The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew – My Last Days

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is a quarterly magazine geared towards homeschoolers. It is delivered both in print and digital version. One issue of their magazine is chock-full of articles on homeschooling such as how to start homeschooling, homeschooling on a budget, homeschooling how-tos, methods of homeschooling, philosophy of education and many, many more.

I don’t remember anymore how I first learned of The Old Schoolhouse, but when I did get to their website, I immediately subscribed to receive their updates. I was happy to see that they had archives of their past articles which I learned a lot from.

Last year, they also launched their digital version. Their digital version is the exact copy of their printed version. It’s just like getting the printed copy itself but you’re reading it on your computer. The digital version is much better, though, because the links to products and other services can be accessed immediately as you are reading your magazine. No need for you to put your magazine down, move to your computer and put a search for a product that you find in the magazine.

In August of 2008, I received an email from The Old Schoolhouse with this subject:

Last Call to Join the TOS Focus Group

Can you write about quality homeschool products?

Of course I was curious and immediately read it. As I was reading, my heart was racing with excitement. They were looking for bloggers who can write about homeschool products. The Focus Group would receive different products and we were to use it in our homeschools and blog about it.

I immediately wrote in to apply for the post. They were only looking for a hundred, and they were located in the USA, so I was just praying to be accepted.

A few weeks later, I received the happy news that I was accepted. Imagine that, there were over 800 applicants, and I was one of the 100 chosen to be a part of it! Furthermore, out of the 100, only five of us were located outside the US.

In the months that followed, I received a wealth of homeschool products. The products varied from physical products, website memberships, and eBook downloads. We also had a forum to communicate with our leaders, Heidi and Alison. Another important thing happened on our forum, we all got to be friends online. Not only did we share our opinions, problems and happiness over the products that we were getting for FREE, we also prayed for each other, supported each other through our personal problems and basically just be there for each other. It’s really been a great ride for all of us. Being members of the TOS Homeschool Crew has been a God-given blessing to us, more than we can imagine.

I only have a few more products to review and my time with the TOS Homeschool Crew is done. This year, TOS is once again searching for new Crewmates. If you are a homeschooler and a blogger at the same time and you’re interested in becoming a part of the 2nd batch of the TOS Homeschool Crew, click below for more details:

You can contact me at mpadrelanan at gmail dot com if you have any questions on applying.

Website Review: Time4Learning.com

Time4Learning.com is an online curriculum provider for grades PreK through 8. It teaches two subjects in Language Arts and Math, but as a bonus for most grades, Science and Social Studies subjects are provided as well. You can use it as your foundation subject curriculum for homeschool, as an alternative to tutoring or afterschool or as a summer enrichment program. It is interesting, interactive and fun. It capitalizes on today’s technology – the internet, and our children’s interest in computers.

Reasons why I like it:

It’s presentation is very cartoon-like. The characters are interesting and safe. It is fast-paced. In short, it can compete with all that media has to offer our children. I’ve read somewhere (I can’t remember where because I read a lot) that nowadays, it is becoming harder and harder to find ways to capture and retain a student’s attention. This is due to the availability and easy access to TV, video games, handheld games which are very colorful and fast-paced. Time4Learning.com has answered that need because of the colorful, interesting and fun ways that the lessons are presented to the students. If homeschool parents find it difficult to make their own curriculum, this can be the foundation to teach these four subjects. Although I believe that it still needs to be supplemented by some worksheets for a child to fully learn a topic. My children liked it, especially my 10 year old student. But my 13 year old eventually complained because the lessons were presented in the same manner each time, so she became a little bit bored with it. It also saved me during those days when I totally cannot teach, so that I would just park them in front of the computer and log in to Time4Learning.com. Although I would not suggest doing it all of the time. However, the Language Arts subject, which is the only subject that my children studied in Time4Learning, was very effective. My children learned their lessons and my 10 year old is usually excited to use the new words that she learned. Of course, expect your children to start speaking with a strong American accent after this.

Please head on now to www.Time4Learning.com for more information about this. They offer sample lessons for you to try before you decide to purchase.

