My Top Five Favorites for Attending the Summer Summit

Your life as a homeschool mom is a whirlwind of changing seasons that can just as easily exhaust as exhilerate you. Today, I would like to share my top five favorites and invite you to join me at the Summer Summit on August 3, 2019 at Midway Baptist Church in Kountze, Texas.

1. Summit Sessions

The four session of the Summer Summit are faith, friendships, food, and fun. During the faith session, we will learn about the Balance Between Homeschooling and Homemaking, as well as some 30-minute meal tips and tricks entitled Plan, Prep, Prosper. During the friendship session, moms will have the opportunity to ask and answer questions to encourage one another and learn from each other's challenges. During the food session, a luncheon will be served with chicken salad on crossaint, potato soup, cookie, and iced tea. During the fun session, moms will have the opportunity to have fun, play a game or two, and win prizes.

2. Summit Shoppe

I love being able to purchase curriculum at the Summit Shoppe at discount prices! Attendees may shop during check-in, luncheon, and check-out. Visit our Summer Shoppe for BJU Press, Apologia, Usborne Books, Chalk Couture, Tupperware, Quilted Cabins, and more!

3. Take-Home-Tote

Each mom in attendance receives a take-home-tote filled with goodies! So many companies and publishers have contributed to these totes - IEW, Progeny Press, Memoria Press, My Father's World, Sub Zero, Tabbies, Notgrass History, Glue Dots, Christian Liberty Press, Beautiful Feet Books, Practical Homeschooling, BJU Press, Teaching Textbooks, Lee Products Company, and more!

4. Door Prizes

Our door prize table is always a hit and huge blessing! The past couple years, each mom in attendance went home with a door prize! So many people have donated a door prize for free advertisement in the program - IEW ($50 gift certificates), Progeny Press ($20 gift certificate), Memoria Press (First Form Latin), BJU Press, Apologia, and more!

5. Mom Time

As any mom can attest, we tend to get so focused on others that we neglect ourselves; and that's not good for anyone. We need to be with other homeschool moms - for that occasional grown-up conversation. REGISTER today to attend the Summer Summit for $30 and join moms just like you to celebrate the homeschool journey together! 

A-Z Animals: B for Bear

A-Z Animals provides a mini unit study for each letter of the alphabet for early learning. Each unit provides three activities using a children’s book as the theme for parents and students to complete together.

Read with Me

Parents read the children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen with their student.

Learn with Me

Parents learn with their student about bears through the video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jyFpgIWzsE

Create with Me

Parents create a Pom Pom Bear craft with their student.

You will need the following materials to create a Pom Pom Bear:

• Brown Yarn
• Brown Felt to Match Yarn
• Tan Felt
• Two Googly Eyes
• Black Permanent Marker
• Scissors
• Hot Glue

Here are the directions to create a Pom Pom Bear:

·         Make to pom poms. Use 125 wraps of yarn around a book to create the pom pom. Cut 1/3 off the end of the yarn and tie. This is the head. Cut the other 2/3 in half and stack on top of each other and tie. This is the body. Trim to make a nice round shape. Tie body and head together.

·         Cut two large ear shapes out of the brown felt and two small ear shapes out of the tan felt. Cut a small circle out of the tan felt. Use a permanent marker to draw the nose/mouth onto the circle felt.

·         Hot glue ears, nose/mouth, and googly eyes to create your pom pom bear.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Kingdom Code - Crew Review

The Complete StarterKit from The Kingdom Code is a money management curriculum written for grades 4-6 based on Biblical principles which teaches students how to make and manage money God’s way. The Complete Starter Kit includes the textbook, student packet, and teacher guide.

