Time Timer ~ TOS Review

I really enjoy each item we review for the most part but when I got the chance to use The Time Timer I thought “Oh this is just what I need!” I have the worst time trying to keep track of our time for each subject. In the past I have purchased numerous timers all with the same result, they go off and are disturbing or too quiet and unobtrusive and I forget about them.

Huge HOAC Black Friday Sale

WIR Unit 9 and 10

Our last two weeks have been a bit up and down since this pregnancy has me in some pain lately. I was planning on finishing everything today but only got part of the way through Bigger day 5. I also lost my camera a bit and was bummed I missed some of our projects.
Bigger
We are still learning about Ben Franklin and his many experiments and contributions to our country’s founding. In Art we used letter stamps to simulate how a printing press would work and made some nice initial prints and also made a kite painting to remind us of Franklin’s kite experiment. We also learned about making maps to scale and map perspectives in Geography.


Our character traits have been so spot on with what we need to work on these last two weeks. Thriftiness and Wisdom are very important traits since we are in a place where a lack of those on my part have resulted in some tough experiences. I am so thankful HOD is so timely with these!

Math Mammoth ~ TOS Review

I have a serious aversion to math. I was just never good at it as a child and even worse I think sometimes as an adult. Homeschooling my children has taught me far more math than I ever thought possible. I understand things that would stump me BHS (Before HomeSchooling).
I have 2 boys, 9 and 16, the 16 y/o is pretty good and math or seemed to be while he was in public school but really doesn’t care for it while my 9 year old son is a math fiend and wants to do math all the time. My daughter is 2 1/2 and undecided as of yet.

Reviewing mathy things is always a lot of fun here since I enjoy the excitement my kids have for learning this subject, so I was thrilled to receive Math Mammoth.

SAT Prep Course~TOS Review

College Prep Genius DVD SET

“There is no need to spend a fortune on SAT prep. College Prep Genius is designed to help students master the strategies behind the test and taking students step by step through each section of the SAT [Critical Reading, Math, Writing,] and gives them a plan for success for each question type. 
This DVD covers all three sections of the SAT & PSAT/NMSQT and is a thorough review of the College Prep Genius curriculum.”
While watching the 12 lessons on the DVD the workbook walks the students through each lesson. The companion text gives a thorough breakdown of each lesson. You will, however, need to download a homework packet and there are no actual SAT tests are included.

Keyboard Town Pals ~ TOS Review

Being one of those homeschoolers I feel the need to teach my children how to type. It may just be because I know how to type and hate having to type for others because I can do it faster. Seems like cheating to me!
So that being said, by the time my children graduate our school they will have the skills to succeed in college because the ability to type is so necessary then.  I had some trouble deciding what curriculum we would be using to do our keyboarding lessons since I had a 9th, 4th, and PK students. My oldest is a decent typist but just needed to increase his speed so that left the younger two. As a TOS Crew member I had the chance to review Keyboard Town Pals, an online/cd-rom keyboarding course geared toward children ages 6-12. Hoo-rah we were saved!

Week 8 ~ HOD WIR

Using Heart of Dakota has been such and enormous blessing to our family yet lately I have been wondering if I am not pushing my children enough. I have family who are worried because my 9 y/o son does not know his multiplication tables and others who think my oldest in high school should be doing less hands on and more book work. That maybe I should have my 4th grader doing extensions in his curriculum even though he is only a year and a half away from loathing reading and just beginning to bloom with books. I even thought that maybe another curriculum may be better for my oldest *GASP*!

Imagination Station Books 5 & 6 ~ Review AND GIVEAWAY!!!

I have been so happy with C-man’s reading ability, from just a year ago he has really taken a shine to reading just about everything. His current favorite series of books is Adventures In Odyssey’s The Imagination Station. We have recently received books 5 and 6 and he again devoured them in no time.
Book 5 Showdown with the Shepherd and Book 6 Problems in Plymouth are the newest books in the series with at least six more titles planned, including book 7, Secret of the Prince’s Tomb, due out in January of 2012 and book 8 in May 2012.

Bower Books ~ TOS Review

The teen years, dating, courting, marriage all words that strike fear into a mother’s heart. Alright maybe not all mothers but certainly mine. I have a teenage boy and while my husband and I wish for him to keep his relationships godly and court, he has other family that do not follow the Lord, so I know our influence only goes so far. My son has expressed interest in girls recently so I was so thrilled when we got a copy of The Person I Marry from Bower Family Books.

Memoria Press Classical Phonics ~ TOS Review

We are only in our 3rd official year of homeschooling and my daughter is going to be the first of our children that I will be teaching from the very beginning. To say I am nervous is an understatement. I have been thinking about which approach to use to teach her and which curriculum will work for us for a few months now and even though she isn’t yet 3 I know she is slowly getting more interested in her letters, words and sounds. I don’t want to push but want to take advantage of her interest.



What I am looking for is something very laid back and simple. After looking at Memoria Press’s Classical Phonics and First Start Reading program I think it is just what I have been looking for. Classical Phonics is a simple little book based on a 1913 text, Word Mastery, used to teach phonics. Since we use Charlotte Mason methods in our homeschool the word family lists work perfectly for our children’s lessons. Starting with the alphabet and progressing through the various phonetic lessons, Classical Phonics is a handy compendium for students to use as a review of all the phonics learned in K-2.