Awana Homeschool Kits

Just recently, I was given the awesome opportunity of reviewing a few homeschool kits by Awana.

• Sparks Home School Kit, Kindergarten
• Sparks Home School Kit, First Grade
• T&T Ultimate Challenge Home School Kit - Fifth Grade

The Sparks Homeschool Kit, Kindergarten contains a handbook music CD.  It offers sing-along tunes for the verses that are inside of the HangGlider handbook.

The HangGlider book also contains an audio CD so that your child can follow along with the book.  Because my youngest is just under the Kindergarten years, she will have time to grow with this which I am very excited about. 

The Kindergarten kit also includes a Beginnings handbook: Studies in Genesis-Joshua.

The Sparks Home School Kit, First Grade contains a handbook music CD.  This also offers sing-along tunes for verses that are inside of the WingRunner handbook.

The WingRunner book contains an audio CD so that your child can follow along with the book.  My Soon to be second grader absolutely loves it and is eager to read and follow along with WingRunner.  I am so proud of her reading skills as this definitely encourages a variety of areas.

The First Grade Kit also includesa Promise handbook: Studies in Judges-Malachi

The T&T Ultmiate Challenge Home School Kit, Fifth Grade contains a handbook with the T&T characters.  They are off on an adventure in Israel and their mission is to do a video for Awana that will help kids learn about Jesus Christ.  During their adventures they meet two boys that are not exactly nice.  Kids get to learn about archaeology in this handbook!

They travel the Sea of Galilee and discover parts of a code.  Kids are encouraged to crack this code as they go along in their handbook. There are lots of fun adventures throughout that are definitely a whole lot of fun for 5th graders.  My daughter loves being able to crack codes. 

The Fifth Grade Kit also includes a Witness handbook: Equipping to share the good news!  I love this!

All three homeschool kits are $39.99 each!  While making your order, you can choose which Bible version your child would prefer.

The homeschool kits come inside really cool green drawstring backpack with Awana's logo on them.  My girls love these.

A big thank you goes to Awana for providing my family with 3 kits for my girls to grow and learn about Jesus. We plan on continuing use of the kits throughout the summer. It has been an absolute blessing!

Homeschool Helper App

Just recently, I came across an awesome app that I had to share with you in case you haven't heard of it.  It's called Homeschool Helper.

Homeschool Helper is available at the App store, Nook Color, Android, and Amazon.  It is currently only $4.99 and worth every penny!  Why?

With Homeschool Helper, you basically get to:

• Keep track of each student by age, grade, and year.
• Keep track of attendance
• Keep track of book lists
• Keep track of field trips
• Keep track of grades
• Keep track of lesson plans

and MUCH more!  It's so nice to be able to just whip out the app and put in everything I need to keep track of everything.  I look forward to using it fully for our new homeschooling year.  The app allows you to save and back up everything then have it sent to your email so that you can print out all of your reports.  Super nifty!

There is even an instructional video to help get you started.  Everything is very easy to edit.  Another great thing about Homeschool Helper is that you get back up notifications to remind you that you didn't back up recent data.  Love it!

After purchasing this cool homeschool app, there are no subscriptions, memberships, or recurring costs!  It also includes all updates. Nice!

For Q&A's about Homeschool Helper, click here.

Have you ever heard of this app?  Would you consider using it for your homeschool?  Would love to hear from you.  I am totally excited about Homeschool Helper!

10 Educational Websites for your Homeschool

Today marks the day that our homeschool may be going through a great transition.  I am honestly unsure where we are headed as far as learning in the fall.  I am weighing my options this next time around.  Will it be online schooling?  A completely different curriculum choice?  Again, I am so unsure right now, but one thing I am sure of is that there are great educational sites we can use in the mean time. 


