Archive for July, 2014

Poppins Book Nook- The Great Outdoors

10
Jul

Poppins Book Nook

The theme for June for Poppins Book Nook was the great outdoors.  There is so much that can be done with this theme that it was hard to know where to start!  I had several library books about spring and summer and had planned to go with one of those.  But, Hunter didn’t want anything to do with those books.  Instead- he was interested in this one:

Poppins Book Nook

Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond.  Hunter loved this book!!  (Our dog, Dottie, just so happens to look just like Charlie.)

Poppins Book Nook

So, we talked about what it would be like to live on a ranch or a farm and all the planting and work that would be done outside.

Poppins Book Nook

Hunter planted some (actually, A LOT of) grass seed in a cup.

Poppins Book Nook

Hailey also planted some grass seed.

Poppins Book Nook

They each also planted some beans.  We watered and made sure they got some sunlight.

Poppins Book Nook

1 week later we had some growth.

Poppins Book Nook

They continued to grow

Poppins Book Nook

Hailey has given the grass several trims.

Week in Review

In talking about the great outdoors, we also did a fun unit all about worms and learned what they do for our earth and how important they are for our gardens.  I had no idea!  You can see a little more about what we did here and here.

Do you have a fun activity to share?

Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest so you don’t miss any of our fun activities. Check out the other co-hosts for Poppins Book Nook:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God’s Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy’s Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy’s Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Raventhreads ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A “Peace” of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

Poppins Book NookGreat Outdoors Bundle Giveaway! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win a copy of the classic storybook Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping as no one brings that certain flair and fun to the great outdoors like Amelia Bedelia. The winner will also win an Uncle Milton Nat Geo Starry Night Lantern so whether you live in the countryside or in the city your child can experience some of the great outdoors while reading your storybook. Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}. Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:

Poppins Book Nook

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week In Review

08
Jul

Week In Review

I’m still trying to catch up on my weekly review posts, and now I’m another week behind. Last week we had a thunderstorm and I heard a huge crash of thunder and suddenly all sorts of things in our house stopped working- the washing machine, the air conditioner, the tv, the blu ray player, the light in our dining room, the internet (ahhhhh!). Anyway, once I figured out how to reset our ground fault circuits everything started working again except a couple things, including the internet.  I was hoping when Rich got home from work he would be able to get the internet working again, but he couldn’t.  First he replaced our wireless connection box, but that didn’t help. Since this happened right before the 4th of July we had to wait to get a new modem, which we now have.  Thankfully everything is now working again, but we were without internet for several days.  Anyway, all that to say- now I am an extra week behind in posting.

Week In Review

This was our last full week of school- so we decided to have a fun backwards day.  Hailey and Hunter wore their clothes backwards and both of them thought it was pretty funny.

Week In Review

Another day they wore their pajamas and both had a blast playing in shaving cream.

Language Arts:

Week In Review

Hailey has really gotten into reading American Girl books lately, so here she is working on the latest book she is reading.

Week In Review

Hailey finished up All About Spelling.  

For most of the year we just did spelling lists to work on spelling words.  Hailey usually did well on her tests at the end of the week, but then didn’t remember how to spell the words later.  So, we switched to All About Spelling this spring.  So far it’s going well and we have both learned a lot of rules for spelling.

Week In Review

Hailey made a really fun memory book about second grade- What’s Your Superpower?  She loved working on this book and it will be great to look back on in the future.

Math:

Week In Review

We played some fun games to work on multiplication- in this game each person drew a card and then multiplied it by whatever the number was that we were practicing.  For example, if you’re working on the 3s tables- and you draw a 9, you would answer 9×3.  If you get the answer right you get to keep the card, if you get it wrong it goes back in to the pile.

Week In Review

This was Hailey’s favorite multiplication game- Each person flips a coin- on one side was written x2 and on the other was written x3.  (You can use any number you want to practice any of your multiplication tables.)  Then you draw a card and multiply it by whatever number you got on the coin.  Then using a colored disc, find the answer to your multiplication problem on the paper and cover it up.  The first person to get 3 in a row (or 4 if you want it to last longer) is the winner.

Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest so you don’t miss any of our fun activities.

