I only finished a couple of layouts this week, but a couple is more than none! These are from a short trip we made to South Carolina this fall for a conference my husband attended. It was great fun! I’ve been learning how to play around with the lighting in Photoshop the last several week and it is transforming my pictures! I appear to be a much better photographer. I’ve always been decent at getting a natural shot, but the light settings on my point and shoot camera remain a mystery. Below my layouts are some before and afters of photos that show how taking a minute or two to fiddle with the light settings in Photoshop can really change your image quality!
It was our break week! For over a year now we have been following a 6-week on, 1-week off schedule for school and it is working beautifully for us. This is our break week. Here is a little peek at what we did.
We of course had other things going on, and I didn’t get the week off work, but it was a much needed break from the ordinary.
Next week Rose and Beth will continue in their guides and Grace will being Bigger Hearts for His Glory! We are opting out of one of the history texts this time as we try something new. I’m excited to see how she likes it.
Whenever homeschool moms get together, it doesn’t take long before the subject of curriculum arises. Without a doubt the most questions surround the subject of math. I personally can’t wait to talk about why we use Math Mammoth and our journey to find it! Rose was excited to have the opportunity to try out Grade 7 from the Light Blue Series which would be considered a complete pre-algebra curriculum.
Rose was very excited to give pre-algebra try!
I really like that the teaching is directed towards the students. It is written on the worksheets and anytime she needs to refer to the lesson it is easy enough to for her to find the answers. We teach Rose still directly, but having the information right there is really good. The lessons contain some review and word problems as well so she gets a good foundation. I tend to pace her a bit more slowly than a lesson a day. I do this for two main reasons. The first is she gets overwhelmed if the number of problems is excessive and can then shut down. This is not a good way to start a math lesson! The other reason is I want to make sure the lesson fully settles in before moving on to the next concept.
If you read our weekly updates you will see that my husband has taken over Rose’s math teaching in the afternoons. He also feels the teaching portions are easy to understand and clearly presented. This again is important for Rose if she needs to look back. Sometimes she has a hard time understanding the more complex concepts, so clear and direct teaching is vital. He also appreciates that it isn’t full of busy work. That was the problem with some of the previous math programs we tried.
If we were to sit down over coffee I would have a full list of why we absolutely love Math Mammoth. Here is the rundown of what I would tell you:
1. Solid teaching
I have yet to find any course that is as good as this one. It thoroughly teaches concepts without busywork. It is also easy to pace. If your student needs to go slower than a lesson a day, you can easily break the lessons up into multiple days. I usually do this with Rose. At the same time, if your student is more advanced, they can easily go at a faster pace, which suits the needs of Beth.
2. Easy to use
Both my husband and I teach math using Math Mammoth. When I was on the search for a new curriculum my husband was a big part of this search. He loves math and at one point thought he would become a math teacher. We are at the point where it is easier for him to teach math than it is for me because he remember the rules where I’m constantly needing to look the rules up while teaching. Especially as we are moving into Pre-Algebra it is important rose has clear instruction. He is the best choice for this and has only good things to say about Math Mammoth.
3. Self-contained instruction
Rose needs one-on-one teaching, but not all kids need that. My other two daughters often read through the teaching material and don’t often need a lot of direction. This may change as they move up, but for now they like that it is written to the student so they can give it a try on their own. I absolutely check in to make sure they understand, but it is nice to know they can work at their own pace if they like.
4. Multiple methods
I find this curriculum works well whether you have a tactile, auditory, or visual learner. I have one of each and all three are thriving. I also like that there are multiple strategies taught for the same mathematical concept. Both pencil and paper and mental math strategies are taught. This is nice so your kids can find the method that makes the most sense for each individually.
5. Cost effective
This is hands-down the most affordable full curriculum available. Just do a little shopping around and you will soon see how reasonably this curriculum is priced. This is a huge benefit if you have multiple children.
A couple of years ago I recorded what our schoolroom sounded like during math lessons. All three girls work out loud and are able to function pretty well this way! This happens a little less as Rose is getting older and she usually works with my husband in the afternoons, but this was back when all the girls were working during the day on math. I love hearing their voices as they think out loud!
Now that my husband’s album for his 40th is finished I’m working to finish up our 2016 family album. I finished 2008 earlier this year so I’m trying to get this one done as well before having them printed to save on shipping. I have one other I’m also working on to get finished, but I do want to have these printed sooner than later so it may wait!
I’ve been playing more around with enhancing the photos themselves in Photoshop. Most of this is using the lighting settings and sometimes the color. I’m very pleased with how these layouts have turned out! This is my one creative outlet at the moment. I love creating these fun layouts to preserve our memories.
