Homeschool Legacy {TOS Review}

We haven't used many unit studies in our homeschool, so I jumped at the chance to review a Micro-Study from Homeschool Legacy. We chose to review "Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims" since Thanksgiving is coming soon!

What is a Micro-Study?

These Grab-N-Go Micro Studies are to be completed in three, thirty-minute increments a week, but you may finish it all in one day or spread it out however you see fit. The Most of the studies are 4 weeks long, but this one is 6 weeks, and are recommended for grades 1-8. The regular Unit Studies are recommended for grades 2-12. There are recommended books for your family to read aloud during the six weeks, but no weekly library list of books or weekly devotions like the regular Unit Studies do.

How did we use "Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims?"

I received "Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims" in a digital format. I downloaded the file and printed out the 18 pages of material. There was about 3 pages of information, suggested videos and activities and discussion questions for each week. The weeks are titled as follows:

• Week 1: The Scrooby Separatists
• Week 2: The Voyage
• Week 3: At Home in Plymouth
• Week 4: Happy Thanksgiving
• Week 5: The Puritans
• Week 6: Merry Christmas

There are three suggested Family Read-Aloud Books for this study. I choose one for our family to read: "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620" by Ann McGovern. I also purchased two more books that I knew would go along with what we would be studying.

We have completed three weeks of the six weeks in this study so far. The first week, we read about the religious persecution the Puritans and Separatists faced in England. We talked about how easy it is for people in America to change churches or denominations, but in England it was illegal to go to any church except the state church. We read about our First Amendment rights and thanked God for our religious freedom. We also talked about how important it is to pray for our country to continue to provide us with freedom of religion and how so many people in other countries don't have this privilege.

The second week, we read about the 66 day voyage the Pilgrims made to America. We read the book "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620". The kids never realized how difficult the voyage was! Yet, only one person died on the trip over! We also read the Mayflower Compact and learned where and why it was written. The study suggested watching a portion of Kirk Cameron's documentary "Monumental". I found it for $5, so I bought the DVD. We watched it several times and learned so much more about the Pilgrims than I ever knew.

The third week, we learned how miserable the first winter was in Plymouth. Half of the Pilgrims died, and only four women remained. We also read about Squanto and how he helped to save the Pilgrims. I  bought a book titled "Squanto" which had so much information in it! The kids loved it, and I always love to learn new things, as well. One of the recommended activities was to make and play a typical Pilgrim's children game. We did a quick search and discovered that the Pilgrim children played many games similar to the ones we play - hand-made checkers, hide-and-seek, and leapfrog are just few.

I am excited to finish the three weeks left in this study! We are enjoying it very much. I love the discussion questions, the video links, and the recipe and game suggestions. Homeschool Legacy offers many different Micro Studies:

Pirates or Privateers: You Decide

Cooking up History with the Founding Presidents

Victoria and Her World

Many Nations

Mess Free Painting!

I reviewed Kwik Stix earlier this year; remember - the mess free paint sticks that my kids loved! Kwik Stix sent me two more packages to try out - the metallic and neon paint sticks, both a six pack. The kids were so excited to try them out!

Kwik Stix are basically paint sticks. They are about the same size and shape as a glue stick and work in the same way. You pop the cap off, twist, and paint! The paint dries in less than 90 seconds - seriously! You don't need water or brushes and they don't make a mess. Kwik Stix work on paper, cardboard, wood, and canvas.

Silas had a blast painting with the Kwik Stix, and he made sure to use every color on his pages! We also used these with our schoolwork. Instead of dot markers, Silas used Kwik Stix to color his word family pages.

When my kids ask to paint, I can say "yes" more quickly now! There is zero mess and virtually no clean up required. Anytime they have accidently gotten Kwik Stix on the counter or table, it washes right off.

Kwik Stix will make a great gift for any child this holiday season - simply buy a nice sketch pad and a 6-pack or 12-pack of Kwik Stix. Kwik Stix are available at Target.com and in Target stores. Get yours today!

Weekly Recap

This week, the kids and I took a field trip to Wal*Mart to fill our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child! If you've never heard of this ministry, you can read all about it here. Basically, you take a plastic shoebox and fill it with items - toothbrushes, washcloths, deodorant, hairbrushes, small toys, notebooks, pens and crayons, and stuffed animals. The boxes are given to needy children overseas.

We did six boxes - a boy and girl box for ages 2-4, 5-9 and 10-14 {all of the gender and age groups}. My kids look forward to this every year, and so do I! The Collection Week is November 14-21 this year, so you still have plenty of time to fill a shoebox if you want to!

