I’m so excited to be taking over the reins of this blog. My name is Dawn Peluso and I was one of the folks that helped Diane with the Schoolin’ Swag Facebook page. I’m a homeschooling mom of 3. Our children are 11, 9, and 3. We live in Eastern, NC and enjoy hiking, the beach, and spending time with family. We are active in our church and strive be a family that follows Jesus.
We use a variety of materials and methods in our home school and like to say our style is “Charlotte Mason Eclectic”. In particular, we enjoy using lots of good books, nature study, hands-on history, cooking, and traveling to create a family culture of learning and growing.
Look for more posts over the next couple weeks with information about book reviews, fun home school ideas, and more.
My plan for the blog beginning in September is to have a weekly post about the history that we are studying that week (my husband and I are creating a hands on American history program for our kids and I will share that plan and the resources that we are using, in case anyone else wants to join us on that journey), Product reviews, a monthly book review of a book for Moms, lots of guest posts from other homeschooling moms about what they are doing in their home schools and a variety of other content. I’m very open to hearing from our readers about what you would like to see and making sure we are meeting those needs.
Most Christian kids know the story of Creation in the Bible. There’s more to learn! Here are 6 reasons to teach your kids all about Creation.
Do your kids know that God spent six days creating the universe, the earth, and every creature and plant on our planet?
God’s story of Creation in Scripture so important for our kids to learn. Most children hear the story of the days of Creation from the Bible a number of times–at Sunday School, at home, and through their homeschool Bible curriculum.
There’s more our kids need to know about Creation, though!
The doctrine of Creation is so important for our kids to learn and understand. In fact, if you look around, the doctrine of Creation is under attack from all angles in our culture.
God tells us about Creation throughout Scripture. It was a fairly significant one-time event! And, he continues to create today–just look at your sweet kiddos for proof. The doctrine of Creation helps us understand what God has told us about Creation, using passages from all over the Bible. Check out six reasons your children really need to know all about Creation.
1) God made everything out of nothing in the beginning.
Scripture tells us that God made everything. Not only that, he made it from nothing. And, he made this world for its creatures, with habitats that fit the creatures he created. God made everything good–that means perfect! All of God’s works are wondrous, and they should inspire us to praise him.
2) God created everything–the universe, the earth, and the creatures–in just six days.
It’s an amazing thing that God brought forth everything by speaking it into existence. Not only that, he created a plethora of amazing creatures and placed them each in just the right environment. And, his Creation event was organized. Everything was ready here on earth before he made his creatures. Time, weather, tides, food–it was all here, creating the perfect home for his animals and people.
3) God made your child–intentionally, purposefully, and for his glory.
The Bible tells us that God gave your child life. He formed them wonderfully and individually. Everything about your child’s body and spirit are just as God intended. And, God made your child for a specific purpose–his glory. How great is that? Our kids need to know that about themselves.
4) Our great Creator God is triune, eternal, all-powerful, and uncreated.
We always learn more about who God is when we study the Bible. It’s important to know that our Creator is eternal–he was, he is, and he always will be. No one created God, he has always existed. And, God is all-powerful. He created time by speaking it into existence, and then he placed his creation in time. Our kids need to know, too, that God is triune. He is three Persons in one God, and each Person of the Trinity–God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit–were involved in Creation.
5) God gave us good Creation gifts.
The Bible tells us that every good gift is from God–every single one. God blessed us, putting us in charge of his world, telling us to be fruitful and multiply, and giving us food. Then, he gave us good Creation gifts: a day of rest and worship, work, and marriage. Those Creation gifts are worth understanding and protecting!
6) God has a marvelous salvation plan!
Right after Creation, sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. Our sin separates us from our holy and just God. But, God loves us so much, he made a way for us to be reconciled to him. Jesus, God the Son, became fully human and fully man and took the punishment for the sin of all believers on the cross. To be saved, we must turn from our sin, believe in Jesus and confess belief. Our children need to know and understand the gospel, first, that they may be saved, and next, so they can share it with others.
See what I mean? The doctrine of Creation is really important for our kids to learn. That’s why I wrote Bible Investigators: Creation–so your kids can learn the doctrine of Creation through a fun, puzzle-based, six-unit package they’ll love! Your 8-12 year old children will work 90 exciting puzzles, learn 40 Bible passages, and commit to heart 30 truths about God’s Creation.
