Homeschooling for His Glory

It's been a while since my last random 5 on Friday post. Since then, a lot has happened but here are 5 random facts: 1. We ended school the last week of June and took July off. 2. In July, we had our VBS and a few community outreach events with our church. 3. Hubby had a birthday which turned into a day trip to the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario.   4. I have been planning our next school year also during July, since we start back school next week already. You can see what we gonna be using in my Curriculum Choices post . 5. I downloaded Windows 10 today and so far I am a happy girl, as my computer has been working better that it has been in the last few weeks. Yay!!!!!

At my house I have one child who loves Math and another child for who Math is not his strong suit; he is more of a literary guy. So, when Math products come up for review I tend to be among those who want to give them a try. Our last product, from  UnLock Math , has proven to be a gem for my not so Math lover. We received UnLock  Pre-Algebra and started on it right away. From the first lesson, I personally was hooked. What is UnLock Math? UnLock Math is a new on the market online Math program c r eated and taught by Alesia Blackwood, a homeschool graduate. Her credentials include a certification from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission to teach Mathematics grades 7-12 , as well as being a member of the Ontario College of Teachers certified in Intermediate and Senior Divisions Mathematics and Computer Science, As such she brings  Math tutoring home and to a new level, as she brings to the homeschool world her enthusiasm, teaching gift, an...

"I do not know about you, but one of the goal in my homeschooling is to raise kids that think critically. I am not interested in just feeding my boys knowledge. I want them to interact with whatever they learn, make it their own, and be able to argue or defend truth and what is right, in a very logical way. So, our homeschool curriculum line up includes logic curriculum. From a young age you can challenge your kids to think by encouraging them, not to challenge you or authority, but to be curious about why things are the way they are. Questions are always a good thing because we are made to be inquisitive." To read the rest, hop on over at Year Round Homeschooling where I am sharing my top choices for Logic Curriculum.

The years are really mounting on me, as my boys are entering grade five and grade seven. Both are sort of in Middle School and the time has come for more rigorous school, with High School and College or University in mind. It is so hard to believe we are entering our 8th/9th year of homeschooling. The end is starting to peek in the horizon and so does the urgency of getting all of these goals straight. So what are our choices for this upcoming year? Grade 5: History: Tapestry of Grace   UG/D levels Year 2: The Middle Ages This covers History, Literature, Geography and Church History Math:   CTC Math and extra practice with workbooks still to be determined.You can read my review here . Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents followed by Pre-Algebra books. Stinky Kids Math ( TOS Review coming)  Language Arts: Grammar Basics and EnglishSmart Grade 5 both of which we started last year . WorldBuildOnline : Review here Phonetic Zoo if I get ch...

Curriculum choosing and buying can be a very daunting task. So many subjects to cover, so many curriculum to browse though, and so many companies to consider. Today I would like to share with you a product and a company that I have come to hold in high regards. When it comes to teaching writing to the boys I was not sure which way to go, as I would not exactly consider myself a great writer. Then came along Writing and Rhetoric from Classical Academic Press. I heard about it when the second book in a series of twelve just released, and I was immediately intrigued. You see I homeschool classically, and writing is an integral part of it. Classical Academic Press puts out products geared towards classical homeschooling, so there you had  the first common ground. I was searching for something that would teach them what writing was, and guide them through the process incrementally, without bombarding them with pages and pages of writing right from the start. I found what...

Teaching penmanship to my kids has never been easy. My boys do not like holding a pencil or pen. Until now, at age 10 and 12, their handwriting is not the prettiest. That said, my oldest has the most struggles with it. Around grade 3 I started him on cursive, and that seemed to help a bit, but now in grade six, he still needs a lot of improvement with his penmanship skills. Here comes a new program called CursiveLogic . I was more than happy to try a cursive program with my son to help improve his skills. Members of the crew got to review this brand new handwriting curriculum: CursiveLogic Workbook. CursiveLogic brands itself as "An intelligent new way to teach cursive", and this is exactly what it is. Cursive logic was created by a teacher seeking to teach one special student to write his name.  You can read about her and her story on their Our Story page. What is Cursive Logic exactly? CursiveLogic is a spiral-bound workbook that teaches kids to write cursive ...

Have a child to whom you are teaching how to read, or getting ready to teach how to read? "Reading is one of those school subjects that many parents dread to have to teach to their kids. Even though this is an understandable reaction, given that reading is one of those fundamental life skills, it need not to be fret.  With the explosion of the homeschool market, reading curricula abound. There are lots of options available to you that can equip and assist you in teaching your children to read.  As part of our Homeschool Curricuculun Round up here at Year Round Homeschooling, we would like to suggest a few reading curriculum for you to check out, in an effort to aid you as you prepare for the up coming year." Read the rest over at Year Round homeschooling where I was sharing a round up of Reading Curriculum. This post is part of the Curriculum Round up series going on over @Year Round Homeschooling all of July.