High School » 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.

Take Five! for Language Arts

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

Feb 062012

One of hardest subjects for me to teach is writing, especially creative writing. As a long time homeschooling mom, I appreciate that I don’t know everything about everything. Two of my children are gifted writers and it has always been a challenge to offer them interesting writing programs, stimulating them to tap into their creative juices. Finding a resource that meets my high expectations is like finding a treasure!

I received Take Five! for Language Arts as an electronic download to review. I knew immediately upon opening the file that I was going to be able to use this with my high school age son AND he was going to enjoy the simple but imaginative assignments.

The assignments are actually written for practice in critical thinking and just happen to include creative thinking and writing as well. These are not your usual hum-drum writing assignments. Some of the prompts have you make a list or chart, sometimes you actually do a quick sketch before writing, or some of the prompts build on each other from day to day.
Each activity is intended to be done in five minutes so they are easily worked into an otherwise busy high school schedule.
The price is a little high at $23.95 but since the target age group for this book is grades 6 – 12. I could have used this as a resource making it a part of a larger language arts program in middle and high school making it a good investment.
This book would complement many styles of homeschooling including classical, Charlotte Mason, eclectic, or even unschooling.
There is just enough variety to make it interesting, leaving the writer wondering what tomorrow’s assignment will be. Yes, anticipation for the next assignment!

Things to note:

Sometimes you need more than pencil and paper to complete an activity but never anything you wouldn’t already have in a well-stocked homeschool.
I found that Take Five! for Language Arts was really something I needed to be involved in, reading the narrative, prompt, and extensions together with my son. This way we could adapt the assignment if needed or go a little farther if we found it was a “bell ringer” of a topic.
I do not assign a score or grade with these assignments. The task is always to complete the prompt, share it, and receive feedback. I think this gives my son a little more freedom to write or create in a way that fits him.
There is an index at the back of the book categorizing the prompts by language arts skills involved and I found that to be very helpful. For example, if I was looking for a prompt that used persuasive writing, I could scroll to that section and read down the list of prompts working on that genre of writing.
You can download the Table of Contents and a Sample Activity from the publishers website: Maupin House.

My teenage creative writer and I give this program a big thumbs up!

Written by Barb-Harmony Art Mom. I blog at Harmony Art Mom and am the creator of Harmony Fine Arts. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges at the Handbook of Nature Study.

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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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Understanding Government DVDs

High School, History, History & Geography, Middle School No Responses »

Jan 162012

As we find ourselves cooped up more often during the winter, we (unfortunately) tend to watch a bit more TV. I’ve tried to make sure at least some of what we watch is super-productive and the Just the Facts: Understanding Government DVD set fits the bill.

Each of the three DVDs takes a detailed look at one of the three branches of the United States government system – The Executive Branch, The Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. Running approximately 50 minutes each, I can best describe the format to be much like you might find on the History Channel. A narrator talks as some photos or footage is shown, while expert interviews pop in to explain more or offer commentary.

The content of the programs is easily understandable for children 5th grade and older, but is quite suitable for adults, too. Undoubtedly, some children will find the DVDs to be boring simply because they are documentary-like rather than cartoon-like. However, the information presented is extremely valuable and worthwhile.

Each DVD sets out to give a bit of history about why the Founding Fathers chose to create such a government as ours and how each entity is supposed to uphold the Constitution and protect our rights. The duties, obligations and limitations of each branch are covered in-depth, as well as such things as where they meet, who helps them in their duties and how individuals are chosen for various positions. After watching the entire set, my children have a very solid understanding of each branch of government!

As the teacher, I like the extras as much as the programs. Each DVD offers a Teacher’s Guide and Bonus Material which turn the TV time into way more than just vegging out.

The Teacher’s Guides – which can be viewed from the menu on your TV or inserted into your computer and printed out as a PDF file – offer:

Learning Objectives – the things your child should know and be able to discuss by the end of the program, and can also be used as test questions if you desire.
Vocabulary Lists – important terms and definitions.
Web Resources - just a few pertinent websites for further study.
Expert Bios – a bit more about the experts who have been interviewed during the programs.

The Bonus Material includes:

Another brief, but informative video tied to each DVDs theme. For instance, the bonus track on the Executive Branch DVD is on the topic of the Presidents of the United States. A brief biography, some trivia and pictures or photos of each president are covered.
An on-screen multiple-choice quiz based on the material from the program. One question at a time is placed on the screen along with multiple choice answers. A narrator reads each question and possible answer to your child, then a check mark comes on the screen to show the correct answer. I wish the check mark allowed for a little more thinking time, but you can easily pause the DVD if you like.

