Favorite Homeschool Resources for the Elementary Age

Now that my children are almost grown and gone...okay not really. However, my youngest is now 14 and will be starting high school in the fall. While it may seem like yesterday that they were all gathered round the table working on their lessons, it's been years since that's happened. More often than not these days they disappear to their rooms to work in relative peace and quiet while I putter around doing household chores and working on my own thing. 

This morning I started thinking about all the great things we used to use when my boys were small to teach and learn together. These are still things I recommend to folks today when they ask me for my favorites. I do have more, but these are my top five in no particular order. 

Five in a Row

Now in all honesty, I tried Five in a Row (FIAR) when my oldest was about six or seven and really didn't like it. This was also when I had first started homeschooling so I was still in the "must-do-everything-listed" mode. Once I broke through that to homeschool freedom and tried this again with my youngest when he was about six, I loved it! The base for each unit is a well-written classic children's book. Some of our favorites were Make Way for Ducklings (culminated with a trip to Boston to ride the Swan Boats and see the statues) and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. It's called Five in a Row because you read the same book each day and then do activities based on it from math to social studies to science, picking and choosing of course which ones to complete. There is also a Before Five in a Row series for preschoolers and a Beyond Five in a Row for children ages 8-12. The base series is geared towards children ages 4-8. I only wished we had started it sooner.

Story of the World

This mainstay of homeshooling history has been around since 2001. I started using it with my oldest. Occasionally over the years I thought about switching, sold off my sets, and bought something new only to sell off the new and go back to Story of the World (STOW). It's a great series for young learners as it gives an overview of world history in bit-sized pieces. I always recommend getting the corresponding activity guide as well and not just the story book. The guide gives all kinds of great support for each chapter. It includes things like narration questions, lists of corresponding literature, maps (my boys loved these), and well, activities to make it hands-on learning. They also have the storybooks on audio. True confession, one year I borrowed all four volumes on audio from the library and we listened to them while we ran errands. That was our history for that year!

 

Explode the Code & Beyond the Code

This was a source I used once my boys knew how to read to some degree. It's a great way to teach phonics and reading comprehension. Although, I never used Beyond the Code with my kids, it's one of those great resources I didn't discover until after my boys were too old for it! However, the Explode the Code series is excellent.  The books are numbered and should be done in order. Don't get tripped up by the 1/2 numbered books, ex. 1-1/2, 2-1/2. Do book 1 and if your child is still struggling with what was taught, then do book 1-1/2. If they grasp the concepts well, move right to book 2. The 1/2 books are for extra practice. We used some and others we skipped. I typically had my kiddos do a couple pages a day. And since I was more concerned with them learning to read the actual words, I would typically cover the photos so they couldn't guess the answer. That's what worked best for us. So how did I teach them to read so we could get to this point? 

Alpha-Phonics

This book was pivotal in my homeschooling. I started home educating my kids with my oldest when he was only five. He had some developmental delays so we were waiting to start him in "real" school until he was six. I took this bonus year to try out this homeschooling thing and see if it would work for us. This was in 2001 and most people I talked to used How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100EZ Lessons. I found that book to be anything but easy! I thought I had to use all of it - the reading and the writing portion. Did I mention my son was five with developmental delays? Yeah, every single lesson had one or both of us in tears. Thankfully I had a very wise homeschooling mentor who spoke some profound words to me one day, "You don't have to do all it. Don't do the writing then." Really? That was definitely life-changing, but the book still wasn't working. Then I had another great friend who offered to lend me a copy of this book. I used it to teach all three of my boys to read. It's easy and simple. That's what I love about it.

Enjoy Life!

This resource is free and easy to use. Don't get so caught up in the curriculum that you forget to explore the world around you. Go outside to play. Go on as many field trips as you can manage. Take time to just enjoy each other. Read books. Climb the mountains. See the sites. The best thing I did when my boys were small was to go on as many adventures as we could. Use the time in the car to listen to quality audio books. We used to listen to Adventures in Odyssey, Jonathan Park, Christian Heroes: Then & Now, Lamplighter Theater, and The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. In fact, my boys still listen to quite a few of these! 

Find those resources that help make learning at home more of a joy than a chore. If something doesn't fit or feel right, look for something better or different. The biggest benefit of homeschooling is customizing an education that fits your family. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links included. I'm just sharing some of my favorite resources. 