While we were in Wal*Mart, Mercie found a really nice analog watch that she used her own money to buy. She has been asking for an analog watch like mine for a few weeks now. She has learned to tell time in math, and she loves it! She is getting better and quicker at telling time on her watch, and she has worn it everyday since she bought it. If your child is having trouble with learning to tell time, I recommend getting them an analog watch. Mercie has had the best time with it {pun not intended!}.

Eli and Silas ranked up again in karate. Eli is now an advanced orange belt, and Silas is an advanced yellow belt. They have a karate tournament in Shreveport next weekend, so my mom, the kids and I are going to go spend Thursday through Saturday night over there. My grandmother and aunt and uncle live there, and it will be nice to visit with them. It's been a long time!

Mikaela is doing really well with piano, and I'm so glad she is taking lessons! Mercie is loving gymnastics, too. All of these activities mean some running around throughout the week, but I am glad that my kids can be involved in extracurricular activities.

Titus learned the letter D this week and the numbers 1-6. We played some fun games with dice {I have the dice with the digits on them} and counting bears.

Silas learned the -an word family and the sight words "see", "it" and "at". He can count to 50 without  much help, recognize any number 0-50, and count by 10's to 100. His handwriting keeps improving, which makes me happy.

Mercie finished reading "Charlotte's Web", and I bought her the movie. She watched it today and loved it, although she almost cried when Charlotte died. She knew it was going to happen, but it was still emotional for her when it did! She learned how to add and subtract money this week in math. She also learned the three different sounds that "ed" makes at the end of words - "d", "t", and "ed".

We went to South Korea in Expedition Earth this week, but I will make that a separate post next week!

How was your week?

CrossTimber {TOS Review}

Normally, my reviews are homeschool related - curriculum, books, movies, or games. Every now and then, I get to review a product that is not for the children, but for me. This is one of those times, and I'm really excited to share this review with you!

CrossTimber makes and sells unique name-meaning gifts - anything from bookmarks to coffee mugs to framed prints. I received one Personalized Framed Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse. I also ordered {with my own money} a coffee mug with my husband's name on it for his birthday, which was October 20.

I contacted John through their website with questions about our family's name meanings. He answered me right away, and immediately I was impressed with how thorough and beautiful the meanings of our names were. I always knew that my name, Megan, meant "A Pearl", and most name cards just say "Megan - A Pearl". Here is the full meaning of my name from CrossTimber:

Pearl, Precious before God:
One of Mighty Victory
Malachi 3:16
"A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared the LORD and thought upon his name.  And they shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels and I will spare them like they were my own son."

 

I knew right away that I wanted to order name gifts for each member of my family! My husband's birthday was coming up, so I ordered him a coffee mug. He is an avid hunter, so I had a deer picture put on the mug, along with his name meaning:

Rodrick

Rich in Glory; Powerful Leader

Devoted: One of Humility Before God

Micah 6:8

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

 

 

He loved his gift! It seemed much more personal than a new shirt or pair of boots. I am very impressed with the quality of the coffee mug. It is a heavy mug, the printed portion is dishwasher safe and very brightly colored. Also included was a bookmark with his name and one with our family name. The picture cannot do it justice. It's absolutely beautiful. I plan to buy several of these for gifts this holiday season.

 

The name plaque I received was also beautiful. The quality is wonderful, the 5x7 frame is so pretty with the background I chose. I decided to have our last name on this plaque:

Russell

Fair Countenance:

One who uses Power Wisely

"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning: for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." Psalm 143:8

 



 

Ordering from CrossTimber was easy. After I knew our name meanings, I could choose from hundreds of different background designs. This actually wasn't easy - I had a difficult time deciding which beautiful theme to use! There are designs of flowers, scenic landscapes, animals, and more! I chose a simple background for our family name. If you're ordering a framed print, there are several different frame options.

John from CrossTimber is a pleasure to work with. He responds immediately through the chat option on his website, and is always so willing to give you the name meaning or respond to a question you have. The shipping was fast, and the products were wrapped in bubble wrap to prevent any breaking during delivery. I was very pleased with my order through CrossTimber!

 

CrossTimber offers discounts, as well:

I plan to take full advantage of these discounts when ordering my holiday gifts this year! This is the perfect gift idea for that person in your life who already has everything or is difficult to buy for.

 

 

 



 

Why We Love Learning Language Arts Through Literature

This is our first year to use Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and I am so glad I took the chance on this curriculum! There are many negative reviews out there, and they almost kept me from trying it out. I wanted to put this good review out there for anyone who, like me, has been searching for reviews on LLATL without finding many good ones. This is my honest review, as I bought the curriculum myself for my children to use. No one is paying me to say this, no one asked me to review this, I just felt compelled because we are truly enjoying it and my children are thriving on it.

