Homegrown Learners: February 2012

Feb 29, 2012

They've Been Having Fun Reading!

8:25 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

Every now and then I have a review that is truly WONDERFUL. Reading eggs has been just that. I will admit I was skeptical at first. My children already KNOW how to read. They both read very well.

Reading eggs (and Reading Eggspress), however, is for those learning to read, and for those who LOVE to read. We have thoroughly enjoyed Reading eggs; it has been a valuable addition to our homeschool for the past few weeks.

Reading eggs is an online reading program broken into two different parts:

Reading eggs: This portion is for children preschool-7 years of age (those not reading or pre-reading). It focuses on introductory activities for reading that are fun. Since my children are not in this age range we did not use this portion. If it is anything like the section we were using, however, it was well done, clever, engaging, and motivating.

Reading Eggspress: This section is for older children (all the way through middle grades) with hundreds of reading activities and games. My children LOVED this, so I wanted to share more about it with you.

The whole program consists of a floating island, where there are four different areas to choose from: The Gym, Stadium, Library and Apartment/Mall.

The very first thing your child does is complete a reading assessment. A comprehension/word usage test is given and then their reading level is assigned for all of the games and activities. I watched my seven and ten year olds take the test, and it pegged their reading levels perfectly. This question was one of the first questions on the test (they get progressively more difficult):

Once the reading level has been determined, your child is free to ~~play~~ learn!

In the Library there were activities that dealt with (obviously) books. Children are asked to make inferences from looking at a cover of a book in COVER STORY, they practice dictionary skills in DICTIONARY, and determine CAUSE AND EFFECT.

My daughter was learning about a book "Hitler's Daughter" - which sounded so interesting to her we ordered it for her Kindle!

The Gym offered activities to literally exercise their minds. One of the games I watched my children play was a memory game which they LOVED. As my little guy put it, "I get more eggs for doing stuff, so I'm going to play a lot!"

{The "eggs" can be used to purchase things in the apartment/mall.}

Here's the gym:

In the Stadium, students have a chance to compete against the computer or against or other students. Spelling, grammar, and other questions are completed in a race against others. This was also a favorite in my house.

Finally, the Apartment and Mall is the place all the kids want to be. This where you can customize your avatar , buy things with "eggs", visit the Trophy Room, get Trading Cards, and lots more!

The biggest thing I appreciated about Reading Eggspress was that it was comprehensive. In just a short review period I witnessed my children learning about the following:

synonyms/antonyms

grammar usage

comprehension

punctuation

spelling

memorization

inference

dictionary skills

genre

.... and much more!

Pricing:

Reading eggs/Eggspress is available for $75/year. It can also be purchased for 6 months ($49.95) or monthly ($9.95). See more details on their pricing page.

Book packs can also be purchased. The books were of particular interest to my daughter. It seems to me we could make an entire reading curriculum from this one resource.

You can sign up for a 14 day trial. I would highly recommend this. I think you might just be sold. There is also a lot more information on this page.

Any questions you might have are quickly answered by customer service. I had a question about my daughter's account and my email was answered within the hour.

* I don't often purchase items we have reviewed, simply because we have used them and then we've had enough. I'm strongly considering, however, purchasing this program because my children loved it so much and were learning a huge amount each time they sat at the computer.

It is also something that frees me up to do other things... which is always good if a mom isn't feeling well or just needs to fold the laundry!! For $75/year it might just be a good investment.

To find out more, visit the TOS Crew review blog to see what my crew mates thought.

Disclaimer:I received the above named product from TOS Crew in return for my honest review. I have not been compensated in any other form.

Labels: TOS reviews | 3 comments

Feb 28, 2012

How a Cupcake {among other things} Pulled Me From the Homeschool Abyss

5:00 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

Last week something just wasn't right in our house.

It seemed that ~~everyone~~ I was in a funk, which definitely trickled into our homeschool. We had one really good day (a field trip), but other than that I was very discouraged all week.

