CrossWired Science - Review

I don't know about the children in your house, but the ones over here love science.  Well, I mean they never complain about it and they are always trying to create some concoction out of something.  They will dig up worms, create mud puddles, and just get gross with the things God created.  They love learning about God's creations.  So, although we were in the middle of another Science Curriculum I was happy to review Sound, and Fluid Dynamics from CrossWired Science.  

If you have been looking for a self-grading, online-based science curriculum taught from a Christian standpoint this is it!  It can be used for children ages 4 all the way to 18 years old.  I hope you already have your cup of coffee or tea, notepad, and pen becuase I am about to tell you all about it.

Improving our Grammar with IEW - Review

GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR!  If you know me then you know how I feel about grammar.  My grammar is horrible and I don't want my kid's grammar to be, so we have tried a few different things throughout our homeschool journey.  When my oldest daughter studied Ancient History, we tried Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)'s writing program that went along with the time period.  I failed at teaching it.  This was early on in our homeschool journey and my daughter was just coming out of public school.  We had no idea what we were doing, so we put it back on the shelf. I was disappointed becuase IEW was one of the first curricula I heard about when we first started homeschooling.  It was talked about very highly amongst homeschool moms.  I went to their booth every year at the homeschool conventions and asked a ton of questions.  However, I still did not feel confident enough to teach it, mostly because that is an area that I am not good at.  Fast forward to a few months ago we were given the opportunity to review the Fix It! Grammar program.  I am so glad accepted!  Hurry up and go grab your coffee y'all, because I can't wait to share our review of The Nose Tree [Book 1] part of the  Fix It! Grammar program from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) with y'all!

Homeschool Complete an All-Inclusive Curriculum - Review

When looking for curricula many moms search for a curriculum is an all-in-one curriculum, meaning all subjects are included.  Another word for that is all-inclusive.  I am that mom however, I prefer it to be easily customized to fit each of my children's needs.  I also look for it to be literature-based because we love to read.  My youngest son, Elijah, and I were given the opportunity to review an all-inclusive curriculum from Homeschool Complete.  We reviewed the first semester of their Fourth Grade Complete curriculum.   This curriculum includes all of your basic subjects and more, in the form of Unit Studies.  Do you have your coffee, notebook, and pen?  Well, go get them so that I can fill you in on what we thought about the Homeschool Complete. 

Our 9th Grade Year Wrap Up - Homeschool Edition

When I started homeschooling, my oldest daughter was starting her 6th-grade year.  I had no idea what I was doing, and high school wasn't even on my radar.  As the years went by, who am I kidding, as they flew by, I started wondering how was I going to homeschool her through high school.  I started researching and looking into what she would need, transcripts, credits, colleges, etc.  I was so overwhelmed and started to freak out.  I even started to doubt myself.  I remember feeling there is no way I can do this. NO WAY!  My husband encouraged me a lot, and I begin to pray, and then finally I stopped researching.  I remembered that God gave me this child and He knew I was able to do this.  So when her freshman year started, we just jumped in.  You can find what our plans were HERE.   This first year has been a real blessing and we have learned so much, not only academically, but also spiritually, and about each other.  By focusing more on her and not what everyone else suggested was needed for a freshman, I was able to see her strengths and weaknesses and help her overcome obstacles.  This has been one of the most rewarding homeschool years, and it has nothing to do with how smart she is, and she is pretty smart if I may say so myself.
I asked my daughter if she would share how her 9th grade school year went, with you all, and she said yes.  So her is the lovely Mrs. Kae!

Printable Books of the Bible "Summary Sheets" - Review

Our family has been using Book-By-Book Bible Printables from Teach Sunday School to teach an overview of each book of the Bible.
Have you guys ever wanted an at-a-glance view of a specific book of the Bible?  Do you ever wonder who wrote a particular book in the Bible? I know my children, myself, and even my husband often wonder those things especially about those books we may overlook sometimes. Well if that's ever a problem for you or someone you know, you will love these printables!

Interactive Math Supplement - I Know It - Review

Math, Math, Math where do I begin?  I've said it before, and I will repeat it Math is one of those subjects you will either love or hate, there is no in between.  Math is my favorite subject, and I want to make sure my children enjoy it as well.  One of the ways I try to do that is to be sure to incorporate resources that will assist in making it easier to understand.  Especially, when learning new concepts.  For the past couple of months, my children have been using iKnowIt.com as a supplement to their math curriculum.  I Know It is an online math supplement for children in grades K-5 that our family is reviewing for you all!  We are excited to share our thoughts and opinions with you.

GrammarPlanet - Review

Even as a blogger I am not a grammar queen, who am I kidding I'm not even a grammar princess.  English was my least favorite subject when I was in school but has a homeschool mom I have come to enjoy teaching it.  I want my children to get it, you know really understand it.  Especially, now when we are living in a time when everyone is using abbreviations to communicate and relying on Google to help them with everything.  So for the last couple of months, we have been using GrammarPlanet.  For the most part, my children have gained some solid knowledge on how the English language work.