Besides some of the text being a little jiggly on my o-l-d TV, I thought the quality of the DVDs was very professional. They have been a wonderful help as my children have been part of government classes at co-op this year.

*Through 2/29/12, The Cerebellum Corporation is offering you 30% off any of their Social Studies or Standard Deviant DVDs using the coupon code HOME30 upon checkout! (The DVDs are already 20% off and your coupon code will take an additional amount off to give you a total of 30% off the regular price.)

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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!

How to Raise Your High School Grades by Half a Point in One Semester

High School, Highschool 1 Response »

Dec 022011

Teens need to think about thinking, studying, time management, and the future. There are all sorts of serious, sober, and expensive approaches to these topics. However, if your family has a sense of humor and likes outside-the-box ideas, Gary North’s free study course might work for you. How to Raise Your High School Grades by Half a Point in One Semester is full of quirky opinions mixed with excellent advice. The excellent outweighs the quirky, but it’s the quirkiness that made this course such a success in our homeschool.

Our children delighted in their weekly sessions with Gary North. There seems to be something in Dr. North’s writing style that brings out humor and independent thinking in my teens, because their summaries were almost always insightful and often downright funny.

In this guide, Dr. North discusses:

study skills
attitudes
time management and tricks
study partners
vacations
textbooks
note-taking
test-taking
writing
keeping up with the news

The lessons are short, full of short sentences and definite opinions that sometimes had me sputtering. Aim for a B in your book reports! Indeed! But they generated great discussion. What’s more, many of the suggestions are truly wise.

Although Dr. North set this course up so that students would get one lesson a day—and presumably raise their marks quickly—our approach was more long-term. Once a week our teens would go to the website, read the lesson, summarize it, and write down the take-home message. This kept them interacting with the material for a much longer time, which is better for real learning and thinking.

I have not read much other material by Gary North and cannot vouch for the rest of the things he says. In fact, I don’t even agree with all he says in this course. However, How to Raise Your High School Grades by Half a Point in One Semester has been a highlight in our homeschool for the past 27 weeks, and my teens are sad that they have finished it.

Your teens might also enjoy it. They will certainly learn from it.

-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.

Hands And Hearts Curriculum

Elementary, Hands On, High School, History, Middle School, Mom Helps, Preschool 2 Responses »

Nov 282011

It’s a well-known fact that we learn best by immersion. When we’re studying a foreign language, it’s recommended that at some point, we fully immerse ourselves into the language and culture to learn and absorb more. But, when it’s time to study history, learning by immersion can be a little tricky. We don’t always have the resources (or, time!) to re-create a version of the past to immerse ourselves in and most history textbooks leave much to be desired.

So, what’s a family to do?

Recreating the past has just gotten easier with Hands and Hearts. When I stumbled across Hands and Hearts History Kits, I was sold after reading what came in the kits. Each kit is jam-packed with everything you’d need to do projects from the past as well as a CD with printable instructions and background history – making learning so much fun!

For example, the Early American History Kit included everything I needed for the following activities:

(as stated on the website…)

Dip candles: This kit contains 100% pure beeswax and natural wicking. Your child is sure to enjoy creating his own hand-dipped candles, then eating or studying by candlelight.

Craft an apple pomander: After reading about the importance of fragrant herbs in early America, your child will enjoy creating a spicy-smelling apple pomander.

Make and play the Bowl Game: The Bowl Game was a favorite game for many Indian tribes, and it was a favorite for our testers as well!. Your child will paint the wooden playing pieces, then enjoy playing the game with others. Comprehensive math tie-in projects are included.

Prepare and drink black brick tea: Think you know about the Boston Tea Party? Think again! We don’t want to ruin the surprise, but you may never look at tea the same way after trying a cup of this brew!

Create a talking feather: No, this feather isn’t going to start chatting with you. A talking feather was a decorated ceremonial feather used by Indians during gatherings. Only the person holding the feather was allowed to talk. Your child will be delighted to create his own talking feather using an imitation eagle feather, real buffalo bone beads, genuine rabbit fur, leather, artificial sinew, and more. You will be delighted with the lessons he will learn about social graces!

Stitch a lavender sachet: Your child be so proud of making this fragrant and beautiful sachet made with lovely dried lavender and attractive calico fabric. The time spent stitching it will give him or her a glimpse of the work that went into creating clothing and linens long ago.