There are 27 lessons and each lesson should be taught twice a week. Lesson plans provide a step-by-step approach to learning and make teaching easy and fun. You will need to allow at least 45 minutes to complete each day. Every lesson has eight sections. Each lesson begins with a Proclamation based on a Biblical principle. Students are encouraged to read this aloud and discuss its meaning so they can fully understand the message. Lesson one proclaims “I trust in the Lord with all my heart and depend on Him instead of myself. In everything I do, I honor and remember Him, and He makes my path straight.” The next section, Check Your Path, directs students to begin their worksheets. The worksheets can be filled out as the lesson progresses, used at the end of the lesson as a review, or given as an assessment after the lesson. Our family simply filled out the worksheets as the lessons progressed. The Quest for the Clue section is an introduction to the theme and goals of the lesson. To promote understanding, activities and additional components are often included in this section. At the end of Quest for the Clue, students also find a clue that summarizes the section. The Code of Honor section teaches the target skill of the lesson through a character code. There is at least one Bible verse incorporated within this section. The Treasure Seeking section continues to develop the theme and goals of the lesson through stories, ideas, activities, additional components, and other methods. In this section, students learn and practice skills to help them manage businesses successfully, as well as life skills through practical applications. The On Your Own section includes activities and projects necessary to understand, practice, and complete the lesson. For the most part, students are able to complete these by themselves. The Kingdom Keys section is a review of the entire lesson and includes keys to the lesson, key ideas, and key terms. The Bonus Code Work section includes optional projects to supplement the lessons. At the conclusion of each lesson, students celebrate their progress by placing a reward sticker on their treasure map.

The first eight lessons definitely require parental guidance because students build a business from the ground up, choose a mentor, complete a business plan, and begin marketing and working to earn money. It is extremely important that a business is chosen and initiated, because lessons 9-27 all refer back to their business to teach them how to keep a ledger, determine an income statement, make calls and write thank you notes to customers, recall customers, analyze their business, and market a product or service.

Although this curriculum is written for grades 4-6, my Senior was able to learn from this course and apply a wealth of knowledge to her dance business and personal money management skills. This was her first year teaching homeschool ballet classes and she recently choreographed her first piece entitled Dancing Through Frozen.

As a bonus, I also received a JR Budget Kit and The Kingdom Code Coloring Book. The JR Budget Kit is an economical way to introduce kids to budgeting when they are too young to complete the Complete Starter Kit. The Kingdom Code Coloring Book includes 32 pages of knights, Bible verses, and budget coloring pages. These two products are a great way for younger members of the family to participate in the program alongside their siblings.

As an added bonus for my readers, use coupon code 10TKC46 to receive ten percent off products purchased online from The Kingdom Code!

The Complete Starter Kit from The Kingdom Code teaches kids practical money management skills while students build businesses of their own. Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about The Completer Starter Kit from The Kingdom Code.

Lightning Literature and Composition: Shakespeare Tragedies - Crew Review

The Lightning Literature and Composition: Shakespeare Tragedies and Sonnets from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources uses great literature to expose high school students to techniques that will improve their own writing. Students will need unabridged copies of the following plays by Shakespeare to complete this course: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear.

Each course in the Lightning Literature and Composition series concentrates on a different time period, geographical region, or author. This course is on Shakespeare and focuses on his tragedies and sonnets. Each lesson is divided into different sections. The “Introduction” gives a brief description of the tragedy being studied. The “Selection” refers to whatever play or sonnet is being taught for that lesson. The “While You Read” provides a list of questions to keep in mind while reading the plays. The “Plot Summary” provides a brief summary of the plot development for each scene of the play being studied. The “Comprehension Questions” include short-answer and multiple-choice questions to help assess and solidify basic understanding; and the answers are in the teacher guide. The “Literary Lesson” covers applicable literary concepts, characters in the plays, stage directions, and language. The “Writing Exercises” either address the selection or the concepts covered in the literary lesson. Hewitt recommends completing one writing assignment for each sonnet and two for every play. Hewitt thought about the homeschool teacher when they included grading tips in the teacher guide for these writing assignments, including checklists for nonfiction papers, fiction papers, and poems. Grading English papers can be overwhelming and these grading tips help you assess content, flow, organization, style, grammar, and more.

The “Discussion Questions” address social, political, religious, and philosophical issues that may arise naturally from the literature. These discussion questions challenge the student’s ideas and stimulate a good dinner conversation.

