A Review of Simply Charlotte Mason’s Stories of the Nations and Stories of America
Our family uses many of the resources found over at Simply Charlotte Mason. I honestly love the friendly, easy to use materials and their affordability. Last year we worked through the Family Guide for Early Modern History and Epistles . This took us on a living books learning journey from 1550-1850 that centred around family learning and reading. I’m always adding to and changing the formal plan laid out in the guides but they are so affordable, it’s completely fine in my opinion even if you only use them as a springboard for era study. You can, mind you, use them as a well laid-out curriculum. This year…
Keeping Homeschool Simple when Life is Busy and Time is precious…
Oh, hi there! It’s been well over a month since I’ve been able to post anything on this little blog but I promise, I have VERY good reasons! Our family is actually walking through the journey of fostering to adopt a beautiful baby boy. There is so much more I would love to share about how amazing God is and how He weaves all things together but that will have to wait until the adoption is final… *smile* Then, watch out… because I won’t be able to stop talking about how Jesus works and posting about a million photos of this little one’s precious face! What I can say…
The Value of Play (what Charlotte Mason had to say…)
“There is a danger in these days of much educational effort that children’s play should be crowded out [or what is the same thing] should be prescribed for and arranged until there is no more freedom of choice about play than about work. We do not say a word against the educational value of games (such as football, basketball, etc.) … but organized games are not play in the sense we have in view. Boys and girls must have time to invent episodes, carry on adventures, live heroic lives, lay sieges and carry forts, even if the fortress be an old armchair; and in these affairs the elders must neither…
Review of Simply Charlotte Mason’s Family Study Handbooks
I’m super happy to review Modern Times, Epistles, and Revelation from Simply Charlotte Mason for you. *smile* I love SimplyCharlotteMason.com and have blogged extensively about how we implement Charlotte Mason inspired plans with the help of much of the SCM resources If you ever use Simply Charlotte Mason’s free curriculum guide you will be directed to choose a history time period to study together as a family. These guides, arranged by time period, by Sonya Shafer, act as the backbone of the Simply Charlotte Mason ‘curriculum’. They are central to carrying out the SCM program in your family.There are six guides for six different time periods flowing…
Join us for a Lesson! {WriteShop Junior}
Over the past couple months, my daughter and I have really enjoyed using WriteShop . Have you seen my two other posts? Check them out here: Full Review of Write Shop Junior (Book D) Using Games and Manipulative to Make Writing Fun WriteShop a nutshell: This is an incredibly detailed, comprehensive writing program. As I mentioned in my previous post, it most reminds me of my experience with All About Reading. I say this because everything is here. The program is completely laid out in the high quality Teacher’s Guide and comes with everything you could possibly need to successfully teach/experience the curriculum. (Don’t you love that...?) In the…
The Compassion Experience Tour
This week our family (and some good friends) had the opportunity to go to the Compassion Experience Tour presented by Compassion International. This is a completely interactive, story-based exhibit put on my Compassion International. It is free and really worthwhile visiting if you have one close enough. In a nutshell, you walk through a simulation of a child’s life from another part of the world. These children face huge barriers and challenges in their lives and we walk through these right along with them as they tell their story through a headset/ipod that each visitor has in their hands. It is a true ‘living story’ experience, friends. We were all…
A Detailed Review of WriteShop {Junior, Book D}
A few weeks ago, I posted about how using games and activities enhances learning in our home school. My 9-year-old daughter, Audrey and I have been having fun with WriteShop Junior . This is an incredibly detailed, comprehensive writing program. As I mentioned in my previous post, it most reminds me of my experience with All About Reading. I say this because everything is here. The program is completely laid out in the high quality Teacher’s Guide and comes with everything you could possibly need to successfully teach/experience the curriculum. (Don’t you love that...?) So, let’s take a look at this program… First Impressions Upon opening up a box…
Using Games and Manipulatives to make Writing Fun…
Something I absolutely love about working on writing within our homeschool is the quality time in gives me with my children. There’s just something special about digging into your child’s mind and pulling out the amazing ideas that are already there. I’ve got two boys, age 11 and 8, and one girl, age 9. My daughter (Audrey) is working through WriteShop Junior Book D with me right now and she’s really enjoying the journey. There are quite a few elements that really work for her with regard to WriteShop , and I’d like to chat about them in a couple upcoming posts. (I’ve had lots of requests for reviews…
Ideas for Embracing Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets)
Rosh Hashanah (or The Feast of Trumpets/Yom Teruah) is one of the 3 Major Biblical Festivals. The other two are Passover and Pentecost. Rosh Hashanah is also the first of three very special fall festivals. Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) follows 10 days after Rosh Hashanah. These days in between the two feasts are known as the Days of Awe and are a time of repentance, reflection, and rededication to the Lord. Then 5 days after Yom Kippur comes the beginning of the The Feast of Tabernacles ! It’s an exciting time, friends!!! All these fall feasts point us to Jesus and are a reason to…
Autumn Nature Studies from NaturExplorers
It is no secret I love the NaturExplorer Nature Study Units from Our Journey Westward. I thought I would share some of the great nature studies available for the Autumn season. This is such a beautiful time of year for so many of us – Harvest, leaves changing colour, cool nights, sunny, wind-blown days. Pumpkins, corn stalks, wheat bundles, Mums on the door step… oh, how I LOVE Autumn! It is also a fantastic season for all kinds of nature studies! If you are looking for easy, hands-on, ready-to-go Nature Studies, the NaturExplorers units are a great option. What is included in the NaturExplorer Units? There is…
