Making homeschool decisions easy
Institute For Excellence in Writing- Teaching Writing: Structure and Style DVDs By Andrew Pudewa Feeling Empowered as a Parent/Teacher Many of my blog readers have been asking me to write a review of Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) for a long time. I have hesitated to write the review since we are still very much a work in progress using their system of writing.
When I taught school outside my home it was all the rage to teach grammar through writing. While grading the students papers I made notes on the grammar I thought they needed to learn and then used the grammar textbook to teach grammar in mini ten minute lessons three times a week. Overall, I didn’t feel very successful, but I kept plugging along as that
There are so many expensive homeschool resources, but one of the best science investments we have ever made cost less than $15.00. We purchased a Pocket Microscope($13.95) several years ago from Home Science Tools. With two AA batteries, and three zoom levels (60X, 80X, 100X) this little microscope can help even a 2 year old explore the world around them. A small, lightweight base has clips
Spellquizzer is spelling software that gives you a break while helping your children learn their spelling words. This software can be adapted to your current spelling lists or you can find sample and full spelling lists to use on this program. There is a section that allows you to share spelling lists with other homeschoolers as well. Whether using your own spelling and vocabulary lists, downloading news ones or sharing some with others,
We are a household of gamers. While the games we like to play are different from one another, right or wrong, we all seem to answer the call of that gentle glow of an electronic game. In particular, I am a fan of the Nintendo DS. Although I have never personally played it for more than a few minutes, I like that my boys (who
Years ago when I was first introduced to the classical method of homeschooling, I was determined to have my boys attempt a Latin program as suggested in The Well-Trained Mind. We tried two different programs to learn Latin. We got a little farther with a DVD based program, but we still were not able to stay motivated. I know I had a bit of a
We’re a unit study and lapbooking family. We love to take a week, two weeks, even a month to explore a topic. We have used the Magic School Bus series to shape our units from the beginning. As a matter of fact, we spent one entire year doing science units that centered around the Magic School Bus books and there are still more left to do! With
After many years of homeschooling, seven to be exact, I finally made an effort to include art appreciation in our school day. I decided to use The Usborne Art Treasury as our “spine”. The book introduces artists of many genres – from African masks to Vincent van Gogh to Georgia O’Keefe. Each artist is covered on four pages. The first two pages introduce one piece of
