Homeschool Wrap Up Week 14

The last victim fell to the illness this week so now that we've all had it, I am so glad it's over!  And I hope we never get it (or anything else would be nice) again!  Our homeschool goals this week were to finish up what we started last week and get to a good stopping place to take a week off for Thanksgiving next week.

Bible: We read 3 chapters in the book of John.

History: We completed lessons 67, 68, and 69 in The Mystery of History Vol 1.

Geography: We completed lesson 2 on the Pacific Northwest in Let's Go Geography.

Science: We read through Chapter 3 in Botany but did not do the activities.

Music Appreciation: We finished the section on Richard Wagner in Zeezok Music Appreciation 2 (he was an interesting individual.)


Lily worked this week on multiplication diagnostics in CTC Math and after working on those we realized she needs to go back and revisit multiplying large numbers so we will start working on that again after the break.  She finished Morning Girl in Lightning Literature and did 4 pages of her Reading Eggs workbook.

Emmie completed addition diagnostics in CTC Math.  She is working on Dr. Suess quotes for copywork and read through and did activities on Sequoyah for Lightning Lit.  She also completed 2 lessons in AAR Level 3.

Anthony and Christian did 4 days of math.  They completed lesson 1 of AAS Level 7.  They finished Robin Hood and also their persuasive essays (those need a bit of practice we may do another one after the break or maybe work on some free writing and come back to it I'm not sure yet.)

We had babies Monday and Tuesday this week.

Monday the girls had gymnastics.

Tuesday was a beautiful day and we spent a lot of it outside.

Wednesday was Kid's Club and Children's Choir and it was Alex's birthday!

Thursday was dance and a 4 h STEM Club meeting.

Friday we had music lessons.

Sunday after church we helped decorate for Christmas.

I wrote my last Crew review this week.  I had some second thoughts a few times this week and whether or not I should stay on.  I hope I made the right decision. 

Nick's off school all next week so we are off all week too!  We have 4 h workshop and are hoping to get to the movies to see Frozen II (shhhh) and then Nick leaves Friday for Atlanta gets home Tuesday, stays home Wednesday and then leaves Thursday for Dallas. 

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Thinkwell

Thinkwell  offers online math courses for 6th to 8th Grade Math (6th Grade to Pre-Algebra including Essentials and Honors) and High School Math  (Algebra to Calculus including Essentials and Honors.)  For the last several weeks we have had an opportunity to use and review 8th Grade Math (PREALGEBRA) from Thinkwell.



Thinkwell's courses included online videos, exercises, quizzes, and tests along with printable notes and worksheets for students.  You can choose to pick and choose areas that your child needs to work on or follow the lesson plans for a full course.   Each lesson contains several short videos with step by step explanations that can viewed and reviewed as many times as the students needs.  Online exercises for the student to complete gives step by step answers and printable exercises have step by step answer keys.  You can choose to print the worksheets from the course website or purchase the entire set of worksheets separately.  Online quizzes and tests also give step by step answers and grades for quizzes and tests are recorded in the course.  Subscriptions are for 12 months but can be extended by 1,3, or 6 months.  Placement tests are available.


I have been using the 8th Grade Math course (PREALGEBRA) with my 14 year old 8th grader.  We had been using another online math course but were looking for something new when this review came up.  One of my main reasons for using online math classes is so that I do not have to teach and that my students can complete the work independently.  With our previous course we discovered that while the answers were given to each question, they were not given step by step.  Every time my son got something wrong and wasn't sure why he got it wrong I would have to go back and work the problems out myself to help him figure out what he was doing wrong.  This was adding time to my school day and making him wait for me to be available to help him instead of working at his own schedule.  I was VERY excited to see that Thinkwell shows answers to every single problem step by step.  This had made a huge difference in our homeschool!


How does a lesson work?

Anthony logs in to the website.  There is no separate log in for students and teachers, it's all the same, and clicks on go to course.  Then the main page pops up.

You click on the chapter you are working on.

Then the subtopic.

All of the coursework will be on that page (except quizzes and tests those are in the assessment section.)  You can print notes, watch the videos, complete the online exercises and Interactive activity and print the topic worksheet.  When Anthony is working if he understands the topic and gets all of the online exercises correct he does not do the printed worksheet, but if he needs a little more practice he does the printed worksheet and checks it with the answer key.

What did we think?

We love the video instruction.  The teacher is funny and interesting and the videos are a good length.  He does a great job of using visual examples and showing how to do everything step by step.

I love the combination of online and printable exercises.  You can choose what works best for your child or to do both if extra practice is needed.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that everything is worked out step by step.  This is so important especially as students move into upper levels of math.

The  daily work and quizzes and tests have a good amount of problems.  There are enough questions to give the students enough practice but not too many that they are overwhelmed. 

I like that the grades for the quizzes and tests are stored.

