Week in Review: February 24-28

Grace-Filled Writer

We rarely take breaks from Heart of Dakota, and when we do school tends to go well for a few days, then the girls start begging for their regular “stuff” again!This is where we were last week and we’re back to our more rigorous routine which all three genuinely missed! This is spelling time. Rose and Beth are in levels 2 and 3 of All About Spelling and Grace practices spelling with cards and magnets. I’m enjoying and appreciating the benefits of learning subjects together even if on different levels. We’ve been doing this some with math as well with Rose and Beth and I’ve liked it. It has helped me be able to stay more on target and focus on the subjects easier.

Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 10 (1st half)
Rose was begging me this week to go full-speed with her curriculum again. I told her we’d see how diligent she was this week and maybe we’d try full-speed days with the last two days of the unit next week. She was done in about 2 hours time, which tells me she could definitely handle full-speed now. We’ll test-drive 2 days at full-speed next week and I’ll let you know how it goes! 
We’ve been doubling up on grammar for a few weeks and Rose is doing so well! We had a great conversation this week about why grammar feels easy to her right now. I explained not everyone uses proper grammar, but we shouldn’t correct them when they are speaking to us. I also told her the reason she finds it easy is because her daddy and I both speak with correct grammar for the most part and so she is used to hearing what is correct.
I loved the poetry writing assignment this week using personification. Rose wrote a beatuiful poem which she has entered into a poetry contest we participate in sometimes. Here is her poem:

The wind moves to every sort of place.
I hear her sing as she jumps from tree to tree.
She dives down to talk to me
And says,
“Shhhh, be quiet as you feel my mighty breeze.”

The history projects for this week was a lot of fun! She made a skytale, a message on a song strip of paper wrapped around a cylinder. It was really neat!

She chose to write John 3:16 as her message. Now to see if her daddy can read it!
This week Rose said something which surprised me…she said she really likes history vocabulary! She always likes learning new words, but looking up the definitions, drawing pictures, and writing sentences seemed tedious to her. I’m so glad she enjoys it now!
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory
Beth was so so so  excited to be reading Stories of the Pilgrims again. It is really interesting to me that so many who try Beyond say they get tired of the focus on the Pilgrims. I really appreciate this focus on one group of early settlers and how they stood strong in their faith, faced persecution in England, then hardships, hunger, and death because they wanted a place to worship God the way they felt the Bible taught. Neither my oldest or Beth tired of this for history and I expect when Grace reaches this guide I’ll find her enjoying it just as much.
Beth does different things while I read history. Sometimes she snuggles with me on the couch, sometimes she asks to take a turn to read, sometimes she acts out what I read, and sometimes she colors. This week she wanted to work on the coloring page in her cursive workbook and each day did a little more. My girl loves coloring more than anything. She is very detailed oriented and will work for hours on a single picture to get it just right. 
Although poetry is one of my favorite aspects of Heart of Dakota, it has taken Beth a little more time to warm up to a more formal study of poetry. I should use the word formal rather loosely because even though we have a poem we study each week, it just feels like a bunch of fun! She’s finally gotten a little more excited about it, which is the point. It isn’t really so much about analyzing the poetry, but learning to appreciate and understand it. I often lament how most children aren’t regularly exposed to poetry until much later in their education. 
This week I used a white board for spelling and Beth liked the change. The girls never complain about using the All About Spelling tiles, but sometimes there are so many words to build it can get a bit tedious for me as I work through 2 different levels. I’m trying out some new strategies now as I anticipate three levels at once in the coming years. 
Beth is almost finished with Ralph S. Mouse. Similar to poetry it has taken some time to convince her she is ready for a book this size. She’s been ready for several months now, but was so very certain she wasn’t “old enough” to be reading large chapter books. Now the world of books is wide open to her! 
Preschool: Patiently Awaiting the Next HOD Guide!

Grace has become very cooperative over the last few weeks. She always wants to know when we’re going to do her lessons, but she’s been great about letting me get some things done with her older sisters first. I’m trying to switch it up so she isn’t always last, but she’s been such a good sport! She does get frustrated if something takes longer than she would like…for instance finding the right letters for spelling! But she does like that I give her “spelling” words now. It isn’t anything formal, but it is reinforcing her knowledge and reading ability. 
Reading has become more frustrated for Grace as we’ve moved from the phonetic script to more traditional typing. She prefers the phonetic script, but is adjusting to the new way of writing the words and learning more formal rules like silent e. 
Just as with her older sisters I’m letting her complete her math book at her own pace. There are times when I have to limit her, but she often does 3 or 4 pages each day. I treat her ABC Rod and Staff books the same way. Her 4-year-old attention span keeps her from moving too quickly. We’re holding off on formal handwriting until she turns five. I’ve learned not to push her formal writing until her fine motor skills are there. Rod and Staff will help us get there! 
We had an excellent week again! I hope you stop by again next week! 

