The biggest curriculum sale of the year, the 2019 Build Your Bundle, starts on May 15, 2019 and lasts for just one week. Would you like to enter a giveaway to win $3K worth of homeschool curriculum? Hurry and enter before the sale starts on May 15. You can enter here. You will also get a FREE gift for entering the giveaway: The Kitchen Binder set of printables. Yes, it's practical and cute! You will also get a $5.00 off coupon to use in the sale toward your purchase once it begins. Enjoy! This is our sixth year being part of Build Your Bundle and we are so excited to have 5 products in this year's sale. We'll tell you more about them next week. Now, details are still secret until the first day of the sale, but I can tell you ...
The sale has some changes this year to make it even better than before. The best change is that you can build your own bundle with as many products as you'd like--the more you buy, the better the savings. Learn more about the 2019 Build Your Bundle Sale here.
0 Comments
Hey everyone! I have a guest blog at the zoo I call home, "Living Books and Unit Study Fun." Check it out here. Thank you to Felicia Johnson for the opportunity to share on her site. You have to check out The Zoo I Call Home. You will find resources and blog posts for your home school. I am a fan of Felica's blog where you will find almost everything you need to know about homeschooling. Check out the my article here and check out Felicia's blog here. Until Next Time, Happy Homeschooling! Warmly, Meredith Curtis We are up and running. It’s a brand-new year. So much to be excited about. It’s hard to believe that soon this school year will just be a memory. My Missing Photos I have been homeschooling since 1991 and as I look back at our photo albums—yes, I used to get photos printed and put them in albums before digital—I find one set of photos missing. The photos of my children reading, working on a math problem, reading to a sibling, or doing chores. I have lots of photos of birthdays, holidays, field trips, and special days, but I wish I had more photos of ordinary school days. Maybe you do take lots of photos of school and chores, posting them on Instagram for the world to see. Good for you! You will treasure those memories one day. Storing My Photos As you go through the school year, don’t forget to snap photos and save mementos. Maybe you don’t scrapbook or print photos and put them in leather albums, but you can label and save them in folders. I don’t print up photos much anymore, unless I am framing them, but I do label photos with the date and list the people in the photo. Sometimes I just use initials like this: “Christmas Day 2016 JR JA Dad Jim KB Rusty.” My photos are organized on my computer, too. There is one folder for every year: 2000, 2001, 2002, etc. Then, I also have all twelve months in separate folders: Jan 2015, Feb 2015, March 2015, etc. Inside these folders are all kinds of folders: Beach 6 6 15, Road Rally 6 17 15, Mom’s BD 6 2 15, etc. These folders are descriptive, so I can easily remember the day by looking at the title. Finding Photos As Moms, we, like all Christians around the world, are called to make disciples. “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 [Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [always, even to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28: 18-20 NASB). Jesus didn’t tell His followers to make converts, but to make disciples that would walk with Him and walk in His ways. We are to GO. That is active, purposeful. We are to BAPTIZE. We lead people to Christ and facilitate a born-again experience with God. We TEACH. We don’t teach just a few things, we teach EVERYTHING Jesus has taught us. The most important disciples we will ever make are our children. So how do we impact their young lives for the glory of God? LoveLiving the Christian life boils down to loving Jesus and letting Him love and serve others through us. This is how Jesus made disciples. First, Jesus loved His Father and loved the people around Him. Second, Jesus loved His Father, loved the people around Him, and His disciples were with Him. Third, the disciples loved the Lord, loved the people around them, and Jesus was with them. Fourth, Jesus sent the disciples on trial runs to love the Lord and love the people around them. Love Jesus WholeheartedlyFlashback to the early 1990s! I was a young mom, interested in homeschooling, who noticed all of these amazing well-behaved children who respect their parents. I wanted children like that! As time went on, our family thrived with homeschooling. However, my children squabbled with one another. They were not perfect. Sigh. Comparing Ourselves to Other Families Over the years, I met so many moms who did so many cool things. I discovered homeschooling children who could compose symphonies, translate Dickens into Latin, and win prizes at debates. My children didn’t want to stand in front of a crowd. My kids are amazing, smart, funny, … and flawed. Face it. We are just an ordinary family who loves Jesus. And that’s okay. We don’t have to be The Incredibles with Super Powers. To enjoy and appreciate my children for who they are, I had to ditch comparing them with other children. You see I don’t know what goes on behind the front door of the child who can recite Bible verses in Hebrew or the six-year old who can read Jane Austen, so I will never have the full picture. I do know this. No family is perfect. Jesus was perfect, but even His family