Veritas Press Self-Paced History Review

01
Jul

Veritas Press

History has been a bit of a struggle for us this past school year. We started out really enjoying it, but then as time went on it seemed like we were spending way too much time on one topic.  Hailey started asking if we could please study something else.  So, for most of the year I came up with our own history curriculum.  It was time consuming and not something I want to do again in the fall, especially since I’ll be busy with a new baby.  So, I have been busily searching for a new history curriculum.

We were given the opportunity to review a history curriculum from Veritas Press.  I checked out what they had to offer and decided that we would just start at the very beginning and review the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt, which one of the Veritas Press Self-Paced History choices.

Veritas Press Review
The self-paced history courses each have 160 lessons, which if you do 5 lessons each week, will take you 32 weeks to complete.  Since the classes are self paced you are able to complete them in the way that works best for your family.  Tuition for each course is $199 which will give you access for one year.  If you have more than one child using the program there is a $100 sibling discount.   The self-paced courses are meant for children in grades 2-6, with the recommendation that your child be at least 7 when starting the class.

There are 5 different courses available:
Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
New Testament, Greece and Rome
Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation
Explorers to 1815
1815 to Present

The courses also have flashcards that are very helpful in learning all of the major events during the time period your child is studying.  We were able to use the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt Flashcards, which cost $19.95.

The courses are completed online, so you will need internet access.  Be sure to check the FAQ to make sure you computer and internet connection will meet the minimum requirements.

Veritas Press

The first thing your child has to before starting any of the lessons will be the tutorial.  This is a great way to become familiar with the way the course works.

Veritas Press

When your child first logs on each day, she will be able to go to look at her assignments.  This page shows the lessons that have been completed as well as the upcoming lessons.  Your child’s current grade is also displayed at the top.

Veritas Press

 The lessons have different actors teaching the information.  It is all very interactive and the students have to answer questions very frequently, which helps to keep them focused where they should be.

Veritas Press

 There are also talking characters, which will certainly keep your child interested in the information!

Veritas Press

 In addition, there are interactive games, which are educational as well as fun.

Veritas Press

Every 5th lesson has a test, which is usually pretty short, but very complete.

 So, how did we use Veritas Press?

Veritas Press

Hailey started out using the tutorial.  With these courses you have to complete the tutorial in order to move on to lesson 1.  Then lesson 1 must be completed in order to move to lesson 2, etc.  I had planned to just have her do the tutorial on her first day, but she begged to go on and check out lesson 1.

Veritas Press

Each day she completed 1 lesson.  Some of the lessons were longer than others, but I think they average around 20 minutes each.  Of course, that is going to depend on how long it takes your child to complete the questions and interactive games, so it could be more or less.

There is a fun song to help your child remember the 32 major events in the time period being studied.  The first day Hailey heard the song she said, “I’ll never be able to remember all of that.”  But, it’s a catchy little song and before she knew it, she had most of it memorized.  I often heard her singing it when she was taking her tests.

Veritas Press Review

We also used the flashcards- this is the front of the first flashcard.  Each flashcard has a picture on the front…

Veritas Press Review

and some information, as well as resources available on the back.

Veritas Press

On the back of the first flashcard the 7 days of creation are listed- so I had Hailey make her own art work to go along with it.

Veritas Press

This is her completed version of the 7 days of creation flashcard.

Veritas Press Self-Paced History is an amazing program!  Hailey absolutely loved it and would ask to do it.  Some of the lessons were a little bit shorter than others and on those days she would beg to do just one more lesson.  She learned so much from the time that we used the program- and I did too!  In addition to the online lessons and the flashcards, there are several historical fiction books that are recommended to use along with the program.  I was not able to find them at our local library, but they are available for purchase through Veritas Press.  Hailey asked if we could please keep using this program when we start school back up in the fall.  So, we are definitely planning to continue to learn all about the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt.

Here is what it boils down to for me:

Pros:
Very easy to implement
Fun characters that children enjoy listening to
Very little teacher prep time- most days we just watched the lesson and didn’t have to do anything else.  There are hands on activities that can be done as well, which would involve a little bit of prep time, but not much.  This will be perfect for us since we’ll have a newborn in the fall.
Hailey loved it, learned a lot, and asked to do it every day

Cons:
It is only available online, so you have to meet the minimum requirements in your internet connection
Cost- I think $199 is expensive for one subject

Want to see some more of Veritas Press:

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