Homeschool Review: Easy Classical

As part of the TOS Crew, I was asked to review the Early Modern History Schedule from Easy Classical.

This is one year of their history schedules for the Primary grades. It's abit different from most of our reviews in that it's just the schedule. There was no expectation that we purchase all the resources to actually USE this schedule, just review it and give our thoughts on it. So I'm going to do this in abit more of an "outline" format than I typically use for reviews. I'd also like to point out that many other people will also be reviewing this product today. Their reviews, along with mine, will be linked to the TOS Crew blog. Some of these people have used some of the suggested resources in this schedule and will be able to give a different perspective on it than I can.

• What it is:  A schedule for one year of history.
• What's included:  A weekly schedule for 36 weeks, including recommended books to read, quiz questions, writing assignments, projects, etc. Also included are "drawing lessons" of sorts that are used throughout the schedule.
• The schedule is available either as a download ($29.95) for a notebook ($35.95). We received the download version to review.
• What else you need: This is just the schedule, all teaching supplies (textbooks, etc.) must be purchased (or perhaps borrowed from the library?) separately. A list of recommended supplies is on the website, here. Note that they suggest choosing the resources that work best for your family, so you may not need ALL of these.
• How to use it: This is a schedule to take all the guesswork out of lesson planning. For each week it lists specifically what reading, writing, projects, etc. to do which day, Monday through Friday.
• Age range: This is for K-6, my understanding is, with this approach, world history would be re-visited again in grades 7-12. I would assume younger children would enjoy some of the read alouds and perhaps easier versions of the projects. For older children, I assume there is a similar resource (if not from this vendor, somewhere out there) for the second time through world history, but if not, they could participate in this, with additional, more in-depth information added.
• Learning/Teaching Style:  This is specifically designed for the classical style, as indicated by the name of the company, hee hee. I think other styles could adapt it. For example, since I have it, next time we're studying this period in history (explorers through 1815) I will likely refer to it for ideas. My kids would enjoy the drawing, we would pick and choose from the read alouds, etc. 
• Teacher preparation required: This is just the schedule, the teacher/parent is still going to need to purchase or borrow the books, etc. However, having it laid out WHEN you need each thing and WHAT you need is going to cut down on the time needed in planning/prep. Also each week includes a "shopping list" for the next week, so you know ahead of time what you need to get together.
• What do I think about this product?  Obviously, it's not designed for our learning/teaching style. We're about as far from classical homeschoolers as you can get LOL. That said, we actually used a similar schedule a couple years ago for history. It was a US History schedule designed for around 3rd grade, so required alot of tweaking, but it was nice to have the basic timeline laid out for me and have suggested books and activities for each week. I can see this schedule working well for us the same way, as a rough guide. I haven't looked at the books, etc. but just reading over the schedule, I can say that people who use this schedule as it stands spend a LOT more time each day doing "school" than we do. I'd venture to guess that following this schedule, as it stands, we'd spend significantly longer doing history than we currently doing all of our school. Is that good or bad? I don't know, it's just a different style, it wouldn't work well for us, I'm sure it works beautifully for those who follow the classical model for homeschooling. For ME, it seems expensive for what it is. Yes, it's a lovely convenience to have everything laid out for you, but for the price, I can do my own planning/scheduling. For a new homeschooler feeling overwhelmed, the cost is probably completely worth it! 
• Other products from this vendor: Other schedules (history, science, main, and complete), writing guides, geography curriculum, and copybooks.   

Disclaimer: I received a download of this schedule in exchange for writing this review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Traditional, Shmaditional!

The Blog Cruise is Cruisin' again, after taking a break over the holidays. This week's topic asks, "Do you follow a traditional school schedule?".  I bet my regular readers can answer that question without me saying a word! But . . . you know me, give me something to babble about and of COURSE I'm going to babble!

I thought about trying to compare and contrast traditional school schedules to what we do, but I think instead I'll just share what works for us, and leave it at that:

Our yearly schedule is very . . . variable. Our travel is mostly dependent on Daddy's work. He travels around the state of Pennsylvania as part of his job and sometimes, depending on where he's going and when, we tag along (he's going to Erie next week but driving 5+ hours in snow isn't my idea of fun so we're not going along on this one). Because of that variability, we school year-round. That way when we DO travel, there's no worries about "missing school", though really, the vast majority of our traveling is also "educational" so it's not a big deal.  Perhaps a bigger issue is that learning is a way of life for us, we are always learning, just as we try to eat every day and sleep every night and . . . you get the idea.

