Patterns of Evidence: Exodus (Giveaway)

  

I love mysteries and find ancient civilizations fascinating. Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, a film about the search for archaeological evidence for the Exodus story includes both. The film maker, Timothy Mahoney chronicles his quest to find out if there is archaeological evidence for the Biblical stories upon which Judaism and Christianity are based. He makes multiple trips to Egypt and the area where Canaan existed and interviews experts on the Bible, the Torah, and archaeology. Many of these experts claim that there is no evidence at all of the Exodus. If thousands of foreigners lived in Egypt as slaves, then left suddenly to wander in the desert, they certainly would have left behind evidence of their existence.

Upon further investigation, however, Mahoney learns that tradition holds that the Exodus happened in Egypt’s New Kingdom, during the time of Ramses II. And, true, there is little evidence during that time. But when he looked at the archaeological finds from several hundred years earlier, during the Middle Kingdom, suddenly quite a lot of evidence appears—whole towns of Semitic people, Egyptian stories that sound suspiciously like Biblical accounts, and even a small pyramid grave that belonged to a high official that was a foreigner (and that was missing the bones). Likewise, archeological evidence in the same time period shows the destruction of the city of Jericho, including crumbled walls and fire damage.

Patterns of Evidence leaves conclusions to the viewer, but presents a lot of evidence that the Bible accounts are true, even if in a somewhat different time period than expected. This two-hour documentary was fascinating. If you are interested in the Bible or history, you would enjoy this film.

 

  Would you like to win a copy of Patterns of Evidence:Exodus?

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Connect with Patterns of Evidence and learn more:

Twitter: @PattofEvidence

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PatternsofEvidence?fref=ts

Official Website:  http://patternsofevidence.com

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2assFIyLInE

Official Website to Purchase:  http://shop.patternsofevidence.com

Blog featuring interviews with director Tim Mahoney and an article by Anne Graham Lotz:  http://patternsofevidence.tumblr.com

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

High School Electives—The Fun Part of High School!

The foundation of any high school education includes the four core subjects: math, science, social studies, and English.  Because my state, Alabama, requires four credits in each of these subjects for public schooled students, I hold the same standards for my homeschool planning  and Emily will be taking these four core subjects every year. This leaves 2-3 credits a year of electives.

Choosing electives can be fun because the student has more input in what he or she wants to study. Electives allow the student to explore different areas of interest and to focus on his or her particular strengths, and even begin to prepare for a future career or college major.

Some of Emily’s elective credits will include additional classes that I require of her or classes that are also typically taken by traditionally schooled students, such as PE and Health.

A common concern about homeschooling high school is that a home environment will not be able to provide the many options that a public school can. I’m finding that not to be the case at all. Emily actually has the opportunity to study in areas that are not even options at our large local public school. These are a few of the options we will be using or considering:

• Foundations in Personal Finance (Dave Ramsey DVD program): Although personal finance is a common course in public school, I doubt if what she would take there would be as solid or enjoyable as this course.
• Spanish: We’ve used a variety of online resources for Spanish, including Mango Languages, Homechool Spanish Academy, and Middlebury Languages. This year, Emily will be using the Destinos course, which includes free online video, audio, and quizzes as well as a textbook and workbook that I purchased very inexpensively at Amazon.
• Logic: There are lots of resources for this, but I don’t think it’s a typical PS option.
• Landry Academy: Emily will be taking an online Psychology class this fall through Landry Academy. Landry offers many many course options, including some very unusual ones. Emily is interested in Criminology, so she is excited that Landry offers classes in Crime Scene Investigation, Criminology, Sociology, Forensic Anatomy, and Terrorism/Homeland Security. We discovered that if you purchase “generic” classes a year or more ahead of time, a semester course can cost as little as $58 (plus books).
• Sports and classes through local homeschool co-ops. I may teach a public speaking class through our cover school and am keeping my eyes out for other class options, since it can be more enjoyable to do some classes in a group.
• Dance classes (will count as part of PE)
• Art: We love the Artistic Pursuits books that include both art history and technique.
• Bible Study and Apologetics
• Community Theater

As you can see from this ever-expanding list, there are more subject areas and possibilities than we’ll even have time for. Homeschooled students have a flexible schedule that allows them to do job shadowing or other career exploration activities instead of being confined to a classroom from 8:00-3:30. They have the opportunity to design their own courses using the internet, library, and mentors.  Instead of being fearful of the responsibility of homeschooling, I’m excited about the opportunities!

