MAY
14
2013

Homeschool Foreign Language Curriculum Forum

By | Foreign Language, Forum, Homeschool

35 Comments

foreignlang.jpg

Hi all! Today we’re talking about our favorite foreign language programs in the homeschool curriculum forum series! For younger students my favorite program is PowerSpeak. It is an online program with fun games and activities that help foster general vocabulary and sentence structure. My only issue with this is price and the lack of levels available. Currently they only offer elementary level 1 and 2, then the next one up is Jr. High which I thought would be too difficult for my 4th grader. Pros: Fun and independent curriculum. No experience necessary to begin. Cons: Fairly expensive, especially if you have multiple students. Limited in levels available. Only 5 languages available My next choice is Rosetta Stone. We tried to use this initially when Strawberry Shortcake was in 2nd grade and it just didn’t go well. The curriculum moved way too fast for her, and it assumed a certain level of maturity to infer differences in verb tenses and sentence … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Language, Forum, Homeschool Tagged With:
MAY
13
2013

Homeschool Vocabulary Curriculum Forum

By | Forum, Homeschool, Vocabulary

20 Comments

vocab.jpg

Good morning all! Welcome to another homeschool curriculum forum. Today we’ll be discussing vocabulary curriculum! This upcoming year will be the first year I’m introducing a more formal vocabulary program into our homeschool. Up until now we’ve just been reviewing words that come with our spelling program and in our Abeka readers. However this year we’re going to be working through Wordly Wise workbooks just to include a little more vocabulary focused work. I’ve heard fairly good reviews for Wordly Wise products. However I’ve also been cautioned that they are a secular curriculum so some of the terms used might not be appropriate if you prefer Christian materials. Pros: Fairly inexpensive workbooks. Students work independently. Cons: Secular curriculum. TBD as we progress through it!   One other vocabulary curriculum I’ve had my eye on and planned to use this year, but haven’t been great at it are the Vocabulary Cartoons. It is a book … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Forum, Homeschool, Vocabulary Tagged With:
MAY
12
2013

Scientist & Inventor Unit Studies

By | Homeschool, Inventors, Lapbook, Scientists, Unit Studies

118 Comments

IMG_8600web_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_1.jpg

Welcome to my new series of unit studies! This series is all about famous Scientists & Inventors! As usual each study includes fun hands-on activities to go along with the unit to help students remember what they’ve learned, and also provide them with a fun reference too to review and recall each person they’ve learned about. --> Click here to get the Scientist & Inventors Mega Pack! <-- Each of my scientist & inventor unit studies contains educational lessons, activities and a fun lap book that your students will work on as they progress through the study. The lessons also include book reports, vocabulary, character traits of these important figures, and critical thinking skills. I currently have 7 studies in this series. These studies are geared towards grades Kindergarten-4th, but can probably be adapted for older students as well.   This study uses the scientists and inventors series by Mike Venezia, but students are welcome to use any … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Homeschool, Inventors, Lapbook, Scientists, Unit Studies Tagged With: ,
MAY
11
2013

Happy Mother’s Day!

By | Holidays, Mom Stuff

3 Comments

happymothersday.jpg

Dear Mom, Thank you. For tucking me every night. For teaching me. For having an amazing amount of patience. For sitting up with me during tornado season. For reassuring me when I needed it. For believing in me. For loving me. For loving my husband &  my children. For supporting me. For always being there. For always answering when I call…even now that I’m an adult. For making me into the woman I am today. I love you. Erica … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holidays, Mom Stuff
MAY
09
2013

Creamy Potato Soup

By | Mom Stuff, Recipes, Soup

3 Comments

IMG_8882web.jpg

Hello readers! Today I wanted to share a yummy comforting soup recipe with you. It’s a simple creamy potato soup that is not only easy to make, but definitely warms the belly on a cool day! Ingredients: 1 pound bacon, chopped 3 Tbsp. butter 2 stalks celery, diced (I omit this to please kids, but it gives the soup nice flavor.) 1/2 sweet onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed (I prefer red potatoes) 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup heavy cream (Can sub. milk to reduce calories) 4 cups chicken broth or stock Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded 2  green onions, chopped Method: 1. In a Dutch oven, or large pot, cook bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan and chop. 2. Drain off all but 1/4 cup bacon grease. Add onion, and celery to pot and sauté until soft. Add garlic and cook about 1 more minute. 3. Add cubed potatoes, butter, and flour and stir well. Sauté for another 2 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mom Stuff, Recipes, Soup Tagged With: ,
MAY
08
2013

