Author Archives: Deanna

Wrapping Up Week 30 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up
I feel like I’m approaching the finish line of a long race, and it’s just about time to make a final sprint before the end.  We definitely picked up the pace in working through the last few things I want to accomplish before the end of the school year, and Ian felt the satisfaction of completion several times this week as finished several books and put them away.

Bible/Circle Time

We’re still starting our days by reading a few chapters from Part 2 of Little Pilgrim’s Progress.  Ian continues to enjoy the story, especially since he now gets to play quietly while I read rather than working on the notebook pages I had him doing in Part 1.  He often asks me to read more than the two chapters I have planned, and I try to oblige as long as we’re not trying to get through our school work quickly before we have to go somewhere.

Math

After finishing up my review of GPALOVEMATH I decided to give the boys a little more flexibility when it comes to their math lessons.  Since we still have a subscription to Mathletics I told them they could choose between a lesson from GPALOVEMATH or earning 200 points from doing activities on Mathletics.  I don’t know if it’s because they really like the lessons better or just because they wanted some variety, but both boys chose Mathletics every day.

xtramathxIan is also still doing facts practice on xtramath.org each day, and this week I had him begin working on subtraction.  The first two days were a little rough, but he made definite improvement over the course of the week, which kept him from getting too discouraged by scores that were lower than he had been getting with addition practice.  I’ve also been trying to encourage Elijah to run through a session each day, though he’s not quite as consistent as Ian since I haven’t really required any school work from him up until this point.  Xtramath has been so helpful for Ian, however, and since Elijah is ready in many ways to advance quickly in math, I want to be sure he masters his facts before moving ahead.

Literature

We finished Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling this week, and then watched the movie version on YouTube.  Ian was disappointed by all the things that were left out of the movie (welcome to my world!)  He hadn’t expressed a lot of enthusiasm for this book over the course of the year, but when we reached the end he saw the pictures of other Holling C. Holling books and asked if we could start them.  I’m glad he has that sense of wanting more, and I told him we’d see about going through one in our next school year.

I’m hoping to finish up the literature readings for Ambleside Online, Year 1 before Week 36, so we started reading selections from most of the books, even those not scheduled for this week.  Ian loves Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and James Herriot’s Treasury for Children, so he had no problem with a few extra stories.  We didn’t quite finish “King Lear” in Tales from Shakespeare, but we only have a couple pages left.

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History

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hugfs0SJL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgOfficially we’re done with history for the year, but with St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday I wanted to take some time to talk about the man behind the holiday.  I had stumbled across The Story of Saint Patrick by James A. Janda while back, and it was the perfect book to have Ian read through this week.  The chapters are all quite short, so we went through several a day.  I love how the book focuses on Patrick’s mission to share Christ with the Irish and goes beyond just the basic biographical facts we’ve read in other books.

Science

We got all the way through Unit 4 on leaves (lessons 16-20) in The World of Plants.  We didn’t do the final project on leaves, but we did take some time to observe the leaves on various trees, and that was enough for both Ian and me to feel like we were done.

Spanish

We finally got back into our Spanish lessons from Middlebury Interactive Languages.  (We’ve been using it sporadically since we reviewed it last fall, but I realized this week that it would be really easy to add it to Ian’s list of “computer school” tasks so he could finish the Spanish 1 course.  This week he  finished up Unit 5 on school-related words and began the final unit, which reviews everything he has learned in the course.  I have been really thankful for this program and how it has helped Ian continue learning without requiring anything from me.  Actually, it’s been great for all the kids, since I have the younger kids watch Ian work through the lessons on the TV hooked up to the computer.  Elijah has gone through several of the activities himself as well.

Middlebury
I’m not sure what we’re going to do for Spanish next year.  I had planned to go back to using the Salsa videos we were using before, but I think the lessons plans are essential for getting the most out of them, and I’m just not sure how much I’m going to be up to once the baby arrives at the end of summer.  I might try to get through at least one unit before that point (since we start our school year in July), but I’m hoping to find something that will help at least my two older kids continue building on what they’ve already learned.

Preschoolers

P1050596xAs I’ve been praying and planning about next year, I’ve decided I want to start working with Elijah and Arianna more intentionally, though they’ve certainly picked up a lot just from the learning environment in our home.  I’ll write a bit more about what that might look like once we’ve wrapped up this school year, but for now, I’m exploring different ways to include them.

I struggle with knowing what to do for Elijah.  On the one hand, he’s a 5-year old boy and needs lots of free time for playing, exploring, and just learning on his own.  On the other hand, I want to be sure I give him a chance to excel as much as he wants.  He’s not due to start Kindergarten until this summer, and yet his reading and math skills are at about a 2nd grade level.  I want to provide challenges for him and slowly start working toward more structured learning over the next year.

For now, I’m trying to work on establishing some structure and expectations with some fun activities.  We’re checking out a curriculum for preschoolers that focuses on critical thinking and problem solving skills, which is giving both Arianna and Elijah some time to do “lessons” like Ian without being too dry and academic.

