Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 from WriteBonnieRose {Product Review}

There are times when at the early elementary levels, you want a science program that is more of an introduction to a subject over rigorous study. But perhaps you desire something that allows you to fill it with loads of library books, Netflix programs, and other resources. Let me introduce you to WriteBonnieRose and her Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 (Cursive), where your children can explore life science, physical science, and earth science in a gentler more relaxed method.

About the Learning About Science Collection

The Learning About Science Collection, Level 3 from WriteBonnieRose contains seven books of science study. Included in the collection are:

Reading Kingdom: Online Reading Program Teaching Phonics-PLUS! {Product Review}

I have discovered that using online reading programs have helped boost my younger son's reading skills. We've used several different programs before, and have been using one we LOVE for almost a year now. When we were given the opportunity to review another reading program--one which is supposed to be more unique and better in its reading and writing instruction, I was eager to try Reading Kingdom and see what it was like. Would we like it even more than the beloved one we use now?

About Reading Kingdom

Reading Kingdom is an online K-3 grade reading program which uses the new Phonics-PLUS system, making it different from any other reading program out there! The art of reading consists of six skills: sequencing, writing, sounds, meaning, and comprehension. Teaching phonics in reading teaches just ONE of these skills. Most programs teach via phonics, but Reading Kingdom teaches with all six skills!

Strengthen Reading Skills with Reading Eggs {Product Review}

If you have a child and have ever mentioned that your child struggles in reading, or that you would love a website to help boost reading skills, I'm sure that someone has mentioned Reading Eggs to you! This online learning resource is ranked high in the list of "must-have" reading programs--I had done the free trial when my youngest son was 6, but was curious to explore it more thoroughly. Over the past few weeks I have been able to review the full Reading Eggs website to see all the things they offer!

About Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is an online reading resource designed to boost your child's skills in reading and reading comprehension. With the online reading games and activities, reading will be a FUN

English On A Roll~ A Hands-On Grammar Program! {Curriculum Review}

When it comes to curriculum, our family greatly prefers the hands on kind. Especially my youngest. He has always loved to "put" at we call it. He would sit forever doing repetitive puzzles or manipulatives that had him putting things in cups. Or on pegs. Or in holes. He LOVES learning with his hands. Sometimes it is very hard to find curriculum that works for this style of learning. Especially when it comes to Language Arts. Needless to say when a new (to me) company English on a Roll was available to review, I jumped on the chance to try the English Grammar Teaching Method! Hands-on Grammar? Yes please!

U.S.A Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom {Product Review}

I am always on the lookout for easy to use resources that will supplement what we are already learning in our classroom. Geography is one of the subjects that is the easiest to coordinate with something you are already learning. Especially when studying world or American history. I recently had the chance to review the USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom and I knew from my first glance at it that it would probably be just the type of resource I enjoy the most. 

About The Crafty Classroom

The Crafty Classroom provides digital resources to help you as a parent/teacher save time in your schooling. Whether looking for supplemental resources, crafts, or curriculum, The Crafty Classroom has designed products to save you time and money! 

Elementary Language Arts with Eclectic Foundations: Level B ~ {Curriculum Review}

My six year old son started wrapping his last Language Arts program at the beginning of this year, and I was beginning to wonder what we should move into next. His reading skills were definitely at the 1st/2nd grade level, and he was asking for cursive work. I knew he liked poetry, and was ready to start learning the parts of grammar--he's been hearing and helping his older brother do his for a few months now. I wasn't sure if I could find something that would fit the needs of my son--and if possible, be an all-in-one program. When I heard about the chance to review Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B program for elementary from the company Eclectic Foundations, I hoped that it would be just what we needed.

