-
Review: Memoria Press’ Astronomy Set!
I grew up in the country, away from the bright city lights, and have always loved looking at the stars. Now that we are living in the country again, we decided it was time to introduce our kiddos to the night sky in a more in depth way! Super D received a telescope for his 9th birthday in May, and I was super excited when Memoria Press offered us the opportunity to review their Book of Astronomy Set. They sent us both a teacher’s guide and a student book. The materials and telescope were a perfect pairing for us, although you could certainly work through the material without…
-
Review: Poetry Memorization Made Easy with IEW!
Andrew Pudewa and the Institute for Excellence in Writing are one of my favorite creators of homeschool curriculum. I first heard him speak at a homeschool convention last year, and I attended every session I could that he taught! I love his approach to the process of writing, and developing excellent language skills in kids. When we were offered the opportunity to review their program, Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization, I hesitated just a moment because, well, it’s poetry, and I didn’t know how my kids would go for memorizing it. I decided to give it a try because of who created the materials, and I’m so…
-
Reward your kids for reading – Free Summer Reading Programs 2016!
School is almost out for the summer and I thought this would be a great time to share this huge list of FREE Summer Reading Programs from Kristie at Saving Dollars and Sense. If you like this then you might also be interested in this list of Good Report Card Freebies. There are a LOT of great programs that your children can take advantage of to earn FREE books, prizes, and cash! You can print out this list of FREE Summer Reading Programs here. Junie B Jones Reading Club – Sign up and get a FREE starter Kit that includes a copy of Junie B Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus,…
-
Review: No Mess Painting with Kwik Stix
Your kids are probably like mine in that they LOVE to paint and make a giant mess! We’ll do watercolors sometimes, but I’ve been scared to introduce anything darker (or more permanent). The Pencil Grip, Inc. offered us the chance to review their Kwik Stix 12 pk and kindly sent us a 12 pack! They also sent a bonus pencil grip called The Single Grip that Sweetheart played with. The Pencil Grip, Inc. is well known for their pencil grips that are helpful for any little ones, but particularly special needs children or those with delayed fine motor skills. My little ones LOVE the Kwik Stix and so do…
-
Apologia Writers in Residence Review
I’ve been really impressed with the quality of products from Apologia Educational Ministries, so I was excited to review their Writers in Residence program when it was offered to us. I was not disappointed! The books themselves are beautiful, for those of us that are curriculum junkies and appreciate well made materials! The student book is both a text and workbook all in one, so it’s a thick 576 page manual. It’s spiral bound for durability, and so the pages will lay flat as the kids work. The answer key is a more modest 144 pages. I am still a little intimidated at teaching the writing…
-
Review: A+ Interactive Math
Math is possibly the scariest homeschool subject! I hear many moms say they’re hesitant to homeschool because they get overwhelmed by the math. We may even have negative memories of math from our own schooling years. A+ Interactive Math wants to help parents overcome that math obstacle! We were given access to two of their Math Mini Courses and we chose to focus on Money and Tables, Charts, and Graphs. Each mini-course offers a year’s access to the material and has between 10 and 35 lessons. Topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, percentages, elementary algebra, elementary geometry, decimals, fractions, and more. After logging in, the kids…
-
Review: Talking Fingers (Read, Write & Type!)
My Sweetheart is busy learning to read, so I relish the opportunity to try out programs that will help her build that oh-so-valuable skill. I was especially intrigued by Read, Write & Type because of the typing skills it incorporates. Sweetheart hovered over Super D as he learned to type with a different program and was super excited to have a version of her own. Talking Fingers, Inc kindly gave us a one year subscription, good for multiple users to their program, Read, Write & Type. This is an internet based program, so no downloading is required! Read, Write & Type is ideal for ESL students and works really well for parents…
-
Review: Homeschool Copywork
I regularly scour the Internet for copywork and so I was eager to try out the offerings from Homeschool Copywork! They offer three levels of membership, and kindly gave us a Lifetime Membership to their site. I like to incorporate regular copywork into our schooling for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that my kiddos need to practice their handwriting!! Good handwriting doesn’t just come naturally to kids (right?!), and so they need to practice! I well remember learning to write in cursive in 3rd grade, and practicing over and over (and over) again! I also like to give my kids copywork because it gives them…
-
Review: Times Tales by The Trigger Memory Co.
Super D has been working hard on his multiplication skills this year, and so I was excited to introduce him to the Times Tales by The Trigger Memory Co.! They kindly sent us a digital download pack that included two videos, two sets of printables, and an answer key. Times Tales is designed to help kids memorize their multiplication facts, focusing on the more challenging upper times tables. Super D has memorized his skip counting songs, and uses those to multiply. He has balked at memorizing the facts, and prefers to skip count. I was excited to review Times Tales and see if they could help him with memorization! The Trigger…
-
5 Days of Tips for Homeschooling Parents: Stretch Your Homeschool Budget!
Look for free curriculum! Lots and lots and lots of sites offer free curriculum! Even some public schools are offering their programs online for free, if you want to go that route. Pinterest is FULL of free curriculum as well and you can find great sites like How to Homeschool for Free. Look for used curriculum! One of my favorite sites to look for used curriculum is HomeschoolClassifieds.com. It pays to look in unusual places if you’re looking for a specific kind of curriculum. I’m part of a yahoo group for Math U See users where they post used materials. I’ve gotten LOTS of our Math U See…
