Review: Online Learning with SchoolhouseTeachers.com

As a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I have been given the opportunity to review SchoolhouseTeachers.com Yearly Membership Option.  If you are not familiar with SchoolhouseTeachers.com, it is a wonderful website with a wealth of resources brought to you by the fabulous The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

At first glance, the site can be overwhelming as to where to even begin but it didn't take too long for me to start navigating my way around.  I have always been a fan of The Old Schoolhouse homeschool planners and that's the first thing I went straight to.  If you have been reading here long, you know I have a love of planners!! Well, all 5 planners are included for free with your paid SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership. That's a $125.95 value alone.

My second stop was straight the Site Content page where I assumed I could get a better overview of what was available and I was right!  Here you will find all the lessons available for every subject, and I mean every subject from fine arts to the 3 R's!  You'll see it doesn't stop there. There are also resources for parents such as menu planning, articles on various topics, back issues of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, checklists for lesson planning, transcript resources, archived lessons, and much more.  The extras are absolutely wonderful!  To me, they are worth the cost of the yearly membership alone- no kidding!  Some of the extras included are access to discounts and free resources from other homeschool vendors, free monthly e-books, and free expo recordings.  I listened to an expo recording from Ray and Charlene Notgrass from May on "Homeschooling The High Schooler - You Can Do It!"  It was such an encouragement to me "as such a time as this" since I have a high schooler and another one headed that way in a few years!  It wasn't just fluff either.  It was almost 3 hours long and full of encouragement, tips, goals, step by step instructions, and inspiration to keep me pressing toward my goal.

Enjoying the expo :)

For now, we are focusing mainly on the daily tasks which could not have come at a more appropriate time. For us, it's hard to do our normal routine during the holiday season since we are going here and there for extra holiday activities.  So, the daily tasks are simple and fast but still allow a review and training the brain time!  Included are daily grammar, math, copy work and so much more.  See below for a screen shot of the dailies included in your yearly membership.

Subscription Information
You can try your first month for $3.  After that, the monthly subscription is $12.95.  You can save 10% by paying annually for $139.  That subscription amount is not per child but per family so if you have more than one child, the deal gets even better!  With so many courses available, you can use your SchoolhouseTeachers.com yearly membership as your core curriculum for your entire family from preschooler to high schooler.  Everything you need is right there in one place.  You can also just pick and choose what you wish which is how I like to choose our curriculum.   During the month of December, when you purchase your yearly membership option, you will have the opportunity to gift a free subscription to someone else and get the gold membership of Applecore System for free (the silver membership is included already with your yearly membership).  That deal is only for December so you will have to act quickly if you want that.  Click here to subscribe today!

Our Thoughts
I've already alluded to this earlier, but we are very excited to dive further into SchoolhouseTeachers.com and see what we can learn.  Two options we are looking forward to next is the Home Economics course and the Photography Course.  We are so excited to give those a try in the new year.  For less than $5 per month for each of my children to explore new courses, we would recommend SchoolhouseTeachers.com Yearly Membership Option as a wonderful resource for any homeschooling family and think this one is well worth the cost!

Back To Homeschool: What Method?

Honestly, I am so thankful that there are so many different options available to homeschoolers today!  There are year round schools, some that work 6 weeks on - 1 week off, some that break for summer.  Just as there are many schedules, there are many methods.  Do you choose classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, or some of all?  


It can be overwhelming at first but I've come to one conclusion that makes it simple for us.

Keep God at the center of it all!

Just as God designed us each as individuals with our own special gifts - He has given us choices to make in our homeschools.  My biggest goal for year one - spend time growing in God's word.  If we accomplished no more than this - we will have succeeded at it all.  It has remained our goal for the years that have followed.


Our main goal falls right into line with Classical Conversations'  motto - " to know God and make Him known".  I want my children to learn subjects through the eyes of a biblical worldview.  What is that?  To me - it is the belief that everything in this world is and belongs to God.  So, therefore we use the Bible as the foundation to everything we say and do - including our homeschool subjects.  They all point back to God.


If I must choose a method, I would call our method of homeschooling eclectic Classical Christian because we use a variety of curriculum and do not strictly stick to one.  We do, however, lean heavily toward the classical method but always with God at the center helping us to discern.  