I slacked off on the pictures again this week, but this time it was because my daughter had a make-up basketball game Monday night and then I forgot where I put my camera! Yup, that’s my life. I forget things all the time, misplace things all the time. This is my normal. Am I the only one?
We will be taking next week off from school. We school for 6 weeks and then take a break. We are all looking forward to the break! It is refreshing and has kept us from burning out over the last couple of years.
Beth (4th grade): Creation to Christ Unit 5
Beth was so excited to work on her history project this week! It was as simple recipe but she thoroughly enjoyed creating the honey bread and the eating it. As I’ve said before this was a smooth transition into a new guide. Preparing is such an amazing learning year and that coupled with the previous guide (Bigger Hearts for His Glory) both of my girls were eagerly ready to move up and become more independent.
I’ve been especially impressed with her effort and success with memorizing chapter 2 of Philippians. My oldest, who memorizes very easily, did not like this part of CTC. I think she saw the length and even though she knew it would be in short amounts she felt it was too hard. Beth, on the other hand, just put her mind to it and is now a full 5 verses in. She can quite word-for-word with ease and seems to really enjoy it! Beth rarely struggles with schoolwork. Really none of my kids do, but she especially finds everything easy. It is hard to know if it is a result of being the second born and therefore she’s watched it all happen before, or if things are just easy. Either way she’s a joy to teach and finds joy in learning!
Grace (1st grade): Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory Unit 34
You might notice a jump from unit 31 last week to unit 34 this week. What happened? Well… this little miss asked me if we could squish the end of Beyond into one week. She is eager for more work. Although she is officially in “1st grade” as far as her age is concerned, she’s working at a much higher level. She’s asking for a challenge, and I understand. This is one driven little 7-year-old when it comes to academics. She dreams of becoming a nurse and has sought out nurses in our church to ask all sorts of questions. She reads everything she gets her hands on and questions everything she doesn’t understand. How could I say no?
Well, I did say no to squishing 3 units into a week. I said yes to skipping a few units and finishing up this week before our break. It’s a good time anyway so I can prepare for her to start Bigger. There will be some changes this time around and I’m looking forward to those! Stay tuned to see some of these in about a week!
Rose (6th grade): Resurrection to Reformation Unit 24
We are over half-way through grammar 5 of Rod and Staff Grammar. The girls learn so much with this curriculum! It’s not the flashiest, but it is so solid. Rose is learning more about diagramming and when we finish she’ll know more grammar than most high schoolers do. She’s definitely learning more than I did in class. My dad taught me most of my grammar. So here we are carrying on the tradition!
Everything is going well in all other areas. It’s time for me to start piecing together next years curriculum. I buy the guides directly from Heart of Dakota because I like to support this small family business. I try to buy everything else used from a variety of sources. With only 10 units left it’s time again! I love this part. I know that sounds crazy, but my goal every year is to spend $300 or less and I usually do quite well! It’s all about hunting for the bargain.
One of our Christmas traditions is to celebrate Advent. We do different things for this including reading books, listening to radio dramas, using a Jesse Tree, and more. Every year we try to choose something a little different. This year I was excited to have my own personal celebration of Advent using this book, Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season by Heidi Haverkamp.We are huge fans of The Chronicles of Narnia. My girls even have a Narnia themed bedroom! C.S. Lewis has so beautifully captured the essence of childhood imagination in his series. I was very excited to relive this novel as I also focused my heart for Advent.
28 devotions carry you through the novel alternating between excerpts from the novel and Scripture for the entire Advent season. They are thought provoking and intentional, yet easy to read. I originally thought I would use this with my girls as it is advertised as a family devotion, but as I began reading myself I felt it was better suited for middle school or older. My oldest would have gotten something out of it as she is in 6th grade, but I think most of this would have gone over my youngest two daughters’ heads. They are avid readers and comprehending literature far above their grade levels, but I still felt they would have found much of this devotional a bit boring.
I am a bit cautious with this author because her denomination’s view of Scripture differs greatly from mine. I think it is important to recognize authorship and how that impacts the view of the devotions written. I did not come across anything which was concerning to me specifically in this title, but when it comes to devotions I prefer to read authors who I know hold the same view of the Word of God as I do.
I do think some interesting aspects of the book was the inclusion of information for having a Narnia night at church and working through the study as a church family. Most devotions do not structured to include your entire church family and I found this rather intriguing.I also do not think this need be a devotion strictly for Advent. It could be read anytime of the year in an effort to draw closer to God.