More reviews from TOS Homeschool Crew here:

About This Blog

I have created this blog for several reasons:

1. To journal our homeschool activities here in Manila, Online casino Ireland. ###

Philippines;

3. To share what I know about homeschooling in the

Philippines;

4. To share my product reviews as a service to all homeschoolers;

5. Finally, I created this blog to bring glory to our Almighty God, who is full of mercy and grace and is our reason and hope for this life.

May you all be blessed!

Book Review: And Then Mama said…It Takes Time to Learn to Read

Splish is a little boy frog who has been wanting to read for a very long time. But, despite his and his Mama’s best efforts at reading, still can’t just yet. Splish is so sad about this because all his friends and siblings are already reading.

And Then Mama Said…It Takes Time to Learn to Read is a heartwarming story that takes us on Splish’s journey to discovering the joys of reading. It takes the readers through Splish’s sadness at not being able to read, his Mama’s patience and diligence in teaching, to Splish’s hiding the truth from his friends, and finally to his success at reading.

This is a story about a homeschooling family facing the reality of a reading difficulty. The determination of Splish to learn will inspire other children who are in the same boat. His parent’s love and gentle encouragement is a good model for parents to follow. Interwoven subtly through the book are the benefits of homeschooling, their family’s love of reading and the father’s love and teaching of the Bible to his family. Though it is a book about a family that homeschools, it will inspire every parent interested in their child’s learning journey.

And Then Mama Said…It Takes Time to Learn to Read is written by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine publisher and a homeschool mama herself, Ms. Gena Suarez and delightfully illustrated by Mr. Kevin Collier.

See more reviews from the rest of the TOS Crew here:

Math Curriculum Review: Math Mammoth Fractions

My daughter gets excellent grades in her Math lessons. But after using this particular curriculum for two years where every page is just chock-full of worksheets, she reached some kind of a math burnout. It got to a point when she just could not take another math worksheet anymore. She felt that the one we used was monotonous in its presentation, she was quite bored with studying it. Plus the enormous amount of worksheets that she had to finish in a day became too much for her. Finally, I just decided to stop her math lessons altogether and promised to find another Math curriculum for her.

We tried using Maria Miller’s Math Mammoth Fractions 1 eBook recently and I have to say that I am impressed. My daughter found the lessons very easy to understand. For once, I heard her say that she doesn’t need my help in answering it. She also says that she prefers Math Mammoth to other Math programs that we have tested.

For me, I also found that I did not have to explain as much to my daughter, since she already understood it. We did try using a popular Math program before where I bought several expensive books. Those were indeed very colorful and interested my children at the start, but it did not contain anything by way of explanation of the concepts being taught. I find that the big difference in Math Mammoth is that for every lesson that she taught, she provided an explanation.

Maria Miller is a Math teacher who loves to teach her subject, as her Blogger profile describes her. She has produced several math books for homeschoolers presenting the math concepts in a manner that the student would totally understand. It’s as if she is right beside the student and teaching her personally. It took a lot of the work of teaching out of my hands. Math Mammoth books are written to the students so the students can understand the lesson even without the help of the parent/teacher.

Math Mammoth has four different series, the Blue Series, the Light Blue Series, the Green Series and the Golden Series. The Blue series presents a few topics per book which allows the student an in-depth study of the material. These are very, very affordable downloadable eBooks, starting at $2.00. The Light Blue series constitutes a complete Math curriculum for Grades 1 – 4. She offers a placement test in her website for you to choose the appropriate level of your child/student. The Golden series are for Grades 3 -8, organized by grade and contain problems or worksheets only, these are good to use for review or general practice. The Green series are for Grades 3 – 8 organized by topic.

As always, if you go to her website and sign up for her newsletter, you can receive 280 pages of FREE sample worksheets for you to try out in your homeschool before you buy.

Try it! The prices can’t be beat but Maria Miller did not skimp on giving children her best Math lessons.

Read more reviews about Math Mammoth by clicking on the button below:

Book Review: The Little Man In the Map – With Clues To Remember All 50 States

Still remember what it was like studying Geography in school? B-O-R-I-N-G right? Until now as I teach the subject to my children, they can’t help but be bored. The materials we use are unimaginative and dry. I’m bored teaching it! I’ve always wished that I can find a material that I can use to teach Geography that will make it fun and alive for my children.

