2010-2011 Curriculum Choices

     

Jonathan - 7th grade

Math - Abeka 7


Writing - IEW Medieval Times + Copywork


Grammar - CC Essentials


Reading - Reading List + ??
Jonathan is being tested in August so I am going to wait until then to decide what I want to do.  He is struggling in this area.



Stephen - 4th grade

Math - Abeka 4


Writing - IEW Medieval Times + Copywork
same as Jonathan above


Grammar - Essentials
same as Jonathan above
 

Reading - Abeka 4 + Reading List

 

Sarah - 2nd grade

Math - Abeka 2

Writing - Basic Writing Series 1


Grammar - Abeka Letters and Sounds 2 & Abeka Language 2


Reading - Abeka 2 and Sonlight 2





All

Bible - Building Life Castles


History - Mystery of History II, Story of the World II,  Famous Men of the Middle Ages








Science - Apologia's Exploring Creation With Astronomy - finish

                Apologia's Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 - start


Latin - Latin for Children A


Spelling - All About Spelling - various levels


Memorization and Geography - CC Foundations and Veritas Press History Cards
     

Read Alouds
Sonlight Core 2









Jonathan's Reading List so far
The White Stag by Kate Seredy
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
The Magna Charta by James Daugherty
In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce by G. A. Henty
The Prince and the Pauper by Samuel Clemens



Stephen's reading list so far

King Arthur and His Knights
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster

Phew!  I'm sure things will get tweaked as necessary.  We will definitely be adding more living books to our curriculum for the year but this is a start! 

I'm also reviewing for TOS Homeschool Crew this year so we will add those in when we get them too! 

Three cheers for a great new school year!  Now, let the copying and planning begin ;)

TOS Blog Walk Week 5

Here is week 5 of my crewmate blog walk.  Enjoy!

1. Buckaroo Days
2. Our Homeschool Reviews
3. Reed, Party of 6
4. Training Hearts at Home
5. Along The Way
6. I Love Science!
7. Through the Calm and Through the Storm
8. Created for Home
9. Tractors and Tire Swings
10. Guiding Light Homeschool

TOS Travel Kits Review

  

Today's review is an e-book from The Old Schoolhouse called Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others.

This was a fun review that I found perfect for summer time weather!  In this e-book you will find lots of ideas for putting together travel kits for your family or as a gift to other families.  The book starts out describing kits you can assemble as a way to make car trips more fun for families who have to travel whether it be a 1 hour trip or a 14 hour trip.   A long trip in a car with an unhappy 2 year old can be a nightmare!  And buckets can come in handy sometimes - don't ask me how I know!!

As I continued to read I was thinking this really doesn't apply to our family that much.  We don't travel a lot as a family.  All of our families live pretty close by.   My kids are way past the toddler stage.  And then I kept on reading and discovered that the ideas in this e-book go well beyond that of a traveling family. 

The ideas you will find can be tweaked to fill a basket, bucket, bag or any item to bless a family in almost any situation!  You could make kits for new college students, kids going away to camp, missionary families, your pastor's family during vacation, a simple trip to the dentist, a soccer game, etc.  The possibilities are really endless!

Inside the e-book is loaded with what you can put inside your travel kits. 

Some of the categories include...

• gifts for girls
• gifts for boys
• cheap gifts
• pricey gifts
• homemade gifts
• books including a reading list that I think would be great for homeschool literature list and it is even broken down by age =)
• custom gifts
• gifts for mom
• gifts for dad
• different ways to wrap the gifts
• different container options to present the gifts
• and lots more!

I am going to print this out as a manual to go on our bookshelf because it is loaded with ideas that I could use as a resource in our home. 

This would be great to use as a ministry for our homeschool too. There is nothing more educational than sharing the love of Jesus with others!

Pros for me (since I didn't get my children's input on this one)

• great details with lots of ideas
• simple read
• literature list
• based on Christian principles - Luke 6:31

Cons for me (since I didn't get my children's input on this one)

• price is a little too much for our family

If you would like to see a sample of TOS Travel Kits e-book click here.

The price of TOS Travel Kits: A Way To Bless Others is $12.45 and can be instantly downloaded by clicking here.

You can find out what my crew mates have to say about this e-book by going to The Crew Blog.

