Snow in Georgia!

I have not done a very good job at keeping up with my blog (except for reviews) so here is a quick update on what we have been doing this week....

A little school. We have some great items we are reviewing right now along with our other schoolwork. I am such a horrible Mom I have been making the kids do their work even on snow days! I can attest to the fact that snow on the ground definitely motivates the boys to get their work done quickly.

And then there has been lots of playing in the snow/ice. The kids all got new snow/ski suits and boots for Christmas in preparation for our big ski trip in a couple of weeks. They are getting worn in this week with all the snow. I am so thankful that they have the appropriate clothes to play in. I remember putting on several layers of clothes when I was a kid and just playing until the water soaked through all the layers and it was so cold we had to go in. The kids have enjoyed hours upon hours of playing in the snow/ice.

Molly LOVES the snow/ice. She is "Daddy's little snow angel"

The "pile-up" at the end of the driveway. It started with just the boys but Molly had to join in on the fun.

"Boys will be boys". They eventually popped that float they are sledding on. That was ok though, the cookie sheets worked just fine too!

And then it was time for "Monster Jam" on the trampoline!

There is honestly 3-4 inches of snow with a 1-2 inch layer of ice on top of that. On Monday we were able to do lots of sledding on the hill at the end of the driveway and tried desperately to make a snowman but the icy layer on top kept that from happening. Tuesday was more sledding---until Paul's fingers were DARK BLUE/Purple (his waterproof/insulated gloves for skiing have been ordered but aren't in yet so he just had regular gloves) and I ran in with him to run cool water over them. It took a good 10-15 minutes to get color back in to his fingertips (I was terrified and so was he!) Wednesday some cousins came over to play and they were outside ALL day...sledding and slipping in the ice. Molly now has a huge scrape on her face where she hit the ice while sledding. It slowed her down for a bit and she came in and snuggled with Mommy but then she was out playing again. In the evening four-wheelers came out and they were slipping and sliding on the four-wheelers all over the ice. I tried to get some pics but I kept falling on the ice so I came back inside. The ice is now so thick that you basically skate on top of it...it doesn't even crunch down with the weight of the four-wheelers. Paul and his 4-wheeler went sliding through the woods at one point. It scared me to death, but he thought it was great...of course, he is such a dare devil. Looks like there will be more fun tomorrow with the cousins coming back over. I am hoping it starts melting by Friday, although we have really enjoyed not having anywhere to go and not being able to go if we wanted to.

Anyway, so there is an update on us.

Easy Classical Early Modern History Schedule - Review

I was recently privileged to review Easy Classical's Early Modern History Schedule. You can purchase the schedule in it's digital version for $29.95 or a notebook version for $35.95. The curriculum is geared for K-6th graders.

The schedule includes 36 weeks of lessons plus 45 pages of extras! You will also get review questions (with the answers) for each weeks lesson as well as a shopping list of things to have on hand for the next week! You also get detailed instructions on how to use the schedule. This is a truly Classical approach to teaching History, closely aligned to Susan Wise Bauer's books on a Classical education.

The schedule is very easy to follow and very appealing to the eye. It is not visually overwhelming like some schedules I have seen. The review questions as well as the shopping list immediately follow each weeks lessons which is very nice instead of having to flip to a different section of the book to ask questions. I also like the fact that the answers are given right there as well. Sometimes, as a busy homeschooling Mom I haven't studied the lessons near as much as my kids are required to so I like to have a quick way to make sure their answers are correct!

Easy Classical offers many different schedules all set up the same way. The schedule I reviewed was "Early Modern American History (Explorers to 1820) and includes the following:

Explorers (Weeks 1-7)

13 Colonies (Weeks 8-12)

Colonial America (Weeks 13-20)

Road to Independence (Weeks 21-25)

Revolution (Weeks 26-36)

There are many books that go along with this schedule that would need to be purchased separately to use the schedule to it's full potential. However, since homeschoolers are known for our ability to "tweak" everything you can always find something that you already have on hand to substitute for a particular book. All the books the schedule utilizes are listed at the beginning of the schedule. They include history resources as well as writing resources, scheduled read alouds, free reading books, and picture books.

The schedule is quite heavy in the area of reading. Each new topic is typically introduced on Mondays so the reading on Monday is particularly heavy, but it could definitely be split out into other days throughout the week. There are also many activities to appeal to every type of learner. There are also great little icons throughout the schedule to help us busy homeschool Moms remember everything that needs to be done.

If you would like to learn more you can checkout Easy Classical's website and see all their great schedules and products for not only History but Geography, Science, Writing and even complete schedules.

Don't forget to check out what other TOS crew members are saying here.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. There was no other compensation given for the review

See-N-Read Reading Tools Review

Recently I was asked to review a few products from See-N-Read. As always we are eager to try anything new. This was no exception as I am always searching for tools to help my kids in their reading skills.

I was asked to review all three of their products so I will start with the "See-N-Read". According to their website this product is designed to "help readers see, focus and remember text being read while filtering out distractions on the page." It is designed to reduce glare as well as line skipping.

This prodcut is available in a book size for $2.99 each or a document size for $3.49 each. You can also purchase multi-packs.

I had Paul, my 9 year old, avid reader, try this first. He used it a few times at my request and then said it slowed him down to have to move it down the page. He is a superb reader so I didn't make him use it anymore because he became fairly frustrated with it.