Curricula Choices 2016-2017

It's been quite a few years since I've shared what we use for curricula. This year I have a tenth grader and a seventh grader. I am an eclectic homeschooler. We use curricula from various companies at various levels and work where my boys are in their abilities. It's worked for us for fourteen years so we continue.

My 10th Grader:

He will be doing a few of his classes online through Virtual Homeschool Group (VHSG). If you've never heard of VHSG it's an online co-op that offers free classes. It's growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, it grew so much this year that only "early seating" families (those that volunteer to teach, grade, or build classes and/or donate money towards the cost of the servers) were able to enroll in live classes. They do offer "at-your-own-pace" science and math classes that anyone can use and it looks like their "Book Masters" classes will also open for AYOP this year as well (literature studies). 

My 10th grader will be using VHSG for the following classes:

• Algebra 1 - using Saxon math
• Spanish 1 - using Destinos
• Government - using Notgrass (1st edition not the new 2016 edition)
• Chemistry - using Apologia 2nd edition (which can only be purchased used these days)

I used Saxon when I first started years ago with my oldest son and didn't really like it. We have used all kinds of different math programs over the years. We're heading back to Saxon because it's what VHSG uses and he can attend a live class four days a week as well as go to open office hours if he runs into trouble. Math confuses me. Numbers don't make sense to me so all of this makes me very happy!

Spanish 1 will be using an online program. Although, the students do have a textbook and workbook to use as well. It's actually designed for college level and there are 52 lessons. However, for high school, they will do the first 26 this year and call that Spanish 1 and next year they will complete it for Spanish 2. He will also be attending a conversational Spanish hour through VHSG to practice even more.

Government is only a half semester program. In the spring, he will utilize VHSG once more for the Notgrass Economics course. 

Last year he did biology through VHSG and it worked out very well. He does all the book work through the group and our local homeschool co-op did all the experiments. We will be doing the same set up this year. Our co-op will be doing chemistry. This works great for me as all I have to do is schedule it for him. Although, I am correcting lab reports for VHSG chemistry. I also added in a middle school chemistry book, Exploring the World of Chemistry, that he is going through quickly. However, I felt it would give him a very good overview of chemistry that he can then delve into with the Apologia book. 

Off-line he will be doing Notgrass' Exploring America (2007 edition) program. Once he completes this he will earn a credit in history, a credit in English (literature and composition) and a credit in Bible.  I had actually planned for him to do Rod & Staff English 9/10 this year but dropped it (he doesn't even know this yet) once I realized it would end up being too much for him. However, he will still be doing Writing Strands to beef up his writing skills as well as Rod & Staff Level 8 spelling (his last year to do this). 

I also added in Rod & Staff's Level 9 reading comprehension for him this year. I felt it would be good practice for future standardized tests as we have never done a reading comprehension program before. 

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My 7th Grader:

Just like his brother, my youngest will be taking some classes through VHSG as well. He will be taking: 

• Fit-It Grammar: The Nose Tree
• Saxon Math 5/4 - actually using the 2nd edition
• Apologia General Science
• Conversational Spanish practice

I switched to Notgrass for history for this kiddo as well. We will be going through their America the Beautiful program. This program covers geography as well as literature. It's harder than he's used to but I think we've finally gotten over the issues we had when we started last week. He seems more diligent in getting it done.

He is also doing Rod and Staff Spelling (Level 4), English (Level 5), and reading comprehension (Level 5). His work load increased dramatically this year and he's finding his rhythm. Well, that and we had a rather heated "discussion" about stepping up. He tends to have difficulty in focusing so that will definitely play a role for him this year. 

He will be doing Writing Strands as well as a handwriting book this year as well. Lastly, he is doing math practice online using XtraMath, learning how to type with a free online program, and Spanish using Rosetta Stone. 

This year he will be learning how to focus better when it's time to do schoolwork and making sure he is diligent about completing everything given him to do daily. 

My boys also participate in our weekly Youth Group on Sunday nights, karate twice a week in the afternoons, and weekly music lessons. Both boys play two instruments. They both play the piano. My middle son also plays the drums (yes, we have a drum kit in our basement) and my youngest plays the violin. We also participate in our local homeschool co-op on Fridays. Needless to say, it can sometimes be a lot but they continue to step up.

Massachusetts Adventures Part II

Saturday morning Nicki & I were once more up and going early. This time we were driving about an hour west of where we were staying. Our goal was the MassHOPE used curriculum sale. This was my rolling cart before we went in...