I had to step away from blog reading for several days - simply because it was upsetting to me. I was starting to doubt our increasingly interest led learning style... there have been so many "curriculum" posts out there lately that it makes my head spin. I wanted to shout:

"Don't you get it? Read to your kids! Foster their interests! Make learning exciting and real to them!! No one curriculum will do that for you!"

It's hard, though, when lots of people are talking about CURRICULUM for next year, or this shiny new CURRICULUM they are reviewing. I have to remind myself that LESS is MORE and not to fall into the curriculum trap!

(Ok -- I just stepped off the soapbox.)

Add to this the fact that everything in my house felt disorganized. No one was "getting" the big things we had been working on all week. I (being very selfish) felt unappreciated. I was basically holding a pity party for myself all week, but no one else wanted to attend.

Have you ever done that?

I had thoughts of enrolling the children in a local Classical school (one day a week - but still "school" in my opinion) and even went so far as to contact the director and get more information.

In my head it boiled down to my children needing more STRUCTURE and more ACCOUNTABILITY. .... or so I thought.

It's amazing how a little organization, a lot of prayer, some encouraging texts and calls from other homeschool moms, an uplifting homeschool mom book club meeting, and a couple of days of nothing helped clear my head and give me some much needed perspective. It is so true that God's promises are new each morning. Why, though, is it so hard for me to remember that?

Saturday my husband took Miss B with him to work (he never works on Saturdays, but they are having a huge software rollout next week and needed to prepare). She helped watch some of the other little ones that had come with their parents for the day. Meanwhile, I had a very quiet day at home with GMan.... spent the morning cleaning (and making plans for our Disney surprise trip in just a few weeks!!) and then met friends for lunch and ran errands with my sweet boy.

A huge cupcake will always make me feel better!! We have a Gigi's Cupcakes here... I had resisted the urge to go, but finally gave in.

{Coconut Macaroon - oh.yum}

Sunday I declared a NOTHING day -- and while I did accomplish more cleaning and organizing, it was relaxed and productive. We had a dinner of meatloaf, carrots, and crescent rolls (my family loves this meal) in the dining room and ended the day with the first few chapters of The Railway Children. (I know I've said this before, but I think a good read-aloud cures a lot of ills. Did you see this great blog post by Sally Clarkson about reading aloud? Go read it... now! )

I knew everyone needed to be in bed early because we had to be up and out by 7:30 a.m. Monday morning. The dog had a grooming appointment, followed by a doctor's appointment for me. After lunch GMan's Lego class met in Midtown Atlanta (about an hour from our house) from 1-4, and Miss B and I would go to IKEA to get some much needed Expedit shelves for our family room.

It turns out Monday was just the day we all needed. It was one of those magical days that reaffirmed WHY WE HOMESCHOOL in the first place.

Being at the doctor at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but I'm thankful for my two bookworms who read the entire time.

After the doctor, groomers, and a few errands we had enough time to come home and do math and spelling, plus roller skate for a bit.

In the van on the drive into town we listen to a fabulous audio science book!! I would HIGHLY recommend this book if you want to laugh and just learn some really interesting (and gross) stuff! This book was given to us by my sister-in-law who is a public school science teacher. She thought we would enjoy it... I would never have bought this on my own, but I'm telling you - it's informative and funny! Your boys will really like it, too.

We laughed the entire drive there.... and back!

Once downtown Miss B and I dropped G off at his Lego class (which he LOVES) and headed to IKEA. First order - LUNCH!! I couldn't get her to try the Swedish Meatballs, but mine were great!

After finishing at IKEA we still had an hour before GMan was done with his class. We parked and started walking to the building where his class was going on - but instead I decided to take a detour. I have always seen the First Church of Christ - Scientist when I am in Atlanta. I have wondered about it, but have never gone in.

We changed that today. We visited the Reading Room and met a very nice woman who told us all about her religion and invited us into the reading room. I must say that while we do not agree with many of their beliefs, we do share some similarities.