And I believe I’ve found one, one that teaches the US Geography, at least. The Little Man in the Map – With Clues to Remember All 50 States by E. Andrew Martonyi and illustrated by Ed Olson uses imaginative pictures and creative rhymes that will make it easy to remember all 50 states. Charlotte Mason, a British educator in the 1800’s advocated that children should read living books. Living books are those books that are written by authors who are passionate about their subject. E. Andrew Martonyi is one such author. His love of travelling, his quest to find new things and his granddaughter’s innate curiosity about the places he’s been to has inspired him to create The Little Man in the Map – With Clues to Remember All 50 States. His book allows children to learn about the US Geography by using their imagination while making it fun and easy to learn.

When I got this book, my children were so excited to read it because of the colorful illustrations. Upon reading it, we discovered the fun in the rhymes. What’s even better is that we were able to memorize the states and their locations quickly. Although this book is geared more towards the elementary ages, older children, even adults will enjoy reading it. I’ve always wanted to know more about the 50 states of the US, but have never found the time to do it. But with The Little Man in the Map – With Clues to Remember All 50 States has made it easy for me and my children to learn about the US Geography.

Oh, and did I mention that The Little Man in the Map – With Clues to Remember All 50 States is a recipient of multiple awards? Check it out:

2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards Outstanding Books of the Year for Most Original Concept

2007 ForeWord Magazines Book of the Year Awards Finalist in the Education Category

2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in the Children’s Picture Book Category

2007 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Silver in the Non-Fiction Picture Book Category

To know more about The Little Man In The Map and E. Andrew Martonyi, please visit his blog.

This book can be purchased from these online stores:

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Schoolhouse Store

Schoolside Press

Barnes and Noble

Borders

 

If you would like to read more reviews by The TOS Homeschool Crew about this product, please click on the button below:

Website Review: ALEKS Math (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces)

ALEKS Math is an online, research-based Math program. It is ideal for homeschoolers to use as it provides a complete curriculum for Math.

My Guitar Babe, the 13 year old, and I approached ALEKS Math with caution. She has gone through some kind of a Math burnout in the past, as I have shared before, but understanding that she needs to study Math, she is still open to try out other Math programs.

The registration process was painless. After the registration, she underwent a 45-minute assessment of her current Math level. Right after this, ALEKS was immediately able to provide MyPie which shows the all the topics she needs to learn for her level in a pie format. Remember the pie drawing used when studying fractions? That’s how it looks like. Every segment of the pie represents a topic and the whole pie represents all she needs to learn for that level. For each segment of the pie, a dark color represents what she already knows and a light color represents what she still has to learn. Pointing your mouse on that segment will also show the topics to be studied. As soon as she learns a topic, MyPie is updated immediately where you can see the darker color progressing. MyPie is a great motivator for the student to keep on learning.

The Math lessons are short. It provides an explanation for the student if it is needed. While doing the lessons, the student keeps on working on a topic until ALEKS sees that there is already some mastery. ALEKS Math can generate worksheets to be printed for the topics the student is currently learning, there is no more need to purchase a separate workbook. Mental Math is also practiced with Math Tables where the student should type in their answers as fast as they can.

My Guitar Babe, who is an auditory learner, did not appreciate it as much as I did. I liked it because I’m more visual than auditory. She liked the pie, she liked the idea that she is learning online, but she still needed me to explain the lessons to her. When I asked her to do it by herself, she had a hard time with it. So I think, using this with my children, I still need to be by their side teaching them. I feel that it adds another level to my teaching because I’m teaching her while we are online, then to encourage more practice, we have to print the worksheets for her to work on. I’m thinking, why not just purchase another textbook to teach her with?

For the visual learner, though, this works quite well. I love the motivation that MyPie gives to the student. ALEKS Math also provides a complete report of the student’s current level and what still needs to be learned. ALEKS Math also provides immediate gratification through its immediate response to the topics learned. It does not provide long and repetitive worksheets that the student has to plod through. Each problem is explained clearly.

For me, there are many benefits to enrolling your child in ALEKS Math. You can learn more about it by going to http://www.aleks.com/homeschool. You can also avail of their free trial period to try it out for yourselves. If you don’t feel as confident in teaching Math yourself, ALEKS Math may work for your family.