Read more about Electives and Homeschooling High School at Homeschooling High School Blog Hop!

 

Read More on Electives in the High School Years

• Chareen at Every Bed of Roses with thoughts on Electives in the High School Years
• Debbie at Debbie's Homeschool Corner shares Electives: The Fun Part of High School
• Carol over at Home Sweet Life on Homeschooling High School ~ Electives
• April from ElCloud Homeschool shares High School Homeschooling: Electives and Jobs
• Tess from Circling Through This Life shares on What about Electives? ~ Homeschool Highschool Blog Hop
• Leah from As We Walk Along the Road shares her thoughts on Choosing Electives for Homeschooling High School
• Kym at Homeschool Coffee Break shares on Customized Education and Electives
• Wendy at Life at Rossmont shares thoughts on High School Electives
• Gena over at I Choose Joy! shares Homeschool High School Public Speaking: Drama, Speech, and Debate
• Cristi from Through the Calm and Through the Storm shares on Interests + Opportunities = Electives
• Dawn Oaks at Double O Farms shares Just What Do You Do with Elective Requirements?
• Jennifer from A Glimpse of Our Life on High School Electives
• Michele at Family, Faith and Fridays shares How About Some Fun?
• Lisa at Golden Grasses says Frosting on the Cake- High School Electives, Jobs and College Prepping
• Meg from Adventures with Jude on  High School Electives - Tasting the Real World

With Lee in Virginia (Schoolhouse Review)

Last January, we listened to and thoroughly enjoyed Heirloom Audio Productions’ radio drama adaptation of G.A. Henty’s  In Freedom’s Cause.  After enjoying this high quality (and educational) production, we were excited to have the opportunity to also review Heirloom Audio Productions’ latest audio drama, With Lee in Virginia, also based on a G.A. Henty historical novel.

With Lee in Virginia tells the story of several Virginians who are swept into the drama, danger, and destruction of the Civil War. The recording captures the enthusiasm of the young men as they witness the secession of southern states and enlist in the Confederate army, believing that the war will be a grand adventure. They are quickly brought to more realistic thinking as they watch friends die in battle, are captured by the enemy,  and escape. They find their values challenged as they learn to be loyal and brave in difficult circumstances. The listener hears accounts of many of the major battles of the Civil War and becomes “acquainted” with historical figures such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. It would be a great introduction to or supplement to a study of the Civil War.

The story is, of course, a great history lesson, but also inspires the listener to believe in causes greater than himself, to be loyal to friends, and be open to changing long held opinions when challenged by scripture.

We put the CD’s in the car and listened to the story as we ran our errands around town. I have to admit—there were a few times when we sat in the garage for a few minutes after returning home because we weren’t ready to turn it off! The production is top quality and the story is easy to follow, even for someone (like me) who would prefer to read a book rather than watch a movie or listing to a recording. (I did think that many of the southern accents sounded fake, though—a frequent pet peeve of mine when watching movies set in the South and filmed by Hollywood actors.)  My daughter was very impressed that Kirk Cameron was one of the actors (playing the part of Stonewall Jackson.) His son also played a part in the radio drama.

Every copy of With Lee in Virginia includes a 48 page study guide. This engaging guide includes comprehension questions, definitions, Civil War era photographs, and maps. There is also a Bible study and some background information on sectionalism and slavery. We didn’t extensively use the study guide since this is summer and I wanted the story to be more fun than work, but Emily did look through the pictures, maps and background information. I think this did enrich her understanding of the story. The guide is very colorful and engaging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are several purchase options for With Lee in Virginia:

• The Family 4-Pack—4 copies of the CD (great for gifts), study guide, free e-book of G.A. Henty’s original book of the same name, and other bonuses ($99.97)
• 2 CD set, study guide, and bonuses ($29.97)
• MP3 Download and study guide ($20)

 

Connect with Heirloom Audio and With Lee in Virginia

With Lee In Virginia (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/WithLeeInVirginia

Heirloom Audio Productions (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/heirloomaudio

Heirloom Audio Productions (Google+): https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647

Heirloom Audio Productions (Twitter): https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories

Homeschooling History and Statistics

This interesting graphic was recently shared with me chronicling the history of homeschooling in the US and homeschool statistics. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Source: Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com

Throwback Thursday: Montana

We’re planning another trip to Montana next month, so in anticipation, I’ve been looking through some photos from our past trips.