Water & Weather from Master Books: Moms of Master Books Review!

Grace-Filled Writer

I’m so excited each month to review a new title from Master Books. We are so blessed to have such wonderful science and history resources available to readily! This month’s title was exciting for everyone, especially my science loving eight-year-old!

The newest title in the Investigate the Possibilities series from Master Books (An imprint of New Leaf Publishing) is Water & Weather by Tom DeRosa and Carolyn Reeves. This light-weight paperback title is jam packed with intriguing information and wonderful questions to inspire curiosity and promote investigation. I love when science is presented this way. Although this is part of a wonderful line of science curriculum, it feels less like a text book and more like a science lab as you turn each page.

Weather has been a hot topic around our house lately anyway because of our rare snow events this winter! We’ve had two good snowfalls which aloud for several days of sledding here in the South. This has prompted lots of “What makes it snow?” types of questions. My four-year-old suggested Jesus takes pieces of dirt, paints them white, and throws them down…at least she has the right idea of whom controls the weather even if her facts are a little skewed!

Each of the 20 units may be done in order or used in any particular order which is really nice. My daughter really enjoyed just reading and looking through the book for fun. I picked out a couple of experiments which had to do with clouds and rain since that was something she had been discussing with her Daddy earlier in the day. She was very excited to point out and show me the types of clouds she had observed on the way home from her homeschool science class that morning.

Each of the units has several Investigations for the students to complete to better understand the information in the text. These investigations are introduced after a brief introduction and some explanation. After the investigations is more scientific information to help explain their findings. I love how genuinely scientific this is written, but in a kids way. I remember my own science texts being rather dull and boring. This book has a much more engaging feel.

Rose loved creating clouds with shaving cream. She did an excellent job of recreating the cloud types

It didn’t take long for Rose’s little sisters to want to get in on the action! They typically don’t get excited about science until they see Big Sister having a blast with experiments and investigations! This was a great opportunity for Rose to do some teaching and show she really understood what she had learned. We pulled out our Wonders of Creation Weather Book to learn a little more. 

Our final investigation helped show the girls how clouds are formed. We put a little warm water into a clear bottle on the bottom and held an ice cube on top. It didn’t take long for “clouds” to begin building in the bottle. This showed in a very tangible way how air temperature and moisture interact together.

My favorite part about this book and all the books from Master Books is they always point my girls back to the Creator. I can give my girls anything published from this company without any hesitation. Rose always asks, “Are these books by Christians?” because I have explained to her how not all scientists believe in God or that God created the world. Her eyes always light up when I say, “Yes!” because she knows she can trust the information.

Master Books has once again hit the mark with this fabulous book which inspires hands-on learning, includes factual science, and keeps Christ as Creator the focus.

Disclaimer: I received Water & Weather as part of the Moms of Master Books Team. I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way. 

2 Weeks in Review: February 10-21

Grace-Filled Writer

We’ve been continuing our fun Olympic study. You can see our first update by clicking on the picture below!

Here are a few spinets of some of the other fun we’ve been having…

Wii Olympics…this is actually the game from Vancouver four years ago, but we have had SO much fun with this! It has also been a really great way to explain some of the sports.

Anyone who has been following this blog for a while might just fall over with this next statement…I’m finally enjoying math! Seriously, this is huge! I can’t exactly pinpoint what the difference is. Maybe it is the shorter time? Maybe it is the big smiles over math from all my girls? Maybe it is because the teaching instructions were right on the page? I think it’s a little bit of all of this. No matter though, I’m very confident we’ve found out “Mathematics Home” with Math Mammoth…yay!!!!!

Little Miss Grace had a little cold and enjoyed a couple of pj days! She is always begging to stay in her jammies so it was fun to give in for a couple of days!

Beth used her alphabet stamps to practice spelling words from Beyond.