It is important for my children to know that there is more to the world than being a Lutheran in suburban Atlanta! Yes, I hope they adopt the faith they are raised in, but I want them to have an awareness of other beliefs.

We perused the reading room and learned a little about Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.

When the woman guiding us through the reading room walked us out she told my daughter how lucky she was to be homeschooled. She looked her right in the eyes and said,

You are so lucky to have a mom who wants to spend so much time with you. I hope you know how lucky you are.

I could have HUGGED THIS WOMAN!! How did she know my daughter and I had been struggling last week? How did she know this is just what we BOTH needed to hear?

As we left to pick up G we stopped for frozen yogurt. While sharing it, my daughter asked me if she'd been extra good and what she had done to deserve such a fun day? I told her she deserved it just because I loved her - and because every now and then we just need to break out of the mold and do something different.

When we got to Camp MODA, GMan was having a great time (as usual). He had made a Lego WeDo airplane this week. He had time to "free build" and play Lego games with his friends. He was in heaven.

By the time we got home from downtown it was nearly 5:00 - just enough time to feed everyone and send my husband and G off to baseball practice.

That left enough for me to.... BUILD THE SHELVES FROM IKEA! I got two Expedits done in an hour. Woo hoo!

Now some of the homeschool clutter is under control in the family room. Yes, we have a schoolroom, but you know how that goes.... we school all over the house! We especially love to be downstairs by the fireplace and with a nice view of the bird feeders on the back deck.

The baskets contain all of our card and board games (that get used frequently). Can you tell that we love notebooking? The far shelf contains science, history, 50 states, and writing notebooks. I have another large bookshelf in the music room that houses our classics, and the shelves in the schoolroom hold all the other books.

I have a serious addiction to books!

I know it's just 2 shelving units, but it sure gave me some peace of mind! My husband and I sat downstairs when the kids went to bed and just enjoyed the organization and QUIET.

Homeschool isn't always a bed of roses. Some days it is the LAST THING I WANT TO BE DOING. But I always know that it is what I SHOULD BE DOING. The best things in this life aren't easy. We were never promised easy though, were we?

I'm thankful for those magical days that make the hard ones fade into the distance!

How is your homeschooling going right now? Are you in the late winter slump? I'd love to know...

18 comments

Feb 26, 2012

My First Devotional ~ Our Favorite Bible Resource

6:00 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

This has been the scene in my home for many nights now...

He's been reading until he can't keep his eyes open.

I was thrilled to receive My First Devotional, published by Thomas Nelson, for my seven year old son.

He reads a story to me each night, and then wants to keep reading more! The funny illustrations, humor, interesting facts, and mysteries keep his interest peaked. I like the scripture references and discussion topics to apply each short story to HIS own life.

There are just over 75 pages of devotions - and each little story is 3-4 pages. Each devotion is broken down into the sections:

Who? Me? - how this relates to the reader
Bible Verse - additional scriptural reference
Did you Know? - interesting facts
Challenge - applying the word to the reader's life.. thinking more deeply
Prayer

Included in "Did You Know?" are interesting facts such as:

Archaeologists have proven Jericho's destruction happened at the end of the fifteenth century BC - precisely the time when the Bible says it happened.

and

In ancient Greece and Rome, fried locusts, cicadas, and grasshoppers were considered superior to the best meat or fish. Locusts are a good source of protein, vitamins, and minerals and are still eaten in Asia today.

It is little facts like this that my son LATCHES ONTO and loves to share! I'm sure I'm not alone in having a little one who ~~obsesses~~ takes great interest in something.

Take a look at the flip book to see for yourself what a great resource this is for your young children (I would think ages 5-10 would be perfect - a bit older or younger depending upon the child). I consider this to our FAVORITE BIBLE RESOURCE right now for my little guy!

I'm thankful to be a Tommy Nelson Mommy, and thankful to be able to share some wonderful Christian training resources with you!

