My Father's World - CTG & AHL Preparation

I'm pretty sure I've passed my binder love/obsession on to my children.  They love a new fresh binder as much as I do!  Here is how we set Jonathan's up to get ready for MFW-AHL.

Inside zipper pocket are his timeline stickers. I copied these during the summer and cut them out for quick and easy access.

 His collection of pens, pencils, and markers.

Each section is separated by pocket dividers.  

 Tab 1 - Daily Plans

Tab 2 - Spanish with MFW Lesson plan book in folder and notebook. 

 Tabs 3, 4, and 5 are Bible, History, and English Notebooks

 Tab 6 - Science plans and notebook

 Tab 7 - Vocabulary Quizzes

We will be setting up notebooks very similar for Creation To Greeks for Stephen and Sarah.  Mainly, I needed to organize the student sheets weekly for myself so I did that by using a pocket folder and files that I keep on our bookshelf with my other teacher books and supplies.  

The yearly plans I put in a pocket folder separated by week and child. 

During my Saturday planning session, I pull the weekly sheets out of the yearly pocket folder and place in the weekly folders separated by day and child.  If you've seen the new Martha Stewart line at Staples recently, you may recognize these folders.  :)  Teacher treat!

This will be our 2nd year using MFW and I love how easy it is to plan for.  Really, the planning is all done so I can spend extra time on the organization - the part I truly love!

Curriculum Clean Out!

I have piles of curriculum that I still need to go through!  I really want these to go to someone who can use them and not just sit on my floor or attic because we no longer need them!  We have enjoyed them and now it is time to pass them on!

I'm going to try to be as generous as possible with the pricing but if you want to make me offer - go for it!

All books will be shipped media mail with signature delivery confirmation.  Paypal only - US only!

Saxon 6/5 Student Text (has some pencil markings on some pages), solutions manual, and teaching tape dvds - $30

Saxon Algebra 1/2 student text, solutions manual and dive cd - $30 

The Reading Game - $10

 I Am Sam Little Readers - Set 1 and Set 2 - $15

 American History Task Cards - $15

First Form Latin Kit - $50

The minute reader set - $15

 Write With World - Pilot Edition - $25

 Saxon Math 3 - Teacher Edition - $20

 Envision Math - 6th grade - $25

 Aims - Solve It Problem-Solving Strategies - $10

 God's Great Covenant Student and Teacher - $25

More to come!

Crew Review: King Alfred's English

Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin with this review. I am absolutely blown away with what I read, learned, and the laugh out loud moments I had while reading this. I couldn't keep it to myself! My poor husband constantly heard, "listen to this". This book has my all time highest praise of any review that I've done so far. Before I go on, I must say that this a book that belongs on every bookshelf in America! I want all my homeschooling mamas to read it.

Warning: Once you pick it up - you will not put it down. I could not stop until I reached the end. Laurie's writing style is so engaging that it keeps you interested and blown away the whole time. I cannot wait for my softcover book to arrive so I can use it as one of our read aloud books for the year! I received a Kindle version for review. I want it on my shelf too!!!

Okay, let me back up. What is King Alfred's English? Well, it is the story of how we got the Bible in English and it’s influence upon our language. It is recommended for grades 7-12 but I recommend it for younger students especially as a read aloud. :)

• What were the driving ideas behind the Reformation?
• Are the New Testament documents really reliable and how do they compare to other ancient manuscripts?
• Why was translating the Bible into English punishable by death?
• …and what does all THAT have to do with the history of English?

Did you know?