Moving forward with grammar! Rose took her second grammar test of the year and did fabulous. I’ve been so pleased to see how much she remembers from previous lessons with Rod and Staff. It isn’t fancy and there aren’t any gimmicks, but this is the most solid grammar program I have ever seen. She also took another test with Vocab-U-Lit. I love this vocabulary program. I love the use of classic literature to teach vocabulary and it really is sticking for her this year in a way it wasn’t with Wordly Wise.

A-B-C dot-to-dot!

We are getting so close to finishing up Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons! Grace is doing fabulously. Our only issue now is instead of actually reading the words she wants to make up her own ending of the story. Silly girl!

Our sweet kitty Zoe is always excited for lessons!

Moving ahead with Rod and Staff ABC series! Grace will be on a little bit different schedule than her sisters. She has an October birthday so we won’t be rushing into Little Hearts for His Glory next year. My plan is probably to start her in this guide after Christmas next year. I love the flexibility of homeschooling!

Beth finally believes she is ready to read chapter books. She’s been reading them for a while, but not BIG chapter books. It’s exciting to see her developing and growing in maturity! She’s reading Ralph S. Mouse right now.

Another math picture. Yay! Rose is doing so great! She’s thrilled to move so quickly with division. Once she realized it was reverse multiplication she was all set! I really like how word problems are used and introduced early.

And next week we’re getting back to our regular Heart of Dakota studies. The girls have very much enjoyed our little deviation from the normal, but they both were excited we’ll be doing history again next week. Both asked a couple of times this week when we would be back at it!

Until next week! 

Claiming Mariah: Book Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Sometimes I get the opportunity to escape with a good book, but it has really been a while. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book when it arrived in the mail! I had the chance last Tuesday when our electricity went out unexpectedly. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it left me with some free time on my hands. Once I started I could hardly put it down!

Claiming Mariah by Pam Hillman (Tyndale House Publishers) is one the best works of fiction I’ve read in a long time. I love historical Christian fiction and this had all the elements I like most. The storyline was intriguing and for the most part kept me guessing throughout. Although it became clear early on the heroine and main male character would come together in the end, the journey to get there was anything but expected. Mariah encounters a stranger connected to the past of her father who springs life-changing proof that all she held dear was no longer hers.

I appreciated the spiritual journey each of the main characters traveled throughout the course of the novel. While the heroine was already a believer, her need to forgive and trust in God’s provision and guidance. The hero had no intention of ever following God because of the hurt from his past. I loved how the full gospel was presented without sounding preachy. God’s gracious love and sacrifice was artfully woven throughout and clearly explained leaving both the character and the reader with a clear understanding of salvation.

This is the first title I’ve read by this author. Pam Hillman is an artful writer with excellent dialogue and insight into the human heart. This believable story will transport you to a more rugged time. I am very much looking forward to reading more from this author!

Disclaimer: I received a paperback copy of Claiming Mariah  from Tyndale Publishers as part of  the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and did not receive any other compensation. 

Week in Review: February 3-7

Grace-Filled Writer


We’re taking a break from our regular studies for a few weeks to enjoy the Olympics! I rarely take breaks like this, but it’s really fun to do so every once in a while.  We’re using the Winter Games 2014 study from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. I used the Olympic 2012 study for the summer games a couple of years ago and the girls had so much fun with that! I picked this one up a few weeks ago when it was on sale and I’m so glad I did. We have had so much fun this week!

Unit Study: Winter Olympic Games 2014

Each day we learn a little bit about Russia. This is especially fun for us because we are praying for a specific missionary family in Russia right now and our church encourages the family by sending gifts for their children’s birthdays. We’e already talked a lot about the country so the opportunity to dig even deeper into the culture and history has been great.

One of the things I really love about Amanda Bennet’s Unit Studies is they are very interactive and include many videos. We’ve seen some beautiful scenes of Russia. We started out with the iPad but mid-week switched to hooking the laptop to the television to get a better view.