I have Mikaela, 8th grade, in the green book; Eli, 6th grade, in the tan book, and Mercie, 3rd grade, in the yellow book.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a language arts program that includes grammar instruction, spelling, punctuation, writing, and literature analysis all in one book. Here are the things we love about LLATL:

• The lessons are short, but full of information, practice, and review. Mercie, my 3rd grader, can finish a lesson in less than 10 minutes a day. Eli takes about 15 minutes and Mikaela about 20 minutes each day. Obviously, some days are longer than others due to a writing assignment or something like that, but this is the average time it takes to complete a lesson {for my kids}. As we embrace many of Charlotte Mason's ideas about education {though not all of them}, this is definitely one of the things I agree with - short lessons are more effective.
• The lessons include good literature. Each week, there is a copy-work {or dictation} passage for your child to write. These always come from a classic book or a well-known poem. I let all of my kids use this as copy-work {and handwriting practice}, even my 6th and 8th graders.
• I don't have several different books for each aspect of language arts. This is important, as I have five children homeschooling. Each book contains my children's spelling, grammar, literature analysis, handwriting, and writing instruction. I don't have to worry that they will forget their spelling or their grammar lesson, as it's all in one book, one lesson, each day.
• My older kids can do this independently. I do have to help, occasionally, and give spelling tests weekly, but the book is written to the student. They can read the lesson, understand the concepts, and work their problems out on their own.
• I sit with Mercie while she completes each lesson, but as I stated before, it takes around ten minutes. I read from the Teacher's Guide, help her with her work, and then she's done. Quick and painless.
• The lessons are the perfect balance in the younger years. Mercie, my 3rd grader, has the perfect balance of handwriting, spelling {6 words weekly}, and grammar instruction. Sprinkled throughout the book are lessons on looking up words in a dictionary, looking up listings in a phonebook, addressing envelopes, and putting words in alphabetical order.
• There are enrichment portions of the lessons that get my kids thinking critically. Several times a week, there is an enrichment portion that has my kids categorizing things, problem solving, or working puzzles. I love this! It's something I would want them to do anyway, and since it's part of their lesson, I don't have to plan something.
• There is plenty of diagramming practice in the older years. Diagramming is an important skill for dissecting parts of speech in sentences. I am glad this is included, and my daughter, Mikaela, has diagramming practice each week.
• My kids have a great book list of literature to read throughout the year. There are 3-5 books your child will read throughout the program, and they are all classics! For example, in the 7th grade book, Mikaela will read "Adam and His Kin", "Much Ado About Nothing", and "Star of Light". Eli, who is working in the 6th grade book, will read "The Bronze Bow", "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch", "The Horse and His Boy", and "Big Red". And, Mercie, in the 3rd grade book, will read "The White Stallion", "Madeline", "Meet George Washington", and "The Courage of Sarah Noble". It's great to have these books already scheduled to read, although I do have them read more than this.

I really can't think of anything that I don't like about LLATL. At first, I was afraid it wasn't enough for my children. As time goes on, I can see how much they're learning! I am now very impressed with the short lessons, gentle grammar instruction, and living literature passages my children do each day. The price is pretty great, too. I ordered mine from Rainbow Resources, and they included all of the books that my kids would need for the year. I paid around $50 for the Teacher's Book, Student Workbook, and the books needed. That's not a bad price, considering you're getting a spelling program, literature program, writing program, grammar program, handwriting program, and poetry program all in one!

 If you're on the fence about buying LLATL, I suggest jumping right into it. It's a great program, especially if you know going in that there will be short lessons without a lot of busy work and that concepts kind of jump around a bit in the younger years {which is not a problem for us}. I am so glad that I went ahead and ordered this program. I plan to keep on using it with all of my children.

Weekly Recap

This week was pretty much like all of the other weeks we have had lately. Mercie, Eli, Silas and Titus did start Expedition Earth this week. You can read about our fun week in China here.

Mikaela has three units left in America the Beautiful. She is so ready to be finished with this program! It's a beautiful book, and she has enjoyed reading it, but she is ready for a change. We haven't decided what we're going to use next. I'm considering using North Star Geography with her, and maybe some historical fiction. We have also looked at Master Books World Geography. Decisions, decisions!

She is also nearly finished with Principals of Mathematics, Book One. She counted today and has about eight weeks left. She will be moving into Book Two of this same series, so no decisions to make there! She learned about measuring the area of irregular polygons this week.