Our weekly schedule is also designed to work around Daddy's unpredictable work schedule. He usually works Sundays and then theoretically has at least one day off during the week to make up for it (technically he should have 2 days off during the week since his office works Mon-Thurs, but realistically, we're lucky if he's home one day besides Sabbath). So, rather than "doing school" Mon-Fri and having to "do school" when Daddy IS home, and not doing school on Sunday when he typically is NOT home. We typically school Sun-Fri, but most weeks there's at least one day when something comes up and we don't "do school" if not, then Fri ends up being a free day, though some weeks, if we've had lots of non-school-time in the previous few weeks, I might go ahead & have all 6 days include school time. It all evens out. . . 

And finally, our daily schedule. Our scheduled "school time" is generally an hour or two in the morning, right after breakfast. This is when we do read-alouds, copywork, things like that. If we want to do things that are easier without Little Bit's "help" we do them during her nap. Car time generally means books on tape or other audio resources (lately we've been enjoying learning about creation science and the history of evolution/creationism by listening to Jonathan Park CDs). Bedtime means Sabbath School lessons and a "fun" read aloud (that often teaches some history or something, shhh . . . don't tell them they're learning LOL).

It works for us, and can bend as needed to meet the demands of our schedule. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: January 9

We've had an eventful week.

We started our nutrition study this week. We're using Vintage Remedies for Girls, so this week, we read the first chapter, learned about "real foods" (vs. prepared foods and such). Then we took a field trip to the grocery store (somehow calling it a field trip made them much more excited about going grocery shopping LOL), and looked at labels and things, as well as purchasing the ingredients we needed to make Pasta Primavera (the recipe they chose from the choices listed for Chapter 1).  Then of course, we made the Pasta Primavera for supper. Despite including vegetables like zucchini that they CLAIM they don't like, hee hee.

So that was a hit!

On a less great note, A managed to get her finger smashed in the electronic sliding door of our minivan. She & L were fighting over who got which seat and I was still in the house gathering up Little Bit and all the "stuff" that we seem to drag with us everywhere. So I'm not completely sure of what happened. The door is SUPPOSED to have sensors that automatically reverse to avoid such things. I think she was holding onto the door jam, so it was JUST her finger in the door & it was too small for the door to "register" until it had pinched her pretty good. I'm pretty sure it did NOT completely latch, or it would have broken her finger. She came back inside and we put ice on it & gave her homeopathic arnica (I SWEAR by this for bumps & bruises!!!!) and her finger never even swelled up or turned black and blue. It DID bother her for a day or two, and still feels bruised if she pushes on the finger nail, but it could have been MUCH worse.

Thursday night was our first "date night" under our new schedule of dates. Our friend, Starla, came over to watch the girls while Rodney & I went out ALL BY OURSELVES!! When we got home, Starla was sitting in the same chair she'd been in when we left, with all 3 girls on her lap. She said she'd been sitting there the whole time, hee hee. Said Little Bit didn't even seem to notice we were gone, so that was good (I wasn't sure if it would be problem because she doesn't know Starla very well, but guess it wasn't an issue).

And as you might have guessed would be a part of our week, from the picture at the top, we woke up Friday morning to SNOW!!! I think I had mentioned it briefly to the girls but they hadn't really picked up on it. Little Bit noticed it first. She woke up, chattering, as usual, then suddenly glanced out the window and her eyes got big and she said "nooooo" (not to be confused with "no" (no) or "no" (nose), the 3 are all distinctive but I can't figure out how to differentiate them in writing). A few minutes later I heard the big girls wake up & realize it had snowed LOL.