 Here are 10 that I have compiled after much research for my girls:

1. Ed Helper
2. Discovery Education
3. Internet Public Library
4. School Express
5. Study Stack
6. Study Spanish
7. Education Creations
8. Lesson Plan Central
9. How Stuff Works
10. Kids.Gov

There is so much out there I have actually had to start a list.  All of these are thanks to homeschool.com.

If you know of any sites that are great summer supplements, please post them below.  I am always looking for educational online resources.  Especially if they can be free.  Free is good.

Many Blessings!

Math Mammoth Grade 5 Light Blue Curriculum Review

 Is your child a fan of math?  My 10 year old has found it's not her most favorite of subjects, but we seem to be working through it.  As I am trying to figure out what math curriculum to use next year, I was introduced to Math Mammoth by Maria Miller. I received the awesome opportunity of reviewing the light blue series for grade 5.

I received files that were easily downloadable to my desktop.  Here is what is included in the grade 5 light blue series:

• User Guide Math Mammoth Light Blue
• More info from Math Mammoth
• Bonus Soft-Pak
• Cutouts
• Tests
• Student Worksheets

For those interested, Math Mammoth is aligned with Common Core Standards.

The student worksheets consist of 5-A and 5-B along with answer keys.  5-A covers:

• The Four Operations
• Large Numbers and the Calculator
• Problem Solving
• Decimals

5-B covers:

• Graphing and Statistics
• Fractions: Add and Subtract
• Fractions: Multiply and Divide
• Geometry 

 

 It's good to go through the sheets up to 4 times a week.  This is our goal for the summer as well to keep our brains sharp.

I like how cutouts are included with this curriculum series.  These are used for learning fractions.

There are also cumulative review chapters included in the series.  Chapters 1-8 and practice sheets.   You can also make extra worksheets.  This option takes you to a website where you can generate worksheets for your 5th grader to stay on top of their math skills.  Pretty cool!

When it's time to test your 5th grader on math skills they have learned, you can print them out.  All 8 chapter tests are included as well as an end-of-year test.

I think I may utilize Math Mammoth through the summer as well as a supplement through our homeschool year next year.  I really like it and Kelly seems to not mind it either, haha!  She really enjoys fractions!  All of the pages are easy to understand.  A child can figure it out on their own which is always a plus, but if they are struggling with an area, it's simple for the parent to instruct as well.

How much does this curriculum cost?

• Full set for 5 is $34.
• Full set for 5-A is $17.50
• Full set for 5-B is $17.50
• Supportive Materials are $8.95

They can be purchased through CD or printed form.  If you are unsure where your child is as far as age or grade, you can take a free placement test on the Math Mammoth website.  Very nice!

The great thing about Math Mammoth is you get to try sample pages for free to see if you are interested in using the products.  Awesome!

What math curriculum do you currently use?  Have you ever used Math Mammoth?

Feel free to read other reviews by the TOS Review Crew.

June Girls

I am so beyond excited that we are in the month of June.  Summer is my all time favorite month and I'm am looking forward to many exciting things with my family this summer.

On top of vacations, beaches, etc., we will be continuing our summer homeschooling adventures as well.  I am taking a week off to plan and prepare as I am not sure of everything we will be doing.  I know that we will be sticking with math, reading, and writing for sure at least 3 times a week.

Science and history will be incorporated through museums, etc.  I also need to plan for the fall, don't even want to think about it right now, haha!  I will start working on that the middle/end of July as I would like to start earlier this year.  Middle of August.

Our sweet Lyssa was a finalist for our local parent magazine Metro Parent for the Cover Kids contest.  If she wins she gets to be on the cover and receive a college savings plan, etc.  This was unexpected for sure. She did a great job at the audition!  

We are still wrapping up our end of year events.  Kelly completed her GymFest for Gymnastics and did a fabulous job.  She received a medal etc.  So proud of her accomplishments.  We will be planning for summer.  Her coach would like her to start on pre-teams as they told me she is a "natural" and needs to move forward in other areas.  We are going to a parent meeting this Wednesday to discuss a new program her center is starting.  They want her to train 6 hours a week to start this summer.  I am not sure we are ready for such things.  Will be praying about that.  I know that daddy is most definitely not on board.  We are hoping they will be working with us on this.  We expect and understand more hours as she gets older etc., for competition, but she just started last September.  Yikes, pray for us lol!