Danika Cooley’s Bible Investigators: Creation is the perfect puzzle-based Bible study for your 8-12 year olds. Your children will learn how to become effective Bible investigators using the inductive method, learn more about who God is and what the gospel means, and understand the doctrine of Creation! Danika is an award-winning children’s author and Bible curriculum developer. Her popular Bible Road Trip™ is used by tens of thousands of families.
For several years now, I have participated in the trend of choosing a word or phrase to focus on for each New Year. I like the concept because it helps me stay focused without the pressures of goals and resolutions. Last year, it was Making Space, and while that is an ongoing work in progress for me, it helped me last year.
I thought about many different words for this year, but the one God kept laying on my heart was Savor. This will be a year of changes and growth for our family, and I need to focus on savoring the time and each stage as it comes.
Miriam Webster gives the following definitions of the verb savor:
Over the last few months, I’ve been experiencing part b of the definition often, as I enjoyed one or two bites of desserts or treats that I enjoyed. I experienced some gestational diabetes with this pregnancy that limited my intake of many treats. While it was a challenge at times, it did help me to savor the one or two bites I enjoyed better. However, I plan to focus more on part c of the definition in 2024.
While we do not know exactly what this New Year will bring, I have a high school senior who is slated to go off to college in the fall, and I am due with baby number five in about two weeks. We also have a big family trip planned in the spring, which should provide many opportunities to savor the memories (and hopefully not to stress out about what doesn’t go as planned.)
I can be a bit (or a lot) like the Biblical Martha, worried about so many things, making all my plans, and getting the details just right. While God designed me to be a planner, and it is a gift, if I let the planning stop me from enjoying what is in front of me, I miss out on the important things in life.
This year, I aim to ensure that I hold those plans in an open hand and savor what comes, even when it isn’t “picture perfect .”While we will still make plans and preparations for the future, I won’t let my worries about what comes next make me miss out on what is right in front of me.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
Geography is a hugely diverse subject that can be taught in many ways. Some years, our family includes geography with our history, and at other times, we do independent geography. We have a big family trip coming up in honor of my oldest son’s graduation. With that in mind, I wanted to give my kindergartner a good overall exposure to geography to prepare him for the trip. That made the opportunity to review Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners Geography from Timberdoodle an easy choice.
What Is Skill Sharpeners Geography?
The Skill Sharpeners Geography Grade K book is a consumable text designed to introduce kindergarten students to various geography concepts, including map skills, landforms, bodies of water, the globe, and weather in our world.
The book contains four units: Map Skills, Looking at the World, Landforms and Bodies of Water, and Weather in Our World. In addition, those four units are separated into two to five lessons per section.
Each lesson includes a couple of pages of introductory geography texts to teach the concept to the student. There are also ideas for talking to your child about the covered concepts. Next are written practice activities and a hands-on activity. Finally, at the end of each section, there is a certificate of completion to celebrate their hard work.
The written work is designed with kindergarten students in mind, including activities like coloring, tracing, connecting similar objects, crossing out wrong answers, or circling correct pictures.
The book contains full-color pictures to help non-readers understand the concepts (though the parent will need to do some reading and explanations).
How We Used Skill Sharpeners Geography Grade K
There are a variety of ways to use this book. In our family, we chose to do one lesson each week. This makes the book last about fifteen weeks, perfect for completing it in one semester with a little wiggle room for busy weeks.
My son enjoyed doing all of one lesson in a day; it usually took him about thirty minutes to complete an entire lesson. However, you could spread the lesson out and do one activity per day. If you want the book to last for a whole school year, you could spread the lessons over two weeks and add additional reading or activities.
The hands-on activities were often cutting and pasting, which my son enjoyed, but were also very simple for me to facilitate. The only additional materials required were scissors and a glue stick.
There is also an answer key at the back of the book in case there are any questions about correct answers (though generally, at this level, the answers were self-explanatory).
What We Thought/Conclusions
Overall, we were delighted with this book. I felt like the concepts covered gave my son a general understanding of the fundamental physical geography concepts. This will make it easier for him to learn more as we travel because he will have the basic vocabulary and understanding already mastered.
