Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2015

All the Homeschool Extras That I Love (it's a link-up!!)

Quick note: I tend to publish a lot of "lists of stuff I love" posts.  I actually love writing these!!  One of the reasons I do this is because I can't stomach the thought of writing posts about what YOU should do (like "10 Homeschool Extras You Can't Live Without."  Those kinds of titles usually turn me off.  Way off.  But.... I've always loved reading posts like "What Works for Me" and "My Favorite Such-and-Such" because I'm getting the writer's review and personal experience without being told that I have to do the same.  Get the difference?  I have benefited SO very much from veteran homeschool moms sharing their tips and tricks, opinions and reviews, that I'm happy to do the same for other newbie (or just curious) moms (but I'm not quite veteran yet, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt.) If you're just not into lists of books or school supplies or art supplies, no hard feelings!  (Though I admit I don't understand how a person could not love lists of awesome stuff...) Lists happen to be one of my favorite things.  Ever.  :)  And so I may have a few more posts like this coming up!  Yay!  or  Sorry!  (you get to pick!) 

We're celebrating around here!  It's back-to-school time!  We're actually year-round homeschoolers, but my older kids do start back up at their twice-a-week study center in the fall, so we get to experience a little of the back-to-school excitement!  I thought I'd host a little party!!  A link-up party!!  (whoop!  whoop!) (um... it's only a party if you join in, so link up or hit us with your favorites in the combox!  Details below.)


A few days ago I wrote about the curriculum programs that we use and like enough to stick with (I love reading and writing about that kind of stuff, but some people's reaction may be more along the lines of blah, blah, blah...)  But today, things get a little less nerdy and little more fun!  Let's share about all the little extra things that make homeschooling easier, better, more fun, less stressful!  

 I invite you to join in!  If you homeschool and blog, write your own post about the "extras" you love and link it up!  Don't blog?  Not a problem!  There's lots of comment space here to list all the favorites you want!  I can't wait to read them!  

All the Little Extras that I Love to Love...


 Edupress Math In A Flash Flash Cards.   Why are these flash cards so much better than other flash cards?  Because they're color coded.  If the baby tosses them all over the floor, it still sort of stinks, but at least they're easy to sort and get back in order.  The colored borders also make it easier to find what you're looking for and to choose only the facts you want to add to the rings for your child to review.  Love these cards.

they obviously have subtraction, multiplication, and division too ;)


My Laminator  and binder rings.   I sometimes joke that laminating things and putting them on binder rings is my second religion.  But some may argue, probably rightly so, that that's not a very appropriate joke.  So let's just say that if you have a laminator and binder rings, you possess the power to turn anything into a flashcard.  This is basically a super power that guarantees the success of your academic year ;) 

Quotable Saints, by Rhonda Chervin.  This book is perfect for copy work (of both the academic and disciplinary varieties.)  





My Designated Library Bag.  I had no idea how much I needed this until a dear friend gifted me with one for my birthday a few years ago,.  It's so handy!!  Obviously I use it for transporting our book hauls to and from the library, but it's also perfect for storing the books in our living room - library books have a specific place to always go and they rarely get lost under the couch or mixed in to our bookshelves anymore.  I LOVE my library bag!




Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas.  Somehow, I think that the regular use of this book has something to do with our love of Wild Kratts...
Noise Reducing Earmuffs. We only just got these in May, but they've been very useful. With multiple kids working at one table, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner...

                                                  




                                              
The Children's Bible (Golden Press)




DK Encyclopedia of Animals.  We bought this book to use with the Elemental Science curriculum (wrote about that here) but it turned out to be one of those books that everyone loves and the kids end up pulling it off the shelf frequently.  The photographs, for one, are fabulous!



Little Plastic World Landmarks.  I got this wonderful idea from a friend who uses these little landmarks with her granddaughters.  When I saw them, I couldn't wait to show them to my kiddos.  They love when we do map activities with these.  We'll pull out our USA and World map placemats and have contests to see who can place the most landmarks in the proper spots.  As we progress through our history lessons, they're starting to recognize the significance of many of the landmarks too :)  Learning with toys is a big YES for me! (I'm guessing we may be adding to our Safari TOOB collection this year when the boys start studying the American Revolutionary War!)    



Dover Coloring Books.  Obviously.

The Original Schoolhouse Rock.  I never watched this until my mom bought it for us a few years ago.  We all like it so much... I should start playing it more often :) (I even referenced a song during a writing and grammar lesson the other day, so, thanks, Mom!)






Liberty's Kids (it was a summertime goal to finish this, but we're still not quite there yet.)





Woah.  That list sort of exploded from my original five ideas.  Well, now you know there is no limit to what you can share!  So start taking stock of all the little extras you love to use in your homeschool and link up your posts here (and spread the word to our fellow homeschooling bloggers.)  Can't wait to read all your ideas!  

 The link-up party lasts until September 22.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

My Homeschool Curriculum Favorites


The past few years I've written a post around this time outlining our curriculum plans for the upcoming year.  ( Curriculum Choices (2013 - 2014) and Curriculum Choices (2014 - 2015) ) They were among my favorite posts!!  They're all about books and supplies and planners and programs and systems and books, books, books, books!!  