Upcoming Reviews

Here’s what we’re taking a look at these days.  Watch for reviews soon!

Posted in Ambleside Online

GPALOVEMATH (Crew Review)

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 GPALOVEMATH
As more of our children approach school age, I’m realizing the importance of fostering as much independence as possible when it comes to homeschooling so that I’m available to help whomever needs it at the moment.  Math has been one subject where that seems feasible, so we were excited to get a chance to review GPALOVEMATH, an online math program from GPA LEARN.

About GPALOVEMATH

GPALOVEMATH offers a complete web-based math curriculum for grades K-5.  Because the entire program is online, it can be accessed from both computers and tablets (though recent Kindle Fire updates have created incompatibility issues that are currently being addressed).

Lessons

There are over 150 lessons for each grade, so at a pace of 4-5 lessons per week, a student can complete a grade in about 10 months.  Each grade level has a particular “Learning Coach” who helps guide students through their lessons.  Both my boys have been going through the 1st grade course, so their Learning Coach is Pi the Penguin.

Learning Coaches
Each lesson consists of three parts:  Instruction, Practice, and Quiz.  In the Instruction section, the Learning Coach guides the student through the content of the lesson.  The student clicks through slides while listening to their Coach read aloud the words at the bottom of each one.Screenshot (11)

The Practice section gives the student a chance to work through problems without being scored.  They have three “life lines” available if they need help, and once they give an answer they are told whether or not it is correct.

Screenshot (12)

The final section is the Quiz, which consists of 10 questions.  Students enter their answers but don’t know whether or not they were correct until after the entire quiz has been completed.  They are awarded badges and earn points based on how many correct answers they gave.  It’s not necessary to complete the Instruction and Practice sections first, so if the student feels like they can answer the questions without going through those, they are free to jump straight to the quiz.

Screenshot (14)

Other Features

In addition to the lessons, GPALOVEMATH offers an  “Engage” section, a private social network that allows the child to interact with parents and preapproved friends online.  I don’t feel our children are ready to use the computer in this way, so we didn’t utilize this feature at all.

Screenshot (15)

My boys’ favorite feature was the “Motivate” section.  When we first created their accounts, I was able to set up a list of rewards which would be awarded after a set number of lessons.  (The more rewards I selected, the more often they were given.)  The rewards included things like extra screen time, baking cookies with Mom, getting to choose what’s for dinner, having a parent complete one of their chores… you get the picture.   In addition to these automatic rewards, students can use the points they earn after completing lessons to “purchase” rewards (which then wait for approval from the parent).  In addition to things around the house, there are even opportunities to use their points toward gift cards (available in limited quantities, but with new ones available every so often).  Talk about motivation!

Screenshot (16)

Our Experience with GPALOVEMATH

When I first created our accounts, I was worried that the program was going to be overwhelming.  It took a while to set up the rewards list (there were SO many things to choose from, and I was nervous about choosing the preselected option without knowing exactly what was included), and then I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the Engage part of the website and whether or not it was necessary and/or desirable for our family.

Once we finally settled into the lessons, however, things flowed smoothly and the boys were both able to work pretty independently.  The only time my involvement was required was when they had selected a reward and needed it approved.  Other than that, they pretty much just worked through their lessons on their own while I watched on the TV hooked up to our laptop to make sure they were understanding.

Ian realized right away that the first grade lessons were pretty easy for him, and he skipped right to the quiz on almost every lesson.  At the time I couldn’t find an easy way to change his grade level, so I just left him in first and figured he’d solidify his foundational skills.  (When we initially began the program, each grade level was purchased separately.  However it has now been updated so that each user has access to ALL the grade levels, which has made it much simpler to adjust.  This was a GREAT change that makes the program so much more user-friendly.)

Even without going through the Instruction and Practice sections, both boys usually found the questions fairly self-explanatory.  Occasionally we ran into problems where even I couldn’t figure out what the questions was really asking for.  (Elijah called me over when he was confused by a question that read, “Select the set that matches.”  “Matches WHAT?” he asked.  I couldn’t figure out either, and my guess ended up being the only wrong answer he got on that quiz.  We also ran across one problem that marked a correct answer as incorrect.  I emailed customer service with screenshots, and they emailed me the next day to let me know they had fixed the problem.

Aside from those minor glitches, the only real frustration we had was the appearance of the Learn screen.  Each grade level has 3 “paths,” which allows the student some flexibility in choosing what lesson they want to work on.  Once they complete a lesson, a new one unlocks.  Ian had been working for a couple weeks and his screen never seemed to change from what it had looked like after the first few lessons.  I couldn’t figure out why it always looked like this, even when I knew he had completed several lessons:

Screenshot (9)

Eventually I realized that there were arrows on the left side of each “path,” and once we clicked on those we could reveal all the lessons he had completed.Screenshot (10)

I wish this view were available automatically, because it was discouraging for him to open up the Learn section each time and never see any apparent progress.