My son enjoyed the book and looked forward to that part of our weekly school time. He loved the pictures, and the activities were engaging. I appreciated that it kept things simple so that it was not overwhelming.
I would recommend this book to any student in Kindergarten (or even first and second grades) who needs a basic understanding of physical geography concepts. The book is engaging and easy to implement. Go to the Timberdoodle website to learn more and purchase your copy. You can also check out the other levels offered for older students and to continue their geography studies.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
I am so excited to share this review of the Vocal Gym that I did with Timberdoodle.
My daughter loves music! She is a violist, plays the piano for our youth group praise band, and hopes to one day teach music lessons. I, on the other hand, can only play the radio. I love to listen to music, but I am no help to her in improving her music skills.
She has been looking for several years for ways to work on her singing voice, but I was not sure how to help her. The Vocal Gym was the perfect solution because it provided her with self-paced video-based instruction that she could do to improve her singing and help make her a more well-rounded musician.
What is The Vocal Gym?
The course has 12 sections that you go through, some opening ones to get you ready for what is going to happen in the middle sections, which are 1 for each of the seven dimensions, and then some closing ones that help you put everything together.
Flexibility (pliability of the vocal folds)
Breathing (breathing management)
Intonation (pitch control)
Range (vocal balance (muscle coordination) from lowest to highest pitch)
Tone (quality of sound)
Articulation (diction)
Strength (Stability and stamina of the voice)
In each of the seven main sections, you have instructional videos on how to do exercises strengthening that dimension, and you have a video explaining what part of your body that dimension utilizes.
There is also a short, reasonably easy quiz and some detailed exercises. At the end of each of the seven main sections, you have the option of doing some activities like listening to a musical album and/or watching a musical, then answering questions or completing some activity that goes along with the section’s dimension.
Each section takes a couple of hours to complete if you do not include the additional activities. If you include the extra activities, that could add up to an additional three hours per section. This, along with documenting practice hours, allows students to get enough hours for a high school-level credit on their transcripts.
My Daughter’s Thoughts on the Vocal Gym
“I enjoyed the course. Some of the things that I thought were nice are, on top of the built-in videos, they give optional that you can do to increase your skills and add more time, but they were not required, so if you are busy and/or you don’t want to do it you do not have to. I like the videos that they had. And the setup of the website is excellent.
One thing that I wasn’t as big of a fan of was that they have a web that you would fill out to determine how well you are doing in certain areas, but they don’t have a great guide for you, so you have to do your best to guess how well you are doing.
I like how they have broken things down into the seven dimensions of singing to focus on little parts of your voice and then go back at the end and put everything together.
I recommend it for students and adults who want to learn more about singing and strengthen their voice. I recommend it for beginners and those who have been singing for a while. I think that everybody can gain from this course; the exercises are easy to personalize.”
.
A Parent’s Perspective on the Vocal Gym
If you were a “fly on the wall” in our home recently, you probably would have heard one child or another singing:
“If I were a rich man
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
All day long, I’d biddy biddy bum.”
This is because, as a part of her work with the vocal Gym, my daughter had the option of watching Fiddler on the Roof. While my husband and I had heard of the musical, we had never watched it. The family watched it together, and the kids have been singing the songs ever since.
I loved that while it is helping her with her vocal skills, it is also helping her to learn more about musicals and a variety of genres of music in her extra activities.
I appreciated that it had the materials and support necessary to help my daughter with a skill that I could not help her learn.
Overall, if you have a student interested in vocal training, this is a great course. It is an easy-to-use, open-and-go program that can assist your child in improving their singing skills as well as learning about a variety of musicals and music genres.
Remember to visit Timberdoodle for more information and to purchase your subscription.
*This post contains affiliate links; see disclosure below*
About two years ago, I had the opportunity to introduce you to a new series of books that is both informative and enjoyable, The Who, What, Why series. The first set was about protestant church history; I am excited to share that there are three new books available in the series.
This set includes What Was the Underground Railroad, Who Were the Abolitionists, Why Did Slavery End?
