A look back at "First Day of School" in pictures

BACK TO SCHOOL ~ Pictures from 2002-2012, and a GREAT T-SHIRT SALE! 

2002
Not actually 1st day of school, but my favorite picture of the 2 oldest
right around when we started our homeschooling journey.
I just love everything about this photo. :) 

I know some of you have started back to school already, and some are going to be starting back soon. We won't start back in earnest until at least the 2nd week of September, especially since my kids have been doing "Review School" (various Old Schoolhouse Review Crew Curriculum) this summer.

2003 ~this WAS the first day "back-to-school"~
Eldest was officially "Reportable" as a 1st grader. 

However, I wanted to share some of our "back-to-school" photos through the years, 

just because it is fun! 

2005 ~ Youngest(At the time) was "K" age!
(Don't know what happened in 2004... gone missing... :/) 

I also want to get the word out about a great "back-to-school" sale that I have taken advantage of MANY times, as you will see in the photos to follow.

2006 was the first year I heard about Great Products  and their $5.99 "back-to-school"
t-shirt sale. What a great way to "advertise" that my kids weren't skipping school when we were out and about, but actually IN school!

I decided to purchase tote bags to coordinate with their shirts. I put some new school supplies in the bags, and something of a tradition was born...

Although Eldest didn't wear her shirt that day (She had already chosen her 1st day of school outfit with care... and didn't know about the surprise), it did make an appearance at our first Homeschool Field Day!

This has now become something of a tradition whenever I have the cash available (and my bad, sometimes when I don't!), to pick up new t-shirts for the kids for the first day of school. I figure that it it's a lot cheaper than most "back-to-school" clothes shopping, and it has always been fun to surprise them with a fun new design.

In 2007 I purchased a matching purple shirt for myself (Not pictured...).



2008 brought our first "When you're homeschooled you never know WHERE you'll end up" shirts...

2009 

We didn't get all new homeschool shirts (Because we happened on a cool stripy cotton sale with appropriate sizes for all), but littlest wore his all cotton "homeschool wanna be" at our fall field day.

The bane of mom's 1st day of school~ the sun is too bright! No one can handle it except the youngest. :) 

A little bit of information for you all regarding the Great Products t-shirts:

Most of the designs are on a poly-cotton blend, with the exception of the "cream" color option, the tye-dye shirts, and and the new Ladies v-neck shirts. 

If you prefer 100% cotton to a cotton/poly blend, you will be happy to know that you CAN order shirts in 100% cotton. However, it does cost a bit more ($2.00) and you have to either email or phone the order in. It is totally worth it to me to take the extra steps! 

2010 brought one of our favorite sets of shirts, and some fun bags for the kids~ 

I love these shirts, and so do the kids~ they get worn with great regularity! I don't have a picture of MY shirt, but it is a matching Tye-Dye color, with this graphic on it... way too much fun!

2011 was one of those years where the cash flow wasn't optimal, but there were still great homeschool shirts being worn~ (Littlest is in the hand-me-down purple shirt that his brother wore in 2007...)

2012 brought the new "Homeschooler by Day, NINJA by Night" shirts and bags. Unfortunately, everyone was feeling crummy and not terribly photogenic on the first day of school, so I didn't get a photo of THEM, but I do have a photo of the bags, and a later "park day" where Middlest wore his Ninja shirt. BTW, we still need to take a family photo, because we have the "homeschool mom by day, and homeschool dad by day" shirts as well.

Just for the fun of it, here's that "first"  first school year photo again... my haven't they grown?

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little time capsule of our first days. And now, for the first time ever, I'll be able to do more than share about the sale (As I have done in years past... simply because we love the shirts and bags so much). It runs from August 15th to September 15th. All regular T-shirts are $5.99, and the tote-bags are $4.99.

Keep your eyes open for a giveaway for a free t-shirt here on my site, and in the mean-time, you might want to browse around the Great Products website, visit the Great Products Facebook page, and even follow the Great Products Twitter page.

Blessings~

Disclosure~ I have received nothing from Great Products for this post other than "Exposure" for my blog. I have purchased products from Great Products since 2006, and plan to continue to do so. Great Products simply offers "Great Products" and with the $5.99 ($7.99 for 100% cotton) T-shirt sale, they are available at a very reasonable price. This is especially helpful for those who are on tight budget. Enjoy! 

Reading Kingdom (one more time! :D)

I have had the opportunity to review Reading Kingdom with my youngest 3 separate times now. Review #1 was when he was 3.5 years old (Just a little under the recommended starting age), Review # 2 was last summer when he was five, and now he is six, and an official first grader, and we have been given the opportunity to review it one more time.

I will repeat some of the more salient points from my previous reviews here, in case you don't have time to go read them. :)

First, it is important to know that The Reading Kingdom is based on work and research by Dr. Marion Blank, the director of the Light on Literacy program at Columbia University in New York. She is considered by her peers as one of the leading experts in literacy. You may want to read this 6 page pdf file that discusses how The Reading Kingdom differs from other reading programs on the market. In a brief nutshell, it focuses on:

• Sequencing
• Motor Skills
• Sounds
• Meaning
• Comprehension
• Grammar

The Reading Kingdom is NOT a phonics based program and indeed Dr. Blank does not appear in the least to espouse learning to read via phonics at all. If that is your inclination this is probably not a program for you. HOWEVER, you aren't learning to read, your child is, and what works for one may not work for another. I should certainly mention that my two oldest children learned to read with phonics instruction and they have not had too much trouble~ in fact they are very good spellers. However, they would not be able to recite back to you many of the phonics "rules". They are just "intuitive spellers"~ I would say that I am a firm believer in phonics instruction given MY experience, but I grant that others' experiences may be very different from mine. 

For a little more insight into the levels of The Reading Kingdom, I recommend reading this 9 page graphic overview of how The Reading Kingdom is organized.

This video gives a very good overview of The Reading Program ~ with many of the points that I included in my first two reviews, so it is definitely worth taking the 4 minutes-ish to watch if you are in the market for a reading program.

Repeating this information from my 2nd review, as it still pretty much applies, Youngest is just one year older:

So, here's how it's working for us so far~ (playing a game of "That's bad!" "That's Good!" this time around...not wanting to emphasize the bad, but the good definitely follows in each instance )
The Bad: I don't often "Force" my children (Particularly those under the age of 6) to do any seriously structured school work. However, in this case, because it was a review item, and because I *did* want him to apply himself a bit, I did require him to do Reading Kingdom  (perhaps with less regularity than I would an older child, during the school year vs a new 5 year old during the summer...). This led to a few tears once or twice, and "I don't want to do Reading Kingdom today" on a regular basis. 
The Good: I thought it was interesting that almost invariably AFTER he completed a lesson he would turn to me with either a casual "That wasn't so bad, Mom" or excitement when he reached a particular goal~ so it wasn't as bad as he thought.... over and over and over! (Silly boy!)


The Bad: He hasn't reached the "I want to do more" stage with this program, and I'm not sure he ever will. There aren't many bells and whistles (not always necessary), and the timing issues could still be worked on some more, which might help with the outside distractions.
The Good: Nevertheless, it is a steady little program that really doesn't take that much time, but encourages progress.

The Bad(?): I do want to take a second and reiterate that this is NOT a phonics based program, so if that doesn't jive with your teaching philosophy, then Reading Kingdom may not be a great fit. 
The Good: On the other hand, if phonics just isn't working with your child, and you don't trust "whole language" then Reading Kingdom may be right up your child's alley!

In spite of my son's love/hate relationship with Reading Kingdom, when this screen showed up he was extremely excited! He completed a passport! Yeah! 

In my update, this time around, I have to mention that my son has completed level 1, and is well on his way to finishing level 2.

He still doesn't *ask* to do Reading Kingdom, but when he is engaged in the program, he *does* want me to take screenshots on a regular basis.

I like this activity, because it randomizes which letters are missing~ they really *do* have to be able to identify how to spell the target words they are given.

Youngest likes some of the pictures, and was particularly enamored with these birds, which explains this set...

This screenshot shows some of the more advanced pages he is completing, along with a couple of my notes added in:

The screen on the left was originally all yellow blanks, and green spaces. He is typing by dictation. Even when Youngest is not able to remember how to spell a specific word, the keyboard shows up to give him a hint.

The screen on the left was a little easier ~ because almost all of the words are shown on the bottom, but when he clicks on the correct word, it disappears in its little white box, so that he has to remember what letters are missing.

As you can tell by these pages, although *he* is not enamored with the Reading Kingdom, I can generally manage to get 10-15 minutes of work out of him at a time (one lesson~ within a Charlotte Mason recommended time-frame!) and he has clearly made progress~ the skills have become more difficult, and he is able to read the words in the activities (However, some of his decoding abilities *do* stem from phonics work that we have done~ just figure I need to mention that here).

I still feel that The Reading Kingdom is a solid little program that would be great as a stand-alone reading program for some children, and a great supplement for others.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company/ Product: Reading Kingdom
• Ages:  4-10 
• Price: 30 day free trial. 30 day subscriptions for $19.99/month or $199/year. Additional children in a family get 50% off ($9.99/month) Subscription can be cancelled at any time. 

