DJ''s Newest Learning Tool

It is going to be a big change when we start schooling outside of the home, especially for me. You can just imagine how comfortable it has been to just get up to go to work in the basement:) I haven't had to travel to work in over ten years!! One of the things that I have been doing to prepare for the new change is to get myself up earlier so I can get use to the new schedule. The kids are morning people and are use to me being their alarm clock, it is working but I can't see why we can't incorporate a little independence and ownership of the Wake Up routine.

 I am so happy that DJ is fond of his new alarm clock. He found this clock in Target for just $4.00 and everyday last week he awoke happy and all by himself. It is a simple one and just what we needed!!                                                                        

Weekly Wrap-Up: Winter Week 8

Here's  a look into the kids work week.


                                                                Language

Ken completed her reading of Helen Keller and wrote a biography report that I forgot to take a picture of. We took Monday off from school which made getting into the work week a bit hard, but I definitely enjoyed the short time off. We are still reading The Egypt Game the kids have already asked if we can reread this even though we haven't finished reading the whole book yet. It is a good book and it is worth reading again, especially since they know more about Egypt and can understand some of the references to Egypt better.

                           
    DJ worked with our Pronoun Grammar box a lot this week!!

 He has also starting reading a book about Thomas Edison so that he can do a biography report like Ken did.                                                                  

                                                                   Cultural
They love cultural works and it is fun to see them learning so much in a way that they enjoy it and retain the information.

Animals of Africa three part cards. I remember when DJ really disliked these types of cards. Now he says he loves them because they help him pay closer attention. I did not have all of the animal cards in the envelope at once and I think this helped him too, it didn't seem so overwhelming. 

Ken working on the Africa Map Puzzle. 

 Dr. DJ performed routine check ups on all of the pets on Tuesday. In the picture he is looking for information to see if there is a checklist to see if the guinea pigs weight is normal.  

                                                                         

    Both kids are getting real good at naming the parts of the heart and its' function.   

                            

DJ continued to do more work on making his human body model.

Ken learned more about DNA.

            More fun with Animal Stories written by Ken.                                                                  

                                                                        Math
I am seeing big improvements in Math for both of them. Looks like we may be tackling Fractions shortly.

                           
 Ken practiced lots of the math processes and really took to the Bead Frame this week. I am pleased that she took it upon herself to improve her work in multiplication paying attention to all the steps . It can get a bit  confusing when multiplying four digit numbers times four digits, she stuck with it though.                                                                    

 She has also been using the Binomial Equation Card as copywork too.

                            
                       DJ has been working with the cubes and squares.

                            
 And working hard on learning those division facts.                                                                            

In our Bible curriculum we have been learning about Noah and the Ark, and where the word Babel derived from. The kids had fun making these Shrinky Dinks.

Linking up to What's New hosted by Vibrant Wanderings. and Weekly Wrap-Ups which is hosted by Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

                                                                             

A Confession

I have a confession...

I have obligated myself to do more things than I can juggle right now. Until I can see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel I must take an unwanted Blog Break.  I will admit that I'll be on Facebook whenever I need  a quick fix for my love for the internet :)

School Uniforms

I am also looking online for school uniforms, all of the parents would like this to be possible. I hope to have a locker room where they can be kept at school. We will have a washer/dryer too. I will be assuming that most of the families may not have a washer/dryer at home. I vision lots of Practical Life work coming from this concept alone. I really like this style for the uniforms.

 
 I am looking for a good fundraiser, any ideas?                                                

Making A Dream A Reality!!

You may want to follow my facebook page if your interested in following our journey of becoming life long learners. In the next 6 months my family will be taking some major steps ! One of them is opening up a Montessori Children's House!! I already have 18 children whose parents are hitting the pavement and helping to make this happen, I am so blessed with the amount of support I am receiving. Right now I am using any spare time I  have completing my certification and touring facilities to decide which is the best place to operate, especially location. I'll save the best details for last as soon as they are official. Just think MONTESSORI FOR ALL!!

 It is easier for me to update on Facebook and show pictures of various properties so I can still journal this journey. Here are just a few pictures of  the first building I have seen. I have many appointments lined up, just because I want the best and it is so easy to say I WANT IT, because I AM SO EXCITED!!

                  Here is the entrance way.

 Two different views of the same room.

                            
 Different views of the kitchen area. The kitchen area is a nice size and you can enter it from the room above.

                           

The disgusting bathrooms! LOL. Bathrooms designed this way make me wish I never went to school, seriously I can almost smell it from looking at it. In reality it was very clean, but there is much work in my opinion to make this bathroom a comfortable place. 