And after plus a large Thirty-One utility tote... 

Some of the things I picked up:

• Standard Deviants DVD on Shakespeare
• The Complete Guide to Shakespeare's Best Plays
• Saxon Algebra 2 (Teacher guide - didn't realize this at the time - meant to grab the student book)
• Saxon Algebra 1
• Saxon Algebra 1/2
• Saxon 5/4
• Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry 2nd edition
• Grammar of Poetry (I've been eyeing this for years and found it for a really good price.)
• Notgrass Exploring Economics
• Various readers and miscellaneous other books

This sale is worth going to if you ever get the chance. They typically hold it the third week of June. Details are on their website.

Nicki & I spent about three hours at the book sale. It's not a huge building. They hold it in a church. The sanctuary holds most of the curriculum for sale. The foyer and another large room house free books. Yes, free! That's where I found Saxon Algebra 1/2. Last year I picked up a copy of Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study.

After the book sale we headed to IKEA. Our strategy was to purchase books so we'd know a) how much money we would have to spend at IKEA and b) how many bookcases we would need to buy there. I have no photos from IKEA. I was too busy shopping. I ended up purchasing a new bedside table, a bookcase, and a small desk for my room. My bedside table was about six inches too short for my bed, I was storing books in my room IN my bedside table, and I wanted a desk large enough to fit a laptop and Bible study materials, but small enough that it wouldn't take up a lot of space (because I don't have a lot of space). I think I found some nice things that fit just what I was looking to do in that space.

We spent about four hours at IKEA. The longest amount of time ever I think. I also picked up a Kallax style storage unit for my oldest son's dorm room plus two storage cubes to fit inside and some miscellaneous other items such as a wastebasket, magazine holders, bath towels, and a fleece throw. 

The storage cubes are black plastic. The wastebasket and magazine holders (which will fit in this as well) are metal mesh and the towels and throws are bright green. It's hard to believe my oldest is finally heading off to college but that's going to be another post for later this summer. 

{Review} Experience History Through Music by Diana Waring

I love music. I always have. One thing I really love is finding out the stories behind the songs. I still will oftentimes search out the inspiration behind a song that I really like or find interesting. Imagine having three books at your fingertips that does all of that and more! That is what Diana Waring has created with her Experience History Through Music series. 

Many longtime homeschoolers may feel like they have heard about this product before. And they would be right. This is a wonderfully revised version of a product Diana first had out in the 1990s. She shares the amazing back-story to how the revised editions came about. It has a lot to do with a bankrupt publishing company tossing all the master CDs and how technology saved the day all these years later. If you want to read the details (and you should!), Diana shares the whole story of restoration on her blog. I promise. It's worth the read.

Author of Beyond Survival, Reaping the Harvest and Diana Waring's History Revealed world history curriculum, Diana discovered years ago that "the key to education is relationship." Beginning in the early '80s, Diana homeschooled her children through high-school—the real life opportunities to learn how kids learn.  Mentored by educators whose focus was honoring Him who created all learners, and with an international background (born in Germany, university degree in French, lifelong student of world history), Diana cares about how people learn as well as what they learn.  Audiences on four continents have enthusiastically received her energetic speaking style.

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There are three books in the series. Each covers a different historical period. The great part? Each book also includes a CD with all the songs professionally recorded. So even if you don't remember the song from when you were a child or can sing, you can simply pop in the CD and enjoy listening to the songs. 

What I liked best, however? Each book also contains all the sheet music for the songs. I must admit that when I received my package in the mail, I immediately sat down at my piano and plunked out Sweet By and By from the Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder book. 

For this review, I'm going to focus on the Westward Ho! The Heart of the Old West book. The songs in this book are from a time when America was working on expanding their reach west. This was the time of expansion and exploration. The time when our nation began to grown in to the country it is today.

There are fourteen songs total. Some are classics that I'm sure most people have heard at some point such as "Home on the Range." Others might be a bit more "new" but I'm sure will become family favorites such as "Gooey Duck." 

Not only does Diana share the stories behind the stories and time period, but there are also photos spread throughout. Most are historical depictions of the time period. Each story is a two page spread. It doesn't take long to read but it's full of interesting facts and information. I simply read the information, share the photos, and then play the song.