Overall, we’ve been pleased with GPALOVEMATH.  The boys loved earning rewards, and I appreciate both the thoroughness of the program and the independence it allows.  We plan to continue using it as our primary math curriculum at least until the end of this school year.

GPA Learn Review
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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 29 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up
 The weather feels like summer already in Southern California, and between the heat and the time change last weekend, it’s been really hard over the last few days to remember that we still have several weeks of school left!  Now that we’ve finished up with history, I’m thinking we need to just plow through and finish up a few other subjects so we can make the last month of school pretty light.

Math

This week was our last week with CTC Math, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be back.  Both boys covered fractions this week, and Ian blew me away.  We haven’t touched on the concept at all (though my husband tells me they’ve encountered fractions in some of their favorite games on abcya.com), so I was wondering if this was going to be challenging.  I couldn’t believe how quickly Ian was throwing out the answers about halves and quarters.  I think it’s because he seems to be grasping multiplication concepts really well.  Whatever the reason, I’m glad fractions aren’t a battle at this point!

I’m really going to miss CTC Math, which provided a great balance of structure and flexibility when it came to covering the full math curriculum.  In the meantime, Ian will continue working on his lessons in  GPALOVEMATH (review coming next week!), as well as his facts practice on xtramath.org.  He’s been doing so well with the addition facts, I’m changing his settings to start working on subtraction flash cards for a bit.

Literature

http://www.rainbowresource.com/products/thumbnails/012450.jpgOne of the books we’re reading that I haven’t talked much about is Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling.  It traces the journey of a small carved wooden Indian in a canoe that travels through all the Great Lakes over the course of a couple years.  Each chapter covers a small part of the trip, teaching about the geography and industry of the Great Lakes region.  The Ambleside Online, Year 1 schedule spreads this book across the entire school year, and while I understand the reasoning behind that, it really hasn’t worked for us.  The chapters are so short we barely have time to get into them before the week’s reading is done. I’ve ended up intentionally skipping a few weeks in order to save up several chapters to read at once.

This week we made it through chapter 23, where Paddle goes over Niagara Falls and ends up in the mists at the bottom.  Ian looked at the pictures of the Falls and said, “They don’t look very big,” which surprised me, since we’ve seen videos of them before and I thought he understood how huge they are.  So we watched the episode of 19 Kids and Counting where the Duggars visit Niagara Falls (“Duggars Over the Edge“), as well as an interview with Roger Woodward, the youngest person to ever go over the Falls (at age 7!) and survive.  He describes what it was like and gives a beautiful testimony of God’s grace.

History Cycle

We finished up the last series of Friends and Heroes and are now taking a break from history until Ian starts the self-paced history course on the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation from Veritas Press.  (On sale only until tomorrow, March 14, so don’t wait to check it out!)

Veritas Middle Ages
I have to admit, the history lover in me wanted to jump into the Veritas Press program right away.  For one thing, I think Ian is really going to love studying this period in history.  I also think he’s going to enjoy the format of this course.  However, since Veritas Press allows you to delay the start of the 12-month course, I fought against my own nerd nature and forced myself to give Ian a well-deserved break.  I set our starting date for July, which is when we usually begin our school year.  That way he won’t be forced to finish up the work before the end of our school year next spring.

Science

We’re still plugging away through our last term of God’s Design for Life.  I have to admit, The World of Plants was the book I was least excited about out of the three that make up this year.  I have one of the blackest thumbs of anyone you’ll ever meet, and I’m horrible at remembering the names of different types of trees and flowers.  Plants just aren’t my thing.

Still, I’m really pleased with this curriculum.  It’s making a subject I find boring a little less so for Ian.  All the kids have really enjoyed watching the seeds we planted a few lessons ago grow.  In addition to the beans and popcorn kernels we planted back in the lesson on monocots and dicots, we also added a little jar with some sweet pea seeds I had lying around.  They’ve all grown SO much this week, which has been fun for all of us to observe (especially this mama, who somehow manages to kill succulents, which I mistakenly thought I could handle, given how I’ve heard they’re one of the easiest things to grow).

Anyway… here’s our little mini-garden.  On Monday we took the seedlings off their wet paper towels and planted them in soil.  I’d love to move them from my kitchen counter top to a planter outside where they’d have more room, but I’m sure that will be the end of them so I’m holding out a little longer.

seed garden

Upcoming Reviews

We’re currently getting familiar with several products.  Watch for reviews soon!

Posted in Ambleside Online

Math Analogies-Beginning software (Crew Review)

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Math Analogies Review
If you’re looking for ways to help your kids develop their minds, be sure to check out The Critical Thinking Co.  They offer a wide variety of products designed to help kids build problem-solving skills in multiple subjects at every grade level.  We recently received a copy of their Math Analogies Beginning downloadable Windows software for Kindergarten through first grade.

What is it?

When I first heard the words “math analogies” I was curious as to what this program was going to include.  The only time I remember working on analogies in school was in my high school English classes, and I wasn’t sure how those word analogies were going to compare.