Please know that I do not share any of this expecting your homeschool to be just like ours.  I share it as an encouragement to myself and others.   The comparison game is never good.  It doesn't work for children, homeschools, or life.  Take anything that is encouraging and inspiring and run with it and leave the rest behind!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). 


Be sure to see what my fellow crewmates are sharing on homeschool methods too and don't forget to enter the drawing for The Art of Argument below!  This book is a great introduction to logic for you students.  It is almost like new!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homeschooling With Dixie Cups

For some fun ways to use dixie cups in your homeschool, stop by The Homeschool Classroom where I share how we use them!

Our School Room

Each Monday in July (or some day there about :)  - I will be linking up with Amber over at A Classic Housewife for Back To Homeschool!
 
This week we are sharing our homeschool rooms and/or organization tips.

Here is our school room.  It is still a work in progress at the moment as we are clearing out last year’s items and ordering, receiving, and shelving this year’s items.

This is the kids section.  Each child has 2 shelves to hold their workbooks.  Above their shelves is our Classical Conversations memory work board that holds a week’s worth of information.  The desk is the computer area and where some independent work is done.


In this section is where we meet as a family.  We update the calendar, do our pledges, bible study and My Father’s World family studies at this table.  This is also where I work one on one with each child.  I sit in front of the book shelf so my teacher manuals and other items that I need are located here.  All of the children’s reading books for the year are here too.
In the left corner is where I keep extra printer paper, expo markers, rulers, extra pens and pencils, etc.  My Well Planned Day Binder is there on top of the printer.  It houses our weekly school plans (that I made using a variety of planning resources) but not the Well Planned Day planner, lol, because I didn't think it fit very well and I also use that planner for my personal planner instead of homeschool.  Clear as mud?



These are my grab and go bags for Classical Conversations Days.  They will probably be changing into a rolling cart this year since I will also be a tutor.  I just haven’t made that transition yet.  And the last picture is just a different angle of the room.

If you look close you’ll see the calendar says May . 


And there you have our homeschool room!

Back To Home School in July - Week 2

Each Monday in July (or some day there about :)  - I will be linking up with Amber over at A Classic Housewife for Back To Homeschool!
 
Here are the topics if you'd like to join too!


July 11th ~Your Curriculum (Or “must haves” for supplemental learning, favorite resources, etc.)
July 18th~Your School Room/Area (Or your favorite organizers/tools/etc.)
July 25th~Your School Day, Lesson Planning, Organizing, or Record Keeping


Our Homeschool 2011-2012 Curriculum

Our 2011-2012 curriculum choices are based on several factors.  1) We are a part of Classical Conversations group so several of our curriculum choices reflect this decision.  2) My desire is for our family to study subjects together whenever we can.

You can find our curriculum choices laid out in detail by clicking on each grade level.  8th, 5th, and 3rd.

Something that has been a part of our homeschool since the beginning that I could not do without is my own planning!  I love laid out plans but I always tweak them to fit our time and schedule.    

My must haves are......

• weekly plans
• dry erase board and markers
• Classical Conversations board (look at the bottom of the post)
• lots of prayer
• the ability to let go of something if necessary
• laminator!!
• copy machine/printer

Back To Homeschool 2011

Welcome to Grace Christian Homeschool!

In our homeschool this year we have......

8th grader - Jonathan

5th grader Stephen

and 3rd grader Sarah

This year will be our 2nd year joining our local Classical Conversations group.  I will also be tutoring this year so once again we will be doing some changing!  Jonathan began the Challenge A group but we did not continue.  It just moved way too fast so he is now doing the work at home at a slower pace.  For Stephen and Sarah, I am using My Father's World - Exploring Countries and Cultures along with CC.


We are a very eclectic homeschool leaning toward the classical style.  

ABOUT ME

Melissa

I am a 39 year old wife to the love of my life and mom to 3 children. I am truly blessed to have been given such a wonderful family. I am a Christian and know that I would have never known Jesus had it not been by His grace. I enjoy all sorts of crafts and reading when I have the time! In the picture is a vacation photo of my 3 children enjoying a sunrise at the beach!