements.

Bible: weekly scripture verse from our Weekly Lesson. Mommy and Daddy are working through Apologia's I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist currently and will continue it through the school year. (review coming later this month)

We will also be using MapTrek from Knowledge Quest, Creek Edge Press command cards, and several other wonderful bits and pieces I will be writing about.

Summer school lesson plans

So we are back in school at least last week, this week is VBS so not so much school per-say.
Any way, I think I have our summer session mapped out

Math: Mix of Montessori activities, Math-u-See Foundations, and Math Essentials and Professor B Math (It might look like a crazy mess, but honestly we are reviewing 2 of these for the Crew and depending on how they go will determine if they stay on the radar)
Bible: Apologia Who is My Neighbor , also considering adding a Bible marking workshop for the family.
Reading: McGuffey's along with various other books for Summer Reading Program.
History: TruthQuest, Story of the World volume1, Knowledge Quest Maps, and Greenleaf History of the Old Testament along with various fun bits and pieces as we work our way through Genesis and Exodus over the summer.

I'm still working on a handwriting program for Cameron and putting the finishing touches on my version of Montessori grammar.

The Principled Approach with Judah Bible Curriculum

 

I am always interested in learning new styles and approaches to education as I search for that perfect answer to our ever changing homeschool.  I  was excited to learn more about using the Principled Approach by using Judah Bible Curriculum along with others on the TOS Homeschool crew.

Judah Bible is a guide that uses the Bible as the main resource, and I love that about the program.The program is designed to help you  teacher your children how to apply God’s word to everyday life. Through the Judah Bible program parents and students gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of God’s word.

I was so taken by the program as I spent more and more time studying it and putting into our lesson plans I decided to apply the program outline to our lesson plans for the coming year. One thing I  found helpful was to treat the notebook as a resource rather than just work. I decided to add some more worksheets and coloring pages to their notebooks to make sure the concepts and ideas really stick with.  Judah Bible Curriculum builds each year on the same concepts but different details, building a strong foundation.

The program also comes with 8 lectures / teacher training seminars. I listened to the lectures and got some basic ideas but found they were hard to follow with  the manual as an e-book. I will however continue to reference them as we continue to implement Judah into our homeschool

Judah Bible Curriculum is available in hardcopy for $69.00 or downloadable for $44.00.

    1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual, e-book format to download;

    2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet to view online or download;

    3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar. listen online or download.

Here is that moment, if I hadn’t received this as a review, honestly I’m not sure if I would spend the $44.00  to purchase it. I love the concept of the program and if you are unsure of how to set up your own Bible based lessons this is a great program  to help guide you through that. If you are comfortable setting up a Bible based program then this program may be repetitive for you.

 

Check out the what the rest of the Crew thought of this program HERE

disclaimer: I received a downloadable edition of this program as a member of the homeschool crew in exchange for my honest opinion.

Go Back in time and learn with Vintage Remedies for Kids #hsreviews

Do you long for a simpler life, a more natural life?  I know I do, even as I sit here typing this review with my cell phone beeping next to me (ironic I know).

We try and work toward a more natural healthy environment for the boys. Through out the spring, summer , and fall we work with our garden and harvest in an effort to save money, but also eat and live healthier.  I was so blessed when we received our Crew copy of Vintage Remedies for Kids to review and work with Nathan on.

What is Vintage Remedies for Kids? This book is a curriculum for ages 2-6 focusing on healthy food choices and how to make fun and healthy snacks.  Each lesson is age appropriate and has a hands on activity to go along with the lesson. Since this age group (including my Nathan) learn better doing then just listening, all 18 lessons are designed in that fashion. The book doesn't have a lot of pictures but is packed full on fun and healthy snack ideas.

We had a blast making our own butter in a pint jar! He especially loved making it because we got to use it for dinner and then breakfast , and even shared it with a friend that came over.

The book itself is small but fill of information and was actually interesting for my 9 year old son Cameron. He listened along with Nathan as I read the lesson and then helped and did the activities without an attitude.  The sprial bound format is great too as it makes it easy to use in the kitchen as well as a great way to "mark" the lesson you are on by opening the book all the way.

The book is available online through Vintage Remedies website and retails for $25.00.  A littler higher than some of the books we have used but well worth the price.  There are other books in the series as well; Vintage Remedies for Girls, for Boys, and for Teens.  The program is great for small classes, homeschoolers, youth groups, etc..

Be sure to check out Vintage Remedies Facebook Page  and  Twitter

 Check out what my Crew Mates thought of these amazing books HERE

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my opinion, no other monetary compensation was received. 

TOS Curiosity Files Review: Blue Footed Booby

What in the world is a Blue Footed Booby anyway?? If your curiosity is getting the best of you too then this unit study from The Oldschoolhouse's new line of Curiosity Files  is a great unit. Nathan and I went through the unit and while some of the questions and memory retention was over his head he had fun looking through the colorful unit and listening to Mommy read his the study.