 
Included in the study each day are vocabulary words for the students to define. This study covers all grades in elementary so they could easily learn alongside one another! Beth and Grace printed while Rose wrote in cursive. Grace is just barely printing, but she really enjoyed writing like her big sisters. 
There are some really amazing videos online which are linked right into the pdf of this study. Each day we are learning about a different Olympic sport. One of my favorite features in the “Science of ______” series. Learning the physics behind why a hockey puck spins as it does and how bobsleds are made is fascinating. We’ve also been learning about some of the American athletes along the way. 
When we first told the girls we were going to learn about bobsledding on one of the days Grace asked, “What is THAT?” Beth sweetly explained it is when you decide to go sledding and make sure you have someone named Bob to sled with you! Silly girls…
After watching how the bobsledders jumped into their sled Grace told me she knew exactly how they did it and started practicing. She for some reason thinks they dive in head-first it seems! They’ve really enjoyed watching the replays the following morning of their favorite sports since they are on way to late to stay up for each night. 
Everyone has been anxiously anticipating the Winter Olympics since our rare snowfall a couple of weeks ago! They are extremely interested in bobsledding and snowboarding now! 
Math: Math Mammoth
So we made a major shift in math this past week. We are officially a Math Mammoth family now! It was motivated by two factors. The first was that I reviewed some of the units from Math Mammoth for The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew last year and thought very highly of this company. The second was an amazingly good deal I found online. I always run math curriculum choices by my husband because he has a better feel for math and I trust his judgement on whether a program is a good choice or not. So after his okay, we made the plunge and now have math covered for the rest of elementary. 
Beth was the first to start since she finished up her old 1st grade math book last week. I began by giving her the 1st grade unit test to see if there were any areas we needed to cover more fully before moving onto first grade. As I suspected there were a handful of areas I will be focusing on before moving ahead. Anytime you are switching math curriculum it is wise to see if there is anything which you’ll need to cover in more detail before charging ahead. The last thing you want is to have a frustrated child simply because the old curriculum taught concepts in a different order! 
Rose will begin division this week and she cannot wait to get started. One thing I love about Math Mammoth is not only is there a full curriculum from 1st-9th grade, but also individual units for every concept so you can teach in a different order. There are also review books, practical life applications, and state-themed math units! 
Language Arts
When we do unit studies we always stay on track with our language arts. So in addition to the fun unit about the Olympics and math  they continued with reading, spelling, and grammar. This is also a great way to catch up if we’re a bit behind where I want or expected to be. 
Grace continued on with her reading lessons and is full-speed ahead. Some days we do more than one lesson because she asks to do more. I’m so thrilled to be close to having all three of my ladies reading. 
Beth and Rose continued on with their regular literature. Rose has read more of the Catwings series. She finished the last book in one sitting because she loved it so much. Beth is almost done with the Courage of Sarah Noble, the last of the Emerging Readers books. This one has been more challenging for her and I love how well she is doing. 
Every once in a while big sisters help out with Grace’s reading lessons. This doesn’t always go well, but is usually fun for both girls. Rose and Beth have each taken turns. My only rule is I teach new sounds. My southern girls sometimes are not as particular with vowel pronunciation! I have an accent as well, but I’ve learned to teach reading without it. It has been challenging, but I am very particular about pronunciations now! 
We had an awesome week. I absolutely adore Heart of Dakota, but a break from the ordinary is always nice.

Week in Review: January 27-31

Grace-Filled Writer

We had a calm week and I’m content. We seem to have finally and genuinely settled into a groove. I never thought it would take more than half a year to get here, but here we are. I’ve learned so very much along the way…extending grace towards my girls and myself, adjusting my expectations, taking breaks when needed, loving the process over the schedule…just so many things. Now, six months into our year, I feel we have grown closer, my girls and I. I have more patients with them and they are laughing and we are closer.

Preschool – K4

Grace loves our new routine even though we both miss Little Hands to Heaven! She drags her bag of books out and brings them to me with eagerness. She simply smiles and waits for me to tell her to either open up her reading book or play a little longer until I can get her sisters settled in with their independent work. I struggled with Grace a bit in the beginning of this year. Her frequent temperamental moods were becoming more and more frustrating, but suddenly in the last couple of weeks she has calmly accepted my need to teach her sisters. Thoughtful consideration and prayer led me to the same conclusion every time: She felt I was pushing her away instead of understanding why I needed to work with her sisters. I’ve been trying to gently help her see this and I think she’s finally there for the most part. She seems to have more fun playing on her own with a variety of toys and learning games. This little computer has been with another family for a few months and she was excited to play with it this week since the last time she had it she wasn’t reading yet!
She is reading so fast now and gets quite insistent we move quickly sometimes. While she is fine with me helping her sisters who are usually sitting near us, she will impatiently move my finger along the story if I get behind! Unlike her sisters mistakes don’t bother her. What a blessing! She’ll thoughtfully look at a letter or word and simply say, “Mommy, I don’t remember that sound.” We review it and she moves on. Her older sisters definitely struggled with the need for perfection. in some ways she is a little too unconcerned with doing things well, but I’m appreciating her laid back attitude very much. 
And yes, she is wearing a pumpkin shirt. It is one of her favorites no matter the season or weather!