Not only was it easy for me to catch on to the way Math Analogies Beginning worked, both Ian and Elijah had no problem understanding what to do right from the start.  Each analogy presents a pair of related pictures, followed by a single picture for which the user has to find a match.  Four possible answers are given, and the user simply selects which picture they think makes the best match according to the relationship in the first set of pictures.

math analogies 1x
Like the above example, many of the analogies can be understood just by looking at the pictures.  Others require some prior learning (i.e. reading ability, knowledge of U.S. coin values, telling time).  Once an answer is selected, the program lets the user know whether it was correct or incorrect.

math analogies 2x
A few of the analogies were really challenging for my boys (ages 5 and 7), and I had to help them see the relationship between the pictures.

challengingx
In Analogy 5 above, for example, I asked them questions about the first pair, focusing on things that would also related to the second.

  • “Are the eyes opened or shut?”
  • “How about the mouth?”
  • “Is the face happy or not?”

Once they started looking at these details they were both able to figure out the correct answer.

There are 152 analogies total.  When you first open the program, it asks you to enter your name and then keeps track of how many analogies you have attempted, as well as what percentage of those you have gotten correct.

opening screenx
Once the user has gone through all 152 analogies, a second attempt can be made, which only shows the problems answered incorrectly the first time through.  When all the analogies have been completed correctly, no more attempts are offered (though you can select the “restart” option at the top, which erases all previous information).

Resultsx
The entire set of Math Analogies are also available in book form ($11.99).  The main difference between the software and the workbooks is that only the software offers multiple choice answers.  In the workbooks, the answers have to be drawn or written in all on your own.

Our Experience

I was really impressed with this program.  I loved that it helped build critical thinking skills without feeling like typical math problems.  Both Ian and Elijah were immediately intrigued by the analogies and dived in enthusiastically.  Ian completed over a hundred analogies the first night, and Elijah spent just as much time working on it, though he was a little slower in processing and only managed to get through 74.  (After that their enthusiasm waned a bit, so I just had Ian complete 5 a day after his regular math assignments, and Elijah just jumped in whenever he felt like it.)

math analogies 3xI liked that most of the analogies could be solved just by looking at the pictures.  Elijah won’t even be in Kindergarten for a few more months, so I’ve never really taught him concepts like how to read an analog clock.  This was the main reason I chose the Beginning software rather than Level 1.  I think both of my boys could have handled many of the Level 1 analogies, but after looking at the samples given on the website, I was afraid there would be too many that required them to know things we haven’t covered yet.

What I Liked:
  • It’s helpful to see a score based only on the number of problems attempted, rather than the total amount.
  • I love that this is a software program.  It seems like so many educational companies have turned to an online subscription model, which means I won’t be able to use what I’m paying for with my younger children without spending more money.  Since we have lots of kids who haven’t even reached school age, I really value products that we’ll be able to reuse.
  • At $6.99, I think this software is a great deal.  I love finding things that help my kids develop thinking skills, and this is an affordable way to do that without cluttering up our school room shelves.  (Requires Windows® 8/7/Vista.  No Mac version, but it is available as an app for iOS and Android.)
  • There are more levels!  Once my kids have mastered this Beginning level, there are still two more levels of software that can continue to stretch their minds.
What Could Use Improvement
  • The biggest change I would like to see in this software would be to break it down into smaller groups rather than one big lump.  After the boys’ initial voracity, they could have used something more “bite-sized” to help them work through the rest of the analogies.  Just counting 5 a day provided no sense of accomplishment when they’d finished the assignment.  When using the book versions of the math analogies, it would be easy to just assign a page; I wish there were an equivalent for using the software.
  • It would have been nice to be able to have records kept for multiple users.  As far as I could tell, only one person was able to work through the program at a time.  When we tried to open a new user, it erased all the progress of the previous one.  We were able to get around this by installing the program on 2 computers (as our license allowed–another option allows for up to 6 computers) so the boys could work through the analogies at the same time.

 All in all the Math Analogies Beginner software was a hit at our house.  This was our first exposure to The Critical Thinking Co., and I look forward to exploring more of what they have to offer.  Other Crew members have been exploring a variety of products, so be sure to click the banner below to find out what they thought of them!

Critical Thinking Company Review
 

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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 28 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up
 This was supposed to be the week we got fully caught up and back into the swing of things.  Then I got sick (again).  We did manage not to get further behind, and sometimes that just has to be enough, doesn’t it?

Bible/Circle Time

We finished Part One of Little Pilgrim’s Progress this week, which was cause for celebration.  For one thing, I was only requiring Ian to write up pages for our daily reading through the end of Part One.  He ended up with a nice little book about Little Christian’s story.  The other nice thing about finishing was that we can move at a quicker pace through Part Two since Ian’s doesn’t have to keep up.  He often wanted me to read beyond our daily two chapters, but the writing was laborious for him and I didn’t want to make him do more than one page a day.  However, I think we’re going to finish Christiana’s story in Part Two much more quickly now that we’re not limited.  Ian’s even been asking to listen in the car to the dramatic reading of Pilgrim’s Progress (Bunyan’s original story) from Answers in Genesis so we can keep going with Christiana’s story when we’re not at home, but I think it only has Part One.