After reading through it, I do not think I will use this with our family in the future.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Sarah E. Ladd is one of my favorite authors! I was only introduced to her writing in the last year, but since discovering the grace with which she weaves story I eagerly anticipate her newest release. A Stranger at Fellsworth is her newest release in the Treasures of Surrey series.
In this story Annabelle, a young lady who has lost virtually all prospects due to her father and brother’s inability to protect the family fortune, seeks help from an essentially unknown uncle, her mother’s brother. He willingly helps her escape a dangerous situation and create a new life for herself. While settling into her new way of life she frequently runs into the gameskeeper, Owen, a man who was integral in helping Annabelle escape her old life. It does not take long for Annabelle to realize she is not as safe at Fellsworth as she assumed she would be.
As with the first two titles in this series (The Curiosity Keeper and Dawn at Emberwilde) I could not put this book down! The characters are delightful and believable. I love how the ideas of faith and following God are seamlessly woven into the story. The characters grow and develop naturally as the story unfolds. I appreciate how effortlessly Ladd changes from the perspective of the heroine to the hero. She has a gift for conveying emotion without directly stating it. I hated to see this novel end!
I highly recommend this series as well as all other written by Sarah Ladd. You will be delighted by her ability to craft an intriguing story often filled with mystery and danger. She easily weaves her faith throughout her stories without it sounding forced. I’m so happy to have found her books and I think you will be to!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
History can be one of the trickiest subjects to teach. Too much of the mundane and you will bore your little learners. Too much “fun” and they may miss the point of what they are learning. Home School in the Woods is an incredible company that takes history and makes it come alive. My daughters thoroughly enjoyed our chance to review HISTORY Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Greece! The entire History Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study series looks incredible. After working through a portion of the Ancient Greece study I can only imagine how much fun the other titles in the series will be. My middle daughter, Beth, is studying Ancient Greece already this year so this was a fun way to add to what we have already been doing. My other two daughters were really excited to join in on the fun a well. The three girls are typically studying different levels of history tailored to their ability levels, but they enjoy the times we learn together. This particular study lends itself well to multi-level learning. The suggested levels are grades 3-8, but my 1st grader has thoroughly enjoyed our journey thus far! The premise of embarking on an actual journey through history with our imaginations is really fun. The study is broken into 25 “Stops” which you can pace as you like. This can easily be completed in the 8-12 weeks as suggested. There is so much packed into this study! In addition to the history there is an enormous amount of information detailing the daily lives of those who lived through it. You’ll learn all about the culture, food, education, arts, literature, medical information, religion, agriculture, and more. While traveling your way through Ancient Greece you will have the opportunity to try out recipes, create some amazing projects, and collect a scrapbook to remember your travels. I love that the scrapbook includes pages for a timeline. Home School in the Woods is well known for their amazing timeline products and once again they do not disappoint! Everything you need to get started is contained in the pdf files. It does take some time to print what you will need so it is a good idea to work ahead on this. The more time you spend on prep the smoother the study will go.There are so many fun projects to work through. Here were some of the girls’ favorites.
Beth is always interested in learning about the clothing of the time periods we are studying. When we travel to historical sights she will often choose a coloring book that shows lots of different historical clothing. She loved the activity where she colored a historical figure and layers of clothing. These are placed on clear transparency pages and attached so they could layer on top of the figures. She really enjoyed this because of how detailed the images are. This is something else you can expect from this wonderful company. The images are beautiful and so your kids will end up with amazing projects they will treasure far after they complete their studies!
Little miss Grace drams of becoming a nurse. She was particularly interested in the medical history of the period. This turned into a little flip book that can be attached into their lap books. She enjoyed coloring as well as reading the information and how they relate to current medical practices. She is 7 and in first grade, but it was a simple project she could complete with little help and guidance from me.
Rose has already studied through Ancient Greece so she was excited to explore some of the things we didn’t delve into as deeply. One of her favorite projects was working on the family tree of Helen. This was a neat little flip page that also can be placed into the lap book. She did not need to spend a lot of time studying to complete it. Once the pages were printed she colored, cut, and pasted all while learning through the process. The girls all agreed that their absolutely favorite part was the dramatized audio tours. They found them entertaining and humorous. We would get finished with one and they would beg to listen to another. We actually listened to the dramatizations more than once. I asked the girls what they thought of this way of studying history. They all told me how much they enjoyed it and said it was fun to learn in such a different way. Learning is all about finding meaningful ways to make connections so what your kids learn sticks with them. Home School in the Woods has a hit with this fabulous program!
Check out this video to see even more of what you can expect!
Sometimes our weeks are awesome. Sometimes our weeks are really hard. This week had some elements of both! I missed getting very many pictures this week it seems. I actually only have one of each of girls! There wasn’t more than normal going on, but I just forgot to get my camera out!