I have a nice assortment of workbooks for her to complete. This one is an ABC dot-to-dot. She really enjoys it and it is a nice way to review her alphabet. This particular book has been used by both her older sisters and is one of the few I have with all of their handiwork included inside!
Math right now is all about patterns, what belongs together, and the terms alike and different. She is learning excellent critical thinking skills and I enjoy watching her process a problem. She typically figures out an answer, giggles, and then tells me the wrong answer! I know she knows all along because she’ll immediately say something like, “I was just kidding you, Mommy!” or “I’m funny!” and then follow with the correct answer. 
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 15

Beth has started to become more anxious to finish her work each day. While she doesn’t argue with me and seems to really enjoy the work we do, she frequently cheers when the school day is over and gets a dejected look when I remind her of a forgotten assignment. I have no idea why this change has occurred with her, but since it isn’t seeming to affect her attitude during her work I haven’t addressed it yet. Is this maybe just exerting her independence? Since she gets several breaks each day and total only spends about 45 to 60 minutes doing school work I know it isn’t the amount of time!
We are continuing with book two of All About Spelling as well as our spelling words from the Beyond lists. We are getting to more and more difficult words in the Beyond guide so I do not assign more than 5 words each week. Typically after her pretest the words she needs to work on are from the 2nd year list so I’m very pleased with her spelling at the moment. 
Beth is 1 short lesson away from finishing up Rod and Staff 1st grade math! We’re making a switch in math curriculum due to cost effectiveness. Rod and Staff has served us well, but I was able to save us quite a bit in the long run with a program I have researched and reviewed at one point. My mathematically minded husband thinks it is a solid and good option so I took the plunge! We will be moving into Math Mammoth soon and I’m excited for Beth to give it a try first. 

Rod and Staff came out with a new book in their ABC series this year which completely thrilled my sweet Beth! Just Thinking and Choosing is now one of the highlights of her day. Cutting, pasting and coloring in Beth’s world are as good as life gets! 

Cursive is such a beautiful thing. It’s beautiful to read and a lot of fun for my girls to write. There are numerous studies out about the benefits of cursive. I begin cursive instruction much earlier than HOD suggests in 1st grade. I have found cursive to be less frustrating for my girls than print and they love how artistic their handwriting looks. Beth is progressing slowly through Classical Conversations Cursive and really enjoys it.

Beth’s art project for the week was weaving a Native American blanket. I’ve struggled this time around our history books using the word Indians. I’ve talked with Beth about why they were called this because of confused early explorers and explained why Native American is a more respectful term. So now as I read aloud I just replace Indian with Native American. Anyway, we used felt to do the project so she could use her blanket with her new doll from Christmas.

Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 9 (2nd half)

Rose is hard at work with her times tables! She is nearing the finish line and then we’ll start with division. For whatever reason she much prefers multiplication over addition and is doing really well.

Math Rider is a huge part of times tables sine I can adjust to have her practice specific numbers.


There are so many things which make Heart of Dakota so wonderful, and the integration of history and geography is one of them! Subjects learned independently of one another do not have the same meaning as those learned incorporated with others. This week Rose found where the locations concerning the Trojan war are located now. We have a very old copy of A Child’s History of the World which means some of the expected maps are missing. I use historical maps from Knowledge Quest I purchased a few months ago and like them very much. I don’t print them, but we view them on the iPad and it has worked out quite well. 

Rose really enjoyed the story of Troy. I very much appreciated how Greek mythology and poetry was presented in this curriculum. The history reading explain it as fairy tale gods and imaginary things rather than true, like we know the One True God to be. It is wonderful to know how exactly to present this information to my very sensitive daughter. She has such a heart for the world to know about Jesus and how wonderful of a Savior He really is. At one point she thoughtfully asked me, “Mommy, why wouldn’t they want to follow God? Why would they rather follow fairy tale gods?” We had a wonderful discussion about this which I was more prepared for because of the reading and study I’ve been doing on my own with resources from New Leaf Publishing. I’m glad she asks these questions and I have the opportunity to answer. 
This is a portion of the art project for the week. She made a creative poster about her name and things about her. She had a lot of fun with this! 
Cursive is going really well for Rose as well. For her the main issue is remembering how to write certain letters, but this is getting better gradually. Her written narrations are just lovely and improving all the time!
All the girls joined in with Beth’s project this week. They had a lot of fun and even Grace was able to join in and make little blankets for her baby twin dolls. 
When I think of the great responsibility I have been given to disciple my girls I can’t help but feel inept to the task. Only by the grace of God am I up to the task. I feel unbelievably blessed to have found a curriculum which enables me to do this task. I also feel blessed my girls can learn alongside one another. It’s not without its bumps ad frustrations, but overall our family feels very peaceful. It was a good week…a very good week! 