In today’s world, books share many messages, and it can sometimes be hard to know which books to buy for your children. If you are like me, you want books that are fun and interesting. More importantly, you want books that share your Christian worldview. This series fits that bill perfectly.
Who What Why Series
These books, like the others in the series, are brief chapter books geared toward students who are eight to eleven years old. The books are informative but engaging and sometimes humorous. I think that younger students could enjoy them and learn from them through a family read-aloud.
In addition, older students would find them to be very simple but still educational. I have been reading them aloud, specifically to my five and nine-year-old sons, but I think even my teenagers could benefit from them.
Each book contains illustrations that help the reader understand the book (and are often quite humorous), a timeline of events, and a works cited section so that you know where she derived the historical information.
Who Were the Abolitionists?
This book covers ten different abolitionists. Some of whom I was familiar with, but there were several whose stories I had never heard.
Granville Sharp
Phillis Wheatley
Olaudah Equiano
Thomas Clarkson
William Wilberforce
Zachary Macaulay
William Knibb
Soujourner Truth
Frederick Douglas
The book was interesting and engaging. It covered a very challenging topic in a way that wouldn’t be overwhelming to younger students. The book did a great job telling the story of the abolitionists and slavery through a biblical lens. Each chapter is only about six to seven pages, so it makes for a very easy read-aloud.
What Was the Underground Railroad?
This book is written in such a way as to make it easy to understand and engaging for children, but it covers a great deal of important historical information.
Each chapter is about nine or ten pages, and they work their way through the story of the Underground Railroad. I really appreciated the chapter that explained how we know about the Underground Railroad and how the stories were preserved.
In addition to the historical lessons on the Underground Railroad, it includes a section on what the Bible says about the evils of slavery and how we should treat one another.
Why Did Slavery End?
Unlike most books I have reason slavery, this book doesn’t just cover slavery in America, but slavery dating back to Biblical times and going through modern times.
I really appreciated how she covered slavery in other countries and times to help students understand more about the history of slavery. (While there is one statement about people in the Civil War dying for or against slavery that I feel does not clearly take into account the many different aspects, of which slavery was one, of the Civil War, overall, I think this book does a good job showing the varied history of slavery.)
It talks about the evil sinfulness of slavery and shows what the Bible says about how Christians should respond to slavery.
Conclusions
The Who, What, Why series is a great addition to any home library. They can be used as read-alouds or independent reading. They are a great supplement to any history program that is covering slavery, but could also just be used as independent reading.
These books are available to purchase at Thinking Kids Press (individually or save money and buy them as a bundle) or on Amazon.
Which title most interests you? What other titles would you like to see added to the series?
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
History matters, but studying history doesn’t have to be boring. Your kids will love using a literature based approach to history.
One of my favorite memories from schooling my children was curling up on the couch, reading together. In fact, reading was the primary way we studied history from the time they were little until they made their way to college and to their own careers.
When I was going to school, history was learned through textbooks with lessons that seemed to have little connection to each other. I left college without truly understanding how movements, people, and ideas affected the course of global or local history. In fact, history seemed like a dark cloud of nebulous–and boring–information.
The truth is, history is anything but boring. It’s also incredibly important for our kids to understand how ideas affect the course of individuals, families, and nations.
Literature Based Approach to History
You can teach history to your children using a literature based approach. Your kids will love reading the stories of courageous people who took a stand for truth!
We used a variety of literature based resources to help our kids learn about history, such as:
Biographies
Narrative nonfiction
Historical fiction
Illustrated source documents, like journals and the Bill of Rights
Literature written during the historical period being studied
Literature based learning is such a wonderful tool. You can actually teach different aspects of most subjects through literature! It’s such a gift to our kids to educate them in a way that’s fun, engaging, and that excites their imaginations.
History and the Bible are subjects that benefit the most from a literature based homeschool approach. As you educate your kids, look for ways to help them examine a topic in several ways using different genres of literature. Not only will you help inspire a lifetime love of learning for your kids, you’ll be giving them a world-class education at the same time.
Danika Cooley’s Who What Why Christian history series is perfect for your 7-11 year olds. Your children will better understand the history of the Christian faith, the people who loved Jesus, and what the Bible says about really important issues! Danika is an award-winning children’s author and Bible curriculum developer. Her popular Bible Road Trip™ is used by tens of thousands of families.