wasn’t. When I stopped looking at other families and started zeroing in on my own children, I could appreciate their gifts and live with their flaws. Cultivating Strengths My oldest daughter was a reader and a nurturer. I gave her plenty of books and opportunities to love on her younger siblings and other little ones in church. She quietly served in the nursery and babysat. Julianna was a strong leader so I provided opportunities for her to manage projects like getting us out the door for a field trip when she was younger and planning the details of our vacation when she got older. I looked for their strengths and capitalized on them. Cultivating their strengths became a major focal point for me after I read a business article that said that successful peoples put 70% of their time cultivating their strengths, 25% learning new things, and only 5% of their time overcoming weakness. Wow! I had been really focusing on overcoming all their weaknesses so they could be like the other homeschooled kids I saw around me or maybe like that ideal kids I saw in my mind. Now, homeschoolers put a lot more time in learning that 25% so I didn’t use this as a formula, but it certainly got me thinking about cultivating strengths which built their confidence, rather than making them feel over and over like they didn’t measure up. Overcoming Weaknesses Are you ready to hear about Art of the Northern Countries, Renaissance to Realism, K-3 Vol. 5 from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc.? I'm so excited to tell you about this beautifully illustrated easy-to-use homeschool art curriculum with a focus on monoprint and relief printmaking methods, watercolor, and charcoal. We used the book and the DVD. This volume, and the rest of the set, is a wonderful way to introduce young children to the wonderful world of fine art! We had an amazing time with this book on Northern Artists. We looked at Bruegel, Durer, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner, Millet, and more. I love these artists! We tackled printing assignments and charcoal assignments. My grandson is 4 years old and he was glued to the DVD for every lesson we watched. He was fascinated and remember the directions clearly. Of course, I love the way, Brenda reviews the lesson briefly, but thoroughly at the end of the lesson. Both printing with ink and charcoal can get messy, so we covered the working area with newspapers. This worked perfectly. I will tell you about our charcoal lesson. I worked with my grandson Rusty and two friends ages 16 and 12. My grandson is four. I was so excited to receive a digital subscription to CrossWired Science, a homeschool online science curriculum for homeschool families, Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. I was give a choice between two global topics: Sound and Fluid Dynamics and I chose Fluid Dynamics and boy was I in for a surprise. We were having so much fun that I didn't realize we were learning so much. I say we because I learned so much, too. Now, I had two strikes against me going into this review. One, I am not a techie person and two, I had to leave two quite often during this review and stayed in places where we didn't have internet. The first strike didn't matter. This online science curriculum was so easy to use. Even I could figure it out. Secondly, though I would have liked to progress forward using the program every day, we had to do it in spurts. That was fine because whenever we finished a video and took the short quiz, we wanted to see another one! The videos were highly entertaining and fast-paced. Information was shared in an easy-to-understand way that just made sense. And it was fascinating stuff. We learned about sinuses, airplanes, birds, why dogs drool and cats sip, hummingbirds, carburetors, box fish, and penguins. We read books, tried experiments, and went on field trips. What fun! There were constant reminders that God is our Creator! But while we were having fun, we were learning about aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, Daniel Bernoulli, Bernoulli's Principle, Vortices, turbulent and laminar flow, Orville and Wilbur Wright, fin types, swim patterns, bird feathers, insect flight, dolphin hydrodynamics, kingfisher hydrodynamics, penguin hydrodynamics, how animals drink, caves, Mt. St. Helen, air foils, and so much more. It was amazing! A book from YWAM Publishing? I was so excited to get to read Heroes of History: Douglas MacArthur What Greater Honor by Janet & Geoff Benge. As all their books are, this was such a fun read. YWAM Publishing has two series that I am trying to collect: Christian Heroes:Then and Now and Heroes of History. This biography is part of the Heroes of History series. I have always wanted to learn more about Douglas MacArthur and I was so excited to read this biography, What a fascinating life! Douglas' father Arthur MacArthur was a highly decorated military man who had been thrilled to meet Abraham Lincoln as a young man. His mother Pinky reminded him every night, "You must grow up to be a great man like Robert E. Lee." Interesting that God brought his parents together from opposite sides of the Civil War to raise a man that would live honorably in peace and in war. Douglas grew up in the late 1800s riding horses, moving place to place wherever his father was stationed, and eventually ending up at West Point. His momma moved to be close to him for the four years he attended West Point and when he graduated, he left the podium