Come Check Out Some Books with Me

Come check out all of these great books on SALE!! Score some for just $5.  We have activity books, survival guides for teens, potty training books, and MORE!!!!

Human Body Preschool Activity Book

Social Skills Workbook for Teens

Anger Management Workbook for Kids

Social Survival Guide for Teens

Anxiety Workbook for Kids

ABC Bug Book for Kids

All About Rocks and Minerals for Kids

Exploring Nature Activity Book

Rocks and Minerals Field Guide

Field Guide All About Bugs

Fascinating Facts About Bugs

Herb and Plant Encyclopedia- disclaimer it's titled "The Green Witch's Herb and Plant Encyclopedia"

Basketball Biographies for Kids

The Story of Taylor Swift

Kindergarten Reading Notebook

Complete Book of Football Trivia

Potty Training in 3 Days

Let's Go to the Potty

My First Book of Baby Signs

My First Book of Emotions for Toddlers

Homeschool/School Curriculum on SALE by Subject

 

The curriculum filters aren't perfect but for the most part the subjects are separated.

Math

Science & Technology

Language Arts

Social Studies

Health

Foreign Languages

Creative Arts/Art

Amazon Homeschool Deals for 8/1/24

 All of the homeschool deals listed in "today's deals" https://amzn.to/3Wsa3jO

Homeschool Discounts for Pre-k-5th grade https://amzn.to/3LLzAiO

Homeschool Discounts for 6th-8th grade https://amzn.to/3A8y4ES

Homeschool Discounts for 9th-12th grade https://amzn.to/3A87coA

These are generated lists.  Sometimes it sticks a curriculum item in the wrong section.

*these are affiliate links*

It's Almost That Time!!!

Can you believe it is almost time for school to start back!! My crews starts back part time in July so it is really, really CLOSE for us;-)  I wanted to do a quick post sharing what curriculum we are using and I would love to hear what everyone else is using!!!!

So let's get started!! I have two boys in 4th this year:-)  One is struggling so we decided not to move him forward to 5th.  The wonderful thing about homeschool is that there is no reason to stress him out!!  I'm going to start with what they are going to be using for the big 4th grade year!!!

Math- Teaching Textbooks, Dad's Worksheets (completely free), FREE Math (completely free)

Language Arts- McRuffy Press

Science- The Lab of Mr. Q Life Science (completely free)

Social Studies- Evan-Moor

As always we will supplement with free worksheets we find throughout the year, unit studies, Teacher's File Box, our monthly co-op classes, etc!!

Alright let me hear what you will be using!!!!

Making Fake Snow (Since December Brought Spring Temps)

If it won't snow we will just make our own!!!!  That is what I decided on one warm December day a couple of weeks ago.  The kids were going stir crazy because they were cooped up due to all the rain.  And I was completely over the insanely warm temperatures we were experiencing so we made SNOW!!!!  It was super simple, fun, and MESSY!!!  The recipe is cheap and easy; you take 2 parts corn starch to 1 part hair conditioner and mix away:-)  Enjoy!!!!!

Fractiles- Product Review Post- We LOVE these things!!!!

I want to do a quick post on one of my favorite products!! Fractiles, I purchased ours months ago from our favorite, local toy store... Imagination Forest.  My middle little is obsessed with magnets and my littlest little loves all small, interactive toys.  Fractiles fit both of those requirements.  Now months later we still use almost daily.  I have them use them during hands-on math and they use them on their own constantly just for fun. 

Fractiles is an assortment of magnetic shapes that you use to create different designs.  It is great for all ages.  It keeps the 5 year olds entertained, and it also keeps my 28 year old Sister entertained for hours.  The storage container it comes with gives you several ideas and instructions for designs and you can create tons all on your own.

This product encourages independent play and critical thinking skills!! I highly recommend adding this to your toy/school collection.  You won't regret it!! If you are local and decide to stop by Imagination Forest and get them personally be sure you check out all the rest of their super neat products.  If you aren't local or like me prefer to online shop then you can buy them from the store's website also and still check out some of their neat products;-)

School Started Back....What We Are Doing in 2015-2016!!!

Tomorrow starts our 3rd week of school and we have survived!! Not only did we survive our first week of school but we also survived our first monthly co-op. The kids were so excited to see their friends and I was so excited to see my fellow Moms:-)  Our co-op has tripled in size since last year and it is so fun!! The kids are great!!

This year my Sis has joined us on our homeschooling adventure and she is teaching Kindergarten to my adorable niece.  Being next door neighbors means it is super easy for us to do school together.  It is nice to have a back up for my off days:-)  For our at home work we are using MobyMax as our supplemental computer curriculum for all four littles.  The main part of Kindergarten for the two newbies is Little House Curriculum an almost completely FREE curriculum that we love so far, it includes all subjects!!  The other two are using Institute of Excellence in Writing....Primary Arts of Language Reading and Writing Program, Math 2 curriculum, timeline unit study for History and as always hands on science. 

