Feeling Sad

I was (and am) blessed with a wonderful father. I have always known that he loved me very much. I have many happy childhood memories of him playing with me, taking us on family vacations, and so on. I am thankful that my parents live nearby and we are able to see them often.

But today, I am sad for my children, who have not been as fortunate. Chris was a great dad for many years. And I am thankful for that. I know that my older children do have good memories with him. But this is the 6th Father’s Day since Chris decided that he didn’t want to be part of our family any more. Emily has virtually grown up without a daddy. The others have been through milestones, graduations, and holidays never hearing from him. He hasn’t even been in the U.S. in 2 1/2 years. I see my children’s pain and my heart breaks for them.  I doubt if any of our four children will even contact their dad this Father’s Day.

I still pray daily that my husband’s heart will be turned back to God and to his family.

Memoria Press Geography 1 (Schoolhouse Review)

 

Geography I , published by Memoria Press,  is a geography program that covers Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. This program is part of Memoria Press’s fourth grade curriculum, but Geography I is suitable for 4th-8th grade levels.

 

The Student Text includes one informational page for each country that tells about the history of the country and a “Fast Facts” chart with modern day facts (population, climate, language, etc.) Since Geography I covers the area of the Roman Empire, there is an emphasis on ancient history, but more modern history is also included, such as the Great Famine in Ireland, Martin Luther, and the Berlin Wall. The facing page features a map of the country.

 

The Student Workbook includes a page for each country that requires the student to name the country, capital, ancient name and fun facts, and a map to label. Periodic review pages are also included with maps to label and capitals and countries to name.

 

The Teacher Guide includes answers for the workbook and additional quizzes and tests.

 

The Fourth Grade Geography I set also comes with review books for US states and capitals. These are similar in format, but don’t have informational pages—just maps and practice of state capitals. They are intended for review, but could be used to teach as well. A student using Memoria Press curricula each year would have studied US Geography in third grade and would use these books for review the following year.

 

I was concerned at first that Emily might think the workbooks dull, but she has loved using them! It is one of the first assignments she completes each day and she is rapidly learning the European countries and capitals. (We skipped ahead to the Europe part of the books because it corresponds better with our current history study of the Renaissance.) She is often eager to tell me about one of the historical tidbits she has read each day.

 

I like that the countries are taught in small groups and are reviewed frequently through the use of quizzes and tests. I think that Emily will have a solid knowledge of European, Middle Eastern, and North African geography when she finishes this course…and will know a few additional historical facts as well.

 

The full Fourth Grade Geography Set (text, workbook, teacher’s guide, US geography review book, and US Review Key, Quizzes, and Tests) sells for $48.

 

 

Kindle Fire Apps for School

This post contains affiliate links.

As a fairly new Kindle Fire owner, I’ve been looking for some good educational apps for Emily. Unfortunately, there’s not as much available for Kindle as there is for the iPad, particularly for older kids but I’ve found a few that I love.

Spanish in a Month: This reminds me of Rosetta Stone. This immersion style program labels a series of pictures, then repeats each word or phrase, requiring the player to choose the correct picture. There are 30 lessons in the full version ($2.00) and 2 lessons in the free version. We’re finding this well worth the price!

Treble Cat/ Bass Cat: These simple (and free) programs teach children to identify notes on the treble and bass clefs, respectively. Emily is learning to play the piano, but I was finding that she needed some additional practice to master her notes. After just a few game plays, she was doing much better on the real piano!

Bridge Constructor Playground ($1.99) teaches physics principles and bridge building through a fun game. We lucked into this one when it was a Free App of the Day.

 

 

 

Study Blue (free) is a free flashcard app. I haven’t tried others, but this works well and the price was right. Emily uses this to practice her Spanish vocabulary.

Train Crisis HD ($.99) This isn’t educational, but it is so much fun! And addicting! Guide your trains to the correct station without crashing or derailing.

And for the teacher….read the Old Schoolhouse Magazine for FREE on your Kindle with this app.

Do you have any more Kindle app suggestions for middle school aged children?  I’d love some more suggestions!

My Favorite New Homeschool Products

I have been so blessed to be able to try so many different products through the Schoolhouse Crew. These are a few of my very favorites from this past school year, almost none of which I had heard about before this year:

Supercharged Science (affiliate link) Lots of hands-on science experiments that really work! Each one is accompanied by a video that shows you just what to do.

Adventus Piano Software This software teaches piano and theory with a keyboard that plugs into your computer. Much cheaper than paying a private teacher. Emily does her practicing without complaining now!

Essentials in Writing Teaches grammar and writing with videos. Each writing assignment is broken down into bite sized pieces so the child is not overwhelmed.

 

King Alfred’s English is a fascinating look at where our English language came from. Throughout the year, I’m continually reminded about something I learned of word origins or of British history from this book.

 

 

 

Lightning Literature is a great literature, grammar, and writing program for 7th grade and up.

 

No Nonsense Algebra also uses short videos to introduce each day’s lesson. The program has good explanations, plenty of practice, and daily review.

 

 

Homeschool Spanish Academy offers online Spanish lessons with a live teacher using Skype.

We’re either still using these curricula or have finished them. I’m looking forward to seeing what review surprises I’ll have next year!

“Make It Real Learning” (Schoolhouse Review)

“Make It Real Learning” is a series  of workbooks published by Math Mammoth that “uses activities and problems situations taken from real-life, with real data.”  If you ever hear the question, “When will I ever need to know this?” about math from your child, you might want to take a look at this series.