The Oldschoolhouse store has loads of other products that you can explore here.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this product for review purposes. The opinions in this post are my honest evaluation of this product. I was given no other compensation for this review.

TOS Homeschool Crew Blog Walk - Week 4

I'm still catching up =)  Here is the list for week 4.

1. King Alfred Academy
2. Confessions of An Organized Homeschool Mom
3. Curriculum Reviews from Oak Creek Farmhouse
4. I Can't Decide
5. My Life on A Taffy Pull
6. Losing My Tale
7. Made in His Image
8. Serenades and Solace
9. Our Village is a Little Different
10. SisterTipster's Tell'n It!

Enjoy!  I sure am!

TOS June Module Review

I've had my eye on The Old Schoolhouse Planner for some time now so when I got the chance to review the June Module: Travel the World, I jumped at it!  The great thing about these modules is you don't have to have the planner to make them work.  Each one stands alone by itself!  But now I really want the planner even more, lol.

Without a doubt, this e-book was all I had envisioned and so much more.  We're talking a whole unit study here every month!  Really, I was blown away!  I just wasn't expecting that much information in a monthly module.  I was just thinking it would be a little extra side information we could use in our homeschool...not a complete unit study!

So, what information you may ask?  In the June module the study was on traveling the world.  You are provided with lots of information/studies on each continent and each ocean.  One part that we really enjoyed were the details given on globes!  The way that the unit explained geography and the globe details really made everything click for us all. 

Included also were puzzles, copywork, activity sheets, map work, coloring pages, and so much more including a "My Travel Book" lapbook to make!  We didn't get to make that yet but rest assure we will and I'll post a picture of it when we do!  The lapbook in itself is a great way to review all the information given on each continent.  And another biggie that is included for me is the answer key to all the activity pages because let's face it.....I have mommy brain too many times in a day!!

Also included is a high school expansion section.  We did not use this in our homeschool but it's there for future reference when we do have high schoolers which at this rate will not be long!!!  This section really expands the age range so that the e-book could be used by every member of your family.  That is my all time favorite thing about unit studies!

My kids favorite pick of the activities we did was the coloring pages!  Yes, even my 12 yo picked the coloring page as his favorite because he had clues and the shape of the continent to color and then had to guess which continent it was in the end.  And they all got it.  Out of curiosity I decided to show these coloring sheets to them first as a pre-test.  Well, let's just say they learned a whole lot by the end!  We had not done a continent study as a homeschool yet so this was a treasure for us.

Pros for us

• is Christian based
• can be used by each homeschool student
• can be used over and over through out the years
• answer key for the teacher
• can be studied by the whole family at once tailored to each student's level
• cost is cheap when you consider it's a one time purchase and can be used by multiple students

Cons for us

• ink and paper costs
• would need more prep time from me 

You can find out what my crew mates think of the TOS June Module by going to The Crew Blog.

You can download a free sample of the module here.  If you decided you would like to purchase the e-book for your homeschool it is available for instant download here for just $7.95.  That's a steal for this all inclusive unit study! 

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this product for review purposes. The opinions in this post are my honest evaluation of this product.  I was given no other compensation for this review.

 

Blog Walk - Week 3

I am behind in my blog walk.  Such is the life of summer time!  Here is the list for week 3.

1. All American Family
2. Growing Fruit
3. Learning to Teach
4. Codex Young Author's Publishing Program
5. Stairsteps Homeschool Academy
6. Kingdom Academy
7. Living Sola Gratia
8. Wynfield Christian Academy
9. The Cow Queen
10. Peace Creek on the Prairie

Looking forward to catching up and visiting with my fellow crewmates!

TOS Spectacular July 4th Sale!

I was extremely excited to find this waiting for me in my inbox this morning!  I just renewed my subscription and have started my ebook downloads!  Today is the best day so don't miss out!

1776 was a spectacular year, and it's a smashing, save-more-money price! Grab your subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine during their four-day Fourth of July sale, and check out the craziest price on July 1 only! Receive a 2-year subscription, free Homeschooling with Heart tote bag, and five FREE E-Books for just $17.76! While supplies last. U.S. and Canadian residents. July 2 through July 4 the unprecedented savings continue. The sparks are flying at TOS Magazine . . . join in the celebration and savings! Get the details here.

Hurry, time is ticking!