Pilgrim's Progress Final

Math

Ian is continuing to do well with our online math programs.  We’re almost at the end of our subscription to CTC Math, which I am really going to miss.  We may have to come back to it later.

Literature

Now that we finally read “East of the Sun, and West of the Moon” in The Blue Fairy Book, we are officially caught up with our literature selections from Ambleside Online, Year 1 (woo hoo!).  We also read Pictures at an Exhibition by Anna Harwell Celenza to learn the story of Modest Mussorgsky’s music by the same title, which the kids have been studying in their composer class on Fridays.

History Cycle

This week we pretty much wrapped up all that I had planned to cover in the first year of our history cycle.  We’re still finishing the last few episodes of Friends and Heroes, but we listened to the last few chapters of Story of the World, Vol. 1 by Susan Wise Bauer and discussed the demise of the Roman Empire.  Ian was especially fascinated about the secret burial of Attila the Hun (as was I, since the story was new to me as well).

Veritas Middle AgesI also made a rather big decision (and purchase) regarding our history lessons for next year.  I know it’s rather early to be talking about next year’s curriculum, but  I wanted to share about the great sale going on right now in case anyone else wants to take advantage of it ($100 off!).

Last year other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the pleasure of trying out the online self-paced history courses from Veritas Press.  Ian wasn’t old enough for the course at the time so we weren’t on the review, but as I’ve heard people raving about them it made me curious.  After checking out everything I could find online, I decided this would be a great fit for us for next year.  Normally I try to save our curriculum money for things I’ll be able to use with other children in the future, but since I already have a ton of books and resources for Year 2 of our history cycle, I’m not too worried.  With a new baby coming and Nico about to give up his morning nap, I’m planning on a very different sort of school day next year.  Ian learns really well from videos and computer activities, so I think he’s going to get a lot out of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation class.  If you’re at all interested in finding a fun online history curriculum, check out these courses before the sale ends on March 14!  (There are 5 altogether, covering the whole spread of history.)

Science

We covered lessons 10-12 in The World of Plants, as well as talking about George Washington Carver.  I was kind of disappointed we didn’t get to do anything with our sprouts this week, but it looks like we’ll get back to them soon.  If I hadn’t been sick we might have gotten a little more into our study of roots, but all we did was read the lessons in the book and discuss them.  Hopefully next week we can have a little more hands on activity!

Upcoming Reviews

We’re currently getting familiar with several products.  Watch for reviews soon!

Posted in Ambleside Online

Wrapping Up Week 27 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up
This week had lots of ups and downs.  Over the weekend Ian came down with a stomach bug and was miserable, especially when he had to miss his birthday party with our extended family.  Thankfully he had lots of little blessings that came his way over the few days he wasn’t feeling well, which helped make up for his disappointment.  Then just as we were getting back into the swing of things, my husband and I both came down with the bug.  In other words, school didn’t look quite like I had planned this week, but we improvised a bit and still managed a fairly decent week of school.

During our down time we finally got around to listening to the latest Jonathan Park album (The Journey Home?) and were delightfully surprised when the Creation Response Team bumped into the Brinkman family (from one our our other audio favorites, The Brinkman Adventures).

Bible/Circle Time

I don’t usually mention our main Bible lessons, which come from our family devotions in Old Story New , but this week’s lesson fit well with our science lessons.  We’re on Week 18: The Four Soils (a.k.a. the  parable of the sower), which tied in nicely with what we’re learning about seeds.

We only managed to get through four chapters of Little Pilgrim’s Progress this week, but that means we should be able to finish up Part 1 next week, barring any disruptions such as we faced this week.

Math

I was especially thankful for our online math programs this week.  Ian has made great progress with xtramath.org, and I think I’m going to start having him practice subtraction cards now that he has his addition facts pretty much nailed.  Our subscription to CTC Math is going to expire in the next couple weeks, so I tried to have Ian complete a few more lessons there in addition to several lessons in the program we’re currently reviewing, GPALOVEMATH.  I love CTC Math’s straightforward approach, which makes it very easy to see which concepts he needs to work on.  GPALOVEMATH seems to be pretty thorough as well, however, so I don’t see a need to renew our CTC Math subscription at this point.

Literature

Our scheduled reading for Ambleside Online, Year 1 are pretty thin for the next few weeks (mostly because they’re a bit heavier in the history books, which we’re not using), so we didn’t get any farther behind despite our crazy week.  We finally read the story about “The Law of the Wood” in Parable from Nature.  We’ve been using Leslie Laurio’s paraphrase because many moms on the AO Forum had said this book was one of the most challenging for their kids in Year 1.  I’m really glad I made that decision, because even with the paraphrase this book has been difficult for us, I think because the stories tend to be longer than most of our readings.  I’ve pushed through for various reasons, but I think it’s both Ian’s and my least favorite of our literature selections.

