IXL.com A Great Website for Math - Try It Free

Click Here to Try It Free

Where have I been?  It seems like everyone knows about the website ixl.com, but me. Over the past year I have had two other homeschooling moms refer it to me, but I never got around to making it happen.  I finally plugged in, and the kids are loving it.  Natalie is 5 and takes it very seriously if she misses a question. She loves getting her medals! (Awards that show up on the screen after you answer so many questions successfully) Noah is 3 and loves the fact that he's on the computer! I love the fact that he is working on Pre-K Math. Fortunately for me, if you click it will read the questions and answers for you since he's a touch shy of reading math problems :)

Click Here to Try It Free

How does it work? You are able to pick any grade that you want starting with Pre-K through Algebra. The great part is you have access to your state's standards for each grade, and you get  performance tracking for each child. For example, if I ask Natalie to complete the section on reading clocks, I can see how much time she spent, how many questions she attempted, and get a grading of the questions she answered: mastered, satisfactory, needs improvement.

If a question is answered incorrectly, the answer is explained. They both learn in a fun and easy way. I find that review is very important, but I don't always remember to do it. For example, she learned all of her shapes a couple of years ago and I noticed recently she was struggling with the difference between a hexagon and octagon.  Now I am able to have her click on shapes and she gets to play for her review.

Yesterday a friend came over with her girls and ixl.com was still up on the computer. She started to go on and on about how much fun her girls have with the website.  I thought, "Really!?!, I am the last one!" So, if you have not heard of it before or just have not gotten around to checking it out, do it!! Twenty free problems are available per day. You will not have access to tracking performance that way, but you can get an idea of what the problems are and if your kids are addicted like mine. ~Julia

Our Boxes Came!

We were so excited to come home today and find 2 boxes waiting for us on the porch! I knew right away what they must be. Let me tell you, I placed both the Heart of Dakota and the Christianbook.com order on Tuesday and they both arrived today! That's with standard shipping. Pretty impressive! Natalie was very excited. Taylor on the other hand, was a bit disappointed. The boxes everything came in were not big enough to fit his entire body...

Looking through everything, I am pretty happy with this selection. Initially, I am a little disappointed that the Heart of Dakota teacher's guide is bound, rather than in a spiral or 3 ring notebook. I was hoping to put it into my own binder. O well, minor details.

Pictured above is an inside view of the Heart of Dakota teacher's guide, and below is a side view.

I had a quick feeling of regret for buying the complete Horizon's Math kit. My thought was, could I have made do without the teacher's guide and saved a lot of money? But, after looking through it, I think the teacher's guide is going to be a very nice thing to have (it includes answer keys, scope and sequence, assessment tests, worksheets, and daily lesson plans).

Being a very visual learner myself, I love that Horizons is colorful and visually appealing. My only gripe about the teachers guide, is that it too is not spiral bound and includes reproducible worksheets that will be a pain to copy. Horizons does offer these worksheets in an unbound format on their website for an additional $10, but I'd really appreciate a free PDF version since I did already purchase the curriculum!

None of the books are overwhelmingly huge. They are all lightweight and colorful from what I can tell!

Pictured above is the American Pioneers and Patriots history textbook we will be using (though the word "textbook" may be a bad word to use because I instantly think: dry and boring) This book is pretty small and colorful!

Pictured here is the Boys and Girls of Colonial Days. 

The God's Wonderful Works science book, pictured below, looks fun! I like the way it is set up, to cover earth science by focusing on the 6 days of creation and what God created on each of those days.

Pictured above is the Stories of the Pilgrims book.

Of course I will be adding in a stack of 20 or so, other early readers, biographies, and literature books to go along with this pile! I will refer in later posts, to the book lists I will be using. It's nice to know though, that this is my core. Everything that needs to be covered is right here. There will be days we only cover the basics. However, throughout the year I also hope to add in and enrich these core subjects with activities, stories and projects that will speak to Natalie's specific learning style, interests and gifts. After all, that is one of the best parts about homeschooling!

Decisions, Decisions

Well, it's official. I've laid out money and have committed to a program! I had made the decision a while ago, to use a structured program that would come with a teachers guide and lesson plans already laid out for each day. I've pieced together my own preschool and kindergarten material for Natalie, and will be again this year for Taylor, but really wanted the simplicity and structure of a program for 1st grade.


After weeks of pouring over reviews and revisiting all the programs I had used as a child or heard about in recent months, I've gone with something new! I had never heard of Heart of Dakota publishing before, but after reading about it on Cathy Duffy's web site, purchasing her 101 Top Picks book, and searching the internet for unbiased reviews, I was impressed by what other people have been saying about it. I purchased it today, and from what I hear, due to their family run business and great customer service, should expect to receive it soon!

