Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of Fix It! Grammar

     Our daughter, who is 11 and in the 6th grade, has been struggling with Grammar.  I was so thrilled to hear we had been chosen to receive and review Fix It! Grammar from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).  After researching it on the website, I knew this would be a good fit for Hope.  I also loved that they have a placement test to see where your student is so you can purchase the level that would be perfect for them. 

     We were given the Teacher's Manual and the Student Book for this review, but if you can not purchase both, the Teacher's Manual gives you instructions on how to download the Student Book as a PDF for free.  You are free to print as many workbooks you need for your family as long as you purchased the Teacher's Manual. I think that is amazing!!!  How many companies allow you to do this? 

      Before you begin your journey with Fix It! Grammar, I suggest you watch the free webinar to get acquainted with the program and how it works.  It was very helpful for me. I also enjoyed watching the You Tube video of Andrew Pedewa explaining the program as well.  He is the one of the leaders of  IEW.  He does a very good job of walking you through this program. 

    When Hope took the placement test, we found that Level 3 Frog Prince, or Just Deserts, would be a good fit for her.  They have 6 Levels in total for Fix It! Grammar.  The placement tests will help you discern where your child will work best with the program.  If you have any questions about where to place them, it is best to begin with the first one. 

    So what makes this Grammar program different?  It is how they approach teaching it. Instead of doing a bunch of exercises that teach each Grammar rule, your student will dive right real-life sentences that help them implement the rules of Grammar.  This will then help them edit and correct their own writing later on. 

      We couldn't wait to begin when the books arrived.  I took a day or so to look over the materials and what we would need. I found that it would take us about 15 to 20 minutes to complete each lesson. We would be working 5 days a week as well. 

                                                                                 

 The first thing you do as a teacher is to go through the review cards for the lesson you are on.  These cards come with your Student workbook or when you print out the workbook pages.  They are located right before the Glossary at the back.  You can cut out each week as you go or all of them at once.  So ours didn't get lost we made a little pocket at the front of the Student book to keep them safe. 

     The lessons are set up in four sections.   

          1. Learn It

          2. Fix It

          3. Discuss It

          4. Copy It

     You will talk about what new grammar concepts will be coming up then you work on fixing the mistakes in the sentences that you are given.  After your student makes the necessary fixes, you will discuss why they made the changes.  Once they have learned all they can from the passage, they will copying the passage in it's corrected form in a separate notebook.  This helps to reinforce what they have learned.  

      My daughter usually gets very frustrated with Grammar workbooks because they are so repetitious.  The way this is set up she feels like she is learning more useful tools to help her improve her Writing and Grammar skills.  

     I liked the Glossary that came with the Teacher Manual and Student book. It helped to remind us of the rules of Grammar and editing that we have been learning.  It's very simple to look through and is at your fingertips when doing your lessons. 

      We are enjoying this Grammar curriculum and would encourage anyone looking for a new approach to teaching and learning Grammar to try it.  

      If you want more information on Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) I would suggest that you check out their website and their social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iew

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iew/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/iewtv

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iew/

      We also have more reviews for you to read over here

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Have a blessed day!!!

5 Ways to Stay Close as a Couple

     In the last few years, I have watched two of my children fall in love and get married.  Watching their young love blossom has been a reminder of how my husband and I fell in love. Back then I never thought there would be anything that would get in the way of our relationship, but as the years rolled on, we allowed things to take priority over our relationship. 

     When you first get married, it is easy to find time to be alone. You go on date nights. You snuggle in front of the TV and watch romantic movies.  You focus on each other and that is great! So what happens when life gets in the way of your relationship with your spouse? 

      Usually, the first thing to come between a couple is children.  When that baby comes home, you tend to focus on him or her and your spouse gets lost in the shuffle of everyday life. You don't mean for it to happen it just does. 

      Another wedge that comes between a couple is careers.  One or both of you begin to spend more and more time at work and less time with each other. You don't even realize how it is hurting your marriage until you no longer feel close to your husband or wife. 

      I have been married to my high school sweetheart for over 24 years and I know we have had times in our marriage where we felt like strangers.  We never thought that it could happen to us, but it did.  In those times of disconnection, we would fight more.  Our hearts were hard towards one another.  Resentment had taken the place of the romance. Unkind words filled the air. We didn't have the closeness our hearts longed for.

     Don't get me wrong, we still loved each other, but we were not communicating it, and that left us with unfilled love tanks.  We had to realize what was going on and fix it!

      I would like to share 5 ways to stay close as a couple. Even when life gets busy, we must find time to stay connected with our spouse.