Labels: Tommy Mommy reviews | 5 comments

Feb 24, 2012

Collage Friday - Field Trip!

5:00 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

This week has been one of preparing for Lent, spending a lot of time with math, getting to know about several Presidents, and also taking a special field trip. Most of our reading centered around Presidents. We read a biography of John F. Kennedy and also one of George Washington. We still have Lincoln's to finish next week. The "Who Was..... ?" series is my Favorite Resource This Week! (I found them on sale at Sam's Club - 2 for $5!)

Most of the local school children are on "winter break", which means it's a perfect time for us to be doing school! We will take a two week break at the end of March, so we are going full steam ahead right now. This time of the year is typically hard, and this year is no exception. Our homeschool is busy, my husband's job is exceedingly busy, and it seems as if everyone is overwhelmed. I am trying to say NO a lot and make plenty of time for play and rest.

I had a Mission of Motherhood bookclub meeting this week, too - this group of homeschool moms has been such an encouragement to me. I feel blessed beyond measure to live in an area where there is such support for homeschooling. It's very nice to spend a couple of hours with like minded moms, talking about training our children for Christ.

I have to thank Nicole, from Journey to Excellence, for blogging about Pic Collage - an app for iPad that makes creating collages a SNAP! (IT'S FREE!) I made three fun collages today in about 15 minutes. So, if you're an iPad user this is a good way to join Collage Friday. If not, using PhotoBucket still works wonders.

Does anyone have any other ways to make collages I don't know about?

Now for the collages... I had fun making them this week! I chose to just highlight our field trip to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Little White House, since it was by far our FAVORITE activity this week!

The weather was 75 and sunny (it's February!!) and we were basically the only people at The Little White House. This allowed us a lot of time to talk with the tour guides and hear interesting stories. Most of these people have lived near Warm Springs their entire lives and have great stories to tell.

The Little White House (in Warm Springs, GA - about an hour from where we live) is truly "little". What made this trip special was hearing from Granddaddy (my husband's father) before we left. He told the children about how he remembers seeing FDR (my father-in-law was born in 1933) driving his car and stopping to talk with people. Granddaddy grew up in rural Alabama, not far from the Little White House. What a neat memory.

After touring The Little White House and the museum we could just about picture what my father-in-law had seen. I was so impressed with what a "people's President" FDR was and his sympathy and concern for the poor of this country. Several exhibits focused on The New Deal and his innovations for a country pulling out of the Great Depression.

His love of children (especially children stricken by Polio) was quite obvious, too. We also saw footage of him playing water polo in the pool at Warm Springs with many children - we heard he loved the children there and many of them didn't even realize he was the President of the United States!

The museum before you visit the house is very interesting:

1. GMan posing outside the museum

2. FDR's favorite car - we also got to see how the car had been specially designed (by FDR himself) with hand controls.

3. Lots of information about FDR's life in Georgia - as America was trying to pull itself out of the Depression, FDR being in Georgia put him in touch with common Americans. He was shocked at the lack of education, training, and money.

4. The timeline as you enter the museum is well done and informative. Since Miss B is taking a President's class at our co-op she was very interested in this.

5. You could feel the WARM springs temperature (on the left) and the normal springs temperature (on the right). FDR found much relief in the warm springs here in Georgia. There is still an extensive therapy/rehab center in Warm Springs today.

6. Simulating "Fireside Chats" - how cool is that?

7. The children counted the canes FDR received as gifts over the years - over 100 in all. They were all hand carved and beautiful examples of American folk art. This was my favorite part of the day.

The Flag Walk was also very interesting. I hope you can see that there were 50 flags on this path. For each state there was a sampling of stone from that state, along with a plaque containing the state emblem and date of statehood.

This was just PERFECT for our 50 states study. The kids were so excited to go from state to state and recognize shapes, mottos, and feel the stones. I think Hawaii (the upper right - volcanic ash) was their favorite.