Once we'd done boring things like eating breakfast and doing chores, of course the big girls wanted to go out in the snow. And when they started talking about going outside Little Bit got excited too. So I decided to take her out for a little while. I hunted down her snowpants and boots and we got her all bundled up and I took her out. She was SOO funny, she's abit of a neat freak (poor child, lives in OUR house, how WILL she survive?) and found it very disturbing that the snow sticks to her boots, hee hee. And then she touched the snow and was equally disturbed that it sticks to her GLOVES. So all in all, the Little Bit snow experience wasn't a huge success. It was getting close to naptime and I *think* the toddler sleds are still in the shed (though it occurs to me as I type this that they might be in the basement), and Rodney has the key to the shed (I hope, because I haven't seen it since he had it last . . .) so we didn't try sledding, that will have to wait for another day . . .

I think I mentioned last week that we've been talking about rearranging the girls' room so that they can sleep on the floor instead of the loft, and eventually Little Bit can join them. Yesterday, we finally did some rearranging. I was just going to do the "first phase" and move the toy shelf against the wall so that there was a larger expanse of floor space under the loft, and then let them continue just sleeping on folded blankets until we got new (smaller, more futon-like) mattresses to use on the floor (and then move the regular mattresses that were on the loft out of there completely). But Rodney was home, and willing to help move the mattresses, so we went ahead & moved them down onto the floor. Probably a good thing, they took up more space than I would have thought. Unless the futon mattresses I was planning to get are narrower, I don't think we can fit 3 across in the space I was planning to use. So now we're thinking about treating it more like one king-size bed, and just have the 3 of them all sleep on it, we shall see . . . for now they're thrilled to have their beds down.

Once we finished with that, the big girls set to work up on the loft, which suddenly seems to have SO MUCH room with the mattresses gone. They decided to make one side "American Girls" and the other side "Schleich Town".  They haven't set up the Schleich stuff yet, but have at least a good start on the American Girls. I was too lazy to climb back up onto the loft to get a good shot of it, so you'll have to settle for A's dolls that are set up in the back corner. The pink princess boxes came with disposable diapers in them, when I saw them at Walmart right before a bunch of our travelling (when I knew we'd be using disposables for Little Bit anyway), I grabbed 2 of them, thinking they'd work well for the big girls to use to store things in. With the rearranging, the girls decided they would make good "sofas" for the American Girls.  Not especially in keeping with the "era" of the dolls  (Colonial, 1800s New Mexico, and Depression era) BUT it works . . .

And finally, some cute Little Bit notes:

The picture is terribly blurry (she just moves TOO FAST for my phone camera LOL), but I had to capture her "fashion sense". She was running around nakey (as is her norm), and suddenly decided she wanted to "get dressed" when I didn't immediately go find her some clothes, she went upstairs and got the lavender sweater out of her drawer and brought it down for me to help her put on. Then she found her (too big) periwinkle fleece pants (I've been putting them on her if we go outside here at home. Her boots keep the extra length from being an issue and them being fleece means they're warm AND water-resistant in case she pees, though that's not really an issue any more) and put them on. And finally found a lavender straw hat that's been in the girls' dress-up stuff forever, but at some point moved down to Little Bit's toy drawer. And there you have, our little fashionista!

She pronounces "sock" with an f sound instead of an s . . . I do a double take every time she says it, but she IS saying sock, I promise!

On morning this week, she woke up and sat up, and I didn't open my eyes right away, so she patted my arm, and when I did open my eyes, she put her hand up by her cheek and did a little wave and said "hi" with the cutest little grin. THEN she asked to nurse LOL.

She loves songs with motions, we sing songs like "This Little Light of Mine" and, one of her favorites . . . "The lightning flashes and the thunder goes BOOM!!" in the car. She also likes "With Jesus in the Family" and is quite opinionated on who we sing about when, hee hee. I wish we sang more of the fun cradle roll songs in Sabbath school here, I think she'd really enjoy them.