Homeschool Typing Curriculum Forum

By | Forum, Homeschool, Typing

12 Comments

typing.jpg

Hi everyone! Welcome to our homeschool typing curriculum forum! Obviously today we’ll be discussing various typing programs and I’m excited to hear your favorites.   We’ve been using Typing Instructor for a couple years now. We purchased the CD version which allows you to create several users. One thing I like is that there are several levels of courses to choose from depending on skill level. There are 20+ typing level courses total, you can start at the very beginning Ages 8-9 Course, the Home Row level, then go all the way up through to an Advanced Keyboarding Course. This makes me think I won’t have to search for a new typing program on a yearly basis. They also have fun games top play to help encourage speed and progress. I also like that the program includes a results section so I can see how my students are progressing. What’s The Cost? You can purchase a CD version for Windows or MAC for about $30 (You can usually get them at Sam’s, Costco, or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Forum, Homeschool, Typing Tagged With:
MAY
07
2013

Homeschool Writing Curriculum Forum

By | Forum, Homeschool, Writing

38 Comments

writing.jpg

Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying the homeschool curriculum forums we’ve been sharing lately! I know I love to read everyone’s comments, pros, and cons for curriculum! Today we’re continuing on with our forum discussion with the subject of writing.   Teaching writing is one of the harder things for me. From encouraging younger students, to grading upper levels, writing is just not my strong suit. Ironic considering I have a blog and all isn’t it? But writing, and teaching writing are two different things!   Previously we’ve used WriteShop and it remains one of my favorite programs around! I love the scripted conversations, and my children have benefited greatly from the teacher led brainstorming and step-by-step process. We are finishing up with WriteShop D this year and have enjoyed the program quite a bit. I would highly recommend it to anyone needing more help with teaching writing. Pros: Affordable Great for struggling writers Cons: For … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Forum, Homeschool, Writing Tagged With:
MAY
06
2013

Homeschool Spelling Curriculum Forum

By | Forum, Homeschool, Spelling

42 Comments

spelling1.jpg

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s homeschool curriculum forum! Today we’re discussing the every so popular subject of spelling.   It’s no secret that I LOVE All About Learning Press products. And I’m particularly fond of the All About Spelling program. I started using them last year for our phonics and spelling help and we’ve never looked back. One thing to note, there are only about 25 lessons in both the first and 2nd level books. I’m used to doing 1 lesson/day with my other curriculum, so obviously that wasn’t going to work. Some of the lessons for my 1st grader are pretty easy so we’re blazing through them quickly, but you are to teach to mastery with this program so after talking to the super nice people at All About Spelling I realized that you don’t need to go through 1 lesson each day. Instead you are to stay on that lesson until they’ve got the rules down pat, so we’ve slowed down a bit. Why do I love All About Learning Press so … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Forum, Homeschool, Spelling Tagged With:
MAY
05
2013

Reading Incentive Brag Tag Giveaway!

By | Homeschool, Incentives, Organization, Reading, Student Motivation

197 Comments

IMG_8770web.jpg

Hi everyone! Awhile back I put up a post on our new Reading Incentive Program involving some super fun and colorful brag tags from ImageStuff. I think I also mentioned that they were working on putting together a homeschooling packet just for us! So, after some fun phone calls and hard work with the folks at ImageStuff they’ve finally created a wonderful homeschooling packet full of goodies! Since some of their quantities and tags are geared more towards traditional schools, they’ve specially designed this packet just for the needs of homeschoolers! So what’s included in this new pack? Each homeschooling packet includes 41 items for your kiddos for just $19.95. 5 inscribed pencils 1 Happy Birthday Pin (We’ll just re-use this on their birthdays!) 2 fun bracelets 1 Reading Rocks bookmark 1 - 24” necklace chain 1 Key Chain Holiday Tags Character tags Subject tags Here is a close up of the character tags that are included. Each student receives a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Homeschool, Incentives, Organization, Reading, Student Motivation Tagged With:
MAY
02
2013

Homemade Refried Beans Recipe

By | Mom Stuff, Recipes, Side Dishes

6 Comments

IMG_8792web.jpg

Hello fabulous readers! I wanted to share a recipe that has eluded me for years now…simple homemade refried beans. Maybe it’s because I’m Italian, and there’s no pasta involved... Anyway, I know you probably already have your own recipe for this, but for those of you like me who struggled to make them without the taste of cardboard coming to mind, please read on! These are really quite easy, and thanks to a couple of my good friends, I think I’ve finally mastered the illusive refried beans. Before I go on, I just want to let you know that I don’t actually re-fry them…they’re good as is, and I didn’t feel the need to take something yummy and…well…fry it. So let’s get on with it shall we? Ingredients: 1 small bag dry pinto beans 4-5 garlic cloves, minced 1 C. sour cream 1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded Salt to taste Crock-pot/Slow Cooker Method: Pour dry beans into a large bowl and fill with water covering the beans. Swish them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mom Stuff, Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: