Elementary » The Curriculum Choice

Sisters in the Wilderness, an Introduction to Canadian History and Literature

Elementary, Geography, High School, Highschool, History, Literature, Living books, Middle School No Responses »

Feb 222012

Here’s a wonderful introduction to Canadian history and literature for the whole family: Sisters in the Wilderness. This DVD portrays the mid-19^th century pioneer life of two sisters who sailed from England expecting an easy existence in the Canadian bush. Incorporating both contemporary artwork and dramatization, this quality film full of beauty, pathos, humanity, and history tells the story of Susannah Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, both writers. Their two families settled in the bush close to each other and, after years of hardship, moved to town. Throughout their lives both Catharine and Susannah continued to write about their experiences. The movie Sisters in the Wilderness is based on their books.

Although not designed as a curriculum, Sisters in the Wilderness can be used as the basis for a thorough study of Upper Canada pioneer life. It shows

the English background of many immigrants,
the ocean journey,
the arrival in Canada,
survival and adaptation in winter and summer,
hardship and ingenuity,
the Rebellion of 1837
and so much more.

Each element of this beautifully produced movie highlights a fascinating aspect of the history of Upper Canada in the middle of the 19^th century and beyond.

After watching Sisters in the Wilderness and seeing how real pioneer families lived, younger students understand A Pioneer Story much better.

Sisters in the Wilderness gives older students an appealing introduction to the two women’s books as well.

Catharine Parr Traill, the optimistic sister, wrote The Backwoods of Canada, focusing on hints for new colonists and on nature. There is a wealth of practical and everyday history in Catharine’s writing. This book is part of our Canadian geography curriculum.
Susannah Moodie, more gloomy and literary, wrote the famous book Roughing it in the Bush. This sombre personal history of an upper class British gentlewoman trying to survive in the woods was written as a warning to those ‘back home’ who were considering such a move. Roughing it in the Bush has become one of the foundational works in Canadian literature, greatly influencing it in modern times.

In summary, Sisters in the Wilderness, available from Northwoods Press, introduces the whole family to Canadian pioneer life in a delightful way and sets teens on the path to studying Canadian literature.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Sisters in the Wilderness from Northwoods Press.

Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Adventures with Atoms and Molecules

Elementary, Science No Responses »

Feb 202012

Formal science is always a bit iffy around our place. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s the experiments that get me–we read lots of science-related books–but science experiments can be troublesome. There are all of those ingredients to gather; there is all of that mess to clean up.

This year, thanks to Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise and their well-trained minds, I have a solution: Adventures with Atoms and Molecules by Robert C. Mebane and Thomas R. Rybolt.

We have two volumes of this series. There are thirty experiments in each, which are titled with a question.

For example, Volume 1 asks . . .

Do hot molecules move faster than cold molecules?
Are gas molecules farther apart than liquid molecules?
Can molecules be broken into smaller molecules?

And Volume 2 asks . . .

Do like charges attract or repel?
Can salt remove water from the air?
Can molecules move through a membrane?

The title question is followed by:

a list of materials, most of which are easy to gather in your home (yes, really, they are easy to gather in your home)
a procedure to follow
questions for observation
an explanation, which they call the discussion.
There are also variations of the experiment to try for further study.

When we asked the question “Do molecules move?” we used a glass of water and food coloring to reveal that, yes, molecules do move, as evidenced by “the collection of food coloring molecules spread(ing) throughout the glass of water” (7). We also got to play with food coloring.

When we asked the question “Are rubber molecules less bouncy when cold?” we used two identical rubber balls and the freezer. It was easy to see that the answer was yes, since the flexible polymers in the rubber “changed from being flexible and stretchy to being stiff and rigid” (38) due to the cold. We also got to play with bouncy balls.

There are many questions and many answers to be found in these wonderful little books.

We are studying chemistry in our home school using a method of experimentation and discussion. It has been a treat to ask a science question, prompted by Mr. Mebane and Mr. Rybolt, and to follow their simple instructions to find the answer. The ingredients have been easy to find–lots of vinegar and baking soda and fruit–and the clean up has been a breeze. Best of all, the kids and I have learned about the properties of atoms and molecules!

There are five volumes in the series, each named Adventures with Atoms and Molecules followed by a volume number. We are using volumes I and II, completing simple home-made experiment pages, reading science-y books, and having fun!

Susan is a homeschooling mom of three—a preschooler, a first grader, and a third grader. They spend their days reading on the couch, playing with numbers, and making big, fun messes in a Spirit-led, Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical-Charlotte Mason-traditional model of home education.

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For Instruction in Righteousness, Pam Forster

Bible, Elementary No Responses »

Feb 012012

From the Publishers:
For Instruction in Righteousness is a valuable tool that will help you, in specific ways, to fulfill each of these duties God has given us. Most chapters include each of the following sections:

What the Bible says will, or should, happen to a person who sins in this way, with ideas for discipline that parallel these Biblical consequences.
Instructions the Bible gives for repenting of this sin (newly added in this edition!)
What the Bible likens a person to when he indulges in this sin, and ideas for practical object lessons using these examples.
How God blesses the person who resists temptations to this sort of sin, with parallel ideas for “rewards” and encouragement when children show progress in overcoming this sin.
Stories and people in the Bible that illustrate obedience and disobedience in this area.
Fully quoted memory verses.

How we use it in our home/what we like about this curriculum:

It was in obedience to my mentor, and not confidence in the results, that first day I opened the shiny spiral bound inch-thick Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child Training. My boys were ages two and five. So far, I had focused on disciplining their outward behavior, demanding obedience, “Because Mom Said”. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was raising children to look good to others in public. However, I spent little time training them to think of what God wanted them to be like. They were tiny, they didn’t know, boys would be boys, they were young, they were. . . well, I was filled with a zillion excuses.

The day I opened For Instruction in Righteousness, our parenting was changed forever. I can’t remember that first topic we looked into but I can imagine it might have been Complaining/Ingratitude. What I do remember was the response.

As we read Hosea 13:6 and wondered if we were forgetting about God when we complain, or 2 Timothy 3:2 when we talked of being lovers of ourselves which leads to not being thankful.
When we read the instruction of Philippians 2:14 and learned that we should do all without murmuring or disputing.
I could physically see the eyes shift from rebellion, to receiving instruction, to a change in awareness. The surprising thing, was that the transformation was almost instant – in my two-year-old son.
We talked through the “What happens or should happen to the complainer” and came up with a few consequences that would be established in the home to help them remember. We also read through “What Should the Complainer Do?” to give the children ways to overcome. Simple examples, like singing and giving thanks.
Throughout the week we read stories of those in the Bible that had dealt with complaining and ingratitude, and we emphasized the “Blessings of Gratefulness”.

I was astounded. I didn’t point fingers, raise my voice, threaten discipline, belittle, or heap on guilt and shame. It was just a wonderfully quiet time in the Word. The two-year-old got it – and I was hooked.

For Instructions in Righteousness is available at Doorposts – Bible-based parenting and character training material.

A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child-Training
Author: Pam Forster
Age: All ages
Spiral bound, 3rd edition
ISBN: 9781891206290
Pages: 376
Price: $36.00

You may

In summary: We have used this product for eight years, and continue to find it helpful on a regular basis. Join me, Angie Wright, at Petra School as we discuss how we looked at Laziness in the home using this resource.

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Stack the States App Review

Apps, Elementary, Geography, High School, History & Geography, Middle School, Preschool 1 Response »

Jan 302012

The iPad has become a teaching tool. Educational apps abound, with an amazing variety of subjects available. In the geography category, we have Stack the States by Dan Russell-Pinson.

Stack the States is both fun and educational; a game that uses some of the best mobile features – interaction and manipulation. While learning about the 50 states by answering questions about them, this app requires critical thinking skills as well. Your brainpower is tested in your ability to stack your states successfully.

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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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My First Science Kit

Elementary, Preschool, Science No Responses »

Jan 252012

My five-year-old son received My 1St Science Kit – The Science of Color from his grandma and grandpa for Christmas. We were both excited but I had no idea it would be “the” source of motivation for school every single day for a week!

What was so motivating? The goodies my son found in the box. Hands down. Giant, plastic test tubes, pipettes, little plastic cups, a mixing tray, a (tiny) magnifying glass, color tints and growing crystals made him feel like a real scientist!

The kit includes enough materials for 10 experiments relating to color. Most experiments allow your child to observe the effects of mixing primary colors, while a few involve water-absorbing crystals. All the experiments are very elementary, but we’re talking about using them with children who are under 2nd grade, so they should be elementary. After so many engaging experiments about color mixing, my son has a very good grasp on primary and secondary colors.

Could I ditch the fun test tubes and do most of the experiments with materials found at home? Yes. But, I’m telling you, something about the kit turned my son from a mildly-interested-science-experiment-kid into Eli, Super Scientist Extraordinaire! Plus, the supplies can be used over and over again as long as you have some extra food coloring on hand.

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Times Alive!

Elementary, Mathematics 3 Responses »

Jan 202012

Until the 2011 school year started both of my boys had been doing five days worth of living math lessons. I loved our time with it. This year, however, I decided to put them into Teaching Textbooks.

One of the things I used during our lovely Living Math Lessons was a programme called Times Alive! I found it rather by mistake while doing my daily blog hopping. Before I knew it I’d stumbled upon the City Creek Press website and was in total awe of their multiplication programme.

I confess, that despite my child being officially in third grade at the time and having an amazing grasp on a variety of math subjects from simple to complex I hadn’t branched out with multiplication yet. No, rather I’d been teaching him “groups of” with a fun game we’d been playing. After a quick chat with my husband about what funds were left in our homeschool budget I purchased Times Alive! and never looked back.

Times Alive! is not entirely unique as I know there’s another song and story programme out there for children to learn their multiplication facts.

How I use it:

We chose the download instead of the cd version of this progamme {remember we live overseas so downloads often win out for us!}. Each day I’d load up the programme. My son would happily listen to the story and song and then do a quick and simple application test proving he understood and fully grasped what he’d learned.

The programme starts with 2’s and skips 1’s and 0’s. Not a huge deal for us because I’d all ready taught him his 0’s, 1’s, 2’s, 10’s, 11’s, and we were working on our 5’s.
There aren’t stories for the 2 family. Rather there’s a teddy bear who comes on and shows that by counting by 2’s you can easily find the answer to any problem you need. Simple.
There are stories for all your 3 facts, 4 facts, 6 facts, and 8 facts. For the 9 facts there are clues on how to get the answer quickly. These clues are as great as the stories. I can always hear my kids working out 9 facts if they’d forgotten the answer! Again, none for the 5’s, 10’s, or 11’s. Wasn’t an issue for us, and I really believe that it shouldn’t be an issue for anyone.
We loved some of the stories and were constantly amazed at the ability of the author to come up with some great little rhymes that permitted the children to remember exactly what the stories were. If my son now says, “Mom, I forgot what 8×8 is..” I’ll shout out, “STICKS FOR free!”

The story for this particular math problem is that two snowman {shaped like 8’s} go walking on a cold winter night. They get really cold when they stumble upon a sign that tells them they can have all the sticks in the pile for free. Super simple.

After my son learned all the fact families I discovered City Creek Press also sells a learning pack to compliment Times Alive! Included are flash cards with picture clues, posters to color in and a few other simple goodies. It was offered inexpensively as a download. We all worked together coloring in the posters for my son’s math notebook. I laminated all the flash cards and we go through them {little brother too} each morning before we get going with any of our other school stuff.

What I love:

My son asked to do this programme! If a day passed and he didn’t get a turn with it he’d complain! Yep, and if his little brother was set up with another task at the time and missed out on the video or song there were tears and I’d have to replay it!
The stories were, for the most part, catchy.
For my visual learner, the color programme and the add-ons {mentioned below} allowed him to add more color and hands on learning.
I could play it on my Mac!