I also read Noah’s Wife: The Story of Naamah by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso to connect with our study of seeds.  It’s a beautiful story based on a traditional story from Hebrew midrash (which made for a quick lesson in and of itself).  In the story, Noah’s wife, Naamah (also sometimes called Naomi according to tradition) is tasked with collecting seeds from all the plants on earth to preserve on the ark and scatter after the flood.  Ian really liked the story, and it gave us a chance to review the meaning of alliteration.

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History Cycle

We are almost finished with Series 2 of Friends and Heroes.  These episodes have been set during the Roman siege of Jerusalem.  Even though we haven’t quite gotten to it yet, we spent some time talking about the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and its significance.

Science

Somehow in the midst of all the sickness we still managed to get through lessons 4-6 in The World of Plants.  We also watched The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed.

We talked about monocots and dicots, dissecting beans and corn seeds and then putting some in jars to sprout.  Within a couple days we had several sprouts, and I think we’re supposed to be using these in the next few lessons.

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We also spent a day at the California Science Center, and Ian enjoyed a lesson on electronics from Daddy as they worked with the set of Snap Circuits he got for his birthday.  Thankfully, Daddy knows a lot about that kind of thing, because I would be pretty useless!  I’ve heard a lot of great things about Snap Circuits, and I’m so glad we gave them a try.  Ian’s already figuring out how to create his own projects, which amazes me since I really don’t have a mind for this kind of thing.  I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of things he comes up with.

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Upcoming Reviews

Watch for these reviews in the next few weeks!

Posted in Ambleside Online

Koru Naturals Emu Oil Products (Crew Review)

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Koru Naturals Review

This post is a little out of the ordinary for me since this blog is mostly about our homeschool/discipleship journey, but I know many of my fellow homeschool moms enjoy finding natural products to meet their families’ needs, so I took the opportunity to review two products from Koru Naturals: the pure emu oil, and the Koolpurrie Restoring Balm.

About Koru Naturals and Their Products

New Zealand is known for its natural beauty, and for thousands of years its inhabitants have enjoyed the benefits of many natural substances found there.  From manuka honey and tea to various oils and Rotorua mud, Koru Naturals shares the resources of New Zealand with the rest of the world.  They sell a variety of products intended for skin and hair care, as well as other common health concerns.

emu oilxThe first product we received was emu oil, which is used as a moisturizer for both skin and hair.  It is hypoallergenic, has very little scent and penetrates skin well so it does not clog pores or leave a greasy feeling.  It can be applied directly to hair or unbroken skin, or it can also be added to bath water.

Koru Naturals sells Grade A emu oil that is fully refined, but not clarified (a process which can strip the oil of some of its active ingredients).  Each batch is tested to ensure that vitamins, minerals, and Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are present at the same concentrations found in nature.  Koru Naturals offers pure emu oil in 2, 4, or 8 oz. bottles.

koolpurriexThe other product we received was the Koolpurrie Restoring Balm, a combination of Grade A emu oil and pure lanolin.  It is intended for softening and healing skin that is dry, cracked, or calloused.  It is especially good for hands that are subjected to harsh elements such as detergents, cleaning products, or severe weather.  The balm is recommended to be applied at bedtime (as well as reapplying after bathing or showering).

Emu oil and lanolin are both gentle, so there is no stinging or burning.  Nothing else is added (there are no dyes, perfumes, preservatives, paraffin, or chemicals), so it’s great for people with sensitive skin.  It comes in a 4 oz. container.

How we used it

My skin tends to be dry year round, though it’s definitely at its worst during the winter, so I’m always on the lookout for quality moisturizing products.  These two products are obviously very similar (with just the addition of lanolin in the balm), so they can be used for many of the same things.  For me, the choice usually came down to whether it would be easier to apply a liquid (emu oil) or something less drippy (the balm).  Also, the lanolin is helpful for healing, so I used it when trying to treat more severe skin issues.

Emu Oil

I mainly used the emu oil as a skin moisturizer.  Just one or two of the thick drops in my hands was plenty to help relieve dry skin.  More than that left them feeling greasy, but it absorbs really quickly and it never bothered me.  My dry, itchy skin was left feeling soft and comfortable almost instantly, and the relief was long-lasting.

I also just started using it in Arianna’s hair, which is a bit curly and tend to get very dry and tangled.  Again, I found the key to be moderation.  The first time I used it, I applied it to her wet hair after washing (first rubbing it on my hands, then into her hair starting at the ends), and it was hard to tell how well it was being absorbed so I kept adding more.  I probably used six or seven drops altogether, and it was definitely too much.  Although her hair wasn’t overwhelmingly oily, it didn’t look clean.  Still, it was much more manageable.  I plan to use it again, but I will be sure not to use more than two or three drops.