to embrace both his mother and father. His love for his parents was deep and demonstrated by the inner call he felt to live up to the heritage his father had left him. I was fascinated by his love and concern for the people around him throughout his life. He had tremendous wisdom, especially in dealing with the Japanese people when he occupied Japan. When I finished the book, I was satisfied. It more than met my expectations. I learned more about World War I, World War II, and the Japanese occupation than I even imagined. As a history lover, this book will have a place on honor on my bookshelf! Being very impressed with Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), I was excited to review Fix-It! Grammar Book 1: The Nose Tree from IEW. Since I have never used IEW's grammar program, I elected to start with the first book in the series. What a delightful way to learn grammar! As you do your grammar lesson, an enchanting tale about three down-and-out soldiers unfolds. The story contains a dwarf, magic, a crafty princess, and apples that make noses grown long. As we worked through the lessons, we were immediately intrigued by the story and it was a great motivation to complete each lesson since more of the story would unfold. Just as I appreciated IEW's writing curriculum, I was thoroughly impressed with their grammar curriculum. I received the Teacher's Manual and the Student Workbook to review. The Teacher's Manual includes a download link for the Student Workbook E-book so you can just buy the Teacher's Manual and print out any pages that you need. That's a great bargain for big families. I could probably use the student workbook without the teacher's manual because the directions were so clear, but, of course, the teacher's manual includes the answers and clear teaching instructions, as well as the student workbook E-book. So, purchasing the Teacher's Manual is definitely a wise choice! I'm excited about some of the new trends this spring. I really like the bright colors and find some of the textures quite interesting, especially the crochet dresses. Okay, some of the feathers, fringe, and giant ruffles are a little over the top, but it's fun to see bow blouses back. They were popular when I was a teenager and college student. Oops I just dated myself. As a Christian woman who wants to be fashionably modest, I found some trends that appeal to me like the boxy jackets, monochromatic outfits, longer skirts, and over-sized vests. I've gathered some photos to give you a taste of what's in this spring. If you're like me, it's time to go shopping in your own closet. I'm sure to find some of these things that have recycled back in style from years gone by. Hey, I may be able to dig up some neon clothes from the 1980's. Fashion Trends for SpringAll the Gospels in the New Testament devote several chapters to the last week of Jesus’ life. After all, there was so much going on that final week when Jesus took the sins of the whole world on Himself and died for us. Satan thought he won, but he lost! Jesus rose from the dead on the third day! When Holy Week and Easter roll around, I want my children to learn about and celebrate everything! Besides being real history, this week is foundational for our faith in Jesus. So, let me give you a birds’ eye view of the last week of Jesus life and ways to celebrate with your family. Dinner at Simon's HouseStarting on Saturday, Jesus dined with Simon the Leper in Bethany. Bethany was where Lazarus, whom he had just raised from the dead, and his sisters Mary and Martha lived. Anyway, while Martha served, Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus feet and wiped them with her hair. Jesus said that she had anointed Him for burial and commended her. Family Fun: Give one another foot rubs (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:1-9) Triumphal Arrival in JerusalemOn Sunday, Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people were so excited, they worshipped Him, as well as spreading cloaks and palm branches on the ground for Him to ride over.
Family Fun: Dress up and act out the Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19) Memoria Press is a favorite in our home school so I was thrilled to review Prima Latina, a Latin curriculum for primary grades. We enjoyed Latina Christiana over the years, so I was excited to see the course we missed because Prima Latina is the prequel to Latina Christiana. The kit I received had a teacher's manual, DVD to watch, Audio CD to listen to pronunciation, study cards, and the student workbook. It has been several years since I've taught Latin, so I pulled out the teacher's manual to get started. It was so helpful to read the beginning and as I read, I remembered a lot from the past. One thing that helped was to know the goals of the course. I will share them with you. 1. Learn basic Latin alphabet and ponunciation of vowels and consonant sounds 2. Pronounce, spell, and translate 125 Latin words 3. Learn 25 practical Latin expressions and 4 prayers 4. Learn numbers 1 to 10 5. Learn names of constellations derived from Latin 6. Understand concepts of derivatives (English words we get from Latin roots) 7. Grammar (parts of speech, conjugating, declining, 1st declension noun endings, 1st declension verb endings) Now, I was ready to begin and teach confidently. For each lesson, we followed the same pattern. We listened to the CD and said the words along with the CD. Then we watched the video lesson, followed