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
IQ Weather is a video-based weather program designed for fifth grade and higher. This in-depth study of weather covers far more than the generic basics of rain, sun, and snow. Timberdoodle provided me with the opportunity to review IQ Weather.
Lessons
Each Lesson is a 5-10 minute video followed by a computer-graded quiz. There is a PDF of quiz answers and explanations with each lesson. In addition, there are lesson Plans with before and after discussion questions, vocabulary, and additional resources on the topic. The additional resources allow you to click links to more information to improve student understanding and help students who want to further their studies. Finally, a Teacher Guide covers what will be covered in the lesson to help the teacher/parent prepare for the class.
The lessons could be done together with an adult as a guided study, but older students could also complete them independently.
There are twenty lessons that include a variety of topics within the broader subject of weather. This includes learning about weather vs. climate, clouds, different types of weather (storms, tornados, tropical weather, etc.), and various weather technologies.
Experiments
In addition to the lessons, eight experiments coordinate with some of the studies. The experiments include an explanation, a materials list, a video, and a quiz. Most of the experiments would be very simple to do at home, but a few are more complex.
If you could not do the experiment at home, the video shows the experiment being completed. It allows students to learn through that watching, though ideally, you would conduct at least some experiments.
For example, in one experiment, you simply needed a bucket of hot water, a bucket of cold water, an empty plastic bottle, a balloon, and a rubber band. Students could then see how different temperatures affected the air.
However, one of the more complex ones required liquid nitrogen and safety equipment. That was one we decided to just watch and learn through the video.
How We Used IQ Weather
While this program is recommended for 5th grade and above, I have a 4th grader and a kindergartener who wanted to learn more about the weather. I primarily used this for my 4th grader, but I allowed the kindergartener to watch the videos with him. (The program will only score one student on the quizzes, but the company says the whole family is welcome to use the rest of the content.)
My fourth grader learned a lot through the videos and discussion, though he still had trouble with some quizzes. I think the age range of fifth and above is reasonably accurate, but younger students can get a lot from the program if you don’t expect complete mastery.
Conclusions
We enjoyed the IQ Weather course from Timberdoodle. I believe that it would make a great standalone weather study, but you could also easily use it as a supplement if you were doing a different program and just wanted to go more in-depth with the weather.
If you do the experiments, discussion questions, extra readings, etc., it can take several hours per lesson. However, a lesson would only take about fifteen minutes if you chose just to do the videos and quizzes. So, it is very flexible based on your family’s needs.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
Each calendar year, I try to pick a focus word or phrase to help me guide my year. For 2023 my term was Make Space, and it came about primarily because I felt God encouraging me to make space in my daughter’s school schedule for her to pursue the gifts he has given her.
*Some links are affiliate links; see full disclosure below.*
My oldest is a senior this year (more on his schedule coming next week), and when my daughter started high school, I was mainly putting her on the same track as he was on. I was thinking if it was working, no need to change it.
Considering Each Student
However, I wasn’t considering the differences in their goals and passions. While they had a few different electives, I realized I needed to make even more changes in my daughter’s schedule to make time and space for her to pursue her music passion.
This meant dropping things like foreign languages to make space for more music electives. It also meant adding a business elective to help her prepare for running her own business (she wants to teach music lessons). Much to her disappointment, it did not mean dropping math.
I am sure we will still have some adjustments as we go along, but we looked at the course requirements for the associate’s degree in music that she wants to pursue, in addition to some certifications that she will be working towards. Then, we lined up a curriculum path that would help her gain the skills needed, take some of those courses early, and still have an excellent, well-rounded education that will allow her to change her mind later if things change.
As this is her sophomore year, she will be doing all homeschool courses and begin some dual enrollment classes next year.
Math
I learned my lesson the hard way with my oldest and Algebra 1, and now we use online math programs beginning with Algebra for their sake and mine. My daughter will be taking Algebra II with Thinkwell Math. It is my favorite upper-level math program because it is thorough and well done and offers online help classes for students struggling with a concept.