Koolpurrie Restoring Balm:

My main hope for the balm was to help clear up Arianna’s eczema.  My three older kids have all suffered from moderate eczema on their legs around ages 2-3, and hers seems to be peaking lately.  With the boys, lotions and various oils usually helped, but Arianna’s has been a bit more persistent.  Thankfully it looks more irritating than it seems to actually feel (she never complains about it as the boys did), but I would love to find a way to clear it up for her.  Unfortunately, the Koolpurrie Restoring Balm didn’t help as I had hoped.  Maybe I just needed to be more vigilant about applying it regularly, but when I didn’t see any improvement after several days, I set it aside unless Arianna mentioned it.

However, I did find the balm useful in other ways.  Elijah’s lips got really chapped one day (to the point of peeling and bleeding), so I pulled out the Koolpurrie Restoring Balm and gave them a swipe.  Within hours his lips looked perfectly normal, and the problem didn’t return.  I also found the balm to be a great relief for my growing pregnant belly, which always gets dry and flaky as the skin starts stretching.  I found the pure emu oil soaked in too quickly to spread over my entire abdomen without using a lot, but the balm worked wonderfully.

Final Thoughts

It was great to find such effective moisturizing products that I can feel confident using on my children’s skin without worrying about chemicals or other additives.  I appreciate the purity of the emu oil and Koolpurrie Restoring Balm, and I especially love the way they make my skin feel.

Koru Naturals offers many other products, including lip balm, lanolin cream, shampoo, and conditioner, which were received by other Crew members, so be sure to check out their reviews!

Follow Koru Naturals on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/korunaturals
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/korunaturals/

Koru Naturals Review
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In Freedom’s Cause (Crew Review)

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In Freedom's Cause
William Wallace seems to be one of those historical figures whose story grips the heart of all who hear it.  It’s hard not to be moved by the tale of this man who gave up his life for the pursuit of freedom for his countrymen.  So when I heard that Heirloom Audio Productions had released an audio theater recording about the story of William Wallace and Robert Bruce, I was eager for the chance to review the In Freedom’s Cause Single Package.

About In Freedom’s Cause

My excitement over In Freedom’s Cause stemmed from how much we enjoyed Heirloom Audio’s first recording, Under Drake’s Flag.  Based on G.A. Henty’s historical novel about Sir Francis Drake, Under Drake’s Flag was an exciting dramatization that captured our family’s imagination.  My kids spend several hours each day listening to audio books and radio dramas, so I am always on the lookout for quality productions that promote the values we want to instill in our children, and this first offering from Heirloom Audio was a real treasure.

I think In Freedom’s Cause is even better than its predecessor.  I hadn’t gotten past the back cover before I knew we were in for a treat.

back cover
Then we listened to the story over the next few days, and I was even more impressed.  The cast is phenomenal, the soundtrack is beautiful, and the quality of the production is superb.  I’m a history-lover myself, but I think even people who don’t share that passion will be drawn into this story and enjoy listening.

In addition to the entertainment value of the production, In Freedom’s Cause offers plenty of educational opportunities.  The In Freedom’s Cause eStudy Guide and Discussion Starter is a 49-page pdf document that makes it easy to use the recording as a learning experience for families (available as a download, the link is included in the CD packaging).  It offers suggestions for walking younger children through the story or helping older children complete related written assignments. Each of the 37 lessons in the study guide covers a 4-to 10-minute segment of the recording and includes three parts:

  • Listening Well (questions about what happened in the story)
  • Thinking Further (questions for further research or to think more deeply about things that happened in the story)
  • Defining Words (vocabulary used in the story)

At the end there is information about Scottish history to help listeners better understand the context of Wallace’s story, three short Bible studies to help students explore the biblical themes in the narrative, and suggestions for further reading.

Our Family’s Experience with In Freedom’s Cause

We listened to the entire recording over the course of a few days as we drove in the car.  Although Ian (7) was probably the only child following the story completely, my younger children enjoyed it as well, often repeating lines that struck them as humorous.  It was definitely an entertaining way to pass the time on otherwise boring drives. In Freedom's Cause Audio CD ReviewThe In Freedom’s Cause Single Package includes the 2-CD set AND instant access via MP3 download, as well as several free bonuses:

  • The In Freedom’s Cause eStudy Guide and Discussion Starter
  • A beautiful printable copy of The Prayer of William Wallace
  • The In Freedom’s Cause Soundtrack MP3 download

The Review Crew was also blessed to receive access to some of the bonuses that come with other packages.  Our favorite was the video Behind the Scenes of In Freedom’s Cause, which showed the actors in the recording studio and gave a fascinating look at the process of creating the whole production.  Ian loved seeing the actors work, and it made the story even more interesting the next time we listened to the CDs.

Our time with In Freedom’s Cause has been entirely positive.  The only change I might suggest is for an Heirloom Audio website that lists their growing collection of audio theater albums.  If I had just stumbled upon In Freedom’s Cause, I would immediately have gone looking to see what else the company offered, and because each album has its own website, it’s not as obvious as it might be to find what else they have produced or might be working on.