About Eclectic Foundations

Eclectic Foundations is a curriculum company determined to offer biblical worldview options for language arts. At the center of their program are the classic The McGuffey Readers--part of the Eclectic Education Series. This series of textbooks were widely used in public school from 1836 up until about 1960. Containing biblical morality teachings in their text, they were a way for teachers to

Another Peak at CTCMath~ {Curriculum Review}

The first year we were blessed to be on the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we discovered CTCMath (you can read my first review). It came at a time when my oldest (8 at the time) was struggling with math and me as his teacher. CTCMath revolutionized math for our classroom and was the perfect match to my auditory/visual learner. My youngest, however, has been doing excellent with workbook style math over the course of his Kindergarten year, so I didn't use CTCMath for him. When I had a chance to review the CTCMath Homeschool Membership with my youngest, I was curious to see how HIS learning style would work with this program.

About CTCMath

CTCMath is an online program designed to be used like an online math tutor. The program allows the student to work at their own pace, to stop and rewind the teacher during a lesson until they get what is being taught, access their work at any time of the day, get caught up or even jump ahead. Each of the video tutorials is audio and visual with easy to follow explanations and animation. The videos can even be accessed on some mobile devices!

Depending on the level of the math subject, each video is followed with either online questions or an optional printable worksheets. Each answer to online questions is logged and answers are given immediately! The answers are stored so each student can see their progress!

Membership to CTCMath grants you access to every level of math from Kindergarten to Sixth, Basic Math to Calculus and Trigonometry! This allows students to fill in the gaps in their learning at any level--which means you can focus on specific lessons.

CTCMath Homeschool Membership offers a monthly, 6 month and 12 month plan. There are single student plans and family plans. The best deal is for the 12 month plan...especially the 12 Month Family Plan on sale right now (as of the date of this posting 8/1/2016) for just $118.80. This plan is good for 2 or more students (up to 10!). That's unlimited access to unlimited levels for all the school age students in your family.

How Did We Use CTCMath?

Because we already had an account with CTCMath, I simply had to log in to get started. I set up Baby Britches to work through the Kindergarten material, as I was pretty sure we were done with it, but I wanted to double check. So I gave him his choice of what he wanted to do. I sat near him while he began, there to help if he needed me. Fortunately, it was set up so he had near complete independence on it. This was a change from the previous time we had used it. Before, I had to read all the questions for the lesson, but THIS time, there was an audio button that would read it to him for me. He loved this and would tell me "Go away. I can do it myself, Mommy."

The Kindergarten program has the following topics:
*Numbers, Patterns, and Algebra
*Measurement
*Space & Geometry
*Statistics & Probability

The routine is simple: Pick a grade. Then pick a topic. Then pick a category. Then pick a lesson.

Here is an example of a lesson page:

There are five lessons in the Numbers 2 category. You can also see that there are three options for Diagnostic Tests depending on what you want your child to complete. Once your child begins a lesson, they now start earning percentages for a certificate. They can earn Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Platinum can only be earned by maintaining a 100% in all lesson questions. For the longest time, Little Britches didn't want a platinum because he knew Gold was the best. LOL. Now he understands and tries to get them, but doesn't achieve them very often. You can access your child's list of awards on your parent dashboard in their profile. You can print out a certificate for each one they get--which actually gets emailed to you notifying you of their success.

Baby Britches' Awards

The math lessons are very simple. You simply click on any from the list and you will have a new screen opened which has a video lesson and then a tab for the questions. You can make your video full size and there is also the option for a printed version of the lesson. The lessons are 2-7 minutes long depending on the grade and topic with colorful characters and a lovely narrator. My boys love listening to it because he's Australian. LOL

Once the video lesson has been completed, you student can begin their questions. They are a mix of fill in the blank, drag n drop, and multiple choice. It is an interactive format.

Drag and Drop

Fill in the blank (see the audio buttons?)

Once the questions are completed you get your results and have the option to print results or do more questions. We have a rule for my oldest that if he gets 100%, he doesn't have to do anymore, but if he gets less than 100%, he has to do them UNTIL he gets a 100%. My youngest has to get a 90% or higher and that's enough. We just talk about what he missed. Once the first set of questions have been completed, the lesson will be marked as completed on the list. This pattern continues for all the lessons on the site.