I want to close with two pictures that have a lot of meaning for us. The first is from the very end of the tour... this man, so obviously distraught after FDR's passing, made an impression on us. As we stood looking at this photo, my sweet G put his arm around me and told me his "eyes felt wet".

The second is the unfinished portrait of FDR. He had a stroke at The Little White House while he was sitting for a portrait... he died that same day and the portrait was packed away and never finished. I think it's amazing. Miss B said this was her favorite thing of the day.

How was your week? I'd love for you to leave a comment and/or link a collage. Reading these collages over the weekend gives me so many ideas for our homeschool. Please be sure to grab the button from my sidebar and use it somewhere in your post or on your blog. Also - visit some other blogs in the linky and leave them a comment!

*** I have updated the button code for Collage Friday so that it now points to my Collage Friday page on the top menu. Please grab the new button code if you'd like!! ***

Have a wonderful weekend!

Chestnut Grove Academy Field Trip Friday Blog Hop

Labels: collage friday | 17 comments

Feb 23, 2012

Something To Pamper Myself

11:20 PM | Written by Mary Prather |

The latest review for the TOS Review Crew had absolutely nothing to do with my children. It had everything to do with me - and I LIKED THAT!! I know that sounds a bit selfish, but every now and then it's just nice to have something for MYSELF that pampers me just a little bit!

When the review package came in the mail the kids anxiously watched me open it -- my daughter thought it was for HER and I quickly scurried the items into my bathroom and declared them MINE! (very mature, huh?)

Beeyoutiful's goal is to help you "bridge the nutritional gap between our modern diet and our bodies' nutritional need". All of the products on their site are all natural - and range from skin and hair products to nutritional supplements. If you have a specific health concern, chances are there is something there to help you.

I received two products from Beeyoutiful - and I love each of them!

The All-Natural Orange Lip Balm is the only lip balm that has worked on my chapped lips. Right now I have a terrible cold, and I have kept the lip balm in my pocket so I can have it with me at all times. It lasts for a long time and smells REALLY good. At a price of $3.00 (or if you buy more than 3 you get them for $2.70 each) that is much cheaper than another popular brand I buy. I also notice they have Peppermint Lip Balm, too!

The second product is the Milk and Honey Facial Bar. This gentle cleansing bar smells so nice and fresh and keeps my skin smooth and not too dry in the winter months. The facial bar combines bee products and goat's milk. This bar costs $10 - which I would pay in a heart beat for such a quality product.

The entire Beeyoutiful website has lots of wonderful things for you to check out - I know you won't be disappointed in their complete line of skin and health supplements.

To read more reviews from my crew mates, please visit the crew blog!

Disclaimer:I received the above named product from TOS Crew in return for my honest review. I have not been compensated in any other form.

Labels: TOS reviews | 1 comments

Feb 22, 2012

Fun With Fractions

9:02 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

Both children have been working with fractions. GMan has been learning the very basics (numerator, denominator, shading in the fractional parts). Miss B has been comparing fractions, working with mixed numbers and improper fractions, and reducing fractions.

Rather than stay in the math book (which gives my children the BASIC understanding), I decided to seek out Living Books and interesting activities to make our study of fractions more FUN and APPLICABLE.

In addition to these resources I've just been trying to make the children aware of how we use fractions in everyday life... and isn't this the best thing about homeschooling? Our children are living EVERYDAY LIFE with us and we have the opportunity to use every singe teachable moment!!

1. The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book - a very basic fraction book, but it's enough to get the children inspired and listening! I actually did some activities beyond the book, too.

2. The Phantom Tollbooth - we actually read this a few weeks ago and when they were talking about fractions I could see the smiles on my children's faces... if you're studying fractions this is a great read-aloud that will show your children how fractions work in real life.