by the workbook pages. We checked the workbook pages together. In between lessons, the cards were used for memorizing. After every five lessons, there was a review. My favorite part of the lesson was the DVD. The class was taught for me. I learned right along with the teacher! I found this material easy to teach, easy for the children to learn, and though it's meant for primary grades, I would use it for older kids, too. It would be a great way to teach the entire family Latin. We really enjoyed it! Drive Thru History (R) is a favorite at our house, so we were all excited to watch Drive Thru History (R) "Acts to Revelation". Wow! Another amazing video series that takes us back in time to the days of Acts and Revelation from The Bible. The DVD set includes 18 episodes (30 minutes each) for an amazing homeschool Bible curriculum or homeschool history curriculum. We are using it now for Bible, but later I will use it when we study Ancient History. Here are the Episodes 1. The Gospel Shared at Pentecost 2. The Church Grows in Jerusalem 3. The Gospel Spreads to the Gentiles 4. Saul of Tarsus and the Road to Damascus 5. Paul's First Missionary Journey: The Island of Cyprus 6. The Journey Continues: Pamphylia, Galatia, & Asia Minor 7. The Jerusalem Council & Paul's Second Missionary Journey 8. The Second Journey Continues: Philippi & Thessolonica 9. A Road Trip to Athens 10. Ancient Corinth 11. Paul's Third Missionary Journey: Ephesus 12. Paul's Final Trip to Jerusalem & Cesarea 13. Adventures at Sea: The Island of Malta 14. A Final Journey to Rome 15. The Martyrdom of Paul & Peter 16. John and the Island of Patmos 17. The Seven Churches of Revelation 18. The Book Closes on the New Testament Period First of all, the DVD set and Study Guide are beautiful. They come inside a package that looks like a book. The photos in the study guide are clear, gorgeous, and glossy like a coffee table book. I am just excited to own this so I can take it out and look at it. Victoria lives in London with her Mum and Dad. Her Mum is Brazilian. Victoria goes to Brazil with her Mom to visit her family. Mum and Victoria fly into San Paulo and travel to the Parana State where all Mum's relatives live. Victoria travels from place to place meeting cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, a great-grandmother, and old friends of her Mum. There is great variety in the places she visits from a coffee farm to Itu where everything is REALLY BIG! Victoria sees micro monkeys, parakeets, fishing boats, churches, capybara (giant guinea pigs), casava flour, fruit trees, flowers, and watermelon juice. The book uses bright, cheery photographs to illustrate Victoria's story of visiting her family in Brazil. I love the photos. They are amazing! They give a realistic picture to readers of family life in Brazil, but they also appeal to children with the bright colors, children, family love, and cute little animals. It really is like looking at someone's scrapbook. I love to use picture books to teach geography to little ones. Victoria goes to Brazil would be enjoyed by children from ages 4 to 8, but it would also be a fun family read to kick off your geography studies in South America. Children will be introduced to a specific region in Brazil and you can see where it is on the map page. In addition, they will learn about industries, animals, plants, landforms, food, and culture. "Interesting," I thought unpacking the box with a Victus Study Skills System Teacher Edition, Student Workbook, Student Workbook Elementary, and Student Workbook College from Victus Study Skills System. "Oh, wow! They included a Student Planner, a Student Workbook Primary Grades, Teacher Supplement Elementary, and Teacher Supplement Primary. There is so much here!" As I leafed through all the material from Victus Study Skills System, I realized that it all dove-tailed perfectly so that all ages could learn the same things at the same time! I love that! These study skills workbooks and lessons are perfect for those who want their children to grow in test taking, organization, scheduling, and other good learning habits. Knowing that, I thought of a family that I have been mentoring. Each of the children are very smart, but struggle to complete schoolwork, wake up early, and do well on tests. The family likes to stay up late and everyone gets easily distracted. I have shared many of the things in this system, but never in a systemic way. And I hadn't shared all of it. I showed the parents the materials I had received and asked if they would like to explore the first and second lesson with me. They have children ranging from 10 years old in elementary to a college student. It took awhile to juggle all of our schedules, but we finally met for our first session to cover Lesson one and two. I used the Teachers Edition to teach and handed out the various workbooks to appropriate family members. I also made a copy of the learning styles assessment for each of the seven family members. When they arrived, we sat down in the family room and started by talking about where we are and where we want to be in five years. Everyone shared. Then I explained, directly from the Teachers edition that each scenario needed the "study skills" in this system. After all these are more than study skills, they are life skills that will be used in the future by homemakers, grad students, and in any career where a person wants to advance. |
AuthorsMeredith Curtis Archives
February 2020
Categories
All
|