2003

2014

Passport2Purity

As we all know, the teen years can be tumultuous for teenagers (and their parents.) As they deal with hormones and puberty, teens need to learn to deal responsible with increased peer pressure, less supervision from parents, and many temptations. It would be great to have a way to inoculate our children from all the bad things that might happen, to insure that child-parent relationships stay strong through high school, and to see our sons and daughters finish the teen years with a strong faith in God. While there are no guarantees, one of the most important things we parents can do is to develop strong relationships with our children and to prepare them for the upcoming changes before those changes hit. Our children’s innocence is under attack from the culture and media, so it is important for us parents to provide information and support for the values we hold.

The Passport2Purity Getaway Kit, by Dennis and Barbara Rainey of Family Life is a complete guide for a getaway weekend for a parent and a pre-teen designed to build communication, discuss the upcoming physical changes, the “birds and the bees,” peer pressure, dating and more. The kit components include:

• Tour Guide for the parent: This book gives the parent step-by-step directions for preparation before the getaway, a list of what to bring, and discussion topics for each segment of the program.
• Travel Journal for the preteen including 25 follow-up devotions: This Journal is colorful and engaging and provides space for note taking during the CD sessions and application questions to answer after the sessions.
• 8 CDs containing 5 sessions, scripture memory songs and downloadable MP3’s. These CDs provide great instruction, fun stories and examples, and do the initial “teaching” for you, opening the door for further discussion between the parent and child on each topic.

How Does the Program Work?

The 5 sessions cover:

1. Following God’s plan
2. Peer pressure
3. Factual information about growing up and sex
4. Committing to purity
5. Dating

The cd’s guide you through each of the 5 sessions. 1-2 hours of stories, instruction, and scripture memory songs present the content. The child follows along in his journal, occasionally taking notes or answering questions. Periodically, the cd is stopped for discussion between parent and child. Each session also includes a fun project that illustrates the key concept. The child will mix play dough colors to illustrate the influence of peers, try to quickly assemble a puzzle without the box cover picture to show the need for a map (the Bible), try to light a match that has already been burned out to demonstrate the loss of virginity, and squeeze water through holes in a balloon representing one’s purity.  The entire weekend is a mix of fun, serious talk and enjoyable applications of concepts that should stick with the pre-teen for a long time.

Our Experience

We didn’t have the opportunity to do a getaway weekend before I had to write this review, so we altered the schedule. We spread the lessons out over a week, doing one session a day. Emily is 15, a bit older than the target 10-12 year old ages so we’ve actually discussed and/or encountered many of these topics already.  Emily thought that some of the material was a bit “young” for her, but agreed that it was perfect for a pre-teen.

The series opened with a fun drama about some kids on a treasure hunt, leading to a lesson about the importance of having a plan for life and that the Bible provides that plan for us. In addition to strong scriptural teaching and factual content, the series included fairy tale type stories, interviews with kids, teens, and adults, and illustrations from the Rainey’s own family. Although the content is certainly serious, the mix of content kept it feeling fun and not too heavy or boring. It actually isn’t until session 3 that the more uncomfortable topics are introduced.

All of the sessions were excellent, but sessions 4 and 5 about purity, boundaries, and dating were excellent for promoting good conversation about choices that Emily will be making in the near future and the importance of going against what society teaches to follow God’s way. The audio content repeatedly stresses the need for parents and teens to determine the boundaries for their own family.