• The English were NOT the British. In fact, they fought each other…a lot. And still today, if you call an English person British, he might very well correct you even though he knows you probably won’t understand.
• You probably don’t pronounce the word “when” like your parents. When you say “when” and “win,” do these words sound the same? If you’re under 50, they probably do. If you’re older, you may still pronounce the sound of the “h” and the words sound slightly different. I still pronounce the “h,” do you?
• The Brothers Grimm compiled German fairy tales, but they were also famous philologists (and what IS a philologist?)
• There’s a law for the way languages change that backs up Intelligent Design.
• For over 300 years the official language of the English court was…French! Seriously. But the English were always fighting the French. That’s true. Find out why.
• There’s a reason we write “knight” but say “nite,” and you won’t believe how they used to pronounce it.
• It was once punishable by death to translate even portions of the Bible into English! Yikes!
• Recent scholarship has shown that at least 80% of the King James Bible is the translation work of just one man. Who was he?

There is so much information is this 170 page book! Also available are tests and worksheets for FREE at The Shorter Word.  These would be great supplements for an older student.

 I am absolutely sure you will learn something. King Alfred's English is a fairly new publication (January 2010) which may be why I've never heard of it but I certainly want that to change. I can't wait to tell everyone I know about it!  

In fact, Laurie has been so generous as to offer 5 of my readers a discount code so you too can line your bookshelf with this treasure! The first 5 people to comment and leave me their email address before August 15 will receive the code and can get the softcover version for only $8.47! 

King Alfred's English is available at several online retailers.  Here are a few of them...

CBD 
RAINBOW RESOURCE
Grace and Truth BooksAmazon.com [search inside the book and read an excerpt] 

It is also available as a kindle purchase for only $5.95.

Be sure to check out what my fellow crew members thought about King Alfred's English.

**Disclaimer: As a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a free e-book in exchange for my review. The opinions here are my honest and true evaluation.

Crew Review: Create Better Writers

Teaching writing for me has been somewhat intimidating.  I think it is the fact that it is not black and white.  There is no answer key for me to follow and I am constantly asking myself - was I too critical? should I say more?

Here are some problems that David Dye (the writer and creator) found that homeschool teachers were facing as well...

• First, these parents hated teaching writing. They didn’t feel confident themselves as writers and were even less confident as instructors. 
• Second, they were confused by different curriculum's varying approaches to teaching writing. Even if they were able to figure out the lessons, neither the teachers nor the students were sure how most of the lessons fit into the big picture of writing. Many lessons were ignored or quickly forgotten.
• A third issue was that their students hated to write as much as they hated to teach it. Starting each assignment was a chore, working through the writing process was torture, and creating a finished project was nearly impossible. 
• Finally, the most frustrating issue of all was that most of these home school teachers were responsible for teaching several students at various educational levels. Keeping track of writing lessons for several students at a time was too overwhelming. The result of these issues was that writing was barely given any attention at all.

I can definitely relate to all of those!  

So, Create Better Writers came up with 5 books as an action plan for homeschoolers.  The action plan includes The Homeschool Writing Action Plan, How To Teach The Paragraph, How To Teach The Five Paragraph Essay, The Complete Writing Program, and Writing Tricks Plus.

The five books are meant to work together as one program. Our family reviewed the first 3 books.

The first book, The Homeschool Writing Action Plan is the user's manual for a program that will help your students master all the basic skills of writing in just a few years.  This books summarizes your entire writing plan for grades 3-12.  It lists the homeschool resources to use from Create Better Writers but it can also be used to guide you through any language arts or writing program you already own.  This is a book that you will definitely want to print out or buy the soft cover print edition.  It is your resource manual and I tried at first not printing it out but found it too difficult to keep trying to find what I needed. The e-book is $15.95 and the soft cover is only $4 more for $19.95.  Definitely worth that in my opinion but if you need to start today - the e-book is a great value too.

  

The second book we reviewed was How To Teach The Paragraph.

This book comes free if you purchase The Complete Writing Program but can also be purchased individually for $7.95.  This book teaches a very simple main idea and once you learn that, it gives your student confidence to continue on to five paragraph papers.  Watch this video for more on this simple concept.  It's one of those - it's too easy but it works ideas!

David Dye's promise - "You WILL be a great writing teacher! That's my One Hour Promise."