There are posters and flashcards with the picture clues on them that can be downloaded from the website! This allows us to practice what we learned in an easy to remember way! Not only that, there were some heated discussions over who was going to color which posters. I’m only slightly ashamed to admit I was part of those chats with my boys.

What I don’t like:

I confess there were a couple of stories that left me scratching my head. My son disagrees with me on this and since the programme was for him that’s what matters most, right?
You have a limited time to download your programme. That always scares me when companies do that but I think if you go in knowing that you’ll have no issues!

Bottom Line:

My kids love this programme and have learned their multiplication facts with ease. I feel eternally grateful to the people over at City Creek Press for that! I wish their addition programme was also in video/song format.

Extra:

You can check out more of the songs, picture to color in, and test over at City Creek Press if you’re interested in knowing/seeing a little more.

Save $24.48 off the regular price on Times Alive

You can use the coupon code SOTxhalf to take $24.48 off the regular price of $48.95. Just add Times Alive to your cart and enter the coupon code and press apply. Bingo-you save $24.48. Be sure to enter the code, it doesn’t happen automatically. Order your product today because this offer expires on January 31, 2012. You can order from 1-100 for half price! To order now: CLICK HERE

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K5 Learning

Elementary, Language Arts, Logic, Mathematics, Online, Phonics, Reading, Spelling, Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Jan 182012

To be honest, when I was approached about writing a review for K5 Learning, I was going to pass. We just haven’t liked any online sites that we have tried. I decided it was only fair to give it a quick look before saying no, and my five-year-old was immediately drawn into the site. I responded to the request with a yes.

We started with the recommended learning assessment, to see where my son scored on grade level, so the program could correctly place him to start the program. The assessment has a variety of levels given within it. Some answers will be too easy, others too hard. This is the only way the program can know where your child is in his learning. However, I wish there was a button for parents to choose “does not apply”, as my son correctly answered some questions he had no clue about, just by chance. Once the assessment is over, the parent can log in to see where your child was placed. Evan scored 1st grade, and he is in Kindergarten. (I thought he was reading above K!) After the program knows where your child’s skill level is, you are ready to learn.

The layout is attractive and inviting. Evan has really enjoyed learning his lessons with this program. I wanted to share with you a few examples of the curriculum in action, to give a better idea of what a lesson looks like.

The pros:

These lessons aren’t full of games and a little education, your child will really learn:

phonetic awareness, phonics, sight words, vocabulary and reading comprehension.
numbers and operations, geometry, measurement (including time and money), algebraic thinking and data analysis.
basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. (with monitored progress for mastery)
spelling-you can even assign your own word lists.

Other positives:

works for special needs learners.
parents have access to learning reports to track progress.
the lessons adjust to your child’s individual learning automatically.

{my favorite part of the lesson}

Each lesson also has a preview of sorts that explains what you are about to learn and how to answer. I really like that about the program.

{this math lesson was challenging, but enjoyable}

{we apparently needed this, as Evan asked if dragons were real!}

The con:

This online curriculum has some great positives and I am glad we were invited to try it. I do have one negative to give, however:

When we went to work on the math facts for mastery, we found they are timed drills. Drills makes sense for older children – but Evan is five, with little keyboard skills. He never could get fast enough to pass, even though he answered all of the questions correctly.

As you can see, 0 were answered quickly enough, but all were correct. It had nothing to do with knowing the facts. I do wish the curriculum had thought of smaller children with little hands and no knowledge of why the numbers don’t go in order on mommy’s computer pad. Evan couldn’t understand why he didn’t pass when he knew all of the answers.

The rest of this site is great, so we will likely just be skipping this section unless that aspect is changed. Overall, it is a great program with true learning as the star. It is just fun enough to keep Evan from feeling overwhelmed, but this isn’t busy work. I would definitely recommend this if you have any interest in computer learning.