So far everything is going with only one hitch.  Bad dreams...my boys are being plagued by bad dreams so sleeping in their beds has turned into an impossibility.  Tonight we read the story of the dreamcatcher and colored pictures of our own.  Tomorrow we are going to make actual ones.  So far so good; one hour later and everyone is still in their bed and there have been no tears. 

The oldest started highschool last week and so far he loves it!! ( He is in Public school) I am really enjoying hearing him talk about all of his classes and new experiences.  I know he will do great this year!!

We wrapped up our Sunday night with a huge family supper before Dad went to work and then hung out at the table doing homework and coloring.  It feels good to be getting back into our normal routine:-)

SmartKidz Media Review

SmartKidz Media is a really neat website.  I was super excited to get to review their SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers.  The program is a huge digital resource library for homeschoolers that includes songs, videos, and study guides.  You can choose from sections such as; Family Media- which includes World of Discovery and Music and Fine Arts or Reading and Learning Center- which includes ebooks, baby sign language lessons, animal families, study guides, special needs learning, life skills, songs and a fun zone.  I have never seen anything like this website and I have spent many years exploring homeschool options.  I was and still am very impressed with the content available on their website.  I have enjoyed it just as much as my kids have.

Most of their activities are given in video format but you also have access to some great study guides.  The favorite part for my kiddos was of course all the great animal videos and information.  We are animal obsessed here and this website gives you an unbelievable amount of animal lessons that you can choose from.  I think we watched all the animal videos, and read the animal ebooks in the first few days of exploring the program.  That is all they wanted to do.  I loved the baby sign language section and plan on using it with our new little bundle of joy arriving in Fall.  We used this program several times a week and plan on continuing to use it.

As a homeschooling Mom with a large family I was super relieved to find out that you do not have to have membership for each child.  You pay one fee and get access to a family membership and the best part is that the fee is affordable!! You have the option to pay monthly for only $10 or save some money by purchasing a yearly membership for $99.  The material they provide is well worth the prices and on top of learning my kids were entertained.  There was only one con in my opinion and this isn't a con for most people but we live in a rural area was the amount of Internet you use.  Where we live we do not have access to unlimited data so watching the video definitely impacted our date plan but it is worth it.  As long as I use in conservatively I don't anticipate it being a problem.  But due to this I do wish more of their information was available in printable study guide format.

 Above is a view of one of the awesome study guides......

 This screen shot shows just a a few of the many video lessons available....

 This is one of the bright, fun ebooks offered.....



You can view their catalog and sign up for a membership on their website.  And make sure you check out SmartKidz Media on FACEBOOK and TWITTER. 

CTC Math Review

We are always on the lookout for new Math programs.  And even though we do a lot of pencil and paper work nothing beats the convenience of a computer based program that can help us learn.  CTC Math was a program that I was unfamiliar with before this review, for this review I was given access to their 12 Month Family Plan for Homeschoolers .  This program has a lot of pros and cons and for our family the cons out weighed the pros even though there are less cons then pros but I do not think that would be the case in a different situation.  We used this program 3 days a week to start with as an online math tutor.  Right off the bat I was impressed with how well it explained stuff and so I tried to work it into our schedule a little more often but my kiddos just weren't interested.  I was using this program with Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade students and a rising high school freshman. I am going to start by listing what we thought were pros and how they could help your family and then I will discuss the cons and why they had such a huge impact on our decision to only use the program occasionally.

PROS

• You can purchase individual or family plans
• It is very well laid out and the lessons explain the skills they are teaching very well
• The student can work at their own speed
• The student can jump around and work on only the skills they struggle with
• It is very easy for parents to keep track of their student's progress and see where they need to improve 
• It is easy to use...just log in and you are ready to go
• It is NOT common core based
• It covers a great amount of grade appropriate material and helps fill in gaps really well

CONS

• It is a little pricier then I would prefer but the homeschool discount is great
• My kids found it very dull and it just did not keep the interest of the younger kids, the older one did not have this problem and I think higher grades would be fine

Like I said there are way more pros then cons for CTC Math and we only had two cons but they were big ones for us.  The expense...the 12 Month Family Plan for Homeschoolers is $297 per year for non homeschoolers and $118.80 per year for homeschoolers.  It is very straight forward without a lot of bells and whistles which is fine but in order to get my younger kiddos to use a computer program I need it to keep their attention.  CTC Math did not.

 The entry screen is very easy to navigate.  It has everything broken down into grades until the higher levels and then it is broken down into classes.

 After you click on the grade and then subject that you want to study it will take you to the work screen.

 The "work" consists of a lesson, then questions then you can go take the test to rate your skills.

 This is my favorite part of the program...for each lesson you have the option to print out a lesson summary.  These make great study guides for being able to go over the skills away from the computer.