The biggest pro?  Anthony understands it.  He is doing very well with his lessons and understanding why he misses something when he gets it wrong.


What Would I Change?

A few picky little things.  The log in is just a bit awkward to me.  I wish there was a separate student log in that would take them right where they left off and a parent log in for the answer keys and grades and check lists.

For some reason it only shows that he completes the first video even though he always watches all of them in a lesson.

I wish the grades were stored for all the online work including the online exercises.

I wish the quizzes and tests were in the same area as the coursework instead of a separate spot.  We almost missed the first one but thankfully I had read the lesson plan that day (he doesn't usually just goes to what is next.)

Overall I think Thinkwell is an outstanding math course!  I wish we had started with it this year instead of the course we did start with.  We will definitely be using it for the rest of the year!! I have reviewed several online math programs over the years and this is my favorite for middle school and up.

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 13

The week started off pretty good but went downhill really fast.  But we survived and made it through and a new week starts tomorrow! 


Monday I got Nick to school, returned home to do some chores and start out school day.  We read through one chapter in the book of John, and completed 3 MOH History lessons (64, 65, and 66) before lunch.  In the afternoon everyone did a math lesson (Emmie missed one and cried and cried.)  Emmie worked on the poem All Things Bright and Beautiful in literature and we did the warm up lesson for the story Billy Makes Friends in AAR Level 3, she also did some copywork,  Lily worked on her Morning Girl lesson in literature and her Reading Eggs workbook.  Christian and Anthony started the first lesson in AAS Level 7, read a chapter of Robin Hood and completed the comprehension questions, and started an outline on a persuasive essay.

I picked up Nick from school and took the girls to gymnastics.  Then I ran them all home after and ran back to town for a homeschool meeting (3 trips to town and back = 2 hours driving for me.)  When I got home and went to check on all of the children, I found Anthony not feeling well.  I was up most of the night with him.

Tuesday Chelsea took Nick to school because she had a sub job at the high school and she had to bring the children out here.  I confined Anthony to his bed upstairs and kept everyone else downstairs.  For school we read one chapter in the book of John, watched an episode on Post Impressionist in HiGasfy, and started lesson 2 in Let's Go Geography Year 2 on the Pacific Northwest.  Christian and Lily did Math.  Lily did her literature and Emmie read Billy Makes Friends in AAR Level 3.  Nick had a field trip to SAU and needed to be picked up at 10:00 Tuesday night so I had to run to town to get him.

Liam joined in on our geography lesson

Wednesday I ran Nick to school in the morning, came home and tried to get caught up on a few things on the computer and then gathered the children to the upstairs living room for school.  It was really cold that morning and I wanted to sit in front of the fire.  As soon as I started reading my phone went off.  It was a text from Nick who wasn't feeling well and needed to be picked up from school.  I went and got him and gave up on the idea of school for the day as it was almost lunchtime. Instead I cleaned and disinfected everything (again.)  Then we had to leave for church (3rd trip to town again) leaving Anthony and Nick home. 

Lily and Emmie packed some OCC boxes

We had some drama at church that was ridiculous and unnecessary and ended up being a personal attack on me and two of my children.  I really hate conflict and confrontation.  One good thing that came out of it though is that it made me really stop and think about my children and all of the responsibilities they end up with without having a say in the matter because I am in charge of something and whether or not that's fair.  Especially when they go above and beyond and still get criticized for it.  I spoke with the children that evening and explained that if they no longer want to help with it they don't have to just because I'm in charge.  They can choose not to.  It also helped me make another decision.  I have been on the Homeschool Review Crew for 10 years.  I have written 449 reviews with one more due this week.  I had been on the fence about returning for a few other reasons.  But it occurred to me that the same thing happens over and over again with reviews.  I throw something at the kids telling them I need them to read this or use this or switch math because I need to write a review and I have not given them much of a say in it at all.  It's time for that to change.  I will not be returning next year.  I think in January when it starts rolling again I will miss it especially when its things from companies I love.  I still would consider writing reviews for those companies I love!  We have been very blessed with many things I would not have known about or could not afford if it wasn't for the Crew. Right now I just feel relieved to have that decision made and to take control of my homeschool and more of my time.

Wednesday night Christian came down sick.  I was up with him most of the night and cleaning and disinfecting everything again.  He really had it the worst.  Everyone but Art has had it by now so I am hoping we are done being sick for awhile!!

Thursday we did not even attempt school.  We watched a few educational TV shows on Animal Planet.  I was so, so tired.  I got Alex to a meeting and Emmie to dance.

This chicken got a bit lost and ended up in our swing set.  The girls put some hay in there because the cats like to sleep there and it got so cold at night this week (we were down to 18 degrees.) 

