HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW: Our Review of I Know It

     I have always enjoyed math class.  It was fun for me.  I like puzzles and figuring out the answers to tough problems. A few of my kids enjoy math like me, but the others need more than just a textbook.  That is why I was happy to receive and review the family membership to I Know It.  

     I Know It is an online program that will help your elementary aged children to practice their math skills. This program is for grades ranging from Kindergarten to the 5th grade.  My daughter just entered the 6th grade, but is finding this resource to be helpful in reacquainting her with math skills she has already been taught throughout her elementary school years.  

     This online program was easy to set up and log in to.  We didn't have any issues at all.  Once signed in, I set up a parent account and a student account for Hope.  Like I said, she is in the 6th grade so we chose for her to brush up on her 5th grade math skills before heading into her new 6th grade workbook for this school year.  

      There are so many different skill that you can work on.  The 5th grade sections includes:

• Place Value
• Addition and Subtraction
• Basic Math Fact Drills
• Multiplication
• Division
• Word Problems
• Graph and Data
• Basic Algebra
• Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
• Operations with Fractions
• Geometry
• Measurements

  

     I was impressed with how much it had to offer each grade level and how easy it was to assign lessons to each of your students.  In settings you get choose how many hints your child will receive with each question and how your child see their scores.  You can even allow your child to do other lessons on their own.  It is so versatile!  I love that when using online programs.  

     Hope enjoyed being able to learn different math skills everyday.  She doesn't like repeating one skill over and over.  One day she would be doing multiplication and the next she would be doing measurement.  She loves it.  It helps keep her engaged when she can learn different skills throughout the week instead of just one.  Her favorite skill to do is measurements. 

     I loved watching her do the basic math fact drills.  She loves races, so when given an time limit to do so many problems, she gets excited and really works hard to do her best.  She makes me giggle when I see how intent she is to get all the answers right and to get more questions completed each time she does them.  Here is a look at one of her progress reports so you can see what they look like.  I love how they are set up.  

     Do you have a child that struggles with math?  Would they improve with some practice?  I know Hope has improved a lot during the time she has been working through this program.  I think this online resource would help any child who needs to brush up on skills or practice skills they are having issues with.

    What if I told you that you could get a FREE TRIAL by going to https://www.iknowit.com/sign-up.html.  This is a 60 day unlimited access trial.  You can see how awesome this program is for yourself.  What an great deal!!!!

     You can learn more about this program over on their social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iknowitcom/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iknowit_com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iknowit_com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iknowitcom/pins/

     

     We also have more reviews for you to read over here

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HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!!!

So, I Can't Bake An Apple Pie {Free Bookmark Printable}

     A few years ago I thought that I had to be able to do everything in order to be a good homeschool mom and wife. I would get upset with myself because I couldn't sew, bake, or can fruits and vegetables.  I would see other women doing it and I felt like a failure. Pinterest pins would send me into a depression.  It made me feel so inadequate. I was not a "SUPERMOM" like all the other moms I was following on social media.  

     What was wrong with me?  Why couldn't I bake a perfect apple pie with homemade ice cream on the side?  Why couldn't I make a perfect little dress for my little girl?  I'll tell you why..... its

because I am not called to do those things.  They are not on my list of gifts that the Lord gave to me.  He made me who I am and He equipped me for the things He has called me to do.  

     The Lord has a purpose for us.  He doesn't give everyone the same gifts and talents because that would not provide us with the tools to meet the goals He has for us. I quickly learned that if you try to do it all, you won't be able to do anything with excellence. You get burned out.  You question your abilities.  Instead of walking out the purpose God has for you right now, you go down a trail of disappointments.  Why? I believe its because God only furnishes us with what we need for the particular season we are in. He may change our skills throughout life so they will be conducive to the mission He calls us to carry out, but for now we need to rest in knowing we are doing just what we are suppose to be doing and that God will never fail to give us what we need to get it done.

     One of my favorite quotes on this subject is found in the book The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst: “Like a tree, a woman can’t carry the weight of two seasons simultaneously. In the violent struggle of trying, she’ll miss every bit of joy each season promises to bring.”  Can I get an Amen here?  Are you tired of trying to carry out things that you are not designed for? 

     It is time to break free from the "Supermom" mentality.I had to come to the realization that what I was believing in my head just wasn't true.  There is no one who can do everything perfectly.  I had to realize that the posts and pins I was reading were women with different callings than mine.  They were making dresses while I was writing an article.  They were baking pies while I was teaching my children.  They enjoyed canning while I enjoyed organizing my cabinets in the kitchen.  

      Could you imagine a world where there was no diversity in skills and  expertise?  Well that just wouldn't work well would it? God knew we would all need particular abilities for the sake of the call on our lives.  My favorite verse on purpose is Proverbs 19:21. "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  God has a good plan for each of us.  We just need to follow Him and allow Him to guide us along the way. 

      Are you ready to eliminate the frustrations of trying to live up to the expectations in your mind? Are you ready to live a life that is free to accomplish the goals you are equipped for?  Give yourself grace and just be who God called you to be!!!!  

      Here are some great bookmarks for you to print out.  I hope they are a blessing to you. 