Follow CTC Math on Facebook  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath

Primary Arts of Language Reading and Writing Reviews.....IEW

I was so excited to be given the chance to review the Primary Arts of Language: Reading Complete Package (PAL Complete Reading Package) and the Primary Arts of Language: Writing Complete Package (PAL Complete Writing Package) by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).  I had researched their programs before for my oldest homeschooler (he is in 2nd grade but struggles in reading).  All of their programs look wonderful but they just weren't in our budget since we had already purchased other curriculum.  When the opportunity to review it came up I jumped at the chance and anxiously awaited our package in the mail.  These programs are work well for a special needs/struggling reader who is reading at or below a 2nd grade reading level and non struggling readers at or below a 2nd grade level.  When I first got the product I was overwhelmed.  First let me say the quality of the material I received was great but there seemed to be a lot of it!!! I spent a couple of days just looking through all the material then I got down to business.  I watched the instructional video that was included with my two trusty teacher manuals by my side.  The video was very helpful and even though the two teacher's manuals sort of scared me.  (I still think it would of been easier to combine it into one)  But the Reading and Writing can be used as two separate programs or by using them together as one like I am doing so I guess I understand.

As the day approached to begin Lesson One I was still a little nervous about how it was going to go.  I shouldn't have been worried at all, my struggling ready loved it and so did I!!! It took us about an hour and a half that first day (I already had all the games assembled), if you assemble the games during class it will take longer.  Before we knew it we were five lessons in and we were loving it still.  The best part is that is was sticking!! He was retaining the information, I couldn't believe that after only 5 lessons I noticed a difference and my child who has always detested reading didn't dread it with this curriculum.  Thanks to Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) we were finally making progress .

Now we are 30 lessons in and still making wonderful strides.  We have incorporated All About Spelling which is included with the Primary Arts of Language: Writing Complete Package.  I am so impressed with this program that the price seems small.  I would glad pay twice as much as what it sales for simply because of the results we have experienced.  We use the curriculum daily and although you could probably use it two to three days a week  I don't think you would get the same results.  Daily use is definitely best in my opinion.

You get a large amount of materials with these packages.  The reading program costs $69.00 and comes with; teacher's manual, CD ROM that includes program instructions, printable readers, reading folder games, phonetics farm, and printable student book. The writing program costs $89.00 and comes with; teacher's manual, CD ROM that includes program instructions, student book, and All About Spelling Level 1. The PAL Complete Reading Package use beautiful poetry, kid friendly readers, and the phonetics farm to help develop a child's reading skills.  The PAL Complete Writing Program uses familiar stories that have stood the test of time, printing, copywork, composition and spelling to improve a child's writing skills.  This program really is made to go right along with the reading program but if your child is already reading you can use it independently.

We love this program and will continue to use it until we complete and I can't wait to try out many of the other available IEW programs.  This company has earned a fan for life.  Please check out the review from the other members of the review crew to see what they had to say.  Some reviewed the same products I did and others reviewed several different programs by IEW.


You can follow this company and keep up with their great products on pretty much every social media site.
https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting
https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting
http://vimeo.com/iewtv
https://twitter.com/iew
https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv
http://iew.com/help-support/blog
https://plus.google.com/+Iewriting/
 

Building Blocks PE Class

Building Blocks PE is a wonderful class that my kids absolutely love.  For just $5 per kid per class the wonderful PE skills they learn are a steal.  Check them out on their FACEBOOK page for more details about upcoming classes and locations:-)  The schedule has changed up a bit for summer but will be back to normal in the fall.  You can also follow their class schedule on our Facebook page for TAG Families- Knoxville.  This class will be part of our Monday co-op at Deane Hill Rec Center starting in the Fall.  I am going to post some pictures below from the class and then include a bio about the class's instructor Laban Propst.  This class is great for all children including children with special needs. 

Laban Propst is a pediatric exercise physiologist who earned a Master’s of Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  He is the creator of the Building Blocks program and has over 15 years of experience working with children.  While pursuing his Master’s degree, Laban uniquely focused on how exercise and motor development activities could be used to improve children’s development and overall health status.  He has also earned two Bachelor degrees, one in Physical Education and another in Exercise and Sport Science. 

Laban has developed and implemented programs for children at all developmental levels.  In collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Psychology department, he implemented his Building Blocks program for children on the Autism Spectrum as part of their widely recognized DREAM Camp.  He has also developed training programs and activity guidelines for teachers and childcare providers.  Most recently, Laban designed developmentally appropriate activities for Cherokee Health Systems’ Project Diabetes grant in Knoxville, TN. Laban’s passion is working with any child who can benefit from his experience and expertise. 

Laban continues to develop his Building Blocks program and has expanded its services to the field of therapy.  Where traditional therapy methods may fail, Laban uses exercise (exercise therapy) and motor development activities to help children with disabilities.  While in NC he implemented Building Blocks for children with severe cognitive, physical, and/or medical disabilities at Gateway Education Center.  Often children who participated in the Building Blocks program improved much quicker and improved skills or function at a higher level than expected from traditional therapy.

Laban’s mission in life is to improve the health and development of children and implement a new and exciting way to provide therapeutic services for disabled children.  From providing a superior physical education program to helping a disabled child improve development across multiple domains, Laban continues to help children every day.