One of the first things that caught Nathan's eye was the fun professor on the cover of the unit. He immediately thought of Magic School Bus and asked if I had found a Magic School Bus unit... I told him no , but this would be even better.  He was skeptical but is so eager to learn that he climbed onto my lap and took control of the keyboard. We started out by talking about how God created everything around us and these birds where really no different.  We read the e-book on the computer rather than printing it out and found the full color images and layout of the book very computer friendly.  This unit is designed for students ages 8-13 but was easily adapted for my 5 year old who loves learning.  The full color e-book is a complete unit with activities included at the end of the guide. There is a list of extension activities as well. The questions and activities are broken up for ages so the older kids are expected to do and understand more than the younger ones. I was still able to tweak the questions for my even younger one and have fun while we were doing it.
At first I wasn't sure if the boys would like the unit , but being a shorter unit study it was a break for what we had been doing. I can see adding a beach trip or other nature activity to the unit to expand on it but found a nice simple unit study without a lot of extra work a nice change of pace. The worksheets covered so many areas making this a truly cross curricula unit with fun math word problems, a fun song and dance for Physical Education and Music, a fun snippet activity to get the kids organized and excited about finding out more about the Blue Footed Booby, coloring and drawing practice for Art, and many more.

The Old School House has a wonderful line of Curiosity Files where Professor Ana Lyze takes you on fun learning adventures where you and your student can learn wonderful things while being a Creation based study. The units include everything you need incorporating: Bible study, memory verses, Core Curriculum like Math, Language Arts, Science, and History, lot of discussion questions and ideas to help further the dialogue, lapbook elements, note booking pages, copy work in both manuscript and cursive, ideas for arts and crafts, lots of Internet links and resources, and finally a complete answer key.  Most of the Curiosity Files are priced under $10, with bundle pricing if you are buying multiple lessons. The Blue Footed Booby Curiosity File unit is  priced at $6.95 and when I was reviewing The Old School House Store's website noticed a couple of the Curiosity Files units were priced at only $1.00 each.

**I received a copy of this unit to review and share my opinion. The opinions expressed here are solely mine and I received no further compensation for this review***

M is for Math

When I asked the boys to help pick the topics for the rest of the A to Z Blogging challenge Nathan said , "M is for Math, silly Mommy" and then he giggled.... so I thought I would share what we do for Math at Unionvale Homeschool.

Last year I was blessed to receive a partial set of Math-U-See Blocks (it wasn't a full basic set but is and was functional). My boys fell in love with the blocks and immediately started building with them...  I bought Math-U-See Classic materials second hand so figured we would do O.K.  We have like so many other elements in our homeschool modified it to meet the boys learning styles and currently are just using the blocks with basic math facts sheets.

I did build the boys a Decimal Street on Poster Board covered with clear contact paper so we could practice place values. When I originally built it Nathan was struggling with writing his numbers so I made a set of number cards 0-9 color coded for each place value. I also used glitter glue to write the numbers on the card so the cards became a tactile learning element as well. The cards now live in the box with the math blocks for a reminder on how to form the numbers.

Currently the boys are practicing math facts using pages I downloaded and printed from Donna Young's website She has a wonderful collection of homeschool and home planning pages to download for free. You can also purchase a CD collection from her website.

We will go back to our books next month to introduce some new concepts and move on, but for now both boys are thriving on the single worksheet / review sheet in their workbox folders.

Hands of a Child All American Sale

if you haven't tried Lapbooking or you want a project ready study Hands of a Child has an awesome selection. We are currently working on our Ancient Egypt Study as part of the Hands of a Child Online Co-op and have already made plans for several more studies this year.

I received an awesome announcement from Hands of a Child today, in celebration of the election year they are having an ALL American Sale.

Here is a taste of the sale:
Presidential Election and SAVE!

Save $3 off each of the All American Lapbook Project Packs listed below.

NO coupon code needed just add the unit in the format (eBook, Printed or CD) you prefer to your cart and you will have saved between 25% and 15%.

And that’s just for the basic members.

If you are a Super Member you will have saved an additional 15% on top of that for any eBook purchases.

All American Units to Choose From:
· HOCPP 1254 Presidential Elections
· HOCPP 1032 American Government
· HOCPP 1105 September 11th, 2001
· HOCPP 1181 The American Civil War
· HOCPP 1061 The American Revolution
· HOCPP 1015 The Declaration of Independence
· HOCPP 1132 The United States Air Force
· HOCPP 1256 The United States Constitution
· HOCPP 1106 The United States Navy
· HOCPP 1238 U.S. Army: The Big Red One
· HOCPP 1104 Labor Day
· HOCPP 1149 Presidents’ Day
· HOCPP 1220 Presidents’ Day Fun

Stop by their site and check them out!

Curriculum Writing and Planning

So in the theme of keeping it to a shoestring budget I decided to write/plan most of the curriculum myself. Why not, I'm a writer...

Easier said then done... I'm using a lot of free downloaded pieces but realized I still have some holes... We are going to base our theme for most of the year around Biblical Creation... For Science as well as Bible and a little History. I wanted to carry the theme into Reading and Art. Art is pretty easy as I will be trying to reinforce the science and Bible through Arts and Crafts.  Reading , well I will be using the old fashion MaGuffy's readers as well as a lot of story books relating to the various stages of Creation. It is amazing to me that I can plan the majority of a school year using the 6 days of Creation. Obviously I will be supplementing for certain "holidays" and "events" that need to be taught or focused on... i/e the election, the olympics, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Easter, etc...

We will be doing lapbooks this year alot , actually our lapbook for Creation has expanded from a lapbook to a 2" notebook that will include 6 section with all the mini books and pages. I also hope to include a second notebook of the alphabet. I picked up a set of Alphabet divider tabs at Staples today, so we now have 27 dividers for the ABC book... (1 table of contents tab and 26 letters) I was happy to see that each letter had a tab.

Anyway, ramblings aside, we are planning the year with a theme and basically 1 very large Unit Study... (I was going to spend 6 weeks on each day of creation, but I think I'm going to revamp that plan...) .