Purchase info:

After the trial ends, the monthly subscription for one child is $25 or you can purchase one year for one child for $199. K5 Learning has a free 14 day trial that doesn’t require your credit card to begin. (I love that.)
I would recommend giving the free 14 day trial a try. Evan has really enjoyed this in the few weeks he has been using it. If we had the extra $25 in our budget, I would continue on when our subscription expires. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy K5 Learning this much. It has been a great addition to our day.

Sam's Noggin

**I was given a 3 month subscription in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

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Draw, Write, Now

Art, Elementary, Handwriting, Language Arts No Responses »

Jan 092012

Draw Write Now handwriting and art program helped my daughter develop her printing skills and have fun while doing it! The series consists of eight books, each with a different theme and all written at the same level. You can start with any of the eight books. I took my daughter to the nearby children’s book store and she chose Book 1 – On the Farm, Kids, Critters. It was full of her favorite animals to draw!

When we opened the book together, we saw that each lesson included a shape or animal to draw and a short story to copy. Each story included facts about the animal or shape, such as “Rabbits eat plants” or “Ducks have webbed feet.” My second grader enjoyed copying down these new facts, and of course, drawing her new animal!

My daughter’s favorites were the sheep and penguin.

Benefits:

This program is built on success! Each animal or shape is explained in step-by-step drawings.
Explanations are very easy to follow.
While drawing, my daughter was developing her fine motor skills! We placed special drawings into frames and, of course, posted on the frig!
Draw,Write Now was a good fit for my daughter because she knew how to form each letter but needed a lot of practice in her printing.
Drawing also helped my daughter practice following a sequence – which improved her reading skills!

Skill building: As we worked through three of these books, my daughter developed better control of her pencil. Then while copying the sentences, she began to think up her own stories! Soon she was writing down these stories and illustrating them. The following year, she wrote a story about a toucan and illustrated it for a story contest.

Draw Write Now is aimed at the first or second grade level.
Although we chose from the animal books, Draw Write Now also offers a number of science and social studies topics.
Each of the eight books has 64 pages and is non-consumable.
Draw, Write, Now also offers lined paper, books to draw in, pencil grips and grasp positioning guides and more on their site.

Below are the eight Draw, Write Now titles:

Book 1 On Farm, Kids, Critters
Book 2 Columbus, Autumn Harvest, Weather
Book 3 North America, Native Americans, Pilgrims
Book 4 Polar Regions, Arctic, Antarctic
Book 5 U.S, From Sea to Sea
Book 6 Animal Habitats, Land, Ponds, Ocean
Book 7 Animals of the World, Part 1, Tropical
Book 8 Animals, part 2, Savannas, Grasslands

In summary, I would recommend Draw, Write, Now to families with young children who know how to form letters – and want to improve printing skills in a fun and creative way!

For more information, please visit the Draw Write Now site. You might also like Shannon’s review of Draw, Write, Now.

~Written by Betsy, a veteran homeschooler who likes unit studies and offers Homeschool Consulting, as a volunteer, to new and experienced families. She can be reached on her Facebook, at Jane Sproger.

Geography Songs

Elementary, Geography, Middle School, Preschool 3 Responses »

Jan 062012

You know how, in secret societies, people recognize each other by a sign, a gesture, or a word? Well, that’s how I used to feel about Geography Songs.

You’d just have to start, “North A-MER-i-ca,” and any homeschooler nearby would join in, “South A-MER-i-ca!” That’s how we could tell who homeschooled.

I haven’t heard much about this CD lately, and that’s a pity because it’s one of the catchiest ways to learn basic geography facts. In over thirty songs with accompanying outline maps, Kathy Troxel teaches names and locations of countries of the world, as well as oceans, planets, and states of the US. Some songs are just listings of names. Others also tell about the culture of an area.

The music is light, cheerful and catchy, occasionally even tying in with the culture of the countries in the song. It remains pleasant even after hearing it hundreds of times…and that is important.

My children begged to listen to it. If children color the map while they are listening (mine don’t like coloring), they will learn the locations even more quickly. In any case, this is a great basis for any geography study.

Our version is old but the CD has been newly updated and includes a large world map as well.

Listen to samples and buy at Audio Memory or download individual songs from Amazon.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

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