Week in Review: January 20-24

Grace-Filled Writer

So this is the first week I haven’t been running three guides from Heart of Dakota at once…I missed it! I’m now down to two guides for the rest of this school-year. I honestly didn’t feel any less busy even though I expected to. I really did miss having activities and things laid out for me. The girls were great, we stayed on schedule, and this was one of the nicest weeks we’ve had in a long time. This year has been extremely challenging for me for lots of different reasons and I think we’re in a good place right now…at least for this week!

Preschool

Grace finished up Little Hands to Heaven last week and we are moving right into Rod and Staff’s ABC series keeping in line with the feel of Heart of Dakota. She loves these sweet little workbooks and was so excited to begin! This is the first time we’re doing all of them and I anticipate a lot of fun ahead!

She also started the first of the now out of print Earlybird Kindergarten books from Singapore. I still have 1A and 1B and wish so much I could find a decently priced copy of 2A and 2B! She is also really excited about this new book all full of bright colors.

Reading keeps her on the edge of her seat! She is so excited about our reading lessons and will sometimes be dragging her reading book around while still in her jammies because she is so ready to start! She’s charging ahead and finding the stores to be quite funny in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. She giggles and laughs and the best part is it means she understands what she is reading!

This week was also the start of Grace being extremely cooperative about her alone time playing while I taught her sisters. She’s always been good, but just wanted to do school with me all the time and didn’t like it when I gave her older sisters my attention. This week she was so amiable and patient! When i came into the living room and found her with her babies, named Strawberry and Blueberry, she told me, “I’m teaching my babies Mommy! They’re homeschooled!”

This is something else she does while I teach her sisters. I made a light box which sets under our science table. She doesn’t play with this all the time, but enjoys it every once in a while.




Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 14

Beth had a really fun week! I remember how fun this particular history was for Rose a couple of years ago and I think Beth enjoyed it even more! We learned about the Dutch importing cattle, pigs, and chickens to the island of New Amsterdam as well s how it became New York. We played a fun game of capture the livestock where Beth had to protect all her animals from me!

Making butter was the highlight! Beth had already read how to make butter so I let her explain how it worked in the olden days. Then we put some heavy whipping cream into a jar and shook shook shook! It finally turned into golden yellow butter and was absolutely delicious. Rose remembered this and was so excited to get to make butter again!
Bible this week focused on the Parable of the Talents. Beth memorized her Scripture verse in just one day and was very excited to act out the parable at the end of the week. She quoted her part beautifully and we had some nice discussion about doing good with the things God has blessed us with whether they are objects, money, or abilities. 
Beth loved poetry this week. She really enjoyed drawing a picture of her milking a cow to go along with the poem. She used our Draw Write Now books and did such a great job! She gave this to our neighbor, Diego, because one of his Chemo Angel’s name a cow on her friend’s farm after him! 
She did a great job with cursive F this week and also learning about initials. 
The timeline is a highlight of our week. There are a handful of units which don’t include a timeline entry and boy is Beth disappointed! She really loved this. Quite often I’ll draw an example of the picture first because it gives her more confidence, but this week she was totally into drawing her own cow!
Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 9 (1st half)
Grandpa’s Box is just amazing. Even if you are not using Heart of Dakota for your curriculum, this book is so good for a read aloud or devotions. I know eventually I will not have all the school books I do currently, but this one will never be sold. It is just that good!
Rose finished up Toliver’s Secret this week. She absolutely devours books. She is usually reading 2-3 at a time. I’m not at all like this. I love reading one book at a time, but she loves to have lots of things going at once! She told me this week, “I love to read. When I read I imagine the scenes in my mind and it’s like a movie, only better, because I get to add in all the extra stuff!” 
Rose loves to draw and so her independent history. I reminded her to draw lightly with a pencil first because all artists do to begin with. She giggled shyly and said, “Mommy, you just called me an artist!” I’m learning how to meet my girls’ needs and intentionally love them the way they feel it most. Words of affirmation are definitely key for my oldest!
Quite often Rose will do her independent work in a different room from us. She is easily drawn into whatever lessons I am doing with her sisters and I’ve encouraged her to work where she can focus if needed. She’s reading A Mouse Called Wolf here and then getting ready for math. Such a diligent worker this week! 
Dictation is going very well. It has taken some time, but switching letters is happening less and less! This is a great success for Rose. We’ve struggled with spelling even though her reading is off the charts. I really feel All About Spelling has been a huge help with this. 
Mid-week we had a fun break with just a little snow. We skyped the grandparents and had fun with the light dusting. 
I also had two great reviews post this week! Here they are if you missed them…
and
STEM Science Station – Magnets