There are six other large classrooms in this building.           

Now let me share what happened when I visited with the property owner. We discussed how much rent is, he hikes the price up. I say what would be the term of the lease, he says it is a land contract deal. Everything he said was different then what was advertised. So I sent my secret shopper who is actually my "silent partner" who happens to be a MAN, who owns lots of properties himself to go visit. The property owner of the building not only gives him a better deal, but also includes the first six months rent for free. COME ON! GIVE ME A BREAK!!  Now me and the silent partner have a deal, he sets up the appointments, checks it out, and if he thinks it is what I am looking for then we go together. 

Anyways I trust this partner of mine and I just get to look at the buildings that may meet the standards, not bad:)

There's one thing I know for sure DJ and Ken are still going to be schooling with me wherever that will be.                                                       

Weekly Wrap-Up: Winter Week 7

This week in Math they had fun with the materials discovering the many ways to divide.

                            

                                                                           
In the subject of Language they went for the familiar.

                                                                     
But also challenged themselves with new concepts like..

Understanding the language of Hip Hop through reading , listening to music and 

                                      
                                                               Copywork                

I love how they embraced Cultural Works that were available that had gone untouched for weeks.

     DJ's favorite works of the week were ...

           learning more about Mummies

               And doing 4 digit addition (dynamic) with the Small Bead Frame.

I asked him to tell me just two of his favorite works, if he could of picked three the third favorite was learning about Fact vs Opinion.                                                    

          Ken's favorites were....

                                                                     

 Going from concrete to abstract with long division

                                                    Reading about Helen Keller

 And being able to participate in the Valentine's Day party that she almost missed due to Strep Throat. Good thing the medicine was prescribed and filled in the knick of time. I wouldn't of known what to do!!  

Linking up to What's New hosted by Vibrant Wanderings and Weekly Wrap-Ups hosted by  Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
                                                       
                                                                                                                                                           

SCHOOLHOUSE CREW REVIEW: God's Great Covenant Old Testament Book 1: A Bible Course for Children

I have spent many nights drooling over the products that Classical Academic Press has to offer, as a matter of fact we already use two of their Latin courses they offer and love it! So of course I jumped at the chance to review one of their products. We were given the opportunity to review God's Great Covenant Old Testament Book 1: A Bible Course for Children. The course materials include a Student Book, a  Teacher's Edition, and the MP3 Audio Files.

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The Student Book includes 32 chapters divided by 5 units. Each chapter includes a Memory Page, Story Time, Review Worksheets, and a Chapter Quiz. One of the things that the kids loved about the Student Book was the Appendix section which offered them a chance to look at a summary of the Memory Verses that go along with each chapter, there is detailed information about The Ten Commandments, The Tabernacle, and Israel's Wilderness Journey. What I really liked about the Student Book was the glossary, Chapter Word Banks, and that the kids were able to use the summary of the Memory Verses to get familiar with finding verses in their Bible. We all loved the Maps located in the back of the book. Click here to read samples of the Student Book.

                                            

The Teacher's Edition is formatted the same way as the Student Book and includes all of the answers to the review worksheets and the Chapter Quizzes, also included is Notes to Teachers and Parents giving detailed background information about the chapter and additional scriptures that the Teacher and Parent may use to help the child make connections to the story and in their daily lives. The Catechism for Children Questions made my children want to go deeper into God's Word, it allowed them to wonder and develop an understanding of the scriptures that they memorized according to the lesson.  The Maps, Chapter Word Banks, and  Appendixes were also included in the Teacher's Edition and there is note taking pages throughout this book. One of the unique features of the Teacher's Edition is there is underlining in the Story time text with a number that corresponds to the Notes to Teacher and Parents, this helped me tremendously! It built up my confidence level in teaching this course to my children and I knew that I was given them correct information on the spot without researching it, which is something I depended on as my children started asking more questions as we got further along in the course. Click here to read samples of the Teacher's Edition.                                                               

The MP3 Audio Files can be burned to a CD so you can take it anywhere. The files are recordings of the stories featuring the voice of Christopher Perrin reading two hours of recordings of 27 stories from Genesis to Ruth. Go here to listen to Chapter 1: Creation of the World.  My children seriously jumped for joy when they recognized Perrin's voice. They shouted saying that it is the man from Latin, his voice is so cool. So Yes we loved this and used the audio to tell the stories even when I was sitting right next to them not busy at all, because Christopher Perrin has the coolest voice:)

How did we use all of this?