Friday morning I got Nick to school came home and took care of paying bills and other paperwork I needed to get done.  Made an appointment for the dog at the vet who had a mysterious fluid filled lump on her side.  I had to cancel music to take the dog.  She has a small puncture wound that caused a bruise and the bruise to fill up with blood.  They stuck a needle in it to make sure that was what it was and gave her two weeks worth of antibiotics. We had to run her back home (because she was bleeding everywhere)  and then go back to town again to get groceries.  Art got out of work early to go look at a car someone had told us about and we bought it.  It is a 2004 Buick Lesabre, leather interior and was very well taken care of.  Nick's vehicle is now nicer then mine.  We will get it on the road this week and he will be driving himself again. 

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Elephant Learning Math Academy

We received a 12 month subscription to Elephant Learning Math Academy to use and review.


Elephant Learning Math Academy can be used with children as young as 2 through teens as old as 16.  They cover counting to algebra concepts. Elephant Learning uses a series of game like puzzles that help students learn how to solve math problems.  The program tests what your child knows and tailors their questions.  Elephant Learning can be accessed using a web browser or an app on a smart phone or tablet.  There are also worksheets you can print.  Their website states that by using their program 30 minutes a week for 12 weeks students will gain one year of math. 


We log in to Elephant Learning Academy using Google Chrome as a web browser.  Our family log in takes us to a dashboard where I can see reports for my students and have each of them log in from there.

When the student is logged in they go to a screen where they can choose the theme of their "game" play that day.  There are several different choices that will appeal to both boys and girls and younger and middle grade children.  Choosing the theme does not affect the questions they are asked, just the types of characters that are on the screen when the questions are asked.

 

Then they go into their questions.  The game says the child's name frequently during the time they use it.  It will say things like "Good Morning Christian" and then ask them the question.  The voice and the accent changes throughout the course of their time playing. 

Elephant Learning Academy does not teach concepts.  Instead it gives questions and asks your child to figure them out.  Here are some examples of the types of things they will see.

They are given different numbers on a number line and asked to move the character close to or on that number.

They will be given a certain number of something and asked to find a fraction of them. 

They need to select a certain number, fraction, or percentage of something.

They have to put a certain number of items in the center but cannot take items away.

 There is not a stopping point.  Questions continue to be asked until you decide to stop for the day.  There is a little timer that shows up that will show how long you have been playing each session.

I had my children use Elephant Learning Academy 3-4 days a week for 10 minutes per day.  I liked that I could easily see everything from one dashboard and could get them logged in and ready to play.  They liked the different themes for the games.  Emmie would choose some of the cuter more girly things like polar bears or ponies while Christian stuck with things like knights, soccer, or the anubis. They struggled with some questions because it doesn't teach you the concepts.  You have to figure out how to solve the puzzles.  My daughter who is more math minded did very well with that and I was impressed at how she worked the problems out, even things she had never seen before.  She did have trouble with counting questions that only showed you the items for a minute or two then covered them up and wanted to know how many there were. My son who really struggles in math had a harder time with it, especially in things like what I would call logic statements because he had never seen those before and didn't understand how to answer them and he became very frustrated.  The program really makes you stop and think and work things out rather then just having children memorize facts, which is a really good thing.  After using the program 3-4 days a week for several weeks, it became monotonous.  The same types of questions asked in basically the same order every single day.  We saw only a small amount of growth (.2) in their Elephant Age in the weeks we spent using the program. 

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Mattie Richardson's Horses in History Series

We have been very blessed to receive a lot of great books to review in the last few months!  Our latest book review was for Mattie Richardson's Horses in History Series from Author Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books. We received a set of four books including:

Appaloosy
Dusty's Trail
Golden Sunrise
Day and Night

We also received a downloadable PDF of the Day and Night Enrichment Guide for the Day and Night book.

Mattie Richardson was only 13 years old when she wrote Appaloosy and then had it published at 16.  Since then (she is now 23) she has written 4 other books, earned her Associate Degree, and works full time at a local business.  She also speaks to schools and groups about writing and her books.


The Horses in History series is geared for ages 8-14.  They are paperback, historical fiction stories that are told by the perspective of the horse.  Each of the books features a different horse and a different period of time.  The books do not need to be read in any particular order.  You can choose a book that coincides with your history studies or read them all for enjoyment.  Each of the stories end with a short Blast From the Past section that talks about the time period.  The stories all contain a few black and white illustrations.

Appaloosy is a 125 page paperback book. This book tells the story of Storm, an Appaloosa stallion that lives in the late 1800's during the  Nez Perce War.  Shortly after Storm is born , he discovers that he is not a free horse like he thought, he belongs to the Nez Perce Indians.  Storm does not want to belong to anyone and desires to head west where he can run free.  After spending some time with the Indians he is captured and taken to live with white men.  After being with a man who does not treat him well he comes to live with a girl named Faith after she buys him with her gold locket.  He loves Faith and the other horses on the farm and is content to stay there forever until horse thieves steal Storm and his friends.  He ends up having to make an important choices about his future.