Something new to CTCMath is a place in the parent dashboard where they can ASSIGN lessons/tests. This was not available when we reviewed the program before but something that many of us asked for (yay!).

Here you can pick a date, title it, add in the description, decide if you want them to do things in order, and then add lessons or tests. You can also add recipients--so if you have two kids working in the same grade, you can add BOTH of them to the recipients for the task at the same time. (woot!)

Here is an example of what an upcoming week looks like for each of my boys:

This shows me what I have set for them, and allows me to edit or delete the tasks from this window. Easy peasy. When they log in, they will see a little mark on the tasks bar of their opening screen, showing them they have a task to complete. Then they simply click and go.

As of today, Baby Britches has completed all of the lessons within in the Kindergarten level with a 98% average showing me he has mastered his skills. I did not choose to have him take a test in each area since he consistently achieved 100% in every category. We will be beginning the first grade level when we begin again next week.

What Were Our Thoughts on CTCMath?

I always like CTCMath and since my last review, they have updated several things. I love that the Kindergarten program has audio options for the questions. This was something that I mentioned the first time around would be useful. I appreciate that I can load up tasks for each child and when they log in, they can click tasks and see what I have for them to complete, whether lessons or tests. I like that I can customize the screen to match each child's likes--Baby Britches wanted it blue, whereas my oldest likes his green.

I have found the new edition of CTCMath to be very user friendly and even my 6 year old can maneuver through it successfully. He enjoys the silliness of the video lessons and that they are short. He loves being graded and enjoys the tests. Baby Britches MOST enjoys the fact he can work on it independently. He logs in on his own and clicks tasks to see what I have for him to do. When he's done, he tells me his score so I can see how he did. Although he sighs when he doesn't get a 100%. LOL.

I have two cons:

#1 Once you close the test or question results, you do NOT have any other opportunity to print the results. I wish that it was possible to at least be able to print out the tests since they include the diagnostic results. I would prefer to have record of the tests over the questions if I had to choose between them. Because I know it would take a large database to store every child's test scores, if it was possible, I'd like to see it just store the LATEST test in each category--or just store them for X amount of days so that as a parent I can go back and print it off. I love that the tests provide a diagnostic highlighting strengths and weaknesses, but you only get this if you print out that test.

#2 I have looked all over in my parent dashboard, and I cannot see where it tells me how long my subscription is for. I would like to have a place where it can tell me when my subscription will end so I can budget for the next one. I think this is very important.

Will we continue to use this product?
Okay, here is where I might surprise you. For Baby Britches, although he did fabulous, this is NOT his best learning style. It is a great REVIEW for him. He's already learned all the concepts taught in Kindergarten thanks him flying through his normal math, so there wasn't anything new. I do NOT plan on having him use this as his primary math when we start it again. It's been great for summer review, but he does best with his other math. This however, allows me to see how much he remembers from our studies. I also like that the testing is easy for him to complete (he actually likes getting graded) and gives me a hard copy of how he is doing--the diagnostic test, even breaks it down for me into areas he might need work on (if he missed any problems). So while we won't use CTCMath as our PRIMARY math, I absolutely see us using it as a SUPPLEMENT or for review. He ADORES math and ASKS to do more all the time--which makes CTCMath ideal to have on hand for him.

Remember though--this IS the primary math curriculum for my older son because it works PERFECT for him.

Would I Recommend CTCMath?

I ALWAYS recommend CTCMath to anyone who has a child that is struggling in math. It is a great curriculum for isolated math practice, with easy to understand video lessons. The younger grades (K-6) have enough to be considered a "complete" curriculum in my opinion, although some may think it's too light with it all online. It was designed to be a tutoring tool more than anything and it would work fabulous for that. The upper level maths are very well done. I have explored the geometry and algebra and found them to be very detailed and clear to understand. I like that the higher maths have an offline component in printing the worksheets before entering the answers. Another plus is that this has a family membership opportunity--and if you have children from K through high school, one price gets you math for them all! And it's VERY affordable.