Reading
I am very excited about her reading program this year. We wanted to do some British Literature, but we will do a deep dive into Jane Austen instead of doing a survey class. I am using a variety of her novels and these great resources from You Are an Artist to combine literature with art.
I look forward to book discussions over tea and snacks (something my daughter and I enjoy). I am also excited about a few movie nights to compare and contrast the movie and the novel. It will be a great learning experience and provide fun memories and bonding with my daughter.
Science
We did science a little out of the typical order so my son and daughter could do chemistry together last year. This year, she will be doing biology, which is often ninth-grade science. She is excited about it because there should be less math included in science than last year! We use Journey Homeschool Academy for our high school science needs. I love the Christian worldview, the engaging videos, and the thorough classes.
(If you want to know more about Journey, check out our full review here.)
Geography
We have a big cross-country trip planned for the spring, so it is the perfect time to do a course in geography. She has had some geography spread throughout her history courses, but I created this geography course to work on US geography specifically.
She started working through the course already and is enjoying it. It allows her to research and learn while also helping plan our trip.
Music
Of course, we must remember the music classes. She will officially get one music credit for Music 2 on her transcript this year. However, we have made some extra time for additional practices and performances.
She will be taking viola and piano lessons with Practice Monkeys (we have been using them since the fall of 2018, and I highly recommend them for music lessons).
She will perform on her viola at a local historical site’s Christmas tour, which will mean some extra practice.
In addition, she is currently playing the keyboard for our church’s youth group band. She is also working with our Worship Minister to incorporate her viola into some Sunday morning worship songs.
She was able to go to three different music camps this summer, and I think the extra practice and encouragement were great for her motivation. I am excited to see the progress that she will make this year.
Electives
Finally, she is taking three electives. First, she is taking her PE course, which means that for our homeschool, she will log hours doing various physical activities. She enjoys running, so that will make up many of her hours, but she also kayaks, hikes, bowls, and enjoys doing some of the workouts using our Fit2B membership for cardio and weight training.
Next, she is going to be doing a business elective. She had been taking some workshops through our local small business center and asked about turning them into a credit. So we have decided that we are going to track those workshops, as well as the time that she spends putting the ideas and information into practice for her soap-making business or helping with her brother’s farm, and count them towards a business elective.
Her third elective will be a poultry science elective. She participates in Poultry Judging and Avian Bowl through 4-H and, in addition to participating, helps to teach younger children. Her team is even going to the national competition this year. They learn so much about poultry and science in general through this program, and we are counting the hours participating in practices, contests, and teaching towards this elective.
Morning Time
In addition to her transcript courses, she will participate in our daily family morning time. During that time, we do our Bible study, current events with World Watch, Shakespeare, and some fine arts. I will share more specifically how we use that time in another post. Still, I think it is important to remember that not everything your high school student does has to be for their transcript, but it is also great when you can turn things you are already doing into high school courses.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
*Some links are affiliate links; see full disclosure below*
I am genuinely excited about this year with my nine-year-old. We are moving into fourth grade and looking forward to a great year. He struggled early on with learning to read but turned a corner last year with his reading, which will make this school year much easier.
Reading:
We are starting where we left off in May with All About Reading Level 3, we should finish that before Christmas, and then we will roll straight into All About Reading Level 4. Since things have finally come together for him, he is moving faster and can get through more lessons each week.
He will also be reading some novels with me and doing some book clubs throughout the year for literature.
Spelling
We have been working on All About Spelling, and he will continue to work his way through that. There will be even more focus on that this year now that his reading is more comfortable. We found All About Spelling years ago when my oldest was a struggling speller, and it has been our family favorite ever since.
Writing
For writing, we will be using scripture copywork and nature journaling for practice. He will also be doing First Language Lessons to work on some grammar. Finally, I will sporadically begin working on different prompts, starting with themed paragraphs and working our way up. Due to his reading struggles, writing has not been a considerable focus in years past, so we are looking to expand on those skills this year.
Math
He will be continuing with Math for a Living Education this year. We both love the format; it worked very well for him. There is generally enough practice for him without it being too much busy work. If there are concepts where he struggles, we can add in some extra practice.
I also have a couple of math games, Robbin’ Eggs and Math Sprint, to use with him just to keep working on those skills in a fun way.