We started out by following the suggested weekly schedule that you can view here.  

                                                                            

The First Unit begins with In the Beginning... God's Power. We went over the Memory Page by discussing the theme of the chapter, practicing saying the memory verse, discussed key facts, and things to remember.  It was certainly a story they heard before, but a lot of interest was aroused while listening to the story being told by Christopher Perrin.  As they listened to the story they would follow along with their Student Book Story Time pages. 

On the second day of the chapter lesson we would find the scripture in the Bible, review the memory page and retell the story in their own words.

 This course made it very easy for me to incorporate Godly Play into their learning. They would use the story materials to aid them in retelling the story which helped them to remember the Key Facts of Creation and what days God created what on.

After a few days of retelling the stories and focusing on memorizing the verse and me asking them the Catechism for Children Questions they jumped right into doing the Review Worksheets. They absolutely love doing these worksheets! They know that the information can be found within the story.  

 Surprisingly the Chapter Quizzes were a big hit too. There wasn't any grading or anything like that just an assessment that we would use to check for understanding. I appreciate these as part of the course! During the Quiz Time I was able to refer to the special underlined features in my Teacher's Edition when they came to a question that they may have forgotten an answer to or needed more clarification of God's Word I would use this time for discussion, which through time became a vital part in our way of using this course. So we squashed the word Quiz and replaced it as a Discussion Page which we did together. They would fill in the blanks as we discussed the story and the information I was able share from the Teacher's Edition.  When we were finished with our discussion that may have happened over a two day period they would read aloud the completed Quiz page and then they were able to summarize the lesson.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Another reason we enjoyed the  Review Worksheets is that it helped them to be able to feel confident of their understanding. After the first two lessons the children are sharing their new found knowledge with their Sunday School Teachers. Their teachers are so impressed with their excitement that they asked me what I have been doing at home. I shared with them this curriculum and they were in awe that there was a curriculum that stirred so much excitement about God's Word with young children.  After implementing this course with my children they have been spreading God's Words, taking their Bible to church with them and packing the Godly Play materials to share with their Sunday School classes.

 We now understand the Five steps God Created Mankind in, and this my friend I couldn't explain before using this course.

We have made it to The Fall and it has been amazing to see and hear the discussions that have taken place. The Audio has been played over and over again and they just can't believe that Eve bit the apple. It hasn't been a easy story for them to accept. We have reviewed the Memory pages and memorized the verse.  

One of the things they have been doing is putting together their own story materials of The Fall. 

  It is helping them to independently learn the Key Facts of the story.

They are making their memory verses come alive and grasping the Things to Remember concepts that are part of the Memory Pages.

                                  Still looking for a suitable Adam and Eve to add to their materials.
Most importantly their getting closer to the understanding the theme of the lesson God is merciful and forgives our sins and God has a Plan for Redemption. 
                                                                              
I also went ahead and purchased The Maps and Timeline Set that go along with this course. After learning God's Step in Creating Mankind I introduced the time line to them.

 The Timeline and Maps  are such a great compliment to the course. It covers the Early Bronze Period through the Late Iron Age.

DJ has used this Time Line independently and and it has even gotten him to want to research.

                           
                                                          Researching the Early Bronze Age
DJ and Ken both have learned what BC and AD means through the use of the timeline and have a great understanding of how dates work now. What we all liked about using the timelines was being able to connect the Bible to history lessons. Once they become more familiar with the Timeline they can use the cut outs of images and events to label the blank timeline that is on the back that comes with the set.

The maps are beautifully illustrated we have not worked with them yet, but the kids are attracted to them and want to know when they will be able to use them. In the back of the Student Book there is a map of Abraham's Journey so it is exciting for them to see it in a 13" by 19" size.

 We love maps so this is was definitely a good investment and I can't wait to use them as we delve further into our Ancient Egypt studies. 

I wholeheartedly recommend this Bible course for homeschooling!! This course is geared towards grades 3- 6. My ninth grader enjoys it too, and I even observed some preschoolers stop what they were doing to listen to the stories being told on the Audio CD. This is truly a course that you could get creative with and not lose focus of the goal.  We are still going to use this curriculum beyond our review period!!                                                                                                                                          

God's Great Covenant Old Testament Book 1: A Bible Course for Children has a bundled price available for just 79.95 which includes the Student Book, the Teacher's Edition, the MP3 Audio Files, and the Maps and Timelines. This bundle saves you 15%!!





Disclaimer:I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to post a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All the opinions I expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.