To print these out just hover over the image, right click

 and choose "save image as..." 

The Harvest

 I love Fall.  It is season of such beauty here in Ohio.  The leaves are changing, the air is crisp and clean, and we begin to celebrate harvest.  When I think of harvest time, I think of the verse found in Galatians.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  ~ Galatians 6:6-9

     We will reap what we sow..... I don't know about you, but that makes me really think about my actions and words.  Whatever we sow now, we will reap later.  Good or bad.

     I think we really need to take this seriously as we raise our children.  What are we sowing into their lives on a daily basis.  We need to sow the fruits of the spirit, manners, love, and character qualities that will reap a harvest later in their lives.  Even if we do not see a harvest right away, we need to remember that it takes time to reap what we sow.  It could be a season or years.

     We also need to remember that what we allow them to see and hear and who they hang out with, will also be sowing seeds in their lives that will reap later.  TV shows, movies, video games, computer time.... they will all have an effect on our children.  We need to be careful that these things are not undoing what we are training them in.  Sensor what they see and hear!  It is not sheltering them, it is raising them in an atmosphere of godly principles.

      When I was a young mom, I didn't think of these principles and I allowed some things in our home that was not godly.  I will tell you it had some repercussions.  It was a bad example for our children and they saw and heard things that I could not change.  We now use this verse found in Philippians as a way to choose what we see, do, and hear.

     What will you sow today, in order to reap godly behavior from your children tomorrow?

For some great FREE printables on prayer, click this link:  http://letsgetreal2016.blogspot.com/2016/09/free-printables-prayer.html

As Easy As 1...2...3

     Let's get real about acquiring our children's attention! I want to share my short comings I had in this area to help you.  

     Do you ever get tired of repeating yourself or even yelling in order to get your children's attention?  I know I have been there. It's frustrating when our kids are not listening to us.  We usually react in two ways.  We either give up or we get louder and louder.  It's stressful for us and for them.  This vicious cycle had to stop, and I had to be the one to stop it.  

     I had to figure out why this cycle kept occurring.  Was it because my kids didn't respect me or was it me?  I tend to look to what others are doing wrong before turning the light on myself, but that is not right.  I need to focus on my behavior and how I can make things better first! 

      As I started thinking, I realized that my children listen best when I am in control of my emotions.  Just because I am having a hard day doesn't mean I should take my frustrations out on them. They need a mama who is in full charge of her feelings.  If I want their attention, I must be concentrating on the task at hand and not allowing other things to affect me.  If I am able to manage my emotions, they will learn to do this also.  I don't need to yell to get my point across.  

     As an older and more mature mom, I have learned to do these 3 things:

1.  Get to my child's level.  If  they are small, its important to  kneel down to their height.  If they are older, sitting on the  couch to talk seems to work best. 
2.  Talk with a quiet and calm voice.  Children learn to tune out our yelling, then we get upset and yell more.  
3.   Ask your child to repeat what you have said to them.  It helps them retain what they have been told or asked to do. 

     If you do these three things, you have done your part.  Now if your child still continues to be inattentive, you know that you must address their behavior not yours. 

     It's not easy to be a patient parent, but as we study God's Word and pray for Him to help us, it does get easier.  God is very patient with us isn't He?  He can teach us to be like Him.  He wants us to be an example of His love, kindness, mercy, and grace as we parent our children.  

      I will be praying for you and I hope you pray for me as we journey through this life.  It's important to lift up other parents in our prayers.  We need to encourage one another, not put each other down for making mistakes.  We all make mistakes because we are not perfect.  We are all sinners in need of God's forgiveness.  We all fail, but if we love and support one another, it is easier to get back up and try again. 

     How can I pray for you today?

     

Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of Picta Dicta Natural World

     Our family has been learning Latin together over the past year so when we were chosen to receive and review Picta Dicta Natural World from Roman Roads Media, my daughter was very happy.  This program is a great supplement to what we are already studying, and will help her learn more quickly.  She loves nature so this was a great fit for her.   

     Picta Dicta Natural World is an online vocabulary study program that you can subscribe to.  We were given the 14 month subscription to review and I have to tell you that it is well worth the $49.  The $49 will get you 14 months for one user.  If you want to add more users you will only pay $10 per user on top of the $49.  I think that is a great deal and a wonderful value for what you get.  

     This program is self- paced and will help you learn the Latin words for many things in nature. This program differs from others in that they want you to be able to name these items in Latin by looking at the images instead of just translating from English to Latin. There are several different levels that you get to chose from.  They begin with Basic, English I,  Reader I, then Reader II, and for advance learners, you can chose Express.  

     Hope is an avid reader, so we chose to begin with Reader II.  We felt the first levels may be too easy as it teaches many of the English words along with the Latin words for these items in nature.  In Reader II, you are taught Latin right away.  During the entire duration of these lessons you will learn over 400 words.  I wish we would have had this program last year to give us a good foundation for our Latin classes.  

    I asked Hope if there was anything she didn't like about the program and she said no.... it's really fun and I don't even realize I am learning a different language.  I think that is awesome.  It's like a game for her.  She is enjoying it and I am happy she will continue to learn with it.  