When I ordered this year's My Bible First lessons for the big girls, I decided to order the MBF Cradle Roll lessons for Little Bit too. The big girls use MBF in Sabbath School but for some reason (perhaps my biggest complaint against MBF, LOL) they don't make a quarterly for Kindergarten & Primary, just the weekly papers. So, if we're gone a week and don't remember to get the paper in advance, we don't have the paper. After the first couple months that we were here I decided it was worth the money to just order our own set of the lessons (they're only like $9/quarter) and then we'd have them all. Now that I have my handy-dandy binding machine, I bind each quarter's papers into their own "quarterly" and it works wonderfully!  ANYWAY . . . our church doesn't use MBF for Cradle Roll, but I haven't been overly impressed with the lessons they DO use, and we don't always get them, and generally don't get them until at least a week or two into the month and there are no pictures and it's not chronological . . . so . . . I decided rather than trying to struggle along with those lessons now that Little Bit's old enough to have a lesson, to just get the Cradle Roll MBF and use that here at home. It's not ideal, since it doesn't get reinforced at church, but I think it's still a better option for us.

So, starting with this new year (we were a few days late, I was late getting the order in and it took longer to get here than usual because of the holidays), we're reading Little Bit's lesson each night at bedtime too. She's SOO cute! I need to get a video of her saying her "memory verse". She still doesn't talk much, but will try to repeat most anything if you ask her to. So we go one word at a time and she "says it" after me. But in most cases not so that anyone would remember it. BUT last week, her memory verse was Gen 1:1 and then partway through the lesson, it has you read that verse again. So we'd said her mv at the beginning, and then I was reading her lesson. When I read the verse, she said "Genesis" (not clearly, but the same way she said it when repeating her mv)., so she's getting it . . . one thing I like about MBF is that the cradle roll is a 1 year cycle, so at this age where she changes SO QUICKLY, it will be reinforced each year as they are developmentally ready to understand so much more (also helped in my decision to buy it, since I only have to buy 4 quarterlies and they'll last us until she moves into Kindergarten LOL).

And that was our week.

Homeschool Review: Homeschool Day Book

The state we live in doesn't require that children be in school until age 8. So, we haven't had to start reporting our homeschooling yet. But in a few short months, we'll have two 8 yr olds in the house and a few short months after that, we'll begin our first year of "real homeschool". And I have to admit, having to actually KEEP RECORDS has kinda got me nervous.I've looked at a TON of different ways to keep track of what we do, both paper versions and computer versions. And while there are alot of good programs out there, I haven't found anything that works for US! Many of the programs assume you actually know which days each week you'll be doing what, and if you don't do things as planned it messes everything up. . . The paper versions either don't have enough room for my tendency to "babble" (you're shocked to hear I babble aren't you? Ha!), or it asks for too much detail and I can't keep up. NONE of the options I've looked at handled the fact that we do MOST of our schooling together - so keeping a log book for EACH child = double writing/typing. But there are some things that they do at different paces or one opts out of or whatever. Plus, as Little Bit gets older, we'll do some things as a family, "tweaking" it as needed for the age difference, but obviously she'll do some things separately. And then there's the fact that we "do school" for an hour or so, but they are LEARNING all the time. We often go long periods without doing any math during "school time", but they're learning fractions when we cook together, and doing math when they want to figure out how old Little Bit will be when they're 18 or 25 or 50 (their imaginary play is quite fun to listen to LOL). So we needed a way to keep track of at least SOME of that too.

 And then, a few days ago, I heard about the Homeschool Day Book. THIS is just what I need! It's a simple program that lets you record what you DID. And you can set up whatever subjects YOU teach (and/or your state requires that you keep records of) and YOUR children. And then for each entry, you check off all the children who participated and all the subjects that were covered.  And then you can print reports (or view them on the computer, or save them as a .pdf or excel file).  The program is set up that you record how long was spent on each item as well, and if you do that, then you can get reports for time spent. I will be intentionally NOT filling in the time since my state requires that we track days OR hours and I don't want there to be any question which I'm tracking (days), plus it saves me having to keep track of how long we spend on things, hee hee. But I *can* print off an attendance report that will show that we've met our day requirement. I can also print reports by subject to include information in our portfolio showing that we've studied the required subjects during the year. And of course, have the information on all subjects for my own records. This is a great little program, that does just what I need it to do!

One thing I wish it did is to let me choose multiple, but not all, children and/or subjects. So that I could print out a report for my two older children without including Little Bit. Right now I can either print out a report including all 3 children, or separate reports for each child. Especially useful would be to be able to print a report showing activity for the subjects required by the state, but not our "electives". Again, I can print a report for all subjects or individual subjects. Not a huge deal to have a separate report for each subject, or to print a report for all subjects and just use the information for those I need in our portfolio, but it would be a nice feature.

