The Curriculum Choice

Live and Learn Press: Biology Learn N’ Folder Notebook

Hands On, High School, Lapbooks, Science 3 Responses »

Nov 122009

Learn N' Folder Notebook

Lapbook style learning in high school? Absolutely!

I have two very visual boys who tend to shy away from normal question and answer, fill-in-the-blanks style learning. When we started high school science with a “real” textbook, I was hesitant about using the review questions in the way they are presented.

Complex vocabulary included with flashcards the student makes himself.

After a little research, I found Live and Learn Press’ Learn N’ Folder Notebook specifically designed to follow the Apologia text Exploring Creation with Biology. I downloaded the free sample which gave me a complete unit to preview. I was impressed with the way they presented the On Your Own questions, the vocabulary, and then review questions into a lapbook sort of format and decided that we would give it a try.

The notebook uses a variety of study ideas.

I will admit that I print out the pages and do all the cutting and folding for their notebooks. I happen to enjoy that sort of work so it is not a burden to me at all. In fact, some evenings my husband and I will sit and make the notebooks together as we chat and enjoy each other’s company with our hands busy folding the various parts of the book.

The boys love all the fun graphics.

As a learning tool, I am very pleased with this product. Filling in the little books and folds with information makes it much more palatable for my sons as we work through the modules. They seem to retain the information better and reviewing the information is much more productive in using the Learn N’ Folder Notebook. They can also quiz themselves before a test using the notebook pages.

The Live and Learn Press Learn N’ Folder Notebooks are not cheap, the biology notebook is $30 for the ebook version, but in our family they have been worth every penny we spent. Sure, they could write out their answers on lined paper with a pencil, but using the Folder Notebooks has made the learning a little easier and definitely more fun.

Makes self-quizzing easy.

I highly recommend the products from Live and Learn Press to go along with your Apologia texts. There are Folder Notebooks for the elementary level texts as well. We will be using their Chemistry Notebook next year to help us organize our study.

Helps with study techniques

For more information on our biology study, please pop over to my Biology Squidoo lens for loads of ideas and suggestions.

Squidoo: Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology

Written by Barb-Harmony Art mom. She also blogs at http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com and her business is found at http://www.harmonyfinearts.com. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges: http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.

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What’s the Big Deal? Book Review

Science 4 Responses »

Nov 112009

Fast Facts

Complete Title –What’s the Big Deal? Why God Cares About Sex, Book 3 in the God’s Design for Sex series
Authors –Stan and Brenna Jones
Publisher –Navpress

Although I was really pleased with my purchase of It’s So Amazing, since it is a secular book, it didn’t give the whole picture of what I wanted to teach my daughter about human sexuality. (Read my review of It’s So Amazing here.) To supplement it with a Christian perspective, I also bought Almost 12 by Kenneth N. Taylor and What’s the Big Deal? By Stan and Brenna Jones.

I felt that Almost 12 was dry and made sexuality seem almost boring! It was too scientific and too preachy for my taste. It felt as if an old maid, retired biology teacher was teaching a Sunday school class to a group of middle schoolers. There was no sense of wonder or feeling.

But I was delighted to find What’s the Big Deal much more contemporary and far less technical. Instead of handing it over to my daughter, I read it outloud to her so we could discuss each chapter.

The book is laid out like a dialogue among a dad, a mom, and two children – Sam and Amy. The kids ask really good questions, and the parents answer them, thoroughly and with Biblical truth.
Here are a few questions from the book:

Why do people talk and joke so much about sex?
Do people have sex when they aren’t trying to have a baby?
What if all your friends are doing it?
How come girls start liking boys so much when they are teenagers?
What do they mean when they call a person gay?
Is HIV the only disease you can get from sex?
If God will forgive us, does it really matter if we break His rules?

See? There are some deep topics. When you read this book, you’ll be speaking some sentences that really need to be said but are rather hard to get express. Having the book helps you verbalize those realities! The entire book is written from a Christian worldview, so it constantly refers to God’s love and God’s commands.

Another beautiful thing in this book is the emphasis on clear communication among family members. I love how the whole structure of the book is parents talking with their children. We all want our children to feel free to discuss sex with us, but to be honest, it can be very uncomfortable for them and for us. This book really helped me say things that needed to be said but under the “cover” of a book. And once the things were out in the open, it didn’t feel so awkward to discuss them anymore. So really this book is as much for parents as it is for their children. That theme of family dialogue is reinforced with the black and white photographs in the book featuring a family talking at the dining room table or on the sofa.