Lyssa and Bethany will be having their ballet and tap recital this Saturday.  They did well at rehearsal.  Looking forward to that.  This year's theme is Broadway.

The final event of the year is their piano recitals which will take place the end of June.  My girls are blessed and doing well in this area as well.

Well, I think that is it for now. We have a lot of events to go through this month of June.  I will be so ready for a vacation when it's all over, haha!

What are your plans for the summer?

See The Light Dreams of Joseph Art Review (Review Crew)

 

 

If you are looking for a biblically based art curriculum, you most definitely want to check out See the Light: Drawing Children to Him.  I jumped on board this opportunity as the lessons are all through DVD.  As long as you have all the supplies needed, you are good to go.

I chose for Kelly (10) to do the art lesson on Dreams of Joseph.  I was beyond impressed on how all of this was laid out.  Before I go into more detail about her art lesson, I would like to talk about See the Light briefly.

All See the Light lessons are featured with master artist Pat Knepley.  They offer a variety of lessons in specific categories:

• Art Class
• Art Projects
• Bible Stories

If you click each link above, you will see all of the different types of lessons available.  Pretty awesome. 

Part 1 of Lesson

Kelly and I chose to review a lesson from Art Projects: Dreams of Joseph in the style of Marc Chagall.  This particular lesson is for ages 10+.  It's broken up into 4 parts so that you don't get lost and can pause or rewind if needed.  The 4 parts are as follows:

• Outline Key Elements in Black
• Paint the Background
• Paint Joseph's Colorful Robe
• Finish your Painting with Joseph's Dream Details

Part 2 of Lesson

Here are the materials we needed for this See the Light art lesson:

• A "12x16" sheet of white or manila Bristol board or poster board
• Craft or Tempura paint: White, Green, Yellow, Red, Orange, Blue, Green, Violet, Black, and Brown
• Wax coated white paper plates
• Variety of different sizes of paintbrushes
• Tablecloth or newspapers to protect the surface you are using
• Bowl of water or a sink within reach
• Paper Towels
• #2 Pencil
• White or Gray Kneaded Eraser

Part 3 of Lesson

I love how master artist Pat Knepley actually takes the time to discuss why they are painting the particular piece.  She also reads Bible scriptures to back it all up. So great! Kelly actually really enjoyed this part of it as well.  She was more than anxious to get started on this particular See the Light art lesson as she loves drawing.

Pat takes the kids step by step on how to mix proper colors, etc., to achieve the proper outcome for the painting.  As you can see, Kelly did pretty amazing with hers from beginning to end.  She got frustrated with color mixing the greens at one point as at first her shade of green didn't turn out the way Pat's did.  The great thing about painting is you can just paint right over it. So she backed up that part of the lesson a little bit and started over that process until she achieved the proper shade. Kelly wanted it to be perfect, so I just rolled with it. LOL!

Part 4 of Lesson

When she finally made it to the end of the lesson, the end result was absolutely beautiful.  For painting the robe, Pat allows the children to use the colors however they wish to make it unique.  Not everyone's robe should look exactly alike.  A child's perception!  Gotta love that.

I honestly love See the Light and highly recommend it for homeschooling art lessons or even just for fun.  My 6.5 year old is wanting to do a lesson.  I will most definitely be purchasing more lessons in the future. 

How much does one art lesson cost? You can purchase Dreams of Joseph for $14.99.

Finished Product!

I was always curious how we could achieve art in the home, and these DVD lessons are perfect! I think that your child would like it too.  The face of accomplishment is priceless!  Kelly was so proud of her masterpiece!