I was pretty bummed when I realized it would be repetitive and unnecessary to write a curriculum choices post this year; not much has changed.  On the other hand, I'm super excited at the fact that this is the first year I'm not really trying out anything new!!  For the past three or four years I've been researching programs, comparing methods, reading reviews from other moms, price shopping, and testing out new materials.  And we finally don't need to do that again this year because I've found what works for us and we're sticking with that stuff!  Yay!!   

When September rolls around, the "start" of the school year will lack the thrill that nerds like me get when diving into a new program or curriculum.  But in a way I'm looking forward to being back in the thick of it but feeling like it's "coming home" - being familiar and comfortable with all the methods and books and programs and not having to navigate anything new.  

Here are some of the programs that I love and that work for us.  So much so that we keep coming back to them year after year...  

(double digit multiplication in progress... the MUS way)

 We've never used any other math program, so I can't compare Math U See to anything else.  I just know that so far it's worked for us.  It's a multi-sensory approach, so it can be a good fit for a family with children with different learning styles.  Lessons are taught via DVD, there's practice and review in each chapter,  concepts are taught using colored manipulatives, and you have the option of purchasing a CD of addition facts and skip counting songs.  Something for everyone.  

MUS's straight forward, systematic approach  especially works for my oldest who doesn't need bells and whistles.  He just wants to learn, practice, master the material, and move on.  He's perfected skip counting by every number from listening to the CD, and that was enormously helpful in learning his multiplication facts.  Math U See is a perfect fit for this kid.  

 For my second son, Math doesn't come quite as easily, but he benefits a lot from the "tricks" that are taught for adding and subtracting with different numbers.  He also appreciates the application and enrichment activities included at the end of each chapter.  He's often hesitant to use manipulatives because he feels it's an indication of his "weakness" in Math, but I usually just have to remind him that it's called Math U SEE and that the manipulatives are part of the see-ing, and he capitulates.  Even though I think my second son would enjoy a math program that is in color and has more "fun" and engaging activities, Math U See seems to work well for him in that the straight-forward, no nonsense approach has nothing on the page to distract him.  

Finally, Math U See hasn't only been good for my kids... Math was one of my weakest subjects all throughout school, and I've been SO enormously grateful for some of the tips and tricks that I've learned from Professor Demme's DVD lessons.  Honestly, I've gotten much better at math by doing MUS with my kids!  Yay!  






I love Handwriting Without Tears.  But not because there are actually no tears involved... I love it because it's so systematic and simple.  I also love it because the workbooks are easy to use and once my "students" know the HWT method of forming each letter, I can let them practice independently.  I check their pencil grip and that's about it until they're done and bring their work to me for review.  

 The first year I used HWT I bought the teacher guide (it was the Kindergarten level.)  I'm glad I did, because by reading through it I learned the how's and why's of their approach. In my opinion, if you read one of their teacher guides, you don't need to purchase any for the other grades.  Save your money and instead buy the HWT writing paper and notebooks/journals.  Because HWT uses lined paper that is different from the "regular" 2 solid lines with the dashed line in the middle, it's worth having some of their "method" paper on hand for extra practice. 

 If you look into the HWT tears program, you will find that it can get a little gimick-y.  It is designed for large classroom settings and so you can *maybe* see why a preschool or Kindergarten teacher might need "Mat Man" to teach kids about where parts of the body are or a bunny puppet to keep kids engaged.......  However, as a homeschool mom, there are LOTS of things that HWT offers that I just don't need.  If you are thinking about purchasing some of the "extras" for a Kindergartner or first grader, I would recommend (in addition to the workbooks, extra paper, and notebooks) the wood pieces for building letters (great for tactile learners) and the blue mat and capital letter cards that go with them.  We've also had success using the slate chalkboard and the blackboard with double lines.   I also have a set of their letter and number wall cards that I put in plastic sheet protectors and keep in a binder for my preschooler to trace with a dry erase marker.  Obviously, all these things are extras, but I've appreciated having them for my younger kiddos.  


(Emergent Reader Series and Decodable Literature Series.)


Ugh.  Are you sick of me talking about these?  Sorry.  I have to!  Here's some of what I've already written...
...the things that truly set this series apart from other reading programs are the engaging stories and delightful illustrations. There are no fat cats sitting on mats in this series, but there are cats who nap in camping equipment and a cat detective who investigates mysterious tacks and tan sacks. The stories are equally suited to boys and girls, they often convey wholesome childhood experiences (think running through a field to play fetch with your dog or going to the amusement park with the whole family).  Several of the stories also feature (without fanfare or overtones of trying too hard to be "inclusive") children of different ethnic backgrounds and blended race families.  (These are not themes of the stories, but are portrayed beautifully in the illustrations.)  There are a handful of artists who provided the illustrations for the books, all of which are lovely.  There are no stick figures or foolish cartoon characters here.  The artwork is such that the child reading probably feels like he's reading a "real" picture book instead of a meticulously researched and planned out phonics-based reader.  
They are the absolute opposite of typical make-mom-want-to-gnaw-her-arm-off readers.  (Bob Books, I'm looking at you.).... The language and illustrations are truly enjoyable, even for adults; a mother won't feel compelled to bang her head against the wall as she sits by and listens.  
You can read my complete review of the Emergent Reader Series here.  (This was one of the one-time expensive homeschool purchases that I'm soooo happy I did early on.  The cost is justified by the fact that I anticipate using them with all my kids :) )
In all fairness, I have to tell you that we've only used this program for one year, but I liked it enough that I bought the next level and we're using it again for this upcoming year.  I had tried (and ditched) two different spelling programs before chatting with Erin enough to give AAS a go.  After one year, I can easily see how this program builds solid spellers.  It's in depth and thorough.  It teaches spelling and phonics rules from the beginning and young kids are quickly spelling words beyond CVC words.  