The only aspect that neither one of us was thrilled about were the memory songs. The concept was good, but the music wasn’t really engaging for the pre-teen crowd. The songs were each played several times throughout the sessions, so the listener was still exposed to the important scripture verses, even if they weren’t catchy enough to want to listen to later.

I think this is a great program and wish that I’d had it for all of my children when they were the appropriate age. I also would really recommend doing the getaway weekend as the program is designed, since that would make it more memorable than spreading it out the way we used it.

 

Learn about the traps your preteen will soon face as a teenager and how Passport2Purity will help you to guide your teen through those difficult years.

Passport2Purity from FamilyLife® on Vimeo.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Passport2Purity-Getaway-Kit-by-FamilyLife-Version-3/278981062285397

Interested? Use the code PASSPORT on the Passport2Purity website to receive a 25% discount on the program.

I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Teaching the /k/ and /g/ Sounds

This is an excerpt from Super Star Speech: Expanded Edition. Super Star Speech includes practice materials, picture cards, and games to teach almost every speech sound. /K/ and /g/ are common errors in 3-4 year olds. Most children tend to substitute /t/ for /k/, and /d/ for /g/, resulting in speech that is very difficult to understand! If your child struggles with these sounds, try out these ideas. I hope they will help!

K and G

 

To produce the K and G sounds, the back part of the tongue is raised and pressed against the roof of the mouth (soft palate), stopping all airflow. The front of the tongue is lowered. The tongue then drops, allowing the air that has been held behind the tongue to escape suddenly. The K is voiceless, produced by airflow. The G is produced with the voice “on.”

Tips:

1. Demonstrate the sound in front of a mirror. Use a spoon or popsicle stick to touch the back of the tongue and the soft palate to help the child feel how the sound is made. (Be cautious about triggering the gag reflex as you do this.) Have the child put his hand, paper, or a feather close to the lips to feel or see the puffs of air.

2. Strengthen the back of the tongue and help the child identify the part of the tongue to be raised by pressing downward on the back of the tongue with a spoon while the child tries to push upward.

3. Have the child attempt to say T while you hold the tongue tip down.

4. Play listening games to help the child practice discriminating between /t/ and /k/ or between /d/ and /g/. (“Is this a dog?” “Is this a gog?”)

5. Exaggerate the target sound when modeling it.

 

 

Here are a few activities to practice the /k/ and /g/ sounds:

Repeat each pair several times. Emphasize the difference between /k/ and /t/ and between /d/ and /g/.

tea—key                                      go—dough

talk—cock                                   do—goo

can—tan                                      done--gun

kin—tin                                        doll--gall

tap—cap                                      Don—gone

it—ick                                          bad—bag

bat—back                                     bed—beg

Think of a word that rhymes with each of these words. Say each word pair 3 times.

rock                make

rack                 Mike

look                 wig

hog                   tag

pug                   cloak

 

More practice activities can be found at http://superstarspeech.com.

Homeschool Planet (Schoolhouse Review)

Product: Homeschool Planet, available only through Homeschool Buyers Co-op.

 

Over the years, I’ve tried out a lot of different homeschool planners, both printed and computer-based. I used one computer based planner (downloaded) for a couple of years. It was pretty good, but took a LOT of time and effort to implement. Once I had the schedule planned, I printed out the pages and kept them in a notebook for my daughter to check off. I did like the neat look of the printed pages, but eventually just went back to paper planners because they were easier.

 

Pre-printed planners look pretty, but they are never formatted to include exactly the pages I need (or to exclude those I don’t). Up until now, my best option has been to use printable planner pages that I 3-hole punch and keep in a binder, typing out the assignments and printing out a few week’s assignments at a time. This seemed to be the best way to meet our needs, although I frequently had to change assignments by hand on the printed pages as life got in the way of my plans. My biggest issue with this was that a few weeks or months into the school year, Emily would get behind in a subject or two and would be working on several different weeks at a time in the planner. This could get very confusing.

 

When I had the opportunity to try out Homeschool Planet, I was curious? Could this online planner meet my needs better?