As I said before, history fascinates me, and the best way I know of passing on that fascination is by introducing my children to exciting stories of the past.  G.A. Henty’s books are a wonderful resource in that quest, and Heirloom Audio has made it so easy to introduce my children to these stories.  Not only do they help bring history alive, they also emphasis faith, courage, respect, honor, and other character traits our family values.  In Freedom’s Cause has been a great addition to our family’s audio library!

Check Out In Freedom’s Cause on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InFreedomsCause

Twitter: https://twitter.com/InFreedomsCause

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/112701427096792421838/112701427096792421838/posts

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jointhecause

More Coming Soon From Heirloom Audio!

With Lee In VirginiaAfter enjoying both Under Drake’s Flag and In Freedom’s Cause, we’re looking forward to more from Heirloom Audio.  Next up is With Lee in Virginia, set to be released around Memorial Day 2015.

Keep up-to-date on this new release by following on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WithLeeInVirginia Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeAudioDrama

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647

In Freedom's Cause Review
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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

A Much Needed Sabbath

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Growing up in the public school system with most of June July and August off, I remember getting about halfway through summer vacation and wishing I could go back to school and save the rest of those weeks off for when I really needed a break during the middle of the school year.  Now that I get to set our school calendar, I keep that idea in mind.  We still take a summer break, but not nearly as long as the traditional American schedule.

When I planned this year, I tried to schedule things so we would get some time off about every 7 weeks.  I had left February pretty open, just saying we’d take a week off at some point, and last weekend I felt the Lord strongly prompting me to make this that week.

I’m so thankful I listened, for it ended up being a difficult week as far as my pregnancy is concerned (though everything is fine, praise the Lord!), and we all really seemed to need a chance to relax.  There was still a lot of learning going on, but I didn’t try to work through any curriculum, so I’m not counting the week towards our attendance.

The boys both did several lessons on GPALOVEMATH, and we continued watching Friends and Heroes (about the ancient Roman Empire).  We also spent a day at the wonderful Aquarium of the Pacific, and all the kids went to their music classes on Friday (choir, handchimes, reader’s theater, preschool music, and composer study).  So really, we just took the week off from our regular literature, history, and science reading.

P1050506x
I love the flexibility that homeschooling provides.  Having this little breather should help us get through to our Easter break without feeling too overburdened, and then we’ll just have a few weeks to finish up our school year!

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The Berenstain Bears and the Biggest Brag (Book Review)

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We’re big fans of the Berenstain Bears books.  On trips to the library Ian always heads straight to the B section to see if there are any he hasn’t read yet, and since there always seem to be different ones to choose from, they must be pretty popular with a lot of kids.  So we jumped at the chance to review The Berenstain Bears and the Biggest Brag by Mike Berenstain (son of Stan and Jan Berenstain, the original authors of the series).

Synopsis

Biggest Brag begins with a look at Brother and Sister Bear, listing the many things they are good at and how they are “proud of all their hard work and effort.”  Unfortunately, their achievements have led to an atmosphere of competition, in which they are constantly trying to best each other.  For example, when Brother brags about getting an A, Sister has to let him know that she got an A+.  Mama and Papa try to address their bragging and boasting, telling them about what the Bible says about love: “It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”  Still, Brother and Sister persist in their bragging ways, eventually getting into a ridiculous contest about who sees the most exciting pictures in the clouds.  When Gramps overhears them, he gently chides them for their foolishness and quotes a Bible verse about strife and pride.  Then he invites them over to his house for a game of checkers.  The cubs instantly start back into an argument about who’s going to win until Gramps calls them on it and they walk home with him.

Our Thoughts

My three oldest kids (ages 3,5 and 6) were eager to read this latest book in the series.  They all seemed to enjoy it, but it wasn’t a huge hit with anyone.  My oldest did pick it up to read again on his own a few weeks after I initially read it to them, and when asked what he thought of it he said, “I kind of like it.”

For myself, I was disappointed.  I felt like the attempts to correct the cubs’ poor behavior were half-hearted, and it didn’t seem like they really changed at all, since they were still going at it on the last page (though they did at least apologize when Gramps got on them about it).  I like the idea of addressing the problem of bragging and making a competition about everything (definitely an issue our kids have struggled with at times), but I was hoping for more when it came to overcoming this bad habit.  Their final battle about the cloud pictures just seemed silly and contrived, and I wish there had been a stronger resolution.

The thing I liked best about the book was Papa and Gramps pointing the cubs to the Bible when explaining why their attitudes needed improvement.  I would have liked to see these ideas developed a bit more.  Since Papa has at times been portrayed as rather weak and foolish, it was nice to see him taking a stronger, more positive role in this story.

We have enjoyed several of the newer books by Mike Berenstain and look forward to reading more, but unfortunately we didn’t feel that The Berenstain Bears and the Biggest Brag lives up to the high standards of the other Berenstain Bears books.

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