Here's what I ordered for Natalie's First Grade Year of School

The Economy Package from Heart of Dakota - which includes:

• Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory Teachers Guide (designed for ages 6-8) Check out the simplicity of their set-up (love it)! Beyond Little Hearts Sample Page
• American Pioneers and Patriots (Christian Liberty Press)
• Stories of the Pilgrims (Christian Liberty Press)
• Boys and Girls of Colonial Days

Rather than order the deluxe package through them, I chose to purchase their recommended science book, but went with Horizons math instead of Singapore math (which is what they use). I ordered the following through christianbook.com:

• God's Wonderful Works (Christian Liberty Press)
• Horizons Math 1 complete set (Alpha Omega Publications)
• Hide 'Em in Your Heart 1 and 2 

I already have a lot of extra resources, learning aides, elective material, etc. A couple of the books I already own and plan on using include:

• The Explode the Code series 
• The Italics Handwriting series

The teachers guide for Heart of Dakota includes spelling lists and lessons, as well as suggested activities to go along with each day's reading in history, science, math, etc. I bought the Hide 'Em in Your Heart CD because I've wanted a copy anyways, and they tie in the songs with a weekly memory verse. I will be using my own Bible curriculum (probably building off of whatever our church is using this Fall for the Wednesday night Kids Club lessons). I will also be using my own literature, early readers and read-alouds. After years of using Sonlight Curriculum as a child, I am grateful to my mom for saving most of the readers! Because of this, in addition to the local library, I have quite an extensive collection of books to go along with our study in American history. Reading lists are available through Heart of Dakota and Sonlight, which can be handy guides.

I have a friend that will be ordering this same package, with the exception of a different choice in math, to use with her son that will be in second grade. Our kids will be studying the same period in history and science, but will use math curriculum tailored to their individual levels and needs. Since Natalie is my oldest, and the only one I am purchasing a formal curriculum for this year, we will put Heart of Dakota to the test! My plan in the future is to keep all three of my kids studying the same period in history. That may or may not be possible, using Heart of Dakota, but that can be decided later.

I spent about $200 dollars on all this, which I am pretty happy with considering most of the items will be reusable for my other 2 kids. I did a quick check of the usual places (Amazon, Ebay, Halfpricebooks.com and others) and didn't find any better prices than just ordering through the two places I mentioned above. I wanted to order what I could, through Heart of Dakota anyways, knowing they are a family owned and operated business. 

That's all for now! What will you be using this Fall?

~Sarah

Happy Saturday!

Today is a much needed relaxing day here at the Lemp home. We've been on the go a lot and fighting off Summer colds. Of course I say we're relaxing, but my version of relaxing involves turning a movie on for the kids and pouring over my computer screen for curriculum reviews. I just purchased the updated, pdf version of Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Picks for Homeschooling Curriculum
17.99 well spent!

I am liking the looks of Singapore Math all the more, as well as the Heart of Dakota curriculum kits that use a combination of Singapore math, Christian Liberty Press books, lots of read-a-louds and historical fiction for kids similar to Sonlight's selection of books. Their teachers guides are SUPER user friendly. They are also super flexible and leave room to substitute your own math program and phonics programs. I've realized I am basically trying to find a smaller scale, more condensed version of Sonlight! The search continues...
~Sarah

Scholastic Teacher Books PDF Version $1

This is an amazing deal!!  Do not wait!! You need to go there right away because the deal was supposed to be over yesterday.  I went crazy because these books are normally between $8.95 and $14.95, and are now just $1.00.  These are the books you find at specialty teacher stores. Whether you homeschool, are interested in reinforcing what your children are learning at school, or want to give them something to work on over the summer, this is something every parent should check out!!

Huge Time Saver:

You are allowed to reproduce them for your classroom, but in order to do that you either have to copy them or scan them into your computer. It is so time consuming to scan them and then edit them so black isn't all over the sides. That is all done for you because it's a downloadable e-book.

This means I am not at countless garage sales searching for material to supplement my curriculum. They have all material in all subjects from Pre-K thru elementary.  219 teacher books for $1.00.  Go to this link:
                                                         Scholastic Teacher Express

                                                         Thanks, redflycreations!!

~Julia

My Top Picks

I was in the process of compiling a list of homeschooling resources for a friend, when I thought, why not utilize this for a blog entry? So here ya go, a collection of some of my favorites (just off the top of my head)!
 General Information:
Information Network for Christian Homes
Home School Legal Defense 
The Well Trained Mind

Curriculum:
Sonlight Curriculum
CBD Homeschool Store
Calvert School

Conventions:
INCH Convention - MI

Blogs:
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Living Life Intentionally

Educational Games:
Starfall
PBS Kids

Specifics:
Power Glide: French
Power Glide: Spanish
Key Curriculum Math
Apologia Science
Explode the Code: Phonics and Reading
Italic Handwriting
Saxon Math
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


Must Reads:

Natalie is Reading

So Proud of My Little Girl!

Natalie turned 5 in November and since then, her reading has just taken off! Having observed that Natalie's learning style and personality are a lot like mine, I was excited to use the exact same book that my mom used when teaching me how to read. I purchased a new copy of the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" off Amazon. The first reader book "Sun Up" was the very first book I remember reading as a child, and my mom had saved it all these years!

 

My name written inside - Natalie thinks this is so funny! 

This is the best early reader book EVER! 

Before I knew my mom still had this one, I had been searching high and low for an early reader that really was an EARLY READER! I wanted a book that truly was easy to read - predominately words that she could sound out - to build her confidence by being able to read a complete book on her own. She breezed through this and is eager to start the next one.