1.  Do devotions together every morning or evening.  Growing closer to God will bring you closer as a couple. A couple that prays together, stays together.
2.  Take 15 minutes every day to sit down and talk. Be open and honest with each other. 
3.   Set aside one day a month spend time with each other, just the two of you.  Go on a date night or simply take a walk or go for coffee. If you can't afford a babysitter, find another couple that would be able to watch your kiddos, then do the same for them. 
4.   Always kiss each other hello and goodbye. 
5.   Say I love you often! Don't' let one day go by without letting your husband or wife know that you love and care for them.  Those three words are powerful!!!

  

   I encourage you to begin today! Don't let one more day go by without letting your mate know how much you love them and that you long to be close to them.  I am praying for you and your marriages.  What God has joined together, let no man separate.  

     

Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of Second Form Latin

     Last year our family was blessed with being able to receive and review First Form Latin from Memoria Press, so when we were chosen to review Second Form Latin : Complete Set, we were thrilled.  We wanted to continue learning Latin and this was a great blessing for our family.  

      The Second Form Latin complete set includes: 

• Student Textbook
• Student Workbook
• Teacher Manual
• Quizzes and Tests
• Teacher Key (For Workbook, Quizzes, & Tests)
• Instructional DVD
• Pronunciation CD
• Flash Cards

     As you study Second Form Latin, you will see there are 5 Units that consists of about 5 to 6 lessons each.  The Teacher Manual will help to walk you through each lesson.  I love that they include a CD to help learn pronunciation as well as a DVD lesson that coincides with each workbook lesson. 

    The one thing to remember as you teach Latin is that as you work through each lesson you want to review as much as possible.  Before going on to a new lesson, be sure your child has fully comprehended the previous lesson. 

    As you start your plan for the day, the Teacher Manual will have you walk through 4 numbered steps.  The first one will be Greeting, Recitation, and Review.  This step will help ensure your child is putting what he is taught into his long term memory.  The second step is Latin Sayings.  You will be given a saying to speak at each lesson.  It's important to recite it daily.  The third step is Vocabulary.  Each week will have a different set of vocabulary words.  Recite them each day with your student so they can put them to memory.  The fourth step is Grammar. In this step you will be reciting the grammar forms for that day's lesson.  

     It is laid out for you so simply.  You won't have to put a lot of time and effort into planning for your class.  Memoria Press has thought it through for you.  Now all you have to do is open your books and begin learning.  I love that I am learning Latin along with my daughter. It is amazing how much fun we can have together as we take on this adventure. 

      Here are some examples from my daughter's workbook and quizzes.  Since we are learning together, we work through the worksheets as a team.  It helps us both to retain what we are learning. 

     The flashcards are a huge help in memorizing the words you are going over.  I also like using our chalkboard as we go through each lesson.  Hope says writing it out helps her to retain what is being taught plus who doesn't like to play with colored chalk. 😉

     I have had a few people wonder what level they should begin their students as Memoria Press has  5 levels for Latin.  As a parent/teacher who had the privilege of starting with First Form Latin first, I may not be the best person to ask this question, but I feel that Second Form Latin did a great job of reviewing what we learned in the first books, so my opinion is if your child is a bit older like middle school grades, you would be fine starting with the Second Form Latin set.  If you have a younger child or you have no background in Latin, I would suggest beginning with the set Latina Christiana.  I've heard it is great!   

     Would you like to learn more about Memoria Press?  Here are the links to their social media pages: 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress    

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/         

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/   

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress/   

     We also have more reviews of this resource and many others right here 

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Have a blessed day!!!

HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW: Our Review of Tied 2 Teaching

     My kids are very creative.  They enjoy hands on learning more than just picking up a book and reading it. When we were chosen to receive and review Tied 2 Teaching's STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading, we were very excited.  

     So you may be wondering what is a STEM activity?  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  As you work through these activities, your child will be learning without even knowing it. What makes this bundle even more special is the founder Matthew Kelly also teaches Literacy.  How awesome is that?  

     This bundle includes 4 STEM projects for each month of the year, except for August.  In August, you get 3 STEM projects and a mega bundle of building challenges that little hands will love to work on.  I was impressed with the amount of projects offered and how each project held the attention of my kids.  

     Our daughter Hope was the first to do one of these STEM activities.  She chose to work on the House of Cards. This is one of the STEM activities from the month of July.  She didn't care for any of the February projects so I let her pick one she really liked.  

     With each challenge there is a Design Challenge Reading with Wonderopolis. They will be guided to a website where they will read all about the subject they are studying and then answer questions on the worksheet provided.  It gives them background knowledge of the project they are doing. 

     As your child works through the activity they will be filling out STEM Design Challenge worksheets that will talk them through how they are thinking while completing the activity.  It definitely teaches critical thinking skills. 