    We were given two licenses for this program because I wanted to use it too.  So far Hope is learning at a much faster pace than I am. I think it's because she has more time to dedicate to it, but I am loving what I have learned, and will be continuing my study as well.  

     Would you like to learn more about this program?  I would encourage you to head on over to their website or check out their social media pages listed below: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia   @romanroadsmedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanroadsmedia/  @romanroadsmedia
YouTude: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia
    
     We have more reviews of this program along with Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric and Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder over on the Homeschool Review Crew site here

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Have a blessed day!!!!

Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of Kingdom Files

      Bible class hasn't always been a priority in our homeschool, but that all changed a few years ago. When we started putting God first, our days just went more smoothly.  It isn't easy to find curriculum for our 11 and 13 year old that isn't either too easy or too hard for them.  I was excited to be receiving and reviewing two titles from the Kingdom Files series published by Barbour Publishing. I was hoping these would be a good fit for our family, and I was not disappointed. 

     Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? are books written by Matt Koceich.  Matt is a father, husband and public school teacher with a Masters degree in Education.  These books are amazing little Bible-based biographies.  They are geared towards ages 8-12, but even my 13 year old loves them. 

     These paperback books are about 90 pages in length and are full of fun facts about these characters from the Bible.  There are now six biographies on the website to choose from. My children were so thrilled with the two we received, they wanted to buy more.  I was happy to see that  our local Christian bookstore carried them, and was able to buy another one for the kids to enjoy. We will be buying the rest of the set soon!

     Who Was Jonah? takes our children on a journey with Jonah, a prophet, who disobeyed God and was eaten by a big fish.  While in the belly of this fish, Jonah has a change of heart. He wants to help the people of Nineveh.  Will he continue to be obedient to God?  You will have to read the book to find out.   

     Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus?  will help our children to learn more about this young woman whose life was forever changed when she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus.  From the announcement of Jesus to His crucifixion, you will see things through her eyes.  This book was so intriguing that my daughter read through it twice. 

     Each book begins with a Fact File about the character.  We then have the Action Files that tell all about the person.  After you have read the Action Files, you are given 10 Power-Ups.  These help you to ponder what you have been taught.  I love that at the end of the books is a sneak peak of another Kingdom File book.  These books are a great way to get children interested in the Bible. Like I said before, we will be purchasing all of the them.  My children just loved the way these books were laid out and didn't want to put them down.   

     Would you like to learn more about these books and others from Barbour Publishing?  Just head on over to their website or their social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbourPublishing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbourbuzz
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/BarbourPublishing1

     We have more reviews for these biographies over here ↓↓↓  I hope you have some time to check them out 😊

Have a blessed day!!!!

Homeschool Review Crew: Our Review of GrammarPlanet

     One of my favorite subjects in high school was grammar.  I loved finding the subject, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs of a sentence.  Diagramming was like a game to me.  Let's just say I was a grammar nerd.  Everyone thought I was a little nuts for enjoying it so much.  So you can guess when we were chosen to receive and review GrammarPlanet, a complete online curriculum to teach grammar, puncutation, and usage, I was a bit giddy.  

     When I started homeschooling and my kids were old enough to learn grammar, I was excited to teach them.  Out of 6 kids, only 1 really loved grammar as much as I do.  She still loves it today. Most books do not make learning grammar rules fun.  I was excited to see what GrammarPlanet had to offer.  

    You begin by creating a parent then student account. They are different.  The parent account allows you to see your child's progress and reset units if needed.  The student account is where all the teaching takes place.  

     My 11 year old daughter, who doesn't really care for learning grammar, was happy to try this program out. It was so easy to sign up and log in. Once we were on, she began to do her first unit study.  Each unit has a print out that you must print before starting.  Your student will then watch an instructional video for the unit study. 

     The instructor is great.  She is lively and her voice is soothing.  At the end of the video, your child will be asked a few questions to be sure they understood the video before working on the unit study questions and tests.  

     If they have comprehended the teaching video, it is time to move on to the unit practice questions and tests.  I sat with my daughter during her first couple of unit studies. During the interactive practice sessions, you will be labeling the words in the sentence that corresponds with the unit study. Like if nouns were being taught, you would label all the nouns in the sentence and so on. My daughter didn't get all the questions correct, so we went back and discussed what she had marked wrong and she was able to understand why she didn't get it right.  This helped her to do better as she headed to the next lessons. 

     Just when I thought I knew all there was to know about grammar, I realized there were even things I could learn from this wonderful program. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a veteran, this is a great program to help you learn grammar or just brush up on your skills.  

    Would you  like to learn more about this program?  What if I told you that you could try it today for FREE?  Just head on over to the website GrammarPlanet and get started on your journey.  The free side has ads, but soon you will be able to pay for a no-ad version for just $39.  We have a strict school budget so the free version will work for us 😉

     To learn more about this program you can also visit their social media pages listed below: 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/analyticalgrammar
Twitter: www.twitter.com/analyticalgram
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/analyticalgram

     We would love for you to check out other reviews of this curriculum over here

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Have a wonderful weekend!!!