I have only ever heard from one family that found this did NOT work for them--and it was because their children didn't learn as well from online programs, not really that there was anything wrong with the program itself. However, they did say it was a great TUTORING program for them. I think it would be a great program for anyone just wanting to give their child summer math practice too.

Want To Know More?

We enjoyed reviewing the CTCMath Homeschool Membership from CTCMath for the last couple weeks in our home. We focused on the Kindergarten course, so make sure you check out the rest of the crew members and the areas they reviewed.

CTCMath has a very active social media presence, so make sure you follow them to keep up to date on what is going on.

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath?ref=hl

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/ctcmathofficial

Periscope: 

https://www.periscope.tv/ctcmathofficial

Pinterest: 

https://au.pinterest.com/ctcmath/

Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWn5e6974bpIEAe46VnovZw

***

As before, we really enjoyed using CTCMath. I think it's a great program for any family looking for an online math curriculum that is easy to use, that also offers independence for even the youngest user. We will definitely continue to use the program; however, I think I will keep it as before for my oldest, and just let my youngest use it on demand since he does so well with a different style.  

A Fiery Furnace Craft

It really blows my mind that this post continues to be THE number one post I have ever had on my blog, but I know the craft has so much appeal in its simplicity! I hope that it will give you an additional craft to go with your own book of Daniel studies!

I just wanted to share a super cute craft that we did for our studies this week on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace (Day 121 of My Father's World-1st Grade)

I stumbled across it when I was looking for a coloring page for his Bible Notebook (above). When I saw it I just had to check it out because I thought it was sooo cute! The place I found it offered no directions...so I decided to note them as I made it for our family.

Fiery Furnace Paper Bag Craft

Supplies:

Colored Paper for Flames

White paper for characters

Straws

a brown lunch sack

Tape

Glue

I printed THIS PATTERN from Danielle's Place for our men characters (if you scroll down you can find it) so Little Britches just had to color and cut them out. You will need to shrink the pattern down so it is small enough to fit inside your sack. Then simply attach them on the straws by taping each straw to the back of the character.

To make the "fiery furnace" cut a circle out of the front of the UPSIDE-DOWN lunch sack. Our circle is about 3" in diameter. I just traced a circular object and cut it out. 

I found a simple clip art of flames and just printed them out on colored paper. Here is a link to a bunch of flame graphics that you could use . I just picked one (can't remember which one) then "cropped" it to just the flames for our use. You could easily just let your child draw/cut their own shapes. I had Little Britches cut the colored paper (red, orange and yellow) to make flames for the hole and for the top of the sack. I made 2 sets of flames (1 each of red, orange, yellow for each place). Just make a small fold on the bottom of the flames for the top of the bag so it's easy to attach them so they stand up.

Gluing the Flames on the Top

Now he can use the puppets to put on a show to tell the story of the fiery furnace. It's a great craft and oh, so easy!

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Learning about ROY G BIV

 "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth." Genesis 9:13

We did a study on rainbows after our review on Noah. We began by reviewing the colors of the rainbow and remembering our ROY G. BIV help. We colored a basic picture of a rainbow after finding the color crayons that matched. 

Our art project for the week was making these cute little rainbows.

 You can find the instructions here for making your own. They were very fun to make and they look super cute!

Math is WAYYY more fun when you get to EAT your manipulatives!

 It was all about graphing last week--and we enjoyed using Skittles--fitting since their slogan is "Taste the Rainbow!"

I made up this sheet for our final day. I asked Little Britches to write three sentences about rainbows and then draw a picture of a rainbow using the correct colors.

I was so proud! The only thing he wanted me to do was help him spell "are". He has his spacing and sentence structure correct--remembering his capital letters and periods! Woot!

It was a great week full of beautiful color--and the sun FINALLY came out on the last day---and it made the prism we have hanging in our living room window throw mini rainbows all over our wall! Perfect for the conclusion of our unit study!