String a bone cross necklace: This amazing necklace is made from a hand-carved bone cross and authentic glass tile beads.

Decorate and play a bamboo flute: This simple toy was enjoyed by many children long ago, and your child will enjoy decorating his own bamboo flute with leather and genuine glass crow beads. He will enjoy playing it even more!

Learn about the importance of beads in early American history: You and your child will be fascinated by our section on beads. We include a bag of genuine imported lampwork beads, trading and valuing information, and several bead projects from which to choose.

Create a wonderful keepsake notebook: We include a packet of reproducible notebook pages, information on notebooking, and specific notebooking suggestions.

Learn timeless language lessons: Our copywork section draws from classic sources such as The New England Primer, the founding fathers, and more.

Study the geography of early America: Our Early American History Discovery Kit includes maps from Knowledge Quest, Inc., and comprehensive, easy-to-implement lesson plans co-authored by Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest, Inc. and Kate Estes of Hands and Hearts.

Hide God’s Word in his heart: Our exclusive Bible Truths Cards will help your child discern important Bible truths drawn from the KJV and the New England Primer.
This kit includes a comprehensive instruction manual containing full background information for every project, and clear step-by-step illustrated instructions. Everything you need to do all of these projects is right in the box – *you need only to provide an apple and two empty metal cans (like soup cans). All materials are of the very highest quality and are extremely historically accurate. Your child won’t just be learning about history – he will be living it!

Each kit – whether you want to learn about Ancient Egypt or Ancient Greece and Rome – are full of learning possibilities and everything you would need for the activities. Most kits are between $39.95 and $69.95, which is well worth it when you consider the contents are provided as are the CDs with instructions and history lessons – and, the gas you didn’t have to waste while trying to find similar items.

Bottom Line – Would I Recommend It?
Yes! It’s a great time-saver and packed full of fun ideas. Of course, you could put your own kits together, but in my opinion – these are reasonably priced and make things a lot easier and faster!

-Written by Ashley. Find more of Ashley’s writings and reflections on motherhood, marriage and life on her blog.

Digital Photography Unit Study by Amanda Bennett

Grammar, High School, Highschool, Middle School, Unit study resources No Responses »

Nov 092011

Before the start of this school year I asked my older children what they’d like to learn more about. My eldest, then a rising eighth grader, said photography. Specifically digital photography. Hadn’t I just seen Amanda Bennett tweet about that same unit study being on sale?

“I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it.” ~Author Unknown

Not only did my daughter learn about digital photography but her enthusiasm encouraged her siblings. It’s also been a learning opportunity for mom. Isn’t that a wonderful benefit of homeschooling – continuing education for the teacher too?

The unit study is an approach for the whole family. Each week is presented:

For Two Levels – Lower (elementary) and Upper (middle/high grades) – so everyone can learn together if you’d like!
With a List of favorite books

From the unit study site: “Topics covered in this study include:

The science of light and lenses.
The history of photography.
Camera basics.
Composing a photo.
Famous photographers and their work.
Applications of photography.
Working with a digital photograph. “

“Every artist was first an amateur.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Four Weeks of Study. Each week includes:

Learning Plans for Days 1-4
Weekly Windup
Additional Internet Sites
Today’s Quote
Words of Wisdom (vocabulary)
Interesting people and places
Read and discover

The Digital Photography unit is in pdf format. A download with all the internet links readily available.

The digital photography unit is fun!

What we liked: This unit is easily adaptable to any schedule. We chose to spread the four weeks out over eight. The study is rich with information so you can dig as deeply as you’d like for your student(s) to – on any level. We really enjoyed the family project ideas (e.g., a family calendar for grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins across the country), plus the daily quotes, a few of which are scattered throughout this post. My daughter liked the photography assignments – she used her iPod on photo scavenger hunts and challenges and photography journal assignments. This study was even the inspiration for her science fair project: Comparing the Camera to the Human Eye.

“Photography was once described as painting with light.” ~ Anonymous

Where to find Digital Photography Unit Study and more information:

Amanda Bennett’s Digital Photography is available from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett here
You can view a sample and peek inside the unit here
You might also be interested in Amanda’s explanation of What is a Unit Study? here

In summary: Digital Photography was everything we needed in one, neat pdf format. A jumping off place for learning. Inspiration for more exploration. Amanda Bennett’s unit study built confidence and opened wider the doors of delight with photography.