The last book we reviewed in the program was How To Teach The Five Paragraph Essay.  As with the other books, it includes a detailed lesson plan, sample writings, topic suggestions, and assessment sheets.  It sells for $17.95 for the e-book and $19.95 for the soft cover.

My thoughts - this program gives me the confidence that I lack in teaching writing.  I am a step by step kinda gal.  I need direction in teaching.  It does not come naturally for me but I can read and implement and that's where this program fits me perfectly!  I would also skip the e-books on this curriculum and purchase the soft cover books.

You may purchase each book from the program individually or select a bundles option to save even more.  There are several different bundles available here.

Be sure to check out what my fellow crew members thought about Create Better Writers.

**Disclaimer: As a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received free e-books in exchange for my review. The opinions here are my honest and true evaluation.

Routine - here I come!

School is starting back for us on Monday so this week we are easing back into a routine.  Easing back into routine actually makes it so exciting for us.  My kids think they want to start back full force but I know from experience that is not something we can do successfully.

We bought new markers, crayons, folders, and backpacks this week.  The excitement builds.  Today, they actually pulled out the old colored pencils (because they can't have the new until Monday :) and printed coloring sheets.  We even made sock puppets to go along with a Speekee review we will have coming up soon.  

I too - must ease back into routine.  I'm starting first by going to bed 10 minutes earlier and waking 10 minutes earlier until I'm no longer zombie like when I wake and then I'll move back 5 more minutes until I reach my ultimate wake-up time.  

To help me with that I'm again joining the Hello Mornings girls where we will pray for one another and keep each other accountable.  I am a proud AC (Accountability Captain) of a group of ladies.  Some of us have been together for a few years now and some are brand new.  Regardless, we are all the same.  We want to spend our time - our precious, valuable time growing in our relationship with God first, then family and home.   If you haven't heard of it, you can check out the details here and join the group of over 2,500 women as we rise and shine and give God the glory!  A new fall session will begin on August 20th.  

If you don't have a group, we would love to have you.  Just link your name to our group.  We are an email group.

Coffee mugs up - and cheers!  Routine - here I come!

What's In The Bible?

You may have noticed a new DVD series as you've been reading in blog land called Buck Denver Asks…What’s in the Bible?.  This new DVD series is from VeggieTales® creator Phil Vischer and it is designed to walk kids and families through the entire Bible. DVDs 1-8 are available now.

We had the opportunity to review the Volume 1 - In The Beginning Genesis.  

We are big fans of Veggie Tales so we were excited to see what this was all about.  This first volume  is full of information about the B-I-B-L-E.  Some of the questions answered are...

How many books are in the Bible?

What does Genesis mean?

What are the first 5 books of the Bible called?

What does testament mean?

What is the best selling book?

Who wrote this book and why do we think we can trust it?

As you can see this isn't all singing and dancing.  It teaches children strong foundational principles from the Bible.  My family all loved the characters which include Sunday School Lady, Pastor Paul, Buck Denver, Clive, Ian, and so many more who will teach, sing, and dance their way all through the Bible.

DVD 1 “In the Beginning” (Genesis) contains two 25-minute episodes.

Part 1: “What is the Bible?” How is put together? Kids learn alongside Buck and friends that the Bible tells the story of God and what He’s done for us.

Part 2: “Who wrote the Bible?” Next, Buck and friends learn how God inspired people to write the Bible. They also learn how the first part of Genesis sets the stage for the rest of the Bible – and all of history!

Also included are some free resources to go with your DVD.

You can access those here and here:

These include:
-coloring pages
- Bible flashcards
- Study Guide
- and more.

I would highly recommend this DVD and look forward to watching the others.  If you need a catchy, repetitive, and fun way to teach the Bible to your child, you will definitely want to check these out.  

You can purchase each DVD for at the website for $14.99 each or save by purchasing Volumes 1-8 for $99.99

"I was selected for participation in this review and given the What's in the bible DVD as a member of The Homeschool Lounge Review Team. All thoughts and opinions are my own."

The Winner Of The Art of Argument is...

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