Read more reviews by the TOS Homeschool Crew here:

Lapbook Review: The New Testament Activity Pak by Home School in the Woods

 

It’s pleasant to be doing something different for a change. I’ve never tried lapbooking before although I’ve heard and read about it on different websites. I’m happy that I received The New Testament Activity Pak from Ms. Amy Pak of Homeschool in the Woods.

The New Testament Activity Pak is filled with activities that will walk you and your children through the New Testament. The first time we did it, I thought that I should just finish the activities as fast as we can. I quickly realized, however, that the learning comes not only from the activities, but from the Bible reading that you’ll be doing as you go along. In fact, you can’t teach the activities without first reading the accompanying verses in your own Bible and discussing it. Then the hands-on activities will become meaningful to your children.

 

All three of my children thoroughly enjoyed doing the activities. Even I have learned more about the New Testament. This lapbook actually became a family activity because we also enlisted the help of Dad to cut and score the pages.

 

Furthermore, doing the activities in the lapbook can cement the lessons in the children’s minds. This lapbook is for the visual, kinesthetic, auditory and spatial learner.

The downside to this, I feel, is that I’ve had to buy a lot of board papers. You can’t use ordinary bond paper to create the lapbook and even if I searched for the most inexpensive one I can find, having to buy so many board paper still cost us a lot of money.

A mistake I’ve made is that I tried doing too many activities at one time. Eventually, I figured out that I couldn’t do it this way. So one Activity Pak can be used for a few weeks in order for the students to master what they are learning.

I did not have a hard time finding the items I needed to accomplish the activities. You’ll just need board and plain bond paper, scissors, glue, cutter, pin and ruler – most are already available at my home.

Will I want to order another activity pak from Homeschool in the Woods? Yes if I can find a cheaper source to purchase my board paper.

 

 

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Our Holy Week Activities

Hubby and I did not plan to go anywhere special this Holy Week. In the past years, we usually went with our church to our Family Camp which were done annually. This year, however, going to the usual Family Camp or even going out on an outing is definitely not within our budget.

However, we still wanted to commemorate this week and teach our children why this is special. I realized that we had to tell them the Resurrection story of Jesus Christ when both my Guitar Babe and her sister, Artsy Princess, asked me why there is Easter Sunday.

Good thing I have downloaded the Free Easter Goodies from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, so this gave me something to work with. I wanted some hands-on activities for them so I started searching online. After a futile search, I realized that I can use the New Testament Activity Pak Lapbook by Homeschool in the Woods that I am currently reviewing. I was so glad to see that it had several hands-on activities that I can have my children do, even for my 4 year old Sunshine Girl.

Our whole family read through Matthew 26-28 as this holds a record of Jesus Christ’s last days on Earth, the Last Supper, praying at Gethsemane, being betrayed by Judas and subsequently arrested , being charged with blasphemy, tortured and crucified and finally, the wondrous Resurrection.

We had several meaningful discussions with our children, can’t believe they understand so much already! After the discussions, we would do the activities for the lapbook.

In the middle of all this, though, we’ve all been suffering from cough and colds. It got to be too much so we decided to take the children back to their pediatrician and also for a two-nights visit to their grandparents.

La Mesa Ecopark

We had a good visit with the grandparents. On Holy Thursday, we all went to the La Mesa Ecopark and spent the morning there. We all had a great time though it was hot and full of people all ready to go swimming.

Gary D., Guitar Babe and I tried out the exciting zipline where you zip over the lake while hanging on a cable. Guitar Babe and I played rock-paper-scissors to determine who was jumping first. Guitar Babe lost so she went first and she zipped down the cable fearlessly.

Having to jump from a platform that was about 12ft high, I almost changed my mind. But hearing my parents telling me, “If you’re afraid, don’t do it” sealed the decision for me. I thought to myself, “This woman is not afraid of anything”, so off I went and had the time of my life.

After watching me do it, Gary D. decided that he wanted to do it,too. Which was a surprise for me because a mere caterpillar roller coaster ride can make his knees wobbly. But he gamely said, “Well I have to conquer this fear”, so off he went and indeed conquered the zipline!