A more complex change would be to somehow have it on my Android (smartphone). I'm not sure how that would work since it's not a web based program, but it sure would be nice to be able to input entries on my phone on days when we're gone all day doing alot of things. Until then, I'll probably still make notes on my phone (probably in Evernote), and then transfer those to my Day Book when I'm back to my computer. But again, it would be nice . . .

This is such a great concept, it works equally well for unschoolers or classical homeschoolers (and everyone in between)! I'm so excited that someone thought to do this, and the timing is perfect for me, gives me time to play with it the rest of this year and be all ready to go next year!

Disclaimer: I wrote this review in response to Homeschool Day Book's offer to provide a permanent license, free of charge, to any bloggers willing to write a review of the trial version. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Disclaimer

Homeschool Review: Math Facts Now

One of the products we were asked to review for the TOS Crew was a computer program called Math Facts Now. In a nutshell, this is computerized "flash cards". And, if you generally utilize flash cards for math, this would be an awesome option for you!

You can either download the program ($15.95) or purchase it on CD ($15.95 + $3.95 S/H). It's a small, easy-to-use computer program. It can be used for addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.  The parent spends a few minutes setting up a lesson. You choose the math facts your child(ren) needs to work on, how many problems are in the lesson, how much time to allow per problem, how to handle missed problems, etc. Then turn your child lose with it. That's really all there is to it. It gives the child math problems, they type in the answer, it tells them if they're right or wrong. If they're wrong, they type out the whole problem 2 or more times (depending on the criteria you set up), and are given the same problem again (sometimes several times) during the lesson to reinforce it.

This can be used for any age that's learning math facts, from the earliest addition (younger children might need you to sit with them and do the typing for them, since inaccurate, or too slow, typing is going to mess them up), until the child has learned all their math facts through the 12s.

As I mentioned earlier, if you use flashcards for math, you're going to love this option! It's going to be a good fit for anyone who teaches "math facts" using flashcards, workbooks, or "school" of any sort.  Unschoolers, or other relaxed schoolers who "teach" math through lifeskills, probably aren't going to use this much. That said, even though we fall into that last category, the girls enjoy occasionally "doing math" with this program, so it can work for anyone, but we probably wouldn't "get our money's worth" out of it if we had purchased it.

Teacher prep is minimal, it only takes 30 seconds or so to set up a new lesson. But since this isn't web-based, if you have multiple computers you're going to have to set it up separately on any computer you use. When we first got the program, I just put it on my computer, figuring that way I'd only have to set up each lesson once, but after a day or two of having to surrender my computer during "math time", I changed strategy and installed the program on each of their computers. Now I have to set up each lesson "twice" so that's more teacher prep, but then my computer isn't tied up while they're doing the lesson.

This program wasn't an ideal fit for our family, but it also isn't something that's targeted at our "style". I honestly don't understand why someone would want to make something "just educational, not entertaining". If you want your kids to memorize math facts (I've stated before, that I think math, certainly basic elementary level math, is better learned through life, so that children recognize, from the beginning WHY 1+1=2 AND why they need to know that), why not at least make it fun? So, I don't really understand the premise behind this program. BUT, that's just me, hee hee. Moving beyond that, does it do what it claims to do? Yes. Does it do it well? Yes. Even though there are many options the parents can set, I would like even more options. I'd like to be able to skip the "type it out 2 times' or at least be able to decrease it to only once when they miss a problem.  I'd like to be able to completely opt out of the timed aspect of this, I suspect if we used this regularly, that would trip them up sometimes if they got distracted by baby sister, etc. in the middle of a lesson.  And, I'd like to be able to choose "both sides" of the equation. The program is set up so that you can choose which number(s) to test, but, whatever number(s) you choose, it's going to give problems adding (or subtracting, etc) that number to all numbers from 0-12 . So, if we chose, to start by learning addition facts through 10+10, this would be a problem, because there's no way, that I found, to avoid having the program also test for 10+12 if you choose the 10s.  All that said, when we first began reviewing this program, the minimum number of problems per lesson was 50. Several of us asked about changing this & the company was quick to change this, reducing the minimum to 5. So I think in most cases, any changes like this, would be something the company would work with you if you asked.