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Notgrass Company ("America The Beautiful" History)

I have heard friends rave about the Notgrass company for years, so I was excited to be chosen to review their America the Beautiful Curriculum Package as well as either the America the Beautiful Student Workbook or the  America the Beautiful Lesson Review (we received both), for grades 5-8, and get a close up look at what it entails. 

What's included:

This is the very first time as a homeschooling educator that I have, in point of fact, used a physical history TEXT BOOK! The curriculum package actually comes with TWO textbooks and four support books! 

• The blue book you see pictured in the middle with the Rocky Mountains and the grizzly bear is textbook 1. 
• The textbook with the Nubble Lighthouse on the front is book 2. 
• The book to the left "We the People" contains copies of  original source documents: newspaper articles, stories, poems, advertisements, etc... which all enhance an understanding of the time being discussed. 
• The Timeline and the Maps books are consumables to be used during the lessons. 
• The answer key is there if you need it (it includes answers to the vocabulary work in the main text, the timeline, and also answers to the lessons in the Student Workbook and the Lesson Review book).

An aside: Personally, I find it delightful that both textbooks have photos on their covers that are near and dear to me, having grown up in Montana(Rocky mountains), and now living in New England~ America, from East to West! (Yes, I do recognize that lighthouse... we visit it yearly at the least!) :) 

Each textbook is a hefty 400-500+ pages and is intended to last a semester. The books are divided into 15 units each, with 5 lessons in each unit, for a total of 75 lessons/book. The Introduction includes recommendations on how to use the America The Beautiful curriculum, with specific suggestions for each grade 5-8.

How We Used "America The Beautiful"

Because I have a mix of ages, and it was summertime, even with only one child in the target range I decided that we would use this curriculum as a read-aloud time for all three children, especially as I have been a little light on a chronological study of American History.

The information was interesting for all.

• While I'm not totally sure how much Youngest got out of the text, he enjoyed sitting still and listening to "The Sign Of the Beaver" which is the literature selection for the portion of history we went through.
• Because some of Eldest's history has been more "unit related" it was fun to watch her piece a few things together as we read. She also made the nifty collage you see to the right of some of the pages in the workbooks and "We the People."
• Middlest, of course, had the majority of work to do (the others really just listened) for this review. He did the mapwork (which is well laid out~ the text book directs the student to the correct map, and the map has specific directions for each lesson. This is important to note, as some maps are to be used throughout the curriculum, for more than one lesson), and the Lesson Review.
  
  We didn't use the Student Workbook (I'm saving that for when Littlest is old enough to use it in a few years, as it was a little below Middlest's interest level~ but it sure looked like fun! A variety of neat activities!), or the Timeline (Once again, saving for Littlest~ it seemed to be more on the younger end of the recommended age range). 

Some Of the Extras

While I was reading, I allowed both of my boys to build "minecraft" structures on their i-devices. Here are some of Middlest's structures (He forgot which world he built the others in, but this gives you an idea of how you can integrate some of that fun technology with your history studies. :) 

Based on Viking church established by Leif 

Eriksson's mother. (Interior view)

based on the French Settlement Fort Caroline

based on the later fort, Castillo San Marcos

One of the "Family Activities" (included at the end of each unit) entailed making Navajo Flatbread~ We happened to have some Flat Stanley's from Australia visiting, so here are some pictures from that day~ 

Further Thoughts 

I was particularly pleased with the way the history is presented, with an emphasis on God and His creation. Each chapter links our history with Scripture, whether it has to do with God's provision, or creation, or moral code. 

The only negative point I have to make has to do with the text. Although all of the pictures are captioned, the text refers to them directly (Generally using the same wording as the captioning), which made it rather awkward to read aloud. There were frequent references to "See the illustration at left."  and "Look at the picture of ___ on page ___ and the illustration on the right(or left)." As a read-aloud history text I felt that interrupted the flow of the narrative. As a read-alone text it didn't bother me as much. Because both read-aloud and personal reading are recommended, I felt it was worth mentioning~ even if it just prepares you to skip those sentences, as I have made my habit lately. 

When I asked Middlest his thoughts on "America the Beautiful" he said that he has been enjoying it. He likes the variety of reading material ("America the Beautiful" Text, "We the People" original source text, and the Literature selection), the map work, and he doesn't even mind filling out the Lesson Review pages. He particularly enjoyed learning about the Pueblo Indians, and Mesa Verde. I think because we live in New England, other regional Native American people groups have received less time, so this was a good overview! 