Easter Sunday

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matt. 28:5-6

On Easter Sunday, we hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for the children in our neighborhood. Hubby and I thought that this would be a good way to get to know our neighbors whom we eventually want to share the Gospel to.

Very early in the morning, the children were already outside our gate waiting for us. When I told them that we’ll start at 8:30, they started counting the minutes, they were so excited. I think they have not yet experienced an egg hunt. At first, there were only a handful of children, but once we opened the gate, more people came, even mothers with small babies. Gladly we welcomed them and invited everyone to search around our house for the eggs.

It was good to see the children and mothers enjoying the search. There were some tears for the ones who did not find a single egg but a little boy was jubilant when he found the jackpot egg. We gave him a few packs of crackers for finding the jackpot.

After all the eggs had been found, Gary D took a few minutes to explain a bit about the reason for the Egg Hunt. He said that the eggs represent a new life which represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Even if we had gone on several family outings in the past, this year’s Holy Week is one that I will never forget. Though we celebrated it simply, it is more important for us to tell our children about Jesus Christ, His death on the cross and His Resurrection and to share our blessings with others.

Art Curriculum Review: Spears Art Studio - K-8 Christian Art Curriculum

Art is one of the subjects that I feel the most unable and most unqualified to teach. This is for the simple reason I really don’t believe myself to be artsy. Although I do like crafting, I feel that the crafts that I like to do are too much for children. During the first few years, I would have my children do art activities that I remembered doing as a child. So we’ve done finger painting, drawing, coloring, paper weaving, leaf painting. After awhile, I started running out of ideas. I tried buying a book on crafting but the materials are also not easy to find. Eventually, art in our house whittled down to just me downloading coloring pages from the internet for my smaller ones to color or paint. My eldest has almost no art lessons at all. Now this really worried me because I haven’t even taught my children the primary and secondary colors! I want to but I needed to follow a curriculum. I dreamed of taking my children to see paintings and discussing it with them, but I was intimidated by that idea because I really don’t have any idea how to start it. So teaching my children Art has continued to remain a dream for me.

Then I received Spears Art Studio, Inc. K-8 Christian Art Curriculum, A Teacher’s Manual in CD format for review. At first, I felt very intimidated by it. Though it is in CD format, it consisted of hundreds of pages of art instruction. But after perusing it more slowly, I saw that it is actually a very organized presentation of how this art curriculum can be used for the levels K-8. She provides very detailed instructions on teaching art, using your materials wisely and how to evaluate a student’s artwork. The curriculum is divided into monthly themes according to seasons and events, with daily activities and divided further for each grade level. The daily activities are further explained in detail with color samples included. The best thing about this curriculum is that all of her art activities makes use of materials that are already normally found in your home.

K-8 Christian Art Curriculum, A Teacher’s Manual is created by Diane Shields Spears, Doctor of Christian Education. Here is their Mission Statement which I got from their website:

Spears Art Studio MISSION STATEMENT

1. to recognize the hand of God in everything and to give Him glory;

2. to reconnect the Lord as the Supreme Artist to the process and excitement of learning for both children and educators through the study and activity of art;

3. to provide resources for the Christian educator that:

a. help students make connections between the Creator, creativity, and personal maturity;

b. are organized for natural learning progression;

c. provide experiences for higher order thinking skills;

d. "stretch" academic and manipulative skills;

e. introduce students to famous artists and artworks incorporated into a seasonal and/or art elements/principles arrangement of art and craft production.

Or to put it simply, by using this art curriculum, you are able to teach art to your children from a Biblical world view.

So I am really glad to receive K-8 Christian Art Curriculum. The first time we used it, there was still some intimidation on my part, however, the details in the manual and the sample made it easy for me to explain to my children the activity.

I highly recommend this Art curriculum for purchase because you can use it teach your multiple-grade students together or use it to teach one student for many years, each theme has a verse to go along with it, you need not be an art major to teach your child with this curriculum. The price of US$ 39.95 for the CD is very reasonable because you can use just this one program for many years to come.

Please go to their website for Diane Spears’ free article “ART IS GOOD FOR MY BRAIN?”. While you’re there, you can check out and download free lessons for you to sample.