Both the student guide and teacher guide provide two schedules – the semester schedule assumes an 18-week semester and the full year schedule assumes a 36-week year. Although Hewitt recommends a semester for each guide, students who struggle in language arts may wish to take a whole year for one guide. Both schedules allow for reading each play and sonnet twice for fuller understanding, and for watching one video performance of each play. The first reading is to grasp the basics of the plot, and includes answering the comprehension questions. The second reading is to pay closer attention to the literary aspects of the play or sonnet. Hewitt recommends for both readings to be read aloud, if at all possible. The video recommendations can be found in the student’s guide appendix, as well as a list of additional tragedies by Shakespeare and books about his plays and sonnets.

The Lightning Literature and Composition series helps high school students acquire college-level composition skills by responding to great literature. Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about the Lightning Literature and Composition: Shakespeare Tragedies and Sonnets, as well as other products from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.

Memoria Press - Crew Review

I recently had the privilege to review The Story of theThirteen Colonies & the Great Republic Set, as well as, 200 QuestionsAbout American History Set from Memoria Press. The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic combines content from two early American history texts by Helene Guerber into one edited volume, providing a one-year study of American history for the middle school years, grades 5-8. This volume is intended as a historical reader, as a textbook in the history of our country from Columbus to the Spanish-American War, or as a supplement to any textbook on United States history now in use. Written in a delightful narrative form with a focus on the fascinating stories of the people who shaped our nation, children may beg you to read this to them for their history lessons.

The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic set includes text, student guide, and teacher guide. The student guide provides thirty-two lessons which correspond with the eighty-five chapters in the text. Please note, each lesson combines more than one chapter. Our family simply read one chapter each day and then completed the lesson that corresponded with those chapters. Each lesson includes facts to know, vocabulary, and comprehension questions, as well as enrichment activities such as map work, drawings, research, writing assignments, and more. The appendix includes maps, a 13 Colonies Chart, the Mayflower Compact, Paul Revere’s Ride, a letter from George to Martha Washington, the Declaration of Independence, excerpts from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the United States Constitution, Constitutional Amendments, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Daniel Wester’s Senate Speech from 1830. Test and test keys are located in the teacher guide, as well as the answer key for the student guide.

The 200 Questions About American History set includes student book, teacher guide, and flashcards. These 200 questions everyone should know about American history are compiled from The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic and The Story of the World, Volume 4. The flashcards are based on the 200 questions in the student book, but can be used with any good American history course. The student book includes drill questions (names, events, places, and causes), timeline, notable quotes, as well as each president’s name, dates in office, and a notable event. There are also several poems typically associated with American history. Test and test keys are located in the teacher guide, as well as the answer key for the student book. If the student does not know an answer, the text chapter is provided in the student book and teacher guide to make it easier to locate the answer.

As you can see, using the 200 Questions About American History along with The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic provide exactly the amount of coverage one would expect, read a good story and get the facts down.

Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic, and the 200 Questions About American History, as well as other products from Memoria Press.

Graduation Day

Brieanna, when you were born, graduation day seemed a million moons away. I look at you now and see a beautiful, confident, young woman ready for the adventures that await; but I also see my little girl.

As I look back over these seventeen years, words cannot express the pride and love in my heart. I recall our bedtime stories and now I see your love for reading, whether it’s curling up with a good book or volunteering at the Kountze Public Library. I recall the days you loved to dress up in your princess clothes and even now you still love dressing up, whether its for prom or a dance performance. I recall your curiosity and love for learning, in fact, you started Kindergarten at age 4 because you kept asking to do school and now I see your academic accomplishments as you graduate with a 4.0 grade point average and you still have a love for learning because you are eager to attending Lamar University for a Bachelor of Science in Theatre and Dance.

You are my beautiful ballerina; but your beauty goes much deeper, you have a heart to serve the Lord, and I pray that you will continue to acknowledge Him in all your ways. Our homeschool journey has been a blessing and today we are reaping what we’ve sown for the past 13 years. I pray that you will continue to seek Him first, praise his name in the dance; but above all, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I am so thankful for these seventeen years. As you accept your diploma, remember your high school graduation marks the end of one chapter but there is so much more to your story yet to be written. I love you to the moon and back!

Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year - Crew Review

If you need help getting organized, but want more flexibility than a standard lesson plan book provides, read on! The Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year from The Old Schoolhouse® combines lesson planner with other helpful forms uniquely suited for homeschooling. Intended as a permanent record, the spiral-bound planner can be filed away with your children’s work as a lasting reference to your homeschool year. This planner is designed to bring you encouragement, simple organization, and a few devotions to strengthen your resolve along the way.

This 34-week planner begins with a Hey, Mama! letter of encouragement. Gena Suarez has encouraged me through her Hey, Mama! blog posts and continues to do so in this planner. There are twenty-one letter throughout this planner, each one is found at the start of each monthly calendar section to remind you to stand firm in your resolve to obey God’s call to keep your children at home where they belong. The scripture references contained in this planner are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Then, Gena shares some tips for creating an academic transcript – what should be included in an academic transcript, how to give credits, how to give a final grade, what are cumulative grades, and who signs the student’s academic transcript. An academic transcript is the documentation of your student’s high school courses and grades. Gena also provides you with a blank template where you can write in your student’s academic transcript.

Next, you will see yearly and monthly calendars. Use these pages to plan and schedule your field trips, co-op classes, sports, music lessons, or any other appointments that arise in your homeschool. Gena provides you with a note section as well, just in case you need to make a note for remembrance.

Then, there are the planning pages. This 34-week planner can be used with five children. There is room for seven different subjects (listed down the left hand side) for each child (listed across the top). Fill in these assignment pages with the assignments for the week. I personally plan out a 36-week school year, so this planner is two weeks short for our homeschool.

Wait! There’s more to this Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year! Gena provides more forms in the back of the planner for each child where you can record your chosen curriculum, attendance record, books read during the year, yearly goals, and semester goals. I especially like how these goals make you stop and think about more than academic goals. Scripture tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; and this page allows you to share those spiritual goals, as well as, physical, personal traits, life skills, financial, and relational goals.

As you can see, this homeschool planner will not only help your homeschooling become more organized and the planning of your day more simplified, bit it will help you keep your eyes on the One who has called you to homeschooling.

Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about the Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year from The Old Schoolhouse®.

Life with Dog - Crew Review

The DVD release of Life with Dog from Mill Creek Entertainment will be available at Walmart stores starting June 4, 2019.  The 106 minutes drama film has earned the Dove Seal for ages twelve and up. The film begins with a mysterious bike accident, where Joe Bigler loses his wife Alice. The circumstances of Alice’s accident leave Joe with more questions than he can handle and he quickly finds himself into a dark abyss, uncertain of all things. Three months later, mail is piling up, he is sleeping on the couch, and lives alone in bitterness as he talks to Alice, who he believes replies to him. His daughter, Zoe, encourages him to speak to her pastor to get help. Zoe, like her mother was, is a Christian, and her faith doesn’t sit well with Joe.

During his conversation with the pastor, Joe shares that he tried to reach out to God two times. One, he was at work when he received the call that his son was in the hospital dying, so he begged God to not take his son. Two, three months ago when the cops told him his wife had fallen off her bike and taken to the same hospital, he’s told it doesn’t look good, and as the machine beeped to say she was still with him, he begged God for Alice to live.

Throughout the film, a new building development is going up near Joe’s home, and he refuses to sell his house. He believes someone associated with the developers killed his wife so he would sell his house. When a dog wanders into his garden and won’t leave despite Joe’s many attempts to rid him. Without so much as a single bark, “Dog” as Joe has named him, ultimately leads him to the white truck that hit his wife, to find the man who hit and killed his wife.

The back cover of the DVD case refers to Joe finding faith that lead him to the road to recovery; but throughout the film, it is clear, Joe does not have faith. In the end, he makes the choice to forgive the man who accidently killed his wife; but our family did not see his faith in God throughout the film. Our family was actually disappointed with the way the film ended, it did not tell what happened to both men, especially after their heart to heart conversation. Yet, through it all, we see Joe is able to finally grieve his wife’s passing.

Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about this film, Life with Dog from Mill Creek Entertainment.