3. Go, Fractions! - I love this reader book, and my little guy did, too.

4. Apple Fractions - by the same author of the Hershey Bar Fractions book - I thought this book was slightly better.

5. Fractazmic! We reviewed this card game a few months ago and it's coming in handy now!

6. Homeschool Share Chocolate Unit Study - this incorporates A LOT of math activities, and a great minibook about fractions, too.

7. Baking cookies - our favorite recipe we made was Nestle's Tollhouse Cookies.

8. Hands-On Fractions - a Squidoo Lens by Jimmie, of Jimmies Collage - TONS of great ideas here, with fraction bar printables and notebooking thoughts.

9. We incorporated fractions with a literature fair project for GMan - he read The Chocolate Touch and used that book as a basis for a project all about chocolate (which then led to fractions as well) -- I don't think he'll be forgetting this any time soon!

10. MathArt Projects & Activities - We received this book for Christmas and next week will make some fraction flags from it... looks like a very good resource.

Linking with the following:

Labels: math | 17 comments

Feb 21, 2012

Shrove Tuesday and A Collection of Lenten Ideas

8:29 AM | Written by Mary Prather |

image credit

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally this day marks the last day of indulgence before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). We will be making pancakes tonight in honor of the day before Lent.

Beginning tomorrow we will be a bit more somber and reflective about our faith and about Jesus' death on the cross. I have printed a Lenten calendar for each of my children and will be doing a special activity each week with them to dig deeper into the true meaning of Lent.

These next couple of months will be spent focusing on some of our harder academics "buckling down" a bit more. I want everything to take on a more serious and reflective tone in our home (not losing the wonder, mind you - just adopting a slightly more pensive attitude).

No, my family isn't Catholic - but we are Lutheran (which is almost Catholic but not quite!), so we Lent is perhaps the most important season of our church year.

I heard a couple of years ago maybe we should focus on taking something ON for Lent rather than giving something up. I take this to mean perhaps we should adopt more of a spirit of self control, generosity, and thoughtfulness during these 40 days of Lent. It's not about giving up chocolate or Coke!

I love this list of 40 Ideas for Lent by Rachel Held Evans... you will get some wonderful ideas here.

One resource we will be revisiting is Amon's Adventure - we read this last year and it was an amazing gift to our entire family.

I also found a craft for Jesus' Crown of Thorns - which we will be making this weekend and then pulling out the thorns when a child does something loving, caring, or generous for someone else.

Do you observe Lent in your homeschool? What will you be doing over the next 40 days to prepare for the Resurrection of our Lord?

7 comments

Feb 19, 2012

The Literature Fair - Part 1 (I created a Squidoo Lens!)

3:24 PM | Written by Mary Prather |

The 2012 Homeschool Literature Fair was a great success!

I promised I would write about each of the children's projects. I hope you can gain some ideas for your own homeschool and get inspired to dive even DEEPER into quality living books.

Miss B's book this year was The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong. I have created my very first Squidoo Lens (this has been a goal of mine for several months now!) about the book which you can see by clicking here.

I'm so proud of my daughter - she won 2nd place in her age group this year! What makes me even more proud is that she completed this project independent of me... from the writing and typing of her book and research report, to painting the "school" and putting together her own display board.

One of Miss B's closest friends won first place in their age group. It did my heart good to see my daughter being more happy for her friend than she was for herself. Her friend (pictured below) dressed up as Effie (from The Hunger Games) and did a fabulous project. (Now, I fall into the category of moms who won't let their children read The Hunger Games, but that is neither here nor there... this child did a great job and deserved first place!)

The requirements for the literature fair included a log book, research report, book report, bibliography, tri fold display board, and a "hands-on" project. My daughter chose to construct and paint a model of the school from her book. She also made all of the characters and a nice little display of tulips (since the book takes place in Holland).

As we walked the fair we took pictures of some of our favorites --- as you can see, some of the upper grades projects were AMAZING! With OVER 70 STUDENT PARTICIPATING, there wasn't time to snap shots of all of them, but these stood out to my children: