The Curriculum Choice

Dawn

Dawn is a woman of God who is married to the love of her life. She works part-time, homeschools their two boys (since 2008) and loves animals. She enjoys learning what the Lord will provide for each day. You can find her over at Guiding Light Homeschool.

Fun, New Way to Learn Diagramming

Grammar, High School, Language Arts, Middle School, Writing No Responses »

Apr 272012

Need something to break up the hum drum of learning diagramming? If so, this may be the perfect thing for you! The Big Bad Grammar Slammer: The Diagramming Game is a unique way to incorporate learning with fun. Students start with the tutorials, learning the sentence structure and proper diagramming process, then they get to play the game. The game can be played as an individual, a competitive group or a non-competitive group working together.

This is recommended for grades 5 through 12 and consists of 95 pages. The tutorials covered are: sentence skeleton, nouns, adjectives, verb tenses, adverbs, misc sentences, and compound/complex sentences. The forty lessons can be completed in eight weeks.

We were provided the ebook format, printed it off and laminated the clue cards.

From their website:

A light-hearted grammar curriculum that produces confident writers with correct grammar and punctuation

What It Gives Your Students (and you)

Grasp how the parts of speech work
Confidence constructing complex and compound sentences
Correct punctuation
A low-stress, student-friendly, educational experience

The Big Bad Grammar Slammer is particulary great for students who are burnt out trying to master seemingly non-relevant grammar terms in a workbook.

What It Covers

Module A The Sentence Skeleton
Module B Nouns
Module C Adjectives
Module D Verb Tenses
Module E Adverbs
Module F Miscellaneous Sentences
- Questions
- Appositives
- Quotations
Module G Compound/Complex Sentences

What You Get

Instructor’s Guide – no need to purchase additional materials for the teacher
Tutorial on Grammar and Parts of Speech
- 6 modules
- 37 lessons
- 10 minutes a day for less than two months
Diagramming Game with Instructions
Clue Cards
Three Ring Binder
(You can also purchase the e-book without the binder.)

This is available in hard copy ($23.95) or ebook ($18.95) and can be ordered HERE.

Here’s praying you have fun learning!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Money Help for Teens

Economics, High School, Highschool 3 Responses »

Apr 132012

Taken directly from their website:

The Money Book for Teens is a series of 3 modules teaching teens the necessary financial skills to live and thrive in life. Using the Bible as its foundation, The Money Book for Teens is taught from the context of a language arts course.

Module 1 focuses on Biblical Stewardship principles while emphasizing things like budgeting, tracking spending, net worth, and understanding a balance sheet. Students will memorize foundational scriptures, learn financial vocabulary, practice critical thinking and logic skills, as well as reading comprehension. They will read the book The Richest Man in Babylon, a classic book by George Clason as part of their reading program.

Included: The Student edition (78 pages) & the Teacher edition (44 pages)

Needed: The Richest Man in Babylon

What we like about this:

The first module (Stewardship) is the only module we have used and we really like it because it has a very strong biblical foundation but also because it incorporated reading that “brought the point home” in a very easy-to-understand way. There are six lessons: What is Stewardship?, What am I a Steward Over?, Setting Up a Spending Plan, Tracking Spending, Balance Sheet and Net Worth – Why it’s Important.

Each lesson is about ten pages and consists of a little information presented by the authors followed by reading comprehension exercises (key terms, memory verse, concept problems), then reading from the book with “Connect to Literacy” questions. They close with reading scriptures and giving observations of those scriptures and how they relate to what is being studied.

They are asked to work on spending plans – showing them the connection between incoming and outgoing monies. {YAY!}

They also complete KWL charts:

If you are looking for an economics type study that is affordable with a biblical perspective…this study is for you!

Cost: $29.95 (e-book; both teacher and student editions)

As a side note: Originally we checked The Richest Man in Babylon out from our library but we needed it for too long so we went ahead and bought a used copy of our own.

Here’s praying you have fun learning!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Discovery Toys “Busy Bugs”

Age, Hands On, Mathematics, Nature Study, Preschool No Responses »

Mar 262012

We LOVE Discovery Toys! Ever heard of them? They’ve been around for many, many years and they have a bunch of fun, educational toys for infants to adults. One of our most favorite is Busy Bugs! They make learning so much fun!

The set consists of 35 bugs and 23 cards. There are several ways you can use it. You can have your little one match colors:

Match color and type of bug:

There is also sequencing and practice in addition.

The bugs are made of soft rubber so they are fun to hold and manipulate while the cards are made of durable stock that is laminated – both perfect for little hands and little people!

Since I have a boy (not to say girls can’t or won’t like it!) bugs are right up his alley! So, not only is he learning but he is having a ton of fun doing so! Another thing I personally like about Busy Bugs is that it is quick and easy – not a lot of mess. My son’s attention span for any particular item is about three minutes (if I’m lucky) so when I spend a lot of time preparing something and he’s done with it in about one minute, it can get frustrating for me. However with this I simply open the box, dump out the stuff and he has fun! Then we just pick it up and put it away. LOVE IT!

The set sells for $22.50 plus shipping and handling and is recommended for age 3 to primary school.

If these look good but you don’t think your little one would like the bugs, they also offer “Busy Farm” which basically the same thing but with farm animals instead of bugs (although the set is a small step more advanced than this set ~ it has children do things like: pick which animal would go on the pond, or in the stable along with picking which animal is different).

Here’s praying you have fun learning!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Scripture Memorization with Temptations of Jesus

Bible, Elementary No Responses »

Feb 292012

Temptations of Jesus (book and CD)
Softcover, 37 pages
ISBN: 1-879099-08-X
Price: $14.95

Are you looking for a fun, easy way to teach your little ones Scripture? If so, this may be a tool for you! This Bible memorization “system” is geared toward kids ages 3 – 8 and uses the many senses to “get the message across.” It uses reading, listening [to the reading and to the music] and playing the music (if you have a method to do so) to help train children scripture. I love this!

The book is large in size (10 x 12) with a heavy cover and pages. Although the pages are black and white, they are not intended to be colored. However they provide ways in the back for coloring without ruining the book (*added bonus*). The book and the CD are identical – meaning you play the CD and follow along in the book. You start with a song (sung by kids), then proceed through the Scriptures one by one (one per page as shown below), closing with the verses sung in a song format. Both songs have the musical notes included so you can play along if you know how. And if you don’t, they’ve included a scale pattern to help.

We really love this idea of mixing all the senses together for learning. Our youngest son really loves music so this is right up his alley! So, if you are looking for a way to help your young ones memorize scripture, head over to Thy Word Creations as they have several options available (they even have items for older kids and adults!).

If you would like to hear a sample of the music, click HERE.

This book with tape costs $12.95, with CD costs $14.95.

For more information:

Thy Word Creations
1711 Mud Lick Road
Glenville, WV 26351
800-347-WORD
info@thywordcreations.com

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Online Learning with Clever Dragons

Geography, Mathematics, Middle School, Online No Responses »

Feb 082012

Clever Dragons is a really neat online learning tool geared toward BOYS ages 7 – 12 (but my son is 15 and there were still several places he found that were helpful and fun)! Boys. Dragons. Need I say more? *grin* This online program covers all the main areas of teaching: Language Arts, Math, Geography, History and Science. If your boys are anything like mine, sitting and “doing school” is super boring for them, this program allows them to learn while having fun! Please note: online learning is definitely not my favorite but I do enjoy finding things they like to do that also offers them the opportunity to learn – this program meets that need.

Taken directly from their site:

Clever Dragons is an educational and entertaining website exclusively for boys between the ages of 7 and 12. On Clever Dragons boys can access interactive learning materials, play age-appropriate games, view specifically selected videos and communicate with their friends. By completing the learning materials and videos users can earn Gold Coins – the virtual currency on Clever Dragons. This currency can then be used to play games or access other fun content. Together with www.always-icecream.com, its “sister site” for girls, Clever Dragons is the first website that combines all these aspects of online usage in an educational and safe format.