As the mom of three boys, I must admit that they groaned a bit when I told them about the new books and what we were going to do. However, they groan about schoolwork a lot and I don't typically pay attention. The first song we read about and listened to was Apple Picker's Reel. My thirteen year old deemed it "fun!" after we were done. 

I was transported back to elementary school when we used to learn folk songs. I'm not sure that's even a skill many schools do anymore. It also made me realize that I need to do a better job of teaching my boys these songs.

I love how this product takes something that is easy to remember - song lyrics - and adds in the historical context to teach history in a unique way. I can't recommend these books highly enough. They are of the same quality as all of Diana's curriculum. In a word - excellent.

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Two other books are included in this series. 

The Little House series of books have been around for quite some time. I've even read most of them to my sons. Adding in the Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder book and songs rounds out the experience. Anyone who has ever read even the first book in the series knows how much music meant to Pa. 

The last book is called America: The Heart of a Nation and covers the time frame from the French and Indian War to the first transcontinental railroad. These were the songs that took me back the most. Included in this book are songs such as "Oh, Susanna" and "Old Dan Tucker." 

Each book can be purchased for $18.99 each through the Diana Waring Presents! store on their website. Each book contains a CD with all the songs, sheet music for the songs, historical stories, and historical photos and illustrations as well. 

Overall I love these books. I think they would make a wonderful addition to any American history program. 

Diana and Friends Experience History Through Music Giveaway --- $700+ Value!

A few years ago I was blessed to participate in writing reviews of various homeschool curriculum. I really enjoyed getting a sneak peak. I was recently blessed to be able to jump on to a new review group.

The reason I jumped? We are launching a new product for none other than Diana Waring. I first heard about Diana and her world history curriculum a few years in to our homeschooling journey. I love her enthusiasm and the way that she presents her materials. Needless to say, when I heard that I had the chance to preview her newest offerings, I leaped at the chance.

Some of you may remember Diana's musical history ::cough:: cassettes that were around, well, when cassettes were the only option one had for playing music. She has since updated that particular product, now on compact discs, and added in some very cool books to go along with them.

A full review of those items will be coming up at the end of the month. Experiencing History Through Music by Diana Waring will be launching the week of June 30th, so be watching for a full review of it. Hint: It's awesome!!

 

To celebrate the release of Experience History Through Music, I am joining members of the Diana Waring Launch Team for an amazing giveaway. Friends of Diana have joined in and as you can see, someone's homeschool is going to be greatly blessed!  Here's what you could win! 

From Diana Waring Presents

Experience History Through Music - set of 3 books with CDs ($50/set) Diana Waring Presents is about to bring back into print the BEST folk music you have ever heard, combined with the fascinating stories they represent in American history!   The Experience Music Through Historyseries includes: America - Heart of a New Nation, Westward Ho! - Heart of the Old West  and Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The musicians are amazing, every instrument is real, lots of great vocalists, and more toe-tapping music than you can imagine! The books tell the stories behind the songs.  Together, they bring American history to life through it's music!!With fascinating history books and toe-tapping folk music CDs, American history has NEVER been this fun!

 

Encouragement for Homeschool Moms Collection ($25) Every mom needs that word of encouragement from someone who has been there, who has grownup children and can speak with assurance about the journey. Homeschool moms have an extra portion of the journey to navigate, and often wish for an extra voice that will offer direction but without nagging or prodding. Diana Waring has that voice.  

From A Journey Through Learning

$50 Gift Certificate $50 to spend in the A Journey Through Learning store, applicable toward any digital download purchase.  

From Homeschool Legacy

Westward Ho! Part I ($19.95) Load up your wagon! Discover the extraordinary times of adventurous frontiersmen and brave pioneers as you travel cross-country along the Erie Canal,  Oregon Trail, and even “remember the Alamo” in Westward Ho Part I. Westward Ho! Part II ($19.95) Continue the exciting saga begun in Westward Ho! Part I as you journey with the forty-niners, ride the rails of the Transcontinental Railroad, experience life on the prairie, and discover the exciting era of cowboys and cattle drives in Westward Ho! Part II.  

From Knowledge Quest Maps

Map Trek: Atlas and Outline Maps of World History ($55) Map Trek is a historical atlas plus outline maps that allow you to teach geography alongside history. This is a resource that any homeschool parent can use with brilliant success, even if you don't remember a thing from your history or geography classes in public school.  

From Home School Adventure Co. 