The skill levels for this series range from grade 3 to pre-calculus, although  most of the books focus on middle school and high school level concepts. We reviewed:

Sets, Probability, and Statistics I- for grades 6-10. $4.99

Linear Functions I - for algebra 1 and algebra 2. $4.99

Fractions, Percents, and Decimals II - for grades 6-11. $4.99

Each book includes 10 different activities with real-life data that the student works with. In the Sets, Probability, and Statistics book, Emily used statistics to compared the ratios of colored gummy fruit in different packages. She drew Venn diagrams to compare candy bar brands, and looked at the variety and number of possible combinations for telephone numbers, menu choices, and license plates.

In Fractions, Percents, and Decimals, the activities included comparing measures of body temperature, analyzing and graphing basketball game scores, real estate investing, calculating sales tax, and comparing aspect ratios of photos, theater screens, and tv sets.

Linear Functions 1 had her doing activities like comparing costs of various cell phone plans and converting temperatures between Celsius and Fahrenheit scales.

Every activity had data taken from “real-life.” For example, the cell phone plan costs were taken from actual T-Mobile and Verizon charges. The gummy bears data were from actual packages of Kirkland brand gummy bears. Some of the activities were very practical, such as the cell phone plans, calculating housing costs, and dealing with sales tax. Others were more contrived…no customer actually needs to know how many different meal combinations are possible from a menu with 3 meat choices and 11 side choices!

The activities were a nice change from a typical math curriculum and were a good reinforcement and application of concepts Emily had already learned. We worked many of the pages together, because some activities were a challenge for her. I appreciated that there was a full solution page for every activity, since occasionally even I needed help or confirmation that were were on the right track!  Emily has done very little work with probability, so these activities in particular were a fun introduction to the concept. (If I had offered her her own packages of gummy snacks to compare, it would have been even more fun!)

My opinion: I think the Math in Real Life series is an inexpensive way to reinforce concepts and to make the bridge between textbook math and the math that is needed in daily life.

The Guardian, by Beverly Lewis (Review)

The Guardian, by Beverly Lewis, is the third book in the “Home to Hickory Hollow” series. I have especially enjoyed this series because, although each book takes place in the same location, and has a few of the same characters, each stands alone. When the reader finishes a book, the story is over, and she doesn’t have to wait until another book comes out to find out what happens next! The books in this series can be read in any order.

The Guardian features the intersection of two worlds, that of the Amish Esh family and of Jodi, a young teacher without a job who, after a family tragedy, is questioning her Christian faith. When Jodi finds the Esh family’s lost toddler, she finds herself intrigued with the Amish values and lifestyle and the Esh family and community are surprisingly accepting of an outsider. 

I enjoyed reading about the interaction between the Amish and non-Amish characters and watching the characters grow in faith and understanding through that interaction. I was also interested to read that this novel was inspired by the actual incident of an Amish toddler falling out of a buggy and getting lost.

As expected, this Beverly Lewis novel did not disappoint me and I am looking forward to her next one!

I received this book free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

See the Light Art Projects (Schoolhouse Review)

We recently had the privilege of trying out one of the DVD’s from the Art Projects series by See the Light. Each of the nine DVD’s  features the work of a famous artist and four lessons that culminate in the student producing a piece of art based on that artist’s style. The lessons are taught by master artist Pat Knepley.

 

Repeated Sweets focuses on the artist Wayne Thiebaud and watercolor painting. The four lessons are:

1. Select motif and draw.
2. Two types of watercolor: wash-flat and graded
3. Paint in the details
4. Finish up with shade and shadow

Throughout the four lessons (23-31 minutes each), Pat Knepley introduces the student to the work of the focus artist, teaching about his life and showing examples of his work. She guides the student in producing his or her own piece of art, demonstrating every step of the process in great detail. She refers back to techniques taught in her art class series, such as shade and shadowing, but gives plenty of guidance to students who may not have used that series.

We found Pat to be very pleasant and encouraging.  She is obviously very talented and loves to share her love of art with her students. The  project was broken down into simple steps and she explained and had the student practice new techniques during the process. Personally, I used to do some oil painting, but techniques are so different for watercolors that I learned a lot!

She works slowly, so that the student can keep up with his or her own art while watching the video, possibly with occasional pausing of the DVD. Some of the sessions, however, we just watched, then Emily did her project afterward, so that she didn’t miss anything.

Emily really enjoyed the lessons and hopes to do some more projects from this series. I think this is a great way to get quality art instruction right at home!

On-screen demonstration of watercolor techniques

Drawing “sweet treats”

Applying a background wash

Finished “Sweet Treats” Painting

The nine DVDs in the series (appropriate for upper elementary ages and up) cover a wide variety of art techniques and focus on these artists:

• Louis Comfort Tiffany
• Wayne Theibaud
• Henri Rousseau
• Georges Seurat
• Georgia O’Keefe
• Marc Chagall
• Edgar Degas
• Winslow Homer
• Vincent Van Gogh

Each DVD sells for $14.00 or the whole series is available for $99.99. To read more reviews of See the Light products, click the banner below.

K is for 5K Color Run

Two of my daughters ran in their first 5K race last weekend—a “Color Run” in Orange Beach, AL.  Allison has been running a bit over the past year and invited Emily to come run with her, so Emily’s been practicing her running for the past several weeks.

They had a lot of fun. The Color Run is a very family friendly event. Lots of kids, strollers, and walkers in the race as well as runners. At certain points along the course, the runners had colored corn starch thrown at them, resulting in a tie-dyed effect at the end. The girls were proud of themselves for running most of the way with only a few walking breaks. Katie, a definite “couch potato” said that it looked so much fun that she wished she had participated too!

Pre-Race(Kristen-friend, Allison, Emily)

And they’re off!

Post Race!

Emily is ready to do it again!