Dusty's Trail is a 78 page paperback book.  This book takes place during the early 1860's and tells the story of Dusty, a quarter horse.  Levi (Dusty's owner) reads and ad in a local newspaper looking for young men willing to risk life daily to deliver mail for the Pony Express.  Levi sneaks away from his farm to take the job.  Dusty is a horse that is easily spooked but can really run.  He is perfect for the job in the Pony Express.  The job doesn't seem as dangerous as they first thought it might be until trouble with Indians endangers their lives.

Golden Sunrise is a 100 page book that takes place in Texas in the early 1800's and tells the story of Cheyenne, a Golden Palomino mare.  Cheyenne's owner Jared is a volunteer soldier during the Texas fight for Independence and orders to defend  Fort Alamo against Mexican forces.  Cheyenne and Jared travel to San Antonio.  They fight in battles and make some famous new friends along the way.

Day and Night is a 150 page book that takes place during the Civil War and tells the story of Tucker a horse in the U.S. Mounted Infantry and Shiloh a horse in the Confederate Volunteer Calvary. Tucker and Shiloh are brothers but are very different from one another.  They are separated when one is sold to the US Army and the other ends up with a young Confederate soldier. Both learn a lot about the war and the effect it had on its people and it's land, but will they ever see each other again?


The Day and Night Enrichment Guide is a 98 page PDF.  It is split up into 7 different sections.  Each section of the guide discusses a part of the book (Part 1 covers pages 1-27.)  In each section you will find: reading comprehension questions. vocabulary, history, a soldier's life, living history activity, geography, horses in history, creating your own story, biography, and further reading. Part 8 has a finishing your story section, optional field trip activity, further reading, and conclusion.  A 14 page answer key is also included.


I read aloud to my 4 youngest children (8,10,12, and 14) every night before bed.  We pick a chapter book geared towards the girls and read a chapter each night and one geared towards the boys and read a chapter each night.  All four children listen to both books.  For the last several weeks we have been reading from the Mattie Richardson's Horses in History Series.  We started with Appaloosy because it was the first one written and then moved on To Dusty's Trail.  Next we will do Golden Sunrise and then Day and Night.  

My girls absolutely love horses and books about horses so I knew they would enjoy these books. They would love to own their own horse someday.  I like to read historical fiction myself and love to read those types of books to the children.  I think it helps bring history more to life for them.  We are not studying any of these time periods in history right now but still enjoy reading and learning about different periods in our read aloud time.  I did pre read a bit through Appaloosy before starting it with it being a bedtime read aloud and discussing the Nez Perce Indian War I wasn't sure how graphic or detailed it would be for an 8 year old, but I didn't find anything I was worried about reading.  The girls have really enjoyed the stories so far and the boys have liked them as well.  So far the girls liked
Appaloosy the best.  I asked them what their favorite parts were and Emmie said, "All of it."  Lily said her favorite part was when Storm got hurt and Faith came and rescued him.  


To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 12

This week started off good and ended as a bust.  Wednesday I had two sick.  Thursday another went down and then so did I!  We stayed in bed Thursday and Friday watching movies. So we did not get much work done at all.  And...Friday morning 15 minutes after Nick left for school he called me.  He was broken down by the side of the road.  I had to pick him up and get him to school.  Art later went and dragged the car home on the trailer.  It would be an expensive fix and may not fix the problem so we are looking for a cheap, reliable car for him to drive.  Teenagers like to think they have independence driving but really it gives the parent independence.  I have to make three trips to town just today.


Bible: We read 3 chapters of the book of John for our Bible lesson.

History: We read lessons 61, 62, and 63 in The Mystery of History Vol 1.

No Geography, Art, or Science.

Music Appreciation: We read the first chapter of Richard Wagner.

Art History: We watched the last HiGasfy video on Impressionism.

Emmie completed 2 lessons in CTC Math and one lesson in AAR.  She also did some copywork.


Lily completed 2 lessons in CTC Math, 2 lessons in her Reading Eggs workbook and 2 days in Lightning Lit working on the story Morning Girl.

Anthony and Christian completed 3 lessons in Robin Hood and math.  We are still working on the steps to writing a Persuasive Essay in Jump In.  They did no spelling this week.  I thought I had Level 7 of AAS, but didn't and had to order it.  It arrived Friday so we can get into spelling this week.


We had babies Monday and Tuesday. 

Monday the girls had gymnastics.

Tuesday was a beautiful day and we spent a lot of time outside and even went to the park for awhile.

 Then we had a 4 H STEM meeting.

Lily took this picture

Wednesday we had Kid's Club (some of us did.)

I cancelled all activities for Thursday and Friday.

Saturday Alex went hunting and got a buck!

I hope you had a great week!


Happy Homeschooling!

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