Philosophy Adventure™ Digital Download ($39.95) Philosophy Adventure™ is designed to help students 6th-12th grade cultivate and defend a biblical worldview by teaching them how to write skillfully, think critically, and speak articulately as they explore the history of ideas.  

From Heidi St. John (The Busy Mom and Real Life Press)

Firmly Planted Family Devotional Digital Volume 3 ($39) The Firmly Planted Family Series is divided into ten-week studies and is your key to making sense of the Bible—even if you’re learning right along with your children. Each lesson provides a core idea, a simple narrative, memory verses and discussion questions for children of all ages. And the companion student workbook is filled with age-appropriate, full-color, reproducible activities for children of any age!  

From Raising Real Men

Free Registration to Boyhood Boot Camp or Boot Camp 9-12 LIVE webinar series (winner's choice) plus Mom & Dad Special Raising Real Men (Book for Mom to read in the bathroom + AudioBook for Dad to listen to on the commute) ($62-69)

 

Free Registration for Marriage Retreat Online plus His & Hers Special of My Beloved and My Friend: How To Be Married To Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses (book + audiobook), ($65)  

From Institute for Excellence in Writing

$50 Gift Certificate $50 to spend in the IEW store, applicable toward any purchase.  

From The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

SchoolhouseTeachers.com ($139) A one year membership to the curriculum arm of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Nearly 100 classes for Pre-K to High School, taught by expert teachers, and lots of extras including the Schoolhouse Planners, Schoolhouse Expos, monthly free ebook downloads and more.

 

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine 2014 Print Book ($15) Be encouraged, enlightened, and educated with the all new 2014 Annual Print Book published by The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.You’ll get a year’s worth of homeschool support in almost 300 pages in this full color one-of-a-kind print magazine for homeschoolers, by homeschoolers. This is a magazine you’ll refer to again and again.  

From Writing with Sharon Watson

The Power in Your Hands ($53.96) With The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, they’ll learn what they need to know for high school and will be prepared for college writing.

 

Writing Fiction [in High School] ($35) Are you raising the next C. S. Lewis or Jane Austen? Help your student develop their fiction-writing talents. Writing Fiction [In High School]: Bringing Your Stories to Life will help your students develop their fiction-writing talents with Writing Fiction [In High School]: Bringing Your Stories to Life.

 To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below. Residents of the U.S., age 18 and older only. Other Terms and Conditions can be found in the Rafflecopter. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Curriculum Plans for 2013-2014

I'm actually still working on my plans for the upcoming school year. I still have lots of ideas rolling around in my head. I figured I'd join up with the blog hop to help me figure it all out.  This will be my 11th year homeschooling, but don't let that fool you. I always tweak things as I go.

I will be homeschooling my three boys ages 17, 12, & 9 this year. I dislike placing them in grades since I feel that is pretty subjective. They simply work at the level they are at and continue to progress to more difficult material.

Here's what I do know at this point.....

I know for sure my two older boys will be doing literature online through Homeschool Book Study for the fall semester. It will be our first time trying an online class so I'm waiting to see how it goes. They will meet weekly online to discuss the book and will have an essay due each week. It will be a challenging course for them but it also will give them the chance to learn from a different teacher.

We will all also be participating in a bi-monthly, enrichment style co-op. My oldest will be doing field trips and fun lectures on various topics. The two younger boys will be learning about castles, ocean life, and taking a virtual cross-country trip through the United State.

All three boys will also continue working on Teaching Textbooks for their math. We made the switch mid-year this past school year and it's been fantastic thus far. I've been keeping my eye out for used copies and I've been able to purchase all we've needed.

We will also be continuing with Institute for Excellence in Writing for, well, writing. If you have a struggling writer or even one that loves to write, this program is for you. I love how it is set up and how easy it is to implement. The lesson plans are priceless and the teaching DVDs are beyond helpful. I love the fact that my boys even like it! And even though we haven't quite finished the first level, I can already see vast improvements in their writing skills.

They will all be doing something different for grammar this year. My oldest will be trying out Analytical Grammar. Everyone I talk to who has used it, loves it. It is heavy on diagramming but I do believe that helps one visual parts of speech. Optional DVDs can be purchased for the teaching aspect of it, so I am planning to use those to make this a more independent course for my son. My middle son will be using Hake's Grammar and Writing. This is a trial to see if it's going to work. I found it used for a great price. If it doesn't work, we'll be switching to the Analytical Grammar Junior most likely or making the regular AG work. As for my youngest, we'll be sticking to Easy Grammar for now. I have the older books and for his age (nine), I think it will be a nice, easy, gentle approach for him. We'll be finishing up Easy Grammar 2/3.