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting, frugal living and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion

Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, High School, Middle School, Mom Helps, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Oct 262011

If you have read many of my other reviews you already know that I like for things to be easy. If they aren’t easy, I at least don’t want them to be a ton of work for me. After all, my inner educator proclaims, this is their education, not mine! This of course is true to a point. We all know, I reply to my inner educator, learning never stops; least of all, perhaps, for a home educating mama.

In addition to easy, I want things to make sense, for them to be logical. Timely, too, in that when they are presented with new ideas, those new ideas make sense to my little learners. I want to be developmentally appropriate, and I want to cover material that will be useful and necessary.

We ascribe to a sort of Classical, sort of Charlotte Mason, very literary-based education for our children. The idea of a lot of rote memory work does not fit into my idea of practical or useful. The idea of memorization for the purpose of reviewing and cementing ideas, though, is another story. If memory work is one of the tools–like reading and writing and listening and drawing–that we use to gather and corral ideas, that is something I like and want to use.

I have found a great resource by Andrew A. Campbell called Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion that has removed some of the burden of memory work from my shoulders.

It is simply a book of lists. The lists, derived from academic subjects, contain organized information for the purpose of memorization. Dr. Campbell includes an essay detailing the how and why of using memory work as one of the tools of learning. The remainder of the book is comprised of lists of information in the following broad subjects: Latin and Greek, arithmetic and mathematics, grammar and composition, literature, religion, geography, world history, United States history and civics, and natural sciences. Each section is broken down into more specific categories and into lists. There are speeches and portions of documents. There are formulas. There are charts. All of this is intended to be used over the academic lifetime of a student–from Kindergarten to graduation.

The book has been helpful to me in two ways. First, it has given me ideas. Sometimes the question of what to memorize has been overwhelming to me–so overwhelming that I have thrown up my hands and provided nothing for my kids to concentrate on retaining. Now, I can open Living Memory, find a science list that fits with our studies, and put my little learners to work.

Second, Dr. Campbell has assured me that memorizing something is better than memorizing nothing, that I can start small and build, and that memory work can and should be in the context of our studies. I like that. It makes sense to me, because it is orderly and timely. It is developmentally appropriate. Also, it is simple and easy. And you know that I like easy.

Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion by Andrew A. Campbell provides comprehensive lists in a variety of pertinent subjects to be used for memory work. It can be found on Lulu.com in both digital ($14.95) and paperback ($22.46) versions.

Susan S. is a home educating mama of three in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Her days are wild and lovely, full of chattering, learning children. In all of the mess, she learns the most, taught by the Master Teacher Himself.

Foundations in Personal Finance Curriculum

Economics, High School, Highschool 2 Responses »

Oct 172011

During school time Mr. 16 was sitting at the computer, chuckling. Having that much fun doing ‘schoolwork’ suggests to me that it’s not really schoolwork on the computer….

So I sternly asked, “What are you doing?”

Sweetly he answered, “Dave Ramsey,” and continued chortling.

After listening to a few more minutes of this laughter, I pulled up a chair beside him to watch “Bargain Shopping,” Chapter 8 of the Foundations in Personal Finance Curriculum, Homeschool Edition, a wonderful curriculum by Dave Ramsey. Soon the Little Misses joined us and we finished the chapter…and then started again at the beginning, laughing and learning all the way.

Sure, not all of the lessons are this funny, but we love this curriculum. It’s fun and relevant and practical. Dave’s mission is “empowering students to make sound financial decisions for life,” and he does it in such an appealing way!

He covers a lot of topics too, and, besides being excellent training for life, this course also meets state standards. In his 4 teaching DVD’s, Dave covers the following topics in great detail:

Unit 1: Saving and Investing
Unit 2: Credit and Debt
Unit 3: Financial Responsibility and Money Management
Unit 4: Insurance/Risk Management and Income/Careers

There’s also a Teacher’s Guide CD-ROM with lesson plans, tests, answer keys, activities, case studies, and more, as well as a Student Workbook containing worksheets, reviews, and many interesting tidbits of information. (For more information, please see the very detailed review on my blog.)

We are extremely pleased with the Foundations in Personal Finance Curriculum. While studying other subjects is very important, learning Personal Finance may well have the most practical impact on your teen’s future life. This curriculum is not inexpensive, but I believe it is an investment that will pay back many times over, both in your teen’s life and your own.

-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.

Disclosure I received a complimentary copy of Foundations in Personal Finance, Homeschool Edition, in order to give you my honest opinion of it.