Zach, my 5 year old beginning/struggling reader tried it next. I was really hopeful that this would help Zach focus but instead it distracted him more. His books currently only have a couple of lines on each page so it was more distraction for him to have to move the "see-n-read" to the next page then it was helpful. I am continuing to have him use it because I think after he begins to read longer passages it will really help him. I really think this product is great for struggling readers if they can get past the novelty of the product!

I tried it out while I was doing my own personal reading and I had the same problem as my oldest (it slowed me down). However, I do enjoy it while reading aloud to the kids because no matter how many times someone interrupts I still have my place!

So, overall I would purchase a See-N-Read, especially since it is such a small investment of $2.99. It doesn't work for everyone in all situations but it is definitely a nice tool to have around!

The next product was the Memory Mark.

This is the same as the "See-N-Read" but the reading window is cut out so readers can highlight or underline the text. The boys did not have a use for this. I tend not to underline or highlight but instead make notes in the margin of the texts so I did not see the benefit in this tool for our family. I think this product would be very beneficial for high school and college students. The "Memory Mark" can be purchased for the same price as the "See-n-Read".

The final product was the "eSee-N-Read"

Again, the kids, as young as they are had no use for this. So I downloaded it on my laptop. This product works just like the "See-N-Read" except it is on your computer. You can pull it up on top of anything you want to read. The size is also customizable which was a really unique and helpful feature. I do not do a lot of heavy reading online so, for me, I did not use this product very much. I did have my husband look at it and he felt it would be great for analyzing data on circuits, which is what he does for his job. So, for someone who needs to look at lines and lines of data or text and pick out something it would be a very beneficial tool. This product is available as a download for $29.99. It was very easy to install and set up on my computer which is always a plus!

So, overall, though we are not huge users of any of the "See-N-Read" products I can see the benefit of each one for different groups of people. And all three products are very reasonably priced.

You can take a look at the products and read more about the research behind their products at their website here. And don't forget to take a look at what other crew members have to say here

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. There was no other compensation given for the review

Math Facts Now Review

Anyone who has taught Math knows that instant recall of basic Math facts is so important in later math skills. For kids who haven't learned the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts it is hard to move on and learn more advanced math. The problem comes in when a homeschooling Mom simply doesn't have the extra time it takes to practice the facts daily. In comes "Math Facts Now" to the rescue! I was recently blessed with the opportunity to review this downloadable program. The program is very reasonably priced at $15.95 for the download. You can get the CD version for the same price with an additional $3.95 shipping and handling charge. Considering that this product is something that you can keep forever the fee is super reasonable, especially if you have multiple children that will be using it through the years. I know we will use this program for all 3 kids for years to come! The program does not have a set age group. It is geared to work for any age that needs to master any of the 4 basic math skills!

Math Facts Now is simple but so effective. It is not a program to teach the basic facts, but instead it reviews the facts, after the student has some knowledge of the facts, so the student has quick recall.

You can set up the program to do as little or as much as your child is capable of. For Zach, my 5 year old, we worked on addition. We started with just adding ones and moved on to more difficult. With him I give him the maximum time allowed to answer the questions and fewer questions to answer. For Paul, my 9 year old, he is working on mastery of his multiplication facts so we work on all his multiplication facts. Some days he works on a particular set (say his 8's) while other days he reviews his 4's or 5's and still other days he works on all of them together. And some days he reviews addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I can also adjust the amount of time he had to answer the question depending on what facts he was working on. The program also has the child type in the problem when they get it wrong. You can adjust how many times you want the child to type it in. This really helped both boys with the facts they struggled with the most. It is not a "fancy" program with lots of graphics and video gaming style. It is simply flashcards on the computer--which was perfect for us!

You can also review how your child did and print progress reports for your child.

The best part of all is that both boys ask to play this "game". They love it!!! What kid loves flashcards...not many, but both mine love Math Facts Now which is just flashcards on the computer! So, take a look at the product here and hear what other crew members have to say here!

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. There was no other compensation given for the review

Apologia's "Good Morning God"

Thanks to my participation in TOS's Homeschool Crew I was recently given the opportunity to review a new book being published by Apologia Press.

Good Morning, God is written by Davis Carman and illustrated by Alice Ratterree and is geared for 1 - 8 year olds. It is about a 4 year old boy as he goes through the week with his family. Each day it talks about how he worships God in the morning, what he does during the day and what he prays each night. It also offers a one week Bible "curriculum/study" to go with each day. The book has beautiful illustrations and is reasonably priced at $14.00.

I was very excited to receive this book and thought my two youngest would love it. The pictures are beautiful and it is very well written. Unfortunately my kids weren't as impressed as I was at first. Zachary (age 5 and very energetic) did not want to sit and listen to the whole thing since it is very repetitive. Molly (age 3) listened intently and enjoyed the story and very much enjoyed the pictures but did not ask for me to read it again. Paul (age 9) was much more impressed than the other 2 were. He is an avid reader and typically reads much more difficult books (novels) but he still really liked this book! The younger ones did enjoy their big brother reading it to them.

We were able to use the "curriculum" in the back of the book and we really liked it. Each day offers a scripture reference to read as well as questions to get your child(ren) thinking about God and dwelling on the things He does for us. Anything that gets my children thinking more about the things of God I am definitely a fan of. There is also a simple activity to go with each day. It is perfect for a simple devotion to start or end your day. Or it can be expanded for older kids to be a more intense Bible Study.

You can read more about the book here. And don't forget to see what other TOS Crew Members thought about it here

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. There was no other compensation given for the review