In my soul, I am still that small child who did not care about anything else but the beautiful colors of a rainbow. ~Papiha Ghosh

School Days~ Week #9

Brrr...talk about change in weather! Last week our weather was a beautiful and pleasant 70-80 degrees! Perfect fall days with sunshine and breezes. Today it's a mere 38 and raining! I want my fall weather back!!!!! LOL!

Week #9~ October 22-26th

LITTLE BRITCHES

Bible

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18

The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.
Proverbs 12:22

Reading

U like /us/ in the forms of a, e, i, o and u

Wor like /wer/

Long i spelled igh

Yeah. After trying to teach the /uh/ sound when it is a, e, i and o....I decided that it was no WONDER English is so hard to learn! I mean there is no rhyme or reason for when this one will be the case! And some of the words that were supposed to have the /uh/ sound didn't have it when I said them! LOL! Like "robin"--I say "Ro-bin" but they had it like it needed to say "Ro-bun". Even a few words Little Britches sounded out on his own, but there weren't any "uh" sounds in them! LOL! So I didn't bother to teach him differently in those circumstances

 We also began with the Bible Reader included in the MFW-1st grade curriculum.

I took the words he was to learn and wrote them each onto my laminated/magnetic 3 x 5 cards and put them up on the white board. We reviewed them each morning and he read his first page of the Bible Reader to me and daddy several times during the week. The written orange words are ones he quickly knows by sight. "Only" is at the bottom because it's a bit more tricky to figure out.

We also did a quick blend review with this set of worksheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Activities

 *Hebrew/Greek and the Bible

He had to mimic the Greek alphabet letters. He loved this.

*Timeline

We put our timeline up on the wall near the ceiling. Little Britches chose a dark green yarn for the line. We put up the Hebrew card he had colored earlier in the week at the beginning and added a picture of he and Baby Britches.

 This is the view of the timeline from Little Britches' desk.

Art

My mother-in-law had him practice making a tower of cards then had him draw shapes to make a Tower of Babel. He learned that you can use shapes to draw animals too.

Math

*Addition and Time

Little Britches completed a few more worksheets and enjoyed playing the Hickory-Dickory-Dock game from a shoebox learning center EBOOK I bought during the Scholastic Express Dollar Days. He loved it except he didn't win which then led to a lesson on good sportsmanship. I actually went through and printed out quite a few of the games and laminated them for future use.

He enjoyed doing this Angry Birds Time match worksheet. I think it's from the Angry Birds unit from 1 +1 +1 = 1.

History

Completed up our study on Babylon and Nimrod with coloring pages and activities

Geography

Worked on the unit for bodies of water in our Beginning Geography book. We found the bodies of water studied (Lake Superior and St. Lawrence River) on the pull down US map and the globe.

Science

"Beach and Waves"

Things Outdoors p. 24-27 USBOURNE

Perfect timing for this study since we just got home from the beach! We learned about the surf and how waves are made.

Experiment: We fastened a piece of string to a doorknob and then worked it up and down from across the room to see how the waves work.

 Little Britches thought this was exciting...

Baby Britches eagerly wanted a turn...

Little Britches used this knowledge over the weekend as he heard about Hurricane Sandy. He told me "We learned about that!" when they started discussing how the hurricane can be out at sea and still cause big waves.

(Yay for reinforcement of our lesson!)

Read Aloud

We finished up Mouse and the Motorcycle this week. When it ended, he didn't believe me and I had to show him that it was over! LOL! Needless to say he's eager to start up the second book in the series.

I had him tell me his most favorite part and draw a coordinating picture.

 

"My favorite part was when he rode in the ambulence."

BABY BRITCHES:

Baby Britches and I went on an expedition to see what treasures we could find. We found some beautiful leaves, a cat-tail and some fun seed pods. Here is a pic of our treasures:

Baby Britches only had to see the bright red leaves one time before he was pointing them out to me as we rode around the farm on the 4wheeler. And he LOVED the seed pods. I learned they are from the Trumpet Vine (aka hummingbird vine) that grows wild here all over the fences. We opened each pod and he could use his little fingers to get all the papery like seeds out inside. We saved the pod casing as they will make great little boats!