The variety of activities throughout the week, beyond those mentioned above include 

Thinking Biblically,  Creative Writing, and Vocabulary assignments. The work isn't onerous, and of course, each family can choose to do as much as works for their particular student and/or family. 

We are looking forward to continuing our read-aloud "Together Time" history throughout this next school year! 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Notgrass Company 
• Product: America the Beautiful Curriculum Package  (Be sure to check out this page, as there are a number of sample pages that can be downloaded)
• Ages: 5th-8th grade
• Price: Curriculum Package $99.95
  Student workbook $11.95 (grades 5/6)
  Student Lesson Review $9.95 (grades 7/8)

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Free Bibles? Free Books? Check out the Tyndale Rewards Program~

Hey friends~ 

Have you heard about the Tyndale Rewards Program? Members of the Tyndale Rewards program earn free books (kid and adult titles) as well as Bibles, sent straight to their homes. They also get a free birthday gift! So, how does this all work? 

First you have to sign up for free (And start out with some free points in your account!) 

Next you start earning more points by filling out surveys, writing book reviews on sites like Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, Tyndale.com, etc..., and sharing  this opportunity with your friends, via facebook, twitter, or on your blog. 

After you earn points all that is left is to log in to your account, and browse the products available for redemption. Once you decide on a product that is in your point range you just click on the "redeem" button, and it will be on its way to you.  

A couple of very nice points about this program~ 

Redemption amounts really aren't hard to achieve, AND your points NEVER expire!

Here's another look at the program, particularly for those who are more visual~

And a look at some of the rewards that you can earn.... 
~ BIBLES

        

~ ADULT FICTION TITLES~  

         

~ NON-FICTION TITLES~ 

         

~ YOUTH FICTION TITLES~

          

If this has caught your interest at all, check it out! You have nothing lose, and the Word of God (to keep or share) to gain! :) (I earned my first free Bible within a very short time of signing up!) 

Blessings~

Disclaimer~ While I have been a member of Tyndale Rewards for a number of months, I am participating in a promotion through FlyBy Promotions, with a chance to earn a Kindle Fire.

BrainFood Learning Fascinating World of Mammals (DVD Review)

My children (as most children in my experience) are intrigued with animals, their behavior, and characteristics. This made the DVD Fascinating World of Mammals produced by BrainFood Learning an enjoyable and re-requested review item (at least for my 6 yo).

The DVD includes segments on the following Mammals: beaver, kangaroo, moose, dolphin, lion, giraffe, elephant, bat, chimpanzee, and bear. 

Each mammal receives a very nice overview, with photographs, illustrations and live action videos. The entire video has a background music track*, and the narrator speaks clearly, and pleasantly. 

Watching this DVD is kind of like watching an Encyclopedia entry come to life. The facts, interesting information and descriptions that you might read in an encyclopedia are all heard as you watch the videos and see the photos. This makes BrainFood Learning a very good option for those who have auditory and visual learners. 

After the informational segment is over, a vocabulary word is given, with a child giving the definition (Biped, vertebrate, etc...). These are things to pay attention to, because the final features of the video are review sections~ The review sections start on a very elementary level and increase incrementally in difficulty.

• Review #1 Mammal Flash Cards (1 minute, 22 seconds)
  Brief review of each of the mammals
• Review #2 Review the Mammals (2 minutes, 59 seconds)
  Multiple choice review
• Review #3 Features of a Mammal (1 minute, 36 seconds)
  Goes over the features that set mammals apart from other animals.
• Review #4 Review Mammal Facts (3 minutes, 15 seconds)
  Another multiple choice review question.
• Review #5 Review the Big Words (4 minutes, 18 seconds)
  The definition of one of the "Big Words" is given, with multiple choice answers provided.

BrainFood Learning has created a 5 day lesson plan pdf with printable lessons and quizzes. This is appropriate for elementary aged students, and includes reading,writing, and science. The worksheets are a nice addition for those who have children who thrive on that sort of assessment. 


*I discovered that *I* prefer to watch only one or two segments at a time rather than a straight run-through, because the constant music background eventually bothered me ~ I tend to like a little "space" for my ears to "breathe" if that makes any sense (Didn't seem to affect my kids tho', so this is just an "adult-listening-along-FYI").  

We enjoyed watching these videos, mostly from an educational standpoint, rather than from an entertainment standpoint. The video backed up individual facts learned at other points in my 6 year old's education, in a systematic fashion, which is also a good thing. 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: BrainFood Learning 
• Product: Fascinating World of Mammals
• Ages: appropriate for all ages
• Price: $14.99

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~