Here is a general breakdown of what is taught at each level:

Beginner (7-8): Basic mulitple choice questions, Basic spelling quizzes, Typing 1 (letters), Instrument Quiz, MiniMe Customization
Intermediate (9-10): Advanced Quizzes & Basic Drills, Language Quizzes (Synonyms), Typing II (words), Classical Music, Anatomy & Health Quizzes
Advanced (11-12): Advanced Drills & Equation Solver, Lanuages Arts Quizzes, Typing III (passages; coming 2012), Clothing Design (coming 2012) and Science Quiz
Applied (7-12): CastleWorld Shop & Money Budgeting, Messaging & Commenting, CastleWorld Desing Studio

Here is a sample of one of the quizzes (this particular one was very easy, obviously):

They also offer parent reports which look like this:

We have watched some of the videos since I took the above snapshot and let me tell you, there are some amazing videos! The site has learning videos along with just fun videos. I think our favorite right now is the Amazing Insects video. It was really cool!

One part of the program we did not participate in was anything to do with friends or online chatting and messaging. We just don’t allow that in our home for our boys at this time.

Overall, we LOVE this program! Clever Dragons has so many learning games for the boys to play. There are around 75 games!

So, if you love what you are reading, but have a girl? Don’t fret! As mentioned above, they have something similar for girls called Always Ice Cream!

Now…the cost:

Monthly: $5.95
Two Months at one time: $11.90
Annual: $47.40
Lifetime: $119.00 but ON SALE for $69.00 if purchased before February 15th!!!

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Book Review ~ A Necklace for Jiggsy by Kit Grady

Elementary, Reading No Responses »

Jan 272012

A Necklace for Jiggsy
Author: Kit Grady
Softback; 18 pages
Suggested Age: 4 – 12
ISBN: 978161630910
Retail: $10.95

I really like this book as it teaches children about honesty and a little about life. It is a quick story with really neat, bright pictures. The story is about a junk yard dog named Jiggsy and a beautiful necklace he finds. He hears that the owner would like it back but he has gained the respect of many others because of his beautiful necklace – therefore he doesn’t want to return it to her. That is, until he looses his very special pillow. He then realizes how much the original owner of the necklace must feel. He promptly returns it to her – and she returns the favor to him. But you’ll have to read the story to find out how.

This book is very well written and beautifully illustrated!

About Kit Grady:

Kit Grady is a full time children’s illustrator and author living in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina with her husband, son and border collie, Panda. Her love for drawing animals, nature and children began very early. She continued her passion studying art at Virginia Commonwealth University and later studied under Caldecott winners Uri Shulevitz and Gale Haley. Kit has produced greeting cards and created a weekly children’s page for the local newspaper. Her clients include The United Methodist Publishing House/Cokesbury, Kaeden Books, Guardian Angel Publishing and Meegenius. She is a member of theSociety of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. When not writing and illustrating, she visits schools and libraries to celebrate the joy of reading. Kit, best known for her bright colors and expressive animals, has several new projects due out this year.

For more information, or to purchase your own copy:
Guardian Angel Publishing
St Louis, Missouri 63128

Click HERE to learn more about Guardian Angel Publishing.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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A Wise Woman Builds by Meredith Curtis

Bible, Mom Helps 7 Responses »

Jan 112012

A Wise Woman Builds
Author: Meredith Curtis
Format: ebook
Pages: 365
Cost: $30.00

A Wise Woman Builds by Meredith Curtis is a massive Bible Study tool weighing in at 365 pages. Yes, you read that correctly…3.6.5. pages. WOW! This puppy covers IT ALL – at least when it comes to growing the house of God. Unlike most studies with this title, this study is about growing to enable building the church, not so much the home.

Here is a quote directly from Meredith’s site that describes this study better than I ever could:

Proverbs 14:1 tells us that wise women build and foolish women tear down. The passion of my heart is to build my family, my home, my local church and the Kingdom of God! I long to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission, making disciples and teaching them EVERYTHING Jesus commanded! All 25 lessons talk about the process of building others up for the glory of God. We look at Jesus model of making disciples, wisdom, spiritual gifts, motherhood, hospitality, leading a Bible study, counseling, and passing the baton! This workbook takes you to the Scripture passages that set the direction of my life, mothering, worship leading and homeschooling. I live my live by these principles and stand firmly behind them with all of my heart! Prepare to be challenged by this Bible study to go deeper and live passionately for the purposes of God!