 

Homeschool Planet is an online product. So if you are in a location without internet access, you can’t access it. However, because it is online, it can be accessed from any device—computer, tablet, or phone. Anytime, anywhere. You do have to use a computer for full functionality, such as scheduling assignments, but assignments can be viewed and checked off from any device. There is a feature that emails schedules out each day. Emily loved this! She quickly got in the habit of checking her Kindle Fire each morning for her schedule. (And she could see the schedule from the downloaded email even if she did not have internet access.)  No app download is necessary to use Homeschool Planet; it’s all accessible from the browser. This is good news for us, since we are Kindle Fire users and some android apps don’t work on the Kindle Fire or Fire phone.

 

Setting Up Homeschool Planet

I found setting up Homeschool Planet to be very easy. The best way to get started is to watch a few of the videos under the “Help” section. Although the process was simple, the videos helped me figure out where to start and demonstrated just what to do.

First, I worked through the Settings tabs, where I was able to input:

• School name and address
• Preferences for email notifications and various display options
• School year calendar
• Classes (with color coding that shows up on the schedule)
  
• Grading scale and grade weighting, if desired
• Setting theme (page background)
• Syncing the Homeschool Planet Calendar with Google Calendar

Scheduling Appointments and Classes

From the calendar view, scheduling is as easy as clicking on a calendar date. The option will pop up to choose appointments, classes, or everything else. Appointments show up in colored boxes. (The user determines the color coding system.) To schedule school assignments, simply select the class and student  from the drop down menus, then type in the assignments. Assignments may be entered one at a time, one assignment may be repeated for repeated days, or various numbering options may be assigned and scheduled automatically. You have the option to schedule Lesson 1, 2, 3,…, or Chapter 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, …., or nearly any numbering system you need. Classes can be scheduled for every day or for only certain days of the week.

 

For example, I recently scheduled Emily’s chemistry class for next fall. She’ll have textbook assignments on Tuesday and Thursday, numbered sequentially, and Labs on Friday, also numbered sequentially. I set up a T/Th Chemistry schedule for the textbook and Homeschool Planet automatically scheduled the lessons sequentially. Then I scheduled the Lab as a second Chemistry class. It only took seconds vs. the much longer time it would have taken me to type everything out. I had to go back and do a little tweaking because of holidays making the classes and lab out of sync, but this was easy to do by hand.

When you need to adjust the schedule, a pop up menu allows you to eliminate gaps in the schedule, remove assignments, move individual assignments back or forward, or to slide an entire set of assignments forward or back.  Resources, web links, or PDF files can be attached to assignments. Almost anything you might want to do is accessible!

Assignments are visible in list form from the Planner View, a day, week, or month at a time. You can also edit or check off assignment from the planner view.

I didn’t assign a specific time to assignments, but if you prefer to do so, it’s super easy. You can even assign a time to some subjects, but not to others.

 

Grading

Recording grades is easy with Homeschool Planet. For each class, you set up grading by assigning a percentage value to each type of activity. For example daily work 30%, Tests 40%, Labs 30%. Each assignment is sorted into an activity and you can enter each grade as you check the assignment off as complete. Multiple classes can also be grouped into one for grading purposes. For example, you might have a writing class and a literature class that would be grouped together as “English.”  All the computation and weighting of assignments will be done for you.

 

If you need to track hours for classes, that is also an option.

 

Rescheduling

This is my favorite feature of Homeschool Planet. For each unfinished assignment, the
“Rescheduling Helper” allows you to:

• Do nothing.
• Mark as complete.
• Carry forward and add to the next day’s assignment.
• Carry forward to the next day and slide the entire schedule for that subject back.

I love being able to reschedule assignments so easily! Now, if assignments aren’t completed on time, I can have Emily do double work the next day or can slide the whole schedule back a day. No more flipping back between different pages on a printed schedule! My only wish was that assignments could be pushed forward to a day that was not scheduled for that subject. For example, if science is scheduled for M-W-F,  move an unfinished assignment for Wednesday to Thursday. However, Homeschool Planet will soon be revised to allow this!

Homeschool Planet is an amazing program already, but I’ve been very impressed at the number of improvements that have been made just in the two months that I’ve used it. The programmers are very responsive to user needs and are continually adding new features.