Apologia's Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition - Review

Apologia Educational Ministries is one of those curricula we have used since the beginning of our homeschool journey.  We have loved everything we've used, so when I saw they were soon to come out with a Health and Nutrition Basic Set I was excited, to say the least.  I already exhausted our homeschool budget for the next few months so I was thinking of all kinds of ways to present this to my husband so that we could get it.  LOL  The Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition by Dr. Laura Chase was released and I was still trying to figure out how to explain this to my husband that we just had to have this.   Well, yall always hear me say how being apart of the Homeschool Review Crew is a blessing, right?  So get this, we were offered the opportunity to review it in exchange for our honest review.  If I knew how to flip I would have!  So after careful reading what the course would cover, talking to my husband and daughter, and praying we jumped on the opportunity.  My 15-year-old daughter and I will be sharing with you our thoughts on this Health and Nutrition Basic Set.

Enjoy History with Home School in the Woods - Review

History is a subject that can either be interesting or boring.  I always looked at it as a bunch of books with way too many dates to remember.  However, if presented right History can be very interesting and fun.  My son oldest loves history period, no matter how it is presented, but the rest of the kiddos not so much.  Home School in the Woods does an excellent job at making History not only interesting but fun as well! We are learning about the Roman/Middles Ages time period this year so being able to review the Project Passport World History Studies was right on time for us.  Of course, we chose to try Project Passport: The Middle Ages project first!  This has been the perfect hands-on history add-on to our history lessons.

Code for Teens - A Coding Guide for Teenagers - Review

You know how much my son loves coding.  You also may remember the online coding class he did earlier this year.  And you already know how our family feels about electronics and children.  <--- We don't encourage it as much as other parents because we feel kids spend too much time on video games and watching how-to videos instead of actually doing.  However, because the world we are living in is becoming more and more technology-driven we want our kids to have some idea of how to navigate in a world full of "tech-geeks".  So we tried our hands and brains at another coding program.  I'm back today with another review for you, Code for Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code for Teens.

Free Resource Friday - Classiacal Music for Kids

Hello, Y'all!!   I hope you are having a fantastic day!  I know it's around that time to start preparing for the upcoming school year so I would like to share a free resource with you each Friday.  Contrary to what everyone believes homeschooling does not have to cost you an arm and a leg.  There are a ton of free resources out there.

Persuasive Writing for High School - A Homeschool Curriculum Review

Creating a love for writing for children can be challenging and finding a good writing curriculum can be even more challenging especially for a teen. Did I mention a strong-willed teen? Fortunately, she likes to write, however, she enjoys free writing not so much structured writing.  I was both happy and nervous about reviewing Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers by Silverdale Press LLC. I was happy because she would have a solid writing curriculum that would teach her some writing structure and I was nervous because I didn't want this to change her love for writing in a negative way and because in the past most writing curriculum we tried was very parent-prep intensive. I didn't know what to expect going into this but what I did know was that making sure my high school student learn to write well required me to choose a curriculum that teaches that, so here we are.

Reading with MaxScholar - A Homeschool Curriculum Review

As many of you already know I have been working on helping my youngest daughter improve her overall reading skills.  Recently we tried a program that just wasn't a good fit for her.  So, when the homeschool review crew was offered the opportunity to review MaxScholar I was a bit hesitant because I wanted to complete the previous program that we were using and I didn't want to put too much stress on my daughter by having her do both.  So, I went ahead and jumped ship with the other program and signed up to review MaxScholar.  Our family was able to review a 12-month subscription to the Reading Intervention Programs by MaxScholar.   My daughter that is using this program is my "go with the flow" kind of girl so she did not complain at all when I told her I had a new reading program for her to try out.  So we started right away.  I will be sharing all the good and bad with you about this reading software so go grab your notebook and maybe a cup of coffee or tea and let's get started.

Classical Composition I: Fable - Writing Curriculum Review

When I think of Classical Christian Education I think of Memoria Press.  My youngest son doesn't like writing very much.  I'm not just talking about structured writing I mean he doesn't like writing at all, he would rather talk about it than write it.  We have dabbled in a few different writing curriculums in the past but nothing spiked his interest.  I am familiar with Memoria Press so when given the opportunity to review their Classical Composition I: Fable Set, I decided to give it a try with him.

Summer fun with The Critical Thinking Co.™ || A Homeschool Review

We don't normally take off school in the summer, however, because we have been so busy this year I decided we would take a few weeks off.  We are still working on a few educational things but mostly fun learning.  One of the things we have been working on is The Critical Thinking Co.™.  We have always loved The Critical Thinking Co.™ so I jumped at the opportunity to review Something's Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha.  This has really gotten my kids critical thinking skills going.

Elementary Comprehensive Language Arts Curriculum - Review

Our family was given a one-year subscription to Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum and interactive notebooks from Home School Navigator in exchange a review.  I am not to fund of teaching Language Arts.  Well, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I am always doubting myself in that area or I feel like I may be missing or leaving something out.  Home School Navigator was designed for the homeschool parent like me in mind.  They provide your children with a life long learning experience.

Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Curriculum Review - PandaParents

My two-year-old niece spends the day with our family during the week.  She started showing interest in wanting to learn more and read by the time she started walking.  She would grab books from the bookshelf and say, "Read Kie, puwease."  So I would read to her and work on ABCs, numbers, and colors whenever she was interested.  I had not introduced her to a formal curriculum until now.  We have been working MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents for the past month.  We received this in exchange for our honest review.

What is PandaParents and what does MESSY stand for?

PandaParents is a monthly preschool learning curriculum subscription.  It is recommended for kids 3-6 years old.  Each month comes with a preschool learning storybook, video story, a pdf workbook, and other projects which are included in the workbook.  They cover several different subjects such as Reading, Math, Art, Science, and even foreign language.

MESSY stands for 

Mixed subjects and activities for integrative learning

Engaging activities that challenge minds

Simple 1 2 3 steps: Read, Learn, Create

Smart designs for creative learning

Yeah, a new way to promote preschool STEM and early brain growth.

What we received

We are reviewing an electronic version of this program.  We received three months worth of the program.  

A Jolly Jingle Journey parts 1 and 2

Mommy's Baby

Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound

How we used it

My niece is only 2 years old so  I am not forcing her to sit through complete lessons.  Ideally, the kid would read the book, watch the video story, and work on the workbook pages and crafts.  However, I had my niece listen and watch the video story and then I printed off the worksheets as needed.  

We worked through A Jolly Jingling Journey it came with 2 stories, the video story, and a pdf workbook.  We did not make it all the through the workbook but I did look over all the pages to get an idea of what they covered.

Part 1 introduced the letter J.  Mrs. Kelly taught the kids about the uppercase and lowercase "Jj" they incorporated the English, Spanish, and Chinese languages.

Part 2 was about a little boy named Davy who is on a hunt to find Santa.  This story teaches the letter "J", colors, patterns, the Arctic region, and more.  Working through this workbook your child will learn reading skills, memory skills, numerical order, problem-solving, and so much more.  My niece enjoyed the worksheets more than she did the story.  I think it's because it made her feel like a "big girl"

We did not make it through all three of the stories but I did look through all of them.

Mommy's Baby is a story about a baby, that didn't want to go to sleep so mommy reads a cute little story about a panda names Amanda.  This story introduces shapes, animals, sizes, and different foods.  Working through the workbook your child will learn about emotions, letter recognition, patterns, living and non-living things, reading comprehension, and so much more.

Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound is a story about a skunk trying to find a new home, but everywhere he goes there's a scary sound so he leaves to go find a new home.  The scary sounds are not scary at all they're things like a tractor, lawn mower, a train etc. but for a little skunk, they can be very intimidating.  The storybook taught the letter S, sounds of locomotives, the 4 seasons, the weather and so much more.  Working through this workbook the kids will work on handwriting, matching games, patterns, sorting, reading comprehension, chronological order, and a ton of other things.

My thoughts

This program is a great curriculum for preschool children.  The preschool learning stories are easy to follow and keep the attention of the kid.  It covers a variety of subjects in a fun, interactive way.  It is very parent-led intensive, but  I don't mind that.  I will definitely continue to work through this program with my niece as long as she is interested.  I would recommend this for children 2-6 with a little patience on the parent side for the younger kids.  You can get this awesome preschool learning subscription for as low as $9.95 a month.

I'm sure you would love to read more about what other moms are saying about MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents click the banner below to do so.

You can find PandaParents on Social Media

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PandaParentsABC/    
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Panda_Parents         
• Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/pandaparents/           

Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App Review

The most important part of our homeschool is Bible study.  As a Christian, it is a must that our children know and have a personal relationship with the Lord.  Although, all of my children have learned to read the KJV of the Bible my youngest son and my niece still enjoy bible stories with fun colorful pictures.   Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideals provided us with just that and more with their Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App.  They have brought bible bed time stories to life with their augmented reality in our home.  We were thrilled to be able to review this and share it with you all.

Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) - Review

We all know that math is one of those subjects that you either love or hate.  There's very rarely an in between when it comes to math.  I happen to be on the love side it has always been my favorite school subject.  The problem is I am not always good at teaching it because I can't always explain how to get the answer to a problem.  I just know the answer.  Yes, I know I am a total math geek.  So, between pulling my kids from public school and changing math curriculums a few (maybe a lot) times trying to find the right fit I knew my kids may have had some learning gaps when it came to math.  I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to review Adaptive Math Curriculum Online.   With Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.), we were able to identify and address those learning gaps.

Creation Illustrated Review

Unit Studies are a great way to dig deeper and learn more about a specific topic while still using all subjects.  So basically a unit study combines all your tradition subjects around a particular topic.  They can be as short or long as you want them to be.  I did some research on them when I first started homeschooling and always wanted to try one, but never made the time to create my own.  You have to really plan that out!  Then I heard about Creation Illustrated!  What!  The Unit Study was already put together for me?  Awesome!  Creation Illustrated sent us two of their unit studies as well as gave us access to those magazines that go with those unit studies for us to review.  I was excited to check out this popular method of homeschooling our family focused on Pine Tress Unit Study.