My kids actually seemed to enjoy this more than I anticipated. Probably because "flash cards" is a novelty to them, hee hee. We got this program right at the end of our "season of travel", and we plan to stay closer to home over the winter. But since this isn't web based, it's something I think will work well in the car. I'll pre-set a few lessons on each of their computers and they can quietly work through them during Little Bit's nap or anytime they need a change of pace as we drive. There's also an option to set a reward if they get 100% correct. If we're going to use this in the car, I'll probably set those rewards to be some type of treat (candy, etc) to surprise them when they get to the end.

Disclaimer: We received a free download version of this program free in exchange for writing this review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Homeschool Review: Positive Action for Christ (Bible Curriculum)

 Positive Action for Christ sent their Bible Curriculum to us to review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. Since, when I signed up for the TOS Crew I listed the girls as being in 1st grade, they sent us the First Grade Curriculum, Enjoying God's Gifts.  As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, I sometimes get frustrated with people assuming that we are at a specific "grade level" since homeschooling allows us to move at each child's speed in each subject. So in some areas they're ahead of grade level, in others, they're at or below grade level. However, I do understand that for simplicity's sake, the TOS Crew needed to easily classify each reviewer and grade level was the easiest way to do that. However, in this case, I think a 2nd or 3rd grade level might have been a better fit.

We received both the Teacher's manual ($33.95), and one student manual ($12.95). After looking through the student manual (workbook) I decided against using it for L and A at this time. There was only one, and two of them, so we would have had to order a second one (or take turns with it, or something . . .), we're not big on workbooks anyway, and it seemed below their grade level. We've been able to use the curriculum quite nicely without it, often adapting the concept of the workbook pages to use without the workbook. For example, when the workbook page was a picture of a field and stream and the assignment was to add fish, birds & animals to the picture, I just had them each draw a picture of a scene with fish, birds and animals in it. That said, if you LIKE workbooks, this one seems really nice, brightly colored, and well done.

There is also a music option with this curriculum. The lessons include a recommended "hymn" (for example, "Jesus Loves Me")  and "chorus" (for example "This Little Light of Mine"). The words (but not music) are included in the teacher's manual. There are also music CDs or Tapes available.

This curriculum consists of  35 lessons. Each lesson is designed to last one week. The teacher's manual includes suggestions for using it 3, 4, or 5 days per week. Each lesson includes a memory verse, vocabulary, Bible story, discussion questions, teaching strategies (including how to use the workbook pages for that lesson and other ideas), an application story (story about kids that "teaches the lesson" of that week's lesson, my kids LOVE this part, they would be happy to just go through the book and read all of those stories, hee hee), and some character trait assignment ideas.

This curriculum is definitely designed to be used on a typical "school year" calendar. The song lyrics, are listed by "month" (September's hymn . . .etc). And it looks like it includes Christmas stuff for Christmas time, but since we just started using this curriculum in November, things didn't line up that way for us.  Something to be aware of if you school year-round.

It's also designed for the teacher to do some prep-work in advance. The recommendation is to pre-read the Bible stories and other stories and then tell them to the children rather than read them. And, of course, decide in advance which teaching strategies to use and have supplies ready for any assignments. I'm just not that organized. I just read the stories and it works fine. My kids are used to us having to go hunt down supplies in the midst of assignments, and usually it's just a matter of drawing a picture or something, so that works too. But it IS designed for the teacher to spend at least a few minutes in prep-work. It's also designed for a school-setting. So some of the discussion questions and such assume separate "school" and "home" time. So far it's been pretty easy to adapt those for us.

As I mentioned, we were sent the first grade curriculum "Enjoying God's Gifts" to review. This year focuses on God's Gifts, including Creation, friends, children, etc. While the workbook is pretty grade-level specific, I think the curriculum overall would work well for preschool through 2nd grade (roughly).

Since this was designed for classroom use, it probably fits best with a more "school-at-home" teaching style, but we haven't had any problem adapting it to use in our more relaxed style. That said, I don't know that I would choose to purchase this curriculum for our personal learning/teaching style. I think we could just as easily us e a book of Bible stories and come up with memory verses and "assignments" to go with them. But I'm cheap that way.