As I did with It’s So Amazing, I didn’t omit anything in reading this, but I did stop and discuss some areas I felt the authors didn’t address adequately. Because of the nature of the topic, you don’t want to have to edit on the fly. Be sure to pre-read the book and identify any trouble spots. Decide how you’ll handle them before reading. This book is designed for ages 8-11, but it’s almost impossible to assign an age range to this kind of topic. You just have to see for yourself. I was thrilled that it was just right for my ten year old daughter.

There are no illustrations or diagrams in What’s the Big Deal. It’s completely text. That’s why I feel that It’s So Amazing and What’s the Big Deal are perfect complements to each other. One is visual and funny. The other is text based and Biblical.

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Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 102009

Curriculum Choice is a group of volunteer, homeschool moms that take time out of their busy schedules to write about the curriculum that they use for their family so that their experiences will help fellow homeschooling moms.

We are a fairly new blog and to find out that we were nominated for the Homeschool Blog Awards is just the kind of encouragement that we need to keep doing what we are doing.

We would be delighted to know that you enjoy reading our reviews so much that you have taken the time to vote for us under the categories that we were nominated for:

Best Family or Group Blog

Best Curriculum and Business Blog

Please visit http://hsbapost.com/ to vote for your favorite blogs! And, we truly hope that you have found Curriculum Choice to be one of your favorite homeschool resources.

Also, a few of our writers’ personal blogs are up for nomination so don’t forget to vote for them too!

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Draw Write Now

Art, Uncategorized, Unit study resources, Writing 3 Responses »

Nov 082009

draw write now 1

We enjoy incorporating art into our unit studies. There are many ways to accomplish this, but one of my favorites is to have my children do a lesson from Draw Write Now, a series of books containing beginning drawing lessons and handwriting practice for primary and elementary students. The author, Marie Hablitzel, developed this collection of lessons for her second-grade students after seeing that they were becoming frustrated with their drawing skills and bored with tedious handwriting drills. Starting with the idea that drawing and handwriting require many of the same skills, Mrs. Hablitzel began designing lessons that combined the two. She also integrated these lessons with other subject areas such as reading, history, geography, and science. The result was students who became enthusiastic about learning to draw and write.

The series consists of eight volumes which can be purchased separately or as a set:

Book 1 – Farm Life, Kids and Critters, Storybook Characters

Book 2 - Christopher Columbus, Autumn Harvest, The Weather

Book 3 - Native Americans, North America, The Pilgrims

Book 4 - The Polar Regions, The Arctic, The Antarctic

Book 5 – The United States, From Sea to Sea, Moving Forward

Book 6 – Animal Habitats: On Land, Pond and Rivers, Oceans

Book 7 – Animals of the World: Tropical Forests, Northern Forests, Forests Down Under

Book 8 - Animals of the World: Savanna Animals, Grassland Animals, Mountain and Desert Animals

You can see the wide variety of topics, which makes it easy to find a drawing lesson that relates to what your students are learning about.

Each volume contains approximately twenty-four lessons, laid out in a clear, straight-forward manner. Each lesson includes five parts:

1. Introduce the subject – Information and questions are scattered throughout the books that the teacher can use to spark the students’ interest in the subject they will be drawing. There are also suggestions for books related to the topics.

2. Draw the subject – This is my favorite part of each lesson because the author has simplified the drawing process by breaking it down into easy steps, which are pictured for the student. The teacher is encouraged to help students see the objects they are drawing as combinations of lines and simple shapes.

3. Draw the background – Students are encouraged to be creative and use their imaginations as they add details to their drawings.

4. Practice handwriting – Students copy text that relates to the subject of the drawing. I’ve found that my children are much more excited about handwriting practice when it relates to something they have drawn.

5. Color the drawing – Tips are included for the best ways to color certain shapes so as to enhance the child’s drawing and not detract from it.

Each book is rounded out with additional information that I have found very helpful:

Teaching tips that give great insight and ideas for helping students to succeed at the five parts of each lesson.
One lesson in each book is dedicated to helping the student draw something from their imagination, as they are encouraged to think about things like how people move, positioning of a horizon line, choosing the size of a subject and deciding upon its placement on the paper, and more.
“Learn More” sections that contain supplemental information about the subjects being drawn.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the Draw, Write, Now series. After using these lessons, my reluctant artist has gained confidence in his drawing ability and even enjoys drawing now. And since I’ve never had an art lesson in my life, but have always wanted to learn to draw, it has been fun for me to do these lessons along with my children.

You can do a sample lesson from Book 1, the easiest of the eight volumes, by visiting the Draw, Write, Now website, where you’ll find much more information about this series.

Written by Shannon, who enjoys learning to draw alongside her three children. She can be found blogging about her family’s homeschool adventures at Song of My Heart.

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Latin in the Christian Trivium

Classical, Foreign Language, Highschool 1 Response »

Nov 072009

latin volume 1

Our oldest son is in his 6th year of Latin this year. He began with Prima Latina in 3rd grade, followed by Latina Christiana 1 and 2. These programs were great for a young Latin student, but it was hard to find a good option that would take him to the next level.

Enter Latin in the Christian Trivium. I can’t remember how we found this program, but I am so thankful that we did. It is systematic and thorough, rigorous but not overwhelming.

Strengths of this course:

The first three volumes are accredited by the University of California as three years’ High School Latin credit.

Volume IV is currently under review by the University of California.

Beginning in Volume 2, the student reads Bible passages in Latin. By Volume 3, the student is translating Bible passages. Volume IV contains a significant amount of Bible, including the entire book of James and the Ten Commandments. Most upper level Latin curriculum focuses on secular texts and vocabulary. It has been wonderful for our son to learn Christian vocabulary and he really enjoys the Bible translations in this course.

This series incorporates an interesting story line based on the centurion in the Bible who met Jesus. This story line continues throughout all 4 books.

Students are required to answer questions using Latin, generating grammatically correct answers using previously learned vocabulary. This is no mere fill-in-the-blank course. As the child progresses through the course he is required to think more and more in the language.

Over 1,000 vocabulary words are taught in the first three volumes, which is the standard for three years of high school Latin. The student will also learn a good deal of Latin grammar.

Latin history, culture and Italian geography are included in the course.
Latin 1 incorporates the use of a grammar notebook and index cards. Students are asked to classify vocabulary according to part of speech on color-coded notebook pages or index cards.

The third course, in particular, will help prepare students for the National Latin Exam. Our son did well on the exam even after completing just one year of the course.

To learn more about the distinctives of this course, go to the Latin in the Christian Trivium website and click the top link in the left sidebar, Our Latin Books. A list of all concepts taught in each book will appear. It is too extensive to list here!

I have read on the course website that a parent who does not know Latin could teach this course. They even provide a free 7 week preparatory class for teachers, which you can sign up for at any time during the year. I did not feel comfortable teaching my son at this level, however. So I was thrilled to find out that LITCT offers online courses for each volume! I have found the fee to be very reasonable for what you get:

Students in the online course only need to purchase a student manual. The teacher manual and test booklet are not necessary, so that is a savings on the curriculum.
Students receive weekly “classroom” instruction online (from 1 to 1 1/2 hours per week, depending on the level). Classes meet in a chat room such as Windows Live Messenger, and students and teacher communicate using text chat and microphones.
The teacher assigns and corrects all homework, quizzes and tests. Our son is getting an excellent, accredited, college preparatory course, taught by a skilled Latin teacher, from the comfort of our own home.

One caveat:

Although this course is for middle and high school students, some parents might find the course to be very challenging for their younger students. This is particularly true if you are doing the online classes and the child cannot work at his own pace. It is important to keep in mind that this course is accredited for high school language credit, and the workload is commensurate with that. We budget an hour per day for Latin homework, and some weeks even more.

My son was in 6th grade when he did Volume 1. He was able to handle this workload, but it was much more time consuming than his other classes. We had to plan his schedule to accommodate the time this course required. Now that he is in 8th grade, several of his other classes are almost as rigorous and we feel this course helped to prepare him for that.

Parents will need to consider whether their child is academically ready to handle the pace and rigor of a high school course. We have found over the past 3 years that a wide age range exists among the students, with some being the same age as our son and others are already in high school.

There is more information about the online classes on the LITCT website. This course has been a wonderful fit for our son. He is thriving in the online classroom environment, and I am thrilled with his progress over the past three years.

You can find Molly Evert blogging at Countercultural School and at her educational audio book site My Audio School.

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Moody Science Classics

Bible, Science 2 Responses »

Nov 052009

One of the goals my husband and I set when we first had children was to surround them with learning opportunities. We want them to love learning. And we don’t want learning to be something that just happens during “school”. Several years ago we saw an incredible special on the entire collection of Moody Science DVDs, and we knew immediately that we’d found something that we would like to own. We have not been disappointed.

Moody Classics, 19 DVDs

Each DVD is 28 minutes long, and there are 19 videos in the set. (They are also available separately.) There are a wide variety of science topics covered including many animals, plants, human anatomy and physics. Several of the videos weave in history lessons as well. All the videos end with a discussion relating the topic to a Biblical theme.

Though these are science videos, they are very unlike their modern counter-parts. Notably absent is the cool, science-geek character found in most of today’s videos. The videos don’t jump between segments with wild graphics and pop music. Each episode contains a variety of information that may not seem related at first, but the relationship between the topics is made clear by the end. They always include interesting laboratory demonstrations. Though I wouldn’t describe the videos as “exciting”, they are all very interesting. Amazing things about each topic are demonstrated and explained. They are also not strictly for children and never talk down to the watcher. My husband and I enjoy watching them and have learned something from every episode. (We’ve both got science backgrounds and my husband teaches chemistry.)

For example, we most recently watched Signposts Aloft. It was about using instruments in airplane flight. It showed how pilots could fly without instruments in good weather, but in poor weather the sense of sight is useless, and they cannot rely on their sense of direction. They did a very interesting demonstration where a blindfolded man was spun around. He reported what direction he was spinning. At the beginning he felt he was spinning in the right direction, but then he felt he had stopped and was beginning to turn in the other direction. However, it was obviously false. This false sensation was explained using a model of the inner ear. (We duplicated this experiment at home. You can watch it at A Day in the Life – Fooling the Senses.) They also visited the site of an airplane crash in World War II. The pilot had flown past his base and crashed in the Libyan dessert all because he didn’t trust his instruments. The importance of having “faith” in the instruments was stressed and reinforced in a short interview with a very young John Glenn. Finally, the point was made that faith and science are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Further, we need to have faith in the Bible, because sometimes life is like flying without visibility, and the Bible provides us with the right direction.

Over the years I have used these videos in several ways. Occasionally I have pulled one out that relates to our current science study. Sometimes I have had the children watch one for a science lesson when I was sick, or had something I needed to do. Mostly though, they’ve served as family entertainment. They really are that good.

Written by Kristen – Relaxed Classical Mom of 4. She blogs at A Day in the Life.

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Mango Languages: An online foreign language course

Foreign Language 6 Responses »

Nov 032009

At a glance…

Grade level: preschool thru adult

Use as: stand alone curriculum

Instruction time: none

Prep time: none

Cost: Free through many local libraries sold by 3, 6, or 12 month subscription

Mango language is an online foreign language program offering twelve languages. The lessons are designed to teach you conversational skills and promises that the first lesson will show results. The program is completely web based and self directed. Language is taught in small step by step chunks to increase understanding and proper pronunciation. Each lesson can be reviewed as many times as needed. You completely control the lesson from being able to repeat the words and review the phrases by a click of the mouse. There are lesson notes provided for the purpose of understanding grammar and cultural differences in the language. Please check your local library to see if this program is offered before purchasing a subscription.

Being a web based program offers flexibility that is hard to match by taking a class. The ease in clicking the mouse for review or moving forward as you are able is also hard to match by a dvd course. However, keep in mind that this program focuses primarily on conversational skills which is both good and bad. The good is that you will learn as they say, from the first lesson a phrase you can use. You will begin to speak quicker and with more confidence after several lessons. Yet, if you are interested in mastering grammar, writing or reading, you will need to supplement. This is not a deal breaker, as many students taking classes or using workbooks feel discouraged after learning only the alphabet, verb conjugation, and numbers in their chosen language but still cannot put together a sentence. With Mango, you will be speaking in sentences after several lessons. This is more in tune to how we learn our own language. After all, my toddler can say “I want a cookie.” But she cannot point out the verb, subject or noun.

When my daughter came to me saying she wanted to learn Japanese, I was both amazed at her ambition and discouraged with how I would pursue this avenue. Thankfully, I found Mango Languages through my local library. I honestly have to say that because it was free I worried it was going to be a flimsy program. I had never heard of Mango before. Well, I am happy to report my fears were put to rest. Mango is far from flimsy. My 6^th grade daughter, after only a few lessons, knows several phrases. She enjoys the program so much she does foreign language on days it isn’t assigned. Now, I did purchase a Japanese workbook to supplement a bit and to provide flashcards. Yet, for her purposes the workbook only provided the reinforcement from Mango and not the other way around. All in all, a solid foreign language program for kids and adults alike. I know have my son taking Greek, my other daughter and my mom learning Chinese. My 6^th grader now wants to add in Spanish to her routine.

If you are interested in learning more please visit their website www.mangolanguages.com. Again, check your local library to see if this program is offered before purchasing.

Written by Richele, classical and Charlotte Mason inspired, homeschooling mom, to four reflections of God’s love. She blogs at www.underthegoldenappletree.blogspot.com.

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Story of the World Audio CD’s

Classical, History, Living books No Responses »

Nov 022009

I’ve told you before how much I love the Story of the World history curriculum – the reading texts and the activity books. I’ve recently had the pleasure of adding the audio CD’s to my Volume 4 set, and now I love Story of the World even more!

With a toddler in our household, read-aloud time has become a little harder to come by. We used to sit together and read from this book or that for what seemed like hours a day and soaked up every minute it. Once my little guy entered the scene (and especially now that he’s bigger), we don’t have the luxury of hour upon hour of reading aloud. And this coming from a family that thrives on having two or three (or more) good books going at once!

With the Story of the World audio CD’s, at least part of my problem has been solved!

The kids can listen to the reading lesson without my direct involvement.
They can re”read” stories they’ve particularly enjoyed without my direct involvement.
They can even sit and listen to several stories at a time without my direct involvement!

And believe it or not, they really enjoy listening more than once. Maybe it’s because of Jim Weiss, the brilliant narrator of this series – as well as many, many others. Or maybe it’s because the stories are very intriguing. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me because every time they hear a story, history is being embedded in their minds. And afterward, we can go ahead with the lessons from the Activity Guide if we choose.

We’ve already been through volumes 1-3 from Story of the World, but I’m considering purchasing the audio CD’s for those volumes just to have on hand for casual listening and review. They are a tad pricey, but there are several CD’s in each package. In the volume 4 set, for instance, there are 11 CD’s with 12 hours of listening. They come packaged in a box small enough to easily fit on a shelf. There’s also a disc guide that tells you exactly which chapters/stories you’ll find on each CD and the length of time for each story.

And in case you’re wondering, I’ve enjoyed listening to the CD’s as much as my children. I’ve always said that Story of the World has given me the understanding of world history that I was never taught in high school or college. The CD’s allow me the opportunity to sit back and enjoy learning right alongside my children!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find Cindy blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.

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Bob Books: For the Beginning Reader

Language Arts, Phonics 1 Response »

Nov 012009

At a glance….

Grade Level: preschool thru early elementary

Use as: first reader books

Parent instruction: high

Prep time: low

Cost: Sets can be purchased for $11.55

Introducing a child to the written word can be a daunting task. One of the questions I get the most from moms with preschoolers is “how do you teach a child to read?” I always recommend the Bob Book Sets. Bob Book Sets contain twelve small paperback books with about five pages. Each page slowly builds up on the number of words on each page. Each word is based on only a few letters and one or two short vowel sounds in the first set. This process allows the child to process the phonics behind the letters and then easily form the sounds into words. The consistency and repetition are the key elements to making this an effective and successful first reader book set. Words are slowly added in to each sentence and that word is consistent with the sounds previously taught, so your child can sound out new words with ease. Bob Books are definitely a confidence builder. While the books are not colorful and only have advanced stick drawings as illustrations, the child is completely engaged. I find the black and white pages with stick figures actually quite nice, as it focuses the child more on the words.

My Bob Books are going around for the third time with my third child. My four year old loves these books and wants to show off her new reading skills to everyone. She is so proud that she can now read two books on her own. This no doubt will encourage a love for reading throughout her life.

Bob Books can be found at your local bookstores and on Amazon.com. For more information, purchasing guide please visit the Bob Book website at www.bobbooks.com.

Written by Richele, classical and Charlotte Mason inspired, homeschooling mom, to four reflections of God’s love. She blogs at www.underthegoldenappletree.blogspot.com.

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