     As Hope tried different ways to build a house of cards she figured out it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.  She got frustrated a few times and wanted to give up, but I encouraged her to keep trying.  Her first attempt was on the kitchen table.  It didn't take long to see that the surface was too slick.  She then tried the living room carpet.  Well, that didn't work either so she got a piece of card-stock and went back to the kitchen table.  The card-stock gave her enough friction to get her house of cards to stand.  She was able to get 2 floors but she wasn't happy she wanted it to be bigger.  

     When her dad came home they decided to work on a house of cards together.  It turned out pretty well and Hope was happy with their results. This activity taught her patience and endurance. That was a bonus! 

     

     Even though these activities are geared toward grades 3-6,  our son Josh, who is 14, wanted to try one.  He wanted to build the Rainbow Bridge. 

     During this project he was able to study all about suspension bridges.  He has always been fascinated with bridges of all kinds so this activity caught his eye.  This particular STEM activity can be found in the March STEM activities.  

     Josh had a great time building his bridge after completing his worksheets. He couldn't wait to see if his bridge could withstand the weight of 50 pennies... GUESS WHAT?   IT DID!!!  He was so  thrilled.  

     We worked through quite a few activities over the last few weeks but these 2 above were their favorites.  Want to see a couple more of the projects Hope completed? 

      I particularly loved her bridge.  This activity was fun and reinforced her Anatomy class she is taking this year. She worked on this for an entire afternoon.  It had to be perfect she said :) 

     Finally here we have her Carrot Carriage.  She just had fun with this one and after she got it to work, she took out the toothpicks and fed the carrots to her pets.  

     If you have children who enjoy learning through hands on activities, I would highly recommend that you check this bundle out.  It is really fun and educational.

     Would you like to learn more about Tied 2 Teaching?  I encourage you to go to their website or social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tied2teaching/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tied2teaching/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tied2teaching/

     We also have more reviews for you to read over here 

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Have a great weekend!

Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation"

     For years our family has enjoyed watching Drive Thru History®.  You can imagine how excited we were to hear that we were chosen to receive and review Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation".   My kids would wait by the mailbox everyday until it arrived.  They were thrilled when that little box was finally delivered. 

     Hope and Josh couldn't wait to dive right into watching the videos.  In this set they would have 18 thirty minute videos that focused on the books of Acts through Revelation.  Last year they were able to review The Gospels and just fell in love with the Bible all over again.  These videos bring the Bible to life. 

    Dave Stotts, the host of these amazing videos, takes his viewers on an adventure that shows where these Biblical events took place and gives you a background to each book of the Bible.  Hope and Josh have never been so excited to study History.  I am so thankful for these videos! They actually beg to watch more when the lesson is over.  

     

     The set we received was a Special Edition. This series has 3 DVDs and a study guide provided in book form.  We enjoyed going over the discussion questions after we watched each episode. They sparked some interesting conversations.  In this set you will get 18 episodes that begin with the book of Acts and go all the way through to Revelation.

Here is a list of the episodes included: 

• Episode 1: The Gospel shared at Pentecost
• Episode 2: The Church grows at Jerusalem
• Episode 3: The Gospel Spreads o the Gentiles
• Episode 4: Saul of Tarsus & the Road to Damascus
• Episode 5: Paul’s first Missionary Journey: The island of Cyprus
• Episode 6: The Journey Continues: Pamphylia, Glatia & Asia Minor
• Episode 7: The Jerusalem Council & Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
• Episode 8: The Second Journey Continues: Philippi and Thessalonica
• Episode 9: A Road Trip to Athens
• Episode 10: Ancient Corinth
• Episode 11: Paul’s Third Missionary Journey: Ephesus
• Episode 12: Paul’s Final Trip to Trip to Jerusalem & Caesarea
• Episode 13: Jesus Arrives in Jerusalem
• Episode 14: A Final Journey to Rome
• Episode 15: The Martyrdom of Paul & Peter
• Episode 16:John and the Island of Patmos
• Episode 17: The Seven Churches of Revelation
• Episode 18: The Book Closes on the New Testament Period

     Now I want to let you know what my kids think of these DVDs in their own words....

Hope says this:  

"Drive Thru History is amazing because it’s true.  It makes Biblical history easy to learn and understand. Anyone can watch it. It’s good for young and older kids as well as their parents. It never gets boring. The episodes are never too long and it keeps you entertained all the way through.  I love that Dave makes history fun and makes me giggle as I learn."

Josh's wants to say this: 

"I love these videos. Dave is a great dude, and he knows how to pull you into the experience, so you feel like you were actually there, and he is absolutely hilarious! The places he goes to are amazing. I really enjoy the scenery and the camera work is great. I have learned so much from my culture and my religion. I would just like to thank Dave and the entire crew for these amazing adventures."