STEM Science Station – Magnets from Lakeshore Learning: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
(Read to the end to find a FABULOUS coupon code!
Hands on, experiential learning are key components of our homeschool. I love to integrate as much hands-on activity as I can and manipulative for learning are huge part of this. Lakeshore Learning has a wonderful array of learning games, toys, and manipulatives to engage eager young learners born with the desire to learn and grow. 
We were blessed to review the STEM Science Station – Magnets from Lakeshore Learning. What fun this has been for my sweet girls! They are so curious by nature. I truly believe we are all created with natural inquisition, but unfortunately it is often crushed at a young age due to circumstances beyond a child’s control. What a blessing I have to help keep this wonder alive and strong in my own girls! 
The girls were itching to get their hands on everything side this wonderful box! The box has a set of cards which you can set in a stand and display while they explore. Each card challenges the child to complete a task and figure out one of the many properties of magnets.
Some challenges teach how magnets can oppose one another while others show their attractions. Students also have to figure out where to positing magnets to create movement and problem solve how to complete each task. 
I like how they were encouraged to explore around the house as well to see where magnets would work. I did make sure they knew to keep them away from certain objects, like computers, but otherwise let them go ahead and explore! Grace was shocked her magnet stuck to the dish washer since she never realized it was magnetic! It didn’t surprise her to find it stuck to the refrigerator though. 
Beth figured out she had to hold her magnet above the little car in order to make it move. I was very pleased she kept trying different ways before she gave up. Sometimes she gets frustrated, but she was quite intrigued to find the answer on her own. 
Rose, ever my over achiever, decided to make up her own experiments. The kitchen was filled with, “Let’s try this guys!” as she led her sisters to further discover more about magnets. I loved how she looked for new ways to use these and did such a good job leading her sisters to discover! 
This is a great explore and play learning tool. I love being able to say, “Let’s go do some science experiments!” and see them run to the table to get started. All of the STEM Science Stations will have this effect on your children. They are made very high quality and your children will easily begin to understand observable science through using them.
I also have a coupon code for all of you! Just click here and you’ll get 20% off your next order from Lakeshore Learning! 
(Expires 3/31/14)
(This is not an affiliate link)

Disclaimer: I received STEM Science Station – Magnets from Lakeshore Learning in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way. 

Galapagos Islands: A Different View ~ Review

Grace-Filled Writer
Have you ever read a book transport you? One which made you long to travel? Lots of fiction books give me this feeling, but rarely has a nonfiction title delighted me through pictures the way Galapagos Islands: A Different View has. Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing, has once again captured my imagination with a new view of reality.

This compilation by leading creationists is beyond breathtaking. Honestly, I couldn’t read the book the first time through. The photographs drew me immediately. They show the beauty of these islands which have captivated historians, explorers, scientists, and the every day individual for generations. I know in reality I’ll never travel to this exotic local. Seeing it from the perspective of those who know the Creator of the beauty they behold makes this book especially meaningful.

So after I got my fill of the stunning photography I could enjoy the text, which was equally compelling. I absolutely love how the book is grounded with Scripture. This stays very much in keeping with the founding principal of all creationists: Start with Scripture. I know I can trust every publication from Master Books to be completely in line with the Word of God, but each time I read one of their books I appreciate it even more.

