Homeschooling for His Glory

We love Logic at our house. One of the skills,  besides a love for God and His Word, we long to develop in our kids, is the skill of critical and logical thinking. One of the last products we got to review for the crew was one of those. It comes from a very well known company especially committed to developing curriculum in this subject for homeschoolers: The Critical Thinking Co. They have been around for a while and keep coming up with new  products on a consistent basis. I was very delighted to receive one of those for review: The Basics of Critical Thinking. The Basics of Critical Thinking is a book designed to teach kids the process of evaluating argument starting from the very basics of what an argument, a fact, an evidence is, and building up from that. It is designed for grades 4-9, and having looked through the book and my 5th grader work his way through it, I can say that the grade range is about right.   I had been wanting to do some sort of...

Science is one of those subjects that must be taught but that many of us feel inadequate to teach. That is why a new product that can make the subject fun and easier to teach is always welcome. Well, this is what you have with Eat your Science Homework , a book put out by Ann McCallum Books . Ann McCallum books is a company that carries books written by Ann McCallum, a Canadian, living in Maryland, turned children book author, that loves to write books that teach, picks and enlarge the mind of children. What is Eat Your Science Homework? It is a book that contain science experiments that you can eat. It is a hands-on science book, filled with 6 recipes, that will allow you to connect science and food, and therefore demonstrate to the kids how science is in everything. Eat Your Science Homework is a 48 pages book suitable for 7-10 year old kids. That said, you can certainly use it with older or younger kids. It contains the following experiments: Atomic Popcorn Ba...

Looking to spice up your science studies with an online program? Looking for a program to supplement what you are doing in Science or to serve as a review? Read on! We recently received a one year subscription to Standard Deviants Accelerate  (SDA) online program. We were given access to all their Homeschool Courses . These include: Arithmetic – Grades 3+  Fundamental Math – Grades 4+  Earth Science – Grades 6+  Nutrition – Grades 6+ Algebra – Grades 7+  Biology – Grades 7+  Chemistry – Grades 9+  English Comp. – Grades 9+  U.S. History – Grades 9+  AP* Biology – Grades 11+ AP Chemistry – Grades 11+  AP* U.S. Government & Politics – Grades 11+  AP* U.S. History – Grades 11+ AP  Eng. Composition – Grades 11+ -  *AP stands for Advance Placement What is SDA exactly? SDA is an online program that offers a new way of learning or reviewing a whole array of homeschool science and Math topics. The p...

Spelling, oh spelling! Spelling has always been one of those subjects that the boys have had a hard time to master. Since I started homeschooling I have always heard about Institute  for Excellence in Writing  (IEW) but only came to know about their spelling curriculum about 5 years ago. Because of tight budget I had never made the plunge, but I always thought it would be a great product to try with the boys. Well that day came when it was offered on the crew, and of course I jumped on it.  I  signed up to received  Phonetic Zoo Spelling Starter Set A  .  We have been using it for the past few weeks, and I have not been disappointed. First, let me tell you about IEW. IEW is a homeschool product company that has been around for a long time, offering valuable products for homeschoolers mainly writing related, but covering spelling and grammar as well. The crew has had the privilege of reviewing many of their curriculum so you might want to check those ...

I am sure as a homeschooler, like me you are always in search for a printable for something, especially for those extra practice needs. It seems that we always need an extra sheet for this or that subject. Well, if you relate to what I am talking about, I have a product for you. One of our recent review item was an online printable gallery website: Super Teacher Worksheets . We were given a one year Individual Membership to their website. Super Teacher Worksheets is an online bank of printables that covers a wide array of subjects. Basically it is a site full of homeschool printable and printables for teachers, for much of your teaching needs. It provides: Math worksheets Logic worksheets Grammar worksheets Vocabulary worksheets Brain Teasers and Puzzles printables Reading and Writing worksheets, which cover reading comprehension activities Phonics and Literacy activities Handwriting worksheets Spelling worksheets Science worksheets Social Studies workshee...

This year on the crew we have been blessed with a few Math curriculum for review, and as I mentioned before on this blog, I love trying out math curriculum. So, it came to no surprise that I gave the newest one offered a try. This new Math program comes from Stinky Kid Math , and the name of the product is Stinky Kid Math . Yes, I know the name of this Math program is very catching and attention grabbing! What is Stinky Kid Math ? It is an online Math help program. The company specifically does not consider its program as a full Math curriculum but can certainly be used as one. The goal of Stinky Kid Math is to help student master the concepts of Algebra and Geometry. The way they seek to do that is by teaching kids the why and how of Math, so that it can better stick in the mind of the students. They really try to make Math concepts clearer and accessible. As such, it is a perfect add on to any Math curriculum. This is like having a tutor at home. Stinky Kid Math is mad...

We live in an age where computer games are very prevalent in the life of kids. Technology has become a staple play item for a lot of children. This being the case, a company called  Dig-It! Games  decided to use this very means as an educational tools. They created two History related educational games, one on Ancient Mayas, called  Mayan Mysteries  (computer game), and one on Ancient Rome, called  Roman Town  (ios app). Members of the crew were offered choices between the two, and we decided to give Roman Town a try. We did review, back in 2011, the Mayan Mysteries computer game , and the boys really enjoyed it, so I figured they would most likely enjoy playing another one from them. I picked Roman Town because we were just finishing our studies of the Romans (at the time of the review), I so figured it would be a nice way to continue the learning. Roman Town is an educational ios app, best suited for middle school students. It features ki...

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...

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 ...