Have you ever heard of See the Light?  Maybe this has sparked your interest?  Would love to hear from you.

Feel free to read other reviews from the TOS Review Crew. 

Paperless Home Organization from Simplified Pantry Review

Is your world full of paper clutter?  Even before homeschooling, paper clutter became a major issue in our home whether it was all over the fridge, scattered all over the tables, etc.  It would be so easy to toss it all in the garbage if they weren't so important, right?  I was so excited to be introduced to Paperless Home Organization by Simplified Pantry.  This is from The Old Schoolhouse's sister site, Molly Green Magazine (econobusters.com.) If you struggle with paper clutter.  Keep reading, Paperless Home Organization is  most definitely for you. 

First off, what is Simplified Pantry?  As busy moms, we are always searching for quick, easy, and very healthy recipes for our families, correct?  Simplified Pantry was created by Mystie Winckler, a concerned mom looking for simple recipes for her family.  She also took it up a notch with home organization.

Now you may be curious as to what Paperless Home Organization is?  "Paperless" most certainly caught my attention.  Author, Mystie Winckler, teaches you how to create a digital home management notebook.  Awesome!  Here is a few of the many things that are covered in this eBook:

• Benefits of Home Management Binder
• Benefits of Going Paperless
• Keeping it Simple
• Basic GTD Concepts & Terms
• Initial Set-Up Instructions
• Using Gmail
• Principals for Your Email Inbox
• Gmail Tips and Tricks
• Using Google Calendar
• Principals for your Calendar
• Using Remember the Milk
• Principals for Remember the Milk

and much more.

If you use Gmail often, you are on the right track to utilizing Paperless Home Organization.  It basically will take a step at a time to build your system, but it's definitely worth it. I am going to continue working with mine to achieve what is needed.  I already utilize Gmail, Google Calendar, etc., so it wasn't difficult on my part to get started on my digital home management notebook. 

You will also want to set up an account with Remember the Milk and Evernote.  I honestly have never heard of these two sites and was excited to move forward to give it a shot.  Sign-ups are free and easy to use and help you manage your tasks when needed.  They are also great if you run a home business as well and need to keep track of that on top of your household duties and children's extra-curricular activities.    The other great thing about Evernote is you can use it for blogging as well.  This is a definite plus for me as blogging is a part of my home business.  Can't wait to use this in this particular area.

There is so much to all of this, it can almost be overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it all and how you would like to apply it to your schedules, it's heaven!

With Paperless Home Organization  you can also say goodbye to all the paper clutter of sticky notes around the house.  Those can also become overwhelming and become easily lost in the clutter causing you to miss an important meeting, event, etc.  Wouldn't you agree?

Another great thing about Paperless Home Organization is that it's tune with the modern times.  Who needs all of this paper anyways?  With all of these tools made available to us, it should be quite simple to manage everything all in one place; online!  After all, moms these days are avid users of the Internet and computer.  It's so easy to just go on and keep everything organized for our homeschool and even our business.

I most definitely would recommend this eBook to every mom looking to go paperless in their schedules.   It is an answer to prayers, honestly.  I don't know what I would do without it.  I plan on revamping my notebook slightly in the days ahead as to become more organized now that I understand how this system works.  It will be greatly beneficial when we start a new homeschooling year this coming fall.

The Paperless Home Organization eBook is currently only $3.99! Awesome price for something that will change your life in this department.  Along with this eBook I received Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free/Dairy Free.  Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free/Dairy Free are currently $12.99 each.  These are also eBooks.

A big thank you to Mystie for creating something such as this for all of us busy moms! These are great tools I plan on sharing with fellow homeschoolers, etc.  So excited to use these to better myself in the recipe department as well!

What do you think?  Do you think you could utilize something like Paperless Home Organization?  Want to read more reviews? Check them out at the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

SPECIAL: Enter TOS2013 at checkout from May 20 to June 3, 2013 to receive a 30% discount from any or all of Mystie’s ebooks!