I think for it's intended audience, this is a great product. It's not an ideal fit for us, but we have enjoyed it, and may continue using it for the next couple months (we were at a transition point for Bible when we received this, so I may be lazy and just continue with it for a little while).  If you're new to homeschooling, or new to adding Bible to your curriculum, this would be a great way to have it all laid out for you. If you've included a heavy emphasis on Bible and character development (using Biblical examples) in your home or homeschooling for several years, you might want to go another direction, or look into using a higher grade level. I find the Bible stories and discussion questions to be below my girls' Biblical knowledge, but we've had weekly Bible lessons for church since birth, and a  heavy emphasis on Bible and Character Traits throughout our homeschooling, so understandably they're at a different place in their Bible knowledge than a child just coming into a Christian school environment without much home training in this area would be.

As I mentioned, the girls have enjoyed the stories. They also like that we sing as part of Bible class now (I don't have the CD but this week's chorus is the first song we've come to that I haven't known, I looked it up on YouTube to get the tune).

In addition to the product we reviewed, Positive Action for Christ has Bible curriculum available for K-6, Middle School, and High School. As well as Bible study products for churches.

Disclaimer: Positive Action for Christ provided us with a free Student manual and Teachers manual in exchange for writing this review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Weekly Wrap-Up - January 2

Welcome to 2011, how did THAT happen?! We had a nice, quiet, week-after-Christmas last week.

We had snow the first part of the week. It was BITTERLY cold, so I didn't take Little Bit out, but the big girls had fun with it.

School has been "lite":

- Bible:  Positive Action for Christ curriculum (watch for that review tomorrow! EEK!! Must get busy writing it!)
- Spanish:  Calendar plus Speekee (another review)
- Music:  We started a study on Peter and the Wolf (another review . . . notice a trend?)
- Science & History:  Listening to Jonathan Park CDs in the car, LOVE them!!!

We're starting to work on some cleaning & organizing around here.  Getting all the Christmas stuff packed away, obviously. But also doing some additional organizing & decluttering.  Right now we're working on the kitchen. Each girl gets to choose a cupboard or drawer and clean it out (I get say in what goes back in and what doesn't. My goal is to continue doing this around the house, getting rid of stuff we don't need and putting anything that "doesn't belong" into boxes that I stack in the spare room. Then once things are organized, hopefully with "extra room" in most storage spaces (cupboards, shelves, etc), I'll start going through the "doesn't belong" boxes, and either FIND a place for it, pack it away if it truly is something we will use later but don't need access to now (clothes the big girls have outgrown, for example), labeling it such that I can find it again in storage when we do need it, or GET RID OF IT!!  At least for now, the girls are enjoying helping.

Knitting continues to be a favorite passtime. I'm working on a poncho for L (we found ones for both Little Bit & A at Goodwill, so L's feeling left out). I didn't find any patterns I liked, so I'm using A's as rough template and making it up as I go, we shall see if it turns out.  L is still perfecting her wash cloths, and A decided to try to make a poncho for one of her dolls (using "mommy's pattern" so we'll see if it turns out too).

And finally, we're working toward a rather major re-arrange in the girls' room. A few weeks ago A had a small stomach bug and threw up in the night. For convenience sake, I put some blankets on the floor and she slept there the rest of that night, and has been sleeping there ever since (because she likes it). Not to be left out, L decided SHE wanted to sleep on the floor too. So at the moment, they are both sleeping on folded up blankets on the floor of their room. I started thinking about it, and figured, hey if they want to sleep down below, we might as well rearrange things to utilize the space with that in mind. Bonus, we may actually succeed in moving Little Bit into their room if they're on the floor too. So we're still in the planning stages (and making sure they like sleeping down below). But the plan is to get futon-type mattresses from IKEA (love IKEA) and rearrange the floor (including moving some of the stuff currently on the floor up onto the loft). Then we can stack the mattresses during the day and pull them out at night. So there will still be floor space for play during the day, and added incentive to clean up EVERY DAY, hee hee.

So, lots of planning and organizing and stuff going on around here.