This study is not for the faint of heart and will not be “a quick read”. If you try to sit down and “flip through it” you will totally miss the point. (Ask me how I know. LOL) This study is meant to cover all aspects of the life of a Christian woman as she relates to the building of the Church – and that is a lot (hence the whopping 365 pages!).

Personally, I cannot read nor do a Bible study while looking at the computer – so I had my copy printed. Check it out!

To show you the actual size, I placed a normal roll of tape next to the binder:

YOWZA! Threatening? Probably. Worth it? Yep!

This study walks you through topics like:

The Great Commission
A Servant’s Building Tools
Speaking Truth in Love with Wisdom
Evangelistic Lifestyle

The entire study uses a lot of scripture as the base, which I love. After the scripture study portion of each lesson, the author gives her particular thoughts on what was just studied. There are several pages of both scripture study and opinion for each lesson.

So far, in my study of A Wise Woman Builds, these are some of the things that stuck out to me:

The unique thing about the Body of Christ is that those being repaired are also repairing. It is as if Mrs. Hammer drives Miss Nail into Mr. Wall who then later cleans Mrs. Hammer with paint remover spilled on her by Mr. and Mrs. Paint while they were redecorating the Bedroom family. (pg. 23)

A Titus 2 woman exudes reverence for God that permeates every aspect of her life: marriage, ministry, mothering, job, physical appearance, and conversation. Everyone in her life knows that she loves and obeys God. She is modest in her dress, respectful of her husband, diligent in her job, and faithful in her ministry. (pg. 57)

God’s Kingdom is an upside-down kingdom with those who rule and lead, bending low and serving more than anyone else. Serving is never something that you do to get to a higher place. A higher place in Jesus is marked always by greater servitude. It’s the only Kingdom where you will hear: “The Pastor is taking out the trash!” “The worship leader is cleaning the toilet!” (pg. 69)

As you can see, there is plenty of humor mixed in too.

You can view the Table of Contents along with a sample chapter: The Great Commission.

If you would like more information on where to purchase a copy of your own, click HERE.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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Grammar Made Easy by Connie Schenkelberg

Elementary, Grammar, High School, Language Arts, Middle School No Responses »

Dec 302011

Grammar Made Easy

Grammar Made Easy: Writing a Step Above
Author: Connie Schenkelberg
Format: Print and ebook
Pages: 117
Cost: $25 (ebook) or $29 (print)

We are on our third year homeschooling and my son is in 9th grade. Prior to homeschooling, he was public schooled and always got A’s and B’s on his report cards. Imagine my surprise to find that somehow his basic understanding of grammar was missing! Another shocking thing, which honestly made me feel a bit better, was I came across a lot of high school basic grammar items. We tried several different things and finally found this…Grammar Made Easy…what a blessing from the Lord (really)!

The book is recommended for middle school but can be used from elementary to high school. It does not require a lot of teacher preparation nor is there a lot of student work. It is not intended to drill the student but to get the student thinking, learning and liking grammar. What a concept! Grammar Made Easy does include diagramming, which I know some people like and others do not. The good thing is – if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it! You still benefit from the rest of the teaching.

Each of the 15 chapters is set up to be one week of assignments, but you can work through it at your own pace. For us, we did a chapter a day for the beginning chapters and then slowed down to focus on things that were more challenging. Additionally, Grammar Made Easy truly starts at the beginning with the “S V Sentence” (The Subject-Verb Sentence) and works up slowly from there.

The part I really liked? Grammar Made Easy puts a word in more than one place and makes you think about what part of speech it is. The lessons do not just tell you “this is a noun” or “this is a subject”. That is what we were struggling with and this has helped us overcome it. Praise the Lord!

If you are interested in finding out more, you can see a sample lesson by clicking HERE. Or you can order your own copy by clicking HERE.

Contact information:
Everyday Education, LLC
P.O. Box 549
Ashland, VA 23005
jceved @ comcast . net (take out the spaces, of course)

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Come visit Dawn over at her blog, Guiding Light Homeschool, on Facebook and on Twitter…friends are ALWAYS welcome!

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