Science:
We have been working our way through the Apologia Elementary series, and he chose to do Apologia Land Animals this year. We are excited about doing it with his younger brother (kindergarten) and all of the fun field trips we can add in. We are planning a trip to the zoo and hoping to make it to a couple of other science museums/ animal sanctuaries that are close enough to visit.
We have a big trip coming up in the spring that will bring us to a variety of national parks, and I know many of them will also have displays and activities to help with our studies.
I shared last year how we did Apologia Swimming Creatures, and I will share a post in a couple of weeks with similar resources for Land Animals.
History:
We are generally a Story of the World family for history, but we wanted to cover American History before our trip this year. So we are planning to use the new Tuttle Twins American History Volume One book. I have the book and the audio version to make it easier for both boys, especially once the new baby arrives.
We may also use Volume Two, depending on how fast we get through Volume One. Our whole family is very interested in history, so we sometimes get through more than would otherwise be expected.
Art/Music
This son is the one I refer to as my little artist. He loves to draw, paint, and create. We will continue to use our membership with You Are An Artist chalk pastels for his online art lessons and provide him with lots of time and materials to be creative.
We also like to include books and information about famous artists to help him expand his understanding of art.
For music, he is taking violin lessons with Practice Monkeys. He was taking them last year and then decided to take a break over the summer. However, he asked last week to start again and seems to have a renewed zeal for them.
Morning Time:
Morning time is my favorite part of our school day. We do our daily family devotions, watch World Watch for current events, do fine arts studies, and read alouds of poetry and Tuttle Twins books. I will share an entire post with more details next week, but it is an excellent time of learning and growing together as a family.
Overall, I am very excited about this year with my fourth grader and looking forward to the maturity and progress I see in him.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
Over the summer, I have been reviewing the Stepping into Science Kit by Kids First from Timberdoodle. It was an excellent opportunity for me to do some fun, hands-on science activities with my five-year-old son when the weather was too hot for outdoor play.
What Is Stepping Into Science?
This kit is designed for students ages five to seven (though I think some of the experiments would be great for any elementary age). The kit includes directions and supplies for 29 different experiments. However, there were a few household supplies you are required to provide—for example, water, paper towels, a bowl, a mirror, etc. Most of the items were readily available, though we did have trouble one day with needing a piece of wool fabric.
My five-year-old is just entering kindergarten and cannot read, so we did them together, but a student who could read proficiently could have done many of the experiments independently. Some days my nine-year-old joined the fun, and a family or an individual child could use the kit.
Experiment Categories:
Experiments in Nature
Experiments in Physics
Experiments in Air
Experiments in Water
Experiments in Chemistry
At the beginning of each experiment, a list of needed materials is divided by what the kit includes and what needs to come from home. The instructions have step-by-step pictures to help younger students and some written instructions to ensure the directions are clear.
Also, there are tips and ideas for continued experimentation at the end of each experiment.
How Did We Use Stepping Into Science?
You can complete the experiments in any order, so for our situation, I let my son look through them and pick out the ones he wanted to try each day.
Most of the experiments only took a few minutes, though some plant experiments needed to be done over a more extended period due to wait times. For example, a seed sprouting experiment took only a few minutes of active time but several days to see the results.
We have done many (though not all of the experiments), and overall they were easy to complete and worked well. We struggled with getting the hovercraft activity to work well, but I am unsure if that was a flaw in the experiment or an operator error.
What Did We Think?
My son enjoyed all of them but was particularly fond of the water experiments. He learned how to use surface tension to float a paperclip and about buoyancy by making balls and boats out of clay to see which one floated.
While I recommend looking ahead to ensure you have any additional materials for the particular experiment, most of them are very open-and-go and easy to implement.
There is a list of additional needed materials at the front of the manual in addition to the individual list for each experiment.
Conclusions
Overall, this is a great kit if you have a young elementary student and want an easy way to add some hands-on science experiments without a lot of prep work or extra time. It could be used as a standalone program if you want to wait on a more formal science curriculum or use the experiments to supplement your traditional science curriculum.
Be sure to go to the Timberdoodle website to learn more about this Stepping into Science kit and the other great products that they offer.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 