Here is a pic of Baby Britches working on his "schoolwork"...LOL!

It was a good week and we got through a lot of schoolwork as well as enjoyed afternoons in the glorious weather!

If you are in the path of the storm on the East coast, please stay safe!!! 

We are thinking and praying for your safety!!

School Days~ Oct 15-19 (Week #8)

Oct 15-19-Week #8

Little Britches

Bible

A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Proverbs 29:11

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18

Bible Activity

Learned how to draw a map of the Holy Land using a cute little Fisherman Story. This was a great idea and Little Britches caught on very very fast. He also learned the naming phrase "ET purrs in the red nile med". Now when we see pictures of the Holy Land it is MUCH easier to identify! I'm in the process of drawing a larger one and laminating it for reference as we go along.

Reading

AR, OR, IR, ER, UR

We learned great helps for figuring out these sounds. I love the way they teach this part of the phonics! We review the cORn and cAR words in the booklets he has. We also did the Word Family letter strip for AR that I printed off last year. I actually printed, cut out and laminated all these word family strips. Great resource!

Math

Reviewing shapes and beginning our Addition chapter

The favorite activity this week was the "Roll a Sum" one. I have big blue dice that I found at the Dollar Tree. I gave them to him and had him roll them and write the numbers down. Then add them all up when he was done. He got into this and even let Baby Britches have a die to throw! LOL! I'll be pulling this back out for sure on the days when we need to "lighten up" math.

We also used these GREAT wood disks for counters. My mom found bags and bags of them at Goodwill for pennies and asked if I wanted them--Absolutely! So he enjoys using them for his counters. Especially since they are two sided.

Baby Britches uses them to practice putting things into slots. I made him a "token bank" from an old sour cream container and he LOVES dropping them in and then taking them out and doing it again.

We also started working on the +1 facts...I let Little Britches go through his number ring for those facts. He did it very easily.

History

Covering the story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel from the Bible.
We are using THIS LESSON for this study.

Science

"Rivers"

Things Outdoors pg 22-23 USBOURNE

We learned about how rivers are created, and how they get polluted. We identified the things on our own river which can cause pollution.

Experiment: Made a water filter to see how the river cleanses water as it washes downstream.

(giggle) This didn't exactly have the result we were looking for. I totally forgot that OUR sand is 75% sand and 25% DIRT. So imagine our surprise when our water was DIRTIER than it was when it started! LOL! So we discussed the reasons and determined we would re-do this experiment with GOOD SAND at another time.

 Getting the water for the experiment

 Submitting a hypothesis

Pouring the water into our "filter"

Geography

Canyons and Valleys (Beginning Geography K-2)

We learned the difference between a canyon and a valley. Then viewed photos of the Grand Canyon and the Yosemite Valley. We colored pictures for each landform.

Art

My mother-in-law is working on maps with Little Britches. She had him put together a map puzzle of the United States. Then she had him use tracing paper and trace our state (Kentucky) and the ones around it. She wants him to be able to find our state on any US map--especially when it's shown on the weather channel.

Read Aloud

Mouse and the Motorcycle. We love this book, but it had been awhile since we had read it--and we hadn't finished it yet. You can imagine how happy Little Britches was to pick it back up. We are only a couple chapters from the end so we should be finishing it up on Monday. I think we will start up the second book in the series after this one is completed. He just loves reading about Ralph.

There is our week! It was so nice to be back in the groove again. We are working on great things and all this focused attention on letter combination sounds has helped Little Britches gain confidence in his reading. I let him keep his Reading Chart (from the MFW-1st grade) with him when he reads his books aloud. I've seen him glance at it a few times--especially for the new "er" sound. I'm so happy that he's not complaining as much when it comes to picking books from his book basket to read.

Baby Britches

We did the token slot bank I mentioned above. We also enjoyed playing with the new wooden block set I found for $5 at a store nearby. This keeps him amused for quite awhile right now--and the big boy too! LOL!