She completed Lesson 23 {out of 34} in Learning Language Arts Through Literature. She is diagramming compound sentences among other things. She enjoys LLATL, and we plan to get the next book in this series as well. I love how it incorporates literature, grammar, and spelling in one book. The lessons aren't too long, either. She is reading "Adam and His Kin" for a book study, also.

We took a week off from writing and science this week. This mama was tired!

Eli is on chapter 6 in Principals of Mathematics. He is learning about dividing fractions and working some really tough word problems. Seriously tough. I had trouble with them!

He completed Unit 11 in America the Beautiful. He is enjoying all of the reading, mapping and timeline activities.

He also Lesson 20 in Learning Language Arts Through Literature. He is learning how to write an essay this week. I'm sure we will continue with this series when he is finished.

Mikaela and Eli both worked on Rosetta Stone Spanish this week. They have both logged in over 100 hours so far, which is amazing.

Mercie completed Lesson 20 in Learning Language Arts Through Literature. She is learning about subjects and predicates as well as quotation marks. I plan to keep using this series with her.

She finished chapter 9 in Math Lessons for a Living Education. She worked on rounding numbers, and reviewed addition and subtraction facts, clocks, and mental math. She loves this math book! It's so fun and quick.

She also worked in her Critical Thinking Language Smarts book. She learned about prefixes, which come very easily to her even though she's never worked on them before.

She read more in Charlotte's Web and worked on her book study. She read about spiders in the Christian Liberty Nature Reader. She finished reading about spiders, but loves these books so much, she went on to read about shellfish!

Silas worked on blends this week - bl, fl, and gl. We worked on his sight word flashcards, too. He had some fun "how to draw" pages to complete. He enjoyed these a lot!

In math, he learned about the numbers 0-50. We made numbers with our place value village, wrote the numbers down on the marker board, and he had copy-work each day in his math book. He is doing really well with recognizing and breaking down these numbers into tens and ones. We tried all of this last year, and he was just not ready for it. Amazing what difference a year can make.

Titus learned that C is for Commandments. He loves his worksheets from the Preschool Mom! He had fun with pattern blocks, play-dough mats, and alphabet stamps! We worked on putting the lowercase letters with the capital letters for A, B, and C.

We don't do much math with him yet, as he is only in preschool. We worked on the numbers 1-5 this week, which he can recognize already. We played a few games with numbers, like "Which is bigger?" I wrote the numbers 1-5 twice on index cards. We each get a set and mix them up. We turn over one card. The number that is bigger wins! The winner takes the two cards. Whoever has the  most at the end of the game wins. We also draw a card, take that many counters, and whoever gets the most wins.

We had a full week with karate, gymnastics, piano  lessons and church! How was your week?

Linking up with :

Expedition Earth: CHINA

Eli, Mercie, Silas and Titus have begun a journey around the earth. We started Expedition Earth {from Confessions of a Homeschooler} this week, and it has been so much fun! I have decided to add in missionary studies with each country - biographies, stories, and praying for missionaries. We began on the continent of Asia, and our first stop was China.

The kids were excited to receive their own passport, which included a picture of themselves. We added the China flag sticker, and I stamped it with a date stamp {which added an extra element of fun}. I forgot to take a picture of this, but you'll see it next week.

A visit to our library was very disappointing. There were no books on China available, except a Magic Tree House book which we already had. I got on Amazon and Christianbook.com and purchased some great books on China! I don't mind adding to our living books library.

Here are the books we used this week:

{I bought these from Amazon. They are all wonderful, living books.}

{These two books came from Chistianbook.com. I love both!}

{We had these two books already. Some of the countries we will study are in these books, some are not.}

{We also had these books. We will use these to look at one animal each week from each country.}

Here is a breakdown of our week:

Monday: We found China on our wall map and added a flag. I read some Fun Facts about China to the kids, and we completed a mapping activity in our student binder. We also read some missionary stories from "I Heard the Good News" from China.

Tuesday: We learned about China's flag and colored one in our student binder. I asked review questions from yesterday, surprised that they remembered so much. We read the book on Lottie Moon and talked about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Wednesday: We read about the Great Wall of China, and then we made one with Legos and one with wooden blocks. We also colored a picture of the Great Wall and label it as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

Thursday: We read about panda bears and did a simple craft.

Friday: We read some more books on China and made a postcard. I laminated them and put them on a metal ring, so we make one each week and add to it. We reviewed everything we learned this week.

The kids also completed a puzzle of Asia each day this week. They really loved this puzzle, and I plan to buy each continent as we come to it.

We had a lot of fun this week "visiting" China. Next week, we're off to South Korea!