Widgets

The sidebar and bottom of page of Homeschool Planner has room for customizable widgets that provide more usefulness. You can add a daily quote and/or daily Bible verse, add a weather widget, and a to-do list or shopping lists. Lists can be texted to your phone (or your spouse’s phone). You can even retrieve them remotely from your phone if you’re out shopping and forgot that list!

Versatility

Although this is definitely designed as a homeschool planner, it has much more potential. I’ve set it as my home page, so I can see all of our planned activities at a glance. My To Do list is on the sidebar, my grocery list at the bottom of the page. I’ve entered due dates for blog posts and reviews on the calendar along with meetings and activities.

Reports

We haven’t felt the need to print daily assignment sheets—Homeschool Planet is sooo easy to use online, especially since Emily can pull up the schedule on her tablet. However, if I had a younger child, I would probably prefer to print out daily schedule sheets with just a click. Grade reports and transcripts can also be printed from the program.

Conclusion

Homeschool Planet is an amazing planning tool and I am thrilled to have found it. It is loaded with features, but still easy to use. I’ve been wanting to go more digital for my planning, but have never quite succeeded. With the ability to keep up with a calendar, homeschool planner, and to-do lists all on one place, I’ll never go back to a paper planner again.

Free Trial 

Homeschool Planet offers a 30 day free trial (that doesn’t require any credit card info.) This is a great way to try out the program. Once I’d been using it for a week, I was already convinced that this was the best homeschool planning tool I’d ever seen. It is loaded with features, but is amazingly easy and efficient to use. The yearly cost is $65—a bargain, considering the help it will be for homeschool (and life) scheduling.

Connect with Homeschool Planet:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolbuyers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hsbuyerscoop
Google+: https://plus.google.com/112069021534542740249/about

 

 

Homeschooling on a Budget

   

Considering how to finance your homeschool can be overwhelming! There are many curriculum providers that offer complete curriculum in a package. For a new or busy homeschool parent, a curriculum in a box can offer guidance and peace of mind that everything will be covered. This convenience can be pricey, however. Many complete homeschool programs cost $500, $1000, or even more per student. Some cannot even be passed down to a younger student because they include only a temporary online license or are consumable or have a copyright stipulations that only one student may use it. Some programs cannot be legally resold at the end of the year. For many families, the convenience of a complete program is worth the cost, but many families prefer to look at different options.

 

Here are some ways to homeschool on a budget:

 

1. Use your library. Although a purchased math program is probably necessary, almost everything else you need can be found in a library….interesting readers for all ages and abilities, fascinating picture books, biographies, nature books, and histories on any topic. Most of these are far more interesting than any textbook! Any elementary school science or social studies/history curriculum can easily be pieced together with selections from the library.
2. Find a curriculum that your whole family can use together. Many unit study or literature-based curricula are designed to be used with multiple age levels. Instead of having each child work independently, group your children together to learn.  That way, you’ll only have one $500+ curriculum to purchase. Sonlight, My Father’s World, and Konos are just a few of the programs that work well for multiple ages. Each child will need his or her own math book and younger children will need reading/phonics program at their own levels.
3. Think about resale. If you purchase a popular program that is not consumable, you may be able to resell it when you’re finished with it at half or more of it’s original value. This won’t help you the first year, but eventually, your sales from last year’s curriculum can help to pay for next year’s.
4. Buy used. Amazon and eBay are the obvious places to look for used items. Homeschool Classifieds is another great place to look for bargains. Homeschoolers can sell and buy here with no fees.
5. Find FREE resources. The internet holds a wealth of interesting and educational material. The trick can be choosing what’s really good and what is not. Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool offers a free, comprehensive Preschool through 8th grade curriculum with many high school resources as well.  It offers a day by day schedule using resources from the internet.  I don’t have any experience with Easy Peasy, but I know several families who use and recommend it. Khan Academy offers a variety of videos and comprehensive math instruction as well as PSAT and SAT practice.  I’ll be blogging more in the near future on free resources that I’ve found.
6. Piece together your curriculum.  Isn’t one of the advantages of homeschooling an individualized education? Then why buy one complete grade level program that’s designed for the average child, but tailored to none?  Investigate your child’s learning styles and find curricula that fit him best. Maybe your child would like a hands-on science program, but you or he would prefer a literature-based history curriculum. Staring at a computer screen all day is just too much for most children (or adults), but maybe one class that  is taught and graded online would offer some variety for your child and a break for you. By individualizing subjects and buying used when possible, I’ve often been able to homeschool for $100-$200 a year. I may splurge on something with bells and whistles for one subject while using more economical resources for another.