     I can't tell you how much we love Drive Thru History.  I am never disappointed.  I know my kids will learn history as they also learn about their faith.  What an amazing combination!

     Would you like to learn more about Drive Thru History®?  I would encourage you to visit their website and their social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drivethruhistory/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drivethruhistory/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/drivethruhistory/

    We also have more reviews for you to read over on the Homeschool Review Crew web page here 

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Have a blessed week!

God, I Need More of You

“Mom, can you find my shoe?”  “Mom, I don’t want to do my math page today!” "Josh is being mean to me." "Honey can you wash these certain pants?" "Friend can you watch my kids?" These are all examples of things I hear often.  Some days I feel like I am caught in a whirlwind of demands.  My family and friends don’t mean to be demanding, they just need my help in some way, but when I feel overwhelmed,  hearing these simple questions can send me into a frenzy. 

Do you ever feel this way?  Your trying to be a loving wife, a patient mom, a temperate teacher, and good friend, but you desperately need time off for a break.  Your head is spinning, your heart is pounding and you feel like screaming at the top of your lungs.  Well, I have been there.   When I step back and really look at things I realize what is going on.  I haven’t spent time with Jesus.  I haven’t gotten my daily time to sit in his presence and soak up his strength so I am capable of doing what needs to be done. 

As a mom, wife, friend, teacher, and writer, I know that I am not able to do anything well unless I am plugged into my lifeline.  Jesus makes all the difference doesn’t he?  He gives us peace in the midst of turmoil, and comfort when we are hurting.  He bestows grace when we fail, and lavishes love on us when we feel alone.  He gives us strength when we feel weak, and grants us mercy when we deserve punishment.  How can we forget to spend time with him?

Each morning we need to resolve to take time to spend time with our loving Savior.  Our priorities must be Jesus first, then others, then ourselves.  Once we have those in the right order, things begin to fall into place.  When our spirit is full of life, that only God can give, we are able to accomplish all our tasks.  We are able to do our duties with joy and ease instead of dread and misery.  Our lives begin to feel rewarding again.  Christ gives us a new perspective on every detail of our days.  Our children, husbands, and friends will see a change in our attitudes.  We will find joy in everyday tasks. 

          “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.”  We have all sung this song during children’s church haven’t we?  It was one of those songs we would actually sing frequently at our church.  It wasn’t until I was an adult that I really thought about the words of this song.   As a child I would just sing the lyrics as instructed by our teachers, but I don’t think I really meant what I was singing at all.   As an adult, I didn’t realize where true joy came from until I had a real relationship with my Lord.  Joy comes from the Lord and it is our strength.  It allows us to serve him and our families with gladness. 

        Today, I encourage you to make a list of your priorities. Purpose to put God first in your life, and see what a difference it will make.  It can bring life and joy back to your homes and families.

Do You Finish What You Start?

     Do you know that whatever we are doing should be done for the glory of God?  Does that change your perspective on how you do things? 

     Thoroughness is a character quality that is not popular.  We tend to overlook this one.  The definition of thorough is to complete a task while paying attention to detail.  Sometimes we fail to do things with excellence.  We just do it to get it done.  We don't mind our task being done with mediocrity, as long as we can say it is finished.  

     What if everything we do was carried out expecting God to inspect and approve it?  Would we put more effort into it?  In the book of Colossians, chapter 3, verse 23 we read: Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.  Each task we put our hands to should be done with the understanding that we should want to please God not man.  If we only do our best when someone is watching, then we are trying to please man, not God.  

     We also need to think about this character quality of thoroughness when it comes to our spiritual life.  Do we give God our best or what is left over?  As we do our devotions and pray, are we just going through the motions or does God have our complete attention?  God deserves our utmost consideration.  When we put God first, He will strengthen us and guide us in everything we do. 

     So next time you set out to complete a task, think about this:

•  Would God be pleased with my attitude towards this job?
•  Would God be happy with my work? 
•  Did I complete this task with excellence or mediocrity?
•  Did I leave anything out that someone else will have to finish for me or clean up?
•  Am I committed to do everything as to the Lord and not man?

     Next time you sit down to spend time with the Lord ask yourself this one question:  Am I giving God the best or just the rest of me that is left over after I do everything else? 

     If we want our kids to learn this character quality, we must illustrate it for them every day.  We also need to remind them that whatever they do should be done with the knowledge that God is always watching and we want to please Him.  Even when mom and dad are not looking over their shoulders, making sure their work is done correctly and completely, they should realize that God is there and He has given us the ability to do our work with excellence and expects us to do our best not our least.  

   

     Are you ready to be thorough? 
  Remember a job is never really complete unless it is done right!