 The teacher's guide is a must, but I was able to pick and choose which activities I used for each of the children in each lesson.  (My younger son benefited from the letter tiles, while my older son found that activity to be tiresome.)  

 Note: we don't use All About Reading, but that hasn't hindered our progress through AAS.



Story of the World (Audio Books)



Pretty sure these are nothing new for most homeschoolers out there.  This will be our fourth year using STOW, but only our second year using the audio version of the books (read by another of our family favorites, Jim Weiss!)  The audio books were a game-changer for us.  They've made all the difference because we can listen to them in the car and so we're all getting a history lesson, instead of just the older kids.  I can't recommend this series, especially the audio versions, enough!  


  Maps, Charts, and Graphs


I love this Geography series and so do my kids.  They actually beg to do geography.  When I say "it's time to do grammar," and my son gets super exited, I know that he misheard me and thinks I said "geography."   (He hears what he wants to hear!)  The lessons in these books are short, but complete, followed by questions to practice the new skill just introduced (understanding various kinds of maps, charts, and graphs... duh!)  We've been using these workbooks for three (or maybe 4?) years and I've been so happy with them that I imagine that we'll keep using this series for as far and as in depth as it goes.  I believe there are 8 levels (one per grade level from 1 - 8th grade) 
Song School Latin


I just LOVE this gentle introduction to Latin for kiddos.  The study center my kids attend use this program, but if we were ever to leave there, we'd still use it!  The vocabulary songs are so fun, the workbook is easy to use.  If you're considering starting Latin early, don't worry about starting with grammar and tricky stuff for your little ones.  This is a fun for kids, manageable for mom, introduction to the language.  After completing books 1 and 2 (my kids have done each book twice, actually) they'll be ready to start with Classical Academic Press' Latin for Children program with hundreds of vocabulary words and some basic grammar under their belts.  


 Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


This definitely gets mixed reviews from moms, but if you're looking for no-nonsense, no frills, totally scripted reading lessons, this may be the program for you.  Letter sounds are taught progressively, unlike some phonics reading programs that require your kiddos to know all the letter sounds before they can start reading anything.  This program starts with simple sounds and simple words, then gradually adds in more sounds, including common blends and sight words.  Kids are reading "stories" from the very beginning.  I've successfully used this program while also using the Flyleaf Publishing books as supplements.  


I have been so happy with this step by step learn to draw program.  The books cover so many different topics that in the last few years, we've easily been able to choose drawing projects that coincide with specific things we're studying (animals and habitats, historical events, geography, etc...)  Also included are paragraphs for copy work (only my older kids use these since, again, the triple lines can be confusing for young Handwriting Without Tears users.)  I recommend these books for anyone interested in adding drawing to their weekly lessons.  We've certainly used ours a lot! 

Elemental Science (classical science program)

I'm tagging this on to the end here because even though we're not using it again this year, I really loved it :( If my boys weren't doing science at the study center, we would most definitely be doing Elemental Science again.  

This past year we did Biology for the Grammar Stage.  There is no text, but the parent guide provides the titles you need to complete the program.  The boys loved the student workbook as well as the scientific experiments and demonstrations.  I purchased the experiment kit, so we always had everything we needed and I wasn't left scrambling to try to find bizarro things around the house for experiments.  One of the best features of Elemental Science is that they serve homeschoolers of different methods.  You can choose their Classical approach (which we did, and can I mention again, we loved it?!), or their living books series for a more Charlotte Mason approach, or their lapbook-based program. 

I often hear moms wondering what to do for science, if anything at all.  For our first few years we just did a lot of nature study and interest-led reading (library book binges to the Nth degree...) but I decided last year we needed something a little more formal.  I heartily recommend the Elemental Science program, especially if you're leaning more toward a classical approach to your homeschool.  It's cyclical, as much of classical ed is, and if you stick with it, your students will cycle through biology, earth science and astronomy, chemistry, and physics approximately three times.  
  

Do you have any favorite educational programs that you love and keep coming back to year after year?  Or do you have any questions about mine?  Ask away!  I love chatting about this kind of stuff!!

 Annnd... linking it up with Micaela at California to Korea.  Head on over there to check out her vision and mission for the year, as well as the books and stuff they'll be using this year in their west coast homeschool!

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