This month’s Crew Roundup is on the topic of Working with a Tight Homeschool Budget and I’m sure there will be a lot of great ideas. Be sure to click through (after July 15) to read more!

   

Teen Prasso (Schoolhouse Review)

Emily wasn’t overly excited about trying out another Bible study program. She has several already, and, with our review-schooling schedule has left her with some unfinished books on the shelf waiting to be picked up again. However, when the Teen Prasso Ministries books arrived, she immediately picked them up, exclaiming, “This looks cool. When can I start it?” (Cover appeal: Check!)

We received both the Teen Prasso Teacher’s Manual and Teen Prasso Homework Manual for review. Both are necessary for the course. Although the  Teen Prasso course is actually designed for group use, we found it very adaptable for individual use as well.

The Homework Manual is a consumable workbook that contains 12 6-day lessons. Each lesson focus on a particular topic, such as God’s Love, The Enemy’s Lies, and Where They Lead, Pressure, Anger, Forgiveness, etc..

A typical day’s work asks the student to copy a Bible verse and answer a few applications about it. (Why do you think Jesus says this is the most important commandment? What can you personally learn from both Jesus’ and Paul’s responses to their difficult situations? How do you plan to react the next time…..?)  There is also some short commentary that explains Bible passages or theology and tells stories and examples that demonstrate how to apply scripture. Day 6 reviews the lessons from the first 5 days and has a page of group discussion questions to answer. Each week also features a memory verse, which Emily copied onto an index card for study. Emily spent about 20 minutes a day working on the assignment and it is usually the first task she chooses to do for the day.

The Teacher’s Manual includes one group lesson for each week. It features a continuing story about two brothers who go on a backpacking adventure in the Rocky Mountains. Story segments are interspersed with Messages that relate the story to the concepts for each week. The story was very interesting and the messages relevant. I hope that the story tie-ins (for example relating the need for a map to the need to look to God’s Word for direction) will stick with Emily. These weekly group lessons took about an hour, so sometimes, we split them up into two days.

We found Teen Prasso to be a relevant, practical teen Bible study. I think the 7 days a week schedule might be a bit intensive for a group study. I’m sure most students would need to double up on assignments occasionally to keep up. This wasn’t a problem for us, though. Whenever Emily finished 6 lessons in her workbook, we just moved on to the group lessons and didn’t feel the need to do the group lesson on the same day each week.  At 15 years old, Emily generally prefers to study independently, so this program was perfect for us. She did the daily lessons on her own, and I just glanced over them to make sure they were done. Some questions were more factual, but many  encouraged her to express her own ideas about the topic, so I didn’t want her to feel that I was “checking” her work for correctness. The weekly group lesson gave us an opportunity to talk about the weekly topics together and allowed me to have a small part in what she had been studying.  I’m sure a Bible study group with other teens would have provided a different experience, but using the group lesson as a parent/teen lessons also worked out fine.

Emily plans to continue with the Teen Prasso study until it is completed. I think it is one of her favorite studies. Want more information about Teen Prasso? Click the banner below to read more Crew reviews. 

 

Fourth of July—6 Years Ago

 

This is a revisit of a post I made 6 years ago, when my blog was brand new! My little girl certainly has grown up since then. I think we’ll make some patriotic yogurt pops this weekend!

Fourth of July Yogurt Pops

Emily tried out a new fourth of July recipe this weekend (a bit early). She mashed some blueberries and mixed them with blueberry yogurt, then mashed strawberries and mixed them into strawberry yogurt. Then she layered the blueberry yogurt, vanilla yogurt, and strawberry yogurt into plastic popsicle molds. This could be done as well in paper cups. Very easy for a 9 year old to do all by herself!