Both of the older boys will be using Sequential Spelling for, well, spelling. For my youngest though, I'll be using an old styled textbook I bought at a used book sale last year.

All the boys will also be learning Spanish this year. I will be using PoweGlide for the two younger boys. I'm not sure what my oldest will be using yet. I'm leaning towards Switched on Schoolhouse simply because it's a full year course and it's all done on the computer. I, obviously, haven't ordered his curriculum yet so I'm still doing research.

Science is going to be a bit of a mish-mash this year. Our base will be the Apologia Elementary Human Anatomy and Physiology book. Yes, even my teenager will be using this as the base. We'll be supplementing with a DVD program for  my oldest called The Body of Evidence put out by Answers in Genesis. I am also hoping to get together with a friend bi-monthly to do labs together. Obviously, I'll be making this work for all of my boys. I have some fun hands-on activities as well.

I have a membership to Schoolhouse Teachers and both of my older boys are very excited about the new Computer Science course. It started this month, but we'll probably work on it a month behind since our start date isn't until September 9th.

My oldest son turns 17 this month. I'm planning out a self-designed courtship/morality study. We'll be using various books to read and discuss. This is still a work in progress, but I'll be spending the end of August finalizing those plans.

History is the last bit I need to figure out. I'm toying with using Story of the World with extra reading for my oldest to bring it up to a high school level.

I am also planning on adding in a weekly (I hope!) art course this year. This summer we had the pleasure of attending a three-day art course by Barry Stebbing. I purchased his God and the History of Art. I'll be using it for all three boys.

I have a few other electives I still need to figure out. I'll be working the last week or so in August to get our schedule ready for the new year. I love the start of the new year. It always feels so exciting and full of possibilities! That never lasts though....

Head over to the iHomeschool Network to check out what others are sharing about their curriculum choices.

New Favorites

A few years ago one of my favorite homeschool magazines went digital. There was a lot of disappointment heard across the world-wide-web when the announcement was made. I probably heard more than most as I was a member of the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Review Crew. Anyone who had a subscription to the magazine had it converted to their venture - Schoolhouse Teachers. 

I began playing around with it a bit. I liked what I saw but never delved in to it much. I kept coming back to it and wanted to use a bit more since I had a subscription for a couple years - I had a long magazine subscription.

Then around the holidays I discovered that a new "daily checklist" had been added. This seemed to help me wrap my head around all the fantastic content on there. In addition, they had a  pretty good holiday special so I bought another year for myself and my sister and really just started delving into it.

I'm really loving what is on there.

Aside from monthly lessons, there are also daily lessons. I have my oldest son (high school) taking these courses:

• Career Exploration  - he's doing the Teen Entrepreneurship module right now that was originally scheduled for last August-September
• Classics-Based Writing - he's using the Mark Antony oration as the basis for this module
• Economics - he's looking at this subject via chocolate - who wouldn't want to learn it that way!
• Media Socialization - this is a logic-based course that is teaching kids how the media influences choices

I also just added in daily spelling and he'll begin Spanish later on in the week.

I'm slowly adding in courses for my younger boys as well. My middle son will also be doing spelling and both will be doing Spanish as well.

And my second favorite....a new scheduling program I first heard about via Facebook called Scholaric.

 

I have been using it this week and I absolutely love it. I really can't gush enough. I have been making up my own daily checklists for my boys for the last two years. It's time consuming, but it's the only thing that really worked for us. That is, until now.

I can track the days or hours (I'm choosing days) under the goal setting. I can share lessons across all three boys so I only have to enter it once. I can repeat lessons and they automatically fill in - even sequentially by number or letter (check out the help link for instructions).

My absolute favorite part, however, is that I can "bump" a lesson to a later or earlier date. This is huge for me. It's allowing me to schedule out the boys more than a day. If something changes, I can bump the lesson and nothing gets messed up.

And I also need to mention that I can still use my daily checklists as I can print each day's lesson out in a checklist form.

I promise to stop gushing, but I truly love this program. You can try it free for 10 days and then it's only $1 per student per month. I'll be paying for this program gladly.




Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the above programs (I am no longer a member of the TOS Crew). I just love them and am using them so I wanted to share.