The crux of this particular book is viewing the splendor of the Galapagos Islands in a different way than the world typically sees it. It is difficult to think of the Galapagos Islands without leading to evolutionary lines of thinking because they are so tied to Darwin and his theories. I very much appreciated as I read the clear way both observable scientific evidence and Scripture are not in opposition with each other. They instead very much compliment one another. The secular world wants us to deny Scripture because they claim it cannot be reconciled with their version of scientific interpretation. This merely is an issue of where an individuals presuppositions lie.

I’m grateful again for a resource I can delve into and enjoy just as much as my sweet girls! I feel incredibly blessed to have these resources at my finger tips as I teach and answer their questions. 
Disclaimer: I received Galapagos Islands: A Different View as part of the Moms of Master Books. My opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive view of this book.

Week in Review: January 13-17

Grace-Filled Writer

Don’t you just love it when you have wonderful plans, plans certain to keep your children enthralled with their education, exciting plans you can’t wait to get your hands into? I know I do. I also know that is often when life intervenes and nothing goes as planned! Our week started out rough with Mommy catching a virus. Blessedly, (I would say miraculously!) no one else in the house came down sick and we were able to get back to normal and even catch up a bit by Wednesday.



Little Hands to Heaven: Units 32-33
I’ve been trying to finish up this guide for what feels like forever! We finally did it and I mushed two weeks into one and we’re done. Grace was very excited to finally learn the motions and poems for Y an Z. She kept saying, “Mommy! We have to learn Y and Z!!!!” for the last few weeks.

We hit a couple of milestones this week! Grace finished up the About 3 series from Rod and Staff so she’ll be moving on to the ABC series next week. She also reached the half-way point in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons…Yay!!! She is now able to read some words in early reader books. Her favorite one right now is Pizza Pat. There is absolutely nothing fancy about our reading program, but it works and is very solid, especially if you are on a budget.

Grace frequently asks me to do spelling with her. While she is doing great with both writing and reading, she isn’t exactly ready for spelling. She has been known to make very good attempts at sounding out words, but she is too young to do spelling like her sisters do with All About Spelling. For now she enjoys using our Cookie Sheet Challenge activities and I call it spelling. I have some other tools like this I plan to use with her and I’m sure she’ll love it!


Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 13
Beth was very happy to have a new book from Rod and Staff in their ABC series. These books are intended for use before 1st grade, but Beth has loved them immensely. When she saw I was ordering a set for Grace she asked if there were any more she could use. When I told her there was one new one her sweet response asking if I could get it for her I absolutely agreed. She enjoys problem solving which involves cutting, coloring, and thinking.

We read Seabiscuit which she very much enjoyed because it was about a horse. Sometimes she does not care to narrate to me, but she’s getting better at this. When she is agreeable she does quite well. Beth is my little story-teller complete with voices and inflection. Her problem is she would much rather read than tell me about what she read. If she’s particularly resistant I will ask her to act it out with toys and then her face lights up. I believe I will be asking her to do this more often.

Beth is very, very close to finishing up her 1st grade math curriculum from Rod and Staff. Math has always been easy for her and we have yet to hit any bumps. I’m letting her proceed at her own pace and she’s very much ready to move into her 2nd grade material soon.




Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 8 (2nd half)

We’re working our way through multiplication facts quite well. I am very pleased not only with how well she is catching on, but how quickly she is memorizing them. This seemed to be a struggle for her with addition facts and I’m not certain why except I have taken off the pressure of timed quizzes. I do plan to introduce them again later, but relieving her of this pressure has enabled her to learn without fear of mistake. Her perfectionist tendencies were one reason we started homeschooling and they are still a constant struggle to help her balance. So instead of quizzes we use Math Rider to test speed. It is fun and feels like a game rather than a test.

History is always wonderful, but even better with Zoe around! Our sweet kitty just loves hanging out with the girls during school hours. I think the fact that they are quietly engaged makes her more amiable towards them because we rarely see her when they become more rambunctious in the afternoons. I’m very pleased with Rose’s written narrations and she was very proud to be able to write her very own this week about David. She articulated very well what she read and it is exciting to see the Charlotte Mason way of teaching writing blossoming for her. Sometimes I am afraid that what I read sounds great in theory, but not practicality. I love seeing how well these methods actually work!

You can see from the pictures we were away from our schoolroom for much of the week. That’s what happens when someone isn’t feeling well in our house. But I love the freedom of movement which we have. The girls now each have their own canvas bag with the books we will use for that week they can carry to whatever location where we will be learning.

I posted three reviews this week as I’m trying to catch up from over the holidays! In case you missed them…