Rose (6th grade): Resurrection to Reformation Unit 23
Rose didn’t feel all that well at the beginning of the week, but when I asked if she felt up to school she said she did, so we pressed on! We continued this week with math with Daddy in the afternoon. We missed a day or two because it is a new habit, but it is definitely continuing to work better.
History is so fun with Heart of Dakota, even in the older guides. Rose enjoys the history projects. This week was labeling some information from one of the books she is reading into her history notebook. This wasn’t as interesting to her as other projects, like when she created an medieval coin out of clay a few weeks ago!
She’s almost done with the third book in the Epic Order of the Seven series. She loves these books so much she wants to tell me all about what she has read as soon as she is done with a chapter. I love to see her so very engaged with literature. She has always loved to read, but she now often has a book in tow to read in the car at the very least wherever we go.
Beth (4th grade): Creation to Christ Unit 4
Beth had quite an eventful week! On Monday she took her 1st clogging class. A good homeschooling friend told us about the class and how much her daughters have enjoyed it. we are looking forward to see where this goes and she had an absolute blast.
In other news, she loves her new guide! Beth very much enjoys all of the writing and drawing. I require her to write everything in cursive this year and even this doesn’t seem to be a problem. Math continues to come easily, but we are learning new things and she becomes impatient with the explanations at times. She did have a very good lesson in allowing me to teach a new concept before charging ahead as she did not fully understand and had to redo 2 worksheets.
Grace (1st grade): Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory Unit 31
Grace asked me just this weekend if I would let her start in her new guide early. I actually wouldn’t mind doing so because I believe she is more than ready and she’ll be continuing her study of American History so she won’t be missing anything. The only problem is I’m not prepared yet! I there aren’t a lot of things which need to be done, but there are some. One is that we’ll be using a different history text than what HOD recommends. I really love most of the history selections, but I do find myself editing as we read at times because of how some people groups are described. It does provide good conversations about whether names used historically were accurate or appropriate, but I am trying something different this time around for the text. I’ll post more about that later because as I said I’m not fully ready to move her into Bigger Hearts for His Glory yet.
She is moving quickly through both 2nd grade math texts and I anticipate we will be into 3rd grade by the summer. If we need to slow down, we will but I am not opposed to letting her pace herself as she has. She’s also reading through the Chronicles of Narnia faster than her sisters did. I did a quick reading assessment and she seems to be on a 4th or 5th grade level. I’m so grateful for the reading suggestions made by Heart of Dakota. Just because she is reading at a high level does not mean she is ready to handle some of the themes that are presented.
We tried something different this week and went to the library on Thursday to do our work. To be honest, Thursdays isn’t really the best day for this. Friday would be awesome because we have less work. Unfortunately our library is not open until 2:00pm on Fridays and by then I’m gearing up to teach piano lessons. So we tried Thursdays. The girls loved this! It was different, but the girls did focus really well. We came home so I could get lunch started (We eat our main meal at lunch) and then finished up.
And then things went haywire.
I’m not going to go into details because I don’t necessarily think it is appropriate in this particular venue. To be honest, the specifics don’t matter a whole lot. It was a classic battle of wills over something completely ridiculous. Mom gave an instruction. Child refused to acquiesces to Mom’s request. It wasn’t fun, it was exhausting, but, for the record, mom won the battle.
But guess what? It is normal.
Kids are going to test boundaries. Parents continue to set limits The battles continue.
When the battles come, don’t lose heart. Seek Scripture. Seek godly council. Pray through the battle and lean into Jesus. Then get up and start the next day anew.
Choose to see your little ones with the gifts God has given. That stubborn streak? Recognize the potential to see projects through to the end. That continuous stream of questions? Imagine what that curiosity might discover. That tendency to argue? Imagine the tenacity with which they will defend their faith. You see, it’s’ all a matter of perspective. So in the midst of the battle, choose to see beyond the battle to whom the ones fighting against you will become.
I was finishing up my husband’s 40th birthday celebration book this week. I had a few pages I had to finish but most of my work was finishing touches, proofreading (and editing mistakes I found!), and adjusting margins for cropping during publication. It’s all set except for one more look-over for mistakes. I will wait to print until I have at least 2 more books finished, but I’m close to that! Next I’ll be finishing up my 2008 family scrapbook (almost done), the 2016 family scrapbook (Just a couple of months to go!), and an album from our 2015 trip to Disney.
Here are a few layouts I completed.The first is for the Disney book and it features a brand new kit from Libby Pritchett! The rest are for the birthday photobook.
gracefilledwriter.com 